Michael Ledeen Quotes
There cannot be freedom in Iraq without bringing down the mullahs.
The mullahs had a great deal of power in Iraq and were among the most vocal opponents of democracy and freedom and instead argued for a Theocracy under Islamic law—Sharia which allowed almost no freedoms for the individual.
Michael Ledeen, Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Hearing, House Foreign Relations Committee, March 8, 2006
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He was discussing the problem of negotiating with the Iranian government which was an unelected, dictatorial theocracy.
Journalists and writers are among the most persecuted people in Islamic nations and even writers in non-Muslim nations have been murdered and intimidated for writing material that fundamentalist Muslims thought was heresy.
In 2005 Rose published a number of cartoons some of which depicted the Muslim Prophet, Muhammad which offended many fundamentalist Muslims who had a tradition who had a tradition of never depicting the visage of the Prophet. A delegation of clerics demanded an apology from Rose and the country of Denmark, claiming that they and Islam, like other religions, were entitled to respect.
Ironically, without the word “wicked” most people would regard the first sentence as a good description of elements of a modern democracy. It illustrates that for the Islamic fundamentalist democracy substitutes the rule of man for the rule of God, freedom of speech allows heresy and blasphemy to to uttered and communicated, and religion which is supposed to inform and direct politics. So what is good for the lover of democracy is the very thing that is bad for Islam. This is not a uniquely Islamic viewpoint. It has been and is held by fundamentalist Christians and Jews as well who would return to Biblical law punishing blasphemy and heresy with death and have religion drive all politics.
A publicity seeking fundamentalist Christian minister in Florida had publicly burned a Koran to the moral condemnation of the President and most other government leaders, as well as clergy of all faiths. However, after the President of Afghanistan condemned the act, there were attacks on a United Nations compound in that country and a number of innocent people were killed and two beheaded. Yet most Muslim clerics were reluctant to morally condemn the murders while they were vociferous in castigating the Koran burning. Some were intimidated and feared that they would be attacked if they criticized the Islamic fundamentalism that advocated the murders and terrorism.
Ahmad denied saying this although the reporter who wrote the original story insists that he did and she wrote it down at the time. Ahmad did not deny the statement when it first appeared in the Fremont Argus, but only did so several years later.
She was born a Muslim herself and her life has been threatened by other, Muslims who are fundamentalists who are living proof or her point.
See {583817} for how France was more assertive in handling this problem.
One of the many difficulties that Muslims have in understanding America is their perception that Islam is snubbed by the government. Separation of church and state is the exact opposite of the basic doctrines is Islam which holds that everything in society including government should be driven and controlled religiously. While that view was true of the Roman Catholic church at one time as well as some of the National Protestant churches, America is the antithesis. In general, where there is a ceremonial role that religions are given by government like prayer at the start of Congressional sessions, there are very few consultations of government officials with specific religions about government civil and secular policy and legislation. There are just too many religions in America and it would be impractical even if it were not against American tradition and even law in some cases.
Al-Omar is one of Saudi’s leading clerics and the Saudi Arabian government—supposedly is a major ally of the United States—not only tolerates this type of inflammatory rhetoric but it makes no effort to repudiate this and other radical Islamic statements. There is no freedom of Speech in Saudi Arabia, and people are arrested all the time for saying things that are displeasing to the Royal Family. But no attempt to suppress this kind of virulent anti-American attack.
Michael Arthur Ledeen is an American historian, neoconservative foreign policy analyst, and author with a PhD in philosophy. He is a former consultant to the United States National Security Council, the United States Department of State, and the United States Department of Defense. He held the Freedom Scholar chair at the American Enterprise Institute where he was a scholar for twenty years and now holds the similarly named chair at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
