THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XII, Issue # 149, August 6, 2010
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WHY THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
TO THE ISLAMIST CAUSE
By Raymond Ibrahim
ISLAM, ISLAMISM, & THE PROPOSED GROUND ZERO MOSQUE: AN IMPORTANT BUT UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF
THE MEGA MOSQUE SET TO BE BUILT TWO BLOCKS FROM GROUND ZERO -- CREATION OF A STIR, MAKING PEOPLE THINK &
TALK ABOUT ISLAM & ISLAMISM -- EXPOSURE OF ISLAMIST ACTIVITIES TO INCREASED BUT UNWANTED PUBLIC
ATTENTION & SCRUTINY -- THE GREATER LESSON OF THE 9/11 MOSQUE: SO LONG AS ISLAMISTS ROCK THE BOAT &
BRING ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES, EVEN THROUGH NONVIOLENT MEANS, SO LONG WILL THEY RISK EXPOSING THEIR
TRUE SELVES TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.
FULL STORY:
While vexing to many, the mega mosque set to be built two blocks from Ground Zero has produced one interesting but
unintended consequence: Like the 9/11 strikes a decade before it, the "9/11 mosque" is also creating a stir, is making
people think and talk — about Islam.
Consider: Before the Islamist strikes of 9/11, mainstream America was incognizant of the threat posed by radical Islam.
Islamic apologetics and anti-U.S. polemics were unquestioned orthodoxy, not only in their natural habitat — academia
— but also more generally.
After 9/11, however, the veil was partially lifted: a flood of books dealing with Islam, political Islam, jihad, shari'a,
"dhimmitude," and any number of related topics appeared; politically incorrect books on Islam became bestsellers. The
media began, at least, to acknowledge the existence of radical Islam; biased and politicized academics were exposed and
refuted.
In other words, one of the unintended consequences of 9/11 was that more Americans began to take note and interest
in Islam — which led to greater scrutiny of its formerly esoteric epistemology. After 9/11, it was no longer a few aging
Orientalists who knew, for instance, that military jihad is obligatory in Islam, or that enmity for the infidel is standard, or
that women and dhimmis are subjugated. The layman — the heart of democracy — began to be aware. In this sense,
then, the 9/11 strikes were counterproductive to the Islamist cause.
All Islamists, of course, desire what jihadist groups like al-Qa'ida desire — the reestablishment of a global caliphate and
enforcement of shari'a law. But, unlike al-Qa'ida, most mature Islamists know that the time is not ripe for all-out violence,
which only exposes their activities to greater scrutiny. In fact, Islamists have long found it more expedient to "destroy
Western civilization from within," necessitating projects such as the Middle East Forum's Islamist Watch, which
monitors and exposes subversive, nonviolent Islamist machinations on United States soil.
Yet, if one of the unintended consequences of 9/11 was to place the spotlight on Islam, ten years later, one of the
unintended consequences of the 9/11 mosque is the same: Since it became known, the mosque project has been reported
by all mainstream media, including CBS, CNN, the Examiner, Fox News, Al Jazeera,
the New York Daily News, the New York Times, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, the
Washington Post, the Washington Times, ad infinitum.
Prominent political personalities, such as former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 2008 Republican vice presidential
candidate Sarah Palin, have also publicized the matter — the former arguing that the mosque project is part of "an Islamist
cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization," the latter calling it an "unnecessary
provocation; it stabs hearts." The National Republican Trust produced an ad saying the 9/11 mosque constitutes "an
invitation for more" strikes like 9/11. Most recently, the Anti-Defamation League asserted that "the building of an Islamic
Center at this location [near Ground Zero] is counterproductive to the healing process."
The inevitable result of all this media attention is precisely what Islamists seek to avoid — unwanted attention — as
Americans, once again, take notice, think and talk, including about dormant issues.
And, while the main issue at stake (whether or not the 9/11 mosque should be built) has little to do with exposing Muslim
doctrines or Islamist ideologies per se, consider: the more it is discussed in the media, the more the great majority
unfamiliar with the larger issues begin to wonder what all the ruckus is about. A stray word lingers in the mind — perhaps
"jihad" or "shari'a" or "political Islam." People begin to investigate some more, and learn some more; some become better
informed of the Islamist threat, which they go on to discuss with friends and family. A cycle begins.
In short, it took jihadist violence on 9/11 to alert Americans to the threat of radical Islam. Many Islamists learned their
lesson only to join their less conspicuous brethren working beneath the radar, via subversive means. The greater lesson
of the 9/11 mosque, however, is that, so long as Islamists rock the boat and bring attention to themselves — even through
nonviolent means — so long will they risk exposing their true selves.
And if the 9/11 mosque is actually built, based on the amount of controversy it has already generated, there is reason to
believe that it will be a permanent source of attention, provocation, and scrutiny — that is, a permanent Achilles' heel for
the Islamist movement.
Finally, it should be observed that, while the stir being caused by the 9/11 mosque is not as far-reaching or consequential
as that caused by the 9/11 strikes, it is proportionate: For just as subversive Islamists work bit by bit, so too does every
bit of unwanted attention work against them.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Islamist Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Raymond Ibrahim, a historian of Islam, Islamism and the Middle East, is the Associate Director of the Middle East Forum,
a guest lecturer at the National Defense Intelligence College, and the editor of The Al-Qa'ida Reader, a collection
of tranlations of key texts and documents of the Islamist movement. Ibrahim's translations of the religious texts and
political propaganda comprising this collection help readers comprehend the origins, development, history, and serious
danger of the Islamist war doctrines of Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Founders of Al-Qa'ida and
implacable enemies of the U.S.A. and the West.
The foregoing article by Raymond Ibrahim was originally published in Pajamas Media, August 4, 2010, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/2700/why-the-ground-zero-mosque- is-counterproductive)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
August 6, 2010
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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