The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11

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[[File:The Enemy at Home.jpg|thumb|right|165px|The front cover of ''The Enemy at Home'']]
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'''''The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11''''' ({{Isbn|9780385510127}}) is a 2007 book by [[Dinesh D'Souza]] in which he argues the attacks of [[9/11]] were primarily the results of [[social liberalism]] causing [[Islamism|radical Muslims]] to hate the [[United States]]. Although the book offers some good criticisms of the [[Islamophobia]] that was common on the right at the time, it essentially replaces that with arguments that the U.S. needs to engage in more [[social conservatism]] in order to [[Appeasement|appease]] [[Muslims]] who are equally as [[far-right]] as D'Souza and his buddies. 

Unlike most of D'Souza's other books, this one not only got large amounts of criticism from liberals, but it also received a large amounts of particularly vicious criticism from conservatives, many of whom felt as though D'Souza was blaming 9/11 on the United States, a long standing taboo in right-wing circles. ("America the Blameworthy Dinesh D’Souza Takes Place among the Serial Blame Artists," ran the headline of Victor Davis Hanson's review of the book.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120822011100/http://www.victorhanson.com:80/articles/hanson021307.html America the Blameworthy: Dinesh D’Souza Takes Place among the Serial Blame Artists] by Victor Davis Hanson (February 13, 2007) ''Victor Hanson'' (archived from August 22, 2012).</ref>)

==What is "The Cultural Left"?==
Given D'Souza feels "the cultural left" are to blame for 9/11, even writing "if you presume that they want [[bin Laden]] to win and [[George W. Bush|Bush]] to lose the war, then their statements and actions make perfect sense,"<ref name=D'Souza>''The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11'' by Dinesh D'Souza (2008) Broadway Books. ISBN 0767915615.</ref>{{rp|289}} it's important that one defines exactly who that includes.

On the first page of the book, D'Souza says they are "the left wing of the [[Democratic Party]]", but that "The cultural left also includes a few [[Republicans]], notably those who take a left-wing stance on foreign policy and social issues," before giving a list of names which that includes. Of particular interest is that one of the people listed is [[Hillary Clinton]],<ref name=D'Souza/>{{rp|1}} despite her voting in favor of the [[Iraq War#Iraq War|war in Iraq]]<ref>https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1072/vote_107_2_00237.htm</ref> and not supporting same-sex marriage at the time of the book's release.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/22/nyregion/gay-rights-group-criticizes-senator-clintons-stance-on-samesex.html</ref> (Although Clinton did come out in favor of it in 2013.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/06/hillary-clintons-gay-marriage-problem/372717/ Hillary Clinton's Gay-Marriage Problem]</ref>)

Later in the book, D'Souza makes a much more detailed list of those on the left that he is criticizing,<ref name=D'Souza/>{{rp|289-290}} but looking at the list shows little coherence. [[Cornel West]] is included, in spite of him supporting the removal of [[Saddam Hussein]] despite disliking the Bush Administration's dishonesty and [[imperialist]] ambitions.<ref>''Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism'' by Cornell West (2005) Penguin Books. ISBN 0143035835.</ref>{{rp|58, 101}} [[Salman Rushdie]] is listed, but it is hard to imagine a man who had a [[fatwa]] put out against by [[Ayatollah Khomeini]]<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/14/newsid_2541000/2541149.stm</ref>(a man who D'Souza calls "highly regarded for his modest demeanor, frugal lifestyle, and soft-spoken manner"<ref name=D'Souza/>{{rp|99}}) being a fan of radical Islam.

==The Big Picture==
D'Souza's thesis can be summed up like this: In order to deradicalize militant Muslims, those on the right should attempt to find common ground with them and fight alongside them where their interests align. Although deradicalization is a worthwhile goal, and one can applaud D'Souza for even considering the possibility while most on the right were still freaking out about a Muslim Congressman "working with our enemies,”<ref>https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/11/arguing-with-glenn-beck</ref> one must ask an important question: When does a radical Muslim stop being&nbsp;— well, radical? D'Souza consistently calls non-violent Muslims "moderate," by default, but if they hold the same views as Osama bin Laden (something which D'Souza seriously considers a possibility), then how non-radical can they really be? What D'Souza is basically asking for is that Muslims who would otherwise be [[terrorists]] join non-violent political movements he's a part of, because at the end of the day they share the exact same goals. In the end, it's still the same brand of [[authoritarianism]] being advocated for, it's just that now they're not going to implement it as violently.

==D'Souza does not understand Muslims==
For a book that argues that those on his side should attempt to find common ground with Muslims, D'Souza shows little understanding of what Muslims actually think. Early on in the book, he attacks the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] Administration for failing to provide support for the [[Shah]] of [[Iran]], blaming it for the rise of Khomeini and, with that, radical Islam.<ref name=D'Souza/>{{rp|21}} However, for somebody who thinks hostility towards Islamic values is causing terrorism, D'Souza shows massive support for a leader who was hated by the Muslims of his own country and was primarily viewed as nothing more than a U.S.-backed shill. In fact, radical Muslims from Iran engaged in terrorist attacks against the United States for exactly that reason.<ref>https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/1979-iran-and-america/</ref>

Regarding [[Israel]] and [[Palestine]], D'Souza downplays the role that the conflict plays in the radicalization of Muslims across the world, writing "Surely&nbsp;— many will insist&nbsp;— bin Laden is enraged by Israeli occupation and supports the idea of Palestinian self-determination and a Palestinian state. Yet as of this writing [[Al Qaeda]] has not launched a single attack against Israel."<ref name=D'Souza/>{{rp|101-102}} This is in spite of him writing in a defense of his book that "The charge of our enemy is… that we refuse to allow the Islamic world to freely determine its own destiny,"<ref name=Defensive2>https://www.nationalreview.com/2007/03/closing-conservative-mind-part-ii-dinesh-dsouza/</ref> and that Osama bin Laden specifically listed support for Israel as one of his reasons for attacking the United States in his 2002 "Letter to America." <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20130826184301/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver</ref> ("Why not rely on bin Laden’s own statements," asked D'Souza while defending his book in ''[[National Review]].'')<ref name=Defensive2/>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Enemy at Home}}
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Conservative deceit]]
[[Category:Propaganda]]

Categories: Books, Conservative deceit, Propaganda