7/28/2019 Christopher Hitchens

1/2

1

Christopher Hitchens: At the same time, he was attracted to the foreign policy ideas of some on the Republican

right that promoted pro-liberalism intervention, especially the neoconservative group that included Paul

Wolfowitz.[ That Bleeding Heart Wolfowitz", Slate, 22 March 2005] In 2004, Hitchens stated that

neoconservative support for US intervention in Iraq convinced him that he was "on the same side as the neo-

conservatives" when it came to contemporary foreign policy issues.[ Johann Hari, "In Enemy Territory: An

Interview with Christopher Hitchens", The Independent, 23 September 2004.] Hitchens had also been known to

refer to his association with "temporary neocon allies".[Christopher Hitchens, "The End of Fukuyama", Slate, 1

March 2006] Christopher Hitchens argued the case for the Iraq War in a 2003 collection of essays entitled A LonShort War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq, and he held numerous public debates on the topic with George

Galloway["George Galloway vs Christopher Hitchens (1 of 12)". YouTube 26 April 2011.] and Scott Ritter.

[ "Christopher Hitchens versus RitterIraq War debate part 1". YouTube. 30 April 2009. Retrieved 26 April

2011.]

Sam Harris: While Harris is "extremely critical of all religious faiths", he asserts that the doctrines of Islam are

uniquely dangerous to civilization,[ ^ a b c "Sam Harris: Bombing Our Illusions". Huffington Post. 2005.

Retrieved 5 July 2010.] stating that unlike Jainism, Islam "is not even remotely a religion of peace".[ Don,

Katherine (2010). "'The Moral Landscape': Why science should shape morality."Salon (Oct. 17). Retrieved on

2011-12-01] Harris denounced New York mayor Bloomberg's and President Obama's support of allowing thePark51 Islamic center to be built. In an opinion piece to The Washington Post, Harris claims that allowing the

Islamic center to be built would be seen as liberal "cowardice", arguing that "Islam simply is different from othe

faiths" and should be changed "for the better". In the same piece, Harris states that there is no legal basis for

stopping the community center from being built, nor should there be one.[ Harris, Sam (August 13, 2010). "Wha

Obama Got Wrong About the Mosque". The Daily Beast. The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company LLC.] Harris

said in 2004: "It is time we admitted that we are not at war with terrorism. We are at war with Islam."[ ^ "Major

survey challenges Western perceptions of Islam". Agence France-Presse. 2008-02-27.] Suggesting that the Qur'a

and the hadith incite Muslims to kill or subjugate infidels, and reward such actions with paradise (including 72

virgins), Harris believes Islam is a religion of violence and political subjugation. He asserts that the liberal

argument of stating that the phenomenon of religious extremism is a consequence of fundamentalism in and of

itself is false, and that many other religions such as Jainism have not experienced the same trends Islam and

Christianity have. Harris considers martyrdom as taking the "sting out of death" and a source of peril. He rejects

arguments that suggest such behavior is a result of extremist Muslims, not mainstream ones. He argues that the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons not because the cartoons were derogatory but because "most Muslims

believe that it is a sacrilege to depict Muhammad at all".[35] Harris maintains that the West is at war with

"precisely the vision of life that is prescribed to all Muslims in the Koran, and further elaborated in the literature

of the hadith".[ Harris, Sam (2004). The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. W.W. Norton

& Company.]pp. 109110. He demands that Muslims "must tolerate, advocate, and even practice ethnic

profiling" in the fight against terrorism.[ "Sam Harris: Bombing Our Illusions". Huffington Post. 2005. Retrieve5 July 2010] Harris has stated that Israel holds the "moral high ground" compared to Muslims and Islamist group

in the PalestinianIsraeli conflict: For instance, [liberals] ignore the fact that Muslims intentionally murder

noncombatants, while we and the Israelis (as a rule) seek to avoid doing so. Muslims routinely use human shield

and this accounts for much of the collateral damage we and the Israelis cause; the political discourse throughout

much of the Muslim world, especially with respect to Jews, is explicitly and unabashedly genocidal. ... Given

these distinctions, there is no question that the Israelis now hold the moral high ground in their conflict with

Hamas and Hezbollah.[The Rational Response Squad. "Head-in-the-Sand Liberals by Sam Harris | The Rational

Response Squad". Rationalresponders.com. Retrieved 2012-09-09.]

7/28/2019 Christopher Hitchens

2/2

2

Ibn Warraq: Anders Behring Breivik is by all accounts an intelligent individual, wealthy and from a privileged

background. He believes Europe is under assault, that it is being colonized by the hordes of the evil green

menace known as Islam and that Europes leaders are responsible for the onslaught. He believes this despite th

fact that there are no Muslim Armies occupying ANY European nation, there are no Muslim Armies that have s

up bases in ANY European nation. How did he come to the irrational conclusion that his very way of life was

under imminent threat? His inspiration can be gleaned from the words of his manifesto, 2083: A European

Declaration of Independence. In his own words he was inspired by Andrew Bostom, Robert Spencer, Bat Yeor,

Pamela Geller, Geert Wilders, Ibn Warraq, Serge Trifkovic, the so-called Vienna School and a plethora of othIslamophobes and anti-Muslims.

111Many initial news stories hypothesized the attack had been undertaken by Islamic terrorists, such as those wh

had masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.[ Lou Michel, Dan Herbeck. American Terrorist,

Harper: New York, 2001 p. 249.] Some responded to these reports by attacking Muslims and people of Arab

descent.[ Edward Linenthal, The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory. New York: Oxford

University Press, 2001 p. 140. ]