War On Terror, Is it a War? Is it being Won?

[Nur]

Nomads, let us visit this rare and serious article I wrote on Islam pages last year, without the influence of any Camel Milk, after revisiting my own writep, I am amazed how time has vindicated my point of view.

 

 

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Presents:

 

The War on Terror, The Nomadic View.

 

 

In This thread, I am sharing my insights with fellow Nomads on current issues that affect our lives, and their implications. In no way do I imply that I have a solution, rather I am just raising questions as to where the current train of thought on these issues is destined, so that wise men and women, regardless of creed or country can reflect and make a better informed decisions to influence direction of current affairs.

 

Billions of Dollars have been earmarked by Congress to fight the scourge of terrorism after the tragedy of September 11, a new Department was created to secure the nation from this dreaded enemy and a lot of freedoms Americans enjoyed were compromised, in order to protect Americans from the terrorist death and destruction. When a public official was asked the motive of the perpetrators of the 9/11, the official said, " they ( Terrorists) hate Freedom", so, as a response the administration requested Congress to issue laws that will revoke present freedoms enjoyed by Americans given to them by the Constitution so that the administration can fight the terrorists who hate our freedoms.

 

If you are like me, a slow learner, you may come to the conclusion that if indeed the Public Official was right about the assertion that the terrorists hate freedom, by curtailing freedoms such as privacy and association, that the terrorists have indeed emerged as the winners in this war.

 

So, it may be worth our while to look into the effects of this terrorism thing to see if indeed it warrants a reaction so fundemental as to repeal basic human rights, International agreements and common sense. What is even more amazing is that, in a time when totalitarianism is going out of fashion, the nation that helped championing human rights is chopping the freedom bird's wings right in its own backyard.

 

Historically, in the seventies and beyond any armed group that caused a terror act was know as guerillas, they targted governmet installations and even civilians to get their point accross, so, if you go back and read old magazines, you will not find the popular buzz word "terroirsts" anywhere, all you will find is guerillas, rebels and the like. Some of this guerillas were even popular among the youth as heroes fighting against what was termed at the time imperialism and hegemony in the Communist Socialis literature. These guerillas were portrayed in the media as heroes fighting for justice and equality like Che Guevara of Chile, Angela Davis of Communist Party of America, Patrice Lumuba of The Congo, and Nelson Mandela of South Africa.

 

These "terror" or "Guerilla" groups were ranging from religiously motivated, like the Jewish settlers of Palestine who were fighting for the establishment of a Jewsish State in Palestine from the British Empire, the Ikhwan Brotherhood of Egypt who wanted to establish an Islamic state in Egypt, to state sponsored or secularly motivated urban Guerillas like the pro-llife groups, California Redwoods Preservationsists , Animal Rights groups, The Japanese Cults, Irish Republlican Army, Spanish Basque, Italian Brigate Rosso, organized crime bosses or Somali Warlords. All these groups had one thing in common, they used illegal or violent means to send a message to intimidate their adversaries to influence a policy.

 

Unfortunately, Their messages always meant human misery, loss of life and destruction of properties.

 

So, the end result of their actions always amounted to death and destruction. Clearly this phenomena or any other that causes human loss of life and properties must be stopped, and in that regard I looked into the statistics of past twenty years of all events that led to loss of human life, legally state sanctioned deaths or illegally committed crimes by terror groups, astonishingly, here is what I found within an hours research.

 

 

Terrorism:

 

 

Hoffman a well known expert in this field writes:

 

" Religion has been the major driving force behind international terrorism during the 1990s. As described below, the most serious terrorist acts of the decade--in terms of the number of people killed or the political implications--all have had a significant religious dimension.

Hoffman's states:

 

1992 onward: Bloodletting by Islamic extremists in Algeria has claimed an estimated 75,000 lives. (Note: Here the author does not mention that this war was trigerred by the Military who intervened a potential win by Islamists in the elections and rise to power, fatally damaging the democratic process of power sharing, he also does not mention that the government committed massive killings and deception in the process, all available in Archives of International dailies)

 

February 1993: Thirteen car and truck bombings shake Bombay, India, killing 400 and injuring more than 1,000, in revenge for the destruction of an Islamic shrine. ( No International Action taken )

 

February 1993: Islamic radicals bomb New York City's World Trade Center, attempting to topple one of the twin towers onto the other, reportedly while releasing a deadly cloud of poisonous gas. ( Dubious Framing)

 

December 1994: Air France passenger jet is hijacked by terrorists belonging to the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA), who plotted unsuccessfully to blow up themselves, the aircraft, and the 283 passengers on board precisely when the plane was over Paris, which would have caused the flaming wreckage to plunge into the crowded city below.

 

March 1995: Apocalyptic Japanese religious cult releases sarin nerve gas in Tokyo subway system, killing a dozen people and wounding 3,796 others, with reports that the group also planned to carry out identical attacks in the United States.( Japan Was never mentioned as hosting Terror Groups)

 

April 1995: Members of the American Christian Patriot movement, seeking to foment a nationwide revolution, bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

 

July-October 1995: GIA unleashes a wave of bombings in Paris Metro trains, outdoor markets, cafes, schools, and popular tourist spots, killing 8 and wounding more than 180.

November 1995: Jewish religious extremist assassinates Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin, viewing it as the first step in a mass murder campaign designed to disrupt the peace process. ( The victim could not stomach what Sharon is doing)

 

February-March 1996: String of attacks by Hamas suicide bombers kills 60 people and turns the tide of Israel's national elections.

April 1996: Machine-gun and hand-grenade attack by Egyptian Islamic militants on a group of Western tourists kills 18 outside their Cairo hotel.

 

June 1996: Religious militants opposed to the reigning al-Saud regime in Saudi Arabia perpetrate truck bombing of U.S. Air Force barracks in Dhahran, killing 19 people.

November 1997: Terrorists belonging to the Gamat al-Islamiya (Islamic Group) massacre 58 foreign tourists and 4 Egyptians at the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Luxor, Egypt.

 

August 1998: Attackers believed to have been financed by Saudi Arabian dissident Osama bin Laden bomb U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 257 people, including 12 Americans, and injuring more than 5,000 in Kenya, and killing 10 people and injuring dozens in Tanzania. Bin Laden had issued a fatwa, or Islamic religious edict, as part of his worldwide campaign against the United States. An estimated 5,000 adherents throughout the Muslim world allegedly are prepared to follow his summons to battle.

 

 

The last part of this report by Hoffman is very interesting, Bin Laden, as he claims, has alledgedly 5000 potential followers who may commit spectacular crimes like his ( which has never been proven in any court of law anywhere so far), this allegation if true is indeed horrible for humanity, but shouldn't we look into other similar group's intentions as close as this one? Like state sponsored terrorism , Sharon, who was found responsible for the killing in Sabra and Shatilla by a a competent Israeli court and who has as many followers as voted him into office, but horribly enough, with proven Nuclear capabilitiy. A Somali Proverb says: * ( Oohinta orgiga ka weyn) and its English counterpart says:

 

* "It is but seldom that any one overt act produces hostilities bewteen two nations, there exists more commonly , a previous jealousy and ill will, a predesposition to take offense". (Washington Irving, The sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon)

 

But because Israel is an Ally of USA, attrocities committed by this state in trigerring the mayhem, destruction and international terrorism is seldom addressed by Congress where the pro Israel Lobby viciously attacks any suggestion to control Israel. To this effect Leon Trotsky said : "An ally has to be watched just like an enemy" because at the end, American interests, regardless of its ehnic groups or pressure lobbies shall weigh heavier than any expedient political manuevers if the nation has to exist as the its founders envisioned.

 

Assuming the 5000 zealot theory of Hoffman to be true, I compared these numbers to PROVEN and legally state sanctioned deaths in the USA. America, a nation that prides itself in the preservation of human freedoms, dignity , property and life, I compared the Terror statistics and deaths with statistics from the Departmenmt of Justice on Crime and other statistics of legalized venues and means that cause the same if not worse devastation and horror, but only if cameras were present like the one that scared the hell out of me. No one describes death like the man who killed millions of his subjects in the name of communism and Patriotism: Joseph Stalin said: " A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic. ."

 

Here are some of the sobering statistics:

 

1. Over a million babies are killed in cold blood every year in USA ( Silent Screams)

 

2. 1000 Americans die of Cigarette related ailment DAILY, 3000 kids begin smoking every DAY. ( Philip Morris should be tried for these crimes against humanity)

 

3. 15 Million violent crimes are committed in USA annualy ( Murder, Rape, Robbery,Aggrevated assualt etc)

 

4. 20,000 Americans are murdered every year ( Compared to 2900 in 9/11 Tragedy)

 

5. 17,000 Alcohol related crimes and 16000 Alcohol related Traffic deaths, 3 Million crimes/year committed by drunk offenders.

 

6. 1000 Americans are Raped EVRY DAY, and 3 % of all college women are raped ( completed rapes 1.7%)

 

7. 15000 Robberies annually ( Billions of $$ are stolen, white collar like ENRON or street thieves)

 

So, who should Americans fear most?

 

As much as I abhor anarchism and terrorism, I equally detest what is called war on terror, because like Henry Kissinger said " The conventional army loses if it does not win, the guerilla wins if he does not lose" , I do not see an end to this madness and honestly if it continues, The USA will emerge out of this war that may never have a decisive end a weaker and poorer nation that compromised a lot of its centuries old ideals while chasing an elusive enemy of its own creation. The Chinese Philosopher Sun Tzu summed it up as:

 

" There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare." , The Art Of War.

 

 

In Conclusion, if securing human life and its quality is the priority of the American Constitution, then there is no better way to achieve that goal other than a comprehensive system of justice that everyone can buy into it, because like Martin Luther Kind said " Injustise ANYWGERE threatens Justice everywhere" , as long as any segment of the human family is not safeguarded, there will be no equillibrium, or a balance and thus security will remain an illusion at best.

 

Allah SWT referring to Prophet Abraham's plight with his people says : Those who "aamanuu" (became peaceful by surrendering to their maker) and further, who have not cloaked up their convictions and ideals ( their surrender to Allah) with injustice, those indeed ( deserve ) security and these are indeed the guided ones.

 

 

Nur

 

 

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Nomadic News Analyses

[Truth Seeker]

They are not winning the war on terror because it is a war on Islam and unless the Muslims see it as such they will win the war.

[Reality Check]

Nur,

 

Your post was an interesting read. I agree that world-wide autrocities and terrorism (guerrillas, rebels, cults, fanatics, etc) is nothing new.

 

TruthSeeker,

 

I'm sorry. I don't look at it as a war against Islam. Its a war nonetheless. But muslims and/or arabs being wrongfully targetted is a sad side-effect of war. And these psycho al-qiedas aren't helping much!

I think these wars are about material gains, power and control. Period.

[Viking]

Nur,

It's sad that the term 'freedom fighter' doesn't exist anymore. Anyone who offers resistance is rendered a 'terrorist'.

 

Sxb, why are you feeling shy to say that this is a war on Islam and not a war on terror? There is a hidden agenda here don't you think? The likes of Wolfowitz, Perle and Kristol are taking on from where Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev left. First it was the reds and now it is time for the greens, don't you think?

[Nur]

Truth Seeker and

 

Viking bro

 

Islam does not need worse enemies than its adherents, afterall it is "Muslims" who should take credit for what is happening to "Muslims", pointing a finger at Christian and Jewsih neocon Zealots does not address the core problem, these neocons are only temporary flies who fell on a wound caused by primarily by Muslims.

 

In my thread as evident, I use the declared statements of those who are "fighting a war on terror", knowing all too well that the Nazi Party of America is a legitimate movement protected by free speech, a party, that no one dares to ban or question their legitimacy, a movement that is credited to the death of 6 Million jews in the most violent way imaginable, in furnances and the white supremacist KU KLUX KLAN, the all white party who used to lynch blacks, and burn their houses, The Jewsih extremits who chased away millions of Palestinians from their homes in 1949, that these and many other similar organizations were not addressed on this "war on terror" is a clear indication of an unfair agenda targeted against Islam, using as a pretext the Muslim extremists who were more likely lured and framed by those who wanted to defame Islam and use it as a pretext to carry out other major world economic and political plans.

 

My question was to discuss the messages from the point of view of those who dance to the tune of Fox News, and who forget that this war is also directed at the very fiber of what is called Democracy, the right to privacy, the right of free speech, the right to an impartial judicial system based on eviudence alone and a jury of ones peers, no mob rule nor lynchings before an evidnce is produced, and a non influenced competitent court system.

 

As an example, today a group of men are being held in Guantanamo bay, declared as illegal combatants, most of these men were aid and relief agency employees, funny enough, this illegal combatants title calls for a licensing process for all those who wish to fight against the US, as if the international laws have a provision for an enemy to get his legal cambatant certification from Congress and White house. Hitler soldires were also illegal combatants in the same sense, but the Geneva conventions covered them well unlike the CIA trained Mujahidin who later were named Al Qaeda, who turned on their CIA former allies after the Soviets were defeated in Afganistan, which weakened the Soviets in the eastern Europe, resulting in the liberation of eastern Europe, Later, the Ex Mujahidin, renamed Al Qaedah, so as not to confuse the good ald allies Mujaahidin name, were deemed to be redundant, but dangereous, thus requiring a liquidation strategy of monumntal proporations, a concerto called 911 was orchetstrated by hidden hands, in which the dummies were the focus of the public, while the maestros were playing behind the scenes like Mozarts fifth symphony, so flowless was the execution of 911, that a European observer said that, No Arab can pull out such an attack on America, they dont even attend meetings on time.

 

This language is more convincing than to simlistically yell " This is a war on Islam" if they have not officially raised the official banner of war on Islam, why suggest it when you know that we are to be blamed in the first place of what happened to our faith? people who calim to be "Muslims" played to the hands of those who want to defame Islam as a faith.

 

 

Devils advocate

 

You worry me by agreeing with me, because whenevr the devil agrees with me, I question myself, but waht is your trick this time, because we sure agree? :rolleyes:

 

 

Nur

[Truth Seeker]

I think you should tell the Muslims of Palestine,Kashmir, Iraq, Chechnya etc... that they are to blame for being killed not the Kufr who are dropping the bombs.

[Nur]

Truth Seeker

 

I dont have to tell them, Allah SWT did in Quran:

 

" Wa maa asaabakum min musiibatin fi bimaa kasabat aydiikum, wa yacfuu can kathiir"

 

" Any calamity, disaster, attack etc befell on you, is what you have rightfully earned due to your actions, or the lack of, yet Allah has forgiven you for the most part"

 

 

Also Allah SWT says :" Allah does not change the (bad condition) of a people, unless they change that (which earned them) in themselves"

 

Brother, change begins from within.

 

 

Nur

[Rahima]

This language is more convincing than to yell " This is a war on Islam" if they have not officially raised the official banner of war on Islam, why suggest it when you know that we are to be blamed in the first place of what happened to our faith? people wh calim to be "Muslims" played to the hands of those who want to defame Islam as a faith.

This may be true, however this does not diminish the crystal point that this is a war on Islam and the followers of Rasuallah. Akhi, this is not anything new, Allah told us that the non-believers would forever be in warfare with the muslimiin, irrespective of whether or not they display this intention. For them to not openly wage war on Islam is nothing more than a tactic (which seems to be working). Not all enemies are so honorable as to openly verbalise their distaste for you and their wish for your demise. It would be silly of us to expect Bush and his cronies to stand in the front lawns of the White House and declare their intentions openly. I sure as hell am not holding my breath. And we mention this point so that Muslims wake up and smell the coffee, we mention it in the hope that they stop asskissing the kuffaar and have some dignity. How sad and revolting it is to beg your enemies, and not just any enemy but one who is hell bent on wiping you all out one by one until you submit to their ways and denounce Allah swt.

 

But yes I concur wholeheartedly as to who the majority of the blame lies with. Sad to say, but we Muslims are the makers of our decline and humility. Regardless of the strength of the enemies of Allah, if the Muslims had true Iman, then as Allah has promised us, success would be ours. Therefore, it is up to us really, and personally I feel that many Muslims are fighting for the wrong reasons (mainly nationalism) and until we eliminate these corrupt reasons and return to our roots we shall never smell the sweet fruits of the success that Allah has promised.

[Viking]

Nur,

I agree with you that it is our own making, but we should try and call a spade what it is. If you believe that the flooring of the twin towers was orchestrated, then you shouldn't shy away from calling it an attack on Islam. Whether it was done by the kufar themselves or some misled brothers (unconsiously) running some neocon agenda, Islam is indeed under attack.

 

I do believe that we brought it onto ourselves, becasue Allah (SWT) has promised us victory over all evil around us in whatever shape or form, as long as we follow what HE has ordained. But the 'devil from within' is the most dangerous one.

[NGONGE]

I see your point and totally agree, Nur.

This is just a war on terror (or whatever new names are given to new wars). The War on Islam started over a thousand year ago and is not likely to end soon. No point in arguing over the finer details of politics, better worry about the fifth column we seem to have within. This is the war that should concern us more. Plus, it’s also the one we’re more likely to win.

[Nur]

Rahima sis

 

Ngonge bro

 

Viking Bro

 

 

In the sixties USA, when Angela Davis of the Communist Party of America was being held in prison, the American public was mobilized by the media to hate Communism as an evil. The media ferociously fought communism with all its arsenal and law enforcements took no chance with any commie.

 

It was said that a reporter took it the streets of mainland USA and interviewed passersby of their understand of communism. To the amazement of the reporter, the majority of the public could not define what communism was, but most of them were in support to wipe it.

 

Half a century later America and Nato are facing a new enemy, nicknamed Terrorism, closely identified with Islam and this time the world public, being part of the global village are being brainwashed that Islam = Terror by the same media. Therefore, the war is on terror, it is unfortunate that Islam is being used this time to carry out actions that terrorize the civilized warld. If we learn from the communist experience, we need to eduacte the public about Islam, not yell " War on Islam".

 

It is evident that the 911 attack, was an attack against Islam any which way one slices it, the lie that Islam is linked to terror was only reenforced by Muslims reacting to injustices done to them in many parts of the world. It was very creative that the media ignored the mass killings of Muslims in many parts pf the world, yet, skillfully highlighted the gruesome reaction of some Muslims who acted on their own without any collective approval from the majority of world Muslims. This created a dilemma for Muslims, on one hand, we are collectively branded Terrorists for the action of few, yet when the Prison of Abu Ghureib attrocities were publicized, the Neocons were too quick to deny these actions as unbecoming and unrepresentative of American soldiers and people.

 

In face of this skillful defamation of Islam, if Muslims cry " War on Islam" they will fail to get their case well presented to the western mindset, a different one than ours, a mind that is less emotional, that can be won with a well presented message and logic, one mind at the time. This process needs diligence and patience, not reacting like charging poorly armed Red Indians against Cowboys, look now where the indians are today, in reservations, and what the cowboys are doing worldwide.

 

What we need today is to define what a war is, and what Islam is, to make the connection reasonable, however I assure you that neither one is agreed upon by Muslims or even their opponents.

 

Many Muslims do not hold the same picture about Islam, nor do they all agree on Americas and its allies motives in this dilemma, they vary from well informed to illitrates who watch the evening news to see Israeli Buldozers razing Palestinian homes, Russian soldiers killing Chechens and denying them self determination, Bosnian Muslims women being raped by Serbs, Indian Soldiers denying self determination to Kashmiris, Carpet bombing of Afganistan, Abu Ghreib Prison sadism, the Oil robbery and the division of Iraq, the denial of any Mulslim state to develop weopons of Mass destruction while Israel and the club of 5+India and pakistan are allowed, some 20,000 war heads in total enough to vaporize our planet.

 

Watching these day in and day out can sure create some hot headed people, and when these people act in the name of Islam, fingers are pointed at us collectively, not sparing anyone as reasonable and branding us all as barbarians!

 

So, the way to get back to sanity is to first educate our adversaries about Islam, what it is and what it is not, so as not to deny them the previllage of becoming our brothers in faith to join us in our struggle to gain our respect after we have presented our case to them in a cool headed way, because, islam is not a race, any Isreali, Russian, Fundementalist Christian or even a neocon, can well become our brother in faith if we make an effort to reach out and educate. If on the other hand we choose to fight back, an eye for an eye, the first casualty will be the image of Islam, reenfoircing the image our adversaries wanted to paint us all, and pitifully enough, our people are not up to this tactful task, the world is too close and connected for a medieval war, we need to change the rules of engagement, we need to learn to work with our enemies and win them to islam. This is like a sour medicine, it may even be described as defeatist mentality by our own hawks, but in my opinion, other options are prohibitively expensive.

 

 

Nur

[Reality Check]

Originally posted by Nur:

Devils advocate

 

You worry me by agreeing with me, because whenevr the devil agrees with me, I question myself, but waht is your trick this time, because we sure agree? :rolleyes:

 

 

Nur

Nur,

 

Hmmm **how to put this lightly**

 

I'M NOT REALLY THE DEVIL. Devil's advocate is just an expression. But I guess to you, having the world devil in a name is a major SIN, ha?

 

 

Figures. And here I thought you were making the least bit sense.....

[Nur]

Devils Advocate

 

That was a light hearted comment, sorry if computers cant relay humor, I was just pulling your leg, ooooooops, sorry, I forgot you are are sis, and the expression 'pulling a leg" means joking!

 

Let me ask you this. whay not be an advocate for the Angels on these boards for a change?

 

 

Nur