I’ve been following the weird controversy over the Cordoba Center in New York with some interest, inasmuch as it’s a fascinating example of the politics of fear.

As far as I can make out, the arguments against it seems to be that Muslims shouldn’t build a cultural centre in Manhattan because it offends some ill-defined group of other people who think all Muslims are terrorists. Usually the actual person making the case acknowledges that the Cordoba Center people aren’t terrorists, so they have to come up with some quite bizarre logical gymnastics to explain why we should disregard what they know to be the case in favour of the ill-conceived notions of ignorant people who may or may not exist.

That would be bad enough if the Cordoba Center were a neutral organisation for private worship. In fact, it’s exactly the kind of organisation that’s on the front lines of combatting terrorism. Islamist terrorist groups do exist, and they operate by brainwashing young Muslim believers into thinking that Islam is locked into an unavoidable battle with the terrible Crusaders of the West. Thankfully these groups are tiny, and their message doesn’t stand up well to the day-to-day experience of most Muslims living in the West, but it’s a constant battle within Muslim communities to contain the influence of these cultish groups. This is where the real fight against Al Qaeda is being waged, and the Cordoba Center should be seen as a fortress defending the United States against terrorism.

Because… you know who wants you to think that all Muslims are terrorists? Osama Bin laden, that’s who.