Napoleon's Modern Descendant

Human Rights Now!

The Obama administration is being hammered by the right wing for the wrong reasons. The right wing remains wedded to the idolatrous notion of American exceptionalism, which elevates a nation-state to the status of a demi-god.

Senator McCain, long an advocate of US military adventures abroad, has been excoriating President Obama for not instituting a "no-fly" zone in Libya. The reason why the US must do this? Gaddafi is acting like a tyrant, killing his own citizens. The US as the world's saviour and avatar of a free, just, secular humanity must do something. Anyone who thinks otherwise is, well, non-patriotic. They do not idolise the US enough.

But this folly is not just the preserve of the right. The left wing also has been calling for US military intervention. Senator John Kerry, one of the most liberal, even radical Progressives, has been urging the President to reconsider and remember the duty and obligation of the United States to establish, protect, and preserve human rights around the globe. This is what we mean by the US being elevated to the position of a demi-god. Meanwhile, He Who sits in the heavens laughs. His glory will not be served by American idolatry.

Full marks to President Obama for circumspection. Not that he has much choice. His Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates has publicly acknowledged that the US military is overcommitted now. It cannot afford to get involved in another conflict. At last the bloody beast has appeared to reach its limitations. For this we are very thankful.

Fortunately there are other voices, on both right and left which have a far less jingoistic cast. They are far more studied, measured, and realistic. One such voice is Bernard Lewis, recently interviewed by David Horowitz. Lewis is arguably the doyen of Western scholars with a profound knowledge of political Islam. His message: don't try to engineer Western style democracies in the Middle East. All that will do is facilitate Islamic fundamentalist power and control. This by Candace de Russy, at Breitbart:

In an extensive conversation with ex-leftist, now prolific conservative writer and consummate activist David Horowitz, the renowned Islamic scholar Lewis, 94, recently expounded on the root cause of the region-wide eruption of protests, and urged the West not to press for a fast and fitful rush by Arab countries toward Western-style elections.

Bernard Lewis

“The Arab masses,” he says, “are not ready for free and fair elections.”
At the heart of the upheaval, according to Lewis – perhaps best known for his history of the Ottoman Empire – is the Arab peoples’ pervasive sense of injustice suffered at the hands of “the sort of authoritarian, even dictatorial regimes, that rule most of the countries in the modern Islamic Middle East.” These regimes “are a modern creation,” whereas “the pre-modern regimes were much more open, much more tolerant.”
He predicts that hastily held, Western-style elections would bring about “a dangerous aggravation” of the abysmally poor peoples’ anger and resentment, which radical Islamic organizations would be well positioned to exploit. In particular, the Muslim Brotherhood “is a very dangerous, radical Islamic movement. If they obtain power, the consequences would be disastrous for [in the case he cites] Egypt.”

As an alternative to such elections, Lewis advocates that the West back the gradual development of local, self-governing institutions, in accord with the Islamic tradition of “consultation,” for which there is a strong tradition in the region. Citing historical events and political literature in the Islamic period, he observes that this pre-modern system was entirely opposed to authoritarian or absolutist rule. Indeed, the sultans had to consult with many groups whose authority sprang from within and not from the state.

Pre-modern or contemporary, women are one group that has not figured in the self-governing formula. Lewis, forceful on this point, quotes a late 19^th century Turkish observer:

We fell behind the West because of the way we treat our women … [Thus] we deprive ourselves of the talents and services of half the population … we submit the early education of the other half to ignorant and downtrodden mothers …[further,] a child who grows up in a traditional Muslim household is accustomed to authoritarian, autocratic rule from the start. I think the position of women is of crucial importance.

In sum, mindlessly pushing for an immediate, Western-style general election is “a dangerous fallacy which can only lead to disaster.” Better to “let them do it their way by consultative groups.”

In the case of Eqypt, the airing of Lewis’s views is especially timely. The country’s military rulers, paving the way for elections to be held in just four-to-six months, have proposed a slew of constitutional changes that are being disputed by various factions.

Is “instant democracy” a viable policy in the Mideast? Odds are, no.

We note in a final thought that the French dictator, believing that his destiny was to free mankind to enjoy "liberty, equality, and fraternity", sought to "liberate" the Middle East. He failed, retreating with desperate measures that involved murdering 800 of his own wounded soldiers that would slow his retreat. Such things happen when you make an idol of human rights. Napoleon's modern heir would do well to be warned.