Turkish delight
European Union's chance to moderate the flame
of fanatical Muslim extremists
October 12, 2004
iranian.com
It is a predictable course to believe that civilizations don't
just disappear; others who are hungrier, more aggressive and more
energetic overtake them. The demographic changes in West are one
pointer towards the shape of things to come in the next century.
Is it possible that what Islam could not achieve in the battle
of Tours-Poitiers it may achieve by demographic changes in Europe?
Had Charles Martel suffered at the hands of 'Abd ar-Rahman at
Tours-Poitiers, the fate of King Roderick at the Rio Barbate, Charles
being the
progenitor of the Carolingian line of Frankish rulers and the grandfather
of Charlemagne, one can even say with a degree of certainty that
the subsequent history of the West would have proceeded along vastly
different currents.
Is it possible that what Islam could not achieve
in the battle of Tours-Poitiers in 732 it may achieve by demographic
changes in Europe by 2032? It will be 1300 years from Poitiers
victory and several doom sayers say that Europe is being haunted
by a 1300 years anniversary 'holy' curse of Sultan Abd al-Rahman!
According
to Mona Charen, about 5 percent of the European Union is now Muslim,
and historian Bernard Lewis told a German newspaper
that Europe would be majority
Islamic by the end of this century "at the latest." At present, more
than 15 percent of the 16-24 age group in France is Muslim. In Brussels, one
quarter of those under the age of 25 is Muslim.
Muslims also account for 25
percent of the population of Marseilles, and 20 percent of the population
of Malmo, Sweden. Immigration, both legal and illegal, from Islamic
countries
continues. As Timothy Savage has noted in The Washington Quarterly, the
United Nations estimates that Europe's native population will decline
by 100 million
or more in the next 50 years. The Muslim minority in Europe is quite productive,
and will double in size by 2015.
The minimum birth-rate necessary to keep
a society going is 2.1 children per woman. Europe's birth rate
is 1.5 and falling.
The
immigrants who are taking
the place of Germans, Italians, French and others are largely Muslim. In
contrast to the irreligious native Europeans, Muslim immigrants
are passionate about
their faith and highly fertile. It is estimated that in England, Muslim
worshipers at mosques already outnumber congregants of the Church
of England every weekend.
The
attempt for conquest of Europe by Sultan Abd al-Rahman as early
as 732 has been blown well out of strategic and historical
proportions. Paranoia arose,
with Islamic conquest and jihad becoming "a bogey in the West for centuries," best
exemplified by Edward Gibbon's account of Sultan Abd al-Rahman's defeat at
the "Battle of Poitiers" by Charles Martel in 732 AD:
"... the Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or the Euphrates,
and the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth
of the Thames. Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught
in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised
people
the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet. From such calamities was
Christendom delivered by the genius and fortune of one man [Martel]."
Gibbon
seemed to have been under the belief that al-Rahman's intention was a continuation
of the jihad, which was false.
The Sultan "had been invited
into Christendom by Eudo, Duke of Aquitaine", and had no intention of
continuing the jihad or conquering Europe.
Examining the motives for the
Muslim drive north of the Pyrenees, one can attach a macro historical
significance to the encounter between the Franks and Andalusian
Muslims at Tours-Poitiers,
especially when one considers the attention paid to the Franks in Arabic
literature
and the successful expansion of Muslims elsewhere in the medieval period.
Lured by the promise of plunder, as well as a desire to defeat more foes
of Islam,
'Abd ar-Rahman extended his campaign towards the regnum Francorum.
His invasion
was neither simply a raid nor part of a grand scheme to conquer all Christendom;
it was a failed attempt to eliminate a strategic threat located north
of the Andalusian border. Moreover, the battle did not decide the
outcome of
the Christian-Muslim
struggle in Francia. Rather, it brought a determined new participant
into the field of combat, the Frankish army, which launched an
offensive against
the
remaining Muslim bases to the south only a few years after Charles won
his victory at Tours-Poitiers and earned himself the title Martel
("Hammer").
The soldiers of the Sultan, intoxicated with
red wine were left with no desire for combat after the Sultan was
lethally
debilitated.
Nearly all the squadrons
of the "Ishmaelites" had vanished; during the night, they had
fled with the greatest silence, and withdrew to the safety of Andulas.
There is
clearly some justification for ranking Tours-Poitiers among the most
significant events in Frankish history, when one considers the result
of the battle in
light of the remarkable record of the successful establishment by Muslims
of Islamic political and cultural dominance along the entire eastern
and southern
rim of the former Christian, Roman world. What could not have been
militarily achieved in Tours is now a phantom people seem to be
worried about.
Today the question is not about the probable subjugation
of the West
by Islam through a swelling demographic bomb; more eminent is
relatively the threat
from radical elements that needs to be eliminated from the universal
equation of concord and reconciliation. Abolition of this unseen
danger is only possible
through a pro-active struggle. A self-righteous policy of "appeasement" will
not ensure peaceful co-habitation within the ever-increasing European
multi-ethnic cosmopolitan community.
The likelihood of calm integration
within future European
societies will transpire only if the 'fanatical fringe', the harbinger
of global commotion, is cordoned. Only then will the future dream
of large 'ideologically'
accommodative populace within very sizable immigrant communities
of Germany, France, Sweden and UK, like those of the Bosnian Muslims,
or even Turkey be
realized. Bosnians, the remnants of Ottoman intrusions in Central
Europe
and ex-Ottomans themselves, the present day Turks, are moderates
by design.
Ata
Turk who abrogated the archaic Ottoman Empire and sold the Turks
the dream of a new future; even the Islamised of Turkey, like
Erdogan, today are great
sponsors of that dream. It was inculcation of 'moderation' as a
matter of state 'secular' policy. These immigrants are the children
of past
colonialists of
Europe; they not only need opportunities and some kind of affirmative
action to grow out of their Eastern Parisian and Marseilles ghettos,
they must also
see that their 'fanatical idols' are dealt with strength and not
remunerated.
Little do the Westerners realize that this is an era in which
minds of the future generations of their own restive segments are
being nurtured and
reared.
The present rightist leadership of Turkey is keen to join
Europe on its terms to the extent of adopting and adhering
to statutes of law on murder, rape and
other crimes and apply the strictures of human rights. But the
recommendation to put Turkey on the path of full membership
has stoked fears among
Europeans wary of bringing a poor Muslim country into the
prosperous bloc, which
is reflected in the 30-member EU executive commission
who set tough conditions to prevent
Turkey from backtracking on democratic and human rights reforms.
That has prompted a sharp response from Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan who said that if the European Union declares itself to
be a Christian
Club, then
Turkey should know this
clearly, a sentiment that would be seconded by the largely moderate
Muslims
living in the West. The large immigrant populations of Turks, North
Africans and South Asians are at the crossroads of destiny.
They carefully study
the
reactions of their host governments to terrorist blackmail; an
accommodative posture like those of Chirac infuses 'radicalism'
whereas non-accommodative
posture like that of Blair's encourages moderation.
Europeans and
West are horror-struck by these trends; something prevents them
from even discussing the subject. Civilizations
don't just disappear; others
who are hungrier, more aggressive and more energetic overtake them.
We should not believe that in this modern day and age,
the Caucasian
race would disappear;
the lack of the fertility argument is as hollow as Malthusian predictions.
Over
a period of time, with education, environment and a healthy unbiased
milieu, these societies will assimilate,
so the ghost of "demographic changes" is
implausible and does not stand the test of transparent scrutiny;
it may be very emotional and sensationalistic, but in actuality,
the only thing that
can make a difference is the present war on terror and not the
European policy of appeasement. The war on terror is an ultimate
milestone to achieve; a definite
stand established to remove the radical and extremist elements
from spreading their brand of "world order" so that
the moderate face of Islam emerges.
With Osama bin Laden and
his cronies in Iraq and Afghanistan, Europeans have totally
failed to understand the threat
emanating from these cavemen. Although
long term demographic changes may allow further opportunities to
medievalists to enforce their brand of world order, the goal
in the short term is
quite obvious and will stop at nothing but perpetual
jihad.
 Indeed their interpretation
of the Talibinised version of medievalism is a cassus belli in
itself. From their hidden underground pulpits OBL demonstrates
to the already vicious
circumcised 'extremists' the virtues of 'destruction',
rage built on impotence and collective
failures of their doctrine so far to bring prosperity to the region
of Islam.
It is about establishment of set precedent of
'order of governance' based on antiquated and outmoded traditions.
The real fruit,
which the extremists are
aiming to pluck at, are Iran and Pakistan, and Turkey and Saudi
Arabia that fall in their radical laps. Once in control
of the
'holy land' and the energy
resources of 'petrolistan', joined with the nuclear strategic assets
of Pakistan with revolutionary zeal of Iran, and the
geographical proximity of Turkey
to Europe, they will place their foot on the jugular
of the
global energy sources
and wreak havoc on global economies.
No one but the Europeans would
suffer the most from this eventual outcome. Historically,
in the 1400 years
history of Islam, it has never seen unification within
its factions. But faced
with a "common enemy," these extremists with
their various ideological strains have buried their
hatchet, so to speak, and have combined forces for
the first time in centuries to spread their fangs of terror. The
worst part is that in history it has always been the
extremists who ruled over silent
majority moderates, as later are more vociferous and belligerent
in the use of force to curb freedom and dissent.
Tyrannies
in lands of Islam are a result
of bulldozing of 'silent majorities' the propensity of silent
majorities of Islam to yield into 'holy' totalitarianism is astounding.
It is for this that
not a single true pluralistic democracy exists from Maghreb to
extreme geographical end of the Islamic world. Strongman
reigns supreme on the psyche of the entire
ummah! From King Mohammed VI the sovereign, Commander of the
Faithful
to Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah
Seyyed Ali Khamenei the unique brand
of strongman culture clench the silent majorities in total submission.
The
extension of this order to the hinterland of Europe looks likely
in a few decades as demographic pattern
work their way, but instantaneous cowing of
their own societies into compliance will help promulgation
of the ultimate objective of 'doctrine of Allah' over the gullible,
very realizable
in near term. Once the 'nation of Islam' is cowed into
submission, the dream of 'conquista'
of Andalusia and beyond Pyrenees becomes more realistic.
Humanity
today is confronting the challenge of 'intellectual rearing'
of the ticking time bomb of demographic
changes imminent in Europe. Our determination
today will help bring up the nurturing of this huge populace
increase in a 'restrained' manner. Any other course will
lead to future ethnic wars of cleansing.
Imagine a fanatical arc of instability spanning out from
Morocco to South Asia, added with a burgeoning Europe that would
be majority
Islamic by the end of
this century, all raised on sights and sounds of victory
of
radicalism.
Only one authority stands between them achieving
their intention to establish an archaic version of the 'realm
of Allah' on earth and conversion of the entire
Islamic world to their brand of 'radicalism,' that one
clout is the resolve of the 'civilized world and a few good men'
to
preserve
the basic rights
of mankind at large. It is the only hope
of
European nations if they understand
and realize that moderating the flame of fanatical extremists
is the only way for people to commingle on the bank of
Seine-Rhine.
'Failure of fanatics' in this war on terror
will be the 'success of moderates.' Nothing works better
than success. Today,
at these crossroads, if peace in
the future has to be secured, the restrained and accommodative
face of Islam has to be supported. By yielding
to suicide bombings
and beheading threats,
we will make radicalism as the currency of order within
future Islamic societies.
 Our follies of today will help
breed
a generation
that will be alien to cohabitation.
It would be racist to worry about the demographic time
bomb if the mindset
of that 'collective' is ready to cohabitate and believes
in pluralism and tolerance, virtues of mankind at
large. This
is the only
challenge that Europe faces and
the key to this quandary lies with their present actions.
Sadly, so far, the actions fall short of what will
mutate the 'mind'
of
this huge group towards
peaceful coexistence; those immigrants will see that
blackmail does pay.
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