Grave changes on the horizon

According to the Wall Street Journal, the anti-Islam film which led to violent riots against the US on September 11, 2012, in Egypt and Libya, wherein the US Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other embassy staff members were killed in an attack in Benghazi, was produced by an Israeli-American, Sam Bacile. The riots spread through many other Arab and Islamic countries, but the most violent ones were witnessed in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

The movie, Innocence of Muslims, was directed and produced over a period of three months. Sixty actors were involved in the film, which was backed by US pastor Terry Jones. Apparently, Nakoula B. Nakoula from south California who works as a real estate company manager, was also behind the making of the film. Nakoula is said to be an Arab Christian who stressed in interviews, after the film was made, that he considered Islam to be a “cancer”.

The clumsy story behind the film that is a US production is that it does not intend to attack Muslims, but seeks to reveal the devastating belief of Islam!

A number of questions come to mind.

Is it possible that such a sensitive movie comes out in the US without the knowledge of the security authorities? And is it possible that the US will allow any of its citizens to affect its relations with a number of important countries and then say that the government cannot do anything about what happened? Also, didn’t the Arabs and Muslims have a more civilised way to retaliate against what happened? Moreover, was the US waiting for such an incident to take place for it to send in marine forces to the Middle East? Furthermore, were the Republicans waiting for such an incident to take place to lure US President Barack Obama into a trap where he could lose a large percentage of US votes?

To add to the whole picture, the incident takes place on September 11 to serve as a grim reminder of what happened on that day in 2001.

Former Navy Seal Matt Bissonette, in a TV interview has said that he and his team shot Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan last year, instead of capturing him alive, because they were afraid he may have been concealing a weapon.

Bissonette, a US citizen, now retired, had signed a pledge not to reveal any military secrets at the time of joining the Navy. So how could Bissonette ‑ who is now drawing his pension from the military ‑ without prior experience in writing, publish a book of such importance about the raid?

Bissonette was not the only one in that raid team, but he did not mention the names of the team members. So, is it possible that he published the book without the consent of the others? And how could such a book be published without the knowledge of US officials?

Again this takes place around the same time that reminds of the painful memory of September, 11, 2001.

Another important point to ponder is the Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Lebanon recently. The Pope came carrying a passage from the Gospel of St. John: “My peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

Lebanon is both concerned and anxious about the situation in Syria, witnessing widespread acts of violence. No one knows the end result in Syria and whether it will become like Iraq or Libya, or will witness a situation similar to Tunisia, Egypt or Yemen.

Moreover, it is not just Lebanon which is concerned about the situation in Syria for there are other countries in the region that are also waiting for the results and repercussions in Damascus such as Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey. Other countries also concerned about Syria include Israel.

The timing of Pope’s arrival in Lebanon was very delicate because of the repercussions of the Syria’s turmoil in Lebanon. Tripoli, in the north of Lebanon, is witnessing constant armed clashes, while the borders with Syria are porous and open to smuggling of weapons, drugs, and human trafficking.

The question is why did the Pope travel to Lebanon in September specifically, a month burdened with sad memories of 9/11? Why wasn’t it postponed till winter? Moreover, why didn’t the Pope go to Syria as well to try to put an end to the violence there as his mission was conducted under the slogan of peace?

Also, if there was a special message to be delivered to the Christians in the east, it would have been more appropriate to deliver it in Syria because the number of Christians there is bigger. Syria was also the road taken by the Apostle Paul from the first Christian generation.

Reading the El Pais newspaper in Madrid, I came across a report that the number of abandoned villages has now reached 7,500 because most people are immigrating to the city in search of jobs. I was also told by a Spanish acquaintance that the government in Spain was ready to give any person a house and a farm in any village to restore life in these abandoned villages.

The international economic crisis which hit the US and Europe and included countries such as Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and others is not over yet.

Unemployment rates are high and the austerity practised now had not been witnessed before.

Amid the gloomy economic situation, there is talk amongst European economic, social and research mediums about Europeans moving to other continents such as Asia, Africa and even to the oil-rich GCC countries to search for jobs and investment opportunities.

There are grave changes on the horizon that are sometimes not felt by people because of their involvement in daily, mundane details of existence.

So will the economic crisis in Europe and other locations lead to military and political action elsewhere, which may hasten some important transformations to re-balance the situation around the globe? And until when can the situation around the world persist without a tsunami that may revive the economy?

Mohammad Hassan Al Harbi is a writer and journalist.