HRM Deborah of Israel: The Tenth Crusade

Make Your Choice?

Tenth Crusade is a rhetorical device that builds an analogy between the U.S.-led "War on Terrorism" and the historical Crusades.

Crusade

The word crusade was used by US President George W. Bush first on the day September 11, 2001 attacks, quoted below, and on the of the national day of mourning the death of the nearly 3,000 victims of those attacks. He spoke of "this crusade, this war on terrorism." The use of this figure of speech was criticized in Europe, and Arabic speaking countries. Supporters of the President's usage of crusade argue that from context Bush had used the word crusade in a military, non-religious sense, such as The Great Crusade which was the phrase used by General Eisenhower to describe the D-Day invasion of Europe to the Allied troops in his order of the day broadcast.

Tenth Crusade

In the September 7, 2002 issue of Counterpunch, columnist Alexander Cockburn authored an opinion column titled "The Tenth Crusade" in which he numbered the conflict to follow nine medieval Crusades by his count. In a Newsday article issued December 4, 2003, political commentator James Pinkerton cited two intermediate wars also called "Tenth Crusade." Pinkerton's renumbering of the conflict as the "Twelfth Crusade" has been overshadowed by references to the title of the Cockburn column. Cockburn is thus usually credited with coining the term, which is almost exclusively used by critics of the US operations.

Critics of this term eschew its use and claim the analogy is misleading.

Quotations

Bush's War on Terror

US President George W. Bush, from a press conference upon arrival at the South Lawn of the White House, September 16, 2001.

"We need to go back to work tomorrow and we will. But we need to be alert to the fact that these evil-doers still exist. We haven't seen this kind of barbarism in a long period of time. No one could have conceivably imagined suicide bombers burrowing into our society and then emerging all in the same day to fly their aircraft — fly U.S. aircraft into buildings full of innocent people — and show no remorse. This is a new kind of — a new kind of evil. And we understand. And the American people are beginning to understand. This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while. And the American people must be patient. I'm going to be patient. But I can assure the American people I am determined, I'm not going to be distracted, I will keep my focus to make sure that not only are these brought to justice, but anybody who's been associated will be brought to justice. Those who harbor terrorists will be brought to justice. It is time for us to win the first war of the 21st century decisively, so that our children and our grandchildren can live peacefully into the 21st century."

Alexander Cockburn, "The Tenth Crusade," Counterpunch, September 7, 2002.

"Islamic fanatics flew those planes a year ago and here we are with a terrifying alliance of Judaeo-Christian fanatics, conjoined in their dreams of the recovery of the Holy Lands of the West Bank, Judaea and Samaria. War on Terror? It's back to the late thirteenth century, picking up where Prince Edward left off with his ninth crusade after St Louis had died in Tunis with the word Jerusalem on his lips."

James Pinkerton, "Century In, Century Out - It's Crusade Time," Newsday, December 4, 2003.

"And now, in 2003, the Americans, the Twelfth Crusaders. The West is no longer 'Christendom,' but we, as first cousins to the Europeans, retain the old faith and bring new kinds of idealism, such as democracy and human rights. But the Crusader spirit is still there; it's still about bringing civilization and salvation of a backward people. As the born-again George W. Bush says, 'This is about good vs. evil.'"

The Tenth Crusade

by Dennis O'Brien

The United States and Great Britain are currently engaged in the Tenth Crusade, an effort to assert control over the Middle East. This crusade began in 1983, when Ronald Reagan sent troops into Lebanon to prop up a Western-leaning government after Israel had invaded the country. Up till then the United States had not been the target of car bombings and the like. But within months the Marine barracks in Beirut were bombed, killing hundreds, and the United States has since been lumped in with earlier Crusaders as an aggressor deserving of counterattack.

What is the source of such a conflict? Although some see it as a struggle for control of oil, that is only the latest wrinkle of a conflict deeply seated in the psyches of all concerned. It is the spiritual aspects, not the economic, that hold the key.

Four great religions trace their origins, both physical and spiritual, to Jerusalem: Judaism, Western Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Islam. It is where the one God revealed himself to Abraham, the patriarch of all these faiths; where Solomon and Herod built the temples that held the Ark of the Covenant between that God and their people; where Jesus suffered and died for the sins of mankind and rose triumphant from the dead; where the prophet Mohammed conversed with Allah and ascended into heaven; and where now stands the Islamic Dome of the Rock, built on the very ruins of the earlier temples. Even now, certain Christian groups in this country are urging Congress to support Israel because "God is not yet done with the Jewish people," echoing a near-apocalyptic desire to found the New Jerusalem after the final conflict.

These religions have formed the basis of civilizations that now encompass most of the world. They have each in their time sought to expand through physical force rather than moral persuasion. The current world crisis is the latest chapter of that conflict, with the potential of being the deadliest. Yet even if they are not bound by the moral imperative that any conflict should be resolved without violence, they should at least accept the historical lessons that tolerance and polycentrism are ultimately in their self-interest. The time has come for all parties in the conflict to acknowledge their own and each other's interests and to share the one city that cannot be divided: Jerusalem.

As described by Arnold Toynbee in his multi-volume opus A Study of History, there are five civilizations that currently encompass most of the world's population:

1. The Far Eastern, or Sinic, society, which formed its first nation-state in the third century B.C., with Buddhism as its spiritual basis. It includes China, Japan, and most of southeast Asia.

2. Western Christendom, which grew out of the Roman Empire, and extends from central Europe around the globe through the Americas and on to Australia.

3. Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which evolved from a split in both the Roman Empire and the Christian church, and extends from southeastern Europe eastward through Russia to the Pacific.

4. The Indic society, centered in the sub-continent of India, which formed its first nation-state in the fourth century A.D. with Hinduism as its spiritual basis.

5. The Islamic society, extending from northwest Africa through the Middle East to Indonesia, which began in the eighth century A.D.

These civilizations have survived the bi-polar world of communism versus capitalism. They are even more complex than George Orwell's tripartite world of Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania as envisioned in 1984. Yet for the most part they follow the pattern described in 1984's pivotal chapter, "War is Peace": they are constantly maneuvering in an effort to extend their control over the fringes of the others' spheres of influence.

It was probably easy for Orwell to lump together India and the Far East. But his great mistake was under-estimating the resilience of the Islamic society and its ability to maintain the cultural identity of a broad swath of humanity that refused to be absorbed by the dominant societies around it. Adapting to the dynamic tensions remaining between these societies is now the greatest problem facing the world.

There are, of course, other civilizations/societies in the current world, but they have not coalesced into the universal state and unifying spiritual force that mark those above. Certainly the culture of sub-Saharan Africa is of immense importance to the development of humanity. It is no co-incidence the most reasonable leader during this crisis, Kofi Annan of the United Nations, was nurtured by that culture. And there are other smaller, fractured, arrested, and fossilized cultures that make up the rich fabric of the human psyche. Indeed, one of these, Judaism, although the basis of only one small nation-state, is nonetheless at the geo-political center of a dispute that threatens the rest.

The resolution of this crisis thus requires not only that the Islamic world share Jerusalem with Israel, but that the Western world share Jerusalem with Islam. We cannot pretend to be uninvolved with that decision. It is the box outside the box that must be addressed with courage, compassion, and wisdom.

Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2002
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited

THERE WERE NINE CRUSADES

BUSH'S MAKES THE TENTH

By: Jim Moore

If ever I had a tough article to write, this is it. Because I will try to explain why I believe America has never won a war, and never will, including the war in Iraq.

Oh, we may win this war (Bush thinks we will) but we will have won nothing because the Enemy we fight will never be conquered, at least in our time.

Yes, we have chalked up many victories since the war with England that made us a nation, but they were victories only in the physical sense. Those wars, like all wars, were secular conflicts, blood and guts battles, if you will. But they have little in common with the perennial state of war human beings have been in since Cain slew Abel, up to the day Joe slew Ahmed in Iraq.

Seeing it from a "human" perspective, I confess I had big doubts about this being a "spiritual" war. It's just too manifest, too evident, to capable of resolution.

However, the evidence that mortal conflicts between human beings repeats itself until it all melds together, has convinced me that we have been fighting, and will continue to fight, only ONE WAR throughout the millenniums, with only the methods of killing "upgraded"; from fangs, to bludgeons, to blades, to bombs, to nuclear annihilation.

I believe I could give you a dozen examples in history of what I mean, but two examples, though a thousand years apart, stand out because of their distinctive relevance: the opposing sides battling not just for territory, riches, or possessions, but for something far more important and contentious: their beliefs.

The first example occurred nearly a thousand years ago.

The Crusades from the 11th to the 14th century were nine long and violent wars between the European Christians and the Muslims, from who they were trying to take back the Holy Land.

Jerusalem had been conquered in the 7th century by the Muslims who held it for four hundred years. During that time, Christians were persecuted and the Holy Sepulcher was despoiled. Byzantine Emperor Alexius appealed to the West for help. And in 1095, the first Crusade began.

We don't have the space, nor is it necessary to describe the many battles that took place between the Crusaders and the Muslims from 1095 to 1271. But several key points must be made here to back my contention that we will have "war without end" as long as human beings are on earth.

THE LOCATION.

The Crusades' starting place of conflict was along the east Mediterranean coast; the same geographic area that has been a source of human tragedy from the time of Christ. However, what began as a war to save the Holy Land apparently got out of hand, and the Crusaders marched and battled across Europe as far north as Scandinavia.

THE CHURCH.

Since it was Christians who went on the Crusades to recover the Holy Land, the papacy had a interest in instigating and supporting the Holy Wars. These included Pope Urban II, Pope Gregory VIII, Pope Innocent III, and others. With church heavyweights urging war against Muslims, the conflict between spiritual and material gain became increasingly intense.

THE ALMIGHTY.

Convinced that God was "on their side" the Crusaders had few qualms about extending their war against Muslims wherever it took them. Thus, once the Holy Land was free of non-Christians, the inclination was to follow through, to fight, and defeat them, wherever they may be. And they did.

So we have (l) a key location from which to wage war, (2) sanction of the church to conduct war, and (3) belief that God is on our side, therefore we cannot fail.

A powerful combination.

Sound familiar?

It should, because the very same war against the Muslims of Islam that occurred a thousand years ago is happening again today.

It is like a Tenth Crusade---led by President George Bush---with all the ugly ingredients of the nine Crusades before it. Let's make the connection.

1. THE LOCATION.

Iraq is ideal for launching the Tenth Crusade. It is a country surrounded by Iran, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, This puts it at a strategic point from which the Bush administration can launch strikes against any of the Muslim and other non-Christian nations. Just as the east Mediterranean coast was the central point of the Crusades against the Muslims in the 12th century.

2 THE CHURCH.

Most Christian churches in America have sanctioned the war in Iraq by their silence, or their lack of dissent, even on religious grounds. In fact, Christians, and especially Fundamentalists, acting from their interpretations of the Bible, have joined the neo-conservatives running America's foreign policy, in waging war against Iraq. That gives Bush's Crusade a church "blessing" to wage a Holy War. Just as the church had sanctioned the Holy War a thousand years ago.

3. THE ALMIGHTY.

George Bush has strongly indicated that in a "conversion" experience, God told him that he had been chosen to lead America in a battle to free the world of tyranny. That this freedom was a Christian virtue which did not include Muslims of Islam and other non-Christians, didn't bother Bush. He was, after all, answering the call to Holy War in whatever nations the fight took him. Just as the Crusaders warred against many non-Christian nations in millenniums past.

I don't know whether this is coincidence or simply history repeating itself, but I am convinced of one thing. Since the Beginning, we have been, and always will be, fighting only ONE war and ONE enemy, albeit at different times, with different weapons, and in different places.

Until God ends it.

"Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact."