Is it time to call for a new crusade?
Not long ago, merely uttering the word “crusade” in connection with Islam was enough to provoke outrage. When George W. Bush casually referred to the coming war on terrorism as a “crusade” in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the backlash was swift enough that the administration distanced itself from the word. Considering the countless apologies, condemnations, and mea culpas concerning the crusades that Westerners have been subjected to ever since, one might have assumed that “crusade” had been permanently banished from public discourse.
