121Contact

President Obama and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: propaganda vs. knowledge

The apostles of “the war of civilizations” eagerly await the U.S. decision on whether or not to seek the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for his part in the April 2013 bombing at the Boston Marathon.

With Dzhokhar silenced forever, assumptive motivations for his terrorism will be in the hands of a government eager to justify its hegemonic goals in the Middle East. His Islamic self will be enough to continue the perception that all Muslims are dangerous, and that Muslims within America are especially dangerous because they look just like ‘us’. He will be used as further proof that Islam is a uniquely violent religion. Islamophobics and supporters of "anti-Muslim hate groups" such as Robert Spencer and Michelle Geller must be ecstatic at the thought silencing Mr. Tsarnaev.

No investigation of his real motives and drives will be possible. Social, family, political, psychological elements, as seen by Dzhokhar himself, will be unavailable for investigation. Scientific investigation will cease and the simplistic justification for his actions, as an act of Muslim terrorism, will perpetuate the simplistic, monolithic perception of the violent Muslim.

Whether the administration is Democrat or Republican—it doesn’t matter. The public expression of American foreign policy (not the financial explanation) is driven by a need to remain the singular force for ‘good’, i.e. the one nation capable of ‘saving the world for Democracy’…the modern White Man’s Burden that justifies our selective support of regimes that agree to our economic and political control. The fact is that democracy is not paramount. Salafist, dictatorial, democratic, Socialist—it doesn’t matter, as long as they conform. They will be rewarded with financial, military, and political support. The alternative is to ‘be against us’ in the ‘war on terror’ which invites active opposition ranging from false propaganda and economic warfare, to military interventions, both overt and covert.

Let Dzhokhar live. We then have the possibility of to further our understanding of his violence, and help move this world toward more peaceful tomorrows.

January 23, 2014 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

 

 

 

U.S. Policy and Terrorism:

Governments don’t like political justifications for terrorism. They prefer to focus on almost any cause other than dissatisfaction with American action. It’s much easier to deal with putting the blame on psychosis, religion, fanaticism, and irrational acts. Add ethnicity, nationalism/separatism, poverty, economic disadvantage, and globalization to the mix. Just don’t mention America's violent, deadly operations undertaken to fulfill policy goals.

    One might take a moment to listen to the rhetoric of terrorist organizations and the arguments they use to recruit new members. There is often a logic (sometimes twisted) and a factual basis (often unattributed) in their professed viewpoints. Their vision may be skewed, but it effectively persuades many to radicalization, and some to violence. Revenge for politically based military action is a common theme, as is the slaughter of innocents. President Obama’s drones and the innocent civilians they kill are often mentioned.

    A "special edition" of Azan magazine, publiched by fighters in the Afghan-Pakistan region, glorified the bombings in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2013, and considered them retribution for America's "war crimes" in Muslim countries. The 4-page issue was uploaded on a file-sharing website on May 8, 2013, and does not appear to have been officially released as yet. Referring to the attack as a "drone in America," the authors thanked the bombers for bringing "coolness to the hearts of millions of oppressed families worldwide," and justified it as revenge for the US military invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, America's support to Israel, and its alleged insults to religious sanctities like the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad. 

Here's what they wrote about President Barack Obama's pledge to bring the perpetrators [of the Boston bombings] to justice:

    "Is it 'just' that you oppress the rest of humanity and feel a right to be secure? What are YOU doing in Afghanistan? Why are your soldiers here? Who started this war? Certainly, YOU Mr. President and your predecessors and cronies who pretend to be the harmonious protectors of the world – indeed, you deserve to be put in the court of justice… But not any man-made court of justice… You are a criminal in the Court of Allah… So, let the world rejoice at the destruction that befell the great tyrant. And let America fear for more…"

    What may appear as mere hype actually works to convince some to join the violent jihad against the 'criminal' forces of Obama. This is especially true in regions where people have been directly affected by drones, and where the population has little access to views other than the terrorists themselves. It also works to stimulate rage in people far away, who sympathize with the plight of those innocents being attacked.

    You either agree with them or you don’t, but ignoring them is a mistake. And shaping counterterrorist policy without paying attention to foreign policy is a deadly mistake.

 

Tamerlan Tsarnaev: the puzzle piece that doesn’t fit.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev: the puzzle piece that doesn’t fit.

By Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

The NYC cops drop quite a few applicants because they deem them suspiciously unstable. Jihadists do the same. The reason we don’t find much psychotic behavior in terrorists is that they are weeded out early.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was alone. He never obtained American citizenship. He was a Golden Gloves boxer; an Olympic hopeful, but never made it to the top. His father said, “He was never happy, never cheering, never smiling. He used to strike his girlfriend. He hurt her a few times.” He read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” He was evidently alone in his sadness and frustration.

He read al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine. Perhaps he found a community there. A Global Jihad group that embraced him, gave him a purpose, an ideology, and an identity. Perhaps the rhetoric of Inspire’s “authorities” overcame his reluctance to kill innocent civilians. After all, they are less than human in their support of an American government that is willing to torture, rape, kill, and humiliate Muslims, even deny them their very existence. (Yes Inspire does say that.) This dehumanization of Americans is a common feature in all 10 issues of magazine. It is also an effective mechanism in changing ‘murder’ into an ‘obligation of defense’. All this has been shown to lead someone to becoming radicalized.

But that’s not the same thing as becoming radicalized to violence; to the point of justifying the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians. Perhaps there was a psychological tipping point, a trigger, beyond which his rational self could no longer restrain him within the bounds of common morality.

Then he went to Dagestan and tried to hook up with the jihadists. Here was a like-minded group that surely would take him in as one of them. They shared, he thought, a basic ideology and goal. Surely this would be the family of acceptance. But he just didn’t fit.

They wanted nothing to do with him. Some considered him ‘too weird.’ Like many successful terrorist organizations there were leery of newcomers, possible infiltrators, possibly deranged individuals who would not be trusted to be reliable.

A final straw? The breaking point? He returned home, built some bombs, and killed and maimed. We can see the steady slide into radicalization. The mechanisms have been studied scientifically through various disciplines, including cognitive psychology. Unfortunately, the forces that move one to step over the line to violent radicalization haven’t yet been determined.

Let’s not witch-hunt the radicals. There are millions of people with strong beliefs, religious (like al-Qaeda, secular (like the Tamil Tigers, and philosophical (like the Anarchists). Only the slightest percentage actually take up violence. Overreacting can only hurt us all. That doesn’t mean paralysis. It means we have to study more, and come to understand the mechanisms that push people over the line.  

 

Obama, the king.

How is one to explain the extraordinary chutzpa of our fearless leader?

He picks and chooses people to be human targets for our mechanized killing machines, ,and now

He picks and chooses who deserves to be told of their Miranda rights.

He picks and chooses

as if he were the king.

And we sit.

Silent servants.

 

Boston: Tamerlan Tsarnaev, on the long complex path from radicalization to terrorism.

Originally from Chechnya, but living in the United States since five years, Tamerlan Tsarnaev said:

"I don't have a single American friend, I don't understand them."

from an interview with Tamerlan cited by SITE.

 

من بغداد الى بوسطن، نحن ننبذ العنف! From Baghdad to Boston

مبادرة التضامن مع المجتمع المدني العراقي وماراثون بغداد يودان أن يعربا عن تعازيهما الشديدة لأسر ضحايا التفجيرات التي وقعت في ماراثون بوسطن وفي بغداد وفي مدن أخرى من مدن العراق في اليوم المصادف 15 من أبريل الجاري. إننا متألمون على جميع الذين قتلوا وأصيبوا من جراء هذه التفجيرات التي إستهدفت الأبرياء من الشعوب المسالمة. إننا نرفض الفكر الذي يظن أن العنف هو وسيلة فعالة للإدلاء ببيان أو تعزيز قضية. وتضامناً مع شعب العراق والولايات المتحدة، فنحن نطالب بأن نفهم لماذا تحدث كل هذه الأحداث المأساوية، سعياً منا لتحقيق العدالة لهؤلاء الضحايا، والأهم من ذلك هو الترويج لثقافة اللاعنف التي يتم نشرها من قبل الحوار والفعاليات الرياضية العامة التي تسهم في بناء مجتمعات أساسها الثقة والسلام.

بوسطن

القنبلتين المدوية التي إنفجرت بالقرب من خط النهاية لماراثون بوسطن بعد ظهر يوم الاثنين قتلت ثلاثة أشخاص على الأقل، بما فيهم طفل عمره 8 سنوات، وجرحت أكثر من 100 شخص. ماراثون بوسطن، السباق الذي يمثل حدثاً رياضياً على مستوى العالم، كان دوماً يدعو للقيم الاجتماعية، والإحسان، وعمل الخير. حيث انه في هذا العام كان هذا الحدث الذي  يقطع فيه متسابقي الماراثون مسافة 26 ميلاً فكان الميل السادس والعشرون وهو الميل الأخير الذي انفجرت فيه القنابل، كان مقرراً تخصيصه لضحايا اطلاق النار في مدرسة ساندي هوك الابتدائية في نيوتاون بولاية كونيكتيكت وحمل شعار"26 ميل لتكريم الضحايا الـ 26". روح الشفاء التي نقلتها شعارات الماراثون هي واحدة من الطرق التي تساهم فيها الرياضة في تعزيز السلام. والتي ينبغي ان تلهمنا جميعا للعمل من أجل نبذ العنف أينما نعيش.

بغداد، ومدن عراقية اخرى

الانفجارات القاتلة والمأساوية اصبحت وللأسف امر شائعاً جداً في مدينة بغداد هذه الأيام، ولكن يوم 15 أبريل كان يوماً مدمراً بشكل خاص. فوفقاً لمصادر أمنية عراقية ومصادر العاملين في المجال الطبي فإن 79 شخصاً على الاقل لقوا مصرعهم أو أصيبوا إثر ستة انفجارات حدثت في مناطق متفرقة من مدينة بغداد. سبعة عشر سيارة مفخخة أخرى انفجرت في أجزاء أخرى من شمال ووسط وجنوب العراق، مما أسفر عن مقتل أو إصابة 219  شخصاً على الأقل اي ما يقارب مجموعهم الـ 300 شخص من الضحايا الابرياء الذين ليسوا الا مشاة، أو موظفين حكوميين، أو شرطة، أو من المرشحين في الانتخابات المحلية التي ستعقد في العراق يوم 20  أبريل.

 إن هذه الخسارة في الأرواح البشرية أصبحت شيئاً مفرطاً ولا يمكن إحتماله.

طريق آخر

في الوقت الذي نعبر فيه عن الحزن والأسف، يتوجب علينا العمل معاً لتعزيز بدائل للعنف. يجب علينا أن نرفض الاعتقاد الخاطئ بأن الأفراد أو مجموعات او حتى الحكومات، تستطيع أن تحل مشاكلها عن طريق العنف.

قدمت مبادرة التضامن مع المجتمع المدني العراقي تضامنها مع مفهوم اللاعنف ومع ناشطي حقوق الإنسان في العراق منذ عام 2009. هؤلاء الناشطين هم الأمل الأكبر لعراق متجدد ومسالم.

العراقيون اللاعنفيون لهم حلم عملوا من أجله، وهو انعقاد فعاليات ماراثون بغداد. وفي أعقاب مأساة بوسطن، فإنهم قرروا تكريس أنفسهم للعمل وبإصرار اكبر على إطلاق سباق من شأنه أن يثبت أن شوارع بغداد يمكن تأمينها لإقامة فعاليات رياضية، والتي من دورها تعزيز ونشر ثقافة اللاعنف. ماراثون بغداد سيكون حدثاً في غاية الاهمية من شأنه أن يساعدنا جميعا في التعافي من موجات العنف وأثرها الفضيع!

From Baghdad to Boston, We Reject Violence!

 

The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative [ICSSI] and the Baghdad Marathon want to extend our condolences to the families of the victims of the explosions that took place at the Boston Marathon, in Baghdad, and elsewhere in Iraq on April 15th. We grieve for all those killed and injured by these explosions targeting innocent, peaceful people. We reject the idea that violence is ever an effective means to make a statement or promote a cause. In solidarity with the people of Iraq and the U.S., we want to understand why these tragic events occurred, to seek justice for the victims, but most importantly to promote a culture of nonviolence in which differences are resolved by dialogue, and to build a world in which public sporting events create communities of trust and peace.

 

Boston

The two powerful bombs that exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon killed at least three people, including an 8-year-old child, and injured more than 130 people. The Boston Marathon, while a world-class sporting event, has always also been about community values, charity, and good works. This year the 26th and final mile of the Marathon, where the bombs went off, had been dedicated to the victims of the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. “26 miles to honor 26 victims,” read the banners and signs. The spirit of healing that slogan conveys is one of the ways that sports promote peace. It should inspire us all to work for nonviolence wherever we live.

 

Baghdad, and Beyond

Tragically, deadly explosions are all too common in Baghdad, but April 15th was a particularly devastating day. According to Iraqi security sources and medical personnel, at least 79 people were killed or wounded by six explosions in different parts of Baghdad. Seventeen car bombs went off in other parts of northern, central and southern Iraq, killing or wounding at least 219 people – nearly 300 in total. Among the victims were innocent bystanders, government officials, police, and candidates in the local elections that are to be held in Iraq on April 20th. This loss of human lives is intolerable.

 

Another Way

As we mourn and grieve, we must work together to promote alternatives to violence. We must reject the belief that individuals, movements, or nations can ever solve their problems through violence. We must reject calls for revenge or further violence. The ICSSI has promoted solidarity with nonviolence and human rights activists in Iraq since 2009. These activists are the greatest hope for a renewed and peaceful Iraq. One of their dreams is to hold a Baghdad Marathon. In the wake of the Boston tragedy, they have rededicated themselves to a race that will prove that the streets of Baghdad can be made peaceful for sports, and that sports can promote a culture of nonviolence. A Baghdad Marathon would be a vitally important event that could help us all to heal

Visit Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع at: http://icssi08.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Juan Cole asks: "Can the Boston Bombings increase our Sympathy for Iraq and Syria, for all such Victims?"

In a wonderful article by Juan Cole: "Terrorism has no nation or religion. But likewise its victims are human beings, precious human beings, who must be the objects of compassion for us all."

 

 

End of Terrorists? When we r die,

The end of terrorists? When we r die.
or maybe sooner if we stop supporting terror with our media.
April 16, 2013 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

--

The night before Boston we were talking to brother B. His house, in Baghdad, had electricity and none of the family were hurt in yesterday’s or today’s bombings. It was a good day, and he told us about the lady next door.

B was on the way home from the store. He passed his next door neighbor and they stopped to chat. After she congratulated him on his recent surgery he asked her how her children were doing in the U.S.

She is a retired lawyer in her 70’s with a daughter and son in the U.S. She’s always been very protective of her children. The kind of protection where when the children took 100 in the exams she would say they took 90’s so there would be no jealousy aimed at them. It was very hard for her to see her children leave Iraq.

“They are fine, Inshallah. But their safety is important. I thought as long as they are safe and happy…so I let them leave. But now I feel they are threatened there because Korea is about to bomb America.” A reassured her.

“America is a safe place, don’t worry.”

--

That same night, before Boston, we chatted with A, in Smawa, who posted, “It was close. The bomb, but I am OK.”

“Happy you are OK. When will it all end?”

“When we r die.”

---

And today the TV is an endless loop of terrorist propaganda. It is just what the bombers want. The publicity makes them feel strong. The terror that is induced by the repetitions magnifies the effect of their murder and maiming.

We support terror with our insensitive, profit-driven media.