WOOLWICH AND TERROR: WE MUST RESIST HAVING OUR ENEMIES CONSTRUCTED FOR US

An astonishing, unprovoked knife attack has taken place on the streets of Britain. Woolwich? No, Birmingham. Just weeks ago, 75 year old Mohammed Saleem was butchered with a machete just yards from his front door as he returned home from mosque – in what police believe was a racially motivated murder. The fact that this story likely comes as news to you, epitomises our misplaced ‘islamaphobia’ and our unbalanced view of terror. We must resist having our enemies constructed for us.

Constructing our Enemies

Before and since September 11th 2001, there has been a conception of ‘Islamic Terror’. The choice to define terror as somehow fundamentally Islamic in nature is a gross mischaracterisation, fuelling a view that Muslims have some predisposition to ‘radicalisation’.

There are people using violence as a tool to further their religious, political or other ends all over the world; of all colours and races, of all faiths and no faith. However, today’s media narrative for terror and terrorism is Islamic Terror. This means that only this type of purposeful violence is deemed ‘Terrorism’, while other acts are relegated to murder, politically motivated, or simply insane.

Did you notice how all terrorists used to be Irish? And suddenly, they are all Muslims? Well, they’re not. But if the media agenda is Irish Terror, or Muslim Terror, then is can start to look that way.

The case I am making is not some tit for tat squabble about the balance of terror – as in, no YOU’RE a terrorist! Instead, I am seeking to highlight a serious issue: the ways in which (particularly) UK and US citizens are having their minds shaped about relative terror.

The Balance of Terror

What happened to a human being in Woolwich yesterday was barbaric, mind numbing tragedy. One can only imagine the fear, confusion and agony of dying in such a way. Passers-by, family and friends will likely be traumatised for days, weeks, months and years. This is what happens when someone is taken from the world in a senseless, bloody way. Reactions trend toward shock, anger and a thirst for justice – for the scales to be set right once more, so we can sleep at night, safe in the knowledge that balance has been restored.

Now, if we can understand that in Woolwich – why can’t we understand it in Iraq, Afghanistan Pakistan, and…Birmingham?

In recent years, UK governments have aided US governments both politically and logistically to kidnap, torture and murder people across the globe – without any judicial process. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact.

British citizens were kidnapped from foreign soil, held in Guantanamo Bay for years without trial, tortured and finally released without charge. The UK parliament recently approved the establishment of Secret Courts to avoid exposure to the public at large of further complicity in rendition and torture.

In 2011, Daniel Crook, a Grenadier Guardsman serving in Afghanistan drank a bottle of vodka. A 10 year old Afghan child, en route to pick up some yoghurt for his mother, came across the British solider and asked him for some chocolate. Crook responded by stabbing the 10 year old with his bayonet, puncturing a kidney. The boy’s father, Haji Shah Zada, 72, told the Guardian newspaper that he could not understand why his son was attacked and had received no apology from the British forces.

These cases are just snapshots among a vast array of incidents across the globe which confirm that the true balance of terror in the world is far more nuanced than the 6 o’clock news might suggest.

Exporting Death and Destruction

London Mayor Boris Johnson has said the murder in Woolwich had nothing to do with British foreign policy – as if it foreign policy was some fanciful, far removed and abstract thing. One does not have to condone such atrocities as the Woolwich murder in order to appreciate that they may well be impacted by foreign policy decisions in a very real way. The un-tempered rage that can result from egregious injustice can and does drive people to extremes.

The US has engaged in extra judicial killings on an industrial scale. So long as UK foreign policy is indistinguishable from that of the US, we will continue to reap the whirlwind for it. The might of the US/UK militaries make them almost immune to conventional warfare, which means civilian locations become the arena for perceived ‘payback’.

For instance, the US deploys unmanned, weaponised drone aircraft into the airspace of sovereign countries and assassinates citizens from the sky. A pro-drone Republican Senator in the US stated recently that at least 4,700 people had been killed by these attacks in recent years – equivalent to almost one hundred 7/7’s.

Worse, a recent study by the Stanford and New York University Law Schools revealed that there have been 49 civilian deaths for every ‘known terrorist’ killed by drone attacks in Pakistan – that means just 2% of more than 3,000 Pakistani people killed by drone attacks have any evidence or suspicion against them. But the drone has become the US’s weapon of choice . In June 2011, the US launched a drone attack a day on Yemen.

That’s all pretty terrifying. Yet, a recent Gallup poll revealed that whilst the majority of US citizens opposed drones in US skies, even if aiming for suspected terrorists, 65% approved the use of drones on foreign soil.

Regular people like you and me, living in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere are terrified to attend family weddings, funerals and other community events in case the US military strike:

Up to 92 civilians, mostly children, were killed in the Azizabad airstrike – where large parts of a village were destroyed in efforts to kill one Taliban commander.
47 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in the Deh Balla wedding party airstrike in July 2008.
37 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in the Wech Bagtu wedding party airstrike in November 2008
Up to 147 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in the Granai airstrike in May 2009
This is what that looks like from the air….

The Quest for Justice

For those familes outlined above, there has been no justice. Those that killed them have not been brought to justice and the methods used to kill them are still in operation on a daily basis. The most recent drone attack occurred in Yemen just days ago, killing at least four and as many as seven civilians.

If we can understand, and (judging from social media streams) identify with people who feel outrage at the unprovoked death of one man on a London street – then how on earth can we not understand the outrage at these deaths on the streets of Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan? It is utter hypocrisy that one person’s genuine anger at constant, unpunished murder is deemed radical, and that another person’s upset at rare, unlawful, punished murder is deemed rational. Their feelings of outrage stem from the same quest for justice – a hunger for the world to be righted when wronged. This is common humanity.

Those who cannot see a parallel in terror between 7/7 and these drone attacks on civilians have a skewed view of justice. They weigh the value of life in an imbalanced way – some lives are more worthy, more real than others. This is the dangerous thinking that we should all be focussed on stamping out. The misguided premise that some people are less equal, less worthy than others has been the root cause of most of history’s blackest pages, from slavery to the holocaust. It is this that needs to be dealt with – not any individual religion, race, or political ideology.

Bringing the Peace

Dr Martin Luther King Jr spoke beautiful words on the need to retain our love for all people if our commitment is to make the world a better place: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”.

Sadly, the majority of people in the UK today are failing to hold their government to account for its brutal treatment of their own fellow citizens, let alone of those in faraway lands who they will ever meet. The price of this, is that we leave others to advocate on their behalf. Some of those people will use courts, some of them will use meat cleavers. If we want to see less hatred, death and destruction, then we must each be more loving, respectful of human life and involved in building communities that thrive.

There is a petulant, jingoistic, easy patriotism doing the rounds today. This is embodied by EDL thugs smashing up mosques, and people changing their Facebook profile pictures to Union Flags. Then there is another sort of ‘patriotism’ that asks more of a person; community spirit. It motivates people to reach out to their fellow citizens; to ensure the streets are safe and tensions are calmed; it holds one’s tongue before making knee jerk comments defaming entire communities for the actions of individuals. Community spirit begs us to ask the question ‘How can I help?’

In conclusion, some affirmations that we should each keep in our minds in the coming days, months, weeks and years:

We cannot have peace at home while we export death and destruction across the globe. This is not the threat of some murderous lunatic, it is a social law as valid as the physical law of gravity.

We must not allow enemies to be constructed for us – or value their lives less equally.

We must not allow the misrepresentation of the balance of terror in the world to deter us seeking equal justice.

We must not abandon the quest for justice to those with hate in their hearts.

If men and women are truly equal, then men must stop bending over backwards in the pursuit of making women happy, right men? Relationships are increasingly full-fledged partnerships after all, so why should we be the only ones trying to make women happy?

We want to be happy and boys just want to have fun as well, so here are 10 things that men look for in the pursuit of happiness and Ms. Perfect. Read the list and answer the question that all men deliberate: do we prefer a pretty face or a beautiful body?

10. Charm
Remember that Seinfeld episode when Jerry went out with that stunning blonde babe who got him out of every bad situation (speeding ticket, etc.)? Well, maybe this occurred because she was a babe, but I think she had such power because she was charming. If a woman can make you smile, then she has the charm to get out of any situation, and will prove to become quite an ally.

Charm is what draws men to those women who are not as good-looking as the others in our black book. Charm is what pulls us back to women even after they burn us. Charm is the one thing that lets women get away with murder — okay, charm and the next thing on the list.

9. A statuesque body
We may not admit this to them, but when we’re walking down the street with our women, we want to show them off. Show off what? Their crazy curves and full figure.

As Doc Love puts it: you need to pass a physical to be the best you can be (i.e. join the army), and Lord knows that women make us pass their own physical exams, so why should we be any different or make any excuse about it?

8. A beautiful face
This one will stand the test of time. A pretty face can get away with murder. Who wants to wake up every morning of the rest of their life next to Shamu ? While this should not be the top characteristic, it is helpful to admit that you must find a woman who will please your eyes and excite your everything else.

Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, unless of course you are a magician named David. So do not choose someone based on what your friends say, go with who you want to wake up with. We like beautiful things and we shall make no apologies for this. Physical attraction may be more important than a 9th and 8th ranking, but beauty fades quickly, especially since beautiful women are a dime a dozen.

7. Honesty & trust
When the games are played, final rounds called, and booty calls over, we want someone we can confide in. The most successful relationships are built upon trust, candor and honesty; anything else is equivalent to building a house on quicksand. Sadly, you only know who is swimming naked when the tide goes down, so be honest with your woman (but do not tell her anything she neither needs or cares to know) if you want her to be honest with you.

Receiving a pat on the back when we do things right is nice, but it’s even nicer to be told when we’re wrong, provided of course that we are not made to feel like crap, which takes us to the next point…

6. R-E-S-P-E-C-T
The last thing we want, is a woman who lets us down, embarrasses us and makes us out to be fools, especially in public. Gentlemen, there is nothing wrong with admitting that we are excessively proud and sensitive to criticism, but if done right, constructive criticism from the one person who knows us best can only make us better men, fathers, lovers, brothers, and human beings.

Why do I say this? Next time your woman tells you something, do not cut her off and put her in her place; listen, pay attention and remember: actions, not words, are what matter. True, we may not have Tammy Wynette standing by us in a state of oblivion, but respect in a partnership is about praise as well criticism, not shutting up and telling it like it is. It helps when it is done with humor (well, not at our expense).
5. Sense of humor
This will forever remain a priority for any man. We work hard, we put up with a lot, and we need a woman who will put a smile on our faces when things are gloomy, and make us laugh when things are down. Now guys, I have been curious as to whether we like it when women make us laugh or when we make them laugh. Being able to make them laugh is good for our egos, but getting a smile on our faces is the best tonic possible.

Women always rank a sense of humor as the trait they like most in us. A woman who finds it challenging to smile and be pleasant will be a thorn in your side until the day you die, and trust me, your judgement day will come before hers.

4. Intelligence & confidence
Previous generations probably preferred a smart woman — not just book smart, but also street smart. But truth be told — and this will not please feminists (but then again, who cares?) — many men did not want an overly smart woman, after all, it would be too hard to tame and control her. After all, men feared that women could become unstable and make demands (oh no…

Today, I like to think that we have matured a bit and now see the value in having a valuable ally as a partner. If a housewife, mother and maid is all that you are looking for, you are selling yourself short men, so go out and find someone who will learn from you as much as you will learn from her; imagine the powerhouse couple that you will make.

3. Ambition & drive
If a partner is what you seek, then you will have to find a woman who will challenge your thoughts, stir up your emotions positively and give you a run for your money. Challenges start at home and end on fields, boardrooms and life, so make sure that you meet your match, because practice does make you perfect.

A woman that is too strong-willed will also be too stubborn, and this is just plain frustrating, but one that chooses her battles diplomatically will prove to come out a winner in the game of life. Would you not want her on your team?

2. Heart of gold
Most women are selfish on good days and plain malicious on bad ones, so why any man would let himself get tempted (well, we know why) by someone who has bad intentions beats me. So many men e-mail us, telling us how badly they are being treated, yet they are helpless in doing something about it, and worse, they keep going back why guys, why?

If you are looking to get involved for the long haul, a kind woman with a heart of gold will nurture you and offer the compassion, sincerity, warmth, and affection you need to make it to the top. Just make sure you are able to reciprocate the kindness, because someone ultimately will and then she’ll run for the hills.

1. Love
Although there are different things that make us happy — some of them may not have been on the list but should have been, while others are but should not have been — when all is said and done and the ink has dried up, the first dates turn into the honeymoon stage, and the relationship develops, all men really want is love.

We want to love and we want to be loved. Sounds cheesy? Of course