The Bishop of Exeter, the Rt Revd Michael Langrish, has warned that interfaith relations may be harmed by the “unfolding events” in Libya.
Speaking in the House of Lords on Monday, the Bishop asked whether the Leader of the Lords, Lord StrathÂclyde, shared his “concern that in an increasingly volatile region there are already those who for their own ends are using somewhat inflammatory language and trying to construct a reliÂgious narrative around these unÂfolding events.
“In this account, a vulnerable IsÂlamic population is being subjected to an opportunistic attack by a powerÂful Christian West. Not only does such a narrative have the power to destabÂilÂise the wider Middle East region, but it could impact very negatively on community relations in this country.”
The only people I have heard expressing this opinion from the Arab world have been the Taliban and Al Qu’ada who have issued very miffed statements at the supports shown for the UNSC Action by the Arab League and the UN,and of course Col. Gaddafi. However the Church Times have managed to find supporters for this view from two loony liberal organisations: UK Ekklesia; and the Anglican Pacificist Fellowship [which is a new one on me].
Apart from that the Arab world and its media have been horrified by Gaddaffi’s actions and continue to support UN efforts. The Libyans under threat have been pleading today for the coalition to continue to protect them from threats on the ground.
However there is a much bigger threat with the division of effort over the UN no fly zone enforcement to be undertaken by NATO and the actions for protection of civilians to be undertaken by the coalition. A recipe for chaos and ineffectivenss if ever there was one. It would have been better than this to have command for the coalition operation supplied by the US as it has so well so far, even as the non US participation in operations takes over the majority of the flights with unified command and control, but this strange cobble-together was perhaps inevitable given the spanner thrown into the works by the Germans and Turks in Europe, and the non-stop back-biting and bellyaching going on in Washington.
However one group is pleased at these events – the Gaddaffi regime and one group at risk is not happy – the Libyan civiilians under attack. But there we go – I hope they sort it out in the next few days and get joined up command and control sorted out, otherwise the chance of a long term impasse and further civilian massacres as Gaddaffi exploits these weaknesses will increase. IMHO.
“The Bishop of Exeter, the Rt Revd Michael Langrish, has warned that interfaith relations may be harmed by the ‘unfolding events’ in Libya.”
Ex-CIA consulant and author Chalmers Johnson calls it “blowback.” His series on this concept is must reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalmers_Johnson#The_Blowback_series
1. Pageantmaster [blockquote] non-stop back-biting and bellyaching going on in Washington[/blockquote] Otherwise known as “Americans expressing their rejection of American forces being committed to a fight in which the US no vital interest at stake.”
carl
No vital interest. This is absurd. Who put the Lockerbie terrorism together? The Middle East is now afire as to weather tribal depotism will remain as ultra-rich despots. Whether Gaddhafi suceeds or not will have a fundamental effect on what happens elsewhere, and at stake is the role Moslem terrorism and the possession of vast reserves of oil and unutterable wealth will play. And we have no stake in this? Come on. Larry
Plus Obama lied (and people died.) (I always wanted to throw that back in the face of the liberals!). The UN forces are actively supporting the rebels against the Lybian government.
[blockquote]Libyan rebels backed by allied air strikes recaptured the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiyah on Saturday, pushing out Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.[/blockquote]http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110326/ts_nm/us_libya
This is a far cry from “protecting civilians”. Although I suppose you could stretch this by claiming that protecting civilians means the defeat of Gaddafi as quickly as possible.
I personally see no reason to support this illegal and unconstitutional war, however moral Europeans or PM deem it.
And Larry, if you really think that a rebel win will operate to US or Western advantage, you might want to read this: Decoding Libya by
Andrew McCarthy at http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/263138/decoding-libya-andrew-c-mccarthy
McCarthy makes the point:
[blockquote]The main point is this: What I have described here is a mainstream interpretation of sharia, not some purportedly twisted al-Qaeda construction. It is the Islam of hundreds of millions of Muslims. The fact that most of these Muslims disagree with al-Qaeda’s strategy of attacking the West in the West (however much they may applaud it post facto) is beside the point. All of these Muslims believe that non-Muslim forces must be fought aggressively if they occupy Muslim countries, especially if those non-Muslim forces get kinetic inside Muslim countries. It’s a very good reason to have as little as possible to do with Muslim countries.[/blockquote]
They will use West to get rid of Gaddaffi and install an Islamic state that is just as hostile to the West.
4. Larry Morse
No vital interest. It matters not a whit to the US whether Gadhaffi remains in power. We saw no reason to remove him during the previous 40 years, and nothing has altered that basic fact. The vital interests in this matter are European, and may best be demonstrated by Google maps. The distance from Tripoli to Sicily is around 300 miles. The Europeans don’t have the power or the will to fix a failed state on their immediate southern border, but they still darn sure want it fixed. And that is why they sucked the US into this conflict. Fundamentally, this war may be described as the Europeans getting the Americans to keep stability on Europe’s periphery so the Europeans can sleep comfortably.
“Oh, No.” someone will say. “It’s all about protecting civilians!” Right. I will believe that when I see European planes flying off to bomb Harare in an effort to remove Mugabe. The distance from Rome to Harare is 4250 miles. I won’t be holding my breath.
carl
Of course – they needed a lesson from the “expert” in fixing failed states. Thanks for the morning chuckle, Carl.
8. WarrenS
See, I think you are using the wrong definition of ‘fixed.’ In this context, Libya is ‘fixed’ when it becomes an American problem. Sort of like the Europeans thought the problem of Sadaam Hussein could be ‘fixed’ by indefinitely sitting the American Army in Saudi Arabia to act as a deterrent while the Europeans proceeded to make a lot of money through exclusive Iraqi Oil contracts. Well, it wouldn’t have fixed all those humanitarian violations in Iraq … you know, the same kinds of violations that are allegedly driving Western intervention in Libya … like imprisoning children as hostages against adult behavior or dropping poison gas on civilians, but, hey, you can’t have everything, and Iraq is a long way from Europe anyways. It all makes perfect sense … from a particular point of view. If you really want to chuckle, however, you should wait to see the reaction in Europe if the US ever decides to stop its participation in this nonsense. Now that would be a spectacle.
carl
I am sick and tired of everyone asking [i]my country[/i] to pull their fat out of the fire! [i] Do it yourselves!![/i]
Carl and Cennydd13, you gentlemen are, for me, the personification of the “ugly American”. I have detected nothing but contempt from you for all nations other than the good old US of A; especially when those nations don’t know when or how to keep in their place. I don’t seem to meet any “ugly Americans” in real life, so your posts have been intriguing and instructive. I don’t, by the way, consider you representative of the majority of your countrymen; which is why I haven’t lost all faith and respect for your country. I don’t have TV at home, so I guess I’m attracted to this site in the same way that many people are attracted to reality TV. I’m also intrigued at how my views of politics and society can be so different from people with whom I share so much in common theologically. This is something I must ponder more. No doubt their are many unstated and unexamined presuppositions at play.
11. WarrenS[blockquote] you gentlemen are, for me, the personification of the “ugly Americanâ€.[/blockquote]Hrmm. I shall have to remember this. Point out inconvenient truths, and you will be called an “Ugly American.”
I hope you have a nice day as well, WarrenS.
carl
Ditto! And by the way, I have nothing but respect for those who respect us. I simply want other countries to assume more of the burdens that we’ve been expected to bear. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, is it?
RE: “Carl and Cennydd13, you gentlemen are, for me, the personification of the “ugly Americanâ€.”
Oh. No.
We are all so distraught and distressed to know this. I hope that Carl and Cennydd will be able to recover their shattered self esteem by this devastating blow — to have lost the esteem of someone like WarrenS is practically irrecoverable. I fear it will be a terrible struggle for them.
RE: ” . . . which is why I haven’t lost all faith and respect for your country.”
Yeh — if there’s one thing we all want, it’s WarrenS thinking well of our country. I’m personally ecstatic, I have such respect for WarrenS’s views.
RE: “I’m also intrigued at how my views of politics and society can be so different from people with whom I share so much in common theologically.”
Meh — it can all be summed up by which agent should be instituting WarrenS’s values and worldview.
So it’s a fairly simple thing that’s easily understandable.
RE: ““Americans expressing their rejection of American forces being committed to a fight in which the US no vital interest at stake.â€
Yeh — I haven’t seen the latest polls but there’s no question that we’re close to or have reached well beyond majority disfavor in this country.
It’s truly an unbelievably ghastly war, entered into for no apparent reason, not to mention with massive haste, with no counsel sought from Congress and in a matter of days — as we all knew — has expanded exponentially, and with no end in sight.
When are we gonna invade North Korea’s airspace and bomb their stuff?
The only good news in all of this is the further sour taste left in people’s mouths with Obama’s term.
Only 20 more months!!
Ahh, I was waiting to see when the “ugly Americanette” would arrive. Greetings. ; > )
Poof – the elf’s make me vanish again. I love the censorship on this forum – highly selective and slanted towards the favoured few. Why not show some spine and ban me?