N. Korea, Islamism, and nuclear proliferation

Visit our News page North Korea, Islamism, and the Axis of Nuclear Proliferation by Brigitte Gabriel www.actforamerica.org While President Obama recently made a commendable effort to “connect” with the Islamic world, especially during his visit to Turkey, he went perilously too far by saying things that simply are not accurate and thus should not have been said. For example: Obama said: "We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better..." I can understand why Obama would not want to say, “1,400 years of Islam has resulted in 270 million deaths and countless millions enslaved.” But such a history hardly qualifies as “shaping the world for the better,” and he would have been advised to simply not make such a historically unsupportable statement. Obama also said that he wants to “strengthen Ataturk's vision of democratic Turkey.” What Mr. Obama needs to thus say to the Muslim world is remind them what Ataturk’s vision was – a vision which ended the Islamic Empire in 1924, rebelled against Islam and its Sharia law, and gave women rights to vote, to get an education, to work, etc. It was Ataturk's vision that put the last nail in the coffin of the Islamic empire, ending centuries of murder and terrorism. It was because of Ataturk's action that the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt five years later, to reclaim and revive the Islamic Empire and setting the course for present-day Islamism. The Muslim Brotherhood is now the oldest and largest terrorist organization in the world, boasting 70 offshoots including Al-Qaida. While Obama eloquently stated that America is not at war with Islam, which was necessary to speak with such clarity, it was important to continue by saying: "However, we are all challenged today by Islamist radicalism that has declared war, not only on America but also on moderate, peace-loving Muslims. Islamism, or the ideology of political Islam, threatens the entire world, including the millions of Muslims who don’t adhere to it, and it is growing in strength with every passing day.” Attempting to disconnect terror and radicalism from the political ideology that underlies it is precisely what Western Europe and Great Britain have tried, without success. Obama missed a great opportunity to challenge the moderate Muslim world to stand up with us against the Islamists who wish to destroy not only our way of life but change the political landscape in their own countries through overthrow of their leadership and their governments. Such an outreach by Obama would have created solidarity between moderate Muslims and America, because moderate Muslims are more likely to hear and respect what Obama says due to his Islamic heritage. This was Obama’s opportunity to make a statement that could have set the stage for real and historic change, but sadly, he missed it. Meanwhile, North Korea conducts another missile launch, which has enormous ramifications for the world’s ability to defeat Islamism. North Korea is doing more than manufacture nuclear weapons for itself. North Korea's business is selling arms technology to the cash-rich Arab nations who provide it with the cash it so desperately needs. A few years ago North Korea supplied Syria with the nuclear reactor that Israel bombed in September 2007. North Korean engineers were killed and many injured at the Syrian facility during the Israeli bombing. On another Islamist front Iran is clearly set on attacking Israel and America. Iran is very interested in buying the North Korean missile technology which they can then deliver an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack against America. So while North Korea may not attack us directly, its technology is what our die-hard enemies are going to use to destroy us. The United Nations has proven to be virtually impotent in dealing with such serious issues. Saddam Hussein ignored UN sanctions, North Korea ignores the UN, and Iran marches on, ignoring UN sanctions. The United States needs to take a bold step to disrupt the “nuclear proliferation axis” that exists between North Korea and the militant nations of the Islamic world. We can and should go directly to China and ask them how would they feel if we made nuclear and missile technology available to Japan and Taiwan? We can exert great pressure on China in this area because those two nations are a major threat to China if we make our technology available to them. This will give China a vested interest in pressuring North Korea to stop their missile program. What we are concerned about right now is the political victory that North Korea has achieved with this launch. Even though this was not a military victory because the launch was not successful to the point they expected, it achieved a political victory against America. This message is not being wasted on Iran and other nations, like Syria and Libya for example, who are trying to stand up to the United States. America is establishing a clear track record of “no-response.” In 2006 Kaddafi, who signed an agreement in 2003 to get rid of his 30 tons of mustard gas, reneged on the contract and changed his mind after watching America's lack of decisive action against Iran. North Korea is so dangerous because its missiles could carry a nuclear warhead to America or it could continue to provide the technology to other nations wanting to harm America. In other words, the nuclear threat to America and the West will continue to escalate beyond North Korea to Islamist regimes unless we bring it to a screeching halt. The clock is ticking ever closer to midnight. Brigitte Gabriel is the New York Times Best Selling author of “They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It.” She is also the founder and president of ACT for America.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT for America P.O. Box 12765 Pensacola, FL 32591 www.actforamerica.org ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America’s national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam. 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