The Rise of Islamic Fascism

Why do we fight the War on Global Terrorism ?

     The radical ideology in one form or another has existed within the Muslim religion for centuries. After the passing of the European Colonialism era in the Middle East and northern Africa (Post WWII), the followers it produced were a minority controlled by more moderate muslim rulers, and their radical ranting's were ignored by the majority of the world Muslim population until 1979.

    The industrialized world, especially the United States, knew that the oil rich countries of the Middle East and Northern Africa were crucial to world commerce, and any internal disruption had to be contained. It was this policy of the U.S. supporting the less radical ruling heads of Muslim state's that the modern radical movement was born of.

     In 1979 with the departure of the Shaw of Iran (Muhammad Reza Pahlavi) a U.S. ally, for medical treatment for cancer to Walter Reed Hospital, the radical Iranian Revolutionary Guard lead by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Moosavi Khomeini, finally seized power in Iran.

     On 4 November the Revolutionary Guard seized our embassy in Tehran, holding the staff of over 52 U.S. citizens hostage for 444 days. Throughout the "free world" the hostage-taking was seen as an outrage violating a centuries-old principle of international law granting diplomats immunity from arrest and diplomatic compounds sovereignty in their embassies, yet it received no more than verbal condemnation from the world and the U.S. administration. This act of defiance to the U.S. government became a badge of courage and a rallying call to the radical Islamic community.

    Rather than quickly confronting the Revolutionary Guard who at the time were only a young group of students with no experienced leadership or organized military assets, President Jimmy Carter instead chose a path of diplomatic negotiation . Having just retreated from South Vietnam only a few years earlier, Ayatollah Khomeini saw the process as a continuation of American diplomatic and military weakness. Day-by-day the hostages were paraded bound and blindfolded for public humiliation in front of the world media. The months of public humiliation reached a climax when, after failed attempts to negotiate a release, President Carter was finally forced by public outcry to order a military rescue attempt, Operation Eagle Claw, on April 24, 1980. It was also a tragic embarrassment when two of the helicopters crashed into each other shortly after they arrived outside the city, resulting in the destruction of the aircraft and the deaths of eight brave American servicemen and one Iranian civilian. The failure again emboldened the radicals and added to the perpetuation within the Muslim world community of American weakness .

     The hostages were finally released into U.S. custody on 19 January 1980, just minutes after President Ronald Reagan was sworn in to succeed President Carter. The damage was done and the movement would continue to grow with the Iranian success.

     Through the years to follow, the U.S. continued their support of moderate rulers in the area. The radical movement used each instance to promote their ideology and recruit converts. Even in those instances where the U.S. intervention stopped the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Muslims, the radical movement continued to target the American people and their allies.

     The Iranian government continues to support and fund the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and any other radical terrorist group that takes up arms against the U.S. and its free world allies.

    Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, the ideology was called many names, "Islamic fundamentalism, Islamofascism, and Islamism." Many in the Muslim world attribute the rise in hate for the United States to their perception of the American lifestyle and promotion of individual liberty being a cancer to the strict tenant's of even moderate Islamic culture.

     The radical movement teaches Sharia Law, total contempt  all other ethnic religions, and calls for the death of anyone who does not convert to Islam. Under Sharia Law there is no democracy, free speech or human rights.