Indonesian PM Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is 180 degrees wrong when he says that the solution to the fight against terror is to be more tolerant of Muslim sensitivities.
He couches this in terms of the argument about the Mohammed cartoons. He says that it is important to win the battle for “hearts and minds”. The freedoms of thought and expression in the West weren’t obtained by winning hearts and minds. They were won because the number of heretics was so great that negotiation was the only viable path.
Islamic fundamentalists will only be encouraged if their actions cause a moderation of Western secularism to accommodate their sensitivities. They need to be confronted with the unachievability of their ambitions. Anything less will prolong the pain. This applies as much in Australia as it does in Indonesia.