We keep hearing from “experts” in the State Department and Obama himself that Maliki's failure to be “inclusive” of all Islamic sects motivates the so-called “radical” opposition such as ISIS. They believe that much of the popular support ISIS enjoys would evaporate if only the Iraqi government would include all Islamic sects into their elusive democracy. So we are now pressuring Maliki to include all Islamic sects, including the ill-named “radicals” into equal partnership in governing a Pollyanna-esque Iraq.
There are a number of problems with this scenario. Where to start.
First is the delusion of most leaders within the US administration, both Obama’s and Bush’s, that Islam is, overall, a “religion of peace.” Only when Islam is subdued is it a religion of peace. It has been subdued by western powers during brief periods of its existence – most recently for several decades prior to the 1960’s. When it is in its ascendency, as is currently the case, it is not feeling subdued. It is expansionist. It is following the aggressive pattern of intimidation and conquest that has been its staple from its Muhammadan inception in 630 AD.
Those our administration and media call “radicals” are NOT radicals. They are Islamic. They are not radical relative to orthodox Islam. They are doing as Islam teaches.
Second, look at the inclusiveness in Egypt that Obama attempted to impose on the Egyptian government with the overthow of Mubarak. The Egyptian population and military painfully discovered that the Muslim Brotherhood was not civil enough to be included in their government and has since declared it a “terror organization.”
Now Obama and his other defenders of orthodox Islam are attempting the same game in Iraq: Forcing the Maliki government to include Islamic purists into a governing partnership. What we fail to recognized is that the world is in a period of orthodox Islamic resurgence where significant momentum has been established within the Islamic sphere of influence to impose orthodox Islam on, first, its own populations, and next, on the rest of us. Honest US Muslim experts quote surveys that confirm that the overwhelming majority of Muslims support the orthodox Islamic agenda. And most of those are NOT intimidated into that support and belief. It is ingrained in their culture and religion. So much for the myth of “moderate Muslims.” They appear moderate when the situation requires. But their heart is invested in the Islamic culture, history, and orthodox doctrine.
It is folly for us to attempt to instruct Muslims in nations that are 99% Muslim such as Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya and a dozen others in the Middle East and around the world to ignore and cast off the mandates of their own religion. What mandates, you ask? Mandates to do exactly what the so-called “radical Muslims” are doing: Fight against any behaviors that deviate from orthodox Islam. Any watering down of Islam such as the formation of a secular-tolerant government is un-Islamic and should not be tolerated according to orthodox Islamic doctrine. This intolerance is imposed against both the less orthodox Muslim as well as non-Muslim. Who are we to tell Muslims what their faith teaches or should teach? That is our foolishness.
Finally, our foolish quest for democracy in Islamic nations is a form of US self-deception and wishful thinking. Democracy is a tool of the majority to control the minority. So in practice in certain situations it can be a fascist form of government. What makes a policy hell bent on encouraging democracy even worse is promoting it in a nation that will only use it to empower a governing system of the majority whose religious ideology, Islam, requires the elimination or subjugation of the minority that does not believe in the same orthodox Islam that the governing powers do. That is exactly what will happen in Islamic nations where we ignorantly promote a democracy.
Our own blood and treasure should have no part in being spent on this fools errand. Such policies will only waste our resources and will fail.
Our first step to survival will be to acknowledge the danger and evil of Islam – all of it. Our foreign and domestic policies will not succeed until we recognize this fact. Once we come to this conclusion, we will begin a long overdue turn-around in achieving respect in the world from where respect is due: From both our allies and our enemies. Yes, we will always have enemies. That is a fact of life. Even if we give up everything and anything we believe in and are seen as inert, powerless and irrelevant, we will still have enemies because we will not believe as they do.
Our foreign policy is unrealistic and doomed to fail because we believe the other half of the world can be “just like us.” They are not. Face it. Admit it. And defend ourselves against them instead of wasting our resources on trying to change them.
