Showing posts with label Islamophobia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islamophobia. Show all posts
Thursday, October 03, 2019
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Terrorism
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| Terrorists Among Us: Jihad in America (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
कुछ solutions हैं।
- State building ---- जिस तरह मच्छर पानी न बहने वाली तालाब ढूँढती, उसी तरह आतंकवादी ऐसे देश ढूँढ़ते हैं जहाँ failed state हो।
- Cooperation between States ---- दुनिया के देशों को information sharing करनी होगी। Otherwise if each country is a silo of its own, you give the terrorists a lot of room to play.
- Information Technology ------ The leaders like Bin Laden might choose to go "dark." But generally speaking terrorist cells rely a lot on electronic communication. There has been much contention on this. Even in countries like America there has been a lot of talk about how civil liberties are being curtailed and citizens are being spied upon. Perhaps there is a happy medium somewhere where you rely mostly on machine reading until you have something substantial and only then you get humans involved. Like with Gmail, the email service serves you ads. But it is machine reading, and you don't feel violated.
- Social network mapping ------ All terrorist groups rely on social networks. Smaller and tighter the group, more reliant they are on their social networks. So when you nab a few, they lead you to others.
- Political grievances have to be proactively addressed. Not because terrorism is and should work. But if there are legitimate concerns, they are legitimate. And they should be addressed. Not as a matter of negotiation with the terrorists or as a step in being blackmailed, but independent of all that.
- The "frontline" is where you have small, agile, well trained operatives who engage in direct action. Mistakes have been made in drone attacks, but they are also one of the tools on the frontlines.
- Ideological fights on social media.
- Larger debates in society, at universities, in old media, on TV, in newspapers. Point by point rebuttals.
Terrorists rely on the war of asymmetry because they know that is the only way they have any chance. आमने सामने आएंगे तो asymmetry गायब हो जाएगी।
That is why you have to fear the ISIS more, because they are breaking many of the rules of the traditional terrorists. Terrorists prefer not to hold territory.
Terrorists rely a lot on out of the box thinking. That goes along the lines of asymmetry. So you have to keep on your toes and constantly be trying to figure out what their next moves might be. It is a game of chess.
Ultimately you just have to drown them out with plentiful information. Wireless broadband and cheap Android phones for the masses ----- I think that is the number one thing. Hundreds of millions of Muslims sharing cat videos makes ISIS irrelevant. You drown out the terrorists with everyday boring stuff. I happen to think that is the most potent weapon.
I have said this many times. I think of the War On Terror as being on par with the Cold War. It will conclude after there is a total spread of democracy across the Arab/Muslim world.
India is the new Britain, because ultimately this is about the ideology of democracy. The oldest and the largest democracies belong together. America and India need each other.
Terrorism is "cutting edge" like Climate Change ---- they both require global coordination. No one country can tackle either.
India is the new Britain, because ultimately this is about the ideology of democracy. The oldest and the largest democracies belong together. America and India need each other.
Terrorism is "cutting edge" like Climate Change ---- they both require global coordination. No one country can tackle either.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
The Unconventional Thinking On Making Fun Of Prophet Muhammad
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| Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
It is China's tragedy that free speech is not in its arsenal. Free speech is the most fundamental tenet of democracy. Everything else flows from it.
But when was the last time I saw someone make fun of Jesus? When I was the last time I saw cartoons of Jesus?
Black people getting stereotyped is considered bad. Free speech but bad speech.
Islam is a religion like Christianity. And it deserves an equal pedestal of respect.
Western democracies are Christian countries. It is so obvious when you walk around. Islam is going to have a major presence in the Arab democracies, and I am talking democracies with rights for women, democracies with space for opposition. Modern democracies.
Talking shit about Islam has to be put in the same category as talking shit about black people. Muslims should not be made to feel out of place just because they are Muslim. Most Muslims, like most Christians, just want to share cat videos online.
Don't make fun of the Muslim religion if you are not making fun of your own. Have respect.
There is an Islamism that rhymes with fascism, and there is an Islamophobia that rhymes with homophobia.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Cordoba Controversy: America In Early Stages Of War On Terror
Image via WikipediaFirst of all, it is not a mosque, it is a community center. It is not a new idea. That community center has been in that location for ages. They are just trying to put a new building in that old place. It can not be called a Ground Zero mosque. It is not a Ground Zero mosque. It is not a mosque, and it is nothing to do with Ground Zero. The location just so happens to be a few blocks from Ground Zero. But that location predates the 9/11 tragedy. 9/11 killed many Muslims the day it happened. 9/11 has killed many Muslims in the ensuing years back there in the Arab world. Both the Bush soldiers and the Al Qaeda have gone on to kill many innocent Muslims.
But then since when did prejudice have logic? Prejudice by definition is illogical.
The American public opinion on the so called Ground Zero mosque controversy tells me America is very much in the early stages of the War On Terror. We are perhaps in the 1950s of the Cold War, or maybe 1960s. There is too much existent anti-Muslim racism in America for America to make rapid progress on the War On Terror. Politicians avoiding the debate and succumbing to the prejudice are not helping any.
America is going to have to become a non racist country to conclude the War On Terror.
Two major transformations have to take place. All Arab countries have to be turned into democracies, and my method of choice is nonviolent mass movements. And America is going to get rid of its anti-Muslim prejudice and racism.
Politicians succumbing to the prejudice should empathize with those forces that try to bring democracy to an Arab country and have a hard time doing it. Clinging to the status quo of prejudice or non democracy are not exactly forces of progress and change.
Similarly America is going to have to make progress on total campaign finance reform if it wishes to see multi-party democracy and federalism in China.
America is a concept, an idea, a mission. A total spread of democracy is America's mission. That is what this country was born for.
America needed the FDR transformation of its capitalism to be able to defeat communism. America is going to have to work to get rid of its Islamophobia to conclude the War On Terror.
Reshma, Obama And The Ground Zero Mosque
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