Tom Friedman notes in the NYTimes today:
"These (jihadists) are,....the war within Islam between Traditionalists and Rationalists, which dates back to Baghdad in the ninth century;"
Friedman says that we are in a battle for modernism in the middle east.... And this is true.
Of course, we are also in a battle for modernism INSIDE THE US! The battle between the Red Religious and the Blue Seculars is raging everyday in Washington and in the media.
HOW CAN WE WIN BOTH BATTLES....?
Perhaps using BOOKS, NOT BULLETS is the answer....
Clearly, the US can not win in Iraq by just killing people, Sharon tried that in Palestine and it didn't work....the more you kill the more "evil" you are in the eyes of the Muslim world....
IF PERCHANCE, THIS BATTLE BETWEEN MODERNITY AND MEDIEVALISM COULD MOVE FROM THE BATTLE FIELD TO THE LIBRARY AND THE UNIVERSITY....MUCH MORE WOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED AND AT FAR LESS COST.
Change THEIR minds first, hearts will follow.... As I have suggested before, (only half humorously) we should be bombing the middle east with Books and CDs....NOT SMART BOMBS.
