|
President Karzai, under
heavy guard in Kabul, is failing to reign in Afghani tribal warlords as
they continue to exploit the poppy trade and subjugate their tribesmen.
Thousands of Afghanis have lost their homes, livelihood and remain poor.
Billions of dollars were invested in the UN approved invasion of
Afghanistan that eliminated the Taliban regime but failed to deliver
democracy. Peace and prosperity remain distant dreams in Afghanistan.
More than 8 million people
in 30 cities, including London, protested against the US/UK led war in
Iraq. The British people reject Prime Minister Blair’s assertion that
Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that posed imminent danger to
Britain. Mr.Blair’s failure to allow Westminster to sanction invasion,
with or without UN approval, has eroded his credibility as Prime
Minister.
In the 1980’s, the US/UK
governments financed and trained Saddam’s army to fight the threat from
Iran. Saddam was not removed from power despite his illegal
invasion of Kuwait in 1991. President George Bush, supported by Texas
oil barons, was determined to topple Saddam to make Iraq a US client
state to secure and procure its oil. US foreign policy in Iraq, based on
US intelligence, was mal-influenced by opportunistic Iraqi Americans
lacking in legitimacy in their own country which they deserted in time
of need.
The majority of European
citizens, especially British people, reject as pure fiction the proposal
that an ageing Osama Bin Laden sponsors, co-ordinates and directs ‘Al
Qaeda’ to terrorise globally from a remote cave. They do accept the fact
that there is a plethora of terrorist groups, acting independently and
professing to be a generic brand of ‘Al Qaeda’, who terrorise and kill
in the name of their professed faith. They use the banner of Islam to
attract sympathy, support and finance.
US rhetoric of the
‘crusade’ against terrorism implies an erroneous link between terrorism
and Islam that sustains public fear, breeds prejudice, alienates Muslims
from fellow citizens and destabilises society. We must all recognise and
accept the danger of such rhetoric as it impacts adversely on more than
1000 million Muslims worldwide, including 15 million European Muslims
and 10 million American Muslims.
A terrorist acting in the
name of his professed faith has no religious legitimacy or ethnic group
approval. Terrorist action is sponsored, initiated and completed
exclusively by an individual/group for his/their interest, irrespective
of others who profess the same faith. Therefore, politicians and media
should identify and describe terrorists, without reference or
implication to their professed faith as these innuendos generate fear,
breed insecurity and damage race relations in multi-ethnic communities,
especially in Europe.
Christian and Muslim
Palestinians, under illegal Israeli occupation, have lost their homes,
livelihood, freedom, dignity and sovereignty. For more than 50 years,
millions of Palestinians continue to be refugees in their own land and
in neighbouring countries. Iraqis and Afghanis have also been invaded,
displaced, humiliated and killed. Such sustained injustice lights a fire
of discontent in the heart of these Muslims who are victims of global
power politics in the Middle East. Humiliation, denial of sovereignty
and total helplessness fuel the fire, generate fury, scorch tolerance
and spur the will in some Muslims, wrongly and unfortunately, to be
violent. World history records many examples of violent action in search
of a homeland. ‘Freedom fighters’ in Jerusalem in 1948 were branded
‘Jewish or Zionist terrorists’ by the British – they are idolised as
Israel’s heroes today!
Peace in Europe depends
on the construction, realisation and sustenance of peace in the Middle
East. Afghanis, Iraqis and Palestinians, under occupation, yearn for
their freedom, sovereignty, peace and prosperity. They value their
religion, language, culture, history and traditions. They wish to
preserve and integrate their values in a political system that can
manage their land and economy to suit them. Ownership offers rights and
demands civic responsibility. Civic consent feeds the grass roots of
democracy.
A ‘western’ democracy
cannot be pasted on at a stroke on a sovereign nation with distinctly
different religion and social traditions. US guns can dominate but
cannot sow the seeds of democracy that will root and guarantee peace.
|
