Anti-Islam polemics are mainstream, not fringe, and aimed at policymakers

Evidence

In short, fundamentalism equals Islam equals everything-we-must-now-fight-against, as we did with communism during the Cold War; in fact, Pipes says, the battle is graver, more profound and dangerous with Islam. Neither Pipes nor Rodman writes as an outsider, nor as a member of a lunatic fringe. Their work is thoroughly mainstream and is intended, with some realistic expectation, for the serious attention of policymakers. — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 18

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with the author’s claim elsewhere that such views should be outliers; here he shows they are the norm.

Related

• Influential analysts equated fundamentalist Islam with communism and fascism (similarity 0.82)
• The term fundamentalism is wrongly treated as nearly synonymous with Islam (similarity 0.79)
• Islamic doctrine has justified opposite political programs alike (similarity 0.78)
• Western discourse reduces all Muslim societies to a single malevolent essence (similarity 0.78)
• Islamophobia spans liberal and conservative mainstreams, not just the fringe right (similarity 0.78)
• Western ideological camps all reduce Islam to a scapegoat (similarity 0.78)