By Dr Javed Jamil,
As soon as the Egypt part of the drama seems to have switched to “Pause” in last couple of days, the Syria front is again “On”. The news of chemical attacks and the resulting deaths has hit the headlines. This will now take the centre stage. With one Islamist party that had the potential of diluting Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel and America’s stakes in Egypt removed from power in the neighboring state, Syria can again be the centre of focus. In other words, when a clear opening of another civil war has been made in Egypt, it is time to rekindle the on-going civil war in Syria.
Civil wars in Muslim countries are what Obama administration has adopted as the new strategy of destroying Muslim lands. The ear of wars is over, at least for the time being.
Obama has proved to be a shrewder President of America than his White predecessors. Bushes were too aggressive. They wanted to destroy others even at a heavy American cost. The immediate predecessor of Obama believed in bombing the Muslim countries into submission. But the cost of these wars has been heavy for America too – in terms of human as well as financial cost. The Afghan-Iraq war has cost America more deaths than 9/11 the original reason for which the war is said to have begun. According to statistics, America has lost 5,281 of its military men and more than 57000 have been wounded.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war
The combined coalition casualties have been higher. And to the dismay of the American military, the suicide rates has considerably increased in last 10 years in the US armed forces with the average rate being about one per day. A report says:
“Suicide is on the rise in the US military, averaging almost one every day, according to statistics. In the first 155 days of 2012 there was 154 suicides among active troops, around 50% more than the number killed in action in Afghanistan, according to Pentagon statistics obtained by Associated Press. This is the highest number in 10 years. The numbers reflect the burden of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to experts. The military is also struggling with increased sexual assaults, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and other problems.
Studies have pointed to combat exposure, post-traumatic stress, misuse of prescription drugs and personal financial problems as possible reasons for the increase.
The total of 154 suicides so far this year compares to 130 in the same period last year, an 18% increase. This year’s January-May total is up 25% from two years ago, and it is 16% greater than in 2009, which ended with the highest yearly total so far.
Suicide totals have exceeded US combat deaths in Afghanistan in other years, including 2008 and 2009.
The numbers are rising despite years of effort to encourage troops to seek help with mental health problems. Many in the military believe that seeking help is a sign of weakness and a potential threat to promotion.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/08/suicide-rise-us-military
Another report says that “the average suicide rate in the US military – 24 suicides per 100,000 soldiers – is lower than the civilian suicide rate for men aged 17 to 60 – 25 suicides per 100,000 in 2010”.
http://rt.com/usa/us-army-suicide-rate-025/
The financial cost has been even more staggering. See the following report:
“Over a decade of US wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq will in the end cost as much as $6 trillion, the equivalent of $75,000 for every American household.
These wars have left the United States heavily indebted and will have a profound impact on the federal government’s fiscal and budgetary crises over a protracted period. These are the conclusions of a new report issued by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/02/iraq-a02.html
Obama has been a smart President. As soon as he rose to power, he had his plans of military disengagement ready. But to prove his credentials, he had to kill Osama Ben Laden before he embarked upon his plans. The ones, whoever they were, who attacked the Twin Towers had perished with the planes that hit them. The alleged mastermind was hiding in Afghanistan, which was a strong enough reason for Bush to devastate the already devastated country. But while more than 50000 innocent civilians had to die for one single suspect, the suspect himself succeeded in avoiding the end. Bush had smelled blood, which brought him to Iraq, which gave him the opportunity to kill another 2 million innocent Muslims. But in the process he caused severe damage to the US itself – its finances, its reputation and goodwill and its people. Obama thought otherwise. Why risk the American lives and dollars? Once Osama was dead, the time had come to bring a halt to the wars. But this would not in any way mean a halt to the destruction of Muslim lands. This was time to shift to Civil Wars. The Arab Spring, beginning g in Tunisia and Egypt, provided the right kind of opportunity. Protests would be organized not only where America did not want them but also where it did not. Libya was the first target. NATO helped Libyans annihilate Libyans. Even al-Qaeda was used to help. And then the focus shifted to Syria. Conspiracy theories apart, the Syrian regime was part of the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah Axis, which the US-Israel-Arab Axis could not tolerate. The Civil war in Syria began with the contribution of both – the Government and the foreign funded armed rebels. The war has already consumed one hundred thousand lives. But the Syrian Civil War did not progress to the liking of the West. Russia, China and Iran did not allow what America and Israel wanted. Further, the Western forces were plunged into a dilemma. Tunisian Arab Spring had led to the rise of Islamic groups to power. The elections in Egypt brought Muslim Brotherhood, the long dreaded enemy of West and Arab monarchs to power. New Libyan rulers too had strong Islamic proclivities. And now, the al-Qaeda inspired groups had begun gaining strength in Syria. West wanted Assad out but could not see Islamic groups rise to the power. The entry of Hezbollah changed the equations further. The momentum stopped. So the momentum was required to shift to some other country. Erdogan was becoming increasingly Islamic much to the discomfort of Westerners. Protests were organized in Turkey to gauge if a civil war could be made to begin there.
But Erdogan proved to be a tough nut to crack. Morsi would be a softer option. A much bigger protest, mobilized with full support from military, was staged in Egypt. And within no time the Egyptian Army, the partner and extension of American Army, had staged what was a coup in the eyes of all but the Obama administration. And within two months of that coup, the Civil War in Egypt is already in full swing with the number of casualties already in thousands. The Churches of Coptic Christians have been torched and the blame has been leveled on MB. The progress of Political Islam has been halted. At least this is what the masters of Political West think. Sectarianism is being utilized in free flow to help the Civil Wars. While Syria and Egypt continue to be the focus of the news, the deaths in Iraq continue to mount. Shia-Sunni rivalry is being discussed throught the world media. This has the potential of proving to be the most lethal weapon of mass destruction. They are receiving less attention in Iraq only because it is helping in a country, which is being “reconstructed” by the US. It is being aggressively pushed in Syria though.
Some Arab rulers have broken their traditional silence to call the people massacred in Egypt as “terrorists”. Their popularity in the Muslim world has suddenly plummeted to all-time lows. Muslims are watching with anxiety. They do not want the birth place of Islam to plunge in Civil War. But the plans of Obama administration to shift to Civil Wars are already in full swing. That will save America from the losses it suffered in the wars. In their reckoning, political Islam will die its own death. This is another matter the future history can teach them a different lesson.
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Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”. Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com or 91-8130340339