September 30, 2004
1. There are many wars being waged on Muslims - Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Chechnya, Philippines, etc.
2. Each war has a specific purpose and participants who may or may not be at war on Islam.
3. For the most part Muslims are the victim of: the military, industrial, congressional complex; global corporations; Israel; zionists; evangelical Christians; their own leaders; their own community.
4. For Christian evangelicals, and the Hindus in Gujarat, it may be a war on Islam.
5. For most it is war for control of resources and markets.
6. In the "global war on terror," in U.S. news media, Islam and Muslim appear to be interchangeable - they are not.
7. Muslims are dying in greater numbers than those waging war on them.
8. "The War on Islam" covers many of these issues. Whether or not these "wars" are on Islam, for resources and markets, for all of the preceding, is situation specific.
9. Following the collapse of the USSR, a search for new "enemies" led to the creation of the "Islamic fundamentalist" threat, which evolved and became the "rogue states," followed by the "axis of evil," and after 9-11, the "war on terror."
Conclusion: Among the many wars being waged on Muslims, there are some who are waging war on Islam, others have different motives. Islam is denigrated, and Muslims are demonized, to rationalize waging war. Overall, there is no clash of civilizations, but there are clashes both between and within nations. Ultimately, most are a clash of values -- justice versus greed.
PS
Thirty-eight percent of American Muslims believe that the U.S. war on terrorism is really a war on Islam, according to a survey released by researchers at Georgetown University. -- The Washington Times, October 19, 2004.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, America's foreign policy establishment focussed on Islam as the new threat -- see "The Green Peril: Creating the Islamic Fundamentalist Threat," by Leon T. Hadar.
