Re: Prof. Chandra Muzaffar's letter to President Bush

>Subject: 
>            Letter to President George W. Bush
>       Date: 
>            Sat, 15 Sep 2001 18:39:18 +0800
>      From: 
>            muza@po.jaring.my
>        To: 
>            Ghazala Anwar <g.anwar@phil.canterbury.ac.nz>
> References: 
>            1 , 2 , 3
>
>
>
>
>15 September 2001
>
>           His Excellency Mr. George W. Bush
>           The President of the United States of America
>           White House
>           1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
>           Washington DC, 20500
>           The United States of America       (Fax: 1-202-456-1414)
>
>
>           Dear Mr. President
>
>           The Tyranny of Terror; the Triumph of Truth
>
>           Peace be upon you.
>
>           Allow me to express our profound sadness and sorrow over the
>horrendous
>           carnage that occurred in New York and Washington DC in the
>morning of 11
>           September 2001.
>
>           The terrorist attacks upon the World Trade Centre and the
>Pentagon were an
>           utterly reprehensible act.  What made it even more abhorrent
>was the
>           massacre of innocent civilians -- a dastardly deed condemned
>in all our
>           religions.
>
>           Condemning terrorism alone is not enough. As you have rightly
>recognised,
>           the international community must join forces to combat
>terrorism together.
>           But how do we fight terrorism?  Can we eliminate terrorism
>through military
>           might?
>
>           Organising an international coalition to hunt down terrorists
>and to destroy
>           their sanctuaries is not a solution.  For the terrorist bases
>and their networks
>           will re-emerge as long as the root causes of the phenomenon
>have not been
>           addressed.  Besides, employing one's military prowess to
>pulverise terrorism
>           will only goad the terrorists to retaliate.  And when they
>counter attack, the
>           forces that want to crush them will respond.  It will go on
>and on.  The
>           vicious cycle of violence will reduce everyone and everything
>to smithereens.
>
>           This is why the crying need of the hour is not cobbling
>together an
>           international military alliance.  It is understanding the
>causes and
>           circumstances that facilitate the rise of terrorism.  While
>the reasons are
>           undoubtedly complex, it is not difficult to identify certain
>factors that have
>           fuelled terrorism in recent years -- factors which may throw
>some light upon
>           the September 11 catastrophe.
>
>           Mr. President, the policies of the US government in the
>Middle East in the
>           last 50 odd years, and especially in the last decade, have
>created so much
>           frustration and desperation among the Arab masses that it has
>set the stage
>           for terrorism.  Palestine more than any other conflict
>epitomises this sense of
>           hopelessness and helplessness.  Because of the United States'
>intimate
>           relationship with Israel, Palestinians and Arabs are
>convinced that they
>           cannot expect even a modicum of justice from your
>government.  The brutal
>           suppression of the second Intifada in the last few months
>which witnessed
>           Israel unleash the full fury of state terror upon a
>humiliated and subjugated
>           people was perhaps 'the last straw that broke the camel's
>back'.  In the eyes
>           of the victims of Israeli aggression and occupation, their
>oppressor could not
>           have embarked upon such merciless suppression without the
>support and
>           solidarity of the US.
>
>           Add to this, the unending suffering of the Iraqi people
>because of the cruel
>           sanctions imposed by the United Nations at the behest of your
>government
>           and your British partner.  10 years after the end of a war
>which your father
>           fought to protect American and Western oil interests in the
>Gulf, sanctions
>           are killing scores of children everyday because of an acute
>shortage of
>           essential medicines and a disintegrating healthcare system.
>It has been
>           estimated that more than half a million people have died as a
>direct or
>           indirect consequence of US engineered sanctions.
>
>           It was Palestine and Iraq that created that huge reservoir of
>resentment, of
>           bitterness, of hatred towards the US in the Middle East.  But
>there have
>           been other monumental calamities in the region from Lebanon
>in the fifties to
>           Sudan in the nineties that the Arabs hold the US responsible
>for. Through
>           much of the Middle East, a region which is of tremendous
>geoeconomic and
>           geopolitical significance to the US, ordinary women and men,
>rightly or
>           wrongly, perceive the US as the primary cause of their misery
>and their
>           deprivation.  This perception has developed also because they
>know that it is
>           the US which helps to prop up some of the corrupt, autocratic
>but oil-rich
>           regimes in the region that continue to resist demands for
>social justice and
>           democratic rule.
>
>           Instead of persuading these autocratic client states to
>respond to the winds
>           of change, the US persists in manipulating them to maintain
>its hegemony.
>           US hegemony extends throughout the world.  At a time when the
>good
>           citizens of the US are so deeply concerned about the sanctity
>of life, it may
>           be illuminating to remind all of us that that hegemony began
>on 6 August
>           1945 with the bombing of Hiroshima which obliterated
>thousands of innocent
>           people from the face of the earth.  It is estimated that 3
>million people died
>           in Vietnam and Indochina so that the US could maintain its
>hegemonic
>           power.  And in Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chile, indeed
>the whole of
>           Latin America, from the fifties to the early eighties, tens
>of thousands of
>           innocent men, women and children had perished as a result of
>a superpower's
>           desire to perpetuate its control and dominance through covert
>operations,
>           espionage activities, assassination squads, economic
>strangulation and
>           organised political subversion.
>
>           This is why, Mr. President, in many parts of the world while
>there is so much
>           sympathy for the bereaving people of America there is a great
>deal of
>           antipathy towards an arrogant superpower.  The Christian
>scriptures tell us
>           "What you sow, you shall reap."  In Islam, as in Hinduism and
>Buddhism, there
>           is acknowledgment of the law of requittal.  In the context of
>the terrible
>           tragedy that has befallen the US, nothing is perhaps more apt
>than that wise
>           Confucian saying, echoed in Judaism and other traditions, "Do
>not do to
>           others what you do not want others to do to you." It should
>be the golden
>           rule of not just inter-personal ties but also inter-state
>relations.
>
>           Mr. President, the United States should cease to be a hegemon
>whose
>           tentacles reach every nook and cranny of the planet.
>America's hegemonic
>           control is one of the root causes of global injustice.  When
>a hegemonic
>           global system centralises power, wealth and knowledge in the
>hands of a
>           minority, when there are very few avenues of action to ensure
>a certain
>           degree of accountability on the part of the sole superpower,
>the feeling of
>           marginalisation and alienation among the many can sometimes
>lead to
>           disastrous consequences.
>
>           Mr. President, you can begin the process of re-building a new
>America which
>           neither dominates nor dictates to others, an America which is
>guided by the
>           principle of justice, rather than the imperative of power, in
>its relations with
>           other nations.  For a start, one could undertake a sincere
>review of the US's
>           Middle East policy. Work with courage and integrity towards
>the
>           establishment of a sovereign, independent Palestinian state
>with East
>           Jerusalem as its capital.  Show some humanity and compassion
>and lift the
>           crippling sanctions against the people of Iraq.  A lot of the
>anger and
>           frustration in the Middle East will dissipate.  Terrorism
>will not find succour
>           among the people.
>
>           A good, kind and generous people are trying to make sense of
>a grim and
>           grave tragedy.  It is a time to cry.  It is also a time to
>think.  And a time to
>           reflect.  A time to pray.
>
>           Mr. President, you are a religious person.  So are the
>American people.  We
>           pray that God will give you and your people the strength and
>the humility to
>           discover the truth about your nation and the truth about the
>enormous
>           power that America commands.
>
>           When you have embraced that truth, the tyranny of terror and
>the ugliness
>           of violence will be vanquished.
>
>           With warm regards.
>
>
>           In sorrow,
>
>
>
>           Dr. Chandra Muzaffar
>           President
>           International Movement for a Just World
>
>
>-- 
>Ghazala Anwar, Ph. D.
>Department of Philosophy and Religion
>University of Canterbury
>Private Bag 4800
>Christchurch
>New Zealand
>
>Tel :  +64-3-364 2987  ext. 8152
>Fax:  +64-3-3642889
>
>