[Marxism] Tariq Ali: The Price of Occupation

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The price of occupation

Tariq Ali Friday July 8, 2005 The Guardian <http://www.guardian.co.uk>

During the last phase of the Troubles, the IRA targeted mainland
Britain: it came close to blowing up Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet
in Brighton. Some years later a missile was fired at No 10. London's
financial quarter was also targeted. There was no secret as to the
identity of the organisation that carried out the hits or its demands.
And all this happened despite the various Prevention of Terrorism Acts
passed by the Commons.

The bombers who targeted London yesterday are anonymous. It is assumed
that those who carried out these attacks are linked to al-Qaida. We
simply do not know. Al-Qaida is not the only terrorist group in
existence. It has rivals within the Muslim diaspora. But it is safe to
assume that the cause of these bombs is the unstinting support given by
New Labour and its prime minister to the US wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq.

One of the arguments deployed by Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London,
when he appealed to Tony Blair not to support the war in Iraq was
prescient: "An assault on Iraq will inflame world opinion and jeopardise
security and peace everywhere. London, as one of the major world cities,
has a great deal to lose from war and a lot to gain from peace,
international cooperation and global stability."

Most Londoners (as the rest of the country) were opposed to the Iraq
war. Tragically, they have suffered the blow and paid the price for the
re-election of Blair and a continuation of the war.

Ever since 9/11, I have been arguing that the "war against terror" is
immoral and counterproductive. It sanctions the use of state terror -
bombing raids, torture, countless civilian deaths in Afghanistan and
Iraq - against Islamo-anarchists whose numbers are small, but whose
reach is deadly. The solution then, as now, is political, not military.
The British ruling elite understood this perfectly well in the case of
Ireland. Security measures, anti-terror laws rushed through parliament,
identity cards, a curtailment of civil liberties, will not solve the
problem. If anything, they will push young Muslims in the direction of
mindless violence.

The real solution lies in immediately ending the occupation of Iraq,
Afghanistan and Palestine. Just because these three wars are reported
sporadically and mean little to the everyday lives of most Europeans
does not mean the anger and bitterness they arouse in the Muslim world
and its diaspora is insignificant. As long as western politicians wage
their wars and their colleagues in the Muslim world watch in silence,
young people will be attracted to the groups who carry out random acts
of revenge.

At the beginning of the G8, Blair suggested that "poverty was the cause
of terrorism". It is not so. The principal cause of this violence is the
violence being inflicted on the people of the Muslim world. And unless
this is recognised, the horrors will continue.

. Tariq Ali's latest book is Speaking of Empire and Resistance.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,12780,1523821,00.html?gusrc=
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