Tony Blankley, author of the newly released book The West’s Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations, writes that the threat of radical Islamists taking control of Europe is comparable to the threat of the Nazis taking over Europe in the 1940’s. An internationally syndicated columnist and editorial page of the Washington Times, Mr. Blankley believes that – if current trends continue – the combination of a shrinking ethnic European population and an expanding culturally assertive Muslim population might lead to the fall of Western civilization in Europe within this century.
Speaking with host Carol Castiel of VOA News Now’s Press Conference USA, Tony Blankley said that Islamic terrorism constitutes a major danger to Western civilization. Mr. Blankley pointed out that this summer the head of Interpol said that Europe and the United States face a “real threat of a biological terrorist attack” and that neither is prepared for it.
Tony Blankley acknowledged that he is not an Islamic scholar but an “American politician turned journalist.” He said that Muslims around the world hold a wide variety of views and attitudes toward the West, and the Internet affords them an opportunity to share in a “tremendously rich debate.” But he noted that some of those “elements” are hostile.
Mr. Blankley said that, while he believes that there is a “clash of civilizations,” he also thinks there is a struggle within Islam itself between the moderates, such as Jordan’s King Abdullah, and the extremists. He said he thinks the strong British response to the July 7th terrorist attacks in London, which resulted in anti-terrorist legislation, was appropriate to the threat. But he added, that in the four years since the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, Americans have “fallen back into complacency.”
According to Tony Blankley, the West now is “at war” with Islamic jihadists and the U.S. Congress “needs to declare it constitutionally.” But he also noted that declaring war on something with no legal status, such as non-state actors, is “imperfect.” Mr. Blankley suggested that at a time when terrorists have the capacity for using weapons of mass destruction, it is appropriate for the Congress to declare war on the “ideology and people who are carrying it out.” He said that would enable officials to do what is necessary to defend the United States, including “searching and FBI interrogations.” According to Mr. Blankley, it is likely that the threat of Islamic terrorism cannot be defeated while the West “continues to adhere to its deeply held values,” such as tolerance, the right to privacy, and equal protection under the law. However, to avoid an indefinite suspension of these civil liberties, Tony Blankley proposed that each new Congress every two years could “re-vote” the war powers guaranteed by the Constitution.
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