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Tony Blair: "The West Is Asleep on the Issue of Islamist Extremism"
(Telegraph-UK) Charles Moore - According to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, since September 11, 2001, the power of the bad ''narrative" of Islamist extremists that ''the West oppresses Islam" has grown. That narrative seeks ''supremacy, not coexistence." He fears that ''the West is asleep on this issue," and yet it is the biggest challenge. The Middle East ''won't achieve democracy unless it understands that democracy is a way of thinking as well as voting. The key question is how the majority treats the minority." The West, he says, has been too slow to help the people of Iran: ''The people would undoubtedly boot their government out at the ballot box if they could. It is important they know we are prepared to help them. A Persian spring would be very welcome."