Some Updated Information on the Innocence of Muslims Affair

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

The Innocence of Muslims affair (incident?  incidents?) has become a fast moving story that seems to get more fantastical the more that gets reported.  It is now pretty clear that Sam Bacile is not an Israeli, Israeli American, or even Jewish.  Bacile is, apparently, a pseudonym for a Nakoula Basselly Nakoula - who appears to be an Egyptian emigre and was involved in this project with a number of naturalized American Copts and native born American Evangelicals.  Members of the cast have clearly indicated that the film was supposed to be/originally about Coptic persecution and was overdubbed in both English and Arabic with the anti-Islamic dialogue that has led to some serious problems in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen including the death of four American foreign service personnel.  The thirteen minute clip, posted to You Tube in July, began to gather interest over the past several days due to its being promoted by both Quran burning advocate Terry Jones and Egyptian-American Copt Morris Sadek.  The fatal anti-American violence in Libya may have partially been the result of various media and extremist movement sources claiming that the video had been produced for the 9-11 remembrances and was being widely shown on American TV on that day. 

While the story will continue to undergo change over the next several days as more facts come to light, the real issues are how does the US adjust its strategies and policies in the Middle East in response to these activities.  It also demonstrates very clearly that no matter what America's official positions, messaging, and actions are they can all be overcome by events regardless of whether they are unofficial messaging being transmitted by Americans - official or otherwise or the activities of the actual actors on the ground in the Middle East.

*Adam L. Silverman, PhD is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College (USAWC).  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of USAWC and/or the US Army.

Comments

[turcopolier]

babak

No. We don't have to accept anything. They have their values and we have ours. If they choose to storm our diploatic premises, we should act accordingly. pl

[Walrus]

Tyler, the only way to prove your point would be for Islamic fundamentalists to make a film depicting Christ as a homosexual and pederast and then see what happens in Texas.

Oh wait! We blew the crap out if Iraq for nothing more than an Arab thumbing his nose at us. We don't seem to need inflammatory films to go out and kill Ayrabs.

Perhaps if Jews had rioted early enough over films like "the eternal Jew" the holocaust might have been avoided.

[Tyler]

And if tomorrow a group of Catholics calling themselves the Order of Charles Martel declared themselves dedicated to purging Europe of Muslims, would you be saying "you have to accept people how they are?"

I highly doubt that. This is more moral/cultural relativism, plain and simple. All the powers that be are doing in trying to appease the Salafists is rewarding violent action. Its not going to take long before someone figures out what is good for the goose must be good for the gander?

[Walrus]

As I said before, "Lang for undersecretary of state for the middle east"! Except,,,,would you work under Hilary?

Good idea about the Tasmanian devils, they even ate the cork handle off my fly rod one time.

Regarding Indonesia, when I was an officer cadet around 1968 we got to within Three weeks of mobilization, and I guess we would have if the communists had succeeded in their coup. They narrowly failed to behead the army whose counter coup succeeded. Academics think about a million suspected and actual communists were killed in the aftermath, but nobody talks about it.They are not all placid little brown folk.

The issue with Indonesia is that an Islamic state in Java would have great nuisance value for everyone in the region, including us.

[Tyler]

Islamic fundamentalists? Man, I don't even need to go across the country, all I have to do is see Bill Mahrer's weasel face smirking about how stupid Christianity is. Then there's the militant athiest crew going about suing everyone and everything because the appearance of a cross causes them "anxiety and distress". Or the "gay pride" parade last Easter in SF that had a cross dressing MC as Mary, and a "naked Jesus review".

Oh wait, but a pastor in Florida burns some Korans and General Demphsey gets on the horn with them.

Cry to me more when homosexuals, athiests, and other degenerates are rounded up and burned at the stake with Papal emissaries in attendance "pour encourager les outres" to mend their sinful ways.

[turcopolier]

walrus

She's a peach. Glad to work for her, even the abuse would be fun. Too bad we can't go sailing (you and me) in the Celebes Sea. We would need something like a hundred foot motor sailer. Need to pick up a few friends. pl

[The Twisted Genius]

PL and Walrus,

May I suggest picking up an old Oerlikon for the foredeck of your motor sailor. A brace of firelocks and a fine cutlass or two might also come in handy. There be pirates in those waters.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Not at all; the hypothetical scenario that you descibe would be an internal European matter. While external powers could protest as much as they like, they would not go sanction or otherwise go against EU.

This must be accepted as a fact.

All one could do is to open the borders of one's country to refugees.

The-powers-that-be, I assume you mean the freely elected representatives of American people, have decided that neo-Salafis could advance US interests half-way across the world.

This is not an issue of moral or cultural relativism; it is one of foreign policy.

[Babak Makkinejad]

"Politeness is a Heavenly Crown, put it on your head, go anywhere you want,"

Only the very rich or the very powerful can afford to be impolite all of the time.

The United States is neither that rich nor that powerful.

[Babak Makkinejad]

The murdered were not Malay for the most part; they were Chinese.

[Arun]

Rajpal was a publisher, in Punjab, British India, in the 1920s, when he published a pamphlet, "Rangila Rasul", that translates to "The colorful prophet", but means "the playboy prophet". Muslims were after his blood - he was not the author. He apologized, and withdrew the publication. To no avail. The third attempt on his life, by an illiterate carpenter, succeeded.

You can find traces of this in the New York Times, if you have access to the online archives.

The British authorities arrested, tried and convicted the murderer. Muhammad Iqbal, considered to be the National poet of Pakistan today, organized the appeal against the death penalty. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Quaid-e-Azam, Father of Pakistan, pleaded the case. In a dreadful irony, Professor Muhammad Taseer, father of Salman Taseer, who was gunned down by his bodyguard in Pakistan last year for asking for a reform of the blasphemy law, the father was a supporter of the murderer.

The appeal was denied, the murderer was hanged. The notables attended his funeral and made eulogies. Iqbal, I think, said, this young man surpassed all of us. The funeral procession was the largest gathering The city of Lahore had ever seen, and also for many years to come. A memorial mosque was built for this martyr in the cause of Islam.

There were two other such murders in other parts of India around that time. Iqbal penned a poem commemorating the three murderers, in Islamic idiom.

The only conclusion I can reach if I accept your argument, is that no Muslim who has ever existed was ever true to Islam.

[Babak Makkinejad]

I am not suggesting you act like a dead-dog-liberal, one must defend oneself when attacked.

I firmly oppose provocations.

[Kevin]

Is Silverman a dual citizen Israeli?

[turcopolier]

Kevin

No. pl

[Kevin]

There is alot of weird sh*t is happening recently. I heard a rumor going around that Gen. Dempsey's plane got hit because the aircraft's counter battery malfunctioned, it had a computer virus. He had just left Israel the the previous day to dissuade an attack on Iran. It was not a happy meeting- almost violent. No physical proof, but guess who the fingers point to. One week later a "post israel" intelligence report is leaked, dempsey comes out against a no-fly zone in Syria, comes out against joining Israel’s pending attack on Iran, and pulls out of a enlarged joint military exercises with Israel. This week a funny video with possible Israeli American financing pisses of Muslims and the American Ambassador is murdered -after- he condemns the propaganda.

[SAC Brat]

Can't. Resist.

What weapon do modern pirates like to use?

Aargh PG's.

[Adam L Silverman]

Kevin,

The War Game was NOT cancelled, it was postponed, and is expected to take place this Fall. Here's some real reporting on it from credible sources:
http://world.time.com/2012/08/31/exclusive-u-s-scales-back-military-exercise-with-israel-affecting-potential-iran-strike/
http://www.stripes.com/news/missile-defense-unit-in-germany-gets-state-of-the-art-tactical-operations-center-1.187345

Ambassador Stevens was NOT killed after he condemned the propaganda. It was US Embassy Cairo that attempted to deescalate the rhetoric on a fringe Egyptian tv show that had been broadcast over the weekend and was further riling up Egyptian demonstrators. The statement was made on twitter, and given the way that most embassies work was done through the Public Affairs Office. For clarification on this process, please see the link below for explanations by actual American foreign service personnel about how this actually works:
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/09/kristol-doubles-down.html
Ambassador Stevens was killed in Libya, so tweets from Embassy Cairo had nothing to do with it.

Here's the ACTUAL reporting on what happened with GEN Dempsey's airplane:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/08/the-global-note-general-dempseys-plane-hit-dispatch-from-aleppo-meles-zenawi-dead-nyad-ends-marathon-swim/
It was hit on the tarmac while on the ground in Afghanistan. I highly doubt that the defenses at Bagram Airfield, where the C-17 was parked and which is no where close to Israel, malfunctioned because the airplane happened to be in Israel the day before.

I strongly recommend google, appropriate key words for searches, and using credible sources like the AP wires, Reuters, McClatchy, the BBC, and the straight news reporting portions of CNN or ABC or CBS or NBC. Al-Jazeera English is also usually very good. And if it seems incredible, Snopes.com is always a good place to check on stuff.

[turcopolier]

SAC Brat

I figure TTG for gun captain. The boat: 100 foot motor sailor built in China, steel hull, teak fittings, red sails maybe. coupla sizable diesals. few cannon balls for weight for burials. need some watch standers. pl

[SAC Brat]

"Hopscotch" was great, saw it in the theatre and was happy my folks found a copy about a year ago.

Didn't seem like a Hollywood film, more like what could actually happen. Mistakes, errors, flaws, ego.

[Adam L Silverman]

I think you all need a ballista mounted over the bow!

[Mark Logan]

TTG, No! That thing would scare them away! There be prize money! Ventilation should be kept to a minimum. (Arrr!).

Looks to me the guy scammed his producers. Spent as little as possible on this "film", pocketed the rest. And Karma is...well...

[Tyler]

Can I be a boarding party member?

[The Twisted Genius]

Light stuff, AKs, PKMs, RPG-7s, grenades, knives, machetes. Probably some wild assed South East Asian edged weapons in the waters that PL wants to sail. They don't really want to damage, or god forbid, sink their prey prematurely. After all, they're in it for the booty.

[Tyler]

Apparently the USG asked google to review the video in question to see if it violated their policies and should be taken down.

[The Twisted Genius]

Perhaps something from the Cheoy Lee Shipyards. And tanbark sails, my favorite.

Aye captain! Standing by! Woe be to the squids' dicks that dare to cross our bow.