Posted on 03/21/2002 9:25:50 AM PST by vannrox
The US is driving the Muslim world to hatred, says newspaper editor Abdel Bari Atwan Terrorism crisis - Observer special Sunday March 10, 2002 Worse, as Arabs and Muslims we have been terrorised by the campaign launched in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Yemen and Georgia. The supposed potential dangers facing the West have not been eliminated. This campaign has given the mistaken impression that Muslims are the source of terrorism in the world, creating tensions and providing Islamic radical groups with the ammunition to recruit thousands of young Muslim men and women. Now the humane foundations of Western civilisation - tolerance, democracy, a fair and independent judiciary, equality before the law and respect for human rights - are being questioned by Muslims worldwide. The US, which considers itself a 'republic of immigrants', has turned against all its values and principles, detaining thousands of its Arab and Muslim citizens. Even Britain has witnessed intense media, legal and political campaigns against its Arab and Muslim citizens. Americans are masters of destruction
Islam and the West - Observer special
The Observer
It never occurred to me when I met Osama bin Laden in one of the caves of the Jalalabad overlooking Tora Bora mountains more than five years ago that this slim, rarely smiling man would be the leading figure responsible for paving the way for inter-religious, inter-cultural wars that may last for five or more decades but this is what he has done.
Although 11 September changed the Western world the effect on the Islamic world has been far greater. The gulf between the two is widening. Today many in the Islamic world are convinced that the US administration harbours real enmity for Islam and the Muslims. The inhumane treatment of the Muslim prisoners of war at Guantanamo Bay and the preparations for war on Iraq have only reinforced that impression.
In the past six months I have learned that the opinion of 'the other' is welcomed, but only rather restrictively. I have been threatened repeatedly and warned to refrain from expressing an opinion about the events. So far I have received 10 messages containing death threats. We must sympathise strongly with the victims of the September disaster and denounce all those who supported that action. But it has brought to everyone's attention that the source of the hatred expressed towards America across the Islamic world is Washington's imbalanced foreign policy.
Successive US administrations have supported the two worst things in the Islamic world: the Israeli occupation of the Arab-occupied territories and the corrupt dictatorial regimes that have been imposed on the people. The US will not win its war against terrorism unless it changes the way it sees the world and renounces its arrogant policy of resorting solely to military solutions in order to confront this phenomenon. There must be a long-term policy to deal with the roots of terrorism in order to eliminate the causes of the world's hatred for America.
The Americans are experts in destruction but novices in reconstruction, reform and renovation. They must learn fast.
They ride in a yellow van (called "the short bus" since it is decorated to resemble a full-scale schoolbus) under supervision.
Would be interesting to see a comparison by this author between the progress the western world, particularily the United States, has made in all areas of life, as opposed to the progress made by that particular part of the world. You know, things like civil rights, womens rights, health care, agriculture, technology - oh, and tolerance. Where does the Islamic world rate....
No, thinking about it, that would just start a new round of complaining by folks like the author of the column, after all, we're oppressing them, holding them back, etc, etc, etc.
If we're so bad at re-construction then why are Europe and Japan doing so well?
Japan is a prime example of what has to be done when Fanatics who hate the rest of the world rule a country.
First you kill as many of the fanatics as possible and if necessary the infrastructure of the country spawning the hatred. Then you rebuild it and weed out the fanatics, who missed the big weeding, as they pop up for about two decades.
We are now in the first step, killing as many of the fanatics as possible!
Which ought to make y'all think twice about pissing us off.
They don't seem to have learned that lesson yet.
True, which is why you have no chance to survive make your time.
Hey, Abdel Bari Atwan -- America and Americans would like very much to not be at war, but when someone breaks our buildings and kills our people, we find ourselves at war, and are obligated to do our best to win.
We have many engineers who build things and make life better for millions of people. Muslim countries also have engineers, but most of them seem to specialize in blowing up things and killing people. All the muslim countries I have visited appeared to be in dire need of modern buildings, modern plumbing, modern water supply systems, electricity, modern highways and bridges, modern machinery, etc. There's plenty of constructive work for engineers to do in the muslim world, yet yours seem to only want to break things and kill people. Since these guys get their engineering training at many of the same schools as ours, it isn't the engineering training at fault. It must be some collective mental or cultural condition which compels your engineers to waste their talents on destructive activities, instead of building things which will make life better for all your people.
If your governments are stealing all the oil profits and not investing it in such constructive pursuits for their constituents, then you have internal political problems -- stop blaming the U.S. and Britain for your peoples' misery. The blame lies with your leadership and your culture, and even your religion which poisons the minds and hearts of your people, and makes them killers and destroyers from the cradle (you can call me anti-whatever, I'll get over it).
We have many millions of citizens who like living in civilized conditions; we will not live under primitive muslim laws and conditions, and we are aware of your mandates and determination to change that or kill us. We do have some engineers here who specialize in warfare stuff, but their products are not used so long as other people don't kill our people or break our things. Please mind your manners.
Well, Abdel, if you can provide us with a verifiable image of crowds of Palestinians in the streets denouncing the attacks, I'm sure CNN will be glad to broadcast them to provide balance.
[ [ crickets ] ]
Just go down the Bill of Rights, show me the equivalent in Islam. Show where the concepts even exist in Islam, show me where any of these concepts are practiced. Islam is unable to provide even a modicum of self-analysis and criticism.
Yea, we got problems, but not like these guys got problems!
True, which is why you have no chance to survive make your time.
LOL! Perfect.
What's the matter, are American teenagers with belt fed weapons and high explosives picking on your friends?
Maybe your friends shouldn't have picked a fight to begin with.
We've created a free society, a free economy, free people, virtually all of whom love freedom more than anything. The lack of creativity in the Arabic world is stunning. Staggering. What have they invented since the zero? Where are their flourishing businesses? Their social innovations? Where is any sign of progress?
Lack of creativity, that's the root of the Arabs' problem. If they got off their whining prayer mats and allowed themselvs the freedom to create something new other than a new terroristic form of warfare, they'd be fine.
"The inhumane treatment of the Muslim prisoners of war at Guantanamo Bay". I WILL NEVER FORGET THE INHUMANE AND BEYOND HORRIBLE TREATMENT OF AMERICANS ON SEPTEMBER 11TH.
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
A more ignorant of history, propogandist, foolish, blind, and wresting statement I have not recently read.
It is senseless to try and have dialog with or attempt to educate such blatant blather.
This individual is probably an active part of the disinformation campaign for Arabs, or is the consumate "useful idiot" for the same.
For the most part, US Technology and US construction companies have been the source for any modern construction in the Arab world, and the source for the oil production that has given them the money to accomplish the same.
Anyone who has travelled to America and also to almost any other part of the world (with the exceptions of Canada, the UK and parts of Western Europe) knows this statement for the lie and disinformation, or just ignorant blather that it is.
Anyone familiar with the countries who we defeated in World War II, and then helped RECONSRUCT from the ground up, is aware of the same.
This individual, and the power mongers and abuject tyrants that he empowers and supports, (either knowingly or unwittingly as a "useful idiot") thrive on manipulating the ignorant, uneducated masses. They are deathly afraid of the liberty that exists in this nation and opportunity for educating their masses which that liberty represents.
This is really, in substance, no different than the fight against Hitler and the Emperor, or against Stalin that we won as a nation ... just a different time, some different outfits, a little different coloration and accent.
Nor is is substanatively different than the fight it most probably will soon lead to with the fascist derivatives of Mao Communism in the Far East whom I still believe are manipulating the entire affair.
[/ednrant]
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