Headlines:
- ISIS are Barbarians – But the Caliphate is an Ancient Muslim Ideal
- Greece Debt Crisis: Mass Rival Rallies Over Bailout Vote
- US Stockpiles Powerful Bunker-Buster Bombs in Case Iran Nuclear Talks Fail
ISIS are Barbarians – But the Caliphate is an Ancient Muslim Ideal
Last week the Today programme asked some British Muslims why so many of their community are going to Syria to fight. The usual answers came – they are brainwashed, or groomed, or they have no real understanding of Islam. One old man said simply that he could not imagine why three mothers could abandon their husbands and take their nine children to a war zone. Other explanations have been offered – these young men go for sex, for money, for sadism. There have even been bizarre attempts to blame the British police for radicalising some of them. The bafflement strikes me as absurd. What is the mystery? Certain ideas had never died. For the Caliphate had existed as long as Islam itself. That Muslims throughout the world form a single community – an Ummah – is not the conviction of a few cranks. It is inherent in all Muslim traditions. Even if the divisions within the Arab world make a Caliphate seem impossible to achieve, very many Muslims – perhaps the majority throughout the world – respond to it instinctively as an ideal. A leader who with God’s blessing dispenses law and justice throughout the countries of Islam appeals as profoundly to the Muslim imagination as the kingdom of Christ upon earth or St Augustine’s City of God did to Christians in Europe for at least 1,500 years. In England in the 17th century, Protestant radicals thought that they were achieving just that. To remedy the disunity imposed on the Arab world by such tricks as the Sykes-Picot pact after the First World War – which created Syria and Iraq purely to serve the purposes of the British and French – is not in itself a mad ambition. Pan-Arab nationalists after the Second World War all went for a secular version of a Caliphate. Gamal Abdel Nasser proclaimed a union of Egypt and Syria, aimed to add Iraq, invaded Yemen, and meddled throughout the Arab world. So you can understand why young men can be dazzled by the idea of a Caliphate – by something that claims to embody ancient ideals and to avenge recent humiliations. I would guess that many of the young who go to Syria think of themselves as pioneers building a utopia – even though they end up “learning love of slaughter”. [Source: The Independent]
Despite the negative publicity around the term Caliphate, some Western thinkers are prepared to point out correctly what the Caliphate means to Muslims all over the world. And for many Muslims it simply equates to the following words from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
«إنما الإمام جنة يقاتل من ورائه ويتقى به»
“The Imam is a shield, behind whom you fight and protect yourself.”
Greece Debt Crisis: Mass Rival Rallies over Bailout Vote
Tens of thousands of Greeks have attended rival rallies in Athens ahead of a crucial referendum on Sunday. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was greeted with huge cheers when he told supporters to vote “No” to the terms of an international bailout. But those attending another huge rally nearby warned a “No” vote would see Greece ejected from the eurozone. A Greek court earlier rejected a challenge to the legality of the referendum and it will go ahead. Greece’s current bailout programme ran out on Tuesday. All week banks have been shut, with limits imposed on cash withdrawal. The BBC’s Chris Morris in Athens says this has become a choice about whether to stay in the eurozone. With so much at stake, he says, the rhetoric is getting nasty – no-one can even be sure whether Greek banks will be able to reopen next week as the government has promised. Another war of words flared late on Friday when Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis dismissed a Financial Times report that Greece was preparing contingency plans for a possible “bail-in” of bank deposits as a “malicious rumour”. The report quoted sources as saying banks were considering a “haircut” of 30% on deposits over €8,000. Opinion polls on Friday suggested the country was evenly split over the vote – an Ipsos survey putting “Yes” supporters at 44% and “No” at 43%. Opinion polls within 24 hours of the voting are banned, as are more campaign rallies. In his speech on Friday night, Mr Tsipras reiterated the themes of almost daily addresses over the past week – the need for Greece to preserve its dignity and “say a proud ‘No’ to [European] ultimatums” to sign up to fresh austerity. He said, “This is not a protest. It is a celebration to overcome fear and blackmail.” Mr Tsipras urged Greeks to “decide to live in dignity in Europe”. He denied a “Yes” vote would mean leaving Europe, saying: “We are not going to allow them to destroy Europe. [Source: BBC]
Whether Greece exits the Euro or not, the main point from the current saga is that for every 100 euros Greece has borrowed from Creditors less than 2 euros has gone into the real economy. All of the money apart from a small amount goes to the creditors to pay debt liabilities and more importantly prevent a systemic crash of the entire Western banking system. Consequently, the Greek government was forced to pursue an austerity programme in the aftermath of the last financial crisis, and the present deal on offer from the IMF is no different.
US Stockpiles Powerful Bunker-Buster Bombs in Case Iran Nuclear Talks Fail
As diplomats rush to reach an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program, the US military is stockpiling conventional bombs so powerful that strategists say they could cripple Tehran’s most heavily fortified nuclear complexes, including one deep underground. The bunker-busting bombs are America’s most destructive munitions short of atomic weapons. At 15 tons, each is 5 tons heavier than any other bomb in the US arsenal. In development for more than a decade, the latest iteration of the MOP — massive ordnance penetrator — was successfully tested on a deeply buried target this year at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The test followed upgrades to the bomb’s guidance system and electronics to stop jammers from sending it off course. US officials say the huge bombs, which have never been used in combat, are a crucial element in the White House deterrent strategy and contingency planning should diplomacy go awry and Iran seek to develop a nuclear bomb. Obama has made it clear that he has no desire to order an attack, warning that US airstrikes on Iran’s air defense network and nuclear facilities would spark a destabilizing new war in the Middle East, and would only delay Iran by several years should it choose to build a bomb. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, speaking to reporters Thursday at the Pentagon, sought to downplay the likelihood or the utility of an attack. He said no plan under consideration, including use of the bunker-busters, could deliver a permanent knockout blow to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and enrichment plants. “A military strike of that kind is a setback, but it doesn’t prevent the reconstitution over time,” he said. “And that basically has been the case as long as we’ve had those instruments and those plans, and I don’t think there’s anything substantially changed since then.” US officials have publicized the new bomb partly to rattle the Iranians. Some Pentagon officials warned not to underestimate US military capabilities even if the bunker-busters can’t eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested at the same Pentagon news conference Thursday that airstrikes might be ordered multiple times if Iran tries to build a bomb. The military option “isn’t used once and set aside,” he said. “It remains in place. … We will always have military options, and a massive ordnance penetrator is one of them.” [Source: LA Times]
The threat of force is aimed at reassuring America’s Jewish allies both at home and abroad, especially since the presidential elections are fast approaching in November and the Jewish vote is key for the Democrats. However, America has not invested all this effort to torpedo the nuclear talks with Iran at the 11th hour. On the contrary, America is keen to conclude the deal despite objections from her European friends. The deal will pave the way for Tehran to formally safeguard the American interests in the region and accelerate plans for the creation of a Shia crescent.