If ‘political Islam’ poses a potential threat to American interests, it is not the kind of phenomenon against which the Pentagon has been conditioned to defend. Nor should it necessarily be viewed in adversarial terms. A persuasive argument can be made that by treating Islamic fundamentalism as the latest “ism” (following the collapse of Communism) to be accorded the status of national adversary, the United States would only elevate and crystallize anti-American passions in the Islamic world – to say nothing of the offense it would cause millions of patriotic, taxpaying Muslim Americans.
One need not theorize about new kinds of threats, however, to see that a traditional military conflict engaging American interests could again arise in the Middle East.
