Why Egypt?
A Land Teeming With Islamic Zealots!
I have been struck by the lack of any thoughtful discussion about how President Obama chose Egypt as his venue to announce a new approach to relations with the Muslim world. There are the obvious reasons that come immediately to mind; such as the fact that Egypt is the lone Arab country to recognize Israel, and the fact that there can be no effective settlement of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict without Egyptian cooperation. And while I can claim no inside knowledge of how the decision was made, I can’t resist speculating about it because the possibilities are so intriguing.
Whether it was by accident or design, the route Barack took into the Arab world was like following the footprints of the 9/11 highjackers. Although the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have obscured this fact: the terrorists came from Saudi Arabia and Egypt – America’s closest allies in the Arab world alas. This is no accident; it reflects the tortured history of Islam in the modern world, especially developments in the twentieth century.
After a glorious period during the Middle Ages when Islamic civilization was the marvel of the world, the advent of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment in Europe, which lead to the Reformation that separated the affairs of church and state and promoted the advance and primacy of science over religious dogma in explaining the natural world, ushered in the modern era and European Civilization would soon dominate the earth.
The Theologian Of the Islamic Jihad against the West
Sayyad Gutb
The conquest and colonization of the once powerful Muslim countries by the European infidels, after years of religious wars between the two civilizations, profoundly humiliated the Arabs and sparked the development of Arab nationalism in the twentieth century which expressed itself in militant resistance and cultural revivalism. Egypt was among the first to go through this process and was led to independence by a Sandhurst trained military man who had served in the British armed forces during WWII. It was here that the historic split between the secular military caste and the theocratic Jihadists in the Arab world that has shaped its Modern political history.
The issue that led to this historic split was the different visions of the nature of the society they sought to build after the expulsion of British colonialism by deposing King Foruk, who was a shill for British interests. For the Muslim Brotherhood, whose views were represented by the theology of Sayyid Gutb, a man who has emerged as the premiere theologian of the Islamic Jihadist movement, the national liberation struggle was a prelude to the establishment of an Islamic theocracy under Sharia or Koranic law.
But Nasser was about the business of establishing a secular state based on the newly mintthe old adage goes “They were sleeping in the same bed dreaming different dreams.” These two world views, one secular one theocratic, were bound to clash. And when the conflict came the Muslim Brotherhood made an attempts on the life of Colonel /President Nasser, and in return Nasser hung Sayyid Gutb in 1966!
The Muslim zealot went to his death unrepentant, kissing the gallows before they hung him. In the ensuing conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and President Nasser many of Sayyid’s followers fled to other countries, Saudi Arabia first among them. Sayyid’ Brother, Dr. Muhammad Gutb, himself an Islamic theologian, founded the Islamic studies Department in King Faisel University, which became a hot bed for fundamentalist Islamic theology. One of his most avid students was Osama bin Laden!ed concept of “Arab Socialism.”
As
- Colonel Nasser with fellow Arab Nationalist Revolutionary Mumar Quadafi
Hence it is no accident that most of the so-called “Afghan Arabs” – i.e. those Arabs who answered the call to Jihad against the Russians in Afghanistan – came from Saudi Arabia, the land of Wahabism, one of the most radical fundamentalist branches of Islam. Among the first to answer the call was a Saudi multi-millionaire construction engineer names Osama bin Ladn, who was first operating heavy earth moving machines, until the CIA trained him in terrorist tactics! At that time these terrorists were called the Moujahadin, and the CIA said they were “freedom fighters” whom our government should support. The movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” which is based on the true story of Congressman Charlie Wilson’s role in funding much of this activity, tells much of this story.
In order to grasp the continuing significance of the Egyptian/Saudi/Afghan connection to the Islamic Jihadist movement, who is the real enemy, it is enough to know that Osama bin Laden’s right hand man Dr. Al Zuwahiri, who has become the face of Al Qaeda, is also an Egyptian! That’s why it makes absolutely no sense when President Obama’s critics complain that he did not use the term “terrorist” enough in describing our enemies in the so-called “War on Terror.”
But because the President is infinitely smarter than his Republican critics, he called the enemy by their proper name: “Islamic Jihadists.” And he recognizes that terror is merely the tactic that they employ to advance their cause. And although I advance this explanation as speculation only, since I have not been privy to the President’s decision making process, I believe that he chose Saudi Arabia as his first stop, and Egypt as the venue to extend his olive branch to the Muslim world, because he was retracing the Jihadist steps to their source
Egyptian Medicine Man Al Zawahiri
The Face Of Al Qaeda!
*************
Harlem New York
September 18, 2009
Like this:
One blogger likes this post.
This entry was posted on September 17, 2009 at 6:05 am and is filed under On Foreign Affairs, Playthell on politics with tags Barack in Egypt, Playthell's commentary on Egypt, Syyad Gutb, Terrorosm in Egypt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed
Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
Of all the Places In the Muslim World
Why Egypt?
A Land Teeming With Islamic Zealots!
I have been struck by the lack of any thoughtful discussion about how President Obama chose Egypt as his venue to announce a new approach to relations with the Muslim world. There are the obvious reasons that come immediately to mind; such as the fact that Egypt is the lone Arab country to recognize Israel, and the fact that there can be no effective settlement of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict without Egyptian cooperation. And while I can claim no inside knowledge of how the decision was made, I can’t resist speculating about it because the possibilities are so intriguing.
Whether it was by accident or design, the route Barack took into the Arab world was like following the footprints of the 9/11 highjackers. Although the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have obscured this fact: the terrorists came from Saudi Arabia and Egypt – America’s closest allies in the Arab world alas. This is no accident; it reflects the tortured history of Islam in the modern world, especially developments in the twentieth century.
After a glorious period during the Middle Ages when Islamic civilization was the marvel of the world, the advent of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment in Europe, which lead to the Reformation that separated the affairs of church and state and promoted the advance and primacy of science over religious dogma in explaining the natural world, ushered in the modern era and European Civilization would soon dominate the earth.
The Theologian Of the Islamic Jihad against the West
The conquest and colonization of the once powerful Muslim countries by the European infidels, after years of religious wars between the two civilizations, profoundly humiliated the Arabs and sparked the development of Arab nationalism in the twentieth century which expressed itself in militant resistance and cultural revivalism. Egypt was among the first to go through this process and was led to independence by a Sandhurst trained military man who had served in the British armed forces during WWII. It was here that the historic split between the secular military caste and the theocratic Jihadists in the Arab world that has shaped its Modern political history.
The issue that led to this historic split was the different visions of the nature of the society they sought to build after the expulsion of British colonialism by deposing King Foruk, who was a shill for British interests. For the Muslim Brotherhood, whose views were represented by the theology of Sayyid Gutb, a man who has emerged as the premiere theologian of the Islamic Jihadist movement, the national liberation struggle was a prelude to the establishment of an Islamic theocracy under Sharia or Koranic law.
But Nasser was about the business of establishing a secular state based on the newly mintthe old adage goes “They were sleeping in the same bed dreaming different dreams.” These two world views, one secular one theocratic, were bound to clash. And when the conflict came the Muslim Brotherhood made an attempts on the life of Colonel /President Nasser, and in return Nasser hung Sayyid Gutb in 1966!
The Muslim zealot went to his death unrepentant, kissing the gallows before they hung him. In the ensuing conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and President Nasser many of Sayyid’s followers fled to other countries, Saudi Arabia first among them. Sayyid’ Brother, Dr. Muhammad Gutb, himself an Islamic theologian, founded the Islamic studies Department in King Faisel University, which became a hot bed for fundamentalist Islamic theology. One of his most avid students was Osama bin Laden!ed concept of “Arab Socialism.”
Hence it is no accident that most of the so-called “Afghan Arabs” – i.e. those Arabs who answered the call to Jihad against the Russians in Afghanistan – came from Saudi Arabia, the land of Wahabism, one of the most radical fundamentalist branches of Islam. Among the first to answer the call was a Saudi multi-millionaire construction engineer names Osama bin Ladn, who was first operating heavy earth moving machines, until the CIA trained him in terrorist tactics! At that time these terrorists were called the Moujahadin, and the CIA said they were “freedom fighters” whom our government should support. The movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” which is based on the true story of Congressman Charlie Wilson’s role in funding much of this activity, tells much of this story.
In order to grasp the continuing significance of the Egyptian/Saudi/Afghan connection to the Islamic Jihadist movement, who is the real enemy, it is enough to know that Osama bin Laden’s right hand man Dr. Al Zuwahiri, who has become the face of Al Qaeda, is also an Egyptian! That’s why it makes absolutely no sense when President Obama’s critics complain that he did not use the term “terrorist” enough in describing our enemies in the so-called “War on Terror.”
But because the President is infinitely smarter than his Republican critics, he called the enemy by their proper name: “Islamic Jihadists.” And he recognizes that terror is merely the tactic that they employ to advance their cause. And although I advance this explanation as speculation only, since I have not been privy to the President’s decision making process, I believe that he chose Saudi Arabia as his first stop, and Egypt as the venue to extend his olive branch to the Muslim world, because he was retracing the Jihadist steps to their source
Egyptian Medicine Man Al Zawahiri
*************
Harlem New York
September 18, 2009
Like this:
This entry was posted on September 17, 2009 at 6:05 am and is filed under On Foreign Affairs, Playthell on politics with tags Barack in Egypt, Playthell's commentary on Egypt, Syyad Gutb, Terrorosm in Egypt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.