Arab World: Reality Check?
By Dr Mahboob A Khwaja
April 18, 2015
The Arab masses are the targeted victims of the Western-led coalition’s atrocities and instigated sectarian rivalries with unthinkable consequences to the present and future generations. To enhance the foreign proxy wars, the Arab-Muslim leaders are tragically entrapped in a vicious cycle of self- geared disastrous wars against themselves. The tragic side of the folly reveals moral and intellectual decadence where once progressive culture and civilization evolved horizontally to inspire the Western civilizations. Is it a Divine punishment to the Arabs and Muslims for waging trivial wars against their own existence and future?
In a broader context, the Arab-Muslim body appears to be on a death bed and the life-supporting oxygen is fast running out of stock. Undeniably, Western colonial nations have used millions and millions of Arab-Muslim people as readily available species to support their war agendas during the First and 2nd World Wars and resources free of charge to propel their nationalistic aims and to commit heinous crimes against the mankind. History speaks of several millions of North African Arabs and Asian and Arabian mainland Muslims used by the Europeans imperial nations throughout the nationalistic European wars of geography, borders and flags.
Strange as is, the same former colonial powers instigate “terrorism” and impose militarisation on the large parts of the Arab Middle East. The Arab-Muslim leaders propelled by egoistic Western leaders are engaged in desperate struggle for survival with unknown disastrous consequences for the entire world. The war syndrome represents human madness, the guilt of having plunged the whole of the mankind into cruel abyss. Nobody can imagine what the way out of the sadistic messy plan is for the future of the living humanity. For sure, wickedness and righteousness can be combined in one policy statement and decision maker’s mindset. All those possessing political power appear to be moving by animalistic impulse of indifference towards the fellow human beings.
Millions of innocents are bombed, massacred and deliberately uprooted just as herd is moved around the pastures. In view of the unstoppable cycle of political killings and daily bloodbaths in so many Arab states - Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen and spill-over to other oil producing Arab nations - and deliberate destruction of the socio-economic infrastructures - is the Arab world coming to its own end? The Arab leaders and the masses live and breathe in conflicting time zones being unable to see the rationality of people-oriented Islamic governance. Once in history, Arabs had moral superiority with the relation of Islam. But can they still claim what is not part of the contemporary culture?
America and Europeans have divided the Arab-Muslim world in sectarian identities, clichés and antagonism. The cruelty of unwanted wars is raging across the Arab- Muslim societies -Shiite-Sunnis fighting- daily bloodbaths happening as if normal sacrifices of the Eid festival. None seems to share any sense of accountability. Who is going to cure the irretrievable historical mistakes of human judgment? History shall see the engaged people and the leaders by their actions, not by their claims. The ten or so coalition forces aligned with Saudi Arabia are bombarding Yemen for almost three weeks without much change on the ground. Civilians are the net casualty in Yemen. Once friendly and now the culprit Abdullah Saleh, the former President is fighting against the Saudis. America had its anti terrorist center in Yemen and shares all the secretive information for aerial attacks. Iran is said to be moving two of its war ships to the Yemeni coasts. Rationality wonders who is fighting whom and why? Are they not entrapped by the US warmongering in the region? America is fighting to support the failing Shiite regime in Iraq, and it is supporting Saudis so to speak against the Shiite Houtis in Yemen and anti-Assad regime in Syria.
There is no sense out of the political and intellectual nuisance. Global politics is not fixed but a constantly changing phenomenon of life. Arab leaders do not comprehend the imperatives of political change. But reality will not diminish because nobody is conscious of its impact. The American-British wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the resulting sectarian bloodbaths, none of the aftermath crises are tackled in their proper context by any rational analysis. There are no independent public institutions to analyse the political problems and find workable solutions. No proactive thinking exists in any Arab quarters to strive for political unity of Muslim Ummah and to have proactive and coherent leadership. Leaders who cannot think intelligently or understand the nature of the current crises, how could they lead to any plausible strategic direction?
One wonders, why do the oil enriched Arab leaders are buying billions of dollars worth of military hardware from America or Europe? How and where would it be used and against whom? If Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Egypt are any example, the militarisation is meant to quell the public interest and aspirations for political change and future-building. Imagine, if the Arab world had competent armed forces and leadership on the one hand, and were open to common sense diplomacy and dialogue on the other, could peace and normalcy have not been restored in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya?
In view of the unstoppable cycle of political killings and daily sectarian bloodbaths in so many Arab states - and dismantling of the socio-economic infrastructures - is the Arab world coming to its own end? The solution must come out of new thinking and new vision for change, dialogue between the sectarian divides and competent leadership to achieve the stated goals. What if they were organized as morally and intellectually conscientious people and knew the complex nature of global politics and had proactive thought and freedom to think and act and communicate with moral strength to the enemies within the Arab societies. That is, if there were enlightened and competent leaders of vision and moral integrity to use moral and intellectual strength and are flexible to listen and learn from the other side. Many if not all man-made problems could be resolved peacefully and without resorting to bloodshed and committing crimes against the innocent humanity.
Dr Mahboob A Khwaja specialises in global security, peace and conflict resolution and is author of several publications.
Source: http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=262286
12:51 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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