The new imperialists

Many of those who march in so-called anti-war rallies, are earnest
socialists who are against colonialism and imperialism. It's easy for them
to identify their enemies, namely the US and Israel. In Muslim parlance the
Great and Little Satans. But, wait a minute, which empire is the largest on
earth. It used to be the Soviet Empire, which split into 15 independent
countries. Now it is the Muslim Empire, that consists of 37 countries, all
bound together by their Islamic identity.
But, look at the history of Islam, everyone knows it started in ancient
Arabia (now Saudi Arabia, which was conquered by the Saudis and became
independent in 1932). The rest of the Muslim world was conquered by Islamic
Armies between 700-1700 ce. They extended in the West to Morocco and in the
east to Indonesia. The easternmost stretches of the Muslim Empire were
conquered the last, in some cases just before European conquest, before the
British in India, and the Dutch in Indonesia. Needless to say the local
cultures were ruthlessly suppressed to make way for the Islamic religion and
culture (VS Naipaul discusses some of this in his books).
But, the universal Caliphate lasted a mere 100 years, before the units broke
up into what eventually became those independent countries. Since then some
Muslims have always been trying to reunite the whole, and many give the
concept lip-service. Pan-Arabism had some sway in the 1950's under Gamal
Abdel Nasser of Egypt, including even a combining of Egypt and Syria into a
United Arab Republic, that lasted a mere 3 years (1958-61). But, the
Islamists like Osama bin Laden and his followers are fighting to establish a
new Caliphate in place of the current Islamic countries and the West. What
could that process of reconquest and colonization be called, nothing else
but Islamic imperialism. If Britain or the US set out to reconquer the
world noone would have a moment's hesitation calling it imperialism and
colonialism, but when the Muslims conquered their Empire and now seek to
re-unify it, and expand it, it is not politically correct to call it by
those biased terms, but that's what it is.
One can see the current riots of Muslims all over France in several ways.
They are poor people carrying out a revolution, demanding their fair share
of the French gateaux, or it could be considered a cri de coeur for more
attention to their own cultural rights. But, another way of looking at it,
especially the torching of schools and banks, is an intifada, an uprising to
control France. To turn France eventually into an Islamic Republic, into a
portion of the new Caliphate. As the Muslim rioting spreads around France,
the young Muslims in Germany, Belgium, Holland and Britain will get their
cue. They have already started terrorist attacks in those countries to
soften the opposition, now they will expand their actions and their demands.
They know what they want, and they are primed for the fight. The terrible
irony is that you will also see them marching with banners proclaiming that
they are anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist and in favor of peace!