- America prides itself on religious freedom, the Constitution's
First Amendment stating:
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- "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
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- In fact, those rights are selectively enforced, and consistently
denied at the whim of administrations, Congress and courts, including equal
respect for all religions - more than ever post-9/11 under Bush and Obama,
agents of privilege, not Constitutionally protected freedoms. A sad testimony
to a rhetorical, not real democracy, Muslim Americans especially victimized,
vilified, and persecuted for their faith, ethnicity, prominence, activism,
and charity - innocent men and women bogusly called terrorists, used for
political advantage.
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- More than any other ethnic/religious group, Western discourse
especially wrongs and unfairly portrays Muslim/Arabs stereotypically as
culturally inferior, dirty, lecherous, untrustworthy, religiously fanatical,
and violent.
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- In his book, "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies
a People," Jack Shaheen explained how they've been defamed and used
as fair game throughout decades of cinematic history (from silent films
to recent ones) to foster prejudicial attitudes, and reinforce notions
of Western values, high-mindedness, and moral superiority.
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- Worse still are slanderous media commentaries about dangerous
gun-toting terrorists, vital for authorities to arrest and imprison, never
mind the rule of law, right or wrong, or whether those accused are guilty
or innocent. It's no surprise when new suspects are named, media reports
automatically convicting them in the court of public opinion, poisoning
it by stereotypical characterizations and baseless charges, invariably
against Muslims, and by implication their faith.
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- No wonder politicians and extremist Christian fundamentalist
ministers rage over Muslim "terrorists" and a proposed New York
Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero, threatening a public
9/11 Koran burning in protest - cancelled, then suspended, now re-cancelled,
so stay tuned, the outrageous media frenzy may encourage it ahead, as well
as attacks around the country against mosques, perhaps with Muslims inside
praying, authorities turning a blind eye about people they despise, pretending,
like Obama, they care.
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- On 9/11/2010, he disingenuously said America's not "at
war with Islam," while he wages it against at least six Muslim countries
- Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia Yemen, and Palestine by supplying
Israel with annual billions in aid and the latest weapons and technology.
He also threatens or intimidates other countries, including Iran, Lebanon,
Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba, even though none of them pose a
regional or global threat.
-
- In addition, Special Forces death squads (like Task Force
373), extrajudicially murder or capture suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda
figures, many hundreds or perhaps thousands on a so-called Jpel (joint
prioritized effects) list.
-
- Further, drones and ground forces kill civilian men,
women and children daily, falsely called "terrorists" or "insurgents,"
and Special Forces and CIA operatives operate lawlessly in 75 or more countries,
warring covertly against anyone opposing US interests.
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- It's America's secret war, mostly against Muslims, including
US citizens abroad, denied due process or judicial fairness. Just a bullet,
bomb or slit throat, Obama's summary judgment, defiling the rule of law
- counter-insurgency madness to cow people into submission, advancing permanent
war and endless violence, breeding resentment and hatred throughout the
Muslim world.
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- On 9/11, AP said, for the second straight day, thousands
of Afghans in Kabul responded to anti-Muslim hatred, specifically the announced
Koran burning. Despite cancelling it, the damage was done, crowds burning
tires and shouting "Long live Islam, death to America." Earlier
in the week, they heard fiery speeches from parliament members, provincial
council deputies, and Islamic clerics, criticizing Washington and demanding
foreign troops withdraw. Some also threw rocks at a passing US military
convoy.
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- Protesters in front of western Kabul's Milad ul-Nabi
mosque raised and flags with slogans calling for Obama's death, also a
cardboard effigy of Dove World Outreach Center's pastor Terry Jones. All
religious holy books are sacred, demanding the respect they deserve. Burning
or desecrating them is morally wrong and profoundly offensive.
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- In 2005, Afghan riots killed 15 and injured dozens following
stories about Guantanamo interrogators placing Korans in washrooms and
flushing one down a toilet. Imagine the outrage in America if Muslims did
it to Bibles or other Judeo-Christian scripture.
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- Against that backdrop, Obama's 9/11 address at the Pentagon
(symbolic of America's war agenda) was an exercise in demagoguery and lies
saying:
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- "We will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish
or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust....The highest honor
we can pay those we lost, indeed our greatest weapon in this ongoing war,
is to do what our adversaries fear the most. To stay true to who we are,
as Americans; to renew our sense of common purpose; to say that we define
the character of our country, and we will not let the acts of some small
band of murderers who slaughter the innocent and cower in caves distort
who we are."
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- Fact check:
-
- -- in 20 months as president, Obama continued what Bush
began, stripping civil liberties, defiling human rights, waging imperial
wars, increasing homeland repression, and targeting dissent and democratic
freedoms;
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- -- at home and abroad, he's fostered hate, loathing,
and mistrust throughout the entire Muslim world;
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- -- "those (9/11 victims) we lost" were by our
hands, not "crazed Arabs" from an Afghanistan cave directing
their American operatives;
-
- -- "true to who we are? our sense of common purpose?
the character of our country?" In fact, a cavernous divide separates
most Americans from our criminal ruling cabal. Obama is its titular head
allied with corporate predators, exploiting human resources and strip mining
the world for profits, allied with out-of-control militarists, destroying
it for power and privilege;
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- -- "some small band of murderers who slaughter the
innocent?" America's marauding armies wage ruthless wars on planet
earth, slaughtering millions on every continent;
-
- -- "distort who we are?" The above account
explains it, unmasking Obama's demagoguery.
- Saying "We champion the rights of every American
(to) worship as one chooses," Obama omitted the New York cultural
center or announced Koran burning, now cancelled, showing his contempt
for Islam, his words notwithstanding, disingenuous rhetoric like everything
he says, what everyone needs to know, what too few understand, still thinking
he's different. He's not, and in many respects he's worse than his predecessor.
-
- Justifying America's imperial wars and homeland repression
requires enemies, Muslims the target of choice, vilified for their faith,
"terrorists" or "Islamofascists" because we say so.
It's reminiscent of the false late 1990s accusations against Nation of
Islam National Representative Louis Farrakhan, saying he called the Pope
"the anti-Christ" and Judaism a "gutter religion."
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- He strongly rebutted the assertions, what Washington
can't do about Islam, calling it a "religion of war," when, in
fact, it promotes love, not hate; peace, not violence; good over evil;
charity, not exploitation; and a just and fair society for people of all
faiths.
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- America's Judeo-Christian "war on terror" disdains
these beliefs, vilifying people for their faith, slaughtering and torturing
them abroad, conducting a modern day Inquisition at home, a lawless holy
crusade, based on lies, deceit, and managed news. Regular state propaganda
over the airwaves preaches hate for global conquest, masquerading as democracy,
the kind Washington won't tolerate anywhere, including at home.
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- A Final Comment
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- Washington's one-sided Israeli support underscores its
disdain for Islam. Obama accentuated it by telling Netanyahu that "The
bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable," assuring
him of America's "deep, abiding interest in Israel's security,"
a message Palestinians and world Muslims know means no interest in theirs.
-
- Worse still, he endorsed Cast Lead and Gaza's siege,
mercilessly and illegally suffocating 1.5 million people posing no threat
whatever. Hamas is targeted for its independence, not militancy, what he
and Western media won't explain.
-
- The latest round of peace talks continue, as bogus as
others, on and off for the past 35 years, resolving nothing but empowering
Israel at the expense of Occupied Palestinians. The only possible outcome
this time is like before - total failure or unconditional capitulation,
nothing in between, because Washington and Israel won't tolerate a just,
equitable agreement.
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- Obama also rejects Hamas as Palestine's legitimate government
as well its right to self-defense. Under occupation, it's essential against
a nuclear-armed marauder, a rogue state, a military powerhouse aggressor
believing violence is the only language Arabs understand. No wonder growing
millions globally see Israel for what it is - a regional and world menace
complicit with its Washington paymaster/partner.
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- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays
at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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