Islam vs. Islamism

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Charles Krauthammer caused grave unhappiness among some of his admirers last month when, speaking on Fox News, he attacked the Dutch politician Geert Wilders. At issue was Wilders's campaign against the "Islamization" of Europe, particularly in the Netherlands. "What he says," Dr. Krauthammer charged, "is extreme, radical, and wrong":

    He basically is arguing that Islam is the same as
   Islamism. Islamism is an ideology of a small
   minority which holds that the essence of Islam
   is jihad, conquest, forcing people into accepting
   a certain very narrow interpretation [of
   Islam].
      The untruth of that is obvious. If you look at
   the United States, the overwhelming majority
   of Muslims in the U.S. are not Islamists. So, it's
   simply incorrect. Now, in Europe, there is
   probably a slightly larger minority but, nonetheless,
   the overwhelming majority are not. 

Dr. Krauthammer's was not the only voice on Fox News condemning Wilders last month. Glenn Beck hauled out the "F-word" describing Wilders as "fascist" while William Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard, warned that Wilders was a "demagogue."

So: Geert Wilders is a fascist demagogue who is extreme, radical, and (what's more) wrong. Strong words. Are they justified?

A little background. As we write, Wilders, the founder and head of the Dutch Party for Freedom, is being prosecuted by the Dutch government for "hate speech," "discrimination," and similar outrages against political correctness. (He …