By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
During the Cold War, the two super
powers realized that there was no logic in engaging militarily given that
each had the benefit of resorting to nuclear weapons, thus, with the exception
of a few proxy wars, their 'war' became a war of propaganda to win over minds
and hearts. Today, the Bush White
House is following the same pattern of warfare replacing communism with
Islam. However, much like
everything else this administration embarks on, the disastrous consequences of
this war have not been deliberated.
While an ideology such as communism
was relatively new to the people who embraced it at the time, religion is part
and parcel of a peoples' make up.
By definition, it is a part of their cultural repertoire. People's
behavior is derived from their cultural deposits. Given that culture is the "collective
mental programming of people", and decisions and actions of people are strongly
affected by their cultural background, religion as part of the culture plays a
role in their decision making, albeit we may not be aware of it (unless we
practice it or politicize it). While under normal circumstances the role
that religion plays in our life may not be significant, or it may simply be a
'deposit' passed down the centuries, it will manifest itself if assaulted. Offensively invoking religion (Judaism
and Christianity are over 2000 years old and Islam is over 1500 years old and
part of people's cultures) would be akin to provoking someone/s to take a dagger
from their cultural repertoire in defense versus a simple needle to mend a
cross-cultural fabric.
In post 9/11 America, this
Administration, falling short of being able to explain why America should find
itself faced with enemies, made every effort to showcase America as a land of
liberty while it 'branded' the enemy as Moslem terrorists. It convinced the people that 'they hate
us for our freedoms' while itself took away the very freedoms that America
enjoyed in order to secure 'us' from 'them', the 'Moslem terrorists' - the
freedoms we had to sacrifice to compensate for the bigotry bestowed upon us were
the Patriot Act, the NSA eavesdropping, and the opening of our mail.
What is unfamiliar to most is that
branding a state (and/or belief system) is not only a modern practice in
promoting a state to attract investors, tourists, etc. (Cool Britannia vs. Rule
Britannia) much like one would brand a product or a company, but it has also
become the modern warfare tactic to demote a state. A state's reputation, identity and
power on the international stage are vital to its geo-strategic existence among
its neighbors and the global community, and of importance are factors such as
whether it is pro-Western or a rogue state, an ally that can be trusted, or a
terrorist. One of the most
successful image makers or brand makers, Charlotte Beers, was commissioned to
re-brand Osama bin Laden as a mass murderer among Moslems. Not an easy task given that he was
considered a hero by many. But the
more successful task was attained of branding millions of Moslems as terrorists
(although the present author is not aware of the brand maker responsible for
this irresponsible task).
Having successfully divided the
world into 'us' and 'them', two imagined communities were created which were set
on an endless war with each other.
The image of the terrorist Moslem was further engraved in the minds of
the 'us' with the timely release of the Mohammad cartoons, arousing the rage of
the Moslems around the world.
Although the reaction of Moslems around the world successfully portrayed
them as 'savage and barbaric', it also proved branding had its limitations. While branding may curb a state/people,
it may also empower them. The war on Islam empowered the Moslem
world in that it united them against injustice, and they had the opportunity to
vent out their frustrations. The solution to this dilemma lay in Islam itself;
the division of Islam and the sectarian divide that had been dormant but could
be resurrected to re-brand the enemy.
To this end, the Sunni-Shiite
branding has served to divide the 'Moslem terrorists'. More importantly, the brand makers have
been hard at work tarnishing the image of Iran and
presenting it as the 'rogue' state and the
'state sponsor of terrorists'.
It is noteworthy that there is not a single Moslem country in the Middle
East that is more compassionate towards the United
States than Iran, yet the image portrayed by
brand makers is that of a terrorist state.
While the 9/11 attackers, al Qaeda,
the Taliban , and the insurgents responsible for killing Americans are all Sunni
Moslems, the image makers (brand makers) have convinced Americans that Iranians
Shiite Moslems, and Iran in general, poses the
biggest threat to the United States and its democracy, liberty, and
freedom. This, in spite of the
intelligence report given by Negroponte that the biggest threat to
America is al-Qaeda. The branding has been so successful that
the Moslems of the Middle East are ready to take up arms against
Iran, fearing its growing Shiite power.
However, the danger lies
not only in an escalation of violence in the Middle East, the like of which we
are witnessing, but the overflow of bigotry into our own borders, the
subsequences of which will smear our proud heritage. Evidence points to what
lies in store for us for the success of branding has witnessed the opening of a
first 'terrorist free oil' gas station, claiming U.S. dollars used to purchase
gas made from Middle East oil funds terrorism. "We believe that we are financing our
own demise by purchasing crude oil from the Middle
East," spokesman Joe Kaufman said.
Entry visas are being denied based
on religion though the reason given is suspicion of terrorism.
Surely we must proudly look to the
past and be reminded that this country was founded on the basis that many who
came here, came to escape religious persecution. Though many were secular, the great
majority left Europe to worship God in the way
they thought to be correct. With
the escalation of hostilities among us, and growing by the day, how do we treat
the Moslems among us today and how will they be treated tomorrow? Those Moslems who are married to
Christians, who have children of a mixed marriage, are they to be shunned as
terrorists, interned, or will be learn to ignore the people who are hard at work
taking American values away from us?
About the author: Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich has lived and studied in Iran, the UK, France, and the US. She obtained her Bachelors Degree
in International Relations from the University of Southern
California, Los
Angeles. She is currently pursuing her education in
Middle East studies and Public Diplomacy.
Soraya has done extensive research on US foreign policy towards Iran and Iran's nuclear program. She can be
reached at sorayau@earthlink.net
... Payvand News - 2/5/07 ... --
