This is the core problem: A horrific disfigurement of religious belief into a killing frenzy. It was the motivation behind 9/11, Bali, Madrid, and Beslan, and it is the motivation behind the terror is Iraq today. The only solution -- the only solution-- is the creation of societies committed to religious pluralism. It takes a long, long time for such societies to develop, but a beginning has been made in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. The president's speech was an argument about why perseverance is not only necessary but in fact indispensable to survival of the West.
A perfectly reasonable project if you are a Wilsonian liberal who believes that human nature is as pliable as playdough; and thus the U.S. Army can move into the cradle of civilization and uproot prejudices older than our own country within an acceptable time horizon. Everybody else should easily realize that Hewitt's plan is sheer lunacy.
UPDATE: Roger Simon sets reasonable goals as well: "he is partly responsible for redirecting attention from what is by far the major issue of our time -- the modernizing of Islamic civilization before it becomes massively destructive to itself and others." Isn't it a little late for that?
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