The US does have a horrible track record in the arena of occupation/subjugation and colonialism. I will not disagree with that. Everything from the concept of Manifest Destiny, the Monroe Doctrine, written primarily to maintain a sphere of interest in the Western Hemisphere, to the invasion and occupation of the Philippines just among the few instances of true colonialism in action. However I will disagree that the US occupation of Iraq contains any of the trappings of prior occupations. Many will say, well the US wants to exploit the natural resources of Iraq, which as we know is an indicator of the concept of colonialism. However, in June 2008, Iraq was on the verge of two year support contracts from major foreign oil companies, the key is these support contracts would have allowed Iraq to keep and nationalize the Oil industry. Certain key people in the government, mainly the Shia that were involved in the Oil Ministry objected to this, because of the tag word “Foreign”, the short sightedness exhibited ultimately led to the bidding process by foreign entities on the development of the fields themselves. Why? During the Summer of 2008, the Iraqi government had the money to pursue this plan, with the rising prices of Oil decided instead of investing more in the Oil infrastructure, they raised government employee wages as well as hiring more government bureaucrats, a scratch my back, I scratch your back scenario developed. So basically, if the US’s primary interest was stealing the oil away, then they Iraqi government would never have been given the chance to develop their plan that far, they dropped the ball. Another trapping of colonialism is forced conversion either to a cultural or religious norm. We have not seen the pursuit or even a inkling of this in Iraq.
So yes, Oil figured into it, but not in the colonialist mentality of “let’s steal it for ourselves and get rich off of it”, But more along the lines of maintaining the global economy, and the horrible concept of capitalism, not justification at all, and I have no issue with calling it an illegal war, which we agree on, but I disagree with it being labeled colonialism in its traditional sense and colonialism being the reason for the occupation.
America did pursue an illegal war; there is no question about that, but I also believe it would be irresponsible for American to pursue an all out withdrawal without trying to support and build up Iraq’s infrastructure.
I think it is almost a western guilt mentality. For instance, Afghanistan/Russia, the US contributed arms and money to the Mujahedeen struggle against the communists. Using them as pawns in the Cold War, once the smoke cleared and the battle was won, the US support vanished leaving the Afghan people without a functioning economy, infrastructure, education system, etc., and not just the United States, the majority of countries after they were cured of their Red Scare panic stopped all aid to Afghanistan.
Now you said “The real product of this design is that Muslims are fooled to think their presence is going to reduce the harm for Muslims in Iraq. We know this is untrue.” On a daily basis, individuals do make a difference. This is something I have witnessed firsthand through multiple deployments to Iraq, I have been able to maintain a bridge and defuse many situations that could have ended up badly for both parties. You won’t read about it in the news, and the media will regulate it to the last pages or minutes of a broadcast, because “feel good” news does not equal ratings in the eyes of the mass media.
The comparison of Vietnam and Iraq are two totally different situations. With Vietnam you had one prevailing agenda, Communism. With Iraq, you have multiple agendas being pursued by different aspects of the population. The concept of an immense civil conflict occurring once all forces leave Iraq is a myth. That concept is what has kept forces in Iraq for so long, I believe the worst is over, and that is why all Combat forces have withdrawn from the cities, and are only allowed to embark on missions with the implicit permission of the Iraqi government and in conjunction with Iraqi Security Forces.
In the end I enjoy the dialogue and seeing other’s opinions in regards to this “issue”, and I enjoy reading opinions that do not automatically go to the “What you are doing is Haram”.

Your presence perpetuates the ugliest design of modern day colonization. You are treated like a priest trying to teach the savage how to live in the new world. That’s euphemism for western hegemony. Muslims in Iraq are not weak ya akhi. Getting out will likely result in civil bloodbath, but in the long run it’ll allow people to determine what is right for them. Vietnam is a fair example.

America’s message is a pretty deceptive message; it tries to create a phony halfway point: we are there to help people, but we won’t tolerate giving them rights of self-determination or sovereignty. P.S. we need to control oil. No deal my friend. Get out while you can. You’ll do more good by staying out of this war. You cannot help your country (terrorist state) by occupying another land. The logic is simply self-serving.

Stick to the principle of Ends don’t justify the means. Your noble end is simply not justified by means of illegal military occupation. Salam

What you mentioned gets completely missed by most people… in fact, it didn’t hit me until your comment either, that there are Muslims who may have joined to help both their country and their fellow Muslims, as in Bosnia/Kosovo and perhaps even in training Iraqis… i.e. in some sense, defensive roles, rather than offensive.

I guess I should give a little background: I am a Muslim in the US military, I originally joined to support what was happening in Kosovo, when the Clinton adminstration provided aid to the Muslims that were facing genocide at the hands of the Serbs, that is where it started, anyway, I am with the Military Police and have apprehended people involved in some use of force violations-so ideally yes, there is something in place for that, is it always followed? No, just like everything in the world, there are people with issues that transgress.

I had spoken with numerous people within the Muslim community on the eve of my second deployment to Iraq to train Iraqi police. My intent was always to provide a link between the American forces and the local community, to educate both sides-and to know if there is a Muslim amongst the forces that the forces would be able to understand, and thereby show more respect to the Muslim community.

Sorry for straying from the main topic, just wanted to respond to the above and got carried away with it(i will use the “It’s my first post, excuse”:)

Interesting perspective… I believe it is unrealistic to not comment on major news issues although it would be immediately convenient, the long term results would be very troubling. Look to the pre-9/11 Muslim community. Nearly completely isolated, with nearly no relationships with not only other faith communities, but nearly no relationships with virtually any institution that influenced our lives. For instance, it is disturbing how many Muslim parents TODAY send their kids to public schools and make no effort to get to know their child’s teachers, the administration of the school or even be aware of the material in their studies…

This is not at all an issue of “We sick?” it is an issue of protecting your rights, being a positive force in the societies we live in and more importantly preserving your values… (If we truly have a higher moral standard, we should be calling others to that standard…)

The point is that the motivations/reasoning behind this and many similar incidents are irrelevant. What is relevant is what we as a community do not what one individual does.

About the idea of a gag order… there is a difference between encouraging an “on topic” discussion and a full out gag. Every reader can easily find a forum discussing any number of topics. My suggestion is comment on the topic, and/or empower yourself and write your own piece and/or go to a platform that is discussing the angle you want to discuss… This goes back to the “We sick?” idea… Malcolm X, preaching self segregation was tolerated… Al Hajj Malik Shabaz was martyred when he called on people to positively affect their environment by leaving racism and to seek true empowerment. Of course this was AFTER he found the healing of Al Islam and left the black power movement of the nation.

More information seems to be coming out in support of psychotic episode: Hassan’s Supervisors Worried He Was Psychotic Before Rampage. (I have to wonder whether they thought he was psychotic like MASH Corporal Klinger, who was faking a psychological disorder in order to get out of the army and who was of Arabic extraction.)

The treatment of the Fort Hood story indicates pervasive Islamophobia, bigotry, and prejudice throughout the media. Contrast the treatment of Hasan with the Hijab Killer Alexander Wiens, who has a very high probability of Jewish ancestry. As far as I know, I am the only person that has tried to investigate is life in Perm: Probable Jewish Extraction Hijab Killer.

Thank you so much for teaching us what our religion is all about… to think without you (a non-Muslim) to correct us on what we actually believe in, we would have missed the message of embracing lying and murder…

I was a tad tempted answer your comment by asking how many non-Muslims have “gone postal” and we never heard about their faiths’ being highlighted or abortion clinic bombings — among any number atrocities — that are committed in the name of religion.

However, I am not only bound by my own comment policy to keep the discussion focused on the point of this article — which seems like you did not bother to read in the first place — I am convinced that my time with you would have been fruitless as the obvious answer to Mazem’s question is that Americans have an idea of what Christianity is and what it is not through participation, education or interaction.

The topic of this thread is: how separating Islam and Muslims is important in public dialogue and how it is especially important in condemning on behalf of Muslim communities.

I am leaving your comment up for two reasons:

1) You started out on topic
2) To let others who wish simply to start a mudslinging fight between communities of faith know that I will not let my article be a forum for that.

While it may satisfy your ego to yell at us and claim that our faith has more blood on its hands than yours… save it and your off topic baiting for the plethora of hate Islam and hate Muslims websites out there.

Your approach demonstrated that you are not interested in any of the roads to understanding previously mentioned (participation, education or interaction) however, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to Islam (participation) by you becoming a Muslim, or to recommend authentic literature on Islam (education) or to help assist you in locating a Muslim in your area (interaction) to dialogue with (email our general account if interested).

When you are ready for mature, honest and constructive discussion you are most welcome to comment until then we do not need your hate driven attempts at hijacking the discussion or bullying our readers.

All the best,

Iesa Galloway