The White House Document and War Policies: New Age Islam's Selection, 13 August 2016
New Age Islam Edit Bureau
13 August 2016
• The White House Document and War Policies
By Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran
• Is Gulen An Armenian?
By Pinar Tremblay
• Era of Impunity in Syria Must End
By Brooklyn Middleton
• Taif: A Ball Everyone Kicks Into the other’s Court
By Nayla Tueni
• Why Is Iran Intensifying Crackdown On Dual Citizens?
By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh
• How Turkey's Coup Turmoil Has Fueled a Migration Flurry
By Zülfikar Dogan
Compiled By New Age Islam Edit Bureau
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The White House Document And War Policies
By Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran
12 August 2016
On Sept. 30, 2011, a US drone headed to north Yemen to target a vehicle crossing a desert road and carrying six people. The most significant was Anwar al-Awlaqi, a young man born in New Mexico, raised in the United States and described by the FBI as al-Qaeda’s spiritual advisor.
The passengers perished. Drones put terrorists under much pressure by limiting their movement and making them feel like potential targets.
On Aug. 5, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published an 18-page White House document entitled “The Presidential Policy Guidance.” The document stipulates that measures related to specific terrorist targets must be as selective and accurate as possible.
There is much debate about drones’ military role and the threat they pose to civilians. The controversy includes ways in which terrorism can be confronted. The United States says drones are the most successful and safest way to pursue extremists.
In his article - “The Costs and Consequences of Drone Warfare” - terrorism expert Michael Boyle discusses drones’ efficiency in the war on terror. For example, they have made federally administered tribal areas in Pakistan unsafe, thus decreasing the number of terrorists fleeing to these areas.
Boyle says during US President Barack Obama’s second term, there was a chance to adopt a new drone policy that decreases costs and avoids long-term consequences. He urges the use of drones against leadership figures and operatives, while decreasing or stopping attacks against infantry.
The debate over drones focuses on their accuracy, the number of civilians killed, and the need to set rules for attacks against certain targets
Improving Technology
There is no debate over the need to murder terrorists via specific means that do not harm civilians. The basic idea is how the United States can improve its use of drone technology, which other countries compete to possess.
Some writers discuss the possibility of terrorists attaining this technology. In his book “Drones, American-Israeli domination and Rising Power,” Rabih Yahia writes: “Terrorists look forward to possessing drones to target densely populated areas or popular gatherings, especially in cities and during rush hours. This helps extremist organizations achieve two aims. The first one is to murder more people, and the second one is to spread fear and chaos.”
In the war on terror, drones are more effective than other machines. The United States is said to have used them in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and the Gaza Strip. It invested more than $1.4 billion in developing Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, from which it launches drones. Some 3,000 people have reportedly been killed by drones in the past decade.
Reconnaissance, and tracking and pursuing wanted men who flee to unstable and densely populated areas, are the bases on which European countries, Israel and the United States develop drones. As their military and technical development continues, discussion emerges about borders, ethics and rules of engagement. The expansion of drones worldwide means terrorists could one day attain them.
The debate over drones focuses on their accuracy, the number of civilians killed, and the need to set rules for attacks against certain targets. Drones play a role in making the world safer, and laws relating to them will develop. They are terrorists’ worst enemy worldwide.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/08/12/The-White-House-document-and-war-policies.html
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Is Gulen An Armenian?
By Pinar Tremblay
August 12, 2016
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly told the world and his people that the words “Islam” and “terrorism” should not be used together, because Muslims cannot be terrorists. Indeed, Erdogan has insisted that students who attend Turkey's religious imam hatip high schools would never become terrorists. Yet the man Erdogan accuses of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt is none other than the president's former close friend and ally, Fethullah Gulen, a Sunni imam. This has made the situation rather uncomfortable for the president and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. Acknowledging that Muslims might deliberately hurt and even murder other Muslims is not easy in general for the majority of Turks, so what can be done to address this uncomfortable reality?
The easiest solution would be to resuscitate an answer that Turks have used in the past — that is, declare the enemy to be non-Muslim and foreign. In this case, the Armenian has once again emerged as the imagined culprit, invoked to help Turks assuage their troubled conscience.
Thus, several pro-government figures have concocted allegations to christen Gulen an Armenian. Such accusations were voiced prior to July 15, but have since been embellished. For example, on June 6, the pro-AKP Ottoman Clubs (Osmanli Ocaklari) proclaimed Gulen an Armenian, citing branches in his family tree and his background. Others claimed that the so-called Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization, a term Ankara uses to refer to Gulen followers, was influential in the German parliament's June 2 decision to recognize the Armenian genocide.
At a pro-democracy rally held July 19, Kocaeli Buyuksehir Mayor Ibrahim Karaosmanoglu told attendees, “The fact that they [Gulenists] have infiltrated several key positions in the bureaucracy is a shame for us. They cannot be [trusted to be] teachers. They cannot be anything. … They hide themselves so well, they can even trade their honour to reach a key position.”
Indeed, various figures, including the professed historian Kadir Misiroglu, have alleged that Gulen's father is Armenian and his mother is Jewish. Misiroglu also claims that Gulen belongs to a community in which Jews have (somehow) become Armenians. Ultra-nationalist figures have also contributed their share of such allegations.
In addition, numerous newspaper opinion pieces continue to warn dubiously against the Gulen movement. For example, Yeni Soz columnist Can Kemal Ozer wrote, “Gulen's mother is a Jew, and [his] father an Armenian. He is the devil, who was brought up to seek revenge upon our people. He is not a Muslim, but a member of the Vatican Council.” Another columnist made mention of a few terror organizations, including the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and argued that they are “Armenian establishments.”
As these articles and others began circulating on social media, a few lone voices struggled to stand up against such hate speech. One anonymous person tweeted, “[To claim] Gulen as Armenian is not a nuance or observation. It is the foundation of a process known as elimination and extermination.”
While watching the largest rally in Turkish history at Yenikapi, Istanbul, on Aug. 8, several observers tweeted about the deep-rooted xenophobia oozing from the rhetoric of the country's political leaders. One tweet, with a photo of religious leaders attending the Yenikapi rally, observed, “It is as if we have invited these men [in the photo] to offend them.” Nationalist Action Party leader Devlet Bahceli referred to those deemed to be the (non-Muslim) enemy and a threat to Turkey as “Byzantine seeds.” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim resorted to “crusaders' army,” and Erdogan described them as a “flock of infidels.”
The worrisome part is not only that Turkish leader freely utter such hateful rhetoric, but that it has become normal in contemporary Turkey to do so. As abhorrent phrases filled the air, millions cheered in Yenikapi, and only a handful even realized the offense. Amid this feverishness, one must, however, ask, how could Armenians be culprits in the crimes for which an Islamist group, the Gulenists, has been accused?
Murat Bebiroglu, a senior editor of the Armenian online publication HyeTert, told Al-Monitor, “Starting in 1878, the image of the Armenian community in Anatolia switched from a nation of trust to a nation of [a slur]. That is, if you want to belittle someone, you call them Armenian. If you want to badmouth someone, call them Armenian.
“In a society where 99% [of the population] is said to be Muslim, it is seen as better to target your anger at 40,000-50,000 people rather than a larger group. Remember; when the PKK leader was caught, he was declared Armenian, [and] whenever PKK terror spikes, different papers start Armenian bashing. Whenever the going gets tough, Armenians become the easy and readily available target.”
Bebiroglu, a member of the dwindling Armenian community in Turkey, clings to black humour. He remarked, “In a sense, we were relieved when we heard several commentators also claim that Gulen is Jewish, not just Armenian. Could there be a worse image in the eyes of Turkish society than being not only Armenian, but also Jewish? The sad part is these allegations are accepted by a significant portion of the society and fuel further hatred against the minorities.”
So a sobering question remains: If you are not a Muslim, can you still be a Turk? The answer seems to be that in the view of some, anyone who is not a Muslim is a potential threat to society.
Turkey has recently suffered from simultaneous attacks at the hands of the PKK and the Islamic State and allegedly the Gulenists, the latter two of which are openly Islamic entities. Pro-government pundits are spinning their wheels to find ways to undermine support for these groups. They still lack the means, however, to explain how strains of Islam can threaten society, so they take the easy way out by fanning the flames of xenophobia. In the short term, Armenophobia becomes a valuable accomplice.
Without accepting full responsibility for its role in the expansion of the Gulenist movement in Turkey, and without acknowledging the organization's Islamic outreach at home and abroad, can the Turkish government truly take on the Gulenists?
As convoluted as allegations that Gulen is Armenian might be, they are also quite scary when combined with the suggestion that the state and society will be wiped clean of all Gulenists. Turkish policymakers should surely recall from history the failures when states have tried to ensure domestic security by demonizing segments of society. The hateful rhetoric invoking Armenians — or any group unrelated to the Gulenists — will inevitably become the most difficult obstacle in the battle against curbing the Gulenists' strength.
Source: al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/turkey-is-fethullah-gulen-armenian.html
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Era of Impunity in Syria Must End
By Brooklyn Middleton
13 August 2016
Two children, a five-year-old little girl and a 12-year-old boy, suffocated to death after Bashar al-Assad’s regime executed a chlorine barrel bombing attack in their neighbourhood of Zubaidia, located in embattled Aleppo, on Wednesday night. Their mother died along with them.
Two days later on Friday, air strikes bombarded a hospital servicing children and women in Kafr Hamra, killing at least two people. Who will be held responsible for carrying out the latest massacre of a Syrian mother and her children? Which cowards will be tried for bombing yet another hospital from the air?
Each day brings a new horror in Syria but the international community must not let the sheer volume of deadly attacks numb them to the situation, which is worsening by the day.
A number of important voices have called on the United States to act to protect Syrian civilians in the recent term, including more recently 15 doctors in eastern Aleppo. In a powerful letter to President Obama, the doctors said that every 17 hours a medical facility is targeted in an attack. They pleaded with the US to create a “permanent lifeline to Aleppo.”
Referring perhaps to the tenuous gains made by a coalition of rebels – including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham – that allowed them to break the government’s siege of eastern Aleppo on August 6 - the doctors noted it is “only a matter of time until we are again surrounded by regime troops, hunger takes hold and hospitals’ supplies run completely dry.”
At the same time, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) launched a campaign they’ve titled #SaveSyria, urging the international community to do precisely that. In a video showing a number of interviews with Syrian doctors, the museum noted that the regime continues to carry out crimes against humanity, indicating that the “spread and continuation of these crimes could amount to genocide.”
The region cannot afford to see what the result of ignoring Syrian civilians’ needs – as well as the Assad regime’s humiliating abuses – looks like in the years to come
Saving Lives
Such calls underscore the consensus among many that the US must lead in saving Syrians from death and aid a population that has now been terrorized – first by the regime, then by ISIS and al-Qaeda – for years.
While the fight against ISIS continues, the US must also begin holding the Assad regime and Russia accountable for every single brutal, illegal attack they carry out; the era of impunity in Syria – where nearly half a million people have been killed, health facilities and hospitals repeatedly targeted from the air, and where chlorine attacks continue unabated – must end.
It is despicable that the US cites the chemical weapons deal it brokered as a success when civilians are still being gassed to death. And it is not acceptable to note the complex geopolitics of the conflict as justification for not acting to protect civilians. The same excuse was used in 2012 prior to the massive Sarin attack in Eastern Ghouta and long before Russia directly intervened.
Protecting Syrian civilians must become a key part of the US strategy and quickly. The region cannot afford to see what the result of ignoring Syrian civilians’ needs – as well as the Assad regime’s humiliating abuses – looks like in the years to come.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/08/13/Era-of-impunity-in-Syria-must-end.html
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Taif: A Ball Everyone Kicks Into the other’s Court
By Nayla Tueni
12 August 2016
During last week’s national dialogue session in Lebanon, participants discussed aspects of the Taif Agreement that have not been implemented, including the establishment of a senate, which attendants suddenly realized was a national need. However, this is not clear to most Lebanese.
Can anyone convince us of the use of a senate now that we are convinced there is no need for a president, and that the country can go on with an incapable government and paralyzed parliament?
We all support the Taif Agreement. It was signed more than 25 years ago, but it has not been fully implemented, and what has been implemented has not been done properly. Syria helped develop the agreement, but it obstructed its implementation during its tutelage over Lebanon.
This tutelage ended in 2005, and ever since we have appeared incapable of progressing a single step, especially since one party has assumed the role of that tutelage. It wants us to fail in order to serve its aim of changing the system.
The Taif Agreement should not be a ball that everyone kicks into the other party’s court and exploits whenever they want to distract the Lebanese people from more important affairs
Implementation and Reform
Adherence to the Taif Agreement means implementing it. This requires explaining some of its points. To avoid confusion, these points must be explained by those guarding the agreement, particularly those who participated in formulating it. We should begin implementing it before discussing how to amend it, so that change is achieved smoothly. Change becomes a problem during unordinary circumstances and an imbalance of power.
The Taif Agreement includes an item on administrative decentralization - this seems easiest to implement, but it has not been implemented. The agreement also talks of reconsidering administrative provinces, and of a council of ministers. The senate is thus part of a comprehensive series of reforms.
The Taif Agreement should not be a ball that everyone kicks into the other party’s court and exploits whenever they want to distract the Lebanese people from more important affairs. Let us first elect a president. Let there be cooperation with him on workshops that lead to reform, instead of destroying the bases of the state and establishing a sectarian senate. This waste of time is shameful when everyone knows there are more urgent affairs to finalize.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/08/12/Taif-A-ball-everyone-kicks-into-the-other-s-court.html
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Why Is Iran Intensifying Crackdown On Dual Citizens?
By Dr. Majid Rafizadeh
12 August 2016
The number of Iranian dual citizens being detained and thrown in jail has reached its highest level.
Most of those being targeted are from Western countries (Europeans or Americans), who have Iranian ethnicity. Iran does not recognize dual citizenships even if the person was born in another country.
Many believed that Iran would open up politically and socially after rejoining the global financial system and after sanctions were lifted. Rowhani encouraged the Iranian Diaspora to visit Iran without fear. So why is Iran ratcheting up its arrests of dual citizens?
Those in Jail
As part of a crackdown on American citizens, the Iranian authorities recently confirmed that they have arrested Iranian-American, Robin Shahini, who was visiting his ailing mother.
Some of the dual citizens who are currently spending time in prison are Nazak Afshar, a French citizen who travelled to Iran to visit her ill mother. He was detained at the time of arrival and was sentenced to six years in prison. The charges against her are still not clear.
Iranian authorities use dual citizens as pawns for extracting economic concessions or receiving political and financial gains and can also use them to swap prisoners
A month later, Nanzanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British citizen who is also not a political or human rights activist was arrested. She was with her infant daughter. The authorities also reportedly confiscated the child’s passport. In June Homa Hoodfar, a Canadian citizen and university professor, was arrested. Bahman Daroshafaei, a British citizen, was arrested a few months ago and his family still isn’t aware of his whereabouts and the charges leveled against him.
Mostafa Azizi, a Canadian documentary filmmaker, was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison for “acting against national security,” “insulting the Supreme Leader,” and “propaganda against the state.” Recently, the Islamic Republic arrested Seraj Mirdamadi, a French journalist, who was later sentenced to six years in prison for “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the state”.
Hossein Nouraninejad, an Australian journalist was also arrested and sentenced to six years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the state” and “assembly and collusion against national security.”
Even the State Department has acknowledged the increasing threat against American citizens since the nuclear deal was reached. In a March travel warning, the Department said that since the nuclear deal, “Iran has continued to harass, arrest, and detain US citizens, in particular dual nationals.”
Dual Citizens as Pawns
Iranian authorities use dual citizens as pawns for extracting economic concessions or receiving political and financial gains and can also use them to swap prisoners.
This year, Iran swapped 4 Iranian-Americans for seven Iranian prisoners in the US. In addition, a report revealed that the US and European officials and congressional staff were briefed on the following issue, that “the Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran” when four Iranian-Americans were released.
Iran can use dual citizens to put pressure on Western countries to give Tehran geopolitical or economic points such as ignoring the IRGC’s military adventures, turning a blind eye on Iran’s breaches of international laws and testing of ballistic missiles, or not imposing penalties on Iran.
The hardliners are also sending a message to the moderates that the nuclear agreement does not mean more political and social liberalization. From a trade perspective, the hardliners want to keep the country closed to competition so that the IRGC and the office of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, maintains monopoly over the wealth and financial system.
The Iranian government is also sending a message to the West and to the Iranian people that the Islamic Republic will not only target and arrest prominent and influential people, but also ordinary citizens such as Mr. Shahini.
Iranian authorities are more concerned about Western cultural infiltration among the youth than anything else. Iran is clearly attempting to show the United States, as well as young Iranians, that the nuclear agreement does not mean the Islamic Republic will welcome Westerners, open up its political and economic systems, and promote social justice, liberty, freedom of assembly, speech and the press.
Following the nuclear agreement, dual citizens are increasingly being used as pawns to extract economic concessions or for receiving political and financial gains, as well as for sending a message to the Iranian people, and the West, that Tehran will not alter its fundamental policies.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/08/12/Why-is-Iran-intensifying-crackdown-on-dual-citizens-.html
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How Turkey's Coup Turmoil Has Fuelled a Migration Flurry
By Zülfikar Dogan
August 12, 2016
In early July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a plan to grant Turkish citizenship to Syrian refugees, saying he had instructed the government to start working on the issue. Several days later on a flight from the NATO summit in Warsaw, he told journalists that Syrians in Turkey, numbering some 3 million, could be offered lodgings built by the Housing Development Administration (TOKI) through a favourable payment scheme of small monthly instalments. The plan to naturalize Syrians and lodge them in government-built homes sparked objections from the opposition and civil society groups, with many suspecting that Erdogan had ulterior political motives.
Around the same time, the government had announced another controversial plan — to grant work and residency permits and Turkish citizenship to foreigners who buy real estate in Turkey and pledge not to sell it for five years, who buy treasury bonds and pledge to keep them for at least five years and who keep foreign exchange above a certain amount in bank accounts for at least three years. The plan, an attempt to lure foreign capital, sparked accusations that Turkish citizenship had been “put on sale.”
In a matter of weeks, however, the July 15 coup attempt — which the government blames on the so-called Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO) — and its aftermath has turned things upside down. Alarmed by the course the country appears to be taking, many Turks are now scrambling to buy property abroad, relocate to the West or buy foreign citizenship. Consultancy firms report a five-fold increase in such inquires since the coup attempt.
Only a month ago, Turkey’s construction and real estate sector had brimmed with optimism over the prospect of a sales boom to foreigners, driven by the citizenship incentive, with some estimating potential revenue of $200 billion. Today, however, both those expectations and the controversy over naturalizing Syrians have been put on the backburner. Talk now is not of foreign cash flowing into Turkey, but Turkish money fleeing abroad amid fears about the country’s future.
Even before July 15, Turkey’s political and security woes had fueled a pronounced trend of Turkish citizens seeking better futures abroad. The United States topped the list of destinations for Turks looking to emigrate, buy property or start businesses with a view toward acquiring residency permits and citizenship. The trend was driven by fears that Turkey was headed for one-man, authoritarian rule as Erdogan advanced oppressive and polarizing policies, persecuted and jailed journalists and intellectuals and soured relations with the West, including the European Union. A string of bloody terrorist attacks by the Islamic State and Kurdish separatists further compounded fears.
In May, US-based consultants, speaking to Voice of America’s Turkish service, reported a “boom” in the number of Turks exploring options for obtaining green cards, residency permits and other opportunities in the United States through the purchase of property and commercial investment. More than 100,000 Turks were reported to be living in Miami alone, with the numbers steadily on the rise across the rest of the United States.
The coup attempt and the ensuing state of emergency seem to have greatly amplified this trend, as Turkey’s leading financial daily, Dunya, reported this week. Representatives of international real estate agencies told the paper that inquiries by Turkish nationals seeking to buy properties abroad in anticipation of relocating had increased up to five times since July 15. Some companies have had to reinforce staff to cope with the soaring demand for appointments.
“The number of people asking questions online increased to between 500 and 600 per day,” one agency manager said. “About 4-5% make appointments and come to the office for further consultations.”
The United States, Canada, Spain and Britain top the list of countries where Turks are seeking to buy properties and relocate. The EU countries of Ireland, Portugal, Latvia, Greece and Malta offer citizenship or residence permits to foreigners who purchase properties worth between 250,000 and 500,000 euros or buy bonds of at least 150,000 euros and keep them for five years.
German immigration authorities, meanwhile, say asylum requests by Turkish citizens are also on the rise. The number of applications totaled 1,719 for the first half of the year, close to the numbers for all of 2015 and 2014, which stood at 1,767 and 1,804, respectively, according to Deutsche Welle.
Following the coup attempt and the ensuing crackdown, Cem Ozdemir, co-chair of Germany’s Green Party, urged EU countries to support Turkish political dissidents and consider an admissions program for journalists, artists and academics. Echoing Ozdemir’s concerns, Pro Asyl, a German migrant rights group, warned that post-coup persecutions could spark a migration wave to Europe.
Turkey-EU tensions are on the rise in the wake of the coup attempt, threatening to derail the deal to stop the flow Syrian refugees to Europe, which is linked to a plan to grant Turks visa-free travel to the EU. European fears of a migration wave from Turkey might further hinder the visa waiver provision.
In sum, Ankara, which until recently was busy planning the naturalization and accommodation of Syrian refugees, now faces the prospect of losing its own citizens and its local resources flowing into properties abroad. Since July 15, the government has taken a number of steps to try to allay fears and thaw the polarization that has gripped the country for so long. Yet, Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim have cast out the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, which inspires little faith that their fence-mending effort is intended as lasting policy.
Source: al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/turkey-coup-attempt-turmoil-fuels-migration.html
URL: https://newageislam.com/middle-east-press/the-white-house-document-war/d/108254