Must We Loose The Dogs Of War?
By Barbara Stock (05/20/04)
My column last week--“My Rage Over the Nick Berg Killing--An apology to the Pigs of the World”-- set off quite a firestorm of differing opinions about the war on terror. At times there was hope, but most of the responses from Muslims around the world left me feeling there is little hope for a peaceful future.
There was only one Muslim woman who responded that she realized the threat radical Islam is to the world and that Muslims needs to address it within their own ranks. At this moment, she and others like her seem to be in the minority.
Most followers of Islam preferred to respond either in anger, stating that Americans needed to be exterminated or, while condemning the actions of terrorists, would blindly insist ''they are not Islam.'' They insisted that no Muslim does such things, preferring to ignore the situation altogether or blame it all on American and Jewish aggression.
Of course, there was the obligatory blame put on Israel. Some readers responded that if it were not for the Jews and Zionists, the world would be a peaceful place. They maintained that once the Jews are gone, all will be well. Some insisted that the Jews carried out the 9/11 attack. They thought I was stupid and uneducated, not to see that. Many readers seemed to feel that we Americans are just so ignorant that we can’t possibly understand Islam’s place in the world.
There are Sunni Muslims, Shi’a Muslims, and Wahabi Muslims and they appear to hate each other. Each sees Islam through a different prism. The most violent is the Wahabi branch, and it is the branch that that most--but not all-- the terrorists come. It is the Wahabi sect that is doing the most killing around the world and it is this sect that kills fellow Muslims without regard to whether or not they accept the Wahabi vision of Islamic world domination. This is a danger that seems to go unnoticed by other Muslims. The Wahabis are the ones who want to return to the Islamic glory days that ended centuries ago.
When I pointed out that more Muslims have been killed by fellow Muslims than any Jewish force, the responders flew into a rage and insisted that Muslims don’t kill each other since Allah forbids it. But even some readers could not deny that Muslims do kill other Muslims, but blamed it on the Wahabi sect and then would add, ''But they are not true Muslims.'' By disavowing this branch, they seem to be of the opinion that the rest of Islam is able to clean its hands of any blood and responsibility.
The death of Nick Berg was condemned by most readers. But most Muslims who wrote were able to overlook the crime, stating that he received more ''humane'' treatment than a few prisoners in an Iraqi prison. Besides, it was added, he was a Jew in Iraq, he had no business being there, and he was probably a spy for Israel. I found that many of the Muslims who responded could twist the facts so much that Mr. Berg slit his own throat to make Muslims look bad! For some, the fact that he was a Jew was justification enough, and it was just an added bonus that he was an American.
It upsets me to say that many of these Muslims were not from Arab countries. No, they were from Canada, Great Britain, and right here in the good old United States of America. We are Muslim first, they said.
One from England actually said that Americans should be exterminated. When I questioned her on this, she backtracked and said, ''You misunderstood! I don’t advocate killing anyone. I only meant your government, FBI, CIA, and groups like that.'' Well, what a comfort. I thought that she meant all 280 million of us. What a relief to know she only meant ten thousand or so. Oh, I would guess any infidels who fight back would have to die as well. What’s several million--give or take a hundred thousand? She apparently doesn’t see our government as ''people'' either, since she clearly said she that didn’t believe in murdering anyone--well, except all ''those'' people.
An American Muslim was the most distressing. His first attack was based on the bogus pictures taken from porno sites and passed around as gospel on the Arab news channels. When I proved to him that they were false, there was no apology. Then he sent a picture of a young girl whom he claimed was an Iraqi.
She was killed, he said, by an American sniper who laughed afterwards and bragged about his kill. There is no way that he could have known any of this but that meant nothing to him. A Muslim source told him what happened and he believed every word of it. He absolutely believes that American soldiers target small Muslim children to kill for sport. As it happened, it was a picture I had seen years ago and how the girl was killed and by whom will never be known. There was not even proof that she was Iraqi. This Muslim didn’t care about facts. It didn’t matter when the evil Americans did it. Folks, this man is an American.
When I asked about the busload of kids killed by terrorists in Iraq, I got the standard, ''They are not Muslims, but Wahabis.'' You could have fooled me. When I asked if Arafat was Wahabi, he said no. I asked about Hamas and Hezbollah—were they Wahabi? No, but they kill Jews so it was acceptable. It was the fault of the Jews.
After a week of e-mail exchanges with several Muslims, only one gave me hope. Many of the responses from around the world contained this phrase, ''America, let loose the dogs of war. It is the only way now.'' As I read, I would shake my head and think, no, no, no…there must be a better way.
What a difference a week makes. Now, at this moment anyway, I see no other way. If an American Catholic can’t carry on a discussion with Muslims in America, Canada, or England, what hope is there to reason with those from outside the Western influence? As I tried to put a face on the enemy, I kept seeing Hitler. Laboring to analyze this, the reason came to me.
Hitler blamed all of Germany’s problems on the Jews. He believed that he was the leader of the master race destined to rule the world. Hitler believed it was not a crime to kill all who didn’t fit into his mold of the ''perfect human'' because they were inferior and sub-human. Hitler led his people to death and destruction in a war in which millions died. Hitler was a threat to the world for years before a blind world realized too late that he must be destroyed.
It's Deja vu, all over again.
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