Tuesday, November 27, 2007

British Archbishop on World Affairs:
British Empire = Good
American Defense of Freedom = Bad

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams is all the rage in the British Parliament, it seems. It's easy to see why.

The Times (UK) repeated what the (Anglican) Archbishop said in a Emel magazine. Muslim magazine, that is.

"It is one thing to take over a territory and then pour energy and resources into administering it and normalising it. Rightly or wrongly, that’s what the British Empire did – in India, for example. It is another thing to go in on the assumption that a quick burst of violent action will somehow clear the decks and that you can move on and other people will put it back together – Iraq, for example."

I think I've got that.
  • British colonization of India was a good thing, because England occupied India for generations.
  • American efforts to help Iraqis weed terrorists out of their country and set up an independent government is bad
If he keeps this up, the good archbishop may even get a Nobel Peace Prize.

It's true that England poured resources into India. It's also true that, from the founding of the East India Company in 1600 to 1947, when Mahatma Gandhi convinced England to get out of his country, the British Empire brought law, order, and guidance to India - and all they asked for in return was tons of tea the the Kohinoor. "Asked" might not be quite the right word.

Back to the archbishop: He's certainly got the right, and responsibility, to point out evil where he sees it. He also has the right to be wrong.

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Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.