Why
How come the Jihadists don't attack Latin America? Don't they hate them for their freedom? The "War on Terror" which is also at the same time The War on Iraq and its own separate entity is the insane manifestation of an epoch of obfuscation, an era that makes Alices' Wonderland look like the model of rationality. For the sake of clarity it would help if we remember all wars are class wars in the final analysis, even those imbued with religious overtones. This will upset anyone who happens to read this ( an unlikely event): The Jihadists are fighting in part against injustice. To a certain degree they, like everyone involved in conflicts everywhere, are fighting for their share of rights, wealth and power.Their analysis of the causes of this injustice, their prescriptions for it's remedy and their tactics for struggle are totally irrational and counterproductive and no one with a sense of morality could support them but it is as easy to understand why they do what they do as it is to understand imperial ambitions. Three wars are being fought at the same time involving three different groups with overlapping and countervailing purposes with ethnic, religious, cultural and above all economic roots. Both historical and current forces, capitalism, chauvinism, racism,and religious fundamentalism to name just four, make the conflicts in the Middle East a black hole of reasonableness but using the frame of struggles for justice we can discern outlines of rationality.
Simply thinking it is a one dimensional conflict is simply to simple.
posted by troutsky @ 12:51 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
You make a lot of points in this short piece, but some of them need backing up, or at least a little extrapolation.
The Jihad does not seem to me to be about class in the least. It is about infidels--like us--trespassing onto sacred ground. Sacredness is something most westerners have no concept of. It is one thing to not believe in God, another to think that all men share that belief.
The other reason for the Holy War is American cultural decedance. With importation of troops comes importation of culture. Islam suffers from an irrational fundamentalism, but there are some things Muslims have right. One can argue that they are sexually repressed, and they are. But is it so hard to believe that the laissez-faire attitude Americans apply to what they again view as sacred strikes them as an insult? The invasion of Hollywood and the music industry would cause many people to react in disgust. Muslims have only taken disgust to a higher level and declared war.
If my analysis is off or I have missed something--class implications--please point out my faults.
No, I think you see things about the imposition of culture and religious belief on sovereign territory and sacred ground that most people fail to. I just see a further aspect of imposition in the effort of global capital to exploit the resources and labor of the region.The widespread poverty and inequity of wealth distribution and opportunity creates the malignant conditions for violent extremism, for fundamentalist leaders to find support. In a sense ,it is still in many ways a fuedal society.We are trespassing infidels but we are wealthy trespassers seen as plunderers, the reaction would not be as violent if the social conditions were less disparate.(my point about them generally not attacking less wealthy nations, although Indonesia and Bali are exceptions)The violence is also directed at the wealthy, authoritarian regimes within the region that are supported by the US ruling class.The Madrass system feeds on the young of the poverty stricken, disaffected and unemployed.
We also have to look at the effects of a history of colonial domination and the class conditions that created when the British chose one tribe or caste or ethno-religious group over the other to help project power.
Both the cultural and the economic factors play a role and I may be over-emphasizing the importance of the economic but the argument that Jihad is a reaction against imperialism has some weight. Class conflict and imperialism are both necessary elements of capitalism.In many ways the working class of America and the working class of Syria, Jordan,Afgahnistan, Iraq etc have more in common than they have differences.
Amigo, I don't have much comment on the post, it sounds like you've been reading your Chomsky though. I have that Coke article done but done have your email. Do you want to email it to me at climbon2rock@hotmail.com and I will get it to you in the next day or so.
John
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