SALMAN RUSHDIE editorial in today's NYT

[David Morris]

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/04/opinion/04RUSH.html

February 4, 2002

America and Anti-Americans
By SALMAN RUSHDIE

LONDON -- They told us it would be a long, ugly struggle, and so it is. 
America's war against terror has entered its second phase, a phase 
characterized by the storm over the status and human rights of the prisoners 
held at Camp X-Ray and by the frustrating failure of the United States to 
find Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. Additionally, if America now attacks 
other countries suspected of harboring terrorists it will almost certainly 
do so alone. In spite of the military successes, America finds itself facing 
a broader ideological adversary that may turn out to be as hard to defeat as 
militant Islam: anti-Americanism, which is presently becoming more evident 
everywhere.

The good news is that these post- Taliban days are bad times for Islamist 
fanatics. Dead or alive, Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar look like 
yesterday's men, unholy warriors who forced martyrdom on others while 
running for the hills themselves. Also, if the persistent rumors are to be 
believed, the fall of the terrorist axis in Afghanistan may well have 
prevented an Islamist coup against President Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan, 
led by the more Taliban-like elements in the armed forces and intelligence 
services — people like the terrifying General Hamid Gul. And President 
Musharraf, no angel himself, has been pushed into arresting the leaders of 
the Kashmiri terrorist groups he used to encourage.

Around the world, the lessons of the American action in Afghanistan are 
being learned. Jihad is no longer quite as cool an idea as it was last fall.




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