http://www.mediamonitors.net/mosaddeq4.html Algeria and the Paradox of Democracy
The 1992 Coup, its Consequences and the Contemporary Crisis
by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed
I. The Military Coup and its Impact
II. Indifference and Complicity of the Algerian Army
III. Military Rule Under a Facade of Democracy
IV. The Army’s Western-Backed War on the Algerian People
V. Western Interests in Algeria
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As noted by John Entelis, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Middle East Program at Fordham University in New York, regarding the elections, “The Arab world had never before experienced such a genuinely populist expression of democratic aspirations… Yet when the army overturned the whole democratic experiment in January 1992, the United States willingly accepted the results… In short, a democratically elected Islamist government hostile to American hegemonic aspirations in the region… was considered unacceptable in Washington.” This was primarily because the democratically elected government was unlikely to allow the United States to use Algeria as part of its attempts to consolidate its military-economic hegemony throughout the region. Professor Entelis acknowledges that, in contrast, “More important was the army government’s willingness to collaborate with American regional ambitions”, which included “collaborating with Israel in establishing a Pax Americana in the Middle East and North Africa.”<3>
Following this violent coup, hundreds of civilians were being mysteriously and regularly massacred by an unknown terrorist group. The newly established military regime insisted that the terrorists were members of an organisation called the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). This group was alleged to consist of disenchanted members of the former FIS who were retaliating against the newly installed regime by murdering civilians. Thus, the massacres were blamed on the GIA, a supposedly Islamic terrorist organisation defending the interests of the scattered FIS. The seizing, killing and imprisoning of FIS members and supporters has therefore been perpetrated by the new regime on the pretext of eradicating Islamic terrorism. This has led to what appears to be a veritable civil war within the country between secular government forces and armed Islamic opposition groups. Government forces routinely arrest, detain and kill Algerian citizens who are alleged to be members or supporters of the “Islamic terrorist” armed opposition. The opposition in turn routinely undertakes horrendous massacres of civilians in accordance with its alleged methodology of utilising terror to achieve political objectives. As we shall see, however, the facts are far more complicated.
The result is that Algeria today constitutes yet another humanitarian crisis to which the West remains overtly indifferent. Tens of thousands of children have been affected by a decade of ongoing violence. Since the conflict within Algeria began, hundreds of babies, children and other vulnerable civilians have been killed, often as deliberate targets, as well as indiscriminately. Thousands of children have been seriously traumatised as a result of witnessing members of their family be shot, cut to pieces, or burned alive, as well as witnessing bomb explosions and brutal military operations by security forces and armed groups.<4>
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