We've lost the support of the moderate Muslims due to outrage at Abu Ghraib.
I think it's way premature to conclude this once and for all. What happened at Abu Ghraib was nasty, stupid, embarrassing, boneheaded, and so on, but Nadine is right. We're fighting an enemy that routinely makes our abuses look like...yes, exactly...little worse than frat party hazing. That is the truth, no matter how apoplectic we feel about it. It's not laudable, and it certainly doesn't help our cause, but it is nowhere near worth totally emasculating ourselves over. It is no reason to stop fighting as if our cause was suddenly less just. It isn't less just, it just flat isn't.
I won't even go into the issue of how firm, constant, and dependable moderate Muslims have shown themselves to be in the first place, much less what better alternatives they've managed to provide for themselves. |
