Sept 11 After 11 years: From Islamophobia to Iranophobia
Ali Rizk
In his most recent TV interview Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that one of the main factors behind the blind US support for "Israel" was the Christian Zionist movement in America. The Bush administration was practically a gathering of members of this movement together with people close to the "Israeli" lobby all of whom shared a position of supporting "Israel" not just politically, but also from the ideological angle.
Such people like Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith were all there following the September 11 attacks exactly 11 years ago. Following these attacks the Bush administration embarked on what is widely perceived as an Islamophobic policy, invading Muslim countries and transferring a number of Muslims to Guantanamo bay where they were held without trial. The Bush era also witnessed discrimination against American Muslims in addition to the desecration of the Holy Quran. According to the book "The "Israeli" lobby and US Foreign policy" the decisions taken by the Bush administration post 9/11 were very much in line with "Israeli" wishes.(decisions like the war on Iraq who's main architect was the biggest "Israeli" proponent of them all : Paul Wolfowitz). The stereotyping of Muslims as well seemed to have "Israeli" fingerprints as "Israel" has always strived to portray Muslims as bloodthirsty terrorists in an attempt to justify its hostile policies and its state terrorism. So it can be argued that the policies following September 11, 2001 were "Israeli" engineered. Sayyed Hassan has also pointed out that the Islamophobic policies of targeting Muslim sanctities like Mosque's and the holy Quran are "Israeli" led policies.
Now, 11 years later there is a new phobia that can be heard coming from "Israeli" policy circles and specifically from "Israeli" prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "Iranophobia".
Netanyahu has gone out of his way to portray Iran, together with Hizbullah as representing the same danger as al-Qaeda, referring to both Iran and Hizbullah as " the biggest threats to global peace and security". Iran is described as the world's leading state sponsor of terror, while Hizbullah is described as the "most dangerous global terrorist organization" with both now being accused having operatives in Western countries like the US, (very reminiscent rhetoric with the Sept 11 attacks as it was stated that Al-Qaeda operatives had been in the US and some took flying lessons prior to the attacks).The "Israeli" government in this perspective has pointed the finger at Hizbullah, albeit with no evidence whatsoever, in plotting attacks in Cyprus, Thailand and Bulgaria.
Prominent scholars from the American Arab and American Muslim community have highlighted that this Netanyahu Iranophobic campaign has reached its climax now on the 11th anniversary of the attacks on the "twin towers" and also just three months before the presidential elections in November. These scholars have expressed fears that the ever more evangelical Christian Zionist republican party will walk hand in hand with "Israel" to launch war against the Islamic Republic on the basis of "global terrorism". (Mitt Romney's foreign policy team includes people like John Bolton who will be participating in an event organized by SION which stands for "Stop the Islamization of Nations" to commemorate the Sept 11 events).
For now "Israel" has not been granted its wish of an American war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. There are two main reasons to cite here:
The first is that the Obama administration although strongly pro-"Israeli" does not have the ideological pro-"Israeli" identity of the Republicans and especially of Bush administration officials like Cheney and Rumsfeld who both referred to the Islamic Republic as "evil" when the issue of US-Iranian dialogue was raised back in 2003.
The second and much more important is that Obama, being a realist knows the limits of US power and also knows that Washington has lost considerable power and leverage due to the overestimation in George W Bush's policies together with the considerable achievements and success of the resistance bloc led by Iran, which was instrumental in forcing an American withdrawal from Iraq and defeating the "Israelis" in the July 2006 war.
In fact, the fiasco between the US and "Israel" over striking Iran and the strong disagreement over the so called "red lines" in Tehran's peaceful nuclear program, show that in today's world there is clear American-"Israeli" divergence.
This divergence should remain as long as realists occupy the White House. However in case the pro-"Israeli" ideologues from the Republican party make their way to power once again the US could find itself pursuing a policy which will be even more catastrophic than the one it pursued post 9/11.That policy led to the beginning of America's decline and did significant damage to the US, but that damage is nothing compared to what may happen if a similar policy is pursued this time round.
Source: moqawama.org
In his most recent TV interview Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that one of the main factors behind the blind US support for "Israel" was the Christian Zionist movement in America. The Bush administration was practically a gathering of members of this movement together with people close to the "Israeli" lobby all of whom shared a position of supporting "Israel" not just politically, but also from the ideological angle.
Such people like Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith were all there following the September 11 attacks exactly 11 years ago. Following these attacks the Bush administration embarked on what is widely perceived as an Islamophobic policy, invading Muslim countries and transferring a number of Muslims to Guantanamo bay where they were held without trial. The Bush era also witnessed discrimination against American Muslims in addition to the desecration of the Holy Quran. According to the book "The "Israeli" lobby and US Foreign policy" the decisions taken by the Bush administration post 9/11 were very much in line with "Israeli" wishes.(decisions like the war on Iraq who's main architect was the biggest "Israeli" proponent of them all : Paul Wolfowitz). The stereotyping of Muslims as well seemed to have "Israeli" fingerprints as "Israel" has always strived to portray Muslims as bloodthirsty terrorists in an attempt to justify its hostile policies and its state terrorism. So it can be argued that the policies following September 11, 2001 were "Israeli" engineered. Sayyed Hassan has also pointed out that the Islamophobic policies of targeting Muslim sanctities like Mosque's and the holy Quran are "Israeli" led policies. Now, 11 years later there is a new phobia that can be heard coming from "Israeli" policy circles and specifically from "Israeli" prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "Iranophobia".
Netanyahu has gone out of his way to portray Iran, together with Hizbullah as representing the same danger as al-Qaeda, referring to both Iran and Hizbullah as " the biggest threats to global peace and security". Iran is described as the world's leading state sponsor of terror, while Hizbullah is described as the "most dangerous global terrorist organization" with both now being accused having operatives in Western countries like the US, (very reminiscent rhetoric with the Sept 11 attacks as it was stated that Al-Qaeda operatives had been in the US and some took flying lessons prior to the attacks).The "Israeli" government in this perspective has pointed the finger at Hizbullah, albeit with no evidence whatsoever, in plotting attacks in Cyprus, Thailand and Bulgaria.
Prominent scholars from the American Arab and American Muslim community have highlighted that this Netanyahu Iranophobic campaign has reached its climax now on the 11th anniversary of the attacks on the "twin towers" and also just three months before the presidential elections in November. These scholars have expressed fears that the ever more evangelical Christian Zionist republican party will walk hand in hand with "Israel" to launch war against the Islamic Republic on the basis of "global terrorism". (Mitt Romney's foreign policy team includes people like John Bolton who will be participating in an event organized by SION which stands for "Stop the Islamization of Nations" to commemorate the Sept 11 events).
For now "Israel" has not been granted its wish of an American war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. There are two main reasons to cite here:
The first is that the Obama administration although strongly pro-"Israeli" does not have the ideological pro-"Israeli" identity of the Republicans and especially of Bush administration officials like Cheney and Rumsfeld who both referred to the Islamic Republic as "evil" when the issue of US-Iranian dialogue was raised back in 2003.
The second and much more important is that Obama, being a realist knows the limits of US power and also knows that Washington has lost considerable power and leverage due to the overestimation in George W Bush's policies together with the considerable achievements and success of the resistance bloc led by Iran, which was instrumental in forcing an American withdrawal from Iraq and defeating the "Israelis" in the July 2006 war.
In fact, the fiasco between the US and "Israel" over striking Iran and the strong disagreement over the so called "red lines" in Tehran's peaceful nuclear program, show that in today's world there is clear American-"Israeli" divergence.
This divergence should remain as long as realists occupy the White House. However in case the pro-"Israeli" ideologues from the Republican party make their way to power once again the US could find itself pursuing a policy which will be even more catastrophic than the one it pursued post 9/11.That policy led to the beginning of America's decline and did significant damage to the US, but that damage is nothing compared to what may happen if a similar policy is pursued this time round.
Source: moqawama.org
