SOMETIMES I READ AN ARTICLE AND I AM TRULY DISGUSTED. IN THIS ARTICLE Sir Andrew Green a former Ambassador to Syria and to Saudi Arabia talks about the reason that the West has to stay out of mid-east countries and how democracy can never work in Islamic countries. WHY does he seem so surprised or as though he has JUST made a major discovery that explains the problems in Iraq? ANYONE who has any knowledge of Islam knows that it is the religion of mid-east countries. Islam is not solely confined to a belief system. It is not only a religion, but a total system of life and contains within it a particular social system, judicial system, and political system which includes geo-political aspirations for the conquest and administration of territory. THE REPRESENTATIVES that are chosen to work in government for the good of the country and its citizens are believed to be intelligent and knowledgeable. Nothing that I read in this article makes me believe that any longer. Any ordinary citizen with knowledge of Islam could have told them what Islam is, what happens under it, and what its goals are. They could have also told these representatives that Islam has NOT changed for 1500 years and nor is it likely to change. A moslem’s first loyalty is to Allah and Islam, and they hate and do not want the kinds of societies that democracy and the West has. People demand that we do all in our power to help the Christians and the Yasidis who are being so viciously persecuted. And they are right to do so. This is a problem that will not go away. One million people have been displaced since Islamic State militants took over swathes of Northern Iraq. Yesterday, the governor of Dohuk province warned of a “genocide”, as hundreds of thousands sought refuge there. The enthusiasm of yester-year for the “Arab Spring” has proved entirely misguided. It has led to chaos in Egypt and anarchy in Libya. Those determined to be “on the right side of history” now find themselves on the wrong side of the argument. Democracy is empathically not the solution for extremely complex societies and Western meddling only makes matters immeasurably worse. The fundamental reason for our failure is that democracy, as we understand it, simply doesn’t work in Middle Eastern countries where family, tribe, sect and personal friendships trump the apparatus of the state. These are certainly not societies governed by the rule of law. On the contrary, they are better described as “favour for favour” societies. When you have a problem of any kind, you look for someone related to you by family, tribe or region to help you out and requests are most unlikely to be refused since these ties are especially powerful. In countries where there is no effective social security, your future security lies only in the often extensive family. Behind what we might perceive as this somewhat chaotic structure lie the secret police and the armed forces. They hold the state together under the aegis of the president, king, or whoever rules the roost. The West’s abject failure to understand the inner workings of these countries has had some disastrous effects. Iraq is the classic case. I was opposed to the invasion of that country, not because I had any love for Saddam but because I believed that the alternative would be worse. I was concerned that our invasion would destroy the stability of the Gulf which had, since the fall of the Shah in 1979, depended on a tripod comprising Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia (the latter supported by the West). That is exactly what happened and we now find that the Iranians are in a position to dominate the Gulf region. We in the West have little conception of the mutual hatred and contempt between these two Islamic sects. Think of the Protestant and Catholic hatreds, thankfully of the past, and multiply them up. Then add in a regional struggle for power. We now have the leading Sunni power, Saudi Arabia, feeling threatened by the growing power of the Shia’ standard bearer in Iran as their influence spreads in Syria and Lebanon – a Shi’ite arc which the Saudis are determined to oppose. Where do our interests now lie? Thousands of refugees fleeing the blood curdling violence of the Islamic fighters. Protecting them requires that the front line of Kurdish controlled Iraq be stabilised. The US and most of Europe - EU foreign ministers met in emergency session in Brussels yesterday to discuss the issue - HAVE now recognised, they must be provided with the ammunition, equipment and intelligence that they need. Any involvement of ground troops would be a very serious mistake. While it may be necessary to have a very small number of special forces in a position to direct air strikes, we cannot allow “mission creep” to take over. Before long the very presence of Western forces generates resentment and hostility. An “Islamic state” poses a major threat to the stability of the whole Middle East. Furthermore, it establishes an area under the control of Islamic extremists which poses a threat to Britain itself. To be effective in the region and to ensure our own security, we must, for once, learn from the past and ensure that our policies take account of the internal dynamics of the countries of the region. We cannot afford any more mistakes. The growing chaos in the Middle East poses a real and present danger both to our economy and the peace of our society and indeed to that of the wider world. telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/11037173/Why-Western-democracy-can-never-work-in-the-Middle-East.html
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 17:34:40 +0000