Daniel Pipes

Daniel Pipes is a right-wing academic/crank — and, amazingly, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations — who is popular among conservatives for his virulently anti-Islamic views. Basically, if it involves Muslims, you can be sure that Pipes has written a column claiming that it indicates that Muslims are evil.

Background
Pipes is the son of the historian and opted to follow in his father's footsteps, with questionable results. He holds a Ph.D. in medieval Islamic history; however, his current obsession "specialty" is Islam in modern society. He was a professor for about eight years, but he has not been involved in academia in any significant way since 1986.

In 2003, George W. Bush nominated Pipes to a position in the United States Institute for Peace, an action which proved slightly controversial. The Institute's stated goals are as follows:


 * Prevent and resolve violent international conflicts
 * Promote post-conflict stability and development
 * Increase conflict management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide

Presumably the nomination was made on Backwards Day.

So what does Pipes think of Muslims?
Glad you asked.

Saying that Pipes thinks Muslims are bad is putting it mildly. He's built his career on demonstrating that everything ever done by Muslims (as individuals or as a group) is proof that they are not to be trusted. In the process, he has argued for some interesting political notions. To wit:

Pipes doesn't like Muslims

 * Muslims are all anti-Semites. All of them.


 * Muslims are smelly and weird.


 * Oh, wait! I didn't mean that!


 * However, "the Arabs" (a very large bucket that, apparently, includes Afghans, Pakistanis and Iranians) are an evil race and they deserve whatever we do to them.


 * I found six Muslims who have won beauty pageants over the last five years. Affirmative action!

Pipes doesn't trust Muslims

 * Muslims favor democracy and oppose violence in record numbers. This is bad news for all of us, since they are obviously a pack of shysters who are gaming the system until they can get a majority and install a theocracy that way.


 * A moderate Muslim starts a school in New York to teach Arabic. Obviously, she's out to get us.


 * According to these numbers I just made up, 10-15% of Muslims are dangerous radicals.


 * United States Congressman Keith Ellison is a greater threat to the Republic than Osama bin Laden.

Pipes really wants to bomb Iran

 * The fact that Iran isn't a threat means that we need to bomb them.


 * If Ahmadinejad gets elected, it's good for us.


 * You know, President Obama, if you bomb Iran it will do wonders for your approval ratings.

Pipes is disturbed in general
In retrospect, it becomes apparent that multiple fallacies and wishful predictions fueled Arab-Israeli diplomacy:
 * Diplomacy is a fallacy. War can not be concluded through negotiations, only by one side giving up.
 * War can be concluded through negotiations rather than by one side giving up.


 * Obama is a secret Muslim!!!!!

Sudden Jihad Syndrome
In 2006, Pipes injected an extra strength dose of poison into the body politic when he coined the phrase "Sudden Jihad Syndrome". In his quest to identify all Muslims as evil, he decided that various acts of violence by American Muslims with no history of radicalism were actually caused by those individuals spontaneously becoming radical. In his words:

Some may say that this bit of bigoted pop psychology is unbecoming an academic, even a former one. This should be mitigated by the fact that Pipes was likely suffering from Sudden Moron Syndrome at the time.

Campus Watch
Pipes has his own think tank, the Middle East Forum. Not mere thinkers they, starting from 2002, began investigating colleges via their Campus Watch program. Per the website, the goals are as follows:

Clearly, Daniel Pipes is just the person to accomplish these goals.

Oh, the irony!
Before he became a peddler of conspiracy theories about the coming global caliphate, Pipes was actually most known for his 1997 book Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From, a book which sought to debunk conspiracy myths surrounding world organizations and, most specifically, those involving the Bilderberg Group and Council on Foreign Relations. He now uses his book as a how-to manual.

Stopped clock
In 2006, he helped spread the rumors of no-go zones in Europe. To his credit, after actually visiting many of those areas he recanted his arguments saying that the areas were a little run down but ultimately fairly peaceful.

Support for Tommy Robinson
Taking his wingnuttery to its logical conclusion, the Middle East Forum took up the cause of the racist hooligan Tommy Robinson (real name: Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) with vigour, going to far as to put out a press release touting its supposed role in his release and seeking to help him gain asylum (!) in the United States—amusing for an institution which normally mocks and derides 'asylum seekers' from other parts of the world. When pressed on Tommy Robinson, Pipes later admitted regret at having supported him and disclaimed all support.