MUSLIMS ARISE By: sunny rasheed lucman pacasum

The scenario in the Muslim region is becoming fairly clear with the US adding more forces to the region aimed at the "ultimate victory" over the Muslims. Washington now feels that it has the capacity and the means to persuade any country to fall in line with the US. Will it be possible that the US be successful? What are the means of accomplishing this objective? If memory serves me right, a few years back then in South Asia, the British divided the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan giving portions of the Muslim majority state of Kashmir to each of them. The conflicts that resulted from these actions have led to the deaths of millions in sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims. The civil war between East and West Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh and the conflicts in Kashmir over Indian rule that persist to the present day. British set the borders for Iraq and Kuwait and created the totally new country of Jordan. Such arbitrary in the Middle East, the French created modern Lebanon from portions of Greater Syria. The borders fed ethnic, regional, and religious conflicts including the Lebanese civil war between Christians and Muslims, the occupation of Lebanon by Syria, and the Gulf war, which resulted from Saddam Hussein's claim to Kuwait territory. In addition to influencing who came to power in emerging modern Muslim nation states, British and later, America, forged close alliances with authoritarian regimes, tolerating or supporting non-democratic ways in exchange for their allegiance during the cold war or to ensure access to oil. And would later on decided to annex the energy rich nations in the Middle east and these nations would be made part of the US Empire according to its neo-imperialistic plan. Most Muslim leaders try to explain that Muslim decline through the prism of the injustices of colonialism and the subsequent flow of global distribution of power. But Muslims are not weak because they were colonized. They were colonized because they had become weak and divided into 2 major factions, the Sunni and the Shiite Muslim. The expression "Shiite Muslim" and "Sunni Muslim" were first widely used by the American press in the early 1980s after the Iranian revolution. The expression appeared often during the Iran-Iraq war when Saddam Hussein attacked Iran, resulting in the needless deaths of over a million Muslims. While this carnage was going on, western countries were eagerly filling their coffers by selling arms to both sides. War broke out mainly because Saddam feared that radical Islamic ideas were rapidly spreading inside his country among the majority Shiite population and his attempt, with the support of both the United States and the Soviet Union, to have Iraq form a bulwark against the expansion of radical Iranian-style revolution. At present, America, the world's only hyper power is involved in five major disputes in the Muslim region; -Afghanistan -Iraq -Sudan -Lebanon -and Palestine Furthermore, America is also trying to stir up animosity against two other Muslim nations, Syria and Iran. Nevertheless, when Afghanistan drove Russia out, America failed to provide support despite the fact that they vowed allegiance and be of assistance to the Afghans, thereby creating an opportunity for the Taliban to take over. Some American trained Afghans, with their own agenda in mind, took up arms against the West, one of them was Osama Bin Laden following 9/11. Bush then took revenge on Afghanistan, thus, starting a war that persists to this day. But, which America is gradually stepping away from to hand over to European forces courtesy of NATO. As part of his plot on reigning terror and gaining malleable access to more power and oil, Bush then turned his attention to Iraq, with the aim of executing Saddam Hussein. Only after that was achieved did the agenda change probably to ensure the control over Iraqi oil, and the call became "democracy". Bush now believes democracy is in place in Iraq and his objective is a success. Yet it is impossible to see how such a naïve interpretation of events can be made. Despite violence escalating, the US is thinking of reducing its forces to allow Iraqis to take over. We must bear in mind that Iraq is not about the clash between an assertive congress and a lame duck president. Billions of dollars have been spent on creating despair but hardly anything on giving Iraqis a sense of hope. Because of the tremendous potential of a united Sudan which is rich in natural resources, and of late has struck vast quantities of oil reserves, attracting foreign investments from China, Malaysia, and India among others, the United States, Britain and Israel want to destroy and divide Sudan into five countries--an independent Darfur, the south, the East, the Nubian State and Central Sudan. The reason, they think the Sudanese people don't deserve this potential. And would like to manage its affairs including its resources, aided by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). And the Jewish state wants an independent south so that the water from the south can flow through the river Nile and into Israel. In Lebanon and Palestine, America has given Israel permission to implement its policies of aggression against the two Muslim nations. Tel Aviv then took on Hamas and Hezbollah, a suffocating economic siege, an international smear campaign and a diplomatic blockade using Washington, but also corrupt ex-Palestinian officials and U.S. installed Lebanese politicians to achieve its goals. That too failed terribly, which prompted military strikes against the two nations killing scores and wounding hundreds (mostly civilians), ignoring loss of life and incursions or any urgent need for diplomacy, sending Israel a clear message that it has enough time to carry out its "operation" before they step in. The US is also happily throwing out the names of Syria and Iran in the equation, possibly preparing the world for an unexpected "involvement". While Bush is relentless with his anti-Iran and Syria rhetoric, it's becoming more transparent that a full invasion of Iran or even Syria is now in the realm of wishful thinking. Historical analysis it seems is not part of the US foreign policies. They should not insult our intelligence. History is not linear nor is it simple. Bush cannot afford to link Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan to Indonesia to Muslim Mindanao to Chechnya to Sudan to Somalia to Palestine to Iran and Syria, as a single drive to continue with his political agenda. Each agenda deserves its own attention. For now, it looks like every battle leads to another and it is not an exaggeration to suppose that bush is working out a plot to eradicate the Muslims of the world. No wonder Bush's political standing is very much troubled. His country is more hated abroad and is even ridiculed by his own countrymen. Does this even bother him? How does he sleep at night? What doesn't surprise me more is that threats of terrorist attacks remain imminent and more apparent today. In addition to this, he has dragged his country's number one ally, Great Britain, down with him as a major player in the constructed "war on terror". In one of Bush recent speeches, he lashed out at Muslims, demonizing an entire religion. This made me think, "Is the war on terror a war on Islam?" The more you think about it, the more interrelated it is to this whole 'war on terror' matter. It seems to him that Islam is the new 'communism', and that Bush is eager for a war of ideologies. Indeed, the influence of Israel supporters on the bush administration was clear from the very beginning. Yet it was disguised under the title "war on terror". Israel continues to enjoy favored nation status with a Europe that starves the Palestinians for electing Hamas while Muslim volunteers busy themselves raising funds for medical equipment, collecting books and signing appeals. The Israeli army picks off a few kids in Gaza, blows off a few limbs in Jenin, knocks down a few houses in Nablus and offers funds to freshly stolen west bank land to Jewish settlers recently evacuated from Gaza. Even Somalia one of the most impoverished countries in the world was not spared from US interest. America has nothing to show for the 3 years of investing in Somali warlords as the sole element to counter terrorism strategy in Somalia. The Mujahideens provided a sense of stability in Somalia, offering education and other social services, while the warlords who get $150,000 a month from the US maimed and killed innocent civilians. Ironically, some of the warlords, who benefited from the US aid, fought its troops in 1993 when White House was trying to crush resistance to UN efforts to pacify the country following the ouster in 1991 of President Siad Barre, a US client during the cold war. Don't get me wrong, I have high regards for this country (America) and its people. It's the corrupt and malevolent administration I'm not too excited about. The truest proof of the goodness of the American people is that they have embraced Islam more quickly and in greater numbers than other people in the world, and have tried to understand it better even after Bush held Muslims responsible for the 9/11 disaster without evidence. For this I desire all that is good for the American people from the bottom of my heart. But how can the American public allow a cabal of Zionist pigs hijack a superpower's foreign policy and recklessly endanger the lives of every human being living in this planet? The country I fell in love with as a 10 year old, where I spent the most magical days of my childhood life, does not butcher little children and women in cold blood nor does it bankroll the terror bombing of Muslim countries. But Palestine, Lebanon and Somalia are too real and so is America's guilt. It's not that the United States want war, the administration just can't figure out a better way to make money. The truth is America needs money. And how do you get it? You come up with a product everyone wants and sell the hell out of it. And what is this economy reestablishing product that will create jobs for the needy and wealth for the greedy second only to dirty oil? Weapons... And more weapons much bigger, better and noisier. The more destructive it gets, the more desirable it seem. It has killed a hundred women and children in Mogadishu in an instant and can penetrate thru buildings, schools and mosques. And when you need to up demand before the whole country will have to file for bankruptcy, you get some PR campaign into your defense department. No war? So let's make one happen and start the world's biggest PR campaign "WAR ON TERROR". We, Muslims, seem to have forgotten the most important belief in Islam. That we are all to return to Allah (SWT), the lord of all that exist, one day and be answerable for all our actions. That can be the only reason for our inaction, as we are now against the scenario of killings and oppression of thousands of our Muslim brothers and sisters and children. Muslims, dare we ask ourselves: - Are we totally unafraid of Allah (SWT) now and fear only about what other people or nations can do to us that all we can do is watch and hope that this threat stop? Or have we become so selfish that we care only for our own comfort and lives? -Is our loyalty only to our own selves, countries and governments and not to the one God who has created us? -Shall we continue to play the victim? Or will we finally act? The Muslim Nation will be tested as it has never been tested before. It is now my feeling that history is back in our hands. Inshallah together we will have an appointment with destiny and a reckoning with Almighty Allah and face our own judgment day. We cannot wait for peace, neither can we assume that development will establish peace. Economic and political stability are two parallel processes. We must realize our strengths and identify our weaknesses in collectively overcoming this problem. We should commit to the kind of future we really want. Realize one thing if no other, that the Muslim nations will never be truly peaceful. Because we, as humans who are chivalrous by nature, are complex, passionate and rich in history and talent. Yet we don't see this. Our judgments are too clouded with misery and self-pity. We can only see what is done to us by others and not what we can do to ourselves. If we were to stand united, is there any earthly power that can harm us with all our joint resources? We are 57 Muslim states, Inshallah, 58 in a few years when Muslim Mindanao claims independence. How much more do we need to have the strength to stand up? Approximately 1.790 billion Muslims around the world and over 60 percent of the known petroleum reserves are believed to lie in the Muslim world. Large amounts of other natural resources and agricultural resources are with us. Above all, the Muslim world has a treasure trove of human talent. Let us show the world that Islam is more important than culture, than boundaries, than politics, than sects, than even our own lives. Let us unite against oppression, injustice, hypocrisy, corruption, murder, and state-terrorism. Muslims of the world, ARISE!!! WASSALAM.

Sunny rasheed,27 is a member of the BMLO BangsaMoro Labor Organization , he's currently based in the gulf region. You can e-mail him at santino_pacasum@hotmail.com or visit www.maranao.com

About the Author

I believe strongly in d ideal of chivalry & d power of protest U know d stuff mostly found in dust covered books written by old dead guys..Im a fun loving prankster I've done a couple of classic wild silly pranks during my time all in d name of high school tradition hey we all need to hold 2 dat childish part of us at times I've passed for nearly every Asian race at least once in my life- from Chinese-Japanese 2 Malaysian..Alhamdullilah Im a full