G-Man said:
You want to talk about the real issues of the middle east?? How about the no.1 problem for the arab population, the Israel/Palestine question. How long has it been without a solution? Another problem I would highlight is Saudi Arabia - the birthplace of Al Queda. Radical preachers, massive private funding for terrorists and an unelected leadership. Maybe we should deal with these problems first before starting more of our own.
C'mon....let's mix knowledge with common sense here....
A man named
Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian intellectual, author, and Islamist associated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. He is best known for his theoretical work on redefining the role of Islamic fundamentalism in social and political change. He is known as the father of modern-day Radical Islam. His extensive Quranic commentary
Fi zilal al-Qur'an has contributed significantly to modern perceptions of Islamic concepts such as
jihad,
jahiliyyah, and
umma. He was accused of plotting to overthrow the state of Egypt and executed by hanging in 1966 by Egypt.
Qutb's brother, Muhammad Qutb, moved to Saudi Arabia where he became a professor of Islamic Studies. The influence of Qutb and his work extends across the whole spectrum of Islamism and is seen across the Middle East. One of Muhammad Qutb's students and an ardent follower was
Ayman Zawahiri, who later became the mentor of
Osama bin Laden. His teachings has indeed been deep rooted in Saudi Arabia and has been adopted by the "House of Saud," the true lords of terror, as a means to oppress and control their people. (I find their current efforts of running around the Saudi desert chasing down their own fundamentals as poetic justice.) America's guilt in this is that, as long as the oil flowed, we have traditionally looked the other way while they have used us as a scapegoat for everyone of their self-inflicted failures. (So much for pascifists and the global left preaching to us that we should mind our own business.) The hard truth is that as long as our inerests are tied to Saudi oil, we are sworn to protect these bazaars of terror and we deal with cynical old men who know how to soothe our diplomats. Oil smeared our vision and we concentrated on the self-destructive Arab states as "sovereign" nations despite its treatment of their people. The accusations leveled against us by terrified, embittered men fall upon the ears of those anxious for someone to blame for the ruin of their societies, for the local extermination of opportunities, and for the poverty guaranteed by the brute corruption of their compatriots and the selfish choices of their own leaders to remain in power. Their misdirected blame is on Israel and the U.S., but the "House of Saud" are to blame for all of the religious perversions that has run amok in the Middle East and are guilty of every murder inflicted by Islamist extremists. These crimes are not just simply the act of a cluster of terrorists, but a reflection of the failure of the entire Middle Eastern Islamist world. Sayyid Qutb is recognized for his application of Islamic ideology to current social and political problems, such as Westernization, modernization, and political reform. Qutb's work also expanded many themes now common in Western discourses on Islamism, including the theory of inevitable ideological conflict between "Islam and the West" - the notion of a transnational umma, and the comprehensive application of jihad in various spiritual, political, and social contexts. His teachings "enlighten" the futureless youth in the Middle East that terrorism is the only route left to them to effectively change political, social, and religious forms.
Samuel Huntington's "
A Clash of Civilizations," suggests that a war between the West and Islam is inevitable; some would argue that the wars with Afghanistan and Iraq were the first battles of just such a war. Acceptance of this theory challenges the ability of mankind to alter the nature of conflict and achieve a long-lasting period of peace and prosperity. The U.S. is now at a crossroads; failure to effectively counter the catalyzing effects of Radical Islam will prove Huntington correct and lead decreased stability, decreased economic growth, and increased conflict. Conversely, effectively countering this threat now will have worldwide, beneficial effects for generations to come. It is time to prove Huntington wrong.
Attacking Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Muhammed's Islam, would be a disasterous mistake. Radical Muslims account for between 1% to 20% of Islam (between 12 and 150 million people.) Not all Radical Muslims carry guns or strap bombs to themselves...the majority are the "
sea within which the Radical Islamist terrorists swim." This "sea," or disease, encompasses the entire Middle East and is effecting the fringe areas in northern Africa, southern Europe, and western Asia. For much of the Middle East, diplomacy and "indirect" support of the widely majority moderate Muslims (80% to 99% of Islam) is the ingredient to a solution. American Marines, CIA, and other international militaries, agencies, and governments are currently engaging this "direct" and "indirect" effort in Chad, Ethiopia, Sudan, "Palestine," Syria, Lebanon, Bosnia, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
So, with regards to what you said, we are dealing with it, but we are not "creating any problems of our own." We cannot deal with this growing problem without antagonizing the radical element one way or the other, but we can choose to take the wiser tactic. We must endure the lumps that are going to come from this cautiously. Just because our media is focused on what will sell their papers - Iraq - it doesn't mean that nothing else is being done. On the contrary, much is. Iraq gave us an unprecedented opportunity. Never before in the Arab world have a country's citizens been permitted to vote on the laws that would govern them. Even if Iraq must endure further blood shed, this is a historic moment in the Middle East. One that will prove to be a turning point for the Arab and Persian future and one that will be a historical era for our future security. Iraq and Afghanistan must be seen as a success to the Muslim world. The problems with the Israeli/Palistinian conflict is that the radical element among Palestinians are determined to murder and destroy no matter what we do and the Iranian government has encouraged it. Much like the Palistinians, the Radical element amongst Arabs are determined to hate us and their "martyrs" are determined to achieve "Allah's" will on earth. We must give direct and indirect support wherever we can to change this ideology and perception that we are at war with Islam. It is far easier for Muslim governments and populations to rid themselves of this Radical element if the terrorists continue to be on the losing side in all corners. After all, the only thing that can ultimately fix the Muslim world is Mulsims. We are seeing this. Islam is in conflict for an identity and we must do all that we can to ensure that they ultimately wind up on the right path, just like every major religion in history has had to do. Attacking Saudi Arabia would be counter productive to this effort.
