By Tom Kando
The (Muslim) world explodes in a frenzy of anti-Americanism. There is much confusion in the media, among some of our readers (see the exchanges following my recent post “The Time for Pacifism has not yet Arrived”), in letters to the editor, and of course in the Muslim world.
What we have is a resurgence of the old and virulent disease of anti-Americanism. This disease is not unlike anti-Semitism. The millions who are again singing that song do so because it’s a knee-jerk habit, ingrained into them by mullahs and other brainwashers, because they don’t know any other songs.
President Obama’s best efforts to turn world public opinion away from the extreme anti-Americanism of the Bush years, may have been all for naught.
Even now, as American power and foreign intervention decline, irrational anti-Americanism resurfaces. In Libya, it was the Europeans that did all the bombing. America is too timid to intervene in Syria. The US government is restraining Israel from going after Iran. As to economic imperialism, the “exploitation” of the Middle East and the rest of the world is done every bit as much by Europe, Japan, China and others as by the US. But whenever in doubt, it’s still the US flag which the mobs choose to burn. For no rhyme or reason; it’s mass hysteria.
‘The Innocence of Muslims’, an obscure movie which practically no one has seen, sparks riots and murder around the world. For No rhyme or reason. The assassination of Bin Laden, I would understand. But this?
The video isn’t even American, it is produced by a couple of Egyptian immigrants. As in the case of the derogatory Danish cartoon a few of years ago, and of Salman Rushdie’s book, does alleged blasphemy against the Koran justify world revolution and mayhem? Does bible desecration evoke a similar seismic response, as in the case of Andres Serrano’s’ Piss Christ? Why don’t Catholics execute atheists? What is it about Muslim fervor that makes this faith so lethal?
I know, I know, these reactions are only symptomatic. The real underlying grievances are economic, political and historical. The Muslim world’s quest for dignity and respect from the Western world, the end to injustice, the plight of the Palestinians, the offensive video is only a trigger, etc. Pundits do not cease to remind us of these verities, because they cannot imagine that both the US government and the American people could in fact be utterly innocent of the charges.
Consider the irrationalities:
1. 99% of the rioters haven’t even seen the blasphemous movie!
2. Republicans claim that it is Obama’s fault that our embassies were not protected properly. As if there had been any recent changes in the level of embassy protection.
3. Political groups in Egypt and elsewhere are demanding that US ambassadors be expelled and that the US authorities punish the movie makers.
4. Last year, a poll revealed that 86% of Pakistanis believe that 9/11 was the work of the Bush administration in cooperation with Israel’s Mossad. How can one deal with societies where political madness has advanced to such a level?
5. Liberal outlets like MSNBC and NPR desperately try to spread the blame - yes, the rioters and assassins are doing wrong, but we should understand their grievances, and much of the blame also lies with the blasphemous video. But are there two sides to EVERY issue? Hitler? Intelligent Design vs. Evolution? The Flat Earth theory? The current worldwide wave of anti-American violence in response to a crackpot video seen by almost nobody and supported by zero Americans is WRONG, period.
6. Americans themselves are also confused. This episode reminds me of my differences with my academic colleagues 33 years ago, when the Iranians took our Teheran embassy hostage: At that time, I published an innocuous letter in the university student paper recommending that President Carter be “strong.” This resulted in a decade-long war between myself and dozens of my colleagues, who accused me of being a racist, a McCarthyist, a bigot, a war monger, a xenophobe and a John Wayne.
It was difficult then and it is difficult now for such people to see things clearly, to move beyond the knee-jerk mea culpa attitude, beyond the selective use of ancient historical facts. The American far-Left is at a disadvantage, due to flawed and deeply ingrained intellectual habits. Its hubris is a mirror image of the far Right. They both believe that everything in the world is caused by all-mighty America.
It took a Frenchman, the philosopher Bernard-Henry Levy, to provide a clearer perspective on the recent murder of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens: “This time, the imbeciles have won,” he said. He referred to the fact that the imbeciles killed perhaps their bravest advocate in the Western world.’
History can be used in many ways. Yes, yes, the Shah, Mossadegh, etc. But then, what about the Balfour Declaration? Or the Crusades, for that matter. At the very least, we must mention all of European colonialism, i.e. the carving up of the planet by Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, etc. Why are the descendants of these empires collegial clubs today - the Commonwealth, the former French Union, etc.? I have not tallied which country has the bloodiest hands, but I doubt that it is “Satan America.” There is no rhyme or reason.
Every time Muslims terrorize America, they drive the country to the Right. The 1979 Iranian hostage crisis helped defeat Carter and elect Reagan. The 9/11 attack helped re-elect George W. Bush. The current crisis may help Romney defeat Obama. Which of these administrations do you think are friendlier to Muslim interests?
It is not yet clear whether we are experiencing a clash of civilizations (see Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order). What IS clear is that America must reduce its dependency on Middle Eastern oil and vastly reduce its military and economic involvement in the Middle East.
Yes, yes, we live in an intertwined global world, isolationism is not the answer, etc. etc. But there is no way that America can control developments in the Middle East. It does not have the power and the resources. It can’t be done. Get out of Afghanistan now.
Some day the Middle East may become democratic and secular, some day Iran may cease being a theocracy, some day Muslim women may acquire equal rights. But the best thing for America to do is to leave the Middle East to its own devices. This will enhance the dignity, autonomy and independence of the Muslim world. It will put an end to its neo-colonial status. Above all, it will be better for America as well. And since I happen to be an American, that is what matters the most to me.
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9 comments:
IMHO there is a lot of reason in what the extremists did in Libya and Egypt. In the last couple of years the President has revised the TR phrase by applying "Speak softly and carry a small stick." The militants in Al Quaida and the MB believe that the President's constant attempts to reconcile (witness the statement from the US Embassy in Egypt that was quickly pulled) with extremists will build neither respect nor security. My suspicion is that the crowd reaction was much more based on the anniversary of 9/11; the trials coming up for several in Gitmo; the termination of the number two in Al Quaida and a host of other things. At the same time the President has snubbed Israel constantly. That is no way to build a long term policy in the Middle East.
Finally I agree with your comment about the far left and far right. But the next to far left that is represented by the President has an opposite reaction from reality. He needs to understand while we need to build a lot of bridges it should not be to the loonies in groups like Al Quaida.
There are three major reasons which will keep the Mid-East in a state of unstable explosive matter. 1.U,S, Foreign Policy: Like the clown at the circus cleaning up after the elephant drops its load, The elephant is England and French's imperialistic exploitation of the area and of course U.S. is the clown. U.S. simply doesn't have the ability to look at the issues from a fresh view -- they simply follow the tracks of England and France. 2. Israel: Let's assume that Germany or Russia won the war against America and was the super power. They come in and take properties away from Tom Kando and Johnathon Brown and give it to the Native Americans (who have more rights to the property than Israel to its) who now have to live in an concentration camps (invention of the English) in tents and with only the basic necessities of life. To whom am I going to be most empathetic as an American: The Germans/Russians or to Tom or Johnathon? 3: the Muslims are far more peaceful than the so called Christian America. United States's military budget is greater than the next ten nations combined (including China and Russia). The return on investment is how many "enemies" the military can kill to win a battle or a war, which now includes citizens. The news media helps to dehumanize such foreign citizens by not reporting how many were killed . It is estimated that some 200,000 Iraqian citizens (women and children) were killed. United States continues such practices, as is evident in the latest incident of the drone warfare and Pakistan citizens. United States has become the greatest killing machine in the history of mankind -- why negotiate when you can kill them.
Tom,
This post is an improvement over the last, if only because you have omitted the reference to who is evil and who is not.
The role of the Western powers, Britain in particular, is central to the problem. While Britain was dividing up the Middle East, we were busy in Mexico and the Philippines, trying to assert our primacy as members of the club of superpowers.
The idea of the white man's burden, pioneered by the Brits, was very much in the mind of American leadership among others. As for Japan, read T. Roosevelt's views of the role of the Japanese "race" -- fascinating!
You are on the right track when you say "What IS clear is that America must reduce its dependency on Middle Eastern oil and vastly reduce its military and economic involvement in the Middle East."
It is not that we must cease to be involved. We do not have that luxury, but we must drastically transform that nature of our involvement. The harder we tighten our grip, the more explosive the situation becomes.
The Arab Spring was never about democracy. It was about a pent up rage born of a sense of impotence among an explosively youthful Arab population only recently connected to the world at large by the new media. Into the vacuum of populist power created by sycophant puppet dictators, step ideologues who promise to empower the powerless and make them relevant on the now-global stage. (This is of course, exactly how Hitler was able to Nazify the German populace beaten down by post-WWI arrangements.)
Understanding the conditions that produce the "irrational" rage expressed by those who feel themselves reduced to impotence, in practical speaking, are so reduced, is a more useful explanation of that irrational rage than is their "evil" nature or belief.
The conditions for the Arab Spring:
- Huge demographic skew toward youth.
- High literacy
- Immersion in globalize media
- Highly skewed economic inequality
- Political disenfranchisement
- Sense of impotence
- Deprivation relative to other nations
We need to ask how we can best address other nations of people in a now media-globalized world in ways that are less disempowering -- that do not breed the rage that makes them susceptible to the machinations of ideological demigods?
Changing the trajectory of history is not a short term project, but if we understand what needs to happen, we can begin the task with a bit of hope.
The most common way to rally support for a cause is to find a common enemy.
Obviously, America bears the brunt of the political power-play within the Muslim countries.
But only certain desperate & disenfranchised groups are involved.
These countries are suffering badly from poor economics, ignorance, and hopelessness.
Look at our own Watts-type riots--Can we say the majority of our citizens wanted to burn neighborhoods?
We cannot say that it is the majority of their citizens that feel this way, either.
Remember Hitler's scapegoating of the Jews before WWII and how even 'civilized' people fell for the party line.
The best thing we can do is keep a low profile and let them solve their own in-fighting.
Patience is a virtue. We cannot control their internal politics without accepting the blame.
It is easy to 'talk tough' on this subject, but more involvement or 'heated comments'
only proves their 'theory' that America intends to dominate them or imbue them with 'unwanted' Western ideals.
Let's not feed the fire.
Catholics did arrest atheists.
Scott
I thank everyone for the feedback. Interesting.
It is as I have been saying: You (I mean “I”) make a controversial statement which doesn’t fit into the straight right-wing OR left-wing party line, and you (I mean “I”) get it from all sides. It’s difficult to reconcile being BOTH progressive (which I am) AND sympathy for America (which I have), isn’t it, folks?
1. Jonathan, on the Right, is probably as unhappy as I am about the worldwide anti-American wave, but his knee jerk reflex remains, as that of Mitt Romney, to blame Obama...
2. Anonymous, on the Left, starts out well. I like the metaphor of the US being the circus clown trying to clean up the poop left by the French and the British. But then, he goes haywire the way the anti-American Left always does. He switches the topic of conversation to America’s crimes.
3. Marc, on the Left, does this a fortiori: I know that you are erudite, Marc, but let me repeat myself once more: My purpose, when starting this conversation, was to indict the CURRENT irrationality of Muslim behavior - this month, September 2012. Not to rehash history.
Yes, yes, what happens today is related to what happened yesterday.... but HOW, and TO WHAT EXTENT? Like my colleagues decades ago, you and anonymous insist on changing subjects every time irrational anti-Americanism manifests itself somewhere in the world. It’s as if I gave a bad student an F this semester, and he were to argue that another student who did just as badly last year received a D.
It’s called CHANGING THE SUBJECT. In my recent posts, I wrote about an unjustified worldwide wave of irrational anti-Americanism. (And the UNJUSTIFIED horror of 9/11). I did not talk about the US nuking Hiroshima, which was ALSO a terrible thing.
So the bottom line is this: Both the Right and the Left are suffering from hubris. They both believe in almighty America. They both believe that America rules the world - for better or worse. After decades of such chest-beating bravado, is it any wonder that much of the world has bought into it - for better or worse?
The reality is more sobering. Despite going bankrupt with its insanely expensive military-industrial complex, America is utterly unable to control the world - for better or worse. We have published dozens of posts indicting the military-industrial complex, demanding immediate withdrawal from both Iraq and Afghanistan, and advocating disengagement elsewhere - FOR AMERICA’s OWN BENEFIT.
4. Cheryl: Very reasonable comments, by and large. Scapegoating works in all directions. And lo and behold, Americans can also be scapegoats!
We have all experienced anecdotal evidence of this. A few years ago, my wife and I were in London. We asked a couple of nice little old ladies for directions, and you know what their reply was? “Are you Yanks or Canadians?” When we replied that we were Americans, they said, “then go f..... yourself!”
Yesterday, a French magazine published a bunch of cartoons derogatory to Islam. French law forbids Muslim women to wear a chador. Where is the worldwide protest? If this is not a double standard, I don’t know what is.
5. Scott: your key word is: DID.
We must quit buying their oil and reduce giving them monetary aid. In a way they are not hurting us by their demonstrations, only the terror & killing. They are so busy demonstrating that they do not produce anything and certainly do not improve their education or economy. What a drag on society and that has been common in the area for many years.
Last anonymous got it right!
Brilliant. See, it doesn't take a PhD or rocket science.
I wish I had her/his simplicy and her/his eloquence. She/he makes the point ten times better than the rest of us high-fallutin' "intellectuals."
Tom,
I know part of you would like to be done with this topic but it is so important and so fascinating.
My position is neither left nor right. It is no more political then making an informed prediction with respect to global warming.
The contradictions of our technological revolutions were clear enough to many thinkers well over 200 years ago. Malthus and Jevons come to mind off-hand. Back in 1968 it was clear to my young mind that our methods for garnering wealth and security, (remember MAD?) were unsustainable and that a fundamental change of course was required.
This predictive extrapolation did do not require genius. Sooner or later our way of making a living is going blow back at us in ways we are not prepared nor capable of dealing with. We are already in over our heads.
Our method of interacting with other nations is also part and parcel of our way of doing things and the consequences of our way in this regard, are no less damaging than pouring CO2 to our atmosphere. If we keep doing what we have been doing, events going forward are 99.9% predictable.
America's 350 million reside high atop the heap, just above and alongside white European peoples. The cast-offs and our client nations, whose billions are emerging by leaps and bounds into the new modernity of the digital age, will not be still so long as they see themselves as not having access to the same wealth, power and influence wielded by we haves. All things being equal, things going forward will only worsen this situation. Things as they are cannot be sustained.
As sure as the average global temperature is rising, the hot rage among the multitudes of also-rans is rising even faster. The illusion of tranquility we struggle to sustain by military might, charity and reality TV notwithstanding, If we keep doing what we have been doing, the future is given. Hatred of we haves will grow and those who have not will employ any means they can dream up to undo us.
Our problem, and it is OUR problem, is not political. It is very, very practical.
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