An Asian-American friend (a Muslim Canadian-U.S. academic born in India) wrote to me in alarm recently, and we had a dialogue:
Pakistan is really scaring the hell out of me. Swat has been overrun by the Pak Taliban (the region is roughly 3 hours from the capital city of Islamabad). The sad thing is that this Taliban is not a throwback to a medieval epoch. It is a very new and modern phenomenon. I still don’t understand why the Pak military is powerless. It actually supports the Afghan Taliban against the Afghans and supports jihadis against the Indians. In some painful sense the chickens are coming home to roost. But the real price will and is being paid by civilians, especially women and girls.
What about when our drones go in and kill people, what effect does that have?
The drones actually turn the broader public opinion, which is already rabidly anti-American, more into the militant’s camp. But most people are starting to realize that these guys are bad news. They are shutting down girls schools, mutilating the bodies of those they’ve killed, and spreading terror. It isn’t a Hezballah and Hamas but something much more primitive. Hamas would seem suave and cosmopolitan by comparison.
What about Gaza?
I noticed Arab and Muslim friends now paying more attention to Gaza
than say human rights and democratization in Egypt. I now agree with them (this only applies to the Middle East) that until the Palestinian
question is resolved, societal development will remain stunted.
American foreign policy (and Obama is no different) focuses on regime
stability and ensures that regional stability (aka Israel gets to screw
over the Palestinians without Mubarak fussing) is maintained. Mubarak
and other regional actors aren't stupid. They understand the game. They
get to repress as long as they stay quiet while receiving the cheque
for service rendered from the US taxpayer.
What about the neocons?
Their solution is an alliance with India to bash Pakistan, which would turn the country decisively against the West. Then average Pakistanis would join the Taliban. This is the opposite of what counterinsurgency experts propose- break off the enemy. Partition it into local smaller pieces – cooptation. Richard Holbrooke is somewhat enlightened about this, here in the FT. But here’s Bibi Netanyahu in the Wall Street Journal:
He wants war everywhere, which is what David Frum wants. He doesn’t want the bailout plan – he wants the military bailout plan – Iraq and other military bailout plans.
One thing is for certain: the Americans, NATO, and Pakistan do not
propose the “Gaza solution." Gaza actually is used by the Taliban for
recruitment in Afghanistan.
Interesting comments. I enjoyed them. Netanyahu's fanatical ideology that seeks to reverse the course of history and throw the civilized world back into a new dark age is a farce for anyone who has studied history or art history.
The Muslim culture was the height of sophistication in Europe and across the middle east to Baghdad during the Middle Ages. The closed Jewish society during that period frowned on scholarship — actually ruled against it –and any sort of advancement. The only time Jews shined was when they got out of that closed society and assimilated into the broader culture. You only have to look at Spanish architecture and art from that period to see the difference. There were no El Greco's created in any Jewish society at the time. No Cervantes. No great palaces or cities. It was the Muslims who created and promoted that world.
When chaos reigns people want stability. Provincials especially prefer traditional authority to reestablish stability. Pakistan's rulers understand this. America's rulers do not, and they also do not understand insurgencies cannot be defeated if they have popular support. America's rulers' ignorance is so great they create even more popular support for insurgents by illegally, and against the express wishes of the local governments, killing civilians with air power.
I noticed Arab and Muslim friends now paying more attention to Gaza than say human rights and democratization in Egypt.
Can someone clarify this statement objectively without injecting their dogmatic opinion? Is this to say that Arabs were only half concerned about Palestinians until now? If true, what was their anti-Israel sentiment traditionally based on then?
And what does concern about democratization in Egypt mean in this context? This can be construed in a couple of different ways.
MRW–your comments are ridiculous. Spain was ruled by an Islamic empire (aka imperialism). Jews were stateless. How the hell were they ever going to create the architecture etc?
YOu sound like either a brainwashed dhimmi or an arrogant Muslim remembering the long gone past.
As I said before…
"Around the [settlers'] city, there will be a ring, some 30, 40 kilometers, of beautiful villages, connected by the best roads. What comes beyond is the other world, in which they may live as they wish. Only that we rule them. In case of an uprising, we'll just need to drop a few bombs on their cities and that will settle it."
I normally refrain from this kind of comparison, but this is so eerily similar to Netanyahu's ideas that it was too good to pass up. I have to bite my tongue so often not to call the West Bank settlements Lebensraum im Osten…
I think Asia, Europe, and CERTAINLY India agree that there is a problem of global Islamic jihad. They all see it first hand.
So Bibi certainly resonates with them in that respect.
wow! Now that I think of it…there is NOT one continent that hasn't been touched by jihad. It's everywhere. And 70% of it has nothing to do with Israel.
It might help people's thinking if we looked at the war in Afghanistan as a war against the Pashtun people. Our recent escalation of that war across the Pakistan-Afghan border makes that the true nature of this war even clearer.
The Pashtuns have been the major ethnic group in Afghanistan for centuries and have always played a major role in approving the king. When Britain failed to conquer Afghanistan, they withdrew south and drew a border across the middle of Pashtun dominion. That puts about half of the Pashtuns in what is today NE Pakistan (an area that includes Swat). The US attacks into Pakistan are mostly into Pashtun regions.
Even though the colonial border has put these people into two countries, they have maintained contact with each other through intermarriage and state unsanctioned trade (i.e. smuggling). The Pakistan civil governments have always tolerated these contacts, as part of bargain to keep down insurrection. The original Taliban came out of this world. Efforts by the US to keep the Taliban out of government has also resulted in keeping out the Pashtuns.
The American war against terror was easily perceived as a war against the Pashtuns. It was only natural that those on the Pakistan side of the border would support their brothers in their struggle against a foreign and Christian invader.
A solution to this problem is much simpler than most people think. However, it would require that the US recognize the rights of the Pashtuns to have a role in government. This would likely also mean that the US would have to recognize elements of the Taliban. The Taliban will remain a dominant force in Pashtun life as long as they are under attack by Western forces. Should peace arrive, then those poor people can begin to deal with the religious extremists, in the meantime they will maintain their united front.
Whatever the Taliban are dioing – closing down girls schools etc. It Is None Of Our Business
Southern Americans made a point of closing down schools created by ex-slaves, often blowing them up and killing the teachers. Unfortunately for the rest of Americans, Afghanis and Pakistanis did not occupy the US or cross our borders and bomb the people, including their families, that participated in the closing down of former ex-slaves' schools, because that would have ended Jim Crow so much sooner.
Antarctica is a continent. South America and North America are relatively untouched when it comes to this blown out "jihad" despite the efforts of Homeland Security to inflate the numbers. Hey, they have to do something with those dollars donated by the government.
Simply skipping out the reason why there is discontent with the minority Muslims in said nations in respective continents is perfect to fit the mold of a monolithic "jihad".
"Is this to say that Arabs were only half concerned about Palestinians until now?"
Most people are concerned with their own status and country and government. Domestic affairs over foreign. That shouldn't be mistranslated to think that Arabs are different. Certainly they have points to complain about but they have their own worries. Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, it's not a paradise or a haven of enlightenment (with all due respect to them). This goes to an even bigger tangent of Palestinians relationship with the rest of the Arab world, which is strained to say the least.
Suzanne, it is you who are ridiculous in your knowledge of history, and in your understanding of what I posted. You actually proved my point about Netayahu’s comments. [You need your own state before you can create architecture? Someone better let Zaha Hadid know; she’s operating in the wrong country.]
Jews flourished in Spain, outside of the shtetl, where they lived in harmony with Christians and Moslems until Queen Isabel went nutso for Christianity (Catholicism) and kicked the Moslems out in the 1480s and the Sephardic Jews out in 1492, although many many remained and converted, at least on the outside. These crypto-Jews were Marannos. El Greco fathered a child with a Jewish noblewoman by the name of Jeronima de las Cuevas, whom he could not marry for religious reasons, but he lived with her just the same. Some Dark Ages. Nonetheless, Jeronima had to claim conversion to avoid the Spanish Inquisition, which is what that society descended to once Catholicism reigned. They didn't have that bullshit when the country was Islamic, because Jesus is an Islamic prophet and the tie-ins between the Judaism and Islam are far greater than between Christianity and Islam.
Perhaps your time would be better spent reading:
link to scribd.com
Or doesn’t the org you work for permit that?
MRW–
Sorry, but this statement sounds like a pissing contest:
The closed Jewish society during that period frowned on scholarship — actually ruled against it –and any sort of advancement. The only time Jews shined was when they got out of that closed society and assimilated into the broader culture. You only have to look at Spanish architecture and art from that period to see the difference. There were no El Greco's created in any Jewish society at the time. No Cervantes. No great palaces or cities. It was the Muslims who created and promoted that world.
Either you expressed yourself badly or you are now backpedaling.
I am well aware of Islamic Spain. Sounded like a pretty nice place. They were attacked by radical jihadists too.
And yes, it was Islamic imperialism. I'm not saying that with any judgment–it was neither good nor bad…but simply to rub it into the faces of the America haters here.
As for Zaha Hadid.
Is this really the level at which you argue with your opponents? Playing games and lying about what you originally implied?
How embarrassing.
Nothing Suzanne said detracts from MRW's comments, which are historically accurate.
@ Suzanne
wow! Now that I think of it…there is NOT one continent that hasn't been touched by zionist intrigue in high places and disruption. It's everywhere. And 100% of it has everything to do with Israel.
Omar is just trying to save face for his buddy. Don't embarrass yourself on account of your friend, pal.
World Zionist Organization=5th column in every country.
hy not a dual international approach on palistina ?
Help the westbank and shut off Gaza. The stick and the carrot.
Palestinians will see a better westbank.
Make of (some parts of) palestina example regions by massive support. Let them see what is costs to run around with green towels and machine guns in the deesert for another decade for iran.
It solves also major problems on deatiled negotioations, because it is not a final solution.