Silver LiningBattling the US or ignorance?! [Archives:2005/882/Opinion]
By Mohammed Hatem al-Qadhi
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The amnesty communique President Ali Abdullah Saleh issued last week was a real surprise to many of the people. Many people welcomed it and considered it a historic decision that is meant to bury the hostilities and look ahead towards a better tomorrow. They even said that it showed the tolerance of the man and his desire to have reconciliation among all the members of the community.
This is true and we all appreciate this attribute of the man who never likes to defeat his enemies down to the ground. He is shrewd enough to maintain balances policy which has been the major reason behind his stay in power for over two decades.
However, the questions now are: was it right to fight al-Houthi and his militant groups? Who pulled the trigger and started the fight that claimed the lives of many people from both sides? Who is to hold accountable for that?
I know it is a game of politics. It is easy to start to fire the first bullet but it is difficult to control the situation after that. But, such serious problems should not passed without real investigations into their causes. We can not simply go into big fights and by the end everything is settled down by pardons. Several people were killed and the country lost millions of US dollars in the fight with those fanatics who have no cause but to chant “death to America and death to Israel.” I am not trying to say that there should not have been pardons. But, my point is that we should not have started the fight at all if we know this is the end.
Abdulmalik al-Houthi said after the pardon was issued that they would not stop shouting this slogan. This is very silly and shows how dangerous is the thought and not only the weapons these people have. They have forgotten that our battle is not against the US or Israel but the ignorance and backwardness our country is plagued with. We should battle our serious problems of development and economy and our real fight should be to win against our corrupt crooks who get enriched at the expense of our prosperity. The death of American and Israel will not sort out our problems but will exacerbate them as our food is produced by the Americans and Westerners.
The government troops defeated the hardware of al-Houthi and but could not defeat his views and beliefs. An example of that is the statement of Abdulmalik al-Houthi. I know that it is the right of these people to shout such slogans. But, the problem does not stop here. It goes to further beliefs in the killings of the US or Western people for no reason. Here lies the danger. This is not a problem with al-Houthi but with all fanatic groups who were educated and taught to hate others who differ with their views. These people will not be only a problem to the US or the Western world but also to us. Therefore, I think it is our responsibility to challenge such fanatic and fossilized views which contribute to the ignorance and backwardness of our society.
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