PC obscures truth even for those who ought to know better

Osama's New Strategy:
"Bin Laden's new strategy appears designed to (1) further detach the United States from its European allies – much the way the Soviet Union unsuccessfully tried to do throughout the Cold War; (2) assist the insurgency in Iraq by encouraging more jihadis to volunteer for suicide duty; (3) stoke public opinion against the royals in Saudi Arabia; (4) stoke public opinion against Gen. Musharraf in Pakistan."

Thus, Washington Times editor at large Arnaud de Borchgrave sums up UBL's current strategy. I would like to comment on something else de Borchgrave said in that article:
"Europe's Muslims – about 20 million of them – are for the most part moderate and good citizens of their country of adoption. But the silent majority has been cowed into silence by growing numbers of unemployed who are alienated, angry and refuse to integrate into European societies. They are also vocal in favor of bin Laden as the new pinup who rivals Che Guevara on university campuses."

This hits the appropriate note of sympathy for the "silent majority" of Muslims who are just good citizens of their adoptive countries. It is, however, utterly dishonest. Citizenship in a free society is not a mere passive accomplishment, it takes more than going to work, paying your taxes and not getting caught robbing a bank. It includes reporting crimes, coming forward as a witness, and generally standing up for the safety of the society you live in. To say, as de Borchgrave does here, that "the silent majority has been cowed into silence by growing numbers of unemployed who are alienated, angry and refuse to integrate into European societies" is to say that they are, on the whole, not good citizens. It is, in fact, to condemn that majority as silent enablers of Islamofascist terrorism.

We see this dynamic at work here in the US, not only in Muslim communities, but many other minority enclaves in cities large and small where it is virtually impossible to fight drugs and other organized crime activity effectively because the perpetrators are protected by their ethnic cohorts. The motive may be fear, admiration, or a share of the criminal proceeds, but the result is the same, whatever the motive.

It is fashionable in some quarters to say that this is a reflection of the illegal status of so many immigrants in the US and that waving a magic wand of amnesty over them as the president proposes will solve the problem. Well, those Muslim communities in Europe are overwhelmingly composed of legal immigrants and that hasn't prevented the same problem from surfacing there.