The Mumbai Massacres

US crimes are committed in our behalf, in the name of democracy, by leaders we put in power, but the crimes that were committed in Mumbai were committed by an unknown body and not an elected one.

By Gilad Atzmon.
First Published 2008-11-29
Courtesy Of Middle - East - Online

At the time I am writing these notes it is far from being clear what really happened in Mumbai. The questions I ask myself are the same ones most everyone else is asking: Who were the attackers? Who was behind them and what did they try to achieve? However one thing is evident. The “War on Terror” is a total disaster.

But it doesn’t stop there, throughout this war America has lost its primacy as a super power. It is now financially ruined. Its leadership is regarded by most people around the world as a solid core of evil. It doesn’t take a genius to gather that this enormous defeat is an outcome of a chain of events that started with a single orchestrated attack that took place in September 2001. To those who fail to remember, the 18 terrorists who devastated the world on 9/11 didn’t carry a nuclear bomb, they weren’t equipped with some advanced weaponry. All they carried was knifes.

Unfortunately, America has managed to get itself involved in some war crimes of colossal magnitude. Two million Iraqis and Afghans are dead. Many more millions are gravely wounded, millions of others are refugees. Each of these victims is a direct outcome of an illegal war launched by the Anglo American democracies.

In spite of the carnage these American colonial wars have left already, they are far from being over. For weeks we are reading about American airplanes dropping bombs on Pakistani villagers. We learn about the so-called allies targeting ‘alleged terrorist suspects’ in rural Pakistan. Evidently our elected democratic leaders see innocent Muslim civilians and villagers as disposable soft targets.

Hence, it shouldn’t really take us by surprise that some people out there in the East see us as equally, subject to terror. They see us as potential soft targets. Yet, while American crimes are committed in our behalf, in the name of democracy, by leaders we ourselves put in power, the crimes that were committed yesterday in Mumbai were committed by an unknown body and not an elected one.

The crimes in Mumbai were committed solely in the name of those who commit them. The American crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria are committed by elected governments on behalf of our people.

Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel and served in the Israeli military. He is the author of two novels: A Guide to the Perplexed and My One and Only Love. Atzmon is also one of the most accomplished jazz saxophonists in Europe. His CD,Exile, was named the year's best jazz CD by the BBC. He now lives in London and can be reached through his website:gilad.co.uk.