I will side with Dave at least in part. The most virulent strains of Islam have usually come out of Arabia (Wahabbism for example) though local variants pop up from time to time in other regions. I’d probably have to do more research than I have time for to determine how often these indigenous movements are actually the result of teachings exported from Arabia.
T.E. Lawrence certainly had admiration for the Arab Bedouin even though he recognized them as a harsh people from a desolate region. He also remarks that flare ups under leaders like the Mahdi have been frequent throughout Islamic history, but they usually burn themselves out rather quickly.
My personal experiences in Egypt, Turkey, Kashmir (pre-1988), and Malaysia inform me that the further one travels from the Islamic center, the more relaxed become its adherents. The Taliban seem to be the exception, but it’s my understanding that the movement had its genesis in refugee camps where Saudi money (Wahabbism again) had established madrases specifically for the purpose of spreading a fundamentalist version of the faith.
I’m not saying that Mr. Ibrahim is wrong in his views; he is certainly better informed by experience than I am. Yet there is no denying that some part of the problem can be attributed to the Saudi effort to export fundamentalist troublemakers. The complexity of the problem invites debate, but on one fact we can probably all agree. Mr. Obama’s weak posture is precisely the wrong strategy.
