Johann Hari
By Callimachus | Related entries in Foreign Policy, Smart Things Said By Smart People, The War On Terrorism, The WorldJohann Hari has a resume straight out of the British left (columnist for “The Independent,” editorial board of the magazine “The Liberal,” patron of “Safer Society,” which campaigns for more liberal and rehabilitative law and order policies). But ever since I discovered him in 2001 he’s been one of my consistent favorite British political columnists.
He’s a hard-headed realist with far fewer illusions than many of his much older peers. Even when I agree with large swatch of what he writes — as I do with the column I’m anout to quote from — my respect for him overall makes me articulate the “why” of the disagreement.
Here’s a chunk of his reaction to the London bombing that I think is spot on:
It is tempting to assume that a movement born in reaction to injustice must be just. It is tempting to project your own concerns - your desire for a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine, or for a free Chechnya, or for an end to poverty in the Arab world - on to the bombers. When I sat opposite an Islamic Jihad suicide-bomber in Gaza, I wanted to imagine he was angry about the same things as me. But then he explained that gays and Jews should all be killed, that poverty is a good thing because it makes people more “spiritually pure”, and that all women should be shrouded in burkas for life.
…
Nobody should now doubt that Islamism is totalitarian. Talk to its followers: they are admirably candid. They seek absolute control of individuals, even if they do not share their beliefs, in order to subject them to a 9th-century code of ethics. Realise their concerns are not your concerns; they have a logic of their own and it was in place before the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The reasoning of the perpetrators is explained in the 2001 book Knights Under the Prophet’s Banner by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the man Bin Laden describes as his “mentor”. Into the 1990s, the Islamists became frustrated that they could not rally the “Muslim masses” to overthrow their local tyrants. So they decided to strike the “big enemy” - Western states - to re-energise Wahhabi jihadism and precipitate revolutions throughout the Middle East.
So Islamism is more a response to the decisions of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt than of Bush and Blair. Last Thursday was not the price for Afghanistan and Iraq; it was the price of decades of trading oil for tyranny without any regard to the consequences. These recent wars may have been useful propaganda tools for the jihadists, but saying they were their primary motivations does not match the evidence.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2005 and is filed under Foreign Policy, Smart Things Said By Smart People, The War On Terrorism, The World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 14th, 2005 at 12:13 am
The issue of oil is underdiscussed — because oil funds the fanatics. Unearned Oil wealth allows the disfunctional ME societies to act superior; and have its leaders be total hipocrits, yet have many folk more angry at the West, at democracy, at human rights.
July 14th, 2005 at 1:44 am
test
July 14th, 2005 at 5:56 am
The most interesting piece I’ve read on the London bombings is by in today’s London Times. He compares the event with Timothy McVeigh’s outrage in Oklahoma City. I also wrote something similar on SYNTAGMA a few days ago.
July 14th, 2005 at 6:00 am
Repeat : The most interesting piece I’ve read on the London bombings is by Anatole Kaletsky
in today’s London Times. He compares the event with Timothy McVeigh’s outrage in Oklahoma City. I also wrote something similar on SYNTAGMA a few days ago.
July 14th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
Tom Grey is absolutely correct. The question is, what do we do about it?
I’ve been blogging my speculations on the subject. My calculations are laid out in detail, and the answers may surprise you.
July 14th, 2005 at 10:10 pm
Hard headed realist?
What, like Kissinger? :-)