The Jihadees Are Coming – OpEd

By General Mirza Aslam Beg, Former Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan

The ‘Unholy Alliance’ of the West, launched the ‘Crusade’ against Gaddafi in support of the rebels, but is having cold feet now, realising that, the Jehadees from the neighbouring countries are entering Libya, in support of Gaddafi. Not only the West, but Gaddafi himself is nervous, which explains the dilemma that, the Jihadees will soon gain power and influence in Libya.

The West has geo-strategic interests in the Mediterranean Rim Countries and Africa. Libya occupies an important position. With the establishment of the ‘AFRICOM, West’s objective is to establish hegemony over the region. Out of twenty countries of the Mediterranean Rim land, only Libya, Lebanon and Syria are not allied to NATO, and so are Somalia, Eritrea, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast, from fifty African countries. Zimbabwe is the exception, while Somalia, Eritrea and Ivory Coast, are facing revolt. The so called “repressive regimes”, Sudan, Syria and Libya, the weakest has been invaded. The 5th American fleet is located in Bahrain, where the revolt is being suppressed by the Saudis and GCC armed forces. Thus morality has been sacrificed by crushing the rebels in Bahrain, while the Libyan rebels are being whole heartedly patronised.

As soon as the ‘No Fly Zone’ was established over Libya, the SAS men, Marines and CIA operatives from USA, UK and France numbering over 1500, landed to supply arms and ammunition and provide command & communication support to the rebels. An amount of US$ 1.1 billion, out of the seized assets of Gaddafi, was promptly released to support the war. Libya is important because of large oil and gas deposits and huge fresh water deposits, called Nubian Sandstone Water, estimated at 200xyears of flow of the Nile River. The French cartel, which controls 40% of global water market has deep interest in this water.

The Jihadees. At the very beginning of the war on Libya, what I wrote in my article, titled “Obama’s Call for Jehad Into Libya” is coming true: “The worst that will happen is that, very soon the Jehadees from Iraq, Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries, particularly the Takfeeris from Iraq will enter Libya to liberate the Muslim land, as it happened in Afghanistan in 2001. The rebels and the jehadees are joining Gaddafi’s forces against the West. The powerful Salafi leader, Abu Masaab al-Wadood, has joined the Jihad against the ‘Crusaders’ and is getting arms and ammunition from Gaddafi. In fact, Libya is another Afghanistan in the making,” because this conflict doesn’t seem to be coming to an end soon. The West has rejected the African Union agreed proposal for seize fire and reforms. West wants Gaddafi out, which is not likely.

The situation is frightening both, for the West as well as Gaddafi, who will not be able to stand-up to the jehadees, once they gain power and influence. In fact, West is supporting Al-Qaeda Magrab (AQM) in the same manner, they supported Mujahideen in Afghanistan 1980-88. The Jihadees are coming as they did, when Iraq was occupied by USA in 2003. An incident, narrated to me by my journalist friend in Karachi in 2003, explain the phenomenon: “It was about two months after the occupation of Iraq, that while traveling in a taxi, the driver told me that he was working in Saudi Arabia, I asked him, how was life in Saudi Arabia? He said, he was having a roaring time there, because every evening he would pick-up the jihadees in his taxis and show them the way into Iraq. I asked him who are they and who is supporting them? He said “name any country, they are coming on their own, and no one supports them.” I said, “God help the United States.” And now in Libya, “God help the West, and Gaddafi”, who will be facing the jihadees, after the air war dust settles down.

Gaddafi is threatened by the Jihadees upsurge in Libya. Himself a ‘moderate Muslim’, he follows the philosophy of his ‘Green-book’. If he wins, he would stand to loose, both, his regime and his philosophy of moderate Islam. Having smelled the threat, he sent his foreign minister, abroad “for medical treatment, under the pretext of abdication.”, with the message to the West, that before it was too late, they better readjust their priorities. He is also ready to cooperate as he wrote to Obama saying “You are our son, who has enough courage to annul a wrong.”

It always pays, to be honest and straight forward, and that is where the West has gone wrong. When nations like Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir fight for their freedom, their struggle is dubbed as terrorism. Al-Qaeda is the name of the terror, considered responsible for the 9/11 disaster threatening the homeland security of USA. They see Al-Qaeda behind every bush and with every movement for freedom. That is the dichotomy which has blurred their vision. They have been chasing shadows in Iraq & Afghanistan and have lost the asymmetric war there. And now in Libya, they are fighting a war, which was lost, before it was joined.

Democracy is promoted as the utopia for the empowerment of the people but the same is not acceptable for Iran, Iraq, Lebanon or Ghaza, even if they get elected through fair means of the ballot, because they are Islamists. On the other hand, the model democracies in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Yemen and Qatar are being patronized. This kind of duality is the painful realization of the Muslim World.

Swept by strong passion for change, the Arab World and the Muslim countries, see the decline of the most powerful nations of the world during the last thirty years – a symptomatic phenomenon, similar to post World War II decline of the colonial and imperial powers, which caused the surge for freedom of many countries. Neo-imperialism has failed in the first attempt to dominate the Asian Muslim region 1990-2010. It will fail again in dominating the Afro-Mediterranean region now. The world has changed, because the oppressed of the world desire change, which has been correctly understood only by the Chinese, who provide the living example of a true initiative for ‘Peace, Cooperation and Engagement.’ We as Pakistanis enjoy the best of relations with China, despite having different ideologies, different political culture and traditions. Chinese never pull strings, never interfere in our internal matters. They only help us to be self-reliant, self-respecting and strong. That is the recipe for change, which Obama promised.

About the author: General Aslam Beg is one of the most authoritative analysts in Pakistan. He can be reached at [email protected]