Moderate Shmoderate

Around a year ago, Fareed Zakaria had a cover story  in Newsweek that sought to sell us on the possiblity of "Learning to live with radical Islam"--a non-starter if there ever was one. One undies bomber and a shrink mass-murderer later, it is clear that, for infidels, there's simply no living with radical Islam. Dying--yes; living--not so much.

Another year, another feeble tack. This time Fareed is assuring us that Islam's internal jihad is over, and that --hurray!--the "moderates" have won.

Alas, the sticking point, as always, is the definition of "moderate". To Fareed, a "moderate" Muslim is one who isn't prepared to use violence to further sharia. To those who have there wits about them, that's not nearly good enough. The only definition they're prepared to accept is this: "A moderate Muslim is one who outright rejects and repudiates the primacy of sharia." Such a definition would exclude, for example, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Society of North America all those other alleged "moderates" who remain committed to sharia being numero uno, but who have figured out that the best way to advance their agenda in the North America is to play the game of "human rights" and "interfaith" amity.

One person who's wise to the lies: ex-Muslim Wafa Sultan. At the lauch of a new organization aimed at putting the brakes on "jihad is the way; sharia is the goal," Sultan warns about the "moderate" Muslims who have insinuated themselves into the corridors of power in furtherance of sharia:

While hiding behind a face of moderate Muslims, these astute jihadists have reinvented themselves as mainstream civil rights activists despite their many past declarations of Islamic supremacy. They play a key role in formulating U.S. government policy for the War on Terror. They deflect any responsibility for Islam's belligerent actions to the present. They attempt to silence those who question the worst aspects of Islamic law.

So who are you going to believe--the apologist for Islamism or the chick with the many fatwas on her head? As far as I can tell, there's no contest.