The continual barbaric acts of Isil and the US’s determination to systematically root it out are shaping the views of the media in the West quite forcefully. While cautiously praising the American stance, the media is also urging the US to actively engage with the Arab world in pursuing its objectives.
The New York Times editorial links the timing of Obama’s unveiling of his strategy to combat Isil with the anniversary of 9/11. It says, “Thirteen years later, the anniversary of 9/11 was observed this past week on the day after President Obama announced another fight against the various manifestations of Islamic extremism that have evolved from Bin Laden’s. This time it was a vicious Sunni offshoot calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (Isil).” The paper points to the vested interests of US legislators in backing Obama on this, “Members of the Senate and the House generally supported Obama, but most legislators seemed willing to let the White House order the air strikes without congressional approval for fear that supporting — or opposing — the operation could hurt their chances in the midterm elections.” It concludes with the observation: “And for the Arab leaders, there was now the fear that American involvement would only increase the standing of Isil among would-be jihadists, just as Isil itself was spawned by American attacks on its predecessors.
The News & Observer.com, takes a macro view of US involvement in Iraq and its disastrous consequences with refreshing pithiness. “Blunt military force,” says its editorial, “would only sink the United States back into the quagmire of a region split along centuries-old tribal and religious divisions.
“If President George W. Bush and his sabre-rattling advisers had been equally careful, the US would have waited for inspectors to complete their search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and report that there were none. Instead, they blasted their way into Iraq, deposed the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain, unleashed long-repressed tribal and religious tensions and created the chaotic and bloody conditions into which Isil emerged and has thrived.” It is searing in its indictment of former vice-President Dick Cheney who is critical of Obama’s strategy. “These neocons who have learned nothing from history aren’t just doomed to repeat it. They’re eager to repeat it,” says the editorial.
In Australia, that is fully backing the US decision, the views of Sydney Morning Herald are unequivocal. Says its editorial, “President Barack Obama has outlined a compelling humanitarian case to degrade and ultimately destroy the self-declared Isil terrorist organisation. Such a case hardly needed to be made, given the disgusting betrayal of humanity we have seen from Isil in the past year. The Herald, too, believes the risks from home-grown terrorists justify taking the next step against IS, especially given the looming increase in the terror warning for Australia from moderate to high.” The paper believes that “This battle for the hearts and minds of the Middle East will determine the success of Obama’s “comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy” against a group so extreme that even Al Qaida disowned it.”
It cautions Prime Minister Tony Abbott to be careful not to foment anti-Muslim backlash in the community, and concludes: “For this coalition against Isil to succeed, all Western leaders must reassure Muslims everywhere that this is not an attempt to force an American hegemony upon them, their religion or the on vulnerable Middle East nations being torn apart by terror.”
The other big news last week was the verdict on South African para-Olympian Oscar Pistorius and The Asian Age minces no words, ”Judging from the reaction of a shocked South Africa, it does appear the verdict in the case of the famous “Blade Runner”, Oscar Pistorius, is fundamentally flawed,” it says. “The athlete has been adjudged innocent of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp but held guilty of culpable homicide.’ The facts, according to it, do not seem to support the leniency.
On the ripples the verdict may create, it sounds ominous. “Given the racial baggage the rainbow nation carries, the verdict — even one given by a black judge in Thokozile Masipa — is going to tear South Africa asunder. There is something clearly wrong in legal compassion for a person with grave firearms misuse issues. The angst of a people will certainly cry out “racial discrimination”. Sentencing is awaited, but, given the verdict, it is being predicted that a light five years in prison may be all that Oscar, a troubled celebrity, may get behind bars.”
The last has not been heard of this most sensational murder trial, it warns.
