Daily Times

It is difficult to trust or believe
in western journalists and analysts when it comes to the question of protecting western vested interests. There are a very few exceptions who try to be objective and even fewer who understand the various psyches of the east. The large majority is biased and a great number are western propagandists. We have seen their role time and again all over the world. In the past it used to be muted and subtle, but now it is brazen and downright insulting the sensibilities as well as the intelligence of our people. Power has the ability of expanding one’s ego and denting the faculties.

Prior to the Anglo-American invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, sectarian strife was not an immediate issue in most of the Middle East. There were divisions yes, but these were largely well controlled. The Saudis and Iran promoted their blocs but nobody was adding fuel to the fire. Even during the Iran-Iraq war there was no uprising worth the name by the Shia majority against Saddam Hussain.

It was the Anglo-US strategy to foment sectarian divide and bring the pot to the boil, which created one of the worst human tragedies of the century when hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis were butchered while the occupying armies stood by and either watched or aided and abetted one side. The west resurrected this monster for its own benefit, regardless of the savage destruction in Iraq or its repercussions in the rest of the Middle East. Today, the so-called western experts and commentators inform us of a regional sectarian inferno developing that would likely envelope more than the Middle East, ‘a clash within a civilisation’, which could tear it asunder for decades. They obviously do not remind us as to who started this flare up and why. Moreover, we know that such an upheaval would only benefit the west and Israel. Those shortsighted Arab and other Muslim rulers who support the west in these enterprises are not only cutting their own legs but also facilitating an absolute Israeli control over the region. It is more like cutting your nose to spite your face.

An earlier example of such behaviour is available right here at home in Pakistan. In 1980, we took on the Soviets at the behest and promise of a wonderland by the Americans and created the Mujahedin and various other extremists. And then again to support America’s 9/11 wars we have turned our country into an inferno of violence and death. Our petty dictators could not be expected to have the foresight to see what the consequences of their awful decisions would be, but surely US strategists and analysts must have visualised when they pulled the rug under us in 1987/88 or even before. How else were they to control an aspiring nuclear power — the ‘Islamic Bomb’?

Sadly, we have to note that when one western or Israeli life is lost in strife, CNN and BBC lay out a full emotionally charged report for their audience on a tragedy of great proportion, while the death of many Middle Eastern Muslims is reported as a matter of fact happening of no great consequence. The value of our lives can be gathered by incidents such as when some American soldiers urinated on the dead Afghans or the atrocities at Abu Gharaib. What about the unprovoked torture and massacre of innocent Iraqi families? These were not the doings of a mob, it was soldiers who were trained and taught to have discipline. Are they taught such hate, are they told that their third world foes are inferior beings, and therefore need not be treated as humans?

The so called Arab Spring’ was either engineered by the west or they, very early, saw the dividends it could bring them. Gaddafi was removed, Mubarak was too old and could not be saved; but how soon Egypt has been sent to the path of destruction through the US-controlled Egyptian Army! The various kingdoms and emirates have received sufficient warnings of what can happen to them if their people rise against them or for that matter are ‘made to rise against them’. All of them need to hold on to Uncle Sam tighter than ever before. Mr Obama the one who came with the promise of a peacemaker between the civilisations has become the imperialist not even the most belligerent of Republicans could have dreamed of becoming.

You will recall that the so-called Syrian uprising began in a little Syrian town right on the Jordanian border called Deraa. This town had probably never been heard of before, had no history of rebellion and now suddenly it became the spearhead of dissent! Is it not more conceivable that Jordan facilitated the infiltration of personnel, intelligence agents and arms supported by the US, Israelis and Saudis to start fomenting trouble? For a long while Deraa was the lone area of dissent and violence. Immediately, the well-oiled western propaganda machinery spearheaded by BBC and CNN kept doling out reports that the Arab Spring had reached Syria. Then the centre shifted to Homs, a provincial capital near the border with north Lebanon where again the Americans and Israelis have many friends. Then it went on to Latakiya by the sea. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Syrian operations were engineered, armed, supported and supervised by foreign powers. Of course, the complexion has become local now and a civil war is on, but some of the western powers, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Israel are playing a big role in financing, arming, training and probably even providing Arab boots on the ground.

Again in Syria the sectarian monster has been raised to obtain the desired political results. In Iraq, it was the Shia majority pitched against the Sunni ruler; here it is an Alawite Shia ruler who faces his Sunni majority.

The American paranoia about Syria will not come to rest until President Bashar al-Assad is hounded out of Syria or, better still, is eliminated. The dramatic discovery of the alleged use of chemical weapons at a time all sides and reports spoke of a turn in the tide in favour of the Syrian government sounds a bit incredulous, but the Americans claim incontrovertible proof. But then they always believe their own lies as we know from the WMD case in Iraq! Now missiles will rain, death and destruction will be swept under the carpet as collateral damage and what remains of Syria will be emasculated.

With the destruction of Syria almost complete, Iraq put to sleep for at least half a century, Libya in a similar boat of anarchy and Egypt being weakened daily by American-installed despotism, the field is clear for the complete domination of the Middle East without any dissenting voices. Now also is time for the American-leaning Mahmood Abbas to deliver the Palestinians to a legally binding bondage to Israel.

The US has a rather murky history of enforcing its will through covert actions, sometime by waging war on its opponents and against those who do not agree to protect American vested interests. There are countless such examples; it would be pertinent to name a few where elected governments were replaced by ruthless dictatorships. In 1954, the elected Mossadegh of Iran was ousted and the brutal regime of the Shah was installed; this staunch ally of the US established himself by terrorising his people for the next 25 years. In Indonesia, an elected president, Sukarno was toppled for being soft on leftists by General Suharto who committed a horrendous blood bath killing over half a million Indonesians while the west applauded. Suharto ruled for more than 30 years and turned Indonesia into the most corrupt nation in the world while American interests were well served. Then in Chile an elected President Allende died in a coup engineered by the CIA, which brought General Pinochet to power for 17 bloody years. The Chilean military, a proclaimed ally, proceeded to eliminate and kill more than a 150,000 people.

It goes without saying that the west is able to manipulate and exploit the inherent weaknesses within the Middle East and as a matter of fact in most Muslim countries. If the leaderships spent time in building institutions and strengthening their societies by eliminating the weaknesses, such manipulation would become more difficult and abject surrender of national interests could be avoided. The examples of Turkey, Iran and Malaysia among Muslim countries are before us to emulate.

Most of us have no love lost for the Assad family and his ruling clique nor for Saddam and Gaddafi, just as we have none for the monarchies or the Mubaraks of the Middle East. Most honest folk, however, are opposed to external control or interference by the major powers. Propping up dictatorships, forcing regime change and conspiring against the will of the people are in conflict with the international law, and therefore cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Unilateral actions without UN approval are illegal.

The writer is a businessman and a former chairman of the National Textile Foundation. He can be reached at fsumar@cyber.net.pk