Saturday, September 18, 2004

What the "Bush Doctrine" should be...

This is excerpted from Diana Hsieh's Blog, Noodlefood. This is exactly where I stand, but she says it better than I can...


"In essence, the Bush Administration is floundering in its own moral fog. It refuses to identify its basic emeny as militant Islam. It defends Islamic values as morally equal to Western values. It often subordinates military victory to Muslim goodwill. It focuses on the violent methods of some militant Islamists rather than the more dangerous goals of the ideology. In order to avoid the charge of cultural imperialism, the Bush Administration is routinely lapsing into cultural relativism. As a result, America lacks a clear vision and purpose in this conflict--and that undermines our capacity to eliminate the grave threat posed by militant Islam. The corresponding impression of weakness and self-doubt emboldens the militant Islamists' dreams of transforming America into an Islamist theocracy."
" Successfully defending ourselves in this present conflict requires a deep understanding of and appreciation for what is at stake: Western culture. In the face of the cultural imperialism of the militant Islamists, moral relativism is not a viable option. Nor is cultural relativism true, for by any reasonable standard, the essentials of Western culture--values such as individual rights, rule of law, limited government, rationality, this-worldliness, and peaceful trade--are infinitely superior to the authoritarianism, racism, death-worship, and theocracy advocated by militant Islamists."
Well said, Diana. I only wish this could be said/told to our current leadership, and that they would respond positively to it.

Check out her Blog [Scroll down to 9/11 Debate]

http://www.dianahsieh.com/blog



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