'Now we have a
new target, and a new reason to dispense mercy from the sky, with
similar prospects of success.' Photograph: ASAP/ECPAD/Corbis
Let’s bomb the Muslim world – all of it – to save the lives of its
people. Surely this is the only consistent moral course? Why stop at
Islamic State (Isis), when the Syrian government has murdered and
tortured so many? This, after all, was last year’s moral imperative.
What’s changed?
What humanitarian principle instructs you to stop there? In Gaza this
year, 2,100 Palestinians were massacred: including people taking
shelter in schools and hospitals. Surely these atrocities demand an air
war against Israel? And what’s the moral basis for refusing to liquidate
Iran? Mohsen Amir-Aslani was hanged there last week for making “innovations in the religion”
(suggesting that the story of Jonah in the Qur’an was symbolic rather
than literal).
Surely that should inspire humanitarian action from
above?
Pakistan is crying out for friendly bombs: an elderly British
man, Mohammed Asghar, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, is, like
other blasphemers, awaiting execution there after claiming to be a holy prophet. One of his prison guards has already shot him in the back.
Is there not an urgent duty to blow up Saudi Arabia? It has beheaded
59 people so far this year, for offences that include adultery, sorcery
and witchcraft. It has long presented a far greater threat to the west
than Isis now poses. In 2009 Hillary Clinton warned in a secret memo that
“Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida,
the Taliban … and other terrorist groups”. In July, the former head of
MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, revealed that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, until
recently the head of Saudi intelligence, told him:
“The time is not far off in the Middle East, Richard, when it will be
literally ‘God help the Shia’. More than a billion Sunnis have simply
had enough of them.” Saudi support for extreme Sunni militias in Syria
during Bandar’s tenure is widely blamed for the rapid rise of Isis. Why
take out the subsidiary and spare the headquarters?
The humanitarian arguments aired in parliament last week,
if consistently applied, could be used to flatten the entire Middle
East and west Asia. By this means you could end all human suffering,
liberating the people of these regions from the vale of tears in which
they live.
Perhaps this is the plan: Barack Obama has now bombed seven largely
Muslim countries, in each case citing a moral imperative.
The result, as
you can see in Libya, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan,Yemen, Somalia and
Syria, has been the eradication of jihadi groups, of conflict, chaos,
murder, oppression and torture. Evil has been driven from the face of
the Earth by the destroying angels of the west.
Now we have a new target, and a new reason to dispense mercy from
the sky, with similar prospects of success. Yes, the agenda and
practices of Isis are disgusting. It murders and tortures, terrorises
and threatens. As Obama says,
it is a “network of death”. But it’s one of many networks of death.
Worse still, a western crusade appears to be exactly what Isis wants.
Already Obama’s bombings have brought Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra,
a rival militia affiliated to al-Qaida, together. More than 6,000
fighters have joined Isis since the bombardment began. They dangled the
heads of their victims in front of the cameras as bait for war planes.
And our governments were stupid enough to take it.
And if the bombing succeeds? If – and it’s a big if – it manages to
tilt the balance against Isis, what then? Then we’ll start hearing once
more about Shia death squads and the moral imperative to destroy them
too – and any civilians who happen to get in the way.
The targets
change; the policy doesn’t. Never mind the question, the answer is
bombs. In the name of peace and the preservation of life, our
governments wage perpetual war.
Just as crucial evidence was about to be
released, Tony Blair intervened to stop the investigation. The biggest
alleged beneficiary was Prince Bandar. The SFO was investigating a claim
that, with the approval of the British government, he received £1bn
in secret payments from BAE.
And still it is said to go on. Last week’s Private Eye, drawing on a
dossier of recordings and emails, alleges that a British company has
paid £300m in bribes to facilitate weapons sales to the Saudi national
guard. When a whistleblower in the company reported these payments to
the British Ministry of Defence, instead of taking action it alerted his
bosses. He had to flee the country to avoid being thrown into a Saudi
jail.
There are no good solutions that military intervention by the UK or
the US can engineer. There are political solutions in which our
governments could play a minor role: supporting the development of
effective states that don’t rely on murder and militias, building civic
institutions that don’t depend on terror, helping to create safe passage
and aid for people at risk. Oh, and ceasing to protect, sponsor and arm
selected networks of death. Whenever our armed forces have bombed or
invaded Muslim nations, they have made life worse for those who live
there. The regions in which our governments have intervened most are
those that suffer most from terrorism and war. That is neither
coincidental nor surprising. Yet our politicians affect to learn nothing. Insisting that more
killing will magically resolve deep-rooted conflicts, they scatter bombs
like fairy dust.
A fully referenced version of this article can be found at monbiot.com
Religious leaders appeal for defeating the politics of ‘divide & rule’
01 Oct 2014 05:10 PM, IST
Scholars from different religions at Jamaat-e-Islami Hind program in Jaipur on 28 Sep 2014.
By IndiaTomorrow.net,
Jaipur,
01 Oct 2014: Leaders and intellectuals from across religious
communities have given a call for communal harmony and mutual love.
Drawn from different parts of the country for an event here this past
Sunday, they urged people to stand up against ‘divide & rule’
tactics of politicians to ensure peace and justice in the society.
They
were speaking at a seminar on How to build a society on the basis of justice and morality? on 28th Sep in Jaipur.
Gyani
Dhavinder Singh, Member of Delhi Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee said:
“It is religion that teaches morality to man. We all are the servants of
one Almighty. Then why are there differences? People are diving people
for political benefits.”
Speaking
at the seminar, eminent human rights activist and writer from Mumbai,
Prof. Ram Puniyani said: “Innocents are being killed in the name of
religions which teach brotherhood and love. Today Muslims and Christians
are being targeted. History of the country is being distorted to spread
hatred.” He also said that calling India a Hindu Rashtra is contempt of
the Constitution of the country.
“We
need to fight the battle of justice by taking people of all weaker
sections and religions along. There is a need to spread the message of
communal harmony among common people,” said Puniyani.
Gandhian
Adv. Prem Kishan Sharma from Delhi said one should not expect justice
from those who have come to power through doing injustice. “If those
whose hands are sullied with blood come to power how can we expect
justice from them?”
Yugal
Kishore Shastri, Hindu priest and peace activist in Ayodhya, stressed
peace and mutual love and equal representation in government. “Until all
communities get equal representation in all departments of government,
it will be difficult to resolve the problems,” he said.
He
also said: There is a need to spread the atmosphere of love so much so
that the borders of our neighbouring countries get submerged in love.
Earlier
opening the seminar, Mohammad Salim Engineer, Secretary,
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said Prophet Muhammad had come to establish
justice and peace in the society and he did it in his lifetime and set
an example for all time to come.
Criticizing
acts and policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the
centre, he said faith is being preferred to justice. On one hand, they
give a slogan of Sab ka Saath Sab ka Vikas, on the other they are spewing hatred and communal fire, he said.
Jamaat secretary urged leaders of all religions to come out and work together to keep the country from going astray.
“We
should create an atmosphere of mutual brotherhood, love and harmony. It
is the duty of leaders of all religions to keep the country from going
on the wrong path. We should strengthen the foundations on which the
nation was built,” he said.
He
emphasised the fear of Almighty for one to keep from committing crime.
“Only laws cannot prevent people from doing evils. The fear of God is
must,” he said.
The seminar was part of the three-day all-Rajasthan conference organized by the state unit of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.
In
his speech, Mr. Amarnath, a social activist from Jaipur, said no
religion teaches enmity. “I wonder from where hatred has crept among
Hindus. All religions teach love and harmony.”
Hitting
hard at the hate campaign of some leaders of BJP, he said: “Who has
given licence to BJP to represent entire Hindu religion?”
“Our
politicians are still working on the British policy of divide and rule.
The day our countrymen wake up, everything will be changed.”
Presiding
over the program, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari, national president of
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, quoted Quran to explain how Islam builds a society
on the basis of justice and morality.
He
quoted Quran to highlight respect of human life. “If anyone slays a
person, it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if any one saved
a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people,” says
Quran.
Jamaat
chief said: “If an entire nation stands up for justice, I swear by God
that injustice cannot be done with anyone there.” He said Islam does not
allow injustice even with enemies.
