So reports the Financial Times—and one big reason is the war in Iraq. Major religious figures, significant theologians of the Islamic world, who previously supported al’Qaeda and its jihadist ideology are now turning against it and denouncing it; what’s more, the “awakening” that began in Anbar province of Iraq, as the people of Anbar turned to side with the US against al’Qaeda, has spread. For all those on the left who have insisted that the invasion of Iraq has done nothing but turn the hearts of people in the Middle East against us, crucially, it is al’Qaeda that is “losing the war of minds”—and if we will stay the course, that could make all the difference.
