By Mike Manzoni
Norman Podhoretz, a conservative author and former foreign chief policy adviser to former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign, spoke at the Daniel L. Monroe Lecture Center on Wednesday to a crowd, of mostly university students, many of whom disagreed with his views on the current conflict in the Middle East.
His speech, which lasted about 90 minutes, drew a crowd that not only questioned, but also opposed his opinions on the threat posed by radical Islamic extremists to the United States.
For the better portion of his lecture, he spent time arguing that President George W. Bush is similar to President Harry S. Truman because Truman, like Bush, was very unpopular with the American public and attacked by both Democrats and Republicans, but is now highly regarded in history.
“He [Bush] bears a strong political resemblance to Harry Truman,” Podhoretz said. “He too will one day be recognized as a great president.”
Speaking on what he calls “Islamofascism,” he said that it is “a monster with two heads.” One head is the religious extremism and the other represents the secularism in radical Islam.
“The aggressive totalitarian challenge,” said Podhoretz, is “even more difficult to beat than the Nazis or the communists.”
Podhoretz also said that Americans have grown “complacent” since the Sept. 11 attacks, and that “nothing short of another terrorist will make us realize we are at World War IV.”
Before retiring to the back of the stage to sign copies of his book, “World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamo-fascism,” he answered questions from anxious audience members.
David M. Green, an associate professor of political science, asked Podhoretz to name prominent Democrats who did not vote for the military invasion in Afghanistan. Podhoretz could only name one which led Green to say that there was an “anomaly” in Podhoretz’s thesis.
Outside Monroe Lecture Hall, students were demonstrating against the Iraq War, which is now in its sixth year. The protest was silent, with the students wearing black ribbons around their mouths and t-shirts emblazoned with the number of U.S. troops killed-4,000- on the front, and “Enough” on the back.
“It didnt have anything to do with Podhoretz,” said Eryka Sajek, a sophomore. “He is welcome to have his opinions on the war, just as we are allowed to have our own. I thought it was wonderful to have this gathering of conflicting ideas, to demonstrate the need for free speech.”