Obama's Radical Roots

Since I’m up to my ears in forwarded emails on Obama’s radical Shiism I have to give my rejoinder and there is no better way than in following the style of the beloved Dwight from The Office.

FACT: Barack Obama is NOT a radical Muslim.

FACT: Obama attended both Muslim and Catholic schools in Jakarta, Indonesia. The school was “Muslim” primarily in the sense that the majority of its student body was Muslim since Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country.

Putting this unfounded, speculative assumption to rest, I still am not voting for ‘Barack’ because it sounds too much like ‘Iraq.’ Kidding, but not about the voting part.

On MSNBC, the commentators seem to be up in arms against the Bush Administration while anxiously anticipating the ’08 election in which Obama will be appointed leader of this free nation who will infuse “logic” and “clear-headed thinking” into the administration and lead us into a new era of “change.” As do many Americans, the commentators place too high hopes in Obama and allow common sense and truth to completely evade their thoughts.

Complete withdrawal from Iraq is what a majority want. The truth is that in World War II it took less than four years to defeat Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan. The problem in the Middle East is much more complex. But now Obama has conceded it is not possible for an immediate withdrawal after discussions with those in command so I’ll give him that. But FACT #3 frightens me.

FACT: Obama hopes to dissuade the Iranians from pursuing nuclear weapons through diplomatic talks.

Well, the world leaders of eight countries, including Bush, have already discussed sending a foreign policy advisor to Tehran to discuss incentive packages for dismantling the uranium enrichment program. So what type of “change” will Obama bring to the table? He wants to put the burden on Iran to change their behavior.

“Shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Washington rejected an Iranian offer of broad talks in which Tehran would seek to address all U.S. concerns. But when Rice took over as Secretary of State in 2005, she agreed to support European negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. also agreed to facilitate the sale of spare parts for airliners to Iran, and to stop blocking Iranian accession talks to the World Trade Organization. The European talks went nowhere, and six months after the U.S. concessions, the Iranians accelerated their nuclear program by starting to enrich uranium.” http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1825267,00.html

Quick history on the Middle East since everyone wants to place blame for the rise in violent Islamofascism on the West. The Muslim Brotherhood, an International Sunni Islamist movement, was founded in 1928. Notice this is before the birth of George Walker Bush. The Brotherhood is the largest political opposition organization in many nations in the Middle East and is the predecessor group of Hamas and Al-Qaida. The Brotherhood’s mantra: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood

Waging holy war is the way to go. Against whom? Non-believers. In the Quran, Muhammad tells his followers to offer non-Muslims three things: conversion, second-class citizenship, or war. They’re not offering us conversion, but war and declared it in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Our lifestyle, our support of Israel, and our actions in Iraq did not cause Islamofascists to hate us. They hate us because we are not Muslim. They hate us because they do not rule us. They hate us because we live in freedom and equality. They hate us because we are reprobates, renegades from the true religion of Islam.

So what informs Ahmadinejad’s religiosity? Ahmadinejad is a member of the strict Hojattieh sect, a Shiite group awaiting the return of the 12th Shiite Imam, or Mahdi. In sum:

“The Hojjatieh movement is considered to be so radical that it was banned in 1983 by the Ayatollah Khomeini and is still opposed by the majority of the Iranian clerics, including the Supreme Leader of the Supreme National Security Council. It is believed that several adherents of the Hojjatieh sect are in Cabinet-level positions in Ahmadinejad’s government.

Most Shiites await the return of the 12th Shiite Imam, Muhammad ibn Hasan, the last direct male descendent of the Prophet Mohammed’s son-in-law Ali, who disappeared in 874 AD and is believed to be in an invisible, deathless state of existence, or “occultation”. It is believed his return will usher in a new era of peace as Islam vanquishes all of its enemies.

But rooted in the Shiite ideology of martyrdom and violence, the Hojjatieh sect adds messianic and apocalyptic elements to an already volatile theology. They believe that chaos and bloodshed must precede the return of the 12th Imam, called the Mahdi. The summoning of the Mahdi through chaos and violence is wholly in the realm of human action. The Hojjatieh faith puts inordinate stress on the human ability to direct divinely appointed events. By creating the apocalyptic chaos, the Hojjatiehs believe it is entirely in the power of believers to affect the Mahdi’s reappearance, the institution of Islamic government worldwide, and the destruction of all competing faiths.”

Read more about it here, on MSNBC, or Rush Limbaugh to name a few.

Obama may have the secret in dealing with these types...maybe he can negotiate a pseudo-Islamic religion, which, if adhered to will cause us to be on the receiving end of dirty looks--a cold shoulder, perhaps--in lieu of getting blown up. I hope McCain pulls through before negotiations with terrorists begin.