Archive for month: September, 2015

It’s fairly easy to tell when Washington is scrambling to keep control of a story, because two things usually happen: firstly, the media coverage becomes muddled and frazzled, and secondly, the White House quickly looks for somewhere to offload the blame. These days the scapegoat is usually Russia, and hey, why fix what ain’t broken?

Obama’s fumbling vs. Putin’s consistency

On September 11, Barack Obama warned that Russia’s strategy of continued support for Assad was “doomed to fail” and a“big mistake.” In a patronizing little addendum, Obama said Putin was “going to have to start getting a little smarter.”

Russian involvement in Syria would be “destabilizing” …says the US after backing radical groups and illegally bombing Syria for a year.

— Danielle Ryan (@DanielleRyanJ) September 5, 2015

There’s more than a little irony in such statements, given that Obama’s own Syria strategy thus far has been an abject failure. However, the vaguely personal nature of his comments betrays a deeper frustration. While Obama continues to scratch his head over the mess that has unfolded in Syria, Putin has not wavered. Right or wrong, Russia’s Syria strategy has been consistent and clearly articulated, in stark contrast to Washington’s fumbling and bumbling.

While Russia still believes Assad needs to be an integral part of a broader coalition aimed at taking Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) out and that toppling his government would create further chaos and destruction, Washington still seems to believe that it can go after IS and Assad simultaneously. Little thought is given to the power vacuum such a strategy, if it was ‘successful’, would leave behind. Underlying this policy is an assumption that if they could just get Assad out of the way and force the Russians out of the equation, there would be a nice clean transfer of power — to an American puppet government, of course — and that all would be dandy. Just like it was in Iraq and Libya.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov countered the recent comments from Washington by arguing that it would be “absurd” to exclude the Syrian Army from fighting the jihadists, as it would be “the most effective military force on the ground.”

But inconsistency still reigns in DC. One minute we are told Assad is actively aiding Islamic State and the next minute it’s the ‘common enemy’, and John Kerry is talking about negotiating with the Syrian president. Similarly, the intensity of the calls to get rid of Assad has changed numerous times. Sometimes it’s vigorous and resounding. Other times it’s more timid and reserved.

Barack Obama can’t make up his mind. That much is crystal clear.

Media struggling to toe the line

The muddled media coverage we’re seeing now is a natural byproduct of Washington’s own confusion and shifting priorities. Washington’s establishment media — and those across the pond who follow it lockstep — are trying to toe the line, but the contradictions are getting more tangled by the day.

In case you were losing track, here is a quick rundown of the latest narratives we’re supposed to be swallowing:

• The West has simultaneously ‘done nothing’ and needs to ‘do even more’ to solve the crisis (this ignores the US’s sustained campaign of airstrikes and its training of anti-Assad rebels)
• Putin wants to destroy IS, but he’s also sending jihadists to join them (oh, and he’s also to blame for the crisis in general)
• Russia and Syria are allies, but Russian military personnel in Syria amounts to some sort of new ‘intervention’

And let’s not forget that for at least two weeks last month we were inundated with stories about how Putin was about to ditch Assad at any moment. Those stories were peddled by some of the same people who are now trying to spin Russia’s support of the Syrian president as some shocking new development.

Just over a week ago, the New York Times editorial board gave its full-throated endorsement to the State Department and lambasted Putin’s “dangerous” interference in the conflict. The piece was illustrated with a frankly Russophobic cartoon of an angry bear gobbling up a Syrian flag. Crude and disingenuous propaganda, particularly when you consider that the difference between US military involvement in Syria and Russian military involvement is that the Russians were actually invited.

Then, an essay in the Wall Street Journal last weekend managed to simultaneously roast NATO for the failure of its intervention in Libya while calling for deeper intervention in Syria — in the same sentence. It’d take some fairly strenuous mental gymnastics to work that one out.

Another headache for Washington

Perhaps the most striking revelation in the Syria story came this week in a Guardian article quoting the former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who asserts the West ignored a 2012 proposal by Russia that would have seen Assad step down as part of a broad peace deal. Convinced that Assad was about to be toppled, the West reportedly ignored the proposal.

Fast-forward to 2015, hundreds of thousands of Syrians are dead and millions more displaced. The US is still arming and training Al-Qaeda-linked rebels to overthrow Assad, struggling to convince the world that this is a workable solution and using Russia as the scapegoat to cover its own failures.

This latest piece of the puzzle surely provoked more frustration in the White House, which will not want to be embarrassed by the implication that time and again, it appears to prefer bombs as a first resort rather than a last one. For Russia’s part, the response to the Guardian story appeared to be neither confirm nor deny.

However, it’s against this backdrop that Washington has now agreed to restore direct military talks with the Russians. On Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry said the new talks would allow some time to “consider the next steps” to be taken in Syria. The talks could be a lifeline for Washington, a chance for Obama to walk his way back from the edge.

The US has overextended itself in Syria. One would think that at this point the White House could begin to admit its shortcomings and stop digging the hole — but as with so many American foreign policy adventures, evidence of failure isn’t usually enough to force a rethink of strategy. Still, the fact that Washington has agreed to reopen the lines of communication is a glimmer of hope. At the same time, the calls for Assad to go have been scaled back to something to be ‘negotiated’ rather than immediate. Another positive sign.

If however, nothing comes of the latest negotiations, we must then begin to seriously question Washington’s motives. Is the White House still more concerned with installing a puppet government in Damascus or vigorously fighting Islamic State? Why has the US thus far been so reluctant to partner with Russia to create a strong and broad international coalition that would provide the best chance for weakening this barbaric group and give the suffering Syrian people a decent chance to take back their country?

Writing for RT, Bryan MacDonald speculated that Washington “fears that Russia may get the credit for ending the conflict.” It appears, he wrote, “that US leaders think it’s more important to show contempt for Russia than to bring to an end a war that has caused such death and destruction.”

If saving face against the Russians is a major factor in Washington’s decision-making, it spells only more suffering for ordinary Syrian people. European leaders, who have largely supported Obama’s Middle East policies, must begin to seriously ask themselves, is toppling Assad worth any cost?

The US evidently believes it is — but then, it’s not the one paying the price. It rarely does.

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We should try to rediscover our mystical paths to see the realities that have been taught to us.

Spirituality and social action unite us. Every human is spiritual.

Catriona Robertson, Acting Director of the Christian Muslim Forum asked, ”What kind of secular society are we talking about? “ She quoted that in the last census three quarters identified with a world religion so as a majority we can say that we are religious. Linda Woodhead in a report stated that people have a spiritual life but it may not be institutionalised.

Catriona regards herself as a “Secular “person as well as being a Christian. Gone are the days when Christianity held a control over people. Public space needs value based voices, how we live what is important to us including the secularist voice. Sometimes senior public servants think the religious institutions are chaotic! We bring together our history we each have complex heritage which matters to us.  Below the radar, there will be at least one Islamic Centre and one Church and if something goes wrong who do you go to? You turn to communities of hope and love. If spirituality is lived out so we are bothered about hate crime migrants poverty and do something then we have a living faith. If spirituality is not lived out it becomes dry and dusty.

Dr MA Shomali, There is something of value in people who call for secularism who think people who are religious are divisive. There is however a positive role that religion can play. What religions can contribute is much greater to prosperity. We accept religion should not be imposed as far as Islam is concerned. In the Quran, the verse,” There is no compulsion in religion” was revealed in Medina when Islam was very powerful. When this verse was revealed about a person whose child converted to Christianity, he was instructed to leave them free. We should accept that being faithless and being disrespectful to religion is imposed on people. What we  observe are policies coming in are against religion and against certain norms. We face in name of freedom religion we are going through a pressure from people who do not believe in religions. The Quran tells us about a great Trust that was offered to mountains and mankind accepted His Trust, and to be vicegerent on earth. The problem occurred when mankind exhibited ignorance and injustice. There are two obstacles and without religion we cannot  get rid of these two problems. The only factor that can humble human beings and being a voice of mercy is when we see ourselves answerable to God. There is a problem of misuse of religion with some of the big tragedies that have happened in the name of religion. Anything powerful to unite people can be misused. If religion is misused what about weapons and armies are they not being misused.  Why are we not calling for a world free of armies?

Despite all the difficulties we face we religious people can do a lot to serve humanity.  We have entered a new era, we have reached a point our future is guaranteed only if we work together in face of pressure of materialism. Our progress lies in working together we would have association partnership of different religions that work for unity and happiness of mankind.  

The morning session can be summarised that the term secular and secularists promote the ideology of Godlessness.

We have to work together for common good and spirituality should be lived out otherwise it becomes rusty. There is positive role that religion can play in social life.

There are two major issues that prevents reaching full human capacity, that is ignorance and  injustice.

In both Islam and Christianity we both feel responsible to share the gift of God. If a person wants to live a life of piety and become conscious of God responsibilty is a main priority. As a Muslim we should help people of no faith to become Christian. Through social action and unity there is a need to love our neighbour’s religion as our own.

We have to take initiative, by introducing people to each other.

Christian Aid formed after the wars, we have faith based charities like Islamic Relief and we need to do more of that.

Dr Damion Howard of Heythrop University described how “Faith and secular “ are two words with lots of baggage. The New Testament described how Jesus believes in God. What is faith? In the Gospel of Mark:

Jesus went walking on a lake and asked Peter to take courage and said,” It is I, do not be afraid Lord if it you tell me to come on water. ‘Peter came towards Jesus and cried out, ”Save me.”

Jesus said,”You of little faith why do you doubt?”

 Faith is not just the belief that God exists but that He saves. Even when I am strong there is not a moment when we do not need God to save us.

The signs of times are that we are going to need faith to deal with the challenges which include:

• Pluralism- in London and Europe, its not easy to get to know each other. There is a lot of work to do!
• Global justice- there is the situation  that people are demanding to part of prosperous Europe- God will save us.
• Care of this common planet and how we are addicted to gadgets.

God will save us! We can address problems calmly because God will save us!

I am just going to have fun and leave the mess to someone else attitude.

When I catch myself moaning, a reality check is that in modern life there is a very ambiguous mixture as to how is it that  godless has anything good?

Secularism is not foremost of not believing in God, it is a  symptom and not a cause as it is very hard to believe in God . In the last 500 years there is something profoundly different about individualism, since before people were deeply connected to others .

What happens is that the barrier between me and everything else outside and is disconnected and is the heart of secularism .

500 years ago everybody accepted the law of Christianity, but now people have to come to religion on own terms since faith is a journey.

Finally Sister Dhanji practising Muslim woman with faith in the UK at a social level .

Lived amongst the first generation of Muslims displaying faith in public growth with pride and a resilience in Islam as faith was on the increase in cosmopolitan areas. Global religions futures project not only a decline in religious affiliation, growing spiritual areas but not as a religious movement.

Aside from mosques and churches to say ‘G’ word one can’t say God and faith is  not relevant.

People of faith can remedy to keep faith.Places of worship offer a sense of community. The appeal of  the community is dwindling.

People of faith cannot gravitate together. People don’t need places of worship we have to be active can’t continue and expect to attract youth. Aid organisations are good examples of faith. Godliness fuels our caring unconditional as state retreating faith based groups mobilise skills in welfare net. These are opportunities to get involved in public support, social action in delivering services, charities faith groups can expand the PR of faith .

Traditions appreciate anyone and everyone. It’s purpose is to increase knowledge and reduce detriment. The people of faith must stick together and build on a common ground. Peaceful co existence solidarity of people of faith compassionate justice.

Chris Hewer

What if secular non religious people are right?

Try to imagine if there was no God how would my life change?

People could say, ”If I wasn’t religious I would be having a great time”

Imam Ali  said, ‘If I obey God out of fear that is a religion of a slave, if a person obeys out of reward that is worship of a merchant and if someone prays out of love that is worship of a free person.”

There are lots of people who think religion is taught through fear.

To be happy is a natural condition of human being.

The Quran mentions how the  souls were questioned,’ Am I not your Lord ?”

That means, are you not a relationship with me?

There is in every single human being, a vacuum filled by divine guidance when it comes to him or her they feel at home.

How do we evaluate Islamic teaching? Then if truly teaching about Islam it should reverberate in the hearts.

St Augustine said you made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until we rest with you.

There is no religious gene this is natural condition of all human beings. Prophet Muhammed came in order to lead people to a happy life and paradise .

In Christianity there is an understanding of being filled and growing into divine nature. Transformation into fullness of humanity. In every being there is the divine to be awoken is there to be turned on.

There was something our great religious figures something so appealing about Jesus.

People aught to be looking and saying there is something fascinating.

St Fransis travels through Muslim lands and writes a set of instructions first thing keep mouth shut or ridicule what Muslims find holy live subject to their norms serve those most in need. Seek to live a life that your life evoked questions and make a real sense of religion as a biting force.

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SSP district Central, Muqadas Haider, said the deceased was a resident of the same area. He was shot by a 9mm pistol which were claimed to have been sent to the Sindh police’s forensic division.

He was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in a critical condition where he died during treatment.

According to the SSP, the family told the police that Zaidi had escaped a murder attempt on his life just last week and that he was apparently attacked by the same men. The previous incident was, however, not reported to the police.

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According to a report by the nongovernmental organization (NGO), which was published on Saturday, 6,091 Yemenis have lost their lives in the Saudi airstrikes and a total of 13,552 people have been injured.

There are 3,006 women and children among the dead. The report also says as many as 2,997 women and children have been wounded.

Targeting infrastructure, civilians

Yemen’s Civil Coalition stated that the Saudi airstrikes target civilians, the infrastructure and residential areas of Yemen in defiance of international norms and conventions.

The report also highlighted an escalation in the airstrikes against Yemen over the past two weeks, which has increased the number of casualties.

The attacks are mainly centered on residential areas in the provinces of Sana’a, Sa’ada, Hajjah, Ta’izz, Ibb, Jawf, Hudaydah, Dhamar, and Bayda, according to the report.

Educational, medical and historical locations across Yemen are also targeted in the airstrikes, the report stated, calling on the United Nations to investigate crimes committed by Riyadh against Yemen.

Saudi warplanes carried out new airstrikes on the district of Razeh in Yemen’s northwestern province of Sa’ada during the early hours of Sunday. There has been no report on the possible casualties.

Similar airstrikes left over 60 people dead across the country the previous day.

In the district of Munabbih in northern province of Sa’ada, at least 50 people were killed and over a dozen others injured in similar attacks on a local market late on Saturday. Saudi warplanes also targeted a residential area in the district of Majz in the province, killing 10 members of a family.

Three members of another family were also killed when their house was hit by an airstrike in Ma’rib Province.

In retaliation for the Saudi airstrikes, the Yemeni army, backed by popular committees, targeted a number of Saudi military bases in the border region, inflicting heavy losses on them.

Riyadh launched its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to the fugitive former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

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