This is no different than political comment, etc.  Scholars, commentators and satirists [i] have pointed out the hypocrisy of current US strategy in the Islamic world. They have also pointed out that the only rational response to overwhelming American military superiority in terms of hardware is the kind of warfare being undertaken by insurgents from Bagdad to Kabul. None of them are in prison.  Mainstream politicians have called for an immediate withdrawal of American troops and the claims emanating from the right of the Republican Party that doing so ‘gives succour to America’s enemies’ now sounds as shrill as they do bizarre. Yet none of them are in prison.  Ministers of God, political activists and intellectuals have raised the issue of the loss of life among civilians in the Muslim world and the questionable justification of those losses on the grounds of national security. And yet they remain at liberty.  America’s allies around the world have questioned the continued presence of US troops in the region and, in many cases, withdrawn their own - and–if removing troops from the fight is not aiding the enemy, it would be difficult to imagine what might be. Despite this, leaders of these nations are honoured guests when they visit the Whitehouse.  There may well be those on the American Right who would happily imprison all of these groups but the reality is that they remain at large. For the sake of consistency, if nothing else, Tarek Mehanna should join them [ii] .  [i] The Christian Science Monitor. Sahar Aziz. Punishing Muslims for free speech only helps Al Qaeda. 19 April 2012.  [ii] The Guardian. Ross Caoputi. Tarek Mehanna: Punished for speaking truth to power. 16 April 2012.