(via LGF)  Great editorial in the Duke University campus newspaper about Liberals (particularly the tenured, university kind) waking up and recognizing Islamo-fascist terrorism for what it really is.

First, the author, Bala Ambati presents an interesting declaration of "liberal" principles:

I'm proud to be a liberal. I've been a liberal all my life, espousing civil rights, environmental protection, fiscal prudence, energy independence, gun control, educational uplift, stands against military dictatorships, etc. I believe firmly in individuals thinking of causes greater than their own and translating such impulses into public policies to change society for the better.

Despite being pretty hard core libertarian w/ an occasional conservative streak, I think it's interesting how many of these issues I would actually agree with -- civil rights, enviro protection, fiscal prudence, educational uplift, standing against military dictatorships, etc. The reason I dissect this is because most "liberal declarations of belief" employ a "if you aren't liberal, then you don't believe in this list of obviously virtuous things" tactic.   I do believe in the virtuosity of educational uplift -- I just have diff ideas about how to go about achieving these goals. (an LGF commentor mentions this as well)

In any case, the remainder of the editorial is a VERY well written, argued account of liberal fallacies regarding the war against terrorism:

Read the words of Osama bin Laden's fatwas, the International Islamic Front, Mohammed Atta's farewell letter or the sermons of countless imams and clerics in the Middle East. Unlike liberals, they think not in terms of today or tomorrow, but have objectives over the next 50 years: destroying Israel, shattering India, neutralizing Europe, crippling the United States and forming an Islamic caliphate state based on sharia modeled on the Taliban from Andalusia (the Arabic word for conquered Spain in the Middle Ages) to the Philippines, with world conversion to their perverse brand of Islam to follow.

Just last night, I had dinner with a non-American "liberal" friend who was adamant that my belief that Afghanistan was better off post-Taliban was the result of a closed-minded, exclusive, shallow reading of American press drivel (I can't tell you how angry her assertion made me but I politely brushed it off and pursued normal nice dinner conversation).   Bala notes:

When liberals denounce the United States for the regrettable but minimized and unavoidable civilian casualties of U.S. action in Afghanistan, do they consider the consequences of the Taliban regime to Afghans, let alone Americans? The Taliban slaughtered 1.5 million Afghans in their reign's 5 years; US action stopped an annual murder of 300,000 Afghans, and allowed girls to go to school without being beaten!

GREAT article.    I hope Bala does a lot more writing in the future.