The Rise of Radical Islam 9/11 cannot be examined in a

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• 9/11 cannot be examined in a vacuum.
• It is a particularly American trait to formulate
  an US vs. Them ideology, and ignore the
  impact of historical events.
• We hear every day about the war on terror, and
  the need to fight them over there so we do not
  have to fight them here.
• This week marked year six of the US. Campaign to
  liberate Iraq. (Two years and change longer that
  WWII for the U.S.)

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• The purpose of this presentation is to examine
  the factors leading to the rise of radical Islam,
  and dispel common misconceptions concerning Islam
  in general.
• If there are those who are willing to die for a
  cause, then we must examine the historical events
  that lead to this point.
• This is not simply an examination of the events
  after 9/11.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• First, fundamentalism, in any religion, by its
  definition, means that religious zealots are
  basing all political and public policy on hard
  core ideals that do not reflect the majority of
  believers.
• Hence, just as it would be wrong to assume that a
  Christian fundamentalist who believes in
  executing Abortion doctors represents
  Christianity, so to is it incorrect to assume
  that all of Islam is represented by suicide
  bombers.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• Roots of Arab Nationalism.
• Post WWI both France and Britain establish
  mandate systems in the Middle East, creating new
  nations like Iraq and re-establishing European
  control over Egypt.
• Essentially, Arab Nationalism sought an end to
  the westernization of the Middle East, as we can
  begin to view this in the larger context of
  resistance to European colonialism in the 20th
  century, in Africa, India, Indochina and the
  Middle East.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• As we move to the post WWII era, we now see the
  Middle East in the context of the growing Cold
  War.
• Hence, Arab Nationalism is now tied to alliances
  with the Soviet Union as Israel, established in
  1947, becomes a free and democratic state
  established as a homeland for European Jews in
  the Post-Holocaust era.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• As Israel is established in the area where the
  state of Palestine existed, we see a war break
  out in 1948 between the Arab forces of Egypt,
  Syria and Jordan against the Unite States
  supported forces of Israel.
• One key point to notice is that a core groups of
  Arab nationalists are as disillusioned with the
  overtly atheist Communists as they are the
  godless westerners.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• We associate Arab nationalism with monarchies and
  autocracies that are non-democratic and dominated
  by the military.
• Keep in mind as well that Oil, and the currency
  that it represents in state like Saudi Arabia
  creates states of such wealth that they are
  starkly contrasted with poorer Arab nations like
  Jordan, Syria and Egypt.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• We begin to see the governments of many Arab
  nations like Saudi Arabia making arrangement with
  local authorities, strong members of the Islamic
  community.
• A movement known as Wahhabism gains more
  prominence, and this is critical in our
  examination of Radical Islam.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792) was the
  first modern Islamic fundamentalist and
  extremists.
• Wahhab made the central point of his reform
  movement the principle that absolutely every idea
  added to Islam after the third century of the
  Muslim era (about 950 CE) was false and should be
  eliminated.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• A critical moment in the rise of radical Islam
  was the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
• Iran was previously run by the Shah of Iran, who
  had adopted many of the facets of Western society
  that were repugnant to hard line and pious
  Muslims.
• With the takeover of Iran by the Ayatollah
  Khomeini in 1979, we see established in the
  Middle East a powerful theocracy, which could
  exert influence on other Arab communities.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• Iran became a state sun by the precepts of the
  Koran, and the holding of American hostages for
  444 days begins a new era in Western/Middle east
  relations.
• Further, even Arab States like Saudi Arabia and
  Egypt began to be called into question by Islamic
  extremists who felt that there was to much
  western Influence, even in those Arab nations.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• Hence, by placing Arab Nationalism beyond the
  concept of the rejection of all things western,
  and radicalizing it so that Islamic
  fundamentalists call for a purification of Islam
  itself, we see a key shift taking place in the
  Middle East.
• There grows a sense among many Arab governments
  that these fundamentalists pose a threat to them,
  not only to the powers in the West.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• We see the assassination of the leader of Egypt,
  Anwar Sadat, in 1981 as an expression of the
  anger that many extremists had with leaders who
  had become too western.
• The group responsible for Sadat's death was
  called the Muslim Brotherhood.
• Now we move to a critical event in the latter
  part of the Twentieth century that will forever
  alter the relations between East and West

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• The Afghanistan War.
• Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1979.
• Seeking to impose a communist, hence Western
  regime in Afghanistan, and we see a convergence
  of Cold war and Islamist politics.
• Muslims resting the Soviet advance began a Jihad,
  or holy war, against the Soviets.
• Fundamentalist from all over the Arab world were
  drawn to the conflict.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• What is critical is that the United States
  supported conservative Islam forces against the
  Soviets.
• Remember this was the cold war, after all, any
  enemy of the Soviets was a friend of ours.
• Conservative Arab governments saw this war as a
  way to diver radicals from their countries, and
  US saw it as another round of the Cold War.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• The Soviets withdraw in defeat, and their is
  power vacuum in Afghanistan.
• By 1998, a group known as the Taliban imposed a
  regime of public executions, strict
  fundamentalist law.
• Within the Taliban a group terrorists known as Al
  Qaeda found refuge and support in Afghanistan.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• Essentially, the jihad against the United States
  that saw the destruction of the World Trade
  Towers was a continuation of the jihad that began
  against the Soviet Union.
• Once the US intervenes in the Persian Gulf War,
  when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
• Remember that Arab states like Saudi Arabia
  supported the US against Saddam because they
  didnt want the region de-stabilized.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• Osama Bin Laden, born in Saudi Arabia was the son
  of Billionaire construction father.
• Bin Laden left Saudi Arabia in 1979 to fight
  against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
• Most scholars agree that Bin Laden was trained by
  forces supported by the CIA when he was in
  Afghanistan.
• Essentially, the forces we supported against the
  Soviets in Afghanistan evolved into the Taliban,
  and eventually Al Qaeda.

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The Rise of Radical Islam

• Where are we now?
• Post 9/11
• Iraq is a fledgling Democratic state that
  continues to be polarized by the Shiite and Sunni
  Muslims.
• The US. under Barak Obama plans a withdrawal of
  combat troops by 2011.
• Further, President Obama plans a greater presence
  in Afghanistan.