Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair columnist and author of The Trial of Henry Kissinger
The last time I was invited to contribute to a Voice symposium, I was asked to specify the highest and lowest cultural points of the last two decades. I replied that the lowest point was the fatwah against Salman Rushdie, with the capitulation by publishing houses and many pseudo-intellectuals to the supposed imperatives of religious feeling. The high point was the ultimately successful resistance to such blackmail. I'll take this opportunity to repeat myself: The struggle against theocratic fascism is one of the main struggles of our time; it started long before 11 September 2001; no compromise with such an enemy is either possible or desirable; and those who wish otherwise, or who stand aside, or who look for excuses, will still be treated with contempt (and as if they were "collateral damage") by a resourceful foe who cannot win and who, therefore, can as well as must be pitilessly defeated. Secular democracy is not a free gift; it will require volunteers to defend itself against all enemies foreign and domestic. No time like the present.
Doubtless our friend Hitch is now cleaning his weapons and preparing for the struggle ahead. Bomb Saudi Arabia!
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