Sunday, February 12, 2017

Donald Trump seeks a grand bargain with Vladimir Putin

It is a terrible idea

The Economist

Link

GEORGE W. BUSH looked into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and thought he saw his soul. He was wrong. Barack Obama attempted to “reset” relations with Russia, but by the end of his term in office Russia had annexed Crimea, stirred up conflict elsewhere in Ukraine and filled the power vacuum that Mr Obama had left in Syria. Donald Trump appears to want to go much further and forge an entirely new strategic alignment with Russia. Can he succeed, or will he be the third American president in a row to be outfoxed by Mr Putin?

The details of Mr Trump’s realignment are still vague and changeable. That is partly because of disagreements in his inner circle. Even as his ambassador to the UN offered “clear and strong condemnation” of “Russia’s aggressive actions” in Ukraine, the president’s bromance with Mr Putin was still smouldering. When an interviewer on Fox News put it to Mr Trump this week that Mr Putin is “a killer”, he retorted: “There are a lot of killers. What, you think our country’s so innocent?”

For an American president to suggest that his own country is as murderous as Russia is unprecedented, wrong and a gift to Moscow’s propagandists. And for Mr Trump to think that Mr Putin has much to offer America is a miscalculation not just of Russian power and interests, but also of the value of what America might have to give up in return.

The art of the deal meets the tsar of the steal

Going by the chatter around Mr Trump (see Briefing), the script for Russia looks something like this: America would team up with Mr Putin to destroy “radical Islamic terror”—and in particular, Islamic State (IS). At the same time Russia might agree to abandon its collaboration with Iran, an old enemy for America in the Middle East and a threat to its allies, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In Europe Russia would stop fomenting conflict in Ukraine, agree not to harass NATO members on its doorstep and, possibly, enter nuclear-arms-control talks. In the longer term, closer ties with Russia could also help curb Chinese expansion. Stephen Bannon, Mr Trump’s most alarming adviser, said last year that he had “no doubt” that “we’re going to war in the South China Sea in five to ten years.” If so, America will need allies, and Russia is a nuclear power with a 4,200km (2,600-mile) border with China. What’s not to like?

Pretty much everything. Russian hacking may have helped Mr Trump at the polls, but that does not mean he can trust Mr Putin. The Kremlin’s interests and America’s are worlds apart.

In Syria, for example, Mr Putin makes a big noise about fighting IS terrorists, but he has made no real effort to do so. His price for working with America could be to secure a permanent Russian military presence in the Middle East by propping up Bashar al-Assad, whose regime was revealed this week to have hanged thousands of Syrians after two- or three-minute trials. None of this is good for Syria, regional stability or America. Even if Mr Putin and Mr Trump shared a common goal (they don’t) and Americans did not mind becoming complicit in Russian atrocities (they should), American and Russian forces cannot easily fight side by side. Their systems do not work together. To make them do so would require sharing military secrets that the Pentagon spends a fortune protecting. Besides, Russian aircraft do not add much to the coalition air power already attacking IS. Ground troops would, but Mr Putin is highly unlikely to deploy them.

Likewise, Russia is not about to confront Iran. The country’s troops are a complement to Russian air power. Iran is a promising market for Russian exports. And, most of all, the two countries are neighbours who show every sign of working together to manage the Middle East, not of wanting to fight over it.

The notion that Russia would be a good ally against China is even less realistic. Russia is far weaker than China, with a declining economy and population and a smaller army. Mr Putin has neither the power nor the inclination to pick a quarrel with Beijing. On the contrary, he values trade with China, fears its military might and has much in common with its leaders, at least in his tendency to bully his neighbours and reject Western lecturing about democracy and human rights. Even if it were wise for America to escalate confrontation with China—which it is not—Mr Putin would be no help at all.

The gravest risk of Mr Trump miscalculating, however, is in Europe. Here Mr Putin’s wishlist falls into three classes: things he should not get until he behaves better, such as the lifting of Western sanctions; things he should not get in any circumstances, such as the recognition of his seizure of Ukrainian territory; and things that would undermine the rules-based global order, such as American connivance in weakening NATO.

Mr Putin would love it if Mr Trump gave him a freer hand in Russia’s “near abroad”, for example by scrapping America’s anti-missile defences in Europe and halting NATO enlargement with the membership of Montenegro, which is due this year. Mr Trump appears not to realise what gigantic concessions these would be. He gives mixed signals about the value of NATO, calling it “obsolete” last month but vowing to support it this week. Some of his advisers seem not to care if the EU falls apart; like Mr Putin, they embrace leaders such as Marine Le Pen who would like nothing more. Mr Bannon, while admitting that Russia is a kleptocracy, sees Mr Putin as part of a global revolt by nationalists and traditionalists against the liberal elite—and therefore a natural ally for Mr Trump.

Played for a sucker by a silovik

The quest for a grand bargain with Mr Putin is delusional. No matter how great a negotiator Mr Trump is, no good deal is to be had. Indeed, an overlooked risk is that Mr Trump, double-crossed and thin-skinned, will end up presiding over a dangerous and destabilising falling-out with Mr Putin.

Better than either a bargain or a falling-out would be to work at the small things to improve America’s relations with Russia. This might include arms control and stopping Russian and American forces accidentally coming to blows. Congressional Republicans and his more sensible advisers, such as his secretaries of state and defence, should strive to convince Mr Trump of this. The alternative would be very bad indeed.

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

Azmi Bishara's Latest Comment

اليمن قبل ستة أعوام
في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 20111 خرج شباب اليمن في تعز وصنعاء وغيرهما من المدن شاهرين أحلامهم بالحرية والمواطنة المتساوية وآمالهم بالعيش في دولة مدنية ديمقراطية. وقدم هذا الشباب نموذجا لثورة سلمية منظمة تضاءل فيها البعد العفوي، طالبت بتغيير نظام الحكم ونقل السلطة من الأسرة وأجهزتها الأمنية إلى ممثلي الشعب المنتخبين ديمقراطيا. فتحدوا الاستبداد والفساد، كما تحدوا التخلف الاجتماعي والتقسيمات القبلية وعنفها في الوقت ذاته.
وكما في بلدان عربية أخرى همشت القوى السياسية القديمة الحراك المدني الديمقراطي من دون أن تتمكن من الاتفاق على إدارة الدولة وقواعد النظام الديمقراطي الذي يضمن الحريات. وبين مقاومة النظام القديم للتغيير، والتدخل الإقليمي الذي حاول فرض النظام القديم بصيغ معدلة مختلفة واستغلال قوى سياسية طائفية ضعف الدولة للتحالف من جديد مع النظام القديم الذي كان عدوها اللدود من أجل الانقلاب على التحول الديمقراطي، جرى إقصاء البرامج الديمقراطية وحواملها الاجتماعية.
ولكن الأسئلة كلها سوف تطرح من جديد بعد الانتهاء من الحرب الأهلية، وتحقيق السلم، الذي أصبح هدفا رئيسا. والجيل الذي خرج إلى الشوارع عام 2011 ما زال حيا يرزق، ولن يكون الاستغناء عن دوره وأفكاره في بناء اليمن، تماما مثلما لم يكن ممكنا الاستغناء عن دوره وأفكاره التي طرحها خلال الثورة في الحوار الوطني الأنضج الذي جرى على الساحة العربية حتى الآن، والذي أودى الانقلاب العسكري والطائفي بنتائجه وجر اليمن إلى حرب مدمرة.

عزمي بشارة

Sean Spicer Press Conference Cold Open - SNL

REALLY, REALLY FUNNY!

Trump People's Court - SNL

Saturday, February 11, 2017

ما وراء الخبر-ماذا وراء تهديد الخفاجي بضرب البوارج الأميركية؟

ضحايا خلال فض مظاهرات واسعة في بغداد

Is Trump Tired of Losing? | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Long Ties, Big Lies And Made Up Crowd Size: The Sean Spicer Story

قتلة تجب معاقبتهم

ميشيل كيلو

Link

لم يترك النظام الأسدي وسيلة ضغط وإفساد إلا وجرّبها من أجل إرغام مسيحيي سورية على حمل السلاح ضد شعبهم. تواصل ضباط مخابرات الأسد مع بعض رجال الدين المسيحي العملاء لهم، ليكلفوهم بتجنيد شبّان مسيحيين عاطلين من العمل مقابل رواتب مغرية، ويقنعوا الكنيسة بوجود تهديد إرهابي لها، يمكن أن يصل في أي وقت إلى بيوت رعاياها. ولجعل جهدهم مقنعا، وضعت المخابرات ملصقاتٍ مرعبة على جدران الكنائس والأحياء التي يغلب عليها الطابع المسيحي تسمي "الجهات الإرهابية" التي ستستهدفها، وأسماء من سينسفون الكنائس، وأرسلت حرّاسا مسلحين، ليقفوا قرب أبوابها، ويثيروا قدرا من الذعر يدفع المسيحيين إلى الالتحاق بمليشيات السلطة، ثم أعلنوا أنهم لن يتمكّنوا من القيام بحماية المسيحيين، إن بقي شبانهم رافضين للسلاح. وأخيرا، تواصل المخابراتيون مع أحزابٍ ينضوي فيها مسيحيون، كالحزب القومي السوري الاجتماعي، وتواصلوا مع أتباعها وضغطوا عليهم، وأغروهم بحمل السلاح بذريعة حماية مناطقهم وأهليهم، وعندما وجدوا أن رد فعلهم ليس إيجابيا بما يكفي، انتقلوا إلى وضعهم أمام الأمر الواقع، فاغتالوا مسيحيين أو أخفوهم وعزوا مقتلهم واختفاءهم إلى المسلمين، أو فبركوا أكاذيب عن فتياتٍ اغتصبهن مسلمو الأحياء المجاورة لهم، أو اختطفوا سيدات مسنات وكبار سن يحظون باهتمام اجتماعي خاص، وألقوا أخيرا السلاح بصور عشوائية في شوارع الأحياء المسيحية، أو طرقوا أبواب منازلها، وهدّدوا شبانها بسوقهم إلى الجيش، إذا لم يقبلوا الدفاع عن أحيائهم. وبعد حين، وجد من قبلوا التطوع أنفسهم في دير الزور أو حلب أو القلمون أو الساحل... إلخ مرتزقة يقتلون الأبرياء، كغيرهم من مرتزقة لبنان والعراق وأفغانستان وبنغلادش... إلخ. لئن كان القسم الأكبر من الشباب المسيحي ما زال خارج مليشيات النظام، فإن بعض مرتزقتهم ارتكبوا جرائم كلفهم بارتكابها النظام، بغرض توريط المسيحيين، ووضعهم أمام خيار الانخراط الإكراهي في تنظيماته، عبر إغلاق جميع دروب النجاة في وجوههم، وترك خيار وحيد أمامهم، هو حمل السلاح، بحجة أنه لم يبق لديهم غيره لرد ما يُحدق بهم من أخطار داهمة.

وسط هذه السياسات الإجرامية، المنظمة على أعلى مستوى وإلى أبعد حد، والنابعة من تصورٍ أرسى السلطة على تكويناتٍ ما قبل مجتمعية/ ما دون وطنية هي الطوائف، التي عمل دوما لإقامة تحالف يجمعها ضد المجتمع عموما، وأغلبيته خصوصا التي يشك في قدرته على كسب ولائها، واختار مواجهتها سياسة وحيدة تجاهها. ومع أن النظام ترجم سياساته منذ أعوام إلى وضعٍ استهدف إلحاق الطوائف الأخرى به، فإن تصميمه على تحويل ثورة الحرية إلى حرب طائفية جعله يمارس ضغوطا يومية على الطوائف عامة، والمسيحيين خاصة، لاعتقاده أن انخراطهم في الحرب سيفضي إلى ردود أفعالٍ إسلامية عنيفة ضدهم، إن لم تحدث قام هو بها، ستستفز الرأي العام المسيحي في دول الغرب، وستدفع به إلى معاداة الثورة، وتصديق أكاذيب الأسدية حول الحدث السوري، باعتباره إرهابا، وليس ثورة حرية ضد استبداده وظلمه، مع ما سيترتب على ذلك من عائد داخلي وخارجي إيجابي عليه. في سياق هذه الخطة، فتك النظام بمسيحيي مناطق عديدة، واستغل قتلهم علي يديْ أجهزته لإقناع الغرب بأنه "حامي الأقليات" عامة، و"أتباعه" المسيحيين منها بصورة خاصة.
واليوم، بلغ الإجرام ببعض مسيحيي سورية والعراق حدا جعل أحدهم ينذر مواطنيه المسلمين، الذين طردتهم مليشيا الحشد الشيعي من بيوتهم، فلجأوا مكرهين إلى منازل قرى مسيحية مهجورة، بضرورة مغادرتها خلال ثلاثة أيام، وإلا أخرجتهم مليشياه التابعة للحشد الشيعي منها بالقوة. ومع أن جهات كنسية عراقية دانت سلوكه، واعتبرته فرديا لا يمثل غير صاحبه، فإن وجود مسيحيي المشرق يحتم إدانتهم القتل على الهوية، وبرفض السلاح والاشتراك في القتل، وفتح بيوتهم للمشرّدين والمهجرين من مواطناتهم ومواطنيهم، وتقاسم رغيف الخبز وجرعة الماء معهم، اقتناعا منهم بأن مصير المسيحيين ليس غير جزءٍ من بقية مواطنيهم، وأن مأساتهم فرع من مأساة المسلمين، إخوتهم في الوطن والحضارة والثقافة واللغة والتاريخ والآمال. وعلى الكنائس السورية والعراقية إدانة أي خروج على موقفها هذا، ومطالبة المسلحين من المسيحيين برد السلاح إلى النظامين الطائفيين، وإلا طالبت رعاياها بفرض حجر اجتماعي وديني عليهم.

بلغ السيل الزبى، وصار من المحتم أخذ موقف يقطع مع سياستي النظامين ضد شعبيهما، لأن من الخير للمسيحيين أن يضحوا، مع غيرهم، من أجل حرية مواطنيهم ووطنهم، بدل الغرق مع هذين النظامين في مستنقعات الوحشية المذهبية والاختناق إنسانيا ووطنيا بيد الإجرام!

Friday, February 10, 2017

فوق السلطة- أنا لست إرهابيا.. أنت إرهابي

This man stood up to Trump. In Turkey he was branded a terrorist

A photo of Fatih Yildirim's protest beside a Jewish family took America by storm. Back home the reaction was very different

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ANKARA - It was a picture that melted hearts around the world. Two dads - one Muslim, one Jewish - with their kids on their shoulders, united against Donald Trump's executive order banning citizens of seven countries from travelling to the United States.

But for Fatih Yildirim, the Muslim dad in the picture, becoming a viral sensation has been bittersweet. While he was lauded in global media outlets as diverse as Time and Good Housekeeping, back in his native Turkey Yildirim became the subject of a hostile media campaign that branded him a terrorist.

His experience is a reminder of the often topsy-turvy nature of politics in Turkey, a Muslim-majority country that has high hopes for Trump's presidency.

It is also a personal story about how families have been ripped apart by one of the most spectacular political rifts in the country's modern history. The photograph has put his already strained relationship with his family in danger of permanent rupture.

"Because this picture came out, I lost my last remaining ties with my family," he said. "I'm scared to call my dad or mum now."

Yildirim, a warehouse manager, is part of a deeply contentious group known as the Gulen movement. Founded by Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric from northeastern Turkey, it began amassing supporters from the late 1960s.

By emphasising the importance of education, over several decades Gulen forged a network of high-achieving but secretive followers who went on to secure jobs in the bureaucracy, the judiciary, the military and the police.

When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP party came to power in 2002, it forged a marriage of convenience with the Gulen movement. By harnessing the strength of its followers, the party was able to push back against those in the state structure opposed to its open embrace of Islam.

Hundreds of officers were purged from the military in cases that were later shown to be based on thin or fabricated evidence.

Yildirim, now 37, became a follower of Gulen when he was in high school after being introduced to the movement by a friend.

He has lived in the United States since 2002 after first travelling there on an exchange programme. He met his future wife, Amy, while working in a pizza restaurant. They got married, had three children and lived what Yildirim describes as a normal, quiet family life in Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago.

Yildirim, seen here with his family, became a follower of Gulen while in high school (Fatih Yildirim)

Growing tensions

Back in Turkey, the relationship between the Gulen movement and the ruling AKP was growing increasingly fraught.

In 2013, it imploded. Leaked recordings, apparently taped by Gulenist police officers, allegedly showed corruption reaching right to the heart of Erdogan's inner circle. The former allies were now publicly at war. Erdogan accused the Gulen movement of forming a "parallel structure" inside the state and vowed to flush it out.

Yildirim's family, staunch supporters of the AKP, grew ever more upset by his continued devotion to Fethullah Gulen. In 2015, the father-of-four lost his job as a sales and ticketing agent with Turkish Airlines, the national flag-carrier — a decision Yildirim believes was based on his links to the movement. His mother and father had no sympathy.

"They said you got what you deserved," he said. "Since then, things became difficult. They made it very clear."

On July 15 last year, a violent coup attempt shook Turkey to its foundations. Putschist officers opened fire on civilians and bombed the Turkish parliament, leaving 248 people dead.

The government claimed that the plot was masterminded by Gulen, who since 1999 has lived in exile in a mountain retreat in Pennsylvania. For Yildirim, that meant that the tensions with his family grew worse.

The rise of Trump

Just four days after the failed coup, Donald Trump won the Republican nomination. Having previously bristled at the billionaire businessman's calls for a ban on Muslim immigration to the United States, Erdogan began to warm to him.

It emerged that members of the Gulen movement had donated to the campaign of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. Trump, meanwhile, praised the Turkish leader for his "impressive" success in thwarting the attempt to overthrow him - and dodged a question about human rights concerns.

An article by retired general Mike Flynn, now Trump's national security adviser, suggested that the United States should support Turkey's demand that Gulen be extradited to Turkey.

Less than a month after Trump's inauguration, analysts warn that Ankara's hopes will almost certainly end in disappointment. The idea that his administration will reduce US support for Syrian Kurdish forces, seen by Turkey as a grave threat to its own national security and stability, already seems likely to be misplaced.

But for now, Turkish officials and pro-government media appear to be pursuing a wait-and-see policy. It was left to the prime minister, Binali Yildirim, to criticise the controversial travel ban. Erdogan has said that some of the new president's language is "disturbing" but has also praised him for publicly chiding a CNN reporter.

A different perspective

It was into this context that the photo of the protest at Chicago's O'Hare airport emerged. While international media leapt on the image of Yildirim and Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell as a symbol of interfaith harmony, Turkey's pro-government outlets branded Yildirim a member of the "Gulenist Terror Organisation", known in Turkey as FETO.

The channel 24 TV, owned by a businessman who once said that was "in love" with Erdogan, hinted at a wider conspiracy. Its news report asked: "After the defeat of Hilary Clinton, who they openly supported, what kind of role is FETO going to play in protests aimed at weakening Donald Trump?"

Melih Gokcek, the mayor of Ankara, claimed that Gulenists were working in conjunction with the billionaire financier George Soros to undermine the new president.

Yildirim says openly that he is a supporter of the Gulen movement but dismisses the claim that his protest was somehow orchestrated by the group as "nonsense".

He and his wife made a spur-of-the-moment decision to join the airport demonstration, he said.

"We were following on the news, we saw the protests. My wife went on the woman's march in Chicago. I said why don't we go and take some cookies to those lawyers giving pro bono services. She said it was a great idea."

"The Turkish media is trying to manipulate the situation but it's not true. No one sent me there."

Because this picture came out, I lost my last remaining ties with my family. I'm scared to call my dad or mum now.

Fatih Yildirim

He rejects the label that he is a terrorist. He also says that he remains "unconvinced" by the Turkish government's accusations against the Gulen movement, insisting that he has never seen any evidence of wrongdoing or criminal activity.

That view of the group would be challenged by the many prominent Turks convinced that they were targeted by the opaque network. While questions remain about the coup, British ministers and diplomats have said repeatedly that they believe the movement had a hand in it.

Alan Duncan, a foreign office minister, told the foreign affairs committee last month: "It's very clear that there were many Gulenists involved in the coup, but we don't have the information or evidence to decide definitively."

Yildirim believes that the Turkish campaign against him was an attempt by the Turkish government to turn the Trump administration against the Gulen movement.

He said: "I think they're trying to use me to say to the Trump administration: 'Look this movement here is working against you. So you should persecute them or extradite Gulen'."

Swept up in the moment

The biggest blow for Yildirim was personal. While he was able to shrug off some negative news stories, Yildirim fears the damage with his family may be far more lasting. He does not know if he will speak to his parents again.

He had no idea the photograph would capture the world's imagination in the way that it did. "I didn't know it was going to go viral," he said.

"How could I know? I thought I was doing something normal. I didn't think I was doing anything extraordinary - and I still don't think that. We weren't saving someone from a fire, or a river. We were just standing up for human rights."

He has asked himself if it was a mistake to give his name to the photographer but, ultimately, he believes that the picture has done more good than harm.

It shows, he said, that "all these minorities, all these oppositions, can get together and stand up for something."

"It is bad for me but around the world it is creating a better image," he said. "I'm happy to be part of it."

Trump's desperate search for a 'Reichstag Fire'

Given his serious unpopularity, an incident for illegal power grab is increasingly a dangerous possibility.

The Reichstag in flames during the Nazi ascent to power in Berlin, February 27, 1933

by

Hamid Dabashi

Link

Donald Trump and his top Islamophobe nomenklatura gathered at the White House, now led by the militant crusader Stephen Bannon, are on a desperate lookout for their "Reichstag Fire" and their favourite propaganda outlet, Fox News, is franticly searching for it - even in Canada.

"Reichstag Fire" was an arson attack on the Reichstag, the German parliament, in Berlin on February 27, 1933. The incident was soon abused by Adolf Hitler and his gang to demand a suspension of civil liberties in systematic preparation for his putsch for total fascist power.

Ever since, the term "Reichstag Fire" is used metaphorically to mark a dreadful event abused by any proto-fascist movement to blame an amorphous internal enemy, to be coupled with an external enemy, and rapidly from there rapidly move towards a total control of the state apparatus by criminalising and crushing public dissent.

Given the fact of Trump's serious unpopularity with a significant portion of American society, this "Reichstag Fire" incident is increasingly a dangerous possibility.

From the historic Women's March in Washington to widespread airport rallies against his Muslim ban, Trump and his handlers know only too well his loss of the presidential popular vote by about three million nationwide is now growing into widespread public discontent, state-level gubernatorial opposition, and systematic resistance by the judiciary branch.

Fake news and Fox News

INSIDE STORY: Republicans close to dominating all government branches (25:10)

Soon after the executive order late in January banning Muslims from seven countries for 90 days to enter the United States, the Trump administration was given what it thought was its "Reichstag Fire" moment to justify its draconian measures and push for even more.

The incident presented itself when reports emerged that a gunman had attacked a Muslim centre in Quebec, Canada. Fox News, Trump's most trusted source of fake news, instantly came forward and reported the perpetrator was a Moroccan Muslim.

This, however, like most other things on Fox News, was a case of bogus reporting. The suspect of the mass murder in Quebec was, in fact, a violent "white nationalist" named Alexandre Bissonnette, who is a notorious character known to the local authorities for his racist Islamophobic views. Not only was the perpetrator of this crime no Muslim, but, in fact, Muslims were his direct targets.

None of this, however, prevented Fox News from jumping to the conclusion that the act of terror was perpetrated by a Moroccan Muslim and, on the basis of this false news, the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer instantly jumped the gun, declaring it a vindication of Trump's Muslim ban.

Demonisation and official persecution of Muslims, just as Jews were in Nazi Germany, will progress apace until he manufactures his 'Reichstag Fire'.

But the proverbial cake in this desperate search for a "Reichstag Fire" goes to the notorious Kellyanne Conway, Trump's top chatterbox consigliere, who, in an interview soon after the Muslim ban, referred to two Iraqi refugees as "masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre" with baldfaced charlatanism.

There is no such thing as a "Bowling Green massacre." She just made it up - and the dimwitted interviewer just stared at her and did not object to this fiction. Yes, two Iraqis were arrested in that city for allegedly having ties to an explosive device used against US troops in Iraq.

But there was no "Bowling Green massacre", except in the viciously demented mind of Conway, the flowering achievement of American charlatanism.

WATCH: White nationalist Richard Spencer talks to Al Jazeera (8:54)

State of emergency

Trump and his handlers are desperate to find a Muslim "Reichstag Fire" and they will use the incident to further demonise Islam in the US and push for a Muslim registry or even worse.

The illegal and unconstitutional Muslim ban is only the first salvo. Trump has a longer spectrum in mind. Demonisation and official persecution of Muslims, just as Jews were in Nazi Germany, will progress apace until he manufactures his "Reichstag Fire".

In addition to a domestic threat, Trump and his gang will need a foreign war to safeguard his presidency for this and the next terms. He never stopped campaigning after his win. He knows for a fact he is a vastly unpopular president. His entire first term will be spent campaigning for the second.

OPINION: Trump's Muslim ban is a dangerous distraction

"Donald Trump needs a war," Bradley Burston correctly diagnoses and further adds, "But not just any war. He needs just the right global non-Christian, all-powerful, all-frightening, non-white, non-negotiable enemy. He needs a Holy War."

The only "Holy War" Trump can wage is of course against Muslims.

Standing next to him is one Steve Bannon, an obsessed crusader you have to go back all the way to characters such as Raynald of Chatillon or Guy of Lusignan of the Crusaders period to find the likes of him: vicious, malignant, hatred of Muslims and Jews definitive to who and what he is.

Bannon has a malignantly illiterate conception of a perpetual war between Islam and Christianity that he has picked up off some lunatic website like his own Breitbart, fully on display in a vile speech he gave via Skype to a gang of like-minded militant Christians in 2014.

OPINION: All international laws Trump's Muslim ban is breaking

At one crucial point in this speech he says: "I believe you should take a very, very, very aggressive stance against radical Islam," and if you thought he means "radical Islam" and not "Islam", he immediately corrects you by adding: "If you look back at the long history of the Judeo-Christian West struggle against Islam, I believe that our forefathers kept their stance, and I think they did the right thing. I think they kept it out of the world, whether it was at Vienna, or Tours, or other places … It bequeathed to us the great institution that is the church of the West."

From Samuel Huntington to New Atheists to Benjamin Netanyahu to Bannon's Christian zealotry have been pointing to an all-out war with one final standing Muslim country not entirely subservient to the US Christian militarism: Iran.

Trump's National Security Adviser - and Bannon's fellow militant Islamophobe - Michael Flynn just came out putting Iran on notice.

Consistently raising public awareness and mobilising civil disobedience against Trump's policies have now become the hallmarks of a whole new generation of anti-war civil rights movement in the US.

Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.

Stephen Colbert Creates Some #FlakeNews

Thursday, February 9, 2017

المقابلة- المنصف المرزوقي ج1

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