An American Dhimmi in Dakar

The leaders of the OIC have gathered in Dakar to discuss the interests and concerns of the Ummah. According to ABC (Australia):

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference has opened its 11th leaders’ summit in Dakar overshadowed by conflicts that have stricken members of the world’s main Muslim group.

The summit started with Malaysia handing over the presidency of the 57-member organisation to Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade, host of the meeting which was meant to concentrate on a campaign against ‘Islamophobia’ in the West and efforts to modernise the OIC’s institutions.

So a primary topic of discussion this year is to be Islamophobia. The Arab News has more information, noting that the Motoons are of particular concern:

The OIC chief said a detailed report on Islamophobia, including the publication of cartoons denigrating Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), would be presented to summit leaders. The report is an attempt to comprehensively record anti-Islamic speech and action around the world. “The Islamophobes remain free to carry on their assault due to absence of necessary legal measures against the misuse or abuse of the right to freedom of expression,” charges the report.

But other items are on the agenda, such as “[t]he Arab-Israeli conflict [and] the worsening security situation in Iraq”.

The worsening security situation in Iraq??

The legacy media in the United States have acknowledged the improvement in Iraqi security by almost eliminating any news coverage of Iraq. Even Sweden has recognized the lack of dangerous conflict in Iraq by turning away new Iraqi refugees.

But only bad news will be considered in Dakar. If there are kuffar troops in Baghdad, then by definition the security situation there must be deteriorating.

This year’s OIC convocation includes a new addition: an official American envoy. As reported previously, Sada Cumber was recently appointed as a presidential envoy to the OIC. If our State Department were not in thrall to neo-Marxist multicultural orthodoxy, it would have recommended someone like John Bolton for the position — assuming that an envoy had to be sent.

But President Bush isn’t looking for any forceful advocacy for American interests from our envoy to the OIC. His mission has been stated plainly: he is to placate Islam by demonstrating “to the Islamic world that America is a friend — is a friend of freedom, is a friend of peace, that we value religion.”

So we are sending a Houston businessman who has already gained the approval of Islamist front groups in the United States and abroad. The OIC has received the message loud and clear, and is ready to whip the new American envoy into shape:
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The United States has decided to send an envoy to the OIC summit for the first time. OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu welcomed Washington’s decision and hoped that it would contribute to improving US relations with the Islamic world. “There are plenty of problems and misunderstandings. But still there is plenty of potential for cooperation,” he said.

The US government said it had appointed Texas entrepreneur Sada Cumber to the OIC “to promote mutual understanding and dialogue between the US and Muslim communities.” Ihsanoglu said the OIC’s position on issues like the Palestine-Israel conflict is often misrepresented in the United States. “We want (Cumber) to listen and learn,” Ihsanoglu said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the appointment of Cumber signals the deep respect for the values and ideals of Islam held by the US government and the American people. “This appointment is one part of a much larger effort that our government has undertaken to increase our engagement with Muslim communities worldwide,” she said.

So Sada Cumber is to “listen and learn”. That is, he is expected to swallow the party line that the only cause of Islamic violence is the “Islamophobia” of the West.

And in submissive dhimmitude Secretary Rice outdoes even her boss with her assertion of a “deep respect for the values and ideals of Islam held by the US government and the American people”.

Speak for yourself, Condi. Respect must be earned.

I’ll give the President Bush the benefit of the doubt, and assume that his affirmation represents a heartfelt sentiment, and not just a cynical show of deference on behalf of the oil industry to the sheikhs who control the petroleum spigot.

But our goals will not be served by “demonstrating to the Islamic world that America is a friend”. This is an declaration of dhimmitude, whether the president realizes it or not, and a guarantee that there will be much nastier trouble a little further down the road.


Hat tip: TB.