politics for the 99%

(my comment: not only, but I agree with the rest – Heidi) – Published on Left Foot Forward, by KUNWAR SHAHID, August 11, 2014.

While it would be ridiculous to allow the West the moral high ground, it is even more absurd for the Muslim world to transfer the responsibility for ISIS on to the West.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is emulating al Qaeda, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Boko Haram and pretty much every single Sunni Islamist militant organisation in the world by taking up arms vying to establish a regional – and eventually global – caliphate.  

Many in the West and the lion’s share of the Muslim intelligentsia, meanwhile, are relentlessly filling column spaces putting almost the entire blame for the Iraq crisis on George W Bush and Tony Blair … //

… The roots of the ongoing conflict in Iraq predate the American invasion. They actually predate Christopher Columbus discovering America by seven odd centuries. The roots are sectarian and the war over who is the true follower of Islam began when the first caliph of Islam was taking oath. The ‘true and false’ sectarian fault lines were established in 680 AD at Karbala. The fault lines have since been branching out, causing religious quivers for the past 1400 years.

• Sectarian fault lines are more conspicuous than any nationalistic unity in almost every Muslim state.
• It is no coincidence that sectarian demographics are at the heart of the various crises in the Middle East.
• It is no coincidence that ISIS, TTP, Boko Haram, et al are following an identical ideology wherein outlawing and massacring everyone who disagrees with you has been god sanctioned.
• It is no coincidence that Iraq, Nigeria and Pakistan, countries that are so different in everything barring their religious identity, are facing a common predicament.
• It is also not a coincidence at all that the Muslim world hasn’t managed to solve its problems while ignoring the elephant in the room.
• It is a no brainer then that tracing the commonalities among ISIS, TTP and Boko Haram, might give us all a ‘hint’ as to what that elephant in the room is.
• When a religion’s political doctrine is being used as the rationale behind nationwide terrorism in a country, it is suicidal to incorporate said religion in politics. The political policy of the religion bolsters the religion’s inherent superiority complex, leading to antediluvian modes of suppression for the ‘wrong’ followers and non-believers.

Outlawing and butchering over ideological differences is as medieval as actions get, and the modern day solution to this particular problem is making religion irrelevant as a political entity. Sectarianism and religious extremism in turn are nipped in the bud … //

… (full text).

(Kunwar Khuldune Shahid is a journalist and writer. Follow him on Twitter).

Related Links:

• Khuldune Shahid on Pakistan Today;
• #AMessageFromISISToUS And #AMessageFromUSToISIS: The West And ISIS Battle It Out On Twitter, on International Business Times, by Dennis Lynch, Aug 11, 2014;
• Yazidis tormented by fears for women and girls kidnapped by Isis jihadis, on The Guardian, by Martin Chulov, Aug 11, 2014: Despair for one Yazidi father as he is told that his daughter will be sold as a slave by Islamists who rampaged through Sinjar;
• Who are the Yazidis? on The Guardian, by Raya Jalabi, Aug 11, 2014: The Iraqi ethnic and religious minority descends from some of the region’s most ancient roots and face executions for a reputation as ‘devil worshippers;
• US to directly arm Kurdish peshmerga forces in bid to thwart Isis offensive, on The Guardian, by Spencer Ackerman, Aug 11, 2014: Weaponry, said to be light arms and ammunition, to be brokered though CIA who are better positioned to supply militia;
• The West Lacks One Essential Tool to Defeat ISIS, on Patheos, by Elizabeth Scalia, August 9, 2014;
• Can the West live with ‘brutal’ al Qaeda offshoot ISIS? on CNN, by Fahad Nazer, August 6, 2014;
• Bashar al-Assad is west’s ally against Isis extremists, says Syria, on The Guardian, by Ian Black in Damascus, July 14, 2014;

Other Links:

General equilibrium theory — a gross misallocation of intellectual resources and time, on Real-World Economics Review Blog, by Lars Syll, August 11, 2014;

Egypt’s rural poor waiting for change, on IRINnews, Aug 11, 2014;

US: The FERC 25, on Zcomm.org, by Ted Glick, August 11, 2014 (about Stop Fracked Gas Exports at Cove Point and Beyond);

NANU NANU, Robin William’s Dead …, on Huffington Post, by Alana Horowitz, Aug 11, 2014;

Egypt may grant citizenship to Gulf’s stateless, on Zawya, Aug 11, 2014;

Christmas in July and the Collapse of America’s Great African Experiment, on TomDispatch, by Nick Turse, August 07, 2014;

Living on the Streets of Oakland, on East Bay Express, by David Bacon, Aug 6, 2014: The Great Recession may be over, but every night people are sleeping on benches or in makeshift shelters. Here are a few of their stories;

The Death of Doctors Medical Center, on East Bay Express, by Sam Levin, Aug 6, 2014: If Contra Costa County doesn’t save the San Pablo hospital, low-income residents, people of color, and seniors will suffer disproportionate impacts — and for some, the results could be fatal;

A Tale of Three Aircraft Tragedies – Russia Bashing, Hatred, Hysteria and Humbug, on Counterpunch, by BRIAN CLOUGHLEY, July 25, 2014;

A Hole in the American Dream? on The Investigative Fund, by DEAN STARKMAN, June 30, 2014;

… and this:

• Karunesh: Call of the Mystic FULL, 50.43 min, uploaded by My Happy Week, Sept 14, 2013.