Civilisations have clashed: who will rebuild? by K u m ar David-November 1, 2014, 3:00 pm. Blame-game is disputation about who did wrong in the last century or in previous decades. Whether war crimes were committed and who is blame should be $ollowed up; but it is secondary to current Tamil demands $or genuine devolution% anticipated possibility o$ regime change% etc.
Civilisations have clashed: who will rebuild? by K u m ar David-November 1, 2014, 3:00 pm. Blame-game is disputation about who did wrong in the last century or in previous decades. Whether war crimes were committed and who is blame should be $ollowed up; but it is secondary to current Tamil demands $or genuine devolution% anticipated possibility o$ regime change% etc.
Civilisations have clashed: who will rebuild? by K u m ar David-November 1, 2014, 3:00 pm. Blame-game is disputation about who did wrong in the last century or in previous decades. Whether war crimes were committed and who is blame should be $ollowed up; but it is secondary to current Tamil demands $or genuine devolution% anticipated possibility o$ regime change% etc.
by K u m ar David-November 1, 2014, 3:55 pm The blame-game is secondary; important but less important; the living take precedence over the dead The real issue is what to do ne!t; the blame-game is disputation about who did wrong in the last century or in previous decades " can drive home the point with a #ankan analogy Whether war crimes were committed and who is to blame should be $ollowed up; but it is secondary to current Tamil demands $or genuine devolution% anticipated possibility o$ regime change% etc We must take a similar approach to the &iddle 'ast; the (ykes-)icot secret *greement o$ +,+- which arbitrarily carved up o$ the &iddle 'ast and Turkish territories% then oil and *merican "mperialism% then creation o$ "srael and C"*.s overthrow o$ &osaddegh in +,/0% all relevant and crucial past history 1ut now "("#% al 2aeda% $undamentalism and the de $acto collapse o$ states 3"ra4% (yria% 5emen% #ibya% )alestinian *uthority% and (omalia in (aharan *$rica6 cry out The primitive savagery o$ $undamentalism% the brutality o$ 7ihadism% the *merican led air war and the arming o$ anti-"("# Kurds% "ra4.s rump army and anti-*ssad (yrians is primary Where do we stand on these matters? These are mainly moral 4uestions $or us in #anka as there is no practical way in which we can intervene or in$luence events We can% as some addle-pates do% relieve our bile eviscerating 8bama as i$ he is a great plague% $roth against 7ihadist terrorism% or ponti$icate great theory - historical blame-game "t is all $amiliar% maybe tiresome and serves very limited purpose "nstead let me restate the dilemma in unpretentious 4uestions to which " do not have indisputable answers but only attitudes and opinions The moral imperative The 4uestions are direct and urgent; the answers% taken together% de$ine a person.s moral and ideological deportment% and on this occasion ideology and morality are separable 9or e!ample% it is not obvious i$ a le$tist will damn "("# as a barbarism% or deem it the rage o$ downtrodden creatures #ikewise among pious &uslims there are admirers o$ "("# and detractors% enthusiasts o$ the *merican military campaign and opponents There is no palpable le$t:right% &uslim:non-&uslim% democratic:conservative divide in the responses to these three 4uestions a6 ;otwithstanding a century o$ colonialism and more recently *merican resource e!ploitation o$ the &iddle 'ast and bankrolling "srael - oppressor o$ the )alestinians - should we support a military campaign to destroy "("# and al 2aeda as a greater evil? b6 Conversely% notwithstanding "("#.s despoliation o$ democratic% and " daresay socialist values% should we throw our moral sympathy behind 7ihadism as the voice o$ the oppressed? c6 "$ we answer yes to 3a6% how do we carve out our separate identity in this conundrum; <we. here means democrats% socialists and liberals? =eader please give $orthright answers; don.t duck and hedge and give >on the one-hand but on the other-hand> nonsense &y answers to 3a6 and 3b6 are straight$orward: 3a6 5'(% and as a corollary% 3b6 ;8 The snag is 3c6 5ou may have guessed that this is the non-Kantian moral imperative " have been leading up to all along; 3c6 is the purpose o$ this essay *bout $undamentalism #et me e!plain my hostility to 7ihadist $undamentalism #ess severe as $its the case% hostility underlies my aversion to religious e!tremism 311(6 and shrill nationalism whether (inhala or Tamil 1ut there.s no denying the 7ihadist version% ob7ectively% poses a greater threat 9undamentalism re$ers to the philosophical approach that holds that there e!ist core belie$s which are unshakably true% un-$alsi$iable and a compulsory code o$ practice Those who hold that the Koran is the inerrant and literal word o$ god to be strictly adhered to% and the $ont o$ moral righteousness% are $undamentalists in a proper usage o$ the term That per se matters not; but when these protagonists permit no barrier between religious morals and state and society they come in con$lict with democratic practices and the separation o$ church and state These ideologues vary greatly; some conservative and propounding narrow views% others employing populist rhetoric "mposing strict codes o$ behaviour on society% that is on other people% is the root o$ con$lict When en$orced imposition o$ religious practices comes in con$lict with broadly accepted norms o$ human rights% the clash becomes acute These believers vary in doctrine and political demands (ome accommodate Christians% ?ews and secularists com$ortably% others employ a dualist &anichean ideology; <5ou are one o$ us or against us. "n the latter $orm it is now the world.s primary source o$ resistance to the West "n the a$termath o$ @eorge 1ush.s invasion o$ "ra4% radical "slam alone had the balls and the brawn to stand up against it as 'urope% )akistan and *sia% China and =ussia% cowered in $ear This% its anti-imperialist strength% is born o$ a century o$ e!ploitation by $oreign masters in cahoots with local rulers &igration has added a new dimension David @reen$ield% an *merican is candid: >* clash o$ civilisations is approaching driven by a variety o$ $actors% including the collapse o$ 'uropean% *merican and =ussian world power and the demographic strength o$ the &uslim world We could ignore the implications $or our own countries i$ it were not $or a siAable stream o$ settlers spreading across 'urope and speaking openly o$ the day when they will become a ma7ority and impose "slamic theocracy on the native 'uropean minority> This clash will not go away; rather it will worsen with the passage o$ time; 'urope will $ind no easy e!it $rom ruinous contradictions Christian and ?ewish $undamentalists too deem the 1ible the literal and inerrant word o$ god% but $ind ways o$ sidestepping its in7unctions Deuteronomy is a particularly bloodcurdling te!t Chapter BC prescribes that when you lay siege and capture a city >thou shall smite every male but the women and little ones and the cattle and all that is in the city thou shalt take unto thysel$ and eat the spoil thereo$> Chapter B+ condemns women caught in adultery and non- virgins at marriage to death by stoning (o chucking rocks at $eisty $emales is not only a Taliban pastimeD Chapter BE lists twelve savage curses% BF adds $our more Charming verse B0:+ stipulates that i$ your marbles are damaged or your pecker >cut o$$% 3you6 shall not enter the congregation o$ the #ord> "n like vein B0:B banishes bastards and their issue $or +C generations to come 3phewD6 $rom the $lock The stu$$ makes delight$ul reading 3there is much >going into her> adventure in these pages6 9ortunately Christians% even $undamentalists% $ind ways to $eign dea$ness The problem is that some provisions in the Koranic te!t are similar and 7ihadists live by them% literally Then there is Wahhabism; preaching puritanism whilst its bene$actor% corrupt and reactionary (audi absolute monarchy% swims in whisky &onarchy and Wahhbism lean on one another; militarily and ideologically keeping a vice like grip on the country They are the source o$ $unds and belie$s $or "slamic e!tremism all over the world (tephen (chwartA in The =eal =oots o$ "slamic '!tremism says >"slamist e!tremism e!ists because corrupt and oppressive rulers maintain power The West should support democratisation o$ *rab and "slamic countries> 1ut till recently it was the West that provided an umbrella $or these ogres to thrive 1e that as it may% the case $or eliminating Wahhabism% monarchy and 7ihadism is now unassailable *$ter the *merican led war Gistory teaches that military methods alone cannot eliminate ideas% particularly religious and racial ones " do not re$er to the see-saw outcomes in the daily battles and bombardments in (yria and "ra4 'ventually *merican military might with the $i$ty-odd others in tow will prevail; "("# will be destroyed as were (addam Gussein and @adda$i *$terwards 1asher al- *ssad will be dispatched 1ut what then; anarchy like post-war #ibya or a $ractured and $ailed &iddle 'ast like "ra4 already? ;ations cannot% in globalised times% rebuild themselves in isolation; it is a multilateral task ;o barriers e!ist to the movement o$ capital and goods% 7ihadists and ideas% 'bola and education 'ven "("# acknowledges this when it calls $or a @reater Caliphate% that is world government abiding by "slamic law ?ihadism cannot be pushed aside e!cept by putting something universal it its place 9rancisco 9ukuyama.s crap dug $rom the 'ntrails o$ Gistory has been $lushed down; hidebound neo-liberalism ;either has capitalist democracy% impoverishing the poor and marginalising the periphery% succeeded% as depicted in ?ohn @ray.s 9alse Dawn: Delusions o$ @lobal Capitalism Capitalism is still unable get o$$ its knees a$ter the BCCF ;ew Depression; 'urope teeters on the brink o$ its si!th recession in si! years% *benomics is kaput in ?apan% and the Chinese miracle is running out o$ steam This backdrop to ?ihadism makes =osa #u!emburg.s option >(ocialism or 1arbarism> ever more true% but it is also ever so $ar as the #e$t slumps all over the world 'very Aeitgeist o$ the Twentieth Century has been laid to rest; it.s time $or out o$ the bo! lateral thinking "$ single-malt democracy% socialism% communism% capitalism and liberalism o$ yesteryear are all stale% their brand champions on the run% but we still re$use to capitulate to the demons creeping out o$ a moral and mental e!tremist morass% is a new blend o$ populist-socialism and broad-minded liberalism the answer? "t seems so% but there is no one-taste-suits-all-palates blend "t has to be a separate mi!% case by case% country by country% continent by continent &iddle 'ast blend won.t sell in #anka Galting the relentless march o$ the 'uropean $ar-right 3HK")% ?ean-&arie #e )en in 9rance% @reet Wilders in Golland% or the 9reedom )arty o$ *ustria6 needs yet another blend o$ spirits This broad $ormula makes sense in 'urope and (outh and 'ast *sia not overwhelmed by war and anarchy% but it is inade4uate $or the great swathe stretching $rom (hahran and ;orthern *$rica across the &iddle 'ast into )akistan and *$ghanistan I that is the greater part o$ the "slamic world *s =a7an )hilips said last week 3'nd o$ "nnocence 6: >While it is necessary to contain and destroy the brutal machinery o$ the "slamic (tate% that alone is not su$$icient as a solution to $undamental and broader problems> 'conomic development and investment% education and women.s liberation% wel$are and health% these are sine 4ua non% but seem beyond the knack o$ local peoples and the capacity o$ the international community% despite an increase o$ global productive power beyond anything ever be$ore seen in human history