News Review 31/07/2021

After Afghanistan failure, Biden Seeks to Strengthen US in Iraq

This week, US President Joe Biden received Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Washington. The media is highlighting Biden’s announcement of the end of the US combat mission in Iraq and its conversion to a training and support mission at the end of the year. But the reality is that the US troops are mostly already engaged in training and support, and the existing numbers are expected to remain unchanged. The real purpose of the meeting is to further strengthen US interests in Iraq, to ensure that America does not lose it after coming close to losing Afghanistan.

America’s purpose in entering any country is not to involve itself in the day-to-day management of its affairs but to obtain strategic benefit from its presence there. America wants the local government to support US objectives but manage its work itself. And America wants its military to have permanent bases in the country. In this respect, Afghanistan is close to becoming a major strategic failure for the Americans. It has been unable to find a way to keep military bases in the country. And it also seems close to losing its puppet government in Kabul. Still, the US is working hard through Pakistan to put pressure on the Taliban leadership to compromise with the existing Kabul regime so that America can keep some leverage in the new set up.

The real traitor in Afghanistan has been the Pakistani government, which provided the US with access there, fully supported its mission, and enabled its exit by forcing the Taliban into negotiations with the US. Similarly, the real traitor in Iraq is the Iranian government which has covertly supported US objectives there. The entire ruling class in Muslim countries is in fact beholden to the West, mere agents who carry out the directives of their Western masters. But with Allah’s permission, the Muslim Ummah shall soon arise, overthrow this agent class, and re-establish the righteous Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) State on the method of the Prophet (saw) that shall unify all Muslim lands, liberate its occupied territories, implement the Islamic Shar’ia, restore the Islamic way of life, and carry the light of Islam to the entire world.

Tunisia, Indonesia

Using more conventional political manoeuvring, America finds its position strengthening in Tunisia, after the strengthening of its position in Libya. This week, Tunisian President Kais Saied suspended the activities of the parliament and dismissed the prime minister. Kais Saied insists these measures are temporary but he has previously been building public support for a transition from the parliamentary to the presidential form of democratic system for some time. In reality, this is not a mere domestic debate but a reflection of the rivalries of Western powers imposing their influence within Tunisia. After the end of French colonial rule, Britain was successful in controlling Tunisia through the British agents with the events of the Arab Spring Habib Bourguiba and then Zine al Abidine Ben Ali. But, France was able to revive its strength in the Tunisian army and now it has been able to capture the president Kais Saied. Meanwhile, the parliament remains dominated by elements loyal to the British. Hence current events in Tunisia are in reality a manifestation of the competition between the Western powers. Before colonialism, Tunisia was a province of the Uthmani Khilafah State, its ruler, the ‘Bey’, recognised by Istanbul. The lands of Muslims will not know peace, justice and prosperity until they are ruled once again by a righteous Khalifa who assumes the general leadership of all Muslims, who shall be unified and strengthened under his rule.

The US is sending over 2000 troops to Indonesia to participate in the largest ever joint military exercise between the two countries. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, is becoming critical to the American drive to confront China’s expansion into the Pacific. It is this expansion that America fears the most, as it considers the Pacific Ocean to be its own private waters, and it has not forgotten the humiliation of the Japanese attack on the American fleet in Pearl Harbour that caused America to enter World War II. This week, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines, also critical countries for the American response to China. And America has been giving increased attention to its membership of the ‘Quad’ countries that includes India, Japan and Australia. The islands of Indonesia and Malaysia have great strategic significance, as they control the Strait of Malacca, which is the main sea passage between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the busiest such strait in the world with ships passing through it carrying about a quarter of the world’s traded goods. But the rulers of Malaysia and Indonesia, as with other Muslim countries at present, exist only to serve the Western agenda. However, the ongoing rivalries of the world’s great powers provide strategic space for the rise of Muslims, just as the conflict between the Roman and Persian Empires provided the strategic space for the expansion of the Medina state. The Khilafah State shall enter, almost from its inception, the ranks of the great powers, on account of its immense size, strong and youthful population, vast resources, vital location and Islamic ideology. It is only the Khilafah State that will have the ability and disposition to confront, contain and calm the other powers and restore peace, stability and prosperity throughout the world.