Endless Blood-letting in July

July has turned out to be the cruellest month so far this year with a rash of terror attacks around the world, especially Europe. Some of them displayed sickening levels of barbarity, especially the one at an upscale cafe in Bangladesh got attacked on July 1.

Though in terms of casualties, 29 deaths, it may not be much compared with say Iraq, Syria or Yemen, which records ten times that much every month. However the raw savagery unleashed by the assailants in Bangladesh made a chilling read.

They were 19-20 year olds, just out of some top notch schools in Bangladesh. But their savagery was reminiscent of medieval era warriors. Though they were carrying guns, machete was their favourite weapon and beheading, lynching their preferred mode to get rid of victims. The guns were only meant to be used when confronted with security forces.

In Bangladesh it looks like lynching is a very prevalent mode used by extremists. It has been used numerous times to kill bloggers, priests and just about anyone opposed to their ideologies or religious beliefs. Though guns provide the luxury of distance while eliminating people, these extremists seem to be hankering after greater sadistic pleasure of being in close proximity to their victims, while the latter meet with their blood spattered end.

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The second cruellest attack happened in Nice in France on July 14. It came as a rude awakening to the French security establishment, which was breathing easy after an incident-free Euro cup soccer. Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a driver of Tunisian origin, turned an innocuous looking truck into a killing machine.

It ploughed through a crowd, which had gathered to watch the Bastille Day fireworks, for nearly two kilometres and killed 84 people. Here too guns played a secondary role, while the 19-ton vehicle trampled the victims under its wheels. 

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Lastly there are forgotten people residing in conflict zones such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen. For the world community they are not even significant enough to be a statistic as hundreds die on a daily basis. Iraq and Syria are sometimes lucky enough to get a passing mention when some 50 plus people get killed in a bomb blast or when the problem of refugee influx to Europe is discussed. 

But the Yemenis are the proverbial children of lesser god. This poorest country in Arab world gets pounded by fighter jets from regional satraps such as Saudi Arabia and UAE with impunity for months together and the rest of the world does not even bat an eyelid.

Yemeni lives matter! Anyone?

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

The Syrian Itch

Syria is the new 'itch' of the West. The script seems all too familiar. The US and its European allies look for an excuse to meddle in a West Asian country and it does not take long for them to prise open a window of opportunity. They are egged on by regional satraps like Saudi Arabia, and of late Turkey, who have their own axes to grind.

Of course, being democracies the West is saddled with the burden of 'manufacturing consent' (apology to Noam Chomsky) among the populace that it is a 'just war' and worth shedding the blood of some promising youngsters, though not those from affluent background. Good old white man's burden theory gets reloaded with some new characteristics.

However, what is disappointing is that it is happening during the tenure of a US President who came to power on an anti-war platform. He seemed more than eager to bring back his troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.

But now we have his lieutenant John Kerry play Donald Rumsfeld by hoisting Bashar Al Assad to the evil pantheon of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein. Being Democrats one was lulled into believing they won't be as economical on truth as their Republican rivals. But looks like the corroding influence of White House is a great leveller.

While marshalling his case against Syria, Kerry revealed a picture of rows of dead bodies lying on the floor, wrapped in white shrouds, and claimed they were victims of Bashar Al Assad's alleged chemical attack. A claim refuted by the photographer Marco di Lauro, who actually took that photo, saying it was from Iraq in 2003 and adds that he nearly "fell off his chair" when he saw it being used to promote a war in Syria. As of now the only ray of hope is that America's trusted camp follower Britain has not fallen in line yet. Not because it does not want to, but because the opposition is proving to be a hard nut to crack.

As for the media, which is now at best an extended arm of corporate communications, the less said the better. In this era of embedded war correspondents we cannot even dream of expose like Pentagon papers that happened during Vietnam war.

And thankfully for our leaders, the attention span of our modern day youth is as narrow as their smartphone screens and their sense of history is next to nothing. Hence things like Vietnam war, Napalm attacks and My Lai massacre hardly ring a bell. So they needn't fear any needling questions from them and continue selling the same old snake oil of 'national interest' to further the agenda of their real constituency - the arms dealers.

Cartoon source: Facebook

Also Read: Bangalore Beat