Andrew McCarthy asks "Which Islam will prevail in America?" That seems like the wrong question. The right one would be, "Which Islam will prevail in the world?" Islam is not a monolith. Like other religions it has divided into various streams and some of them have become toxic as Muslims have seen the cultural stagnation of their countries as an embarrassment. The problem is two-fold. First, many Muslims assume that Americans are like the colonial powers that kept them backward and poor for so long, although it's questionable how much of the blame could be laid on the West. Second, the competing radical strains seem to be vying against each other for leadership of all Islam and to them, that means reconquering all the former lands Muslims held before the great pushback of the past 5 centuries began.

The West's response has been alarming, like a mental defective trying to pet a wild bear who keeps extending his hand until he no longer has one.