Santorum speaks on war, Islam
By Cait Speaker | November 13, 2007Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, R-Pa., spoke last night at the University about confronting what he described as the threat of radical Islam and fighting "the war against Islamic fascism." The program, aimed at raising awareness, also sparked controversy among University student groups who criticized Santorum's stance. Santorum began his speech by addressing what he considers the two greatest obstacles the United States now faces in foreign policy: first, the dwindling support of the American people in sustaining the war on Islamic fundamentalism and second, the failure of the Muslim world to confront fundamentalism. According to Santorum, the lack of support for the war can be attributed to the activities of the American left, which he said fails to recognize Islamic fundamentalism as the real enemy and the immediate severity of the threat. "Our leaders' [inability] to define the enemy leads to the second overall problem -- the Muslim community's inability to deal with other Muslims who want to spread violence," he said. Santorum stressed Americans' failure to understand the fundamental cultural differences between American and Islamic societies.
