Jackson Must Apologize

Dueling Arab-Bashing: Recipe for Perpetual War

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), Saturday on an Iowa radio station: “If he [Obama] is elected president and the radical Islamists, the Al Qaida and radical Islamists and their supporters will be dancing in the streets, in greater numbers than they did on September 11. Because they will declare victory in this war on terror.”

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill), Sunday on CNN’s Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer: “To suggest that somehow Barack Obama’s election to the presidency of the United States would be celebrated in the Arab world or in the Islamic world as a moment of jubilation is fearmongering at its worst, and it’s just horrible.”

As bad as King’s statement was, Jackson’s is actually worse.

Many have claimed that the way out of this war is to “win hearts and minds.”

However, this “debate” would indicate that what’s really going on at the twin polls of the establishment is how not to win hearts and minds. It’s now a scourge to have “the Arab world” or “the Islamic world” “celebrate” a given candidate. So it might be a badge of honor to piss off Arabs and Muslims. Great — I’d thought that was the problem.

Jackson’s view is a prescription for perpetual war.

I happen to think that any jubilation regarding Obama is misplaced — and it might lead to false hope and global misunderstandings about the course of the conflicts — but let’s put that aside for the time being.

It is not “fearmongering” if Arabs or Muslims want a particular candidate. We’re supposed to want a non-military end to the wars the US is in. Muslim or Arab support would be a sign of hope that the non-stop war in Iraq and else were might be over. That’s supposed to be a good thing. Right?

Jackson stated King’s comments are “Reckless, irresponsible, certainly divisive. … And quite frankly, I think he owes the senator [Obama] an apology.”

But it is Jackson who owes an apology.

He owes an apology to the over one billion people in the world who are Arab and/or Muslim. They deserve to have an opinion about the U.S. election without being shunned; quite the contrary, it should be welcomed.

Jackson also owes an apology to anyone in the US — no matter their religion or ethnicity — who wants the perpetual war to end. By his logic, we want to be at constant war to the death.

The so-called neo-conservatives talk of the opinions of Arab and Muslim countries. Of course, they fabricate things, like claiming that the U.S. military will be greeted with flowers and sweets by Iraqis following the invasion — but still, they seem cognizant of the notion that Arabs and Muslims have thoughts that should matter.

Judging by his words, so-called liberals like Jackson apparently do not — though perhaps Jackson was prostrating himself before Late Edition’s host, the pro-Israeli Wolf Blitzer.

No matter his motives, Jackson needs to apologize.

Sam Husseini founded VotePact.org which encourages voters to pair up with their political "mirror image" and vote for their preferred candidates rather than the "lesser evil" offered by the establishment. Read other articles by Sam.

7 comments on this article so far ...

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  1. David A. Smith said on March 11th, 2008 at 5:54am #

    I didn’t see the interview and it’s not possible for me to know the context from the brief passage you quote. Still it strikes me that we might be looking at a bit of over interpretation here. Was Jackson truly saying that it was “a scourge” to have Arabs or Muslims cheering a candidate? Or was he merely trying to negate Kings statement suggesting that an Obama win would be bad for the U.S.?

  2. hp said on March 11th, 2008 at 9:52am #

    The only dancing in the streets I saw on 911, was those ‘five dancing Israelis.’

  3. Steven Myers said on March 12th, 2008 at 9:56am #

    It is Husseini who needs to apologize. Rep. King, in his outrageous comments, did not suggest that the entire Islamic world would be dancing in the streets. He specifically claimed that “radical Islamists” and “al Qaida” would be dancing in the streets believing that they had defeated the United States. Rep. Jackson made his comments in defense of Senator Obama against King’s implication that as president Obama would not hunt them down like the thugs they are. The unspoken message here is the same one Obama has been fighting all along, namely that his background and his name make him “dangerous” in the White House. Bullshit! He’s the only candidate capable of pulling this country out of the morass the Clinton/Bush years have left us in and Steve King and Sam Husseini better get used to it.

  4. Ed said on March 13th, 2008 at 7:46am #

    “He owes an apology to the over one billion people in the world who are Arab and/or Muslim. They deserve to have an opinion about the U.S. election without being shunned; quite the contrary, it should be welcomed. ”

    I’m not hearing apologies from those who are saying “Death to America.”

    Husseini should apologize. The fact is only Americans have a say in who becomes the US president. The Arabs can discuss their opinions about our elections on their side of the ocean. They have no right to influence our elections, in fact that is what terrorists do.

    It fine to have preferences, I think its important to know who world leaders are but its a dangerous assumption to think my opinion who who should lead Iran or Palestine or Pakistan should be welcomed by those nations. Likewise, they should stay out of my decision making process.

  5. Shabnam said on March 13th, 2008 at 1:09pm #

    I don’t know who Mr. Sam Husseini really is? A search on line, wikipedia, introduces him as “the communications director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a D.C. based.” The following are the board of directors:
    http://www.accuracy.org/aboutus.php
    I read the report which is linked to this post, CNN’s late edition, but I could not find those lines you have mentioned in your post. I don’t understand why you give us this link, CNN’s Late Edition, which contains Jackson’s response to an interview but it does not have those words which have given you such a rage.
    In any case, your anger is not justified even if Jackson said those lines. I still don’t understand the fuss you have made knowing that many people interpret the same way living in an environment created by “the war on terror” rhetoric since 2003. This kind of rage may damage the relationship between American Muslim community and African American community. The African American community is under magnifying glass for further division regarding their support for Palestinians who are under Israeli occupation for the past few decades and also it deflects attention from the Zionist’s propaganda and crimes against targeted Islamic countries including Sudan and Iran.

  6. Shabnam said on March 13th, 2008 at 9:12pm #

    Ed must know that:
    The apology must come from those ignorant people who are either Americans or foreigners with American passport posing as “American” who do not know we are living under an empire aim to destroy us all, to establish “new world order” which is nothing but a “modern slavery” using its weapon of mass destruction to achieve its goal. People of the world have every single right to defend themselves against the hegemonic state and its mercenaries known as “the military” which invade, kill, rob and rape other people mainly Muslims carrying orders from their “superiors” to steal other countries’ resources to expand its influence. This person does not know the circus, known as election, is very much influenced by foreign agents, the Zionists, for the past few decades. This person does not know the US has no CREDIBILITY around the world due to its involvement in staging coup, including Iran in 1953 to over throw democratic government of Mossadeq, influencing elections in many countries with its agents NGO’s, supporting “velvet revolution” through conspiracy with the help of foundations and organization such as “National endowment for democracy”, “Freedom house” , “Human rights Watch” where they are the extension of CIA, to let dictators and corrupt businessman into power as “leader” influencing their elections, its double standard foreign policy in the middle east supporting the apartheid state of Israel erected on the stolen land of Palestine, waging war against Sudanese government with the cooperation of the Zionist using “save darfur” to feed the ignorant Americans lies to implement their policy which is fragmentation of Sudan for further partition to steal Sudan’s natural resources.
    You should demand those war criminals bring their destructive force home, abandon hundreds of bases around the globe, to stop further killings, millions so far, and to apologize and give compensation to million of victims around the world before it is too late.

  7. Mike McNiven said on March 16th, 2008 at 11:06pm #

    Ed, your government has been deciding the selection of foreign leaders for a very long time ( usually by force)! So as such, for better or worse, the people of other countries see themselves justified in doing the same here! The following, a Pakistani view of BHO, is an example:

    http://www.counterpunch.org/uzma03152008.html