Obama's Faustian bargain
President Obama recently gave a speech at the National Defense University, titled "The Future of Our Fight against Terrorism."
Moreover, we must recognize that these threats don't arise in a vacuum. Most, though not all, of the terrorism we face is fueled by a common ideology - a belief by some extremists that Islam is in conflict with the United States and the West, and that violence against Western targets, including civilians, is justified in pursuit of a larger cause. Of course, this ideology is based on a lie, for the United States is not at war with Islam; and this ideology is rejected by the vast majority of Muslims, who are the most frequent victims of terrorist acts.
Translation: The theofacist ideology (er, religion), Islam, is not fundamentally at odds with Western Enlightenment values (Human Rights). It is just some extremist misfits who don't understand their own religion of peace.
According to Barry Rubin, Mideast analyst for PJMedia, the subtext of the speech just confirms the unspoken strategy of Obama's war on terrorists to the effect that the Muslim Brotherhood can be enlisted in the war against extremist groups like al Qaeda if we just ally ourselves with their takeover of the Arab Spring nations.
Mr. Rubin characterizes the strategy as being based on the belief that:
If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over Egypt, that is not a strategic threat but a positive advantage because it is the best organization able to curb al-Qaeda. And that policy proves that the United States is not at war with Islam.
If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over Tunisia, that is not a strategic threat but a positive advantage because it is the best organization able to curb al-Qaeda. And that policy proves that the United States is not at war with Islam.
If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over Syria, that is not a strategic threat but a positive advantage because it is the best organization able to curb al-Qaeda. And that policy proves that the United States is not at war with Islam.
Cut to the bone, to follow the meat packing metaphor, here is the Obama pitch:
Follow me little lambs. We are not at war with Islam. It is just those deranged Al Qaeda meatpackers in Afghanistan and their ilk that would put you on a skewer. In fact the Muslim Brotherhood Meatpackers Inc. are keeping us safe from Al Qaeda.
Unfortunately, in this Faustian deal with the devil, it is not Obama but the citizens of the US that will suffer.