Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Arab Winter

Mark Steyn's column this week looks with a great deal of pessimism at the latest developments resulting from the 'Arab Spring' - the revolutions across a number of countries in the Middle East against the mainly secular dictatorships that existed there.  Most troubling to not only the US, but Western Civilization and the prospects of peace in the region, are the replacement of these dictatorships by Islamic fundamentalist governments.

In Egypt, which held it's first stage of Parliamentary elections earlier this week, the Muslim Brotherhood and the even more radical Salifi's won nearly 65% of the vote and are positioned to take firm control of the Egyptian government once (if?) the military regime that stepped in after the departure of Mubarak hands the reins over to an elected government.  Already, the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi's are calling for the replacement of the current legal system with one that is based on Shari'a law.

Corruption and Islamism in Egypt is rampant today.. "Post Mubarak Egypt has become an uncontrolled kleptocracy, in which public officials steal whatever isn't tied down." Chaos exists - one that will be capitalized on by the Islamists who will 'bring order' to the situation.

One of the best bloggers / observers of this region, Michael J. Totten, maintains a blog on PJ Media.  Totten travels extensively in the Middle East region and his writings from Lebanon during 2005-2006 were exceptional.  (Totten is one of those bloggers who works harder, writes better, and informs more than so many of the so-called professional journalists.)  Totten notes in this recent blog entry 'Watch Out':
– “I’ve always scoffed at those who describe the Muslim Brotherhood as moderate. It’s not at all an objectively moderate organization, and certainly not by any Western standard. Conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans are moderates. These guys are authoritarian theocrats. If a Christian counterpart existed in the United States, they’d be called fascists.


They really are moderate compared with the Salafists, though. The Salafists are the Taliban-style totalitarians that produced Al Qaeda. “

We are making a huge mistake if we dismiss these changes in government, in Tunisia, in Libya, in Egypt, and in Yemen, to name the one's already underway, into Islamic fundamentalist based governments as one that is not a threat to the Western nations. Syria continues to be in turmoil as the tyrant Assad tries to hold on - and it's far more likely that the hard core Islamists will take power (with the support of Iran and Hezbollah) when Assad falls. Lebanon is another country that is under divided rule, but lacks the power to really dismiss and disengage itself from Hezbollah's influence. Hezbollah will do in Lebanon what it wants to do - and the Lebanese people / government is unable to stop it - and will have to share any price paid.

All of this moves to further isolate Israel. While it is a nation under siege today, the siege will tighten considerably between these government changes and renewed actions by the Islamic bloc in the United Nations.

Pressure will increase in the United States to abandon Israel - which would be fatal to both if that decision is ever made.

Far too many refuse to accept the threat that the radical Islamists, ranging from the Muslim Brotherhood (see writings of Sayid Qutb), the Salafis, to the Iranian Shiite theocrats, seek to re-establish a larger Caliphate in the name of Islam. This is a fundamental challenge to the neo-liberal Western Civilization that has been in combat with the Islamic caliphate and it's goals to expand via the sword since the 8th century.

Among those refusing to accept the actions of these groups as evidence of their intent to obtain their goals and agenda are the liberals / left of the West. Rather than look at the fundamental differences between the cultures - in particular the treatment of women - the focus remains locked into the fallacy of multiculturalism. Where is the outrage, when for example, nearly 3,000 women in Britain last year were the victim of so-called 'honor attacks' by their Muslim family members?

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