Category: Americas, World Affairs Topics: Conflicts And War Views: 8314
8314
The Clash Thesis: A Failing Ideology?
"They hate us because we don't know why they hate us."
Bill Maher
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Instantly, instinctively, and unrelentingly, the American establishment has framed the attacks of September 11, 2001, in the language of a clash of civilizations. The Islamic terrorists attacked America because they hate our highest values, our freedoms, our way of life, our civilization.
President Bush wasted no time in defining the language of this discourse in his first speech on September 11, 2001. "Today," he opened his speech, "our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts." This thesis was hammered home again. "America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world."
On September 20, 2001, the President returned to this question in his speech to a joint session of the Congress. Indeed, it was the centerpiece of his speech. "Americans are asking," he told us, "who attacked our country?" His answer: the attackers are "a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as al-Qaeda." Their goal is "is remaking the world - and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere."
Americans are also asking, the President informs us, "why do they hate us?" His answer is clearly stated. "They hate what we see right here in this chamber - a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms - our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other." It is not clear anymore if 'they' points to al-Qaida, the Arabs or all Muslims.
A month after the September 11 attacks, President Bush made the connection more explicit. "How do I respond," he asks, "when I see that in some Islamic countries there is vitriolic hatred for America?" Of course, the President is "amazed that there's such misunderstanding of what our country is about that people would hate us. I am - like most Americans, I just can't believe it because I know how good we are."
| If it is their hatred of freedoms that motivated Muslims to attack America, why did they wait for some 200 years to begin their attacks against America - if we start the clock with the bombing of American marines in Beirut? The clash thesis raises another question: why America only? |
This then is the ideology of America's establishment as it wages its "war against terror." The Muslims attacked America because they hate who we are. They want to destroy us because they hate our freedom, our opportunities, our democratic institutions, our way of life, our Judeo-Christian heritage. It is a hatred that is civilizational. It is rooted in the illiberal, intolerant, misogynist, anti-modernist, and anti-scientific culture of Muslims and their religion. This thesis is now spun a thousand times every day by America's politicians, press and pundits.
This ideology of the clash of civilizations is multi-layered. First, it seeks to explain to Americans and the rest of the world why the United States and the rest of the world must wage this war against terror. Secondly, the clash thesis - long championed by Zionist ideologues inside and outside Israel - is a device for Americanizing the war Israel has waged against the Palestinians and Arabs. Thirdly, the war against terror is itself a cover which the United States is using to establish a more muscular control over the world.
This ideology is problematic. First, there is its flimsiness. It uses an inane concoction to deflect the blame for the September 11 attacks from US policies in the Middle East: our craven pandering to Israeli aggression, our vital support for corrupt and dictatorial regimes in the Middle East, and the war and deadly sanctions against Iraq since 1990. It is flimsy because it contradicts our understanding of human nature. As Charles Reese put it, "It is absurd to suppose that a human being sitting around suddenly stands up and says: "You know, I hate freedom. I think I'll go blow myself up." [1] Despite the incessant brainwashing, most Americans can see that.
The ideology fails for at least four additional reasons. If it is their hatred of freedoms that motivated Muslims to attack America, why did they wait for some 200 years to begin their attacks against America - if we start the clock with the bombing of American marines in Beirut? The clash thesis raises another question: why America only? Surely, freedoms are not unique to America. The Arabs could have found several easier targets, and nearer their home bases too, in Europe. Third, if the Islamic world so hated freedoms, why did young men from all corners of the Islamic world descend upon Afghanistan to fight the totalitarian Soviets? Fourth, if the attackers are such freedom-haters why can't they get along with their own anti-democratic regimes, in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Algeria and Jordan?
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The clash thesis resoundingly fails another crucial test. Will the Islamists who attacked the United States, and prepare for additional attacks, scrap their terrorist campaign if the United States turns into a fascist state or - try to imagine this - if America's elites convert to Islam but continue their present policies towards the Islamic world? One might pose a similar question for the Zionists who accuse the Palestinians of anti-Semitism. Would the course of Palestinian resistance be any different if we could replace the colonial-settler Jews with colonial-settler Germans, colonial-settler Chinese or even colonial-settler Pakistanis? The Islamist resistance does not stem from differences of race or religion that divide Muslims from Americans or Jews. It is a response to US-Israeli violence, systematic and longstanding, that seeks to divide, undermine, control and humiliate Islamic societies.
Despite its intense propaganda, the American establishment has failed to dupe most Americans on the Clash thesis. In a CBS/NYT poll done in September 2002, 21 percent Americans place "a lot of blame" on "US policies in the Middle East over the years, while another 54 percent place "some blame" on these policies. According to a Pew Research Center survey in August 2002, 53 percent Americans said that the attacks of September 11 were "mostly because" of the "political beliefs" of the terrorists; only 25 percent believed that the terrorists were motivated by "religious beliefs." [2] Finally, a Los Angeles Times poll in September 2002 shows that 58 percent Americans think that the attacks were "a direct result of United States' policy in the Middle East." [3]
The Clash thesis and the associated war on terrorism carry little or no credibility outside the United States. This was first demonstrated in massive world wide protests against the planned US invasion of Iraq. Outside of the United States and Israel, the overwhelming majority of world opinion regarded this war to be illegal and immoral. Now, more than a year after a failed occupation of Iraq; after the revelations of systematic torture by Americans in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay; after the erosion of liberties inside the United States; after the establishment of an American Gulag whose geographic expanse exceeds anything established by the Soviet Union; American prestige in the world has sunk to the lowest point in its history. In a poll conducted by the European Union in October 2003, 53 percent of EU citizens marked the United States as the second greatest threat to world peace. It's chief ally, Israel, bagged the first prize. [4]
The bogey of America's 'global' and 'unending war' on terrorism will soon face another test. While the United States and its neocolonial allies have incarcerated thousands in Gulags spread across the world - without charges and without recourse to law - the 'war against terrorism' has produced very few convictions for terrorist crimes against the United States. If the al-Qaida is indeed a formidable adversary, with a global reach, and with sleeper cells in the United States itself, trained in the manufacture and use of WMDs, its failure to launch even a single operation against the United States since September 11, 2001, poses a problem for the credibility of the 'war against terrorism.'
It is of course all too easy for the United States to take credit for this failure. 'Look how good we have been against this formidable foe. Our intelligence failed utterly before 9-11, but we have since fixed all the problems.' Alternatively, they might argue that they are fighting these terrorists in Baghdad and Najaf instead of Boston and New York. But this rhetoric will wear out over time.
If indeed al-Qaida fails to launch another attack against American interests, on American soil or elsewhere, Americans too will begin to ask: Did the United States overreact. Worse, they might question if this war was a phony, a cover to curtail liberties, to launch preventive wars, to line the pockets of corporate executives with tens of billions stolen from American tax-payers. Have so many Americans died in vain - for a phony war? Have Americans died for Israel - to fulfill its strategic objective of balkanizing, pulverizing the larger Arab states? Once Americans begin to ask these questions, the consequences could be unpredictable for Israel and for the exercise of American power in the world.
It is unlikely, however, that the US-Israeli axis will allow this kind of questioning to ever take place. The strategists in Washington and Tel Aviv understand very well how Newton's third law of motion operates in the realm of history. If the 'war on terrorism' is a phony, it can in time - once the preventive wars are extended to Iran, Syria and Pakistan - be made to produce the causes that will make it look more credible, even more compelling. Great powers have never lacked the ability or willingness to produce the wars their elites think are profitable. If the people do not get behind their wars - or, in our case, start falling back after getting in line - that is not a problem. Great democracies know how to manufacture consent. In the present circumstances, when history appears to be balanced on a knife-edge, that trick looks easier than ever.
Let no one underestimate the power of great countries - and we are undoubtedly the greatest the world has ever seen - to convert phony wars into real ones. Although false, the clash thesis can become self-fulfilling.
References:
[1] Charles Reese, "Baghdad George," November 7, 2003.
[2] War on terrorism.
[3] Americans and the World, Israel and the Palestinians, August 15, 2002.
[4] EU polls name Israel greatest threat to world peace, Deutsche Welle, November 4, 2003.
M. Shahid Alam. The author is professor of economics at Northeastern University, and author of Is There An Islamic Problem (forthcoming). He may be reached at [email protected]. Visit his website at http://msalam.net.
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Older Comments:
A.S.SHAIK UWAIS FROM INDIA said:
why so many arguments the truth is the american administration is controlled by jews they do not want to destroy muslims but they want to destroy islam thats all
2004-09-03
L ALAHEM FROM USA said:
Asalaam alikum
Would it not be wonderful to read this article in the Wall Street Journal, or the Washington Post? I would settle on our local newspaper, but it would never see the light of day, simply because the article would be deemed dangerous, as it attacks the entire basis for this country's disasterous foreign policy over the last ten years. I had someone tell me recently, that this was America, and if I didn't like it, I was more than welcome to go back where I came from. I looked at her and said, 'oh, where would that be? IOWA?' As citizens we must stand and be counted, to effect the change that this country so desperately needs. Alhamdulillah, I was raised in a time that schools actually taught history, and lately the events in Germany, from 1930 - 1940 are keeping me up nights, mostly because I see them being repeated on the nightly news. I am afraid for us, all of us.
BTW, Michael W...I read your comments to this article, and I have a question for you: Did you actually READ this article, or is that spewing of garbage that you posted just kept in a word doc somewhere that you copy and paste? Man, get a clue! Get 2, learn to read and stop listening to prime time talk radio!
L Alahem
Would it not be wonderful to read this article in the Wall Street Journal, or the Washington Post? I would settle on our local newspaper, but it would never see the light of day, simply because the article would be deemed dangerous, as it attacks the entire basis for this country's disasterous foreign policy over the last ten years. I had someone tell me recently, that this was America, and if I didn't like it, I was more than welcome to go back where I came from. I looked at her and said, 'oh, where would that be? IOWA?' As citizens we must stand and be counted, to effect the change that this country so desperately needs. Alhamdulillah, I was raised in a time that schools actually taught history, and lately the events in Germany, from 1930 - 1940 are keeping me up nights, mostly because I see them being repeated on the nightly news. I am afraid for us, all of us.
BTW, Michael W...I read your comments to this article, and I have a question for you: Did you actually READ this article, or is that spewing of garbage that you posted just kept in a word doc somewhere that you copy and paste? Man, get a clue! Get 2, learn to read and stop listening to prime time talk radio!
L Alahem
2004-08-30
HUSSAMBARBOUR FROM USA said:
It is an interesting idea of polarization of thought. Bin Laden & Co. produce an ideology to justify indiscrimanate killing of anyone he wishes to label. While bush counters you are with us or against us. And the ignorant choose their sides. Indeed this is a great deception that eliminates the middle ground, the filtering of false and revealing of truth. Indeed as muslims we have failed to realize many of our own mistakes. We have reduced ourselves to tribal societies, giving benefits discriminately. Its like the original deception has reared its head again, with us claiming to be better than others, and failing to realize our own mistakes. But remember, it was Adam who asked forgiveness from God for deceiving himself, not pointing blame on the other.
2004-08-30
AHMED ASGHER FROM BAHRAIN said:
Obviously 'they hate our freedom' version is Bush's favourite coz it gives him a mandate to go after a phantom enemy. One that is inexhaustible, thus setting the stage for infinite conflicts as per plan outlined in the pre 911 document called PNAC.
Thank God some Americans know what is going on. Here is a response from an American woman in antiwar.com feedback. She is referring to Osama Bin Laden (OBL):
"His (OBL) arguments were that today, right now, the Western powers (especially the US) treats our own blood "as blood" and Muslim blood "as water."
He complained about our occupation of Muslim lands, our exploitation of their resources (cheap oil in particular), our support of client regimes (largely to secure oil), our hypocrisy in general, and of course, our disgusting policies toward Palestine and Iraq.
Frankly, I don't personally care what Osama the terrorist wants. But I feel it is important for us to have an accurate picture of his arguments, especially since these ideas may underpin his support among would-be moderate Muslims, who are angry with our policies. ...
~ Cheyrl Hutchinson"
Thank God some Americans know what is going on. Here is a response from an American woman in antiwar.com feedback. She is referring to Osama Bin Laden (OBL):
"His (OBL) arguments were that today, right now, the Western powers (especially the US) treats our own blood "as blood" and Muslim blood "as water."
He complained about our occupation of Muslim lands, our exploitation of their resources (cheap oil in particular), our support of client regimes (largely to secure oil), our hypocrisy in general, and of course, our disgusting policies toward Palestine and Iraq.
Frankly, I don't personally care what Osama the terrorist wants. But I feel it is important for us to have an accurate picture of his arguments, especially since these ideas may underpin his support among would-be moderate Muslims, who are angry with our policies. ...
~ Cheyrl Hutchinson"
2004-08-27
CHARLES JACKS FROM USA said:
Bush and the other ALTIs will do and say anything but admit that it is the history of the West's own actions in the region that has engendered such hatred. But in doing so they only increase the hatred on both sides.
The Muslims only hate one freedom of the west. The freedom the west gives itself to attack and disregard the humanity and human rights of the people in the region. From giving Palestinean land to a foreign people (defended with torture of the resistance), teaching the Shaw of Iran's forces how to torture its citizens, promoting a French general that tortured Algerians to death, preemptive self defense (also with torture)... The list is long stretching far into history.
As baby Bush should know, the first step to curing yourself of alcoholism is to admit your own behavior. Until you do, you are living in denial, and no amount of therapy will be effective. Think of it as taking the log from your own eye before asking to take the nit from your neighbors.
But as they say in the south, "when pigs fly".
The Muslims only hate one freedom of the west. The freedom the west gives itself to attack and disregard the humanity and human rights of the people in the region. From giving Palestinean land to a foreign people (defended with torture of the resistance), teaching the Shaw of Iran's forces how to torture its citizens, promoting a French general that tortured Algerians to death, preemptive self defense (also with torture)... The list is long stretching far into history.
As baby Bush should know, the first step to curing yourself of alcoholism is to admit your own behavior. Until you do, you are living in denial, and no amount of therapy will be effective. Think of it as taking the log from your own eye before asking to take the nit from your neighbors.
But as they say in the south, "when pigs fly".
2004-08-27
CASSIM FROM UK said:
I must confess that the first time that I heard American pundits opine that the 11th September bombings were because they hated America for its freedoms, I was a little surprised. It displayed complete and utter contempt. Contempt for the average American's ability to think; contempt for the individual's ability to add 1 and 2 together. And yet, somehow this ridiculous notion has taken hold.
The reasons put forward by bin Laden (namely an end to American occupation, lifting of sanctions on Iraq and America to stop supporting Israel) have been ignored. Although I completely detest the methods he has sought fit to use, I agree with the aims. To ignore the statement accompanying the act of terrorism, and to scratch your head and ask, "now I wonder why they did that?", is to be wilfully blind. Bush knows the score, but he and the powers behind him do not want the people to know.
The only people who are really blind are the American public, misinformed on a daily basis as to what is going on in the world. America is a country where the information is so tightly controlled that even the conspiracy theories are manufactured. At some point something will have to give. At some point the American people will have to rise and say, "Enough, we will no longer be lied to, we will no longer be told what to think and what to do." They are told that they are free, that nobody else shares this freedom, and they swallow it whole. They are slowly being persuaded that America is under attack from everywhere, everybody is an enemy (including those dastardly Europeans - anti-semites to every man, woman and child) and once this fear is sufficiently all encompassing, the draft will be called and suddenly the available pool of soldiers will have increased exponentially. This is the point at which, I suspect, they will attack Iran.
And all because America is the land of the free.
Yeah, right.
The reasons put forward by bin Laden (namely an end to American occupation, lifting of sanctions on Iraq and America to stop supporting Israel) have been ignored. Although I completely detest the methods he has sought fit to use, I agree with the aims. To ignore the statement accompanying the act of terrorism, and to scratch your head and ask, "now I wonder why they did that?", is to be wilfully blind. Bush knows the score, but he and the powers behind him do not want the people to know.
The only people who are really blind are the American public, misinformed on a daily basis as to what is going on in the world. America is a country where the information is so tightly controlled that even the conspiracy theories are manufactured. At some point something will have to give. At some point the American people will have to rise and say, "Enough, we will no longer be lied to, we will no longer be told what to think and what to do." They are told that they are free, that nobody else shares this freedom, and they swallow it whole. They are slowly being persuaded that America is under attack from everywhere, everybody is an enemy (including those dastardly Europeans - anti-semites to every man, woman and child) and once this fear is sufficiently all encompassing, the draft will be called and suddenly the available pool of soldiers will have increased exponentially. This is the point at which, I suspect, they will attack Iran.
And all because America is the land of the free.
Yeah, right.
2004-08-26
MICHAEL W FROM USA said:
.. All I've
seen on this website is article after article
defending Islam. All these articles are about
how bad the Jews are, how bad the
Americans and other Western countries are,
all the humiliation suffered etc... It's pathetic
the way the people on this website take
pleasure in your little victories and how you
enjoy other's misfortune. Do you really think
the WTC attack and the attack on Madrid was
some kind of show of strength or "fighting
back."? That homicide bombers are heroes
because they take their own miserable lives
along with their victims? You celebrate a
bunch of poor, ignorant, psychotic human
beings manipulated by people like bin Laden
and his kind. What's happened to this great
religion of Islam that you revel in the fact that
Bush and Rumsfeld have been revealed as
liars? Everyone knows that -- it's not even
worth mentioning, yet you celebrate faults in
your "enemies" instead of celebrating the
accomplishments of the Islamic world. The
problem of course is that there are so few
accomplishments these days that as a last
resort you rub your hands in glee when Ariel
Sharon is shown to be a 'bad guy.' It's
shameful. You're smarter than that!! Don't get
sucked into the negative or you'll never
achieve anything or change the way the world
views Islam. And, I don't have to tell you that
the rest of the world doesn't view Islam
positively at this point in history.
seen on this website is article after article
defending Islam. All these articles are about
how bad the Jews are, how bad the
Americans and other Western countries are,
all the humiliation suffered etc... It's pathetic
the way the people on this website take
pleasure in your little victories and how you
enjoy other's misfortune. Do you really think
the WTC attack and the attack on Madrid was
some kind of show of strength or "fighting
back."? That homicide bombers are heroes
because they take their own miserable lives
along with their victims? You celebrate a
bunch of poor, ignorant, psychotic human
beings manipulated by people like bin Laden
and his kind. What's happened to this great
religion of Islam that you revel in the fact that
Bush and Rumsfeld have been revealed as
liars? Everyone knows that -- it's not even
worth mentioning, yet you celebrate faults in
your "enemies" instead of celebrating the
accomplishments of the Islamic world. The
problem of course is that there are so few
accomplishments these days that as a last
resort you rub your hands in glee when Ariel
Sharon is shown to be a 'bad guy.' It's
shameful. You're smarter than that!! Don't get
sucked into the negative or you'll never
achieve anything or change the way the world
views Islam. And, I don't have to tell you that
the rest of the world doesn't view Islam
positively at this point in history.
2004-08-26
SIRIUS FROM FINLAND said:
This is a good description of the american part of the mess we see around these days. The "sinlist" of Bush admistration is anyway longer than this.
2004-08-26
