For a long time one of the biggest blessings America has had is safety and in part because it is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the East and the Pacific Ocean on the West… The level of safety that America enjoyed, however, was destroyed with 9/11, and now the Boston Marathon bombings show that America is no longer safe and will not be safe anymore. The Boston Marathon incident will provide another great opportunity for Muslims to open more Islamic centers to spread Islam and to convert more infidels.
It especially gives great opportunities for the Turkish Muslims missionaries like the Gülen movement to open more charter missionary schools, Turkish culture centers, Interfaith Dialogues, conferences, institutes, cooking classes, and businesses to disseminate their message about how tolerant their version of Islam is, since America is currently pushing the Gülen movement as a new brand of Islam for the other Muslims country to follow as a model. Also, the Boston Marathon bombing raised the same question among Americans, “Why do they hate us?” This is not the first terrorist incident that has happened in the United States, and it will not be the last one either. Ironically, even if they hate Americans, if they have the chance, they will take the first flight to come to America.
The United States is a place for great hopes and great dreams. It is a place where everyone can freely worship, speak, and protest in a civilized way. America has experienced slavery and the segregation of blacks and whites, but at the same time when it comes to confessing its sins, it can do it without denying that sometimes great nations also commit atrocities, make mistakes like slavery, but condemn the past and acknowledge the necessity of it not happening again. Now they have witnessed the election of a Black man as the President of the United States of America, although his ancestors were considered not free and not equal to whites. America is a land of opportunity for those who work hard; it has enabled the movie stars and big businesses to accrue incredible wealth and power but often to use that wealth, power, and innovation to contribute back to the world at a level that most cannot comprehend. For example, Steve Job’s creation of the I-phone, Bill Gates’ Microsoft, Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, Larry Page’s and Sergey Brin’s Google, and so many who have changed our way of life.
I would agree with these two terrorists’ uncle’s statement about why they have done this. “Because,” he said,”they are losers and unable to settle at anything.” There have been so many people who have been successful, found refuge, and received a good education, including so many Muslim leaders who could not freely worship in their home country but found political asylum in the USA.
Muslim girls who could not wear the headscarves in their home country came to the United States to finish their education without compromising their beliefs. I think that there is something special about America, at least that’s how I feel and how America makes me feel.
Still, there isn’t a lot of high regard for the USA among the Muslims countries, both inside and outside. No matter what America does for them, they will continue to hate America because it has been cool to hate America or their ideology forces them to hate Americans. The father of the Tsarnaev brothers told the media that his sons were angels, but how can angels turn to devils and commit to killing as many innocent people as they can? He thinks his sons were set up, and says he is sure of it. But the question is why are all of the Muslims being “set up” or used by others? Let’s accept his father’s claim for the sake of argument. How can an angel suddenly flip and become a devil to set a ticking pressure cooker full of explosive and nails to kill innocent people? The only way a normal person could do that is if he believes that is was the will of God. The mother blamed the FBI and the US government for failing to capture him alive and accused the American government of trapping her son. Their mother also blamed America, saying it was an inside job, but she also believes 9/11 was an inside job. The leader of Chechnya blamed the US for the violence in their upbringing in the United States. “The root of evil should be looked for in the United States, “ Ramazan Kadyrov said in comments posted online after the police killed the older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev and captured his brother Dzhokhar alive. “They grew up and studied in the United States, and their attitudes and beliefs were formed there,” Kadyrov said. “Any attempt to make a connection between Chechnya is vain.”
I don’t believe the event has anything to do with Chechen. However, I am sick and tired of people trying to rationalize the violence for Muslims. I am sick and tired of the same old excuses about American foreign policies in the Muslim world, Bush’s war, American support for Israel, poverty, or the inability of Americans to reach out, to understand the meaning of tolerance, and to respect them. But respect should be mutual and not mutually exclusive. Many Muslims claim Islam is a tolerant religion, but that they have been provoked by Westerners’ bad behavior, policies, or greed for oil; by the Palestinian issue, colonialism, American support for dictators in the Arab world, or the war on terror that has demonized Muslims; by terrorists’ being created because of poverty, because many young Muslim men and women do not have jobs, or because they are the products of oppressive political and religious leaders who limit their freedom of thought, monopolize their knowledge and thinking, and stifle their aspirations.
I am sick and tired of this kind of story getting so much attention, the story of Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who explains the crimes of her sons as a government conspiracy as she believes September 11 was, but who, instead of blaming America, should blame herself asking herself where was she, why did she fail her sons so that it came to this point, or why could she not prevent them from committing violence against innocent lives. We all know the role of family is important in children’s education and in shaping their thoughts. What is troubling is that instead of blaming themselves and accepting how the wrong indoctrination can so damage a human being, their mother and father continue to refuse to believe that their sons committed acts of terrorism; it means continuing to accept terrorism as the normal state of affairs.
The Turkish government has oppressed more than 20 million Kurdish people for three decades and more than 40 millions Kurds live under oppressive Muslims regimes, such as those in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria, but the Kurds aren’t donning suicide vests or bombing marathons. The American government is supporting the Turkish regime to kill the Kurdish guerilla groups, but in spite of that, Kurdish guerilla never harmed a single American or foreigners; their fights is against the oppressive regimes. Many Kurds live in the USA but have never committed an act of terror to protest the government’s bad foreign policies toward Kurds in Turkey, Syria, and Iran.
I think it is time for the leftist media and American haters to give reasons for the terrorists believing that America is corrupt and thus deserving of this kind of terrorism acts. We all know that corruption as well as a lack of education and economic opportunity exist all over the world, but groups such as Filipino Christians or Indian Hindus do not go out and kill innocent people. History tells us that America never had colonies in Muslim lands. The US helped the Afghans to drive out the Soviet Union from the Muslim lands in 1979, saved Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from Saddam’s invading them, saved the Bosnian Muslims from the cruelty of Serbians, saved the Iraqi Shiites from the crazy madman Saddam Hussein, and gave them liberty to rule themselves. Americans helped the Afghan people be safe from the Taliban, gave millions of American tax dollars to the Palestinians, Egyptians, and Turks. America helped Libya free themselves from a brutal Gaddafi and gave refuge to so many Muslim leaders who could not freely worship and practice their faith in their home country, so that they could come to the United States to freely practice their faith and culture.
Key among these clerics who gained refuge is the leader of one of the largest Muslim missionary groups, the Gülen Movement. Gülen was exiled from Turkey in 1999, continues to run his Islamic empire from the United States, and has established charter Islamic schools, Interfaith Dialogues, Islamic centers, Turkish cultural centers, mosques, businesses, think tanks, and institutes in the US. Every year the American President invites Muslims during their holy month of Ramdan to show the respect of America for the Islamic faith. Yet, do the leaders of countries with a Muslim majority where so many Christian minorities live invite Christians during Christmas to show respect toward their Christian faith? They teach tolerance in America but show none in their home countries. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer expressed concern about Tsarnaev. “I don’t know if our laws are insufficient or the FBI failed, but we are at war with radical Islamists and we need to up our game.” Dzhokkar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspect, remained in a heavily guarded hospital, reportedly unable to speak because of a throat wound suffered in the violent chase. However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking for the Obama administration to read the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings his legal rights. Nevertheless, Senator McCain and Lindsey Graham argue, “under the law of war we can hold this suspect as a potential enemy combatant not entitled to the Miranda warning or the appointment of counsel; our goal is to gather information and protect our nation from future attacks.” President Obama said, “Americans refuse to be terrorized.” If the President really wants America not be terrorized, then he should stop apologizing for the profiling and screening of terrorists and deport them. If the terrorists hate America and do not like anything about America, then they should go live somewhere they feel like living. America should not accept the conditions on which terrorism in based. Law enforcement should make sure who they are and why they are there. Until then, America will never be safe.
Dr. Aland Mizell is with the University of Mindanao School of Social Science, President of the MCI and a regular contributor to The Kurdistan Tribune, Kurdishaspect.com, Mindanao Times and Kurdish Media.You may email the author at:aland_mizell2@hotmail.com.