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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Jul 03 2011 - 18:08:26 EDT
The Powers of Manipulation: Islam as a Geopolitical Tool to Control the
Middle East
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
http://www.globalresearch.ca/coverStoryPictures2/25199.jpg
<http://www.globalresearch.ca> Global Research, July 3, 2011
As Washington and its cohorts march towards the Eurasian Heartland, they
have tried to manipulate Islam as a geo-political tool. They have created
political and social chaos in the process. Along the way they have tried to
redefine Islam and to subordinate it to the interests of global capital by
ushering in a new generation of so-called Islamists, chiefly amongst the
Arabs.
The Project to Redefine Islam: Turkey as the New Model and "Calvinist Islam"
Turkey in its present form is now being presented as the democratic model
for the rebelling Arab masses to follow. It is true that Ankara has
progressed since the days it used to ban Kurdish from being spoken in
public, but Turkey is not a functional democracy and is very much a
kleptocracy with fascist tendencies.
The military still plays a huge role in the affairs of the state and
government. The term "deep state," which denotes a state run secretly from
the top-down by unaccountable bodies and individuals, in fact originates
from Turkey. Civil rights are still not respected in Turkey and candidates
for public office have to be approved by the state apparatus and the groups
controlling them, which try to filter out anyone that would go against the
status quo in Turkey.
Turkey is not being presented as a model for the Arabs due to its democratic
qualifications. It is being presented as the political model for the Arabs,
because of a project of political and socio-economic "bida" (innovation)
involving the manipulation of Islam.
Although very popular, the Turkish Justice and Development Party or JDP
(Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi or AKP) was allowed to come into power in 2002,
without opposition by the Turkish military and the Turkish courts. Before
this there was little tolerance for political Islam in Turkey. The JDP/AKP
was founded in 2001 and the timing of their founding and their electoral win
in 2002 was also tied to the objective of redrawing Southwest Asia and North
Africa.
This project to manipulate and redefine Islam seeks to subordinate Islam to
dominant World Order capitalist interests through a new wave of "political
Islamism", such as the JDP/AKP. A new strand of Islam is thereby being
fashioned through what has come to be called "Calvinist Islam" or a "Muslim
version of the Protestant work ethic." It is this model that is been
nurtured in Turkey and now being presented to Egypt and the Arabs by
Washington and Brussels.
This "Calvinist Islam" also has no problem with the "reba" or interest
system, which is prohibited under Islam. It is this system that is used to
enslave individuals and societies with the chains of debt to global
capitalism. It is in this context that the European Bank of Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) is calling for so-called "democratic reforms" in the
Arab World.
The ruling families of Sauda Arabia and the Arab petro-sheikhdoms are also
partners in the enslavement of the Arab world through debt. In this regard
Qatar and the Arab sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf are in the process of
creating a Middle East Development Bank that is intended to give loans to
Arab countries to support their "transition towards democracy". The
democracy promotion mission of the Middle East Development Bank is ironic
because the countries forming it are all staunch dictatorships.
It is also this subordination of Islam to global capitalism that is causing
internal friction in Iran.
The hope in Washington is that this "Calvinist Islam" will take root with a
new generation of Islamists under the banner of new democratic states. These
governments will effectively enslave their countries by placing them further
into debt and selling national assets. They will help subvert the region
extending from North Africa to Southwest and Central Asia as the area is
being balkanized and restructured in the image of Israel under ethnocratic
systems.
Tel Aviv will also wield wide influence amongst these new states.
Hand-in-hand with this project, different forms of ethno-linguistic
nationalism and religious intolerance are also being promoted to divide the
region. Turkey also plays an important, because it is one of the cradle for
this new generation of Islamists. Saudi Arabia too plays a role in
supporting the militant wing of these Islamists.
Washington's Restructuring of the Geo-Strategic Chessboard
Targeting Iran and Syria is part of the larger strategy of controlling
Eurasia. Chinese interests have been attacked everywhere on the global map.
Sudan has been balkanized and both North Sudan and South Sudan are headed
towards conflict. Libya has been attacked and is in the process of being
balkanized. Syria is being pressured to surrender and fall into line. The
U.S. and Britain are now integrating their national security councils, which
parallels Anglo-American bodies from the Second World War.
Targeting Pakistan is also connected to neutralizing Iran and attacking
Chinese interests and any future unity in Eurasia. In this regard, the U.S.
and NATO have militarized the waters around Yemen. At the same time in
Eastern Europe, the U.S. is building its fortifications in Poland, Bulgaria,
and Romania to neutralize Russia and the former Soviet republics. Belarus
and Ukraine are being put under increasing pressure too. All these steps are
part of a military strategy to encircle Eurasia and to either control its
energy supplies or the flow of energy towards China. Even Cuba and Venezuela
are under increasing threat. The military noose is globally being tightened
by Washington.
It appears that new Islamist parties are being formed and groomed by the
Al-Sauds with the help of Turkey to take power in Arab capitals. Such
governments will work to subordinate their respective states. The Pentagon,
NATO, and Israel may even select some of these new governments to justify
new wars.
It has to be mentioned that Norman Podhoretz, a original member of the
Project for a New American Century (PNAC), in 2008 suggest an apocalyptic
future scenario in which Israel launches a nuclear war against Iran, Syria,
and Egypt amongst its other neighbouring countries. This would include
Lebanon and Jordan. Podhoretz described an expansionist Israel and even
suggested that the Israelis would militarily occupy the oil fields of the
Persian Gulf.
What came across as odd in 2008 was the suggestion by Podhoretz, which was
influenced by the strategic analysis of the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), that Tel Aviv would launch a nuclear attack on
its staunch Egyptian allies ruling Cairo under President Mubarak. Despite
the fact that the old regime still remains, Mubarak is no longer in power in
Cairo. The Egyptian military still gives orders, but Islamists may come to
power. This is occuring despite the fact that Islam continues to be
demonized by the U.S. and most of its NATO allies.
Unknown Future: What Next?
The U.S., the E.U., and Israel are trying to use the upheavals in the
Turko-Arabo-Iranic World to further their own objectives including the war
on Libya and the support of an Islamic insurrection in Syria. Along with the
Al-Sauds, they are attempting to spread "fitna" or division amongst the
peoples of Southwest Asia and North Africa. The Israeli-Khaliji strategic
alliance, formed by Tel Aviv and the ruling Arab families in the Persian
Gulf, is crucial in this regard.
In Egypt the social upheaval is far from over and the people are become more
radical. This is resulting in concessions by the military junta in Cairo.
The protest movement is now starting to address the role of Israel and its
relationship to the military junta. In Tunisia too, the popular stream is
headed towards radicalization.
Washington and its cohorts are playing with fire. They may think that this
period of chaos presents an excellent opportunity for confrontation with
Iran and Syria. The upheaval that has taken root in the Turko-Arabo-Iranic
World will have unpredictable results. The resilience of the peoples in
Bahrain and Yemen under the threats of increased state-sponsored violence
indicates the articulation of more cohesive anti-US and Anti-Zionist protest
movement.
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya specializes in the Middle East and Central Asia. He
is a Research Associate of the the Centre for Research on Globalization
(CRG).
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Opening the Door for a New Generation of Islamists
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