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Last week I published an article in FrontPage about the University of California at Irvine professor Mark LeVine. Yesterday several people brought to my attention the fact that a reply from LeVine had been posted in the comments section here, as well as at Juan Cole's website. You can read my response to his reply in the comments field linked above.
After I sent my reply to LeVine and Cole, I had an email exchange with LeVine in which he grew increasingly angry with one sentence in particular from my FrontPage article: "LeVine owes his status [as wunderkind] to his willingness to place the responsibility for the strife between the West and the Islamic world squarely on the shoulders of the West." He has asked me for a retraction, accusing me of not having read statements he made about the responsibility of the Islamic world, such as this one in his notorious piece calling for the West to conclude a hudna with radical Muslims: "Beyond the criminal minority, The 9/11 Report was right to demand that Muslims worldwide confront the violent and intolerant version of their religion that is poisoning their societies and threatening the world at large. Religious leaders and ordinary citizens alike must engage in soul-searching about the toxic tendencies within their own cultures similar to the one they demand of Americans and the West more broadly."
Actually I did read them, and I did not intend my statement in the FrontPage article to mean that LeVine never mentioned the responsibility of the Islamic world. In this regard another sentence from my article is clearer: "Glaringly absent from this analysis, and from most of what LeVine also writes, is substantive respect for these 'mosquitoes' as actors in their own right in today’s great global drama..." "Most," but not "all." Insofar as the sentence to which LeVine objected gives the impression that LeVine takes no notice at all of the role of the Islamic world in today's global conflicts, I happily retract it. I am glad these are elements of LeVine's thought, and in fact I did not mean in my article to deny their existence outright.
But I do stand by my judgment that the general emphasis of LeVine's writings is elsewhere: on the West's responsibility. Here, for example, is a passage from LeVine's same (pre-election; hence the references to a future "President Kerry") hudna piece, with commentary by me:
European leaders face the threat of an increasingly bloody conflict with Muslim extremists thanks to the continent's imperial past in the region and, more important today, their perceived support for US policies in Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq. They would be wise to suggest that president Kerry call a truce so that the United States, the European Union, and more broadly the "West" can have the time collectively and publicly to explore the root causes of the violence against them that emanates from the Muslim world - something the 9-11 Commission should have, but did not, do. At least there's a chance Kerry might listen, especially if the war in Iraq continues to spiral out of America's control.
LeVine is thus calling for a hudna in order to give Western nations a chance to "explore the root causes of the violence against them that emanates from the Muslim world." It seems that in the same paragraph he gives those causes: the "increasingly bloody conflict with Muslim extremists" is declared to be the result of "the continent's imperial past in the region and, more important today, their perceived support for US policies in Israel/Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq."
Now that looks to me as if LeVine places the primary responsibility for the increasingly bloody conflict on the shoulders of the West. So does his breathtaking statement in another article: "America, in short, has become a criminal nation, and it must be stopped." (Ironically, in the hudna piece he says: "Criminals can't offer truces, and bin Laden and other groups that use terroristic violence are indeed international criminals whom the world community has an obligation to bring to justice." If America is a criminal nation, then, by LeVine's own reasoning it cannot offer a truce in any case.)
In the hudna piece, he also writes this:
I find it frightening (yet unsurprising) that the [9/11] report would go on to position the US as an innocent bystander to a "clash within a civilization" whose solution "must come from within Muslim societies themselves".
Now, there is no doubt that LeVine wrote right above this that "the 9/11 Report was right to demand that Muslims worldwide confront the violent and intolerant version of their religion that is poisoning their societies and threatening the world at large." However, if the Report was wrong to say that the solution "must come from Muslim societies themselves," it would seem to me that the self-examination LeVine calls for among Muslims is not the decisive aspect of the solution to terrorism that he envisions. This is underscored by the hudna article's conclusion:
No matter who wins the upcoming Presidential election, European leaders need to demonstrated the courage to explain to president Kerry (or even Bush) that without both an acceptance of responsibility for past policy and the transformation of future policy toward the Muslim world, there will be no solution to terrorism, only continued violence and war. No matter how "smarter and more effectively" the next US president might hope to prosecute such a war, it would be no more winnable than Vietnam or the war on drugs, with far higher losses likely in the near future.
That's LeVine's final summation, and it contains no mention of the Islamic world's responsibility. Thus I think it is entirely reasonable to conclude, as I did in my article, that LeVine places "the responsibility for the strife between the West and the Islamic world squarely on the shoulders of the West" -- squarely, but, to be sure, not solely.
Posted by Robert at December 13, 2004 9:10 AM
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Mark LeVine must spend a great deal of time reading Middle East Islamic propaganda. Do we think that the call for a hudna in the Israeli/Palestine conflict is going to help the peace process, given the 36 articles of the Hamas charter which are drawn from the Quran and the hadith.
Here is example of how the Islamic press calls for an effort to find any peaceful resolutions.
Today in Jihad Unspun:
Fallujah: Mujahideen Liberate Al-Askari, Industrial Districts; US Resorts To Chemicals
Dec 13, 2004
By Omar Al-Faris, JUS
Mujahideen continued to tighten their grip on the besieged American troops in various locations around Fallujah over the weekend. The desperate occupying force leadership resorted to chemical weapons again after Mujahideen have launched 95 rockets at American positions after liberating the Al-Askari and Industrial districts.
Bloody Fighting Ends In Liberating The Al-Askari, Industrial Neighborhoods
The Fallujah Mujahideen Council has issued a military communiqué Saturday morning announcing the complete liberation of Al-Askari neighborhood which is now under total control of Mujahideen. The industrial neighborhood has also fallen to the Mujahideen.
According to the communiqué, 32 American soldiers were killed, 28 others were wounded, and 2 American soldiers were captured. The two captured soldiers will be treated as prisoners of war according to Islamic rules of engagement. The Iraqi flag bearing the words "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) was erected on top of Al-Hussain Mosque. All Mujahideen have performed prayers to thank Allah for this great victory.
In addition to human casualties, the Mujahideen have also destroyed 11 Abrams tanks, shot down an Apache, and hit an F-16. The fighting was intense and lasted from 21:15 Friday night until Saturday. Twenty eight Mujahideen were martyred, including a 14 years old boy who was fighting along side of his father who also was martyred.
The communiqué stressed that Mujahideen now exert total control over these neighborhood and that this control can be termed as true liberation.
Occupiers Fill Fallujah Skies With Poison Gases But Allah Send In Winds And Rain
In a Divine victory which is not the first one, Allah has come to the aid of Fallujah residents. American occupying force bombarded Fallujah with not one but three poison gases for the first time on Sunday afternoon. According to eye witnesses, Fallujah skies were filled with a red gas, a yellow gas, and a white gas, all at the same time. But Allah has sent in gusty winds from the south, in the direction of the American troops. The gusty winds were followed by a period of heavy rain lasting for 45 minutes. With this Divine intervention, citizens of Fallujah used wet pieces of cloth to cover their noses for protection from the poison gases. The use of three gases at the same time is a clear indication of the state of desperation of the American troops. Americans have not found a way to break the will of the Mujahideen nor have they found a way to break the siege and stop daily, heavy losses.
95 Rockets Hit Occupation Forces; Fierce Fighting Erupts In Surrounding Areas
Mujahideen are executing a plan called “The Killer Pocket”, in which they drag American troops to what appears to be open space, then they encircle them, and finally bombard them with rockets from areas outside and with mortar rounds from inside Fallujah. Death is usually imminent because the American troops have no way to escape alive and they have not been able to break the carefully positioned siege. American casualties are thought to be very high as rockets continued to fall on their positions from early morning Sunday.
Mujahideen Level The Biggest Mosque In Fallujah To The Ground
A group of Mujahideen have shelled the Al-Hadhra Mosque with heavy artilleries until it was leveled to the ground. This action was taken after the occupying Americans have converted some of its rooms to bars and others to whorehouse houses. According to Mafkarat al-Islam, several cranes are still working on removing concrete blocks and rubbles to retrieve the Americans trapped underneath the rubble. Causalities are reported however specific numbers are not available at this time.(JUS)
Posted by: Mackie![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 13, 2004 11:03 AM
Mackie
thought you where giving a little satire until I googled JUS.I can see now why there is no humour allowed in islam. Because islam is one filthy big sick joke
at December 13, 2004 12:02 PM
Good post, Mackie. Reminds me of a story I read recently in the "Washington Times" about a Turkish MP's accusation that America may be using nuclear weapons in Iraq (and this from a country that considers itself part of the rational world -- would not the use of a nuclear weapon garner worldwide press attention? -- how could it possibly be such a well-kept secret that only the Turks would know about it and have the courage to go public with such information?):
--------------------
NEWS STORY FOLLOWS:
--------------------
Turkey MP blasts U.S. over Iraq
Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The chief of the Turkish parliament's human rights committee Thursday accused the United States of using non-conventional weapons against Iraqis.
Mohammed Takmash said prior to an emergency meeting of the Committee on Developments in Iraq Thursday "the U.S. might have even used a nuclear bomb in its wars against Iraqi cities."
He accused Washington of conducting a campaign of mass killings in the various Iraqi cities "with an unprecedented savagery."
"We condemn such ugly practices and call on the international community to act quickly to end the human hemorrhage in Iraq," he said.
The committee is expected to issue a final statement at the end of its discussions of the situation in Iraq Friday.
(Link: http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20041125-105835-1108r.htm)
Posted by: ted at December 13, 2004 12:08 PM
Apologies. Link came out wrong. Try following
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20041125-105835-1108r.htm
at December 13, 2004 12:10 PM
LeVine is a crackerbox. No need to waste time with such fools.
But the Islamic propaganda machine proves again that Iraq is the land of 1001 fairytales. What else do you expect from desert dwelling cameldrivers who know little more than what the Imam in the mosque tells them?
Posted by: Terminator at December 13, 2004 12:22 PM
I just read Mr. Spencer’s link http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=7657
to the LeVine article on a truce with the Muslim world.
I cannot believe that this man is actually taken seriously. That article were it followed, e.g., removing troops completely from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as his other incredibly stupid recommendations, too numerous to mention, would only spell disaster in two countries liberated from tyranny minimally. Additionally, his all-out surrender to Islam in Europe makes him a serious runner-up to Neville Chamberlain and would only embolden the Islamists.
He said their are "10 million Muslims" living in Europe. I thought the figure was closer to 20 million according to Daniel Pipes website:
"Some 5% of the E.U., or nearly 20 million persons, presently identify themselves as Muslims"
http://www.danielpipes.org/article/1796
He said:
"The Prophet Mohammed agreed to the first Muslim truce in 628. Known as the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, it was between the nascent Muslim community and the Meccan pagans, and lasted for two years before the Meccans broke it by attacking Muslim Bedouin tribes."
Can someone please tell me who actually broke this treaty? I was under the impression that Muhammad broke the treaty once he was sufficiently strong enough to do so. Does anyone know?
Finally, he uses so much code speech, "Conservatives" and "progressives", while referring to what we would consider religious fanatics, always referring to the west in sneer quotes and projecting a sense that anything that happened within the Islamic world is the fault of the western civilization.
LeVine clearly advocates that we should assume what clearly seems like a dhimmi status to this historically imperial civilization.
Posted by: Andrew at December 13, 2004 12:51 PM
Earth to Mark Levine:
I am a major supporter of the US-led War Against Terror and many of the things you labeled as "criminal".
I am not sorry that I do. You can expect me to be the most vigorous adversary you will ever experience on any plane of existence.
In its 13 century-long existence as a formal 'religion' Islam has murdered at least 300 million human beings. Islamic military advancement into the Indian subcontinent alone may well have resulted in human deaths equaling that figure. These people were slaughtered without warning, without mercy, and without any real grounds for being accused of wrongdoing. No other single force in history has caused such losses of of life and setbacks in human development. The horrendous political and economic conditions found from West Africa to ther Caucasus to Indonesia are long-standing and self-induced. This is all any of us really needs to know about Islam. Except to avoid it or else eliminate it.
If Islam had actually advocated human advancement it would have found ways to bring propserity to its so-called adherents of the umma. But this never happened; the call of jihad bled the economies of every Islamic society since Muhammed. What should have been spread among the muslims instead was wasted on endless wars and conquests. Muslims burned the library of Alexandria to the ground. That action is believed by historians to have set humanity back by at least 1000 years. So much for progress.
We all know that history repeats itself. The horror of 9-11-2001 was no aberration not even regarding the United States. The Islamic caliphate attacked the United States in the years of 1795 and 1801. The Muslim Brotherhood colluded with the Third Reich, led by Haj el-Husseini (then the grand Mufti of Jerusalem) and Hitler to build V-2 rockets loaded with nuclear explosives and fly them into urban areas of the United States...the blitzing of London with V-2 rockets was done by dint of a fatwa issued by Haj el-Husseini (read the evening before in a speech identical to the one read against the United States by Osama bin Laden. During the 1990s bin Laden repeatedly called for Hiroshima-like attacks on the US. It is obvious that the Islamic world has clearly been the aggrressor against the United States for over 2 centuries. Perhaps the leaders of Islam would like to set up Muslims with the 3 million bountiful square miles of territory that makes up the United States. Most Muslim lands such as Egypt and Indonesia are grossly overpopulated, are they not? So why not surreptitiously send Islamic armies into the western hemisphere and eliminate the United States? Why not call it a criminal nation when it acts to defend itself? Why not indeed? keep using the arguments that the United States if it were really a morally sound entity would accept the introduction of Islamist violence and warfare on its soil? There will always be plenty of idiots like you and Chomsky or that loud-mouth Arundhati Roy around to condemn it no matter what it does. And to cover up the real motives of the Islamic world and its power-crazed leaders.
Well, let's hold on a sec. You have talked to hamas and hizbollah! They TOLD you the United States is BAD! CRIMINAL! OPPRESSIVE! A TERRORIST NATION! THE REAL TERRORIST!! A "UNIVERSE" of evil unto itself! A BULLY!!! Let's wait, indeed--are you not aware, Mr. Levine, that the Koran advises muslims to deceive the infidel... Well, if so who, Mr. Levine, are you able to believe the likes of Hamas leaders? THEY are NOT required to tell you the truth about anything. Islam does not extend moral standards to non-muslims. These people are NOT required to tell you the truth about anything--like it or not, my friend. If you believe them, you MUST be an idiot.
Islam is looking at the the US the way it once looked upon the Indian subcontinent. We cannot worry about apologists who falsely and hypocritically condemn us for defending ourselves from the jihadists...
EARTH TO MARK LEVINE...
Posted by: pythagoras at December 13, 2004 10:16 PM
LeVine-
Pick a SIDE.
Or get hit by BOTH.
May I remind you of the Middle Eastern proverb:
"Pick up a bee from kindness, and learn the limitations of kindness."
The honey of the Koran masks its gall.)
LeVine's motto:
It is easier to criticise those who will not kill.
Posted by: profitsbeard at December 14, 2004 12:55 AM
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