Just words from a witness (to Mrs. O'Neill and other participants)

Submitted by Leonid Kaplun-Leonov (United States), May 24, 2007 at 18:25

First please excuse my broken English.

15 years ago I started traveling to Muslim countries on Oil business, learning their peoples through daily common work. I did not have any anti-Muslim bias - first because of my Soviet education (in the USSR we knew that all peoples are good and smart, so all ills come from American and Western exploitation), second – because some part of my blood is from Muslim nation.

My Russian origin helped me to win their hearts and to get their sincere opinions. The results were "remarkable" (as Dobbs says). Virtually all of them hate America and the West - even those who do not know what and where it is. Everybody hates Jews, - even those who never saw (in S-E Asia) and know nothing about them. Virtually everybody is sympathetic to terrorists, mostly directly, sometimes round-about: - "Well, this is all because of American policy…" (Well, you saw many of them on American TV, didn't you? Not a single sound of clear denunciation.)

The picture is very consistent from Tunisia to Indonesia, with some deviations in Turkey and few Muslims in Russia.

Please understand me correctly. I am a 60-years old outsider (recently I got citizenship - too late to consider myself American). I am Russian/Greek, non-religious, neither "right" nor "left", just an engineer - a person of facts and logic. I only report my observations, just like in my engineering experiments.

I think learning the Muslim way is a good idea. But before you leave your children with Muslim tutor, first learn it yourself, especially its practical implementations. Chances are - you may want to change priorities for kids after that. No, I don't mean prohibitions etc. Simply wait till they mature and obtain solid moral ground. YOUR moral ground. Otherwise chances for more "American Taliban" will increase. I know what I am saying: in my long business trips these guys tried to convert me several times. They are great masters of brain-washing, even with adults.

I learned them well. To make my 15-years observation short, the problem is not exactly with Koran. As in our religious books, in Koran you find justification for all kinds of behavior – peaceful or not. (However you may notice: at the beginning, when Mohammad was weak with few supporters, Koran is more tolerant. By the end, getting stronger, he - and correspondingly Koran - became more vicious).

Reasons for fury and terror have also nothing to do with American policy. Muslims created a society that is extremely harsh to young males. Incredibly strong prohibitions of contacts between men and women other than in marriage, plus polygamy for wealthy, made life of average single male simply miserable. For centuries this boiler was overheated but kept under the lid of traditions, public opinion etc. Also important – in the past these males did not have any visual, powerful examples of different life, alternative behavior. Everything changed when TV came to every house. The lid began to leak. – "Look, Ali, their girls are walking almost naked!" – "Yes, Ahmed, and look, they monopolized all blonds!"

TV pours salt not only on this wound. When you see your "civilization" is incapable of doing almost anything without Western help (even to pump your own oil), it hurts. Jealousy is a root of Anti-Americanism everywhere and it works here too. But it is the burning sexual problem in Muslim world that is untold but real source of their fury.

For those who think I am kidding – what is the highest reward for their suicidal bombers? – Correct, 77 virgins in haven. Now almost everybody knows it. But what is the reward for female bombers? For those who does not know – to be one of those 77…

I wouldn't rush to assist spreading this "culture" in the US.

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