Posted on 06/20/2003 8:32:22 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
The United States may get the electricity going in Iraq and repair its water and sewage systems, but whether it can get Iraqis to adopt a constitutionally based democratic government will prove a difficult, if not impossible, task.
In its 5,000-year history, Iraqis have never played any role in the governance of their nation, and the past three decades of ruthless and barbaric rule by Saddam Hussein have not prepared them for this task.
Among Muslims, only the Turks have experienced any form of self-rule and that was the result of a remarkable man, Ataturk, who literally forced them to accept westernization. In doing so, he imposed a strict divide between Islam and the governing of Turkey. This has been maintained only because the Turkish military has judiciously stepped in time and again to crush any Islamist party seeking to impose the Islam's system of rule.
The religion of Islam and democracy are totally incompatible. Only the separation of church and state, only the rule of civil law can grant Muslims-the vast majority of whom are good, decent people---the freedom they want and many Muslims, such as those in Iran, do want it.
The laws of Islam, considered sacred and inviolable, clash with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and those expressed in both the British (1688) and American Bill of Rights (1791). To cite just a few reasons why Islam and democracy are incompatible, under Islam women and non-Muslims are declared to be inferior, slavery is acceptable, punishments for various crimes include amputations, floggings, and stoning to death, a non-Muslim cannot testify against a Muslim, and conversion from Islam carries with it the death penalty.
There is no separation of church and state under Islam and there never can be for any Muslim who accepts the Koran and the Hadith as the sacred rule of law. To suggest otherwise imperils their belief in the Koran as the word of Allah as passed to them by Muhammad, his self-appointed "final" prophet.
In Muslim nations where so-called secular, i.e. socialist governments such as the former Baath Party of Iraq and the current one in Syria exist, the reality is that these nations are run by despots and their governments are mere rubber stamps. In others, such as Saudi Arabia, a self-declared royal family rules. In nations such as Iran, where a secular government is allowed to function, a supreme council of ayatollahs can and does routinely overrule any legislative act, thus rendering democratic rule moot.
Ibn Warraq, the author of a scholarly study of Islam, notes that "Islam continually manifests hostility towards human reason, rationality, and critical discussion without which democracy and scientific and moral progress are not possible. The notion of an individual---a moral person who is capable of making rational decisions and accepting moral responsibility for his free acts---is lacking in Islam. Ethics is reduced to obeying orders."
Freedom is about individual rights granted a citizen that governments may not trespass, nor deprive. As Ibn Warraq points out, "Individualism is not a recognizable feature of Islam; instead, the collective will of the Muslim people is constantly emphasized. There is certainly no notion of individual rights, which only developed in the West, especially during the eighteenth century."
If one's first allegiance, after Islam, is to one's family and tribe, the notion of allegiance to a national entity, is stymied by Islam that allows only for the interpretation of the Koran and the Hadith by mullahs and imams. "Islam never allows the possibility of alternatives," says Warraq. Thus, the concept of debating political issues is foreign to Islamic thought.
The long-term hope is that greater access to information and knowledge will work its way on the inherent intolerance of Islam, that its educational systems will teach the values of democratic rule, that the mosques will be separated from governance, and that the rule of secular, civil law will succeed. The short-term hope is that the worldwide network of Islamic terrorists will be defeated.
Lastly, let it be said that George W. Bush did the right thing to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, and to threaten the despots who rule Iran and Syria. His obligation, his duty to protect the United States of America, is directly tied to the use of American power to transform the Middle East by any means necessary. The greatest threat to America, the West, and to those Islamic nations struggling to achieve democracy and freedom is Islam.
(Alan Caruba writes "Warning Signs," a weekly column posted at the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center.)
Alan Caruba
The Decline and Fall of Islam
Source:CNSNews.com; Published: June 06, 2003; Author: Alan CarubaJihad, Suicide, Murder & Lies
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: May 21, 2003; Author: Alan CarubaThe Tip of a Dangerous Iceberg: The threat of militant Islam on American campuses
Source: FrontPageMagazine.com; Published: April 8, 2003; Author: David HorowitzOur Enemy is in the Sand
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: 19 March 2003; Author: Nicholas StixIslam's Unholy War
Source:CNSNews.com Commentary from the National Anxiety Center; Published: March 10, 2003; Author:Alan CarubaIslam As Sedition
Source: Chronicles Magazine; Published: Feb 3, 2003; Author: Srdja TrifkovicThe Dark Side of the Muslim Mind
Source: National Anxiety Center; Published: February 05, 2003; Author: Alan CarubaWake Up! Islam Is About More Than Hate Crimes
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: January 29, 2003; Author: Paul M. WeyrichHow the Saudis betrayed Islam (Book Review)
Source: Globebooks; Published: January 25, 2003; Author: Paul William RobertsLondon Muslim Cleric Urges Boys to Be Martyrs
Source: Fox News; Published: January 23, 2003, Author: APTHE KORAN AND THE KAFIR (Chapter 9) Islam In Action
Source: Knowislam.org ; Author: A. GHOSHFatwa: Coming to a Country Near You--Islamic death bounties ain't hard to find
Source: FrontPageMagazine.com; Published: December 6, 2002; Author: David HarsanyiAl-Qaeda's Global Jihad
Source:IDF; Published: December 3, 2002Why we are losing the war
Source: Guardian Unlimited; Published : December 1, 2002Islam - Green Wall Of Silence - III
Source: PakToday : Published: November 25, 2002; Author: Tashbh SayyedBlack Muslims Create 'Explosive Mix' in Terror War, Says Author
Source: CNSBNEWS.com; Published: November 14, 2002; Author: Marc MoranoOf course, the great majority of Muslims are peaceful -- so what?
Source: Jewish World Review; Published: November 5, 2002; Author: Dennis PragerRamadan: A Month of Peace?
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: November 4, 2002; Author:| Alan CarubaThe Seamless Garment Of Hate: The Beltway Sniper Shootings And Islam/Nation of Islam
Source: Toogood Reports; Published:| November 1, 2002; Author: Nicholas StixBarbara Stanley: American Jihadist Terrorism - Conversion And Recruitment
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: October 28, 2002; Author: Barbara StanleyJihadis in the Hood: Race, Urban Islam and the War on Terror
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Source:Spiritual Counterfeits Project; Published: Sept 2002; Author: Aleesha KhanNaming The Evildoers: Militant Islam Reaches America
Source: New York Times BOOK REVIEW; Published:| September 29, 2002; Author: Judith MillerDEPRIVING THE ARABS OF THEIR PREY
Source: WINSTON MID EAST ANALYSIS & Published: September 13, 2002; Author: Emanuel A. WinstonA Hatred Beyond Understanding
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Source:The Age (Melbourne); Published: September 5 2002; Author: Christopher HitchensMuslim leaders pledge to 'transform West': 'If Islamic state rises, we will be its army'
Source: WorldNetDaily.com; Published: August 13, 2002; Author: Jon DoughertyWHAT went wrong with the Arab world?
Source: Economist; Published: July 10, 2002Today's Criminal Will Become Tomorrow's Islamic Terrorist
Source: CNSnews.com; Published: June 25, 2002; Author: C.T. RossiDavid Horowitz: Know The Enemy (And What He Believes)
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Source: CNSNews.com; Published: May 20, 2002; Author: C.T. RossiThe Islaming of Europe
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Source: Toogood Reports; Published: May 14, 2002; Author: Philip SafranReports of Moderate Islam's Existence Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: April 22, 2002; Author: C.T. RossiIt's time to snap out of Arab fantasy land {Steyn}
Source: National Post; Published: April 19 2002; Author: Mark SteynHOROWITZ: A MIDDLE EAST HISTORY PRIMER
Source: News and Opinion.com; Published; April 10, 2002; Author: David HorowitzArafat Must Go!
Source: CNSNews.com; Published: April 10, 2002; Author: Alan CarubaNetanyahu speaks before US Senators
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Source: Koenig's International News; Published: April 9, 2002; Author: Jim BramlettThey Live to Die (Islam Martyrdom)
Source: Wall Street Journal; Published: April 7, 2002; Author: Reuel Marc GerechtMoral Fortitude Vs. Vacillation
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Source: Wall Street Journal-- Book Review; Published: | March 29, 2002; Author: Adrian KaratnyckyIslam Vs. The World
Source: Toogood Reports; Published: December 2, 2001; Author: Alan CarubaArab World Poverty -- Whose Fault?
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Source: ConservativeTruth.org; Published: November 11, 2001; Author: Ana BarrettWill the Real Islam Please Stand Up!
Source:Van Jenerette Editorial Comment, Various Publications; Published: October 14, 2001; Author: Van JeneretteCivilization Envy
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Source: New York Times Magazine; Published: July 25, 2000; Author: Jeffrey Goldberg
I think you are correct. We should be focusing on seetting up "new schools" and working with youngsters in IRAQ. It's going to take a generation to heal them out.
So? After the Japanese surrendered in World War II we learned that the Japanese people worshipped their emperor as a god. The Japanese were not accustomed to governing themselves either. The United States had to occupy Japan for 8 years to teach them how to run their government. Look at the Japanese now!
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