The Narrative of Contempt for Refugees Being Propagated by the Right Wing Noise Machine is Now Hardening in the Minds and Heart of the Party of Crazy

Last updated on: September 10, 2015 at 1:27 pm by Mark Shea

The Narrative of Contempt for Refugees Being Propagated by the Right Wing Noise Machine is Now Hardening in the Minds and Heart of the Party of Crazy 2015-09-10T13:27:36-07:00 Mark Shea

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Pope Francis called upon Catholics and people of good will to help the desperate refugees fleeing ISIS and the various horrors of war being visited on their victims (a situation we labored mightily to create both with our war of choice and with our chaotic bi-partisan support of anti-Assad “freedom fighters” who turned out to be ISIS). But that makes the Party of Personal Responsibility look bad, much as Sandy Hook made it look bad.

Solution: blame the victims and paint them as cowards, invaders, terrorists, parasites, and monsters.

Special incoherency bonus points: Just a couple of days ago, the accusation was that cowardly men (like the grieving father of the dead toddler photographed on the beach) were sending wives and children ahead of them into Europe as anchors to ensure their own safe passage. This was supposedly why the father of the drowned boy was a moral monster, making his family go first.

Now the charge is that men are going first and are therefore moral monsters. The point is, it is the victims of war, oppression and ISIS who are somehow to blame, not the Party of Personal Responsibility’s reckless war or feckless nativism.

Not to let Obama off the hook here either. Note the date:

A revealing light on how we got here has now been shone by a recently declassified secret US intelligence report, written in August 2012, which uncannily predicts – and effectively welcomes – the prospect of a “Salafist principality” in eastern Syria and an al-Qaida-controlled Islamic state in Syria and Iraq. In stark contrast to western claims at the time, the Defense Intelligence Agency document identifies al-Qaida in Iraq (which became Isis) and fellow Salafists as the “major forces driving the insurgency in Syria” – and states that “western countries, the Gulf states and Turkey” were supporting the opposition’s efforts to take control of eastern Syria.

Raising the “possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality”, the Pentagon report goes on, “this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran)”.

Which is pretty well exactly what happened two years later. The report isn’t a policy document. It’s heavily redacted and there are ambiguities in the language. But the implications are clear enough. A year into the Syrian rebellion, the US and its allies weren’t only supporting and arming an opposition they knew to be dominated by extreme sectarian groups; they were prepared to countenance the creation of some sort of “Islamic state” – despite the “grave danger” to Iraq’s unity – as a Sunni buffer to weaken Syria.

Uncategorized

The Least of These

Previous Post

September 10, 2015

A reader ponders more stuff about the whole lying controversy

Next Post

September 10, 2015 Prayer Request

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 September 2006 June 2006 July 2005 April 2005 May 2002 April 2002 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz