Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2006 documentary movie about Islamist teachings and goals which uses extensive Arab and Iranian television footage.
Obsession compares the threat of radical Islamism with that of Nazism before World War II, and draws parallels between radical Islamists and the Nazi Party during the War, specifically Adolf Hitler's relationship with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem as an inspiration for radical Islamic movements in the Middle East today.
The film features analysis by counter-terrorism figures such as Nonie Darwish (the daughter of a Fedayeen soldier), Alan M. Dershowitz, Steven Emerson, Brigitte Gabriel, Martin Gilbert, Caroline Glick, Alfons Heck, Glen Jenvey, John Loftus, Salim Mansur, Itamar Marcus, Khaleel Mohammed, Daniel Pipes, Tashbih Sayyed, Walid Shoebat, Khaled Abu Toameh, Robert Wistrich and interviews with Israeli officials and a former PLO operative.
Recently (September 2008) the Clarion Fund distributed DVDs of the film by mail, and in newspaper advertising supplements, predominantly in swing states for the upcoming presidential election.
The Huffington Post on the Clarion Fund: A shadowy organization is financing the delivery this month of millions of DVDs of the controversial video Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West. The video, which has been widely criticized as hostile to Muslims, has been inserted in numerous national and major-city newspapers.
Newspapers reported to have carried the DVD included the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Charlotte Observer, Miami Herald, and Raleigh News and Observer
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) calls Obsession "a well-planned con."
The video above is a 12-minute abridged version. Trailers and clips can be viewed here and the full 77-minute version on DVD can be purchased here.
Sources for the above include Wikipedia, CAIR, and the official Obsession web page. This posting was prompted by various news services citing outrage over recent distribution of Obsession, bringing this 2006 video to our attention, once again.
Comments
The Clarion Fund distributed 'Obsession' state-wide in The Oregonian last Sunday.
My two cents. 'Obsession' is all about trying to convince Americans to be very afraid of Muslims during an election year. Be very afraid and vote for the guys who spent a couple trillion over the last 7 years failing to catch bin Laden and allowing Al Qaeda to rebuild to its pre-9-11 operational capabilities.
'Obsession' is, of course, aimed at Muslim fundamentalists. But since it states that Islam teaches that it will destroy all other religions through Islamic jihad fighters... many watchers of 'Obsession' come away frightened of all Muslims and the Islamic faith.
The Bible is full of scary stuff. It quotes Jesus as saying family members should hate each other. He has "come not to send peace, but a sword." "For I set all men every one against his neighbor." 8:10
The Crusades, the Protestant/Catholic massacres over the centuries during the Reformation, the Inquisition, Northern Ireland's decades of bombings, Operation Rescue and the assassination of abortion providers, Eric Rudolph's abortion clinic and Atlanta Olympics bombings... have nothing to do with what Muslims should think of America, a Judeo-Christian nation.
I agree with Schmedlap - I saw the movie when it came out in 2006, and it's far removed from being "propaganda" intended at offending the Muslim religion as a whole. Actually, there are several instances throughout the film where they affirm their intention, which is to expose the radical and extremist aspects of this religion as the sole perpetrators of terrorist acts and deeds. National security and defending ourselves against these radical threats are an important part of the national debate, and to dismiss this movie as an attack on the Muslim religion is foolish and rash.
I watched the full version during a special viewing at the Heritage Foundation in 2006 or 2007. The video is not all that controversial if you consider that it is about nutbar jihadists, rather than mainstream Muslims. If you assume that it is about mainstream Muslims, then it would be 100% garbage, but it is not about mainstreamers, nor does it pretend to be, nor is there any hint that it might be.