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August 12, 2006
Why Islam sees Bush as engaged in a bloody 'crusade'
By Taj Khan
Perception is reality. The invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and the invasion of Lebanon by Israel with the concurrence and active support of the U.S. is perceived by the people in the Middle East as a new wave of crusades.
In the Muslim world, the word crusade is synonymous with tyranny and barbarism. In the history of the Muslim-Christian relations, during the period of 1070 through 1290 AD, there have been nine crusades against the "infidel" Muslims of the East by European Christians with the support of holy Sees and the Catholic Popes. The results of these crusades have always been loss of thousands of lives, enslavement of the people, destruction and pillaging of the villages and looting of the treasures.
Perhaps the third crusade was the most famous, where the Richard I of England (the Lionhearted) faced off against a formidable enemy by the name of Saladin. President Bush, with the religious fervor of Richard I, on Sept. 16, 2001, called his war on terror a crusade, for which he later apologized. In the old world where the memories are long and atrocities are remembered with all the details for hundreds of years, Mr. Bush's utterance of the word crusade produced the fears and brought the memories of the earlier mayhems. And the invasions of Iraq and Lebanon are now convincing people that it was not an error in the use of a word but may have been a Freudian slip.
Although the U.S. government is secular in nature, Mr. Bush always has had the support and blessing of the Christians fundamentalists. For earlier crusades, too, the knights, kings and the armies needed papal blessings. King Richard I received his blessing and support from Pope Urban III. The current King George received his from the Rev. John Hagee of Cornerstone Church, Pat Robertson of the 700 Club, and Jerry Falwell of Liberty University.
Mr. Bush and his supporters believe that force is the primary solution to the problems in the Middle East. He has been proven wrong for the last three years, but he has not learned his lessons from the setbacks that his policies have received so far. He continues to wield the sword or in this case, missiles and bombs, which are frequently dropped on innocent civilians, old people and helpless children.
More children have been killed by the bombs in Iraq and Lebanon than the active combatants. When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice decided not to restrain Israel, she gave free rein to the bombers and helicopter gunships to bomb and strafe the buildings and civilians.
According to the statements of the Israeli chief of staff, the current invasion of Lebanon was planned for five years. This invasion by Israelis of Lebanon and the invasions of Iraq by the Americans a have lot in common.
In Iraq, it took a while before some of key facts became known. It is clear now that the American invasion of Iraq was totally unjustified. The reasons given for Iraqi invasion were Saddam Hussein's involvement in the Sept. 11 event and Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Both these reasons were found to be untrue. In spite of the large scale loss of lives and destruction of the country of Iraq, the invasion is still being justified by the people who planned and organized it.
The capture of two Israeli soldiers by the Hezbollah is touted as the reason for the U.S.-supported Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Now it appears that the two soldiers who were kidnapped were actually in Lebanese territory. These types of skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel have been going on for a long time. But the disproportional and overwhelming response to the kidnapping of two soldiers appears to be a pre-planned event waiting to be implemented. After all when the facts are revealed the invasion of the Lebanese territory by Israel will also be found to be unjustified.
It appears that Mr. Bush and his holy supporters believe that the mayhem in the Middle East is a divine calling. Since the causes for invasion of Iraq and Lebanon touted by Mr. Bush are unjustified, it could only be construed by the people in the Middle East that these invasions are nothing but holy crusades sanctioned by the Western invaders and blessed by the religious holy men. The Muslims in the Middle East believe that this wave of new crusades is aimed at destroying Islam and Muslims and they are required to defend themselves. Both sides have no wriggle room to compromise. With extremist supporters of Mr. Bush in power, whether in U.S. or Israel, we are in for a long and bloody ride.
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