DSOUZA: My concern is not so much with the radical Muslims as with the traditional Muslims. The radical Muslims we have to fight. There is no alternative. But we have to persuade traditional Muslims. Why? Because traditional Islam is the recruiting pool for radical Islam. It’s not good if we kill a hundred Islamic radicals and 200 traditional Muslims sign up the next day. So we have to address traditional Muslim concerns about America. The radicals are telling them that America is a fount of global atheism, that America fosters family breakdown, that American values corrupt the innocence of children. I think it is foolish to dismiss these concerns entirely, because there is a grain of truth to them. Not all of America is like this, but it is the America that has been promoted by the cultural left, and it is the America that most Muslims see through the images of our popular culture. I think America could improve its image among people in traditional cultures, including Muslim cultures, if we showed them “the other America”: the people who go to work every day and look after their families and abide by traditional values and go to church on Sunday. Many foreigners have no idea that this America even exists.

TH: Why shouldn’t Americans immediately dismiss Islamic criticism of our culture in your newly-defined “clash of civilizations” between liberal and conservative values?

DSOUZA: Right after 9/11 there was a tendency to come together as a national tribe and write off any criticism of America and focus on destroying the enemy. That was an understandable and healthy response. But the moment of national unity hardly lasted. Pretty soon the country was divided in exactly the same way it was before 9/11. In fact, Bush’s Iraq war became a rallying cry for the opposition. So to go around today talking about a “clash of civilizations” between America and Islam is pure foolishness. What common culture unites Bush and Michael Moore? I would suggest that, in terms of core values, Bush has more in common with Ali Gomaa, the grand mufti of Egypt, than he does with Michael Moore. Traditional Jews, Muslims and Christians differ theologically but morally they are very similar. So when the American left allies with the radical Muslims, the most sensible response is for American conservatives to find common ground with traditional Muslims.

TH: What is the best advice you can offer concerned conservatives who want to win the fight against both radical Islam and the cultural left? How can conservative citizens best combat these two enemies?

DSOUZA: People often come up to me after my lecture and say, “I am a student” or “I’m a citizen” and “What can I do to fight the war on terror?” My answer is: fight the left at home. It is the left, the enemy at home, that is fighting to weaken the resolve of the American people and thus undermine Bush’s chance to win the war on terror. I conclude my book “The Enemy at Home” with several specific suggestions for how conservatives can thwart the left both here in America and abroad.

The Enemy At Home – The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11 is available at local booksellers and Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385510128/ref=nosim/townhallcom