The credentials of a cardiologist

Submitted by Dr. Eric Schnipper (United States), Jun 6, 2002 at 07:35

Dear Mr. Pipes-

While I agree with the vast majority of your comments regarding the terrible threat caused by radical fundamentalist Islam, I respectfully disagree with your statement that a "cardiologist is not an authority on the subject." Although I am currently a radiologist, I received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in American History, and was selected to be a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honors society at one of the foremost history departments in America. I have studied under Walter McDougall, Bruce Kuklick, and other luminaries.

What one currently chooses as his or her occupation has nothing to do with their level of expertise and their ability to form a cogent opinion on the subject of terrorism. I believe the cardiologist's assessment of the "Harvard jihad" controversy was wrong, and I would also submit to you that you would certainly agree that my understanding of the threat of Islamic terror is far more realistic and advanced than that of the majority of the faculty of Harvard. However, just because one is a physician does not diminish one's ability to participate in a discussion on the threat posed by glorifying the word "jihad".

-Dr. Eric Schnipper

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