Arab world does not endorse fanatics

Hussein Ibish, the executive director of the Foundation for Arab-American Leadership writes much sense in the Chicago Tribune. He opposed the invasion of Iraq and writes convincingly that the battle against this form of (jihadist) extremism must be and increasingly is being fought by mainstream Arab and Muslim societies, although received wisdom in the United States has yet to recognize this. He notes that some activists are so focused on opposing U.S. interventions that they seem unable to grasp the profound menace this so-called jihadist movement poses to Arab and Muslim societies, two thoughts at the same time apparently being prohibitive.

Acclaimed Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy declared her unconditional support for all elements of the insurgency in a 2004 speech in San Francisco, saying: "The Iraqi resistance is fighting on the front lines of the battle against Empire. And therefore that battle is our battle." She declines to differentiate insurgent groups, or to question their methods and goals because "if we were only going to support pristine movements, then no resistance will be worthy of our purity."

The idea that standing against the war in Iraq means indiscriminately supporting everyone who has taken up arms to oppose it is odious nonsense. That is to suspend all moral and political judgment and accept a false binary that pits terrorism against imperialism as if there were no other choices. Opposition to an unwise and unjust policy should never translate into indulgence toward nihilistic ultra-right-wing killers.

For these reasons and more--as an Arab-American, a member of the American Muslim community and a staunch opponent of the war--I am glad Zarqawi is dead.