Headlines:
- G7 Foreign Ministers Interrupt Meeting to Hypocritically Call for Ceasefire in Libya
- America Set on Global Trade Wars according to OECD Chief Economist
- Brunei’s Adoption of Limited Sharia-like Rules continues to cause Fake Western Outcry
- Brunei Introduces Death by Stoning for Gay Sex and Adultery, Despite International Outcry
- America Approves Anti-Submarine Helicopter Sale to India
- U.S. Lawmakers Urge Sanctions Over China’s Treatment of Muslim Minority
G7 Foreign Ministers Interrupt Meeting to Hypocritically Call for Ceasefire in Libya
According to Reuters:
Foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich nations implicitly warned eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar on Friday against an advance toward the capital Tripoli as they scrambled to defuse a dangerous escalation in the north African oil producer’s power struggle.
A military advance toward Tripoli and Libya’s U.N.-backed government by Haftar has taken the United Nations and Western powers by surprise, just as its secretary general was in the capital to plan a peace conference this month.
The news intruded on an annual meeting bringing together the top diplomats from Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Japan and the United States, who had been negotiating on norms to tackle cyber interference in democracies and sexual violence in Africa.
“We firmly believe that there is no military solution to the Libyan conflict,” the ministers said in a statement sent amid talks in western France.
“We strongly oppose any military action in Libya. Any Libyan actor or faction that precipitates further civil conflict are harming innocent people and standing in the way of the peace that Libyans deserve,” the statement said, without naming Haftar directly.
The ministers said they backed U.N. efforts just hours after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres departed Libya following a meeting with Haftar to try to avert civil war.
It is the West that are themselves responsible for the conflict in Libya, the West who occupied Libya in the previous century, continued to dominate Libyan affairs even after ‘independence’, invaded Libya in 2011 in a multi-state NATO-led coalition, and who continue to back differing factions in Libya today, resulting in the ongoing civil war, which is in fact a struggle between the Western countries themselves over the immense Libyan wealth and its critical strategic location. Khalifa Hifter is in fact an American agent, described by the New York Times as “a 75-year-old former officer in the army of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi who broke with him to become a C.I.A. client”. Hifter is in opposition to factions backed by Europe, who have managed to gain UN legitimacy, for what that is worth, and is fighting them more with money than with weapons, with heavy support from Egypt and the UAE. It is this UN legitimacy that enabled selected Western powers to use the G7 to issue a vague collective statement against Hifter’s actions, even though America actually supports him.
The world must not be fooled by the lies and deception of the Western countries. They care nothing for peace or justice, ethics or humanity. Their only concern is how to manipulate norms, traditions and sentiments for their own material benefit. There is only one true solution for Libya, which is that the sincere Islamic tribes cut links to the West, its agents, and its filthy money, and rally to take charge of their own affairs, pledging themselves to a sincere ruler who will implement Islam and carry its call to the world.
America Set on Global Trade Wars according to OECD Chief Economist
According to CNBC:
Once the U.S. and China have reached a trade deal, the world’s largest economy will amplify tensions with the European Union, according to the chief economist of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Her comments come as market participants continue to monitor the prospect of a comprehensive trade agreement between Washington and Beijing.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. had found common ground on some of the toughest points in trade talks, adding a deal could be agreed in the next four weeks.
Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly echoed the optimism over a possible deal, but the White House warned some sticking points remain unresolved.
“Even once we are done with the U.S. and China, the U.S. will turn to Europe,” Laurence Boone, chief economist at OECD, told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Workshop in Italy on Friday.
“So, I think by undermining the multi-lateral rules-based system on trade, we have just injected a massive dose of uncertainty in the world that will stay with us for a long time.”
The US has been using every tool at its disposal to maintain global supremacy, including under the Trump administration undermining the multilateral economic framework that the US itself participated in building, even though it was designed to benefit the West.
America’s trade war against China has very little to do with economics. It is not that America sees China as a global competitor, China is indeed very far from that. America’s concern is with Chinese encroachment into the Pacific Ocean, which the US has come to view as a core strategic interest. America is quite happy to see China expand across the Euro-Asian-African landmass, and even enter the Indian Ocean; by doing so China would act as a useful balance against other Eurasian powers. Trump’s trade war against China is America’s latest attempt to realise such a balance.
And after China, will the US turn against Europe? The OECD chief economist may well be right. Western countries do not care for each other, only for their own self-interests, which translates to the interests of their elites. Europe is the location of some of the Eurasian powers that America wants to see balanced by China. Only just this last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Rome to extend his ‘One Belt One Road’ masterplan to Italy, raising concern in other European capitals. It is noteworthy that the current Italian government is dominated by Lega Nord, the right-wing ex-coalition partner of the pro-American ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Brunei’s Adoption of Limited Sharia-like Rules continues to cause Fake Western Outcry
According to the Guardian:
Brunei’s introduction of new laws allowing stoning for adultery and sex between men has sparked international outrage. Elton John and George Clooney’s calls for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by the tiny south-east Asian kingdom have grabbed the spotlight. The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has condemned the “cruel and inhuman” measures, as have the EU, Australia and others.
The punishment is only one of many horrifying changes in a penal code which also covers apostasy, amputation as a punishment for theft and flogging for abortions. Lesbian sex is punishable by 40 strokes of the cane as well as jail. In some cases children who have reached puberty are subject to the same penalties as adults; younger ones may be flogged. The sharia code was first introduced in 2013, and was supposed to be enacted gradually; following an outcry the government did not bring forward its harshest elements until now. Many suspect that the impact of declining oil revenues on public spending has left Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, one of the longest-ruling absolute monarchs, keen to bolster support among conservative elements.
Though many have spoken out, Britain’s responsibilities are particularly clear. The countries retained strong security ties after Brunei gained independence in 1984. A garrison of around 2,000 British troops is stationed there. The Foreign Office minister Mark Field suggested in the Commons on Thursday that the very strength of the relationship allows the government to speak “always frankly”, if sometimes privately. What has been said behind closed doors remains there, of course – yet Mr Field’s public tone fell far short of that demanded by the shocking nature of these punishments. Appearing to speak more in sorrow than anger, he lamented them as in breach of international human rights laws. Brunei has not executed anyone in decades, and four witnesses or a confession are required for cases of adultery and gay sex – “a fairly tall ask”, claimed Mr Field. This is dangerously complacent. Confessions can be acquired more easily than he appears to think. Worst, as Sir Crispin Blunt pointed out, the government’s words were not accompanied by action.
As is perhaps quite obvious from the paragraphs quoted here, Brunei continues to be a British colony in all but name, made independent of other island populations in the eastern Indian Ocean in classic colonial style so that the British can continue to directly extract Brunei’s immense oil wealth without this wealth benefitting the wider Muslim-dominated population in the region. Meanwhile, the highly corrupt British agent that rules Brunei has realised, like many other Muslims rulers today, that the only way he can perpetuate his rule is by assuring his Muslim citizens that he is sincerely committed to implementing Islam. And the British, eager to protect a highly strategic asset that provides not only oil but also a vital military base, have succeeded in manoeuvring Western media personalities into attacking the personality of the Sultan himself, and his ostentatious Western hotels, to distract attention from Brunei itself or British ownership of it, demonstrating that the Western powers despite all their invective have no real problem with Islam as long as their interests are secured. With Allah’s permission, the Muslim Ummah shall soon rise up against these corrupt rulers and wrest control of our affairs from the imperialist powers that continue to be involved so deeply in our lands; then the world shall see the re-established Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) State upon the method of the Prophet ﷺ restoring the Ummah to its rightful place in the world.
Brunei Introduces Death by Stoning for Gay Sex and Adultery, Despite International Outcry
A harsh new criminal law in Brunei – which includes death by stoning for sex between men or for adultery, and amputation of limbs for theft — went into effect on Wednesday, despite an international outcry from other countries, rights groups, celebrities and students. Brunei, a tiny monarchy on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia, based its new penal code on Shariah, Islamic law based on the Quran and other writings, though interpretations of Shariah can vary widely. Brunei has a population of just 430,000 but tremendous oil wealth, which has made the sultan, ruler since 1967, one of the wealthiest people on earth, said to own the world’s largest home and the biggest collection of rare cars. The sultan, 72, is also the prime minister and holds several other titles. He first introduced the version of Shariah in 2013, as part of a long-term project to impose a restrictive form of Islam on his country, which is majority Muslim. International protest delayed its implementation at the time, but in deciding recently to put the law into effect, with some revisions, Brunei has stood defiant. Brunei “is a sovereign Islamic and fully independent country and, like all other independent countries, enforces its own rule of laws,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement on Saturday. [Source: New York Times]
The sultan of Brunei should not selectively apply Sharia laws. He must implement Islamic law in its entirety, which includes rules pertaining to economics, social, rulings and foreign affairs. Allah (swt) says, ﴿أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ فَمَا جَزَاء مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلاَّ خِزْيٌ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَى أَشَدِّ الْعَذَابِ وَمَا اللّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ﴾ “So do you believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part? Then what is the recompense for those who do that among you except disgrace in worldly life; and on the Day of Resurrection they will be sent back to the severest of punishment. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.” [2:85]
America Approves Anti-Submarine Helicopter Sale to India
The United States said on Tuesday it had approved the sale of 24 MH-60R helicopters to India, significantly boosting its emerging ally’s firepower to target submarines as China expands in the Indian Ocean. In a quick reply to an Indian request submitted late last year, the State Department said it was informing the U.S. Congress as legally required that it was giving the green light for India to buy the 24 helicopters worth a total of $2.6 billion.
Nicknamed the Romeo, the MH-60R helicopters manufactured by Lockheed Martin are designed for hunting submarines as well as knocking out ships and conducting search-and-rescue operations at sea. “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to strengthen the U.S.-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defensive partner,” the State Department said in a statement. It called India “a major defensive partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.” India, which had estranged relations with the United States since the Cold War, has emerged as one of its leading defense partner with the interests of the world’s two largest democracies largely overlapping amid their concerns over a rising China and Islamist extremism. India has been alarmed by China’s growing interest in the Indian Ocean as it becomes a global naval power. In a strategy dubbed by Indian and U.S. observers as the “string of pearls,” China has made use of a growing number of naval bases in the Indian Ocean, most notably the Gwadar port it is developing in India’s historic rival Pakistan. Indian naval planners have responded with a doctrine to ensure freedom of movement throughout the Indian Ocean, stretching from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca. The Romeos would replenish India’s aging fleet of British-made Sea King helicopters. [Source: Newsweek].
America has clearly ditched Pakistan for India, as its principal agent in the region. America is strengthening India to counter China and undertake punitive actions in Pakistan’s sphere of control. Yet despite this, the Pakistani elite clings onto the hope that somehow U.S. will reverse it policy and embrace Pakistan. This will never happen, and the time has come for the elites to support the re-establishment of Khilafah, which will return might and glory to Pakistan.
U.S. Lawmakers Urge Sanctions over China’s Treatment of Muslim Minority
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday faulted the Trump administration for failing so far to impose sanctions over China’s alleged human rights abuses against its Muslim minority and called for punitive measures against a senior Communist Party official and Chinese companies. A letter to President Donald Trump’s top advisers signed by more than 40 lawmakers said China’s actions in its western region of Xinjiang “may constitute crimes against humanity” and urged tighter U.S. export controls to ensure that U.S. companies are not assisting the Chinese government’s crackdown there, either directly or indirectly. It also asked the United States to strengthen financial disclosure requirements to alert American investors about the presence in U.S. capital markets of Chinese companies that are “complicit in human rights abuses.” The letter specifically cited Hikvision and Dahua Technology, which produce audio-visual equipment that can be used for surveillance. China faces growing condemnation from Western capitals and rights groups for setting up facilities that U.N. experts describe as mass detention centers holding more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims. Beijing has said its measures in Xinjiang, which are also reported to include widespread surveillance of the population, are aimed at stemming the threat of Islamist militancy. The facilities or camps that have opened are vocational training centers, the government has said. [Source: Reuters]
Muslims should not be fooled by American legislators that are using the Uighur issue to gain further concessions from China over trade talks. Instead, Muslims must work for the re-establishment of the Khilafah state, which will punish both America and China for their evil crimes against the Ummah.