Trump’s Holy War against Islam

[fatman17]

JANUARY 23, 2017

Trump’s Holy War against Islam

by L. ALI KHAN


In his inaugural address, President Trump singled out radical Islamic terrorism as the sole enemy. He did not even mention Russia or China as threats to the security or prosperity of the United States. In terse and clear words, Trump said: “We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth.” In fighting against radical Islamic terrorism, Trump asserted that “We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.”

What Trump Means

There are three points worth consideration to understand Trump’s speech on radical Islamic terrorism. Each point is rooted in history and academic literature, and each point carries serious implications for the peace and security of the United States and the world.

First, radical Islamic terrorism is presented as a threat to “the civilized world.” Historically, the phrase “civilized world” was coined in the era of colonialism to refer primarily to the European nations and by implication to the “uncivilized world” referred to Native Americans in Americas, slaves from Africa, and the colonized populations in Asia. Under contemporary standards of global discourse, the phrase “civilized world” is rarely used by diplomats, heads of states, or academic scholars. There is a new understanding that the world is blessed with numerous diverse civilizations, including the Islamic civilization that spans over centuries in all continents of the world. It is unclear whether President Trump includes fifty-six (56) Muslim countries as part of the civilized world.

Second, the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” was invented to argue that Islamic violence emanates from the religion itself and not from any concrete geopolitical grievances for which Muslim militants are fighting in various parts of the world. The phrase “radical Islamic terrorism “was popular with neoconservatives who wanted to shift the focus from grievances to Islamic psychology. For example, the phrase implies that the Palestinians as Muslims are addicted to violence that has nothing to do with occupation or misery they face as a people. Likewise, the phrase would suggest that the Taliban as Muslims are hooked to religiously-inspired warfare and their violence has little to do with the invasion of Afghanistan. By adopting the phrase during his campaign and mention it in his inaugural speech, President Trump has bought into the idea that a radical version of Islam is inherently brutal and will find excuses to perpetrate violence throughout the world even after all the problems have been solved.

Third, Trump has added a holy war component to the eradication of radical Islamic terrorism from the face of the Earth. In addition to seeking protection from “the great men and women of our military,” Trump claims that “we will be protected by God.” This simply means that God is on the side of the United States in its wars against various nations and populations, particularly radical Islamic terrorism. This understanding of God’s partisanship in human wars is the cardinal principle of the holy war whether the concept is invoked by Catholics, Protestants, Shias, Sunnis, or Shiv Sena.

Understanding Islamic Terrorism

A serious study of Islamic terrorism suggests that Muslim militancy originates in concrete geopolitical causes, including occupations and invasions. Muslim militants desert their families and children, forfeit their lives, and invite the wrath of mighty states because they are fighting occupation of their lands, resources, or way of life. Unless the grievances factor is honestly included in the counter-terrorism equation, radical Islamic terrorism will not abate.

The phrase radical Islamic terrorism is overly provocative. It is a bad piece of rhetoric that does more harm than good. It implicates the religion of Islam, spawning hatred against ordinary Muslim families living in Western countries. The phrase also discourages peace-loving Muslims all over the world to join the fight against terrorism as they feel their religion is being maligned. As far as Muslim militants are concerned, they do not care whether they are called terrorists, radical Islamists, brutes, uncivilized, or any such phrases.

There are good reasons for all, including Americans, to criticize when Muslim militants openly and deliberately violate the laws of war. Destroying ancient temples, Sufi shrines, ramming trucks into civilian crowds, bombing cities, and threatening nuclear holocaust, all these and other acts are condemnable. Muslims are obligated to openly and unreservedly condemn when Muslim militants commit such atrocities that have nothing to do with any version of Islam.

Finally, bringing God into the fight is ill-advised. For centuries, God is presented as a sponsor of violence and warfare. Trump has ruled out the possibility that God is indifferent to human wars and that God does not condone or take part in cluster bombings, drone attacks, or the use of nuclear weapons against any cities.

Join the debate on Facebook

L. Ali Khan is the founder of Legal Scholar Academy and a professor of law at Washburn University, Kansas.

More articles by:L. ALI KHAN

next - US Intervention in Syria? Not Under Trump,

previous - An Al-Qaeda Attack in Mali: Just Another Ripple of the Endless, Bogus “War on Terror”,

 

[somebozo]

In his inaugural address, President Trump singled out radical Islamic terrorism as the sole enemy. He did not even mention Russia or China as threats to the security or prosperity of the United States. In terse and clear words, Trump said: “We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth.” In fighting against radical Islamic terrorism, Trump asserted that “We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.”

He isnt wrong either..the older disputes of communism vs west have morphed today into islam vs west..but is it not fact that west created the extremist boogey man to counter communism?

 

[I.R.A]

Singling out Trump is beyond me by the way, he hasn't started any war but he may end up continuing with wars his predecessors started. At least he is vocal and open about it ............. better than the sugar coated version of same thing said and done in past.

 

[nair]

Trump has the potential to be a diplomatic nightmare for the entire world.......Most of the countries have no clue how he is going to formulate the policies, and they do not know how to deal with him now......

 

[Musafir117]

Trump has the potential to be a diplomatic nightmare for the entire world.......Most of the countries have no clue how he is going to formulate the policies, and they do not know how to deal with him now......

You care? We don't! Or he much worst Bush papa and son aka KKK clawn cult members?

 

[nair]

You care? We don't! Or he much worst Bush papa and son aka KKK clawn cult members?

One cannot ignore US, The reason being their influence in World order today......

 

[!eon]

Now every one can understand why glorious empires in whole mankind's history had eventually an end. They just needed one character of their own to cause all of destruction.

 

[Zibago]

Trump has the potential to be a diplomatic nightmare for the entire world.......Most of the countries have no clue how he is going to formulate the policies, and they do not know how to deal with him now......

Trump will be reason for formation of new alliances and countries slowly shifting away from US
America internally will feel the heat now with mass protests and democratic states resisting his moves

 

[nair]

Trump will be reason for formation of new alliances and countries slowly shifting away from US
America internally will feel the heat now with mass protests and democratic states resisting his moves

It is not going to be business as usual for sure..... Which way things would turn, even god would not be having any clue....

 

[Zibago]

It is not going to be business as usual for sure..... Which way things would turn, even god would not be having any clue....

Chirya says massive inflation in the US and depreciation of the dollar will trigger a global crisis and Trump,s anti climate change policy will reverse all global gains on tackling the biggest crisis of our time

 

[truthseeker2010]

Chirya

Najam sethi?

 

[Vassnti]

Trump will be reason for formation of new alliances and countries slowly shifting away from US
America internally will feel the heat now with mass protests and democratic states resisting his moves

Agree with everything except slowly, the thin skinned hukster is sinking alliances like he is in a race to isolate the US before he is impeached

 

[Zibago]

Surviving the Trump territory
If the sign of the crescent is made suspicious in the US, the cross will, unfortunately, soon meet a dismal situation in the non-Christian countries

By: Javaid Iqbal Bhat
02-Feb-17 471 471
With the kind of steps that the new US President, Donald Trump, is taking, ‘Discovery Channel’ or some other ‘Man versus Wild’ Channel has a job cut out for him. Instead of showing the adventurers the techniques of survival in wild deserts, deep forests and unplumbed oceans, they will have to show Muslims the art of survival in the Trump territory. The pursuit of basic survival has become necessary now with the slew of executive orders signed by Trump; one of them being the ban on the arrival of humans from Muslim countries on top of the extreme vetting of people coming from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The survival tactics are not so much important for those outside America but for an existing lot of Muslims in the USA. The latter will have to double-check their premises on the basis of which they arrived in the land of opportunity, rework their plans, reorient themselves to the kind of social life they had got used to. For they have entered into a new domain in which they are no longer welcome guests but potential suspects who have perhaps overstayed their visit in the country, and are, if Trump’s apprehensions rising through his fake hair are right, planning attacks on the US. The old ways will no longer work for them with Trump’s signatures on the executive orders. A new mode has been heralded in the United States. As one white assaulter told a Muslim woman, wearing a Hijab, Trump has come, and he will throw you out; his action and words are emblematic of the rise of the dark supremacist underbelly of the United States. Like him, there are thousands who have become emboldened by the in-your-face kind of aggressive and threatening language of their new leader. The Muslims from different nationalities living in the US had better see the writing both on the metaphorical wall and the Mexican wall, and follow the classical wisdom, do in Rome what the Romans do, otherwise they might as well meet a similar fate, if not the same, as of those who go into unexplored wilderness without the requisite skill sets of survival.

On his part, Trump seems to be eager to prove Huntington right. He is only making the lines of clash bolder, igniting past memories, and pitting civilisations against each other. If Muslims and other minorities are pushed to the margins in his country with his explicit orders — smacking of medieval prejudices — the step will not go without repercussions in countries where Christians are in a minority. If the sign of the crescent is made suspicious in the US, the cross will, unfortunately, soon meet a dismal situation in the non-Christian countries. The Christian minorities will become unwitting victims of orders signed across the Atlantic Ocean. Not that their condition is any good in some Muslim countries, especially in the war-torn Middle East, however, forbidding Muslims or their kin from coming to the States will recharge them further to persecute the cross-bearing bodies. Not only in the Muslim countries but also in other non-Muslim and non-Christian countries, because Trump has made a special mention of Christians. He is vowing to protect the Christians, allowing them to come to the USA, from countries where he feels the condition is not good for their survival.
In other words, Trump wishes to create Israel out of America. Because this prioritisation of the religion of the majority is an article of faith in Israel. Israel encourages Jews from across the world to come to the Jewish nation, under the right to return principle of their country. A similar proposition is in the mind of the fake-hair Trump. Let Christians of all brands land on the shore of the country and ask the non-Christians to stay put where they live. Or if they wish to come make it so hard that they send a message back home, staying back is better than the grueling process of entrance into the country. The North Atlantic Treaties are burnt, the support to NATO is a thing of the past but a consolidation of the Christian world is in the offing, a kind of vision which must sound so strange and remote to those who just a few weeks ago saw a person of African descent with Muslim ancestry ruling the country. That is why a quick adjustment to what looks like a political storm is critical. Only future can tell how things shape up both socially and politically; however, a country which has seen so much mixing of nations, races and religions, does seem, will weather this storm. Not a day has passed since Trump’s assumption of power without protestors on the streets, saying how awkward he is making them feel the world over. A former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, who is a Christian with the Jewish background, has said that she will register herself as a Muslim in solidarity with the Muslims. Mark Zuckerberg, the brain behind Facebook, has come out against Trump, so have a number of other personalities. From these indications, it seems the changes will not run deep into the psyche of the people, who put constitutionalism before demagoguery but may enforce more political correctness in the public speech. Because fear has the habit of altering the character of the tongue. But between hope and future is Trump, who is as much honest as he is dangerous, and may end up undoing all the work done in the US in the past, and paint the US as well as the world in a manner unheard of in the past. Meanwhile, the Muslims in the country have to weave a life-vest of a new speech and action to survive the Trump territory.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/02...&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork
We never thought about it from this angle what would happen in our countries to our minorities he provides bigots with easy talking points
@Mugwop @Moonlight @The Sandman @Hell hound @PaklovesTurkiye

 

[Hell hound]

Surviving the Trump territory
If the sign of the crescent is made suspicious in the US, the cross will, unfortunately, soon meet a dismal situation in the non-Christian countries

By: Javaid Iqbal Bhat
02-Feb-17 471 471
With the kind of steps that the new US President, Donald Trump, is taking, ‘Discovery Channel’ or some other ‘Man versus Wild’ Channel has a job cut out for him. Instead of showing the adventurers the techniques of survival in wild deserts, deep forests and unplumbed oceans, they will have to show Muslims the art of survival in the Trump territory. The pursuit of basic survival has become necessary now with the slew of executive orders signed by Trump; one of them being the ban on the arrival of humans from Muslim countries on top of the extreme vetting of people coming from Pakistan and Afghanistan. The survival tactics are not so much important for those outside America but for an existing lot of Muslims in the USA. The latter will have to double-check their premises on the basis of which they arrived in the land of opportunity, rework their plans, reorient themselves to the kind of social life they had got used to. For they have entered into a new domain in which they are no longer welcome guests but potential suspects who have perhaps overstayed their visit in the country, and are, if Trump’s apprehensions rising through his fake hair are right, planning attacks on the US. The old ways will no longer work for them with Trump’s signatures on the executive orders. A new mode has been heralded in the United States. As one white assaulter told a Muslim woman, wearing a Hijab, Trump has come, and he will throw you out; his action and words are emblematic of the rise of the dark supremacist underbelly of the United States. Like him, there are thousands who have become emboldened by the in-your-face kind of aggressive and threatening language of their new leader. The Muslims from different nationalities living in the US had better see the writing both on the metaphorical wall and the Mexican wall, and follow the classical wisdom, do in Rome what the Romans do, otherwise they might as well meet a similar fate, if not the same, as of those who go into unexplored wilderness without the requisite skill sets of survival.

On his part, Trump seems to be eager to prove Huntington right. He is only making the lines of clash bolder, igniting past memories, and pitting civilisations against each other. If Muslims and other minorities are pushed to the margins in his country with his explicit orders — smacking of medieval prejudices — the step will not go without repercussions in countries where Christians are in a minority. If the sign of the crescent is made suspicious in the US, the cross will, unfortunately, soon meet a dismal situation in the non-Christian countries. The Christian minorities will become unwitting victims of orders signed across the Atlantic Ocean. Not that their condition is any good in some Muslim countries, especially in the war-torn Middle East, however, forbidding Muslims or their kin from coming to the States will recharge them further to persecute the cross-bearing bodies. Not only in the Muslim countries but also in other non-Muslim and non-Christian countries, because Trump has made a special mention of Christians. He is vowing to protect the Christians, allowing them to come to the USA, from countries where he feels the condition is not good for their survival.
In other words, Trump wishes to create Israel out of America. Because this prioritisation of the religion of the majority is an article of faith in Israel. Israel encourages Jews from across the world to come to the Jewish nation, under the right to return principle of their country. A similar proposition is in the mind of the fake-hair Trump. Let Christians of all brands land on the shore of the country and ask the non-Christians to stay put where they live. Or if they wish to come make it so hard that they send a message back home, staying back is better than the grueling process of entrance into the country. The North Atlantic Treaties are burnt, the support to NATO is a thing of the past but a consolidation of the Christian world is in the offing, a kind of vision which must sound so strange and remote to those who just a few weeks ago saw a person of African descent with Muslim ancestry ruling the country. That is why a quick adjustment to what looks like a political storm is critical. Only future can tell how things shape up both socially and politically; however, a country which has seen so much mixing of nations, races and religions, does seem, will weather this storm. Not a day has passed since Trump’s assumption of power without protestors on the streets, saying how awkward he is making them feel the world over. A former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, who is a Christian with the Jewish background, has said that she will register herself as a Muslim in solidarity with the Muslims. Mark Zuckerberg, the brain behind Facebook, has come out against Trump, so have a number of other personalities. From these indications, it seems the changes will not run deep into the psyche of the people, who put constitutionalism before demagoguery but may enforce more political correctness in the public speech. Because fear has the habit of altering the character of the tongue. But between hope and future is Trump, who is as much honest as he is dangerous, and may end up undoing all the work done in the US in the past, and paint the US as well as the world in a manner unheard of in the past. Meanwhile, the Muslims in the country have to weave a life-vest of a new speech and action to survive the Trump territory.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/02...&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork
We never thought about it from this angle what would happen in our countries to our minorities he provides bigots with easy talking points
@Mugwop @Moonlight @The Sandman @Hell hound @PaklovesTurkiye

Like I said in our convo I still am unable to form an opinion on this immigration issue.
why is it so hard to pick a side in this issue @The Sandman @Moonlight @django

 

[django]

Like I said in our convo I still am unable to form an opinion on this immigration issue.
why is it so hard to pick a side in this issue @The Sandman @Moonlight @django

Certainly the situation and dynamics in the US are different than ours, their institution and economy is on a different level to ours, they can afford to take refugees besides their entire ethos as a nation is to accept hardworking refugees to keep the economic and innovation engine running, whilst us folks are not immigrants in our lands.Kudos