Out Go the Dictators and in Come the Islamists

The fall of Kadaffy’s regime and his death marks the most recent end of a dictatorship within the Islamic bloc. Over the several decades since the end of Ottoman then European colonization of the Middle East and North Africa, such violent changes in governments have occurred on a regular basis. While one might hope that Kadaffy’s demise would lead to freedom and justice, onlookers must realize who is consolidating power in Libya now. The logo of the crescent moon and five-pointed star has been an omnipresent symbol among the rebels. That symbol indicates the antithesis of representative democracy and of equal rights for all people.

In Egypt, the autocracy of Hosni Mubarak came to an end earlier this year. Under this regime, Islamists such as the Mooslum Brotherhood could not participate in political campaigns. Thus, Islamists were unable to impose their totalitarian agenda on Egyptian society. The somewhat secular government of Mubarek merely discriminated against Christians by making construction of churches impossible for all intents and purposes. Since the tumult and the new government, Islamists have murdered and assaulted Christians along with vandalizing and destroying churches. Police and military personnel have permitted the jihadis’ crimes against Christians, including siding with the jihadis in committing atrocities then arresting Christians for defending themselves.

The fascist entity of Saddam Hussein never singled out Christians for persecution. Since the American and British-led coalition toppled the Baathists, Islamists have declared jihad on the three percent of the Iraki population, which Christians constitute. Rampant church bombings have driven a large portion of that minority into emigration.

Anyone searching for the model of what will become of post-dictatorial countries in the Middle East and North Africa needs to study Iran. This country under the non-Islamist absolute monarch called the Shah permitted women more freedom than any other within the Islamic bloc. Since the rise of the theocracy, rampant misogyny swept Iran. In a matter of weeks, women with successful careers and control over their lives ended up in suffocating outfits and confided to their homes.

An observer of politics among the nations subjugated by Islam should see more possible seizures of power by Islamists in Turkey. Its staunchly secular legal code has been eroded by the rising tide of Islamization. The current prime minster belongs to an openly Islamist political party. In fact, a wife of his insists on wearing a head-rag in public in defiance of Turkish law forbidding the centuries’ old display of women’s inferior status.

Syria also appears high on the list of imminent victims of Islamist takeover. Despite Bashir Assad’s continuation of his father’s legacy of virulent anti-Jewish policies, including funding jihadist murderers who attack Israel, the Islamists expect more. Nothing short of full implementation of sharia will satisfy Islamists who have organized protests in Damascus and elsewhere.

The nations of the Free World cannot force Mohamadans to renounce their totalitarianism. Additionally, the civilized countries of the world should not favor either side in conflicts between nominally Islamic dictators and blatant Islamists. As long as the supporters of those two factions are destroying each other, the rest of the world remains less of a target of jihad.

COPYRIGHT BY CHARLES KASTRIOT OCTOBER 2011