Kasparov On Moral Equivalence

You may not think of Garry Kasparov as a political observer, but in fact, he is, as evidenced by his Op-Ed in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal. In it, he writes:

The Islamic public-relations offensive is focused on proving that the West is corrupt and offers no improvement on the despots in charge throughout the Islamic world. At the same time, Al Jazeera isn’t examining Vladimir Putin’s war against Muslims in Chechnya. All of Chechnya is one big Abu Ghraib, but the Islamic world pays scant attention to the horrible crimes there because Mr. Putin shares their distaste for liberal democracy. The war is not about defending Muslims; it is about Western civilization and America as its representative.

You have to admit, he does have an uncommon ability to think seven steps ahead. When not battling Deep Blue or writing for the Journal, Kasparov is Committee Chairman of Committee 2008: Free Choice, a Russian political organization devoted to the ouster of Putin in the 2008 election.