Hanson:<\/strong>\u00a0Thanks Jamie.<\/p>\nAlmost everything about the controversy is disingenuous. Mr Rauf, the Kuwaiti-born, Western-educated physicist, and self-described Sufi cleric, heretofore has had a successful career contextualizing everything from gender apartheid in the Middle East to Sharia law and jihad, in the sense that the onus is always on Westerners not to take radical Islamists at their word or to believe what they see and hear in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The problem is that Mr. Rauf is more apt to fault Western perceptions of Islam when he resides in the U.S., but not so eager to discuss Islamic extremism when he visits his familiar turf in the gulf. He knows well that candid criticism of America earns accolades among the cultural elite here while candid criticism of radical Islam in the Middle East can earn something not so nice. By the way, that is called a sort of heroic \u201cbridge-building.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take even the silly evocation of Cordoba:\u00a0in toto<\/em>\u00a0it was not really a utopian medieval city of understanding, much less was it a city of tolerance during the Inquisition as the president alleged in Cairo (dates a little off, Mr. President). Mr. Rauf, the supposed Sufi version of Deepek Chopra, knew that, but he knew well also it was a rally cry of radical Islam to recapture al-Andalus. How wonderful \u2014 Cordoba sends a tingle up the legs of both Western liberals and radical Islamists, and for the opposite reasons!<\/p>\nIf Mr. Rauf were intellectually honest and concerned with Islamic-Christian relations of the sort that surround 9\/11, he would come up with something like the \u2018Riyadh initiative\u2019 where the problem is real and the stakes are high. But then in Saudi Arabia, he would have to drop the Sufi holy man character, and revert back to his other persona of contextualizing bin Laden and blaming the U.S. for, well, being the U.S.<\/p>\n
One also does not build bridges by plopping down an Islamic center two blocks from ground zero, or raising the money from the autocratic Gulf sheikdoms. Mr Saif, again, knows all that \u2014 and that\u2019s why he threw his cherry bomb and then sped abroad with chaos in his wake \u2014 on a state-department mission, no less, to bridge build (all this is the stuff of a Tom Wolfe novel).<\/p>\n
Maybe the Spanish could allow a mosque to be constructed at the train-station site of the Madrid bombing, or perhaps we could ask the Indonesians to put some minarets on something at the Bali sites, or the Saudis might build an Islamic center at Khobar Towers. I\u2019m sure the Muslim community of Lebanon could build a Cordoba House near the Marine barracks site. The strange thing about all this is that Muslims abroad probably think their counterparts in the U.S. are a little crazy to do such a provocative thing.<\/p>\n
Finally, note now what we are not talking about: everything from France banning the burqa and Germany shutting down mosques, and Russians leveling Grozny and Chinese at war with Islam and the occasional Islamic hunt-down in India, to the insane asymmetry of the way Christians are treated in most of the Middle East. Plopping down a 100-million dollar, 13-story, \u201cConstantinople House,\u201d say, in Cairo, near a site of radical Christian-inspired violence by self-described Christian zealots against Egyptians \u2014 funded from abroad by Christian evangelical groups \u2014 for the purpose of Christian contemplation and interfaith outreach would be of course beyond fiction.<\/p>\n
FP:<\/strong>\u00a0Obama recently entered the discussion about the proposed mosque. What do you make of his \u201ccontribution\u201d to the controversy?<\/p>\nHanson:<\/strong>\u00a0His teachable moments \u2014 the beer summit, the inanities about the Arizona law, the Sherrod mess \u2014 account in part for his slide in the polls. The public now knows:<\/p>\n(1) that the old community organizer now president will wade into any local or state issue he can, usually extraneous to his job as commander-in-chief,<\/p>\n
(2) and he will also do so in the deliberately misleading context that the majority or establishment (e.g., the Cambridge police, the state and voters of Arizona, the average New Yorker) is guilty of some illiberal sentiment, while there must be an innocent victim of some sort of -ism or -ology somewhere to be found (e.g., Professor Gates and all those innocent victims that the police stupidly stereotype, the poor illegal aliens that are snatched away while having ice cream, or poor misunderstood Mr. Rauf whom\u00a0hoi polloi<\/em>\u00a0are denying a right of religious expression);<\/p>\n(3) in the ensuing firestorm, a now petulant Obama will backtrack, try to recast his vote as \u2018present\u2019, and either blame Bush, the media, or the public for putting himself in such an unnecessary dilemma.<\/p>\n
The world is watching this Obama\u00a0modus operandi<\/em>\u00a0as it plays out here, and very soon, and very tragically, in places like North Korea, Iran, Lebanon, and the old hots spots from Taiwan to Cyprus some very bad people are taking very good notes.<\/p>\nFP:<\/strong>\u00a0If the proposed mega-mosque next to Ground Zero becomes a reality, what do you think the consequences\/fall-out will be?<\/p>\nHanson:<\/strong>\u00a0I think there will be some concrete consequences to this largely iconic act.<\/p>\n1) Mr. Rauf has seriously damaged the so-called interfaith dialogue, largely because 70% of Americans, among them the likes of Harry Reid and Howard Dean, see this location as needlessly polarizing and provocative. Is it not a very sophisticated way of gaining Mr. Rauf attention while trying to embarrass as intolerant the most tolerant nation in the world? Who wants to engage in something like that again with a so-called \u201cmoderate\u201d bridge-building imam: if Mr. Rauf is to be the prototype of a new, liberal, tolerant imam, God help us all;<\/p>\n
2) Soon we will see CDs and videos throughout the Middle East, among the radical Islamist communities, of a towering mosque juxtaposed with an empty Ground Zero, and triumphalist sloganeering to the effect that the looming tower fell and minarets arose due to the heroism of Atta & Co. How strange that the Left laughs at this imagery, while for years (in the \u201cBefore Obama\u201d era) we were told that Guantanamo was a key symbolic recruiting tool for al Qaeda;<\/p>\n
3) Within five years of completion, well after the issue has receded, the so-called Cordoba House will be known for inside the United States for what it is, a subtle reminder for Muslims of their ascendancy (in the manner of the referent \u201cCordoba\u201d itself) over an eroding and morally unsure and suspect West.<\/p>\n
FP:<\/strong>\u00a0Before we go, your thoughts on Iran\u2019s first nuclear reactor at Bushehr? Israel, it seems, is on its own now (betrayed by Obama) and is going to have to act on one way or another.<\/p>\nHanson:<\/strong>\u00a0The so-called world community is falling all over itself to \u2018contextualize\u2019 the reactor, as in reminding us that it is a legitimate act, although perhaps, in Rhineland or Anschluss fashion, slightly worrisome.<\/p>\nIn an eerie way, there is growing moral clarity on the issue: Russia is clearly encouraging proliferation on the theory that whatever is bad for us is good for them (so much for the new brilliant Obama foreign policy that \u201creset\u201d relations with Russia, through outreach to the misunderstood and wrongly demonized Putin); America is now one with Europe on the issue, a sort of slight embarrassment that the Iranians know, not just that we will not stop it, but that we will not stop it because we see ourselves as weak and morally unsure whether we even should; Israel is on its own: the script isn\u2019t even suspenseful: within 2 years, Israel strikes, the world is aghast and furious, and finger-pointing that the missiles that will come into Tel Aviv in reaction are sort of \u201cI warned you\u201d warranted, while privately everyone sighs a bit in thanks.<\/p>\n
Our best chance of stopping it was in spring 2009 when a million Iranians hit the streets. But now both dissidents and the mullocracy know that this administration not only won\u2019t say or do anything in support, but in a weird way may prefer dealing with Ahmadinejad as part of Obama\u2019s outreach to revolutionary, supposedly more \u201cauthentic\u201d leaders of the Assad\/Castro\/Chavez stripe \u2014 whom a rare, post-national, non-traditional leftist like Laureate Obama alone can parlay with, given his singular credentials.<\/p>\n
FP:<\/strong>\u00a0Victor Davis Hanson, as always an honor and pleasure to hear your wisdom. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n
\u00a92010 Victor Davis Hanson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Interview by Jamie Glazov FrontPage Magazine Frontpage Interview\u2019s guest today is Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author, most recently, of\u00a0The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[517,515,518],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-kD","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2154,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-bush-did-it-narrative-an-interview-with-vdh\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":0},"title":"Obama’s “Bush Did It” Narrative: An Interview with VDH","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Janie Glazov FrontPage Magazine FP:\u00a0Victor Davis Hanson, welcome to Frontpage Interview. I\u2019d like to talk to you today about radical Islam and the Obama administration\u2019s ability and inclination, or lack thereof, to confront it. What\u2019s the best way to begin this discussion? Hanson:\u00a0Thanks Jamie. The paradigm of discussing radical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Jamie Glazov"","block_context":{"text":"Jamie Glazov","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/jamie-glazov\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1918,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-tortured-rendezvous-with-reality-interview-with-vdh\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":1},"title":"Obama’s Tortured Rendezvous with Reality: Interview with VDH","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jamie Glazov FrontPage Magazine FP:\u00a0Victor Davis Hanson, welcome to Frontpage Interview. First things first, let me ask you this. If our government was serious about fighting Islamic terrorism and saving lives, wouldn\u2019t Abdul Mutallab be getting water-boarded just about now? We know that the use of \u201cenhanced techniques\u201d of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Jamie Glazov"","block_context":{"text":"Jamie Glazov","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/jamie-glazov\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2654,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/dupes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":2},"title":"Dupes","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamie Glazov exposes the Left's long history of cozying up to political murderers. by Bruce S. Thornton City Journal United in Hate: The Left\u2019s Romance with Tyranny and Terror\u00a0by Jamie Glazov (WND Books, 264 pp.) The long romance of Western leftists with some of the bloodiest regimes and political movements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/opinion\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2792,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-foreign-policy-disasters\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":3},"title":"Obama’s Foreign Policy Disasters","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jamie Glazov FrontPageMagazine.com FP:\u00a0Victor Davis Hanson, welcome to Frontpage Interview. What report card would you give the Obama administration in terms of foreign policy right now? Why? Hanson:\u00a0An Incomplete that at the present rate will turn into a D\/F if he is not careful. Obama has confused a number\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Jamie Glazov"","block_context":{"text":"Jamie Glazov","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/jamie-glazov\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2364,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/bullying-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":4},"title":"Bullying Israel","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Interview by Jamie Glazov FrontPageMag.com Frontpage\u00a0interviews Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and historian at Stanford University\u2019s Hoover Institution, on why the Jewish state is the only country with which the U.S. has worse relations since Obama took office. FP:\u00a0Victor Davis Hanson, welcome to Frontpage Interview. I\u2019d like to talk to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Jamie Glazov"","block_context":{"text":"Jamie Glazov","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/jamie-glazov\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2288,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/why-obama-blinked\/","url_meta":{"origin":1279,"position":5},"title":"Why Obama Blinked","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jamie Glazov FrontPage Magazine Frontpage Interview\u2019s guest Victor Davis Hanson sheds light on the unfolding drama of a president whose unpopular proposals threaten to ruin his popularity. FP:\u00a0Victor Davis Hanson, welcome to Frontpage Interview. I\u2019d like to talk to you today about Obama\u2019s retreat on healthcare and the hit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Jamie Glazov"","block_context":{"text":"Jamie Glazov","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/jamie-glazov\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1280,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions\/1280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}