Journal AB3A's Journal: Iraq and a Hard Place 5
I'll admit to being a bit skeptical about going in to Iraq until the last week or so before Bush 43 issued his ultimatum. Before then, I didn't think action was needed sooner rather than later. I was also concerned about Arab world reaction.
The former issue I resolved by (re)educating myself on the situation in that part of the world. Whether we went in when we did, or a year or two later, I don't see how the outcome could have been any different. In the end, I'm convinced that military action was inevitable and the Coalition will win it.
This is not about the military action, however. I'm worried about whether we have the guts to win the peace.
I'm bothered by the Arab world where people are pledging themselves as martyrs in jihad against the United States and the United Kingdom. Is their fervor really about supporting a corrupt and dying dictatorship, or is something else going on?
This may be news to most Americans and British: the Arab world has no separation of religion and government. Their religious leaders and government support services are one and the same.
This is why so many political rallies tend to happen around the mosques of the faithful. Somehow, we're supposed to introduce the separation of Mosque and State, freedom of media, and a message of tolerance to people who have never had these things before. Right. This ain't gonna happen overnight. It will take at least one full generation before these ideas become acceptable to Arab Society.
We're going to have to deal with a bunch of powerful leaders who have hijacked the religion of Islam and bent it to their own purposes. Osama Bin Laden is hardly the only one of that ilk. He is (was?) merely one of the more spectacular cases.
I believe the reason this awful situation exists because the Koran is written in a form of Arabic which hardly resembles the spoken language of today. It contains poetry, idioms, and allusions which are obscure and easily open to interpretation in many ways. In comparison, the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are much clearer and easier to understand.
Recall how the Catholic Church used to teach the bible from Latin. One look at the Arab world today will explain why Catholics abandoned that approach and why even the ossified Catholic Church was concerned about the possibility of abuse. Arab clerics have twisted the Koran in all sorts of ways to fit their politics, for good as well as purposes I can only describe as evil. Most don't know enough to question what they're being told. I hardly blame them. It's the faith they were raised with, and it takes a very thoughtful, well educated person to question those beliefs. People with strong backgrounds like that are scarce even in our part of the world.
To remedy this situation, we in the United States and the United Kingdom are going to have to do something terrible: We're going to have to get involved with ferreting out the religious issues from the political causes. Our countries will have to send monitors to the mosques, so we can prosecute those who incite riots and hatred.
Does this make me squeamish? Hell yes! Deprogramming Cult members is a dangerous process and we're looking at doing this on a societal level. But if we're really serious about establishing a peaceful, civilized society in that part of the world, that's what we're going to have to do.
The Arab people can't have it both ways. They can't expect to use their religion as a launching pad for all sorts of hate and discontent while expecting us to maintain a respectful distance because it's their religion. I would even go so far as to suggest that the Fundamentalist Wahabbi Islam is such a toxic religion that it deserves the label "Cult". Those who can't identify where their values and beliefs end, and where government and laws begin is setting themselves up for a cult of personality. And the Arab world is rife with examples of just that.
It's time to rid the world of the cults of those who wrap themselves in the garb of religious zealotry and hatred. Ferreting out these illegitimate religious leaders will require strong will, heroic effort and a stomach for making judgements about other people's beliefs.
To the Arab world, I'm sorry we are in this predicament, but I don't know how things could be different. I won't follow a cult, no matter how highly you may think of it. We have shed a great deal of blood learning why there is no alternative to separating religious and political leaders. Most Arab societies have not yet to figured it out. You have my condolences, sympathies, and regrets. This form of self discovery will be painful, difficult, and unavoidable. May it be as bloodless as possible.
I hope our leaders know what we've stepped in because there is no way we're going to come out of this smelling clean.
Saalam! (Peace!)
good JE (Score:2)
Re:good JE (Score:2)
Re:good JE (Score:2)
many people i know refuse to admit that the war was inevitable be it now or later...
I also agree that this was inevidable. My only problem is with the timing and the form. I have to admit that that's because my view of where america should be in the world is vastly different from the neo-conservatives. But nevermind that.
One other thing I would like to point out is that there are many ways we can help the arab world see that accepting a secular state is
Thanks! (Score:2)
+3 *Very* Interesting [!TextBelow] (Score:1)