The Great West, and Its Great Legacy...

The Great West... The land of development, equality and the abundance of opportunity; in the eyes of some, the land of fairness and openness, the land of open markets and free trade, the land where dreams come true, and the land which defends world peace and comes to the aid of the downtrodden. This is  the land consisting of nations that try to take the message of democracy and free trade to the rest of the planet, carrying a message of peace, rule of the law and equality of people everywhere

This is the impression, most, or perhaps all of which are shared by most people in this Great Land, judging from the limited interactions I have had with people from those lands, their news reports and analyses, and an analysis of their policies over a long period of time.  Let us not get specific as to countries and nations, and restrict ourselves to the dream, the land called The Great West.

We are currently, as a nation and as a people, in the midst of unprecedented tumult in our immediate west {geographically speaking; as different from the Metaphorical noun The Great West} - stretching from Pakistan right upto the Middle East, with the emergence of shocking brutality and a blitzkrieg-like advance of the forces of the IS. We have been reading of the resolve of The Great West {as different from geographical west, which specifically refers to Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria,, Jordan etc with reference to India} to stamp out these forces, and of the commitment to peace and stability the world over. 

This brings me to a simple thought : how did this come to pass? How and why did these human beings rise to so much hate, and had to resort to such unforgivable brutality and bloodshed? What was the causative factor behind the rise, rise and rise of these jihadists, and the entire terror machinery? War is a costly affair, and high-tech weapons are not exactly available in the nearby supermarket. Where are these fighters getting their funds from? And where are they getting their weapons from? How did they originate? What were the factors that lead to the current situation?

The answer to most of these questions  lies outside the scope of this blog; and is a specialised subject. Having said that, I have not read anyone in any Media even trying to answer these questions. It is only in Indian writings  {and a couple of Western Books, to be honest} that these questions answers' have been attempted. But there is a vast difference between public knowledge, popular Media and specialised, esoteric books on the topic. It is only in Indian Media that this  has been stripped nude, and the reality laid bare in the history behind the creation of the Frankenstien Monster that is the current situation

Be it diplomatic staff {I have carried a reference to an interview earlier on my blog as well}, or general populace all seem to be in denial in The Great West,  at least as far as my readings go. Whereas, in India, writers from both fiction {Mukul Deva, for ex} and non-fiction {MJ Akbar, for example} have dealt with this {or parts thereof} in detail. Normal news articles etc are also present regularly in mainstream media that testify to the fact that we Indians are only too aware of the role of The Great West in the creation of this monster. 

It is known that it required 9/11 for The Great West to wake up from its slumber. As I argue in my article Terror : The Guilty And The Innnocent, "You can call these guys Jihadists, or Extremists, or Terrorists - or whatever else passes your fancy. You can now label them as an international threat, a threat to world peace, and what-not. You can now pass judgement on them, and plan their extermination and defeat - now that they are threatening you. You can now call yourselves as fighting against terror, now that the terror has come to hit your nations - I am referring to the USA and any other nations that helped these terrorists in the early days. ". Collectively, I  refer to these nations as The Great West... 

The question is their origin : and no one can deny that is the penchant of The Great West for interference in other nations that lies at the root of this problem. In nation after nation, arms were sent in to disaffected elements, fomenting rebellion and unleashing factors that caused deep socio-cultural torment and wrought destructive change in their societies. In some cases, like Pakistan, arms were sent in to train Jihadists to fight foreign enemies of The Great West - I mean Russia - with the same results as above. 

As I mentioned in my previous article as well, undeniable proof exists. This is a message and a point that bears repetition : "In 1985, at a White House ceremony in honour of several Afghan mujahideen — the jihadists out of which al-Qaeda evolved — President Ronald Reagan declared, “These gentlemen are the moral equivalent of America’s Founding Fathers.” Earlier in 1982, Reagan dedicated the space shuttle ‘Columbia’ to the Afghan resistance. He declared, “Just as the Columbia, we think, represents man’s finest aspirations in the field of science and technology, so too does the struggle of the Afghan people represent man’s highest aspirations for freedom. I am dedicating, on behalf of the American people, the March 22 launch of the Columbia to the people of Afghanistan."

Source : Frankenstein's Monster Unleashed

Now take a look at this shocking data sheet from India : Annual Casualities

Reproduced here : 

Incidents	Civilians	Security Force Personnel	Terrorists	Total
1988	390	29	1	1	31
1989	2154	79	13	0	92
1990	3905	862	132	183	1177
1991	3122	594	185	614	1393
1992	4971	859	177	873	1909
1993	4457	1023	216	1328	2567
1994	4484	1012	236	1651	2899
1995	4479	1161	297	1338	2796
1996	4224	1333	376	1194	2903
1997	3004	840	355	1177	2372
1998	2993	877	339	1045	2261
1999	2938	799	555	1184	2538
2000	2835	842	638	1808	3288
2001	3278	1067	590	2850	4507
2002	NA	839	469	1714	3022
2003	NA	658	338	1546	2542
2004	NA	534	325	951	1810
2005	NA	521	218	1000	1739
2006	NA	349	168	599	1116
2007	NA	164	121	492	777
2008	NA	69	90	382	541
2009	NA	55	78	242	375
2010	NA	36	69	270	375
2011	NA	34	30	119	183
2012	NA	16	17	84	117
2013	NA	20	61	100	181
2014	NA	14	29	77	120
Total*	47234	14686	6123	22822	43631

The timeline is pretty damning, when you put the 2 together {the US interference in Afghanistan, and the rise in casualty rates}. We kept informing everyone of this duplicity, but no one was interested in listening to us; the focus was on a purely imaginary Russian threat, leading to disaster for us. 

So tell me, The Great West, answer a few of my questions - the questions of an Indian : 

• Who asked you westerners to interfere? 
• Who asked you westerners to butt your nose where it does not belong? 
• Who asked you westerners to send arms into a tinderbox, ensuring eventual explosion? 
• Who asked you westerners to fan the flames of Jihad that are now consuming the world? 
• Who asked you westerners to help when there is a multilateral body such as the now-toothless and laughing stock of the developing world, The United States Nations Organisation {UNO}? 
• Who gave you westerners the bloody right to send in arms to diverse areas across the world, and wreck havoc in the developing world? 
• Who gave you westerners the bloody right to interfere in international affairs, and poke your western nose where it does not belong? 
• Who gave you westerners the bloody right to fuel secessionist movements and Jihadi movements across world, leading to untold bloodshed in those lands, while you continue to sleep soundly in your fluffy bed? 
• Who gave you westerners the right to fuel so-called democracy in far-flung peoples, leading to genocide, bloodshed, and total destruction? 
• Who gave you westerners the right to interfere, when you do not have even the faintest conceptualisation of how your near-criminal interference is leading to socio-cultural churn in these target nations, unleashing destructive forces as a direct consequence of your intervention? 
• And most critically, why cry peace now that the bloodshed has reached your western lands? 

You westerners have been the indirect {some would say direct} cause of wanton destruction and bloodshed in the entire world; so now enjoy the fruits of your labour! Sad to state, but the Frankenstein you westerners created and unleashed has grown so huge, that it is now not possible to contain it any longer without further bloodshed. 

It is a known fact that funds and arms were diverted to foment trouble in Kashmir by Pakistan; the entire world was silent. The current crisis started years ago when the USA decided that Communism was its greates existential threat, and sent in its CIA to train ISI, who then together blundered into Afghanistan. They decided to train Afghanistani people and arm them against Russia. 

In fact, more than a few westerners still argue for Pakistan, seeing it as an ally against terror, despite persuasive evidence of the reverse being present. At that time, no one was listening to us... problem is, no one is listening to us even today, when The Great West continues to  see Pakistan as an ally rather than the problem...

Answer these questions, please... Just dont ask India to get into the act; we have not done even one thing mentioned above; maintained equidistance, and we are the ONLY land which is a relative peace while the rest of the Islamic World self-destructs. despite have more than 145 Million Muslim Citizens. We did the right steps, and got our deserved reward : peace. You westerners can now enjoy the fun of the Dessert that is the result of your intervention. Go right ahead. Have fun. We dont want any part of it. 

Blunt : I cant see what The Great West has to be so proud of; so stop being so bloody condescending to us Indians, will you? Remember, what goes around, comes around. You show contempt, you beget contempt. Currently I am among the few Indians who treat The West with total contempt, disdain, an ill-disguised superiority complex {I am now getting increasingly certain we are better} and condescension. 


With time, the number of people like me will increase exponentially. Think a little... but more of that in the second part...