Fears of new World War - parla J. Fischer, il porco, et al.

[glry at ngi.it]

Verso una nuova guerra mondiale di spartizione: come sempre l'Europa occidentale cova il 
mostro. E gli intellettuali, quando non soffiano sulle braci, tacciono. 

Segue articolo sulla Siria

Jure

================ 

European Intellectuals On Threat Of World War: Warning Or Incitement?

 http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_06/European-intellectuals-fears-of-a-new-war-dangerous-lack-of-self-critique/

  Voice of Russia
  September 6, 2012

  European intellectuals´ fears of a new war: dangerous lack of self-critique
  Dmitry Babich

 ====

When reading these articles, one gets an impression that the dangerous war nearing us is 
not a man-made affair, but some natural disaster that comes from nowhere. There is no 
sign of repentance or self-critique, despite the fact that this time the destabilization again 
came from Western Europe - just like during the previous two world wars, both started by 
Western European powers.

If Mr. Fischer means the crisis of international law, it was HIS support for the illegitimate war 
against Yugoslavia in 1999 that brought to fruition the crisis that we saw in Libya and 
continue to see in Syria.

One of the saddest details about the World War I was that there were so few European 
intellectuals who raised their voice against the war in 1914, dismissing lots of mutual (and 
largely imaginary) fears that led to this fratricidal conflict.

Unfortunately, some modern European intellectuals play an incendiary role, raising the 
flames of unfounded fears instead of extinguishing them.

  ====

There is something substantial that changed in Europe´s intellectual landscape during the 
last 1-2 months: talk of a new "big war" (some intellectuals even say "world war") is no 
longer taboo.

"The Drums of War in the Middle East" - that is the title that the former German foreign 
minister Joschka Fischer has chosen for his opinion piece for Project Syndicate. "This World 
War that Ambushes Us" - the prolific French writer Max Gallo, former secretary of state in 
the French government under president Francois Mitterand in the 1980s, echoes Fischer´s 
fears in the French daily Le Figaro. "The Virus of a Total War" - that is the title of an article 
by Gueorgy Mirsky, a veteran pro-Western Russian Arabist and a brilliant intellectual, in the 
Moscow-based Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

What happened? When reading these articles, one gets an impression that the dangerous 
war nearing us is not a man-made affair, but some natural disaster that comes from 
nowhere. There is no sign of repentance or self-critique, despite the fact that this time the 
destabilization again came from Western Europe - just like during the previous two world 
wars, both started by Western European powers.

"No one can predict in which direction the Islamist Sunni president of Egypt and his Islamist 
parliamentary majority will take the country," writes Fischer, adding a bleak prediction of "a 
combination of grave economic and political crises, that may produce a cumulative effect at 
some mega-decisive moment." At the end of the paragraph he adds: "The Sunni Islamists 
are drastically changing the regional politics [of the Middle East]. This new regional 
realignment of forces does not have to be anti-Western, but it will certainly become anti-
Western if Israel or the United States attack Iran militarily."

How very interesting. Can Mr. Fischer, one of the architects of modern Western foreign 
policy, name just one of the aforementioned crises that would not be Western-made? Who 
hastily supported the so called "Arab spring" in Egypt and Libya despite Russia´s warnings 
and doubts? Wasn´t it this support, as well as the Western engagement on the rebel Sunni 
side in the mutiny in Syria that brought about a dramatic growth of Islamist Sunni influence 
in regional politics?

Which "economic and political" crises does Fischer mean? If he means the debt crisis in the 
Eurozone and the rising unemployment in Greece and Spain, it is a direct consequence of 
HIS policies, as well as the policies of his colleagues from the European Union. (It was 
under Mr. Fischer as the foreign minister that the euro was introduced and whole branches 
of traditional European industries were made redundant by EU integration.) And if Mr. 
Fischer means the crisis of international  law, it was HIS support for the illegitimate war 
against Yugoslavia in 1999 that brought to fruition the crisis that we saw in Libya and 
continue to see in Syria.

Mr. Fischer´s negative attitude to Russia and especially to its president, Vladimir Putin, is 
well known. But, strangely, in his article Fischer in fact voices the same concerns which 
Putin voiced in his electoral campaign in winter this year - with a six months long delay. The 
arbitrary nature of the joint handling of the Iranian nuclear issue by Israel and Iran, the lack 
of regard for international law and long-established rules of foreign policy - Putin spoke 
about those things months earlier, but at the time these concerns were dismissed by 
European politicians, including Mr. Fischer, as "anti-Western propaganda."

"If Iran is determined to prevent regime change in Syria by all means at its disposal, does it 
mean that the militias of Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon will get involved in the civil war 
in Syria? Will such an intervention revive the memories of the civil war in Iran, that took 
place in 1970s and 1980s?" Fischer asks rhetorically. There  is no doubt that both of his 
fears have a very high chance of  materializing, but whose fault will it be? Who destabilizes 
Syria and  continuously harasses Iran by economic sanctions and aggressive  political 
pressure? The EU and the US. Who brought about the creation  of Hezbollah? The Israeli 
attack against Lebanon in 1982. But there is  no word about it in Fischer´s text. And, of 
course, no shadow of  remorse.

Max Gallo, also a former government member, but now more known as a historian and a 
political thinker, talks about a new global conflict - a disaster of the same proportions as 
World War II, which, as he concedes, shaped his writer´s personality. "The UN and the WTO 
are powerless," he complains in his article for Le Figaro, painting a picture of global disorder 
not only in the Middle East, but also in his native Europe. The question looms however: who 
conducted the wars in Yugoslavia and Iraq without the UN´s approval and who barred 
Russia from entering the WTO for 13 years under artificial pretexts?

Max Gallo writes that he is afraid of a chain reaction of conflicts, which, starting in Syria, 
may get other countries involved - with the Middle East playing the same role of a fuse that 
the Balkans played in 1914. A wise comparison, but why is Mr. Gallo so pessimistic about 
Europe´s ability to stop this chain reaction? After all, one of the saddest details about the 
World War I was that there were so few European intellectuals who raised their voice 
against the war in 1914, dismissing lots of mutual (and largely imaginary) fears that led to 
this fratricidal conflict.

Unfortunately, some modern European intellectuals play an incendiary role, raising the 
flames of unfounded fears instead of extinguishing them.

Here is one example. Andre Glucksmann, France´s most anti-Russian "philosopher," when 
answering questions from Der Spiegel magazine this week, says: "In this anarchist context, 
Europe must reaffirm its power and take a position of attack, not defense, against the 
threats facing it. Putin´s Russia, with its desire to reconquer a part of its former power, is one 
such threat."

Here we are again in 1914, with somber predictions and invented enemies.
 

___________________________________________



The Syrian Debacle: Proxy War


http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=130080&Cat=9

The News
September 5, 2012

The Syrian debacle
Iftekhar A Khan

  ====

Britain has already given £5 million in aid to opposition groups in Syria, and its special 
envoy to the Syrian opposition, John Wilks, has remained in contact with FSA members in 
Istanbul. Western powers continue to change the regimes of countries which cannot defend 
themselves and they do it too often and too brazenly.

It is strange for the Arab League, which also contains repressive monarchies and dynastic 
emirates, to declare one of its member-states tyrannical.

  ====

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are engaged in a proxy war at the behest of the United 
States to destabilise Syria and change the regime in Damascus. Saudi Arabia bankrolls the 
insurgency, Qatar plays a role similar to the one it played in the overthrow of Muammar 
Qaddafi in Libya, and Turkey provides bases to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighting 
President Bashar al-Assad. It is incredible how the FSA irregulars inflict heavy casualties on 
the battle-hardened Syrian army and knock out its tanks and helicopter-gunships.

The United States, Britain and France have thrown their might behind the Syrian rebels by 
providing them intelligence support and sophisticated weapons. The clandestine operation 
going on for the last 17 months against Syria is meant to weaken the influence of Iran in the 
region.

The Iranian leadership refuses to acquiesce to imperial designs in the Middle East, unlike 
the oil-rich sheikdoms. The pattern of Western intervention in Syria is all too familiar. It is 
the same old pretext of weapons of mass destruction as it was in Iraq, and the same powers 
- mainly the US, the UK and France.

The Iraq invasion in March 2003 was fresh in people´s minds when Libya was attacked by 
Western forces and its leader Muammar Qaddafi lynched. The new candidate for regime 
change is Syria and its leader Bashar al-Assad. In Libya the opposition was the Transitional 
National Council (TNC), and in Syria it is the Syrian National Council (SNC). Tony Blair 
played out the US agenda in Iraq, and David Cameron is faithfully doing the same in Syria.

Britain has already given £5 million in aid to opposition groups in Syria, and its special 
envoy to the Syrian opposition, John Wilks, has remained in contact with FSA members in 
Istanbul. Western powers continue to change the regimes of countries which cannot defend 
themselves and they do it too often and too brazenly.

The recently held summit of the OIC in Mecca has suspended Syria´s membership and 
backed calls for arming Syrian rebels to launch offensives against Bashar al-Assad´s 
regime. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has accused Assad of acts of repression 
against his own people. It is strange for the Arab League, which also contains repressive 
monarchies and dynastic emirates, to declare one of its member-states tyrannical. Who 
knows the scenario could change for the worse for Muslim countries which are now 
instigating rebellion in Syria.

For instance, what would happen if the Western media suddenly began to advocate the 
arrival of democracy in, say, Saudi Arabia, asking it to hold elections? And CNN and The 
New York Times, Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, known for influencing US 
foreign policy, could take up the sensitive issue of emancipation of women in the ultra-
conservative Saudi society and insist that Saudi Arabia granted them the right to vote. 
Ridding Afghan women of their blue cloak was part of the lofty agenda of the US invasion in 
Afghanistan, although the cloak stays when the invaders pack up to leave.

It is sad that the Muslim countries allow themselves to be part of campaigns against other 
Muslim countries because of sectarian prejudices. Iran has always assured Saudi Arabia 
and the emirates that it has no ill will towards them. Without outside support Qatar can 
hardly face Iran. In fact, Qatar is so vulnerable on its own that if threatened by Iran it would 
have to back off...

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore.


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---  from : jure ellero <glry at ngi.it> 
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