The challenge is to lend conviction even to the voices which advocate views I find personally abhorrent, whether they are political Islamists or officers justifying a coup.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The best way to demonstrate the values of a western democracy is you put Osama bin Laden on trial; you challenge what he says.
The threat from terrorists - from extreme ideologies - needs to be challenged head-on.
It is not enough to tackle the mechanics of terror organizations. We must also tackle the situations that create terrorists. We desperately need to address the frustration, the loss and the despair that drive some to these actions.
Confronting and undermining the narratives and ideas of extremism must therefore be one of our key tasks. To do this, we must retain the courage of our convictions in the face of extremism.
It is a struggle for the minds of the people... No cause justifies recourse to terrorism.
The challenge for Muslims in America is to respect the fears of ordinary people while resisting the exploitation of those fears by political parties, lobbies and sectors of the media. To meet this challenge, Muslims must reassess their own involvement, behavior and contributions in American society.
But the threat posed by the radical Islamists represents an unusual conflict, unlike any experienced by our nation before: we face an enemy that is not a state.
You can gesture at the transnational problem of Islamist terrorism all you like, but it's just hot air unless you invest in proper security on the ground in your own country, with the right safeguards to civil liberties.
A people inspired by democracy, human rights and economic opportunity will turn their back decisively against extremism.
Under questioning, a terrorist should be made to yield.