But if so, opinion polls of ordinary Moslems wouldn't show positive movement.
And Moslem leaders should be foaming at the mouth with "kill the infidel" invective.
Sadly for the view that fighting back just makes our enemies madder, Moslem leaders seem to be getting on board the idea that a clash of civilizations includes the vast majority of Moslems fighting on our side against the jihadi minority that kills in the majority's name. An American and Canadian Moslem group has spoken out against terrorism:
In the statement, called a fatwa, the 18-member Fiqh Council of North America wrote that people who commit terrorism in the name of Islam were "criminals, not`martyrs.'"
"There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism," the scholars wrote. "Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram — or forbidden."
This is good. One day, if the worst happens and jihadis detonate a WMD in a Western city, we will need the confidence that the majority of Moslems are clearly opposed to the nutjobs. If not, the pressure to target Islam as a religion may be too difficult to withstand. This reaction would be a mistake, I think, but it would be a natural reaction should Islam as an institition decide to sit out the war as neutrals.
So good for the Fiqh Council of North America. This is a needed public statement.
And it is a good reminder that fighting back when attacked is a good thing. It does not make things worse as some would have us believe.
Unless deep down you believe we don't deserve to win, that is.
