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'Obsession' Fuels The Flames Of Islamic Bias

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By Daniel Ruth

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 25, 2008

You may want to sit down for this little piece of blockbuster information, but according to "Obsession," a fear-mongering DVD being slipped into your Sunday paper, there are quite a few militant Islamic radicals who are really, really, really annoyed with us. Who knew?

Now there's a "Stop the presses!" moment for you.

"Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against The West," is the handiwork of the semi-shadowy Clarion Fund, which has distributed some 28 million copies of the DVD through direct mail and various newspapers, including The Tampa Tribune, throughout Pennsylvania, Nevada, Ohio, Michigan and, of course, Florida - otherwise known as "swing states."

Ah, coincidences abound!

As propaganda efforts go, the ham-handed "Obsession" is no "Triumph of the Will," Leni Riefenstahl's powerful 1935 documentary extolling Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. But they both share the common denominator of trying to scare the living bejabbers out of people.

And there's no question that on a "We're all doomed!" scale, "Obsession," would more than qualify for 10 puckers.

Montage Of Blood

The 60-minute film is filled with images of horrific al-Qaida-inspired terrorist acts around the world from the 9/11 attacks, to the London and Madrid train bombings, to the Bali nightclub assault with plenty of bodies and assorted carnage in between.

There is also no shortage of scenes of angry protesters and budding suicide bombers burning American flags, just in case the viewer forgets what the movie is all about.

"Obsession" endeavors to make the point that radical Islam is at war with the west and the Judeo-Christian culture - that would be you.

While the movie is certainly long on brutal, visceral imagery presented in an almost unending montage of blood, it is a lot shorter on reliability.

No Answers

For example, Daniel Pipes, a somewhat controversial academic, notes that out of the estimated 1 billion Muslims around world, between 100 million and 150 million of them support radical Islam.

To be sure that's a pretty scary number, but Pipes offers no data to support his claim. How did he arrive at the number? Did he take a poll? That would be enlightening! What does "support" for radical Islam mean? Pipes provides no answers.

You don't need the trembling, emotionally manipulative "Obsession" to remind us there are dark forces of radical Islamists and other ideologues, who wish us ill. We pretty much figured that out on Sept. 11, 2001. And contrary to the popular view offered by some drive-by talk radio bloviators, we haven't forgotten.

There's a lot of Islamic bias in this country and "Obsession" only helps to fuel those flames of illiterate prejudice.

Watch this film if you wish, but keep in mind you are being exposed to political propaganda on the eve of a presidential election. There's a reason "Obsession" is being targeted in pivotal swing states, and it's not for some altruistic educational value.

The Clarion Fund has not released the identity of its donors, a tidbit left out of the film's advertising material. At least we know who was behind "Triumph of The Will."

Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.

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