But apologetics are what we get. Take the reading list that Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, our new commander in Iraq, has given senior staff. It whitewashes jihad, dhimmitude and sharia law with the works of apologists Karen Armstrong and John Esposito. No Bat Ye'or, the pioneering scholar of dhimmitude; no Ibn Warraq, an ex-Muslim scholar who has chronicled the testimonies of individuals who have risked death to leave Islam; nothing from Islamic experts Robert Spencer, Daniel Pipes or popular historian Paul Fregosi; nothing from journalist Oriana Fallaci; not even any work of the widely acclaimed and prolific historian Bernard Lewis. Ignorance before 9/11 was bad enough; perpetuating that ignorance is inexcusable.
Because not learning about it, not talking about it doesn't make the threat of violent Islam go away.
I found it wickedly ironic that around the time the Web site Islam Online claimed Fox television decided "to remove some stereotypical aspects about American Muslims" from its terrorism series "24" -- whose hero, after defusing the terrorist threat from Bosnia, South America, Germany and corporate America, now battles honest-to-goodness Muslim terrorists -- real-life news broke about the vicious murders of a Coptic Christian family whose bound and gagged bodies, slit throats and stab wounds on a Coptic cross tattoo immediately raised fears that the crime may have been Islamic in nature, a slaying of "infidels" -- in Jersey City. I say "may have been": The crime is under investigation, as motives ranging from religious hatred to robbery to revenge are tested by investigators.
But the possible execution angle gives pause nonetheless: Around the time the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) was charging Fox with perpetuating terrorist stereotypes, stereotypical terrorism may well have been taking place.
Fox spokesman Scott Grogan, meanwhile, has told me there have been no changes made to the series -- "to date." He revealed nothing of the network's meeting with CAIR, three of whose officials, Robert Spencer reminds on frontpagemag.com, have been arrested on terror-related charges. Spencer learned from an "informed source" that "24" will "feature an American Muslim character that CAIR would find more to their liking."
Cause for celebration? Michael Meunier, president of the U.S. Copts Association, told me a disconcerting tale of being invited, vetted (three pre-interviews) and scheduled to appear with Fox's Greta van Susteren to discuss the Copt slayings -- before being canceled immediately after his lengthy radio interview with Michael Reagan. Did Meunier say the "wrong" thing? Is America now the land of the "wrong" thing to say? If we grow too accustomed to missiles on the Mall, the answer may be truly terrifying.