‘One of the bravest women of her time’

That's how some describe former Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is presently under a fatwa sentence of death for her apostasy from the Muslim faith.

    But by the way the New York Times reviewed her latest book, you'd not only wonder about the bravery of Ayyan Hirsi Ali, but also about whether some of the writers and editors at that newspaper condone violence against women and children, so long as it is done in the name of the Muslim faith.
   
    Consider the NYTimes review by Nicholas D. Kristof and then the rebuttal by Andrew Roberts.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (AP photo)

    For a taste, here is a passage from Roberts' piece:

    "As for the sustained beating of children, Kristof laughs off this vicious abuse by writing: “Yes, corporal punishment is common in madrassas, as it was in the rural Oregon schools where I grew up … but they don’t turn children into terrorists.” Yet Hirsi Ali doesn’t argue anything so trite in Nomad, all

she does is state that beatings coarsen children and accustom them to violence, which then spills over into society in a myriad of ways. The Middle East is not rural Oregon, as Mr. Kristof, who boasts of his wide travels in the region, must surely know."

    I'd recommend reading both for those seeking completeness.