While recently moving house and “binning” unwanted stuff I
came across an old wallet of mine in the back of a drawer. I checked to see if
I had left anything in it – there was nothing except a fortune cookie from some
long forgotten Christmas past. It read as follows:-
“You will enjoy good health – that will be your form of
wealth”.
I was rather taken aback at having this thrown in my face,
as it were. It is true that I am fortunate in that I do enjoy good health and I
certainly appreciate the fact that no amount of money can “buy” good health but
I was surprised to have this presented to me in this manner. It was the last
thing I expected but then Nature, at the time and place of its choosing, has
its own way of reminding us of important facts.
This last fact – that Nature has its own way of presenting
things - led me to reflect on what Al Ghazali said (he was a Muslim jurist, theologian and
mystic born in Iran and who lived 1058-1111 CE) - we can learn from everyone!!:
“Punishment
is the natural working out of consequences, and not an arbitrary infliction
imposed ab extra.”
From
this statement, by a somewhat circuitous route, I arrived at a point where I
was thinking about current events in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria (Al Ghazali
spent some time in Damascus). If punishment is the result of consequences - the
natural flow of events from cause to effect - then the suffering being
experienced by the peoples of Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria (and by extension
many of the Allied military) would be, logically, the result of some previous
circumstance or circumstances (the cause).
If
we examine Afghanistan for example we find that, certainly in recent times,
they have had the beliefs and wishes of others imposed on them – first the
Russians and now the Americans and their allies.
The
Russian incursion into Afghanistan lasted nine years from December 1979
to February 1989. As part of the Cold War (the West vs Soviet Russia) the
conflict between Soviet led Afghan troops fighting multi-national insurgent
groups (predominantly Muslim but US aided) known as the mujahideen was very
violent.
The mujahideen won and the Russians were forced out in 1989.
Now for the Americans and their allies (including Australia)
the Taliban are the “enemy” in Afghanistan – but both the mujahedeen and the
Taliban had their origins in the original Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and
are indirect creations of the US from their attempts to weaken the Soviets
during the Cold War.
Also, indirectly, it has been alleged that the early
foundations of al-Qaeda stem, at least in part, from the relationships, the
weaponry and the billions in US aid that was given to support the mujahedeen in
their fight to expel the Soviets.
The Afghan people are a tough and independent lot – they
resent any incursion by anyone.
What goes around comes around!
Then there is Iraq. I
know the Saddam Hussein was a very unpleasant character but he unified and modernised
Iraqi society and facilitated the education of millions of Iraqis (both male
and female) to such an extent that he was even given an award by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Everything worked, people had food, employment and a level of social services
that were unprecedented among Middle Eastern countries in what was an (admittedly
enforced) secular country.
Now it is a disaster.
Iraq is a mess of sectarian violence. Tens of thousands of Iraqis died as did
thousands of Americans and their allies in the invasion of that country. For
what? Bombs and general shootings are still killing hundreds of these
unfortunate people. And to make matters worse previously reliable electricity
and water services are now somewhat problematic and the previously excellent
social services are virtually non-existent and there is high unemployment. Also
it is not a “Democracy” such as would be approved by the “West”.
Syria is something else again. The current civil
war (upward of 40 000 have died and millions have fled their homes) appears to
be an extension of the “Arab spring” movement but would seem to have been
high-jacked by the “Muslim Brotherhood” which had its origins in Egypt and
others apparently affiliated to Muslim extremists and al-Qaeda.
All
indications are that Syria will end up as a fragmented failed state despite the
efforts of other Arab countries and the “West” who are desperately trying to prevent
this.
America and the West cannot hope to impose anything resembling the Western Ideal of Democracy in the Middle East if the peoples concerned are not prepared to embrace it. If they do embrace Democracy it may be a version, a local somewhat altered version, a cherry-picked version. It will be, however, what they choose. Let it be – it will be a “grass roots” from the bottom up movement to allow the local populace a voice in running their country. It cannot and will not be something imposed by outsiders (and non-Muslims at that).
The West,
by trying to interfere in the internal affairs of these countries (something
the West would never accept if the roles were reversed) has started a sequence
of events that it has no power to control. If the West does not like the
results – the consequences – of its interference then the West must look to
itself.
As Al-Ghazali
said (see my quote above) “Punishment is the natural working out of consequences, and
not an arbitrary infliction imposed ab
extra.”
The
Arabs are not children. They will sort themselves out. They are an intelligent people some of whom
have been caught up in a quasi-religious, quasi-political ideology and,
combined with a distorted view of history, are trying to impose their views and
to recreate a long lost “golden age” of Arab achievement to match the West. Their
“power” comes from a strict interpretation of the Koran and
application of their version of Islamic Law.
Let
them be. Leave well alone. The West must learn to take responsibility for, and
accept the consequences, of its actions (good or bad).
Remember
what goes around comes around!
