Why is Pakistan so screwed up?

average american

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Why is Pakistan so screwed up?

Andisheh Nouraee

Over the years, I have developed several poorly reasoned theories to help me understand the world.

It's a habit I probably picked up from my dad, who 20 years ago suggested to me that the Nation of Islam movement, led by Louis Farrakhan, exists so people with bad credit could change their last names to "Muhammad" or "X" and more easily get car loans. At the time he expressed the idea, Dad was having a rough week at work. He managed loans for a car dealership.

I tend not to discuss my pet theories outside the house because, like my dad, I worry people might think I actually believe them.

Nevertheless, in attempting to answer the question above, I can't help but recall one of my first world-explaining theories: The nicer an immigrant, the shittier his or her country of origin.

This idea came to me in 1991, during dinner atZed's Ethiopian Cuisine in Washington, D.C. The restaurant was filled with Ethiopian immigrants, all of whom were kind, warm and genteel. I felt like I was dining in the living room of a happy, functional family. How was it possible, I wondered, that a country whose people are so nice could be synonymous with human suffering?

In the 18 years since that meal, my notion became a full-blown equation. Nice people = crappy country. Everyone I've met from screwed-up countries like Bosnia, Afghanistan, Cuba, Iraq, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Palestine, Albania and Nigeria has been memorably nice.

Conversely, the most consistently prickish foreigners I know come from one of the most stable, prosperous democratic countries in the world: France. I only know two nice French people, and one of them left France for the United States when she was a toddler.

Pakistan is a gurgling fecal stew of violence, militarism, thuggery, corruption, poverty and religious extremism. Nevertheless, the only three Pakistanis I know are great people. One's a doctor. One's a nurse. The other is a college student.

After several hours of pondering this, I think I have an explanation for my equation. Crappy countries produce no more or fewer nice people than other countries. However, crappiness drives the nice people to places like the United States, where it's easier for people like me to meet them.

Craptasticness is, unfortunately, part of Pakistan's DNA. The nation's founding was an orgy of panic and violence.

When the Brits surrendered colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, many of India's Muslims feared they'd be politically, economically and culturally dominated by India's majority-Hindu population.Muslim leaders demanded, and received, their own majority-Muslim country called Pakistan. Fleeing sectarian violence, 14 million Muslims and Hindus up and left their ancestral homes to make sure they lived in the country that corresponded to their religion. One million of them died in the process. It was one of the 20th century's greatest tragedies.

Unfortunately, instead of forging the nation together in struggle, the violence accompanying Pakistan's birth bred instability. Members of Pakistan's largest ethnic groups shared neither a common language nor culture when the country was founded. And many of Pakistan's leaders came from other parts of India. Few even had a constituency in their own country.

Not surprisingly, Pakistan has been falling apart since its founding. Bengalis, who comprised nearly half of Pakistan's population at independence, broke away from Pakistan in 1971 with India's help. Located 1,000 miles away from the rest of Pakistan, on the other side of India, Bengalis felt as much national kinship with the rest of Pakistan as Catholic Bavarians do with Catholic Sicilians. Just because they share a religion never made them BFF.

The war for Bangladesh's independence reinforced Pakistani paranoia (not entirely unjustified) that Hindu India was an existential threat to the subcontinent's Muslims. That paranoia, in turn, has inspired Pakistan to pour the lion's share of its economic resources into its now nuclear-armed military. The country is so consumed with defending itself against India that it has sacrificed tens of billions of dollars that would have been better spent on schools, infrastructure and health care. Pakistan is too busy staying independent to devote any time to not being a shithole.

That's probably why so many of the nice people leave.
http://clatl.com/atlanta/why-is-pakistan-so-screwed-up/Content?oid=1278308
 

Singh

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Are Indian immigrants obnoxious or nice ?
 

datguy79

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Are Indian immigrants obnoxious or nice ?
I got about 5 Indian families living on my street; and know a lot more through university. They are mostly extremely nice and friendly people. They also adapt a lot more quickly to "Canadian-ness" if you can call it that. Second-generation Indians here may as well be white. Most of my friends describe themselves as coconuts:lol:
 

Armand2REP

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Where the hell did France come into this? :lol:
 

rock127

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Q: Why is Pakistan so screwed up?
Answer : Because they got identity crisis, their origin is based on hatred and their aim is to harm it's parent country.

The result is in front of everyone.Broken in 2 pieces in 71 and today daily blasts,bombings,drones.. a civil war.
 

rock127

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Short sighted views of an ignorant american. A big part of the mess Pakistan is in can be attributed to america.
US faults can't be ignored but the real culprit are Pakis since they sowed and cultivated the crop of terrorism and now reaping it's "fruits".
 

Abhijeet Dey

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Pakistan's educational system continues to encourage anti-India sentiments
ET Bureau Jun 25, 2012

NEW DELHI: If the expectation is that the younger generation of Pakistanis, those far removed from the shadow of Partition, would help author a more amicable relation with India, then that hope is in vain. Pakistan's educational system continues to encourage anti-India sentiments and radical Islamic views.

Agencies report that at a seminar on the role of education in combating terrorism in King's College, London, Islamabad-based scholar and nuclear physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy said that the cycle of extremism - the use of textbooks and curricula to reinforce extreme religious and anti-India views - showed no signs of receding in Pakistan.

n his presentation, 'How Education Fuels Terrorism in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan', Hoodbhoy cites examples. The examples showed by Hoodbhoy included images and text from a primer that mentioned the Urdu equivalent of A as 'Allah', B as 'bandook', Te as 'takrao', J as 'jehad', H as 'hijab', Kh as 'khanjar' and Ze as 'zunoob'.

"This is not textbooks in madarsas, but textbooks used in government schools right from kindergarten all the way to colleges," former Union minister Arun Shourie said.

He stressed that the textbooks and curricula should provide an important indicator to India as it assess the views of the people of Pakistan. "Look at the textbooks, at the mainstream media, Urdu newspapers like Nawa-e-Waqt that spew the same venom as the religious right. We should not make our assessment on the basis of the columnists who write in our papers. These columnists are brave people, but they have been, in a sense, allowed to write by the religious right and the Pak army to provide evidence of the freedom that Pakistanis have. But they have no meaning."

Another factor that should be kept in mind is the centre of gravity of power in Pakistan. "Is it moving away from the army and the religious establishment? Each time there is a new face in the civilian establishment we get delusional," the former minister said. Shourie said, "In the recent past, the religious rhetoric has grown stronger and the legitimacy of the army has declined. And while there is a rupture in a limited sense, the alliance between the religious establishment and Army continues." He stressed that this is one factor India must not overlook, and the textbooks are an example of how the symbiotic relationship continues to exist.

Hoodbhoy's presentation includes an image of a college going up in flames, containing images of things considered "sinful" - kites, guitar, satellite TV, carom board, chess, wine bottles and harmonium.

Examples cited by Hoodbhoy from another curriculum document for Class V students included tasks such as discussion on 'Understand Hindu-Muslim Differences and the Resultant Need for Pakistan', 'India's Evil Designs Against Pakistan', 'Make Speeches on Shehadat and Jehad'. "There has been a sea change in Pakistan in the last six decades. The poison put into education by Gen Zia-ul-Haq was not changed by subsequent regimes. And attitudes have changed over the years, making my country alien to me," he said.

Former Indian diplomat G Parthasarathy, who also spoke at the seminar, said tensions began when education did not foster respect for diversity and for other religions. There was more to terrorism than education, because some of the recent perpetrators were well-educated. "The most important part of education is that diversity should be cherished, that unity does not mean uniformity," he said.

Shourie said that the radical and anti-India content of Pakistani school textbooks are not new. "In 2004, KK Aziz wrote the Murder of History, which was a critique of the textbooks used in schools in Pakistan. The study endangered his life such that he had to leave Pakistan and live out the rest of his life in England," he said. Aziz died in 2009.

Since Aziz's study, there have been several studies of the manner in which the mainstream education system in Pakistan has been used to foster anti-India sentiments and encourage radical Islam. Most recently, in November, a study by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom found that school textbooks and teachers in Pakistan are biased against non-Muslims and foster "prejudice and intolerance" of Hindus and Christians. "Teaching discrimination increases the likelihood that violent religious extremism in Pakistan will continue to grow, weakening religious freedom, national and regional stability and global security," commission Chairman Leonard Leo said.

The study reviewed more than 100 textbooks from 1st through the 10th grade from Pakistan's four provinces. The researchers also visited public schools and madarsas. The report specifically said Pakistani teachers view religious minorities, especially Hindus and to a lesser extent, Christians, as "enemies of Islam." Based on its findings, the report said that it's likely that violent religious extremism will continue to grow in Pakistan.

"Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful," the report said.
 

rock127

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Pakistan's educational system continues to encourage anti-India sentiments
ET Bureau Jun 25, 2012

NEW DELHI: If the expectation is that the younger generation of Pakistanis, those far removed from the shadow of Partition, would help author a more amicable relation with India, then that hope is in vain. Pakistan's educational system continues to encourage anti-India sentiments and radical Islamic views.

Agencies report that at a seminar on the role of education in combating terrorism in King's College, London, Islamabad-based scholar and nuclear physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy said that the cycle of extremism - the use of textbooks and curricula to reinforce extreme religious and anti-India views - showed no signs of receding in Pakistan.

n his presentation, 'How Education Fuels Terrorism in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan', Hoodbhoy cites examples. The examples showed by Hoodbhoy included images and text from a primer that mentioned the Urdu equivalent of A as 'Allah', B as 'bandook', Te as 'takrao', J as 'jehad', H as 'hijab', Kh as 'khanjar' and Ze as 'zunoob'.

"This is not textbooks in madarsas, but textbooks used in government schools right from kindergarten all the way to colleges," former Union minister Arun Shourie said.

He stressed that the textbooks and curricula should provide an important indicator to India as it assess the views of the people of Pakistan. "Look at the textbooks, at the mainstream media, Urdu newspapers like Nawa-e-Waqt that spew the same venom as the religious right. We should not make our assessment on the basis of the columnists who write in our papers. These columnists are brave people, but they have been, in a sense, allowed to write by the religious right and the Pak army to provide evidence of the freedom that Pakistanis have. But they have no meaning."

Another factor that should be kept in mind is the centre of gravity of power in Pakistan. "Is it moving away from the army and the religious establishment? Each time there is a new face in the civilian establishment we get delusional," the former minister said. Shourie said, "In the recent past, the religious rhetoric has grown stronger and the legitimacy of the army has declined. And while there is a rupture in a limited sense, the alliance between the religious establishment and Army continues." He stressed that this is one factor India must not overlook, and the textbooks are an example of how the symbiotic relationship continues to exist.

Hoodbhoy's presentation includes an image of a college going up in flames, containing images of things considered "sinful" - kites, guitar, satellite TV, carom board, chess, wine bottles and harmonium.

Examples cited by Hoodbhoy from another curriculum document for Class V students included tasks such as discussion on 'Understand Hindu-Muslim Differences and the Resultant Need for Pakistan', 'India's Evil Designs Against Pakistan', 'Make Speeches on Shehadat and Jehad'. "There has been a sea change in Pakistan in the last six decades. The poison put into education by Gen Zia-ul-Haq was not changed by subsequent regimes. And attitudes have changed over the years, making my country alien to me," he said.

Former Indian diplomat G Parthasarathy, who also spoke at the seminar, said tensions began when education did not foster respect for diversity and for other religions. There was more to terrorism than education, because some of the recent perpetrators were well-educated. "The most important part of education is that diversity should be cherished, that unity does not mean uniformity," he said.

Shourie said that the radical and anti-India content of Pakistani school textbooks are not new. "In 2004, KK Aziz wrote the Murder of History, which was a critique of the textbooks used in schools in Pakistan. The study endangered his life such that he had to leave Pakistan and live out the rest of his life in England," he said. Aziz died in 2009.

Since Aziz's study, there have been several studies of the manner in which the mainstream education system in Pakistan has been used to foster anti-India sentiments and encourage radical Islam. Most recently, in November, a study by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom found that school textbooks and teachers in Pakistan are biased against non-Muslims and foster "prejudice and intolerance" of Hindus and Christians. "Teaching discrimination increases the likelihood that violent religious extremism in Pakistan will continue to grow, weakening religious freedom, national and regional stability and global security," commission Chairman Leonard Leo said.

The study reviewed more than 100 textbooks from 1st through the 10th grade from Pakistan's four provinces. The researchers also visited public schools and madarsas. The report specifically said Pakistani teachers view religious minorities, especially Hindus and to a lesser extent, Christians, as "enemies of Islam." Based on its findings, the report said that it's likely that violent religious extremism will continue to grow in Pakistan.

"Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful," the report said.
I posted a article which had the anti-India, anti-Hindu/Sikhs teachings in their textbooks from school curriculums.
 

sesha_maruthi27

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They are screwed up because they are screwing up innocent animals like deers in ZOO'S and so much sexually frustrated they are raping girls openly and yet they say and shout about SHARIA......
 

LordOfTheUnderworlds

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Pakistan is screwed up because it was created by some upper caste sections to preserve their personal interests and is run almost exclusively by the meritorious, taller, fairer, superior upper caste elites.
Bahujan Samaj of Pakistan needs to wake up and take charge of the North-West India (Pakistan).
 
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maomao

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Pakistan is screwed up because it was created by some upper caste sections to preserve their personal interests and is run almost exclusively by the meritorious, taller and fairer upper caste elites.
Bahujan Samaj of Pakistan needs to wake up and take charge.
LOL Hahhahahhahahahhahahhahaha I find some similarity here!! :rofl::rofl:
 

average american

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Poor, Poor Pitiful Us
Next Article → INFORMATION WARFARE: Believing The Islamic Lie

June 3, 2013: Many Pakistanis (including a lot of politicians and the media) blame the United States for the growing problem with Islamic terrorism. The way this goes Pakistan had the Islamic terrorists under control and was successfully using them against India (in Kashmir) until the United States invaded Afghanistan right after September 11, 2001. After that, many surviving Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan fled to Pakistan. Most of these refugees were from the Taliban (created by Pakistan a decade earlier) and al Qaeda (sponsored by Pakistan since the 1980s). There these groups turned on their hosts because Pakistan had agreed to side with the United States in the war against Islamic terrorism. Many (a third or more) of Pakistanis still support Islamic terrorism and do not agree with this decision by their government. Pakistanis believe that if the Americans had not responded so violently to the September 11, 2001 attacks (which many Pakistanis blame on Israel or the CIA, not Islamic terrorists) there would be no Islamic terrorism problem in Pakistan. All these beliefs are very real in Pakistan and politicians have to deal with (or simply exploit) them. There seems to be more exploiting than dealing. At the moment the popular position is to shut down American UAV attacks on Islamic terrorists and make peace with the Taliban. What prevents this from happening is the fact the U.S. can say no and has the military, economic, and diplomatic clout to make that stick. Moreover, the Pakistani military (and intelligence agencies) understand that the Islamic terrorists are in it to the death and use peace deals as a tactical tool and keep fighting. Thus the military and intel leaders want the American UAV operations to continue as this is the most effective weapon available against the terrorist leadership. Meanwhile, peace has been made with the Taliban several times already and the Taliban make no secret of their using these peace deals to gain an advantage in their uncompromising efforts to turn Pakistan and Afghanistan into a religious dictatorship. This won't stop Pakistani politicians from trying again, if only because most Pakistanis don't want to admit that the Islamic terrorism they back is their problem and no one else's.

In southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan) the army and police operations continue against tribal rebels. The security forces continue to be accused of unprovoked attacks on civilians, which include destruction of crops and property, looting, and kidnapping (taking people without admitting it and later murdering them to cover this up). The Pakistani government has long denied these charges but the evidence is piling up that the accusations are largely true.

In the tribal territories the war is not just between the security forces and the Islamic terrorists,but also involves local tribal militias, who are fed up with the constant and sometimes violent presence of the Islamic terrorists. Even when the Taliban are not trying to impose their unpopular lifestyle rules, the presence of these Islamic militants disrupts movement (because of all the checkpoints) and makes life more difficult. Over the last few years these tribal militias have killed over a thousand Islamic terrorists and driven many more away.

Although Indian and Chinese officers met and resolved there border dispute a month ago, now there is yet another dispute. Starting on May 17th Chinese troops blocked the movement of Indian troops on the Indian side of the border in Kashmir. The Indians were headed for a road China had built that extended five kilometers into Indian territory. This came two weeks after China agreed to withdraw its troops that had set up a camp 19 kilometers inside India that they refused to leave. To get them out India agreed to remove some border posts that annoyed the Chinese. Both nations declared victory, but the Chinese got more out of the deal. During all this China insisted their troops were not inside India, something India continues to dispute. Now Chinese troops are not only building a road into Indian territory but are blocking movement of Indian troops on the Indian side of the border. India sees all this as the Chinese way of applying pressure on India to withdraw from territory claimed by India. Time after time this tactic is working. In response to public outcry over these embarrassments the government has promised to patrol more aggressively along the Chinese border.

The Indian armed forces announced a new batch of regulations that make it more difficult for procurement officials to take bribes from companies selling things to the military. The new rules make it easier for the media to obtain details about exactly where all the money goes. This makes it more difficult, but probably not impossible, for officials to receive bribes. Despite growing public and media pressure to halt these bribes over the last decade, senior officials are still getting caught and it is believed many others are not caught.

June 2, 2013: In Pakistan's tribal territories (Kurram), army operations were resumed and overnight four Islamic terrorist camps were attacked. This left 23 terrorists dead, along with two soldiers. Many of the Taliban casualties were the result of artillery fire and helicopter gunships. A year ago there were similar attacks (that killed over 50 terrorists) in this area against camps or bases used by Islamic terror groups (including the local Taliban). The men in these camps carry out ambushes of military convoys or attacks on checkpoints.

Pakistan's newly elected (but not installed until next week) prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, condemned the recent American UAV attack that killed six Taliban, including their deputy leader. Nawaz Sharif says he will halt the UAV attacks against terrorists. This is a very popular stand, given the many Pakistanis who support Islamic terrorism and believe that such terrorists that attack Pakistanis are somehow part of an American or Israeli conspiracy. This terrorist violence also includes a growing number of attacks on Shia Moslems. The Shia are a minority (about a fifth of the population) in Pakistan and under growing attack from Sunni Islamic terrorists. The Sunni majority does not get too excited about this unless the Shia begin protesting in large numbers and disruptively. This the Shia are doing more frequently in an effort to force the government to do something about this terrorism.

June 1, 2013: In Pakistan's tribal territories (Kurram and Khyber) several clashes left 19 Islamic terrorists dead along with two soldiers.

In eastern India (Chhattisgarh) Maoists ambushed a police patrol and killed a police commander.

May 31, 2013: In eastern India (Bihar State) police arrested a senior Maoist leader.

May 30, 2013: In Pakistan the Taliban announced a new deputy commander was appointed, to replace the one killed by an American UAV yesterday. At first the Taliban denied their deputy commander had been killed but now admit it.

May 29, 2013: In Pakistan's tribal territories (Kurram), army operations against the Taliban left at least 17 terrorists dead and several of their camps destroyed.

May 28, 2013: Because of the Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh State three days ago (that killed 24 people), the government has withdrawn its offer to enter into peace talks with the Maoists. The government is also reconsidering its long-term plans to deal with the Maoists. The four year old offensive against the Maoist rebels has not been moving along as quickly as planned. This prompted the governments of the states hardest hit by the rebel violence (Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, and Jharkhand) to form a united anti-Maoist command center two years ago so they could coordinate their operations. Meanwhile, the influx of 75,000 additional police has not increased Maoist losses but has resulted in more dead policemen. The Maoists have lost many of their rural camps and, in general, have been forced to devote more time to security (and less to attacking the government or extorting money from businesses). As always, the government has failed to effectively address the social and economic problems in the countryside (where feudalism and corruption are rampant). These problems provide the Maoists with recruits and support from many of the locals.

Indian police in Chhattisgarh found and destroyed a large Maoist camp (housing about a thousand communist rebels) that had only been established about two weeks ago. The rebels got away before the police actually entered the camp and now the Maoists will suffer more losses (from disease and such, as well as desertion) as they search for a secure location to set up another camp.

In Pakistan's tribal territories (Peshawar) two female medical workers were shot and one died. The two women were administering polio vaccinations. Last month female medical workers administering polio vaccine to children were assaulted and beaten by Islamic terrorists who oppose Western medicine. Until today's murder it was believed Islamic militants had decided to stop trying to kill the medical workers as that brought on too much police attention and bad publicity. Last January Islamic terrorists killed seven people who were administering polio vaccinations. A month ago there was a case of polio in the tribal territories, the first such case in a year. As the vaccinations are increasingly disrupted, there will be more such cases. The Islamic terrorists say this is not their fault but God's Will and therefore not to be criticized.

In Pakistan's tribal territories (North Waziristan) a U.S. UAV killed deputy Taliban commander Waliur Rehman and five of his associates. Rehman was believed responsible for carrying out a 2009 attack at a U.S. base in Afghanistan last year that killed seven CIA personnel. The U.S. offered a $5 million reward for Rehman's capture or death.

May 27, 2013: In Pakistan (Karachi) police seized nearly half a ton of explosives and apparently disrupted a major terrorist attack.

May 25, 2013: In eastern India (Chhattisgarh) Maoists ambushed a convoy carrying senior politicians (from the ruling Congress Party) and their supporters and killed 24 people. An additional 2,000 paramilitary police were sent into Chhattisgarh State, to join the 30,000 already there to hunt down and find the killers. In the last eight years some 6,000 have died because of the Maoist violence.
https://www.strategypage.com/\qnd\india\articles\20130603.aspx
 

average american

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Believing The Islamic Lie
Next Article → YEMEN: Al Qaeda Comes Down From The Mountains To Play

June 3, 2013: Christians in countries with Moslem majorities, or large minorities, are having a difficult time getting the rest of the world to recognize that most (as in about 80 percent) of the religious violence in the world is carried out against Christians and most of the violence is committed by Moslems. This is because the Islamic world, while unable to do much in terms of economic, scientific, or cultural progress, or even govern themselves effectively, have proven quite adept at convincing leaders and media organizations in the West that Islam is not the aggressor and is actually the victim. For those who have spent any time living among Moslems, this all seems absurd. But this delusion is real.

For example, it's official policy in the U.S. military to eliminate any mention of a war between Islam and the West. This policy is enforced despite the fact that Islam, at least according to many Islamic clerics is at war with the West. The U.S. has officially maintained this since shortly after September 11, 2001, despite the fact that many Islamic clerics and government officials in Moslem nations, agree with the "Islam is at war with the West" idea. But many Western leaders prefer to believe that by insisting that such hostile attitudes are not widespread in Moslem countries, the hostility will diminish. To that end the U.S. government has, for years, been removing any reference to "Islam" and "terrorism" in official documents. This comes as a shock to military or civilian personnel who have spent time in Moslem countries. The "Islam is at war with the West" angle is alive and well among Moslems.

There is plenty of evidence. For example, twenty nations account for over 95 percent of terrorism activity in the world. Of these twenty (Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Yemen, Iran, Uganda, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Colombia, Algeria, Thailand, Philippines, Russia, Sudan, Iran, Burundi, India, Nigeria, and Israel) all but four of them (Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Colombia, and Burundi) involve Islamic terrorism. In terms of terrorism fatalities the top four nations (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia) accounted for 75 percent of the world total of terrorism related deaths. All of these were the result of Islamic radicalism, often directed at other Moslems and not just non-Moslems (infidels).

This has been the case for decades, and the Moslem world does not like to dwell on this fact. Many Moslem leaders admit that there is a lot of Islamic terrorism but insist that it's all the fault of infidels (non-Moslems) who are making war on Islam, so some Moslems feel compelled to fight back. The catch-phrase Moslem leaders like to repeat is that Islam is the "religion of peace." It is not, and the historical record makes that very clear.

It's not just a long history of Moslem violence but lots of violence that is still going on. Currently, you find Moslems attacking Buddhists in Thailand, Jews everywhere, Baha'is in Iran, and Christians in Egypt, Iraq, the Philippines, Pakistan, Malaysia, and elsewhere. Islam does not discriminate when it comes to religious violence, and most Moslems killed because of religious violence are killed by fellow Moslems over religious differences. Usually its Sunni extremists (like al Qaeda) killing Shia (or any other sect that deviates from strict Sunni interpretations of Islamic law and religious customs).

This is not a sudden and unexpected outburst of Moslem violence against non-Moslems and Moslems considered heretical. It is normal and at the root of Islamic terrorism. While this violent behavior represents only a small number of Moslems, it is a large minority (from a few percent of a population to over half, according to opinion polls). Moreover, the majority of Moslems has not been willing, or able, to confront and suppress the Islamic radicals that not only spread death and destruction but also besmirch all Moslems. This reveals a fundamental problem in the Islamic world, the belief that combining righteousness with murderous tactics is often the road to power and spiritual salvation. Throughout history, when these tactics were applied to non-Moslems, they often failed. The non-Moslems were unfazed by the religious angle and, especially in the last five hundred years, were better able to defeat Islamic violence with even greater violence. Thus, until quite recently, the Moslems fought among themselves and left the infidels (non-Moslems) alone. But after World War II that began to change.

Naturally, this began to show up first in the Middle East. During the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990, Christian and Moslem Arabs fought bitterly over political, cultural, and, ultimately, religious differences. The capital, Beirut, was divided into Christian and Moslem sections by the Green Line. The name came from the fact that in this rubble filled no man's land only grass and weeds survived. And that the line on a ceasefire map was drawn in green. There have been a lot more Green Lines since then. Few realized it at the time but this war was but the first of many major conflicts between Christians and Moslems in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Many of the earliest Moslem converts were Christians. And many of the people Moslem armies unsuccessfully sought to conquer were Christian. The original Crusades, which modern Moslems portray as Western aggression, were actually a Western attempt to rescue Middle Eastern Christians from increasing Islamic terrorism and violence. But Islam as a political force was in decline for several centuries until the 1970s. Then things changed and they continue to change. Fueled by oil wealth and access to Western weapons and technology, Islamic radicals saw new opportunities. Islam was again on the march and few have noticed the many places where it was turning into religious war with Christians and other non-Moslems.

In Asia we have a Green Line between India and Pakistan. Inside India many Moslem communities remain and feelings aren't always neighborly. Indonesia and the Philippines suffer growing strife between Moslems and non-Moslems. Malaysia has fanatical Moslems persecuting more laid-back ones and non-Moslems in general. China has a large Moslem community that generates an increasing amount of violence. Russia and America have formed a curious partnership to deal with Islamic-based terrorism coming out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Chechnya Russia faced Islamic-inspired violence all alone in the 1990s.

Africa has a rather dusty Green Line, south of the semi-arid Sahel region. Many African nations are split by increasingly sensitive religious differences. The Moslems are in the north, Christians and animists in the south. Nigeria, Egypt, and Sudan are among the more violent hot spots at the moment. When the Moslem Somalis stop fighting each other they will return to raiding their Christian and animist neighbors to the south.

The Middle East still contains many non-Moslems. None have their own country, except for Israel. But Egypt contains five million Copts, native Christians who did not convert to Islam. Similar small Christian communities exist throughout the Middle East and growing hostility from Moslem neighbors causes many to migrate or get killed.

Moslems are particularly vicious when they turn their righteous wrath on dissident Moslem sects. The Druze and Alawites are considered by many Moslems as pagans pretending to be Moslems. Similarly, the Shias of Iran and neighboring areas are considered less orthodox, not just for their admitted differences but because many adherents openly practice customs of the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian religion. These differences are less frequently overlooked today. To survive, many Druze have allied with Israel and most of the current Syrian leadership are Alawites who pretend to be more Shia than they really are.

Even Europe has a Green Line. The Moslems in the Balkans (Albanians and Bosnians) have been a constant source of strife for the last decade. Moslem migrants in Europe face even more persecution because of all those Green Lines, and this makes it easier for radical groups to recruit and carry out their crusade against Christians. In many European cities with Moslem minorities there are neighborhoods non-Moslems are advised to stay out of.

But the Green Lines are about more than religion. A lot of it is politics. One of the reasons Islam ran out of steam centuries ago was that the Moslem areas never embraced democracy and intellectual progress. Until the 20th century most Moslems lived as part of some foreign empire, under local totalitarian monarchs. The foreign empires disappeared 50-100 years ago but democracy has had a hard time taking hold. The dictatorships are still there. And the people are restless.

Radical Islam arose as an alternative to all the other forms of government that never seemed to work. In theory, establishing "Islamic Republics" would solve all problems. People could vote but only Moslems in good standing could be candidates for office. A committee of Moslem holy men would have veto power over political decisions. Islamic law would be used. It was simple and it makes sense to a lot of Moslems in nations ruled by thugs and thieves, especially if the people are largely uneducated and illiterate.

Islamic Republics don't work. The only one that has been established (not counting others that say they are but aren't) is in Iran. The major problems were twofold. First, the radicals had too much power. Radical religious types are no fun and you can't argue with them because they are on a mission from God. Most people tire of this in short order. To speed this disillusionment many of the once-poor and now-powerful religious leaders became corrupt. This eventually sends your popularity ratings straight to hell.

It will take a generation or so for everyone in the Moslem world to figure out where all this is going. This is already happening in Iran, where moderates are getting stronger every day but everyone is trying to avoid a civil war. While the radicals are a minority they are a determined bunch. The constant flow of Islamic radical propaganda does more than generate recruits and contributions in Moslem countries, it also energizes Moslem minorities (both migrants and converts) in Western countries to acts of terrorism. In the United States you find such Moslems regularly getting arrested for attempting to carry out religious violence.

Radicals throughout the Moslem world continue to take advantage of dissatisfaction among the people and recruit terrorists and supporters. To help this process along they invoke the ancient grudges popular among many Moslems. Most of these legends involve Christians beating on Moslems. To most radicals it makes sense to get people agitated over faraway foreigners rather than some strongman nearby.

Most radicals lack the skills, money, or ability to carry their struggle to far-off places. So most of the agitation takes place among Moslem populations. Any violent attitudes generated are easily directed at available non-Moslems. Thus we have all those Green Lines. But the more violence you have along those Green Lines the more really fanatical fighters are developed. These are the people who are willing to travel to foreign lands, deal with non-believers, and kill them for the cause. We call it terrorism, the fanatics call it doing what has to be done.

Not surprisingly, Moslems get motivated to do something about Islamic radicalism when the violence is literally next door. That's why terror attacks in the West are so popular. The infidels are being attacked, without any risk to those living in Moslem countries. Iraq changed all that, and during the course of that war (2004-7) the popularity of Islamic terrorism, in Moslem countries, declined sharply because the terrorists were killing so many Moslems. That, in the end, is what has killed, for a while, most Islamic terrorism in Iraq. Worldwide, al Qaeda never recovered the popularity (in the Moslem world) it enjoyed after September 11, 2001. It would also be nice if the Moslem world got their act together and expunged this malevolent tendency once and for all. The Arab Spring was supposed to help but so far it hasn't. Change is coming but don't hold your breath waiting for it to suddenly appear.
https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htiw/20130603.aspx
 

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