Today is the anniversary of the 9/11 attack that changed the World upside down. Of course I can not get over this anniversary when we are having the infamous “War against in terrorism” in Egypt. Unfortunately we refuse to learn from other people’s experiences nor to learn from history .. even our own history.
These points below I believe we should know in Egypt especially now , they are lessons learned in a hard way from 9/11 and what followed it.
- Force will not beat terrorism and the evidence is in front of us , almost after 12 years of the 9/11 attacks and before it the World Trade center attack , the terrorists are not defeated !! In fact why we take an example from the U.S when we have our own experience with the bitter terrorism in the 1990s which I still remember very well. Using force and police state techniques did not stop radical thinking and terrorists.
- Terrorism based on ideology can not be defeated only by force but I will dare to say that you need counter ideologies more than force to fight the radicalism in ideologies that lead to terrorism.
- Fighting terrorism for real should start by admitting the root problems causing it from social, economic , cultural and above all political problems and try to solve it in order to prevent any radicalism in the future.
- Discrimination against others will not stop terrorism , in fact it may breed a new class of radicals who may resort to terrorism to make that society that rejected them suffer.
- History proved that “War of terrorism” was used by the Bush administration for certain political, economic and military gains that used fighting terrorism for a cover and the Iraq invasion is a good example.
- Shutting down media and forcing journalists to shut up in these times of so-called War of terrorism mean that there is something wrong and you do not want the public to know it.
- Do turn monster while fighting monsters. There are human rights according to religion and laws that should not be broken under any circumstances.
- McCarthyism always fails in the end
BY the way this year marks the 40th anniversary of Chile’s infamous coup supported by the CIA. I look to what happened in Chile and I know that there are many lessons should be learnt :
- The West has no problem with military tyrannies as long they serve their political and economic interests.
- Justice will prevail in the end in a way or another.
- Killing and torturing thousands can not be justified under any circumstances.
I am creating fighting terrible fall flu so I am not in mood for long posts to explain each point.
In the end I will quote what Ben Franklin once said :
Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
I will be blunt: Egyptians have to learn that there are doctrines in Islam that invite some of its followers to commit such atrocity and it is up to Muslims to be honest with themselves and find these doctrines and declare them null and void and until this happens we will see more of the same
ReplyDeleteChristians have been smart enough to learn that fighting in the cause of their God is immoral after all God does not need help from mere mortals
But again monotheistic religions are by their very nature very intolerant and evil
Just imagine how do the parents of Mohamed Atta feel? and why did he have to kill innocent human beings and be killed. No sane God should allow this to happen but it did happen
Extremely great points presented in this article. Countries like the U.S. and those in the EU are starting to reevaluate their collective approaches to terrorism as it becomes increasingly obvious that serious mistakes were made throughout the last decade. Only in three of the world's countries can one find majority approval for continued drone strikes across the globe. It used to be common in the U.S. that any sort of defense of civil liberties or human rights was derided as love of Middle Easterners or "terrorists" but now people arguing such are on the defensive and facing declining politcal fortunes.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to keep in mind when U.S. politicians comment on Egypt is that, to some, any event that happens under the presidency of a Republican/Democrat is good while the same exact event occurring under the opposite party would be intrepreted as bad.
As the MB fades, I suspect it will get harder and harder for defenses to be made of the vicious attacks against the April 6 movement and rationalizations of the charges aginst Haitham Mohamadein and Abu Deraa. It is obvious that some in positions of influence are terrified at the prospect of a real labor movement gaining traction in the country.
Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Moammar Qadafi, Bashar al-Assad, Hosni Mubarak, the Taliban's leadership, Stalin, Mao, Pinochet, etc. all essentially represent variations of the same approach to life and politics. It is one characterized by the idea that the ends justify any available means, as well as an overwhelming, insatiable desire for power and control. Religion can be misued by such individuals but, clearly, it is not the only banner under which such people can act.
The deeper problem beyond the ideology has to be looked as well, otherwise there exists a risk of approving selectivly of some forms of authoritarian terrorism. This can be seen among those who argue Assad must be good since certain of his opponents commit negative deeds, as well as in rationalizations of Chinese and Russian repression of dissidents. The power worshipping state of mind is a problem, whatever the specific ideological guise under which it operates.
zeinoubia. You make the mistake of accepting the military lie that the MB are terrorists and they are killing innocent civillians on our behalf.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is trying hard to defend terrorists and scum
ReplyDelete>zeinoubia. You make the mistake of accepting the military lie that the MB are terrorists and they are killing innocent civillians on our behalf.
She is very correct el-ikhwan el-mugrimeen (I do not call them muslimeen anymore) is a terrorist group
I urge you to look up the meaning of the word Irhab (Q8:60) and you can read el-tafseer of Ibn Kathir and al-Tabari and you can also read it in Lisan al-Arab and the word irhab means to scare and therefore terrorize human beings
Here are examples:
1. Criminal Morsi told el-Sisi that if he is forced out of office then his followers will set Egypt on fire which they did which in turn is terrorism as they were terrorizing innocent human beings and let us not forget that inciting violence is a criminal offense and in the process they were destroying the heritage of all Egyptians you included
But again el-ikhwan el-mugrimeen do not care after all they tell us that Masr sakan mesh watan! Shame on them
2. Abducting and torturing and killing protesters at el-Itihadiyya is criminal and it is terrorism
3. Burning and destroying and then looting Coptic churches and monasteries is not just criminal but also terrorism
4. Terrorizing 20,000 Copts in Delga and demanding that they pay the mafia tax called al-Jizya is criminal and terrorism
5. Murdering military recruits and policemen is criminal and terrorism
Now it is your chance to defend these terrorist group: Go!
There were yet more acquittals over the 2011 Suez killings. Obviously, the judiciary continues to require reform to make it more amenable to dispensing justice. It would be very farcical if Mubarak’s sentence was overturned and annulled.
ReplyDeleteThe amended constitution/new one would do well to ban military tribunals for civilians. Such backwards practices have utterly no place or use in the country. Anyone believing that all problems stem from a singular ideological source ought to look up the meaning of Cui bono? and consider how it applies to the serious flaws in the constitutional draft presented by the committee of 10. Fortunately, there appears to be a decent chance that the committee of 50 will present something superior to that produced by the 10.
Very poor article and shows that lack of depth in understanding the problem and the claimed parallels to 9/11. There is hardly any comparison between the situation in Sinai, which is Egyptian soil last I know, and the American misguided invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq as a result of 9/11. While the first requires the state to enforce it authority and fight the terrorism infected on us, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq in particular was a misguided adventure that triggered both sectarian violence and nationalists feelings.
ReplyDeleteSecond, which is more important; the Ikhwan are the source of all Islamist terrorist organizations around the world including Qaeda, Hamas and many others. The terrorist holly saint is the Ikhwany Saed Qoteb who is the developer of the sick ideology of violence against civilians.
Third, if you want to dry the terrorism at the source, look for Islamic religious bigotry and reactionary ideas as the source. The Ikhwan with their ridicules looking backward for pan national Caliphate as the map to move forward is the hallmark of a failed culture looking for an easy escape of the current failures in the invented glories of the past. Islamic doctrine and ideology has largely been stagnant for a 1000 years and most of the terrorist are still living in the illusions passed to them about the return of the glories by killing all the infidels. Looks at the religion merchants (like Ikhwan) who exploits religious claims to get the simpletons support. The solution may be not be in tanks and rockets but in updating the idiot religious doctrines that poison the simpleton minds.
There is no war against terrorism but just Domination and Segregation, as usual.
ReplyDeleteHow can they pretend to make war against terror when we all know for a fact that war is terror to it's maximum peak.
Anonymous wrote
Delete>There is no war against terrorism
Well this depends of what you mean by war and the best way out is what the Brits did following the terrorist attack on London and it is to regard those Jihadis as no more than criminals and treat them as such and go after them in a court of law
And this is indeed what al-Sisi should do and he has to go after the terrorist group called MB in a court of law and the best to stop this evil is to go after the deep pockets for financial compensation for the damage that they caused. I can assure you that it will bankrupt this evil group and they will have to think next time before "setting Egypt on fire"
>but just Domination and Segregation,
Big words no meaning!
> as usual.
How can they pretend to make war against terror when we all know for a fact that war is terror to it's maximum peak.
Sure war is terror but what do you think should be done to those that "set Egypt on fire" let me get away with it? you tell me
The experience of Central American and South American countries with guerilla movements can also shed some light on what generally leads to the termination of such conflicts. There is also a Maoist insurrection in India which has been going on for a while. Most of these were far more potent, numerous, and deadly than the Sinai insurgents.
ReplyDeleteStrategies purely based upon violence generally have been notably ineffective when compared to other approaches. Of course, there is also the separate problem of trying to argue that some kinds of violence are somehow good while other kinds are not. Militarism is itself a faith based approach that mostly excludes self-reflection.
Zeinobia,
ReplyDeleteI hope you get better and get rid of that fall flu.
I concur with most of what you said in your article.
I especially believe what you said on the end: “ The West has no problem with military tyrannies as long they serve their political and economic interests.”
I remember the life in Nazi occupied Eastern France. I remember the atrocities committed by the French in Algeria in the fifties. I'm a French war veteran. My brother was a German war veteran in captivity in Russia. I live in America and I'm a naturalized citizen.
I read all the comments. How nice it would be to come together and discuss all the political and religious issues. Our politicians don't do that. This why we have wars.
For the first time the American people said no to war in Syria. Is there HOPE?
When are we going to stop killing others in the name of God / Allah? Does it make any sense? We all have the same God, we are all children of God.
Should the USA police the world? NO.
Should the USA intervene in far away political uprisings? NO
By the way Ben Franklin quote is great however as the great economist Maynard Keynes once said: We all live in the short term
ReplyDeleteThis means that and to paraphrase what Ben Franklin said: Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, get only temporary liberty nor safety.
And you know what? I do not blame them in the least and case in point a Copt from Delga where Copts are now required to pay the mafia tax called al-jizya he said that he would rather pay it so he can have some peace for now for himself and his family! How could you blame him you tell me?