Daniel Pipes speaks out against anti-Islamic tone in the Ground Zero debate

An artist's drawing of the proposed Islamic Center near Ground Zero

Americans Wake Up to Islamism...but -Daniel Pipes

The debate is as unexpected as it is extraordinary. One would have thought that the event to touch a nerve within the American body politic, making Islam a national issue, would be an act of terrorism.

Personally, I do not object to a truly moderate Muslim institution in proximity to Ground Zero; conversely, I object to an Islamist institution being constructed anywhere.

Ironically, building the center in such close proximity to Ground Zero, given the intense emotions it aroused, will likely redound against the long-term interests of Muslims in the United States.

The Islamic center controversy represents its emergence as a political force, offering an angry, potent reaction inconceivable just a decade earlier.

But I have one concern: the increasing anti-Islamic tone.

Misled by the Islamists' insistence that there can be no such thing as "moderate Islam," [critics of the mosque] often fail to distinguish between Islam (a faith) and Islamism (a radical utopian ideology aiming to implement Islamic laws in their totality).

This amounts not just to an intellectual error but a policy dead-end. Targeting all Muslims conflicts with basic Western notions, lumps friends with foes, and ignores the inescapable fact that Muslims alone can offer an antidote to Islamism.

As I often note, radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the solution.
[National Review Online]
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