Attacking Islam will not win war on terror

It is essential that there is a very clear and obvious distinction between the totality of the religion of Islam, and the wrong actions of some individuals or groups claiming to be Muslims. The whole of Islam does not fall into the same horrifying bracket as members of Al Qaida who are willing to kill innocent civilians in acts of terror to further their political aims.

A few hours after the terrible attack on New York's World Trade Centre, the UAE's Foreign Minister, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, condemned the attacks as a terrorist act, and expressed his and the UAE's sympathy for the victims and support for the United States in its hour of trial.

This was a typically responsible and humane response from a leading Muslim nation. But in the following years, the steadily growing and deliberate confusion in western perceptions of radical Muslims and the totality of Islam has drowned out the voices of the normal concerned Muslim majority.

Disturbing voices like that of Professor Bernard Lewis put forward their view that the "free world" has had two great struggles: against Naziism and then Communism, and now has to fight "a third totalitarian perversion, this time Islam."

This was echoed by the extremist right-wing US president, George W. Bush, who in comments made in Crawford, Texas, in August 2006 referred to the struggle against an "Islamo-fascism" ideology that was "real and profound".

It is important that the debate in the West on the struggle against terrorism does not get muddled up with this sort of bigoted nonsense. The ridiculous ‘clash of civilisations' does not have to happen if men and women of goodwill, from all religions and all civilisations, make sure that they stay in charge of the debate, and do not allow extremists to set the agenda.