Well, Libya did just elect the non-Islamist candidate. In a landslide, I believe. There are Muslims, and then there are Islamists and jihadists. We shouldn't condemn a billion plus people because of a minority of backward zealots or fanatics. Most of them want the same things we want - peace and security and happiness and prosperity.
Also, just as with people in the west through our history, politics and fear can overwhelm belief in justice, tolerance, and fairness, and even simple good sense. The masses can be manipulated into supporting, or just remaining silent through, all sorts of evil, but we (Americans or the west) tend to prefer NOT attributing collective guilt. Japan and Germany come to mind. More recently, Serbia.
We should focus our fight on the manipulators, not the manipulated. Al Qaeda and other terror groups, the remaining terror-sponsoring thug states, etc., not the people threatened and oppressed by them. |
