Do Radical Islamists Run the Middle East?
Understanding the Language of Islamic Extremists

The show can be seen on YouTube.

GLENN BECK, HOST: Coming up, the real story behind the president's speech last night, and award winning actor Brian Dennehy will be here. I want to ask him how out of touch is Hollywood with the rest of America. That's coming up next.

ANNOUNCER: Tonight's episode is brought to you by the 2006 elections. If you want everything you care about to be turned into pabulum by self- serving yahoos, follow the 2006 elections.

BECK: Let's be honest with each other. We live in a country now where people don't say what they're really thinking. I'm going to try to do that every night. Regarding President Bush's speech last night, here's what people are saying: "He's just trying to politicize 9/11 just to justify the war in Iraq." Well, here's what I'm thinking: "Shut up. Stop playing politics."

Did you see the attack on our embassy in Syria? The Middle East is being overrun by 10^th century barbarians. That's what I thought at 5 a.m. this morning, and I thought what is this? If they take over—the barbarians storm the gate and take over the Middle East, this is what I'm thinking at 5 a.m. in the morning. We're going to have to nuke the whole place.

Gee, I don't want to be thinking that. And I certainly don't want to get on national television and say it later. But as nuts as that sounds, here's why that insane thought went through my head today, and it's because I know about this much of the history of the Middle East.

Let me introduce you to some other insane thinkers. It's called the government of Syria. They are no stranger in fighting terror. In the 1980s, the Muslim Brotherhood tried to overthrow the Syrian government. How did the Syrian government respond? They basically slaughtered as many as 40,000 people. Nuts, right?

But here's what I was thinking this morning. Did they do it because they're monsters that I just can't relate to or are they doing that because that's the only way to defeat extreme evil, to wipe it out completely?

And remember, the Syrians are not really the good guys in our scenario. I don't want to become the Syrians, but what are the other alternatives when you're dealing with people who won't stop—nothing will stop them until they kill you? And it's a pattern in the Middle East. Or at least it feels that way.

Do you remember when we had those abomination abuses happening in Abu Ghraib? Remember, I'm a conservative. I was the one that said, "Come on, this dishonors our military. We shouldn't behave like this." Remember when we were criticized for Abu Ghraib? Well, we've just transferred power of Abu Ghraib over to the Iraqis. Probably didn't hear that, did you?

The new Abu Ghraib is making the old American Abu Ghraib look like a Six Flags theme park. One American witness said that he heard screams of terror when he went back to Abu Ghraib. A prisoner actually grabbed him by the neck and begged him, "Please don't leave us." There have been multiple allegations of torture with devices like branding irons. It's bad. And this prison is now being run by the good Iraqis. Holy cow.

Here's the debate we should be having in this country right now. Not whether—whether Bush last night messed up the war in Iraq and was using it in his speech for political gain. Here's the debate. How do we win against an enemy like this?

We don't see the world in the same way the people in the Middle East do. Even the good people there in the Middle East see it a little differently. The whole region is filled with good people, just like you and me. All they want to do is have a job, spend time with their family, and watch TV. At least that's—that's what I believe. I can't believe they're different than me. It's the people who lob grenades at embassies that we have to confront and eliminate.

It is vital for us to remember the Middle East is a lot like Germany prior to World War II. It was a minority of Germans that put Hitler into power. Islamic fundamentalists, they don't really comprise the majority of the people in the Middle East, and if they're left unchecked, they're going to take over and dominate just like Hitler did. And then, it's a slippery slope right into hell, man. It really is.

So here's what I'm thinking today. Yes, it seems like most of the Middle East is filled with 10th century barbarians. But that's not the story. There are forces in the region that are desperate to drive us back to those times, and we have to eliminate them before they take over the Middle East and destroy us all.

Daniel Pipes is here. He's the director of the Middle East Forum. Daniel, tell me I'm wrong, brother.

DANIEL PIPES, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST FORUM: I'd agree with almost everything you said. I'd disagree with a few points.

BECK: OK.

PIPES: But basically you're right. And I think the key word you made—you said was sick. The Middle East is a sick region politically. Very sick. And you gave a—you gave a dramatic illustration of it.

BECK: OK, so let's take Syria here. Who do you think is behind Syria today? The bombing of our embassy?

PIPES: Either this is another incident of radical Islam, of terrorism such as happened not just in the United States and Europe but also in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and other parts of the world. Iraq, all the time.

Or it is a—an operation that was devised by the Syrian government in order to get out of a sticky situation or improve its circumstances. I don't know what it is, but I certainly think we have to be open to the second possibility.

BECK: OK, wait a minute. Wait a minute. The debate, what are they trying to get out of? What are they trying to do here? If it is the second idea.

PIPES: The Syrians are in a lot of trouble, and they are, perhaps, looking to this terrorism incident to fix things. For example, there are going to be European and other troops in Lebanon on their border.

Israel has indicated a lot of discontent with the Syrian government. The U.S. has. So a lot of the Arab neighbors are discontented with them. So this is a way to perhaps get out of the news. What's striking is that they've done this many times before.

BECK: Isn't—isn't Syria—basically, I mean, if you use a World War II analogy. And I think Syria is the head of the snake. I don't know how you stand on this, but I think they are just—they're Germany in World War II. Isn't Syria kind of the Austria to Iran's Germany?

PIPES: Except Syria is not occupied by Iran. They're making their own decisions, but I have no argument with you that Syria is far lesser of the two states and Iran is the real threat.

BECK: So if Syria did this, would that implicate, would that implicate—I mean, at least in your mind would that implicate that, I mean, at least Iran knew that...

PIPES: I doubt it.

BECK: You doubt it?

PIPES: I think the Syrians make their own tactics. And for example, they murdered the former president of Lebanon a year and a half ago. And through the 1980s—you may not recall this, but there was a consistent drum beat of seizing American captives and then releasing American captives. They were playing this double game.

They attacked the Danish—allowed the Danish embassy to be burned back in February. The U.N.—U.N. mission was attacked some time ago. It happens over and over again. Syria is a police state.

BECK: Right.

PIPES: Nobody can do something like this, for the most part, without permission. So one has to be really suspicious that this might be a Syrian operation.

BECK: Is Syria—do they have—I mean, the ayatollah in Iran, he's got an end-times view. I mean, they are—they're spooky.

PIPES: Yes.

BECK: Is Syria the same kind of...

PIPES: No.

BECK: ... thinking?

PIPES: What you have in Syria is a decayed leftist autocracy that 40 years ago had some life and meaning but today means nothing at all. And what's so striking about Syria, as in North Korea, it's a republican government. It's not a monarchy. As in North Korea, it's the son of the previous dictator that's now the present dictator.

BECK: Right.

PIPES: It is a wild republican and monarchical scheme they have going on there.

BECK: The people that—the radical Islam, I mean, the nut jobs, do we have to wipe them all out? Is there a way to not win this without just basically doing what the Syrians did?

PIPES: If you look at the prior two ideological battles we fought, against Germany, against the Soviet Union, Germany, you can say we wiped out, but the Soviet Union we defeated in a far more subtle way.

BECK: Yes, but...

PIPES: I'm not exactly sure which way this will happen, but the key is we have to defeat them.

BECK: Right.

PIPES: What that means exactly will take a lot of discussion and research, but we have to defeat them.

BECK: OK. Daniel, I'm a big fan of yours. Thanks you very much. I appreciate your time.

PIPES: Thank you.

Related Topics:  Radical Islam, US policy receive the latest by email: subscribe to daniel pipes' free mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.