An excellent post by Robert Spencer dissects a New York Times article on the militant Islamic concept of “just jihad:” The New York Times notices the jihad ideology.

My favorite paragraph from the New York Times piece is this classic idiot-left moral equivalence argument from Georgetown University professor John O. Voll:

Islamic militants are hardly alone in seeking to rationalize innocent deaths, says John O. Voll, a professor of Islamic history at Georgetown University. “Whether you are talking about leftist radicals here in the 1960s, or the apologies for civilian collateral damage in Iraq that you get from the Pentagon, the argument is that if the action is just, the collateral damage is justifiable,” he says.

Voll, by the way, is an associate of Islamic apologist John Esposito, and is also the associate director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. That’s the Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal who gave $50 million to the Council on American Islamic Relations, and who offered Rudy Giuliani $10 million to issue a press release tying the 9/11 attacks to US support for Israel.

That’s who the Times calls when they need an opinion on Islamic terrorists killing innocent people.

UPDATE at 6/12/07 6:36:30 pm:

Our post from October 11, 2001, shows how brazen Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s offer of blood money to Rudy Giuliani really was:

“However, at times like this one, we must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack. I believe the government of the United States of America should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause.” The press release attributed the statement to the prince.

“ ‘Our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek,’ Prince Alwaleed stressed,” the release read.

The mayor, who had been told of the press release just moments before his daily briefing but after receiving the check, was visibly annoyed by it. “I entirely reject that statement,” he said. “That’s totally contrary to what I said at the United Nations,” he added, referring to his address to the international body last Monday.