From Cal Thomas’s syndicated column, picked up here from the Salt Lake Tribune, with thanks to TwoStellas and RB:
President Bush’s speech to the National Defense University in Virginia Tuesday was a first-rate definition of what freedom means to the West. The larger question is: Does it mean the same thing to the Islamic fascists in the Middle East and other parts of the world?
These fanatics believe the United States, Britain and the rest of the West are the ones in bondage. They note our promiscuity, our abortions, our obsession with homosexuality, our television, our provocative way of dressing and they wonder who is really free?
Can Muslim nations with religious and political dictatorships be liberated in the same way communist nations were set free? Are there millions of people who would live, worship and vote differently if they could think and act for themselves? Possibly. We will know soon.
There is also a chance we are being played for suckers by those who know us far better than we know them.
While President Bush praises Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a democratically elected leader, does he know that Abbas, a Holocaust denier, believes it was the Israelis who were responsible for the nightclub homicide bombing last month in Tel Aviv?
Abbas told Time magazine: ”The bombers came from the suburb of Tulkarem to Tel Aviv, crossing the wall. So who is responsible? The wall and the Israelis.” Yes, those crazy Jews kill each other as part of their conspiracy to dominate the world!
In a March 8 speech to the Palestinian Legislative Council, Abbas warned of a possible ”serious impact” if Israel continues what he regards as its procrastination on the Palestinian proposal for an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital and a return to the 1967 boundaries. Those concessions would set Israel up with indefensible borders and make it ripe for complete annihilation by its Arab enemies.
Anyone in doubt about the rules of the game should read a new book edited by Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims (Prometheus Books). Spencer and a fine collection of knowledgeable authors unmask the enemies of freedom and document how much of the West is being duped into believing that the radicals are part of a ”fringe” and that the overwhelming majority of Muslims wish no one harm and seek to live at peace with all.…
We like Cal even without the endorsement. Read it all.