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Overnight open thread. Capitulation Edition. (genghis)

Over at Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria has penned a piece titled Learning to Live With Radical Islam. The subheading is “We don’t have to accept the stoning of criminals. But it’s time to stop treating all Islamists as potential terrorists.”

Ok Fareed, let’s air out your argument.

”Pakistan’s Swat valley is quiet once again. Often compared to Switzerland for its stunning landscape of mountains and meadows, Swat became a war zone over the past two years as Taliban fighters waged fierce battles against Army troops. No longer, but only because the Pakistani government has agreed to some of the militants' key demands, chiefly that Islamic courts be established in the region. Fears abound that this means women's schools will be destroyed, movies will be banned and public beheadings will become a regular occurrence.

Ummmkay. So the Pakistani government has learned to live with radical Islam in the Swat Valley and it’s now returned to its pastoral, Switzerlandish condition (Minus the St. Bernards who roam its Alpine-like mountains with a small keg of brandy, rescuing stranded climbers. Dogs and alcohol are a no-no. Also Ricola.) Obviously the denizens of the valley have learned to live with Radical Islam as well, as it’s otherwise hard to do when you’re headless.

Zakaria decries how unpleasant these radical Islamists are but lists some of their recent evangelical successes:

”It is not just in the Swat valley that Islamists are on the rise. In Afghanistan the Taliban have been gaining ground for the past two years as well. In Somalia last week, Al-Shabab, a local group of Islamic militants, captured yet another town from government forces. Reports from Nigeria to Bosnia to Indonesia show that Islamic fundamentalists are finding support within their communities for their agenda, which usually involves the introduction of some form of Sharia—Islamic law—reflecting a puritanical interpretation of Islam. No music, no liquor, no smoking, no female emancipation.”

So it’s like community outreach. ACORN, but with AK-47s. Remember, the point of the article is “Learning to Live With Radical Islam.” Here Zakaria puts us some knowledge about the Taliban:

”The groups that advocate these policies are ugly, reactionary forces that will stunt their countries and bring dishonor to their religion. But not all these Islamists advocate global jihad, host terrorists or launch operations against the outside world—in fact, most do not. Consider, for example, the most difficult example, the Taliban. The Taliban have done all kinds of terrible things in Afghanistan. But so far, no Afghan Taliban has participated at any significant level in a global terrorist attack over the past 10 years—including 9/11. There are certainly elements of the Taliban that are closely associated with Al Qaeda. But the Taliban is large, and many factions have little connection to Osama bin Laden. Most Taliban want Islamic rule locally, not violent jihad globally.

Well, that is exept for hosting Al Qaeda and all that, but let’s let bygones be bygones. How could they have known that Al Qaeda might try to pull some mischevious prank in the outside world, such as Manhattan, Bali, Madrid or London. No, they’re all about enslaving providing salvation to the local populace. Problem is, when the Taliban were in charge of Afghanistan, “local” meant the entire nation. The article goes on and on forever, but the comments under it are hilarious. My favorite one is below the fold.

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