''US seeks to destabilize Muslim nations'' (VIDEO)

Salem-News.com-Apr-29-2014 

Press TV has interviewed Tim King, editor of Salem-news.com to discuss the situation of Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

Tim King of Salem-News.com

(TEHRAN / SALEM) - Press TV: Now, we are seeing a lot of bloodshed. This month alone, over 500 casualties, deaths that is, as a result of terrorist attacks on Iraqi soil. How do you see terrorism basically, impeding Iraq’s progress towards democracy?

King: Well, I don’t think we even really know what the source of this terrorism is. You know, the new movie by Jeremy Scahill called Dirty Wars that details the US Joint Special Operation Command’s (JSOC) ventures all over the world over the last few years makes me wonder if this is even a Sunni versus Shia matter.

When I was covering the war in Iraq, I saw this exact thing. I think we all can agree that sectarian violence was not much of a problem until the US war effort was waged in Iraq, bringing all kinds of divide. Of course, the Americans put up the walls that divided Sunni and Shia neighborhoods. People had always gotten along to some extent, much greater than what we are seeing now. So, again, I saw this when I was over there. I saw massive numbers of people killed in these bombing attacks and we just rarely ever really know what the source is on this [terrorism]. Anyway, there are far more questions at this point than there are answers.

Press TV: Well, we have our correspondent there reporting from the ground in Baghdad who says that will of the Iraqi people is such that they will face these bombs and terrorist attacks and go to the polling stations. However, one does question, who benefits from this instability in Iraq?

King: The same beneficiaries that have been that from the beginning of the US effort, and that is the military contractors, the people that are providing weapons. You know, there is nothing to be gained.

It’s just such a terrible thing that has befallen the whole Muslim world since the US decided to wage these wars based on little to know information or completely erroneous information, as the case turns out to be in Iraq.

This was a stable country that was not perfect but it was operating smoothly until 2003. So, I fear for the people of Iraq, I appreciate their resolve. I do understand this. They are going to go forward no matter what, but it’s just a shame that Western powers have dealt such a heavy blow, causing these types of acts to happen today.

Press TV: Well, there are those that say that each vote and each procedure in the path toward democracy is like a nail in the coffin for terrorism, the instability, the divide among different factions in Iraq. Do you see it that way?

King: I see that no Jeffersonian style of democracy like what we have here in the US is ever going to work in that part of the world. I think that President [Saddam] Hussein’s heavy-handed tactics kept things moving in a much more succinct and smooth and non-violent way. So, you know, democracy is a wonderful idea if it can actually be brought forward, but I think that when the reasons for the war in the first place are so disingenuous, it’s very hard to be positive, but again I greatly admire the resolve in the will of the Iraqi people. These last few years have been so difficult for them.

SZH/HSN