This is a very decent piece on the attacks, and the hypocrisy that has been alluded to. This is a very small part of it,
Never interrogated is why exactly are so many refugees fleeing the Middle East and North Africa. It is not like millions of people want to leave their homes and families; they are fleeing violence and chaos — violence and chaos that happens to almost always be the result of Western military intervention.
The illegal U.S.-led invasion of Iraq led to the deaths of at least one million people, destabilized the entire region, and created extreme conditions in which militant groups like al-Qaeda spread like wildfire, eventually leading to the emergence of ISIS.
In Afghanistan, the ongoing U.S.-led war and occupation — which the Obama administration just prolonged for a second time — has led to approximately a quarter of a million deaths and has displaced millions of Afghans.
The disastrous U.S.-led NATO intervention in Libya destroyed the government, turning the country into a hotbed for extremism and allowing militant groups like ISIS to spread west into North Africa. Thousands of Libyans have been killed, and hundreds of thousands made refugees.
In Yemen, the U.S. and other Western nations are arming and backing the Saudi-led coalition that is raining down bombs, including banned cluster munitions, on civilian areas, pulverizing the poorest country in the Middle East. And, once again — the story should now be familiar — thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
Syria is a bit more complicated. Many refugees in the country, which has been torn apart by almost five years of bitter war, are fleeing the brutal repression of the Assad government. Western countries and their allies, however, share some of the blame. Allies such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey have greatly inflamed the conflict by supporting extremist groups like al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra.
Lengthy article, but heartily recommended. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
This line summed it up for me.
The imperialist West always try to dislocate the blame. It’s always the foreigner’s, the non-Westerner’s, the Other’s fault; it’s never the fault of the enlightened West.
Until we address our own part in this (at best, regrettable interventions and at worst, heinous acts of murder), how dare we speak as if the voice of reason?
You cant blame anyone other the actions of the people responsible and whom they were trying to please. Apologists are as guilty as the gunmen.
Please don’t conflate trying to understand the issue with apologism. No-one is apologising for their actions. People are trying to unravel the mystery of why the world is as fucked up as it is.
It’s a predictable human need, Barry, but blame really doesn’t help anyone.
I think the Truth and Reconciliation sessions in South Africa proved that.
If you want to solve an intransigent and apparently intractable problem, instead look for the cause and freely acknowledge your role. And do all this in a culture where blame will not be attributed.
I’m not an apologist for those nutters in Paris, how could I be. But I do recognise that they believe they have a grievance. And. I recognise that my nation and its allies played a role in developing that grievance.
We’re a million miles away from a solution but for me it has to start with an acknowledgement of the validity of Islam, an acknowledgement to non-radical Muslims that the west interfered where perhaps it shouldn’t and a joint acknowledgement that ISIS will only be bested by working together.
ISIS is a new phenomenon, radical Islam is not, Fawkes a radical Catholic and Luther a Protestant, nothing new there at all. ISIS or whatever name it will call itself in 50 years will only be defeated by the people living within their vicinity, in other words ther own.
We can’t do it only the population suffering can, either by giving away strategic positions for us to get feet on the ground and eradicate them or by their own revolution, whether freedom comes with that and who goes into the void is another question.
I don’t think anyone is free whilst bound to the chains of a homophobic, sexist book mind.
You cant blame anyone other the actions of the people responsible and whom they were trying to please. Apologists are as guilty as the gunmen.
Please don’t conflate trying to understand the issue with apologism. No-one is apologising for their actions. People are trying to unravel the mystery of why the world is as fucked up as it is.
I agree. I have been trying to get my head around this stuff all day and unless you believe what some on TSW are saying (It is all down to Islam) it is a hugely complex situation that is growing more complex by the day.
… already several arrests in Scotland following what appear to be race hate crimes - cited as revenge’ attacks including one in which a mob of 15 atacked a coupe who own a takeaway only 10miles form where I live… a sad indicment that some of our own are just too stupid to understand that this is exactly what these IS bastards want. It highlights how dangerous it is when folks make idiotic and irresponisble links between IS criminalty and Islam in general…
I agree. I have been trying to get my head around this stuff all day and unless you believe what some on TSW are saying (It is all down to Islam) it is a hugely complex situation that is growing more complex by the day.
I’ve seen you fighting the good fight over there, but it’s probably futile. Same old suspects that usually crawl out of the woodwork with racist shite, only armed with a pseudo-legitimate (in their eyes, anyway) excuse for their prejudice.
Here Is Question For Ppl. If everything happened the same, I mean Iraq war & stuff, except all the Bros in Middle East happened to be i.e. Jehova Witness rather than i.e. Muslim, would we still be having same problems?
I have no agenda on this + I am not trolling, I genuine don’t know, I was just wondering + empathising. I mean, i.e. if it was other way round + i.e. Eskimos invaded England looking for terror bros, or for any reason really, and i.e. my Nan got killed in Collateral Damage, I would be pretty annoyed with Eskimos, and if all my mates were saying let’s go to North Pole and punch an Eskimo in the face, I would be Temptation. Fucking Eskimos
You are being a right propa nawty ursine friend there Bearsy, so that you are making me want to punch you in the face as this is a more serious topic. But to answer your question JWs would be fair game.
As much as they were horrible, nasty little shits - you have to say that the likes of Hussein and Gaddafi did a lot to keep a lid on extremism when they were about. We rushed in and deposed them (for what reason again?) without a credible strategy to thwart the rise of radicalism. We created the vacuum of power in which IS now thrives and with each drone strike, bombing raid and “interrogation” we run the risk of shepherding even more angry, gullible and scared people into the hands of terrorists. But we can’t take any of the blame for it though, it’s cos all them Muslamics are evil like.
