Sunday, January 01, 2006
Ahmadinejad Trying to Push the Muslim World towards Action and Unity
I am personally appalled by Ahmadinejad’s statements regarding Israel as a “Jewish Camp” established as a final solution by Europe to rid the continent of Jews. But more then I am appalled, I am scared that Ahmadinejad could succeed in his plan to become a uniting figure for the Muslim community, acting as a catalyst for war, calling them to action against the Zionist infidel.
The concept is not new. The Islamic world has the massive population to challenge any current super-power, and what’s more, that population, in general, has more wartime experience then members of the armies from the super-powers. Furthermore, there are significant military minds in the Middle East, tested in those same ever-present battles. Islamic leaders in general have more of a taste for war, and my experience has shown Islamic leaders more willing to carry out devastating attacks, as they are less concerned with consequences.
The biggest barrier to success for an Islamic army is the lack of unity between the people. Unless a leader can tie together all the Islamic communities against a common enemy, you will never create an army in the region that could rival military powers throughout the world. And so that is what Muslim leaders have done for years: tried to motivate the entire Islamic world, or at least huge portions of it, against a common enemy or threat, to get all the regions players moving in the same direction.
To do this, a leader like Ahmadinejad has to prove two things to the Arab world: first, that the cause is just, moral, of religious significance, and second, that if the leader had the backing of the Muslim world, they would have the possibility of winning a war against a major super-power. The first proof has made Israel a target for many years, the target of leaders such as Arafat, Khomeini, and Khadafi, as all point to the unholy occupation of Islam’s second holiest site, The Dome of the Rock, as an affront to Islam. It has also made the US a likely target as well, for leaders such as Hussein and Bin Laden.
The second proof is much tougher. While this region may have superior numbers in their troops and more experience for their troops, is still far behind the super-powers in terms of technology. The US and European countries are far superior in terms of their air force and navy. The Muslim world, for the most part, lacks the accuracy in their medium to long range attack technology to be truly effective in standard warfare. And until now, most Islamic nations have had the ability to be ultimately destructive (i.e. they don’t have nuclear weapons).
Ahmadinejad is trying to counter all of these issues. He has made close alliances with Russia, who may not be as advanced technologically as the US or Europe, but they have a significant air force, as well as significant military capability. And with the development of Uranium separation machinery, they are very close to having nuclear capability. As such, Ahmadinejad believes he simply needs to get to the Islamic world buy into the urgency of the Israel/Palestine issue to mobilize the Islamic military might.
In reality, my perception is that the Israel/Palestine issue is not nearly as significant to the Muslim world as it was 10 years ago. People are more concerned with their own lots in life, and are a bit sick of the violence and bloodshed. And I also suspect that Ahmadinejad has a long way to go before convincing the other Islamic countries that he has the fire power to compete with a super-power. But every day he becomes more of a threat as he gains more acceptance in the war-torn Middle East. Let’s hope that the world community can get together to prevent Ahmadinejad from reaching his goals.
Posted by Scottage at 6:29 PM /
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