It is hard to believe when one reads some of the op-eds and articles that have been written about him in the 24 hours following his passing that beyond the façades of decency, kindness and intelligence that Dr. Fouad Ajami always projected lay an actually decent, kind and intelligent man. For, unfortunately, the truth can often be hidden under a ton of ideological nonsense.
What might have sounded like a conspiracy theory not too long ago now dawns upon us like an ugly truth.
Drone attacks and clandestine operations authorized by President Obama have so far contributed, albeit to varying degrees, to the destabilization of Pakistan, Yemen and Libya. The same effect has also been achieved in Syria and Iraq but mostly through inaction.
Authoritarianism, sectarianism, corruption, cronyism, lack of interest in developing our societies, beyond the introduction of certain consumerist façades, these things existed long before the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The U.S. invasion of Iraq merely removed a lid on all this. I am not saying no major fuckups were made during the invasion and ensuing occupation, for there were plenty. Still, the idea that we were better off somehow before is a lie we tell ourselves, and others, so that we can continue shirking responsibility for who we are and what we are doing to each other.
When will we ever be ready to act right, not just speak it, and make that the norm?
All political considerations aside, I simply cannot believe that ten thousand years after the emergence of the first city states, five thousand years after the invention of the first alphabet and the introduction of the first legal code, more than sixty years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and close to 10 years since the formulation of the Responsibility to Protect, world leaders still lack the political will to stand up to mass murder, to say “no,” to prevent it from happening when the signs are there, and to quickly stop it when it occurs and bring the culprits to justice.
Continue reading “Will we ever be ready? Will the day ever come?”
The Ammar Abdulhamid Archive 