Milossarian: Eh, I’m with Muslim Guy on this. I think you have a good point and I really wish we were seeing the sort of things you suggest.
The problem is, or at least part of the problem, is that ( as London_Calling and others have suggested ), there really is an “us vs. them” mentality in that part of the world.
We have seen this sort of thing before. In 1084 the Moorish kings of Badajoz and Seville invited the al-Mourabitun ( Almoravids ) of North Africa into Iberia rather than submit as vassals to Alfonso VI of Leon and Castille. The Muslim states of Iberia had intermittently been under the hand of Christian rulers for a few decades and the terms were not harsh. The treatment the elegant, literate, sophisticated Moorish states were likely to receive at the hands of the fanatical, funadamentalist al-Mourabitun, was almost certain to be far worse. Many were opposed to this grave decision - The Emir of Seville’s son begged him not to do it. But in the name of the independance of his religion he gritted his teeth and invited in these brutal “allies”.
The situation now is not an exact parallel, really. But to many in the Middle East, I think it looks like an exact parallel. No Islamic power has stood as an equal of the West ( we’ll grant a very partial and local exception for secular Turkey ) since the early 18th century. Muslims have grown up knowing the stories of their glorious past history on top, convinced of the superiority of their relationship with God and acutely aware of their current status closer to the bottom. Just another collection of third-world countries, with a few isolated leverages ( like oil ). To many the West, rightly or wrongly, is perceived a generic imperial bully, dictating arrogantly from on top an Ivory Tower of wealth and military might.
Given that resentment, it is not surprising that there is a tendency to close ranks. Many Muslim clerics might privately disagree with the atrocities committed by al-Qaeda. But they can’t bring themselves to hold press conferences and denounce them. Either out of internal conflicts of the highest order ( “I believe my culture is at stake and at least these awful thugs are putting the Western colossus back on its heels” ) or just plain peer-pressure as Muslim Guy pointed out. And that damned Israel issue just continues to confound things, as it causes all these dumbfuck equivocations ( “Suicide bombing is abhorrent, except in the case of Israel, because…”).
I think it is a terribly, terribly sad situation. And I don’t know what the answer is. But part of it must be, at least, too continue a consistent program of courting these moderate clerics in the hope that more ( like the one Muslim Guy cited ) will speak out in the future.
- Tamerlane