Comments on The Pensive Quill: On Woolwich: Islamism is the problem

The French and British are calling to supply arms ...

2013-05-27T23:03:33.048+01:00

The French and British are calling to supply arms to the opposition because they know it will create greater turmoil , we can look no further than our own country , UDA/UFF/UVF/RHC being armed through the back door by the British , UDR soldiers stealing weapons from there own armouries to sell , also pretending there weapons were stolen. We can also look at Iraq , Afghanistan ,and , Egypt , weapons were supplied , now , they are blowing each other up, is this The Brits way of stopping a world Jihad. Can we look further to Morsi in Egypt. whether it's Western Imperialism or not , The Muslims will continue to fight against each other until the Morsi's gain full power throughout the Middle east , Then , It all begins again, you will always have those who are against Sharia laws , and , with the help of the west , will again continue to uprise.

Sean, Lastly, I remember giving a talk a few y...

2013-05-27T14:58:24.275+01:00
Sean,

Lastly, I remember giving a talk a few years back on the need to both oppose imperialist occupation of Iraq but also the reactionary Islamists who are attacking the workers movement and women's rights. Unsurprisingly a leading member of the swp accused the talk of being disgustingly islamaphobic.

Now, why wouldn't that surprise me?!!! The SWP when it was making alliances through Respect got itself into something of a bind over this. And rather than debate it through it opted to censor by shouting 'racist' at anybody raising issues about what Tony Cliff had originally termed 'clerical fascism.'

Islamicism has brutally repressed the Left and progressive causes whenever it got the opportunity. What Maryam does quite usefully I think is bring out what Napoleon once said - among the oppressed are many who like to oppress.

And she is very much a critic of Western imperialism.

Sean/Mark as is stated at the top of the page the...

2013-05-27T08:34:30.015+01:00
Sean/Mark

as is stated at the top of the page the author of the article is Maryam Namazie, an Iranian left wing activist based in London.

While I think it's important to see Islamism a...

2013-05-27T04:32:57.628+01:00
While I think it's important to see Islamism as part of the problem, I don't think the role of western imperialism should be overlooked one of the root causes of the problems.

It's a bit like blaming the republican armed struggle as the root cause of the problem rather than the 'British occupation' and unionist misrule historically.

Where yr article rings a bell Anthony is the agenda that much of the left and republicans share which is your friends enemy is your friends which results in anything being justified under 'anti-imperialism'.

It reminds me of many republicans cheer leading for gaddaffi or Chavez, whenever the likes of gaddaffi before he was toppled was actually delivering for western imperialism in terms of close security cooperation with M15 in dealing with Islamists and rolling out the red carpet for tony Blair to secure oil contracts for BP. In the end he was it obviously not delivering enough but the reality behind the anti-imperialist rhetoric was quite different.

On another note I remember listening to a passionate speech from an iranian dissident left who lost 9 members of her family to the Islamist regime. She spoke about the historic strong workers movement there which was later crushed by the Islamists. She also lambasted some sections of the left for supporting the regime as some form of alternative to western imperialism compared to actually supporting grassroots progressive struggles there.

Lastly, I remember giving a talk a few years back on the need to both oppose imperialist occupation of Iraq but also the reactionary Islamists who are attacking the workers movement and women's rights. Unsurprisingly a leading member of the swp accused the talk of being disgustingly islamaphobic.

Obviously some have not learnt their lessons as to what happens to the left and progressive movements once the Islamists take power which is repeating itself in Egypt today.

Nice to see a republican who can for once not take...

2013-05-27T02:26:19.733+01:00
Nice to see a republican who can for once not take sides in these pointless fights. Neither side has any self respect and both deserve to be consigned to the fringes where they rightfully belong.

One definition of terrorism is the use of violence...

2013-05-27T00:16:28.568+01:00
One definition of terrorism is the use of violence against the civilian population for the purpose of engendering fear or instilling terror. I say one definition because there is little international agreement on a precise, universally accepted definition. Often it is used as a pejorative term against an enemy for political reasons. The phrase: "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" illustrates this problem in a nutshell.

The brutal killing of a British solider raises many questions that defy easy answers. Seen in the context of Britain's involvement in several illegal wars, in mainly Muslim countries, it is hardly surprising to find a small number of young Muslims prepared to carry out such acts. All too regularly we hear of entire families being wiped out in Iraq and Afghanistan followed by unconvincing apologies or hastily devised cover stories.

What motivated two Muslim men to hack to death a British solider on a quiet Woolwich street, whether it be a commitment to radical Islam or the desire for revenge, will be hotly debated by all sides. But there is clearly a context for these actions that should not be ignored or lost in self-serving propaganda.

The sad fact is the West doesn't care when thi...

2013-05-26T21:42:58.575+01:00
The sad fact is the West doesn't care when this goes on in Syria, Libya, the Sudan, Iraq or Afghanistan. For the people of these countries it's a case of welcome to the club - have some of your own medicine. Such lynchings are a regular occurrence in Syria only they're perpetrated by those with the backing of the British government. The double-standards of the British, their government, their media and also their lackeys here who fall over themselves to condemn the killers of that British soldier are galling. No-one should be hacked to death in the street, who would suggest otherwise? But Britain should extend the same courtesy to those peoples around the world that experience such harrowing brutality on a regular basis thanks to those backed up by the British state and its intelligence services. That's the perspective a lot of people are missing here. For a lot of people it's a case of what goes around comes around