America: The Other Side of the Coin

Muhammad Nizami

May 12 |12:34
Last Updated on Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:41
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The US has become a mirror-image of the very thing it so desperately seeks to destroy; almost indistinguishable in the deplorable means it is willing to employ to achieve its ends. It is this disquieting reality that we must reflect upon, but in order to do so accurately, we must begin with addressing a critical issue that continues to evade the spotlight...

As the mood of jubilancy sweeps across the US and other parts of the world, many find it difficult to share in the elation of Bin Laden’s reported death. Some are cynical of him having been found, and others quite sickened by the manner in which he was purportedly killed - somewhat due to the same reason the world will not be presented with photographic evidence of his dead body; Osama bin Laden was reportedly executed with two shots to the face.

Of course, if we go back only a few days, the reports began with assertions by the Director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, and White House Chief Security Adviser, John Brennan, that Osama bin Laden was armed and died in a firefight after resisting. After somewhat of an adjustment to the story, we now come to know that Bin Laden was unarmed, as was everybody else in the building. According to a report by Al Arabiya, Bin Laden’s daughter informed Pakistani investigators that US forces captured her father alive but shot him dead in front of family members. All of this coupled with the instantaneous process of DNA verification and burial at sea calls into question not only the methods that the US has employed in their ‘war on terror’, but also the seemingly premeditated execution of an unarmed Bin Laden. A war crime, perhaps?  
 
Even the Archbishop of Canterbury weighed in with criticism, "In such circumstances, when we are faced with someone who was manifestly a war criminal in terms of the atrocities inflicted, it is important that justice is seen to be done." It is this notion of justice that we must consider, for if we are universal in our claims of justice, must not the same standard apply to all? How is it that the world unites in its condemnation of the al-Qaeda leader as being a war criminal worthy of execution, yet refrains to similarly judge all those who have acted in his like?
 
In setting the tone for his seminal approach to the analysis of terrorism, Baudrillard wrote , “If we want to understand something, let us go somewhat beyond Good and Evil.” However, this was, and still remains, exactly the crude dichotomy presented by the US administration, which has used language dressed with religious undertone that conveniently stokes popular demands for war in a society relatively motivated by evangelical beliefs. In order to transform such demands into a perpetual state of conflict, the US administration has sought to ensure that there remains no space in the public psyche to question the morality of military behaviour.
 
Indeed morality (in the humanist sense) for many on both sides plays no part in the realism of fighting a menacing global force, and to augment this creed, the previous US administration, aided by its allies, turned to constructing a regulated framework in which discourses on the war narrative had to be aligned with the dictates of American interests. In similar fashion to those who term critics of Israel anti-Semites or self-hating Jews, the Americans managed to consecrate any challenge to its narrative into an ideology of anti-Americanism, which, as Arundhati Roy states, “is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination. An inability to see the world in terms other than those that the establishment has set out for you: If you don't love us, you hate us. If you're not good, you're evil. If you're not with us, you're with the terrorists.” Hence to conceive of al-Qaeda simply as an evil cult impetuously resolute on destruction and the US as its benign opposite, is to routinely buy in to an insidious narrative constructed by the US administration. The fact that surrounds any discussion concerning terrorism, as Baudillard asserts, and the US continues to disregard, is that “to see in terrorist action a purely destructive logic is nonsense. It seems to me that their own death is inseparable from their action (it is precisely what makes it a symbolic action), and not at all the impersonal elimination of the Other.”
 
Much of this attitude has continued into the Obama administration along with the constant reiteration of America’s defensive stance, and in contrast to itself, the immoral barbarisms of al-Qaeda. Yet in as much as the US asserts a moral high ground, substantial facts establish that such claims could not be further from the truth. The tactics of al-Qaeda are very much those that are also adopted by the US, but in disseminating a view that all acts perpetuated against al-Qaeda or those suspected of being al-Qaeda are justified, the US affords itself license to do as it wills, and as long as any individual is besmirched with the brush of being al-Qaeda, any level of violence is justified.
 
And so, in the name of suspected militancy tribesmen and their families are massacred by unmanned drones and innocent civilians are imprisoned without trial at Guantanamo Bay. Those ‘captured’ are extraordinarily rendered to the US and its allied regimes to be tortured in the name of ‘intelligence gathering’, and death squads are dispatched to neutralise those who oppose or threaten American interests. As quickly as abhorrent acts by the military are exposed, the US swiftly moves to condemn ‘rogue action’ or lament collateral damage. Yet we, who fail to question these illusory expressions, reject similar statements from al-Qaeda. The US administration has argued that all such crimes go against a benign US military policy, but equally, al-Qaeda argues much the same. al-Zawahiri, in addressing the killing of innocent civilians, said, “We haven't killed the innocents, not in Baghdad nor in Morocco, nor in Algeria, nor anywhere else [...] If there is any innocent who was killed in the Mujahideen's operations, then it was either an unintentional error or out of necessity.”
 
Such is the similarity between opposing sides that for one to argue a morality unbeknownst to the other is completely incongruous. Just as with al-Qaeda propaganda, US nationalistic rhetoric has been at fever pitch with various right-wing personalities in the American media candidly calling for the killing of all those remotely associated with ‘terror’. The notable similarity in the style of killing employed by both sides such as the use of targeted killings and summary executions clearly demonstrates that the ostensible line that divides the US from al-Qaeda is not as distinct as the US would like to portray. On the one hand al-Qaeda is incessantly condemned for its murder of politicians, journalists, and suspected traitors, whilst on the other hand the US also has its own list of inexcusable murders and extra-judicial killings.
 
But as westerners, we perceive ourselves far beyond the uncivilised approach of al-Qaeda militants, who execute their victims at point-blank range. Rather, we delude ourselves of the supposed civility of impersonal attacks by air drones that drop indiscriminate bombs on wedding parties. The tacit approval that we afford the US merely by the adoption of this attitude is unbecoming of the values we seek to promote, and in failing to confront this view, we stand complicit to its duplicity.
 
The US has become a mirror-image of the very thing it so desperately seeks to destroy; almost indistinguishable in the deplorable means it is willing to employ to achieve its ends. It is this disquieting reality that we must reflect upon, but in order to do so accurately, we must begin with addressing a critical issue that continues to evade the spotlight - that the world has had imposed upon it a US-centric discourse that has effectively managed to blur the line between America’s claim to the right of war and America’s own ‘al-Qaeda style’ campaign. 
Notes: 
This article was originally submitted to opendemocracy.net
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written by Nisar Dean, November 23, 2011
The only way forward is for the 85% of Muslim ummah to unite with the remaining 15%,namely Ahlulbayt or Shia.Forget the differences following the death of the Prophet(PBUH).Need to grow up and respect each others sect.Iran is not the enemy-the enemy is cia/fbi/mi5 mossad.Learn from the unity of Hiz-Bulla and Hammas fighting for justice,with full commitment and following the teachings of the Quran.
Thank you for censoring my comments.
written by Herodotus, July 13, 2011
My comments are always blocked by supposed "security" letter tests. Non-sense. I will not try to communicate with your closed minded group again.
Human Being
written by Herodotus, July 13, 2011
Okay, we are all basically programmed to "compete" by genes from our prehistoric ancestors. Until we learn to recognize these "primitive gene promptings" and replace immediate and impulsive actions with actions based upon logical thought, wisdom and a real regard for all of other Human Beings...we are going to continue to foolishly waste our resources and lives in war upon one another. It is most important to realize that no single religion or philosophy can come to rule our world. Only "Wisdom" can rule in a Peaceful and Cooperative (and therefore prosperous) World Civilization. We are all of the very same "Human Family"...and we will prosper or dissappear from this beautiful Planet Earth forever...as a result of each of our personal decisions. Have Faith in Humanity, my Friends. We are born possessed of great personal abilities..and we must rely largely upon our ownselves..we will not fail !!! Wa salaams. May all be in good health.
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written by Greg Bolter - USA, June 08, 2011
This scenerio might be a possibility - that Mr. bin laden was actually captured, not killed as has been reported, and the world is being led to believe in his death, thereby allowing him to be held secretly. Just a thought.
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written by Greg Bolter - USA, June 08, 2011
Most often it seems that the war criminal is the other guy - the opposing army's soldier who has done much the same as soldiers on both sides.
Mehmet, Munaafiq, & more
written by SuperStar, May 19, 2011
I posted a comment but it most likely wasnt approved. As I said before to "mehmet", if you thank the US government so much, you can go to jahannum along with them. The munaafiq and the kuffar are brothers of one another.
True wisdom for every person
written by Ken, May 13, 2011
Matt 26:52 Then said Jesus unto Peter, "Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/ What_does_He_who_lives_by_the_sword_dies_by_the_sword_m
ean#ixzz1MDz7D3bj

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written by muslim, May 13, 2011
you people should just write the truth, or shut up.
America: The Other Side of the Coin
written by khalid rocca, May 13, 2011
There surely is no surprise here!? This is the 'US-centric' manner of doing business and has been so, at least since the end of the 2nd World War, namely that issues are resolved 'a la America' or not at all! They are the bully in the school yard - a very Anglo-centric manner of dealing with issues. Compromise in their terminology means 'you do it our way' - there is no middle ground despite all the filigree that really only serves to 'cover' (kufr) the real intent. Justice 'a la America' means whatever they deem it to mean at any particular time of their choosing. Their 'democratic language' is in fact flim-flam. Whatever happens the hierarchy of the elite must be maintained - this is their reality! the arrival of Barak obama promised so much. It was the 'sale of hope'. Bot come on! We know that what needs to change in order to really affect, that is to bring into being, change is to change the system that continues to promote imbalance as the solution to 'mankind's problems! And who says Satan does not exist!? This is not Islam. Shame on those who would have 'democracy' act for Islam! Shame on you America!
Osama and Obama Are Different Currencies, Low-rated comment [Show]

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