بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Headlines 04/01/2020
Headlines:
• America Kills Iranian General Qasem Soleimani
• Turkey Decides to Deploy Troops to Libya
• Pakistani Legislature Bows to Military Supremacy
Details:
America Kills Iranian General Qasem Soleimani
The disbelieving imperialist Americans have undertaken yet another unilateral action in the Muslim world, assassinating the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, with US President Donald Trump justifying his illegal actions by pleading that his intentions were good because he was attempting to stop a war rather than begin one. According to the Washington Post:
President Trump told reporters Friday that the United States had killed Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran’s top military figures, in a bid to “stop a war.” The president, speaking at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, urged Iran not to retaliate.
“We did not take action to start a war,” he said.
The targeted killing of Soleimani, a powerful figure among forces aligned with Iran throughout the Middle East, dramatically increased tensions in the region and caused U.S. outposts and personnel to brace for retaliatory attacks. The attack also upset global markets and sent oil prices shooting upward. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad warned Americans in Iraq to leave “immediately.”
The Pentagon said that it will deploy 3,500 additional troops to the Middle East after Iran vowed to exact “severe revenge” on the United States for the drone strike that killed Soleimani early Friday near the Baghdad airport.
Iraqi militias allied with Iran had been harassing U.S. forces in Iraq in recent weeks, including an attack on a base that killed a U.S. contractor. The United States has said that Soleimani was killed as he was planning new attacks and that Trump ordered the attack.
In fact, it is America that is directly responsible for the wars in the Muslim world at this time, and whatever actions it carries out, including the present one, are to impose and maintain American control over Muslim countries, assisted by agent rulers in all Muslim governments loyal to the West. Soleimani himself had often worked closely with the Americans, as detailed in another piece in the Washington Post:
But the U.S. relationship with Soleimani, like many in the Middle East, has been a complicated one, and he wasn’t always on the opposite side. They even worked together.
As the New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins wrote in 2013, there was a time when there seemed to be hope for something amounting to an alliance between the United States and Iran in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. And Soleimani, who led Iran’s Quds Force, which is charged with carrying out operations beyond the country’s borders, was the point person...
Crocker described sharing information with the Iranians, including getting a map detailing the locations of the Taliban and giving Iran the location of an al-Qaeda facilitator, whom Iran soon detained. Crocker said the negotiator he was working with told him, “Haji Qassem is very pleased with our cooperation.”
Soleimani was spearheading Iran’s efforts in Iraq and Syria in service of American objectives, seeking to stabilise the governments there and suppress any revolutionary tendencies in their peoples. His clash with America was only because the US now wanted Iran’s exit from both countries after services rendered were complete. The death of Soleimani is a lesson for all agents in the Muslim world, to realise that America is an evil master to serve and any cooperation with the disbelieving imperialists will only end in misery for all.
Turkey Decides to Deploy troops to Libya
After betraying the Syrian revolution, Turkey appears poised to repeat the same in Libya by betraying the pro-European Libyan government in its conflict with the pro-American Khalifah Haftar. According to the BBC:
Turkey risks becoming even more deeply embroiled in Libya's conflict and its decision to deploy troops marks a new stage in the internationalisation of the fighting.
Turkey has already supplied armoured vehicles to the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and also operates drones on its behalf.
Turkish troops will apparently be deployed in a "training and advisory" role. But this is a highly flexible description. If the Tripoli Government has its back to the wall, then Turkey may be compelled to take a more direct hand in the fighting. At the very least the exact role and purpose of the Turkish deployment is yet to be defined.
The civil strife in Libya which intensified in April of last year with a renewed assault by the Tripoli Government's main opponent - General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army - is increasingly taking on the appearance of a proxy war, with a variety of external actors picking sides and playing out their own regional ambitions.
In this sense, the conflict resembles the much greater catastrophe in Syria, but it looks clear that we will be hearing a good deal more of the Libya crisis and Turkey's broader role in the region in the coming months.
The Muslim Ummah will continue to suffer as long as its rulers and leaders participate in the schemes of the disbelieving imperialists. Muslims must pledge their loyalty to sincere, indigenous, ideological leadership that shall re-establish the Islamic Khilafah State (Caliphate) on the method of the Prophet (saw) and eject the influence of the foreign disbeliever in our lands.
Pakistani Legislature Bows to Military Supremacy
As expected, after the recent hiccup, Pakistan is on course to dutifully provide its military chief with his 3-year extension. According to Reuters:
Pakistan’s government on Friday introduced legislation to extend the tenure of the army chief in line with a Supreme Court order that it must justify its wish to see the top commander stay on in the job for an extra three years.
The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan approved an extension for General Qamar Javed Bajwa in August, citing a worsening national security situation in the region over its rivalry with India.
But in a surprise ruling, the Supreme Court struck down the extension in November, ordering the government and army to produce legal provisions and arguments on the reasoning behind the move, pitting the judiciary against the government and powerful military.
Pakistan’s military has ruled the country for about half its 72-year history and sets defense and security policy and recently has had a role in framing economic policies too.
The army chief usually serves a three-year term.
On Friday, the first day of a new parliamentary session, the government introduced a lower house bill to provide legal cover for Bajwa’s extension after managing to win the support of opposition parties, government officials said.
“We are willing to support the legislation if the government follows parliamentary procedures,” said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the leader of a main opposition party.
The legalization is expected to be passed by next week, clearing way for Bajwa in his post until 2022.
During Bajwa’s tenure, the opposition has accused the military of meddling in elections and politics to support Khan, while limiting civil liberties and muzzling the media.
The military denies interfering in politics.
No state can succeed when it is controlled by its military leadership instead of its political leadership. And Pakistan’s generals, as in other countries also, have been repeatedly encouraged by America to take control of politics, in order that the Americans can use the military to force their agenda on the political establishment. The sincere officers within the Pakistan army must reject American influence and instead pledge their loyalty to sincere, indigenous, ideological leadership that will establish the righteous Khilafah State (Caliphate) on the method of the Prophet (saw), ejecting all foreign influence from the country and unifying it with other Islamic lands. The military must support the cause of Islam and not the cause of the foreign disbeliever.