What certainty that ISIS will be defeated by bombing ?

History repeats itself, first in tragedy, second in farce-this proverb might prove true for Britain. Prime Minister Cameron took the Blairite path to involve Britain in Middle-Eastern war more dangerously. In 2003 Tony Blair as Labour Prime Minister misled the parliament and joined hands with George Bush to overthrow Saddam in Iraq. A vast number of Labour MPs opposed him and he had to depend on Tory support to go to war. This time Cameron has 67 Labour votes and that has strengthened  his will to go to war against the wish of the majority of ordinary British people. Blair also ignored public opinion and entered into a wrong war with false accusations against President Saddam Hussain. He tried to create fear that Saddam had weapon of mass destruction and he could attack Britain within a short time.  The accusation was proved a lie later on and Blair went to war only to please George Bush, the-then President of America. At that time also the majority of the British media supported Blair's war mongering and condemned the people who were against Blair's war.
This time also Tory Prime Minister Cameron tried to instil fear in the minds of the British public that the attack of Isis in Britain is imminent. After terrorist attacks in France this fear is already present in the mind of the British people and the Tory leader has cultivated it to take Britain more deeply into war. In the past Blair wanted to please Bush. This time Cameron wants to please Obama and Hollande both. Only by escalating bombing in Syria from Iraq border will not defeat the terrorists. It will further devastate Syria like Iraq, increase the exodus from Syria and will increase the danger of terrorist attacks in the cities of Britain. The Jihadists will become more desperate and then they may desperately attack British cities including London to retaliate the British bombing.
What is the certainty that Isis will be defeated by bombing and peace and tranquillity will come to those countries like manna from the heaven? The bombing will destroy the ordinary people whatever precaution the bomber-jets take and Isis will not be destroyed like Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda in Iraq. They may undertake more retaliatory attacks on the European soil. Cameron may inadvertently instigate the jihadists to attack Britain.
Last 28th November (Saturday) weekend The Guardian published an interesting conversation between Brian Eno (a famous British musician and composer) and Yanis Varoufakis (academic economist and a former Greek MP). In this conversation Yanis Varoufakis commented on western warfare in the Middle-east. Yanis said to Eno, "If you looked at the bare facts of the last two months it is tit for tat. That is how they (terrorists) see it.
 So the Russian air force bomb Syria they bomb a Russian plane off Sharm el-Sheikh. The French air force bombs Syria jihadists do what they do in Paris. The Hezbollah people join Assad against them, they bomb Beirut. For them, this is what war is about. And we have to learn to see this, because if we think that a stray US air force bomb killing 150 people in Syria is acceptable collateral damage but we go crazy about Paris, then our moral compass is problematic."
The famous British columnist Simon Jenkins wrote in The Guardian after British Parliament voted for air strike in Syria," Prime Minister David Cameron's argument in the commons for permission to bomb Syria was not based on any new or coherent strategy. As he himself pointed out, it merely follows the logic of a previous vote to bomb Iraq. Even so, like Tony Blair before the Iraq invasion of 2003, he had to rely on abusing his opponents, scaring the public and disseminating dubious intelligence."
The British Prime Minister did not conceal his real intention for bombing Syria. He clearly said that the British aim is to topple Assad and install a democratic government. After what happened in Iraq and Libya the attempt to change regime in Syria will be another western folly. Iraq and Libya are both devastated and western powers could not provide them with stable democratic government. If Assad is removed from power Syria will follow suit. It will be devastated and divided and the civil war between Shia and Sunni will escalate.
Perhaps, the real western motive to encourage this civil war is to facilitate themselves to keep their military presence in the area and to plunder their oil resources in collaboration with the terrorist sympathizer Arab countries. If Syria is devastated the only remaining Middle-eastern power Iran will be weakened and Israel will have a free hand to do whatever they like with the Palestinians.
Some neutral observers comment that prolonged western bombing in Iraq and Syria did not destroy Isis effectively but tried to strengthen the anti-Assad so-called rebel forces in Syria created by western powers. When Russia entered into the war and started air strike effectively on Jihadist bases then America became angry with Putin. And accused that the Russian air attack is killing civilians, as if the western bombing is not killing anyone.     
Knowing fully well this back­ground how 67 Labour MPs of Britain could support Cameron's war ignoring the presence of big anti-war rally outside parliament is a big question. I was not surprised when I learned before the voting in the parliament that a substantial number of Labour MPs including Shadow ministers are going to support the air Strike defying their leaders' strong opposition to this dangerous war game.
No doubt that though Blair is gone his bad spell is still influencing the right wing section of the Labour MPs. These MPs neither cared for the strong opposition of their leader Jeremy Corbyn to war nor did they give any importance to the large number of Labour MPs and grass root supporters or the public rally who were assembled outside parlia­ment with anti-war slogans.
But I was really surprised when I came to know that Labour's shadow foreign secretary Hilary Ben, who is a son of the great anti-war leader Tony Ben supported Cameron's war and got huge applause from the MPs who supported the action. The right wing media also hailed him as a great orator. This proves that British Left politics is now really in a crossroads. The Labour is day by day becoming a party of right wing moderates and is trying to uproot the present left leadership who are still upholding the true flag of labour politics confronting all-out attack from the establishment and its new associates.
For his anti-war role even Prime Minister Cameron branded the opposition leader as a terrorist sympathizer. Maintaining his dignity Corbyn did not go into mudslinging. A warning has been voiced from grassroots Labour supporters that if Labour became a shadow of the Conservative party then it will follow the suit of the Liberal Democratic Party which was once a major party in Britain.
In this gloomy situation there is ray of hope. The Labour's huge number of supporters and the Member of Parliament are solidly behind Jeremy Corbyn. It may happen that the right wing prominent leaders of Labour if defeated by the new rising left-forces in the party, might have to leave Labour like Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams and who left the party and formed a new party SDP (Social Democratic Party). The party did not last very long and merged with Liberal party. In reality they lost their existence. By electing Jeremy Corbyn as the party leader the Labour supporters countrywide proved that they are genuinely for Labour's pro-people stand and policies. Many political observers hope one day Labour will gain back their real political character defeating the ghost of Blairism.
The day is not far away when it will be proved that the present Tory government has taken a dangerous step  by escalating war like Tony Blair, who has brought the terrorists to the doorstep of Europe. The only way to defeat this barbaric Jihadist regime are to stop arming them through Saudi Arabia or any other countries, not to make any secret oil deal with them and if necessary to deploy ground forces to eradicate them from the Middle-eastern soil.
The people of the devastated Middle-eastern countries should be economically helped to rebuild their lives and politically organized to fight religious fascism inside their countries. During Second World War it was ordinary people of Europe who first organized guerrilla war against fascism. Then the allied forces came to assist and liberated them. Without this mobilization of combining military action and people's resistance present western war games may become a boomerang for them. If that happened then Cameron will be blamed like Blair in the past for his warmongering.
I want to conclude my article by congratulating Tulip Siddiq, a new Labour MP from Hampstead and Kilburn for her courageous opposition to Tory government's bombing plan in Syria. She said in the parliament, "There is no doubt in my mind that Islamic State needs to be defeated and there is a compelling case for that. However, I don't feel the case for air strikes in Syria has been put forward by the Prime Minister in a way that I can support it." Tulip is the granddau­ghter of the great Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It seems that she has inherited the pragma­tism and the courage to speak truth form her grandfather. The Bengali community in Britain is proud of her.

London, Friday 04 December 2015

 

 

What certainty that ISIS will be defeated by bombing ?

History repeats itself, first in tragedy, second in farce-this proverb might prove true for Britain. Prime Minister Cameron took the Blairite path to involve Britain in Middle-Eastern war more dangerously. In 2003 Tony Blair as Labour Prime Minister misled the parliament and joined hands with George Bush to overthrow Saddam in Iraq. A vast number of Labour MPs opposed him and he had to depend on Tory support to go to war. This time Cameron has 67 Labour votes and that has strengthened his will to go to war against the wish of the majority of ordinary British people. Blair also ignored public opinion and entered into a wrong war with false accusations against President Saddam Hussain. He tried to create fear that Saddam had weapon of mass destruction and he could attack Britain within a short time. The accusation was proved a lie later on and Blair went to war only to please George Bush, the-then President of America. At that time also the majority of the British media supported Blairs war mongering and condemned the people who were against Blairs war. This time also Tory Prime Minister Cameron tried to instil fear in the minds of the British public that the attack of Isis in Britain is imminent. After terrorist attacks in France this fear is already present in the mind of the British people and the Tory leader has cultivated it to take Britain more deeply into war. In the past Blair wanted to please Bush. This time Cameron wants to please Obama and Hollande both. Only by escalating bombing in Syria from Iraq border will not defeat the terrorists. It will further devastate Syria like Iraq, increase the exodus from Syria and will increase the danger of terrorist attacks in the cities of Britain. The Jihadists will become more desperate and then they may desperately attack British cities including London to retaliate the British bombing. What is the certainty that Isis will be defeated by bombing and peace and tranquillity will come to those countries like manna from the heaven? The bombing will destroy the ordinary people whatever precaution the bomber-jets take and Isis will not be destroyed like Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda in Iraq. They may undertake more retaliatory attacks on the European soil. Cameron may inadvertently instigate the jihadists to attack Britain. Last 28th November (Saturday) weekend The Guardian published an interesting conversation between Brian Eno (a famous British musician and composer) and Yanis Varoufakis (academic economist and a former Greek MP). In this conversation Yanis Varoufakis commented on western warfare in the Middle-east. Yanis said to Eno, If you looked at the bare facts of the last two months it is tit for tat. That is how they (terrorists) see it. So the Russian air force bomb Syria they bomb a Russian plane off Sharm el-Sheikh. The French air force bombs Syria jihadists do what they do in Paris. The Hezbollah people join Assad against them, they bomb Beirut. For them, this is what war is about. And we have to learn to see this, because if we think that a stray US air force bomb killing 150 people in Syria is acceptable collateral damage but we go crazy about Paris, then our moral compass is problematic. The famous British columnist Simon Jenkins wrote in The Guardian after British Parliament voted for air strike in Syria, Prime Minister David Camerons argument in the commons for permission to bomb Syria was not based on any new or coherent strategy. As he himself pointed out, it merely follows the logic of a previous vote to bomb Iraq. Even so, like Tony Blair before the Iraq invasion of 2003, he had to rely on abusing his opponents, scaring the public and disseminating dubious intelligence. The British Prime Minister did not conceal his real intention for bombing Syria. He clearly said that the British aim is to topple Assad and install a democratic government. After what happened in Iraq and Libya the attempt to change regime in Syria will be another western folly. Iraq and Libya are both devastated and western powers could not provide them with stable democratic government. If Assad is removed from power Syria will follow suit. It will be devastated and divided and the civil war between Shia and Sunni will escalate. Perhaps, the real western motive to encourage this civil war is to facilitate themselves to keep their military presence in the area and to plunder their oil resources in collaboration with the terrorist sympathizer Arab countries. If Syria is devastated the only remaining Middle-eastern power Iran will be weakened and Israel will have a free hand to do whatever they like with the Palestinians. Some neutral observers comment that prolonged western bombing in Iraq and Syria did not destroy Isis effectively but tried to strengthen the anti-Assad so-called rebel forces in Syria created by western powers. When Russia entered into the war and started air strike effectively on Jihadist bases then America became angry with Putin. And accused that the Russian air attack is killing civilians, as if the western bombing is not killing anyone. Knowing fully well this background how 67 Labour MPs of Britain could support Camerons war ignoring the presence of big anti-war rally outside parliament is a big question. I was not surprised when I learned before the voting in the parliament that a substantial number of Labour MPs including Shadow ministers are going to support the air Strike defying their leaders strong opposition to this dangerous war game. No doubt that though Blair is gone his bad spell is still influencing the right wing section of the Labour MPs. These MPs neither cared for the strong opposition of their leader Jeremy Corbyn to war nor did they give any importance to the large number of Labour MPs and grass root supporters or the public rally who were assembled outside parliament with anti-war slogans. But I was really surprised when I came to know that Labours shadow foreign secretary Hilary Ben, who is a son of the great anti-war leader Tony Ben supported Camerons war and got huge applause from the MPs who supported the action. The right wing media also hailed him as a great orator. This proves that British Left politics is now really in a crossroads. The Labour is day by day becoming a party of right wing moderates and is trying to uproot the present left leadership who are still upholding the true flag of labour politics confronting all-out attack from the establishment and its new associates. For his anti-war role even Prime Minister Cameron branded the opposition leader as a terrorist sympathizer. Maintaining his dignity Corbyn did not go into mudslinging. A warning has been voiced from grassroots Labour supporters that if Labour became a shadow of the Conservative party then it will follow the suit of the Liberal Democratic Party which was once a major party in Britain. In this gloomy situation there is ray of hope. The Labours huge number of supporters and the Member of Parliament are solidly behind Jeremy Corbyn. It may happen that the right wing prominent leaders of Labour if defeated by the new rising left-forces in the party, might have to leave Labour like Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams and who left the party and formed a new party SDP (Social Democratic Party). The party did not last very long and merged with Liberal party. In reality they lost their existence. By electing Jeremy Corbyn as the party leader the Labour supporters countrywide proved that they are genuinely for Labours pro-people stand and policies. Many political observers hope one day Labour will gain back their real political character defeating the ghost of Blairism. The day is not far away when it will be proved that the present Tory government has taken a dangerous step by escalating war like Tony Blair, who has brought the terrorists to the doorstep of Europe. The only way to defeat this barbaric Jihadist regime are to stop arming them through Saudi Arabia or any other countries, not to make any secret oil deal with them and if necessary to deploy ground forces to eradicate them from the Middle-eastern soil. The people of the devastated Middle-eastern countries should be economically helped to rebuild their lives and politically organized to fight religious fascism inside their countries. During Second World War it was ordinary people of Europe who first organized guerrilla war against fascism. Then the allied forces came to assist and liberated them. Without this mobilization of combining military action and peoples resistance present western war games may become a boomerang for them. If that happened then Cameron will be blamed like Blair in the past for his warmongering. I want to conclude my article by congratulating Tulip Siddiq, a new Labour MP from Hampstead and Kilburn for her courageous opposition to Tory governments bombing plan in Syria. She said in the parliament, There is no doubt in my mind that Islamic State needs to be defeated and there is a compelling case for that. However, I dont feel the case for air strikes in Syria has been put forward by the Prime Minister in a way that I can support it. Tulip is the granddaughter of the great Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It seems that she has inherited the pragmatism and the courage to speak truth form her grandfather. The Bengali community in Britain is proud of her. London, Friday 04 December 2015