Terrorism in Sri Lanka

Terrorism in Sri Lanka

Thanks God, no religion is labeled here, that is the right thing to do. If Tamil Tigers were Muslims, would the world still have labeled Tamil Tigers? Terrorism can be solved by laser barking at the individual terrorists.

Mike Ghouse
__________________________________

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jfO38Nnkaq2QAHH-Yjm8Sohn1HvQ

Sri Lanka offers olive branch to Tamil Tigers

19 hours ago

COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lanka offered Sunday to halt major military
operations against Tamil separatists in exchange for peace talks
following intense international censure.

Troops will not press ahead with an offensive if Tamil Tiger rebels
agree to talk, Defence Ministry secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse told a
newspaper amid pressure from the island's key foreign backers not to
pursue the military option.

The country's top defence official said it was now up to the Tigers to
decide if the military should keep up its drive and urged them to
resume peace negotiations which collapsed in October last year.

"The decision (of war or peace) is theirs and I believe they wouldn't
reject this opportunity," Rajapakse told the Sunday Island. "We'll not
take advantage of the ground situation," if the Tigers agree to
negotiate.

Rajapakse, who is also the president's younger brother, made the
comments after the the United States urged Colombo against pressing
ahead with a military drive.

The European Union and neighbouring India have also warned against an
all-out military campaign.

The surprise olive branch came just days after the defence secretary
had vowed to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Rajapakse had on Monday called for stepped-up military action to
finish off the rebels.

"Without defeating terrorism, we can't have a political settlement,"
he said last week in a speech in the northeastern coastal city of
Trincomalee as part of celebrations after the ministry said three
rebel gun-running ships had been sunk.

"The president is working hard on a political settlement," he said,
adding: "Whatever the political settlement, it cannot be implemented
unless terrorism is eradicated."

The hard-hitting speech prompted the US ambassador to Sri Lanka to
warn there was no military solution to the Indian Ocean island's
long-running separatist conflict, which has claimed more than 60,000
lives since 1972.

"The expulsion of the LTTE from the east (of the island) and the
recent sinking of several LTTE ships carrying arms and other
provisions mark important military successes," Blake said.

"But these tactical successes should not tempt the government to
re-consider whether Sri Lanka's conflict can be won by military means.
It cannot."

Diplomats close to the now moribund Norwegian-led peace process said
Colombo appeared to be taking on board their concerns in the wake of
high-level international meetings in Geneva and New York focusing on
the island.

"There is no mood on either side to resume talks," one diplomat noted.
"But, at least we can expect a scaling down of the violence. There is
a lot of concern about the mounting body count."

Ambassador Blake's remarks came as the Sri Lankan government battled
to avoid formal censure at the United Nations Human Rights Council,
which is reviewing the island's deteriorating rights record in Geneva.

Diplomats said Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse could also face
tough questioning during his current visit to New York to address the
UN general assembly.

Rights groups accuse the government and Tamil rebels of extra-judicial
killings and scores of disappearances of civilians and political
activists.

A top international panel on Wednesday accused Sri Lanka of failing to
honour promises to investigate grave human rights violations and
accused the government of a virtual cover-up.

The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) said a
government probe into 16 high-profile cases, including mass murder,
had failed to make headway since being launched in November 2006.

More than 5,400 people have been killed since December 2005 when a
truce began to unravel.

Hindu terrorism in Gujarat?

Hindu Terrorism in Gujarat?

No, it is not, as we can track down the individuals responsible for the crimes and punish them for messing with up with the peace. Blaming the religion will not get us anywhere. Blaming religion has not solved the problems of the world and it is time to take action against all criminals.
__________________________

This report from ANHAD, India

Minorities Under Attack: Sangh Prepares for the Coming Elections

After receiving distress calls for help from members of the Muslim community from various villages of Surat district a team rushed there. Yusuf Shaikh, President All India Quami Mahaz and Convener, Samajik Nyay Kendra, Dushyantbhai S. Somabhai Unjakar from Samajik Nyay Kendra, Baroda and Shabnam Hashmi, a social activists from Anhad, Delhi and member of the National Integration Council visited the following places: Village Hathoda, Village Velaccha, Village Kosamba, Village Navi Kosadi, Village Kosadi and Kim Char Rasta.

This report is based on the visit of the team to various affected villages and other areas and interviews with the victims and other villagers of these areas. There are a number of other villages which have been attacked but we could not visit all of them.

Background: For the last few months, violence has been constantly taking place against minorities in Gujarat especially in the districts of Vadodara and Surat. In July 2007, an attack was organized against the Muslim community living in Kosamba. The Gau Rakshak Suraksha Samiti has been at the forefront of these attacks. Detailed Fact Finding report of Kosamba attack attached

Village Kosadi:

On 18th around 11am approximately 20 goons led by Jasu Darbar reached Kasodi. Jasu Darbar –a local bad element and also the Vice President of the Gau Rakshak Suraksha Samiti, Mangrol was regularly visiting the village for over 6 months and harassing the people especially the butchers and he used to extract 'hafta' from them to allow them to continue their business.

On 18th under the pretext of inspecting and looking for a lost calf of some local tribal he entered the village along with 20 goons in two cars and 5 motorcycles. They reached the very end of the village near the crematorium. The whole group started abusing the local Muslims and threatened to burn the houses of local villagers. The local residents asked him to go back with his group and not to create a situation which will lead to tension in the village. Jasu Darbar took out swords from his car and soon an altercation started. The local people also brought wooden sticks for their protection. Most of the people who had accompanied Jasu darbar fled from the scene leaving their 5 motorcycles and two cars there and Jasu was surrounded by the local people and beaten up with sticks.

The village Deputy Sarpanch called the Mamlatdar and they put an injured Jasu Darbar in a vehicle to take him to hospital. He collapsed on the way.

Following this the Police arrived and entered the mosque where Muslims were praying and took away about 25 people on the pretext of taking their statements and till this report is filed no one knows where they are kept. The local people talked to the police a number of times asking them to arrest the culprits and punish them but release the innocents but to no avail.

We met the Sarpanch Laxman bhai Chotubhai Vasava and the Deputy Sarpanch Hasin Ismailji bhai and a number of local people who had gathered as our team arrived there.

Laxmanbhai Vasava and Hasinbhai informed us that there are about 1000 families and half of them are from the minority community, the others Adivasis, Lohar and Dalits. There has been no communal problems in the village between the communities.

Following this the Gau Raksha Suraksha Samiti and various units of the Sangh- VHP, Bajrand Dal etc organised attacks on a number of nearby villages and systematic attacks, looting and burning of property and businesses and terrorizing of Muslims by the Police and goons is taking place for since September 18, 2007. Constant phone calls are coming from different parts as we write and file this report:

Visit to Hatoda, Kosamba and Velachcha

1. Velachcha: Destroyed- 22 Muslim houses, 3 shops , 2 motorbikes- started at Time: 5.15pm

22 houses have been totally gutted. When we visited Valechcha on 19th September, 2007 the smoke was still coming out of the houses. There was nothing left in the houses. The families fled from the village.

The police was present and the fire brigade trying to douse the fire.

The victims whom we met in Hatoda told us that the attack on these houses took place in the presence of the Police and at that point there was enough police and could have stopped the attackers. Instead the attackers after reaching the spot spoke to the police and the police went and stood hundred meters away in front of the local school in Velachcha, while the attackers used petrol and kerosene to burn the houses. The fire brigades arrived too late to save any belongings.

Men, women, small children fled from the houses to save lives, hid for a few hours in jungles, then walked through the night and only on 19 th morning at 5.30am some of them reached Hathoda- a Muslim dominated village, some reached Kosamba and some were still missing. Most of them had left without chappals or slippers and they reached with thorns all over their feet in bruised state.

The families have lost everything except a set of clothes that they were wearing. The local residents of Hatoda village are looking after the families.

The government has made no arrangement for any relief. We spoke to the DSP on the phone. He refused to file their FIRs as he said police has already filed the FIR. In fact the DSP told us that we are disturbing the peace in the district. Later when the paralegal team of the Centre for Social Justice team after documenting individual cases went to the police station, he again refused to file any FIR.

Those whose houses were burnt:

Bazar Vistar Padar- 3 houses
1. Ismail Yakub
2. Manubibi
3. Sairabibi Shaikh

Masjid Mohalla
1. Shaikh Usmanmian Gulzarmian
2. Irfankhan Pathan
3. Mehranbibi Gulzarmian Shaikh
4. Hanifmian Gulzarmian Shaikh
5. Salimmian Gulzarmian Shaikh
6. Gulammian Rehmanmian
7. Hydermian Rehmanmian
8. Jabbarmohd Rehman Shaikh
9. Chotumian rehmanmian
10. Shabbibmian Gulzarmian
11. Bikhanmian Amirmian
12. Amirmian Rasulmian
13. Usmanmian Gulzarmian
14. Shaikh MOhd Noormian
15. Mian Mohd Hydermian
16. Mohd Aslam Ghulam Nabi Shaikh
17. Rafikmian Hydermain
18. Fatimabibi Mohdmian Shaikh
19. Farookmian Bambayya ( Chelliya)
20. Ahmad Mohd Shaikh

Shops:
1. Cycle and Cutlery:
2. Chicken shop
3. xx

Those who attacked, burnt and looted the houses:

Attackers who came from Tarsadi village
1. Kishore Singh Kosada
2. Dayabhai Rabari
3. Jango Rabari
4. Chetan ( Raj Mobile shopwala)
5. Mohan Rabari
6. Kalu Chotalia
7. Jaideep Gabbar
8. Guddu Bhaiya


Attackers from the Velachha village
1. Dharmendra Singh Chauhan
2. Chandra Singh Chauhan Urf Umesh Arvind tailor
3. UdaySinh Ramsinh Chauhan
4. Hareshbhai Jeevanbhai Prajapati
5. Naveenbhai Hiralal Shah
6. Ghemalsinh Chauhan
7. Chattrasinh Gambhirsinh Chauhan
8. Pankaj Panchal
9. Dinesh Sukha Koli Patel ( tempowala)
10. Bharat kalidas Adivasi ( rikshawwala)
11. Haresh Mulji Makwana
12. Samir Sawawala

Visit to Mosali village and Mosali Char Rasta

Jasu Darbar's body was brought for postmortem to referral hospital situated in Mosali around 4pm. About 150 people from outside the village had gathered at the hospitals. Most of them were on motorcycles.

After coming out of the hospital they attacked the Muslim shops which were near the hospital and then they went on a looting and burning spree across the village.

According to the eye witnesses the Police was though out present and did not take any step to stop the looting and burning.

Names of victims whose shops were burnt and looted (we could not meet some of the victims, so there shop names are mentioned instead of their names:

1. Ibrahim Panchbhaiya
2. Ayub Panchbhaiya
3. Umar -Radio Service
4. Lucky cloth store
5. Rashid bhai- Shan Footware
6. Kasimbhai Khalifa- Takdeer hair Art
7. Fatimaben Farook- Tailor House
8. Steel furniture-recently opened
9. Pan Centre shop- Musabhai Bobat
10. Hashimbhai- Paras Watch Centre
11. Tea Stall- Sureshbhai Vasava
12. we saw three more burnt shops but could not get the names of the owners.

Most of the shop owners were able to fled in time and were not physically attacked but a young shop owner Rashidbhai who was inside the shop after putting the shutter down was badly beaten up. The attackers opened the shutter, Rashidbhai ran to the first floor of the shop, he was dragged down and severely beaten up. The Gau Rakshak Suraksha Samiti members looted from Rashibhai's shop- a laptop, mobile phone and 60,000 cash. His motorcycle Honda was burnt down.

We spoke to a large number of local residents from the majority community who had gathered there. They told us that both the communities lived together peacefully and there has been no history of communal tension between the, they ate together, celebrated together different festivals. The attackers they sad had all come from outside.

Mosali Char Rasta

After attacking and burning the shops inside the village the mob moved outside and reached the Mosali Char Rasta. The mob used stones and bricks to break open the locks of the shops and looted and burnt down the shops:

1. provision store- owner-Shuaib Mohd Patel- totally burnt down
2. hotel— cold drinks-safari telecentre- 40 crates looted, partially burnt
3. auto part shop- super auto garage
4. biku auto parts garage- owner-yakub ibrahim biku- totally burnt down
5. hotel vasraiwala-owner- ibrahim tadwala-dhabha- From this shop it is interesting to note that the members of the Gau Rakshak Suraksha samiti looted -two cylinders, one chulha, a sack of Potatoes , sack of onion, oil and wheat floor.- Partially burnt

On the Char Rasta the following was burnt too:
truck burnt- owner- Yusuf Musaji Ugraddar- GRV 7602
Jeep- Manjulaben
Jeep-belongs to Mehmood Shaiklh's wife

There were 12 policemen present throughout this period when the shops were being burnt. According to the eye witnesses they did not take any steps to stop the attackers.

Nava Kasodi

On our way to Kasodi we had briefly stopped at Nava Kasodi and met some of the victims from different places who had taken refuge there.

Abdul Kada's bike was burnt in Vadoli, his house attacked, glasses broken

Those who attacked included:
Bhalabhai Darbar, pradeepbhai, sukhabhai, rajubhai, shambhubhai, ( sarpanh), jitubhai, vikram, rakesh, arun, bhupendra, babubhai, haresh.


Kim Char Rasta

We received several calls from the Kim Char Rasta as it was being attacked while we were visiting other villages.

As we reached the Kim Char Rasta we saw 5 motorcycles on the main Char Rasta which were recently burnt. Smoke was coming out and a stench of rubber being burnt was in the atmosphere.

We had visited several calls from the mosque so we went to the Madani mosque.

Prakash Manjra LCB constable and PI Rabari along with approximately 25 policemen stormed the mosque with rifles and wearing shoes. Because of the month of Ramzan there were a lot of people resting in the hall of the mosque. It was around 1.15pm. The policemen immediately started breaking the glasses and mercilessly beat up many people who were inside the mosque. When we reached the mosque it was littered with broken glasses and there were blood stains all over the mosque floor. It was evident that people were attacked in every corner of the mosque. We were told that many people, young and old were mercilessly beaten up on their thighs, on their shoulders and all over the body with rifle butts.

The police then picked up around 15 people and took them away. It is only now after 24 hours that we have been able to find out that they have been taken to a place near Navi Pardi in galore police quarters. One of the boys Arshad was beaten up in custody and his condition is very critical; sources have informed us today on phone.

Places we could not visit

Kemraj Char Rasta- mosque attacked, Asarma village- attacked

Demands

1. Immediate arrest of culprits – the members of the Gau Rakshak Suraksha Samiti and other hoodlums who attacked the villages.
2. The people responsible for attacking Jasu Darbar should be apprehended and innocent people released immediately.
3. Release of innocent people arrested from the mosques.
4. Open Relief Camp and provide relief urgently to the victims who have lost their houses.
5. Suspend DSP Jha responsible for the safety of the citizens of his area and other lower rank officers, who were present at the spot but did not do anything to stop the attackers.
6. Suspend PI Pardi and Prakash Manjra LCB constable.

Dealing with the Extremists

Dealing with the Extremists
Mike Ghouse, March 2007

How do you deal with extremists? You have to have to have dynamite confidence. The first lesson I learned in my childhood was dealing with the Monkeys, the second one was on Tim Russet’s “Meet the press” program called “Interfaith in America” which is available at www.FoundationforPluralism.com.

In the program, a Catholic Nun says that the reason people are wooed towards neo-cons is because they give confidence. When there is fear, people do not really care about logic or reason; they fall for hope from any given source.

There is a famous story I've heard, where a boatload of people got caught in a rough patch in the middle of the ocean. Giant waves rock the boat and the passengers fear for their lives. One man makes an attempt to get up, when his friend pulls him down and asks what he was doing, he says, he is going to pray. The friend laughs at him, because he was never a sincere or religious person . The man stands up any way and loudly asks people to pray with him, he invokes (Jesus, Allah, Ganesha or.... fill in your own affiliation) God and starts asking God to help them steer through the storm. People were in awe and joined in the prayers with him. He promises safety to every one. About an hour later, the storm calms down and they safely reach the coast. As the man got out, passengers anxiously thanked him and fell at his feet (tradition) and admired him for his holiness.

The friend pulls him over and points that the promises made were false, how would you have made them? What if the boat had capsized? The man stares at his friend blankly and says, “There would not have been any one to question me then".

There is no one to know, how many boats have sunk? Only those that survive can tell the story. The neo cons, Islamofascists, Hindutva are precisely that. Create the element of fear and act with confidence.

This element of confidence has not germinated in most of the moderates, they cannot fathom that hope is crucial to survival. They will laugh at themselves if they said anything silly like that man in the boat or our President.

The neo-cons use this formula every day. Our President talks confidently about the dangers of terrorism. The neo-cons manufactured the data with ease and our gullible Congresspersons and the Senators buy the idea without even questioning it. When our President said, “they hate us for our freedom” every one bought it because 9/11 was a proof that blinded our ability to think clearly. They did not ask, not a single journalist ever asked for "proof" or counter “ Sir, is it our freedom or the administration’s policy that they hate?” Then our Senators and Congresspersons lost the guts to say no to invading Iraq, our President had the podium and the frightened public was ready to pray in the boat. No one dared question for the fear of being labeled un-patriotic. Thank God for November 6th, 2006. Americans are free again. It is our duty to speak up when we are wrong; we could have saved 3000 of our sons and daughters and 650,000 Iraqis and destruction in Lebanon. Our patriotism hinges on our duty to prevent our nation from going on the wrong road. Speaking up the truth, however harsh it is, is Patriotism.

“Newt Gingrich now admits that he was carrying on with another woman at the same time he was leading impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton -- proceedings based on the president's actions during an investigation born out of his carrying on with another woman.” - AOL News. This is the confidence that all the neo-cons portray, they knew there were no WMDs and many other things. Still they had the gall to tell it like a fact. Of course, the moderates shy away from telling bold face lies, because, they know the truth triumphs at the end.

Now, to get back to the monkeys; the very first lesson I learned in life about dealing with extremists was dealing with the Monkeys. The town where I grew up was blessed with a lot of Monkeys; they were everywhere. As kids, whenever we stopped at the fruit or snack shop and picked up some little morsel to eat, without fail, a monkey would come down and snatch the food right out of our hands and run. When chased, they would stop and stare at you and growl. That is the defining moment in that relationship; getting scared or scaring off. Over the years, I have watched it over and over again – There will be a deadly pause for a few seconds, if you stand firmly, without flinching the eyelids, the Monkey will walk away. However, the one who flinches first loses. Monkeys have strong antennae to recognize the fear in you, the thought of taking a step backwards or flinching gives the signal to the monkey that he rules.

Humans are no different, I have experimented with this work several times, and one was standing face to face with a 6'.3” , 250 pound guy who threatened to thrash me. I was only 5'.8", and at that time 150 pounds. He backed off. I am sure one of these days some one will punch me hard.

As a moderate, when we talk about the peaceful co-existence, or stretching a hand to the extreme conservatives, I get jumped on by the other extreme. I have a choice of saying to myself, “Why do I need to be in this,” and simply not deal with it or I have to ask myself, if I believed in what I say, what is my commitment to it?

I am a big fan of Tom Hopkins, the motivational trainer, who says, look at the numbers, if you have a goal of helping one in ten people, and if the first one says no to you, thank him to let you climb the first step, 9 more to go. If you lose at the first step, and fail yourselves, only you have to blame yourselves.

When you set out to do good things, and are held back by the ultra-conservatives, think about this – only 2 or 3 or 4 are opposed, let’s check to see if we are wrong, if we are not, thank them for caution and march forward with confidence to do what you have committed to do. As long as your leadership is not for a personal gain, you will succeed.

And my lifetime favorite quote that has inspired me to speak about doing things wholeheartedly is as follows. “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy... Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.… Whatever you can do or dream that you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." – Goethe”.

Dealing with extremists, I have found that confidence is the key. Like the man in the boat or the one facing the monkey. Whoever is committed stays the course.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer. He is president of the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio, discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. He has appeared on the local affiliates of CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS and FOX and has been written up in the news papers. He founded the World Muslim Congress with a simple theme “good for Muslims and good for the world." The organization is driven by Qur'aan, Al-Hujurat, and Surah 49:13: "O mankind! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. The noblest of you, in sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Allah Knows and is Aware." Mike believes that if people can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. His articles can be found at http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/ , http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and he can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com

Laser Barking at Terrorists

Laser Barking at Terrorists
Mike Ghouse April 20, 2007

This essay explores the mistakes our Administration has made in not facing the terrorist squarely; and instead acting out like cranky babies. The world communities will be with us, with their hearts in fighting the menace of terrorism, if we go after the individuals responsible for the crimes and not their families, their nation or their religion. We will achieve far greater success, if we learn to laser bark at the criminals, instead of barking at the universe.

Throw me in the ditch for the crimes I commit, inflict the punishment I deserve, but please do not unleash your fury on my family, my parents, my town or my religion. I should be responsible for my acts, and no one else. This should be a common principle and norm, we should abide by.

There is always a reaction to the biased phrase when some one is addressed as, “You people”. We have seen reactions by Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus or African Americans, Arabs, Caucasians and others when they hear that phrase, “you people” in that particular tone. For the wrongs I do, it should be, “Mike you goofed up” and not, “you guys”. When a Jewish councilman was addressed in that fashion in Dallas in 2006, all of us were offended, and I took the step to condemn the sayer of such a phrase through Dallas Morning News. I also make no exception if my fellow Muslims speak in that tone.

You face the battle with your kids when they go nuts, you do the best in disciplining them, and when they are cranky, they will do the thing they know how; to be unruly, challenging and sometimes even getting destructive. When you push a wild animal to the corner, he knows he is done with, but before he crumbles, he will charge on you and attempt to inflict whatever damage it can.
While the analogy of wild animal in the case of terrorists may not be perfect, more often than not we use an approach in delineating and classifying terrorists. We have to develop a nuanced and conscientious approach in dealing with terrorism. Some groups, such as al-Qaeda, are aimless, there is no negotiable goals or agendas that can be meaningfully contended with. Therefore, there is not a room for flexibility with them. However, there are many a movements that engage in terrorism, and have legitimate and genuine grievances as part of national resistance movement. Without addressing those grievances, no preaching or pressure would eliminate such terrorism, especially when many among these people have lost all hope for any solution or resolution and have been pushed to the wall.

While we must not condone any terrorism, we must also take the moral high ground by addressing the underlying grievances and problems and avoid pursuing policies, and undertaking ventures that provide new impetus to the terrorists, as it has unfolded in Iraq. We have to figure in the frustration game of new ones popping up and avoiding them. Pounding them with mega bombs will not cut it, we do not have a record in history of such successes; the Taliban’s are popping again. To create a just world for our own peace and peace for others requires giving due attention to their concerns without compromising our own deeply held values. We cannot become oppressors ourselves in the pursuit of peace. The world communities will be with us, with their hearts, in fighting the menace of terrorism, if we go after the individuals responsible for the crimes and not their families, not their nation or their religion. We will achieve far greater success, if we learn to laser bark at the right criminals, instead of barking at the universe. Others need to sense in our actions that we are not barking at them, and then they will be with us.

"If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies." There is no saner advice than Mother Theresa’s, and when we are overwhelmed with badness around, “The only weapon against bad ideas is better ideas” Alfred Griswold.

The business of Terrorism has been around for a long time, however tracing it in the last century, the Haganah began its operations in the 20’s, then came the Irgunists and after Stern died in a shoot-out with British police in 1942, the mantle was picked up by future Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, then in November 1944, Lord Moyne, the British minister was assassinated in Cairo by the stern Gang. Once, Israel was established in 1948, the tables turned, the Palestinians were displaced and the PLO came into being and started their acts of terrorizing the innocent. The 1971 Munich Massacre was the ugliest one followed by the plane hijackings and other activities. While IRA continued terrorizing in Northern part of UK, the Tamil Tigers were wreaking havoc in Sri Lanka. By the way, we never called them Christian, Hindu or Buddhist Terrorists, why do we call Muslim Terrorists then? That is plain stupid and counter-productive, if our goal is peaceful co-existence.

Now, the International terrorism has become a daily affair. President Reagan made hero out of Osama, instead of being grateful, the ugly traitor turned the guns against us. He has done a lot of damage to us; The 1992 Bombing of WTC, the Embassy in Kenya, the Cole and the 9/11. Regionally, the Beirut Bombardment created Hezbollah in Lebanon and the political imbroglio generated Hamas in Palestine. While other outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-a-Mohammad got going in South Asia. Intoxicated with our might, we extended the invitation “Bring on” to those al-Qaeda terrorists and they are multiplying in Iraq now, aren’t they?

Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King must have pondered over our situation in Iraq and mused about telling this to our President Years ago, “Conquer your foe by force, you increase his enmity; conquer by love, and you will reap no after-sorrow.” We completely violated the teaching of Jesus, Luke 6: 27, 28 – "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."

We did not believe in this wisdom and decided not to deal with the terrorists, who would we deal with then? They are the ones who are disruptive. We always have the last option available to us, but our first choice should have been to engage them into a dialogue, we can certainly laugh about it, but looking at the results we have achieved, the dialogue option would have been more fruitful and less destructive. Our insolence in not engaging them as a part of a broader approach has produced more of them, than we can conquer.

We falsely believed, and still do, that our gunpowder can subdue everything in the world. I hope we realize that we have always won the right battles and the right wars, and have certainly lost the wrong ones in Vietnam and other places. We forget that dear God is mightier than our gunpowder. We have also forgotten making distinctions between movements of national resistance and groups given to apocalyptic-type agenda for destruction.

The wrong wars did not have a clear objective, nor did we know where to point the gun. We were trigger happy to destroy what we did not like. The way we have gone about in dealing with Terrorism is pathetic. Shame on us, we were indeed scared to speak up until November 7th, 2006.

The Elections changed it all, Thanks God, we are speaking now, and at least our mistakes are surfacing. “When we took over Baghdad, we had plans to rebuild Iraq, but wasted our time for over a year in preparing the blueprints, while we let the un-employed and the youth rot with nothing to hope for,” Rajiv Chandrashekharan from Washington post had reported. Our strategy was wrong and planning was helter skelter. It is easier to blame on a host of things on our failure than to acknowledge our mistakes. That is the first thing we have to do, to know where we were wrong, then figure it out how to fix them.

We can consider the following;
i) Announcement of the troop withdrawal date, as it would give a clarity to all parties,
ii) asking a non-parties to the war like; Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Brazil or Japan to call on a summit of key Arab leaders including the leaders, and opposition leaders of the three factions in Iraq,
iii) asking each one of the three groups to prepare a wish list that would stop the bloodshed
iv) monthly withdrawal of our troops replaced by troops of their choice to maintain law and order. This may dampen the Al-Qaeda presence.

Hope is the most important ingredient of life, without which life is utterly meaningless. It is the hope that determines destiny and fuels the drive towards it. A normal youth aspires to go to school, get the education, fall in love, have job, get married, have a house and raise children who would live a life better than himself or herself. Most people learn to live and be content with accomplishing any part of that elusive hope. Snatch all of it from a human being, what is left to derive satisfaction? Have we thought seriously and empathically about it?

It is wrong to assume that Muslims support terrorism. Why should they? They are getting the shaft triply because of the terrorists; i) they are blamed iii) their religion is maligned and iii) the world looks at them maliciously. Muslims are as terrorized by the terrorists as anyone else is. Heck, Muslims condemn terrorism three times as strong. The media does not put the Muslim voice out; heck the Muslims are frustrated with this situation. But condemn they do, more so than others. It is just not Muslims, you will find that the Jews, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and others also condemn the atrocities committed in their names, but their voices are drowned as well. The bullies on both sides continue to reign. It has got to change, and the moderates need to speak up and the media ought to oblige to give the space, even if it is not sensational. **1

Once we are committed to a peaceful world of co-existence, we will start seeing the issues in more focused way. Dalai Lama says, “Because we all share this planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. This is not just a dream, but a necessity”. If we see the problems of the world as problems that need resolution - then our approach will crystallize and start thinking of solutions.

Let’s start with the war on Terror.

Osama Bin Laden and his gang destroyed our symbol of freedom and prosperity on 9/11, we screamed, “You people” implying Muslims. We also said, “Muslim Terrorists” and a whole lot of other phrases to “Islamofascist”. The right phrase would have been “Osama, you screwed up”.

Whose rears should we have hauled? To the world, we looked like maniacs with a cocked gun running amuck with no particular place to point it towards; anything that moved got bombed out, including a wedding party. We were shooting everywhere, and destroyed every thing in our reach. This is the wrong way to get the terrorists; Osama is still on the loose.

If we can laser shoot the tiny object 3000 miles away, we can get the six footer and his cronies. We can laser bark at the right tree and quit barking at the universe. We have excuses for our failure, and have sacrificed over 3000 of our sons and daughters and a million plus Iraqis, and the latter simply doesn’t count.

We could have done the right thing, but we did not have the guts to do it. When people cannot face things squarely, they go the route of “you people” and shoot in darkness hoping we would shoot some at least, what a delusion! The American people, generally caring and empathic, understand now that we didn’t go to Iraq with pure and sincere motivations to help them, rather with our own grandiose interest in mind, where the Iraqi people would be guinea pigs. That’s why the support for the war has disappeared so visibly. It is time to admit our mistakes and undo those by disengaging from Iraq; they will probably not do as much of damage as we have done

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**1 - Note added today, May 11th, 2007. The article was written on April 20th and was asked to be published in New York Times, Washington post, Dallas Morning News, Wall Street Journal and a few others. They are still toeing the line of the admin and would not publish it. Thanks to countercurrents and conservative voice to publish it. As a principle, I have published on this blog, after it got published elsewhere.
The Conservative Voice: http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/25016.html
Counter Currents: http://www.countercurrents.org/ghouse100507.htm

Mike Ghouse is a thinker, writer, speaker and a pluralist with the aptitude [you might like to use a different word] to find solutions. He believes that if we can learn to accept and respect the God given uniqueness of each one of the seven billion of us, conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Mike can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com and at the websites www.MikeGhouse.net and www.FoundationforPluralism.com and www.WorldMuslimCongress.com

Growing Anti-Semitism

Growing Anti-Semitism

Meeting on Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Those good people who live in Dallas and want to participate in creating a better world ought to consider attending the following event in Dallas (check your City for events out there). Any hate towards any one must be checked, it is them today, tomorrow it will be you. Let's stand for every one who is targeted to be hated.

A new and vicious wave of anti-Semitism is spreading rapidly across Europe, with frequent attacks on synagogues, organizations and individuals, and virulent messages on the Internet. We should all be concerned...very concerned!

AJCongress, ADL and Temple Shalom invite you to join us for a provocative, in-depth panel discussion:

Growing Anti-Semitism in Europe Today – A Wake-Up Call

Date: Tuesday, October 9th
Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Place: Temple Shalom, 6930 Alpha Rd, Dallas, TX 75240

Moderated by Michael Precker, the program will include:

 Excerpts from “The Monster Among Us”, an upcoming documentary by Allen Mondell and Cynthia Salzman Mondell.
 Anti-Semitism on the internet directed towards Europeans, a presentation by Jonathan Vick, Internet Analyst, Center on Extremism, ADL, NY.
 What can be done?
 Questions and Answers with the panelists.

The meeting is free and open to the public.

For more information please contact:
Susan Myers, AJCongress, Tel: 214-368-2731 dallas@ajcongress.org
Rivka Arad, Temple Shalom, Tel: 972-661-1362 rarad@templeshalomdallas.org
Mark Briskman, ADL, Tel: 972-960-0342