SMALL GAINS vs. THE BIG PICTURE

There are 1 billion, 300 million Muslims in the world. Their help is essential to fight
terrorism successfully. In other words, without substantial cooperation in the Muslim world,
terrorism will continue to spread like cancer. As with cancer, the "cures" will become as bad as the disease, in destruction of quality of life (personal freedoms). Our own population, by the way, is nearing 300 million, while Muslim population is growing about three times as fast as ours.
The good news: the Muslim world is still pretty much up for grabs (according to the Pew
Global Attitudes Report). Even after Fallujah, Guantanamo, and Abu Ghraib, we are getting major help from Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, and others (on the Q. T.) The killing of Zarqawi involved intel from Sunni Muslims, probably from Jordan. Uncovering the plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic was aided by Pakistani intelligence. But it is increasingly difficult for friendlies like Jordan's King Abdullah, Pres. Mubarak of Egypt, and Pakistan's Pres. Musharraf to openly side with us. All three have survived repeated attempts on their lives.
Musharraf cannot go to Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, for fear of his life. All three face majorities in their countries sympathetic, if not outright supportive, of the Islamists. So all three are in political trouble. Democracy in their countries (actual majority rule) would sweep them away and install Islamic rule under Shariah, as it did in Iran, and will in Iraq (with Iran's help) once we are gone. And by the way, not all Islamists advocate violence as a legitimate
means of political change. They are divided on that issue.
Apart from justice and morality, both of which are big deals with Muslims, policies of ours that result in widespread prisoner abuse and frequent non-combatant deaths are short-sighted and self-defeating. They are continuously run on TV in Muslim countries and cost tons of good will lost for every ounce of possibly useful intel gained. Not a smart exchange! (It's a Cheney kind of deal.) We say it's a battle for hearts and minds, but we don't act like
it in Iraq or Afghanistan or Guantanamo (which Pres. Bush says he wants to close, but is actually building on to.)
Is there a way to bridge the growing divide between Muslims and the West? Of course there is, but the hour is late, and there's a danger that we'll become locked in to an all-out struggle that is irreversible. Our hope for reconciliation lies in whether indeed the pen is mightier than the sword. The pen has given us common Scriptures and universal values (like the Golden Rule) that we can (and must) all embrace. This was expressed again, eloquently
by Jordan's Prince El Hassan bin Talal (the King's uncle) in a graduation ceremony at Brandeis U. "I believe," he said, "we must think of globalization not just as the spread of capitalism or deeper economic and political ties, but as the emergence of a universal consciousness, whereby 'an injury to one is an injury to all' (to quote the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa). This is what I call an ethic of human solidarity. We are in the process of creating a global community, and the cornerstones of our vision are values which from time immemorial have been part of the collective consciousness of the human species, which ensured their survival, and which stood the test of time: Respect for life, responsibility toward future generations, protection of the human habitat, altruism nurtured by a sense of mutual interest, recognition of human dignity and worth." Amen to the Prince's wise words.
The "universal consciousness" he spoke of was affirmed by Socrates, Gandhi, Jesus, Muhammed, the Buddha, and Confucius, who said, "the great man is universally minded, and no partisan." Socrates said, "I am neither an Athenian, nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world." That's the big picture! Both the Old and New Testaments tell us to love our neighbors. Jesus extended that to "love your enemies." We ignore that at great peril.
As Mr. Bush likes to repeat, the contest really is between good and evil. But he seems confused sometimes about which he wants to be. "When the trumpet (call to battle) is uncertain, who will want to follow it?" At the moment, not many. (The last quote is from the O. T.)

Let me know what you think! jgoodwin004@centurytel.net