https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2008/0519/p09s02-coop.html
I kid you not.
Why?
Because I wrote an oped that went viral globally and endured abuse and threats from various quarters. But that wasn't the real reason I suspect. The reason: How dare I depict our soon-to-be first Black American President in a poor light! I must be a racist, Islamophobe, homophobe, elitist, capitalist, zionist, populist, misogynist, ad nauseum. In short, persona non grata in the eyes of academics who adored Obama for some reason.
Why did I write this oped 'Barack Obama-Muslim Apostate? For Al Qaeda the answer, and the implication, is clear'? published in the reputable Christian Science Monitor. The reasons really had little to do with Obama actually.
THE STORY BEHIND THE OP-ED
On December 27th 2007, Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Paksitan's first female Prime Minister (1988-90; 93-96) was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. It was the second attempt by Pakistan's military via gullible proxies. This time they succeeded. The hosts of Osama bin Laden killed the woman who was calling them out, and was America's favorite to regain the premiership via the ballot box. Hiding OBL in Abbotabad wasn't something the military wanted her, as prime minister, to be privy to; nor the Americans for that matter.
On September 25th, 2007, Benazir Bhutto gave her last public address in America hosted by the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C. At the time I was working as a contractor with the US Marine Corps based out of Quantico. I attended her presentation and admired her courage for speaking truth to power vis-s-vis Pakistan's military apparatus. I was also a bit concerned (about her safety) and thought, notwithstanding her courage, it was a bit naive (or fatalistic) of her to be laying it all out to a Washington audience given what Pakistan's military apparatus is capable of. We were both familiar with it. Her, far more so.
After her presentation, I went up to speak to her. When I introduced myself, she met me like a long lost friend since my late father, a journalist, had been close to her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (a man who was hanged by the military junta under dubious circumstances), from the begining of Bhutto's political career. Notwithstanding her father's obvious flaws (I was no fan of him unlike my father who was loyal to the end), she was a devoted daughter. Something I could certainly relate to. It was the first, and last, time she hugged me as she left with my business card. After meeting her, I felt like I needed a shower. Although she was just another quintessential career politician with a corrupt past, I felt sorry for her. She seemed to have a death wish.
However, what she said that day was actually the truth spoken eloquently.
Here is her warning speech:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?201169-1/benazir-bhuttos-final-address-washington-dc-2007
The first assassination attempt on Benazir occurred on October 19th, 2007. The day she returned to Pakistan to contest the election. Two bomb attacks on her entourage killed almost 200 and wounded hundreds. She survived having just climbed back inside the armored vehicle. The junta meant business yet, strangely, no major changes were made in her security. On December 27th, 2007, with the help of suicide bombers, and decoys, the military cleverly linked to the tribal belt (the usual fall guys), the mission was accomplished. This time her armored vehicle couldn't save this brave but tragic woman. Benazir outlived her father by three years. She was 54. ZA Bhutto, her father, was 51, when they hanged him in 1979 after a kangaroo court trial. In the interim, both her brothers died violently. Her elder brother purportedly at the instigation of her husband (and possibly Benazir herself). Her father's nemesis, Zia ul Haq was assassinated along with most of the top military brass on August 17, 1988. So Pakistan ain't no picnic.
Anyhow, something snapped in me. It was time to identify, in some sort of public forum, Pakistan's military's role in the rise of Al Qaeda, and its suspected role in hosting OBL.
BACKGROUND ON THE OPED
People have said Obama and I have similar backgrounds. I disagreed/disagree. Sure we are both --defacto- Muslims born to Muslim fathers. But his father was a dishonorable bigamist, and a violent alcoholic to boot. While my father, married to one woman (my mom) for over forty years, had led an honorable life, was a man of integrity who had never played the 'colonialist' card to get ahead. He was all about merit. Politically, we were never on the same sheet of music (he had drunk deep at the socialist ideological well at university in the 1930s), but the neat thing about my father was that he encouraged independent thought, even if he didn't agree with some of my views. His love had always been unconditional. Enough said.
Obama was the perfect canvas --not that there weren't genuine concerns on how his Presidency would impact relations with the Muslim world, especially since by calling himself a 'Christian' he was, in essence, declaring his 'apostasy'; a death penalty offense according Islamic doctrine (Shariah Law). Should he have any personal baggage, along with the 'apostasy' card, he'd be open up to all sorts of black mail and/or leveraging.
I wrote the oped in March of 2008. Sent it out to the NY Times, Christian Science Monitor (CSM), Washington Post, etc etc. No bites. In late April, CSM's wonderful op ed editor expressed possible interest but I had to understandably tweak it. NY Times and Washington Post turned it down. Imagine my surprise to read Edward Luttwak's "President Apostate?" in the New York Times on May 12! It sounded incredibly similar to my theme to the extent that when CSM published my oped "Barack Obama-Muslim Apostate?" on May 19th, I received emails angrily accusing me of plagiarism (I still have the submission emails --including the one I sent to NY Times).
The title took me aback. The editor of Christian Science Monitor chose it. Authors of opeds generally don't select the title. Thought it was a wee bit incendiary but then noted the NYT title. My preference ("Obama in Osama's Eyes: A Jihadi's Dream Candidate") was perhaps just as incendiary in the eyes of Obama's supporters (I wasn't one given his background and associations).
CONTENTS OF THE OPED
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2008/0519/p09s02-coop.html
More on the contents later.
ON BECOMING A 'RECOVERING' ACADEMIC
Some, in hindsight, suggested that perhaps writing this op ed piece was a bad career move. Others --including a tenured professor friend of mine-- had mentioned that I shouldn't write anything 'controversial' as I searched for an academic position soon after completing my Phd in May of 2007. 'Stay below the radar...until you get tenure,' was the well meaning advice. But: WTH. Whatever happened to the pursuit of academic scholarship devoid of agendas (overt at least, the sub-conscious is another matter)?
Irrespective of the fact that the social sciences in America today have 'quotas' based on background, gender, ethnicity etc etc vice merit, I --as a female political scientist with a South Asian/Pushtun background-- should have had a fighting chance. I'd written a dissertation on a 'hot' topic (gender politics in the Muslim world), with the appropriate background (over 18 years living in the Muslim world), language skills etc etc. However, I would find out in my search for a tenured track position that I was persona non grata, especially amongst the feminists in academia.
Undeterred, I continued to apply for academic positions in political science departments commensurate with my academic training and expertise, specifically jobs that sought expertise in South Asia or the Middle East. Meanwhile to bolster my credentials, I wrote scholarly articles. As luck would have it, the article whittling process of scholarly journals is generally rigorous and involves blind peer review so merit still can level the playing field. Prestigious journals like Terrorism and Political Violence is one such example under the excellent stewardship of Dr David Rapoport. My article "Haram or Halal? Islamists' Use of Suicide Attacks as 'Jihad'" passed muster and was published by them as one of my first scholarly publications, for which I remain deeply grateful. Despite numerous scholarly articles and a book based on my dissertation (The Politics of State Intervention: Gender Politics in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran), I couldn't gain any traction in academia and, eventually, decided there was no point in any further scholarly articles, nor in applying for an academic position.
And, given the tragicomic state of affairs in academia today (social sciences), wherein often the lunatics seem to running the asylum thanks to a seemingly terrified stance of college administrations vis-a-vis ludicrous and vicious demands of a nasty vocal minority on campus these days, it may appear that there is indeed a silver lining.
See article:
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Academic-Job-Hunts-From-Hell-/236635
PS: Due to a hectic schedule will return to explore the contents of said oped upon my return with an edit.
