MSNBC.com, January 6, 2005 4:47 p.m. ET
How are the jihadists receiving the tsunami coverage?
Walid Phares, MSNBC terrorism analyst
As soon as the news of the killer tsunami aired, and the estimated fatalities started to
escalate, most of the world reacted with sorrow and kindness.
The reaction of jihadists and the clerics of radical Islam was something else all
together.Various rumors swirled around their Websites and chat rooms, including:
The "infidels" aren't doing enough. Web-based broadcasts blasted President Bush
and Prime Minister Blair for "not doing enough to help Muslims victims, just because
they were Muslims." The criticism came not only from jihadists though, but also from
members of the U.S. Congress in both parties who felt the initial American pledge of
$15 million was shockingly low given the size of the tragedy. Tragedy, like politics,
makes odd bedfellows.
A former U.S. diplomat and a prominent American scholar wrote in The New York
Times that this was a "grave miscalculation by President Bush, at a time he is
suffering another disaster in Iraq." Whatever the intellectual case for this, from an Iraqi
perspective, the criticism played into the hands of the jihadists.
America knew beforehand. Diego Garcia is an American base in the Indian Ocean.
The Jihadist version is that America's scientific centers knew about the tsunami's
projected effects but Washington wanted to protect the base at the expense of
warning Muslims. "They had to use their power to evacuate the main installations and
prisoners," claimed one web post.
In fact, Diego Garcia did receive a warning from the center based in Hawaii that
monitors the Pacific for such developments. The director of the Pacific Warning
Center says he repeatedly tried to reach authorities in the Indian Ocean region but,
between the holiday and the lack of precedent, was unable to do so. Barry Hirshorn ,
one of the geophysicists on duty that day, told the Honolulu Advertiser, "We spoke to
people in the foreign ministries, and everywhere we could think of. We were collecting
phone numbers, e-mail addresses— whatever contact information we could.There was
a conference call with officials in Madagascar." Unfortunately, none of the center's
actions led to action in the region.
Nuclear blasts provoked the tsunami. Another charge is in the making: Al-Arabiya TV
threw the first stone when it reported that underwater nuclear blasts in the Indian
Ocean could be behind the natural cataclysm. Chat rooms went further, claiming the
nuclear activity— by Americans—was deliberate to provoke more tsunamis.
Had the tsunami hit the U.S. West Coast or the Japanese islands, their official
theological story would have been that Allah punished the infidels for their aggression
in Iraq. Had the waves reached Iran's waterfront, the Salafi would have decreed that
Shiia apostates angered the divine.
But these rumors they are circulating may not be working. As the relief effort picked
up, a very different picture has been broadcast around the world. As images of
American helicopters picking up the wounded and U.S. Marines are photographed
cradling children, many Muslims are turning against the extremists.
"Where are al Qaida and its millions of dollars," asked voices on the voice moderated
forums on Internet. "Why didn't Saudi Arabia pledge billions of its petrol-dollars to help
fellow Muslims," asked others.
The Jihadi version of events has not been so thoroughly embraced by the survivors
and their societies.
In Fallujah, Zarqawi's men kill the Marines, but in Aceh, the Marines save the lives of
Muslims.
The tsunami tragedy, a wrath of nature, reminded all humanity that unity, solidarity,
and peace are the real responses to planetary challenges.
The jihadists cannot and will not accept this lesson. The world they want is one of
hatred and division.
Even nature's message is not enough to convince them otherwise.
E-mail Hardblogger@MSNBC.com or Walid directly by clicking here.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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