American democrats win the beginning of rift [Archives:2006/1006/Opinion]
Abdulbari Taher
It is known that the two big American political parties are of the same nature though the ways and means of their work, political tactics and visions towards many of issues and ways of dealing with them. Their common stance of the war on Iraq is known and rather some of the democrats were enthusiastic regarding the war and supported it more. However, the republicans control the congress and extremism of Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the team of the neo-conservatives attribute the war to the Bush administration and pushed the war to its dangerous extent.
All the crimes perpetrated against the Iraqis were pushing them to take arms against an occupation aimed total destruction, beginning with occupation, destruction of the Iraqi state, army, security, the Ba'ath, the heritage and the civilization landmarks of one of the most important founders of human civilization. Moreover, the big crimes and turning the back to the international community, commitment of crimes in Abu Ghraib Prison and destruction of Iraq and its environment, have placed the American administration in the face of the world, freedoms and right of peoples, which America has often adopted. The slogan of preemptive war adopted by the American administration does not only mean Iraq or Afghanistan but rather it is a threat to humanity and international peace.
The war on Iraq and Afghanistan was in harmony with Sharon's war on the second Palestinian Intifada. In the midst of the colonialist war inferno Bush's statements and speeches of faith increased the flare of the war. The war appeared as if a repetition of the crusade wars or the war of good against evil and that led to escalation of “Islamist” terror in various areas. The larger terror would mostly create a type of terror cloaked with religion and defends the ideology.
It was not a coincidence that Bush divided the world into good and evil whereas Bin Laden divides it into faith and infidelity. Nevertheless, the two men draw on the same ideology and thought despite the difference in nomenclatures.
As is the case in politics, the democrats have benefited from the failure of the war on Iraq and have focused in their election campaign on the catastrophic and immoral results of the war, which they had previously supported. The collaboration of terror is no longer a secret. The terror of 9/11 awakened the demons of the upcoming empire that has for many years set the stage. The empire wants to lead the world, disregard international bodies and other poles. It is more probable one of the most international parties sensing the danger of war failure in Iraq and reconciliation with Syria and Iran is Israel. The failure of this war and the indications that appear day by day mean the impossibility of Israel's ability to conquer the Palestinian. If the American master has failed then one of the most important results is the failure of the “good” student, i.e. Israel. That explains escalation of war against the Palestinians and the Lebanese, the adoption of the calls for partitioning Iraq and stopping the Iranian nuclear reactor.
The biggest failure Israel, as a colonialist state, would sustain with America's failure in the region and that would mean the beginning of the countdown of the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan and its continuous hegemony and threat to Arab countries.
There is no do doubt the democrats victory and the tactical changes that may happen in their regional and international policy will be attributed in the first place to struggle of the Iraqi people and steadfastness of the Palestinians and the Lebanese in the face of the Israeli war going on since the defeat of 1948.
The occupation of Iraq serves colonialist objectives, the main of which, beside oil, is the protection of Israel and destruction of the Iraqi army as the strongest force in the Arab region threatening the Israeli entity. By invading Iraq, America did not only contributed to a transcontinental terror similar to its type, but also created, more importantly, national resistance fighting the occupation and it is by virtue of America the Bush's Middle East project was undermined.
The defect of big countries and empires is similar to that of individuals because they do not learn the lessons of history and the past as well as experiments of peoples. The old and the new colonies are responsible for the creation of national liberation movement in the world and the experiment of America itself with the British, or its experiment in Vietnam, give evidence to the difficulty, if not impossibility, of conquering the will of the right however strong or tyrannical.
Continuation of the resistance in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan will determine the destiny and future of the “empire of good” in the Middle East and with victory of the Democratic Party the indicator of Bush's upcoming retreat could have actually begun. However, the extent of recession and the way it is going to follow and the methods of treatment are the most important. As much as there should not be belittling of the importance of the change in temperament of the American elector basically related to the war on Iraq and the victory of the democrats there should not be also an exaggeration in pursuing illusions of much change in the American colonialist policy, which the two, republic and democrat, parties have in common. But the democrats realize that their win was, from the beginning, related to the failure of the war and it is impossible to continue it with the same tactics. Really any retreat will refresh hopes of the resistance and push many parties to join it and expand the area of support for it. In fact the latest Spanish-French-Italian initiative is one result of resistance escalation. The matter more important than failure of the war is the failure of the American and Israeli betting on tribal, sectarian, regional and ethnic affiliations with which they wanted to reshape the region. This war may prove that the interrelationship among the Arab body is stronger in premonition of Bernard Luis, the plans of the Pentagon and the CIA and the Mossad and bigger than the false outward appearances of the collapsing regional system.
The interconnection is very deep between the steadfastness of Hezbollah in Lebanon and defeat of the Israeli war, the victory of Hamas and escalation of the Palestinian resistance despite of the blockade, starvation and annihilation war. This means America's failure leads to Israel's failure and vice versa. The failure of the American-Israeli war pushes the two allies to a temporary tactical retreat, activation of the rear lines in the allying Arab order which practices pressures against the resistance in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon and works for visualizing the conflict as if it is a Sunni and Shiite issue. Olmert's statement on the common denominations between Israel and Arab moderate regimes is an indication and a beginning of the rift in the front of war.
Abdulbari Taher is a Yemeni Journalist and the former chairman of Yemeni Journalists Syndicate.
——
[archive-e:1006-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-12-11-p:opinion]
