Even in Pakistan, where jihadis are a grave threat to us, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (and let's not forget the Indians), locals complain of how their form of Islam has been supplanted:
Pashtun literature used to be full of romance and praise for the beauty of nature. Now it reflects the death and explosions that have filled the lives of Pakistanis.
The literary trend is the lesser-known victim of the "Talibanization" in Pakistan's northwest. Militants imposed their ultraconservative brand of Islam in and around the Swat Valley until the military ousted them this summer, and they continue to hold sway throughout the tribal regions.
Residents in these areas say their reign is robbing this predominantly Pashtun area of its centuries-old culture and tearing the social fabric, from poetry to dancing to community centers. Even in Swat, where residents displaced by the fighting are making their way home, many entertainers have not come back for fear the Taliban might.
"This is an attempt to Arabize the Pashtun society by attacking their culture and their highly revered institutions," says Said Alam Mehsud, a leader of the Aman Tehreek, a peace movement recently launched in Peshawar.
We do our jihadi enemies a great favor by simply assuming that their form of Islam is the true form of Islam. Our jihadi enemies seek to expand their view of Islam even as they seek to kill us. The two are not unrelated.
It is not wrong for us to conclude that the Saudi-supported extremist Islam is a form of Islam that must be rejected and defeated. Many Moslems will agree with us, if we have the self confidence to reject radical Islam.
