| Speaking of civilization-vs.-barbarism, our sort-of allies the Saudis are on the wrong side. As Glenn Reynolds reports, they have long been using their riches to export the worst sort of Islam, even to the point of undermining the religious traditions of other Muslim nations. When Chuck Freund was recently in Lebanon, visiting his wife's Maronite Christian family, the march of "Wahabism" was what everyone was talking about. Reports yesterday from NPR said that two of the hijackers appear to have been former Saudi Air Force pilots who had actually attended exchange programs offered by the U.S. military, one at the AF War College and the other a language school. The Saudi government is illegitimate, decadent, and evil. They are not our friends, and they are at war with our values at home and abroad. Any U.S. response strategy needs to take these realities into consideration. (Virginia Postrel) |