Our Principles? The Libyan Insurrection and the Mohammed Cartoons
“We must stand alongside those who believe in the same core principles,” President Obama said in his speech Monday night justifying American military intervention in Libya. But there is reason to doubt that the eastern Libyan forces opposed to the rule of Moammar al-Gaddafi do share our core principles — at any rate, if by “our” principles the president means American ones.
This is not only because, as reported on PJM, the rebel forces contain al-Qaeda linked elements that have fought against America in both Afghanistan and Iraq. A look back at the origins of the eastern Libyan rebellion suggests that it has been an essentially Islamist rebellion from the start. Indeed, little known to most Americans, one of the principal sources of inspiration for the rebellion is to be found in that most Islamist of all sources of outrage: the famous “Mohammed cartoons” published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005.
The eastern Libyan rebellion began with a “Day of Rage” on February 17. The “Day of Rage” was called by an organization named the National Conference for the Libyan Opposition (NCLO). The choice of the date was not arbitrary. According to the English edition of the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, the date was chosen to commemorate “the 17 February 2006 uprisings in the city of Benghazi where protests against the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad were transformed into mass demonstrations against Gaddafi and his regime, resulting in the death of dozens of protestors and the injury of many more.”
Reports at the time, citing official Libyan sources, spoke of eleven confirmed dead. The deaths occurred when rioters attempted to storm the Italian consulate in Benghazi. The building was set on fire and consulate personnel had to be evacuated. “We feared for our lives,” the wife of the consul general was quoted as saying in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. A consulate employee spoke of “thousands” of young men that descended upon the consulate, coming from the local mosques. February 17, 2006, was a Friday, so the rioters were presumably coming from Friday prayers. After initially attempting to disperse the crowd with tear gas, Libyan police opened fire.
The 2006 attack on the Italian consulate helps to explain the reluctance of Italian authorities to support the eastern Libyan rebels and their ambivalence about the Western-led military intervention.
The rage of the Benghazi rioters appears to have been specifically directed at the Italian consulate as a consequence of a television appearance two days earlier by Italian “Reforms Minister” Roberto Calderoli. In reaction to the protests against the Mohammed cartoons in Muslim countries, Calderoli had previously announced that he intended to print up t-shirts with a cartoon of Mohammed on them and to wear one himself. During an interview on the Italian public television Rai Uno on February 15, Calderoli did not merely defend the idea; he proceeded to unbutton his shirt and show that he was in fact wearing such a t-shirt.
Calderoli explained that the gesture was a matter of a “battle for freedom.” Alluding to the cartoon protestors, he added defiantly, “When they recognize our rights, I’ll take off the shirt.” According to the Corriere della Sera, Calderoli’s counter-protest was widely reported in Arab media.
The day after the Benghazi riots, Calderoli resigned from his post in the Italian government. In a statement, he said that “it has never been my intention to offend the Muslim religion nor to be a pretext for yesterday’s violence.” But he also described the violence sparked by the cartoons in Muslim countries more generally as “a veritable attack on the West, which worries me and should worry everyone whose responsibility it is to see to it that diverse cultures live together peacefully.”
The role played by the Mohammed cartoons in the history of the Libyan rebellion is by no means the only indication of the latter’s Islamist inspiration. The president of the United States and other Western leaders and opinion-makers have lately been busy parsing the statements of the so-called Transitional National Council, which has served as the political face of the rebellion vis-à-vis the international community. Someone going by the name of Andy Stone, on the other hand, had the idea of examining the Arabic contents found on the website of the National Conference for the Libyan Opposition.
Stone, who published his findings online here, discovered an NCLO document titled “Gaddafi: Islam’s no. 1 Enemy.” The document was published on February 15 of this year, just two days before the NCLO-sponsored “Day of Rage” protests in Benghazi.
The document amounts to an indictment of Muammar al-Gaddafi on account of a long list of alleged crimes against Islamic orthodoxy. These include, for instance, Gaddafi’s insistence that Christians and Jews should be allowed to visit Mecca.
For the charges leveled against Muammar al-Gaddafi in the NCLO’s “Gaddafi: Islam’s Enemy no. 1,” see Tony Badran’s English translation on the Tatler.
What I am not clear on is Islam’s popularity. No music, no dancing, no ankles, etc. Is there joy in this culture, or is it just a redux of the Inquisition and Torquemada?
All we hear about is ‘Days of Rage’ and this or that feigned injury from the West used to justify the slow sawing off of human being’s heads over several minutes.
Just trying to understand the psychology of those attracted to Islam, and how it makes their lives so happy and fulfilling.
Try “Resentment” by Max Scheler (written before WWI), and “Envy” by Helmut Schoeck.
Add Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer in addition to @Wallenrod’s suggestions.
What’s more difficult to understand is the psychology of those in the West who reflexively perceive each day’s latest public rage over a feigned injury from the West as a righteous protest/”pushback” against Western/American hegemony, racism and overall oppression. For large swaths of West-loathing Westerners (from low-information college students, journalists and ordinary polite liberals to nefarious Leftist rabble rousers, journalists and academics), every anti-Western uprising in what’s termed the “Arab Street” (even when the street hosting the uprising is in Peshawar, Dakar or Srinagar) is a modern-day Selma, AL, march against imperialist Red State injustice and the military industrial complex . . . or something.
Islamic Rage Boy is a righteous victim who spends his days speaking truth to power! Throw your Che tee shirt on, blaze up a fat one and put on some Rage Against the Machine, brah!
“Is there joy in this culture”
I suspect that gang rape is quite a bonding exercise for the particpants.
Todd,
The Muslims are ruled by fear. The Koran is full of descriptions of Hell, and how Allah looks forward to his angels pushing Kaffir and disobedient Muslims into Hell. If a Muslim tries to convert you then fear of hell will be on the agenda. It is a prime reason for becoming a Muslim. So there is little joy in Islam, exept when the doctrines are ignored. A “happy and fulfiling” life is not possible unless you put Muhammed behind you.
As for the rage, it seems to be how bullies behave.
Obama and the Democratic party are employing the classic Soviet revolutionary doctrine of “crisis” and “vanguard” to create the conditions (shaping the battlespace) for a socialist/Marxist revolution in the US.
The goal is to destroy capitalism and replace it with a dictatorship of the proletariat.
When the crisis (insolvency of the US government) has reached it’s climax (destruction of the dollar) the vanguard (union members and useful idiots) is sent in to take over the government.
The above explains why EVERYTHING Obama does is the exact opposite of what should be done to alleviate the governments fiscal crisis.
I do believe if Qu-Daffy is driven from power the world is going to realize that it had been better to deal with the devil we knew than dealing with the new devil that we don’t know.
Alas, we DO know that devil. And that’s what makes it so bloody dangerous.
Not long ago an episode of “South Park” was censored because of a fear of violence on the part of muslims; if we cannot exert the resolve to force morons to the curb in our own country then we need not worry about Libya since we have our own issues to re-affirm.
Calderoli’s idea should have been expanded and used in the U.S. and we should have donned t-shirts and taken to the streets. Unfortunately that type of resolve in America is long dead. We would have been afraid of offending muslims instead of defending our own principles.
Years ago Americans never would have let themselves be cowed. Now, white liberals shout ‘Down with the U.S.A.’ in our own streets and only give comfort to the enemy not to mention lawyers.
“Now, white liberals shout ‘Down with the U.S.A.’ in our own streets and only give comfort to the enemy not to mention lawyers.”
If this isn’t a clear sign we’re headed for civil war, then I don’t know what is.
It has been fairly obviously from the outset that the rebels were Islamists of various stripes, including but not limited to Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and Hamas elements. I’ve kept a close tab on events, but this information is new to me and quite damning to the Oval Office. There is only one question at this point. Did the president not have this information about the rebels we reputedly supported, or did he have it and believe it would go without notice? Either is a horrible indictment of the man.
WHO THE REBELS IN LIBYA ARE..AND DID OBAMA KNOW AND NOT CARE????
FROM: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24033
While the US, British and French are firing missiles, loaded with depleted uranium, at the Libyan military and key civilian installations, their ‘allies’ the armed militias in Benghazi, rather than go to battle against the regime’s armed forces, are busy rounding up, arresting and often executing any suspected members of Gaddafi’s “revolutionary committees”, arbitrarily labeling these civilians as “fifth columnists”. The top leaders of these “revolutionary” masses in Benghazi include two recent defectors from what the ‘Left’ dubs Gaddafi’s “murderous regime”: Mustafa Abdul Jalil, a former Justice minister, who prosecuted dissenters up to the day before the armed uprising, Mahmoud Jebri, who was prominent in inviting multi-nationals to take over the oil fields (FT, March 23, 2011, p. 7), and Gaddafi’s former ambassador to India, Ali Aziz al-Eisawa, who jumped ship as soon as it looked like the uprising appeared to be succeeding. These self-appointed ‘leaders’ of the rebels who now staunchly support the Euro-US military intervention, were long-time supporters of the Gaddafi’s dictatorship and promoters of MNC takeovers of oil and gas fields. The heads of the “rebels” military council is Omar Hariri and General Abdul Fattah Younis, former head of the Ministry of Interior. Both men have long histories (since 1969) of repressing democratic movements within Libya. Given their unsavory background, it is not surprising that these top level military defectors to the ‘rebel’ cause have been unable to arouse their troops, mostly conscripts, to engage the loyalist forces backing Gaddafi. They too will have to take ride into Tripoli on the coattails of the Anglo-US-French armed forces.
The anti-Gaddafi force’s lack of any democratic credentials and mass support is evident in their reliance on foreign imperial armed forces to bring them to power and their subservience to imperial demands. Their abuse and persecution of immigrant workers from Asia, Turkey and especially sub-Sahara Africa, as well as black Libyan citizens, is well documented in the international press. Their brutal treatment of black Libyans, falsely accused of being Gaddafi’s “mercenaries” , includes torture, mutilation and horrific executions, does not auger well for the advent of a new democratic order, or even the revival of an economy, which has been dependent on immigrant labor, let alone a unified country with national institutions and a national economy.
The self-declared leadership of the “National Transitional Council” is not democratic, nationalist or even capable of uniting the country. These are not credible leaders capable of restoring the economy and creating jobs lost as a result of their armed power grab. No one seriously envisions these ‘exiles’, tribalists, monarchists and Islamists maintaining the paternalistic social welfare and employment programs created by the Gaddafi government and which gave Libyans the highest per-capita income in Africa.
Why should his be so disturbing? Under Bush2 we installed Sharia in the constitutions of both Iraq and Afghanistan. Americans died and spent more than a trillion$ to make the ME safe for Sharia. Were still fighting to bring stability to those Islamic sewers, and now we’re adding a third sewer.
From what I have been able to gather the Iraqi Constitution does not impose Sharia but I haven’t read the text. Have you Morton?
The Iraqi Constitution states that Islam is the official religion of the state and is a fundamental source of legislation. It may not use the word but it is all but imposing sharia law. Even though it might say that Christians and others have the right to freely practice their own religions, they don’t have equal rights with Muslims. They are not allowed to proseletyze. That’s Islam.
The Constitution states that Islam is the official religion of the State (no separation of church and state), that no law that goes against Islam is considered valid and that the Islamic identity of the country is guaranteed. I call that sharia.
Article 2:
First: Islam is the official religion of the State and it is a fundamental source of legislation:
A. No law that contradicts the established provisions of Islam may be established.
B. No law that contradicts the principles of democracy may be established.
C. No law that contradicts the rights and basic freedoms stipulated in this constitution may be established.
Second: This Constitution guarantees the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guarantees the full religious rights of all individuals to freedom of religious belief and practice such as Christians, Yazedis, and Mandi Sabeans.
An ideal end in Libya would be for one side to kill all if the other side. Flip a coin I don’t care who wins. They don’t need our help, we can just watch. When it is over we just need to deal with the winner.
John McCain it is time to take off your clown shoes and go home. Drink some beer and brag about what a great Senator you used to be. Take Harry Reid and the rest of the left over antiques with you.
I think it is the behavior of morons to borrow money and then give it to foreign countries. We owe them nothing and they are ingrates. Let them get the money from China directly. How about Saudi Arabia why haven’t they stepped up to save their Muslim brothers?
The followers of Muhammad have the same core principles of BLT. That is what BLTPOTUS is talking about.
What did Farakan say about the demons misleading DaOne? Demons in BLT, and Farakan’s Islam mean the evil white man. Where is Rev. Wright on the issue?
Muslims like lettuce and tomatoes well enough but the bacon is right out.
It’s haram or the devil’s tool or something like that – like mustard in the U.S. Same thing.
The more I see of the rest of the world’s civilizations, the more I realize how fortunate we were to have had the incredible intellect of our founding fathers when they drafted the Constitution of these United States of America and the Bill of Rights shortly thereafter.
Until the Islamic countries can no longer find the bodies from all the killing; until the excessive “offenses” they have inflicted upon each other no longer make sense; until they learn what faith really is, these fools will kill everyone around them, including the people they love.
It would be kindness to bomb them in to oblivion, but they’re not worth the effort. They’re too deluded to allow others to teach them this lesson. They’re going to have to teach it to themselves. In blood. Alone.
We have to keep them from immigrating to any western country. Unless they are willing to leave their hateful culture behind them, we can not allow them to spread.
May God forgive us for not being able to help them.
We have to keep them from immigrating to any western country. Unless they are willing to leave their hateful culture behind them, we can not allow them to spread.
I agree completely. Islam is not just a harsh, irrational religion, it is an imperial, supremacist, totalitarian, unenlightened, hate-filled, intolerant, political ideology. By allowing Muslims to emigrate we are planting the seeds of Muslim expansion, turmoil and conquest.
The solution and approach that the US should be taking in Libya has been correctly pointed out in “Libya Can and Should Be Won With Mercenaries.”
What the title implies has been the way of the world for centuries which, unfortunately, we never master and we still tend to dismiss as part of our present options.
But England and France are old hands at this and we should get their assistance and do just that. Read this timely piece at http://robbingamerica.blogspot.com/2011/03/libya-can-and-should-be-won-with.html
In the irrational world of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton using mercenaries to help Islamists take over Libya is an improvement.
Obama is either an Islamist or the most clueless person ever to occupy the Oval Office. As for the CIA and State they are being run by incompetents. Why is this evidence emerging now after American assets have been wasted and America’s reputation and sovereignty diminished by participation in this misguided and incoherent odyssey.
Why do people keep trying hide the islamic and muslim problems we have in the world today? It is a sad weak people who are afraid of speaking the truth about islam, for fear of their lives. If our government will not protect us then we have to protect ourselves. The first thing is to learn everything you can on islam and sharia law, know your enemy. The second thing you should do is to prepare yourself from the lies the muslims are spreading. All so learn to protect yourself! Mohammed was a mentally ill man who believed Persia should rule the world, so he had a chip on his shoulder. Mohammed was all so a pedophile, just read his history. How can a so called religion islam based on Judaism and believe in the Torah and all the people in the bible follow a teacher of how it is okay to lie. We all know who the father of lies is. Name me one good act mohammed did or how many people he healed.