The stations that are funded to beam into the Arab and Muslim world should not carry Arab and Muslim propaganda. Nor should they carry any of those programs on how wonderful life is for Muslims in America. Is the government crazy?
Such stations should be largely engaged not in current events but in instruction: instruction about the American Constitution, and other aspects of the American legal and political system. Let Arabs find out about the ideas behind the Bill of Rights. Give them the history of the idea of Free Speech, and do not scant Milton's Areopagitica, or the story of John Peter Zenger, or any other details. Have material on the history of Constitutional adjudication right up, from Holmes and Brandeis (Abrams, Gitlow, and the rest) to the present Brandenburg Test. Have on, with translators, intelligent historians and legal scholars. Do the same, but much more of the same, with the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses.
Then let them know about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And have on those who will compare that Universal Declaration with the Muslim version, the Cairo Declaration.
Have interviews with Ibn Warraq, Wafa Sultan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Azam Kamguian, Irfan Khawaja. Have interviews even with those who, while they never dare to write or speak about, or distance themselves openly from, Islam, are nonetheless what one knows are "cultural" Muslims (as the phrase has it) -- that is to say "Muslim-for-identification-purposes-only" Muslims. These could include Fouad Ajami, speaking, say, about the Arab Muslim refusal to contemplate Infidel sovereign states as the basis for its permanent opposition to Israel, and Kanan Makiya on how he, and other Iraqis in exile, failed to recognize the primitive state of the masses, failed to recognize the failure of the entire political class in Iraq.
And show the Muslim audience that we in the West are keenly aware of what Islam is all about. Have on those who discuss Muslim treaty-making and the model of Al Hudaibiyya. Have on those scholars of Islam -- not Esposito, but real scholars -- who will discuss the long history of conflict between Islam and Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism.
Do not stint or hold back. Discuss with art historians the destruction of Buddhist and Hindu statuary in Hindustan and Afghanistan, and catalogue the destruction, perhaps starting with video footage of the Bamiyan Buddhas, and then the threat to destroy them, and then the threat carried out, with no one stopping it, no one intervening, and protests coming only from the non-Muslim world. Explain that it was not the work of the Taliban alone, but of Pakistani and Saudi engineers who helped make the destruction so successful.
Have interviews with non-Muslims who have lived under Muslim rule, and with scholars of the history of dhimmitude. And have round-table discussions, without a single apologist being allowed in, on the reality of the attitudes and mistreatment of non-Muslims today.
And have other programs on Muslims, Arab and non-Arab. Relate the al-Anfal campaign against the Kurds by the Arab government in Iraq to the cultural and linguistic imperialism of the Arabs in North Africa, of which the victims have been Berbers (do not forget Kateb Yacine), and to the mass murder of black African Muslims in Darfur.
Indeed, have a "Berber hour" and a "Kurdish hour" and a "West African" and "East African" hour several times a week.
In all things, be guided not by Americans, but by such people as Ibn Warraq, Ali Sina, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Wafa Sultan. Have programs about their books. Have programs about those who have decided to leave Islam, and enjoyed the freedom to leave Islam only in the West.
Oh, you object? The audience will be small? We need to give them what they expect, what they want, what will not unsettle them? Nonsense. What they get, what they expect, what will not unsettle them is what they get all the time, round the clock, from their own media and from Al Jazeera and Al Manar and Al This and Al That. A program financed by American taxpayers should not repeat Arab propaganda. It should undermine Arab propaganda. It should punch holes in the curtain, as Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe did. Indeed, those should and could be the models: the people hired were not sympathizers with Soviet Communism nor with Russian imperialism. They understood both, and understood that both were a menace, a danger. The people who work at Al Hurra should not be sympathizers with Islam and its duty of Jihad (and the various instruments of Jihad) or with Arab supremacism, but those who understand both, and understand that both are a menace, a danger.
This is what our legislators should be insisting upon.
If you agree, please print this out and send it to your Congressman. Make phone calls. Write to Washington, write in your local papers. Don't stop. The government has, through its own incompetence in this war, forced what one hopes is the temporary "privatization" of the most important part of the war -- the Propaganda War.
Fine. So be it. Help the American government recover, or come to, its senses. There should be no more indulgence exhibited toward the likes of Karen Hughes, and the people who appointed such people as Karen Hughes.
We need foxes, not geese.
Hugh, you (God, what a sonorous problem) continue to say intelligent stuff -- in English, even. People have asked about your writing a book, and you've said that you're going to collect (and, I suppose, revise) these essays.
Though you owe us not, could you offer a status report? Are publishers skittish?
AND - document the multiple billions of dollars (U.S. dollars) that have gone to the Arab/Muslim leaders who made themselves fat and happy while the masses ramain impoverished.
Does anyone know which committee (or whatever) is supposed to be controlling the content on Al Hurra?
Godefroi asked:
"Does anyone know which committee (or whatever) is supposed to be controlling the content on Al Hurra?"
It's the Broadcasting Board of Governors
http://www.bbg.gov/index.cfm
Let me clarify...
This comes off of Alhurra's website.
"Alhurra is operated by non-profit corporation “The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.” (MBN). MBN is financed by the American people through the U.S Congress.
MBN receives this funding from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent and autonomous federal agency. The BBG serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters."
"The BBG serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters."
This is a curious phrase. I wonder what it actually means? Protect them from what? PO'ed American taxpayers?
"The BBG serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters."
that gives them the right to say and do anything without being having to be held accountable to the tax paying public. sort of like PBS.
Hugh,
You say: "show the Muslim audience that we in the West are keenly aware of what Islam is all about."
By 'we', do you mean yourself, Robert, people like Wafa Sultan, Serge Trifkovic, a few other writers and Jihad Watchers?
Shouldn't this proposed enlightenment also be aimed at all those of us in the West who need it almost as much as those in the Middle East?
I think it is a wonderful idea.
Also, since you are seemingly too modest to state the obvious; who should be chief contributor and guiding light of the enterprise?
Any suggestions anyone?
Good idea,
The same can be said about government funded stations broadcasting in the west as well (yes.. I'm looking at the BBC and PBS (USA)).
Excellent ideas, Hugh. As i was reading though, I was thinking -- "Include the French!!" but, then, it's probably too late for them to be swayed by obsolete (effete) "western" notions. (another scary thought, I fear there may be fewer and fewer graduates of universities who have even heard of Milton's Areopagitica -- let alone read it...they're all too busy being indoctrinated in the finer points of Sharia law.)
This is of vital importance, because up till now, few respected and knowledgeable voices have been heard telling the truth about Islam on TV without being shouted down or drowned out by hostiles in the interest of 'balance'. TV debates seldom cast much light on a subject.
Balance can be achieved by presenting opposing views, evaluating them for merit in a rational way to avoid charges of bias. Islamic myths such as those presented on the 'Islam Channel' for instance, can then be all the more tellingly debunked.
Not just in the US, but here in the UK too, the BBC could do something like this as part atonement for past misreporting.
Right, I'm off to the library.
Is that how you spell 'Areopagitica'?
Good stuff Hugh. Spot on, but with little hope for implementation. Still, it needed to be said.
I think Stephen is right. We need first to beam this education to ourselves. And before we can do that, we need to generate a cadre of people to do the beaming. It's sort of paradoxical: if we could beam this education to ourselves, we wouldn't need to, and then we could get on with beaming it to the Arab world. The only hope in this crucial war of ideas is for the presently flimsy toehold of rationality in the West to gain traction amid the slippery planes of the mainstream and dominant Box of PC multiculturalism and to begin to snowball.
Hugh,
A BIG 10-4 on every detail.
Well said.
Think I will mail it to congress-critters.
The most effective "propaganda" is Art.
Curiously, most artists (writers, film-makers, musicians, etc.) in the West are outrageous cowards. (With 12 Danish editorial cartoonists and one dead Dutchman excepted.)
Without mainstream novels, movies, music, theater and pop influences like graphic novels and rock songs daring to address the real dangers at present (instead of attacking BushBushBush as the "cutting edge" rock stars and the Hollywood avante gourd do), mere educational material will slide off the backs of the psycho-spiritually unprepared.
Art is the groundwork for the unconscious mind to accept harder truths, later, in non-fictional forms.
Where are the "daring" actors putting on Voltaire's play "Muhammad- or Fanaticism"?
They cower under the shadow of the sword that killed Theo Van Gogh, whose name they dare not utter.
The popular imagination is being starved on this subject. No Sheryl Crows or K.D. Laings singing melancholy protest songs against Female Genital Mutilation or the patriarchal, abusive barbarians who promote it. No Bruce Springsteens or John "Cougar" Mellencamps standing up for Hirsi Ali's right to be a free, beautiful women opposing medieval thugs.
They're chickenshi'ites.
And until some musicians, writers, artists, movie makers, theatrical producers and others in the creative fields "grow a set", the effort to awaken the instincts of the West are near-fatally undercut.
Cowardice is the most popular art form at present.
Adherents in every medium, self-silenced.
It is a pathetically comic spectacle -to see all of the studious and obvious avoidance of addressing the most serious subject of our time- but tragic for the future of our Civilization.
Freedom of speech don't mean much if you remain silent.
I wonder if Arnold made a follow up to his 1994 movie "True Lies" if the terrorists would be a group of non-muslims called "The New Crusaders"?
Hugh, here is a somewhat blunter list of suggestions, found on a website (Free Republic) and published last December:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=any;o=score;s=mohammed-worship
The response to the suggestions is interesting, because it shows how even conservatives do not get it, and are crippled by political correctness.
10 WAYS TO FIGHT MOHAMMED-WORSHIP
December 16, 2006 | Urbane Guerilla
Posted on 12/16/2006 1:06:03 PM PST by Urbane_Guerilla
10 WAYS TO FIGHT MOHAMMED-WORSHIP
The worship of mohammed, which is inspired by islam (the made-up mess of a book called the koran, the hadith, the sira), has a nihilist view of existence, as do all the totalitarian belief systems thought up and implemented by demented, hating men. Paradise is always on the horizon; destruction, violence, hatred, sadism, pain and death, always on the march toward the ever-receding goal; in this case, until you get the promised sex orgy in heaven.
Bombs and soldiers are not anywhere close to the answer in confronting totalitarianism. Nor is merely the will to win, as if we could gain victory if we only tolerate more deaths by our own civilization, and more of our treasure expended in ever greater amounts.
This is above all an ideological war. It needs to be waged as a battle of ideas.
The audience for this battle splits into two parts, the worshippers of mohammed, and those in the West who cannot or will not recognize their own peril, or who indeed share the totalitarian pov and hate liberty, especially because they hate America.
Here are ten ideas and themes, (they are many more) we can use in the battle.
1. YOU ARE GOING TO HELL. Jihadis and other mohammed-worshippers think they are going to the sex orgy in the sky. This is a very vulnerable mental state. The question of their ultimate other-worldly destination resides in the upper-most part of their psychologies. They must be told at every chance that their destination is HELL.
2. YOU ARE BEING EXPLOITED BY RICH COWARDS. The vast disparity of wealth in the islamic world is rich with possibilities. Poor, ignorant moslems (meaning, most) must be bombarded with the idea that their religion is a sham used by wealthy cowards, who are only interested in saving their own pampered, sheltered lives and their money, but who use mohammed-worship to keep ordinary moslems down.
3. YOUR WOMEN ARE TREATED LIKE GARBAGE. There is always going to be a large segment of moslem women who will be intelligent enough and courageous enough to be susceptible to the truth, and of acting upon it. They can be a valuable fifth column. Even with the relentless intimidation and brain-washing moslem men inflict on moslem women, the human mind is capable of understanding the truth, and the human heart of fighting for the respect and dignity every human being deserves.
4. YOUR CIVILIZATION IS A ZERO. mohammed-worship produces nothing constructive, adds nothing positive, creates nothing, and can take no pride in any accomplishments modern man can think of.
5. MOHAMMED IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A NARCISSTIC SOCIOPATH. The man worshipped by moslems had all the expected failings of a sociopath. They are familiar to anyone who has studied islam even a little, but they are unknown or denied even by mohammed-worshippers, forget about Westerners. The various aspects of this sociopath's life must be relentlessly presented to the world.
6. THE KORAN IS A VIOLENT, INCOHERENT MESS. The koran, to worshippers of mohammed, is the perfect analogy to the Resurrection for Christians. If you don't believe in the koran as the literal spoken word of allah, then you don't believe the central tenet of the faith. The koran is so incoherent and ridiculous, it cannot be defended except by death threats and intimidation. It must be "deconstructed" in the hundreds of ways possible. All that needs to be shown, literally, is that one word of the koran is false: how difficult can this be, if the propaganda is relentless enough?
7. MOHAMMED-WORSHIP CAN ONLY BE DEFENDED BY DEATH THREATS AND INTIMIDATION. The worship of mohammed is illogical and irrational, hence it can only be defended by death threats and intimidation. As long as those are the only "logical" means available to defend islam (that is, any exercise of human intelligence in any aspect of islam is deemed to be dissing allah), they should be focused upon daily.
8. ISLAM HATES AND DISRESPECTS CHRISTIANS, JEWS, HINDUS, BUDDHISTS AND EVERY NON-WORSHIPPER OF MOHAMMED. This cannot be stressed enough. Everywhere in the world the worship of mohammed goes, it hates and kills. The koran teaches moslems to disrespect and loathe the belief of Jews and Christians. The worship of mohammed deserves no more than what advocates toward others.
9. THE WORSHIP OF MOHAMMED HAS NO GOLDEN RULE, NO FORGIVENESS OF OTHERS, AND IS LOVELESS. This cannot be stressed enough. The golden rule is inherent in human nature. Even moslems, because they are human beings, must understand that the golden rule is the basic rule of existence. But they have been convinced that infidels are subhuman, and thus not worth according respect even in the most basic way.
10. WE LOVE MOSLEMS, WE PITY THEM, WE HOPE FOR THEIR REVERSION TO HUMANITY. This also cannot be stressed enough. mohammed-worshippers are human beings, just like the rest of us, no better and no worse, except their minds have been flooded with fear, intimidation, irrationality and hatred. The propaganda battle must include a constant reminder that all we want is their peaceful happiness and fulfillment.
"Art is the groundwork for the unconscious mind to accept harder truths, later, in non-fictional forms." -- profitsbeard. Ah!
Desidude posted:
"The BBG serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters." [quote from Alhurra's website]
that gives them the right to say and do anything without being having to be held accountable to the tax paying public. sort of like PBS."
Well, looks like it's time to hit the firewall. I intend to request transcripts of Alhurra's shows in English (some they should do automatically, but currently do only on request) I will also suggest they simulcast on the Internet. A person can download selected broadcasts now, but only in Arabic...
A popular political buzzword these days is transparency, it's about time they showed some.
Any reluctance to account for themselves should be reported to our Senators and Representatives. I'm thinking even Democrats will respond favorably to calls for accountability in how the present administration is spending funds.
Don't forget the Porn Hugh you need an audience first and that will certainly pull in the muslim viewers.
Hi, Moonzoo. Great post. Especially:
"WE LOVE MOSLEMS, WE PITY THEM, WE HOPE FOR THEIR REVERSION TO HUMANITY. This also cannot be stressed enough. mohammed-worshippers are human beings, just like the rest of us, no better and no worse, except their minds have been flooded with fear, intimidation, irrationality and hatred. The propaganda battle must include a constant reminder that all we want is their peaceful happiness and fulfillment."
I really think even the most dedicated Muslimah has to shudder at the idea of sending children off to die, or the recent example of the Palestinian woman who went off on a suicide mission, leaving her own children motherless.
There are things that go deeper than religion. Motherhood is visceral.
Hugh for Program Director!
Changes wont take place with in the Bush adminstration, The next adminstration must be able to articulate some understanding of Islam and jihad that has a reflection in reality before they get my vote.
This will take voters asking concise questions that can illicet revealing responses .
Voters must be willing to find out who is who in the races contact them and get the ball rolling .
Good ideas, but enough talk. So far the antijihadist movement, with the exception of braver souls like Wafa Sultan and a few others who face islamists down directly in public, just speaks to itself and slaps each other on the back.
Broadcasters send christian gospel programs all over the arab world by radio and TV signals. Every home in Saudi Arabia has a satellite dish. Apparenlty it is not terribly expensive to set up wide-scale broadcasting of this sort. Apart from the initial setup, one needs only have continually rebroadcast fixed set of messages nicely packaged, in good Arabic, played over and over. As the content grows the repetition can be reduced.
Rather than ranting about how the VOA and government broadcasters have gotten it wrong, take these suggestions down and expand on them into a precise proposal for a series of low-cost broadcasts, and approach a few wealthy donors who could cover the costs out of their mad money.
Perhaps one could establish a series of start-up minivan-sized broadcasting centers all over the middle east, in remote locations, powered by diesel generators with a month's worth of fuel (to account for the amount of time it takes the Jihadists to locate and blow them up), that operate completely autonomously once set up, with no human on-site staff. If each one can be set up for, oh let's say $50,000 it would be a huge bargain. Keep the jihadists busy tracking these down and blowing them up. Using the satellite system, of course, removes one's equipment from the whole arena of action, but may be more expensive -- and one would have to deal with regulators and Islamic censors...
One way to get broad coverage cheaply from mobile units like this is to use most of them just as repeater centers; they pick up the signal and amplify it. A minimum of equipment is needed, just a receiver and big enough antenna to generate a strong signal. The main broadcasting center can be quite remote, so the more expensive and critical equipment needn't be left vulnerable. For each unit that is active keep 2 sleepers to be activated as needed. A few million dollars would keep them playing whack-a-mole for quite a while.
Get in front and lead the way instead of trying to push a reluctant mule from behind. Sorry to be blunt, Hugh ... I concur with pretty well everything you say, but we're all pretty good at saying stuff, aren't we? When a good idea comes along, we need to act on it. I don't think waiting around for the government to listen is going to help much.
Maybe there's an easier way to do this. I just watched a PBS (read Arab) Charlie Rose (no, wait is that Toyoko Rose?) program about American universities in the Middle East...those in Egypt and in Lebanon. I figure Americans should infiltrate these facilities (yes, gasp, I realize such a thought is utterly shattering, but bear with me). Put together a set of "lesson plans" (based on Hugh's reading list above), then invite in speakers -- you know Ibn Warraq, Wafa Sultan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Azam Kamguian, Irfan Khawaja -- or if their presence would result in potential death threats, kindnappings etc. from the Religion of Peace, just include taped lectures from said guests. Now, this would be a course! (should be made mandatory for graduating in any American University located in the Middle East.) Much simpler then the mobile units...
Excellent idea with solid proposals on what, by whom, how, directed to whom, etc. that such a campaign must be waged. An additional section might cover 14 centuries of barbaric behaviour by arabs and their submissives -likewise enabled via the death cult dogma -misnamed "religion" - in forms of salvery, mass murder, genocide, mass destruction, - particularly of and against Africans, Jews, Christians, Hindus, now Europeans, and more... Long overdue is the need for the arab to confess, repent, and mend his ways - before all the world - including its own enslaved peoples. Only then -after- global apology - should the arab be allowed to join -in any form - to any degree - the civilized world. Until such time - arabs and their cult of death and destruction must be made unwelcome - around the world.
Thanks to Mr. Fitzgerald (and DW/JW) for permission to copy and bombard our US elected representatives (among whom there may yet be a leader or two who might break from the cultural marxist doctrine and actually attempt to create such program).
Also to "Moonzoo" for excellent posting as well (can your work be copied (with credit) for similar use - to help loose the grip of culutral marxism upon the DC "politicians" and other "conservatives"...?
We will soon have Roseanne Barr to contend with on The View. Believe it or not, she is even more ignorant than Rosie.
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/007434.htm
"The koran is the exact same book as the Torah and Muhammad is just like Paul of tarses."
"take these suggestions down and expand on them into a precise proposal for a series of low-cost broadcasts, and approach a few wealthy donors who could cover the costs out of their mad money."
Good God -- send me the names of those "few wealthy donors who could cover the costs out of their mad money" care of this website. I'm perfectly willing to make a pitch. Make all kinds of pitches.
The proposal should be organized around themes (I think more work needs to be done re: indexing Hugh's essays, getting them organized). Once central themes are determined and developed (could append suggested readings.)
And, about the broadcasts (or lecture formats) what about Podcasts? via the Internet? (eventually translations?)
Fantastic layout for a grand plan which should have been in place years ago. Sigh.
I have to thank Hugh for providing such great examples to explore.
The story regarding John Peter Zenger would make fabulous cinema, stage productions.
Paging Hollywood! Paging Broadway! May I suggest Michael Apted (Amazing Grace, 2006) for director.
Off Topic sort of..
Glenn Beck did a pretty good answering Global Warming alarmist tonight (4/2/07). First job from the conservative side I've seen in the MSM.
Tommorow night he has 1 hour on PBS's refusal to air segment on Moderate Muslims in the US.
Behold Taqwacore, Muslim Punk:
http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2066036,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1
Seems a lot of young Muslims in the west are not so sympathetic to the Jihad. American culture will save the Muslim world through the youth. The religious authorities warn and warn about the corrosive effect of western culture. Let's see them choke on Rock and Roll.
The Jihad cult has seized on young mens' aggressive urges. For there to be viable competition, competition that is, for lack of a better term, cool, is something remarkable. This is the type of thing that could make all the suffering of the west for hosting Muslim immigrants all worthwhile.
As long as we are brainstorming propaganda ideas with little means to accomplish them, let me suggest one more, one I know could never be produced, alas.
It would be a David Lean type of movie on mohammed, sort of a "Narcissist Sociopath of Arabia" type of movie.
But the movie would be like Robert Spencer's books: completely factual. A Sargeant Friday approach would be the best.
Completely factual would make an amazing movie, full of drama, full of Insight, and full of the facts which would reveal the actual life upon which islam is based.
There would be no need to stint on the parts of mo's life which put him in a positive light. Lay it ALL out.
A scene or two of the consummation of his marriage to the little one, or of the murder of the slave girls who made fun of him, or ... heck ... even the marriage to The Older Woman ... and much much more which could be done so subtly ... would be enough to clue in even the most clueless.
Well, Moonzoo, that's an idea. Although, hmmmm...once upon a time (let us all drift off into fiction fantasy land), one had thoughts about the following -- how does one "educate" psychopaths? How should this be done? have you thought about this?
I recall once reading (from educators in prison environments), that a question arose -- it was, basically, "why should we teach inmates literacy skills, math skills, etc. What are we doing? Are we not just making smarter criminals?" hmmm (yes?, do you guess my drift?) So, the question becomes -- what do they need? more intellectual development or a moral education??
Would be best if the society (our society) had not only the tradition of free inquiry, etc., but also lived up to the traditional expectations of intact families and domestic peace. America in 1952 had more to say in a media sense than we do now, though much should be said in any case.
Please remember to make it possible for other than people living in the USA to support your projects - please pass the same message on to Frontpage where only people living in the US or a member of the armed forces can support.
Yours sincerly Peter Buch in Denmark
As usual Hugh has hit the nail squarely. Also Moonzoo. As far as efforts here in the west, we here and all the blogosphere have it covered. Who cares about MSM? To the mohametan world? Now that is a bit more difficult. We must be careful not to appear confrontational, while not conceeding any points. Then slowly work in all the talking points. Yeah. And let them choke on rock and roll.
ZK
And a corse iff'n they get outa line then it's "superior firepower time".
a nabi u can trust
nabi ZK
"As long as we are brainstorming propaganda ideas with little means to accomplish them"
-- from a posting above
Putting up such notions is not a useless exercise. It does several things.
1) It gets people thinking: yes, this could be done, and this, and this.
2) It focusses attentiion on the need for a large, well-financed, intelligent propaganda war.
3) It is addressed not only to the common reader, but to those who come to this site from the Pentagon, Congress, and other places where those who read, or those who read and then report to their bosses, do indeed have the power to help accomplish these things.
4) It points up how the current inattention to such matters is a result of this insane fixation by the Administration, hallucinatory in its aims and understandings, on Tarbaby Iraq, and offers just one area where that fixation has done damage.
There's more. But that's enough.
It is not an idle exercise.
Why?
What is it we wish to accomplish?
We wish to weaken the forces of Jihad, the instruments of Jihad.
We wish to do that, and not to "bring freedom to ordinary moms and dads in the Middle East" if that "freedom" includes a greater, not lesser, hold of Islam over the inhabitants, as has happened now in Iraq.
We wish to weaken in every way the Camp of Islam.
We wish to weaken it financially.
We wish to weaken it militarily (that is, by preventing its armies from acquiring certain kinds of unconventional weaponry, or even large amounts of advanced Western conventional weaponry).
We wish to weaken it morally, by putting its adherents constantly on the defensive, constantly having to explain or justify the tenets of Islam (as clearly set out in Qur'an, and glossed by Hadith and Sira).
We wish to have Muslim societies, in all their aggression, on display.
We wish to encourage, or at least do nothing to discourage, whatever fissures are presented in Iraq, and elsewhere we may begin more aggressively to promote the understanding, among the 80% of the world's Muslims who are non-Arab, that Islam is a vehicle for Arab supremacism,and to point out why, and exactly how (starting by having the C.I.A. translate into two dozen major languages such works as Anwar Shaikh's "Islam the Arab National Religion" and to subsidize their puclication and mass dissemination, through cut-outs if necessary, would be good).
We wish to have Demonstration Projects of Muslim aggression, violence, irrationality, cruelty -- directed at other Muslim victims -- so that Infidels can learn not by having to experience themselves at some future date, when it is too late, but by observing, the behavior of such Muslim societies. Gaza is one example, a Gaza no longer kept alive by Western benevolence that has gone on for more than 50 years. Iraq is another example -- whenever we leave, despite what the Galula-ites around General Petraeus may wish to think, the Sunnis and the Shi'a will still be fighting. It may calm down. It may be a bomb here, and a bomb there. It's unclear whether the Sunnis will dare to be quite so violent when the Americans leave, for then the Shi'a will no longer be held in check by those Americans, and if clever, may even inherit some of that military equipment they, the Shi'a, have been coveting. But even if Al-Qaeda is crushed by the Americans or by disaffected tribesmen in Anbar Province (about whose attacks on Al Qaeda so much has exaggeratedly made), the Sunnis of Iraq, and their Sunni Arab supporters outside Iraq, will never acquiesce in the Shi'a dominating fabled Baghdad, madinat al-salaam, and the Land of the Two Rivers, both so essential in Arab Muslim mythology, as the centers for 500 years of high Islamic civilization.
A start, at keeping goals clear.
Bingo.
Actually a lot of this stuff could be, is being, done on a shoestring. Even by private individuals with small resources.
ZK
"It is addressed not only to the common reader, but to those who come to this site from the Pentagon, Congress, and other places where those who read, or those who read and then report to their bosses, do indeed have the power to help accomplish these things."
Maybe. I work for an English-speaking government, but the thought of sending this to any of my colleagues makes me doubtful. We are all preaching to the converted here at Jihad Watch. Its moralising and galvanising to an extent, but JW needs to become more strategic and focus its attention on certain issues, institutions, individuals, to make an impact, not just a general notion of the public out there. JW is a great source for jihad-related news, but not as a platform to challenge dhimmified orthodoxy in the media, academia and government. I wish it was. Maybe it doesnt have to be. Maybe this is something some of us need to set up. And its not just about the USA. We need to combine a jihad-sensitive perspective with that of Jim Bennett's Anglosphere. We could organise satelite platforms aimed at think tanks, media, etc, with sharp, purposively written material not lost in a deluge of sometimes repetitive news articles that relate to Jihad.
"...the thought of sending this to any of my colleagues makes me doubtful."
-- from a posting above
That bad, is it?
I hope you are by degrees winning over one or two, or more, and you are exercising your wiles and every ounce of personal charm (just as Tariq Ramadan does) in a good cause -- the cause of getting people to see what is before them but which they do not want to see, will do anything to keep from seeing.
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I don't think it's an idle exercise either (although, heh, heh, "In Praise of Idleness" comes to mind). Anyway, I think another problem (in addition to the organizational challenges) is the diffuse nature of the information. For example, the sheer number of blogs (which is fabulous, but who has time to go through it all?) Ditto for many of the excellent texts now available. So, I'm thinking a central webpage (like a portal?)? Or what about fairly extensive summaries of these texts (say more lengthy synposis? something more than what, say, Amazon offers...yet, I suppose, without violating copyright laws.)
I agree with Hugh's strategy.
But it needs to be remembered that in most Western countries we have 2 groups of people that need dealing with.
1. The Muslims
2. The liberals
Group 2 is frequently found in powerful positions: politicians, journalists, judges. And they act as a definite brake to getting anything done. Group 1 is skillful at pushing all the buttons of Group 2. We have our work cut out convincing Group 2 that Group 1 really is a problem.
And I dont see laws being changed, foreign policy being changed as long as Group 2 is unconvinced that there is a problem.
"Shouldn't this proposed enlightenment also be aimed at all those of us in the West who need it almost as much as those in the Middle East?"
StephenA55
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Couldn't agree with you more.
Only yesterday I heard a muslim guy spouting the mantra of the religion of peace to a radio pesenter who was reviewing the muslim's book. Never once did the presenter question him about the violence and the intolerane contained within the pages of quaran. He just let the muslim prat on about how wonderful and peaceful islam is. This is on an award winning prime drive time radio programme, listened to by millions.
Why employ "al this" and "al that" to fill the air with islamic propaganda when our own bbc is doing it far better, all with British tax payers money.
Idiots.
The same is true here in Canada -- the CBC is very much like the BBC. It's flooded with Islamic propaganda -- even CBC radio programs -- there'll be (supposedly) a music program featuring some Muslim guitar player -- and before you know it, you'll be listening to a rant about the plight of Muslims in "Palestine" -- a whole propaganda rant on a so-called "music" show. It pops up everywhere on the CBC and on the most unlikely of programs. (I've stopped listening to CBC radio.)
It's what happens when you get "liberals" combined with a self-described "minority" group who views themselves as "persecuted." (It's also the churches here, too, though -- they are champions of Muslim "causes.") How so-called "liberals" are able to align themselves with these triumphalist, supremacists is beyond me. (I recently viewed on YouTube a video in some Muslim country, there was a reporter on the street who asked the pedestrians -- "Would you shake hands with a Jew?" Every single respondent said, "No!" followed by vile, racist comments -- they reminded me of Borat imitators, utterly boorish and ignorant (quoting from their "holy" book the koran) -- but they weren't joking. One Borat type fellow explained that it was only due to cowardice that the Muslims do not simply walk over (literally) Jews in Israel, explaining that Muslims so out number Jews, the task of genocide would not be at all difficult. And these are the people Canada is allowing to flood into Canada.)
JS: “I'm thinking a central webpage (like a portal?)? Or what about fairly extensive summaries of these texts (say more lengthy synposis?”
I don’t think centralisation is the key, although it is important for certain reasons. I understand your interest in pooling the information that is on the Web, and this would be very useful if done well. I’d say it’s less about structure and more about function, though of course the latter depends to some extent on the former.
What we need is more specialisation: dedicated sites with different but complementary functions: daily Jihad-related news culling with light commentary (such as Jihad and Dhimmi Watch), opinion pieces perhaps related to events (such as Gates of Vienna), also information sources that are not so much news event-related, with a slower turnover that introduces basic facts about Islam, the Qur’an, Hadiths etc.
These are information providing functions, each with its own ‘tempo’. The strength of the faster sites, such as Jihad Watch, is that they build up significant resources, which can be used in many ways. Their downside – if we are to expect them to meet all propaganda war functions, which we shouldn’t – is that they do not coordinate attacks on singular issues, scaling up pressure on clearly marked targets, in a visually effective way. The information may be great, but it is not consistently connected, and rarely amounts to a campaign. But other sites may do this, and link in with sites such as Jihad Watch.
We have to now become more conscious about the goals and purposes of all this incredibly valuable information. Not just reacting to news or laying out the truth relating to Islamic history and what Islam teaches, but also targeted, more specialised attacks on issues, perhaps also on universities, think tanks, policy advisers, research institutes, intelligence agencies, media outlets, etc.
For me it would involve, for example, a focus on how the development sector treats terrorism, reviewing key policy documents and activities of the multilateral (UN etc) and bilateral (USAID, DfID [UK] etc) donor agencies.
We need to create channels of this information so that information becomes alive and exerted at certain pressure points, first in the dhimmified architecture of our own institutions. We can keep a constant pressure up on clearly identified strategically-identified nodes in our own polity, academia, and media, etc. Like a tagging, tracking, shadowing, of statements and activities of key institutions and individuals. Clearly articulated antidotes to myth, myopia, spin, and lies can be carefully recorded online and importantly, connected into a web of data through better communications between key players in the anti-Jihad battlefront.
There is plenty to be done. Its time to specialise and communicate.
Excellent ideas, exfidel.
You know, I was just thinking (it's been at the back of my mind for a couple of weeks now), and that is the role of the Convert and the on-going Islamization of the west. There was a post made by a fellow in Spain -- he was detailing how Spain had become so pro-Islamic...and he asserted that much of the ground-work was laid by a convert to Islam -- and that all the pressure points were utilized (along with how to get the support) because the person was Spanish. I have also noticed the same occurring in, say, the U.S. (with people such as Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR), or the former Anglican Canadian (Matteson), etc. I think info about the psychology of conversion (the Da'wa aspects, etc) and how to counter it, could also be useful.
(I also think indexing of thematic elements would be useful.)