Hi David,

Yeah, probably all nations that aspire to be Great Powers always go along that path. Russia would be a good example of that these days - Georgia, Crimea, Ukraine, perhaps Syria now - and China, in its transparent aim of closing off the entire South China Sea as a sort of domestic waterway, and its ridiculous claims on bits of the Philippines, isn't far behind. Just watch how those two bullies duke it out in Central Asia in the next five or ten years - neither has much longer before they start losing their muscle.

So, I'm assuming that you WOULD agree that, when people are aggressed against, or persecuted, they are entitled to defend themselves, even if it means a long-drawn-out war ?

No fudging now :)

Joe

Those two bullies (Russia and China) as you describe them are all that stands between relative freedom and the curse of world American hegemony.

America is the world's biggest bully and is the greatest threat the world faces.

Most of the world can see this (hence the reason for the hatred of America) but this little corner of the world internet has selective myopia and refuses to acknowledge the evil that capitalist America poses.

America will use nukes to achieve its aims before long such is it greed for power and treasure.

How come you can't see it, Joe?

Hi David,

As an ex-comm, no, I can't see it. I don't think I'm a half-wit, and I've been observing international politics for sixty years now, and I've observed the Yanks in their overthrow of governments in Iran, Guatemala, Chile, etc., its destabilisation of governments in Nicaragua, its wars against the people of Indo-China, etc., its invasion of Afghanistan in pursuit of al Qa'ida, and of Iraq, etc. etc., yes indeed it has had a 'robust' policy of aggression. And, yes, most of those were quite illegitimate, but not all. But, as they say, that was then, this is now.

And yes, some of the problems that it now faces, it has partially brought on itself. BUT the main struggle now is against a form of fascism, Islamo-fascism, ISIS, a reactionary movement adhering entirely to the Koran, and carrying out the most brutal oppressions and aggressions. It must be opposed, combatted, gone to war against, in order to protect minorities and other innocent people. And if the Yanks are part of that anti-fascist response, then good on them.

Of course, they may have their own motives and aims, everybody does, but the bottom line is that Islamo-fascism has to be combatted, and defeated, and that will probably suck more out of the Yanks than they will gain. But that war has to be fought. Yes, it's a lot easier to sit back here in Australia and csrp and whinge and bitch and throw up old history - the power of the powerless. But let's get this job done first, then we can sink the boot into the Yanks again, as we so enjoy doing.

Joe

Hi Loudmouth,
Islamic fundamentalism is a problem. But why has it only been an issue for the last 20 or 30 years? There have always been large numbers of Muslims, but only relatively recently have they been seen as a threat to the West.

I think a big piece in the puzzle is the US-Saudi Alliance that formed in the 1970s to prop up the US petrodollar. In return, the US gave the House of Saud the promise of protection. The unintended consequence is that Saudi Arabia also is home to the most extreme form of Islam - Wahhabism.

For the past 30 or so years, the Saudis have been using their vast wealth to spread Wahhabism around the world. Many Muslim countries are actually secular - with citizens of many faiths. Saudi Arabia is not one of these, it is an Islamic Theocratic Monarchy. You can't apply for Saudi citizenship if you aren't Muslim.

Saudi Arabia is a known backer of ISIS and Al Qaeda. What is less well known is that the US has been turning a blind eye at times, and other times has used Jihadists to further their own aims.

For eg the CIA backed the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan in the 1970s and 80s. Which morphed into Al Qaeda.
Hillary Clinton has said the US backed the Mujaheddin/Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help defeat the Soviets who were in Afghanistan at the time. Zbigniew Brzezinski played a big role in this too, and he is still around today - he now advises Pres Obama.
There are now many documents and US government officials who have said on the record, that the US made a "willful decision" to allow the growth of ISIS in order to affect regime change in Syria.

To get rid of these Islamofascists, we need to get our allies like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to stop supporting them. And the US needs to stop "accidentally" dropping supplies to them.

The CIA created this monster in Operation Cyclone - they even coined this term that describes this fubar - blowback

Hi Bob,

Well, no, Islamist fundamentalism has raged ever since the death of Muhamed and his successors - after all, that's one reason for the Sunni-Shi'ite split. The Berber groups who dominated in the invasion of Spain were pretty fundamentalist. At the turn of last century, Lord Lugard found in northern Nigeria a war raging between Islamist factions, one which believed that the real Messiah would soon be born, but properly this time, to a man. That war spilled over into Libya, where a rebellion from 1915 (I think) to 1917 engaged the British/Australian Camel Corps. And then there have been the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia, as you point out. And followers of Qutb in Egypt since the twenties. I have a vague memory of an Islamist movement of fifty years ago in the Yemen ? No, maybe not.

Yes, I can sympathise that it would be convenient to be able to prove that this fundamentalism stuff has all been the recent doing of the Americans - after all, they are the spring from which all evil flows. But sadly, no.

You ask the reasonable question of why should Islamo-fascists be seen as the enemy of the West ? Perhaps 9/11 may have something to do with it. And the London bombings. And the Madrid bombings. The attacks on US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-des-Salaam. On the USS Liberty in Yemen. And the attacks on hotels in Bombay. Bali and Bali and Jakarta embassy bombings. Charlie Hebdo. And the daily bombings around the Middle East - around 200 killed this week, it seems, probably a fairly quiet week.

I hope this helps.

Joe

Hi Joe,
Yes, thanks for the history lesson, but does it explain how and why groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS arose to become the number one threat to the West? They are ostensibly the reason we can't fly with more than 100ml of hand-gel. The reason why people including babies and elderly have been subject to invasive body searches. They are also the reason we have lost many of our civil liberties and freedoms and even the right to privacy.

Doesn't the fact that Operation Cyclone was one of the longest and most expensive covert CIA operations have some impact into the growth of militant Islamic groups like Al Qaeda and the Taliban?

Zbigniew Brzezinski admitted that the CIA covertly spent $500 million a year from 1979 to create a secret Islamic terror group to spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia in order to destabilize the Soviet Union. They also spent $4 billion setting up Islamic training schools in Pakistan (Taliban means student).

Brzezinski is now advising Pres Obama, and now we have Syria where the US neo-cons have made no secret they want regime change,(Syria also just happens to have a long alliance with Russia) and suddenly we have ISIS with their convoys of bright shiny white toyotas gallivanting around the countryside spreading terror with their hollywood grade snuff flicks. We have leaked documents and former government officials, including the former head of JSOC, stating the US has willfully funded Islamic fundamentalists in the region in order to destablise it. Does it sound familiar?

I like to think of these Jihadis as a modern day Beserkers. They create chaos in far away places of enormous geo-political importance, while also creating the perfect excuse to bring in authoritarian legislation that would never be acceptable without regular terrorist attacks.

Remind me again how building 7 of the World Trade Centre fell down on 9/11? It is first and only time a steel framed building has ever been completely destroyed and demolished by fire - no plane hit this building - strange? Check out Operation Northwoods.