In my book The Enemy at Home I quoted Benazir Bhutto saying, "Within the Muslim world, there is a reaction against the sexual overtones that come across in American mass culture. America is viewed through this prism as an immoral society." This was one of the most astute explanations of why the propaganda of the radical Muslims has been so successful in recruiting traditional Muslims to the anti-American cause.
Bhutto's words were echoed also by the West's leading historian of Islam, Bernard Lewis. Reviewing what he calls "the standard litany of American offenses recited in the lands of Islam," Lewis ends with this one. "Yet the most powerful accusation of all is the degeneracy and debauchery of the American way of life." Many Americans, both on the right and the left, don't want to hear this message. And so we have been subjected to the same tired nonsense about how the radical Muslims are against freedom, oppose the Iraq invasion, blah, blah, blah.
Yes, the radical Muslims are upset about Iraq, but that's because Iraq is a pro-American Muslim democracy. Such a thing has not previously existed in the Middle East. It provides a startling alternative to the two kinds of tyranny that are widespread in the region: Islamic tyranny of the Iran variety, and secular tyranny such as we find with Musharraf in Pakistan, Mubarak in Egypt, Abdullah in Jordan, Assad in Syria, and in the Gulf Kingdoms.
Who doesn't want democracy to succeed in the Muslim world? Not counting the cultural left in America, there are two groups that are working overtime to subvert the democratic idea. The first is our enemies, namely the radical Muslims. These Bin Laden types would have an obvious incentive to kill Benazir Bhutto, and not surprisingly Musharraf has accused them of being the perpetrators of Bhutto's assassination. If Musharraf is right, the radicals did it in order to subvert the January election, destabilize Musharraf, and sow the seeds of chaos from which an extremist takeover becomes possible. This would be a nightmare prospect for the United States.
A second possibility is that Musharraf is himself behind the murder. After all, there is a second group that doesn't want democracy to work for Muslims. These are the secular despots who are allied with the United States. These thugs appeal for U.S. support basically by saying, "We are corrupt goons, but what is the alternative? Would you rather have the Bin Laden guys in power?" And typically the Americans heave a sigh and continue supporting what is perceived as the lesser evil.
Although Musharraf is no friend of democracy, and is hardly above wiping out one of the main opposition leaders, in this case it seems rather unlikely that he would be the culprit. The reason is that Musharraf runs the obvious risk that he would be blamed for the assassination, and now there are rioting crowds in Pakistan who are pointing the finger precisely in his direction. Also Musharraf gains from national stability, which has in the past allowed him to repel his opponents both from the democratic camp (such as Nawaz Sharif and Bhutto) as well as the Islamic radicals who sometimes use the language of democracy but seek to establish a Taliban-style government in Islamabad.
Who, then, is most likely behind the Bhutto assassination? Somewhere, I suspect, the Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are smiling, having done it again through the mechanism of their suicide squads. And once again America is in a very awkward situation, having no choice now but to support Musharraf while quietly preparing for the possibility that his reign may come to an abrupt end.
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Who's Afraid of Benazir Bhutto?
Posted Dec 27th 2007 4:00PM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Breaking News, Islamic Radicals, Dictators
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Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 14)
91. Linda,
How do you know such a thing? Unless, you were there could that no just be speculation on your part. Could you not agree that Adam and Eve being innocent as children are should not be taught something that perhaps GOD wanted to teach them in his time? Why do you always suppose to what GOD might of meant? God gave them free will because he knew at some point they would give way to what they wanted to do as any child would. I think it was a test to see if mankind could do what GOD wanted verses what the devil wanted and of course we know that since the devil and his demons are loose today in this fallen world that we live in what would you expect them to do. If you at any point think that sin does not have a price tag attached to it think again. We have all sinned, the difference is when you go to our heavenly father and asked to be forgiven then our sins are no more. No, that's not to say that if we keep on sinning over and over again doing the same thing that there won't be a price to pay, that's called back sliding and he will deal with that also. Rita
Rita at 12:51PM on Dec 28th 2007
92. GOD destroyed the world due to all of its inhumanity to one another
xxxx
Are unborn babies and infants inhumane to one another? He threw them out with the floodwater too.
Do you remember his reason for destroying humanity? Do you remember the reason he said he'd never do it again?
You accept this infanticide and homicide, or are you strictly new testament and the flood never happened and creation never happened etc.
Clif Kuplen at 12:49PM on Dec 28th 2007
93. Linda...
Y'know, God told Adam and Eve to avoid even touching the fruit of the tree at the center of the garden.
However, the serpent came along and told them that they could touch and even eat the fruit.
With no way of recognizing the EVIL serpent, she simply obeyed the serpent.
No matter how far some Christians extrapolate this story (some will insist that the serpent TOLD Eve that he was not of God) the very premise of Christianity crumbles. Why? Because Eve could not have possibly known that not being of God was evil because she could not discern good from evil. As far as Eve could tell, the serpent WAS God...not good and not evil...just a different version of beige.
Without willful sin in the Garden of Eden, there can be no Messiah requirement for humanity. Without that requirement, Jesus magically becomes just another religious fanatic.
See! Christianity IS a magical faith after all!
Paul at 12:53PM on Dec 28th 2007
94. Clif,
As many times as we have spoken, you still have no idea what I believe? Yes GOD destroyed the world with water. Since, when do not the babies belong to him, and while were at it you have no problem in abortion so what's the problem with GOD taking his own creation home. God's ways are not our ways, you know enough about the bible to know that much. I also, believe that GOD did away with the laws of the OT due to the Jews who would not accept his son. So yes, today we are saved by grace not by law. So get ready cause the next heavenly visit is going to come by complete surprise. Rita
Rita at 12:57PM on Dec 28th 2007
95. Paul,
If a child is not taught to touch something hot what do you think they will do? Such is the case with ADAM & EVE. Rita
Rita at 1:00PM on Dec 28th 2007
96. What did the animals eat on the ark?
After 40 days I bet the tigers were really hungry.
mac65 at 1:02PM on Dec 28th 2007
97. Rita...Rita...Rita...
Hear this now: Without the knowledge of good and evil, Eve had NO WAY of discerning good from evil. Therefore, she could not have possibly sinned because sin requires a conscious (or free-willed) choice to follow evil. Eve never made the conscious choice because she wasn't even conscious of evil BEFORE eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge (consciousness) of good and evil.
Sheesh...how backwards and stubborn must one be to refuse acknowledging the FACT that the very foundations of Christianity (Judaism and Islam) rest upon something that cannot withstand even the basic pressures of logic?
Paul at 1:09PM on Dec 28th 2007
98. Rita...
If the child cannot possibly detect heat, how can you hold it MORALLY responsible for burning its hand on the teapot?
Eve could not possibly detect evil. How can you hold her morally responsible for obeying BOTH voices she heard in the Garden?
Good gracious...this is like talking to a volleyball.
Paul at 1:13PM on Dec 28th 2007
99. RITA! You've got to go to the library more.
In the original hebrew torah, and the king james bible:
Genesis 2:17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Your NIV bible took the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" out.
Linda at 1:15PM on Dec 28th 2007
100. When your father told you something was it always open for discussion or did you do as you were told due to the fact 1. Respect due him as your father, 2.Because you knew he had your best interest at heart and did not want to see you hurt. 3. That he cared enough to be the one to say do not do this because it will get you into a great big heap of trouble. If you will notice that Eve got a bigger punishment than Adam for disobeying, sorry, you've never had a baby, trust me it hurts. Rita
Rita at 1:19PM on Dec 28th 2007
101. Help me out here.
Is OK for god to kill babies and old folks, but not OK for anyone else?
When I read this shit, it baffles me as to why anyone would worship such blatantly ridiculous
gods.
mac65 at 1:19PM on Dec 28th 2007
102. The moral of the Adam and Eve story is like (as so many other stories in the Torah) is OBEDIENCE TO GOD.
Don't think, just obey
Don't think, just obey
Don't think, just obey
Don't think, just obey
Don't think, just obey
Don't think, just obey
Don't think, just obey
Don't think, just obey
Do you see? We are supposed to be stupid and obey.
(And they wonder why I'm an atheist.....)
Linda at 1:22PM on Dec 28th 2007
103. Since, when do not the babies belong to him, and while were at it you have no problem in abortion so what's the problem with GOD taking his own creation home.
xxxxx
Where do you get this? I've NEVER discussed abortion on this blog or anywhere public that I recall and I doubt I ever will!
You always claim I mischaracterize you, but what, it's cute when you do it?
As you said, you see a world of color in black and white. That's a less accurate world view, not a more accurate one. You can't correct what you can't perceive.
If the bible is the inerrant word of god, it certainly doesn't need your endless interpretations. You spend millions of words redefining scripture to suit you and vex other christians.
If it's the word of god, why does it need so much inconsistent human input from you and everyone else who wants divine support for their less than humanitarian views?
So you do believe in the old testament after all, don't you?
So when did babies stop belonging to God?
If they still do, why isn't his way of calling them home now forcing the mothers to abort them?
In the old testament you now believe in, under Levitican law, God says not to number the unborn or children under one year. This does sorta imply they're his.
If he forbade the levites to count them as alive, what's the problem with abortion or infanticide anyway?
And you forgot to mention that the reason god killed everybody is the same reason he says he won't do it anymore. Until revelations, anyway, but your beliefs about revelation come from an eighteenth century preacher, not the bible - you've already stated them so I'm pretty safe in saying that.
It's a little hard to understand your position. If god owns babies it's ok to let him care for them?
It's good to drown babies? What's the difference between God and Andrea Yates? Couldn't she have been an angel of the lord? What did she do that god didn't do, and didn't she say she was acting on God's word?
Do you think she was, and why do you get to choose?
Clif Kuplen at 1:25PM on Dec 28th 2007
104. Ah...I see...
Now we're getting to the heart of the matter...
Rita views childbirth as some sort of punishment and not as some sort of wondrous natural event.
Yes...bearing a child hurts like the dickens, and yet new mothers (of almost all species) will typically defend to the death that newborn!
Rita...all of your comparisons to Adam and Eve being like children just make you sound like a child yourself.
Children obey their parents out of fear. Eve could not possibly have known that she should fear the consequences of evil because she could not have possibly known what evil was (She gained that awareness only through eating the fruit.) Coincidentally, Genesis even tells us that Adam and Eve only became afraid AFTER they ate the fruit.
And I think I'm done here. I'm really tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. I can only hope that what I've published here has made some of you more aware of exactly how right you are in your atheism. More importantly, I hope that mouthpieces like Dinesh D'Souza get the word that Christianity teeters on a heap of bad logic. Maybe his IQ will finally kick in after reading this. Then again, maybe not.
Paul at 1:31PM on Dec 28th 2007
105. Rita,
We've been down this road before.
Shall we do it again?
I have invited you with an all paid expense trip to accompany me to the Middle East when I have business to attend to.
You will walk where Jesus walked. You will see evidence you have never seen. You have this biased view of things without seeing things. God does not want this.
Rita, Islam and Christianity are supremely similar. It's scary. They all acknowledge Jesus' existence. They have no problems with Christians either. I've had hours upon hours of conversations. Real productive conversations.
I myself, have been trying to figure things out for the last couple of years since I first starting going over there. There is a connection or a link that brings Muslims and Christians together. Because this link is so strong, certain people that have figured it out, are trying to prevent it from happening. Because if it happened, World Peace would be attained. Power does not know peace.
I just haven't figured out the link yet. I hope I live long enough to do so. I get excited everytime I have some sort of business in that part of the world. It is truly an amazing experience.
Stop thinking that what you see on the news, is how it really is. Because it isn't that way.
Your words are of a Bigot. You need to stop it. All you have to say, is that you don't know. Because you don't know. And if you did know, you wouldn't say the things you say.
I have prayed with a Muslim. Rita we prayed to the same God. We are all connected.
Balance. There needs to be balance. If I had 2 hours alone with you, you will see things differently but with the same faith you have. Remember to learn every day.
Botts at 1:31PM on Dec 28th 2007