Boston, Brazil and Islam: Irrational Rhetoric, Illegal Wars | Ramzy Baroud

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Ramzy Baroud -- World News Trust

May 1, 2013

During his talk sponsored by the New American Foundation in March 2008, author Parag Khanna addressed the rising challenges facing U.S. global hegemony. According to Khanna, China and the European Union are the new contenders with the battlefield being a global "geopolitical marketplace."

Aside from Khanna’s insight, one statement particularly puzzled me greatly. "Why am I talking about Europe, China, and the United States? What about Russia, what about India, what about Islam ... what about all those other powers?" Initially, I thought it must have been an error. The speaker must surely realize that Islam is a religion, not a political entity with a definable "geopolitical marketplace." But it was not an error, or more accurately, it was a deliberate error. Khanna went on to explain that Islam doesn’t have " that kind of coherence" that allows it to spread its power and influence, unlike the dominant other powers that he highlighted. According to that odd logic, Islam and Brazil were discussed in a similar context.

This sort of twisted reasoning has flourished as an academic discipline-turned-industry since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Sure, it existed prior to this date, but its "experts" and their then few think-tanks were largely placed within a decidedly pro-Israel, Zionist and right-wing political orthodoxy. In the last decade or so, the relatively specialized business multiplied and became mainstream wisdom. Its numerous "experts" -- who are more like intellectual purveyors -- became well-known faces in American news networks. Their once "politically incorrect" depiction of Arabs, Muslims and the non-western world at large, became acceptable views which were then translated into actual policies used for invading countries, torturing prisoners and flushing Holy Korans down toilets.

It is impracticable to rationally argue with those who are essentially irrational. Many of us have tirelessly tried to wrangle with those who want to "kill all Muslims" whenever someone claiming to be a Muslim is accused of carrying out or planning to carry out an attack somewhere in the world. The "debate" rages on, not because of the power of its logic, but because of the heavy price of blood and gore that continues to be paid due to the deliberate misinformation, utter lies and subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) intellectual racism that defines much of the American media and academic discourses.

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