our generation's war

Tom Brokaw was at Fordham University yesterday for an interview in front of a student audience. During the interview he was asked about the long-term impact of the Iraq War on our generation. His answer peaked my interest and brought to mind a question which I have been thinking about for some time. I thought to share his response and the question here for discussion.

Brokaw: "What I do believe—and people should be aware of this—is that Islamic rage is real. There is—there are too many people in the Islamic world who believe the only way they can be faithful is to join jihad against the West and attack all that we all hold dear, the Western ideal of modernity and pluralism and rule of law and tolerance for other faiths. That has not gone away. In many ways it‘s been exacerbated, I believe, by what‘s been going on in Iraq.

The demographics are frightening. The population growth within the Islamic world is exponential. I go to Pakistan a lot, as you know, and spend a lot of time up at the border with Afghanistan. And as I go through Peshawar and those other places outside of Islamabad, I see all of these young people in the streets, and they‘re giving getting married and giving birth to more young Muslims.

They have not many prospects for jobs. There is really no public education system in Pakistan that can compete with the madrassas, which are the religious schools. And in the religious schools, the mullahs say the way to heaven is to attack the west. So these are difficult circumstances. And you can‘t solve it just military."

Brokaw argues that many Muslims believe that their religion requires them to attack the United States because of our commitment to modernity, pluralism, religious freedom, and the rule of law.

This is not an uncommon analysis of the Muslim world, and I'm sure it doesn't surprise any of you to hear that a man of stature, seriousness, and respect has voiced it; indeed, many such men have.

I wonder if he's right. Clearly, the poverty, poor educational system, lack of civil rights, and gender discrimination (to name a few) point to a problem with the Islamic world. (Certainly these problems are not unique to the Muslim nations.) So I guess my question is, To what extent, if any, does the Muslim religion contribute to these problems? Is Brokaw right; does the Muslim religion require people to "join jihad against the West?" If it does not, then why do so many Muslims believe that their religion requires them to do so? Why do "the mullahs say the way to heaven is to attack the west?"

I ask these questions because I genuinely don't have an opinion on this issue due to my complete lack of knowledge of Islam. I'm sure that many of you know much more about this than I do.

I would encourage the current RAs to join in the discussion as opposed to exclusively talking about this at my desk during office hours!