I think that Bush spoke of the "WOT" initially because he was afraid that vigilantes, militia, and just plain pisssed off people would attack innocents. (Some Sikhs were attacked after 911 as I remember.)
But we are fighting Islamism and to a large extent Islam itself. Eventually the so-called moderate Muslims will need to side with us or at least be more afraid of us than they are afraid of the jihadists.
I think Bush made a good move in that direction by naming Islamic fascism.
I agree... Muslims are too ideologically diverse to call the WOT a holy war. Those that do are feeding into similar media distortions that are facilitated by Al-Jazzera and Al-Manar. What most Westerners know of Islam is related to terrorist violence discussed in Western Media. There are many non-violent dimensions to the cultures and subcultures where Islam is the predominant religion. It is a fact that those dimensions rarely make their way into Western media. Even if they do happen to find their way into an educational segment, you can bet that its coverage is not accompanied by the same drama that naturally comes with a story about blood, guts and death. There is no conspiracy here, that’s just how the brain works. It’s a dangerous cycle with consequences. Bush made a good move to call a duck a duck, so to speak, but a difficult one. He’s fighting an uphill battle against a commonsense perception. It is essential that he and others take leadership on this because there are leaders in the Muslim world who accentuate violence to increase their power, in the name of Islam. They seek to dominate the globe to forge their utopia at the expense of every one else, including other Muslims. That’s fascism, no doubt about it.
Yes, I agree, he's getting closer and of course I know that he knows better but he needs to just trust the Am. people that they can "handle it", just be up front.
You reminded me of the assault on the Sikhs, more dips (the thugs attacking) not paying attention and knowing what they're doing--dangerous.