An anti-Muslim “Obsession”
A 60-minute version of the documentary, Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, is being distributed as a free insert by newspapers here in Ohio, including the Akron Beacon Journal, Canton Repository, Columbus Dispatch, Toledo Blade, Youngstown Vindicator, as well as Ohio editions of the New York Times. Three members of the International Socialist Organization branch at Kent State have received copies of the DVD via regular mail.
The filmmakers claim that the documentary is a critique of "radical Islam." The organization distributing the DVD is the Clarion Fund, which is run by a known McCain supporter and pro-Israel watchdog, film producer Raphael Shore. Shore says he started the organization solely to warn the American public about "radical Islam."
The documentary features interviews with figures known to be anti-Islam, such as Brigitte Gabriel of the American Congress for Truth. Gabriel is famous for her remarks saying the Arab world "has no soul" and is "dead set on killing," while "the difference...between Israel and the Arabic world is the difference between civilization and barbarism."
The film also features a large amount of interview time with Walid Shoebat. Shoebat claims to be a former member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), now converted to Christianity. The Jerusalem Post and the New York Times have both published articles that dispute his claims about his ties with PLO.
Obsession is full of historical misrepresentation and falsities. The "intellectual left," the film says, have been brainwashed into believing that United States imperialism has been responsible for the escalation of violence and extremism in the Middle East. At one point, an interviewee says that everyone in America felt in some way responsible for September 11, and questioned what their country did to deserve the terrorist attacks.
The truth is that the United States was, without question, ready to deploy troops in Afghanistan. Since September 11, we have seen through Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom the United States' imperial ambition to control the Middle East. The United States has conquered, occupied and exploited Afghanistan and Iraq. Many believe Iran is next in line on the minds of the supporters of American imperialism. Regime change in Iran has been on the Bush administration's agenda since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
After the presentation of anti-Muslim rhetoric, the film takes on a new course--arguing for a pre-emptive strike against Iran. Obsession attempts to make the argument that diplomacy with Iran will lead down the same path of British diplomacy with the Nazis.
The film concludes that if the United States negotiates with Iran, a second Holocaust will take place as Ahmadinejad carries out his supposed "promise" to use nuclear weapons to destroy Israel, the United States, freedom and liberty.
James Osborne, Kent, Ohio
