What shall we do about ISIL?

Civilisations have clashed: Who will rebuild?

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David-November 1, 2014, 3:55 pm
The blame-game is secondary; important but less important; the
living take precedence over the dead The real issue is what to do ne!t; the blame-game is
disputation about who did wrong in the last century or in previous decades " can drive home
the point with a #ankan analogy Whether war crimes were committed and who is to blame
should be $ollowed up; but it is secondary to current Tamil demands $or genuine devolution%
anticipated possibility o$ regime change% etc
We must take a similar approach to the &iddle 'ast; the (ykes-)icot secret *greement o$ +,+-
which arbitrarily carved up o$ the &iddle 'ast and Turkish territories% then oil and *merican
"mperialism% then creation o$ "srael and C"*.s overthrow o$ &osaddegh in +,/0% all relevant
and crucial past history 1ut now "("#% al 2aeda% $undamentalism and the de $acto collapse o$
states 3"ra4% (yria% 5emen% #ibya% )alestinian *uthority% and (omalia in (aharan *$rica6 cry
out The primitive savagery o$ $undamentalism% the brutality o$ 7ihadism% the *merican led air
war and the arming o$ anti-"("# Kurds% "ra4.s rump army and anti-*ssad (yrians is primary
Where do we stand on these matters? These are mainly moral 4uestions $or us in #anka as
there is no practical way in which we can intervene or
in$luence events
We can% as some addle-pates do% relieve our bile
eviscerating 8bama as i$ he is a great plague% $roth against
7ihadist terrorism% or ponti$icate great theory - historical
blame-game "t is all $amiliar% maybe tiresome and serves
very limited purpose "nstead let me restate the dilemma in unpretentious 4uestions to which "
do not have indisputable answers but only attitudes and opinions
The moral imperative
The 4uestions are direct and urgent; the answers% taken together% de$ine a person.s moral and
ideological deportment% and on this occasion ideology and morality are separable 9or
e!ample% it is not obvious i$ a le$tist will damn "("# as a barbarism% or deem it the rage o$
downtrodden creatures #ikewise among pious &uslims there are admirers o$ "("# and
detractors% enthusiasts o$ the *merican military campaign and opponents There is no palpable
le$t:right% &uslim:non-&uslim% democratic:conservative divide in the responses to these three
4uestions
a6 ;otwithstanding a century o$ colonialism and more recently *merican resource e!ploitation
o$ the &iddle 'ast and bankrolling "srael - oppressor o$ the )alestinians - should we support a
military campaign to destroy "("# and al 2aeda as a greater evil?
b6 Conversely% notwithstanding "("#.s despoliation o$ democratic% and " daresay socialist
values% should we throw our moral sympathy behind 7ihadism as the voice o$ the oppressed?
c6 "$ we answer yes to 3a6% how do we carve out our separate identity in this conundrum; <we.
here means democrats% socialists and liberals?
=eader please give $orthright answers; don.t duck and hedge and give >on the one-hand but on
the other-hand> nonsense &y answers to 3a6 and 3b6 are straight$orward: 3a6 5'(% and as a
corollary% 3b6 ;8 The snag is 3c6 5ou may have guessed that this is the non-Kantian moral
imperative " have been leading up to all along; 3c6 is the purpose o$ this essay
*bout $undamentalism
#et me e!plain my hostility to 7ihadist $undamentalism #ess severe as $its the case% hostility
underlies my aversion to religious e!tremism 311(6 and shrill nationalism whether (inhala or
Tamil 1ut there.s no denying the 7ihadist version% ob7ectively% poses a greater threat
9undamentalism re$ers to the philosophical approach that holds that there e!ist core belie$s
which are unshakably true% un-$alsi$iable and a compulsory code o$ practice Those who hold
that the Koran is the inerrant and literal word o$ god to be strictly adhered to% and the $ont o$
moral righteousness% are $undamentalists in a proper usage o$ the term That per se matters not;
but when these protagonists permit no barrier between religious morals and state and society
they come in con$lict with democratic practices and the separation o$ church and state These
ideologues vary greatly; some conservative and propounding narrow views% others employing
populist rhetoric "mposing strict codes o$ behaviour on society% that is on other people% is the
root o$ con$lict When en$orced imposition o$ religious practices comes in con$lict with
broadly accepted norms o$ human rights% the clash becomes acute
These believers vary in doctrine and political demands (ome accommodate Christians% ?ews
and secularists com$ortably% others employ a dualist &anichean ideology; <5ou are one o$ us
or against us. "n the latter $orm it is now the world.s primary source o$ resistance to the West
"n the a$termath o$ @eorge 1ush.s invasion o$ "ra4% radical "slam alone had the balls and the
brawn to stand up against it as 'urope% )akistan and *sia% China and =ussia% cowered in $ear
This% its anti-imperialist strength% is born o$ a century o$ e!ploitation by $oreign masters in
cahoots with local rulers
&igration has added a new dimension David @reen$ield% an *merican is candid: >* clash o$
civilisations is approaching driven by a variety o$ $actors% including the collapse o$ 'uropean%
*merican and =ussian world power and the demographic strength o$ the &uslim world We
could ignore the implications $or our own countries i$ it were not $or a siAable stream o$
settlers spreading across 'urope and speaking openly o$ the day when they will become a
ma7ority and impose "slamic theocracy on the native 'uropean minority> This clash will not
go away; rather it will worsen with the passage o$ time; 'urope will $ind no easy e!it $rom
ruinous contradictions
Christian and ?ewish $undamentalists too deem the 1ible the literal and inerrant word o$ god%
but $ind ways o$ sidestepping its in7unctions Deuteronomy is a particularly bloodcurdling te!t
Chapter BC prescribes that when you lay siege and capture a city >thou shall smite every male
but the women and little ones and the cattle and all that is in the city thou shalt take unto
thysel$ and eat the spoil thereo$> Chapter B+ condemns women caught in adultery and non-
virgins at marriage to death by stoning (o chucking rocks at $eisty $emales is not only a
Taliban pastimeD Chapter BE lists twelve savage curses% BF adds $our more Charming verse
B0:+ stipulates that i$ your marbles are damaged or your pecker >cut o$$% 3you6 shall not enter
the congregation o$ the #ord> "n like vein B0:B banishes bastards and their issue $or +C
generations to come 3phewD6 $rom the $lock The stu$$ makes delight$ul reading 3there is much
>going into her> adventure in these pages6 9ortunately Christians% even $undamentalists% $ind
ways to $eign dea$ness The problem is that some provisions in the Koranic te!t are similar and
7ihadists live by them% literally
Then there is Wahhabism; preaching puritanism whilst its bene$actor% corrupt and reactionary
(audi absolute monarchy% swims in whisky &onarchy and Wahhbism lean on one another;
militarily and ideologically keeping a vice like grip on the country They are the source o$
$unds and belie$s $or "slamic e!tremism all over the world (tephen (chwartA in The =eal
=oots o$ "slamic '!tremism says >"slamist e!tremism e!ists because corrupt and oppressive
rulers maintain power The West should support democratisation o$ *rab and "slamic
countries> 1ut till recently it was the West that provided an umbrella $or these ogres to thrive
1e that as it may% the case $or eliminating Wahhabism% monarchy and 7ihadism is now
unassailable
*$ter the *merican led war
Gistory teaches that military methods alone cannot eliminate ideas% particularly religious and
racial ones " do not re$er to the see-saw outcomes in the daily battles and bombardments in
(yria and "ra4 'ventually *merican military might with the $i$ty-odd others in tow will
prevail; "("# will be destroyed as were (addam Gussein and @adda$i *$terwards 1asher al-
*ssad will be dispatched 1ut what then; anarchy like post-war #ibya or a $ractured and $ailed
&iddle 'ast like "ra4 already?
;ations cannot% in globalised times% rebuild themselves in isolation; it is a multilateral task ;o
barriers e!ist to the movement o$ capital and goods% 7ihadists and ideas% 'bola and education
'ven "("# acknowledges this when it calls $or a @reater Caliphate% that is world government
abiding by "slamic law ?ihadism cannot be pushed aside e!cept by putting something
universal it its place 9rancisco 9ukuyama.s crap dug $rom the 'ntrails o$ Gistory has been
$lushed down; hidebound neo-liberalism ;either has capitalist democracy% impoverishing the
poor and marginalising the periphery% succeeded% as depicted in ?ohn @ray.s 9alse Dawn:
Delusions o$ @lobal Capitalism Capitalism is still unable get o$$ its knees a$ter the BCCF ;ew
Depression; 'urope teeters on the brink o$ its si!th recession in si! years% *benomics is kaput
in ?apan% and the Chinese miracle is running out o$ steam This backdrop to ?ihadism makes
=osa #u!emburg.s option >(ocialism or 1arbarism> ever more true% but it is also ever so $ar as
the #e$t slumps all over the world 'very Aeitgeist o$ the Twentieth Century has been laid to
rest; it.s time $or out o$ the bo! lateral thinking
"$ single-malt democracy% socialism% communism% capitalism and liberalism o$ yesteryear are
all stale% their brand champions on the run% but we still re$use to capitulate to the demons
creeping out o$ a moral and mental e!tremist morass% is a new blend o$ populist-socialism and
broad-minded liberalism the answer? "t seems so% but there is no one-taste-suits-all-palates
blend "t has to be a separate mi!% case by case% country by country% continent by continent
&iddle 'ast blend won.t sell in #anka Galting the relentless march o$ the 'uropean $ar-right
3HK")% ?ean-&arie #e )en in 9rance% @reet Wilders in Golland% or the 9reedom )arty o$
*ustria6 needs yet another blend o$ spirits
This broad $ormula makes sense in 'urope and (outh and 'ast *sia not overwhelmed by war
and anarchy% but it is inade4uate $or the great swathe stretching $rom (hahran and ;orthern
*$rica across the &iddle 'ast into )akistan and *$ghanistan I that is the greater part o$ the
"slamic world *s =a7an )hilips said last week 3'nd o$ "nnocence 6: >While it is necessary to
contain and destroy the brutal machinery o$ the "slamic (tate% that alone is not su$$icient as a
solution to $undamental and broader problems> 'conomic development and investment%
education and women.s liberation% wel$are and health% these are sine 4ua non% but seem beyond
the knack o$ local peoples and the capacity o$ the international community% despite an increase
o$ global productive power beyond anything ever be$ore seen in human history