Who is the real terrorist?
Dr. Ahmed Adam
The Human Rights Foundation condemns the unjustified war assault upon the
poor, innocent and defenceless people in Afghanistan. This is an unjust war
being waged by the strongest country in the world against the poorest country
in the world. The US has contemptously rejected many appeals to prove their
case against Osma Bin Laden in an independant international court. Surely the
US has nothing to fear if its case is as watertight as it would lead us to
believe? Or are the public concerns expressed by US officials about the "holes"
in their evidence the main reason for the US to refuse this request. Is George
Bush junior any different from his father who said "I will never apologise for
the United States of America. I don't care what the facts are" (George Bush
(snr) ( "The Rogue State", William Blum)
The entire basis for the war is unproven allegations which rightly should
have been submitted to an impartial independent court such as the International
Court of Justice ( ICJ). It is interesting that the US and Israel are the two
countries which have been most reluctant to give their support to the
establishment of the International Criminal Court which could also have had
jurisdiction.
The U.S. attack is not war but a reckless, emotional act of revenge under the
banner of fighting for freedom and human rights. "US Policy, under the banners
of freedom and human rights, has led to barbarous criminal acts" Institute for
Policy Studies, Washington.
It must be remembered that the attack on the Twin Towers was not perpetrated
by the government of Afghanistan. The attack was by alleged individuals. War is
a state of hostilities between two countries. Instead of attacking the
perpetrators for an alleged "war" on the U.S. ( which the Twin Towers attack
was not ) the U.S. has declared war on the government and people of
Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is so hopelessly outmatched by the superior military capability
of the US that it is effectively a mass murder and a slaughter of the
innocents. George Bush has said that he wants Osma Bin Laden "Dead or Alive"as
in the days of the Wild West.
The U.S. attack on Afghanistan is not even a terrorist attack - it is worse.
"Terrorist attacks" by 'freedom fighters' are attacks by the weak designed to
draw attention to a just cause and are usually resorted to by people who have
exhausted all other means to draw attention to injustices and oppression. Our
own history shows that the US and the apartheid regime in South Africa called
the ANC a 'terrorist organisation' while we called them 'freedom fighters'. The
US has a perverted sense of values: It was the strongest ally of the former
apartheid regime in SA and responsible for the arrest and imprisonment Nelson
Mandela for 27 years as a result of the provision of intelligence by the CIA to
the former apartheid government. The US voted against many resolutions at the
United Nations which sought to impose sanctions against apartheid South Africa.
This is the same US which claims to act in the interests of worldwide "freedom
and democracy"
We must not lose sight of the important distinction between a "freedom
fighter" and a "terrorist" or we will fall into the US propaganda trap of
demonizing all people (as well as their "moral supporters" and the countries in
which they live in and the religion they happen to follow) who have no other
option but to use "terrorist activity" as a political weapon. The US has made
it clear that it will not distinguish between the "terrorist" and the country
that "harbours" a terrorist. What does this mean? It means that any country in
which there are known "terrorists" (by the US definition of terrorist which
conveniently excludes itself and its allies ) is a potential target for
"anti-terrorist activity" The US conducts its own covert operations ( "US
terrorist activity" ? ) by allocating a budget of $30 Billion for this
purpose. We need to differentiate between "harbouring" a terrorist and the
need to request proof of the guilt of a person before action is taken.
History will record the mass murder and terror in Afghanistan by the U.S. (
which CNN prefers to refer to as the "War on Terror" ) as a shameful event in
the history of mankind. The due process of law has not been followed and the
US has assigned to itself the role of judge, jury and executioner against an
entire country. Once a court has found and convicted the true perpetrators of
the attacks than the appropriate punishment should be meted out to the real
perpetrators. Prior to this any act of aggression and death caused is illegal
and is nothing less than the murder of innocent people.
The US is using sophisticated computer controlled gunships in an
international posse of countries involved in a wild-west style manhunt to
"smoke out" their prey, such passion unbecoming of a world leader purporting to
believe in civilised values. What the US is doing in Afghanistan is a
systematic campaign of terror on a far more concerted basis than what it
accuses the terrorists of the September 11 attack. The difference is that they
do not care if the accused is guilty; nor do they care how many innocent
civilians they kill in achievieng their military, economic and strategic
objectives in the region. An indication of the continuing callous attitude of
the U.S. is the reponse of Colin Powel in respect of question posed to him on
the number of Iraqi's killed in the Gulf War when he said, "Its really not a
number I'm terribly interested in" William Blum in "Rogue State" believes that
if a list had to be compiled of Amercian leaders guilty of crimes against
humanity,
Colin Powel may be one of them. The deaths of civilians in this unjust war is
referred to as 'collateral damage" by the US.
According to UN reports the effect of the war has caused a humanitarian
crisis potentially affecting between 4-7 million civilians who face not only
starvation but the effects of exposure to icy cold weather without any form of
heating and medical supplies. The US, in order to mute world condemnation and
in an attempt to win over the suffering people resorts to the insulting use of
scattering haphazardly food for 37 000 people when those starving are in excess
of 4 million. Before the war, aid agencies at least ensured that all those who
needed food received it. However the actions of the U.S. has disrupted supply
of aid and misinformed the public of the true humanitarian impact of the war
reflecting the dishonesty of the U.S. in claiming concern for the Afghanistan
people.
The Mute Complicity of the Media
The atrocities committed by certain nations often receive only passing
attention. The media attention to the Twin Towers attack was of course
necessary. However what is to be condemned and exposed is the lack of any
attention by the mainstream media to atrocities of a similar or far greater
magnitute in the the past 10 - 20 years, significant of which is the horrendous
bombing of Iraq which led to the death of over 1.5 million people over the next
10 years and to this day the strangulating economic sanctions imposed by the US
and UN on Iraq are the cause of the painful and excruciating deaths of 5000
children every month. Do you know what the impact is on a mother to watch a
child die a long excruciating painful death due to starvation?
Every month 5000 children die in this cruel, inhuman way and the world does
not even take notice.
Are they any less worthy of our attention than the 5000 people who died on
September the 11th?
Do you know the psychological impact of being in Afghanistan at present when
every moment of the day is like playing a game of Russian Roulette? When you
have no idea when the next bomb will 'accidentally' miss its target and destroy
your home? When you have nowhere to run because the borders are sealed? Besides
an entire city in Afghanistan has no electricity and water as a result of the
destruction of its infrastructure. This alone will cause countless deaths over
the coming weeks. The refugee crisis is mounting and there are several hundred
thousand refugees who have nowhere to go since all borders have been sealed.
"We will never see the smoke, and the fire, we never smell the blood, we
never see the terror in the eyes of children, whose nightmares will now feature
screaming missiles from unseen terrorists, known only as Americans" Martin
Kelly (see Rogue State)
"It is a scandal in contemporary international law, that while "wanton
destruction of towns , cities and villages " is a war crime of long standing ,
the bombing of cities from airplanes goes not only unpunished but virtually
unaccused.
Air bombardment is state terrorism, the terrorism of the rich. It has burned
up and blasted apart more innocents in the past six decades than have all the
antistate terrorists who ever lived.
Something has benumbed our consciousness against this reality. In the United
States we would not consider for the presidency a man who had once thrown a
bomb into a crowded restaurant , but we are happy to elect a man who once
dropped bombs from airplanes that destroyed not only restaurants but the
buildings that surrounded them. I went to Iraq after the Gulf War and saw for
myself what the bombs did ; "wanton destruction" is just the term for it."
-C.Douglas Lummis, political scientist. ( as quoted in "Rogue State",
William Blum )
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
The Human Rights Foundation intends to inform the public about many issues
which are not given prominence in the mainstream media. We indend to further
inform people of the facts relating to the crisis which will enable people to
make an informed decision. We need your support and help in this regard. You
can assist in one or more of the following ways:
a) Assist to distribute information, newsletters and pamphlets in your local
area to inform people about the true situation. Please call us if you wish to
set up a local sub-chapter of an anti-war coalition in your area. (Act Now to
Stop War and End Racism - A.N.S.W.E.R)
b) Assist by supporting the collections for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
c) Participate in a "National Conference on Human Rights" in which various
organizations will be asked to deliberate over a period of 2 days to prepare a
comprehensive well formulated plan of action to assist towards ending what
amounts to shameful atrocities against the innocent Afghan population.
THE WAR ON ISLAM
The Book entitled "The War on Islam" by Enver Masud is a required read for
any person who wishes to obtain facts about US foreign policy and actions of
the US which you will not find on CNN or the mainstream news media. The Human
Rights Foundation wishes to thank the author of the Book Enver Masud of the
Wisdom Fund based in the USA for permission to print a special limited South
African version of the latest edition of his book. His earlier version of
this book is available in the U.S. for $ 18 plus shipping (Total of R 300
approx). We are pleased to announce that the Human Rights Foundation has
secured the rights to publish this book which will be made available FREE in
South Africa. We intend to publish 5000 copies of this book. Donations to
defray the costs of printing the book and costs for these adverts would assist
the Human Rights Foundation in continuing its activities which have until now
been funded solely from our own private resources.
This book is also available in electronic format and the electronic version
is also available free for non-commercial personal use. The web address at
which this book can be downloaded is at www.twf.org
In this advert below we have publish key excerpts verbatim from the Book "War
on Islam" to give the reader a good idea of the wealth of information contained
in the book. The book will give answers to the following questions:
a) What is the track record of the United States in regard to respect for
Human Rights?
b) Is this war being fought for the purpose of democracy and freedom or is
there another motive?
c) Is the use of "secret evidence" by the United States acceptable in terms
of the rights of the accused?
d) What is the record of Human Rights violations of the United States? Who is
in fact the worlds worst violator of Human Rights and who can be called the
Super Rogue state?
e) What are the real motives for US foreign policy?
f) What has been the US position on the formation of the International
Criminal Court? Why is the US so concerned about the establishment of the ICC?
Have any senior US officials ( past and present ) been found guilty of war
crimes and who are these people?
g) What influence does Israel have on US policy?
The book "War on Islam" will give you answers to the above and many other
questions. Please call us at (012) 336-600 ext. 6425 if you wish to receive a
free copy of the book "War on Islam" or if you wish to provide assistance in
any way. We welcome any support in our struggle for world peace and justice for
all.
Dr. M. Adam
Chairman - Human Rights Foundation
http://www.khutbahbank.org.uk/Articles,_lectures/who%20is%20real%20terrorist.htm
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"The future religion of the educated, cultured and enlightened people will be
Islam."
-- George Bernard Shaw
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