[lit-ideas] Re: Why us?

  • From: Michael Chase <goya@xxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 10 Jul 2005 09:48:55 -0700


Le 9 juil. 05, à 06:08, William Ball a écrit :

Some of us wonder why Islamic extremists should want to obliterate us.
I admit I did, until I came across a statement that seems to make some
sense. I was on the wrong track wondering what there might be about us
("us" here is we Western types, Americans, British, or others, like
Buddhists, or Shinto,  or Sun Worshippers,  etc.) was so terrible in
their eyes. It stated that the Muslim extremists do not hate us because
of what we are or do, they hate us for what we are not, or don't do,

M.C. Close, Bill, but no cigar. Insofar as *some* Muslims hate *us*, it is very much not because of what we *are*, but precisely because of what we *do*.


What do "we" do, in the eyes of many Muslims? Why, we wage a full-scale war against Islam. In the case of a sovereign Islamic nation like Iraq, we starve its population for ten years by means of embargos, then invade and conquer it on false pretexts, bombing and killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians as we go. At prisons like Abu Ghraib, we employ sophisticated means of sexual and psychological torture, clearly mandated by high-placed military strategists ; in Guantanamo, we detain individuals indefinitely without charge, deny them the rights accorded by the Geneva Convention, and subject them to God only knows what kind of torture and degradation. When this is incovenient to us, we have the CIA snatch suspects off the streets and ship to them to countries who have a longer tradition and more expertise in applying torture. Many of our leading figures, from generals to the son of Billy Graham, have no qualms about declaring that Islam is an evil religion, and that this "War against terror" is in fact a war against Islam. Meantime, we prop up corrupt Arab regimes like the Saudis, as long as they support our foreign policy and line the pockets of our government officials (and their relatives, in the case of our President) with their oil money. We are in intimate cahoots with a nation run by a war criminal (Sharon), and fully support his policies of enslaving and incarcerating the Palestinian people.

Shall I go on? Or perhaps what I've said so far is enough to characterize "what we do" from an Islamic perspective. As long as we make not the slightest attempt to change a single element of this perception, but continue merrily along claiming that we are fighting "Terrorism" - which in fact is not an entitiy it might be possible to fight against, but merely a method used by certain groups who share a specific ideological agenda - then the situation won't change. And of course that the situation should not change is precisely what is desired by Bush, Bin Laden and their respective gangs of cirminal psychopathic liars. If the situation were to change, they know perfectly well that one of two things would happen in short order : they'd be out on their asses, and would have to look for real jobs ; or they'd wind up in jail where they belong.

        Best, Mike.




Michael Chase
(goya@xxxxxxxxxxx)
CNRS UPR 76
7, rue Guy Moquet
Villejuif 94801
France

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