by Clifford F. Thies When pressed on a BBC show, radical Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary (photo - center) refuses to condemn the killing of Lee Rigby. Instead, he talks about "the occupation" of Muslim countries and the murder, he says, of thousands of Muslims.
Two other Muslims on the show correctly condemn the act as murder and say that the issue is not one of religion as people of all religions must come together. Thus it is that Lee Rigby, a Drummer and Machine Gunner with the Second Fusiliers, may have given his life to separate the radical Muslims from moderate Muslims, and so bring all people of good will together to stand up to the radicals.
Let us take a brief look back in history. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of Arab nationalism following WWI, there has been continuing turmoil in the Middle East. Under the rule of the Ottomans, Jews, Arab Christians, Arab Muslims and others had lived in peace for several centuries. Even, upon the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain, many sought refuge in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans, along with the Italians, were our allies during the Second Barbary Coast War. But, our sympathies, during the time we were neutral, were with the Arabs during WWI, in their quest for independence. Following WWI, there began a process that continues even to today in terms of carving the region into distinct countries, and in terms of ethnic cleansing. Jews, who had formerly lived throughout the region, were forced to relocate to Israel. Christian Arabs were driven out of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and elsewhere in the West Bank, where they had been the majority.
In certain Arab countries, dictators found it useful to play on the loyalties of certain tribes and other ethnic and religious groups, and so maintained a veneer of diversity, but in none was the right of the individual to be free, embraced. The process of ethnic cleansing continues in Egypt and Syria. President Obama, in his speech in Cairo during first term, embraced the characterization of this history as one of occupation. This is not only a false history, it is a racist history.
Who among us is concerned that a 4-star French officer is stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, in charge of a major NATO command located there? Or, that a 1-star German officer is stationed in Washington, D.C., to coordinate the many German officers and soldiers who are in this country at any given time, in various capacities? Or, that three Japanese warships are making their way to the coast of California to participate in an amphibious training exercise? As proud as we are of our American comrades in arms, we are proud of our allied comrades in arms, as we are joined in the defense of the community of free nations.
When Osama bin Laden look umbrage because American soldiers - including American female soldiers - came to the defense of Saudi Arabia after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, he was being a racist and a misogynist, a hater; and, we know to what that leads.
