Editorials

Neo-McCarthyism rears its ugly head in the US

Zafar Bangash

Rabi' al-Thani 27, 14322011-04-01

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There is a frightening tendency in the US to target vulnerable minorities for cheap political gain and quick fame. American politicians of various stripes also use scare tactics to target vulnerable groups to achieve their nefarious designs.

There is a frightening tendency in the US to target vulnerable minorities for cheap political gain and quick fame. American politicians of various stripes also use scare tactics to target vulnerable groups to achieve their nefarious designs. Joe McCarthy gained notoriety in the 1950s with what was referred to as the “Red Scare”. That tactic is now being used by Peter King, an obscure Republican Congressman from New York, to target Muslims. King is no longer an insignificant political figure; he heads the powerful Homeland Security Committee and launched Congressional hearings into the “threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism”. Prior to the start of hearings on March 10, he said, without offering proof: “There is a real threat to the country from the Muslim community,” he said, “and the only way to get to the bottom of it is to investigate what is happening.”

As he tried “to get to the bottom of it” the Congressional hearings turned into a farce. King’s scandalous allegations were not only challenged by fellow congressmen and women on the committee but also by law-enforcement officials. But King is not new to such tactics nor is he likely to give up so easily. There is an entire lobby in the US, led by the neocons and their Zionist allies who are both hell-bent on demonizing Muslims in order to provide a secure platform at home for future American occupations in the Islamic East. Thousands of Muslim lives have been ruined after false allegations were made against them. These have to do with both domestic policies as well as America’s aggressive military adventures abroad. Domestically, law enforcement agencies do not want to risk accusations of negligence in case there is another attack. Any suspicion is immediately conflated with a real threat and scores of Muslims are rounded up and thrown in prison. The tendency is to let them rot until the courts sort the mess out, if at all.

At the international level, the US is involved in numerous wars against other people, mainly Muslims. Resistance to US militarism and frustration with not achieving its military and geo-strategic and political goals has led to targeting of Muslims in the US. Any criticism or opposition to such wars is viewed as “un-American.” This also fits into the Zionists’ campaign to stifle criticism of Israel’s brutal policies against the Palestinians. Any Muslim expressing sympathy with the Palestinians is immediately branded a Hamas supporter and, therefore, “enemy” of the US. For the Zionists, keeping the American public ignorant of Israeli crimes in Palestine is a major objective. If the American people learn what Zionism is all about and what the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians, there may be demands to review aid to Israel, especially at a time when the US is facing such severe economic problems with millions of people unemployed and with few prospects of any quick recovery.

King, of course, gained his 15 minutes of notoriety by getting himself on television. He has now joined such other Muslim-baters as Danial Pipes, Steve Emerson, Pat Robertson and others of their ilk. King is not new to this game. He first publicized his Islamophobic fantasies in his 2004 novel, Vale of Tears, in which New York is hit yet again by terrorists and not surprisingly, the hero of the piece is a congressman from Long Island! As member of the House of Representatives from Long Island, he has now found a platform to put his scandalous fantasies into practice with devastating consequences for millions of American Muslims.

Perhaps, King may represent the true nature of US politics better than the soft image projected by US President Barack Obama. Politics in America is an ugly sport, played by vicious, ugly men and women that have no scruples or morals.

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