(For a retrospective on the current Syria crisis, I am re-posting this newspaper column written by me last year)
Have decades of Middle Eastern conflict made us safe or wise? Last year in back-to-back interviews, the consequences of political pandering and slipshod journalism converged.
Matt Lauer’s bungled interview of Donald Trump failed to reveal this flip-flop: Trump was for the war before he was against it.
“And what is Aleppo?” asked Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, fudging a question from Mike Barnicle on MSNBC. ”You're kidding,” replied Barnicle incredulously.
Which is worse? Our slovenly state of partisan debate, or failures of journalism to properly cover the news?
Daily soundbites and headlines de jour never capture the broader context of history: Every intervention in the Middle East by a Western power has upped the ante on radicalism and violence.
Let’s speak of provincialism starting with this quote from the 1960s film, Lawrence of Arabia: “So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people - greedy, barbarous, and cruel.”
Who then are the little people, the silly people? As a global power, we have become a meddlesome people, yet clueless on matters of Middle Eastern culture and history.
Who remembers the overthrow of Mohammed Moseddegh, the first democratically elected leader of Iran? In 1953, our own CIA conspired with Britain to topple a nascent democracy for control over Persian oil.
“A cruel and imperialistic country” stealing from a “needy and naked people” were the words spoken by Mosaddegh at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. His words echo the animus of Middle Easterners for over a century.
Does terrorism represent the face of Islam? Not according to the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia who said: “Extremist and militant ideas … are not in any way part of Islam, but are enemy number one of Islam, and Muslims are their first victims.”
Not according to 70,000 Muslim clerics who issued a fatwa condemning al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Islamic State. Yet, how many news outlets cover these stories?
Consider the impact of successive Western interventions over time starting with European colonialism. As empires crumbled in the aftermath of world wars, European powers gave little thought to the demographics of the region. In forming the modern nation states of Iraq and Syria, Britain drew artificial borders around rival ethnic enclaves, thus sowing the seeds of future volatility.
Failing to account for history, the American occupation of Iraq unleashed long simmering resentments. Regime change under the regency of Paul Bremer swept away an established order as the new Shia-dominated government disenfranchised the formerly dominant Sunnis. In short order, ethnic militias, insurgencies, and reprisal murders escalated the conflict.
Follow the trail of duplicity among our allies in the region. Jihadi groups have moved money, munitions, and personnel across the Turkish border. Our military maintains strategic air capabilities in Qatar, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates even as the wealthy citizens of these countries fund militant groups throughout the region.
How can the enemy of your enemy be your friend when you can no longer distinguish enemies from friends?
We broke it, but Donald Trump has a secret plan to fix it. Is this the same secret plan of Richard Nixon in 1968 who promised to end the war in Vietnam? The plan that prolonged the war by six more years?
Despite years of conflict and countless casualties, what have we accomplished? If anything, we still live in a dangerous world shaped by blunder and bluster. Buyer, beware!
On Sunday, I mourned the loss of my beloved cousin who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Just past midnight on Monday morning, an arsonist set fire to the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, FL.
Guilt by association. Guilt by headline de jour. When will we learn from past mistakes and stop the endless cycles of blood libel and revenge. Reprisal crimes hurt only the innocent … and eventually someone we love.
(c) 2016 Jeffrey Berger
3 comments:
I suspect Trump's cruise missile attack on the Syrian air base may have simply been a blatant attempt to rally the country around him in an effort to improve his dwindling approval ratings. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed by conventional means as well as by chemical means over the past five or six years. Trump has been urging us to stay out of Syria for a long time. This latest gas attack was just another example of business as usual for the Assad regime. What's so unusual about one more exercise in barbarism? Suddenly Donald J. Trump is “moved” to action by the slaughter? I don't believe that.
Our attack on the Syrian air base may or may not have been the right thing to do. Regardless of that, I believe is was most likely done for the wrong reason.
Whether chemical or political, gas is gas (and equally lethal no matter how you look at it).
Partisans distort, falsify, & propagandize history. They win when low-information voters get bogged down in a fog of opinion. Is the following unassailable objective fact / truth?
"Following Assad's 2013 gas attack Obama had hoped for a coordinated retaliatory response with an ally, but the British Parliament voted down the United Kingdom’s participation. Obama then announced that he would ask for Congressional approval ― even as he maintained that he had the authority to order the strike without consulting lawmakers. The American public, still reeling from drawn-out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an ill-fated intervention in Libya, opposed the move. After weeks of deliberation, it was unclear if Obama could get enough votes from Congress. In what appeared to be an-off-the-cuff rhetorical remark, Kerry told reporters the only way for Assad to avoid military action was to turn over his chemical weapons stockpile to the international community within a week. The Russian Foreign Minister jumped at the narrow opportunity. Five days later ― Washington and Moscow announced a deal in which Syria would do what Kerry had almost jokingly proposed. Obama called off the military strike."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-2013-syria-trump-strike_us_58e8f930e4b00de14103d8f4?o4q&
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