Two books on Islam by Bernard Lewis

I have just finished reading two books on Islam by Bernard Lewis - which I borrowed from the library - What Went Wrong? - The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East (2002, Weinenfeld & Nicolson) and The Crisis of Islam - Holy War and Unholy Terror (2003, Modern Library).

While I learnt a lot on a subject which I previously knew very little about but came across daily in the media, the reading experience has also been quite unsettling. While What Went Wrong?, which was finished before September 11, has an air of an academic work, The Crisis of Islam is much more polemical. Here I shall try to illustrate my perception (and disappointment) by quoting several paragraphs from The Crisis of Islam. Note the tone adopted by Lewis and how he used the "we/us/our" words:

"President Bush and other Western politicians have taken great pains to make it clear that the war in which we are engaged is a war against terrorism - not a war against Arabs, nor, more generally, against Muslims, who are urged to join us in this struggle against our common enemy." (p.xv, first paragraph of Introduction)

"... There are those who, while remaining committed Muslims and well aware of the flaws of modern Western societiy, nevertheless also see its merits ... These, while retaining their own beliefs and their own culture, seek to join us in reaching toward a freer and better world. There are some again who, while seeing the West as their ultimate enemy and as the source of all evil, are nevertheless aware of its power, and seek some temporary accommodation in order better to prepare for the final struggle. We should be wise not to confuse the [former] from the [latter]." (p.28, last paragraph of Chapter 1: Defining Islam)

"In two countries, Iraq and Iran, where the regimes are strongly anti-American, there are democratic oppositions capable of taking over and forming governments. We, in what we like to call the free world, could do much to help them, and have done little. In most other countries in the region, there are people who share our values, sympathize with us, and would like to share our way of life. They understand freedom and want to enjoy it at home. It is more difficult for us to help these people, but at least we should not hinder them. If they succeed, we hsall have friends and allies in the true, not just the diplomatic, sense of these words." (p.163, second last paragraph of Chapter IX: The Rise of Terrorism)