Radical Islam: All Aren’t Terrorists Confronting Radical Islam

Fareed Zakaria's attempt to soft-pedal the threat of radical Islam is outrageous ("Learning to Live With Radical Islam," March 9). It may be true that relatively few people directly participated in the attacks of 9/11; the slaughter in Mumbai; the murder of Russian schoolchildren in Beslan; the bombings in Kenya, Madrid, London and Bali; and the innumerable other acts of terror and violence that have been perpetrated against people of all faiths, including Muslims. However, the distorted, nihilistic bigotry and hatred generated by radical Islamic teachings, exhortations and practices were the unifying and driving forces behind each of those heinous actions. Sharia, Islam's universal law, demonizes non-Muslims, moderate Muslims and homosexuals. Its misogynist underpinnings result in the terrible mistreatment and murder of women and young girls. Radical Islam is a serious threat to all open-minded and caring people across the globe. It must be challenged and stopped.
Andrew M. Upton
New York, New York

I find that labels such as "radical," "fundamentalist," "extremist" and "moderate" don't help--and often hinder--an understanding of Muslims and their faith. Perhaps, for the sake of clarity, Fareed Zakaria should have put it like this: Islam is benign only to the extent that Muslims are willing to shun or ignore the core Islamic tenet requiring that everyone--Muslim and non-Muslim alike--accede to the primacy of Sharia.
Mindy G. Alter
Toronto, Canada

Fareed Zakaria makes the same fundamental mistake as most other Western intellectuals of not differentiating between the teaching of Islam and a tiny minority among its 1.5 billion followers who willingly misinterpret some suras to commit violence and terrorism. Islam is neither radical nor fundamentalist. These Western terms demonize Islam for political and religious purposes. Zakaria, who has a Muslim background, should be aware that Islam is not against music, smoking or women's emancipation. Islam gave rights to women when the Christian world was still in deep darkness. The blame for radicalization should be shared by ignorant Muslim preachers and Western policies, as well as media coverage.
Bashy Quraishy, Chair
Advisory Council, European Network Against Racism
Frederiksberg, Denmark

What an informative essay on Islamists and, specifically, the Taliban. However, I disagree with Fareed Zakaria that the Taliban has no interest in spreading global terror. Given the opportunity, the Taliban would bare its fangs on an international scale, on par with that of Al Qaeda.
B. Ravinder Reddy
Hyderabad, India

I agree with Fareed Zakaria's view that we need to adopt a more differentiated approach to radical Islam. We should indeed recognize that a large majority of Muslim militants--which the Bush administration treated as global jihadists--are, in fact, pursuing local agendas and do not pose an immediate threat to Western security. Allowing them to emerge on the political scene might be the best way to undermine the resentment and antagonism that the United States has created by imposing Western views on Muslim societies via its support of autocratic regimes. Ultimately, they might indeed be "our salvation from future 9/11s." I agree that we need to engage radical Islam by focusing on noncombative policies that will advance our values.
Pierre Gussing
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Fareed Zakaria's article on radical Islam should be mandatory reading by all democratically elected governments. Having lived under the rule of moderate Islam for nearly 20 years, I can attest to it being the most dangerous ideological threat to democracy the world has ever seen. The pages of the Qur'an and the Hadith are the basis for a theocratic method of government with the goal of forcing the whole world to submit to it. Let us not forget that Islam means submission. Without the ability to expose Islam's dark side, we are stripped from debating and dealing with what is an ideological issue. Open discussion during the Reformation stripped out the rot within the church, making it purer and stronger in the spiritual sense. Islam needs to enjoy the same process before they plunge Europe--albeit through democratic means due to their explosive population growth--into a new dark age. We ignore Islam at our peril.
Jo Couer
via internet

Upside to the Economic Downturn
Thank you to Sharon Begley for her March 16 article "The Recession's Green Lining." Having worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in developing countries over the years, most recently in El Salvador, I have seen firsthand how big foreign companies exploit workers for low wages, exploit the land and contaminate the environment because there is no regulation or enforcement of laws. We hear about poor working conditions abroad and environmental ruin, but to see it up close sensitizes you in a very lasting way. Although I have thought about how the global economic state will likely cause the closure of these dirty factories, I find myself not stating what Begley courageously did--that there are positives to the economic downturn. The demand for cheap goods at whatever cost to the environment, human life and dignity might just be changing.
Mary Welge
Blairstown, New Jersey