Islamic reforms are on the march but there is yet much work to be done; this according to Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri in his latest speech to the masses.
Al-Qaida has seemingly taken a play out of the Bush administrations playbook. Spin, Spin and repeat.
“Reform and expelling the invaders from Muslim countries cannot be accomplished except by fighting for the sake of God.”
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The average reader may read that statement and wonder who is pushing for reforms in the Middle East. After years of hearing that democracy is on the march most westerners would assume that it is America that is pushing for reforms in the Middle East in the form of Capitalism and Democracy but it seems clear by Zawahiri’s latest video that as hard as the west is pushing for Democratic reform the “radicals” are pushing for Islamic reform.
It should be noted that Egypt, a long time American ally, has recently caved into pressure for reforms to the constitution allowing for more political freedom. The Bush Administration and many American journalists have long been trumpeting this as another domino falling in the maze that is the Middle East (thanks to the war in Iraq of course). Considering where the loyalty of Egypt lies right now who would reforms truly benefit? The Dr from Egypt seems to be pushing even harder than America for these reforms:
Al-Zawahiri said any reform must be based on Islamic Sharia (law) and that Muslim countries should be free to govern themselves without foreign interference, or the presence of foreign troops.
…
he added
Driving out the invading crusader forces and Jews from our Muslim homes cannot be realised solely through demonstrations and speaking out in the streets
Many have, for too long, listened to the Administrations spin on what is really happening in the Middle East but it must be noted that any true reform in a nation where America currently enjoys great support from the government is likely to produce governments more, if not completely, hostile to the United States.
Zawahiri is sure to remind the reformers that it is he along with other Mujahideen who are fighting for Human rights and not the Americans:
Al-Zawahiri referred to protest-demonstrations in Cairo last month against the Egyptian constitutional referendum in which female protesters and several female reporters were allegedly molested by plain-clothed ruling party supporters.
The Genius in the claims may not be immediately evident but if one considers the facts on the ground it becomes apparent. The pro-western governments are causing these injustices and the west, primarily America, who is backing these dictators are saying very little about these atrocities (if they are their messages certainly are not getting out) and doing even less about them as the governments continue to enjoy tremendous support from the west. All of these facts coupled with the desecration of the Qu’ran the abuse at Guantanamo and Abu-Ghraib it all amounts to a reality which completely contradicts the one that has been told to the west.
While it still remains likely that the west will, for the most part, continue to believe that America has the best of motives in the Middle East, the Middle East itself will remain hostile to US policies that include torture, abuse and humiliation. If the disturbing trends of American abuses continue more and more people will start to, with much evidence, believe the Al-Zawahiri Spin
