Hypocritical US and British foreign policies are fuelling global terrorism
What you need to know:
- In 2006, the United States bankrolled the Ethiopian army to oust the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) from Mogadishu. Some sections of the courts became Al-Shabaab, which has links to Al-Qaeda.
- And let us not for one moment believe that Kenya is in Somalia on its own behalf. The United States is firmly behind Kenya in this “no-American-boots-on-the ground” proxy war. And who is paying the price? Kenyans.
- Does the US government also believe that people are not aware of the fact that while it purports to promote democracy in African countries, it is the biggest supporter of undemocratic and repressive monarchies in the Middle East?
- As Owen Jones, writing in the Guardian, put it, Britain and the United States are up to their necks in complicity with countries known to support terrorism, but as long as there is money to be made and weapons to sell, neither countries will cut off ties with the latter. What hypocrisy!
See if you can spot a pattern here. In the early 1980s, the United States funded the Mujahedeen who were fighting the invading Soviets in Afghanistan.
The Mujahedeen, among whose members was one Osama bin Laden, morphed into the Taliban, which gave birth to the dreaded Al-Qaeda.
After propping up Saddam Hussein’s regime for years, the US decided on a regime change and orchestrated a coup in Iraq in 2003. Under Saddam, there was no Al-Qaeda. Within months of his ouster, Al-Qaeda set up base in Iraq and later morphed into the murderous Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis).
In 2006, the United States bankrolled the Ethiopian army to oust the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) from Mogadishu. Some sections of the courts became Al-Shabaab, which has links to Al-Qaeda.
In 2011, the Kenya army currently funded by the European Union and the United Nations through the African Union invaded Somalia. Al-Shabaab retaliated on Kenyan soil and now boasts of a presence in Kenya.
And let us not for one moment believe that Kenya is in Somalia on its own behalf. The United States is firmly behind Kenya in this “no-American-boots-on-the ground” proxy war. And who is paying the price? Kenyans.
In short, every time the United States intervenes in or invades a country, it creates fertile ground for terrorist outfits. Countries such as Iraq and Libya are worse off now than they were under dictators. Radicalisation and violence have become endemic, and living standards have dropped dramatically.
What is the foreign policy objective of the US government? Is it to create mayhem in this world so that the United States can be the only country left standing?
In its zero-sum understanding of power, does this superpower believe that the lawlessness and violence it has unleashed in many parts of the world will not affect it or come to haunt it someday? Does it believe that people are generally naïve and will not notice its hand in the anarchy?
BIGGEST SUPPORTER OF REPRESSIVE MONARCHIES
Does the US government also believe that people are not aware of the fact that while it purports to promote democracy in African countries, it is the biggest supporter of undemocratic and repressive monarchies in the Middle East?
I am sure the United States and its lackey, Britain, are aware that individuals in places such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar are funding murderous insurgents in places such as Syria and Somalia. Yet it is not doing anything about it.
Here is why. Saudi Arabia and the Middle Eastern countries are not only major oil producers; they are among the biggest markets for American and British arms.
These countries’ monarchs also own vast shares in American and British listed companies. The US and Britain do not want to lose these resources, even if the price to keep them is being paid in human lives and broken countries.
As Owen Jones, writing in the Guardian, put it, Britain and the United States are up to their necks in complicity with countries known to support terrorism, but as long as there is money to be made and weapons to sell, neither countries will cut off ties with the latter. What hypocrisy!
The recent beheading of two American journalists by Isis has been condemned by all right-thinking individuals. These barbaric murders defy the tenets of every religion. However, we forget that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 led to the murder of thousands of people as well.
They were never mourned by the international community. Since 9/11, thousands of people have been killed and tortured in the name of counter-terrorism. Who remembers them?
And while many people have rightly condemned George Bush and Tony Blair for making the world a much more dangerous place to live in, I think it is also about time we looked at the counter-terrorism policies of our black brother in the White House, Barack Obama, whose “dual track” policies of engaging with (and often funding) warlords, insurgents and radicals while propping up corrupt and undemocratic regimes has made the prospect of lasting world peace even more elusive.
