Just Commentary December 2013

Vol 13, No.12 December 2013

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ARTICLES

A COMMISSION OF INQUIRYON RELATIONS BETWEEN BUDDHISTS AND

MUSLIMS IN MYANMAR

. IRAN’S INTERIM NUCLEAR AGREEMENT: AVERTING ANOTHER WAR BY CHANDRA MUZAFFAR......................P3STATEMENTS

. US MILITARY BUILD-UP CONTINUES IN PHILIPPINE

DISASTER ZONE

BY JOSEPH SANTOLAN...........................................P 7

. A DIALOGUE OF HEARTS AND MINDS

BY HASSANAL NOOR RASHID...............................P 2

. THE SUNNI- SHIA DIALOGUE IN GREECE

BY CHANDRA MUZAFFAR.......................................P 6. LIBYA ALMOST IMPLODING, STATUS QUO UNSUSTAINABLE

BY NICOLA NASSER...............................................P 9

.THE BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA - AN ASSAULT UPON HUMANITY’S CONSCIENCE BY CHANDRA MUZAFFAR........................P5

AnnouncementTo All Our Readers

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The International Network of EngagedBuddhists (INEB) concluded itsbiennial conference on November 4 inKuala Lumpur, Malaysia, our first suchmeeting in a Muslim-majority nation. The conference theme — Inter-FaithDialogue for Peace and Sustainability— points to the interdependence ofBuddhists and Muslims throughoutSoutheast Asia. A long history ofharmonious relations across all the

nations of this region has beenchallenged in recent years by inter-religious conflicts rooted in acomplexity of economic, political,social, and cultural tensions. INEB’smission is to respect the integrity ofall religions and people, restoringharmony wherever possible.

A significant outcome of this uniquegathering was the affirmation of the

establishment of an international forumfor Buddhist-Muslim relations, drawingfrom members of INEB and Malaysia-based International Movement for aJust World (JUST).

At the close of the conference, a specialsession brought together Buddhistmonks and laypeople, Muslims, andconcerned friends from inside and

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L E A D A R T I C L E

outside Myanmar to consider conflictsand violence that have taken placeinside that country over the last twoyears. Participants in this session,including people of four religions andfrom interfaith partners insideMyanmar, called upon this interfaithforum to establish a Commission ofInquiry to examine relations betweenBuddhists and Muslims in Myanmar.

Collaborating with local civil-society

bodies inside Myanmar, thisCommission of Inquiry would havethree objectives:

1. to bring forth the facts of BuddhistMuslim conflict in Myanmar;2. to ascertain the causes of thisconflict;3. to develop resources and proposalsfor the establishment of inter-religiouspeace and harmony in Myanmar.

Guided by these objectives, an open-

minded interfaith group will researchconditions inside Myanmar and offeradvice and support for the restorationof inter-religious and inter-ethnicstability. Members of INEB see thiswork as the embodiment of our visionof peace and sustainability across theregion and among all peoples.

International Network of EngagedBuddhists (INEB)

20 November, 2013

A DIALOGUE OF HEARTS AND MINDSBy Hassanal Noor Rashid

Hosted by the International Network ofEngaged Buddhists (INEB) between 1stand 4th November the INEB ConferenceInter-Religious Dialogue for Peace andSustainability in Kuala Lumpur saw thegathering of many groups from variousreligious, philosophical and culturalbackgrounds. Through this conferenceheld once every two years, theopportunity is provided for many spiritualleaders, practitioners, academics andengaged peoples, to exchange insights,share ideas, and highlight theirconcerns and issues which they arefacing in present times.

In the first opening day of theconference, co-organized by theInternational Movement for a JustWorld (JUST) and Institut KefahamanIslam Malaysia (KIM), various issueswere raised, highlighting the presentstate of the socio-cultural relationshipbetween the Buddhists and Muslims.Here, representatives from eachreligious community, from Dr ChandraMuzaffar and Sulak Sivaraksa to ProfAzizan Baharuddin and Reverend Alan

Senauke were present, each giving hisor her insights into the conflicts andissues which concerned manycommunities. Many of these issues werenot confined simply to each community.There was a shared moral concernamong those who attended. How oneaddresses the issues of the rights andsecurities of other communities reflectswhether one’s own community shouldbe afforded the same as well.

The conference over the next few daysrevolved around myriad issues,particularly the idea of peace andsustainability. To some, the topic anddiscussion seemed rather wide, withseemingly no focus on any particularissue or subject matter. However thereis much truth to this approach I find,as any discussion on sustainabilitycannot be confined to one particularissue, nor can any discussion on peacebe considered if all issues and all partiesconcerned are not there to engage withone another. Peace and Sustainabilityconcerns not just any single group, butthe human family as a whole.

There were many sessions coveredduring the course of the conference, withtopics ranging from those focussed uponthe economy, gender discrimination,spirituality, climate change, modernity andconflict. It is this author’s regret howeverthat as the sessions were running parallelto one another, all sessions were notavailable to everyone. The ones that Imanaged to attend provided me with theinsights into the concerns that manywanted to address.

The first was a session to do withtradition and modernity, understandingspirituality in a time when ourunderstandings of present day realitiesare continuously changing. Themeshing of new ideas and discoverieswith our religious traditions inspiredmany to relook at their ownunderstanding of spirituality andconsider their relations to the issuespresented. One which was rather thoughtprovoking was a presentation on theexploitation of the Dalits and a criticallook at the Caste system in India which


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highlighted how life roles weredetermined for people who lived underthis particular form of religious orthodoxy.Can traditional religious values andpractices co-exist with modernity, or isit time to re-analyse our respectivereligious traditions with respect to whatmodernity has revealed to us?

The second session had to do withconflict and social transformation,which is an age old dilemma. Religionand conflict are sometimessynonymous and many can understandwhy given the conflicts around theworld at present times whichunfortunately carry an unfavourablereligious rhetoric. This applies not onlyto the various tensions happening in theMiddle East, pre/post Arab Spring, butalso to issues happening regionally inSouth East Asia as well, such as theincidents involving the Rohingyas.However in a pleasant way, the sessiondidn’t start off straight away byhighlighting the various conflicts, butinstead started off with a simple notion.

What is a harmonious society to you?

Many answers were given, but itwasn’t the answers that were notable,it was how many of them were similar,asking for engagement, understandingand peaceful coexistence. Byhighlighting the shared vision of whatpeople see as a peaceful andharmonious society, can a roadmap topeace be plotted out? Perhaps so,especially if this roadmap, this visionof peace, is one that is shared by manypeople from many faiths and cultures.

The Conference ended on the 4th dayof November. Many laughs were had,many insights were given, and manylives were shared. The closing endedwith a shared agreement between thesediverse communities, that acommission of inquiry be establishedto look into the Buddhist-Muslimconflict in Myanmar. Both theInternational Network of EngagedBuddhists (INEB) and the InternationalMovement for a Just World (JUST)will lead this inquiry and spearhead the

effort to promote a much moremeaningful dialogue, which will lay thefoundation for the return of asustainable peace in Myanmar.

Some would argue however that all thistalk of peace and sustainability wouldbe left at that should no affirmativeaction be taken to implement what hasbeen discussed. It is arguable howeverthat conferences like this are asimportant as any affirmative action. Forwhile we may be able to createawareness campaigns to highlight eachof our respective issues, peace andsustainability among the human familycan only be achieved if there iscommunication and engagementbetween people whose ideas andconcerns are waiting to be shared. Itis through sharing and engaging thatwe are able to build the most importantfoundation for any peace to besustainable, namely, Trust.

11 November, 2013Hassanal Noor Rashid is a JUSTMember

STATEMENTS

The dominant Western media have beentelling the world that it is because ofthe sanctions imposed upon Iran that ithas agreed to curb its nuclear activitiesfor six months in exchange for partialsanctions relief. It is true that inhuman,unjust sanctions especially on Iran’s oiltrade and its banking arrangements havehurt its people which is why they had

pinned so much hope on the newlyelected President, Hassan Rouhani, tobring about changes that wouldameliorate their situation. But that isnot the only reason for the willingnessof the present leadership to limit itsuranium enrichment to a maximum of5% or dilute its stock of 20% enricheduranium or cease the construction ofthe Arak reactor.

In 2003, Iran, under PresidentMuhammad Khatami, with Rouhani ashis chief nuclear negotiator, hadvoluntarily suspended its enrichmentprogramme for two years and allowedintrusive inspections by the UN’sInternational Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) in order to allay US and

European fears about its nuclearprogramme. The then US President,George W. Bush, ignored this gestureand ratcheted up sanctions. He wasacting in accordance with the diabolicalagenda of the neo-conservatives (neo-cons) who in turn were in collusionwith Zionist lobbies in the US and theIsraeli elite in Tel Aviv.

In defiance of the US, Khatami’ssuccessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,escalated uranium enrichment andincreased the installation of centrifugesfrom 164 in 2003 to 19,000 in 2013.His defiance, compounded by hisbelligerence, lent credence in Westerncircles to the erroneous view that Iran

IRAN’S INTERIM NUCLEAR AGREEMENT: AVERTING ANOTHER WAR


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was on the verge of acquiring a bomb.

The Khatami-Rouhani approachtowards the nuclear question, incontrast to Ahmadinejad’s, helps toexplain why there was a breakthroughin the negotiations that culminated inan interim nuclear agreement betweenIran, on the one hand, and the five UNSecurity Council members (Britain,China, France, Russia & the US) andGermany,(5+1), on the other, inGeneva on the 24th of November 2013.Rational, realistic and reform-orientedand yet conscious of the importanceof adhering to ethical principles,Iranian leaders of this ilk reflect thesentiments of their people. After ahiatus of eight years, this type ofleadership has re-emerged in Iran andis determined to prove to its mostsceptical critics that its nuclearprogramme is truly peaceful andtransparent.

Given this commitment, the Rouhanigovernment should now embark upona massive campaign to eliminate thewhole of West Asia and NorthAfrica(WANA) of nuclear weapons andall other weapons of massdestruction(WMD). The people ofWANA will give enthusiastic supportto such a cause. It should be the firstphase of a worldwide campaign to getrid of WMD everywhere.

In mobilising the people of WANA, Iranas an Islamic Republic has anadvantage. As its leaders haverepeatedly reminded their people,nuclear weapons are haram(prohibited) in Islam. They are harambecause they invariably kill theinnocent, bring death to unborngenerations, and devastate the naturalenvironment.

The one state in WANA that possessesa nuclear arsenal with perhaps 400nuclear warheads can be expected to

oppose this noble struggle to bannuclear and other WMD. Itsopposition will reveal what Israel reallymeans by its concern for its “security.”Israel has always equated security withhegemony. It is because of thisequation that Israel is obsessed withthe perpetuation of a WANA where noother state or movement has even anounce of strength to mount the tiniestchallenge to its military andtechnological supremacy. Hence itspreoccupation with ensuring that itremains the sole nuclear weapons statein WANA ad infinitum. This is why itwants to destroy Iran’s entire nuclearprogramme, however peaceful itmaybe.

For Israel, the targeting of Iran goesbeyond its nuclear programme. In thelast five years or so, Israeli elites haveoften exploited the Shia-Sunni divideas a way of creating hatred andanimosity between Shia Iran and itsSunni neighbours. Of course, thereare other states in WANA that are alsoactively involved in fuelling thissectarian antagonism which oftenleads to violence and massacres.

But it is not Israel’s indirectinvolvement in the Sunni-Shia conflictor its venom towards Iran which hashad a negative impact on the State,especially in Europe, and to a muchlesser extent, in the US. It is Israel’scruel and often oppressive treatmentof the Palestinians which has erodedits standing in countries such as Italy,France, Germany and Britain. Theextreme, aggressive positions adoptedby leaders like Ariel Sharon andBenjamin Netanyahu over the lastfifteen years have revealed to many inthe West the ugly side of Israel. Thenew media in particular have playedan important role in exposing Israel’sstark injustices against the Palestinianpeople. Pro- Palestinian movementsin different parts of the world ¯ theBoycott, Divest and Sanctions(BDS)

network is a good example¯ have alsobecome more organised and focussedin raising awareness about the plight ofthe Palestinians.

These are some of the reasons why theIsraeli elite or pro- Israel Zionist lobbiesin countries such as Britain and Franceno longer command as much influenceas they once did. In fact, in the US itself¯ still the bastion of Israeli and Zionistpower ¯ the Zionist lobbies appear tobe less united and more divided inexercising their influence over thepolitical process. They were split forinstance on the question of BarackObama’s re-election in 2012 and,indeed, the segment opposed to hisreturn to the White House lost the battle.

The decline of Israeli and Zionistinfluence in Europe and, to a limiteddegree, the US is also linked to thegrowing disenchantment in the Westwith war and violence associated withwar. Israel is seen especially amonganti-war activists in Europe as a statethat is constantly pushing for war. Thiswas obvious in the case of Iraq in 2003.It has become even more obvious inthe case of Iran. More and more peoplenow know that it is Israel ¯ more thanany other state ¯ that wants the US totake military action against Iran. Butpeople in most places today have noappetite for war. What this means is thatthey have very little sympathy forIsrael’s posturing.

Because their citizens have turnedagainst war, leaders in the democratic

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THE BLOCKADE AGAINST CUBA - AN ASSAULT UPON

HUMANITY’S CONSCIENCE

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S T A T E M E N T S

There are few other issues ininternational politics on which thenations of the world have been sototally united over so many years. On29 October 2013, for the 22ndconsecutive year, the UN GeneralAssembly (UNGA) called for an endto the economic, commercial andfinancial blockade imposed by theUnited States of America against Cuba.188 states supported the Resolution, 2voted against it, namely the US andIsrael, while 3 (Marshall Islands,Micronesia and Palau) abstained.

In 1992, when the Resolution againstthe unjust blockade was first introducedin the UNGA, the vote was 59 against2 (the US and Israel). 10 years later, in2002, it was 173 against 3. TheMarshall Islands joined the US andIsrael. In 2012, it was 188 against 3,this time Palau teamed up with the twoanti-Cuba states.

It is not just the UNGA that hascondemned the blockade. Various UNagencies — The Food and AgriculturalOrganisation (FAO), the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), the UnitedNations Population Fund, the UnitedNations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organisation (UNESCO) andthe United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) have all at different timescriticised the trade sanctions againstCuba. Religious institutions, human rights

groups and prominent internationalfigures, from Muhammad Ali to JimmyCarter, have also pleaded with the USgovernment to lift the blockade.

Why is the whole world against theblockade which prohibits US firmsfrom selling or buying any product orservice from Cuba? The blockadedenies Cuba access to technologywhich would have helped to boost theefforts of the government to raise thestandard of living of the people. It alsoprohibits trade and commerce with oneof the world’s biggest markets whichin turn would have increased Cuba’snational revenue and contributed to itseconomic growth and development. Ithas been estimated for instance thatthe blockade which began in 1960 hasdeprived Cuba of 1.126 trillion US dollarsover the last 52 years. Governments andpeoples everywhere cannot comprehendwhy the world’s only superpower wouldwant to strangulate a small, poor countryof 11 million people with meagre

resources which — contrary to what theUS elite says — poses no threat to itssecurity! It is because the US blockadeis such a travesty of justice that the humanfamily has come together over and overagain to defend Cuba. Starkly put, theblockade is an assault upon the collectiveconscience of humanity.

US leaders have sought to justify theblockade as a sort of punitive measureagainst an allegedly gross violator ofhuman rights. While there have beentransgressions against civil and politicalliberties, the US establishment ignoresthe fact that there is considerablegrassroots participation in politicaldecision-making in Cuba and a greatdeal of debate on public policies whichincludes criticisms of the politicalleadership. In any case, the US whichis more of a plutocracy than ademocracy has not been able to ensuresome of the fundamental rights of itsown citizens, including their right toaffordable health care. Worse still, it hasin the decades that the blockade hasbeen in force, colluded and conspiredwith harsh, brutal dictatorships innumerous countries with a hideousreputation for suppressing their people.

The real reason why the US imposedthe blockade in 1960 was because ofthe Cuban Revolution of 1959. It wasa popular Revolution which swept aside


West have no choice but to follow suit.This is true of Britain as it is of Franceand Germany. In the US, it was partlybecause of the popular mood thatObama pulled back from a militarystrike against Syria. And in Iran, Obamais fully aware that the alternative to anegotiated settlement of the nuclearcrisis is war ¯ a war which theAmerican people will not support.

Besides, Obama himself ¯ it isbecoming more apparent in his secondterm¯ does not want to beremembered as the President who gothis people embroiled in wars. He wouldrather be honoured in history as theleader who extricated his nation fromwars or desisted from going to war.

This may well be the real significanceof the interim agreement between Iran

and the 5 plus 1. It may have avertedyet another war, another unimaginablecatastrophe.

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar,President,

International Movement for a JustWorld (JUST).

Malaysia.27 November 2013.


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THE SUNNI- SHIA DIALOGUE IN GREECE

ARTICLES

S T A T E M E N T S

a regime which was a mere US puppet.Since then, Cuba has been steadfast inits determination to chart its owndestiny in spite of all the attempts byits huge neighbour to crush it. Apartfrom trade sanctions, the Cuban peoplehave withstood a botched invasion,germ warfare, terrorist attacks andnumerous plots to assassinate the leaderof their Revolution, Fidel Castro.

If the resilience of the leadership andthe people has incensed the US elite itis also because of Cuba’s embrace ofMarxism and its close relationship withthe Soviet Union in the era of the ColdWar. Though the Cold War ended in1989 and the Soviet Union collapsedin 1991, US elite antagonism towardsCuba has not abated. The onlyexplanation for this is because theCuban nation insists on itsindependence and refuses to kow-towto US hegemonic power.

What is even more remarkable is theprogress that Cuba has made in crucialspheres of society since 1959. Itshealth care programme — one doctor

to 159.2 persons — is universallyacknowledged as an outstandingaccomplishment, without precedenceor parallel. It has also succeeded inensuring full literacy, access toeducation from kindergarten touniversity for a huge section of itspopulace, gender equality in most areasand harmonious inter-ethnic relationsin a multi-ethnic society which beforethe Revolution was marred by Whiteracist attitudes. Within the GlobalSouth, Cuba is one of those countriesthat has established a sound scientificbase and has done commendableresearch in medicine andbiotechnology.

All this does not mean that Cuba hasovercome the many challenges thatconfront it. It is trying hard toincorporate the strengths of the market— individual enterprise, privateownership of property in specificspheres, a notion of reasonable profits— into its economy. It is also seekingto enhance public accountability andreinforce the rule of law.

Nonetheless, there is no doubt at all

that the Cuban leadership has, over thedecades, looked after its people betterthan many other governments in theGlobal North and the Global South. Isthat one of the reasons why the US ishell-bent on perpetuating its blockade?Is it because Cuba is an example that itdoes not want others to emulate? If asmall nation under such enormouspressures can achieve so much whatsort of message does it send to peoplein other countries who are alsodetermined to resist US, or any other,hegemonic power?

If this is one of the motives behind theblockade, then it has obviously failed.In the last 10 to 15 years, Cuba hasemerged as an inspiration to a numberof Latin American countries such asVenezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador whichare also keen to shape their own futureswithout the hegemonic dictation of theUS. It suggests that the inhuman,unjust blockade of 53 years has beendefeated — in accordance with the willof the people of the world!

Chandra Muzaffar13 November, 2013

On the 3rd of October 2013, a PlenarySession on “Sunni-Shia Dialogue”was held as part of the Rhodes Forumon the island of Rhodes, Greece. ThePlenary stretched from 3.30 pm to8.00 pm.

There were 9 speakers — Ali Alawi,Aly El-Samnian, Asma Afsaruddin,Ghomali Khoshroo, Mohd FaisalMusa, Nader El-Bizri, Seyyed JavadMiri Meynagh, Syed Farid Alatas, andYasien Mohammed. About a dozenparticipated from the floor. Themoderator was Chandra Muzaffar.

The speakers and participants providedin-depth analysis and proposed

solutions to the on-going Sunni-Shiaconflicts in certain Muslim countries.Fresh insights emerged in the courseof the deliberations.

The Session made the followingobservations about these conflicts.

One, the massacres that have occurredin countries such as Iraq, Syria,Lebanon, Bahrain and Pakistan inrecent times targeting Sunnis and Shiasrepresents a colossal catastrophewhich threatens to tear asunder theirsocial fabric.

Two, some religious elites andpoliticians in these and other countries

have contributed to the escalatingtension and violence through theirbigoted, venomous misinterpretationsof religious texts. Distorted rhetoric ofthis sort serves their narrow religiousand political agendas geared towardsthe pursuit or perpetuation of power.

Three, Sunni-Shia conflicts, it isevident, are also being manipulated byregional and global political actors fortheir nefarious goal of dominance andcontrol of resources and strategicroutes and hegemony over states andregions.

In the medium term, the end of

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US MILITARY BUILD- UP CONTINUES IN PHILIPPINE DISASTER ZONEBy Joseph Santolan

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hegemonic politics at the national,regional and global level would helpto create an environment that will bemore conducive to the cessation ofsectarian conflicts such as the Sunni-Shia conflict. Justice and equity withinnation-states and across regions andthe globe, especially the eradication ofpoverty, the reduction of socio-economic disparities, the provision ofjobs and social mobility wouldundoubtedly also curb sectarianviolence. So would respect for dissentand differences of opinion and spacefor popular participation in the politicalprocess.

The Plenary Sessionrecommends to the WorldPublic Forum that it plays aconstructive role inaddressing the Sunni-ShiaConflict in the followingways:-1) Revives and propagates the

Amman Message of 2004 that

calls upon Sunnis and Shias torise above differences thatseparate them and emphasize thecommonalities that unite them asa single Ummah.

2) Encourages institutions,organizations and individuals toeducate Sunnis and Shias about theactual history and evolution ofSunni-Shia relations; the attemptsat reconciliation between the twosects from the past to the present;the ethical manner in whichdisputations and differences werehandled in earlier periods; and thefundamental affinities betweenSunni and Shia doctrines andpractices. The family, the school,the media and religious bodies andpersonalities in particular wouldhave a critical role in education.Education should also aim atconfronting extremist and fanaticalideas that breed sectarianism.

3) Supports any initiative that seeksto organize an annualinternational intra-faith meeting

between Sunnis and Shias.4) Endorses the publication of

a book that contains thepresentations andproceedings of this Sunni-Shia Session in Rhodes.

5) Communicates the concerns andproposals from this Session tointernational, regional and nationalinstitutions committed to inter-civilizational and inter-faithdialogue and understanding.

6) Arranges meetings withgovernment leaders, religiouselites, media practitioners,academics and activists todiscuss issues pertaining toSunni- Shia relations.

7) Encourages dialogues betweenSunnis and Shias as a continuousexercise aimed at demolishingmisconceptions and enhancing

The death toll in the central Philippinescontinues to mount in the wake of thedevastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan.The current official count of thePhilippine government NationalDisaster Risk Reduction andManagement Council (NDRRMC) was4,881 dead as of noon, November 18.This number will continue to increasesharply, as mass casualties in moreremote areas begin to be processed.

An estimated 2 million people arehomeless, while a total of 11 millionare reported to have been affected by

the damage. Vast portions of the islandsof Samar and Leyte have been laidwaste by the storm, and the city ofTacloban is in ruins.

The islands are in the grip of animmense humanitarian crisis. Hundredsof thousands are without access tofood, potable water, medicine, orsanitation. Roads throughout theislands remain impassible, and entirecommunities are completely isolated.

Washington has deployed a massivemilitary force to the region. The nuclear

powered aircraft carrier USS GeorgeWashington, with 5,000 sailors and 80aircraft, is in the Leyte Gulf, along withits strike group of two guided-missilecruisers, two guided-missiledestroyers, a cargo ship, anoceanographic survey ship and asubmarine tender. These are to bejoined by 3 amphibious warfare shipsand 2 littoral combat ships. Some 850US troops are on the ground in Leyteand are to be joined by an additional1,000 US Marines in the next two days.

8 October, 2013

The above report was prepared by themoderator of the session.

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Joint Task Force 505, under thecommand of Marine Corps Lt. Gen.John E. Wissler, has set upheadquarters for the US forces in CampAguinaldo, the military headquartersof the Philippine Army.

While this build-up is referred to as“providing assistance,” it is clear thatthe US military is just not “assisting”their Philippine counterparts, butcommanding them. US forces areoperating the air traffic control towerat the Tacloban airport, controllingwhich flights are allowed to land andtake off there.

“We are controlling 250 ops(operations) per day,” U.S. Air ForceMaster Sgt. Clinton Dykes told the USmilitary publication Stars and Stripeson November 15. The number ofoperations has increased significantlysince then.

The Philippine military is beingdeployed as armed crowd control inthe city of Tacloban, implementing ade facto system of martial law, withan 8 pm–6 am curfew. The hundredsof armed military and police patrollingstreets are further supplemented bythe armed private guards who defendthe homes and property of thewealthy.

The chapel and museum in Taclobanconstructed by, and dedicated to,Imelda Marcos still stand. In theimmediate aftermath of the storm, astens of thousands desperately soughtshelter, armed guards threatened tokill anyone who attempted to enter thelocked museum, whose 21 roomshoused countless treasures includingMing dynasty vases and gifts fromMao Zedong.

The International Labor Organization(ILO) announced on Tuesday that 5million workers, roughly a quarter of

all those employed in the Philippines,have been affected by TyphoonHaiyan. The United Nations WorldFood Program stated that, as ofNovember 19, around 600,000residents of the Eastern Visayasregion had not yet received aidpackages.

Reports from volunteer workerssurfaced in social media over the pasttwo days, revealing that one of thereasons for the Philippinegovernment’s delayed delivery of foodsupplies was that international aidpackages containing bottled water,canned goods and powdered milkwere being individually opened andrepackaged with labels from theDepartment of Social Welfare andDevelopment (DSWD).

Other aid packages were labeled withthe names of individual localpoliticians; many bags went outlabeled as being from the VicePresident Jejomar Binay.

The population in Tacloban is nowbeing subjected to a “food for work”program. The distribution of food aidto the residents of Tacloban has beenmade contingent upon their completinga certain amount of unpaid work forthe city.

What aid has been made available tothe Eastern Visayas by the Philippinegovernment is allocated on the basisof the National Disaster Relief Law.The portion of the emergency disasterrelief budget allocated to any particularlocal government unit (LGU), such asa town or city, is based on a

percentage of the LGU’s revenue.

Thus, a wealthy city willautomatically have greater aidallocated to it, while a poorer townor city will receive a significantlysmaller amount.

No money had been set aside toprepare for natural disasters. In 2011,President Aquino vetoed theallocation of any funds for so-called“pre-disaster preparations,” includingthe construction and stocking ofevacuation centers. Aquino declaredat the time that any allocated fundsshould be used for “actual calamitiesand not for the preparation ofrelocation sites/facilities, and trainingpersonnel engaged in directdisaster.”

With its massive deployment ofarmed force, Washington is seizingthe opportunity afforded it by thecatastrophe to stage an immensephoto op. It is using the devastationin the central Philippines todemonstrate the capacity of itsarmed forces in the region and toopen the door for its military build-up throughout the region directedagainst China.

The irrationality of capitalism is laidstarkly bare by the fact that in orderfor aid to be delivered to ahumanitarian crisis affecting millionsof people, it is the military that isdeployed, as rescue operations andinfrastructure are absent. Despite theconstruction of huge numbers ofcargo ships in the region, warshipsare the only vessels made availableto deliver food aid, and amphibiousassault vessels carry basic medicalsupplies.

20 November, 2013Joseph Santolan is a regularcontributor at World Socialist Web Site.Source: wsws.org


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More than two years on since the“revolution” of Feb. 2011, the securitycrisis is exacerbating by the daythreatening Libya with an implosioncharged with potential realistic risksto the geopolitical unity of the Arabnorth African country, turning thiscrisis into a national existential one.Obviously the status quo isunsustainable.

“Libya is imploding two years afterthe former Libyan leader MuammarGaddafi” was captured and killed onOctober 20,” Patrick Cockburn wrotein British The Independent on lastOct. 10.

Libya’s oil industry has become thetarget of violent attacks and civilprotests, closing export terminals ineast and west or/and creating an oilblack market. “Security guards” at thecountry’s main ports are on strike andselling oil independently in spite of a67% in pay for employees of the stateoil sector on last Oct. 31. Libyan oilminister, Abdulbari Ali al-Arousi, toldthe Financial Times on last April 29that disruptions to production andexport cost the country about $1bnover the previous five months only.

On Nov. 11 Reuters reported thatProtesters shut Libya’s gas exportpipeline to Italy, its only customer, inthe Mellitah complex, some 100 kmwest of Tripoli, after shutting down

oil exports from there as well. A dayearlier, Reuters reported that theseparatist self-declared autonomousCyrenaica government set up aregional firm called “Libya Oil and GasCorp” to sell oil independently afterseizing several ports in the east of thecountry, where Libya’s two mostimportant oil ports, Sidra and RasLanuf, were blockaded by protestors.

Libya is Europe’s single largest oilsupplier. Cutting the Libyan oil and gassupplies to Europe on the eve of awinter that weather forecasts predictto be a very cold one would be anexcellent pretext for inviting aEuropean military intervention in thecountry, which seems the only optionleft for the transitional government ofPrime Minister Ali Zeidan that ran outof options for its survival.

It is noteworthy here that while theU.N. Support Mission in Libya canobviously “support” nothing, France,Italy, the UK and the U.S., whospearheaded the NATO campaign totopple the former ruling regime, in ajoint statement on Nov. 8, expressedtheir concern “at the instability in Libyaand the threat that (it) poses to thesuccessful achievement of thedemocratic transition” and reiteratedtheir “support to the elected politicalinstitutions,” i.e. to Zeidan’sgovernment.

Ironically, Zeidan on Nov. 10 warnedhis compatriots of a possible“intervention of foreign occupationforces” in order to protect civiliansunder Chapter VII of the U.N.Charter because “the internationalcommunity cannot tolerate a state inthe middle of the Mediterranean thatis a source of violence, terrorism andmurder,” which was the same pretext

for the NATO military interventionthat contributed mainly, if not created,the security crisis in the first placeby destroying the military and policeinfrastructure of the centralgovernment and turned the countrypractically into a sponsor of regionalterrorism in general and an exporterof arms and “Jihadists” to Syria inparticular.

Zeidan’s warning of foreign“intervention” could also beinterpreted as an implicit threat to askfor it to help rein in the security crisislest it boils to an implosion of thecountry.

Forbes on last Aug. 30 reported thatLibya’s “energy protection” wasfailing and quoted PM Zeidan assaying that his government wouldimpose “order by force” when it cameto protecting the oil and gas industryand expanded the Petroleum FacilityGuards (PFG) to 18,000 members.

Months on, his efforts and threatsfailed to deter targeting pipelines,refineries and export terminals. Hisrenewed threats since early lastSeptember to “bomb from the air andthe sea” any oil tanker enteringLibya’s territorial waters illegally andtrying to pick up illicit Libyan oil haveproved hollow and without teeth.

Libya is the second largest oilproducer in Africa and the continent’sfourth largest natural gas supplier andalready dominates the SouthernMediterranean’s petroleum sector.According to the Libyan National OilCorporation (NOC), more than 50international oil companies werealready present in the Libya on theeve of the “revolution.” The country’s

By Nicola Nasser

LIBYA ALMOST IMPLODING, STATUS QUO UNSUSTAINABLE


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potential is more promising; Austria’sOMV said on last Oct. 21 it had struckoil in Libya in its first new discoverysince 2011.

On last Oct. 18, CNBC.com quotedPaolo Scaroni, the CEO of the Italianoil and gas firm ENI, which is Libya’slargest foreign partner, as saying:“Everyone is going to be wealthy” inLibya, citing statistics of what couldbe: “Five million people and 2 millionbarrels of oil (per day), which meansthat this country can be a paradise,and I am doubtful that Libyans willnot catch this opportunity of becomingthe new Abu Dhabi, or the new Qataror the new Kuwait.”

Libyan Copy of Iraq’s “GreenZone”Yet Libyans seem determined to miss“this opportunity.” “Revolutionary”Libya, reminiscent of the U.S. -engineered “democratic” Iraq aftersome ten years of the U.S. invasion,is still unable to offer basic servicesto its citizens. Real unemployment isestimated at over 30%. Economy hasstalled and frustration is growing.Gone are the welfare days ofGaddafi’s state when young familiescould get a house with benefits forfree, people’s medication andtreatment were paid by the state andfree education made available toeveryone. About one millionsupporters of the Gaddafi regimeremain internally displaced; hundredsof thousands more fled for their livesabroad.

Remnants of the destroyedinstitutional infrastructure of law, orderand security is hardly capable ofprotecting the symbolic centralgovernment in Tripoli, reminiscent ofits Iraqi counterpart, which is stillbesieged in the so-called “GreenZone” in Baghdad. Late last OctoberLibya’s central bank was robbed of

$55m in a broad daylight robbery.More than one hundred senior militaryand police commanders wereassassinated.

“Libya isn’t just at a crossroads. Weare at a roundabout. We keep drivinground in circles without knowingwhere to get off,” Libya’s Ministerof Economy, Alikilani al-Jazi, said ata conference in London lastSeptember, quoted by The Australianon last Oct. 14.

On last Aug. 30, the Swiss-basedgroup Petromatrix said: “We arecurrently witnessing the collapse ofstate in Libya, and the country isgetting closer to local wars for oilrevenues.” Four days later PatrickCockburn reported in British TheIndependent that “Libyans areincreasingly at the mercy of militias”and that the “Government authority isdisintegrating in all parts of thecountry.”

Ironically, an estimated one-quarter ofa million heavily armed militiamen,who are the main obstacle to creatingand empowering a centralgovernment, are on governmentpayroll.

Writing in The Tripoli Post on Oct. 31,Karen Dabrowska said that, “Localnotables, tribal groups, Islamists andmilitias are all vying to keep the centrefrom extending its authority to theirfiefdoms and this explains whydisparate social groupings can only

unite temporarily to prevent the centrefrom gaining power over them.”

It “goes without saying that the post– Moammar Gaddafi Libya is purelya failed state” governed by militia,Adfer Rashid Shah of the JamiaMillia Islamia, Central University inNew Delhi, wrote on last Oct. 15.

Following the heavy infighting in theLibyan capital on Nov. 7, Italianforeign minister Emma Bonino toldnewspaper La Republicca that thecountry was “absolutely out ofcontrol” and the situation isworsening, hinting that Italian oil andgas firm ENI was prepared to closeits oil wells.

Zeidan’s abduction from his Tripoli’sCorinthia Hotel on last Oct. 10, whichthe British Economist described as“the shortest coup,” highlighted thecountry’s deteriorating security crisis.It was interpreted as a “reprisal” forkidnapping five days earlier of AbuAnas al-Libi on suspicion of links withal-Qaeda by U.S. special forces, anact which exposed the inability of thecentral government to cooperate andcoordinate with the American “ally”in his arrest on the one hand and onthe other exposed its failure inprotecting Libya’s sovereignty againsta flagrant U.S. violation thereof.

Last July Zeidan threatened that hisgovernment may have to “use force”in Benghazi, the cradle of the“revolution” and the current focus ofinsecurity, tribalism, separatism,Islamist rebels, decentralization ofgovernment, assassination of regulararmy and security officers and attackson foreign diplomatic missions whomostly closed their consulates inLibya’s second largest city, where theU.S. ambassador was killed inSeptember last year.

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Ahead of his visit to the eastern cityon Monday, when he promisedreinforcements and logistical supportto the security forces there, Zeidanlaunched a show of force into the citythe previous Friday with hundreds ofarmored troop carriers and armytrucks mounted with guns.

But Zaeidan’s threat to “use force”will inevitably be counterproductive,not only because his government’slack of “force” would compromise hiscredibility, but because, within thecurrent balance of power between hisgovernment and the militias, it willmake the security situation worse ifit does not ignite a civil war.

Zeidan said his government wouldgive the “revolutionaries” who haveturned into rival and vying militias andwarlords until next Dec. 31 to join theregular army and police or they willbe cut from government payroll, thatis if his coffers could afford to sustaintheir payroll if they accepted and ifthey did not accept his offer it will beanother reason for more mutiny andrebellion.

More likely the government payrollmay not be rolling because thegovernment is facing a budget crisisand “from next or the following month,there could be a problem coveringexpenditure” according to Zeidanhimself, as the security crisis hasbrought oil production to a standstillor out of its control because the“militia groups are behaving liketerrorists, using control over oil aspolitical leverage to extractconcessions,” according to Dr.Elizabeth Stephens, head of politicalrisk at insurers Jardine LloydThompson, quoted by British TheTelegraph on last Aug. 29.

An imminent constitutional crisis couldcreate a power vacuum that in turn

would worsen the security crisis.Published by RT on this Nov. 7, analystNile Bowie wrote: “In accordancewith the transitional roadmap adoptedby the transitional government in May2011, the mandate of the currentgovernment in Tripoli is set to expireon February 8, 2014. Failure toimplement a new constitution by thenwould either force Tripoli intoextending its mandate – a move whichis seen as highly unpopular – or apotential power vacuum scenariowhich could set off a chain of eventsthat could lead to a civil war ordissolution.”

Pentagon’s Plans No HelpShort of western “boots on theground” it is doubtful that Zeidan’sgovernment will survive. The U.S.administration of President BarakObama was repeatedly on recordagainst any U.S. boots on the groundin the Middle East. With the exceptionof France, which might be ready forthe appropriate price to repeat itsrecent limited and temporary militaryintervention in Mali, Europe seemsagainst it too.

Zeidan, with less than three monthsremaining for him in office, seemsrelying on Pentagon’s plans to armand train, through “AFRICOM,” anew Libyan army called “a generalpurpose force.”

But “the case of a separate andunderreported U.S. effort to train asmall Libyan counterterrorism unitinside Libya earlier this year isinstructive,” Frederic Wehrey wroterecently in Foreign Affairs, adding:The absence of clear lines of authority— nearly inevitable given Libya’sfragmented security sector — meantthat the force’s capabilities could justhave easily ended up being usedagainst political enemies as againstterrorists. In August militias launcheda pre-dawn raid on the training camp

which was not well-guarded. Therewere no U.S. soldiers at the camp,but the militia took a great deal of U.S.military equipment from the site, someof it sensitive. The U.S. decided toabort the program and the U.S. forcessupposedly went home.The obvious alternative to Zeidan’swestern supported government wouldbe a stateless society governed bymilitia warlords, while the survival ofhis government promises more of thesame.

At the official end of the NATO warfor the regime change in Libya on Oct.31, 2011 U.S. President Obamaproclaimed from the White HouseRose Garden that this event signaledthe advent of “a new and democraticLibya,” but more than two years laterLibya is recurring to the pre-Gaddafiold undemocratic tribal and ethnicrivalries with the added value of theexclusionist terrorist religiousfundamentalism wearing the mantle ofIslamist Jihad.

In the wake of late Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi’s death onOctober 20, a Saudi Arabian ArabNews’ editorial said: “The point aboutQaddafi’s death is that it makes thenext transition stage that much easier,that much safer. As long as heremained at large, he would have beenin a position to destabilize thecountry.” More than two years afterGaddafi’s death, Libya is moredestabilized, insecure and fracturedthat its future is now questionableenough not to vindicate the Saudidaily’s prediction.

13 November, 2013

Nicola Nasser is a veteran Arabjournalist based in Birzeit, West Bankof the Israeli- occupied Palestinianterritories.Source: Countercurrents.org

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Just Commentary December 2013