New Website Up and Running!

I'm pleased to announce that my new website is finally up and running! All the articles you love here and more have now been carted over to: www.thewarjournal.co.uk

Thank you all for your support. I will still post articles here, but the main site is as above. Please circulate if you enjoyed this site! Thanks!

New Website in Development!

Although this blog has been running for a short time, I have received some very positive feedback and so have therefore decided to commission the development of a webpage at a dedicated domain name. Soon, my new page will be up and running on www.thewarjournal.co.uk and will feature more of the political, economic and cultural writings as well as contributions by other writers on technology and the arts.

Thanks for your continued support, please circulate, and watch this space!

Obama, Osama, and the US economy

By: Tallha Abdulrazaq
 

Apart from the very beginning of his presidency and the events unfolding now in May post-mortem Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama was certainly not inspiring too much confidence domestically or internationally. Apart from a few domestic political victories, such as the passing of a new healthcare bill that has benefitted many Americans, Obama has presided over a time of US political and economic decline. International events also shape the level of confidence that his people have in him, and whilst Obama convinced many that this was a “chance for change” with such addresses as his speech in Cairo in 2009, his failure to navigate the defunct Palestinian-Israeli peace process, to decrease perceived and real tensions in the Middle East at US military presence, as well as his lack of movement on closing Guantanamo Bay amongst other promises have seriously drawn down his approval rating among Americans.

The Death of Bin Laden: Suspicions and Questions

By: Tallha Abdulrazaq

It can be of no doubt that many around the world are relieved, some even ecstatic, by the death of Osama bin Laden. Reports from all over the world following US President Obama’s announcement that US military personnel had killed bin Laden show scenes of jubilation in America, Europe, and even expressions of relief from many Muslim organisations around the world. However, there are many unanswered questions and even details that can be drawn out and analysed following the killing of bin Laden.

Bin Laden and al-Qaeda have been the US governments scapegoats and raison d’être for a number of wars and even technically illegal drone attacks in areas like North Western Pakistan for a very long time now. Whenever something violent happens in the news, one can be certain that buzzwords and terms such as “terrorists”, “Islamists”, “Jihadists”, and “al-Qaeda” will be bandied about and sensationalised in the mainstream media before any significant evidence has even been provided, and without a real intellectual understanding of what these terms really define and mean. It has become very convenient for governments around the world to declare many threats posed to them as representative of elements of al-Qaeda. Witness the crazed despot, Muammar al-Gaddafi, who insisted that the recent uprisings in Libya are a result of al-Qaeda dosing impressionable young men with hallucinogens. Clearly, that is one extreme example, but it is not hard to find others all over the world.

The most pertinent question is this; has the US known about bin Laden’s whereabouts for a long time and done nothing because it served their interests to have an international bogeyman? If the above is true, then it is clear that bin Laden had outlived his usefulness.

In Defence of Superman

By: Tallha Abdulrazaq

I never thought I’d be trying to save Superman, and least of all from some of his own “fans” in the United States. Superman’s latest story has caused surprising controversy, and even more surprising is the fact that people who don’t ordinarily read comics are even trying to wade into Clark Kent.

Action Comics #900, part written by famed Batman screenwriter David Goyer, has Superman fly to Iran’s capital of Tehran in a show of solidarity and in order to protect the Iranian population who are protesting against the Iranian government. The usually brutal, black-turbaned Ayatollah controlled and repressive Iranian government promises a harsh military response if protesters do not cease their demonstrations and go home.

Humanitarian that he is, Superman decides that he can’t just stand (or levitate) back and allow the Iranian people to be mauled by their government. Equally, he so abhors violence and views it as a last resort so much so that he decides that he won’t harm the Iranian military. Superman instead decides to act as a human (read: Kryptonian) shield and allows himself to be attacked, abused, and also showered with petrol bombs and roses alike. Obviously, the Man of Steel is impervious to such weak weapons, including roses, and after staying for 24 hours and saving the day, he flies off in a ponderous mood. Cleary, the Iranian Army should have invested in just ONE Kryptonite bullet; I’m certain Lex Luthor would have been more than willing to oblige them.

The reconciliation of Hamas and Fatah and potential outcomes

By: Tallha Abdulrazaq

The Egyptian intelligence brokered reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah have apparently finally bore fruit. On April 27th Egyptian intelligence announced that the two Palestinian rivals have finally agreed on forming an interim government, and have made such progress that they will now fix a date for a general election. In addition, it appears that both parties have agreed to release their respective prisoners with Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior political figure in Hamas, confirming that Hamas will release all who have a non-criminal background; a clear hint at political prisoners.

Hamas, the Israeli siege, and the difficult choices ahead

By: Tallha Abdulrazaq

When Hamas first came to power after ousting Fatah forces intent on preventing their democratic rise to political prominence, they had never been so popular. For decades since the First Intifada, Hamas had been undermining the increasingly corrupt and collaborative Fatah party who dominated and ruled the PA (Palestinian Authority). While Fatah was busy embezzling public funds that should have gone into the education and health of Palestinians, Hamas was equally busy setting up small schools and clinics, further endearing themselves to the Palestinian people. Under the leadership of Sheikh Ahmad Yasin, Abdulaziz al-Rantisi, and other popular figures, Hamas portrayed themselves as champions of the common Palestinian, not linked with the corrupt underhandedness of Fatah and the PA, and also as a direct manifestation of the implacable and indomitable Palestinian urge to resist and fight Israeli occupation.

But what are the contemporary issues facing Hamas, especially in light of the Israeli siege and the ‘Arab Spring’ revolutions?

Bahrain: A New Front in the Battle between Sunni Muslims and the Shia

By: Tallha Abdulrazaq

The wave of popular unrest that has engulfed the Middle East region in recent months has paved the way for opportunistic power politicking on behalf of certain regional powers. In Tunisia, decades of oppressive rule combined with corruption, lack of jobs and increased food prices began this chain reaction of events leading to the downfall of several of the Middle East’s ‘old guard’, including Tunisia’s Ben Ali, and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Indeed, we can now see from the UNSC sanctioned no-fly zone in Libya that the old Arab regimes are beginning to crumble one by one. It is in this sort of environment that players interested in exploiting the chaos are attempting to expand their influence and power via the use of religious ideology.

Case in point, the revolt in the Kingdom of Bahrain; the Shia who, depending on which figures and sources are consulted, represent 50-70% of the population began to protest against supposed state prejudice and lack of effective representation. This gripe surprisingly managed to manifest itself even following elections in 2010 that saw the Shia Al-Wefaq party win a majority of 18 seats in the Bahraini Council of Representatives. The Shia demands began with greater political freedoms without regime change, but that swiftly changed once the Bahraini government attempted to clear Pearl Roundabout, what protesters were hoping would be akin to the Egyptian revolutionaries Tahrir Square, and killed 3 protesters. As the government security apparatus is dominated by Sunni Arabs, this violent response was then capitalised upon by the Shia opposition who started to utilise sectarian rhetoric, which shall be discussed later. Since then, the Bahraini police and army has advanced and retreated in turn, before the Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad requested the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to send troops to help guard key strategic sites.

The Egyptian revolt: Repercussions and Possibilities

By: Tallha Abdulrazaq

I confess that I certainly did not see the events that are currently unfolding in Egypt coming. I knew that one day it had to happen, but I certainly did not think it would happen so soon. A thirty year iron fisted rule by Mubarak, the pervasiveness of the ludicrously sized Egyptian security apparatus (some figures put the ratio at 1 security/intelligence officer to every 30 Egyptians) and a tired and downtrodden people are usually not the right ingredients for a popular revolt of this magnitude and ferocity. Similarly, the ousting of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, former disgraced despot of Tunisia, caught me off guard too. However, I console myself with the knowledge that nobody saw this coming. Who would’ve thought that the Arabs, normally so docile and willing to be ground into the dirt by their illegitimate governments, would rise up with such fury and attempt to cast down the masters imposed upon them? Human intellect is no match for God’s will, that’s for sure.

But what are the potential outcomes to what is happening in Egypt? Inspired by the Tunisians, they’ve taken to the streets in the hopes of finally getting rid of the man and the government that has been oppressing them for decades. The police confronted the protesters before pulling back and seemingly vanishing, and the Egyptian Army has yet to do anything decisive for either the protesters or the embattled Egyptian government. However, internationally, already we are seeing involvement and signals from significant world powers.