I agree with this
posted by unca | 6:20 PM
About Me
- Name: unca
- Location: Iowa, United States
61 years old (pretty old for a blogger) proud to be a grandpa
- Perpetual Adolescence
- Huh?
- Funny, Funny Bit
- (Long) Quote of the Day
- A quick and easy way to improve the Olympics
- A Reason to Vote for McCain
- My Wisdom
- Quote of the Day
- Worth Reading
- Credibility Issue
7 Comments:
Huh. Mostly, I don't... no surprise, since Krauthammer and I rarely do (agree).
To present those recent military campaigns as evidence of American respect for Muslims is weak at best.
Bosnia, Kosovo, sure. Somalia, yes. Kuwait? No. Afghanistan? Come on. IRAQ!!? Even for Charles, this is over the top, and to me the most offensive part of his piece. IMO, one of the reasons we have so long tolerated the civilian toll in Iraq is because Muslims and Iraqis are "other". They're not *like* us, so we have a higher tolerance for their suffering.
And "...there's not been a single anti-Muslim riot...". Again, this seems somewhat silly. Riots happen primarily when people feel disenfranchised, powerless. One wouldn't expect anti-Muslim riots in America, no matter our feeling for them. A much better measure would be the number of hate crimes against Muslims since 9/11. The FBI reported in that anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 1600% from 2000 to 2002.
So anyway... not saying it's ever been rosy. And (of course) not saying we're the bad guys. But to assert that American respect for Islam over the last 8 years has not dropped precipitously, or to deny that an era of "mutual interest and mutual respect" would be something new... is to deny reality.
Thanks for your perspective. I'd like to see the actual numbers for:
The FBI reported in that anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 1600% from 2000 to 2002.
Doesn't mean too much otherwise. Could be 1 in 2000 and 17 in 2002.
Yeah, fair enough. Looks like it was 28 to 481.
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/01hate.pdf
This comment has been removed by the author.
And oops, looks like it was 2000 to 2001, not 2002.
Well, of course even 28 is too many and 481 is much worse. I still maintain, however, that the overwhelming majority of the U.S. population is savvy enough to realize the difference between Radical Muslims and Muslims and have reacted accordingly.
You may be right. I get doubtful sometimes when I listen to my favorite right-wing radio hosts. :-)
My fundamental objection to the Krauthammer piece was his smug and condescending (what else?) dismissal of Obama's assertion that-- after the Bush administration-- we have an opportunity for a change in tone and focus wrt Islam; especially when he cites Kuwait, Afghanistan and (in particular) Iraq as evidence of our great respect for Muslims... with a straight face, and without apology, pretending that we took action in those places out of concern for the welfare of their Muslim populations.
Post a Comment
<< Home