The Great War for Civilisation,

The Great War for Civilisation,
Chris Mercer (2007)
I have only read 2 books for pleasure this year, the first being 'Mao-the untold story' by Yung Chang back in February see-http://letstryeurope.blogspot.com/2007/02/mao.html,
therefore I won't go into that again and due to my Celta and Open Uni studies the second one, I'm in the middle of now.
'The Great War for Civilisation,The Conquest of the Middle East' by Robert Fisk is by far the most disturbing book that I have (half) read. Today I am on page 585, only another 701 pages to go! So far the book has dealt with Afghanistan,Iran, Iraq,Palestine and Israel(and the first world war, and touched on the Holocaust- and the Armenian Genocide). Robert Fisk has been a correspondent in the Middle East for 30 years, his knowledge is astounding, to say the least. He pulls no punches and shows no favouritisms . He has interviewed Bin Laden at least twice, and details his story as any journalist should-factually. Each time I put the book down I feel harrowed, haunted with the actions of my fellow man-this is not a pleasant read. I have made a few comments regarding Iran on this blog in the past see-

http://letstryeurope.blogspot.com/2007/03/is-this-road-for-irans-future.html


http://letstryeurope.blogspot.com/2006/12/it-didnt-really-happen.html


I now feel that my judgment of Iran may have been somewhat harsh, although this by no means includes Switzerland. The Islamic Revolution was an unbelievable bloody affair, which deposed the unbelievably bloody(and corrupt) Shah-who was put in place by the Western powers.
After the revolution Iraq was provided with enough weapons, and chemical weapons with which to destroy Iran(take a guess by whom!).Chemical weapons were then responsible for the mass killing of Iranian soldiers, who were woefully ill equipped due to arms embargoes imposed by guess who. This continued for years during the eighties until 1988, during which time the US shot down a civilian Iranian airliner in July 1987 killing 290 men, women and children!
What exactly do we expect from a country that was attacked by its neighbour with the help of the international community which resulted in the death of a million of its people?
Back to the book- there is so much that has happened in our recent history that we choose to ignore(or are forced to ignore-Turkey continues to threaten anyone who mentions the Armenian Genocide with jail within Turkey and financial sanctions outside). As I have mentioned before: http://letstryeurope.blogspot.com/2006/08/if-you-were-in-their-shoes.html
the holocaust was an abomination, but that, does not excuse Israel's behaviour since its wars with its neighbours began in 1948. What I had never realised was the amount of people displaced from the occupied territories during that time, what I didn't realise was the conditions of people within those areas-how can we ignore the fact that a civilized/western country inflicts such suffering and abuse upon the people under it's occupation(within the occupied territories)? I have always believed in the Jewish people's right to a homeland, and always will(its Arab neighbours do accept its right to exist), but it is time that they now fell in line with both UN resolutions and the Geneva Convention. At that time, and only at that time may we see a cease of hostilities from militant groups living under Israeli occupation. The killing of civilians is not only wrong for the Palestinians, it's also wrong for Israelis-that is an irrefutable fact, anywhere in the world!

As I said, it is a difficult read, but one thing stands out throughout the book, and that is America's role, especially in the last 25 years. Many people believe George W to be the instigator of many of today's troubles-he hasn't helped, that's for sure, but he is not much worse than his predecessors.Clinton refused to stand up when needed, Israel is the prime example. The UK has been largely irrelevant, but should have done more.Of course we were largely responsible for screwing up the area during the first 50 years of the last century, which is why we have the problems that exist today.
We take no notice of the statistics that come out of the Middle East, we have grown bored,complacent,apathetic. The Middle East of course, is not the only war torn area
in the world-Darfur comes to mind. Isn't it time to choose leaders that have the courage and conviction to seek peace- where it's possible, forge ties with nations, to foster understanding instead of standoffs(Iran, Syria and Lebanon come to mind)? Isn't it time to support those in desperate need of support(Palestine and Lebanon) instead of isolating them.Isn't it time to throw in the towel when you are so obviously on the wrong track(Iraq)? It is the sixth anniversary of 9/11 tomorrow, and that atrocity can never, ever be justified in any way. I believe that justice does need to be done, if Pakistan pulls it's finger out, it may well be.
Crimes against humanity can never be excused, either during wartime or peacetime.Bin Laden is not the only war criminal out there, and one day when peace eventually returns to the Middle East-including Israel, and all occupying armies have gone home(including Israel, and the UK) I hope the UN can begin to look at all civilian deaths and begin to punish those responsible whatever their nationality or position.
The policies of the last goodness knows how many years, have just not worked, for anyone.
Okay, back to reading the book, see you in 700 pages!
Allah Akbah, Shalom, God be with you-where-ever you are