Columnist and shadow policymaker
: I’m savoring Tom Friedman’s five-column series that sets out to tell us how to win World War III:
We cannot change other societies and cultures on our own. But we also can’t just do nothing in the face of this mounting threat. What we can do is partner with the forces of moderation within these societies to help them fight the war of ideas. Because ultimately this is a struggle within the Arab-Muslim world, and we have to help our allies there, just as we did in World Wars I and II.
Read the first two column before they leap over The Times’ pay wall.
Today’s column tells us to support Turkey as a model of a moderate Islamic nation.
Friedman is a model of what an editorial columnist should be, for he reports as well as he he educates as effectively as he advocates. He is a shadow policymaker, giving us ways to take action. He doesn’t just show off his prose (see Roger Simon, below) or grouse.
