Bombing Muslims for Peace

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(...) Right now, of course, the world is witnessing yet another U.S. bombing campaign, the latest in a series that seems all too predictable (and futile), meant to teach the restless rebels of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and possibly even Iran a lesson when it comes to messing with the United States of America. (...)

Israel is systematically destroying Gaza, rendering it essentially uninhabitable for those Palestinians who survive the ongoing rampage. In fact, early in its war of annihilation, Israeli leaders cited the Allied destruction of the German city of Dresden in 1945 in support of their own atrocious air and ground campaign against the Palestinians.

Looking at this dispassionately as a military historian, the Dresden reference makes a certain twisted sense. In World War II, the Americans and their British allies in their “combined bomber offensive” destroyed German cities indiscriminately, seeing all Germans as essentially Nazis, complicit in the crimes of their government, and so legitimate targets. Something similar is true of the right-wing Israeli government today. It sees all Palestinians as essentially members of Hamas and thus complicit in last year’s brutal October 7th attacks on Israel, making them legitimate targets of war, Israeli- (and American-) style. Just like the United States, Israel claims to be “defending democracy” whatever it does. Little wonder, then, that Washington has been so willing to send bombs and bullets to its protégé as it seeks “peace” through massive firepower and genocidal destruction. (...)

Putting [the issue of genocide] aside, it’s undeniable that Israel has been using indiscriminate bombing attacks and a devastating invasion in a near-total war against Palestinians living on that 25-mile-long strip of land, an approach that calls to mind the harrowing catchphrase “Exterminate all the brutes!” from Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. (...)

Try to imagine such events from the perspective of a historian writing in the year 2200. Might that future scribe not refer to repeated U.S. invasions of, incursions into, and bombing campaigns across the Middle East as a bloody crusade, launched under the (false) banner of democracy with righteous vengeance, if not godly purpose, in mind? Might that historian not suggest that such a “crusade” was ultimately more about power and profit, domination and control than (as advertised) “freedom”? And might that historian not be impressed (if not depressed) by the remarkable way the U.S. brought seemingly unending chaos and death to the region over such a broad span of time?

Consider these facts. More than 22 years after the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. still has at least 30,000 troops scattered across the Middle East. At least one Navy carrier strike group, and often two, dominate the regional waters, while striking numbers of military bases (“Little Americas”) are still sprinkled across countries ranging from Kuwait to Bahrain, from Qatar to the United Arab Emirates and beyond. So many years later, about 900 U.S. troops still illegally occupy part of Syria (not coincidentally, where that country produces most of its oil) and 2,500 more remain in Iraq, even though the government there would like them to depart. (...)

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Tags: #us #united_states #isael #gaza #palestine #palestinians #bombing #weapons #military-industrial-congressional_complex #pentagon #middle_east #kuwait #bahrein #qatar #uae #iran #united_arab_emirates #iraq #syria #houthi #yemen #saudi_arabia #crusade #war #dresden

Saudi Government Uses European Football to Sportswash its Reputation

Human Rights Watch

Forget Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist brutally murdered in a Saudi consulate, and all his colleagues jailed, censored or harassed in Saudi Arabia; don’t think about women’s and LGBT rights in the kingdom; and ignore the mass killings of migrants along the Saudi border with Yemen. Look, there, Saudi Arabia is hosting the Super Cup, Inter Milan, Real Madrid! It’s the country of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, not repression and rampant human rights abuses.

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Inter Milan's players lift the trophy to celebrate winning the Italian SuperCup football match at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on January 18, 2023. © 2023 Fayes Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images.

This is how “sportswashing” works: laundering a government’s reputation by hosting major sport events that attract widespread, positive media attention, while diverting it away from the hosts abuses. Saudi Arabia has been doing that for years and intends to continue doing so. (...)

In May, Saudi human rights defenders, activists, and intellectuals issued “A People’s Vision for Reform in Saudi Arabia”, a document articulating a series of principles and reforms that should serve as the foundation of a rights-respecting Saudi Arabia. Their requests included the release of all political prisoners, the respect of the rights to freedom of expression and of association, upholding the rights of women, migrants, and religious minorities, the abolition of torture and death penalty, a reform of the justice system, and a redistribution of the country’s wealth.

But instead of complying with their human rights obligations and starting a dialogue with civil society actors, Saudi authorities have repressed every form of dissent. (...)

Swamped with debt, European football risks making itself a well-paid puppet of the Saudi propaganda machine. (...)

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Tags: #human_rights #football #uefa #fifa #khashoggi #lgtb_rights #yemen #saudi_arabia #super_cup #inter_milan #real_madrid #ronaldo #neymar #sportswashing #torture #death_penalty

By bombing Yemen, the west risks repeating its own mistakes

The Guardian

Instead of retaliating against the Houthi militia, the US and its allies should be pressing Israel to end its invasion of Gaza and accept a ceasefire.

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A Typhoon takes off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to to take part in airstrikes against military targets in Yemen. Photograph: Sgt Lee Goddard/MoD/AFP/Getty Images.

Early on Friday, the US and Britain launched military strikes against more than a dozen targets in Yemen controlled by the Houthi militia. (...)

Western leaders, and especially the US president, Joe Biden, insist that they want to reduce the risk of the war in Gaza spreading to other parts of the Middle East. But the US-led air and naval strikes on Yemen are the most significant expansion of the conflict since Israel launched its devastating assault on Gaza after the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Instead of avoiding a wider war, the US and its allies are escalating regional tensions and adding fuel to a conflict that has already spilled over to Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Red Sea. The conflagration could spiral out of control, perhaps more by accident than design. (...)

Washington appears almost eager to repeat its mistakes: years of bombing by US allies during Yemen’s long civil war failed to dislodge the Houthis or persuade them to change course. In fact, the Houthis became stronger after each military confrontation.(...)

The US and its allies are resisting the clearest path for de-escalation across the region: putting pressure on Israel to end its invasion and accept a ceasefire.

A truce would remove the Houthis’ rationale for their aggression against commercial shipping in the Red Sea – and the movement’s leaders have said they will cease disrupting global trade once Israel stops bombing Gaza. The US-led military strikes are likely to have the opposite effect. (...)

The Houthis, who were losing support in Yemen before the Gaza war, have little incentive to change tactics since the conflict has increased their popularity throughout the Middle East. (...)

Washington’s unwavering support and billions of dollars in arms shipments to Israel are straining other US alliances in the region. It’s notable that two of the US’s closest allies in the Arab world, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have resisted joining an international naval coalition, assembled by the Biden administration last month, to confront the Houthis and protect shipping in the Red Sea. (...)

The Houthis essentially won the war, and they reached a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022 with Saudi Arabia, although the two sides are still negotiating a permanent truce. (...)

For the US and Britain, that history should serve as a cautionary tale: the regional power they supported spent years trying to destroy the Houthis, only to be ground down and forced to negotiate a settlement.

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Tags: #middle_east #israel #palestine #palestinians #gaza #lebanon #iraq #yemen #houthis #saudi_arabia #iran #hezbollah #hamas #red_sea