Bestselling author Dinesh D’Souza sat down with Townhall.com to discuss his recently released book, The Enemy At Home – The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, where he shows the connection between the cultural left’s attack on traditional American values and the growing hostility by Muslim extremists towards the United States.
Townhall.com: When did you first recognize the inherent connection between our “enemy at home” and our enemies abroad? And what ultimately compelled you to write this book?
DSOUZA: Initially I did not see the connection because, like a lot of other conservatives, I was trapped in Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” model. If you adopt this then there are only two sides: us and the Muslims. But when you realize that our side is divided into left and right, and their side is divided into traditional Muslims and radical Muslims, then the equations change. The Islamic radicals and the American left are polar opposites in the kind of society they want. One wants sharia and the other wants a libertine society with abortion on demand and gay marriage. And yet, the two have a common interest in defeating Bush’s war on terror.
This book grew out of a study that I began after 9/11 on the Islamic thinkers who are shaping radical opinion in the Muslim world. I realized that what these people were saying was entirely different than the motives ascribed to them by both the American right and the American left.
TH: How do you distinguish the “cultural left” from the Democratic Party and liberals in general? Who are the most influential and most damaging leaders within this movement?
DSOUZA: By the cultural left I mean the left wing of the Democratic Party. I am referring to people like Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank, George Soros, Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, and Cindy Sheehan. I also want to include various left-wing organizations such as the ACLU, moveon.org and so-called human rights groups like Human Rights Watch. There are also some Republicans who take a left-wing stance on foreign policy and social issues, and so they too fall into this camp.
TH: Why is the cultural left so reluctant to fight the terrorists and export “a more liberal set of values, such as self-government, minority rights, and religious tolerance?” How have cultural relativ