Posted By:
JimB
"Jim, and what does any of this have to do with the daily slaughter of Muslims by Muslims in Iraq today? Or the fact that more Muslims have been killed by Muslims than those which were killed by Israel and America over the past 25 years?"
Jeff,
Nothing other than that the brutality that is commonplace in that part of the world seems to fly in every direction. In no way do I condone any of the attrocious actions that have taken place in the name of Islam - either towards Americans or other Muslims. I find them utterly appalling and I wish there were some Muslim leaders with enough courage to stand up and condemn them, but I have seen far too little of it. At least in America you find people who are willing to voice dissent. That is one of the great things about democracy. In fact, that is what makes democracy work. I think most people in most Middle Eastern countries are so afraid that if they did voice dissent, they would lose their lives and the livelihoods for their families. Transition to democracy will be very slow there, if it every takes off. We would be naive to think otherwise - though I think our rulers expected there to be a democratic party in the streets of Bagdad about three years ago when our mission was accomplished.
Though I teach a bit on Islam in my World Religions class, I am no Islamic/Quaranic scholar. My impression however is that the extremists like al-Quaeda are twisting the message of Islam. But I think that twisted message is unfortunately becoming more broadly accepted. When we continue with the sorts of policies in that region that we have, it only encourages it.
JimB