Religion, Nationalism, and Terror

What They’re Saying in Anbar Province - New York Times, September 16, 2007

Al Qaeda, it should be said, is overwhelmingly — almost unanimously — unpopular in Anbar, as it is in the rest of Iraq. But our enemies’ enemies are not necessarily our friends. The United States, it turns out, is equally unpopular there.

In a survey conducted Aug. 17-24 for ABC News, the BBC and NHK, the Japanese broadcaster, among a random national sample of 2,212 Iraqis, 72 percent in Anbar expressed no confidence whatsoever in United States forces. Seventy-six percent said the United States should withdraw now — up from 49 percent when we polled there in March, and far above the national average.

Withdrawal timetable aside, every Anbar respondent in our survey opposed the presence of American forces in Iraq — 69 percent “strongly” so. Every Anbar respondent called attacks on coalition forces “acceptable,” far more than anywhere else in the country. All called the United States-led invasion wrong, including 68 percent who called it “absolutely wrong.”

US, Iraqi officials skeptical of Petraeus’s plan - The Boston Globe, 9/16/2007

The number of Iraqi Army and police battalions considered ready to conduct combat operations without help from the United States has declined from 15 at the beginning of the year to 12 this month, according to data that Petraeus provided to Congress last week….

At the same time, Pentagon assessments show that the number of Iraqi battalions considered “not ready” increased from 13 in November 2006 to 43 this past summer.

…many American military officials now acknowledge that when Iraqi forces took the lead in 2006 in a series of operations known as Together Forward I and II, the strategy failed, in part because of abuses committed by largely Shia Muslim Iraqi troops against minority Sunnis….

Rend al-Rahim Franke, Seven months into the surge: What does it mean for Iraqis?, USIP, September 2007 (working draft)

To the distress of the Sunnis, Baghdad is increasingly a Shi’a city, either

because Sunnis are being pushed out or are choosing to leave, and the geographic area

of the capital in which Sunnis are now a majority and feel safe is shrinking (for example,

parts of Saydiya, a fierce battleground between Sunni and Shi’a militias, are now

controlled by the Shi’a)…. While the control exercised by the Shi’a reduces

sectarian killing, it is a source of extreme anxiety to the Sunni political groups, who fear

above all the loss of the capital.

U.S.-Led Coalition Becoming Ever More All-American - New York Times, September 15, 2007

MOSCOW, Sept. 14 — The former Soviet republic of Georgia will reduce its troop deployment in Iraq to 300 soldiers from 2,000 by next July, in keeping with previous plans, the country’s defense minister said Friday.

Georgia, a nation of just 4.6 million in the Caucasus Mountains, is currently the third-largest supplier of troops for Iraq, after only the United States and Britain.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US surge has failed - Iraqi poll, September 10, 2007

The survey for the BBC, ABC News and NHK of more than 2,000 people across Iraq also suggests that nearly 60% see attacks on US-led forces as justified.

This rises to 93% among Sunni Muslims compared with 50% for Shia.

Enders, War on Iraq: Why Iraq Is Getting Worse, AlterNet: September 12, 2007

A cloud of steam rises above the crowd in the 120-degree heat. As their leader approaches the podium, the thousands who have assembled meet him with pledges of their fealty.

“We are all Badr Brigade!” they shout, a reference to the paramilitary organization of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), which held this rally on July 19, in honor of Ayatollah Bakr al-Hakim, the party’s founding leader, who was assassinated here four years ago. His nephew, Amar al-Hakim, now holds the position.

I was one of the millions who attended al-Hakim’s funeral four years ago, some of whom walked the 100 miles from Baghdad to Najaf to show their sorrow. It was largely a peaceful affair.

But now, as Iraq devolves further into civil war inside civil war inside occupation, the commemoration of al-Hakim’s death, which prompted mourning from Shiites across the country, has taken on a largely political feel. The Badr Brigade is at war with Sunni guerillas and other Shiite militias, and largely considered by its opponents to be the tool of corrupt, exiled elites who have allied themselves with the occupation in order to carve up Iraq.

The country’s disintegration is obvious in Najaf, one of the seven of the nine southern provinces in which SIIC controls the municipal government. Here, things are run as a police state: I accepted an invitation by SIIC to travel to Najaf from Baghdad because it was the only way to safely negotiate the dangerous road between the two cities.

Marc Lynch, Sunni World | The American Prospect, September 13, 2007

The Sunni turn against al-Qaeda had very little to do with American diplomacy or military efforts, and far more to do with local power struggles and preparations for the widely-expected coming war with the Shia. The origins of this shift in Sunni politics date back to last year’s attempt by al-Qaeda in Iraq to impose its hegemony over the Sunni insurgency and to establish physical and political control in a variety of locales.

Al-Qaeda’s attacks on Iraqi Shia had always been controversial among the insurgency’s factions, many of which preferred to keep a tight focus on attacking American forces and Iraqi government personnel. Al-Qaeda made many enemies with its grandiose rhetoric, attacks on local political figures, attempts to enforce Islamic morality, and decisions to muscle in on tribal smuggling routes. When it declared the “Islamic State of Iraq” as an umbrella for the insurgent groups, the major “nationalist” factions which make up the overwhelming majority of the insurgency decided they had seen enough. The Islamic Army of Iraq released the first public denunciation, other factions followed suit, and nasty fighting (both verbal and military) ensued. The root of the conflict was a struggle for power within the Sunni community — not attitudes towards the United States or even the central Iraqi government. The turn against al-Qaeda did not mean abandoning the insurgency, even if some of the groups are willing to use American support for their current tactical needs.

Hindu hardliners attack magazine, BBC, August 14, 2007

Hardline Hindus have ransacked the office of an Indian news magazine in protest over an article that described their leader as a villain, police say.

An accompanying Outlook cartoon showed Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray dressed as German war leader Adolf Hitler.

Some 12 members of the Shiv Sena party attacked the offices of the Outlook magazine in the financial centre of Mumbai (Bombay), police said.

Report on Hindu god Ram withdrawn, BBC, September 14, 2007

The Indian government has withdrawn a controversial report submitted in court earlier this week which questioned the existence of the Hindu god Ram.

The report was withdrawn after huge protests by opposition parties.

The report was presented to the Supreme Court on Wednesday in connection with a case against a proposed shipping canal project between India and Sri Lanka.

Hindu hardliners say the project will destroy what they say is a bridge built by Ram and his army of monkeys.

Scientists and archaeologists say the Ram Setu (Lord Ram’s bridge) - or Adam’s Bridge as it is sometimes called - is a natural formation of sand and stones….

In their report submitted to the court, the government and the Archaeological Survey of India questioned the belief, saying it was solely based on the Hindu mythological epic Ramayana.

 Hussein Ibish rightly criticizes those who defend Hamas even though they would never defend Christian or Jewish movements with similar views. Israel and the United States both bear much of the responsibility for Hamas’s electoral successes because of their failure to improve Palestinian living conditions. Fatah has also been crippled by corruption and, in some cases, a willingness to cooperate with counterproductive Israeli efforts to destroy Hamas.  Israel’s punishment of the people of Gaza for the Hamas takeover is outrageous.  And refusing to negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas as a result of its electoral successes is both wrong and counterproductive. But none of these facts entails ignoring the reactionary aspects of Hamas. None of these facts entails ignoring the antisemitic rhetoric of the Hamas charter that is routinely echoed in sermons and statements by Hamas supporters. Those of us who routinely condemn the simplistic Manichean language of the neoconservatives should make sure we avoid simplistic Manichean language of our own. The bigotry of the oppressed is no more excusable than the bigotry of their oppressors.

Hussein Ibish, American Taskforce on Palestine - ATFP Issue Paper (Sept 7, 2007)

…let us recall that the Hamas government’s foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar, told an astonished Wolf Blitzer of CNN in his first post-election interview that an “Islamic” society in Palestine was needed because a “secular system allows homosexuality, allows corruption, allows the spread of the loss of natural immunity, like AIDS. We are here living under Islamic control.” In 2005, the same gentleman condemned dancing between men and women, and castigated “homosexuals and lesbians, a minority of perverts and the mentally and morally sick.” Meanwhile, Hamas’ education minister banned a book of folkloric tales because of its “immoral” references to romance….

… [those] of us who seek first to end the occupation and then support the development of a democratic and pluralistic Palestinian state have to hold firm to those commitments. This means at the very least not defending those whose stated policies and concrete actions run strictly counter to those aims. It is not necessary to support any particular entity to promote these principles, and it is hardly our role as Americans to carry water for any leadership outside of our own country. But support for those principles must translate into sober judgments about what and who is most likely to promote them, and words and deeds should follow these considerations. Dismissing those who hold firm to these important values and goals as “diplomatic fronts” or “Washington lobbies” for narrow Palestinian political factions, or, most preposterously, as “neoconservatives,” is beneath contempt. 

Religion and Morality (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy), 2006

From the beginning of Western thought, religion and morality have been closely intertwined. This is true whether we go back within Greek philosophy or within Christianity and Judaism. The present article will not try to step beyond these confines. The article proceeds chronologically, giving greatest length to the contemporary period. It attempts to explain the main options as they have occurred historically. The purpose of proceeding historically is to substantiate the claim that morality and religion have been inseparable until very recently, and that our moral vocabulary is still deeply infused with this history.

James Fieser, David Hume — Writings on Religion [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

Although we find religious themes throughout Hume’s publications, the discussion here are largely restricted to six items: (1) “Of Miracles”, (2) “Of a Particular Providence and of a Future State”, (3) “The Natural History of Religion”, (4) Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, (5) “Of Suicide”, and, (6) “Of the Immortality of the Soul.”

Hume on Religion (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

David Hume’s various writings concerning problems of religion are among the most important and influential contributions on this topic. In these writings Hume advances a systematic, sceptical critique of the philosophical foundations of various theological systems. Whatever interpretation one takes of Hume’s philosophy as a whole, it is certainly true that one of his most basic philosophical objectives is to unmask and discredit the doctrines and dogmas of orthodox religious belief. There are, however, some significant points of disagreement about the exact nature and extent of Hume’s irreligious intentions. One of the most important of these is whether Hume’s sceptical position leads him to a view that can be properly characterized as “atheism”. Although this was a view that was widely accepted by many of Hume’s critics during his own lifetime, contemporary accounts have generally argued that this misrepresents his final position on this subject.

Les ultra-orthodoxes israéliens exigent le respect de la shmita, année sabbatique pour les cultures, Le Monde.fr, le 14 septembre 2007

A l’occasion du Nouvel An juif, jeudi 13 septembre, jour où débute la 5 768e année du calendrier hébraïque, la question de l’année sabbatique se pose à nouveau. Jusqu’à présent, les arrangements étaient facilement acceptés. Il suffisait, en fait, de procéder à des ventes fictives de terrains à des non-juifs et le tour était joué. Cela permettait aux juifs de continuer à cultiver leurs champs et surtout d’obtenir le certificat de kashrout nécessaire pour vendre les produits et les consommer en accord avec les préceptes de la religion juive. L’année suivante, les terres étaient restituées aux propriétaires et personne n’y trouvait vraiment rien à redire. Sauf quelques orthodoxes ultras qui estimaient que ces tours de passe-passe ne respectaient pas la lettre des textes.

“LES LOIS DE LA TORAH”

Cette année 5768, les choses sont différentes. Les orthodoxes juifs, les haredim, font une énorme pression sur le grand rabbinat d’Israël pour que ces petits arrangements cessent et que l’on s’en tienne à la Halakha, le droit rabbinique. “Pas question de contourner les lois de la Torah même si l’on a beaucoup de sympathie pour les difficultés des paysans”, explique le rabbin Meir Bergman, chef d’un groupe ultraorthodoxe. Et d’ajouter : “Dieu pourvoira à leurs besoins.”

How the World Works: Globalization, Globalization Blogs - Salon.com, September 14, 2007

To this day, as indicated by NASA satellites, there is a detectable ridge running across the Palk strait that separates Sri Lanka from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Known colloquially as Adam’s Bridge, the ridge is held by some faithful Hindus to be Ram Sethu, the actual structure built by Lord Rama’s mighty monkey army. Lord Rama, the epitome of a just and righteous king, an avatar of Vishnu, the Hindu Supreme Being, is one of the most cherished figures in Hindu culture. And his legacy is not to be trifled with. In 1992, Hindu nationalist activists destroyed a 500-year-old Muslim temple originally erected by the Muslim conquerer Babur, on the grounds that it had been sacrilegiously built on the site of an earlier temple to Rama that commemorated his birthplace in the north Indian city of Ayodhya.

But to more secularly-minded fellows, Adam’s Bridge is a barrier composed of sand and coral that must be cleared away in order to create a shipping lane through the Palk Strait that would shorten shipping times between the east and west coasts of India. The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project, which may have been conceived of as early as 1860 by the British, finally received a go-ahead in June 2005 from the United Progressive Alliance government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But criticism of the project on a number of fronts has continued, and several petitions have been filed with the Supreme Court of India asking that the barrier be kept intact.

There are significant non-religious reasons to oppose the project. Environmentalists believe the massive dredging involved will cause significant damage to marine life, while others are skeptical that saving just the few hours required to circumnavigate Sri Lanka is worth all the trouble. The strait is also considered to be something of a cyclone magnet.

On Wednesday, the long simmering controversy turned into a full-fledged uproar. In a joint filing with the central government, the Archaeological Survey of India filed an affidavit with India’s Supreme Court declaring that there was no historical evidence proving the existence of Lord Rama, and no archeological basis to consider Adam’s Bridge to be the mythological Ram Sethu.