Analysis, Side Feature

Views on the News – 24 March 2018

Headlines:

  • Trump Toughens his team to Reassert American Global Dominance
  • British MEP Leading Secret Negotiations for Three Years with North Korea
  • America continues to Pressure Iran
  • Saudi Crown Prince: Islam is a Sensible, Simple Religion that is Being Hijacked
  • Turkey Warns of 5million Strong Army of Islam to Defeat the Jewish state
  • China Provides High-Performance Tracking System for Pakistan’s Missile Programme


Trump Toughens his team to Reassert American Global Dominance

Faced with new strategic threats and challenges, America is intent on continuing its role as world hegemon and US President Donald Trump is being given a free hand by the American establishment to choose a harder and more hawkish team. According to the New York Times:

President Trump named John R. Bolton, a hard-line former American ambassador to the United Nations, as his third national security adviser on Thursday, continuing a shake-up that creates one of the most hawkish national security teams of any White House in recent history.

Mr. Bolton will replace Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the battle-tested Army officer who was tapped last year to stabilize a turbulent foreign policy operation but who never developed a comfortable relationship with the president.

The move, which was sudden but not unexpected, signals a more confrontational approach in American foreign policy at a time when Mr. Trump faces mounting challenges, including from Iran and North Korea.

The president replaced Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson last week with the C.I.A. director, Mike Pompeo, a former Army officer and Tea Party congressman who has spoken about regime change in Pyongyang and about ripping up the Iran nuclear deal.

Mr. Bolton, an outspoken advocate of military action who served in the George W. Bush administration, has called for action against Iran and North Korea. In an interview on Thursday on Fox News, soon after his appointment was announced in a presidential tweet, he declined to say whether Mr. Trump should go through with a planned meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un.”

American world dominance is built on creating conflicts throughout the world, hence the need for hard-line individuals at this time, as Russia is rebuilding itself and China is increasing in strength.

In fact, it is the Westphalian system that is at fault, according to which states whose strength is in continuous fluctuation are restricted to borders that are permanently defined. Consequently, it becomes natural for strong states to interfere in the affairs of weaker states, instead of concentrating on their own governance, or extending their governance to new territories.

Previous to Western secular liberalism and its artificial construct of the ‘nation state’, the world allowed strong states to extend their territory, thus bringing the benefit of capable governance to greater populations, and at the same time pushing weaker states to reduce territory in line with their capability to govern. For global peace and stability, it is necessary that humanity abandons meaningless political fictions and returns to ideas that truly accord with the fundamental realities of politics and governance.

 

British MEP Leading Secret Negotiations for Three Years with North Korea

It is becoming increasingly clear that it is Britain that is frustrating American efforts to exacerbate the Korean issue. America has been trying for decades to intensify conflict in Korea, on China’s border, while it is emerging that Britain has been trying to reduce this conflict. According to the Telegraph:

A European Parliament delegation said Wednesday it has been conducting secret talks with North Korea over the last three years to try to persuade Pyongyang to negotiate an end to its nuclear programme.

The group led by British MEP Nirj Deva has met senior North Korean officials, including ministers, 14 times and plans another meeting in Brussels in the near future.

News of the below-the-radar diplomacy effort comes after the surprise announcement that US President Donald Trump plans a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, part of fast-paced developments following an Olympic detente.

Mr Deva said he and his colleagues on the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the Korean Peninsula had been “relentlessly advocating the case for dialogue without preconditions” to end the increasingly tense nuclear standoff with the North.

“I did much of the advocacy in secrecy with my colleagues. It is only now that I am revealing our efforts to a wider audience in the light of the proposed talks,” Mr Deva said.

It should be clear, however, that Britain’s purpose in so doing is not because it desires less conflict in the world but because it wants direct conflict between America and China, whereas America wishes to have peaceful direct relations with China but instead use proxies to create conflict with China.

The world enjoyed a thousand years of general peace and justice at the time that the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) State was the world’s superpower. Islam’s championing of learning, open trade and general international security enabled Europe and China to concentrate on domestic socioeconomic development and the achievement of wholesome lifestyles and harmonious societies that valued the ethical, the humanitarian and the spiritual as well as the material aspects of life. Western secular liberal Capitalism has been a disaster for the world but with Allah’s permission the time is near for the return of Islam in the form of the re-established Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) State on the method of the Prophet ﷺ that will implement Islam, reunify Muslim lands, and carry the light of Islam to the entire world.

 

America continues to Pressure Iran

America has found yet another way to build political pressure on the Iranian regime. According to Reuters:

The United States on Friday charged and sanctioned nine Iranians and an Iranian company for attempting to hack into hundreds of universities worldwide, dozens of firms and parts of the U.S. government, including its main energy regulator, on behalf of Tehran’s government.

The cyber attacks, beginning in at least 2013, pilfered more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from 144 U.S. universities and 176 universities in 21 other countries, the U.S. Department of Justice said, describing the campaign as one of the largest state-sponsored hacks ever prosecuted.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it was placing sanctions on the nine people and the Mabna Institute, a company U.S. prosecutors characterized as designed to help Iranian research organizations steal information.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the nine Iranians were considered fugitives who may face extradition in more than 100 countries if they travel outside Iran.

Authorities “will aggressively investigate and prosecute hostile actors who attempt to profit from America’s ideas by infiltrating our computer systems and stealing intellectual property,” Rosenstein told a news conference.

The case “will disrupt the defendants’ hacking operations and deter similar crimes,” he added.

The hackers were not accused of being directly employed by Iran’s government. They were instead charged with criminal conduct waged primarily through the Mabna Institute on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite military force assigned to defend Iran’s Shi’ite theocracy from internal and external threats.

In Tehran, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi denounced the move as “provocative, illegitimate, and without any justifiable reason and another sign of the hostility of the (U.S.) ruling circles toward the Iranian nation”, state news agency IRNA said.

These cyber activities have become normal between different states with the increasing use of the internet and its associated vulnerabilities, just as other forms of espionage have been normal previously. However, America’s action at this time is intended to send yet another signal to the Iranian leadership to pressure them to reduce their involvement in Syria and Iraq. Indeed it was America that brought Iran to those countries to save critical American interests there. But now that the job is done, America wants Iran’s exit.

The present rulers of Muslim countries lack in sincerity to the Muslim people and their noble Deen, and it is this that reduces their strength and vision in combating Western aggression. The affairs of Muslims will not be set in order until Muslims give their loyalty to sincere, indigenous, ideological leadership that will re-establish Islam and carry its message to the entire world.

 

Saudi Crown Prince: Islam is a Sensible, Simple Religion that is Being Hijacked

In an interview with the Washington Post, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said this week that Islam was a moderate religion and there are those who attempt to hijack it. “I believe Islam is sensible, Islam is simple, and people are trying to hijack it,” he said. Lengthy discussions with clerics, he said, have been positive and are “why we have more allies in the religious establishment, day by day.” The crown prince discussed his reform efforts at home, including granting women many rights such as driving and more, stressing that he worked hard to convince the conservatives that such restrictions are not part of the Islamic faith. He also stressed that the kingdom will announce to the world what it is doing to combat extremism. He talked about the penetration of extremism in schools and education in the past, stressing is striving to keep extremist ideologies away from the education system. [Source: Al Arabiya].

The Crown Prince is right; hypocrite leaders whose mission in life is to please the West have hijacked Islam. Allah (swt) says:

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ يُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَحَاكَمُوا إِلَى الطَّاغُوتِ وَقَدْ أُمِرُوا أَن يَكْفُرُوا بِهِ وَيُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَن يُضِلَّهُمْ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا

“Have you seen those (hypocrites) who claim that they believe in that which has been sent down to you, and that which was sent down before you, and they wish to go for judgment (in their disputes) to the Taghoot while they have been ordered to reject them. But Shaytān (Satan) wishes to lead them far astray.”

(An-Nisaa, 4:60)

 

Turkey Warns of 5million Strong Army of Islam to Defeat the Jewish State

Turkey sent the world a warning of its intention to form the world’s largest military force – a 57-nation “Army of Islam” to invade and destroy the Jewish state consisting of 5 million soldiers that nearly eclipses the entire population of the Jewish State. The sobering announcement came in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in recognition of the Holy City as the Jewish state’s official capital – a move that infuriated many in the surrounding Islamic world. The move was discussed in a report by Turkey’s unofficial newspaper, Yeni Şafak, just before a summit was held in the 99-percent Muslim nation’s capital of Istanbul by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – a collective voice of the Muslim world and the second-largest inter-governmental organization (behind only the United Nations), with its membership spanning four continents. Equipped with the power to sign both military and economic sanctions, the Islamic force is being designed for global dominance. “If the member states of the OIC unite militarily, they will form the world’s largest and most comprehensive army,” the Turkish daily’s Dec. 11 article titled, “What if a Muslim army was established against the Jewish state?” reads. “The number of active soldiers would be at least 5,206,100, while the defense budget would reach approximately $175 billion.” Comparisons were then made to boast about the fact that Turkey and the OIC significantly surpasses the Jewish state in both manpower and funds. “In comparison, the Jewish state is dwarfed by this unified Muslim army – the population of the Jews, which is occupying Palestine, is 8.547 million, [while] the population of Istanbul alone is over 14 million,” the Yeni Şafak declared. “There are 160,000 active soldiers in the Jewish State’s forces, and their defense budget is $15.6 billion.” Following Jewish State’ stats, the Turkish newspaper displayed a comparative graphic showing the OIC’s $175 defense budget and 5.2 million troops before noting how its member nations can tactically surround the Jewish state. “One of the decisions that could emerge from the OIC summit is to establish a ‘Jerusalem Duty Group,’ in which a few countries protect the city; in this regard, military steps are expected to be taken,” the article published the day before the conference announced. “The establishment of a possible Muslim army would ensure that the Jewish state is militarily surrounded.” And the military strategy against the Jewish state is by no means a half-baked pipe dream, but a well-devised planned Islamic takeover. “It is expected that 250,000 soldiers will participate in the first stage of a possible operation – [l]and, air and naval bases of member states located in the most critical regions will be used,” Yeni Şafak revealed. “Joint bases will be constructed in a short period of time. Close contact routes can be formed by land bases near the Jewish state. There are also air bases where planes traveling from distant regions can gather. The state of the Jews may also encounter many ships coming from the Mediterranean and Red Sea. It is possible for 500 tanks and armored vehicles, 100 planes and 500 attack helicopters and 50 ships to mobilize quickly.” [Source: NowNews].

Erdogan is again playing with the sentiments of the Muslim ummah. The only way to liberate Palestine and all other occupied Muslim lands to through the re-establishment of the Khilafah Rashidah and not through the OIC (Oh I see). Only the Khilafah (Caliphate) can break the nations state model and unify all the Islamic countries into a single entity that will impose a just world order.

 

China Provides High-Performance Tracking System for Pakistan’s Missile Programme

China has sold Pakistan a powerful tracking system in an unprecedented deal that could speed up the military’s development of multi-warhead missiles, according to South China Morning Post. News of the sale to Islamabad – and evidence that Beijing is supporting Pakistan’s rapidly developing missile programme – comes two months after India tested its most advanced nuclear-ready intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a range long enough to hit Beijing or Shanghai, the article in the Chinese daily observes. According to the publication, Chinese authorities declassified information about the deal on Wednesday. A statement on the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) website said China was the first country to export such sensitive equipment to Pakistan. Zheng Mengwei, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Optics and Electronics in Chengdu, Sichuan province, confirmed to the South China Morning Post that Pakistan had bought a highly sophisticated, large-scale optical tracking and measurement system from China. The country’s military recently deployed the Chinese-made system “at a firing range” for use in testing and developing its new missiles, he said. India’s January 18 test of its Agni-V ICBM, with a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), is seen as a message that the country can deploy a credible nuclear deterrent against China, and Beijing is determined to counter it. While the Hindu-majority country’s single-warhead missiles are bigger and cover longer distances, Pakistan has focused its efforts on developing multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), a type of missile-carrying several nuclear warheads that can be directed towards different targets. The US Defence Intelligence Agency officially confirmed in March that Pakistan conducted the first test launch of its nuclear-capable Ababeel missile in January 2017, “demonstrating South Asia’s first MIRV payload”. [Source: The Express Tribune]

What is the point of acquiring such weapons, if Pakistan is not prepared to project its power in the region and overturn the regional order imposed by America?