Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The "War on Terrorism" that America lost

The "War on Terrorism" that America lost
by Mahboob A. Khawaja
(Tuesday, July 14, 2009)
"American leadership failed to achieve any declared aims of the ‘war on terrorism’ that was to promote democracy, freedom and peace in Iraq, except that it helped to create more and sustain the Muslim reactionary forces to prepare and re-organize against the imposed terrorism of the West."
The premise of the American led “war on terrorism” was based on the Nazis blueprint of flagrant lies and perpetuated “fear” to drain out all the positive and creative thinking of the American people and to enslave them for years to come while the Neo-conservatives dominated Bush Administration with overwhelming indoctrination of Nazism continued the militancy towards freedom of thought and conscience, human rights and legal justice denying America’s own history and rich values. America lost the war the day it invaded Iraq. The American Empire had no purpose and strategy to fight Islamists and its delusion represents failure and self-defeat on all the fronts. President Obama has a new challenge, more critical than any other in the American history to rebuild a collapsed superpower America with sustainable moral, financial and political standing in the new emerging world set to replace the US unilateral role in global politics.
Experiencing first-hand daily bombing and massive civilian casualties, Layla Anwar, “the Arab Women’s Blues” puts eyes witness observations into words on her web site blog from Iraq:
“Everyday, under the pretext of either al-Qaida, insurgents, militants or whatever imaginary name you coined, you have not ceased, not even for one day, slaughtering our innocents……for 4 years, you have not ceased for one single day, Not during holiday periods, not during religious celebrations, not even during the day your so called God was born….if you have a God that is.”
Wars are planned, financed and fought by governments, not by groups or ordinary people. Wars are based on political agendas and are geared for complete control over resources, people and territory. Most wars would have multiple reasons, domestic, foreign and global outreach. The American led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are fought to maintain the US domination worldwide, to occupy the untapped natural resources of the Middle East in particular the oil and gas, and to protect the American dollar as a stable international reserve currency. In September 2000, the proactive policy paper, “The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) sets out the neoconservative envision and its agenda seeking American domination over the rest of the world relative powers, and strategic plan to meet its energies demands using armed intervention to occupy all the oil resources of the Arab Middle East and elsewhere. The blueprint supports military occupation of the oil producing Arab countries and regime change where it is necessary to fulfill the policy aims of the New American Century of global domination. Centuries ago, German historian Carl Von Clausewitz wrote On War that “War is not merely a political act but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means.” The small ruling elite that plans and wages war are often afraid of citizenry reaction and refusal to accept the so called antidote for the rationality of a war. Throughout the history, European nationalism institutionalized the doctrine of the war as a necessity to promote national interest and their racial superiority over others by using war as a means to that end. Most proponents of wars have used “fear” as one of the major instruments of propaganda and manipulation to perpetuate allegiance from the ordinary folks to the elite warmongers in a crisis situation. Sheldon Richman (“War is Government Program” ICS, 05/2007), notes that “war is more dangerous than other government programs and not just for the obvious reason – mass murder….war is useful in keeping the population in a state of fear and therefore trustful of their rulers.”
Ordinary citizens do not carry passion for war as it disturbs the safe and secure, and destroys the living habitats. The ruling elite, the actual warmonger actors make people to think in their extreme terms of hatred and rejection of others so that people would be forced to align with the rulers to support and finance the war efforts. Sheldon Richman describes how Herman Goering, Hitler’s second in command, understood the discourse of war planning agenda:
“Of course the people don’t want war….but after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether, it’s a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a parliament or a Communist dictatorship.”
Paul Craig Roberts (“The Collapse of America Power”: ICS, 03/2008), attempts to explain how the British Empire had collapsed once its financial assets were depleted because of the 2nd World War debts. Correlli Barnett (The Collapse of British Power, 1972) states that at the beginning of the WW2, Britain had limited gold and foreign exchange to meet the immediate needs of the war. The British Government asked America to help finance their sustainability to continue the war. Thus, ‘this dependency signaled the end of British power.’ For its draconian wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, America is heavily under debts of China, Japan and Saudi Arabia. It is well known that American treasury owes trillion of dollars to its foreign creditors and therefore, its financial dependency is increasingly becoming an obvious indicator of the end of the American superpower status and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now the US financial system has completely broken down because of the institutionalized corruption and some of the leading banking institutions have gone into forced bankruptcy, the chain reaction and implications could be seen across the American economic, social and political spectrum of life. Under the Bush administration, America has shrinked its capability and vitality of role and in fact appears dismantled as a superpower status in global affairs. It is no wonder that other nations of the world do not seem to take America and its traditional influential stratum in any serious context. Paul Craig Roberts (The Collapse of American Power”) refers to Noam Chomsky stating that under the neoconservative Bush Presidency, “America thinks that it owns the world.” But the fact of the matter is, explains Roberts, “that the US owes the world. The US ”superpower” cannot even finance its own domestic operations, much less its gratuitous wars except via the kindness of foreigners to lend it money that cannot be repaid.” It is undeniable that the US is “bankrupt” primarily because of the on-going aggressive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. David M. Walker Comptroller General of the US and Head of the Government Accountability Office (December 2007) reports that “ in everyday language, the US Government cannot pass an audit.”
If one is a financial investor, the obvious question asks Paul C. Roberts, “would you want to hold debt in a currency that has such a poor record against the currency of a small island country that was nuked and defeated in WW II, or against a small landlocked European country that clings to its independence and is not a member of the EU?” Consequently, the American dollar is being replaced by Euro and other currencies and soon going to be abandoned as a reserve currency in global financial system. Roberts concerns sounds as alarming bell, “if the bankrupt “superpower” will be able to scraps together the resources to bring home the troops stationed in its hundreds of bases overseas, or whether they will just be abandoned.”
This War on Terror is Bogus
Michel Meacher, the British Environment Minister under PM Blair (“This War on Terrorism is Bogus”), provides detailed insight on the real reasons of the “War on Terrorism.” He claims that the war on terror is phony as “the 9/11 attacks gave the US an ideal pretext to use force to secure its global domination.” He adds that “the so called “war on terrorism” is being used largely as bogus cover for achieving wider US strategic geopolitical objectives…..in fact, 9/11 offered an extremely convenient pretext to put the PNAC plan into action. The evidence again is quite clear that plans for military action against Afghanistan and Iraq were in hand well before 9/11.” In its report prepared by the Baker Institute of Public Policy (April 2001), it stated clearly that “the US remains a prisoner of its energy dilemma. Iraq remains a destabilizing influence too….the flow of oil to international markets from the Middle East” and it its recommendations elaborated the dire need that because it was a challenging risk therefore, the “US military intervention” was the most favored action (Sunday Herald: Oct 6, 2002). Both the US and United Kingdom have increasing dependence on imported oil from the Arab Middle East. The overriding motivation for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are shielded by political smokescreen that the US and UK will run out of sufficient hydrocarbon energy supplies in 2010, whereas, the Arab and Muslim world would control almost 60% of the world oil producing capacity and perhaps more significantly 95% of the remaining global oil production capacity. The news media reports indicate that the US is predicted to produce only 39% of the domestic oil production in 2010, whereas in 1990, it produced 57% of its total oil consumption. The UK Government had projected ”severe” gas shortages by 2005, and indicated that 70% of the electricity will be drawn from gas and 90% of gas will be imported. It is interesting to note that Iraq is said to have 110 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in addition to approximately 15 - 20% of the world oil reserves. In another research report by the Commission on America’s National Interests (July 2000), it observed that the most promising new energy resources are found in the Caspian Sea, Central Asian region and it would avoid the US exclusive dependence on the Saudi Arabian oil imports. The report outlined the feasible routes for the Caspian Seas oil deliveries, one hydrocarbon pipeline via Azerbaijan and Georgia and another pipeline through Afghanistan and Pakistan would ensure the future strategic demands of the US government. To counteract the USSR influence in Afghanistan, Taliban group was created with active support of the US intelligence agencies and the Peoples Party of Pakistan under the former PM Miss Bhutto. The Taliban group was helped to form a government in Afghanistan and to ensure the future passage of a hydrocarbon pipeline via Afghanistan and Pakistan onward to the Arabian Sea. The leadership included Osama bin Laden, the close affiliate of the US sponsored war against the Soviet Union. For years, the US officials held discussion with these groups to finalize formal agreement for the passage of the oil and gas pipelines in Afghanistan. If the author of the Forbidden Truth has any credibility, the US and Taliban negotiators continued discussion of the possible pipeline until August 2001. After the 9/11 attacks, the US government was outraged and asked Pakistan’s military leader General Pervez Musharaf to dismantle the Taliban government from power in Kabul. The US government never made any claim or evidence public to suggest that Taliban as a group were involved in the September 2001 attacks on the US.
To review the documentary evidence of the 9/11 events, it is not unlikely that many strategists have seen the American Government failure to avert the 9/11 terrorist attacks as facilitating a much needed stage drama for its policy aims and an invaluable pretext to attack Iraq and Afghanistan – a military intervention already been well planned in early 2000. The PNAC policy blueprint of September 2000 projects the transformation of the American power as an unchallengeable global superpower and the need for some tangible tragedy to make it happen. The paper outlines that it “is likely to be a long one in the absence of of some catastrophic and catalyzing event- like a new Pearl Harbor.” In his analytical view, Minister Michael Meacher (“This War on terrorism is Bogus”) states that “global war on terrorism” has the hallmarks of a political myth propagated to pave way for a wholly different agenda - the US goal of world hegemony, built around securing by force command and over the oil supplies required to drive the whole project.”
Did the neo-conservative led US hegemonic war achieved any of its set goals for the global domination? Have the US and UK Governments secured any viable hydrocarbon energy routes to ensure their depleting gas and oil stocks and the much planned control over the Arab oil reserves? Is the US dollar still a welcomed international currency used by the world nations?
Could Broken America Regain its Moral, Political and Strategic Imagination?
While the 2008 Presidential election campaigns were in progress, America appeared collapsed, not just in moral values but politically, socially and intellectually too, and was eager to seek change for moral and political trust-building across the globe. After President Barrak Obama was sworn in as the new President, America looked morally exhausted and militarily lost, being unable to think of the much needed strategic change but more importantly, searching desperately for a navigational change in wars against the Islamists.
Chris Hedges (“America is in Need of a Moral Bailout”, "TruthDig": 03/2009) attempts to sort out some of the impending reasoning for moral and intellectual collapse:
We live in an age of moral nihilism……in decaying societies, politics become theater. The elite, who have hollowed out the democratic system to serve the corporate state, rule through image and presentation…. We kneel before a cult of the self, elaborately constructed by the architects of our consumer society, which dismisses compassion, sacrifice for the less fortunate, and honesty….Success, always defined in terms of money and power, is its own justification. The capacity for manipulation is what is most highly prized. And our moral collapse is as terrifying, and as dangerous, as our economic collapse…..Our elites are imploding. Their fraud and corruption are slowly being exposed as the disparity between their words and our reality becomes wider and more apparent.
Author Henry Giroux (The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex) provides further insights to the dilemma:
Universities, in general, especially following the events of 9/11, were under assault by Christian nationalists, reactionary neoconservatives and market fundamentalists for allegedly representing the weak link in the war on terrorism….corporate and Pentagon money was now funding research projects and increasingly knowledge was being militarized in the service of developing weapons of destruction, surveillance and death.
According to Paul William Roberts (“Philosophical Roots of Neoconservatism”) it is widely known in the US that some of the leading figures of the PNAC and the architect of the War on Iraq paradigm like Paul Wolfowitz, were the followers of Leo Strauss, the source of neoconservatism’s philosophy, who was a follower of Heideggerand the protégée of Carl Schmitt- a Nazi who had helped Hitler to develop the Nazi judiciary. Paul William Roberts explains that Schmitt helped Leo Strauss to emigrate to America in 1938 to take up a teaching position at the University of Chicago where Paul Wolfowitz was his student and an active member of the Straussian Movement with Allan Bloom. Under the excessive corporatism and forced values of the neo-conservatism elite to discard the democratic freedom, public participation in decision making and the institutions of law and justice, the encompassing values that sustain open and democratic societies have been crushed. John Ralston Saul writes that now “a university actively seeks students who suffer from the appropriate imbalance and then sets out to exaggerate it. Imagination, creativity, moral balance, knowledge, common sense, a social view-all these things wither….as a result amorality also grows; as does extreme aggressivity when they are questioned by outsiders; as does a confusion between the nature of good versus having a ready answer to all questions. Above all, what is encouraged is the growth of an undisciplined form of self-interest, in which winning is what counts."
In his search for rational answers to the cruelties of the war on terrorism, one of the leading contemporary American intellectuals, Paul Craig Roberts asks, “What do we stand for?” ("What Do We Stand For?” ICS: 02/2008). He shares the quoted response from Arthur Silber: “ The Bush administration has announced to the world and to all Americans, that this is what the United States now stands for: a vicious determination to dominate the world, criminal, genocidal wars of aggressions, torture and an increasingly brutal and brutalizing authoritarian sate at home. That is what we stand for.”
The moral decadence has made people concerned and fearful of the coming of the future under corporate America. John Saul adds that: sadism is as much a part of popular culture as it is of corporate culture. It dominates pornography, runs like an electric current through reality television and trash-talk programs and is at the core of the compliant, corporate collective. Corporatism is about crushing the capacity for moral choice. And it has its logical fruition in Abu Ghraib, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and our lack of compassion for the homeless, poor, the mentally ill, the unemployed and the sick….The political and economic forces fuelling such crimes against humanity-whether they are unlawful wars, systemic torture, practiced indifference to chronic starvation and disease or genocidal acts-are always mediated by educational forces." Henry Giroux points out that "Resistance to such acts cannot take place without a degree of knowledge and self-reflection. We have to name these acts and transform moral outrage into concrete attempts to prevent such human violations from taking place in the first place." How to revive the lost morality and its relevance in the American society? Across the broad social and political spectrum of contemporary American society, what is the single most important quality needed to resist evil is moral autonomy., as Immanuel Kant (“Perpetual Peace: The Relation of Theory to Practice International Law”, 1795) perceived that moral autonomy is possible only through reflection, self-determination and the courage not to cooperate. Kant truly believed that wars were the greatest threat to human civilization and if allowed to be financed by national debts, it would create a chain reaction whereby war would make European states bankrupt. America and Britain, the chief instigators of the so called “War on Terrorism” against Iraq and Afghan are certainly the outcomes of the same historical development. It seems none of them have learned from the history. After the prolonged wars, both nations appeared bankrupt and dismantled, not just in moral outlook but also in financial, social, educational and political domains, their importance and global value are hardly credible in any logical context.
Recently the retried American General Ricardo Sanchez challenged the prevailing notion of the Bush Administration “Mission accomplished” in Iraq, when he stated that the occupation of Iraq is a “nightmare with no end in sight.” He claimed that the US administration is “incompetent” and “corrupt” and that the most American people could hope for under the present circumstances is to “stave off defeat” in Iraq war. Mike Whitney (“Come and see our overflowing morgues…..come and see the rubble of your surgical strikes”) believes that General Sanchez is neither against the war nor for withdrawal. He simply doesn’t like losing…. and the United Sates is losing.” The General is reported to have admitted that “after more than four years of fighting, America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve victory in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism.”
Mike Whitney attempts to provide a new humane perspective of the concerns of the Iraqi civilians who are the real victims of this ferocious war against their country. To reflect on how the adversely affected Iraqi people think of the on-going America-British led war and continuous daily bombing of the civilians in that country, Layla Anwar, An Arab Women’s Blues offers factual observations in her daily web site blog:
“Everyday, under the pretext of either al-Qaida, insurgents, militants or whatever imaginary name you coined, you have not ceased, not even for one day, slaughtering our innocents……for 4 years, you have not ceased for one single day, Not during holiday periods, not during religious celebrations, not even during the day your so called God was born….if you have a God that is.”
There was no threat of war against the national security of the US or the presence of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) as alleged by the Bush Administration, it was a planned unilateral aggression vigorously opposed by the global citizenship and refuted by the UN and its Secretary General Kofi Anan. It was a 12th century replica of the European crusades against the Muslims to conquer them and exploit the weak and destitute. Iraq under Saddam Hussein torn apart by internal conflicts and 10 years of war with Iran, was no match to fight the combined forces of America and UK. Simply put, it was a naked aggression without any legitimate rationale that could be proved in a court of law. The then UN Secretary Kofi Anan described the act of the war as an illegal international action against Iraq. President Bush claimed to be fighting a war against ‘an international Islamist group’ as he added “they hate our freedom.” His partner, the British PM Blair complemented the statement of President Bush by blaming the Islamists, “they want to destroy our values and our ways of life.” Gwynne Dyer, a well known British author (“The International Terrorist Conspiracy”), asserts that terrorism is not an ideology but a political technique and those groups willing to opt for violence in support of their goals, may resort to it. Dyer maintains that “there is no shadowy but powerful network waging a terrorist war against the West, the whole thing is a fantasy….there never was much of an Islamist “terrorist network” anyway – certainly nothing to compare the extensive cooperation between the extreme left-wing “urban guerrilla” of the developed world (Germany’s Baader-Meinhof Gang, Italy’s Red Brigades, the Japanese Red Army etc.).
With forceful international propaganda campaigns in collaboration with the Western news media, people were made to think that there is a huge army of barbaric Islamists ready to march and launch terrorist attacks on the West in general and America in particular. But a reality check would clearly illustrate according to the US intelligence record that approximately 30,000 to 70, 000 volunteers passed through the al-Qaida camps to fight against the former Soviet Union occupation of Afghanistan and mostly were trained and equipped by the American CIA. Most often the Western propagandists make the citizens to believe according to Dyer, that governments are engaged in a “titanic, unending struggle against a powerful terrorist organization of global reach.” Al-Qaida, and Osama Bin Laden so often mentioned by the Bush Administration are a new vocabulary in global politics as none had existed until the US intelligence agencies and advisors organized and sponsored their operations in Afghanistan. Although no major terrorist attacks have happened since the 9/11 incidents, the neo-cons highlight the apprehension that a major terrorist attack is imminent otherwise the trusted official agencies are wrong and the mass media outlets are wrong. People tend to assume that the ruling elite are truthful. Contrary to the dramatic fantasies staged on screen by the neo-cons, there is no major terrorist threat and the massive over reaction because of the 9/11hit hard to the people that America has a powerful military force to attack any place in the world. It is in line with the current American policy that war could enhance its strategic short-long terms interests to acquire new energy resources and to dominate the Arab Middle East and South East and Central Asia. If the 9/11 had taken place elsewhere, the response and reaction would have been totally in a different diplomatic context rather than the unilateral aggressive wars against Iraq and Afghanistan as both countries were not accused to be involved in the 9/11 attacks. A legitimate question may be raised as to why would America attack Iraq and Afghanistan when both of the countries were not a party to any conflicts with the US nor accused of involvement in the terrorist attacks of September 2001?
The “War on Terrorism” a Pretext for the Peak Oil and to Keep Dollar as World Reserve CurrencyWe need a real National Energy Policy instead of an "endless war on terrorism." Today's "blowback" is partly due to our ongoing support of corrupt Middle East regimes/dictatorships. (Johnson, Chalmers, Blowback; The Cost and Consequences of American Empire, Owl Books)
William Clark (“Revisited - The Real Reason for the upcoming War with Iraq”) offers a timely and logical explanation: “Although completely unreported by the U.S. media and government, the answer to the Iraq enigma is simple yet shocking -- it is in large part an oil currency war….. The second coalescing factor …is the quiet acknowledgement by respected oil geologists and possibly this administration is the impending phenomenon known as “Global Peak Oil." This is anticipated to occur around 2010, with Iraq and Saudi Arabia being the final two nations to reach peak oil production. The issue of Peak Oil along with the macroeconomics of `petrodollar recycling' and the unpublicized but genuine challenge to U.S. dollar hegemony from the euro as an alternative oil transaction currency.”
Saddam Hussein took a decisive action to challenge the importance of the US dollar as the only currency for the oil supplies, notes William Clark: "Saddam sealed his fate when he decided to switch to the euro in late 2000 (and later converted his $10 billion reserve fund at the U.N. to euros)…. (but the )… information about Iraq's oil currency is not discussed by the U.S. media or the Bush administration as the truth could potentially curtail both investor and consumer confidence, reduce consumer borrowing/spending, create political pressure to form a new energy policy that slowly weans us off Middle-Eastern oil.” Another writer in the Observer of February 16, 2003 notes: "A bizarre political statement by Saddam Hussein has earned Iraq a windfall of hundreds of millions of euros. In October 2000 Iraq insisted upon dumping the US Dollar -- `the currency of the enemy' -- for the more multilateral euro."
I will reiterate the fundamental issue facing our country, states William Clark: Can the US military and intelligence agencies control the governments in all oil-producing nations -- as well as their oil export currencies? In brief, the answer is no. The question becomes how many countries will we allow our government to overthrow under the false pretext of the next "war on terror?" The world community knows well that the neocons agenda is based on repeated lies and distortion of the facts but when will the American people become cognizant of their modus operandi?
Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of National Propaganda had the following advice to the enthusiasts of the Bush Administration (extracts from William Carks’ article):
"It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion."
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
Undeniably, the factual background for launching the ‘War on Terrorism’, explains Clark, is this administration's goal of preventing further OPEC momentum towards the euro as an oil transaction currency standard, and to secure control of Iraq's oil before the onset of Peak Oil -presumed to happen in 2010. But in order to pre-empt OPEC, they need to gain geo-strategic control of Iraq along with its 2nd largest proven oil reserves. Another macroeconomic expert (quoted in William Clark’s article) alludes to an objective observation:
"The real reason the Bush administration wants a puppet government in Iraq -- or more importantly, the reason why the corporate-military-industrial network conglomerate wants a puppet government in Iraq -- is so that it will revert back to a dollar standard and stay that way." (While also hoping to veto any wider OPEC momentum towards the euro, especially from Iran -- the 2nd largest OPEC producer who is actively discussing a switch to euros for its oil exports)."
With the onslaught of the US dollar diminishing value against the euro in global oil trade and the increasing volatile plans of the neo-conservatives against the Bush declared “axis of evil”, William Clark explains that:
in both the pre and post 9/11 intervals, the `America first' policies of the Bush administration, with its unwillingness to honor International Treaties, along with their aggressive militarization of foreign policy has significantly damaged our reputation abroad. Following 9/11, it appears that President Bush's `warmongering rhetoric' has created global tensions -- as we are now viewed as a belligerent superpower willing to apply unilateral military force without U.N. approval.
William Clark with a patriotic passion perceives the horrifying outcomes of the Bush led wars and attempts: to illustrate that such a military-centric geostrategy for Empire has produced international isolation of the U.S., and may ultimately result in our economic failure. I firmly believe our nation will be better prepared to meet this decade's challenges if the citizenry is cognizant of why the worldview is coalescing against the U.S., why our nation is attempting by force to secure Iraq's oil, revert its oil currency back to the dollar, and install a permanent US military presence in the Persian Gulf region, we must not allow the militant imperialism of this administration to bring down the American Experiment.
Did the “War on Terrorism” have any truthful reasoning to claim its justification?
John Chuckman (“How Terror has lost its Meaning", MMN, 07/2007), offers a new perspective: Terror generally kills innocent people, something no decent-minded person can accept, but what is always forgotten in the press and government treatment of terror as something alien and unimaginably bad is that war in the contemporary world does the same thing.
American and British official propaganda establishments have synchronized the mass media efforts to misinform and mislead the masses as if the “terrorism” was the only evil to destroy the Western industrialized societies and their habitats. To John Chuckman, “terror is a method of redress or vengeance for those without great armies or powerful weapons, those at a great disadvantage vis-à-vis some powerful oppressor or opponent.” We have become accustomed to think that terror is meant to hurt the civilians but how is it different than the ferocious and technologically sophisticated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which have resulted in killing of millions of innocent people including women and children who were the targeted victims of the neo-conservative war plans. Which were the most heinous crimes against the humanity, asks Chuckman, 9/11 or the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan? It is reported that in the 9/11 terrorist attack about 3000 people were perished but the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan combined killed an estimated 3 million people so far after six years of warfare. Likewise, the invasion of Iraq particularly destroyed the artifacts of ancient civilizations and undermined the livelihood of more 22 million people of Iraq. The invading American and British forces engineered the open looting of Iraq’s ancient civilization heritage. Ghali Hassan (“The Pillage of a Nation”: ICS, 07/2004) describes the American troops movement in Baghdad that “tanks and armored personnel carriers and Humvees have been placed inside and outside …the Ministry of Interior and …Ministry of Oil…why? The US troops had no concern for the public looting as they had an order not to fire on the looters. Hassan cites Dr. Eleanor Robson ( British School of Archaeology, the Guardian, June 18, 2003) that the looting two months earlier is : compared to the demolition of Iraq’s cultural heritage with Mongol sacking of Baghdad in 1258 ( the age Barbarism), and the 5th century destruction of the library of Alexandria. In Hassan words: this outright pillage of the Iraqi nation by the US is forbidden under the Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Hague Convention of 1907. It is clear that there was nothing accidental about the looting; rather it was the result of a long planned project to plunder the artistic and historical treasures that are held in the museums of Iraq. It was a business as usual, notes Ghali Hassan that the American military decision maker has put some of influential US corporations such a Halliburton and Bechtel in positions to exclusively own Iraq’s natural resources, major industries and businesses and the destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure is called as Iraq’s “Reconstruction” by the American elite and Western news media. A report complied by the US General Accounting Office (June 28, 2004) disclosed that “ Iraq is worse off than before the war began last year”.
The Defeated West Knows Not How to Leave Iraq and Afghanistan?
America and Britain have never won any wars in the Middle East or South Asia, they made historical adjustments for face saving and ended the planned colonial domination by reducing the military presence and offering legal freedom to the colonies.. It is clear that the Bush Administration under neo-conservative operation has failed to achieve any self perpetuated objectives of the so called “War on Terrorism.” Would the occupation forces abandon Iraq’s mission and rush to leave in defeat? Or would the US and British leaders continue to maintain heavy-handed pursuit of their own brand of the terrorism against the innocent people of Iraq and Afghanistan? In his soul searching argument, Mike Whitney (“Financial Collapse will End the Occupation: And it won’t be “A time of our choosing”, ICS, 04/2008) describes the current dilemma facing the American decision maker: Wars are won politically, not militarily. Bush does not understand this…the use of overwhelming force has only spread the violence and added to the political instability. Now Iraq is ungovernable…these are the signs of failure, not success. That is why the American people no longer support the occupation.
Like the British colonial policy across the globe, American Empire tried to “divide and rule” the people in Iraq and Afghanistan. They hurriedly arranged to put concrete cemented blocks between the factions in Iraq who had lived in social harmony for ages. In particular, the British and American forces launched campaigns to dramatize the symbolic differences of social identities between the ’Shia’ and the ‘Sunni’ factions of Islam in Iraq. They divided and armed them to fight with one another. The Western news media portrayed the unknown factional differences as a “clash between half-crazed Arabs…dead-enders and terrorist.” But according to Mike Whitney, that is a peculiar way to demonize the enemy at the battlefield. “In truth, the violence is entirely rational; it is the inevitable reaction to the dissolution of the state and the occupation by foreign troops.”
After almost seven years of the American invasion and occupation of Iraq and the first-hand pictorial evidence of the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, how do the ordinary Iraq people view the on-going suffering of their daily lives and devastated resources and habitats? Layla Anwar (“An Arab Women’s Blues”: web site blogger) looks up to human conscience , if there is any in “Flying Kites” and “Reflection in a sealed bottle” (quoted in Mike Whitney, “Financial Collapse will end the Occupation”):
“Come and see our flowing morgues and find our little ones for us…come and search for them in the rubble of your “surgical air raids”, you may find a little leg or a little head…pleading for your attention…come and see them amassed in the garbage dumps, scavenging morsels of food…at the gate of Babylon the Great, you are still struggling, fighting away, chasing this or the other, detaining and bombing from above.. hospitals, graveyards ….not one Iraqi whishes your presence, not one Iraqi accepts your occupation…Got news you Motherfuckers, you will never control Iraq, not in six years, not in ten years, not in 20 years…You have brought upon yourself the hate and curse of all Iraqis, Arabs and the rest of the world…now face your agony.”
To Gali Hassan (“Pillage of a Nation”): the attack on Iraq is an attack on the history of humanity by a new form of barbarism. The world will be safer only if this form of barbarism is opposed and remained isolated. For Iraqis, the only path to full sovereignty is the immediate end of the US occupation and colonization of Iraq, and returns the wealth of the nation to the Iraqi people.
At issue is the American-British continued occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the reactionary insurgency of the local militias to defend their country. The foreign occupation and exploitation of the natural resources of Iraq and Afghanistan are the primary catalyst for more violence and destruction of life and resources. More the occupation persists; more will be fighting by the indigenous groups to oust the occupiers. Would the American led wars ever end in Iraq and Afghanistan? Mike Whitney (“Financial Collapse will End the occupation”), offers critical observations: The war in Iraq was lost before the first shot was fired. The conflict never had the support of the American people and Iraq never posed a threat to the US national security….The Bush Administration has decided to continue to prosecute a war that has already been lost morally, strategically and militarily… the US will leave Iraq sooner than many pundits believe, but it will not be at a time of our choosing. Rather, the conflict will end when the United States no longer has the capacity to wage war…. The whole pretext for the war was based on lies; it was a coup orchestrated by elites and the media to carry out a far right agenda. Now the mission has failed, but no one wants to admit their mistakes….the butchery continues without pause. Most recently, President Obama’s Adminsitration has released some of the official documents on secretive torture of some of the 9/11 detainees carried out by the Bush Administration. American public appear shocked to know more how such illegal crimes could have been carried out under the guise of the “War on Terrorism”? There are other important issues of violation of the American constitutions and legal obligations under the Bush Presidency while institutionalizing the torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Would there be increased public cry for accountability of the former Bush Administration? If so, how and when such alleged criminals would be brought to justice? Whitney believes that the Iraq war signals the end of American intervention and that the ideological foundation for the war has been exposed as an erroneous justification for unprovoked aggression against Iraq. There must be a fair system of accountability. There should be international tribunals to determine who is responsible for the death of millions of people.
War on Terrorism or Terrorism of Wars: How the West Lost and the Muslim extremists Won?
“Do we American have any honor, any humanity, any integrity, any awareness of the crimes our government is committing in our name? Do we have a moral conscience?” (Paul Craig Roberts: “What Do We Stand for?” 02/2008)
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other . . . No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." (James Madison)
What did America and Britain gained in waging wars against the ‘Muslim extremists’ or Muslim ‘fundamentalism’ now successfully challenging the occupation forces in Afghanistan and Iraq?
As the 18th century German intellectual Immanuel Kant had asserted that wars were the greatest threat to human civilization and if allowed to happened, civic society will get destroyed and its systems will collapse under foreign debts of wars. Many other contemporary scholars warned the American neoconservative administration of disastrous global consequences as reprisal to the wars on terrorism. A review of the contemporary literature shall appreciably recognize some of the important scholars who had continued to raise the voices of Reason against the unwanted and illegal “War on Terrorism” in Iraq and Afghanistan and mention must be made of Chalmers Johnson (A Guide for Perplexed: Intellectual Fallacies of the ‘war on terror’), Stephen Holmes (Matador’s Cape: America Reckless Response to Terror), Paul Craig Roberts (“Hypocrisy Rules the West”, “Anglo-American Ascendancy Lost in Unnecessary Wars”, “the Collapse of American Power”, “ What do We Stand For?”), Mike Whitney (“Financial Collapse will end the Occupation”, “ Come and See our overflowing morgues…come and see the rubble of your surgical strikes”) Robert Fisk (The war is built on Lies” and “ the only lesson we learn is that we never learn”) and British Minister Michael Meacher (“This War on Terrorism is Bogus”).
Bill Noxid (“Proxy Wars”, ICS, 05/2007) described the disease of war that caused it however has since metastasized and now infects a large portion of the planet-open war, starvation and genocide are raging. Noxid reminds and warns the humanity about the consequences of the War on Terrorism: We do not live in a Civilization, just the illusion of one. An illusion created by those who wish to enslave your mind, body and soul. An illusion created to prevent you from seeing the chains around your ankles, the bag over your head or the gag-ball in your mouth. The intent of the creators of this illusion is now and always has been the domination of mankind through fear and death.
American leadership failed to achieve any declared aims of the ‘war on terrorism’ that was to promote democracy, freedom and peace in Iraq, except that it helped to create more and sustain the Muslim reactionary forces to prepare and re-organize against the imposed terrorism of the West. America and Britain needed the reaction at the domestic front to justify the occupation and continuous active engagement with the Muslim extremists. The Muslim ‘fundamentalists’ had no organized armed manufacturing facilities, no banking systems, no advanced technological weaponry but America and Britain had earlier facilitated some of the much needed know-how and equipment to the Muslim extremists. American led forces had indoctrinated the Muslim extremists to fight and defeat the former USSR and the Communist ideology across the world. Few disorganized factions have helped America to accomplish that unthinkable goal for which NATO could not play any role or do any service in more than half of the century. Also, the UN, chief international body responsible for global peace and security, remained a silent structure as was the history of the League of Nations without any active role and efforts to stop the war of aggression against innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The West under America and Britain organized and trained the guerrilla movements of the Muslim extremists in many parts of the Muslim world. Disgruntled groups and their self-centered factional leaders when unpaid and neglected by the departing US agencies have turned their thoughts and guns against the Western interests and military occupation of their homelands. American and British intellectuals and strategic planners terribly ignored the knowledge, important role and value of the religious belief in making the Mujahideen to fight the proxy wars on behalf of the US. The Western intellectuals and strategic experts failed to imagine the Power of Faith or recognize the Facts of Divine knowledge that they cannot fight against Islam and God. The sophisticated weaponry they used was ineffective to dominate the power of thoughts, focused mind, commitment to serve the cause of God. All along, these years America and Britain poured in billions of dollars to the corrupt dictators who were engaged in losing battles except to maintain the status-quo of the authoritarian regimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere in the Arab oil exporting countries. America and Britain wanted to keep the presence of these fighters-‘Mujahideen’ and kept on supplying the logistical support even arms shipments acquired from Russia and arranged to be delivered via Central Asia to Muslim fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Muslim extremists had faith in the help of God, America and British trusted the advanced weaponry to achieve success at the battlegrounds. Central Asian Mongols ransacked Baghdad in the 12 the century but ultimately got assimilated into the Arab society and religion, British, Russian, Mongols and even the Alexander the Great (if there was any), could not conquer the land of Afghans. No foreign nation has ever ruled over them. It will be illogical to think that America or British colonial forces could overrun the Afghan people for long time. Iraqi and Afghan Mujahideen follow the incremental warfare, American and British have no credible purpose or strategy to fight against them. Western news media headlines disclose that large numbers of American and British troops commit suicide in the war zones and runaway from face to face encounters with the Muslim fighters. American warmongers and the British accomplices never had any clues about the culture, language and social understanding and civilization values of the masses in those parts of the Muslim world. Human greed and overwhelming trust in advanced weapons were no justification for self perpetuated ignorance and not to know the enemy. For their survival and continued existence, the Mujahideen now called “suspected Muslim militants” fight with a publicly supported plausible purpose and believe that sooner or later the terrorism of war, American aggression and the occupying forces will depart in defeat and leave their homeland as apparently is the case now after the election of a new American President in 2009. They appear determined to fight against the America-British allied forces as long as it takes, whereas, America and British forces are fearful of dying and see no legitimate aim at the battlefront against the Muslim extremists. Hans Morgenthau kept on reminding that ’power corrupts people.’ But his advice was ignored by the American politicians. History has a teaching and learning role applicable to all times and ages inn human affairs. Whenever, leaders and nations cross the limits of the Law of God, and despite repeated reminders keep on aggressive adventures against the poor and helpless people and nations, they end–up being defeated and destroyed. So was the case with Hitler, so was the outcome of the Roman and Prussian Empires as did the British Empire and as happened recently to Soviet Union Empire. They all tried to conquer others-the destitute and weak, but their aggression and violations of the Laws of God, worked against them of which they were not conscious at all, and their plans went against their own interests and strategic positions. Across the Arab Middle East, there are ruins and remains of many powerful nations who got caught in the same dilemma of power and corruption as is the case with some of leading powers of the world. The nation of AAd after Noah, built palaces out of mountains as the visitors would see at Petra in Jordan, and then the people of Thamud (North West Saudi Arabia), likewise carved up impressive palaces out of huge mountains, put eagle as the insignia of pride, they were more powerful than any contemporary nations on earth, but they got destroyed by the natural causes - sound blasts and earth quakes just in seconds. When the call came, there was no waiting, no time to runaway from the events or to escape from the punishment of God. Their splendid palaces are still in tact and visible to the open eyes and rational minds. Could any people of conscience and reason be able to Think about these real world phenomenons and analyze the consequences in waiting, and help to make the aggressors Rethink of their policy and practices? To the Mujahideen, God is living and merciful and they long for martyrdom, whereas Peak Oil dilemma and the dollar as reserve currency are dead-enders preoccupation and priorities.. The Muslim extremists are young and motivated to fight against many odds but America, the chief instigator of the “War on Terrorism” is finally exhausted, financially collapsed and with all of its major institutions becoming bankrupt under the heavy burden of unpaid foreign debts of China, Saudi Arabia and Japan, it is unable to come to terms with the prevalent reality that it is no longer a reliable superpower and it needs to rebuild its failed institutions and credible future prospects for economic and political survival. After the facts on the ground, America and Britain need not to be told by others that they have been defeated by small groups of Muslim Mujhaideens and should arrange to bring the living troops back to home to their loved ones. America and Britain lost the wars to Muslim extremists, the day they invaded Iraq and Afghanistan.
A century earlier, Robert Briffault (The Making of Humanity) must have observed a painful understanding of the human wickedness:
The hell of human suffering, evil and oppression is paved with good intentions. The men who have most injured and oppressed humanity, who have most deeply sinned against it, were according to their standards and their conscience good men; what was bad in them, what wrought moral evil and cruelty, treason to truth and progress, was not at all in their intentions, in their purpose, in their personal character, but in their opinions.
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Climate Change And Atmospheric Circulation Will Make For Uneven Ozone Recovery

Earth's ozone layer should eventually recover from the unintended destruction brought on by the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and similar ozone-depleting chemicals in the 20th century. But new research by NASA scientists suggests the ozone layer of the future is unlikely to look much like the past because greenhouse gases are changing the dynamics of the atmosphere.
Previous studies have shown that while the buildup of greenhouse gases makes it warmer in troposphere - the level of atmosphere from Earth's surface up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) altitude - it actually cools the upper stratosphere - between 30 to 50 kilometers high (18 to 31 miles).
This cooling slows the chemical reactions that deplete ozone in the upper stratosphere and allows natural ozone production in that region to outpace destruction by CFCs.
But the accumulation of greenhouse gases also changes the circulation of stratospheric air masses from the tropics to the poles, NASA scientists note. In Earth's middle latitudes, that means ozone is likely to "over-recover," growing to concentrations higher than they were before the mass production of CFCs.
In the tropics, stratospheric circulation changes could prevent the ozone layer from fully recovering.
"Most studies of ozone and global change have focused on cooling in the upper stratosphere," said Feng Li, an atmospheric scientist at the Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Md. and lead author of the study. "But we find circulation is just as important. It's not one process or the other, but both."
The findings are based on a detailed computer model that includes atmospheric chemical effects, wind changes, and solar radiation changes.
Li's experiment is part of an ongoing international effort organized by the United Nations Environment Programme's Scientific Assessment Panel to assess the state of the ozone layer. Li and colleagues published their analysis in March in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
Working with Richard Stolarski and Paul Newman of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., Li adapted the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model (GEOS-CCM) to examine how climate change will affect ozone recovery.
The team inserted past measurements and future projections of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases into the model. Then the model projected how ozone, the overall chemistry, and the dynamics of the stratosphere would change through the year 2100.
"In the real world, we have observed statistically significant turnaround in ozone depletion, which can be attributed to the banning of ozone-depleting substances," said Richard Stolarski, an atmospheric chemist at Goddard and a co-author of the study. "But making that connection is complicated by the response of ozone to greenhouse gases."
The researchers found that greenhouse gases alter a natural circulation pattern that influences ozone distribution. Brewer-Dobson circulation is like a pump to the stratosphere, moving ozone from the lower parts of the atmosphere, into the upper stratosphere over the tropics.
Air masses then flow north or south through the stratosphere, away from the tropics toward the poles.
In Li's experiment, this circulation pump accelerated to a rate where the ozone flowing upward and outward from the tropics created a surplus at middle latitudes.
Though the concentration of chlorine and other ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere will not return to pre-1980 levels until 2060, the ozone layer over middle latitudes recovered to pre-1980 levels by 2025.
The Arctic - which is better connected to mid-latitude air masses than the Antarctic - benefitted from the surplus in the northern hemisphere and from the overall decline of ozone-depleting substances to recover by 2025. Globally averaged ozone and Antarctic concentrations catch up by 2040, as natural atmospheric production of ozone resumes.
This recovery in the middle and polar latitudes has mixed consequences, Li noted. It might have some benefits, such as lower levels of ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earth's surface and correspondingly lower rates of skin cancer.
On the other hand, it could have unintended effects, such as increasing ozone levels in the troposphere, the layer of atmosphere at Earth's surface.
The model also shows a continuing ozone deficit in the stratosphere over the tropics. In fact, when the model run ended at year 2100, the ozone layer over the tropics still showed no signs of recovery.
In February, researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, teamed with Stolarski and other NASA scientists on a similar paper suggesting that increasing greenhouse gases would delay or even postpone the recovery of ozone levels in the lower stratosphere over some parts of the globe.
Using the same model as Li, Stolarski, and Newman, the researchers found that the lower stratosphere over tropical and mid-southern latitudes might not return to pre-1980s levels of ozone for more than a century, if ever

Gunshots in Uighur area of China's Urumqi: residents

Security forces fired gunshots in a Muslim Uighur district of China's restive Urumqi city on Monday, residents of the neighbourhood told AFP. The gunshots were fired after a group of at least three Uighurs approached soldiers armed with knives and poles, according to two Uighur men who said they witnessed the incident from about 50 metres (yards) away. The men said soldiers fired at the attacking group. AFP could not immediately verify their account. "They hacked at the soldiers with big knives and then they were shot," one of the men said. Many other residents reported hearing gunfire. "I heard what sounded like 10 gunshots and then several louder booms. Then we saw a lot of people running," said a Uighur doctor who works in the area. Hundreds of riot police and other security forces blocked off the area where the incident occurred, according to an AFP reporter who arrived at the scene shortly after the gunshots were heard on Monday afternoon. The area had been open to traffic a few hours earlier, the reporter said. Earlier in the day, the streets of the city had begun to fill up with cars. Shops and restaurants that had been open earlier in the day were shuttered following the latest gunshots. Some security personnel were standing in groups of five or six with their backs turned to each other and holding their semi-automatic weapons, in a formation that appeared to be aimed at fending off attacks. Others were carrying semi-automatic weapons with bayonets attached. One member of the riot police force, holding a semi-automatic weapon, told an AFP reporter to leave the area. "Please go away from here, it is dangerous here," he told AFP. Protests by Uighurs in Urumqi on July 5 descended into violence that left 184 people dead and 1,680 injured, according to the government. The initial unrest saw Uighurs attack Han Chinese, according to the government and witnesses interviewed by AFP, in the worst ethnic violence to hit the country in decades. Thousands of Han Chinese retaliated in the days following the initial violence, arming themselves with makeshift weapons and marching through parts of Urumqi vowing vengeance against the Uighurs. The latest incident came despite heavy security on the streets of Urumqi on Monday, and after several days without any reported outbreaks of violence. A spokesman with the Xinjiang government's media office said he was not aware of the latest incident. "We didn't receive any information on this," he told AFP.

Police shoot dead two in China's restive Urumqi: govt

Urumqi, China (AFP) July 13, 2009Police shot dead two knife-wielding Muslim Uighurs in China's restive Urumqi city on Monday, authorities said, as violence flared again despite a massive security crackdown.
The shooting took place in a Uighur district of the city and triggered an immediate show of force by riot police who poured into the area carrying semi-automatic weapons and closing shops, an AFP reporter witnessed.
"Police shot and killed two suspected lawbreakers and injured one suspected lawbreaker using legal means," said a government statement released in Urumqi.
The statement said the three Uighurs were trying to attack another person from the Uighur minority group on Monday afternoon. Their genders were not given.
The government's statement conflicted with accounts by two Uighurs who said they witnessed the incident from 50 metres (yards) away and that three Uighur men had been trying to attack security forces.
"They hacked at the soldiers with big knives and then they were shot," said one of the witnesses.
The incident, which Uighurs said took place across the street from a mosque, showed the city remained volatile despite a huge security clampdown following ethnic unrest on July 5 left more than 180 people dead.
It was also the first time the government said security forces had killed anyone since the unrest broke out, despite claims by exiled Uighurs that many people had died.
Protests by Uighurs in Urumqi, the capital of China's far northwest Xinjiang region, on July 5 descended into violence that left 184 people dead and 1,680 injured, according to Chinese authorities.
The initial unrest saw Uighurs attack Han Chinese, according to the government and witnesses interviewed by AFP, in the worst ethnic violence to hit the country in decades.
Thousands of Han Chinese retaliated in the days following the initial violence, arming themselves with makeshift weapons and marching through parts of Urumqi vowing vengeance against the Uighurs.
Xinjiang is home to eight million Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking people who have long complained about what they say is repression and discrimination under Chinese rule.
Uighurs also complain of an influx of Han, China's dominant ethnic group, a migration they say is extinguishing their culture.
Authorities have been intent on bringing a sense of normality back to Urumqi, a city of 2.3 million people, over the past few days, while maintaining a visible security presence.
Some road blocks had been lifted, businesses had been allowed to re-open and people had been trying to go back to work despite the deep underlying tensions between Uighurs and Han.
"We were so happy to return to normal work today and now this," said a Uighur doctor who heard police fire the gunshots on Monday.
"I heard what sounded like 10 gunshots and then several louder booms. Then we saw a lot of people running," he said.
Several hundred riot police and other security forces blocked off the area where the incident occurred, according to an AFP reporter who arrived at the scene shortly after the gunshots were heard.
Hundreds of residents were seen walking out of the area, directed by riot police.
The area had been open to traffic a few hours earlier as part of the broader loosening of security controls, the reporter said.
After the incident, some security personnel were standing in groups of five or six with their backs turned to each other and holding their semi-automatic weapons, in a formation that appeared to be aimed at fending off attacks.
Others were carrying semi-automatic weapons with bayonets attached.
Shops and restaurants that had been open earlier in the day were shuttered following the latest gunshots.
One riot policemen, holding a semi-automatic weapon, told an AFP reporter to leave the area.
"Please go away from here, it is dangerous here," he told AFP.
However Communist Party Politburo member Zhou Yongkang, who has been touring Xinjiang in recent days, said the situation was improving.
"People feel more secure and the situation is turning for the better," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Zhou as saying

US Cities Have Power To Mitigate Climate Change

Washington DC (SPX)U.S. municipal governments are showing leadership by voluntarily accounting for and reducing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from their operations. They also recognize the huge potential to influence long-term reductions from the residents and businesses in their communities, according to a new report.
The report summarizes findings of a joint project by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI), launched in 2008 to encourage cities to voluntarily disclose greenhouse gas emissions and other information related to climate change.
The CDP Cities report, written by UK-based CarbonSense, found that many cities are taking strong action to address the challenges of climate change, such as by retrofitting government owned buildings, converting fleets to hybrids, and beginning to plan for the long-term impacts of climate change.
However, as the scale of the climate challenge is so great, there are still considerable opportunities ahead to reduce energy use and emissions, which will also control rising costs and other risks.
The 18 participating cities were Annapolis, MD; Arlington, VA; Atlanta, GA; Burlington, VT; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Edina, MN; Fairfield, IA; Haverford, PA; Las Vegas, NV; New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; North Little Rock, AR; Park City, UT; Portland, OR; Rohnert Park, CA; Washougal, WA; and West Palm Beach, FL.
Most of the municipalities participating in the project are first taking stock of their own emissions from their government operations, before implementing broader policies and programs to reduce emissions citywide. This practice enables cities to lead by example before asking businesses and residents to also reduce emissions.
However, many of the responding cities are also beginning to measure the impact of the wider community on the climate where there is the potential for massive emissions mitigation. For example, Denver's government operations emissions represent 210,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per year, whereas the emissions from the entire City of Denver exceed 13 million metric tonnes annually.
CDP's Chief Executive Paul Dickinson said: "We applaud the cities who took part in this project for the steps they are taking towards tackling climate change. Cities around the world have the potential to drive significant emissions reductions globally. The cities participating in this project embarked on an important task to improve their understanding of the risks and opportunities they face from climate change in order to take action and prepare themselves for a carbon-constrained world. These are important steps that need to be taken as a matter or urgency by other cities and organizations around the world."
The report finds that local governments are moving quickly to adapt to the new emissions reporting standard at the local government level, the Local Government Operations Protocol, which was released in September 2008 and was developed by ICLEI, The Climate Registry, the California Climate Action Registry, and the California Air Resources Board.
"As this report underscores, cities have shown tremendous leadership in identifying and implementing emissions reduction strategies and recognizing the risks of inaction and values of action. They have laid the groundwork for action in their communities, across the country and around the world," said Michelle Wyman, Executive Director of ICLEI USA.
"ICLEI's local government members follow methodologies and standards and take part in ongoing reporting that fosters the kind of transparency and rigor required of any entity addressing climate change."
In terms of adaptation, the report says all 18 US cities identify risks associated with climate change and that the participants are in the early stages of planning for the long-term impacts of climate change. Some of the responses are more developed than others.
For example, the City of Chicago has developed a comprehensive risk management plan including 39 adaptation tactics such as implementing a needs assessment to evaluate drainage infrastructure and developing city-wide climate change design criteria
The report says 14 cities see general opportunities arising from climate change, including energy efficiency and a strengthening of communities. New York anticipates that "efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from government operations will save the city hundreds of millions of dollars in energy costs in the coming decade", whilst Washougal, WA states that "a proactive approach to adaptation and mitigation will reward business and residential consumers with lower energy bills, a cleaner environment and a regional, localized economy that will offer additional jobs to many of its residents".
The report found that all participating cities have embarked on plans or actions to manage the risks associated with climate change, including both mitigation and adaptation. The range of individual actions which are being taken by cities will add up to significant emissions reductions in the short and medium term.
However, given the most recent estimates by scientists that emissions need to be reduced by 80% by 2050, the report finds these early steps to be promising, but that continued aggressive action is necessary over the next 40 years to meet the scale of the challenge.

Swine flu pandemic now 'unstoppable': WHO official

Geneva (AFP) , The swine flu pandemic has grown "unstoppable" and all nations will need access to vaccines, a WHO official said Monday, as seven new deaths were reported and a study raised fresh concerns.
Britain, Thailand and the Philippines all reported deaths on Monday, while Saudi Arabia shut an international school after 20 students were diagnosed with the A(H1N1) virus.
As the death toll increased, the World Health Organisation official said a swine flu vaccine should be available as early as September and all countries would need to be able to protect themselves.
A group of vaccination experts concluded after a recent meeting that "the H1N1 pandemic is unstoppable and therefore all countries would need to have access to vaccines," said Marie-Paul Kieny, WHO director on vaccine research.
Health workers should be at the top of the list for vaccination since they will be in high demand as people continue to fall sick, she added.
Countries would be free to decide on their national priorities, but other groups should include pregnant women and anyone over six months old who has chronic health problems, the WHO official said.
Particular attention would have to be paid to children since they are considered "amplifiers" of the spread of the virus, especially when gathered in schools, Kieny added.
More than 90,000 swine flu cases have been reported worldwide, including 429 deaths, the most recent WHO numbers from last week show.
While most cases have been considered mild, a study released on Monday said the virus causes more lung damage than ordinary seasonal flu strains but still responds to antiviral drugs.
Virologists tested samples of the virus taken from patients in the United States as well as several seasonal flu viruses on mice, ferrets, macaque monkeys and specially-bred miniature pigs.
They found that A(H1N1) caused more severe lung lesions among mice, ferrets and macaques than the seasonal flu viruses.
But it did not cause any symptoms among the mini-pigs, which could explain why there has been no evidence that pigs in Mexico fell sick with the disease before the outbreak began among humans.
The team also found that the virus was highly sensitive to two approved and two experimental antiviral drugs, including Tamiflu, now being hurriedly stockpiled around the world.
This confirms the drugs' role as a "first line of defence" against the flu pandemic, they said.
The worry about the present strain of A(H1N1) is that it could pick up genes from other flu strains that would enable it to be both highly virulent and contagious, and these warnings are spelt out in the new study.
"Sustained person-to-person transmission might result in the emergence of more pathogenic variants, as observed in the 1918 pandemic virus," it says.
Another concern is that the virus could acquire mutations enabling it to be resistant to Tamiflu.
"Collectively, our findings are a reminder that (strains of swine flu) have not yet garnered a place in history, but may still do so."
Most of the deaths reported on Monday were in Asia, with Thailand reporting three fatalities and the Philippines two.
Thailand's death toll has now reached 21, while the Philippines has three deaths.
Authorities in Britain announced the deaths of a six-year-old girl and a doctor who had contracted swine flu, bringing the number of fatalities there linked to the virus to 17.
Senior British health official Simon Tanner described her death as "sad" and added: "It will probably not be the last that we have in this pandemic."
Nearly 10,000 Britons have been confirmed with swine flu but hundreds of thousands more are thought to have it.
Elsewhere in Europe, Italy's health ministry reported 38 new cases over the course of the last four days, taking its total well over the 200 mark.
The school closure in Riyadh came with officials there especially concerned over swine flu with upwards of two million people expected over the next five months on pilgrimages to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina
By the sky which returns.” (Quran 86:11)
“[He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling…” (Quran 2:22)
In the first verse God swears by the sky[1] and its function of ‘returning’ without specifying what it ‘returns.’ In Islamic doctrine, a divine oath signifies the magnitude of importance of a special relation to the Creator, and manifests His majesty and the supreme Truth in a special way.
This image shows the average temperature profile through the Earth’s atmosphere. Temperatures in the thermosphere are very sensitive to solar activity and can vary from 500°C to 1500°C. Source: Windows to the Universe, (http://www.windows.ucar.edu), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). ©1995-1999, 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan; ©2000-04 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research


The second verse describes the Divine Act that made the sky a ‘ceiling’ for the dwellers of earth.
Let us see what modern atmospheric science has to say about the role and function of the sky.
The atmosphere is a word which denotes all the air surrounding the earth, from the ground all the way up to the edge from which space starts. The atmosphere is composed of several layers, each defined because of the various phenomena which occur within the layer.
Rain, for one, is ‘returned’ to Earth by the clouds in the atmosphere. Explaining the hydrologic cycle, Encyclopedia Britannica writes:
“Water evaporates from both the aquatic and terrestrial environments as it is heated by the Sun’s energy. The rates of evaporation and precipitation depend on solar energy, as do the patterns of circulation of moisture in the air and currents in the ocean. Evaporation exceeds precipitation over the oceans, and this water vapor is transported by the wind over land, where it returns to the land through precipitation.”[2]
Not only does the atmosphere return what was on the surface back to the surface, but it reflects back into space that which might damage the flora and fauna the earth sustains, such as excessive radiant heat. In the 1990’s, collaborations between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) of Japan resulted in the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Science Initiative. Polar, Wind and Geotail are a part of this initiative, combining resources and scientific communities to obtain coordinated, simultaneous investigations of the Sun-Earth space environment over an extended period of time. They have an excellent explanation of how the atmosphere returns solar heat to space.[3]
Besides ‘returning’ rain, heat and radio waves, the atmosphere protects us like a ceiling above our heads by filtering out deadly cosmic rays, powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun, and even meteorites on collision course with Earth.[4]
Pennsylvania State Public Broadcasting tells us:
“The sunlight that we can see represents one group of wavelengths, visible light. Other wavelengths emitted by the sun include x-rays and ultraviolet radiation. X-rays and some ultraviolet light waves are absorbed high in Earth’s atmosphere. They heat the thin layer of gas there to very high temperatures. Ultraviolet light waves are the rays that can cause sunburn. Most ultraviolet light waves are absorbed by a thicker layer of gas closer to Earth called the ozone layer. By soaking up the deadly ultraviolet and x-rays, the atmosphere acts as a protective shield around the planet. Like a giant thermal blanket, the atmosphere also keeps temperatures from getting too hot or too cold. In addition, the atmosphere also protects us from constant bombardment by meteoroids, bits of rock and dust that travel at high speeds throughout the solar system. The falling stars we see at night are not stars at all; they are actually meteoroids burning up in our atmosphere due to the extreme heating they undergo.”
Encyclopedia Britannica, describing the role of Stratosphere, tells us about its protective role in absorbing dangerous ultraviolet radiation:
“In the upper stratospheric regions, absorption of ultraviolet light from the Sun breaks down oxygen molecules; recombination of oxygen atoms with O2 molecules into ozone (O3) creates the ozone layer, which shields the lower ecosphere from harmful short-wavelength radiation…More disturbing, however, is the discovery of a growing depletion of ozone over temperate latitudes, where a large percentage of the world’s population resides, since the ozone layer serves as a shield against ultraviolet radiation, which has been found to cause skin cancer.”[6]
The mesosphere is the layer in which many meteors burn up while entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Imagine a baseball zipping along at 30,000 miles per hour. That’s how big and fast many meteors are. When they plow through the atmosphere, meteors are heated to more than 3000 degrees Fahrenheit, and they glow. A meteor compresses air in front of it. The air heats up, in turn heating the meteor.[7]
Earth is surrounded by a magnetic force field - a bubble in space called “the magnetosphere” tens of thousands of miles wide. The magnetosphere acts as a shield that protects us from solar storms. However, according to new observations from NASA’s IMAGE spacecraft and the joint NASA/European Space Agency Cluster satellites, immense cracks sometimes develop in Earth’s magnetosphere and remain open for hours. This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather. Fortunately, these cracks do not expose Earth’s surface to the solar wind. Our atmosphere protects us, even when our magnetic field does not
How would it be possible for a fourteenth century desert dweller to describe the sky in a manner so precise that only recent scientific discoveries have confirmed it? The only way is if he received revelation from the Creator of the sky.
Footnotes:
[1] Al-Samaa’, the Arabic word translated here as ‘sky’ includes earth’s atmosphere as indicated by the verse 2:164.
[2] ”Biosphere.” Encyclopedia Britannica from Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service.(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=70872)
[3] (http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sweather1.htm)
[4] Atmospheric, Climate & Environment Information Programme of the Manchester Metropolitan University at (http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Atmosphere/atmosphere.html)
[5] (http://www.witn.psu.edu/articles/article.phtml?article_id=255&show_id=44)
[6] “Earth.” Encyclopedia Britannica from Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service.(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=54196)
[7] (http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/meteors-ez.html)
[8] (http://www.firstscience.com/SITE/ARTICLES/magnetosphere.as

How Islam defines true happiness and peace at heart

Real happiness and peace can be found in submitting to the commands of the Creator and the Sustainer of this world. God has said in the Quran:
“Truly, in remembering God do hearts find rest.” (Quran 13:28)
On the other hand, the one who turns away from the Quran will have a life of hardship in this world. God has said:
“But whoever turns away from the Quran,[1] he will have a hard life, and We will raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment.” (Quran 20:124)
This may explain why some people commit suicide while they enjoy the material comfort money can buy. For example, look at Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam), formerly a famous pop singer who used to earn sometimes more than $150,000 a night. After he converted to Islam, he found true happiness and peace, which he had not found in material success.[2]
Footnotes:
[1] i.e. neither believes in the Quran nor acts on its orders.
[2] The present mailing address of Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), in case you would like to ask him about his feelings after he converted to Islam, is: 2 Digswell Street, London N7 8JX, United Kingdom.
islam-guide.com

التقدم إلى الوراء

د. عبد الكريم بكار
حين ننظر إلى كتاباتنا ومداولاتنا اليومية نجد أنه يسيطر عليها -إلى حد بعيد- الحديث عن التطوير والتحديث، والتخطيط للمستقبل، والاكتشاف، والتقدم نحو الأمام، وما شابه ذلك، ونحن بهذا نحاول التعويض عن الخسائر التي تسبب بها التخلف والجمود واليأس الذي خيّم على الأمة قروناً عدة، والحقيقة أن الحديث عن التقدم هو اليوم شأن عالمي؛ حتى إن بعض الكتاب الغربيين تحدثوا عما سمّوه (عبادة التقدم)، ومن المهم في هذا الباب الإشارة إلى أن لفظة التقدم في الأساس هي لفظة محايدة، فالمرء قد يمضي نحو الأمام ويتقدم، ويكون متقدماً نحو جريمة، وقد يتأخر عن فعل شيء مشين، وقد يتراجع نحو الوراء، ويكون تراجعه عبارة عن توبة وتصحيح لخطأ وقع فيه، ومن هنا فإن تقدماً في اتجاه شيء من ماضينا قد ينطوي على خير كثير، وعلى ملامح نهضوية مهمة.
إن الأمم وهي تمضي في دروب الازدهار تفقد شيئاً من توازنها، وتنسى بعض أصولها وأساسيات حياتها، وما ذلك إلاّ لأن وعينا بأنفسنا ومبادئنا والتوازنات التي علينا أن نرعاها لا يكون إلاّ ناقصاً، بل إن النقص يكون في بعض الأحيان مريعاً، ولعلي أضع النقاط على الحروف في بعض المسائل التي أرى أنها مهمة في هذا الشأن:
1 ـ يُلاحظ بقوة انكماش دوائر الشعور بالمسؤولية الأخلاقية عن سلامة الأقرباء والمجتمع والأمة وعن صلاحهم واستقامتهم، ولو أننا عدنا إلى نحو نصف قرن من الآن لوجدنا من يتحدث بجدية عن وحدة الأمة الإسلامية أو وحدة العرب، ومن تغلي في صدره مشاعر الغيرة على عزة الأوطان وحفظ مصالحها، ولوجدنا كذلك تضامناً جيداً داخل القرى والأحياء على المستوى التربوي؛ فقد كان الجيران والأقرباء والمعارف والأصدقاء يساعدون في توجيه الأطفال وإرشادهم وملاحظة تصرفاتهم، والخيط الناظم لكل ذلك عبارة عن شعور عميق بأن مصلحة الفرد المسلم هي عين مصلحة أهله وجيرانه وبلده وأمته، فأين ذهب كل ذلك؟! إنه تبخر ـ إلاّ ما ندر ـ بفعل أدبيات العولمة وعملياتها الرهيبة، والتي تقوم بخلع الفرد من الأسرة، وخلع الأسرة من المجتمع، وخلع المجتمع من أمته الكبرى.
التاريخ لا يعيد نفسه، وقد حدثت تغيرات كيميائية وفيزيائية، وجغرافية وأخلاقية واجتماعية... تجعل استعادة صور التضامن ومشاعر الرعاية والانتماء القديمة في حكم المستحيل، وصار مطلوباً منا أن ننشئ المزيد من المؤسسات، ونطلق الكثير من المبادرات التي تساعد على تحقيق الأهداف العظيمة التي فقدناها بأسلوب جديد.
2ـ كلما حصل تقدم حضاري وعمراني أوسع تفتّح وعي الناس على الحياة وعلى مصالحهم، وزادت المقارنات المختلفة بين الذات والآخر ـ بأوسع ما تعنيه هذه الكلمة من معنى ـ وهذا أدّى إلى انغماس الناس في شؤون الدنيا وفي الهموم الشخصية، كما أدّى إلى ارتفاع حدة الجدال؛ فمجالس الناس مشحونة بالاختلاف والتنظير والنقد والحديث عن الحواسيب، والجوّالات، والميزات، والبدلات والوظائف، والتسوّق، والمهرجانات... كلام وجدال في أمور لا حصر لها، ومع أن ذلك في الأصل مشروع، وبعضه مطلوب، إلاّ أن المشكلة تكمن في (الغفلة) العامة والشاملة؛ حيث تجد أن المجلس قد يمتد الساعة والساعتين، ويكون الجالسون فيه من أهل الخير والصلاح، ثم لا تسمع فيه ذكراً لله ـ تعالى ـ ولا تذكّراً للموت، ولا لنعيم الجنة، أو عذاب جهنم، وهذا أيضاً على المستوى الفردي؛ فمشاغل الدنيا وهمومها ومباهجها قد خطفت منا الكثير من رقة القلوب، والكثير من يقظة العقول نحو مصيرنا بعد الموت.
إن المسلم المطلوب لعيش هذا الزمان هو مسلم غير عادي في صلاحه وإقباله على الله ـ عز وجل ـ وفي تفوّقه ونجاحه في الحياة؛ فالزمان الصعب لا يحتاج إلى المتخصصين والأذكياء والقادة فحسب، وإنما يحتاج قبل ذلك إلى الأتقياء الأنقياء ذوي القلوب الحية والأرواح المشرقة.
3ـ لدينا أسر كثيرة غير مؤهَّلة لتربية أبنائها التربية الجيدة، ولدينا ألوف الشباب والفتيات الذين يعانون من مشكلات كبيرة، وهم لا يعرفون كيف يواجهونها، ولا يجدون المشير ولا المعين، ولدينا مئات الألوف من الشباب والفتيات الذين ضلّوا سواء السبيل، وهم بحاجة إلى من يساعدهم على العودة إلى الصراط السويّ، لكن ليس هناك من يهتم بهم، ويلتفت إليهم، فصاروا عبئاً على المجتمع، بل صاروا مصدر تهديد لخيريّته وأمنه وصلاحه... من لهؤلاء وأولئك إلاّ الذين اشتعلت قلوبهم بحب الله ـ تعالى ـ والغيرة على دينه وعلى أمة الإسلام؟!
لنتقدم نحو الوراء كي نتفقد ما خسرناه عبر السنوات الأخيرة، وكي ننهل من مسيرة نبينا -صلى الله عليه وسلم- وسير عظماء هذه الأمة ما يعيننا على التخلص من (الغفلة) التي اجتاحت عقولنا ونفوسنا، وألحقت بنا أعظم الأضرار.
ولله الأمر من قبل ومن بعد.
http://www.dorar.net

الأخطار التي تحيط بأهل السنة والجماعة

مما لا ريب فيه أن المسلمين عموماً تطبق عليهم خطط وتنفذ فيهم مؤامرات قد أحكم حبكها ولا أظن (أننا) في حاجة إلى ضرب الأمثلة على هذا الواقع فإن كل شيءٍ يشهد بذلك من الاستعمار الفعلي إلى الاستعمار الفكري إلى التفرق الحاصل بين المسلمين في نظرتهم إلى الأخوة فيما بينهم وإلى ولاءاتهم المختلفة بل المتناقضة وإلى الطوق الغليظ الذي وضعوه في أعناقهم من حيث يعلمون أو لا يعلمون وهنا (نعتذر) عن المتابعة والاستفاضة في دراسة جوانب التأثير الذميم النازل بأحوال المسلمين عموماً فقد كتب المصلحون والناصحون والمفكرون ما يشفي ويكفي لو كان السامعون أحياء القلوب إلا أن أكثرهم أصبحوا كما قال الشاعر:
لقد أسمعت لو ناديت حياً

ولكن لا حياة لمن تنادي وتحقق ما نسب إلى الشافعي رحمه الله في قوله:
نعيب زماننا والعيب فينا

وما لزماننا عيب سوانا نعم (نعتذر) عن الاسترسال في الكتابة عن هذا المجال فإن حديثه ذو شجون وأحداثه تكاد أن تتكلم عن نفسها فالخطب جسيم والحمل عظيم وإذا لم يفق المسلمون اليوم فإن قوارع الدهر وسنن الله في خلقه ستوقظهم عاجلاً أم آجلاً ولنتحسر مع القائل: أمرتهمو أمري بمنعرج اللوى فلم يستبينوا النصح إلا ضحى الغدنترك الكلام عن أحوال المسلمين وفرقهم وأحزابهم المتناحرة وولاءاتهم المتناقضة والإهانات التي تواجههم في كل مكان وفي كل يوم على أيدي أعداء الإسلام من اليهود والنصارى والمجوس وسائر ملل الكفر والضلال الذين تداعوا على المسلمين كما تتداعى الأكلة على قصعتها كما أخبر بذلك من لا ينطق عن الهوى صلى الله عليه وسلم . نترك هذا كله لنتجه بالنصيحة إلى البقية والصفوة من المسلمين الذين بقوا قابضين على مفاهيم كتاب ربهم وسنة نبيهم إلى الذين بشرهم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أنهم سيبقون ظاهرين على الحق لا يضرهم من خالفهم أو خذلهم حتى يأتي أمر الله مهما كانت قلتهم ومهما كانت حالهم الذين أدركوا أنهم تتهددهم في دينهم وفي دنياهم بل وفي وجودهم أخطار كثيرة تتطلب جمع الكلمة وصدق المؤازرة ونشر النصيحة صافية نقية في جميع الجوانب وهي كثيرة الجوانب جداً وما لا يدرك كله لا يترك كله فعسى أن يكون في التذكير بها فتح باب خير وعودة وثبات إذ من السهولة العودة إلى ما كان عليه المسلمون في ماضيهم من العزة والمنعة حين تكون النيات خالصة والقلوب متوجهة بصدق ومن تلك الأخطار التي بقيت للمسلمين ما أشير إليه هنا بإيجاز سريع: 1- محاربة المسلمين في تمسكهم بكتاب ربهم تعالى. 2- محاربة المسلمين في تمسكهم بسنة نبيهم صلى الله عليه وسلم. 3- محاولة دق إسفين بين الكتاب والسنة وذلك بدعواهم أنه يجب الأخذ فقط بالقرآن الكريم دون السنة النبوية. 4- بتشكيكهم في صلاحية تعاليم ديننا الإسلامي في هذا العصر بزعمهم. 5- بث الدعايات ضد أهل السنة وتشويه ما هم عليه من المعتقدات الصحيحة. 6- محاربتهم عن طريق تمجيد العقل وتقديسه وجعله مصدر التشريع. 7- محاربتهم عن طريق التأويلات الفاسدة للنصوص لإبعادهم عن مدلولاتها. 8- محاربتهم عن طريق الحرب النفسية وإدخال اليأس والوهن في قلوبهم. 9- محاربتهم عن طريق تقوية بعضهم على بعض ليضربوا عصفورين بحجر: أ- إضعافهم مادياً وبشرياً. ب- دوام حاجتهم إليهم. 10- إحياء البدع على أعلى المستويات بل ومحاولة إخضاع أهل الحق لها بالترهيب والترغيب. 11- محاولة حصر مفهوم الإسلام وتعاليمه في القيام بالعبادة فقط دون أن يكون له أي شأن في حياة الناس وسلوكهم وسموه في الجانب الروحي حتى ظن كثير من الناس أن أهل السنة والمتمسكين بالدين لا يعرفون ما وراء المسجد شيئاً عن الحياة. 12- إشغال أهل الحق بفتن مختلفة ونظريات باطلة بقصد صرفهم عن التوجه إلى نقد المخالفين أو بقصد إشغالهم بالردود عليها. 13- إشغالهم بدعوات التجديد في الدين أي بإحداث البدع وإحداث أمور في الشريعة الإسلامية ما أنزل الله بها من سلطان خصوصاً وهذه الدعوات تصدر عن أناس يجهلون كثيراً من أحكام الشريعة وحكمها. 14- تأييد كل الدعوات الهدامة والمبادئ المنحرفة كدعوى النبوة ونسخ الشريعة الإسلامية بها مع أنها قضية معلومة من الدين بالضرورة لا يجعلها مسلم سليم الفطرة والعقل ومن أوتي ولو يسيراً من العلم فإن ختم النبوة بنبينا محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم ثبتت في القرآن الكريم وفي السنة النبوية قال الله تعالى: {وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ} [الأحزاب:40] وفي أحاديث كثيرة يبين النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه آخر الأنبياء لا نبي بعده ومن ادعاها فهو كاذب مفترٍ على الله تعالى وثبت هذا في قلب كل مسلم فجاء أهل الباطل بتأويلاتهم الفاسدة للنصوص وأفرغوها من مدلولاتها الحقيقية وألبسوها معاني زور هي منها براء كزعمهم أن خاتم بمعنى أفضل أو خاتم الأنبياء المشرعين أو أن خاتم بمعنى زينة كزينة الختم في الورق، لقد أفرغوا معنى ختم النبوة من معناه فذهبوا يدعون أنهم أنبياء وأنه يجب على كل مسلم أن يؤمن بهم بعد أن شنعوا على أهل السنة والجماعة وكفروهم لعدم انسياقهم مع هذه الضلالات المعلوم بطلانها من دين الإسلام بالضرورة وشغل أهل السنة بمقارعتهم والردود عليهم وذهبت أوقات وجهود كان ينبغي أن تستغل لرفع راية الإسلام خفاقة لو لا تكالب أعداء الإسلام ومخططاتهم الخطيرة ولكن الله متم نوره ولو كره الكافرون {إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ} [الحجر:9] وما حفظه الله فإنه لا يستطيع أحد أن يضيعه. ثم وضعوا أمام أهل السنة عراقيل كثيرة في حرب ضروس معهم تمثلت من ضمن ما تمثلت فيه بث الفرقة وقيام الأحزاب التي قامت على الهوى والأنانيات البغيضة غير ملتفتين إلى النصوص المتضافرة في كتاب الله تعالى وسنة نبيه عليه الصلاة والسلام بالتحذير من هذه المسالك التي يعج بها العالم اليوم خصوصاً العالم الإسلامي الذين لا يريدون أن يتعظوا بغيرهم بل يريدون أن يكونوا هم العظة وهو ما حصل بالفعل حينما اتبعوا سنن من كان قبلهم شبراً بشبر وذراعاً بذراع حتى لو فكر أولئك في دخول جحر الضب لوجد من بعض المسلمين اليوم من يريد ذلك وهذا يدل على الانهزامية الكاملة والانبهار بما عند الغرب أو الشرق من مغريات الحياة الدنيا التي يعلمون ظاهراً منها وهم عن الآخرة هم غافلون مصداقاً لما أخبر الله به من أنه سيريهم آياته في الآفاق وفي أنفسهم حتى يعلموا أنه الحق وأن ما هم عليه إنما هو ابتلاء وإقامة للحجة عليهم وإلا فليسوا أقرب إلى رضاء الله من خلّص المؤمنين الذين لا يملكون تلك المادة التي يملكها أعداء الإسلام مع أن الواقع يشهد بما عليه حال أهل السنة من ارتفاع الكلمة والعزة حتى بين أظهر أعداء الإسلام فإن مساجدهم عامرة وشعائرهم قائمة قد حفظ الله بهم دينه وأعلى بهم كلمته وذلك بدون شك أنه بسبب تمسكهم بكتاب ربهم وسنة نبيهم وسيرهم على ما كان عليه الصحابة الكرام رضوان الله عليهم وهو الطريق الذي يأمن سالكه من التفرقة في السبل المتشابهة الكثيرة المؤدية إلى الضياع والهلاك والتمسك بهدى الصحابة رضوان الله عليهم أولئك الذين امتازوا بالذكاء ورجاحة العقل والأخذ من فم النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أو لم يسمع منه مهما كان صلاحه ورجاحة عقله أولئك هم الجماعة وهم الذين بشرهم نبيهم بأنهم ومن يتبعهم سيبقون ظاهرين على الحق إلى أن يرث الله الأرض ومن عليها وإذا كانت دراستنا ومناقشاتنا.. تخص فريقاً من أكرم الناس وهم أهل السنة والجماعة فلنبدأ بالتعريف بهم وإجلاء حقيقتهم وحقيقة مبادئهم والأدلة على ذلك
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. http://www.dorar.net/enc/firq/77

تنظر المحكمة الجزئية بجدة قضية مرفوعة ضد قناة العربية بتهمة الاستهزاء بالله ورسوله (صلى الله عليه وسلم) وجبريل (عليه السلام)، وكذلك بالأحاديث الصحيحة والدين الحنيف. وأحالت المحكمة نسخة من القضية إلى وزير العدل للاطلاع وتقديم مرئياته حول القضية مع تقديم الأدلة بالصوت والصورة التي تثبت الشكوى المرفوعة ضد القناة واستهزاءها بالدين.
وذكر المدعي (ي .ح .ق) (32 عاماً) في الخطاب الذي رفعه إلى رئيس المحكمة الجزئية بجدة، أن مراسل قناة العربية في العراق قام بالاستهزاء بالله ورسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم، وجبريل عليه السلام، والأحاديث الصحيحة، والدين الإسلامي الحنيف، مضيفاً في الشكوى أن هذا الأمر لا يرضي الله ولا رسوله الكريم، كما لا يرضي كل مسلم غيور على دينه خصوصاً ونحن في بلد الحرمين ومنبع الرسالة التي أيد الله فيها ولاة أمرنا في تحكيم شرع الله ونصرة دينه والدعوة إليه.
وطالب المدعي في القضية التي رفعها ضد قناة العربية بضرورة الاعتذار رسمياً بالصوت والصورة والتعهد بعدم تكرار ذلك الأمر مجدداً.
وأرفق المدعي مقطع فيديو مسجل من قناة العربية يؤكد ما جاء في شكواه، مشيراً إلى أن الدافع وراء الشكوى نصرة الله ورسوله وجبريل والدين الحنيف محتسباً الأجر عند الله عز وجل.
وأوضح المدعي لـ(سبق) أنه رفع القضية منتصف الشهر الجاري إلى المحكمة الجزئية بجدة وتم قبول الدعوى بعد تقديم الأدلة بالصوت والصورة، وتمت إحالة القضية بعد ذلك إلى وزير العدل بـ( رقم القضية المحولة لوزير العدل 33835/30 بتاريخ 13/7/1430هـ ).
وأضاف: قاطعنا المنتجات الدنمركية بعد أن قاموا بالاستهزاء بالرسول الكريم رغم أن الرسام والصحيفة الدنمركية التي نشرت الرسوم ليست محسوبة على المسلمين والعرب، والمصيبة الآن أن قناة عربية مسلمة تقوم بالاستهزاء بالدين الحنيف دون أن يتحرك أي شخص أو يقيم دعوى ضدها أو يطالب بمقاطعتها، مطالباً الجميع بضرورة دعم هذه القضية ومطالبة قناة العربية بضرورة تقديم الاعتذار بالصوت والصورة وعدم تكرار الإساءة للدين والرموز الدينية.
يشار إلى أن مقطع الفيديو الذي تم بموجبه رفع القضية ضد القناة، يظهر فيه مذيع القناة وهو جالساً مع بعض المواطنين العراقيين قائلاً لهم إن هناك حديثاً شريفاً غافلون عنه وقد رواه مسلم، قائلاً جاء فيه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: من أطعم إخوانه صلّت عليه الملائكة إلا جبريل ظل واقفًا. قيل : لماذا ظل جبريل واقفًا يا رسول الله؟ قال: ينتظر الشاي»، فانفجر الحضور ضحكًا وهذا فيه كذب واستهزاء بالله ورسوله.

تحت شعار "مش عاوزين جمال مبارك".. حملة على "الفيس بوك" ضد التوريث


الكاتب محمود المملوك – اليوم السابع

أقام عدد من النشطاء على الإنترنت حملة ضد التوريث تحت شعار "مش عاوزين جمال مبارك" بهدف الوصول إلى 25 ألف مصرى على الفيس بوك، رافضين تولى جمال مبارك الحكم قبل سنة 2011 فى محاولة لمنع "الكابوس قبل ما يبقى واقع وييجى ناس يقولوا خليكوا واقعيين" بحسب ما ذكر أحمد بدوى مؤسس الجروب.

وقال وليد سمير أحد أعضاء جروب "المبادرة الوطنية ضد التوريث" على الفيس بوك "مش هاقول مش عاوزين جمال مبارك.. عاوزين جمال لو يستحق بس نشوف ناس محترمة تعرف تقود البلد.. مش سيرك يتعمل علشان جمال يمسكها.. يورينا ويثبتلنا أنه قدها وأكيد كلنا هنبقى فى ضهر إللى هنثق فيه.. ونصيحة ليك يا ريس.. عاوزين نحس إن إحنا متعلمين".
واعتبر خالد حسين أن هذا التحرك "يستحق الاحترام و التقدير، وأن أكون من هؤلاء فلى الشرف على أننا لم نصمت على الظلم و التوريث.. الجروب زاد انضم إليه 1000 شخص خلال شهر ووصل إجمالى أعضاءه حتى الآن 8 آلاف".

ووجه الجروب عددا من النصائح لكل الأعضاء لتوسيع دائرة المعارضين للفكرة منها: "ارسال الدعوة للجروب لكل قايمة أصدقائك واعتبر الوقت اللى بيضيع فى ارسال الدعوة وقت بتهديه لمصر.. share الجروب على بروفايلك.. لو أنت أدمن فى أى جروب أبوس ايدك أبعت لينك الجروب فى رسالة لكل أعضاء جروباتك حتى لو مش جروبات سياسية و ما تخافش محدش حيزعل منك.. لو تعرف شخصية مهمة أو مشهورة (سياسى - فنان - صحفى - داعية دينى - لاعب كرة.. إلخ) موجودة معانا على الجروب ومش فى قايمة الأوفيسر بلغنا عنها فورا".. خاتماً بـ"خمسة و عشرين ألف مصرى ضد التوريث.. متهيألى مش حلم صعب".