Headlines:
- America wants Kurdish Nationalism but only up to a degree
- CIA asks for Authority for Drone Strikes in Afghanistan
- America continues to support Suu Kyi blaming Rohingya Catastrophe on Burmese Military
America wants Kurdish Nationalism but only up to a degree
According to the BBC:
The Iraqi Kurdish parliament has voted to back an independence referendum in the face of opposition from across the globe.
The Kurdistan Regional Government, sitting for the first time in two years, backed the 25 September vote on Friday.
Iraq’s central government rejected the referendum as unconstitutional on Tuesday.
Iran, Turkey and the US also object to the vote, fearing further instability.
The White House issued a statement hours after the vote, asking the Kurdistan Regional Government to call off the referendum and “enter into serious and sustained dialogue with Baghdad”.
The statement warned the independence vote could “distract from efforts to defeat” the Islamic State militant group (IS).
The concept of the nation state, and the political ideal of nationalism that accompanies it, are central to Western political thinking since the peace of Westphalia in the 17th century CE. This was an acceptance, in Europe, that it must remain divided into multiple countries and that each country should respect the sovereignty of others. The difficulty was in how to define a nation state. This led to vague notions of national spirit, shared language and culture, and a common heritage. But the problem with all of these notions are that they do not represent sound bases for defining the state. Sometimes those with common language or heritage live in adjoining countries. And often within a single state multiple language regions exist.
Nationalism is an alien concept for Muslims. The Prophet ﷺ unified the Arabian Peninsula within a single state despite its numerous separate tribes each with their own independent heritage. And the Companions (ra) took this much further by bringing perhaps half of the known world at that time under the singular rule of Islam.
The West only introduced nationalism into Muslim lands in order to ‘divide and rule’ us, and Kurdish nationalism is just one example of this. The motive is Western interests and not worthy ideals. At this time, it is not convenient for America to support Kurdish separatism, so it is opposing the referendum. But as soon as it becomes useful for America to create a Kurdish state, it will support such a move. And meanwhile, America certainly wants Kurdish nationalism to continue so that Muslim unity is weakened.
CIA asks for authority for drone strikes in Afghanistan
America is losing its war in Afghanistan, and this is leading to criticism within the American government of the US military’s conduct of the war. Last month, US President Donald Trump was seriously considering a proposal to privatise the war, turning over responsibility to military contractors. But the Pentagon blocked this move, and its leading proponent, Steve Bannon, was evicted from government, despite being Trump’s chief strategist. CIA director Pompeo was also said to support that proposal. Now, however, he is supporting an alternative. According to the New York Times:
The C.I.A. is pushing for expanded powers to carry out covert drone strikes in Afghanistan and other active war zones, a proposal that the White House appears to favor despite the misgivings of some at the Pentagon, according to current and former intelligence and military officials.
If approved by President Trump, it would mark the first time the C.I.A. has had such powers in Afghanistan, expanding beyond its existing authority to carry out covert strikes against Al Qaeda and other terrorist targets across the border in Pakistan.
In fact, America’s continued presence in Afghanistan is only because of the support of agent Muslim regimes, in particular Pakistan. Apart from a narrow 76km border with China, Afghanistan is entirely surrounded by Muslim countries. Yes, America is the world’s superpower, but it does not have the capability to project its power into Muslim land without the strong support of Muslims themselves.
The real solution to the occupation of Afghanistan, as to the occupation of other Muslim lands, is to take back control of our own governments by returning them to sincere, capable, ideological leadership that will implement Islam and carry its call to the world.
America continues to support Suu Kyi blaming Rohingya Catastrophe on Burmese Military
As the wholesale killing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma continues prompting mass emigrations to Bangladesh, America continues to stand behind the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi. According to the Washington Post:
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has delivered the toughest condemnation yet from a Trump administration official of the persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, likening the violence against them to ethnic cleansing and demanding it stop.
On Thursday, Tillerson directed the blame toward Myanmar’s powerful military, which is responsible for security operations that have seen nearly 400,000 people flee to neighboring Bangladesh in the past three weeks after Rohingya insurgents launched coordinated attacks on government forces. He reiterated support for civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is facing growing pressure to speak out over the military’s conduct.
In fact it was America that forced the Burmese military to accept Suu Kyi as their leader, opening the way for Burma to shift into the American orbit. The Burmese military are the successors to the British rulers of Burma, and Britain had pushed the military towards China to forestall American advances.
The problem of the Rohingya Muslims is in fact generated by the British, who arranged the transfer of Muslims from India into Burma in the 19th century but gave formal ‘independence’ to Burma in the 20th century without ensuring they receive Burmese citizenship. Now it is in America’s interest to overlook the problem of the Muslims. Suu Kyi has continuously denied that the Roghingya are under attack.
The disbelieving West are the reason for the torture and persecution of Muslims throughout the world. The situation of Muslims will only be changed once we take control of our own affairs and re-establish the righteous Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) on the method of the Prophet ﷺ.