Why are Democracy and Secularism Losing to Totalitarian Islam in the Middle East?

Indeed! Why are Hamas and Hizballh able to win hearts and minds? In Syria hordes of Sunnis are converting to Khomeini-Style Shia Islam. Iranians in Syria are giving the newly converted CASH INCENTIVES and they are providing social services that the Syrian government does not provide for their poor and destitute citizenry. Why do Hamas and Muqtada Al Sadr have such huger followings? What kind of social services do they provide for their recruits and future martyrs to be?

Why did the late Shah of Iran fail to bring democracy to Iran and implement the Constitutional Monarch? Was it his failure to cultivate supporters in the Shi'a religious leadership to counter Khomeini's campaign against him? Or Was it because the rich and influential Ayatollahs and the mullahs foresaw their impending irrelevancy and doom in a democratic and secular society? How much underestimation of Islamofascim invented by Khomeini played a part in all of this? Why do the Ayatollahs abhor democracy? Why are they so afraid of losing their “Business”, Islam to a free society?

Why did theprogressive and liberal Iranians who spearheaded the Revolution in 1979 and nurtured it for many years to realize freedom, liberty and democracy were slaughtered by the thousands after the Islamofascists took over the secular government of Bazargan? How did the Islamofascists in Iran, true to their fascistic nature, took advantage of the power vacuum and the infighting among many progressive and liberal groups and usurped the power by brute force and violence? Why did the Iranian nation was fooled by the Ayatollah Khomeini when he promised people, free water, electricity, free buses, and even an oil well in the middle of their back yard? He also promised he wouldn’t take anyone’s freedom and liberty in the beginning of the revolution. And as it turned out, he lied and millions of young people died.


In a recent speech at Delaware, Reza Pahlavi addressed some of the answers to these questions by underscoring the very basic human needs for food, shelter and safety. Think Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

(…)

“No matter how you turn the Middle East question, you come back to the all-important question of which is winning – democracy or religious totalitarianism?

Unfortunately, today, it is Hizbullah that can dictate terms to Foad Seniora in Lebanon. It is Hamas that can mobilize people against Abu Mazen in Palestine. It is Dawa, the Mahdi Army, and a host of Sunni groups in Iraq who can mobilize far more support that Nouri Al-Maleki.


Why are the bad guys winning? Why are religious totalitarians full of bravado, while democracy appears to be in retreat? Having expended close to half a trillion dollars and the best military might at the problem, there seems to be no solution in sight! Some of the West’s best diplomats have been engaged, without making net progress in the Middle East peace process, stopping the rearming of Hizbullah, or thwarting the increased hold of religious militia on Iraqi communities. It is time to recognize that the problem is neither military, nor diplomatic:

First, it has to do with sociology and political psychology in the region. (I say it has to do with social psychology too). Second, it involves the relationships between religious totalitarians and their regional “Central Banker,”(i.e. IRAN) to quote Dr. Rice. No wonder the tools of the State Department and the Pentagon, namely diplomacy and force, have proven mal-adapted to the problem!

The first area explains the problem of democracy and the advantage of these new totalitarians.

When a people’s desperate preoccupation is personal security, both physical and economic, the quest for liberty and political participation takes the back seat. They tend to rely on personal relationships within their community, rather than impersonal relations with a distant government. They become fertile soil for the growth of a Hizbullah, Hamas or Dawa that weave themselves into the fibre of the community through personal relationships.

It is someone they know who goes to people’s homes and offers them help with healthcare, education, welfare, security and of course, religious guidance through connections with the Mosque.

It is particularly the displaced and newly urbanized, or those who are barely one or two generations away from their rural or traditional roots and communities, who find relief and membership in a new community – centred around a Mosque – where they can assemble and pray five times a day.

It is the second area that shows the vulnerability of the new totalitarian parties which connect chains of Mosques and create a new social fibre to those who have lost the security of traditional societies.

These parties are building impressive political assets throughout the region, but their income statement is in chronic deficit. Take Iranian munitions shipments, intelligence, finance and organizational support away and you will see Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, Mahdi, Badr and Dawa dry on the vine.

It is the “Central Banker,”(IRAN) the eye of the religious-totalitarian octopus that is vulnerable. However, all while, the U.S. has been fighting its resilient tentacles.

Just this summer, Iran’s main contribution to Hizbullah was not the training, munitions or intelligence on Israeli plans and movements that Iranian Revolutionary Guards relayed from Syrian communications to the Hizbullah. It was the twelve thousand dollars for each family that lost its home – offered by Hizbullah and finance by Iran.

In Lebanon, this made Hizbullah shine compared to the US backed government of Mr. Seniora. Ironically in Iran, however, twelve thousand dollars is six hundred times the salary of masses of Iranian workers who had not been paid for months! A very telling tale was that for the scared, hungry and desperate wives and children of workers arrested in demonstrations throughout Iran, it wasn’t the Islamist government that shined, but whoever spoke out against it!


Moslems are the first to tell you that God is perfect. And, they believe it too. In fact they are so much in love with HIS perfection that they wholeheartedly accept what little good is thrown their way to be a gift from God while they attribute the rest of their daily miseries to their own mistakes requiring additional doses of praying and fasting.

In this respect Moslems may be the most masochistic believers in the world. An average Moslem is always, and I mean always, in touch with God. In addition to the five mandatory prayers each day, seven days a week, for life, in sickness and in health, during which he is communicating with God, an average Moslem will have to call upon HIM before commencing to do ANYTHING in accordance with "Hadeeth" .

In the eyes of God, ANY action which is started without invoking the name of God is imperfect/abtar". And any action means just that. In fact, Moslems are in contact with God so much that you would think there is no time left for other brands of believers. And, what do Moslems have to show for their love affair with God? Practically nothing.

Their countries top the list of the poorest and most miserable and backward countries in the world. So Moslems go back and review the terms of agreement between them and God. As the SLAVES of GOD who fulfilled their duties, they expect to be rewarded. And, since they are clearly being punished rather than rewarded, they look for an answer. Meanwhile, they cannot express any sort of dissatisfaction, frustration, or anger in any shape or form lest these may be interpreted as acts of defiance or rebellion thus blasphemy and KOFRS.

Suppression of these emotions lead to more frustration and anger and the pressure reaches the roof. And while they are on the verge of exploding, Moslems get essentially two explanations for their predicament. The first comes from their rulers and their handpicked henchmen including the clergy and the criminal ayatollahs while the second comes from the Bin Ladenites and the latest Islamic rendition, the Hitlerist Ahmadinejad, who denies the holocaust while feverishly trying to build a nuclear weapon to perpetrated one.

Simply put, the message of rulers and their clergy advocate the status quo as the manifested will of God. And to make the pill easier to swallow, Moslems are bombarded with a barrage of Koranic verses to the effect that "True Believers Are Meant To Suffer So As To Be Cleansed Of Their Sins”. The solution, they say, is to be patient. They are also told that those who are patient will be rewarded in heaven. Enters the Bin Ladenites with their message. They tell people, Kafirs are to blame for all your ills.

The solution, they say,is to be patient. They are also told that those who are patient will be rewarded in heaven. Enters the Bin Ladenites and Armageddon Ahmadinejad with their message of Islamic Caliphate. They (the mullahs, Edward Said et al) tell people, Kafirs/infidels are to blame for all your ills. They occupied your countries, stole your resources and installed their corrupt puppets as your rulers.

Look what they did, they point out, in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and now Darfur. The solution, they say, is to rise up in arms to regain what is rightfully yours. If you win, you will live free and prosperous and if you are killed you will sit right by God's side in heaven.

And so we end up with Bin Laden and Ahmadinejad who want to live in "World without America and zionism" and in realizing their objectives they recruit the poor masses as soldiers of Allah or Soldiers of Mahdi via cash incentives and promise of health care and education. And to be compensated for the services rendered, all these new recruits need to do is to internalize and learn that "martrydom is the highest form of art" and be willing to allow Hizballah use them and their families as human shields some time in the future.

Amil Imani contends that we need to hold Islam accountable first before we can break this perpetual cycle of terror production:

"The internal infighting in Islam is presently playing in full color - in red - most dramatically, in the Iraqi theater. Shiite raid Sunni civilians, slaughter them like sheep, and toss their bodies like trash in the streets or the rivers. The Sunnis return the favor with just as much viciousness and savagery. Question: If this is the way these Muslims treat each other, how would they deal with the infidels if they had the chance?
(...)
Clearly, there is no place on the planet where Muslims reside that is in peace from the religion of peace. Spain, France, Holland, England, Thailand and Indonesia have already been attacked, while others, such as Belgium, have been threatened and sanctioned.

Stretching the benefit of the doubt beyond limits, one may believe that all these acts of horrors are committed by a small minority of thugs and radicals who happened to be Muslims. Fine, let us ignore all those "fringes" for now - those who are giving Islam a bad reputation. And never mind Saudi Arabia, the cradle of barbarism, fixed in formaldehyde since Islam's inception. Also, let us overlook the dastardly Shiite fanatics presently ruling (ruining) the great nation of Iran. Iranian Shiite Hitlerists are hell-bent on wiping Israel off the face of the planet, while viciously devastating Iran's own largest minority - the Baha'is, people universally-recognized as law-abiding and peaceful.

Would someone account for what is happening in the "civilized" Islamic country of Egypt? The world owes Egypt a debt of gratitude for giving it the Muslim Brotherhood - the lead promoter of Sunni hatred toward the infidels, with chapters and front organizations in much of the world. With typical hypocrisy, the Egyptian government claims that the Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed, when, in actuality, the Brotherhood holds twenty-five percent of the seats in the Egyptian parliament. The same country that gave the world vicious American-killers like Al-Zawahiri is the recipient of huge largess from the American taxpayer.

The latest shameful action of the Egyptian government is the issuance of identity cards that require listing of one's religion. In order to be issued an ID card, which is essential for just about any and all exercises of the rights of citizenship, the individual must list his religion as one of the three sanctioned faiths - Islam, Christianity or Judaism. No one is allowed to leave the religious affiliation blank or list any other religion. Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'is, or agnostics and atheists, have to either lie and fake a religious affiliation, or run the serious risk of having to survive as non-entities in the "crown jewel" of modern and moderate Islamic society.

These are the conditions on the ground wherever Islam rules. Violence of all forms is endemic to Islam and is not confined to any fringes. Islam itself is the fringe. A fringe that is oppressive, hateful of others and violent to the core.

The world must confront Islam and demand that it mends its ways in conformity with the Bill of Rights, according to which every man, woman and child is fully entitled to equal treatment under the law, irrespective of any and all considerations.

AT THIS TIME, THE REAL PROBLEM LIES NOT JUST IN THEOLOGY BUT IN HUMAN MISERY, WHICH HAPPENS TO HAVE AN ISLAMIC ADDRESS.