President
Obama: Saudi Islamic charities thank him for America's
new
security strategy. But will that help him at home, politically?
Al Madina, Saudi
Arabia
Thank You Barack
Obama, for Ending 'September 11 Era'
In complimenting Barack Obama, Muhammad Khodr Aarif of Saudi Arabia's Al-Madina may provide fodder for the president's political adversaries, even as he shows support for Obama in the Muslim world. Khodr Aarif compliments the White House for seeing the importance of Islamic charities, and expresses gratitude for rescinding the accusations of terrorism leveled at them during the Bush years.
President Bush with firefighter Bob Beckwith in front of the 'pile' - the remains of the World Trade Center, on September 14, 2001. Some Islamic charities are grateful to President Obama for ending what they consider their unjust persecution by the Bush Administration.
Anyone
who carefully reads America's new National
Security Strategy, released May 27, understands the pretext for September
11. The calamities that the United States brought into the world, particularly
the Muslim World, are matters of history. The White House announced that part
of its new strategy is that, "the United States doesn't consider itself at
war with Islam.” The issuance of this strategy is an implicit admission that
the United States was at war with Islam.
As many analysts have said,
America's new approach entails a moving away from the policies of former President
Bush and his administration, which consisted of justifying preventive war and,
in particular, antagonizing the Muslim world. That means senior American officials
have been making clear the policies of the current U.S. president - by
indicating that while the U.S. is still at war - it is only with al-Qaeda.
That is precisely what John Brennan,
President's Obama senior advisor on terrorism, said in a speech at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "The strategy of
the President is very clear … The United States is at war with al-Qaeda and its
terrorist offshoots.” These words, observers say, also differ from those used
during the Bush era, such as, “War on Terror” and “Islamo-fascism,” which were
unambiguously interpreted as "War on Islam."
The new U.S. position is
consistent with the trend in the West generally: German Chancellor Angela
Merkel called on Europe to further explore and gain an understanding of Islamic
civilization. In a remarkable statement, she said, "We forget in Europe
how many centuries, the Arab peoples were ahead of us in science and culture.” Se
was of course referring to the Middle Ages in Europe, also
known as the Dark Ages; 1,000
years during which in Muslims
lands,it was a period of
prosperity and science. There is no doubt that Merkel's visit to the Saudi
Arabia and her meeting with King Abdullah played a major role in strengthening relations
between Germany and the Arab and Muslim Worlds.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Getting back to the new U.S.
Security Strategy, we consider one of the most important items to be its review
of charitable and Islamic humanitarian relief organizations, after they were
unjustly accused of supporting terrorism during, if we might use the term, the
"September 11 era."
The American and European
press used the attacks that destroyed New York's twin towers to persecute -
without evidence - Islamic humanitarian organizations and institutions. Many
newspapers and reporters were paid to write of an alleged link between these
organizations and terrorism, without any reference or provision of proof. Several
Western media organizations, be they print, radio or TV, began publishing and
broadcasting these bogus allegations without even thinking about confirmation
For instance, media has
published lists of countries and humanitarian organizations who they claimed -
were suspected of supporting terrorism. The flagrant errors that emerged after
the naming of these groups and their staffs triggered accusations and confusion.
The Obama Administration recognized this, and understood that reducing the
resources of these organizations and even allowing them to dry up would
necessarily worsen the desperate conditions under which the vast majority of the
world's Muslims live, namely: poverty, ignorance and disease. The new U.S. government
knows that aggravating these conditions will necessarily strengthen the
influence of terrorism in the world rather than diminish it, as was proven during
the barren years if the forlorn Bush's presidency.
The new U.S. administration knows
that Islamic relief organizations contribute greatly to reducing terrorism in
all of its forms, because they raise awareness, education and understanding among
Muslims. They also quell hunger and stabilize living conditions in every aspect
of people's lives, thus preventing them from becoming easy prey for extremist elements,
as occurred during the era of the Bush's regime.
As it was before the
so-called September 11 era, this new U.S. strategy will help Islamic relief organizations
and institutions resume their role helping the needy, mentoring orphans,
supporting widows, spending on the poor, promoting education and providing training for
disadvantaged people in the Islamic World - and the rest of the world as well.
