Margolis shows how al-Qaida, the Taliban, "terrorists" are not a unitary group but each have their own divisions and problems, and many of the above mentioned warlords and drug lords are classed within the convenient media catch-all of "terrorism." The fullest irony is of course the U.S. involvement via Pakistan of the development and then abandonment of the mujahideen against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida (the base) at the time was a very small group more focussed on local problems (Kashmir in particular) than on warring against the U.S. The Taliban, supported by the Pakistan government as a force for stabilizing Afghanistan, were in negotiations with the U.S. up to four months before the U.S. invasion. The U.S. is constantly viewed through Margolis' reporting as using double standards and double crossing, denying open channels of communication that could resolve issues once the military mindset is taken with the idea of forthcoming action (think Iraq, as well as the Taliban, and now consider what may be forthcoming in Pakistan).
The U.S. desire for overt direct control of the resources is really the source of many of the problems. They are very poor at considering consequences to their actions, very poor at reading histories about the lost cause of empires in any area, but also within the Hindu Kush, and very poor at recognizing their own ignorance and arrogance towards the people of the areas they occupy.
Solutions
As Margolis points out, the economies of the area are very much based on resource extraction as demanded by the west, but a more pastoral sustainable economy would exist if it were allowed to be, but that too goes against the fundamentals of "free market globalization" and against the rising forces of population growth demanding food supplies. Given that, in order to survive economically and politically those resources would have to be sold to foreign countries regardless of the nature of the local government. One of the solutions is then rather obvious – get out and buy the oil on the free market as U.S. politicians and media are endlessly promoting. This of course will cause the price of oil to increase rapidly – to its true market value, now greatly enhanced by 'peak oil' and rising demand. This again highlights the double standards of empire – free market for us, but not for you.
The primary solution remains Palestine, as for the Muslim world it is "the icon of its own failings and premier symbol of western oppression." This "intractable" conflict has "pitted the two primary victims of western racism, Jews and Muslims, against one another," whereas before they had a much more natural affinity for one another than they did for Christianity. Currently Palestine is "a giant self administered outdoor penal colony, whose air, land and maritime links to the outside world...remain under permanent Israeli control." It is only the U.S. that can solve the problem as only they have "the power to push Israel into the final land-for-peace settlement that a majority of Israelis know must be made but whose politicians lack the courage and strength to deliver." Margolis explores many parameters of solutions to the Palestine conflict and as he turns to other solutions he says while "the outline of a solution is simple and plain to see; its execution exceptionally difficult."
Other solutions are not so difficult.
Two: Iraq and Afghanistan – get out, simple plan, simple execution.
Three: Muslims and terrorism – do not conflate the two. Terror is in the hands of the occupier, not the occupied and the angry rhetoric from the Islamic fundamentalists is no different than the fiery rhetoric of Armageddon and apocalypse coming from the Christian right. Many, perhaps most, of Islamic charities are just that, charities, and not supporters of terrorism. Part of that plan would be to lose much of the ignorance and arrogance that fuels the empire's view in the media.
Four: "Stop sustaining authoritarian regimes across the Muslim world." Allow democracy to prevail as you so often yelp about in the media. Assuredly the first results would be some form of Islamic government in most nations, but Islamic law is no more or less democratic than Christian law, and can be within its own culture as fully democratic (if not more so under the different cultural parameters) as secular law in the west.
Five: lower the U.S. military "profile" in the area. This is Margolis' weakest argument mainly because of a single statement about the U.S. retaining its bases in the North Pacific. A double standard: I would think that if he asked the Koreans, Taiwanese, and the Japanese (the people, not the compliant governments) the response would overwhelmingly be to have the U.S. go home. It is not up to the U.S. to remain the world's police force – if the Muslim nations can work it out in their own way, so too can the Asian nations of the Pacific. Don't just lower the profile – work towards removing it. Simple solution, hard to execute.
New beginnings
The American Raj is so far alive and well under the Obama government, peopled as it is by many former Clinton advisors and still obviously under the sway of the AIPAC lobby that stopped Charles Freeman's appointment as chair of the National Intelligence Council (and his apparent Saudi ties – as if that really mattered much in the House of Bush, House of Saud era).
A good starting point for any solution is education, and Margolis' writing is one of the best bets I have seen as a basis for this process. Comprehensive, entangling, clearly written, a strong perspective from years of experience comparing reality with rhetoric, American Raj is an excellent start for anyone wishing to understand the many inter-related ideas and forces that shape the U.S. empire's actions in the Muslim world.
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