Western responses to Islamism

This link is to a March 23 op-ed in the New York Times by Paul Berman in which he describes how Western intellectuals have succumbed to Islamist ideology. "In today's Middle East, the various radical Islamists, basking in their success, paint their liberal rivals and opponents as traitors to Muslim civilization, stooges of crusader or Zionist agression. And, weirdly enough, all too many intellectuals in Western countries have lately assented to those preposterous accusations, in a sanitized version suitable for Western consumption." His analysis is, sadly, all too accurate. But I think the 'average American,' when s/he understands the challenge, will react very differently. Anyway, read it for yourself: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/opinion/23berman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin. (Berman is the author of Terror and Liberalism, which came out in 2003.)