[Cicero]

It sounds as if he's rather confused. But he's right about one thing. Leftists should hate Islam for its fascist principles. The problem is that they hate America so much it blinds them. Maybe this will wake a few leftists up.

[Now_is_The_Time]

The West is losing the battle against Islam for the “same reason the British lost the American colonies.

Comparing these sub-human scum with our Founding Fathers is obscene. Personally, I consider that particular analogy a grave insult.

[Dazedcat]

Nice article, thank you for posting this.

[2banana]

If it’s the socialism of our time, with an ethic that appeals to the oppressed, it will have the same force.”

And the same brutal results - 100s of millions slaughtered...

[Eastbound]

"It’s clear that the non-Muslim world lacks the moral energy which Muslims are justifiably proud of.”"

Moralism re-defined by a blood-thirsty cult? I don't think so.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

wow. Thanks for posting this article.
Doesn't sound good , does it? Scairy part that Iraq may implode, except that maybe the Iraqis will really embrace freedom. Good points about Islam having a society structure and "moral" simplicity and family structure..albeit oppressive and feudalistic. And we do have an issue in the west with a relativism and destruction of the family that is not strengthening our cultures.

[SeaBiscuit]

Some interesting thoughts but fairly sour. BTW Selbournem, how come it's "President Diem" but only "Bush?

[Petronius]

Islam is a religion on the rise, winning converts among the poor and needy...“It’s the politics of the underdog, the marginalised...with an ethic that appeals to the oppressed, it will have the same force.”

This is, according to some historians, precisely how Christianity spread like wildfire, with devastating consequences for the Roman Empire.

[MNnice]

I got a better idea. Let's just turn the whole bleeping region into a sheet of glass. Or at least threaten to.

[A. Pole]

When David Selbourne flew into America recently, he had good reason to feel he had arrived in the land of the free. His new book, The Losing Battle with Islam, was featured at New York’s Book Expo, the US publishing industry’s trade fair last week, after it failed to find a British publisher.

Bump!

[A. Pole]

The irony is that history may well be on Islam’s side with or without violent tactics. “I don’t think there’s any need for Islamists to be killing and terrorising people — even though such behaviour is sanctioned in the Koran, no matter what people say,” Selbourne says. “Islam is advancing willy nilly as a moral force, whether you like that moral force or not.”

For Selbourne, the fragmentation of western society has left it intensely vulnerable to a challenge of this nature. “We used to have an animating idea,” he points out. “It used to be a belief in civil society and community. We’re dismantling the social order in which Muslims so firmly believe in their own society.”

Freemarketeers/freetraders on the right, militant secularists on the left, both groups work in tandem chipping at the roots of Christian civilisation.

They create a vacuum, ready to be filled from outside.

[Texas_Jarhead]

"But much of his criticism is reserved for the West, which is only too eager to flagellate itself for its alleged shortcomings while rushing to understand its opponents’ point of view (the Newsweek imbroglio over the alleged desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay detention base, a story it later withdrew, is just the latest example). Even in America, “the political class has lost confidence in itself”, he complains."

Of course it has. This is what the American left has been working toward since WW1. The arrogance of the modern left, and its obsessive preoccupation with the remolding of America, made it oblivious to the threat of a resurgent militant Islam. The left has been chipping away at the foundation stones of our house for decades and now the rest of us find ourselves attempting to bar the door of our weakened abode.

[Drew68]

westerners are displaying a misplaced and muddle-headed sensitivity to Muslim feelings that is not always reciprocated.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

[eyespysomething]

Thought you'd like to read this.

[Firefox1]

"In Selbourne’s view Americans are at a loss to understand why they are so hated, so they are turning their fire on their leader."

This is a point I too have been making. Some of the rhetoric from the 'anti-war, it's our fault' crowd has included such meaningless yet effective statements such as, 'They hate us because of our policies'. I'm willing to listen to any argument but, what specific policy of the US is causing hatred in the Islamic world? If it is our policy of spreading human rights, freedom, and democracy (as best we can) then, this is not our problem it is theirs. Westerners have to grow up and realize this is 'big boy adult time.' A large portion of the Muslim world is beginning to violently oppose the very ideas of freedom. We should of course talk when we can but also fight when we must. It's that simple.

[eyespysomething]

When David Selbourne flew into America recently, he had good reason to feel he had arrived in the land of the free. His new book, The Losing Battle with Islam, was featured at New York’s Book Expo, the US publishing industry’s trade fair last week, after it failed to find a British publisher.

Ping.

[Drew68]

He is pessimistic about the outcome of this religious and cultural war. “We’re up against a terrific foe. The United States and the non-Muslim world are in a desperate predicament. We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t take them on.”

. . .

In other words, if we lose the battle, forget Bush, we have only ourselves to blame.

Ultimately the West will win and crush Islam because we are the superior culture. This PC crap will eventually fall by the wayside (it already is starting to unravel) and we'll start getting mean.

The West knows how to make war and kill by the millions. We've done it a couple of times before. This restraint we've imposed on ourselves will evaporate with repeated terrorist acts. The Islamic world will see our wrath and future generations of muslims will curse the name Osama bin Laden.

Even the liberals don't want to live under the green banner of Islam.

[jocon307]

"In other words, if we lose the battle, forget Bush, we have only ourselves to blame."

It's NOT Bush's fault!

Great post. It's articles like this that make FR the best of the web every day.

[Antoninus]

Islam is a religion on the rise, winning converts among the poor and needy, from Africa and Indonesia to inmates of American jails. “It’s the politics of the underdog, the marginalised. If it’s the socialism of our time, with an ethic that appeals to the oppressed, it will have the same force.”

The only difference between Islam and Christianity in this regard is that the Western World is actively supporting one while actively opposing the other. The irony is almost too much to bear.

[onedoug]

Duh...