"She has become well paid and famous because she demonizes her fellow Muslims."

Ayaan Hirsi Ali first came to fame in the Netherlands, after emigrating there from Somalia. She was elected to the Dutch parliament and became known for criticizing that nation's Muslim immigrant communities, especially for their treatment of women and girls. The story of a young, pretty, African woman finding success and prestige in a foreign land was tailor made for Hollywood, or for right-wingers looking for the perfect person to excuse government sponsored mass murder.

The fairy tale story is just that. Ayaan Hirsi Ali exults in the lowest depths of self-hatred. She has become well paid and famous because she demonizes her fellow Muslims. As with black Americans or any other group of despised people, the self haters, the Uncle Toms, are given a clear path to fortune and favor.

Ali's political party soured on their relations with her when it was revealed that she lied in order to enter the Netherlands with refugee status. It turned out that the famous politician was like millions of people from poor countries who will do anything to live in wealthy western nations.

When Ali left the Netherlands to live in the United States, her true ideology came to light. She became a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, one of the most powerful right-wing think tanks in the nation. Other AEI scholars include John Bolton, Lynne Cheney, David Frum, Newt Gingrich, Charles Murray, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and John Yoo.

"Ali's true ideology came to light."

John Bolton argued in favor of "blowing up" the United Nations and was rewarded by the Bush administration with an appointment as U.N. ambassador. Former Bush speech writer David Frum coined the phrase "axis of evil" to legitimize wars of aggression against the rest of humanity. Charles Murray is author of The Bell Curve, the paean to white supremacist notions of black inferiority. Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz planned the genocidal occupation of Iraq. John Yoo is a White House lawyer and author of secret memos giving Bush authority to ignore the constitution and arrest and torture whomever he wants whenever he wants.

These are Ali's cohorts, and her relationship with them should never be forgotten when she utters her noxious words about "defeating" Islam. She has no concern for Muslims who are being killed by the United States military, currently the most prolific killer on earth. Her latest screed published on the op-ed pages of the New York Times, exhorted "moderate" Muslims to fight the "extremists" in their religion. As always, those in the powerless group are asked to condemn actions for which they have no responsibility.

White Christian Americans are never asked why they don't condemn the Iraq occupation that has cost nearly one million lives. They aren't asked to condemn racism, warfare, torture, or sexism. They aren't asked because their group is the group in power, and that connection gives them immunity from any and all criticism. White supremacy and the protections it grants are alive and well, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of its most prominent evangelists.

"Ali believes that the United States has the right to occupy other nations or kill people whenever it wants."

If Ali and others are outraged when rape victims are punished under Sharia law, they should also be concerned when Iraqi women are killed by American bullets. They should care that Muslim men are held without trial in Guantanamo and subjected to torture. Palestinian women have died in childbirth when Israeli soldiers at check points denied them access to medical care. Because these Muslims are not victimized by other Muslims, they do not merit a mention from Ali.

Not only is she selective in her indignation, but Ali believes that the United States has the right to occupy other nations or kill people whenever it wants. "The land that the United States should have occupied on the 12th of September should have been Saudi Arabia," she says. Ali sees nothing wrong with bombs, cholera outbreaks or theft of oil wealth.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a neocon, albeit in black face, and she goes down the line in faithful agreement with all of their horrific beliefs. "I completely and utterly agree with John Bolton that talking to Iran is a sheer waste of time." When she was honored by the American Jewish Congress in 2006 she openly called for war against Iran. She didn't even bother using the Bush administration nuclear canard:

"Either way we who live in the free world have war with Iran under Ahmedinejad. So the choice is not between peace and war. The choice that we have to make is between war with Ahmedinejad with a nuclear bomb, or war with Ahmedinejad without a bomb. Not making the right choice between these two terrible alternatives could spark off a present-day Holocaust."

"She is the worst kind of extremist, a lover of government sponsored mass murder."

Dead Muslims are no problem for Ms. Ali, just as long as the United States is their killer. She doesn't even care about other Somalis. The United States-instigated devastation of her homeland has not prompted her to utter one word of condemnation. Under the guise of fighting al-Qaeda, the American military is once again killing and starving thousands of people. No matter. They were killed by a government run by Christians and Jews. There is no need for anyone in those groups to be "moderate" or condemn "extremism."

Ms. Ali should ask the question of herself that she asks of others. Where are the moderate Muslims? She certainly is not one. She is the worst kind of extremist, a lover of government sponsored mass murder. Of course, the government doing the killing has to be the right one. If it is, no one has to speak of moderates and extremists. For Ayaan Hirsi Ali might makes right, as long as the "superior" people are the mighty ones.



* Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. Ms. Kimberley' maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.