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Daily News Analysis

The good and bad of the Year 2013

Crescent International

We present our assessment of the past year: what was good and what was not so good or outright bad. The past, as it is said, is a mirror to the future. Since life is a continuum, events of the past have a bearing on the future. We present our pick of the past year.

Toronto, Crescent-online
January 01, 2014, 12:43 EST

Reviewing events of the past is a lot easier than predicting the future.

Like previous years, 2013 has also been pretty bad as far as Muslims are concerned. Many developments took place, almost all of them with negative consequences for the Muslim world.

We can list some of these in no particular chronological order.

1: The July 3 coup in Egypt

The military coup in Egypt that overthrew the first ever elected presidnt in Egypt’s history must rank as a major setback for Muslims. It has given rise to such Western claims as “political Islam” has failed.

The expression is a Western construct and clearly off the mark on many counts not least because the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon-backed party is not the Islamic movement per se. Similarly, the situation in Egypt is still very unsettled.

Despite the military’s extreme brutality and even declaring the group a “terrorist” organization, the struggle in Egypt is far from over. It is likely to continue to play out even in the coming year.

2: Ongoing war on Syria

There has been no let up in the bloodshed in Syria but developments last August caught the warmongers on the wrong foot. A Saudi engineered poison gas attack in al-Ghouta that was meant to trigger a US attack on Syria alerted the US and its allies to the pitfalls of being sucked into another quagmire in the Middle East.

Refusing to be pushed into a trap, the US move exposed the Saudis for what they are: sponsors of terrorism.

The coming year may witness some kind of a political deal that may not solve all of Syria’s problems but may lead to a reduction in the killing of innocents.

3: Snowden revelations

The most explosive news story of 2013 must be Edward Snowden’s release of tens of thousands of documents showing how the US National Security Agency (NSA) has been spying not only on other countries but even on its own citizens as well as leaders of allied countries.

Snowden had to flee the country and is currently living in Moscow under temporary asylum but his revelations have alerted the whole world to the criminal nature of US policies.

4: US drone attacks

In October both the UN and Amnesty International released reports that were scathing in their criticism of US strikes. The UN said some of these probably constitute war crimes while Amnesty focused on the plight of a family in North Waziristan where a 68-year-old grandmother was killed while her three grandchildren were badly injured. The US has refused even to admit it did anything wrong. Drone strikes have continued in Pakistan and in Yemen killing innocents and exposing US rulers as warmongers and killers of children.

5: Iran-nuclear deal

The election in June 2013 of Dr Hassan Rohani as Iran’s president exposed Western propaganda about Iran. The Washington Post had said even if he won, Rohani would not be allowed to assume power. The election results left Western rulers and pundits in a state of shock.

More surprises were in store when on November 24, Iran and the P5+1 signed an interim deal in Geneva over Iran’s nuclear program. The six-month deal is meant to provide both sides an opportunity for confidence building measures as well as putting in place mechanism to end all sanctions against Iran.

If a final agreement is reached, it will have far reaching implications for the Middle East region.

6: Saudis exposed

Two illegitimate regimes, both occupying holy lands—the zionists in Palestine and Saudis in the Arabian Peninsula—are not only furious with developments in Syria and the US-Iran deal, but have also been left dangerously exposed.

They both support wars and are totally opposed to Islamic Iran. Their warmongering plans have failed and their close alliance has come out into the open.

Of the two, the Saudis are facing serious problems because of deep discontent with the House of Saud and its thieving members. Further, the top echelon of the Saudis is old and sick and heading to their graves soon.

The days of the House of Saud may be numbered. The sooner these medieval Bedouins from Nejd are sent to their desert dwellings, the better it will be for peace in the Muslim world and beyond.

END


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