Opinion Editorials, February 2014

With Turkey playing a key role in the first world war, the Western leaders realized that without breaking the Ottoman empire their goals of establishing a new world order will not be achieved. The fall of Ottoman Empire will also break the back of the Muslims-as Turkey was the centre of Islam. The leaders plotted not only the re-structuring of the Muslim world, but also the restructuring of Muslim identity.

The West was not new to social engineering and had experimented both on slaves and other colonized people. They realized that by breaking slaves’ link to their pasts and distorting their self image, they were able to create a pacified, compliant people. Black leaders like Malcolm X and others have illustrated how vital this deliberate distortion was in the continued subjugation of their people.

Following the demise of Ottoman Empire, the Western leaders carved out the pieces to support their interests. While doing so, Canadian author Naomi Klein, in her excellent book The Shock Doctrine, explains when Western Governments wanted to change the way people thought, it was best to do so after a significant trauma. For in that moment, people would lose their sense of orientation in the world; how they understood themselves and in this confused state — a new narrative could be implanted.

The book argues that the free market policies have risen to prominence in some countries because of a deliberate strategy of certain leaders to exploit crises by pushing through controversial, exploitative policies while citizens were too busy emotionally and physically reeling from disasters or upheavals to create an effective resistance. It is implied that some man-made crises, such as the Iraq war, may have been created with the intention of pushing through these unpopular reforms in their wake. Klein introduces two of her main themes:

1.    That practitioners of the shock doctrine tend to seek a blank slate on which to create their ideal free market economies, which usually require a violent destruction of the existing economic order, since the existing order features policies, laws, and practices that interfere with laissez-faire capitalism.

2.    The similarities between economic shock doctrine and CIA-funded shock therapy studies in which electric shocks far exceeding normal therapeutic levels were applied to patients in mental hospitals in an effort to destroy psychological resistance and create a tabula rasa personality, upon which doctors could imprint whatever they wanted.

While documenting practical examples, the author outlines the Psychiatric shock therapy and the covert experiments conducted by the psychiatrist Ewen Cameron in collusion with the CIA. Its partial success in distorting and regressing patients' original personality, but ineffectual in developing a "better" personality to replace it. Parallels with economic shock therapy are made, including a digression on how government agencies harnessed some of the lessons learned to create more effective torture techniques. Torture, according to Klein, has often been an essential tool for authorities who have implemented aggressive free market reforms. In the Capitalist setup corporate soar. In the "Disaster Capitalism Complex", model, the author describes how companies have learnt to profit from disasters. She talks about how the same personnel move easily from security-related posts in government agencies to lucrative positions in corporations. Winners and losers of Economic shock therapy, shows how small groups will often do very well by moving into luxurious gated communities while large sections of the population are left with decaying public infrastructure, declining incomes and increased unemployment.

Occupation of Iraq, Klein describes as the most comprehensive and full-scale implementation of the shock doctrine ever attempted. Iraq was bombed through a “Shock and Awe” campaign to demoralize the Iraqis. At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq’s civil war, a new law was unveiled that would allow Shell and BP to claim the country’s vast oil reserves…. Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly out-sources the running of the “War on Terror” to Halliburton and Blackwater…. After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts.... New Orleans’s residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be reopened…. These events are examples of “the shock doctrine”: using the public’s disorientation following massive collective shocks – wars, terrorist attacks, or natural disasters -- to achieve control by imposing economic shock therapy. Sometimes, when the first two shocks don’t succeed in wiping out resistance, a third shock is employed-Physical shock therapy: the electrode or physical torture in the prison cell or the Taser gun on the streets.  The book vividly shows how disaster capitalism – the rapid-fire corporate reengineering of societies still reeling from shock – did not begin recently. The book traces its origins back fifty years, to the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman, which produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today. New, surprising connections are drawn between economic policy, “shock and awe” warfare and covert CIA-funded experiments in electroshock and sensory deprivation in the 1950s, research that helped write the torture manuals used today in Guantanamo Bay. 

With the advent of internet, a new dimension came in the social engineering towards mind set. Social media have been extensively used in bringing a revolution; a recent example can be cited for Egypt. 

So, with the Shock and traumatization inflicted on the Muslims after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, led to their state of tabula rasa. As the colonizers brutalized those they now occupied, the shocked populaces were given a new narrative, deliberately intended to break their spirit. The social engineering was interwoven into the very apparatus of the newly created ‘Muslim States’. Prior to the restructuring, the Muslim world saw them as Muslim. In the new world the Muslims saw themselves in a myriad of ways — as Arabs, Kurds, Turks etc, who were further fragmented into the newly manufactured identities of Syrians, Iraqis, Lebanese or Jordanians etc.

The Muslim identity would now simply be a spiritual identity with no political consciousness — much like Hindus or Buddhists see themselves today. Islam itself would not be eradicated — simply changed — by muting its political voice. Those who accepted their new identities would still be allowed to follow the rituals of Islam as long as they did not speak of the ethical demands of their Prophet’s message. This original understanding of Islam — to uphold justice on Earth — was the priority, with the ritual simply upholding this mission. Now this has been reversed.

The colonizers promoted a passive, apolitical version of the original revolutionary message of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the same way Christianity’s ethical message was undermined by the Roman power of the time, by inserting the Biblical words “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and give unto God what is God’s.” In short pray to God — but leave the world to us. Same as we see in case of the Americans preferring separation of religion and the Church.

The newly conquered Muslims, in a state of shock, accepted the colonial and ritualized version of Islam that they were allowed to practice by their new masters. Muslim scholars prioritized what they were allowed to practice and ignored what would get them in trouble. Over time this understanding of Islam became what Muslims practiced across the globe: an apolitical, ritualized version of Islam; a far cry from the original 7th Century message that urged its believers to act to free the world from tyranny.

Equally, if the colonial masters could convince Muslims that they were spiritually Muslims but politically Saudis, Iranians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis — and so on — then their national vision would always be limited to the needs of that individual nation. There could be no global Muslim cause. No united Muslim freedom struggle, only a localized nationalistic one. The people could never rise in unity, if they no longer saw themselves as a single unified oppressed people. This was the social engineering implemented to change the identity of those being ruled.

The Western powers’ grand plan had changed the self-identity of millions of people, a gigantic feat of social re-engineering, and as a result the powers were able to dominate those they sought to exploit.

While this benefited Western powers, it has destroyed the Muslim world. As a result, violence, chaos and senseless death have become the order of the day in the Muslim world. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) long ago predicted the continuing chaos near the end of time saying, “My Ummah will be divided into 72 groups”; and there we see the Muslims divided into groups, sects, sub-sects-everything except as united Muslims. His prediction has proven correct.

Over the following century the Muslim world would go through continuous trauma. Extreme ideologies would take root due to internal and external players. The West continued its plan of backing secularist dictators and at the same time supporting their puppets-countries and their mouth piece clergy. Both would ruthlessly do whatever it took to keep power. The desperate oppression the populations now lived under was the incubator for a violent and extreme reaction.

A relatively safe and stable Muslim world had previously produced liberal-minded philosophers; poets and men of science; and brought enlightenment to Europe through Muslim Spain. Now that same Muslim world produced broken, angry men, who had lost all hope in a world of poverty, repression and endless brutal wars. Men who had no direction. Lost people.

For this reason the Muslim world has become an increasingly intolerant place. Religious groups too became increasingly intolerant, especially of other religious groups. Without an Islam that gave them an ethical purpose for the world, their minor ritual and theological differences became bitter differences. They looked for internal enemies in theology to fight and ignored the giant global war the external enemies were waging.

Despite this a new phenomenon was occurring, one that was a real threat to the neo-colonial order. Pragmatic Muslim political thinkers like Allama Iqbal started to emerge. And it was these thinkers who started to decode their place in the world. They started to rediscover their history and, through it, the slow process of unraveling what their colonial masters and nationalist dictators had long sought to erase from their consciousness — a free, pre-colonial identity.

These Muslims now started to see themselves as believers in ONE struggle to free their people — and this idea started to spread. A Muslim identity started to re-emerge out of the ashes. Pakistan was born, but, made to struggle through an unjustified division of British India and permanent thorny issues like Kashmir, Durand line, and others were left behind by the mother Britain.

With the disintegration of Soviet Union, the threat from Communism could not be used as a mantra to stage wars and keep control of the world. The implementers of the new world order needed a new punching bag. The remnants of the Communism in the form of Russians were dragged into the invasion of Afghanistan. This served three purposes. The ultimate defeat for Russians, creation of a Muslim force loyal to the masters and providing the long desired hold in the region full of natural resources at their disposal. The emergence of Taliban was under the same pretext. The Saudis and UAE with their long standing animosity towards Iran saw it as an opportunity of creating a force that could support them at the time of the need. The Talibans and other extremists group were indoctrinated with the Wahabi philosophy, loaded with funds and ammunition were brought on the ground to be used against the Russians. At the same time, the poppy growth was encouraged in Afghanistan and locals started becoming wealthy due to blossoming of poppy trade; which funded the war internally.

Once the Soviets were defeated by the help of Talibans, they were given an opportunity to run the country. However, when they started non-cooperation with the masters for their demands, September 11, incident was engineered. The Talibans were defeated and brutally handled. They fled into the mountains in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A puppet regime on Afghanistan was put in place. Now the time came for the globalists to handle Pakistan, which was on the only country carved from the belly of mother India on the basis of Islam. Several Jihadists groups were already created, while new like Pakistani Taliban, Punjabi Taliban etc. emerged on the scene. With the country facing the brunt of the Afghan war and puppet leaders were installed to serve the masters. We can take Pakistan as a perfect example of PEP Shock Engineering (PEP=Psychological, Economic and Physical). After the Psychological shocks it suffered due to loss of hold on Kashmir, dismemberment of its one half, another wave of Psychological shock was initiated through socially engineered framing of the mind set by uncontrolled licenses awarded to media channels. The Muslim identity was the main target.  Money was poured into the hands of loyalists and pseudo invasion of the country took place by the globalists; with their agents roaming around free at will and authority for any action. The country has also currently being crippled with the second wave of Economic Shock. Dependence on IMF and other lending agencies has been ensured. The third Physical shock wave is rampant in its streets. Suicide bombing, Kidnapping for ransom, targeted killings, Sectarian clashes. Leading to the issue of safety and security for a common man. So, a complete set of end game regimen-PEP Shocks have been engineered for the decisive moment. Any time the oxygen can be unplugged.

A saga of similar activities was engineered for Syria-A Shia dominant country, having close ties with Iran. The country has been put into a state of shock for some time by the globalists but they have not been able to break their resilience. With the support of the Russians and China, the two powers supporting it, we can clearly see the world dividing into two specific blocks. Is it prelude to a “World War”? 

With the fall of Ottoman Empire, current Muslims are in disarray. The globalists some centuries ago focused on a 3M (Money, Media and Military) strategy to gain control of the world. Media has been effectively used for Social engineering of the mind set and constant shock and awe therapy. Pouring money for the loyalists and using military for conquering defenseless countries, droning of villages etc. Might was also used by them and their corroborators who assisted in kidnapping of people to be transported across the world to even darker prisons,  tortured to death, use of water boarding, torturing in Iraqi jails-All signs of Physical Shock to stop a new identity becoming a political force.

Shock and Slate Mind Engineering, with the fall of Soviet Union focused on Muslims. Muslim countries especially in Africa and Middle East were targeted to gain control. Starting from Iraq, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt ....... A Shock and Slate Engineered campaign in the name of “Arab Spring” targeting the non-compliant countries was promoted to appease the world.

Currently, there is a clear divide among the transformed and enlightened Muslims of the West and the traditional Muslims of the East. Those in the West are divided into four sub-sets. The first, in an attempt to assimilate in the Western culture either have completely embraced atheism/masonry. The second are those who still accept some sort of God and do not feel shy in ingesting non-halal food and alcohol. The third, occasionally pray and practice Islam while the fourth religiously follow the Islamic practices. While considering East, we do find the existence of same groups. However, the first two are relatively small and majority formed by the later two. Among the fourth group of religious minded people, we see clear division. One group, well organized funded by the West and select countries, indoctrinated with a particular type of Islam are on their course to create chaos and mayhem to gain control and influence the remaining-perfect example of Shock and Slate Mind Engineering phenomenon. The other group comprises of several sub-groups of remaining Muslims from different school of thoughts.

The three Abrahamic religions believe in the appearance of an Anti-Christ and Christ. Is the current wave of Shock and Slate Mind Engineering of Muslims is geared towards it? The question will be answered by the history, however, it appears that a clear road map is laid down for the proceedings to ensue.

Dr. Minhaj A. Qidwai

MBBS (MD), MPH, MBA, CMC

Marketing, Management and Education Consultant

http://minhajqidwai.wordpress.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/minhaj-qidwai/13/935/427

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editor@aljazeerah.info & editor@ccun.org