Questions to ask President Obama the next time (also the last time) you’re invited to one of his press conferences:
Which is most important to you – destroying ISIS, overthrowing Syrian president Assad, or scoring points against Russia?
Ṣe o ro pe ti o ba tọka si awọn eniyan Amẹrika pe Assad ti ṣe pupọ diẹ sii lati ṣe iranlọwọ ati igbala awọn kristeni ni awọn ija Aarin Ila-oorun ju eyikeyi oludari agbegbe lọ pe eyi yoo dinku ikorira ti gbogbo eniyan Amẹrika ati awọn media lero si rẹ? Tabi ṣe o pin wiwo ti agbẹnusọ Ẹka Ipinle ti o sọ ni Oṣu Kẹsan pe “Ijọba Assad ni otitọ ni gbongbo gbogbo ibi”?
Kini idi ti Amẹrika n ṣetọju awọn ijẹniniya inawo ti o rọ ati wiwọle si iranlọwọ ologun si Siria, Cuba, Iran ati awọn orilẹ-ede miiran ṣugbọn kii ṣe si Saudi Arabia?
What does Saudi Arabia have to do to lose its strong American support? Increase its torture, beheadings, amputations, whippings, stonings, punishment for blasphemy and apostasy, or forced marriages and other oppression of women and girls? Increase its financial support for ISIS and other jihadist groups? Confess to its role in 9-11? Attack Israel?
What bothers you more: The Saudi bombing of the people of Yemen or the Syrian bombing of the people of Syria?
Does the fact that ISIS never attacks Israel raise any question in your mind?
Does it concern you that Turkey appears to be more intent upon attacking the Kurds and the Russians than attacking ISIS? And provides medical care to wounded ISIS soldiers? Or that ISIS deals its oil on Turkish territory? Or that NATO-member Turkey has been a safe haven for terrorists from Libya, Chechnya, Qatar, and elsewhere? Or that last year Vice President Biden stated that Turkish president Erdogan’s regime was backing ISIS with “hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons”?
If NATO had never existed, what argument could you give today in favor of creating such an institution? Other than – as some would say – being a very useful handmaiden of US foreign policy and providing American arms manufacturers with trillions of dollars of guaranteed sales.
Njẹ Amẹrika gbero lori itusilẹ eyikeyi awọn ẹri ti o fi ẹsun rẹ lati ṣe atilẹyin awọn ẹtọ leralera ti bombu Siria ati ogun kemikali si awọn eniyan Siria? Bii awọn fọto ti o han gbangba tabi awọn fidio lati awọn kamẹra satẹlaiti Amẹrika ni gbogbo agbaye? Tabi eyikeyi miiran gbagbọ eri?
Njẹ Amẹrika gbero lori itusilẹ eyikeyi awọn ẹri ti o fi ẹsun rẹ lati ṣe atilẹyin awọn ẹtọ rẹ leralera ti awọn ayabo Russia ti Ukraine ni ọdun to kọja bi? Bii awọn fọto ti o han gbangba tabi awọn fidio lati awọn kamẹra satẹlaiti Amẹrika ni gbogbo agbaye? Tabi eyikeyi miiran gbagbọ eri?
Do the numerous connections between the Ukrainian government and neo-Nazis have any effect upon America’s support of Ukraine?
What do you imagine would have been the outcome in World War Two if the United States had opposed Soviet entry into the war because “Stalin must go”?
Would you prefer that Russia played no military role at all in Syria?
Can the administration present in person a few of the Syrian opposition “moderates” we’ve heard so much about and allow the media to interview them?
Have you considered honoring your promise of “No boots on the ground in Syria” by requiring all American troops to wear sneakers?
Maṣe sọ fun iya mi pe Mo ṣiṣẹ ni Ẹka Ipinle. O ro pe mo ṣe piano ni ile panṣaga kan.
Excerpts from a State Department daily press briefing, November 24, 2015, following the Turkish shootdown of a Russian plane, conducted by Mark Toner, Deputy Spokesperson:
IBEERE: Alakoso Obama sọ pe oun yoo kan si Alakoso Erdogan ni awọn ọjọ diẹ ti n bọ.
MR TONER: Yeah.
IBEERE: Ko darukọ Putin. Iyẹn jẹ ki o wa ni deede si ẹgbẹ Tọki, ṣe kii ṣe bẹẹ?
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IBEERE: O n sọ pe Tọki ni ẹtọ lati daabobo ararẹ; Aare Obama sọ ohun kanna. Idaabobo wo ni o n sọrọ nipa? Ṣe ẹnikẹni ro pe Russia yoo kọlu Tọki?
MR TONER: Again, I mean, this is –
IBEERE: Ṣe o ro bẹ?
MR TONER: Look, I don’t want to parse out this incident. I said very clearly that we don’t know all the facts yet, so for me to speak categorically about what happened is – frankly, would be irresponsible.
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QUESTION: Even if you accept the Turkish version that the plane traveled 1.3 miles inside Turkey and violated its airspace for 17 seconds – that’s according to Turkey – do you think shooting down the plane was the right thing to do?
MR TONER: Again, I’m not going to give you our assessment at this point. We’re still gathering the facts.
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ÌBÉÈRÈ: Ní ọdún 2012, Síríà yìnbọn lu ọkọ̀ òfuurufú ará Tọ́kì kan tó sọ pé ó ṣáko lọ sí àgbègbè rẹ̀. Prime Minister Erdogan lẹhinna sọ pe, “Irufin aala igba kukuru ko le jẹ asọtẹlẹ fun ikọlu.” Nibayi, NATO ti ṣalaye ibawi rẹ ti ikọlu Siria ati atilẹyin to lagbara fun Tọki. Ṣe o rii aiṣedeede ti idahun NATO lori eyi?
MR TONER: As to what President Erdogan may have said after that incident, I would refer you to him.
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IBEERE: Awọn ọmọ ogun Turkoman ni Siria sọ pe wọn pa awọn awakọ ọkọ ofurufu meji ti Russia bi wọn ti sọkalẹ ni parachutes.
MR TONER: Yeah.
IBEERE: Awọn ọmọ ogun Turkoman ni atilẹyin nipasẹ Tọki ati pe wọn jagun si Ijọba Siria, wọn jẹ apakan ti ologun ọlọtẹ nibẹ. Ṣe o ro pe awọn ọlọtẹ wọnyi jẹ agbara iwọntunwọnsi ni Siria?
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QUESTION: I’m trying – I mean, do you think that everybody has the right to defend themselves?
MR TONER: We’ve said very clearly that people have the right to defend themselves.
IBEERE: otun? Pẹlu ijọba Assad?
MR TONER: No. (1)
Ṣe ipanilaya ni tabi ẹsin? Ṣe ibeere naa ṣe pataki?
From the early days of America’s War on Terror, and even before then, I advocated seeing terrorists as more than just mindless, evil madmen from another planet. I did not believe they were motivated by hatred or envy of American freedom or democracy, or of American wealth, secular government, or culture, although George W. Bush dearly wanted us to believe that. The terrorists were, I maintained, driven by decades of terrible things done to their homelands by US foreign policy. There should be no doubt of this I wrote, for there are numerous examples of Middle East terrorists explicitly citing American policies as the prime motivation behind their actions. And it worked the same all over the world. In the period of the 1950s to the 1980s in Latin America, in response to a long string of outrageous Washington interventions, there were countless acts of terrorism against US diplomatic and military targets as well as the offices of US corporations. 9/11 was a globalized version of the Columbine High School disaster. When you bully people long enough they are going to strike back.
In 2006 Osama bin Laden was inspired to tell Americans to read my book Rogue State because it contained the following and other similar thoughts of mine: “If I were the president, I could stop terrorist attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize – very publicly and very sincerely – to all the widows and the orphans, the impoverished and the tortured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism.”
So does this mean that I support ISIS?
Absolutely not. I think they’re one of the most disgusting collection of supposed humans in all of history. But I’m surprised at how often those who are highly critical of them, and supportive of the movement to defeat them, are very reluctant to denounce ISIS as a esin force; this, apparently, would be politically incorrect. Shortly after the terrible November 13 events in Paris I was watching the French English-language TV station France 24, eyiti o ṣe agbekalẹ ijiroro tabili yika ti ohun ti o ṣẹlẹ ni Ilu Paris laarin awọn oriṣi ọgbọn Faranse mẹrin tabi marun. Ko si ọkan ninu wọn ti o sọ ọrọ odi nipa Islam; o je gbogbo sociology, iselu, aje, oroinuokan, itan, Western inilara ati bẹbẹ lọ, ati be be lo.
Mo lẹhinna ka atunyẹwo kikun ti nkan kan nipasẹ Thomas Piketty, onkọwe Faranse ti opus oju-iwe 700 ti o jẹ iyi pupọ Olu ni Ogun-First Century, awọn okeere ti o dara ju-eniti o ti odun to koja. Ni ibamu si awọn awotẹlẹ ni awọn World, Piketty said that inequality is a major driver of Middle Eastern terrorism, including the Paris attacks, and that Western nations have themselves largely to blame for that inequality. Terrorism that is rooted in inequality, he maintains, is best combatted economically. Not a word about Muhammad in the 7th century, Sharia Law in the 21st century, or anything in between. (2)
Next, by contrast, we turn to an interview with Mizanur Rahman, one of social media’s most famous promoters of the Islamic State, whom Britain and the US consider to be a recruiter for ISIS. British authorities closely monitor his movements and have taken his passport. He wears a court-mandated electronic ankle bracelet.
Rahman is known for his thousands of tweets and Facebook posts, and fiery lectures on YouTube, intended to inspire vulnerable young people. He openly advocates for a global caliphate, a homeland ruled by Islamic sharia law, which he says is a superior political, legal and economic system to democracy. The Islamic State’s black flag will one day fly over the White House he insists, adding that the militants will probably conquer Washington by military force, but he watches his words carefully to avoid being accused of advocating violence. Still, he argues, the concept of spreading Islam by force is no less honorable than Western countries invading Iraq or Afghanistan to spread democracy. [I wonder if he really believes that Western foreign policy has anything to do with spreading democracy.]
Rahman pe awọn ikọlu Ipinle Islam ni oṣu to kọja ni Ilu Paris “abajade ti ko ṣeeṣe” ti ikopa Faranse ninu awọn ikọlu afẹfẹ ti iṣọkan lodi si awọn onijagidijagan. de facto capital in Raqqa, Syria. “I don’t think anybody should really be surprised at what happened,” he said. “In war, people bomb each other. I think it’s an opportunity for the French people to empathize with the people in Raqqa, who suffer very similar impact whenever the French airstrikes hit them – the civilian casualties, the shock, the stress. The anger that they must be feeling toward the Islamic State right now is the same kind of anger that the people of Iraq and Syria feel towards France.”
He argues that it is no worse for the Islamic State to behead American journalists than for the United States to kill Muslim civilians in drone strikes. “I’m promoting sharia because I think it’s the best,” Rahman, a former accountant and web designer, said in the London coffee shop interview. “I think it is better than what we have, and what is wrong with saying that?” [Nothing unless you enjoy music, sex, and alcohol and find praying five times a day highly oppressive.)
Ni Oṣu Kẹjọ, Rahman ni ẹsun ni Ilu Gẹẹsi pẹlu “atilẹyin pipe” fun Ipinle Islam, ati pe o dojukọ ọdun 10 ninu tubu ti o ba jẹbi. O ni ominira lori beeli labẹ awọn ipo to muna, pẹlu ẹgba kokosẹ.
Rahman pe awọn ẹsun ti a fi si i ni ẹgan ati inunibini ti o lodi si Musulumi. O ni oun ko se nkankan ju iwaasu iwaasu Islam lo ati pe ko tii gba enikeni kan pato lati darapo mo Ipinle Islam tabi ro enikeni lati huwa iwa-ipa.
“Islam jẹ diẹ sii ju iwe kan ti o ni itan atijọ. Lootọ ni koodu fun igbesi aye, ”o wi pe, fifi kun pe Islam jẹ apẹrẹ fun ohun gbogbo lati imototo ara ẹni si awọn ibatan kariaye. "Kii ṣe diẹ ninu awọn idiyele igba atijọ."
Rahman’s first arrest was in February 2002, when he was fined 50 pounds for defacing posters for a pop band that featured scantily clad women, something he considered indecent. [But forcing women to walk around fully covered from head to toe, with only their eyes showing, is not indecent? And what woman in the entire world would dress like that without great pressure from a male-dominated society?]
Peter Neumann, head of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College in London stated that Rahman is skilled at persuading Muslims that it is their religious obligation to swear allegiance to the Islamic State leader, arguing that God wants the world united under a caliphate, without ever overtly calling for them to move to Syria or Iraq. [How, we must ask, does Rahman know what God wants? There are countless individuals all over the world confined to institutions for committing violence which, they insisted, was in response to God talking to them.] (3)
The couple in California … The only explanation my poor pagan mind can offer for their unspeakable behavior is “martyrdom”. They knew that their action would, in all likelihood, result in their death and they believed what they had been taught – oh so profoundly taught in the Kuran and drummed into their heads elsewhere like only religion can – that for martyrs there are heavenly rewards in the afterlife … forever.
“With or without religion, good people will do good things and bad people will do bad things. But for good people to do bad things – that takes religion.” Steven Weinberg je onimo sayensi to gba Ebun Nobel ninu Fisiksi.
awọn akọsilẹ
- Apejuwe Iroyin Ojoojumọ ti Ẹka ti Ipinle AMẸRIKA, Kọkànlá Oṣù 24, 2015
- Washington Post, December 1, 2015, p.A11
- Washington Post, Kọkànlá Oṣù 23, 2015
ZNetwork jẹ agbateru nikan nipasẹ ilawo ti awọn oluka rẹ.
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