Wednesday, August 29, 2007

A Letter to CNN

A reader forwarded us a copy of this letter he recently sent to CNN, concerning Christiane Amanpour’s recent series of features called “God’s Warriors”:

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A Letter to CNN
by D.L. Perry


From the onset, it was obvious that no serious analysis had been undertaken with Amanpour’s ‘God’s Warriors’, broadcast this week on CNN. Conveniently packaged into a consumer-friendly trilogy, the politically-correct presentation of morally-equivalent religious fundamentalism — in Judaism, Islam and Christianity — only served to obfuscate the greatest geopolitical danger the world faces.

The threat comes not from some abstract form of victim-driven terrorism, which might arise from any one of the “Abrahamic faiths”. It comes from within the global Islamic umma, from a revival of aspirations for an Islamic empire under sharia law. Central to this is jihad: holy war against the unbelievers for the ultimate purpose of reinstalling the caliphate. This is exclusively Islamic; there is simply no comparable threat to civilisation from Judaism or Christianity.

Jihad is not a modern phenomenon — it dates from Muhammad’s lifetime. Jihad is the sixth pillar of Islam. Did Amanpour mention this? Of course not. She failed to inform viewers that jihad is the only theologically-sanctioned form of violence from within the three so-called Abrahamic faiths. It is not a perversion of Islam — it is clearly sanctioned in the Qur’an, and the Hadith (the “traditions of Mohammad”). It is not comparable with the Crusades or any other historical wave of imperialism — it is Islam’s internal motor, not a historical contingency. And is not a product of recent American or Israeli policy — it is thirteen centuries old.

Jihad is central to the hugely influential writings of Qutb and Maududi, the modern Jihadist writers of the early 20th Century. They call for a jihad as a return to the fundamentals of Islam, not as a deviation from it. And these are often quoted, along with verses from the Qur’an and Hadith, by Jihadists today to support acts of terror.
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So to whitewash, in the way Amanpour did, the current spate of killings, insurgencies, and religious persecution against non-Muslims across the surface of the planet, and perpetuate the myth that Islamic terror is all a backlash against the actions of the West (and Israel), is not only wrong, it is truly disgraceful. Amanpour clearly demonstrates that she knows nothing about Islam, and by distorting the history of the Middle East conflict with such moral equivalence, she only serves to perpetuate the prevalent anti-Israel climate and our blindness to the rising tide of Jihadism. God’s Warriors cannot be considered as authoritative reporting or counted on to add anything to the debate on the “Clash of Civilisations” or the “War on Terror’.

Even if you ignore Islam’s 1300 year history of conquering and subjugating non-Muslims, including Jews, the anti-Semitism embedded in the Qur’an and Hadith, and the fact that the “Palestinians” (a people fabricated after the 1967 war for Arab political ends) have rejected numerous chances to create a state in co-existence with Israel — the comparison of “radical” settlers (“Jewish God’s Warriors”) and jihadi groups such as al Qaeda (“Muslim God’s Warriors”) is truly abominable.

A cursory glance beneath the headlines across the globe is enough to suggest that terrorism is not some abstract evil that is unleashed in retaliation to the grievances caused by the West, but is in fact a problem of Islamic origin. I say “beneath” the headlines since we just cannot trust the mainstream media, including CNN, to even explore this as a possibility. It is deemed too politically incorrect. But with Western media like this, we do not even need to worry about the lies and anti-infidel hatred being pumped out through media outlets in the Islamic world.

CNN ought to pioneer a proper investigation of the emerging World War with Jihadists. CNN owes it to its Western audience to confront the uncomfortable reality, beyond the soundbite analysis, that faces the civilised world.

Such an investigation is unlikely any time soon.

8 comments:

Dr.D said...

This writer has a pretty good handle on the problem. It is one more example of the media bias that is much more interested in doing the PC thing than in bringing true information to the American people.

Amanpour seems to do so well with the muslims because she supports their cause so faithfully. Why Americans cannot see this is baffling; we are just blind. I suppose we would have to say she does so well with the West because we are caught up in this stupid, Leftist-driven PC trap.

The writer has correctly pointed out the fact that jihad is fundamental to islam where as violent outbreaks in other religions are only occasional aberrations. This is a very important point.

openplaza said...

One asks himself what Christiane Amanpour wanted to tell us with this "one year long investigation" as it is referred to in the CNN ads. Was it her goal to tell us, that all religions have their share of crazy people?

And while this program was promoted, we had to watch again and again the ad for "Worlds untold stories – getting rid of gay" about some crazy Christians who think they can “heal” gayness.
It felt like CNN wanted to make a point about how all of the book religions are actually the same.

But then again, how can they compare some local movements which have no influence at all on – lets say Europe or the Christian World outside the US – and specially not on the catholic parts, as Christian Amanpour didn’t find “catholic warriors”, with global jihad which is not only directed at Israel and the West, but also against the Hindu- and Buddhist world? It makes no sense. This program was a huge disappointment. Especially when you think about, that Christians Parents fled from Iran when the crazy Mullahs took over, and that’s now how she sees it. One could expect more dept and less superficial PC from her….

And it’s not that CNN produces no good reports. Nic Robertson, Bergen and Michael Ware lead the way.

David M said...

Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 08/29/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.

Henrik R Clausen said...

Yesterday I searched Google News for the expression "Moral equivalence". Amanpour & CNN had the first 5 of 6 stories. It's all over the news.

What she does is that she numbs our disgust with Jihad violence and our will to stand up against it.

'Treason', by a less subtle word.

Prariepundit said...

Here is a simple test. Which religion sends out people as human ordinance to explode around non combatants? That kind of moral depravity seems to have no equivalence.

turn said...

Hasn't FNC routinely beaten CNN's ratings in US markets for years?

Fox News has repeatedly presented the truth regarding Jihad for some time and in 'sweeps' periods--not the end of August--the slowest news period in the year.

Amanpour's series was up against guest-hosting at O'Reilly's 'The Factor'. BFD.

Profitsbeard said...

If Amanpour were honest, she would have had only one episode, after admitting, in the first minute of it, that the other two "Abrahamic" faiths are no threat to the world, but that Islam is.

Becuase of its dogmas of terroristic expansion, which have no comparisons in the Judeo-Christian texts.

But then she would have had to tell the truth that her initial concept was competely flawed, and that she was an ignorant, self-deceived fool.

Maybe next time?

Mark Gordon said...

But, really, who expected any more than that of Ms. Amanpour?