Last nights Panorama wasn't exactly an eye-opener. I think deep down most knew that the runaway extremist viewpoint among many young Muslims was on the rise. What I did find surprising was the attitude of some of the women who if they got their wish to live in their 'conservative Muslim' society that they would end up being the oppressed and the fact that they cannot see that is .....what? Short-sighted? Ill-informed? Badly informed? Mislead? I don't know.....! From everything you hear about Taliban and ISIS societal organisation women are at the bottom of the heap with no right to education, no voice and, to be frank, no life to speak of. So why do they seem crave this subjugation?
I have no answer to this. I can only assume they have some romantic notion (though romance is disallowed; hence I use the word for purely illustrative purposes) that after they have succeeded in oppressing every other woman in their fantasy world that they will somehow rise above the rest and achieve exalted status, either in this life or the next. I have only one question for them. What have they got against happiness?
And as for the self-said 'moderate Muslim' who would see all ex-Muslims executed (presumably by stoning) and who insists he is not an extremist....well, this guy needs to dig his dictionary out and look up a few of the words he's bandying around because this guy is clearly confused.
They should try reading the Koran for the beauty therein and not see it as a recipe book for dominating other cultures, people and religions, maybe then they'll soften up and see Islam for the peace loving religion it should be and not bring violence, fear and lies to the true moderates in Allah's name. I'm pretty sure He would be ashamed of you.
It was heartening though to see the new British Muslim TV channel who seem to have their finger much more on the pulse, showing a much more realistic, tolerant and rounded attitude to Islam. I hope they succeed in their endeavour and we at NN wish them every success.
Every day the news and media bring us one horror story after another from one exotic location to another. From beginning to end news bulletins are of Wars, conflicts, murders, incurable and highly lethal communicable diseases, weather extremes all leaving us feeling worn out, fed up with it all and wondering what is truly the greatest threat to hu-mankind. Climate change, religious extremism, EBOLA, AIDS or social unrest or just plain boredom?
I digress.....
I digress.....
Later on on Monday evening there was a wonderful documentary on the Incas: Masters of the Clouds. Whilst they might not have been the most 'civilised' of people to our modern way of thinking, they did have, what I considered to be, a somewhat enlightening attitude towards the expansion of their Empire and the way they went about it, albeit that the conquered peoples had little choice in the matter. It was 'our way or the highway ...to heaven,' but that trifle aside, it seems that once the choice of least resistance had been adopted they would be incorporated into Inca society. The Incas allowed their 'subjects' Religious freedom to continue to practice their own religions and beliefs or, they could adopt the Inca way as they saw fit with the various beliefs often morphing into something of an integrated, half-half religion. As a result it seems their societies functioned rather peacefully and whatever your creed or belief system, you could find a place to fit in.
I thought that was kinda cool and it set me to thinking. Newton's third Law of Motion states that every generated force has an equal and opposite force opposing it. The Inca conquered through integration and tolerance. Today's religious extremists seem to want to conquer through violence. But as young Master Newton has proven, the problem with oppression through violence and force is that it inevitably breeds an equal and opposite reaction from within the oppressed. The more they push, the greater the resistance they are likely to encounter. To be fair though, one might easily argue that today's extremists are often yesterdays oppressed. The fault, if there is one, is perhaps then within your hu-man nature and not within a political or religious sphere. But again, I digress.
One of the most over-used and purely pseudo-political expressions of the past decade was the fight to 'win the hearts and minds' of the various nations that the US lead coalitions invaded. And look how that worked out! In theory, to win the hearts and minds of the people is a sound concept, but in actuality it was somewhat different. The Americans always stopped short of 'going the whole hog' in my opinion.
The Taliban, for example, arose in Afghanistan after years of violent oppression by the Russians, who subsequently, as we know, got their asses sorely kicked by the then, Mujaheddin, who were backed up covertly by the CIA eventually resulting in, not only the withdrawl of the Ruskies, but also the added bonus of the collapse of the old Soviet Union. Case to point......violent oppression by force leads to equal and opposite reactionary force.
Yeah ok, I hear you say.....what's your point?
Well....my point is this. If the campaign to win hearts and minds had truly been an honest and well thought out plan the Americans could have gone into Afghanistan after the War armed with donatives, money, aid, medicine, help with reconstruction...all that shit! But they didn't. Once the Russians were gone the Yanks left well alone, leaving a War ravaged nation full of bitter young men and women who'd seen their families dismembered and blown up after having fought the War of all Wars basically on behalf of the Americans and the West in general. We should all have been thanking the Mujaheddin but instead we marginalised them, allowed them to become more bitter, their resentment turning inward to eventually change into something we now call Islamic extremism. The weapons supplied covertly during the 80's to fight the Russians, were just that, covert. They didn't know it was the US that had supplied them with the weapons. And then whilst the Americans sat back congratulating themselves on the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Mujaheddin were left to rebuild a devastated country with very little practical help from those who had gained the most out of their amazing triumph.
If just a fraction of the money spent supplying covert weapons was made available to rebuild Afghanistan after the War we might just have had flag waving Mujaheddin instead of them burning the Stars and Stripes. So, as much as we decry the violence and bloodshed and terror wreaked upon us by today's extremists, I think, to a large extent, the problem is one of our own making.
Conquering through violence just doesn't work unless, like the Romans, you completely obliterate any and all resistance leaving none left to bitch about it afterwards. But, of course modern sensibilities mean that we cannot condone such a course of action. Governments and armed forces are much more accountable these days than they were 2000 years ago!
So, the Russians begin the game by using force. They are met with an equal and opposite force in the Mujaheddin. Now marginalised and dispossessed, bitterness turns inward and we witness the birth of the Taliban and Al-Queada who then use force themselves (9/11 etc), which in turn is countered by the reactionary force, resulting in yet more force being applied in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, resulting in yet more reaction and the countenance of yet more reactionary force. It's an endless cycle of bloodshed, blinkered ideals and the misuse of force and resources. At some point we have to learn that military force ultimately doesn't work. Integration, discussion, shared resources, forgiveness, understanding, tolerance and good old fashioned 'lurve' will surely bring greater stability than what we face now at the point of a gun. It's gotta be worth a try cos we're doing now plainly doesn't work and unless we can sort it out soon the other problems faced by hu-mankind (such as climate change) become largely irrelevant, because there won't be a world left to watch it happen.
That's ll from me today, your peace-loving canine TV critic, Mister Cool.
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