TIME and Silvio

The following in an excerpt from a section in the most recent issue of TIME magazine, in which the editors review Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's top ten "gaffes." Each one begins with a statement made by Berlusconi and is followed by a haughty observation.

"We should be conscious of the superiority of our civilization, which consists of a value system that has given people widespread prosperity in those countries that embrace it, and guarantees respect for human rights and religion. This respect certainly does not exist in the Islamic countries."

Asserting the West's superiority to Islam just days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 struck many as emblematic of the sweeping generalizations that helped fuel the conflict in the first place. Arabs were apoplectic, and allies around the world rejected Berlusconi's comments, which undermined efforts to build a global coalition to confront terrorism. Berlusconi said his remarks were poorly translated and taken out of context.

That Berlusconi has said some jaw-dropping things in the past there can be no doubt. The link above ticks off a few of them. But what is wrong with his statement here? Would that more of our leaders speak out in a similar vein on the contributions of the western way! Western civilization absolutely does guarantee "respect for human rights and religion" in a way that is foreign to virtually every state where the majority of the population is Muslim. This may be hard for politically correct, brahmin scribblers to hear, but it is a simple fact. The pièce de résistance however is TIME's commentary on the statement. Referring to Berlusconi's generalization as part of a problem "that helped fuel the conflict in the first place" is sheer nonsense. So whose fault was it that 9-11 happened? This is merely another manifestation of the de rigueur brand of liberal self-loathing so common in the pages of TIME and Newsweek.