Coalition of the
Sympathetic
by Mark Steyn
The American Enterprise
"Just send a box of
chocolates and a card saying 'Thank you, you infidel sons of whores
and pigs"
The path of the December 26 tsunami tracked the
arc of the Muslim world, from Sumatra to Somalia. The most
devastated country is the world's most populous Muslim nation. And
the most devastated part of that country is the one province living
under the strictures of sharia.
But, as usual, when disaster strikes it's the Great Satan and his
various Little Satans who leap to respond. In the decade before
September 11, the U.S. military functioned, more or less
exclusively, as a Muslim rapid reaction force-coming to the aid of
Kuwaiti Muslims, Bosnian Muslims, Somali Muslims, and Albanian
Muslims. Since then, with the help of its Anglo-Australian allies,
it has liberated 50 million Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Most citizens in the West look at the tsunami's victims and recognize
our common humanity. When a fellow is pulled down from a tree to
survey the wreckage of his home and learn of the loss of his family,
we see him first as our fellow man-a human in need. By contrast,
Muslim leaders divide the world into the Dar al-Islam and everybody
else.
And even then, the deaths of 100,000 members of the tribe in Banda
Aceh alone isn't enough to catch the eye of the big shots in Arabia.
The Arab world's principal contribution these past two weeks has been
the usual paranoia: "Was it caused by American, Israeli, and Indian
nuclear testing?" wondered Mahmoud Bakri in the Egyptian weekly Al
Usbu. "The three most recent tests appeared to be genuine
American and Israeli preparations to act together with India to test a
way to liquidate humanity.''
Colin Powell was foolish to suggest that, in its response to this
crisis, the Muslim world would come to appreciate the true nature of
the United States. Fat chance. "It's O.K. that aid from the U.S. is
here,'' said Hilmy Bakar Almascaty, spokesman for the Islamic Defender
Front. "But if they open bars, sell alcohol, or open prostitution
centers, then we will fight them.''
Almascaty also warned the Australian charity Youth Off the Streets
that its plan to open homes for 35,000 Indonesian orphans was all very
well, but on no account was it to try converting Muslim children.
Jeepers, man, would it kill you once in a while just to send a box of
chocolates and a card saying "Thank you, you infidel sons of whores
and pigs,'' and leave it at that?
One day the smarter lads in the Osama T-shirts will begin to wonder
what they're getting in return for their glorification of a
multimillionaire whose followers these days spend most of their time
killing Muslims-in Iraq, in Turkey, in Saudi Arabia, even in
Indonesia. With friends like that, who needs tsunamis?
Mark Steyn wrote a longer version of this for The Australian.
