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Muslim World Must Declare Zero Tolerance for Militant Jihadists

It is Muslims, not the West, who are paying the highest price for Islamist militancy.
Graduating soldiers from the Saudi special forces' anti-terror unit demonstrate their skills in protecting VIPs under attack in  Riyadh May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed   (SAUDI ARABIA POLITICS) - RTXI8T2

Islamo-fascism is a malicious term. It is meant to draw an analogy between the doctrines of contemporary militant Islamist groups and those of the defeated World War II Axis powers. Primarily used by people who are experts on neither Islam nor fascism, the term intends to stoke fears of "Islamic" armies marching across the world, oppressing non-Muslims and imposing Sharia. That is, unless they are first "stopped."

While this narrative bolsters the argument of Islamist militants, who maintain that the West is waging a "crusade" against Muslims everywhere, Muslims are in dire need of a paradigm shift: They must re-evaluate the centrality of the doctrine of "jihad" in Islam, and consider its militant variant as more than a source of tension with the West.

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