Implications of an American strike on Syria
By Abid Mustafa Date: 8 Sep 2013
So once again Americans find their government on the brink of attacking another Muslim country after having already waged war against Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya in the past decade or so. However, this is not the first time the US has intervened in Syria. In October 2008, American Special Forces conducted a raid into Syria killing 8 civilians. This time, the US intervention will be more prolonged and the resulting civilian deaths will be much higher. Many facets of America's second impending strike on Syria can be scrutinized and debated, however, there is only issue that really stands out, and that is the impact of American hegemony and unilateralism on both the region as well as on the prevalent international system.
Even before the Arab spring revolution, anti-Americanism was rife not only in the Arab countries but also in the wider Muslim world. Since then anti-Americanism has reached an all-time high and there is no evidence to suggest that it will subside anytime soon. On the contrary, American military intervention in Syria will only exacerbate such sentiments. This is dangerous not only for America but also for West's relationship with the Islamic world. These negative sentiments form the basis for intellectual and political awakening in the Muslim world. It forces Muslims to explore ways on how to become intellectually and politically independent of American hegemony and perpetual Western interference.
Another factor closely related to negative American sentiments is America's duplicity over the application of its ideology in the Islamic world. For instance, why does America ignore the 100,000 or so civilians killed at the hands of the Butcher Assad by conventional means but raises a huge hue and cry when the same butcher kills 1429 Syrians but this time through chemical weapons. Likewise why does America choose to stand by General Sisi and allow him to use American weapons to kill over a thousand Egyptians and not intervene—Sisi is only gently reprimanded. Additionally there is no mention of American intervention in Palestine and Burma where nothing short of genocide is being perpetrated against Muslims. These are just some of the inconsistencies related to the value of human life placed by America. What about the contradictions regarding the implementation of democracy and freedom in the Islamic countries. The coup in Egypt against the democratically elected leader Morsi and the grotesque episode of Abu Ghraib in Iraq have laid bare American hypocrisy over her two ideological idols: Democracy and Freedom.
The combination of anti-American sentiments and America's ideological duplicity has invigorated Muslim minds to view political Islam rather than liberal democracy as a panacea to their problems. The confidence amongst Muslims in liberal democracy and Western solutions has been further diminished by the sustained economic crisis in the West and the revolt against capitalist policies stretching from Europe to Brazil. Neither have the false Islamic pretenders such as Ennahda, Muslim brotherhood and others have helped the West in their crusade to promote their civilization in Muslim countries. These groups are despised by the masses and are viewed as endorsing capitalism and American hegemony disguised in Islamic garb. Hence, throughout the Arab and Muslim world, more and more Muslims are embracing political Islam as the only exit solution to their colonization by America and the West.
http://kashmirwatch.com/opinions.php/2013/09/08/implications-of-an-american-strike-on-syria.html