Schmidt Wrote: With the massacre at Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent hostage situations of yesterday there has been no shortage of opinions by politicians and journalists as to causes of the radicalization of young people to commit such horrific acts. I have listened to opinions on MSNBC by a host of so called experts and have scrolled through Media Matters to see what Fox New pundits as well are saying. Most all of them are very short term in their thinking. Then I found this article by Mark LeVine in AlJazeera this morning that made more sense, at least to me.Mark LeVine, AlJazeera, January 10, 2014: Why Charlie Hebdo attack is not about IslamLeVine goes back 130 years to where it all begin...with colonialism. "It's no mere coincidence that at least two of the Charlie Hebdo attackers are reportedly of Algerian descent and the third from Senegal. France's 1830 invasion of Algeria began a 130-year odyssey of murder, expropriation, racism, exploitation and misrule that only ended after a vicious anti-colonial struggle costing well over one million Algerian lives."The story of the modern Muslim world, with a few exceptions, is one of generations of European rule and the "collective wound of colonialism" in which the western world's thirst for oil resulted in coddling of local despots who were only too happy to cycle trillions of dollars back and forth between them through oil and arms sales, finance and heavy industry...a cycle that has concentrated wealth and power to a very few.LeVine concludes, "If Charlie Hebdo reminds us of anything it is that the arc of blowback can stretch for decades, growing more uncontrollable as the political, economic, social and technological chaos of the contemporary world increases."I have excerpted just a few lines from LeVine's article above, but I recommend reading the entire article. It's the only one that I have found that more accurately describes the deep roots of the radicalization of many in the Muslim world. Blowback is the right word.
Schmidt Wrote: Dutch -- Yes, whether it's European colonialism or American "imperialism" it's basically the same thing...exerting our military might ostensibly to "make the world safe for democracy" but in reality to ensure that our corporations can extract their wealth. Many of the young unemployed youth, not only in these countries but also in their western colonial countries, are looking to radicalized Islam as western capitalism and it's implicit racism have failed them.
Schmidt Wrote: The story of the modern Muslim world, with a few exceptions, is one of generations of European rule and the "collective wound of colonialism" in which the western world's thirst for oil resulted in coddling of local despots who were only too happy to cycle trillions of dollars back and forth between them through oil and arms sales, finance and heavy industry...a cycle that has concentrated wealth and power to a very few.LeVine concludes, "If Charlie Hebdo reminds us of anything it is that the arc of blowback can stretch for decades, growing more uncontrollable as the political, economic, social and technological chaos of the contemporary world increases."
jaredsxtn Wrote:Schmidt Wrote: The story of the modern Muslim world, with a few exceptions, is one of generations of European rule and the "collective wound of colonialism" in which the western world's thirst for oil resulted in coddling of local despots who were only too happy to cycle trillions of dollars back and forth between them through oil and arms sales, finance and heavy industry...a cycle that has concentrated wealth and power to a very few.LeVine concludes, "If Charlie Hebdo reminds us of anything it is that the arc of blowback can stretch for decades, growing more uncontrollable as the political, economic, social and technological chaos of the contemporary world increases." Thanks for sharing the article. It is a breath of fresh air to actually see some in-depth reporting on something as complex as this tragedy.The sentence about the blowback stretching on for decades is telling and something we need to prepare ourselves for. The radicalization of Islam is something that will take a very long time to work itself out. I've read more than a few pieces drawing parallels between what is going in the Muslim world right now and the Thirty Years War the Christians fought in the 1600's. Hopefully they will be able to sort things out before 8,000,000 people are killed...
Tony Johnson Wrote: Schmidt,Thanks for sharing this article. I have found myself watching Aljazeera America quite a bit recently. I kind of gave up on MSNBC.........I'm not sure why but I just don't go there any more. Aljazeera and CNN are what I mostly watch.
Schmidt Wrote: lonely bird -- Yes it is hard to separate the religion from the politics. Iran and Saudi Arabia are examples of where the state and the religion are the same. They both use fear to keep the masses in check and hold onto their power. Punishment is ruthlessly applied, and that punishment in the form of 1,000 lashes or beheadings is meant to keep their people in a continual state of fear. Are the "morality police" of Iran and Saudi Arabia really any different than the SAVAK secret police under the Shah of Iran? They have different targets (morality police target women more generally) but both use fear and punishment to hold onto power...or as you put it a "surveillance state based on the hatred/fear of the other".In the USA, the Christian evangelicals (Fundamentalists), while certainly not engaging in the type of repulsive overt actions displayed by Islamic states, none the less would establish by laws their own brand of morality on the populace if they were given the power by the voters.
Schmidt Wrote: So while we like to point the finger at radical Islam, their ability to recruit actors for their crusade is less about the radical religious beliefs they are selling and more about the recruits themselves not being accepted into the society in which they were born.