Historical
Roots and Islamofascism
Monday, January 28, 2008
The moderate
Muslims – assuming there are some – continue to assure the West that
Islamofascism is not based on Islam but is a perverted form of it – a
cult—based on radical ideologies more akin to Bolshevism and the Nazi
Socialists than Islam. This cult like figure known as Osama bin Laden has
created a fantasy world that rejects all of modernity, a reactionary who
clearly wants to be the Caliph of a seventh century realm. In reality Osama bin
Laden is much closer in outlook to the Unabomber than he is to King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia or any other Muslim head of state. His fantasy world is wrapped up
in the trappings of Islam and his goals are to overthrow all secular
governments – including Muslim ones – and to install an all powerful Caliphate
over the entire world or what is left of it after they destroy Christendom.
However, while Osama bin Laden is living in a fantasy world much of the Islamic
world isn’t far behind. They intend to stamp out the only democratic government
– Israel, that has a sound economy and a non-authoritarian government. To date
their success in this unrealistic endeavor has been rather pathetic. The
history of the Islamic World shows that it is not only trapped in its tribal
culture but that their internecine battles have made them impotent relative to
Israel and centuries behind everybody else. It is this lack of unity, their tribal
culture, and their irrational behavior toward Jews and Israel that has left the
Islamic World in poverty and squalor – enter the Ottomans—just as anti-Semitic
but much more successful.
The Ottoman Empire ruled the Islamic World for four hundred years and during
that time there was no Renaissance, no Reformation, no Industrial Revolution,
and in fact there was no real improvement in medicine, hygiene, or public
health, instead there was a long slow and inexorable decline. The Ottomans were
ruthless conquerors of the Islamic Empire created by Saladin, and they crushed
any opposition. They liked the quiet life and they maintained it. They did not
subscribe to capitalism, socialism, Marxism, representative government, or any
of the trendy western political philosophies. They avoided all of these
intellectual fads of the West but once the Ottoman Empire fell and was
partitioned up by the Western Powers in 1917 the carnage began. The first
blunder of the West and the one that continues even today is that the Muslims
are desperate for a western style democracy but nothing could be further from
the truth. The Ottomans unlike the western powers never allowed anyone to think
that they would provide freedom of any kind or any kind of wealth instead they
kept everyone in line with ruthless efficiency. They did this by maintaining
strict control over the religious leaders and any rabble rouser was either
eliminated or exiled. A historical lesson ignored by their successors who
should never have allowed Ayatollah Khomeini or al Sadr or any of these radical
Islamic clergy into any Islamic country. Of course this is outright oppression
and dictatorship, which makes the liberals in the west very queasy but
authoritarian governments seem to be the only ones that are successful today
just as they have been in the past. It is the misguided policies and
philosophies of the West that have laid the groundwork for the Islamofascists
that plague us today. And yes the radical Muslim clergy is a problem but not
the only problem – enter Yasser Arafat – a man more accurately described the
destroyer of Arabic cause or gang leader. Awarding this man the Nobel Peace
Prize was a travesty but representative of the ability of the West to ignore
facts in favor of their wishful thinking.
Perhaps the first thing to remember is that until 1947 Palestinians were Jews,
not Arabs. When the state of Israel was established the Jews became Israeli’s
and the Arabs ceased being Arabs and became Palestinians except for those who
remained Arabs – it is all very confusing. The New Palestinians became
“refugees” and have remained in self-inflicted limbo ever since. These refugees
formed the power base for Yasser Arafat who led the Palestinians for forty
years and led them into one disaster after another with flags flying and drums
beating. The only person to gain from his leadership was Arafat himself and
everyone else suffered. He initially described the PLO as a Marxist Socialist
Revolutionary movement which gave him support from the USSR, but that was never
his true leanings. He actually was a member of the semi—secret Muslim
Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in the 1920”s and has been
dedicated to the extermination of the Jews ever since. The Muslim Brotherhood
supported Hitler and have practiced assassination and disinformation ever since
in their drive to eradicate Jews.
Most of the Arab leaders hated Arafat and distrusted him – which is saying a
great deal in a society not noted for its truthfulness. Arafat was a poor
administrator and even worse organizer and was generally viewed by his “allies”
as little more than a gang leader who was a master of the shakedown – an art he
practiced with great result on America, the Saudi’s, and Gulf States. The fact
is that Arafat was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and the failure by any
Arab leader to support him and his causes opened them to political unrest
stirred up by Arafat or worse their assassination by his Fatah thugs. Perhaps
the greatest irony here is that when the USSR imploded and their secret files
became available photographs were discovered that had been taken by the
Romanian Secret Police. These photos – taken at different times – showed that
Arafat was a homosexual who cavorted with his body guards. This information has
been available since the Reagan Administration but no one ever used that
information to leverage Arafat. Considering the attitude of the Arabs and Islam
in general, this would have been a substantial lever, but blackmail is such a
dirty word.
Arafat seemed to be a compulsive liar and he certainly was corrupt. Much – if
not most – of the aid money flowing into his hands was siphoned off into Swiss
Bank Accounts. Much of this money was then used for arms which killed thousands
of Israeli’s as well as maintaining his “bride of convenience” in Parisian
splendor. Even though he demanded and got concessions from just about everyone
it was never enough. He was in the terror business and it was a business he
liked. The reality is that he led the Palestinians into one defeat after
another and has left the Palestinians worse off. After billions of dollars have
been sent to the Palestinians they lack an economy, have dismal medical
facilities, have no schools other than the ridiculous Madrassa’s, they have no
electric generation capability, and in general there is rampant unemployment
and unhappiness in an area maintained by armed gangs. The more Arafat and his
Fatah gang attacked the Israeli’s the stronger they got, the weaker the PLO got
and the more discredited thier cause became, ultimately resulting in the Hama’s
coup. Arafat was a murderer and a disaster for the Arabs and Palestinians.
The current policy of the West is doomed to failure as it always has been
because the Western States are convinced that the Islamic States are desperate
for Western democracy. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations have described
Iraq and Syria as “failed states” without regard to the historical facts. While
it is true both of these countries could not be described as bastions of
liberty, they were stable and yes it is true that both Saddam and Assad have
murdered thousands of their citizens in their determination to maintain power,
have the western powers done any better? Are things more or less stable? Does
democracy work or not? Unfortunately, the bet is that once West leaves Iraq
another general will arise and overthrow the government and things will go back
to what they were.
Posted by Royce
at 12:43
PM
http://puntocracy.blogspot.com/2008/01/historical-roots-and-islamofascism.html
