Don’t rely on the possibility, or even probability, that a majority of people within any hostile and despotic country would prefer to live in a democratic system and coexist in peace and friendship with Western nations, and that only a minority support enmity with the West. It’s a grievous error -not because it may not be true, but because it’s immaterial.
Majorities do not necessarily decide the course of events even in democracies, let alone theocracies or secular authoritarian regimes.
Militant minorities are far more likely to set the tone in any given country, period, or civilization.
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John Adams observed that at the height of the American Revolution, one third of the citizenry favored revolution, one third were British loyalists, and one third didn’t care.
33% is a minority, and certainly those actively committing treason (punishable by death) — not to mention those, like Ben Franklin, who were fighting against their own sons — could reasonably be described as extremists and/or militants.
