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Moderate Muslims Stand to Gain or Lose a Lot from War in Afghanistan
Aired November 06, 2001 - 05:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to take a moment now to discuss a group of people who stand to lose or gain a lot from this war, yet we haven't heard that much from them, those people, the moderate majority of Muslims. The so-called moderate Muslims condemned the terrorist attacks on the U.S. as a violation of Islam, but they have long been critics of U.S. foreign policy and don't care much for the ongoing military retaliation in Afghanistan.
With that background, we bring in Peter Ford. He is the chief European correspondent for the "Christian Science Monitor." Joins us today from Paris. I should say bonjour.
PETER FORD, "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": Bonjour.
KAGAN: Good to see you.
When President Bush came out and said to the world...
FORD: Thanks very much.
KAGAN: ... you are with us or against us, it did put a lot of Muslims, especially moderate Muslims, in a tough place.
FORD: It does, indeed. It puts them between a rock and a hard place because they're hearing the same thing from Mr. Bin Laden and Mr. Bush -- either you're with me or you're against me and that's it.
Now, for a lot of moderate Muslims, they deplore what happened in New York and Washington on 9-11. But the focus has shifted, really, in much of the Arab world, to 10-7, which is the day that the bombing began in Afghanistan. And the natural sympathy that Muslims feel for their fellow Muslims who are under bombardment has rather wiped out the thoughts they had about what happened in New York and Washington, which means that moderates are having a hard time getting their message across.
KAGAN: So as you write in the "Christian Science Monitor," it's as if this group of people is remembering October 7, the day the bombing began, more than they remember the atrocities of September 11.
FORD: Well, yes, they certainly remember what happened in September. But they're more immediately concerned by what's happening now in Afghanistan and they're seeing a lot of images on television, like Al Jazeera and elsewhere, of children and other civilians who are injured or killed by the bombardment, which is inevitable in this sort of a campaign, and that is arousing their sympathy and their anger with the United States.
Under those sorts of circumstances, Muslim leaders, whether they be political or religious, are not finding a ready audience for stand up criticism of radicals and extremists.
KAGAN: That sounds to me like a P.R. failure, a public relations failure by the United States.
FORD: Well, I think the United States has recognized that it has more to do on the public relations front. It's setting up new offices in Pakistan and elsewhere around the world to try and get its message across that this is a war on terror and not a war on Islam. But that's not the way at the moment it's very widely perceived. And I think the moderates have other problems, as well. They have the problem that they have not had a great deal of money to build schools and mosques the way the more radical and extremists have who have been well funded from countries such as Saudi Arabia, and they have in many countries such as Egypt or Algeria, they have 10 or 15 years of history where the radicals, the armed extremists have been targeting not just government troops in their war against the governments and just -- and foreigners. They've been targeting intellectual opponents such as the moderates themselves. You have to be a pretty brave man to stand up against that sort of threat.
KAGAN: On the other side, is it possible that Osama bin Laden made a mistake with his latest taped statement that he just released where he talks about the leaders of Arab states, that if you're helping the U.S., that you could be an infidel as well?
FORD: Well, I think what he says, what he's addressing is the problem that the governments of Arab and Muslim countries are pretty much with the United States to differing degrees. What he's counting on is popular opinion in those countries, which is often pretty resentful of their governments. Whether he'll have any success or not I think depends on the way that the war goes and how much longer the bombing goes on and how many civilian casualties it causes.
KAGAN: And short of stopping that bombing, what does the U.S. need to do to help sway public opinion from the moderate Muslim community toward what the U.S. is doing?
FORD: Well, I think there are certain foreign policy moves it could make and, indeed, has already made. Mr. Bush came out not long after September the 11th to say that he was, after all, in favor of a Palestinian state, which is not a position he'd ever held before. But he knows that that's the sort of thing that moderate Muslim opinion wants to hear. They want to see America addressing their grievances.
KAGAN: And just quickly, do you think within the moderate Muslim community, do you think they need to speak out more, as well?
FORD: Well, I think in certain countries they have. Clearly in Europe and the United States, moderate Muslims are much more vocal and much bolder and they have said exactly what they think about September the 11th and what they think about Mr. Bin Laden. In the rest of the Muslim world, in the Middle East, in Indonesia and in other countries, it's harder for them. But I think that with time and with some organization and with a little bit of encouragement from elsewhere, they will start to stand up, yes.
KAGAN: Peter Ford, our time in our satellite window is closing quickly. I'll take this chance to say thank you. Thanks for joining us today.
FORD: Thank you.
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