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Ways to domination by Abid Ullah Jan The world mastering demi-gods in Washington understand that they can never win their “clash of civilisations” with conventional warfare alone. Instead they plan incidents like 9/11 and Bali to legitimise their cause, to radicalise disinterested public, to disrupt the lives and livelihoods of those who would prefer not to be involved and to provoke their opponents into actions that drive more people into their camp. The past fourteen months have conclusively proven that the pre-conventional-war-violence – called terrorist activities – is mainly carried out by agencies connected to Washington and Tel Aviv. This terrorism and the subsequent atrocities of UN-approved war reinforces the sinking feeling that all those who seem determined to stand shoulder to shoulder with the US and its Allies in the “war on terrorism” are playing right into the terrorists' hands. The Taliban did not rule Indonesia, nor was it providing “safe heavens” to “Arab guests”. The Bali nightclub was not even a likely target for al-Qaeda. According to BBC correspondent, the Bali club had “no strategic value”. It didn’t “hurt a Western government, and it was not a favoured haunt of al-Qaeda's preferred targets: Americans and Jews.” (1) It is wrong to assume that Indonesia’s economic, social and political problems radicalised the population or turned it into a terrorist asset to the extent that they didn’t give a second thought to killing hundreds of human beings without a reason. (2) To understand why the attack was so clever, one needs to appreciate the target: Indonesia, where resistance to the US “war on terrorism” was on the rise. Like Pakistan, religious parties were gathering mass and momentum. But most importantly, the nearby Australians started demonstrating an increasing resistance to the US war on Iraq. Just a few weeks ago, the US Ambassador to Australia warned the Australians in a TV interview that they were not immune to Al Qaeda style terrorist action. Many who watched this interview gleaned his attitude to actually be an implied threat of terrorist action if the Australians did not mend their non-compliant attitudes. Within a few days came fresh Al Jazeera announcements that Osama bin Laden was alive and well, and a message, threatening terrorist attacks against both French and German interests. These news items were immediately followed by a “terrorist” attack – an explosive laden motor boat against a French Super-Tanker off the coast of Yemen. Simultaneously, so-called terror analysts, such as Rohan Gunaratna, the author of "Inside Al Qaeda", issued specific warnings that Al Qaeda members have been trained to destroy targets in Australia. Gunaratna went to the extent of stating that he'd been given the information during debriefings of captured Al Qaeda members. Interesting to ask is the question as to how did he get access to these prisoners – the most tightly held since the Gulag Archipelago. Then came the despicable “terrorist” bombings of two nightclubs in Bali – frequented predominantly by holidaying Australians, Germans, Dutch, English, and Indonesian-Balinese. They were not occupying Al Qaeda’s homeland, nor were their armies slaughtering their brothers and sisters like the Israelis. Just what sort of Al-Qaeda or Saddam or any "Muslim Terrorist" threatens to bomb the persons and interests of common people who are basically against the US plans to dominate the world by force? Why would “Muslim terrorists” try to erode their support among European masses for the cause of Palestinian state or lifting of sanctions on Iraq, etc.? This must get us worried over the direction of the US policy – the suspected party at work here. One that wants to push the peoples of France, Germany, Holland, Britain, and Australia into the US led "Clash of Civilisations" against the Muslim world – one that wants to strike at the roots of Islam. On the other hand, propaganda is in full swing to demonise as many Islamic parties and groups as possible. The American media immediately started accusing Jamaat Islamiya of the bombing. USA Today actually suggests that Osama and Co. did it: "AL-QAEDA SUSPECTED IN BALI". The Wall Street Journal and NYT (3) gave more than a passing reference to Jamaat Islamiyah. The papers also accuse the head of JI, Abu Bakar Bashir, of ties with Al Qaeda. According to the Washington Post, the US has threatened to name Jamaat Islamiyah a terrorist group, but it hasn't yet done so. (4) On the other hand, efforts are underway to keep the American public fully indoctrinated. The first sentence of the NYT's lead partially quotes Rumsfeld: “America's leaders must quickly judge when diplomacy has failed, then 'act forcefully, early, during the pre-crisis period' to foil an attack on the nation." Similarly, Australian analysts followed the lead. David Jenkins concluded that Indonesia has a “deepening problem with radicalised Islam”. (5) Meanwhile, Afghanistan is occupied, Palestinians are butchered on a daily basis and plans to invade Iraq proceed. The demi-gods in Washington have offered many different explanations, some of them mutually contradictory, for their determination to occupy Baghdad. It is absolutely not like the man who looks for his keys on the sidewalk, even though he dropped them in a nearby alley, because he can see better under the streetlight. These gods want to fight a conventional war to occupy Muslim country after country; since catching Osama in the alley will not fulfil the American dream, the demi-gods stage terrorist attacks and invade countries, which will. And watching from the alley, Muslim after Muslim is turning into Osama. Concluded Notes: 1. Frank Gardner, Who bombed Bali? BBC security correspondent, Sunday,
October 13, 2002, 17:19 GMT 18:19 UK. Abid Ullah Jan is a columnist for The Statesman, The Nation, and the Pakistan Observer (Pakistan). He is also sub-editor for the Tribune International (Sydney, Australia), and is the Executive Director of the Integrated Regional Support Programme (IRSP). He can be reached at abidjan2@psh.paknet.com.pk
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