E Pluribus Unum

(Cross posted at Daily Kos)

Winning the war of ideas against Islamic fundamentalism isn't going to be easy. But when are some people going to realize that we can't win it if we become more like them?

Case in point:

People are up in arms because UK teachers are dropping the Holocaust from their curricula to avoid offending Muslims.

But are we any better here at home? Apparently not. I just read that Robert Gates and Condi Rice are warning Nancy Pelosi against a Congressional vote to classify the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government early in the 20th century as genocide.

The reason?

Turkey remains an indispensable partner to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping our troops accomplish their mission to combat terrorism and build security in both of these young democracies...When the French National Assembly in October 2006 voted in favor of a bill that would criminalize denial of the events of 1915, the Turkish military cut all contacts with the French military and terminated defense contracts under negotiation. A similar reaction by the elected government of Turkey to a House resolution could harm American troops in the field, constrain our ability to supply our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan...

What bastards. What fear-mongering, shameless, bastards.

Now, let me be perfectly clear here: the French law criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocide is just as stupid as the Turkish law criminalizing any "insult to Turkishness" that might occur by talking openly about the genocide.

That said, let Pelosi's bill sail through Congress and be signed by the President, the sooner the better.

And tell Gates and Rice to sit down and shut up. Even if France and Turkey haven't heard of the First Amendment, we cannot afford to ignore it here at home...

....otherwise the terrorists really will have won, you know?