Twit Alert! -- Prince Charles on Islam

The Telegraph reports:

The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11.

The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.

The Prince raised his concerns when he met senior Muslims in London in November 2001. The gathering took place just two months after the attacks on New York and Washington. "I find the language and rhetoric coming from America too confrontational," the Prince said, according to one leader at the meeting.

Read it here.

A few points here. 1) For years Bush has been so sensitive with regard to Islam that his avoidance of the term had become a national joke. It is only in the past few months that he has been willing to identify our enemy as radicals who have perverted the concepts of Islam. If the Prince finds that too harsh he is little more than a stooge for the radicals who falsely claim to represent all of Islam.

2) In what alternative universe does the President control what the American press does or does not print? The strongest indictments of Islam come from a free press that publishes what it wants, and are part of an ongoing dialogue over the war and its origins. Would the Prince have President Bush simply stifle that dialogue? If so, how?

3) It is Britain, not the United States, that has instituted harsh anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim measures. Despite protestations to the contrary by radicals the United States has consistently taken a moderate and accepting position regarding its Muslim minority and clearly differentiates between radicals and other Muslims. This is true not just of the government but also of the general public. When it comes to tolerance, the US should be a model for Britain and Europe, not the other way around.

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It seems that "sophisticated" France is having a bit of trouble relating to its Muslim minority. Funny we haven't seen anything like this in the US.

Gateway Pundit is all over the story here.

TWIT UPDATE:

The Guardian reports:

Prince Charles will kick start a week long tour of the US tomorrow
night with the rather gloomy hope that people will appreciate him better when he
is dead.

He might have been referring to his reputation with parts of the
British public, but the sentiment equally applies to America.

Gee, I wonder why? Could it be because he's planning to lecture us on things about which he is absolutely clueless?

In an interview to be broadcast nationwide on CBS tomorrow evening, the
prince admits he struggles to be taken seriously in his attempts to be relevant,
and that his efforts to "make a difference" are insufficiently recognised.

I know it's not popular to say this sort of thing these days, but it's not the effort but the result that counts. If you keep on saying stupid, clueless things in public, people will think you're stupid
and clueless, and arrogant to boot.

Read Charles' complaints here.

Unfortunately, Chuck's fate is to be remembered as the perpetual king in waiting who ditched his hot psycho wife for a rottweiler.