As the reaction the US film "The Innocence of Muslims” continues to rage on worldwide I have to wonder as to "The Innocence of the Americans” who have made the film, distributed it and refuse to take it down. Hard questions have to be asked in light of the fact that the popularity and support of the "War on Terror” is waning and the fact that it is an election year.
Are we to believe such a massive provocation is the work of some idiot working on his own in California or is there something else behind the whole affair?
Many experts and observers around the world believed that the worldwide anti-American protests that were set off by the US film "The Innocence of Muslims,” would have died down by now but as they cool off in one country they continue to spread to others and in some to gain strength and severity.
Decades of anti-US sentiment brought about by the US meddling in Muslim countries and constant insults to, double-standards towards, attacks on and disrespect for, the Muslim people have been brought to the surface and apparently this "Genie” which refuses to go quietly back into its bottle has become a juggernaut of rage against America.
Although the US would like to continue to paint a picture of blameless virtuousness and holier-than-thou innocence, the paint is beginning to run and the mosaic of intolerance, ignorance, double-standards and just plain pompous arrogance lying below the surface is being revealed.
The dossier on US wars in the Muslim world and its gung-ho meddling and subversion, brutal regime change and nation-building, or rather destroying, is now so voluminous that it is would require its own library to properly catalogue. Just as with the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the world is seeing the result of, and paying the price for, US short-sightedness, lack of advance planning and any sort of care or foresight when it comes to the consequences of its actions.
The film "The Innocence of Muslims” should have been justifiably and rightfully titled, "The Stupidity of Americans” for that it was it has shown, both in the internal US dialogue and the external "diplomacy” that has ensued after the "film’s” debut. However even if the US had reacted thoughtfully and fairly and shown respect for those of the Islamic faith and those who were justifiably outraged, there is serious doubt that the current blow-back could have been prevented, such respect and thoughtfulness should have been part of US diplomacy decades ago. People the world over have long memories as opposed to the three-minute-attention-span of the average American which is something the US obviously forgets.
Even more sinister might be the Machiavellian possibility that this is something the US counts on. If we take a minute to consider the fact that the US has become a country embroiled in and hopeless trapped in a self-propagating worldwide endless war against a methodology "terror” which can never be eradicated in all its guises, a war that needs constant fuel to keep its fires roaring, then we can postulate that this was a carefully planned means of continuing the endless cycle of violence that the US is feeding on.
When events such as these take place, and events such as 9-11, I always ask the question; "Who does it benefit?” The answer may not be a pretty one but time and time again, the answer seems to be the US military industrial complex and the endless war on terror. A war used as a pretext for taking control of resources, making billions in re-building shattered countries and promoting the furthering the US militarization and the taking over of the entire planet.
According to the Pak Tribune reporting on an interview Hafiz Saeed an extremist cleric and the purported terrorist mastermind behind the 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai, which he gave to Reuters, "Obama should have ordered steps to remove the film from the Internet instead of defending freedom of expression in America.” According to Saeed: "Obama's statements have caused a religious war, this is a very sensitive issue and it is not going to be resolved soon. Obama's statement has started a cultural war."
This may be true in part but the statement is extremely nearsighted and historically hollow. The fact of the matter is that the so-called-religious-war has been going on for decades and was transformed into its present overt state by George Bush using the events of 9-11 as a catalyst. Whether you call it a religious war, resource wars or steps towards global military domination the end result is the same.
As for the protests over the film; they have spread to Bangkok, Greece, India, Iran, Ireland and Nigeria and are now targeting French institutions and even Google, which has not taken the video down.
If you are engaged in an endless war on terror that is losing popularity then you need to foment as much hate and breed as many "terrorists” as possible. The only way to beat such a strategy is to ignore the provocations. You can’t fight a war if there are no enemies, no matter how hard you try to create them yourself. Or can you?
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