You must remember that Win is deeply and emotionally repelled by the "N" word, a real bugaboo. That according to Zakaria, who suggests that ideologically those whose N-names-must-not-be-mentioned have a lot in common with folks such as Thomas Friedman and, though not mentioned, Zakaria himself and probably Ken Pollack, but do not share the zeal or the style, must have come as a rude surprise:
On the ideological front, Frum and Perle urge a battle against radical Islam, support for moderate Muslims and, in particular, the promotion of women's rights. They urge zero tolerance for the Saudi export of fundamentalism, and propose financing progressive and modern Islamic education as an alternative to madrassas. Above all, they want to make a success of Iraqi democracy.
Most of their arguments and proposals on these three fronts are intelligent and worthwhile. Many have been put forward by other writers and political figures at different points on the political spectrum (among them, Thomas Friedman, the editorialists of The Washington Post and this writer). But to say this would not please Perle and Frum, for the central stylistic pose of their book is angry radicalism. The war on terror has reached a ''crisis point,'' they declare. ''We can feel the will to win ebbing in Washington. . . . The ranks of the faint hearts are growing and their voices are echoing ever more loudly in our media and our politics.'' |
