Ten Ways to Improve Western Foreign Policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ten Ways to Improve Western Foreign Policy Toward Islam

On the anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and with a new administration focused on confrontation with Afghanistan, Jürgen Todenhöfer has an idea: Propose 10 ways to fundamentally change Western policy toward Islam.

His theses are contained in his book WHY DO YOU KILL? (with a Foreword by Anthony Arnove) to be released in April.

Todenhöfer recently returned from a solo trip to Iraq where he visited Falluja, Ramadi, Baghdad and Sadr City meeting with residents, resistance fighters and key officials in the Iraqi government. And, prior to that he spent time in and near Afghanistan. He met with the people whose tale he tells in WHY DO YOU KILL? — a book that takes readers inside the impact of the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the Islamic resistance they have spawned. In Iraq, resistance fighters fend off U.S. occupiers and Al Qaeda. Todenhöfer warns that the U.S. will repeat its Iraq mistakes if it blindly dives into Afghanistan as President Barack Obama proposes with a buildup of troop strength. Todenhöfer was an unofficial unembedded reporter during the Iraq invasion — and roamed without the consent of the U.S. military or Iraq government — interviewing resistance fighters firsthand and proves that might doesn't make right.

In addition, Todenhöfer has crafted his Ten Theses (see below) that each political and cultural leader of the world must ask to subvert the past century's war paradigm and forge a peaceful path in this century. He recently spoke in Tehran where he outlined his ten theses to an Iranian audience. To avoid the pitfalls as his predecessor in Iraq, President Obama must adopt these ten simple prescriptions for peace.

Todenhöfer's explosive book takes U.S. readers on a never-before-seen tour behind "enemy" lines in Iraq where they meet resistance fighters who want American troops, as well as Al Qaeda terrorists and the foreign-backed private militias of Iraqi politicians, out of their country. Troops in Afghanistan will face the same resistance fighters, unless President Obama takes the necessary steps to reach out more broadly to the Muslim world and not simply follow the military path of occupation and destruction blazed by the past administration.

"My recent travels and talks with Afghan and Pakistani leaders, including several ex-Taliban leaders and with hundreds of ordinary Afghan and Pakistani citizens, lead me to this conclusion: the West has bombed itself from the role of the liberator into the role of the occupier. Afghanistan no longer matters when it comes to global, anti-Western terrorism," said Todenhöfer.

Todenhöfer was a genuine unembedded Westerner reporting from behind the frontlines without knowledge or approval of the Iraqi government or occupying forces. His dramatic firsthand account explains the fundamental differences between resistance fighters and terrorists. Freed from the worldview of Pentagon press officers, Todenhöfer gives voice to those who truly fight for justice and freedom in the face of empire building through its main agents — war and occupation.

Just as in Algeria in the 1960s, in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and in Iraq in 2009, these fighters are not the occupying troops, but the resistance fighters. "History is always written by the occupiers, not the occupied and the victim. To end the cycle of violence, inhumanity and war, the stories of the victims must be told," said Todenhöfer.

The Ten Theses excerpted from WHY DO YOU KILL? by Jürgen Todenhöfer (Note: Each of the following theses is fully examined in the book's Afterword)

The West is much more violent than the Muslim world. Millions of Muslim civilians have been killed since colonialism began

In view of the warmongering of the West, it is not surprising that support for Muslim extremists continues to grow.

Terrorists in Islamic disguise are murderers. The same holds true for the ringleaders disguised as Christians who wage illegal wars.

Muslims were and are at least as tolerant as Jews and Christians. They have made major contributions to Western civilization.

Love of God and love of one's neighbor are the central commandments not only in the Bible but also in the Qur'an.

Western policies towards the Muslim world suffer from a shocking ignorance of even the simplest facts.

The West must treat the Muslim world just as fairly and as generously as it treats Israel. Muslims are worth as much as Jews and Christians.

Muslims must champion a progressive and tolerant Islam, as did their prophet Muhammad. They must strip terrorism of its religious mask.

Nothing fosters terrorism more than the West's "war on terror." Wars of aggression are not only the most immoral, but also the least intelligent way to combat terrorism.

What is needed now is the art of statesmanship, not the art of war — in the Iran conflict, in the Iraq conflict and in the Palestine conflict.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Jürgen Todenhöfer

Dr. Jürgen Todenhöfer has been an executive at a major European media group for more than 20 years. Before that he was a member of the German parliament for 18 years and spokesman for the CDU/CSU on development aid and arms control. He has written two bestsellers about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has traveled extensively in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Palestine and is considered an international expert on the tensions between the Muslim world and the West. The author will donate all royalties from sales of this book to finance medical aid for Iraqi refugee children and an Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation project in the Middle East.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Why Do You Kill?

Why Do You Kill? The Untold Story of the Iraqi Resistance
Author: Jürgen Todenhöfer Foreword by Anthony Arnove
Category: Political Science / Current Affairs
ISBN: 978-1-934708-14-9
5.5 in. x 8.25 in. 216 pages + 15 color photos $14.95 (U.S.)
Trade Paperback
PUB DATE: April 2009
Publisher: The Disinformation Company (www.disinfo.com)