WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Progressive Democrats argued Friday for a clear and more forceful response to "totalitarian Islam."
Peter Beinart coined the phrase describing the global war on terror in his cover story for the Dec. 12 issue of The New Republic, in which he argues liberals need to accept the use of American force to combat terrorism as they did opposing communism in the 1940s.
In a debate at the Progressive Policy Institute with John Judis, also of The New Republic, and Gayle Smith of the Center for American Progress, Beinart said liberals -- he avoided using the word Democrats -- need to recognize the U.S. failure to secure Iraq demonstrates conservatives' inability to succeed in the broader conflict.
He said the strategies the Bush administration has employed, such as unilateralism and reliance on military force, have not worked, and a liberal alternative approach is needed.
He and Judis said the anti-war reaction following Vietnam has paralyzed the Democratic Party and needs to be purged.
This critique of liberal foreign policy comes as part of the reflection within the party after its defeat in the November elections.
