www.stand4islam.blogspot.com: Will America become the new ‘Sick Man’?

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In recent times a plethora of misconceptions, misrepresentation and myths have been forged about Islam
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.

This blog is dedicated:-

1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.

15 Oct 2008

Will America become the new ‘Sick Man’?

Will America become the new ‘Sick Man’?

The term “sick man of Europe” was coined to describe the declining situation of the Ottoman’s by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia in 1853. The Ottoman territories were being swallowed by rival world powers, increasingly falling under the financial control of the European powers and the Ottomans had lost territory in a series of disastrous wars. The Ottomans Empire, who for nearly three hundred years dominated the European geopolitical scene fell into debt, came to be continuously manipulated by rival powers and fumbled in a state of gloom, anarchy and decline eventually losing all independence. Nicholas I of Russia described the Ottomans as ‘a sick man - a very sick man, a man who has fallen into a state of decrepitude, or a sick man ... gravely ill.’

The Economic situation, political prowess, geopolitical maneuverability and independence were all seen as indicators which clearly the Ottomans had drastically lost over a period of 100 years and declined in.

The current global financial crisis has all the hallmarks of the USA being the new ‘sick man’. Below are a few factors:

1. The US is drowning in a sea of debt which the credit crunch crisis has brought to the forefront. The US generated nearly $14 trillion in 2007, however the national debt – this is money the central and federal governments owe to the US public and the world through the bonds they have issued - stands at $10 trillion. The US citizenry have a huge appetite for imports and as a result consumer debt stands at $11.4 trillion. The debts of US companies amounts to $18.4 trillion. This makes the US indebted to the tune of $40 trillion – nearly 75% of what the world produces.

When confidence in the ability of the American government to repay the debt dwindles, this will make those indebted nations to demand their money back, which will lead to, amongst other things, speculative attacks against the American government.

If there was a State in the world, which was able to manoeuvre in the economic climate and highlight this debt, then like the Ottoman Islamic State, America will find that it is under the scrutiny of these nations and not able to exert all its policies as it sees fit.

2. The US trade deficit continues to balloon, the amount the US imports compared to the amount it exports – in essence the money the US owes to the world stands at $555 billion. The financial crisis which began in the US raises a pertinent question about the sustainability of such high levels of consumption and then how the debt that sustained such consumption will be funded.

Western values of consumerism and greed are exacerbating the trade deficit; additionally American economic policies over the last few decades which has weakened America’s industrialised base, hence restricting America’s ability to produce goods and services cheaply. This mean America will still rely heavily on China, India, Russia and other states for imports of cheap goods to keep inflation domestically under control.

3. Both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are costing the US $1 Trillion a year. This makes the $700 bailout looks like loose change! With Afghanistan now in the balance after nearly seven years of war and no signs of US victory in Iraq the US faces the very series problem in funding these struggles. Much of the recent Strategies such as the Surge have been built on “bribing” tribal leaders with large sums of money; with the availability of easy money no longer viable, this will impact on policy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US spending is not sustainable

The US like the Ottomans has now found itself in a precarious situation where foreign nations are actually funding it. The US budget is not sufficient for the nations consumption patterns as a result the US resorts to selling Bonds to the world which it will repay over a period of 10 – 30 years in the hope the US economy will by the time the Bonds mature have generated sufficient wealth to repay them. 66% of US debt is held by foreign entities, whilst 44% of this is held by China and Japan. China has accumulated over $1.2 trillion in dollar reserves due to this. Described as China's "nuclear option" China could trigger a dollar crash if it decided the dollar was not worth holding and switched to Euros at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels.

The US attempted to win both the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq through propping up initially unpopular governments. The failure to achieve any significant control in both nations has led to the US to throw money at elements within the Sunni faction as well as the bribes it already gives to elements of the Shi’ah establishment. With the US economy teetering on the brink of meltdown the continuity of such a policy of printing money in return for loyalty is questionable and would have huge implications for US future success in these nations.

The US is also facing numerous political challenges in regions of the world which only a decade ago it completely dominated. In the Middle East apart from needing the help of regional surrogates the region is gradually shifting from being a uni-polar region in which the US enjoys uncontested hegemony to a multi-polar region. The US is facing more competition from China and Russia over access to Middle East oil. The US is now increasingly competing with India and Japan as well as the European Union for the lion's share of the regions black gold.

The US is currently suffering from a severe fever, where the remedy continues to be more and more expensive intervention by the nation’s doctors who are unable to stem the panic spreading to all. The US has only $1.7 trillion in notes and coins in circulation where the money will come from to repay US debt in the years to come, alongside a falling dollar places the US in a situation where it is now reliant upon foreign nations to bail it out. These are remarkable times as the world is witnessing the direct impact of American imperial hubris and overstretch. We may be witnessing a change in the global balance of power.

[Article written by Adnan Khan, September 2008]

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What they said...

“Islam represented the greatest military power on earth…It was the foremost economic power in the world…It had achieved the highest level so far in human history, in the arts and sciences of civilization...Islam in contrast created a world civilization, poly-ethnic, multiracial, international, one might even say intercontinental.”

[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]

"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"

[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]

"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."

[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]

"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."

[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]

"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."

[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]

“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”

[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]

"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."

[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]

"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."

[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]

“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”

[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]

"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"

[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]

"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."

[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]

"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."

[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']

"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"

[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']

"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.

[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]

"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"

[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]

"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"

[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]

“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”

[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]

“Throughout much of the period in question, Arabic served as the global language of scholarship, and learned men of all stripes could travel widely and hold serious and nuanced discussions in this lingua franca. Medieval Western scholars who wanted access to the latest findings also needed to master the Arabic Tongue or work from translations by those who had done so.”

[Jonathan Lyons, Author, Writer and Lecturer, 2009]