Posted on 08/17/2003 8:15:11 PM PDT by Lando Lincoln
Liberals turn McCarthyite
The President has nominated Islamic scholar Daniel Pipes to the board of directors of the U.S. Institute of Peace. This has resulted in a nasty eruption of McCarthyism. Pipes' nomination has been greeted by charges of Islamophobia, bigotry and extremism. Three Democratic senators have shamefully signed on to this campaign, with at least one other tagging along. Who is Daniel Pipes? He is a former professor at the Naval War College. He has taught history and Islamic studies at Harvard and the University of Chicago. He is a scholar and the author of 12 books, four of which are on Islam. Unlike most of the complacent and clueless Middle East academic establishment, which specializes in the brotherhood of man and the perfidy of the U.S., Pipes has for years warned that the radical element within Islam posed a serious and growing threat to us.
During the decades when America slept, Pipes was among the very first to understand the dangers of Islamic radicalism. In his many writings he identified it, explained its roots - including, most notably, Wahhabism as practiced and promoted by Saudi Arabia - and warned of its plans to infiltrate and make war on the United States itself.
Sept. 11 demonstrated his prescience. Like most prophets, he is being punished for being right. The main charge is that he is anti-Muslim. This is false. Pipes is scrupulous in making the distinction between radical Islam and moderate Islam. Indeed, he says, "Militant Islam is the problem, and moderate Islam is the solution."
The dilemma for a free society is that radical Islam lives within the bosom of moderate Islam. The general Islamic community is the place radicals can best disguise themselves and hide. Mosques are institutions they can exploit to advance the cause. These are obvious truths.
But when Pipes states them, he is accused of bigotry. For example, critics thunder against Pipes' assertion that "mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches and temples." This is bigoted? How is it even controversial? Wahhabists and other radical Islamists have established mosques and other religious institutions in dozens of countries. Some of these - most notoriously in Pakistan - had become the locus of not just radical but terrorist activity.
Does that mean all mosques or even many mosques harbor such activity? No. But it does mean any given mosque is more likely to harbor such activity than any given synagogue or church.
The attack on Pipes for stating this obvious truth is just another symptom of the absurd political correctness surrounding Islamic radicalism. It is the same political correctness that prohibits ethnic profiling on airplanes.
We are supposed to pretend that we have equal suspicions of terrorist intent and thus must give equal scrutiny to a 70-year-old Irish nun and a 30-year-old Saudi man. Your daughter is on that plane: To whom do you want the guards to give their attention?
President Bush is considering bypassing the Senate and giving Pipes a recess appointment while Congress is out of town. For Bush, this would be an act of characteristic principle and courage. The problem, however, is that such an act makes the appointment look furtive.
Worse, it lets the McCarthyites off too easy.
Pipes' appointment would be a great asset to the U.S. Institute of Peace. But it would be an even greater asset to the country to bring the Democrats' surrender to political correctness into the open. Let them declare themselves. Let the country see that for some of the most senior Democratic leaders, speaking the truth about Islamic radicalism is a disqualification for serious office.
ping
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