The Sept. 28 editorial “A new Iron Curtain threatens to divide” unfairly places the blame on the United States for the growing chasm between Western and Muslim societies.

The main source of conflict with the Muslim world is not due to political disagreements, but stems from a more fundamental source: moral incompatibility.

The United States’ far-left perpetuates the politically correct myth that terrorism enjoys only fringe support in the Muslim world, but numerous scientific surveys show that 25 percent to 70 percent of Muslims worldwide say they support killing non-Muslim civilians for religious and political reasons.

Americans, on the other hand, believe almost unanimously that the mass murder of civilians is neither holy nor desirable. Ideological differences as pronounced as these are inevitably going to cause rifts between our societies.

The editorial claims, “Decades of blind U.S. support for Israeli and Arab dictators have laid a solid foundation for anti-Western sentiments.”

However, in reality, the United States’ support for Israel has been neither blind nor misplaced: As the only democracy in a region scarred by the relentless suppression of human rights, Israeli leaders are elected by the body politic – hardly a dictatorship.

The claim that the United States has supported Arab dictators for selfish economic reasons is unfortunately true, but the problem has been exacerbated by the nearly total absence of Arab leaders that were not dictators.

While our war in Iraq is not making us many friends among the followers of Islam, it is clearly not at the root of our problems.

Until every Muslim society collectively and vehemently condemns terrorism and racism and supports a universal declaration of human rights, the emergence of this modern Iron Curtain is a tragic inevitability.

Jonathan Green is a University student. Please send comments to [email protected].