The Man He Killed
“Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
“But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
“I shot him dead because-
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That is clear enough; although…
Thomas Hardy
The Abyssinian political elites especially the Tigrayan dynasty ruling Ethiopia today are following with considerable satisfaction the fact that major Arab countries such as Syria and Iraq have been thrown into complete disarray. Their attitudes toward, and relation with Egypt improved suddenly in the wake of the military coup against an elected government. Ethiopia, in its long history, has never allowed an elected government and there is no prospect of it doing so in the near future. Most of the ideologues of the Abyssinian opposition to the regime want us to believe otherwise. Some of them try to wreak their fury on the fascist regime by describing it as Marxist. To cover up real issues, others say Ethiopia’s problem is simply that it is in the rush for economic development and prosperity.
Any way, the threat of war on the Nile issue is almost forgotten. Practically both Egypt and Ethiopia are run by heavily armed fascist military with no code of ethics- sadly with the backing of major democracies. The emergence of Isis will certainly provide both regimes with more pretexts to commit more crimes against humanity in the name of war on terror to destroy anyone suspected of opposition.
Following the main media, one has the impression that Isis has emerged suddenly out of the blue to threaten the entire world. How true is this? In my opinion there are a number of deficits in the main media concerning Isis.
The sweeping identification of Salafist fundamentalism with Wahabist insurgencies is inaccurate and offensive to many peaceful ordinary Muslims. To my knowledge Salafism is a major Muslim tradition older even than the Sunni-Shia divide. Most Muslims do subscribe to it even today. In it there is much room for different interpretation of Hadith and Quran among major Muslim theologians or imams- Malik ibni Anas, Abu Hanifa, Hanbal and Shafi’i- without of course departing from basic Islamic tenets. The tradition is known as Ijtihad. Since the emergence of Wahabism in alliance with the Saudi ruling family this tradition has been challenged systematically. The Wahabis narrowed Islam to one interpretation as they narrowed their loyalty to one king or today to one Caliph. They say no to the arts, no to world literature, no to Muslim Saints (awlia), no to modern education and, most significant, no to women’s freedom. In my opinion they are a curse on Islam. In the name of Allah, they talk down not only to their herds who listen silently but also to more experienced and pracrtical Muslims capable of constructive criticism. They prosper on one way relation. In short they are trying to transform Islam into their main commodity in the struggle for power. A good sense of humour is missing completely. Pretensions are all what matter. With the oil money they have been able to corrupt and terrorize Muslims across the world to impose their intolerance and authoritarian single interpretation.
Western capitalism has not only tolerated them but it had effectively used them in the fight against communism and later to isolate al-qaida, allowing them to build centres everywhere. Today, militant Wahabism is mostly a sect which attracts especially fanatics with suicidal tendencies. These are up not only against the West. They are up against India, China and Russia! That is why ISIS has turned the crisis in Ukraine into a history. Is that not good in itself? Cynicism breeds cynicism. By the way, the Wahabi love for money and power is different from that of capitalism only in methodology and organization. Insurgent Wahabism can never challenge or pose a threat to capitalism. On the contrary it is used and misused by capitalism even as I am writing this statement.
But what drives militant Muslim youth into the camps of Isis? It is the Western indifference to the ordeals of the Sunni Muslims in Syria under the fascistic Asad regime. It is the indifference to the Shia misuse of power in Iraq. It is the Western support for the military in Egypt which has overthrown an elected Muslim party. It is the indifference to the Israeli intransigence to reach a peaceful settlement even with the moderate Palestinians. All this is good news to the fascists ruling Ethiopia who hold down oppressed nations with iron hands. The Western indifference is equally vital here. Unless this changes these and similar issues will not go away even if Isis disappears suddenly.
I can keep writing but the realities of unnecessary human suffering will continue as long as human minds are clouded by rigid dogma, stupidity, greed and intentionally unbalanced media coverage.