Re: British Soldier Beheaded in London in busy street
This. Exactly.
I, as a born and bred American, would LOVE nothing more than for the US to stop policing the rest of the world and concentrate on domestic issues...HOWEVER, as a person who was directly effected by 9/11, every time I hear someone say that the attacks on the twin towers were a Jewish plot/conspiracy to make Muslims look bad while I watch news after news about the Shia genocide that persists in Pakistan, the madness that had engulfed Karachi and the unbearable loadshedding in Punjab while these fat, corrupt politicians feed off of the poor and innocent, it makes me wonder where the blame should really lie.
I'm not in anyway condoning America's foreign policy or drone strikes, let's be clear about that. However, I agree with Ghostie & Med911 here.
The "blame Obama/America for everything" argument is getting really old. And this is rampant all over the Muslim world, so I'm not pointing a finger just at Pakistan here, but it's become too easy to blame the "West" for everything.
Pakistan was founded as a safe haven for Muslims, yet how is that working out so far? Muslims are shedding the blood of Muslims right and left on Pakistani soil...radical Islam is spreading like wild fire yet it's protected and enabled...US is condemned for drone strikes yet the government is taken no steps to cut off their own dependency on US Foreign Aid..the same goes for the Middle East..I had this debate with a group of friends awhile back about how incredulous it is that KSA/Jordan/Egypt/Syria are all in the position to end the plight and suffering of Palestine yet they don't do a damn thing...and the answer I got back (from a Pakistani) was "America won't let them". Ahhhh...okay.
You are talking like as if population of 170 million people somehow support all those things? Do you have any idea how many Muslims in Pakistan vociferously condemn, protest, fight, speak and act against sectarian killing, ethnic violence, corruption, poverty, radicalisation on daily basis? Do you have any idea how many Muslims in Pakistan have lost their lives and livelihood due to their political and social activism? You are quick to publicise your conversation with couple of friends and generalise their views on the entire population but it makes me wonder whether you are more upset over the views of your friends or genuinely concerned about situation in Pakistan. I'd go with former because people of Pakistan are certainly not shy of raising their voice against all the issues you've mentioned in your post. The whole country showed solidarity with victims of the Hazara community, there were nation wide protests and special pleas for religious tolerance after shia leaders were murdered in Karachi, the PPP government was shred into pieces for no providing adequate emergency service for the victims of Abbas Town fire and the way people of Pakistan have stood up against mafia organisation in Karachi is no secret. The once all mighty and widely established PPP is on the brink of total extermination because people of Pakistan voted them out due to their failure to do anything to curb load shedding along with various other problems ....I can go on and on about how "Muslims" in Pakistan are making the genuine efforts, employing all the right methods to bring about a much needed change in their country. If the "born and bred 2nd, 3rd generation Americans" are not happy and just want to moan than that's none of their concern. Perhaps its about time "born and bred Americans" stop getting so personal and emotional everytime they see a Pakistani not glorifying and sugar coating American's foreign policy.
Its simply offensive and height of ignorance to say that radicalism is "protected" in Pakistan by Pakistanis when the country has been fighting this bloody conflict in the name of eliminating extremism for twelve bloody years!!! Its not a joke. Pakistan has paid the biggest human and financial price for this mission than all NATO countries combined, in fact there's still no comparison in any way or form. We have sacrificed hundreds of soldiers, thousands of innocent civilians and destroyed communities upon communities to fight the banned terrorists organisation so how dare someone say extremism is still "protected" in Pakistan? I tell you what the real problem is, is not that majority of the Muslims don't condemn terrorism or haven't sacrificed a thing fight that menace, its the extreme right wing loonies who are so quick to generalise the action of fringe minority on the entire population. Either don't demonise all Muslims or don't expect any special sympathy from them. Why should they go out of their way to sympathise with "born and bred Americans" when those people have zero respect and understanding of the struggle and sacrifices people of Pakistan have made just so people from those countries can live in peace.