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The world war is on by Abid Ullah Jan The erudite Muslim scholars who are blaming Muslims alone for their present miserable condition are no different than their forefathers who liked to argue about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin at a time when enemy was busy undermining every aspect of their life. As the war on Islam intensifies, the so-called Muslim scholars are turning their attention to the US just-war theory, currently among the more ridiculous attempts to make reality conform to pure lies and contingency fit into pre-packaged categories of good and evil. Not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with just-war theory. It does provide the only middle ground between promiscuous pacifism and totalistic crusading. It is just that the US is neither going for a just-war, nor is WMD, Saddam, Osama, or the Taliban its ultimate objective. Unfortunately, we are blind to the reality that the US is not even independent in making decisions to go to war. It might sound strange, but the only unjust cause and result of the post-September 11 war is Greater Israel. Like Israel’s founding fathers, the present generation of Jewish leaders sees the existing area of Israel as a base for further conquest later. Like Weizmann, every Israeli leader considers Israel’s boundaries “skimpy”, believing, “The Kingdom of David was smaller; under Solomon it became an Empire. Who knows? C’est le premier pas qui compte” – it is the first step that counts. The whole history of Zionism revolves around this dream. Israel’s leaders, who have gradually and progressively edged toward explicitly embracing this dream, have never decisively repudiated it. The gains of 1948 and 1967 were mere stepping-stones. Israel will keep expanding as long as it can. Without going into details about Israel’s hand behind 9-11 or Bush Junior’s being on fire, the latest situation according to Jane's Foreign Report Newsletter is that Israeli forces are already operating inside Western Iraq. The newsletter said the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit was ordered into Iraq "to find and identify places used by, or likely to be used by, Iraqi Scud missile launchers." (1) However, after Menachem Begin’s August 08, 1982 admission that Israel itself started three of its wars, one wonders if Israel would not play a catalytic role in initiating a fourth war in the near future. Syrian FM blasts the US for working to realize "Israel aims" in Middle East. US Senators, such as Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, say the involvement of Israelis would turn Bush’s war into “an Arab-Israel war”. Israel on the other hand impatiently warns of Hezbollah plans to disrupt US strikes on Iraq (AP, September 28, 2002). And above all Israel’s sympathizers are calling for World War IV. R. James Woolsey, a former CIA director during the Clinton administration, says the first world war of the 21st century is not a war against terrorism per se. After all, Spain's ETA and Ireland's IRA terrorists are not enemies of America. So the world war now under way, Mr. Woolsey argues, is being waged on three different but related fronts – Iran, Iranian backed Hizbollah, Ba’ath parties of Syria and Iraq, and Egypt’s Islamic Jihad. He says the fourth world war has been almost entirely financed by Saudi Arabian wealth. On the other hand, not content with making war on Iraq, Norman Podhoretz of Commentary magazine, the highbrow Zionist monthly, calls on the United States to launch World War IV. He considers the hoax Cold War as World War III. But this time he has a very hot war in mind – what he describes as “the war against militant Islam”. Representing mindset of Israeli leaders, Podhoretz thinks the US has just the right leader to conduct a world war. Bush qualifies for this tremendous role because he has restored “moral clarity” and rejected “moral relativism” by virtue of the “concept that some nations [are] evil and others good”. To make World War IV a faith-based initiative, Bush is considered to have achieved moral clarity after 9/11 through “a kind of revelation” which “lit up the recesses of Bush’s mind and heart and soul.” He suddenly knew, says Podhoretz, “that the God to whom, as a born-again Christian, he had earlier committed himself had put him in the Oval Office for a purpose.” Despite his fanaticism, we need to respect Podhoretz. He says what he means, without the usual Zionist double talk. He doesn’t pretend he is a humanitarian or a democrat. He says what Ariel Sharon and Bush are thinking. Sharon would never publicly agree with Kahane, but he acts as if he does. If we’re going to have a genuine world war, Podhoretz sensibly argues, we can’t stop with victory and “regime change” in Iraq. The US has to clean up the whole evil Middle East and change all its regimes. “The regimes that richly deserve to be overthrown and replaced are not confined to the three singled-out members of the axis of evil. At a minimum, this axis should extend to Syria and Lebanon and Libya, as well as ‘friends’ of America like the Saudi Royal family and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, along with the Palestinian Authority, whether headed by Arafat or one of his henchmen.” “At a minimum”! Making war on Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Palestinian Authority would be the “minimum”. We must brace up for the maximum, which would be a war on all Muslim states – overthrowing and replacing every government with a pro-US and pro-Israel regime. Podhoretz has not exposed the Manichaean fantasy world of so many of those who are now calling for war with Iraq. This is what Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) had predicted 1400 years ago. The US is bringing the world closer to the mother of all wars with the mentality that the United States and Israel are “good”; the Muslim states are “evil”; and those opposed to this war represent “moral relativism”, ostensibly neutral but virtually on the side of “evil”, forgetting that any one or any administration which actually clamors for a world war, with all the millions of violent deaths it would entail, is itself evil. The World War IV, or the final world war, is undoubtedly in progress. It has crossed our doorsteps. It is already raging in our living rooms, where Muslims are pitted against Muslims –“moderate” Muslims cursing “fundamentalist” Muslims – and in our streets, where the “liberal” Muslim army is killing “terrorist” Muslim brothers. Instead of getting engaged in discussion about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin, all we need to individually and collectively ensure at this point is to not unconsciously throw our weight on the side of evil by making ourselves presentable “moderates” or “liberals”. A few days glory in return for standing in the ranks of Allies for a “war on terrorism” and a war on the “axis of evil” is too ephemeral to enjoy. Let’s keep calling a spade a spade, at the very least. Concluded. Reference: (1) Jane's Foreign Report newsletter’s report quoted on Arabia.com at http://www.arabia.com/infoarabia/about-us/english, September 27, 2002, 02:56 PM 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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