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Dear Mr. Joyce:
Please note that my
recent two posts #81 and 82 are not addressed to you and were not attempts
to address any of the issues or questions that you may have raised. These
posts discuss international affairs that are of interest to me and many
other FOTH
members.
However, I did start
writing a reply to your post #76, but never completed it and went on to
other things. Reading your post #76 closely, I was very discouraged to note
a very large gap between our understandings of several socio-political
issues and the world view and appears to be
insurmountable. For example half the world is going up side down because of
American hegemony and imperialism, but you have casually rejected it by
saying that no such thing exists. My incomplete response to your post #76
is copied below as Appendix A.
In your latest post
#83, you have complained that the questions or concerns raised by yourself
have not met appropriate response – you may be right to some extent. But
allow me to point out a practical problem. You are opening too many fronts
of attack at the same time, as a result, none of
the topics will get due attention and in time the discussion keeps getting
more and more complex. We don’t have to agree with each other but al least
we should have clear idea of what we are agreeing to disagree.
You claim that you
have given facts or reasons to back up your opinions. Well, has this
crossed your mind that what you call a fact or a reason could be your own
assertion in view of your perception of the issue in question while others
may have different explanation for same? Let me summarize and make a list
of views, opinions, questions and concerns that have been discussed, as
follows:
Christian and Islamic
Fundamentalism - You claim that the two are different. I say they may be or
may not be, but how can we tell until we define what exactly do we mean by
the term, ‘fundamentalism’? Would you care to define it?
American Imperialism –
You claim that there is no such thing as American imperialism. I strongly
disagree with you. The invasion of Iraq
and Afghanistan
are direct result of it. Moreover, the American history of the last 100
years is full of additional examples of the American Empire.
American Hegemony –
You call it nonsense. When you deny the existence of some thing so obvious,
it closes the door for any further discussion on the subject. How much do
you know about CIA and what do you think they do all around the globe?
Iraqi Invasion and
Death Count – You have objection to the figure of 1 million dead, 5 million
made orphans and same number made homeless. Then, let us have your figures.
BUT, that is not really all that important, tell
us what is your perception about the America’s
reason and motivation for invading Iraq? The rivalry between Sunnins and Shias does exist
but there was no wholesale killings and out of
control sectarian riots until the American State Funded Terrorism arrived
at the scene. Can you explain the phenomenon?
Afghanistan
and the Pipeline – Now that the whole world agrees on what I have stated,
but obviously you don’t, but you have not supported your views with any
tenable argument either. Would you share your thought as to why exactly the
Americans are in Afghanistan?
The Old Book: Perhaps
you are referring to 1400 years old Quran. Are you saying that its ok if Bible is used, as being used by many in Washington DC?
Have you read and understood Quran? Are you sure those in Afghanistan
(Taliban in particular) actually go by Quran or some thing entirely
different? Are you aware that many religious claims made by Muslims around
the world and Taliban in Afghanistan
are not supported by Quran?
I have
compartmentalized various aspects of what has been discussed in the current
round of dialogue and hope that we do not wander all over the map and
spread ourselves thin whereby writing a lot without saying much. You can
discuss any or all of the areas listed above but let us try and keep them
separate in the hope of making more sense keeping the confusion to a
minimum.
Below is my incomplete
response to your post #76 under Appendix A
Regards,
Javed I. Chaudry
Feb 28, 2009
Appendix A
Dear Mr. Joyce,
My first post #64 for the FOTH
discussion was in response to your patronizing stance in favor of the
Americans when discussing post-war American-Japanese relationship. In your
post #76, you have maintained that posture.
In connection with
American invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, your narratives are more in line
with the American pretences and have very little to do with the reality on
ground. In other words, you are totally and completely missing the real
reason for the invasions – the imperialism.
At this juncture, I
think it will be useful if I introduce my own beliefs and values in
connection with the international affairs only in an effort to make the
point that my criticism or analysis is not based on prejudice or malice
against any nation or ideology. I am merely attempting to call a spade a
spade.
I am neither a
supporter of socialist system, nor against capitalism. Both economic
systems offer good and bad attributes. Furthermore, I do not care much for
the political Left, Right, Liberal or Conservative thought. This jargon
keeps changing its meanings and its impact on life. I have never been a
member of any political party, nor have plans to join one. America is
being run on capitalist values to a point of being capitalist extremism, Russians ran their economic affairs on
socialist lines with vigor and extremism for 70 years. Both systems have
flaws and faults and the consequences are now obvious. Britain, the Scandinavian countries and Canada are
being run on economic systems which comprise both the capitalist and
socialistic values. I support such systems over others. I am not anti this
or anti that. When I criticize a political party or a country, the
criticism is based on specified areas, citing reasons and the areas of concern
defined. My criticism of America
is mainly due to its imperialism and hegemony that relates to its foreign
policies. A handful few people out of its population of 300 million people
are involved in such decisions, a vast majority of the Americans are not
even aware of the mischief their leaders are causing around the globe.
You appear to be under
the impression that America
has some kind of God given rights and authority to attack any country at
will. Your unfailing patronizing of America seems to indicate that
a country turns into a superior place after having been raided by the
Americans. It is true, Japan
has changed in some ways, but as I wrote in my last post, most societies
have changed in their behaviour and their value
system. The whole world is changing and will keep on changing.
Let me give you an
interesting example of the changing world and its values. Gandhi was
visiting England
during early part of the last century and went to a barber shop for hair
cut. The barber threw him out of the shop and told him that he could loose
his clientele as no Englishman would like to get a haircut with a scissor
that had been used to cut a brown skinned man’s hair. So Gandhi bought a
pair of scissors to give himself a haircut. They don’t do it now in England as the society has changed, so have
many social values and that happened without America
having to invade England.
You have referred to
what I wrote about England
in my last post. In fact it was just one or two lines that I wrote in the
passing, only to compare societies for a given time period without going
into details or specifics. What I wrote is a historical fact, but some how
you have decided to disagree. I did not imply that slavery was the only
factor involved in the British economical development.
You have suggested for
me to read Voltaire to know about England. Now that is a strange
suggestion. Voltaire (b.1694, d.1778) even before the French revolution and
much before the time of England’s
imperialism in the Indian subcontinent. The British presence in the Americas was still a novelty, not much was
known about the new world to many in Europe.
The gold and silver had not yet started flowing into Europe
in a big way. I don’t see how Voltaire’s plays would help me to know more
about England.
Coming back to the
real subject, ‘the American imperialism’, you are surprised to see that so
many FOTH participants are accepting the notion unquestioningly. I am
really astonished at your surprise. How can you miss some thing that is out
there and staring at you in broad day light?
What you have written
about Afghanistan,
clearly tells me that you have absolutely no idea of what is happening
there and why.
Lets
not mislay sight of the real issue or the subject of the dialogue, which
is, your perception that American imperialism does not exist. It is your
denial of such a stark naked truth that has attracted me to jump into the
discussion. Your description of American invasion of Afghanistan
has clearly demonstrated that your information about the facts is rather
sketchy. Below is a paragraph copied from your last post:
Even Afghanistan
is complex enough. Let me simplify matters a little, purely through
expediency. I am not concerned with the US
invasion of Afghanistan
beginning in 2001; rather, I shall focus on the more recent multi-nation
engagement. The two are naturally related, and the former largely led to
the latter. However, I think most people would agree that the motives and
the scope of the two differ somewhat. This separation should not suggest that
I opposed the US
invasion. On the contrary, I supported it almost one hundred percent.
You appear to be under
the impression that the US
and NATO forces’ presence in Afghanistan represent two
different events and driven by different objectives or caused by different
reasons.
NATO is engaged in
supporting the US
hegemony because, the UN had blessed the US with the sanction after 9/11 to invade Afghanistan
to hunt for Bin Laden. NATO joined the American forces because of the UN
sanction. It is a different matter to establish whether or not the UN had
legitimate grounds to allow such an action. Technically, the state of Afghanistan did not invade USA. The
event of 9/11 was an act of terrorism and not an act of war. No proof has
yet been put forward to date as to who was behind the attacks. It is an
American claim that Bin Laden and his boys planed and executed the 9/11
carnage. A mere claim cannot be entertained as a proof. The world has seen
many claims made by various US
administrations at different times which have been proven to be false and
deceitful.
It is a well known
fact that the Americans had tried to negotiate for a gas/oil pipeline with
the Taliban during their rule of Afghanistan prior to 9/11. As
the negotiations did not go well with the Americans, they decided to invade
Afghanistan
using 9/11 as an excuse. But the whole world knows that the real American
interest lies in its plans for the pipeline by bringing Afghanistan and Pakistan under its control by
hook or by crook – simply put the American imperialism in action in all its
military colours.
In their desperation,
the US
is now expanding its hegemony by attacking parts of neighboring Pakistani
tribal areas (FATA). Pakistan
was black mailed and being coerced to make the American war Pakistan’s
own. With all this known, I fail to see how can any one
refuse to accept the existence of American imperialism.
Javed I. Chaudry
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