Tålmodighed og mord på uskyldige

Arnold Kling har et udmærket indlæg på Tech Central Station, om behovet for ikke bare at slå terrorister ihjel, men også at skille dem fra de mere normale muslimer:

It is possible that the culture of the world Muslim community, including its religious and secular institutions, simply is not yet equipped to confront the radicals in the way that Thomas Friedman and the rest of us might wish. A lack of social capital, or what James Bennett calls "civil society," means that the Muslim community's circuits are overloaded. Like the Native Americans living in Montana in 1870, Muslims are confronted with too much change happening too quickly.

We live in a "can-do" society. If a terrorist group arose from within Western culture, after one or two atrocities it would be strangled by a myriad of networks, community organizations, and political entities capable of enforcing group norms.

Her bør det indskydes at gruppe-normerne ikke nødvendigvis er mod terror. Diverse meningsmålinger blandt palæstinensere har feks vist udbredt støtte for terrorisme, og indtil terrorangrebene begyndte at ramme dem selv har meningsmålinger i Saudi Arabien vist udbredt støtte til Osama bin Laden og hans serie-myrderi på uskyldige.

Perhaps Muslim society cannot address radical terrorism with its existing institutional base. If so, then it will take time for new organizations to emerge within the Muslim world that are capable of effectively promulgating and enforcing prohibitions against terrorism.

I am not trying to absolve moderate Muslims, and moderate Muslim leaders, of responsibility for helping to end the barbaric gestures of terrorism. I agree with Friedman that in the end the only humane way to end the war between the West and radical Islam is for moderate Muslims to exercise better leadership. However, the approach that I would favor with moderate Muslims is high expectations rather than ultimatums.

We should not be tolerant or passive in response to terrorism. We should continue to pursue, incarcerate, and kill terrorists -- without apologies or mindless insinuations. As to the Muslims who are not active terrorists, we should be particularly hard on those who voice moderation in Western-style press conferences but who preach hatred when they think that no one from the West is watching.

However, we should not rush to declare that the moderates' cause is hopeless. Their task may be more difficult than we can appreciate. If we are to avoid turning our clash with radical Muslims into a re-run of 1870, we will need patience.

Det er så det valg, vi står med nu: være tålmodige mens uskyldige bliver slagtet i gaderne og vi venter på om moderate muslimer bekvemmer sig til at stoppe den terror der har rod i deres hjemlande, eller spille efter Hama-regler.

Henrik