Is Islam at war with the West? A number of voices, from Harvard political scientist Samuel P. Huntington to the exiled Saudi radical Osama bin Laden have answered yes. The ruthless and deadly attack of September 11 has led to a new wave of enthusiasm in the U.S. for Huntington’s claim that there is a “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West and that Islamic civilization is, by its very nature, hostile to Western values. There is no doubt the suicide bombers hated the civilization symbolized by their targets: the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, and, most probably, the Capitol or White House. The attitudes and pathologies they exhibited certainly represent a serious threat.