On The Five today, there was a debate regarding whether ISIS people are poor, needing jobs or whether they are middle class, well-educated people.
It is important to remember that within any structure there are the upper echelon and the lower ranks. When it comes to ISIS, the upper echelon like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (their Caliph), who has a BA, MA and a PhD in Islamic Studies, and Jihadi John (Mohammed Emwazi), who comes from the middle class and received a computer programming degree from University of Westminster, are well-educated, purposeful megalomaniacs. These are people who are intelligent enough to create effective propaganda and navigate through today's technological advances (social media in particular). While the lower ranks consist of people who are primarily motivated, to join ISIS, by ideology. Juan Williams is correct (probably) in asserting that these are lost souls. Whether they are middle class or not, they are people looking for purpose and meaning in life, which so many of us struggle with. And like many of us, they are finding it through religion. Unfortunately the religion that ISIS promotes is not just antisocial, but truly grotesque to the human race. It is a "religion" that promotes genocide, murder, and ultimately ego-centric selfishness (yeah, I know that's redundant, but the emphasis is necessary, as the "religion" excludes the rights AND the existence of other human beings).
AGAIN, the only effective (non-military) way to "combat" this "religion"/ideology, aka propaganda, is with counter-propaganda. the most effective of which would be to denounce ISIS' interpretation of Islam. The first step would be to gather other Muslim leaders and countries to stand in opposition of ISIS and their beliefs. Without their support, there will always be a level of legitimacy to ISIS' claims. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if such leaders and nations were holding their tongues, just to see if ISIS can pull off a Worldwide Caliphate.
The second step would be to use Islam against them. By delving into the Islamic religion and finding contradictory ideas, philosophies, verses, and quotes, we can create a rift between the ISIS propaganda and the true meaning of being a Muslim. Then each recruit will be rejecting Islam in favor for ISIS gibberish. So that those that join ISIS will, in fact, garner NO benefits from their suicidal and violent actions. There will be no "72 virgins" waiting for them when they die; there will be no place in Heaven for them; there will only be fire and damnation.
Unfortunately all of this goes back to Marie Harf and her poor statements, which I assume, reflect the thoughts from the White House. The comments she made were so naive and ignorant, that I, as a proud United States of America citizen, am embarrassed.
Showing posts with label Marie Harf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marie Harf. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
State Department's Marie Harf demonstrates her naivete with suggestions on how to defeat Isis
If you haven't heard this story, then here's a link that will sum it up:
Marie Harf on CNN
Marie Harf Criticism
But if you don't want to read/watch that then here is a brief summary: Marie Harf, as the Deputy Spokesperson for the Department of State, has an interview in which she said that (and I'm paraphrasing here) we [the US] can not win this war against Isis with violence alone; that we needed to approach it from a social perspective too. After which she suggests that we find them jobs.
She receives a whole bunch of criticism, to which she responds by having another press conference where she states that we [the US] need to find a way to help these people get jobs or do something else instead of picking up guns. And follows it with telling her critics that such an idea may be "too nuanced for them."
To begin with she's calling us, the people of the United States of America, or at least anyone who disagrees with her, stupid. Take offense! I certainly do.
The concept to me is certainly not too nuanced. You[Harf] are suggesting that we find and enact social reforms to deter people from joining terrorist groups. The mere fact that this is your [the White House's] suggestion demonstrates a massive naivete. People don't join terrorist groups because they are poor, have no jobs, or have no other alternatives. People join terrorist groups out of ideology. People join because the information they read or exposed to create a vision of the world that they can not find fault with. When it's coupled with religion it has a backbone of honor and justice. Having available jobs or a better economy will not make any difference whatsoever.
It's possible (much like cults) the heads of the terrorist organiazation do not believe in the ideology, but as long as the the terrorist organization is successful, why would they leave for such opportunities? Would a king rather work in a mail room?
The solution is OBVIOUS. It was always obvious. The fact that I see the solution instantly, but the President has to hold a conference to "figure it out" is infuriating. I would like the leaders of this nation to be smarter than me.
As I said, the terrorist groups use ideology to recruit members, however most of that ideology is a distortion of the truth or propaganda. If you want to destroy a terrorist group, you kill the "charismatic" leaders and bombard the "sheep" followers with counter-propaganda.
I told the solution was obvious, what's NOT obvious is how to accomplish such a task. But you still have to understand the issues first; you can't just spark "bleeding-heart" rhetoric, with no definitive plan.
And let's not forget why Isis is really doing this....which is......because we are christians and jews, not muslims??
EXACTLY. How can you create counter-propaganda unless you know what the original propaganda is stating?
When muslim extremists crashed plains into the twin towers, I felt, and heard others say, "why did they do this?" Or more appropriately, "What did I do to them, that sparked such a reaction?" Eventually I came across a documentary, The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear. In this documentary, we find out that a small group of extremely religious muslims felt that other muslims weren't true muslims (weren't following the muslim faith as true believers). The started bombing various institutions to "wake them up" to true muslimism, but this did not work. So then they blamed the Western influences (us/U.S.) for tainting the muslim religion.
I don't know if this is Isis' "philosophy," but I don't hear anyone talking about what's motivating them.
Will religious bigotry ever end?
hrmph...probably not.
Marie Harf on CNN
Marie Harf Criticism
But if you don't want to read/watch that then here is a brief summary: Marie Harf, as the Deputy Spokesperson for the Department of State, has an interview in which she said that (and I'm paraphrasing here) we [the US] can not win this war against Isis with violence alone; that we needed to approach it from a social perspective too. After which she suggests that we find them jobs.
She receives a whole bunch of criticism, to which she responds by having another press conference where she states that we [the US] need to find a way to help these people get jobs or do something else instead of picking up guns. And follows it with telling her critics that such an idea may be "too nuanced for them."
To begin with she's calling us, the people of the United States of America, or at least anyone who disagrees with her, stupid. Take offense! I certainly do.
The concept to me is certainly not too nuanced. You[Harf] are suggesting that we find and enact social reforms to deter people from joining terrorist groups. The mere fact that this is your [the White House's] suggestion demonstrates a massive naivete. People don't join terrorist groups because they are poor, have no jobs, or have no other alternatives. People join terrorist groups out of ideology. People join because the information they read or exposed to create a vision of the world that they can not find fault with. When it's coupled with religion it has a backbone of honor and justice. Having available jobs or a better economy will not make any difference whatsoever.
It's possible (much like cults) the heads of the terrorist organiazation do not believe in the ideology, but as long as the the terrorist organization is successful, why would they leave for such opportunities? Would a king rather work in a mail room?
The solution is OBVIOUS. It was always obvious. The fact that I see the solution instantly, but the President has to hold a conference to "figure it out" is infuriating. I would like the leaders of this nation to be smarter than me.
As I said, the terrorist groups use ideology to recruit members, however most of that ideology is a distortion of the truth or propaganda. If you want to destroy a terrorist group, you kill the "charismatic" leaders and bombard the "sheep" followers with counter-propaganda.
I told the solution was obvious, what's NOT obvious is how to accomplish such a task. But you still have to understand the issues first; you can't just spark "bleeding-heart" rhetoric, with no definitive plan.
And let's not forget why Isis is really doing this....which is......because we are christians and jews, not muslims??
EXACTLY. How can you create counter-propaganda unless you know what the original propaganda is stating?
When muslim extremists crashed plains into the twin towers, I felt, and heard others say, "why did they do this?" Or more appropriately, "What did I do to them, that sparked such a reaction?" Eventually I came across a documentary, The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear. In this documentary, we find out that a small group of extremely religious muslims felt that other muslims weren't true muslims (weren't following the muslim faith as true believers). The started bombing various institutions to "wake them up" to true muslimism, but this did not work. So then they blamed the Western influences (us/U.S.) for tainting the muslim religion.
I don't know if this is Isis' "philosophy," but I don't hear anyone talking about what's motivating them.
Will religious bigotry ever end?
hrmph...probably not.
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