Reprinted from Tabletmag.com.
Both Hitler and Himmler had a soft spot for Islam.
Hitler
several times fantasized that, if the Saracens had not been stopped at
the Battle of Tours, Islam would have spread through the European
continent—and that would have been a good thing, since “Jewish
Christianity” wouldn’t have gone on to poison Europe. Christianity
doted on weakness and suffering, while Islam extolled strength, Hitler
believed.
We
are still trying to turn the Muslim world to our own purposes, but this
time by supporting Shiite against Sunni. In addition to courting
Erdogan, President Barack Obama hopes to make use of Iran as a
stabilizing regional force. In his most recent personal letter to
Ayatollah Khamanei, Obama seems to have made a promise: We will repeal
sanctions, fight against ISIS, and preserve the rule of Iran’s client
Bashar al Assad as long as Iran agrees to a deal on nuclear weapons.
But what will the United States get in return?
Himmler in a January 1944 speech called Islam “a practical and
attractive religion for soldiers,” with its promise of paradise and
beautiful women for brave martyrs after their death. “This is the kind
of language a soldier understands,” Himmler gushed.
Surely, the Nazi leaders thought, Muslims would see that the Germans
were their blood brothers: loyal, iron-willed, and most important,
convinced that Jews were the evil that most plagued the world.
[...]
Weaponizing Islam has often been a temptation for the United States,
just as it was for Germany... The United States even smiled on Saudi
Arabia’s funding of radical Islamist organizations, hoping that
religion would serve as a bulwark against Soviet Communism. Then the
Muslim Brotherhood killed U.S. ally Anwar Sadat, and its follower Ayman
al-Zawahiri became, along with Osama Bin Laden, the founder of
al-Qaida. We supported the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan, until the
Mujahedeen turned into the Taliban.
We are still trying to turn the Muslim world to our own purposes, but
this time by supporting Shiite against Sunni. In addition to courting
Erdogan, President Barack Obama hopes to make use of Iran as a
stabilizing regional force. In his most recent personal letter to
Ayatollah Khamanei, Obama seems to have made a promise: We will repeal
sanctions, fight against ISIS, and preserve the rule of Iran’s client
Bashar al Assad as long as Iran agrees to a deal on nuclear weapons.
But what will the United States get in return?
[Full]
