Are either Pakistan or India responsible for the attacks in Mumbai? No. The thing most responsible for the reprehensible attacks is the equally reprehensible foreign policy of the United States.
At least since 1953, when the CIA paid Iranian military leaders and civilians millions of dollars to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and re-install the Shah, the United States of America has been its own worst enemy. Revolution seldom has the intended consequences, and the Mumbai attacks are the latest evidence of this. In his article today, entitled Washington Arrogance Has Fomented a Muslim Revolution Paul Craig Roberts reminds us of this stark reality.
"It is not terror that Washington confronts," he says, "but revolution."
Roberts continues:The attack on Mumbai required radicalized Muslims. Radicalized Muslims resulted from the US overthrowing the elected government in Iran and imposing the Shah; from the US stationing troops in Saudi Arabia; from the US invading and attempting to occupy Afghanistan and Iraq, bombing weddings, funerals, and children’s soccer games; from the US violating international and US law by torturing its Muslim victims; from the US enlisting Pakistan in its war against the Taliban; from the US violating Pakistan’s sovereignty by conducting military operations on Pakistani territory, killing Pakistani civilians; from the US government supporting a half century of Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their lands, towns and villages; from the assault of American culture on Muslim values; from the US purchasing the government of Egypt to act as its puppet; from US arrogance that America is the supreme arbiter of morality.
If we could remember this one little concept--to avoid entangling alliances, like George Washington advised us to do--the world, and the United States itself, would be a much better place.
"Washington Arrogance Has Fomented a Muslim Revolution"
Posted by Frank Staheli on 12/05/2008
Labels: imperialism
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12 comments:
While there is no question that the U.S. has made numerous mistakes over the decades, to attribute all of these atrocities to us is a mistake.
Even if we hadn't intervened in Iran or propped up Israel (I see you didn't address that), we would still have to deal with militant Islam.
Militant Islam is a reaction to many things, including the seemingly unstoppable tide of western culture, morality, and sexuality. This would happen even without U.S. military or CIA involvement.
Second, militant Islam is also a reaction to unjust rulers in Islamic countries. Muslims have been subject to unjust rulers long before the U.S. became a country.
Third, militant Islam is a reaction to Islamic embarrassment at having been surpassed by the Infidel West in just about everything such as science, technology, economics, military and so on.
Fourth, Christianity and the West have gone through the refining fire of the Enlightenment and secularism, which Islam has not yet experienced. Maybe it's because Christianity has a six-hundred-year headstart on Islam. It has only been in recent generations in which the Christian West has moved towards rationalism and freedom.
To elaborate on the first point, I'd would mention that militant Islam is a reaction to the threat posed by western culture on Islam's ability to suppress women. Many Muslims have been to western countries or know people who have and they are terrified that their women will start acting like ours (permissive sexuality, not being obedient to husbands, becoming breadwinners, etc.)
One final (for now) post script: Islam has been a violent religion since day one. We always hear about Christian atrocities, but rarely hear about Muslim atrocities. These atrocities pre-date the creation of the CIA and America's intervention in the Middle East:
- piracy (from the "shores of Tripoli" to the present day)
- slavery (still practiced in certain Muslim societies today and officially made illegal in KSA in 1960s)
- invasions, conquests, and sieges
- genocide
- Ottoman exploitation and oppression of Christians in the Balkans
I am hopeful that Islam will one day change its ways just like Christianity did.
C'mon!
Everything is our fault, isn't it?
Let's try to bring ourselves back to reality. India and Pakistan have been at it for over 50 years, and neither one of them has solved the problem with the other. Radical Muslims that "we created" may have carried out this attack, but they are in no way, shape, or form our responsibility.
Guess I should change my little picture, huh?
I know this probably sounds sappy and over-idealistic, but I think it's true. The only way that the world will ever be able to eradicate terrorism and Islamist extremism is to change the world one person at a time. They will always hate westerners until they get to know them. And by that, I don't mean the George W. Bush's and other poor diplomats, but rather good, caring, "real" people who aren't the "evil Satans" that they're taught to believe that we are. I've seen some reports and I know there are books about Americans who have gone personally to Pakistan and other such countries, to areas where westerners are disliked and mistrusted, to perform acts of service and charity: medical help, building of homes and schools, etc. It's amazing to see how attitudes can be changed one person at a time.
The problem with this, of course, is that the effort by such good people is like a drop in the bucket. And how many people want to risk their lives and travel to such areas? Not me. A few people can't really change the world, and yet how else will it ever be changed?
Anonymous said: "Third, militant Islam is a reaction to Islamic embarrassment at having been surpassed by the Infidel West in just about everything such as science, technology, economics, military and so on."
I think this is very true. Poverty is breeding ground for extremism. Are we entirely to blame for their being behind? Not a chance. There are plenty of poor countries that don't resort to terrorism. Could we have done more or could we do more to make the playing field a little more even? Probably.
Extremists like the Taliban will never be eradicated for good until they are eradicated by their own people. They need to want it bad enough to supress extremism themselves, otherwise groups like the Taliban will pop again eventually. We can show them a better way, but they need to want it, otherwise it's hopeless. Such change will take several generations, I believe, and I think that we will perhaps only see the seeds planted in our lifetimes, and not the fruit thereof. Some are busy planting those seeds of freedom and peace right now, whether through charity work or encouraging free speech, but its up to the citizens of those countries to take care of those seeds and make sure that they grow to maturity. Many will be persecuted for it and even lose their lives, but eventually, with persistence, it will happen -- hopefully -- even if it takes a long time.
In the mean time, I think there are 3 keys:
a) Diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy, but always with the understanding that we will defend ourselves if attacked or if we KNOW that an attack is imminent
b) Open dialogue, encouraging free speech
c) "Planting seeds" of trust and peace via charity and personal contact between citizens wherever possible
Communism fell in eastern Europe not because the leaders of those countries wanted it to fall. Individual citizens made sacrifices but never gave up until they brought it down. It has to be done from the inside with perhaps a little help from the outside. Even then, the road to change can take a very long time. We can look at Russia now and ask ourselves how much has really changed. And yet look at the amazing progress of Poland, with support from the EU.
Sorry if I don't get to respond to direct comments, but I'm moving tomorrow and not sure when we'll have the internet hooked up again. Just wanted to share my thoughts while I still had the chance.
I agree that to blame the US for all militant muslims is using a pretty broad brush. I do think our policies and actions have contributed to the over all problem. It could be that we ignited the fire but a lot of fuel has been added both by forces in the region and other entities outside.
Someone above said: Extremists like the Taliban will never be eradicated for good until they are eradicated by their own people.
There is an assumption that such groups can be eradicated. They can certainly be marginalized by the general population to the point that they lose relevance, but to completely eradicate fringe groups...
Consider, for example militant Christian groups: the KKK, Nazi, etc. As much as those ideologies are repugnant to the majority (and as pointed out, fed by a combination of poverty and perceived entitlement), they persist in our society. The best methods for overcoming such strongly held biases include a combination of exposure, education, equal status, shared goals, cooperative activities, and social norms favoring "outgroup" interaction.
Although broad-brush conclusions for complex problems can be tenuous, in general I agree that the U.S.'s meddling in the governments of other countries has had a negative long-term effect on global stability.
I don't really know enough about this to comment - just want to say I'm glad to see a post by Frank!
"Eradicated" was perhaps a poor choice of words. In the interest of free speech, we can't really "eradicate" everything. "Marginalized" was a better term, thanks for that, Tom.
Every body get on the short yellow bus and go home. Come back when you grow up.
Nothing is going to change until the end.
Joel:
It's not very scintillating dialog when you throw your verbal hands in the air and claim that I said that "everything is our fault." In your defense, however, it might not be accurate to say that U.S. foreign policy is "most responsible" as I did in the article. However, if you take time to comb through the pages of history, you'll find that America's sticky fingers are in a lot of cookie jars that they hadn't ought to be. Iran is largely the way it is because of American foreign policy. So are Israel, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Somalia, Egypt, and a host of other countries.
The American dream is still a beneficial reality. But the parallel reality of American imperialism is starkly negative. That's why, when you ask most non-Americans if they like America, they'll say they love the people but they hate our government.
If you become a serious student of history, you'll come to the same conclusion yourself. The solution: stop voting for the lesser of two dumbers. Then we'll live up to the reality of the American dream, and foreigners will love us and our elected leaders.
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