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Local News & Opinion
09.25 State Elections Boards Seeks Volunteers to Help Process Unprecedented Number of Voter Applications Travel
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09.18 Reviewing Danny Schechter's "Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity and the Subprime Scandal" Letters
Ref. : Letters to the editor Open Letters:
09.30 To Joe Biden: Time for Confession 09.28 Open Letter to Senator Barack Obama 09.26 Bailout Package Must be Transparent to the American People 09.18 Possible $2 Million Donation to Support Md. Slots Sends Wrong Message Health & Environment
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10.02 Project Censored's Media Democracy Advocacy 09.23 Satire: Louella Reads the Baltimore Sun 09.22 CBS Cheats on Tax Coverage 09.10 Post's Post-Convention 'Balancing' Act 09.10 McCain/Palin Campaign Relies on Lazy Thinking and Prejudice to Win 09.10 The Rising Cost of the Iraq 'Surge' US Politics, Policy & Culture
10.07 Voting the Fate of the Nation 10.07 Alaska GOP's Last-Ditch Palin Defense 10.07 Election '08: Here Comes the Sludge 10.02 John McCain v. The Truth 10.02 Drinking at the Public Fountain 10.01 Who won the Mississippi debate? Obama—but for different reasons than you think 09.30 The Shadow of the Pitchfork: Elite Panic Attack as Bailout Goes Bust 09.29 The Resurrectionists: Beltway's Big Money Cultists Bail Out the Dead 09.29 We Have the Money 09.27 Debate Evades Dark Realities 09.26 Alaskan Officials Allege Palin Cover-up 09.24 Don’t Worry, Be Happy 09.24 Text of Draft Proposal for Bailout Plan 09.24 Hey, Government! How About Calling on Us? 09.23 Coming Attractions: War Without End, Amen 09.22 The Evolution of John McCain 09.21 Palin's 'Troopergate' Battle Rages 09.19 Burning the First Amendment 09.15 Subverting Democracy Through Electoral Fraud 09.15 Military Industrial Complex 2.0 09.13 Acceptable Sacrifice: For the Right to Endorse 09.13 Why More Soldiers from Alaska? 09.12 Experience is Over-Rated 09.10 Obama Must Call for Palin's Removal from the Ticket 09.10 9/11 Plus Seven 09.10 Palin's Strange Probe of a Trooper 09.10 Dear Democrats: Integrity Won’t Win this Election US High Crimes
10.06 The Wounded Shark: 'Good War' Lost, But the Imperial Project Goes On 10.02 U.S. Army Troops To Serve As U.S. Policemen? 09.25 Life on the Ledge 09.16 "Awakening" Into Nightmare: Seeding More Sectarian War in Iraq Economics & Business
10.06 Thinking About Treason 10.06 The Fleecing of America 10.03 Can a bailout succeed? 10.02 Empire of Greed 10.02 No Surprise in the Senate Bailout Vote 10.02 How Wall Street Can Bail Itself Out Without Destroying The Dollar 10.02 The Specter of Wall Street 10.01 We Need to Demand Hearings! 09.30 Surprise! Congress Listened to the Voting Public! 09.29 Thinking About Gyrations 09.29 Grand Theft America 09.26 Seizing America by Withholding the Mother’s Milk of Politics 09.26 Framing the $700 Billion Question 09.26 Bail Out NO, Buy Out YES 09.26 Just Say "No" to Any Immediate Bailout 09.26 Has Deregulation Sired Fascism? 09.25 Don't Fuel the Fire: Fire the Arsonists 09.25 America Pays the Piper, Big Time 09.24 Just Thinking Aloud Here 09.23 What Nobody's Saying: The Bailout Will Kill the Dollar 09.22 Thinking About Escalations 09.18 US Economy: Rudderless and Reeling From Direct Hits 09.18 US Economy: Rudderless and Reeling From Direct Hits 09.17 Creative Destruction: The Solid Core Behind the Financial Crisis 09.16 You Can't Feel Blue About the Economy If You Want To. There Are No Blue Chips Anymore 09.15 Thinking About Spotlights 09.15 U.S. Economy—Temporary Respite, Permanent Decline International
09.26 Annals of Liberation: Sex is Death in a Darkened Land 09.25 New Coup D'Etat Rumblings in Venezuela 09.22 Remembering Edward Said Five Years On 09.20 Filter Tips: Distortion and Demonization on the Iran Beat 09.11 Wall Street and Washington We are a non-profit Internet-only newspaper publication founded in 1973. Your donation is essential to our survival.
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SPEAKING OUT:On Overblown Threats and IslamophobiaThe anti-Muslim mindset in the U.S. has come about due to the rhetoric of fear-mongering politicians, the media’s desire to sensationalize the news and the profits to be made by the burgeoning terrorism industry.
Analysts both in the Muslim and the Western world by and large agree that “fear” and lack of objective dialogue are the root cause of Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism. And while the debate on which one of the two ignited the other is still ongoing, one fact remains irrefutable: more people were victimized as a result of Islamophobia than the other way around.A recent public opinion survey conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) indicates that Muslims are still viewed negatively in the U.S. There are estimated 7 million Muslims in America—and over 50 thousand in Central Ohio alone, the majority being Somalis. Among a number of questions raised in the survey, the open-ended question, “When you hear the word ‘Muslim,’ what is the first thought that comes to your mind?” revealed the daunting reality that Muslims still carry the 9/11 burden. Only six percent of those surveyed indicated a positive perception as they offered responses such “good religion,” “good people,” “faithful,” “devout,” “misunderstood.” On the other hand, 26 percent of them indicated to espouse negative perceptions about Muslims, as they offered answers such as “violence,” “hatred,” “terrorists,” “war,” “guns,” “towel-heads” and “rag-heads.”
A recent CAIR survey of U.S. residents showed only six percent view Muslims in a positive light.
The irony is that this came at a time when Muslims in the U.S. and in the West were doing more outreach than ever before. Are the powerful engines that propel the “war on terror” blowing a smoke of fear and distrust that ultimately hindered efforts toward building bridges of understanding?I recently had an opportunity to interview Professor John Mueller, the author of bestselling book Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them. Professor Mueller is a national security expert. He holds the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies at the Mershon Center. In that interview, arranged by SomaliLink Journal, Professor Mueller reiterated the premise of his book that America is frightened senseless...and that there are some “well-meaning” special interest groups “who grossly exaggerated the threat of terrorism” and as a result created a “terrorism industry” that in due course became an economic abyss. The national treasury is being drained as the U.S. tries to build a bulwark against a mirage of fear and dashes to every corner of the world where the “al-Qaida flag" is waved. “If there were any sleeper cells or al-Qaida operatives who are as determined, as inventive and as demonically competent as assumed, why have they not done it yet, especially when carrying a terrorist act does not require flying planes into buildings? Could it be because they are not yet here? If not, they must not have been trying hard enough, or perhaps they are far less dedicated, diabolical, and competent than we are being told,” said Mueller. “Apparently, there are no terrorists under the bed or hiding in mosques – the very lamppost that they should be avoiding in the first place,” he added. And while Professor Mueller acknowledged the need and the importance of enhancing the security of the United States, he repeatedly pointed out the absurdity that justifies the post-9/11 fear-driven policies and initiatives. He said the FBI embraces a spooky line of reasoning that he refers to as “I-think-therefore-they-are." He quoted FBI Director Robert Mueller, who said “...the greatest threat is from al-Qaida cells in the U.S. that we have not yet identified" Mueller substantiates his claim by repeating his "alarmist mantra,” telling the public, “I remain very concerned about what we are not seeing." According to Professor Mueller, Muslims continue to be demonized, and the nation's anti-terrorism laws continue to be irrationally rigid, because of this kind of mindset, which has come about due to the rhetoric of fear-mongering politicians whose aim often is to frighten voters to their side; lazy journalism and the media’s desire to sensationalize the news; and those in the security business who are motivated to seize an opportunity to push their services and maximize their profits, thus perpetuating the terrorism industry. Even a well-meaning innocent person could be held as an “enemy combatant." Mueller pointed out, “When a judge raised a hypothetical question on who might be detained as an enemy combatant and asked ‘what about an old lady in Switzerland who donates money to an orphanage in Afghanistan who, unbeknown to her, finances al-Qaida? Could she be detained as an enemy combatant?' The answer provided by the Justice Department representative was simply 'Yes'." The rationale for all this, of course, is that ‘we live in age of terror’– a notion that Professor Mueller outright rejects as “hyperbolic." He said, “The probability of an American being killed by an act of terrorism is one in 80,000, which is more or less the same probability as being hit by an asteroid.” But, no one is frightening people with the latter. “Including 9/11 in the count, the number of Americans killed by international terrorism in the last three decades is about the same as the number of Americans killed over the same period by lightning, accident-causing deer, or severe allergic reactions to peanuts,” the professor pointed out. Yet, he adds, the message often repeated is that the sky is about to fall, which makes diplomacy seem irrelevant. Despite all this, Professor Mueller still maintains a rare sense of optimism. He believes an introspective government working with people of goodwill can change the course of history. In order to reverse the current trend, however, two main things must happen: first, the gross inflation of the threat of terrorism that implicitly portrays Muslims as ticking bombs must be appropriately calibrated. Second, diplomacy and constructive dialogue must be revived, and moderate Muslims must be engaged. Abukar Arman is a freelance writer who lives in Ohio.
Copyright © 2007 The Baltimore Chronicle. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent. This story was published on January 25, 2007. |
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