Looks like some conservatives are finding GW to be a verbal wuss......
WASHINGTON President George W. Bush finds himself in a rare disagreement with conservatives in his party over his efforts to portray Islam as a peaceful religion that is not responsible for anti-American terrorism.
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In a score of speeches since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the president has called for tolerance of Muslims, describing Islam as "a faith based upon peace and love and compassion" and a religion committed to "morality and learning and tolerance."
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But a large number of foreign policy hawks - some of them with advisory roles in the Bush administration - have joined religious conservatives in taking issue with Bush's characterizations.
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While most of them understand the political rationale for Bush's statements - there's no benefit in antagonizing Muslim allies such as Pakistan and Indonesia - they say the claim is dishonest and destined to fail.
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For Bush and for the country, the outcome of the argument is crucial. The administration, and moderate governments in Arab and Muslim countries, are struggling to prevent the war on terrorism from becoming what Osama bin Laden wants: a war of civilization between the Judeo-Christian West and a resentful and impoverished Muslim world.
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Calling Islam a peaceful religion "is an increasingly hard argument to make," said Kenneth Adelman, a former official in President Ronald Reagan's administration who serves on the Bush Pentagon's Defense Policy Board. "The more you examine the religion, the more militaristic it seems. After all, its founder, Mohammed, was a warrior, not a peace advocate like Jesus."
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Another member of the Pentagon advisory board, Eliot Cohen of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal editorial page arguing that the enemy of the United States is not terrorism "but militant Islam." ...........
iht.com |
