Customer Reviews

The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11

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I have read and reread Mr. D'souza'a new book as well as many of the Amazon reader's reviews. I can see how upsetting the author's book can be to a person who's deeply held - "secular beliefs" bordering on religion - are scrutinized and criticized from a devote Muslims perspective.

Mr. D'souza is not a Muslim however he has spent the last 4-years studying the sermons, speeches and writings of Muslim leaders. The author has not just explored contemporary Islam but has delved into the history of this great religion to better inform the reader in identifying who Muslims really are, moderate and fundamentalist both. All to answer the perplexing question, "Why they hate us?"

Do they hate us for our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, our free market economy or that McDonald's restaurants are springing up all over the world? The short answer is no. Nor do they hate us for our freedom. They hate us for how we USE our freedom. They hate is because we have inundated the Middle East and much of the third world with a pervasive, immoral secular based culture that threatens the very foundation of their culture and traditions. If America were under such an attack we would hate the purveyor as well.

Leftists, liberals, atheists and secular crusaders of all stripes will not hear and will not consider that Mr. D'souza may be on to something. Many will scoff and criticize the author without giving his view a fair hearing, as to do so would undermine deeply held convictions that the left in America believes are above criticism. Anyone considering the authors points with merit will immediately be branded, a bigot, racist, homophobe or misogynist. Since the left will not have a logical argument against Mr. D'souza they will use invective as a defense, it is the only defense they have.

I recommend this book to anyone that is open minded enough to consider rational argument.

It seems that every reviewer here read an interview, or saw the author on Comedy Central, then rushed to write a review here loaded only with a vague concept of this book's central themes.

First, it should be noted that the author talks about the motivation behind the book, that in today's public discourse there is very little focus on the cultural aspects of America that could be fomenting hate and terrorism against us. There was a void on the subject which he has filled; as he says, "let the debate begin."

Now whether you ultimately agree with him or not, this IS a debate worth having, not just as it affects our current conflict, but as it informs us as a nation to take a good hard look in the mirror at times.

Many people, usually liberal but not always, are often eager to discuss "why" people hate us, and what WE have done to create such enemies that would be willing to become martyrs in a struggle to defeat us. There is a vague sense that maybe we HAVE done something to earn the title of "great satan," but there's a difficulty in expressing what this is.

Perhaps it is our military dominance, our heavy-handed diplomacy, or our choice of friends. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Often it comes down to our support of Israel. But to say a discussion concerning how we achieved the status of enemy #1 in the muslim world is absurd is to ignore many current discussions now taking place.

I encourage people to HAVE this conversation, even if you don't agree with it; it is well worth having. I can say that I have had it, in large part with a group of friends of mine from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. We talk about this topic all the time, and I find what they have to say very credible.

First, many of them grew up watching our TV - I had no idea that 90210 and Cosby played in Turkey and Jordan, but they do. My friends came here because they love America, many people in the Middle East do, even while being conflicted about our culture.

Just as our military and diplomatic weight affects nearly every country in the world, so does our culture. In many of these countries, and others in Asia, there is a sincere and well-founded fear in the effects of American culture on their country, and extremists have seized upon these fears and exploited the concerns of many, especially the religious.

But even in non-religious countries such as China, there is a fear that openness with the West will lead to cultural degradation, a breakdown of family and community, and lead to a moral rotting.

These countries on a regular basis make sure their citizens are aware of the many problems in America; from high illegitimacy, to prostitution, to single parenthood, to drug use, and on and on and on. These people love America, but also fear it. They fear what it will do to them as individuals, as well as their culture. In large part, these people agree with many in middle America who regularly cast their vote for politicians who simultaneously vocally stand against moral corruption in our culture.

To say that these fears are not seized upon by our enemies in a PR campaign to defeat us is to stick your head in the sand. Of course they do, and in fact are at the root of why it is often easy to turn great chunks of the population against us. The Soviet Union has been heavy-handed militarily in the Middle East for years, but they have never earned the status of being a "great satan" because they never exported their culture.

Now look at today's left in America. They hate Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and every (hypocritical) religious conservative and there Philistine ideas about women, abortion, gays, etc. "Why, they are just a bunch of closed-minded, bigoted, religious fundamentalists!"

But is America's left as scornful of Islamic fundamentalists, who make Jerry Falwell look like Jane Fonda by comparison? Hardly, in fact there is often sympathy for them. The current leader of Iran denies the Holocaust and threatens Israel daily - but where is the outcry against him? The Democrts in Congress attack Bush when he stands up to Iran, not the other way around. New York Times journalists discuss why Ahmenididjad is such a "puzzling" figure.

This guy is a dangerous madman, but he doesn't deserve harsh condemnation from the LEFT; he deserves "understanding." Nice.

Have a look at this book, at least with an open mind. See what it says both about us and our enemies. While I tend to see as the people that want to kill us as the "enemy" we should be mindful of the cultural signals we send that identify our ultimate intentions as a society.

For aiding this discussion, this book deserves more than passing attention or scorn.

D'Souza is onto something here. His thesis, that Muslim terrorists hate America because of our permissive (degenerate) society, has more than a grain of truth. It's hardly conjecture: Bin Laden said as much in his Letter to America in 2002: "we call on you to abandon fornication, adultery, gambling, and usury." It is the realization of this often missed variable that makes the Enemy at Home a necessary read.

Unfortunately, D'Souza regrettably grapples with only part of the reason for anti-American hatred. Al-Qaeda also hates our support of Arab secular dictators and our support of Israel. D'Souza barely mentions those causes, and this lack of understanding gravely weakens the book's impact. Nor do I agree with his support for the Iraq war as necessary to fight Bin Laden. The main opponent in Iraq now is Iran. If U.S. troops left, Iran, not Al-Qaeda would be the main player there.

Overall, while I do recommend reading it, I urge the reader not to accept The Enemy at Home as the final word on the subject.

This book is extremely well written. D'Souza makes a strong case that radical Muslims hate America not for our economic imperialism, but because of our "cultural imperialism". In his view, our nation's numerous liberal leaders are perceived by other more traditional cultures as not being content to spread abortion, homosexuality and pornography to every corner of our own country-they also want to spread it to every corner of the globe by using the UN, NGO's and our military. The traditional religions of the world (like Islam) take great offense to this for obvious reasons.
I'm not sure how long Mr. D'Souza has lived in the U.S., but I feel that he has an incredibly accurate perspective on our "culture war": liberal vs. conservative, blue vs. red, and atheism vs. religion. He didn't convince me on all of the points that he tried to make, but he suceeded on the vast majority. He's equally hard on the radical Muslims, pointing out their own inconsistencies, hypocrisies and questionable morals.
D'Souza also makes a great case for how the Clinton Administration sowed the seeds for the 9/11 attack. His book is a unique look at the current conflict in the Middle East and its origins. His ideas suggest that this conflict won't be resolved as long as foriegners perceive our society as a group of aggressive, godless liberals in search of unlimited personal freedoms.

Six years after the attack of September 11, 2001, Dinesh D'Souza presents a rationale for the attack by Muslim extremists on our country. With his customary lucid writing style and clarity of composition, he hypothesizes that liberal, left-wing, and radical Americans are indirectly responsible for the attack, hence the title "The Enemy At Home."

He constructs the following: The "moral decay" promoted by leftist Americans brought a rise in terrorism to strike at our cultural wickedness. He concludes that the attacks would not have occurred if our "left wing influence" did not permeate American culture or Muslim media. In short, left-leaning Americans are responsible for how extremist Muslims think, and more importantly, how they behave. By this logic, we caused the Japanese to attack us at Pearl Harbor because we cut off their supply of oil.

Next, he accuses a liberal press of undermining the administration's effort to win the "war on terrorism" in Iraq by not reporting enough of the positive things that we are achieving there. This reflects a distinct change in his writing since he wrote the "End of Racism" and "What's So Great About America," where he asserted that Muslim loss of power and influence was due to their cultural pathology, that Muslims offended by our culture nevertheless, "vote with their feet" to take advantage of the economic opportunity this country provides. He also wrote that people don't want to hear about 16,000 odd planes that land safely everyday, but only want to hear about the one that crashes. And unlike this lame effort, his earlier work is full of footnotes per page, not just endnotes.

He attempts to explain away American torture and rendition claiming that PFC Lindie England was acting out her "blue state moral depravity" when she was abusing and humiliating prisoners at Abu Ghraib with unusual cruelty. This has all the logic of a psychoanalytic diagnosis made under the influence of a jug of white lightning rather than an insightful probe of the collective unconscious. He fails to mention the FACT that there is a higher rate of divorce, murder, illegitimacy, and teenage births in red states than in the morally depraved blue ones, that "traditional Muslims" in Brooklyn and neighboring New Jersey enclaves were warbling in celebration at the destruction on 9/11, or that American flags were adorning most homes and modes of transportation here in decadent New York City.

But just when you think D'Souza can't sink any lower, he does. He opines that left-leaning Americans will do anything to win the presidential election in 2008, and that means they will actively undermine the current effort of our military and administration. By this reckoning, Republicans were doing the same to our troops in Somalia and Bosnia because they wanted to win the election in 2000.

His remedy is to suggest that there is a common thread between traditional "red state" Americans and traditional Muslims, and that both should unite and eliminate this immoral American influence that "plays into the hands of al'Qaeda." This will, in the author's mind, make traditional Muslims see the light, and pressure their terrorists to give up their murderous pursuits.

Having read a number of D'Souza's works, this hypothesis has all the tinsile strength of a bed of wet kelp. It places a premium on opinion rather than empirical evidence. It reveals an appalling lack of depth and knowledge of terrorism or Islam. For those wishing to learn more about both and what happened at abu Ghraib, I strongly recommend a pass here in favor of Louise Richardson's "What Terrorists Want," General Anthony Zini's "The Battle for Peace," or Dr. Steven Miles' "Oath Betrayed."

This polemic will only leave you culturally, morally, and intellectually starved.

Normally I wouldn't read a book like this, but having a bunch of reviewers advising against reading it sent me looking for a copy. I just finished an audio version borrowed from the library and have to thank all the negative reviewers!

Great job slamming a good read! D'Souza must have touched some truths to generate such bitterness and distortions.

I'll be buying a hard copy of the book for a reference.

I found this to be a wonderful book. D'Souza is brilliant, articulate and hits the points over and over. An easy, essential read to understand how we got where we are and what we need to do to fix the problems we face with the terrorists. He describes the failures on both the left and the right. Anyone who is trying to raise a family with moral standards needs to read this book. Do not let the haters distract you from this book. It is spot on. I was amazed at his acute perception of the issues.

This is truly a unique book in that it exposes the rotteness of our society. It is an honest and clearly written page turner with so much information that I'll need to read it again after I finish. He really has done his homework, and shows it in the way that he understands where people are coming from on all sides. I really appreciate how he explains Muslim culture, values, morals, and (perspectives on the West). For instance, why is their view on homosexual behavior as equally repulsive to them as ours is of polygamy? He probes deeper into many extensive and underlying reasons as to why terrorists do what they do. I never really thought that the standard answers of why terrorists attack the West as being all that believable in themselves. The issues are much more encompassing and subjective.
I also acknowledge his portrait of Liberals (I was one). There comes a point when you have to say enough is enough. The big question of why the world hates us is really a two part question. Yes, many hate our politics but many more hate our seemingly anilmalistic behavior which is portrayed by the leftist media. Does the US/West have a conscience anymore? Barely.

This book is excellent for those who are interested in an indepth, fact based analysis of the war and the errors, on both sides of the aisle, in conducting the war. It is a worthwhile read for all mainstream Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. It appears the last reviewer missed the entire point of this book - it is not an indictment of the Democrats alone (D'souza clearly distinguishes between the far left and the Democrats) and does not leave conservatives without blame. The best aspect of this book is the call to US citizens to understand that the cultural far left (those in congress, media and politcal action groups) fear Bush more than bin Laden and is working actively against Bush to ensure U.S. failure in Iraq. D'Souza lays out a compelling case about why and how the goals of the cultural left align with those of radical muslims. This book also highlights the fact that the majority of the world views the United States as a nation in moral decline. Traditional muslims, (in contrast to radical muslims) who share many of the same value systems as the Jewish and Christian faith, are frustrated with United States apparent departure from our Judeo Christian roots. Unfortunately, they see Hollywood as the face of America and believe this amoral pop culture is being forced on their lives and belief systems in the name of "progress". In summary, this book requires many of us to tune out the media sound bites and take a good, hard look at what the far left is doing specifically to undermine the war, what the conservative base is failing to do to combat this enemy at home and appeal to the traditional muslims around the world, and for all of us to understand the importance of ensuring that Iraq is a success - for the security of this nation and the success of a muslim-based, peaceful democracy in the middle east.

This book made me understand why they hate us (US, Western civilization) - especially why they hate us now more than anytime in history and why the deepest hatred comes from those Muslims who know US and Europe well.

They hate the culture of decadence and immorality, that undermines basic values by insisting there are no values other than the "right" to copulate freely with anyone. Quite frankly, when D'Souza takes wildest excesses of demoralized conduct in the West and compares them to what Muslims believe and think I can understand why they fight back. They must view pushing such "values" into their countries as an attack against the core of their identity and society.

For that understanding I'm grateful to the author, since it was a thing that puzzled me. The reason couldn't be Christianity as US and especially EU are now largely atheistic, materialist societies that reject Christianity as vehemently as they reject Islam. Clearly, the attackers of 9/11 or London tube bombings were not insane or stupid or criminals (criminals are motivated by greed and usually try to survive). No, it was obvious to me they felt they fight for a noble and worthy cause. Now I can - at least to some degree - imagine what that cause might be. This is, I think, the biggest value of D'Souza's book.

Now, his proposal for a cure is irrelevant, because it will fall on deaf ears. Leftist "apostles" of "rights" understood as throwing away all traditional values won't accept it, American "right" has also largely abandoned those values and is therefore not able to defend them even at home let alone reach out to traditional (normal) cultures around the world. Pity.

I think Mr. D'Souza is one of the most interesting American political thinkers of the day. Given his young age and vigorous character I'm sure we'll get more interesting books from him. I'm now half-way through his What's So Great About Christianity and I found there the same deep points delivered in a captivating style.