Why America fails in Middle East

The Blade, Editorial

For most Americans, the tragic frequency of brutal terrorist attacks launched against each other by the extremists of the two major branches of Islam are difficult to understand, but that may be because we are rooted in the Enlightenment and in the Arab world the enlightenment, mostly, has never taken hold.

What do we mean by the Enlightenment? Basically, the 18th century’s embrace of science, empirical evidence, and reason. And the application of these things to the organization of society.

The Enlightenment — and Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith — promoted religious tolerance, freedom of thought and conscience for the individual, and the rule of law.

Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence — indeed Mr. Jefferson himself with his interest in science, architecture, and agronomy — epitomizes the American Enlightenment.

In the Arab world, the values of toleration, science, and freedom of thought have never enjoyed the almost-universal support they now have in the West.

In Baghdad recently, ISIS (Sunni Muslims) claimed credit for a terrorist attack in a Shia Muslim neighborhood that killed and maimed dozens, including women and children. To claim credit is to be proud.

That same day there were at least two other terrorist bombings in the Iraqi capital, where sectarian violence is commonplace.

But the schisms go both deeper and wider than simply Sunni against Shia and vice versa.

In Tehran, recently, the extremely conservative religious bloc that exerts great influence over the Iranian parliament blocked a reformist politician from taking the seat she had won handily in an election. Why? Because photographs of her in Europe and China that surfaced on social media sites showed she was not wearing the traditional female head-covering.

The Dispute Settlement Committee of Branches, the group that makes such determinations, ruled that Minoo Khaleghi had “betrayed” Iran by being seen in such a disrespectful way. Ms. Khaleghi and her supporters declared the case against her was politically motivated.

“I am a Muslim woman, adhering to the principles of Islam,” she wrote in response to her critics. And indeed she is. That’s not good enough.