Your second step: "Promoting moderate Muslims"
Reader comment on item: A New Round of Anger and Humiliation: Islam after 9/11

Submitted by Adri Nara (United States), Jun 9, 2002 at 15:29

Your article is thought provoking. It would be interesting to get feedback from Muslims, moderate or otherwise, especially on your paradigm shift in the Islamic world, following US' strong retaliation. (By the way, I do not see a lot of feedback, especially negative, from Muslims on your columns. You may want to elaborate your editorial policy on comments.)

You make an important statement that the second of two steps to weaken militant Islam (Is there really a nonmilitant version that is authentic to the teachings of Muhammad?) is for the US to promote moderate Muslims. I would have liked you to elaborate on this in some detail, since I am thinking that neither the government nor the lay public have really understand what this means. I will even recommend that you make this a standalone subject of an article in the very near future.

At least two possible strategies come to my mind:

i) The US government should appoint an influential moderate Muslim to a senior level position in the new department of homeland security - level of Asst or Undersecretary. Also populate more down the ranks at the working level.

ii) The media should also appoint moderate Muslims as advisors or analysts - e.g., Mansoor Ijaz who is now with Fox News. Avoid Muslim apologists in denial, there are too many of them, and too often they get into cyclical arguments.

I'll leave it to experts such as you to create a larger laundry list.

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