I learned a lot from watching the hearing on the “Extent of Islamic radicalization Among American Muslims.” Without this hearing I would not have known that al-Qaeda and Muslim fundamentalists pose a serious threat to national security. Thank you, New York Rep. Peter King. Now I know. If not for our leaders’ courageous efforts to “raise awareness” about this new and developing problem I would have remained comfortably numb; it never would have occurred to me to report extremist behavior if I saw it. Now I understand that if I see something I must say something.
But there were many other revelations. Star witness Zuhdi Jasser truly spoke for all American Muslims when he admonished them to realize that law enforcement is on their side. They don’t do enough to combat radicals in their community. They delude themselves into thinking that the FBI often abuses its powers. And they, like the rest of those crazy liberals offended by the hearing, think that Islamic terror is not a real threat. It is.
Without King’s efforts we’d have all forgotten that Muslims carried out the attacks of September 11 and have come close to causing devastation numerous times since, with the Christmas Day attack and the Times Square bombing, among others. The mainstream media just doesn’t tell us about these things. This is why we need more leaders like Peter King.
Our corporate news outlets have simply been too busy filling the airwaves with stories about how the Obama administration, in contrast with Latin American and European governments, has supported the coup that ousted the left-leaning President Zelaya of Honduras in 2009 and helped put in its place a regime whose vast human rights violations have been well documented by Amnesty International. Hugo Llorens, Obama’s ambassador to Honduras, hailed the outcome as “a great celebration of democracy.” We’ve also been saturated with coverage about how Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Bertrand Aristide, was kidnapped by French and American forces and dispatched to Central Africa in 2004 so a pro-West government could take his place. Maybe we need another hearing about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, which received little attention back then.
But there were some things covered in King’s hearing that I really didn’t know about. For example, Jasser explained that America could never forge a serious alliance with a Muslim government. This was news to me. Last time I checked we’ve gotten along pretty well with the Islamic absolute monarchy that controls Saudi Arabia, incidentally one of the leading hotbeds of Wahabiism.
Even more eye opening was Jasser’s claim that political Islam cannot embrace the Ideals of Jeffersonian democracy. It seems that the opposite is true in multiple senses. If we choose to interpret Jeffersonian democracy in accordance with American propaganda, as a benevolent multicultural force, it must also follow that the Islamic government we’ve installed in Iraq illustrates Islam’s capacity to emulate our founding father if we are to trust the mainstream media’s contention that we’ve “spread freedom and democracy” to the region. If we interpret Jeffersonian democracy as it played out in America during the early days of the republic (and through the present, particularly when it comes to foreign policy), it must certainly follow that al-Qaeda’s agenda closely resembles the actions of our founders, who sought to impose their way of life on others through brute force, slavery and genocide. The only difference is that under al-Qaeda’s paradigm all Americans are targets, not just blacks, Indians and Mexicans.
For all that, it was very reassuring to hear nearly everyone present, especially the Republicans, say that “American Muslims are our friends and neighbors who teach our children, pay taxes, serve in the military, the police, and even Congress.” So thank you Peter King for raising awareness about these deeply misunderstood and often ignored issues. We need more leaders like you.
—Marc Adler also writes at thebloodycrossroads.com
