11th of September 2006

In remembrance of those whose lives were changed irrevocably by the events of that callous attack on America.

Those in whose name, goodwill has been squandered, wars are being fought, liberties are being eroded, democracies are being stifled, freedoms are being lost and lies are being told.

In the memory of those who we would like to contemplate in silence, but that tranquillity is blotted out of our minds by the bombs that go off daily in Iraq.

Who, if they were to be resurrected would most likely forsake life and fatherland, this time, for a hegemony has been built in the quest for vengeance in their name, one they would barely recognise.

In empathy with those who lost, them who grieve, many who weep, ones who cry, day and night, because once our peace was shattered they who could have brought us succour brought more blood, more sorrow, and more bodies from lands of them with a strange tongue.

Yes, the world has changed, but if they that we lost could speak to our hearts and talk to our minds, would they justify this change that we have acquiesced to, as the War on Terror masquerading as the Great War for Democracy wages on?

If you would have forgiven, then we would be remiss of our actions, if we were to seek vengeance, have we excelled?

In all, you might have departed in such destruction but have entered into your rest, may we in your memory find rest from all the turmoil that surrounds us.

All warfare is based on deception

That fateful day

Let us really break this war on terror down into its fundamentals and understand what really happened to us after the ninth day of September 2001.

A number of foreigners mostly of Saudi origin had over months before the attack been learning how to fly planes in flying schools in America, a rather expensive hobby to have but generally inconspicuous as part of a terror plan.

The important thing was that they had already gained access to America and when they regrouped, they boarded planes that were flying inter-state in America; none were intercontinental because they wanted to wreak havoc on American soil.

On that fateful morning, they hijacked four planes, two flew into the twin towers, one into the Pentagon, the fourth which probably was on its way to the Capitol or the White House crash-landed in Pennsylvania with the convenience of the talk of heroism from passengers and crew of the plane than the possible shooting down of the same on authority of the American government.

The words leading to war

This tragedy of that day left 2,973 dead and 24 declared missing a majority of who were Americans. The President first made a broadcast to the nation that day to comfort the American People, prioritise the issues of rescue, help and succour, then stressed the need to return to normalcy in families, in the federal agencies and financial markets – This was the beginning of the making of the Bush presidency.

Nine days on, on the 20^th of September 2001, the President addressed a Joint Session of Congress and the American People outlining a number of points, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security to be run by the governor of the state where the fourth plane crash landed – Tom Ridge, he also demanded that the Taliban hand over all terrorists of the Al Qaeda clique and give Americans access to all terrorist training camps in Afghanistan to ensure they was not one terrorist left in Afghanistan. This is a thinly veiled sovereignty issue on analysis.

Picking at a the speech

The speech was a rallying call and the sounding of defiance in the light of this atrocious attack and a number of quotes stand out in the speech.

“Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen”. They are still ongoing and the cost now exceeds the number of lives lost on American soil, but that does not matter, they have been lost in foreign lands fighting terror.

“What is expected of us? I ask you to live your lives, and hug your children”. However, we would change your lives with the doctrine of fear and threat to emasculate your freedoms and liberties – thinking aloud.

“I ask you to uphold the values of America, and remember why so many have come here. We are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them”. Does this cover Guantanamo Bay, Extraordinary Rendition and CIA Secret Prisons or Unwarranted Surveillance? – Thinking aloud, again.

“But this country will define our times, not be defined by them. As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of terror”. Speak volumes without need for additional commentary.

A date in Kabul

It was obvious when the Taliban at first did not respond to the President’s demands on religious grounds and then vacillated about giving up Osama bin Laden and even offered to extradite him to some neutral state, they sincerity was suspect and there was no further recourse than to go to war to capture the leaders of Al Qaeda and punish the Taliban.

In general, global opinion was on the side of America to seek the annihilation of Al Qaeda and consummate regime change where the Taliban had become a totalitarian theocracy without any of the trappings of 20^th Century civilisation and a handbook of rules that would have made the Spanish Inquisition look like a kindergarten finger-painting class.

That war ended without the capture of Osama bin Laden of Al Qaeda or Mullah Mohammed Omar of the Taliban, they are still at large 5 years on, they are definitely America’s most wanted fugitives, and we have more problems in the world than to confer on them the epithet of the World’s most wanted fugitives.

Now that we’ve done Afghanistan

The main success of the war in Afghanistan is the uprooting of the Taliban regime who recently have been in insurgency leading to a call from NATO for more troops and equipment.

A fragile democracy exists in Afghanistan but that regime hardly has full control of its territorial limits and in many areas warlords run autonomous and tyrannical leadership over their local citizenry – it can hardly be called a roaring success.

Besides, the war dispersed both Taliban and Al Qaeda personnel who could have crossed into the tribal lands of Waziristan in Pakistan.

The prime objective of the Bush administration from the onset was to prevent another attack on American soil at all costs and this is how that was executed.

The American People would have required that the Taliban be defeated in Afghanistan that was accomplished, however, to be able to fight terrorists overseas rather than in America, a staging ground is required to concentrate terrorist manpower and resources.

Seeking a new terrorist haven

Afghanistan could no more be engaged as a host to that scenario, Pakistan had aligned with America in their war on terror so they were exempt, Iran had a kind of reformist regime and engaging them would have been inflammatory. However, there was unfinished business in Iraq, as it transpired the decision to attack Iraq was probably made within 2 days of 9/11.

In principle, if America were to attack Iraq on the basis of the pre-emptive war doctrine, or under the supporters of terrorism collective blanket and the weapons of mass destruction pretext, they would have carte blanche to run over the country, however, one unforeseen consequence is that it has now become a cauldron of terrorism with Americans engaged to dealing with an Iraqi insurgency and a thriving Al Qaeda murder machine.

It should then not be surprising that American soil has not been attacked since 9/11, there is no need to; the terrorists are still killing Americans as well as innocent Iraqis in Iraq. Iraqis have paid a larger price moving from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein to a pseudo-civil war where probably over 40,000 lives have been lost.

The supposed sham of a democracy that they have would require the strong arm of coalition support for years to come, the jury is out on if this experiment of democratising the Middle East would work, at least Vladimir Putin pointed said in the presence of Mr Bush in July, Russia does not want that kind of democracy. No country should aspire to that kind of democracy either.

What lies did for Iraq

Three and a half years into the war in Iraq the death toll continues to rise and this situation did not temper the resolve of America and Britain to restrain Israel from another loss of 1,000 Lebanese and 150 Israeli people due to American policies over the 5 years.

We now learn like we all knew before that Saddam Hussein had no links with Al Qaeda, no Al Qaeda operative met with any Iraqi official, there were no weapons of mass destruction, Iraq was not building a nuclear bomb and neither had they ordered yellow cake from Niger.

Mr Bush contends that Saddam Hussein was aiding suiciders (sic), let us review that issue again, suicide bombers having committed their atrocities in Israeli towns were identified, then Israel instituted a collective punishment policy of destroying the homes of property of the suicide bomber’s survivors.

In some cases, these suicide bombers owned nothing, but this punishment as a result of their act brought loss, anguish and destitution on their family and relations. There probably is a case for considering this act a deterrent, but conversely it can also be an effective recruitment tool for a new terrorist.

What Saddam Hussein did was to compensate those who had suffered loss for the actions of others and probably they were not in anyway culpable and were entirely innocent, whilst some might twist that into sponsoring terrorism, it could be argued that this was preventing the suffering of innocent people and the creation of a vengeance syndrome.

The premise of war

As Sun Tzu, the Chinese mathematician says in The Art of War on military strategy – “All warfare is based on deception” – Iraq is no less an example of how we have been lied to, cajoled, hoodwinked, robbed and disposed by evidence that turns out to be false at best and fabricated at worst.

Mr Bush and Mr Blair already have their places in history; it is unlikely they would be treated kindly when we look at the big picture of the New World Order in the 21st Century.

References

CNN.com - Senators: CIA dismissed Saddam-al Qaeda ties before war

Saddam 'had no link to al-Qaeda'

Senate: Saddam saw al-Qaida as threat

A dossier of lies to pursue the Iraqi war

Your greed will serve you badly

What is prosperity?

When a good friend sent me this piece of news, I smiled and as he noted, it might interest me, it does.

I have always heard of the Prosperity Gospel, a message delivered in certain Christian congregations of the Pentecostal persuasion, I, for one have not fully appreciated the content or context, but I know what living the good life is all about.

In my perspective it is not about women, wanton living, bling and hedonism, rather, it is about having enough to be liberal in giving, being ready and resourceful to tackle issues and being able to see a way out of whatever situation as well as understanding contentment.

Whilst money is important, wisdom is the principal thing, one has to be smart about the use of time, resources, people, opportunities and trials.

The pastor was a bigamist

The piece of news I am concerned about is that of a Pentecostal priest who apparently died in an air crash in Nigeria intestate.

At death, he was eulogised, praised and lauded as a patriotic and selfless Nigerian, well, the truth has erupted like a long dormant volcano that has returned with vigour.

He had a second wife, so he was a bigamist, that secret became front page news when the first and second wife entered into a tussle about the pastor’s estate as it transpired that he was worth about $55 million.

One can imagine the shock when the first wife realised that she had a rival and surely, she would have wanted to prove that the other woman was an impostor.

But once she had ascertained that this woman was who she said she was, any level-headed arrangement would have allowed for them to come to some sort of amicable settlement and split the loot in two.

All for me and none for you

Well, they did not, because one who have felt deserving of more than the other and their lives flash before them about a life of grandeur with $55 million rather than $27.5 million as hedonistic insurance.

If, these women had listened the beautiful preaching of their late husband rather than sought to practise the acts of the self-same man, they probably would have been wiser and smarter about the corruption of great riches in the hands of those who have worked for nothing.

23 things to accounts for

The legacy of the man has already been destroyed as the evil men do does tend to live after them.

Anyway, their altercation on how to split this largesse came to the notice of the anti-graft and anti-corruption organisation in Nigeria and they waded in and impounded the whole inheritance because not proof could be found of how a pastor and electoral officer came into such great fortune stashed away in hydra-headed bank accounts numbering 23. Short intake of breath.

How is it that in this case too, two fools and their late husband’s ill-gotten money are soon parted? Because your greed would eventually serve you badly.

Somehow, strange sexualities excite Africans

Using Homosexuality as a damaging tool

Having dealt with a number of topics on sexuality on NaijaBlog in the last few days, one concerning homophobia and other a lovers’ spat, it is strange that there are still issues around sex that tend to hammer the dark into the continent of Africa.

In Malaysia years ago, the accusation of sodomy was used to depose the vice president and persecute him into incarceration and ill health, but he survived.

The first black president of Zimbabwe had his legacy completely rubbished as the tyrannical Mugabe allowed charges of homosexuality to thrive to the disgrace of Canaan Banana.

Whilst the accusation of homosexuality in Africa can create a level of revulsion, some have concentrated that response by alluding to the acts rather than just the life. Some people’s lives could be affected by being named homosexuals, but definitely destroyed by being called a Sodomite.

Publish and be damned

In the light of this, it is first interesting to read that a newspaper in Uganda has decided to publish the first names and professions of alleged homosexuals; this atrocious act is defended as exposing people who are cheating on their partners.

One wonders when it became the duty of newspapers to publish private infidelities, if that be their goal, why single out those who have cheated on their partners with a deviation into same-sex liaisons? It really cannot be justified.

Harking back to Victorian times when sodomy was criminalized, it was said that Queen Victoria did not believe there was anything like lesbianism, this paper has not published names of lesbians for so many reasons, but one can really be that men are quite titillated by lesbian sex, it cannot be said that women find pleasure in the converse.

The law should rise to protect

When a publication of names happened in Cameroon earlier in the year, the courts came down heavily on the editor that he did prison time where he might have learnt to pick up the soap; I cannot muster any sympathy for such people.

I would surmise that the publication of full names might attract litigation that could really do more damage to the paper and editor than the aggrieved.

One voice of reason in that news write up does say this is the time for the government to protect rather than persecute and prosecute – unfortunately, the railing against homosexuality has a way of congregating people to a mob of bigots but does nothing to address everyday issues of life and wellbeing – it is a useful primitive political smokescreen that gets abused by any unscrupulous politician in the West and anywhere else.

Read my story

Then a defrauded Nigerian railing against cronyism and nepotism that has allowed the criminals to abscond from justice has labelled the Minister of Federal Capital Territory a homosexual; this smokescreen reveals a more compelling catalogue of woes and corrupt practices.

We might just say, if you want your story to gain maximum interest in Nigeria, accuse the principals of homosexuality and see your story become a best seller, however, it does not guarantee you will get justice, especially if the big man decides to accord you the courtesy of suing the big pants off your backside.

The medicine man

I remember that the most feared medicine man in the town when I went to secondary school had a name in Yoruba that translated to Sodomite. If you really did have a problem you wanted sorted out in the animist traditions, you went to see him – he had not other name than that, and it drummed fear into those who as much as whispered his name.

I cannot say if the name was supposed to be literal or figurative, but whatever it meant, people must have thought he drew more magical strength from the seemingly abominable and bizarre practice – anyone who might have been done by him would definitely not dare go to the press.

A dowry for a goat

And so a house owner in Sudan wakes up in the middle of the night to sort out a kafuffle in his compound only to catch that a man in the act of using “a goat as his wife”. The shame and guilt of it all paralyses the culprit that he gets tied up and reported to the elders.

The smart grey heads decide there is no point involving the police in this, but impose a dowry on the culprit who is then allowed to take the goat home for a wife.

It is strange that the act of bestiality can attract so smart a remediation, but one of sodomy is a beheading if Sharia has a peek into that case.

Sex in Africa though common in terms of population growth, horrible in terms of rape and abuse and also paternalistic in terms of the rights of women, is still a very difficult topic of ambivalent values of traditions, religion and simple village wisdom – somehow, those in the village seem to understand the issues better.

It may also be that some even knew that sodomy long before condoms and pills was a form of contraception as long as it is practised between man and woman.

An admission in remission

The end does not justify the means

When President Bush yesterday admitted to the existence of CIA secret prisons along with the consideration that information obtained from certain of the imprisoned has since prevented terrorism attacks, I thought I could see in the background Niccolò Machiavelli being introduced as Press Secretary (Minister of Propaganda would be too 1930s to contemplate.).

The thought that hardened terrorists would voluntarily divulge information to Americans about plans they might have painstakingly arranged to bring ill to America does take a bit of imagination.

The Gitmo Workbook

In fact, the Abu Ghraib abuse which appeared routine as a means of warped entertainment and in reality blatant torture appears to have come of the Guantanamo Bay workbook since the man-in-charge there was brought in to toughen up the regime at Abu Ghraib.

Somehow, we just have found it difficult to believe protestations of Americans about not torturing their prisoners; caught in the web of the broad terror principle and this Machiavellian notion that subscribes to extraordinary rendition, the existence of Guantanamo Bay, the military tribunals and the unwarranted eavesdropping on Americans.

Immoral grounds

One by one, each of these has been completely discredited if not declared illegal, but we have torturously drawn water from stone as this admission now comes into the light of day.

One more admission is required, by whose authority was the CIA agents shopped to the press?

In all, everything that allows America to maintain the high moral ground in this war on terror has been lost to hubris and bluster, the former is the delusional confidence in the projection of American power and the other can easily be championed by Donald Rumsfeld.

Where truly we have been saved from some terrorist attack we are grateful for those mercies, however using the fear of terror to justify actions and activities that would not stand the scrutiny of basic terms of justice and fairness whilst we are continually stripped of our liberties for the sake of our supposed safety is nasty, unconscionable and Machiavellian – the end will never justify the means.

We have become our own terrorists

Why? Because we become the terrorists we are trying to fight, we deny ourselves the power of our democracies just as the terrorists would have liked to do and our so-called freedoms are rolled back into the bondage of a police state, worse than where those terrorists came from.

As it stands, the only leadership quality America now serves is in having funds and having guns, it is left to others to play the deft hand of real diplomacy in the New World Order.

The Day of the Toothpicks

Piffle at Westminster

In politics, the Night of Long Knives has resonance, be it, 1934 when Hitler purged Germany of his opponents or 1962 when Harold Macmillan sacked 7 members of his cabinet, 2006 brings us the Day of the Toothpicks, people at the bottom rung of the ministerial ladder act to impose a resignation on the Prime Minister.

So, seven junior ministers resigned from the Blair government yesterday saying they had lost confidence in the leadership of Tony Blair to take the party forward and in readiness for the next election.

It is clear that since Mr Blair the Prime Minister had announced that he would not run in the next election which at the earliest would be 2009 or very latest 2010, a good few impatient people would be on his case to abdicate from the day after he won a third successive victory for the Labour Party.

The restless press and Labour Party have been on the verge of apoplexy trying to read when the Prime Minister would depart, we cannot entirely discount the machinations of an organ grinder who lives next door and who has played second fiddle to Tony so long, the tune is sounding like – Now is my time, get out of the way.

Chancellor of the executor

Gordon Brown cannot be blameless in what has lead to Tony Blair’s accusation of disloyalty and discourteousness from the most senior of those who resigned; it would make one wonder if Gordon Brown is the right man for Prime Minister of Great Britain in this dispensation of the New World Order.

Mr Watson who was a junior Defence Minister might have managed a pen knife as opposed to the toothpicks that the other Parliamentary Private Secretaries lanced into Mr Blair’s back. It would appear the only damage caused would be to the material of the PM’s suit, none of those people have a patch of Caesar’s Brutus even if Mr Blair accorded a polite – Et tu, Brute? – to Mr Watson.

And so, it appears Mr Blair would make an announcement today to clear up the air about when he is leaving, it might gladden Mr Brown’s heart, but it may not be as smooth sailing as everyone would want it to be.

The raid on Peking, London

Duck but not in Peking

Having just ordered Peking Duck in the local Chinese restaurant on a night out with friends and family, one would really have been put out that the only duck that became the highlight of that outing would have been the act of ducking under the table as rioting and terrifying terror police raided the restaurant to nab suspected, wait for it, logistical support to terrorism.

Somehow, through intelligence and surveillance, rather that raid the homes and other more private meeting points of these people, they went for the spectacular, hit them with their guard let down at a vulnerable but very public social meeting place, this no doubt saves a lot of money, rather than concerted raids all over the place.

It is however nice to know that so-called terrorism suspects have an international palate.

Probably not that smart

It might however be that the raid was conducted to establish association amongst groups of people and alliances, something discrete photography would have done, since they are still going to visit the homes of the arrested persons to dig for evidence.

Now, I have no problems with the need to put as many resources as possible into ensuring that we do not have another terrorist mishap like we did on July the 7^th 2006, but, the way this is barging into our way of life with the premise that the little discomfiture of the few helps the convenience of the many is flawed logic.

What is to say, another vulnerable public gathering place like a mosque, church, bowling alley, ice rink or lido is not on the list of some smart aggregating detective in cahoots with the police bean counter?

Worst still, some social activities like weddings and burials are going to lose their veneers of solemnity as we all suspect everyone around us who attempts to show any signs of life.

Suffer for the offer

So, when British Airways launched a television advertisement for World Offers, their seemingly cheap air travel offers, I thought, for all the fuss of not being able to carry my lipstick or having to dangle my tampons at Heathrow before boarding my flight and considering a decent sized paperback might have to be split in 2 to fit into those sizing contraptions, the deal must be so good to assuage the pain of the customs/security check.

As the fifth anniversary of September the 11^th approaches, expect the bizarre, the atrocious and the scandalously unacceptable as we fight our fear of the fear of the fear of terror without discerning the link between what we do and how that sometimes feeds into the causes of terrorism.