U.S. Ignores History Lessons

During a recent trip across snowy WYO, I listened to the unabridged version of Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883, by Simon Winchester. The author also narrates the audiobook and does a pretty good job, although he seemed smitten with his own Brit wit.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the book concerned the aftermath of the Krakatoa eruption. The cataclysm was one event among many that gave credence to prognostications of a Javanese Muslim seer – exploding volcanoes, dead cattle, huge waves. This helped spark the rise of Muslim fundamentalism in Java and Sumatra, then a part of the Dutch East Indies. Only a few days after the eruption, a Dutch soldier was hurt in a walk-by stabbing by a local dressed in white and wearing a turban. Another attack happened shortly thereafter, and the short-lived Banten Uprising took place in 1888.

Although the population was predominately Muslim at the time of the eruption, it was not the hardcore conservative Islam of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It was leavened by Buddhist and Hindu influences.

But, as more of the island’s Muslims traveled to Mecca, they came under the influence of Arab Muslim fundamentalists who preached "Death to Infidels." When they returned, the Javanese Muslims viewed their Dutch overlords through the eyes of The Hajj. Over time, this led to the fight for independence and modern-day Indonesia with its cadres of Muslim fundies.

Winchester refers to the West’s present confrontation with Muslim extremists. He notes how occupation of Muslim lands by infidels led to a home-grown insurgency in 1880s Java. Now we’re in the Muslim lands of Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush and his cronies are cooking up plans to wage war on Muslim Iran and Syria. We show no signs of learning the lessons of history.

And now we want to send more troops to Iraq? Al-Qaeda needs no recruiters when it has the U.S.A.