But I note something else here, too: Genuine fear of what Islamic and Islamist politics have unleashed. Not the utopian brotherhood of the international Islamic community (umma) pushing out competing nationalist conflicts, but rather the evil genie of hatred, jihad among “brothers,” war, murder, and intolerance.
It involves the persecution of Christians and turning them into refugees, as well as the threat of renewed war with Israel. But it also puts a fuse to set off bloody conflicts in Iraq (as we have already seen), Lebanon, Syria, and Bahrain. Just as Arab nationalism pledged unity and brought decades of strife among Arab regimes, political Islam is the weapon and motive for new conflicts.
We have already seen its devastating role in Afghanistan, Iran, the Gaza Strip, Iraq, Lebanon, and Sudan. Many in the West are in denial. (Even the use of the word “barbarian” in this context would bring down charges of second-degree hate crime upon a non-Muslim.) But I think Kiniklioglu and a lot of other Muslims are beginning to see the scary new world that he and his counterparts have set into motion.
