Is hating Islam the same thing as hating Muslims?
According to Iman Kurdi, it is.
An excerpt from her article:
I don’t hate Muslims. I hate Islam.” Of course, these are not my words and certainly not my sentiments. They are the words of a Dutch politician. I will not reveal his name, because I do not wish to pander to his need for media attention.
But his words exist; they are in the public sphere. In a newspaper interview this week, he calls Islam “the ideology of a retarded culture” and goes on to say that “Islam is something we can’t afford any more in the Netherlands. That means no more mosques, no more Islamic schools, no more imams…Not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists are Muslims.”
This is the response that I sent to the author:
Dear Iman,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your very well written article, “Hating Islam is the same thing as hating Muslims.”
Based on your article I would also like to put my finger on a few more points. Many people paint Muslims as “enemies of freedom of speech,” especially considering the ongoing fiasco with the Danish cartoons. What they don’t understand is that many Muslims actually support the free speech of others as long as it is done respectfully and without directing hate towards us or inciting violence, even if their opinions go against the very core of our beliefs. I do think that a prime example of this is the Muslim supporters behind FreeKareem.org
As you probably know, Kareem is an Egyptian blogger and former student of Al-Azhar University who not only criticized Islam, but insulted it, compared our revered Prophet (saw) with pedophiles and war criminals, and got 3 years in prison for it (and 1 year for insulting the Egyptian president, making it 4 years in total.) So it is not very common to find a Muslim in support of Kareem due to the viciousness of his posts. But I believe it’s also a part of our faith to guide and have mercy on such people, and to also support them as their views don’t change the fact that they are our brethren. Kareem is in many ways hated amongst the religious Muslim communities within Egypt and beyond, and I personally receive a lot of death threats for having associated myself with this campaign, which is rather successful in terms of publicity. But even after a full year of directing the campaign, I still think it’s imperative that more Muslims do this type of thing. Because I think I am not only serving the cause of free speech, but also Islam, by showing the world that there ARE Muslims who support you even when their religion is viciously attacked like this, that we accept criticism and defend people’s right to express it.
I do not think Kareem was hateful in any way towards Muslims and never incited violence against them, even if he despised the religion itself and referred to us as being “misguided.” Here, I challenge your view that hating Islam and Muslims is the same thing. I am a Muslim, and consider myself to be a close friend of Kareem’s, who has become like a brother to me. I have many other ex-Muslim friends who loathe the religion, but treat me as their friend.
So here we get into another topic; perhaps it only seems as if hating Islam and Muslims is the same way if an inexperienced, ignorant foreigner would associate radical Muslims with the entire religion and its followers and thus resort to hate speech against us. But technically in our region, where many ex-Muslim atheists or converts or harsh critics of Islam reside, we cannot use this same argument because these people come from Muslim families or are close to their Muslim friends and for the most part have first-hand experience (many of which are unfortunately traumatic, due to ill-practiced “versions” of what people like to call “Islam,” but by definition is not.)
I know I lost a lot of respect from my family, friends, and Muslim societies in general for supporting Kareem and his ilk. It is worth paying that price. I think more Muslims should defend criticism, as well as the rights of other minorities (BahaiRights.org is a very important initiative based on the same premises) who are abused in our societies in the name of Islam. It’s our job to. For example before loudly denouncing Islamaphobic cartoons, we should take a look at our own series of anti-Semitic, xenophobic, racist cartoons that are flooding our newspapers on a daily basis across the Arab and Muslim world. If we don’t treat others with respect, and if we don’t pick at our own flaws before blaming others for all our faults, then why should we expect respect and acceptance from others? I believe we spend too much time defending ourselves against all foreign critics, and not focusing on what we do to our ethnic and religious minorities as well as to each other, which, frankly, is far worse by comparison.
Essentially I am not disagreeing with your article at all, but I am just offering a different perspective, one that I think is not really explored in the more “mainstream” Muslim media.
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[…] Mideast Youth - Thinking AheadArticle: Is hating Islam the same thing as hating Muslims?Originaly Posted On: 2008-03-13 […]
[…] Is hating Islam the same thing as hating Muslims? […]
Dear Esra,
Good job, girl!
I would write part three of “a philosophical approach to find…” about this topic, but lately I was engaged with pre-Eyd Nowrooz home cleanings (An old Persian tradition)! But I’ll post it soon!
Regards,
Well, actually, the reverse is true: I don’t hate Islam, but I hate Muslims.
I hate the Muslims who bomb mosques, shoot teachers, target coffee shops and weddings, strangle their wives and daughters, then proudly stand there and point to passages in the Quran and Hadiths that they think justify their actions. I hate Christians and Jews too: the ones who pull the trigger on a 10 tonne bomb or tank round that mutilates and kills children, who drive down a crowded street randomly spraying gunfire, who imprison and torture thousands of innocents on a whim or a rumor, then sit calmly in church or temple and think that somehow what they have done or doing is justified in their faith.
It is a very good thing that MOST Muslims, Christians and Jews don’t behave this way.
I also have no love for certain Dutchmen who abuse the principle of freedom of speech to spread prejudice, fear and hate. There is a big difference between speaking an opinion and propaganda, just as there is a big difference between the principles of a religion and the behaviour of some who practice it.
PS. WOOT Es’ra your post came up on my google news browser under “Islam”. Now you’re going to have to get a snappy news jingle for the site.
Hating Islam is not the same thing as hating Muslims. We dislike the radical Muslims who hold protests against the free people. But we are not ignorant, we know there are many people in the Islam faith who are fantastic people with great hopes and ideas. You can’t assume or generalize that an entire religious group acts and thinks the same.
“I don’t hate America, just Americans.” Makes plenty of sense doesn’t it? Americans should clean their pig sty first before complaining of radicalism. There are over 165000 American terrorists Iraq, why aren’t they being condemned? They just shot a 10 year old Iraqi girl today.
Europe is garbage continent infested with xenophobes and neo-nazis. Geery Wilders is just a symptom of the disease that is caucasian culture.
1. I LOVE this writer Iman Kurdi. reading her for a little more 3 years now
basically Islam is a set of belief’s that have been the same for thousands of years, but the way Islam is used to blame the totally wrong actions by certain Muslims causes Islam to be hated [usually by ppl who dont understand it]
so as Muslims [or Christans, Jews for tht matter] it is our responsibility tht we try to show the correct religion
In ‘our’ culture, any1 who has been to the slammer is seen as a criminal.[w/out hearing out both sides] and we have a mentality of “Why should we care for him/her? when it was his/her actions tht got to this point” but if some1 local or relative is busted, then we are supposed to b spreading the word for them!! :S
Bravo Esra’a. I respect your point of view on this one. There is not much of anything I like about islam, the koran or the “prophet”. That does not mean that people in it are less than people just like me, looking for answers and understanding. Bravo Esra’a, you keep on girl! Respect!
Tonto, what do you anything about Islam outside of what your zionist media moguls stuff down your throats? Americans are suck brain washed tools.
i love Islam.
i dont think Islam is bad.
muslim can be bad, so do i, and all of us..
we tend to do what we want to do.
sometimes we never think of what people might think of us, our action..
moral attitude level nowadays is extremely decreasing..
think of it, my friends…
ok there are not mamerican terrorists in the middle east. the americans are there and helping start pretty much a whole new way of life so dont try and tell me that we are terrorists in your country. you are the ones that are blowing up cars and killing so many of our soilers for no reason.
Esra’a darling,
Not hate for no one, no hate for no religon, we are all kids of Adam and even and we should all the time purify and update the belief, our indivituality, our world view, otherwise we go no where sticking merely to the laws practiced some thousands of years ago. A heor of human right’s from a some thousands of years back could be a cirminal in our age. It is very wise to back karim. If he is bashing the mus,ims or Islams or the symbols, that is because of the corruption which is the outcome of ambibalance. He needs a better picture, many other people do, many people are the seekers of truth and equity, balance, productive life, but the call of religion does not make sense, it is not updates. People like Karim are the ones who cry out and show their anger. I personally prefer not fighting a religion , but modernizing it, making it applicable to the time and place, and removing the title of ” Being compulsary” , because it shouldn’t be. Not today, not even years back, which verse was that which said” there is no compulsion in religion?”. Oh yes an Idea cannot just penetrate a brain just like that, a mind should be ready to embrace the idea, otherwise, it is a vain attempt.
Esra’a this reminds me of a quote by Bernard Shaw. He stated that Islam is the best religion, but has the worst followers.
So it could be the opposite, don’t you think?
Definitely! “Hating Muslims is not the same thing as hating Islam.”
Because I sure as hell have a LOT of issues with way too many Muslims out there, and yet I am a Muslim myself and I obviously don’t hate my faith.
My fellow Muslims are just nuts though. Unfortunately not everyone is like Elinor.
Thank you Esra’a
kyle and brandon Wrote:
funny.
Esra’a:
you, conservative girl… let me know what you think of ‘freedom of speech’: be straightforward, does this right, in your opinion, applies to the dannish cartoons or no? both ‘yes’ and ‘know’ may fuel a whole debate which is very constructive, helping us build up our assumption of what this phenomena is.
sorry, “both yes and no”
Tricky question…
Satirical speech is still free speech, so yes. If the cartoons implied “kill all Muslims,” then that is hate speech. But if it’s just “insulting” our Prophet, just like many cartoons insult and downplay Jesus, it’s still free speech. Unfortunately as much as people disagree, retarded and ignorant speech does qualify as free speech… we can’t possibly outlaw offensive insults if it is not exactly inciting hatred. It’s simply a form of mockery.
But my article is not really about that, it’s more about us being so insulted by this and yet as a community do so much to harm and mock minority religions.
Esra’a:
the problem of ‘freedom of speech’ is still more of a dilemma to me. then, be sure that if I’m asking, I’m really seeking an answer.
I remember that (british?) scientist who once claimed “africans are less likely to improve for they lack proper intellectual capabilities” and this ’scientific’ opinion was regarded as a ‘racist’ one; i.e. something clearly out of league. again, we have this ‘holocaust deniers’ (please… I’m not one of them, nor am I supporting their ‘freedom of speech’; I’m just trying to investigate a phenomenon) who are denied their right of freedom of speech.
and, on the other hand, we observe the claim of danish cartoonists about Prophet Muhammad being a terrorist (or so) which is equally arguable; and the rest.
why is it so?
The guy who said Africans are intellectually inferior, unfortunately, also has a right to free speech and he used it poorly to make a dumb and racist statement. As dumb as it is, he is not really inciting hatred or violence against them, so I argue he should maintain his right to free speech (even if I don’t agree with how he is using this right.) If he said something like, “Africans are intellectually inferior and should thus be shot,” this is the kind of speech that should be outlawed.
I think holocaust deniers also have the right to argue for their opinions. They are for the most part conspiracy theorists, and these guys, although sometimes nuts, aren’t inciting hatred or advocating violence of any kind. Denying the holocaust ever happened is not a form of anti-Semitisim, just questioning facts. Everyone has the right to question facts, just like we should have the right to question Islam. Holocaust deniers are not saying “the holocaust never happened; so let’s create one!” they are either just saying “it never happened” or “it may have never happened,” or that “it was exaggerated.”
Now the question is why holocaust deniers don’t have free speech and yet the deniers of the Armenian genocide, or Bengali genocide (or any other genocides) are free to deny that such atrocities ever happened… to me it should be questioning genocides all together instead of just picking one and outlawing its denial. France I think made it illegal to question the Armenian genocide. The Armenian-American community struggled to win their people justice by trying to make the American government recognize this genocide. Still it’s absolutely fine to question it in the media and elsewhere… but yes, if someone dares question the holocaust anywhere in the West, the consequences are dire. It seems really unfair yes, but it’s understandable - it became outlawed because for many years its denial was also directly linked to a lot of anti-Semiticism that was taking place.
Anyways this was probably irrelevant to what you were really asking.. is this what you are exploring? Do you think insulting the Prophet should be outlawed in Western societies?
http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2683/
On the topic of freedom of speech, there is still ongoing discussion of this in Canada. The first printing of the offending cartoons was only done by a couple of magazines, the Western Standard being the most notable. A group of Imams registered a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, and the publisher, Ezra Levant, got a nice little pulpit from which to denounce the “fascist censors” who questioned him over his choice. I personally think there are limits; we have had several hate-speech cases in this country already over related topics (mostly anti-semitic, but also racism), and, although everyone is entitled to their opinion, this should not necessarily apply to mass media. One of Mr. Levants arguments really irked me as well, that most people in this country did not find the cartoons offensive. Well, back around the turn of the last century, most people did not find pictures of black people carcitured as big lipped watermelon eating simpletons offensive, nor did they find pictures of Jews as sinister, money grubbing villains offensive. Should we apply THOSE standards today?
Kyle and Brandon, American soldiers in the Middle East are indeed mass murdering terrorists, who deserve everything aimed at them. What “new way of life” did you bring to Iraq in the last 5 years? 1.1 million dead Iraqis, daily bombings, the destruction of civil society, and the balkanization of the country? What laughable american war propaganda. Where are those WMDs? That was the reason given for the invasion.
Aggressors always wrap their criminal activities in altruism, thats been the standard tactics for invading and occupying soverign nations for centuries. Imagine how Americans would feel if hundreds of thousands of Arabs invaded and occupied your country for “your own good.”
Let me try to do that….uhhhh, the enemy is….people like YOU. Who wave the flag and have not clue one what your country has done to OTHER PEOPLE in your name. Now, when the chickens come home to roost - you don’t want to understand why. You want to suck your thumb with one hand and throw a bomb with the other.
This has nothing to do with my post.
Mohammad Memarian said:
To be honest with you, I think the issue of free speech is one of the hardest for people to understand, especially when it comes to hate speech. I live in the USA where freedom of speech is central to our values and culture. It is the first amendment in our Bill of Rights, and we learn about it from the earliest age, yet even we here still grasp with how to apply it. It’s not just you, Mohammad.
It might help to know that where I live we distinguish between “hate crimes,” and “hate incidents.” A hate crime is a criminal act that is predicated upon bias or prejudice against a person or group because of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or national origin. A crime can be some sort of violence, or an act of vandalism, or a form of harassment. A hate incident, on the other hand, is an act that is hateful, yet still legal, like someone calling you a racist name as you walk past him/her on the street but without any additional threat involved. Bigot? Yes. Crime? No. So, a person can walk past you and legally say something really hateful about Iranians or Muslims, but a person cannot walk past you and legally threaten to hurt you while calling you such names.
The reason for this is because, for the most part, I think freedom of speech tends to be limited here and in other western countries only in circumstances where there is a direct link to public safety. It’s not just about violence either. A person cannot yell “FIRE!” in a crowded, enclosed place just for fun because clearly that will cause immediate, unthinking panic and people will get hurt. A person also cannot tell someone else, “Go and kill that dirty homo and I’ll make sure to protect you,” because clearly that’s direct incitement to commit a crime. However, a person could say, “Homos are evil, evil, evil,” and if a follower goes out and kills one because he believes it, the leader saying they are evil is not necessarily liable. There must be a direct link of personal responsibility for the crime itself.
Speech as a direct threat to public safety is exactly why Europe bans Holocaust denial, and Nazism, but not offensive cartoons about religion. It’s not because Jews deserve special treatment compared to Muslims. It’s because Nazism has a proven track record of genocide, dragging the world into war, conquest over minorities and territory, etc., and undoubtedly caused the worst social, civil, and economic fiasco ever to hit Europe. And, since its roots are right there in Europe itself, the continent has a very real need to do whatever it takes to keep Nazism’s roots from growing ever again into a mass movement. Questioning, or denying the Holocaust is not done for academic reasons by respectable scholars, but to make Nazism seem not quite so bad and to recruit adherents, and that’s why Europe bans speech that bolsters it … because that particular brutal, fascist movement is a direct threat to their public safety. The same is not true about cartoons and other forms of hate speech, like religiously motivated hate speech against gays or public degradation of women, however offensive the words may be. Those would be hate incidents, not hate crimes.
I would argue the Holocaust has received and continues to receive special treatment over any other genocide in the world.
I also don’t think holocaust denial is always a trace of Nazism.
Questioning that it ever happened is not anti-Semiticism or hate speech.
My point wasn’t to discuss the Holocaust. I only used that as an example to highlight free speech as a public safety threat.
I’m not a Holocaust scholar so this isn’t my area of expertise, but I would argue the reason behind why it has gotten the most attention is probably for several reasons: 1)because it happened in Europe, and events in Europe nearly always take precedence over events that happen in “non-white” parts of the world; 2) because the Holocaust wasn’t a contained genocide like others, but that Jews thousands of miles also were threatened by it; 3) the forces that perpetuated the Holocaust were not tribal, ethnic, or religious, but rather based upon a fascist mindset that transcended many boundaries and included people from Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, etc. so that Jews were unable to escape to neighborly nations to a refugee camp; 4) the Holocaust was the only genocide that was systematically organized and perpetuated by a modern, industrial war machine which gives it an additonal level of uniqueness; and 5) Jews around the world care enough about the event to organize themselves to create a mass public awareness campaign about it. The Armenian genocide gets a lot of attention too, largely because the Armenian community is well organized about keeping it alive in the world’s consciousness.
Maybe not always a trace of Nazism per se, but it usually is, and it is always motivated by nefarious reasons. I cannot imagine a Holocaust denier who actually likes and/or respects the Jewish people.
I think it is, E., because that means they believe that Jews have come together to scam the entire world with falsehood by (allegedly) planting evidence, brainwashing people, taking money that doesn’t belong to them, etc., and convincing the world that people were criminals when they really weren’t. Doubting the Holocaust means that “white Europe” could likely be the real victim at the hands of Jews and their so-called lies rather than the other way around.
Assertions that Jews lie communally to take advantage of non-Jews is anti-Semitism.
I don’t think Holocaust denial is ever perpetuated by someone who doesn’t have a problem with bigotry toward Jews.
John, Joey? Don’t you guys need a diaper change or something? Maybe you can help each other out with that.
PV, I’m not questioning Jewish history here. I’m sure holocaust denial is banned for these very reasons that you listed. It makes sense and I agree with you. But I’m also talking about the other genocides that you can walk around denying, yet if it’s related to the holocaust, everyone gets all pouty. Other genocides that get denied are denied because of racism, bigotry and hatred too. And not everyone who questions the holocaust is a Nazi, I think it just turns people off that Jews do seem to get special treatment. A lot of people who know the holocaust took place also argue that the Israeli government is using it to justify many of its crimes. This argument is not antisemitism although it’s often argued that it is, and in my opinion, that’s wrong. Free speech is respecting that instead of trying to shut such people up under the banner of “Nazism” or “Antisemitism.”
Yet I can still spew racial hatred anywhere while questioning any other genocide I want without anyone raising an eyebrow at it.
I think it’s for this reason that France took action and began recognizing the danger in having others deny certain genocides too. I wish other countries would follow its lead.
John and Joey,
Mass murdering terrorists? Is that what you call liberators? Our soldiers liberate a country from one of the most dangerous regimes on earth, and we get called terrorists? Its a liberation!!! Freedom is that “new way of life” that our brave soldiers brought. Media doesn’t show the good things that we’re doing like building new schools, helping them establish a new government and police force. Those daily bombings that you’re talking about aren’t Americans, they’re YOUR people blowing up YOUR people! How many American suicide bombers have there been?…..ZERO. You also said we don’t know what our country has done for other countries? Explain to us what your country has done to help the people of Iraq. You also asked how Americans would feel if Arabs invaded our country. If our leader did what Saddam did, killing millions of his own people, I would thank you for your help in liberating us. I wouldn’t call you terrorists.
P.S. Thank you Tanto.
PeacefulVanguard:
your comment was great and I’m still thinking… let me just talk when I’m ready.
Kyle and Brandon Wrote:
first of all, [sometimes] terrorism is the weapon of those who have no access to modern tanks or f16s. you make me wish if somebody could provide the rebels with more EFPs so as to just kill american soldiers in a more conventional form, not theselves and many others in an asymetric war.
second, US should be blamed for sectarian riots which fosters suicide bombers who kill their own brethen rather than liars who illegally occupied Iraq.
third, dont worry; the number of victims of US led invasion is likely to exceed the number of victims of Saddam regime. just wait a bit more.
finally, about the constructive projects: it would take Iraqi people many decades to compensate what your 10-ton-bombs, tanks and army did to their infrastructure… let alone their intellectual/intangible properties destroyed by this damn war.
Let me start by saying that I am not and never have been a supporter of the war in Iraq. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize some of the good products of the war - like the schools and infastructure that Kyle and Brandon referenced. History has yet to determine the cost-benefit analysis, and let’s all remember that many American soldiers have lost their lives too, not just the thousands of innocent Iraqis. Which brings me to my point: the suicide bombers and extremists responsible for much of the violence in Iraq ARE NOT INNOCENT.
Mohammad Memarian said “The US should be blamed for sectarian riots which foster suicide bombers who kill their own brethren.” That statement removes any responsibility on behalf of those who actually use the bombs, which is absolutely absurd. The US in no way forces suicide bombers to act, even if the US shares some responsibility for allowing a situation in where that type of behavior is deemed acceptable or honorable. Also, who you define as a “victim” of the Iraq war is most likely not be what I define as a victim. I don’t think the suicide bombers are victims, I think they are perpretators; and therefore I do not feel one ounce of sorrow or pity towards them. I find any defense of their actions deplorable.
Committing suicide in the name of your cause is one thing, taking tens or hundreds or thousands of lives (regardless of what those people believe about your cause) with you is quite another….and it is something that I will never believe to be morally justifiable.
I always find it amusing how Americans spin. any and everything. Kyle,Brandon, and Jessica both you believe anything it seems, CNN and FOX would be proud of how well their war propaganda works on the minds of disingenuous simpletons.
Iraq had one of the best educational systems in the Middle East, with free education all the way through graduate school, so they sure as hell didn’t need your war criminal soldiers to “build schools” there. Whoever believes that sending hundreds of thousands of armed American terrorists into an oil rich country to invade and occupy it to supposedly to build schools, you’re living in Disney land. I wonder why poll after poll shows a majority of Iraqis supporting attacks on occupation terrorists and wanting them out of their country.
The issue of the death squads has been addressed over and over again. Ask me this : why were there no death squads in Iraq BEFORE the invasion? Then how did Sunnis and Shi`as, and in fact all other Iraqis manage to live together for centuries with no history of serious, protracted, or widespread sectarian civil conflict, and how is it that this all changed once the U.S. blasted its way into the country? Let me enlighten you : the death squads from both sectarian factions are proxies trained and armed by the American occupation to punish the Iraqi population for supporting the Resistance. Its the classic divide and conquer strategy mastered by the British, try reading a history and you might understand it. Sucide bombers(these guys show after the occupation) are bad yet war criminals who drop megaton bombs on entire neighborhoods are “just doing their job.” You Americans have a absurd morality. What a nation of cold blooded killers and hypocrites, if there is a God…hell is going to rather crowded.
Hmmm… blowing two schools up and then building one doesn’t equate anything other then repaying for the damage that was done by the war. US whiped out the Iraqi infrastructure, it’s going take decades to get back to how it was under Saddam.
Under Saddam, this scenario was not possible or would have been very rare. Yes Saddam killed thousands, but Americans managed to kill just as much in less than 5 years. I am talking about the deaths that are directly related to the war and indirectly, such as hospitals being blown up, water supplies being bombed etc.
No one is calling the suicide bombers victim here, I am not sure where you got that from.
Jessica M. (USA):
1: “The US should be blamed for sectarian riots which foster suicide bombers who kill their own brethren.” you are right, I should add an ‘also’ in the sentence: “the US should also be…”
2: suicide acts killing innocent people is not justifiable at all. but, I think, US has to be blamed in these cases as well.
3: “let’s attack, let’s quit, let’s do this, let’s do that…yes, we can.” and most Americans think that what happens in this part of the world could do no harm to their safe island. I’m sorry. that is what I call ‘arrogance’.
John, aren’t you also participating in “spin” with your inflammatory comments? We just happen to “spin” differently. The rest of your comment - which directly states that every American is a cold blodded killer and deserves to go to Hell - is an example of bigotry and doesn’t deserve a response.
Jina, now you are talking about the cost-benefit analysis - what’s worse, thousands killed under Saddam or thousands killed in a war? I think they are both pretty terrible, and neither should have happened, but the actions/decisions that have been made can’t be reversed it’s only a matter of what to do moving forward.
Mohammad, I completely agree that the US has some blame in the environment that has been created which allows suicide bombings to flourish. However, an individual’s actions can never, ever be blamed 100% of their environment. People still make choices. Also, I don’t think that a majority of Americans think that what happens in the ME can do no harm to us - that’s exactly the perception that changed after 9/11. It would be very arrogant and ignorant to assume that in our globalized society, actions in one part of the world would not affect other parts of the world.
Jessica, the reason Americans are seen as a nation of cold blooded killers and hypocrites is because of their crimes, and lack of any remorse or condemnation of what they do to others. Its not bigotry to call it as it is. I have yet to hear any of you Americans answer the issues I have raised about the Iraq invasion and death squads armed, trained and let loose on the Iraqi population for resisting the occupation of their country. Instead all I get are hollow and preposterous replies calling US occupation terrorists “liberators.” Oh no they just invaded and turned the place into a parking lot to “build schools,”(not to steal oil, never!) in a country with the best education system in the Middle East. “Liberation” indeed! Thats bigotry.
“The surge is working wonderfully, 10 Walmarts and one Neiman Marcus have opened in Iraq. Iraqis now go shopping more than Americans. Iraqis have graciously and gleefully signed all of their oil resources over to American and British transnational oil companies. Things in Iraq are progressing much better than Viscount L. Paul Bremer ever anticipated.
God bless George W. Bu$h.”
Sorry but the rest of the world isn’t as dull and brainwashed. You lot reinforce the stereotype you decry so much.
Dear John, jina, and joey,
Your ignorance really doesn’t deserve a reply. Death Squads trained by U.S. soldiers? Are you serious? Thats probably the most ignorant statement i’ve ever heard. What about the torture chambers found under $addam’s 50 palaces. No wonder they couldn’t pay the power bill, he had tons of expensive palaces built for himself.
We’re sitting in a classroom with power, electricity, water, food, and safety thanks to our brave soldiers who you so elegantly called “cold-blooded killers” and “terrorists”. They are not terrorists, the 19 radical Islamists who hijacked American civilian airplanes and crashed them into civilian buildings were terrorists. You call us terrorists but when your country needs help, who do they call?……THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
This web-site is not designed to bash each others countries. This just might be an example of how our countries have trouble understanding each other. You think we are all cocky and arrogant and we wonder why the world hates the same country that has came to their aid before.
Before you judge an entire country, go meet an American or visit the U.S. if possible. Its probably the only way you could see the truth, the real America instead of what the news puts out to sell their papers or newscasts.
There isn’t much else to do except apologize to Esra’a on behalf of everyone for how this post got out of hand.
And we’ll end this with a “Have a nice day”.
Kyle and Brandon
yes, its better to end it here, for you cant understand while your soldiers may be some brave ones, they are (unknowingly) fighting for an imperialistic cause… and that fact renders their efforts dull… what about the brave soldiers who fought for the sake of Saddam? or even worse, those really brave ones who fought for the sake of Hitler? braveness does not matter here, unfortunately.
Kyle and Brandon I find it even funnier that you shed crocodile tears for Saddam’s victims, when it fact you kept silent when he was on the American payroll and you’ve killed more Iraqis in 5 years(not including the 12 sanctions you imposed on the Iraqi people) then he did in 30 years. If you were really against torture, you would be calling for the invasions of pro-American client regimes everywhere, not just countries which won’t accept your hegemony. You would also denounce mass murdering American terrorists in Iraq, but no! You call them liberators. The rest of the world calls them TERRORISTS, and rightly so. Human rights is a smoke screen, not a principle for you. You truly have an absurd and hypocritical morality. I have repeatedly presented facts, figures and numerous links outlining the criminal fraud that is you foreign policy. I’ve asked you repeatedly to prove your points, but all I keep getting from you is whiny and emotional claptrap internalized from your corrupt corporate media. In short, you are clueless. Enough of your lies, either speak the truth or be silent.