Why US response is muted
Reader comment on item: Are We Safer?

Submitted by William J. Sturm (United States), Apr 30, 2002

I believe the American response has been muted on this subject for three primary reasons:

l. America is the land of religious tollerance. No way do the people want to start pointing fingers at other religious groups. That just would not be right. It could raise the fever of the anti-christian groups in U.S. who advocate separation of Church and State along with taxation of church property, etc.

2. American are truly frightened of what this movement could ultimately mean. So, if one hides his head in the sand, maybe the problem will just go quietly away.

3. The last reason is strictly political. The U.S. is now on a continous re-election mode of operation. Elections mean only one thing: the possible loss of political power. Thus, the government refuses to tackle difficult problems because there is a large risk voters are going to be offended. Compromise and weak legislation is the order of the day. No politician ever makes a difficult decision anymore. A committee is assigned the task so that no one can be blamed. Two good examples are the U.S. Military Base Closings and the Social Security Debacle.

U.S. is the only super power. What does that tell you about the future course of world affairs?

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.