Why Al-Jazeera Might Be Humanity’s Greatest Hope

Western democracies ask what can be done to curtail and possibly eradicate Islamic extremism, which has surpassed other threats as the greatest endangerment to world peace and prosperity.

Things are really getting ugly in some places.  And it’s getting scarier.

This is a frustrating problem with few if any, solutions that are readily obvious.  Even experts in diplomacy can’t point to a workable game plan for slowing down a global scourge of violence.

A possible solution: What just might save us all is an Arab-version of Oprah Winfrey or Dr. Phil.

First, let’s discuss what does not work, including actions that have failed repeatedly since the Pan-Islamism movement was revived within the past 60 years.  If anyone can make the case these tactics have been effective, I’d like to hear it.

Fact #1:  Flooding more weapons into the powder keg known as the Middle East makes the problem (both theirs and ours) much worse.  The “ship them more weapons” strategy which has been a pillar of American foreign policy stemming from the Cold War conflict with the former Soviet Union (the genesis of the short-sighted approach) has repeatedly worsened the situation.  It’s created massive instability throughout the entire region.

Since the mid-1970s, the United States has made the following political and military blunders, with devastating consequences:

— The U.S. fully backed and supported the Shah of Iran, which led to a violent backlash against our interests in that nation

— The U.S. armed tribal insurgents which later became the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan

— U.S. intelligence likely worked closely with Osama bin Laden and gave his terror network assistance during its formative stages

— The U.S. armed Saddam Hussein in Iraq when his regime was fighting a war against Iran

— The U.S. has supplied Egypt with arms since the late 1970s, which is now seriously threatened by the Muslim Brotherhood

— Many of the arms supplied by the U.S. intended for the Iraqi Army have been captured in Northern Iraq and are now being used to create and bolster The Islamic State (formerly ISIS)

— The U.S. provided military assistance to anti-Assad forces in Syria which are now being used by Muslim extremists for purposes of terror and mass genocide

So, that’s Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq now using our own weapons against us.  Wait, it gets worse.

As you read this, America continues to pump in a ceaseless pipeline of munitions to just about every other nation in the region.  So, here’s a hypothetical question:  What happens if or when Pakistan or Jordan or Saudi Arabia succumb to the next wave of Islamic insurgencies?  Where might all those aircraft, missiles, and bombs end up?  In who’s hands?  The entire Middle East doesn’t just have America’s fingerprint in the sand.  It has the jackboot of death merchants on its streets.  This must stop.  Until the weapons are cut off into this region, there will be no peace.

Besides our nation supplying weapons to just about every regime in the Middle East — regardless of whether or not it’s democratic or adheres to basic human rights for its citizens — what else doesn’t work?

Fact #2:  Invasions and occupations not only fail, but they also create even bigger problems.  Consider this — invading their countries, occupying their territories, and trying to create puppet-state democracies at the gunpoint of American troops have proven to be miserable failures.  We can’t point to a single success story when it comes to exporting democracy to a Muslim nation (Note:  Turkey was an exception for many years).  Case in point — how have things worked out so far in Afghanistan and Iraq?  After 12 years of brutal fighting, thousands of lives needlessly sacrificed, and trillions of tax dollars wasted, can any American citizen walk down the streets yet in either of those countries? Will another trillion dollars or 100,000 troops make a difference?  So, what was the invasion for?  Who won?

Who won?  That answer should be obvious (death merchants, please take an encore).

We told you so.  Back in 2002 when the invasions started, we warned you this is exactly what would happen.  And it did.

So, supplying weapons doesn’t work.  And neither do mass invasions and occupations.  All American presence in the region seems to do is create more hostility.  It also creates more terrorism and makes every American a target.

So, why not leave?  Perhaps we should.  The problem with packing up and leaving the region is that the fallout is likely to be objectionable, both morally and geopolitically.

First, ignoring the terrible human rights violations that would inevitably occur (and are occurring already) without cultural and religious minorities being able to defend themselves is far too troublesome for many in the West to bear.  We once said to ourselves, “Never Again.”  For that pledge to really mean something, the victims of persecution wherever they are must be given some means to defend themselves, if possible.

Second, there are obvious geopolitical issues at stake, starting and ending with a three-letter word — O-I-L.  If the world’s energy-supply were to be threatened or interrupted, the global economic and political fallout would be catastrophic.  We seem to have made a deal with the devil already, propping up horrible regimes in places like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and so forth.  We’re probably stuck in these bad marriages.  Captive to our energy demands and the sheiks who willingly supply us with our fix, it’s become nearly impossible to disengage entirely from the region.

Which now leaves us with what I believe to be the only viable hope for stopping the scourge of Islamic fundamentalism.

Fact: #3  The answer to the West’s problems is very likely in the form of an international television network, which is the only real forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions in many countries in the Middle East.  That network is called Al-Jazeera. 

Call it what you want — biased Arab propaganda, or whatever.  Fact is, it’s perhaps the only sane voice many people will ever hear in the Middle East.  Do you think the mullahs like Al-Jazeera?  They don’t.  That should tell you everything.

Based in Qatar, Al-Jazeera launched an English-language version of the network in the United States.  It’s been on the air here for less than a year.  I’ve been watching it off and on for much longer.  It’s certainly a different perspective of the world (and it’s also refreshing to watch a TV station without those annoying Progressive Insurance commercials).

Predictably, those who are short-sighted (and ignorant) fear Al-Jazeera and what it might become.  They could not be more wrong.

What authoritarian regimes fear most is — information.  With Al-Jazeera, viewers get information.  More importantly, they get a view into the rest of the world they otherwise would never see.  Certainly, town squares and village mosques won’t be the barricades to stopping religious extremism.  On the contrary, that’s where hatred and terrorism begin.  Think of it this way:  What just might save us all is an Arab-version of Oprah Winfrey or Dr. Phil.

I’m not being funny here.  This remains the most powerful force in the modern world (along with the Internet, which is still not available in many rural areas of the Middle East).  Fortunately, most educated citizens of the Middle East have satellite dishes and that number is increasing by the minute.  Aside from state-run television programs, which are mostly terrible, Al-Jazeera is a smash hit throughout the Islamic world and is becoming even more influential as it continues to grow.

Think of the profound impact that television had on our nation.  Some say television is what ended the Vietnam War.  Americans got fed up with death counts and pictures of body bags being unloaded from airplanes.  Television has destroyed Presidents.  Television has made stars out of the talent-less.  Television remains the single most powerful force in the human universe, and it’s now only beginning to catch on in the Muslim world.  Well, it’s about time.

On Al-Jazeera, many Muslims see women with their heads uncovered for the very first time.  They see young people voicing opinions, forbidden in some cultures.  They see real leadership coming from places other than a mosque, and some twisted holy man preaching out of an indecipherable old book.  On Al-Jazeera, viewers see other cultures and are exposed to new ideas.  This exposure to sunlight shines on seeds which hopefully will bloom and eventually bear peace and tolerance.

Yes, Al-Jazeera is biased.  Then again, so are all Western media outlets.  Al-Jazeera consistently rants against Israel, although most of the material reported that I’ve seen seems largely fact-based.  Al-Jazeera has its share of fundamentalists.  Then again, so do we.

Fact is, no television station — and especially not a global one — has been able to incinerate violence and hatred.  It’s always the other way around.  As viewers have their eyes opened and minds exposed to foreign ideas, the outcome is likely to be positive.  So, quit worrying about some objectionable programming that might seem a bit odd for our Western tastes.  What matters is people in the Middle East getting information, and then debating and discussing their future in something other than the intimidation of a religious setting.  Indeed, the next significant revolution might be sparked inside a living room with a satellite dish outside.

I predict that Al-Jazeera will ultimately succeed.  It may take a while.  Perhaps even a long time.  But this could be a game-changer not just for a region, but for religion and culture based on archaic codes out of the 11th Century.  Those codes must be challenged.  The real weapon to be launched and more effective invasion is knowledge — not more bombs and armies.  Television and the Internet are probably the only way the West will finally eradicate a movement that is in fact extinguishable, given the right tools.  Those tools are technology and information.

Critics of Al-Jazeera are short-sighted.  In fact, they’re dangerous.  They perpetuate old dis-proven myths that arming and invading nations will somehow end the conflict, when time and time again, they have been proven wrong.

It’s time for a new strategy.  It’s time for new perspectives.  It’s time to try something else besides another war and escalating violence.  Let’s try television and welcome the power and influence of Al-Jazeera.  It might be our best and last hope.

READ: More writings on the Middle East