Terrorism, Virtue and Peace

You are invited to the Hajj for Peace.

Probably the most significant problem in the west today is the spread of terrorism. The most common source of these attacks in recent years is from extremist elements in Middle Eastern countries. My wife spent her early high school experience in Beirut, Lebanon just before the six day war. I have probed her for information about Middle Eastern values. From a previous post we have learned that obedience was the culminating virtue of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Sultans were able to out mullah the mullahs in their development of a heavily regulated, orderly, and reverent society. In this post I will attempt to apply the principles discussed in the civil war and diversity post to understand and reverse the process of terrorism in the west.

The stages of conflict that lead to genocide are here…

1. The prejudicial stage
2. A predatory stage
3. Revolution
4. Civil war
5. Genocide

If we identify the parties in the current conflict in Iraq, then we may be able to place them in their relevant stage. If we can do this, then we may find compromise in the common ground of virtue. In the prejudicial stage we have the United States and countries in Western Europe which we will call “The West”. There are also Islamic dominated countries in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and Syria who also hold onto prejudice equally divisive. Many people in the United States and some western European countries have adopted the prejudice of Orientalism. In this mythology the west marginalizes the strengths of Middle Eastern countries by concentrating on their weaknesses. Specifically a trait of uncompromising ruthlessness and intolerance toward outsiders can be a stereotype of these societies. Certainly the west’s knowledge of Middle Eastern countries many times amounts to a cursory reading or watching of “Ali Babba and his 40 thieves”. Michael Sells in his book, “A Bridge Betrayed” has coined the term “Balkanism” to label the prejudice of The West toward the plight of Bosnia. Perhaps the best summary of balkanism is a quote from US Secretary of State, Lawrence Eagleberger in July 1995, “They have been killing each other with a certain amount of glee in that part of the world for some time now.” Both the Clinton and Bush Administration have struggled with supporting Bosnia because of these stereotypes. So the prejudice of “The West” could be defined as an expansion of Balkanism to include countries like Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Iraq. The prejudices of Orientalism and Balkanism have contributed much to the distrust by Middle Easterners of The West.

The people in these Middle Eastern countries have reciprocated with prejudices of their own. They have called The West “Imperialists” because they wish to manipulate the world’s oil reserves. Well intentioned evangelical Christians who wish to convert Islamic people are seen as “Jihadish” in their motivations. This second prejudice is not easily spotted by people in the west and may represent a “blind spot” in Western tolerance.

These prejudices have become irreconcilable which has led to predatory stages in both the East and the West. In the East we are probably most familiar with Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. This group has made significant progress toward the revolutionary sage. There is a much larger group which they can recruit from that embraces the radical teachings of “Jihad” that include groups like the Mujahideen. In Iraq itself some have questioned that they have already reached a state of civil war. As long the prejudicial ideologies are confined to Iraq there should be no logical jump to a revolutionary stage. But, the saber rattling in Iran has hastened progress toward an Islamic revolution.

The West has entered into its predatory practices with the US military. In 1990 the US entered into the Gulf War known as Operation Desert Storm. In 2001 a predatory attack upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon killed 2,973 people in the US. This was followed by the Second Gulf war in 2003 which resulted in the present occupation of Iraq. So far from a revolutionary perspective the West’s anti-Islamic ideology has been interpreted as Zionism and racial profiling. For this reason the support of modern Israel by the “The West” is perceived by the east as a predatory practice.

So the stage is set for terrorism to develop into civil war and even genocide on both sides. It is not beyond “The West” to employ genocidal strategies in war circumstances such as the My Lai massacre. The eastern powers being the weaker of the two may use this strategy earlier because it does not require many resources and it is infinitely effective.

As we saw in the last post the virtue of diversity can create a middle ground where both parties can embrace each others virtues and celebrate them. In the case of our eastern friends the west could embrace obedience in the practices of devotion, giving alms, fasting, and even pilgrimage. The east may reciprocate by embracing the equality and liberty of their freedom. The language of virtue is a process of resolution between two different but not irreconcilable values. The means are never justified by the end when the process of reconciling virtues becomes the end itself. Since the adoption of virtue is the process, then peace becomes the end as well as the means. Perhaps an international pilgrimage to the Holy Land could be one step toward the middle ground of process to reconcile these virtues. I am hoping to put together a trip to the middle east in 2008 or 2009. Will you join me?