The Global
War among Fascists
By Dr Shireen M. Mazari
The Bush-Blair
combine will never be satisfied with Pakistan, no
matter what it does. That is why while Bush was
effusive in his thanks to Blair on unveiling an
alleged plot to blow up airliners across the Atlantic,
there was no thanks coming forth to the Pakistani
leadership which not only unearthed the alleged
plot --and so nicely timed for the Bush-Blair combine
given the increasing criticism of their support
to Israeli aggression, akin to war crimes on a massive
scale, against Lebanon. So having put the Muslim
world on the defensive once again, it should hardly
surprise anyone that the figure of 1,100 Lebanese
dead may have been missed by the Ummah.
Of course, it does not come as a surprise for most
of us in Pakistan to hear of the born and bred British
Muslims who suddenly were referred to as Britons
of Pakistani origin. That the British press fails
to make similar reference to British Muslims who
bring sporting honor to their country and who also
have similar "Pakistani" connections is
now taken as a given and frankly after a while one
just shrugs one's shoulders with a bitter sense
of hopelessness in the way references to Pakistan
are made in the US and Europe.
After all, out of all the Muslim World, it is only
Pakistan, which despite its myriad problems, withstood
tremendous pressure over decades and acquired nuclear
capability. And it is Pakistan that commands respect
on the Muslim street, including the Arab street.
And it is Pakistan that, despite its many scars,
continues to rightfully challenge the bully on the
block, India, and dares to still pursue some level
of an external policy that sits uncomfortably with
the US --just as our nuclear status sits uncomfortably
with the Christian West. I use the word "Christian"
deliberately because we are descending into an international
relations framework where religion is being used
to define political interaction amongst states.
It has been barely five years since the collective
international coalition against terrorism, spearheaded
by the US, came into being with Muslim states like
Pakistan in the front lines. The war on terror is
now in a state of flux. The degeneration of this
laudable international objective began with the
US-led, "coalition of the willing"-supported
invasion of Iraq and has now reached a new low point
within the context of "collective responsibility"
being exercised by Israel supported by the Bush-Blair
combine to kill innocent Arabs in Lebanon.
Even in definitional terms, the US has altered the
paradigm of the war against terror to a war against
"Islamic fascists". This is interesting
because fascist, according to the dictionary definition,
refers to: "anyone with extreme right wing,
nationalistic, etc. views or methods" --and
fascism is linked to "extreme nationalism,
militarism, restrictions on individual freedom,
anti-communism", etc. Of course, religion was
not linked to fascism till now, although the role
of the Christian Church in Italy and Germany under
Mussolini and Hitler was questionable, at the very
least. But now Bush has referred to the fight against
"Islamic fascists" as opposed to a global
war on terror regardless of the religion of the
terrorists. Of course, in terms of the definitions
cited above from the Chambers English Dictionary,
Bush could be described as a born-again Christian
fascist and Israel is definitely reflecting Zionist
fascism -- so is the war on terror descending into
a war amongst those professing differing brands
of fascism?
The most ironic is Israel's adoption of policies
reflecting the European geopolitical thinking central
to fascism. The idea of a Greater Israel seems little
different to the geopoliticians' notion of "Lebensraum"
or "Living Space" -- that great nations
have the right to expand their frontiers to their
natural limits. In the process, other states and
nations are simply obstacles to be removed, one
by one. Thus we have Israel, through war, taking
over Palestinian lands as well as Syrian, Jordanian
and Lebanese territories. A supervised Gaza Strip
was demarcated for the Palestinians to satisfy or
rather befool the world, but unfortunately the results
of democracy created a spanner in the Israeli-US
plan. A fascist audacity marks the Israeli leadership's
attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip, including
innocent picnickers, and the kidnapping of elected
leaders of the Palestinian people. All this in the
name of "collective responsibility" to
go with the notion of "coalitions of the willing"
-- all of which function outside of the UN Charter
and the notion of collective security embodied in
it. Yet the attempt is being made to tell the world
that it was the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers by
Hamas and Hizbullah that actually caused the violence
in the Middle East.
After the passage of a UN Security Council ceasefire
resolution for Lebanon, an Israeli spokesperson
had the gall to say that Israel's continuing military
carnage in Lebanon was supportive of the ceasefire's
viability because the area would be rid of Hizbollah.
Given that Hezbullah is Lebanese, there is a murderous
logic here because of course if everyone is killed,
a ceasefire is certainly easier to maintain. A study
of twentieth century European history would help
explain the direction of Israeli policy in the Muslim
World.
As for the fascism of the Bush Administration, it
is only too evident -- from the abuse of Muslim
prisoners to the targeting of Muslim Americans under
the guise of security to the press censorship to
the general hell that has been unleashed in Iraq.
And the Blair government is no better. Only recently
some innocent Bangladeshis' homes were raided and
Muslims arrested only to be released later because
there was no evidence linking them to any terror
network. So what if they were abused for a while
at the hands of the British police. And tales of
prisoner abuse at the hands of the British forces
in Iraq are also commonplace now. And it is ironical
to hear how a major airline terrorist attack was
foiled when terrorism by Israel with countless innocent
Lebanese and Palestinians being killed for decades,
and most recently over the last month. But they
are the nameless victims with Arab life being regarded
as cheap.
And what of the so-called "Pakistani connection"?
If the truth be told, these extremists serve the
Bush-Blair agenda very well while not only aggravating
the problems of the Ummah but also undermining the
genuine struggle of groups like Hamas or Hizbullah
or the Kashmiri freedom fighters, all of whose struggles
still have a legitimacy under prevailing international
law and the UN Charter. So one really wonders who
is connected to whom! Meanwhile, there is presently
a strange "American connection" whereby
a group of Hollywood persons arrived into Pakistan,
shot for a film and left with no permission from
the government of Pakistan. Given that we are witnessing
a global war amongst fascists, how were so many
Americans able to enter and leave Pakistan undetected
when we Pakistanis are scrutinized not only by foreign
immigrations but also by our own immigration!
And who really knows what Dan Futterman and the
other so-called Hollywood folk's agenda really was
in Pakistan -- especially since the US has privatized
so much of its now "anti-Islamic fascists"
war. Surely we need to be more vigilant at our entry
points.
Finally, we Pakistanis need to shed a few more tears
and hold back on our bombast to show our sensitivity
to our people's plight and the tragedies that strike
us. That is why the Lebanese premier's public tears
were a sign of his greatness because he felt the
tragedy of his people. I don't recall any tears
on our leaders' faces at the fall of Dhaka or at
the shooting down of the Atlantique. Shows a lack
of sensitivity and care rather than courage, n'est-ce
pas?
(The writer is director general of the Institute
of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. Courtesy The
News)
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