The Spreaders of Jihad

October 2024 Forums General discussion The Spreaders of Jihad

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  • #82120
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    It is clear that the UK and Cameron are a main sponsor of bloody jihadism and in no way can claim the moral high ground on the Woolwich murder. He shares the same responsibility as any extremist Imam

    ".. the Syrian State and its population are under a proxy war led by foreign countries and directly financed and backed mainly by Qatar who has imposed its views on the Arab League. Turkey, a part of the Lebanese opposition and some of the Jordan authorities offer a safe haven to a diversity of jihadist groups, each with its own agenda, recruited from many countries. Bands of jihadists armed and financed from foreign countries invade Syria through Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon porous frontiers in an effort to destabilize Syria. There are an estimated 50,000 foreign jihadist fighters terrorizing Syria. 

    UN and EU economic sanctions as well as a severe embargo are pushing Syria to the edge of social collapse. Unfortunately the international media network is ignoring those realities and is bent on demonizing, lying, destabilizing the country and fuelling more violence and contradiction.

    In summary: the war in Syria is not as depicted a civil war but a proxy war with serious breaches of International laws and the Humanitarian International laws.. The protection of the foreign fighters  by some foreign countries among the most powerful gives them a kind of an unaccountability that pushes them with impunity to all kind of cruel deeds against innocent civilians… ."

    MAIREAD MAGUIRE Nobel peace laureate.   

    http://australiansforreconciliationinsyria.wordpress.com/nobel-peace-laureates-appeal-for-dialogue-and-reconciliation-in-syria-rejection-of-war/

    #94163
    ALB
    Keymaster
    alanjjohnstone wrote:
    There are an estimated 50,000 foreign jihadist fighters terrorizing Syria. MAIREAD MAGUIRE Nobel peace laureate.

    I don't doubt that there are thousands of them but 50,000 seems rather a lot. What's the evidence for this?

    #94164
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Channel 4 reported that There are approximately 100,000 rebel fighters in Syria, and as many as half of those may be regarded as jihadists – fundamentalist fighters who believe that they are fighting a holy war. http://www.channel4.com/news/syria-rebels-jihadist-nusra-war-assad-free-syria-army How many are Syrian or foreign fighters? However the substance of the claim that the UK, US, EU and their Arab League allies are providing them i don’t think can be disputed.  This article mentions the figure 10,000 Islamistshttp://www.dw.de/murky-allegiances-for-jihadists-in-syria/a-16739076 According to this report 5,500 foreigners have joined the civil war in less than two years. That does not include Syrians.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9970074/Syria-becoming-new-cradle-for-foreign-extremists-research-warns.html Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said “It’s no longer just a few hundred al Qaeda affiliated people. It’s a substantial number of radical extremists that have come from all over the world,”  According to Der Spiegel humanitarian mission is the euphemism foreign jihadists use when they try to explain their presence in Syria.  But we now have the Lebanese Hezbullah openly involved in hostilities for Assad. But jihadists is another of these words that has become commonly used in recent and could mean anything to anybody.   

    #94165
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/28/how-obama-and-al-qaeda-became-syrian-bedfellows/An article on the US role in arming the Jihadists. Oxfam : “Sending arms to the Syrian opposition won’t create a level playing field. Instead, it risks further fueling an arms free-for-all where the victims are the civilians of Syria. Our experience from other conflict zones tells us that this crisis will only drag on for far longer if more and more arms are poured into the country.”It seems that Hague/Hollande think that lifting the arms embargo is a negotiating ploy to force concessions out of Assad pre-international conference. The Russians have countered with their own version of lifting the arms embargo with anti-aircraft missiles to Syria as a warning not to try another Libya ….more effective missiles will most likely provoke more Israel intervention…Fisk a long-time observer and always very much a cynic of Hezbullah motives in Lebanon when the Trots were all declaring we are all Hezbullah describes the threat from them in widening the conflicthttp://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/hezbollahs-war-in-syria-threatens-to-engulf-lebanon-8632689.htmlPar for the course, the BBC (and Guardian) repeats UK government propaganda as if the whole Iraq disinformation experience had not happened and lessons from Libya/Mali have never been learned…Once more we have to go in search of contrary views from the alternatives to the mainstream media websites.What annoys me most is that when this all began with peaceful protests groups opposed the support of foreigners or even exiles, that they warned of the consequences of militarisation of the protests.Apologists for Assad conveniently forget that he brought this upon himself with his suppression of democracy.http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2011/08/revolution-without-leaders.htmlhttp://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2012/04/syrian-struggle-for-democracy-is-on-two.htmlhttp://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2013/01/syria-plague-upon-both-houses.html

    #94166
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    A few more links from my own blog where i think my point on the threat of militarisation of protests were made ( not on SOYMB, it appears)http://mailstrom.blogspot.com/2012/06/syria-all-hope-not-yet-lost.htmlhttp://mailstrom.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-non-violent-class-warriors.html

    #94167
    ALB
    Keymaster

    In the meantime the media are beginning to talk of the fighting in Syria being or becoming a proxy war between Russia and the West for control of the strategic region that Syria is. Same old capitalism then.

    #94168
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Oh, i am sure that Russia support for Assad has a lot to do with the fact that it is Syrian ports that permit its Mediterranean warships safe harbour facilities.I also think that Canada's neutrality is because of its staunchly pro-Israel stance in not permitting any possibility of leakage of  arms to its enemies.Little mention of the boost of American military personnel in Jordan.Nor is there any doubt why the Russian diplomats are insisting on Iran having a key seat in the up-coming "peace" conference.It is rarely mentioned that Syria is an ex-French protectorate and was invaded by the British during WW2 to replace the Vichy authorities.I have been reading quite a lot of criticism of Fisk's position for having the temerity of questioning the motives of Hezbollah, an organisation he has always exposed over the years as a Iranian proxy. He simply pointed out that the self-defence and liberation of the miniscule bit of Lebanon that the Israelis still occupy justification for its military wing is exposed for what it is with their intervention in Syria – utter cant.But I see on another topic that the Brits have their own "Guantanamo Bay" in Afghanistan. Also the BBC ensuring the army position is sympathised with."British soldiers in Helmand will have welcomed the comments by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond on the BBC today that the only alternative to holding prisoners was to "release them onto the battlefield".http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22699473

    #94169
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    The UK/US/French position appears to be a minority one, although we would't know it from the BBC news.German Chancellor Angela Merkel officially stated on Wednesday that Germany will ''under no circumstances'' send weapons to rebels in Syria. A group of independent UN experts stated that the majority of the Syrian rebel militants do not fight for democracy.“It was said the rebels were angels, but there is only a minority of fighters with a democratic history who believe in the Syrian mosaic and want a state for all,” Paulo Pinheiro, who took part in UN investigation, told reporters. "The majority of rebels are very far from having democratic thoughts and have other aspirations,” .http://rt.com/news/air-defense-syria-assad-993/Also reported but not widely in the UK media since it doesn't serve the governments propaganda agenda and adding to the evidence that suggested to the UN envoy Del Ponte that oppositionist groups were behind its use, not the Syrian government "12 suspected Al-Nustra members were arrested in southern Turkey and anti-terrorist police seized 2 kilograms of the sarin nerve agent."http://rt.com/news/sarin-gas-turkey-al-nusra-021/But we always should remember in an intelligence propaganda war – all sides lie !!But while Al Jazeera was a valuable resource for anti-war info during the Iraq war, it irepresents Qatar government position in regards to Libya and now Syria. It appears we need to make more use of the Russian media but who themselves are more sympathetic to Assad.Oh, for the day we have our own WSM observers on the ground reporting!! Who fancies Damascus for their Summer hols?

    #94170
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Another article by a Syrian blogger well worth the read and i'm pretty sure it will not be getting any links to it by the mainstream media.“Nietzsche once said, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”" That has proved to be very prophetic in the Syrian scenario…To us, a rebel fighting against tyranny doesn’t commit the same sort of crimes as the regime he’s supposed to be fighting against. He doesn’t loot the homes, businesses and communities of the people he’s supposed to be fighting for. Yet, as the weeks went by in Aleppo, it became increasingly clear that this was exactly what was happening.”http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/syria-revolution-aleppo-assad.html “So who was “us,” and why did we feel that we were any different or better? Well, by “us” I mean, and at the risk of sounding rather elitist, the civil grassroots opposition movement in Aleppo, who for months were organizing peaceful protests and handing out aid at considerable danger and risk to our own lives. “We” truly believed in the higher ideals of social and political change, and tried to emulate them. We tried to model ourselves on the civil rights movement of the US in the 1960s, Mandela’s struggle against apartheid, and the teachings of Gandhi: precisely what similar civil movements in other Arab Spring countries such as Tunisia and Egypt had done before. For “us,” a revolution was a slow, deliberate and committed struggle for change. Like water drops repeatedly beating down on a boulder, eventually we would break it. But for “them,” well, their idea of change was throwing a ton of TNT at that boulder and having it, and everything around it, blown to smithereens. "We,” well, we mostly came from the educated urban middle class of the city. We came from all walks of life, all sects and all areas, and we didn’t care.We never asked where that guy or girl was from or what they worshiped. Each one of us gave and contributed what we could, in the capacity we could. The leader of our group was a young Christian lawyer, a very active and dedicated young woman. The rest of the volunteers in our group were a microcosm of Syrian society; veiled girls, Shiite boys, rich kids and poor working class all working together for ideals we strongly shared and believed in.”“Whatever is left of Syria at the end will be carved out between the wolves and vultures that fought over its bleeding and dying corpse… “ 

    #94171
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    An example of war-mongering propaganda can be demonstrated by this BBC website headline http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22773268“France's Fabius 'confirms sarin use' by Syria regime” Headlines are more important than the details in the body of the article. In the article text The French foreign minister is quoted "…There is no doubt that it's the regime and its accomplices" that were responsible…he did not specify where or when the agent had been deployed”Of course the defenders of proper grammar and protectors of truth, educated by institutions that encourage bending the truth…public schools and Oxbridge… will remind us of the quotation marks and the BBC is simply reporting what was said.  Also on BBC article was an extract from the United Nations investigation “…the UN said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe chemical weapons had been used…” However the article failed to mention the UN also found insufficient evidence to determine what actual type of chemical agents were used or which side of the warring forces had deployed them. Those important caveats to the UN report apparently do not deserve repeating. We can only conclude that for reasons better known to themselves, the BBC desires to present what limited information is available as hawkishly as possible to present the Syrian dictatorship in the most unfavourable light and provide support for the UK government line. AlQaida In Iraq have been in the past few days caught manufacturing more chemical weapons but joining the dots is something the BBC journalist are not renowned for. I also note that Milliband has remained rather quiet on the issue. Silence is compliance.  I am  astonished how there is more indignation of the possibility of the rich pensioner being deprived of his or her free tv licence than the imposition of an annual tax upon us all to maintain an establishment mouth-piece is readily seen as acceptable. At times i wish the SPGB was a campaigning reformist party because i know what supposedly independent corporation would be in my sights for abolition to save us all a few quid.

    #94172
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    From the Guardian reportA senior British official said: "Are we confident in our means of collection, and are we confident that it points to the regime's use of sarin? Yes. Can we prove it with 100% certainty? Probably not."Half-pregnant?While the Americans care more about the stock-piles than the usage."It's not that big a deal so far. But if it's an indication of a loss of control of chemical weapons that becomes a huge problem," said Charles Duelfer, the former US chief weapons inspector.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/04/syria-nerve-agent-sarin-uk-france

    #94173
    ALB
    Keymaster
    alanjjohnstone wrote:
    I am  astonished how there is more indignation of the possibility of the rich pensioner being deprived of his or her free tv licence than the imposition of an annual tax upon us all to maintain an establishment mouth-piece is readily seen as acceptable.At times i wish the SPGB was a campaigning reformist party because i know what supposedly independent corporation would be in my sights for abolition to save us all a few quid.

    If we were a campaigning reformist party I think we should be careful what we wish for. The abolition of the BBC is what the Daily Mail is campaigning for and would leave the field free for the likes of Murdoch. Given the choice, I'd rather campaign for the abolition of the Daily Mail and Murdoch.I do agree, though, that the famous poem does apply to BBC journalists:

    Quote:
    You cannot hope to bribe or twist, thank God! the British journalist. But, seeing what the man will do unbribed, there's no occasion to.
    #94174
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    How sad is it that i find this type of penetrating article in the Daily Telegraph and not in the Guardian or the Independent but it is a sign of the times (not the Times…i'm denied access to it due to its paywall)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10086837/The-whiff-of-suspicion-over-the-Chilcot-Inquiry-grows-stronger.htmlJust who is on the left or right these days?   

    #94175
    SocialistPunk
    Participant

    Has anyone read a book by David Owen, called "The Hubris Syndrome: Bush, Blair and the Intoxication of Power"?

    #94176
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    The media was not slow nor reluctant to publicise Iran's leader's supposed declaration to "wipe Israel off the map". As been pointed out, several countries have been wiped off the map with the blessing of NATO and the UN, and neither did he ever say Israelis or Jews would be wiped off the map. However, strangely (but perhaps not that strange) when the Syrian Free Army announces a threat that Shi-ite and Alawite and Christian minority communities would be “wiped off the map” it is something that the BBC appear not to consider of sufficient importance to be news to headline. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-21/syria-rebels-threaten-to-wipe-out-shiite-alawite-towns.htmlWhether rebel forces will openly begin an ethnic cleansing program to eradicate minority communities remains to be seen but if rebel forces do eventually seize power, the future of Christians, Jews, Shias, and Alawites in Syria is uncertain at best. Will Cameron and Hollande wash their hands of the blood? I rather think so.

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