British Teenager, Azhar Ahmed, Arrested for Anti-War Facebook Post

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:08 UTC

An actual (no joke!) British government 'transport for London' poster.

A British teenager has been arrested and will appear in a UK court as a result of a comment he posted on Facebook about the deaths last week of six British soldiers in Afghanistan.

On March 8th, 19 year old Azhar Ahmed posted a comment on his Facebook page about the deaths of 6 British soldiers in Afghanistan on the 6th March. On the same day as Azhar's post, a Facebook group entitled Azhar Ahmed Scumbag!!! was created (with large Union Jack flag as its logo) and, someone (perhaps the creator of the FB page) reported his comment to the police. The following day, Friday, Azhar was arrested and charged over the weekend. He was then released on bail and will appear in Dewsbury magistrates' court on March 20th. An online petition has also been created that demands that Azhar be "sent to prison for hate crimes against British soldiers".

Most disturbing here is not that there are many rabid Right Wing Authoritarian types on Facebook, but that the British police clearly took the complaint seriously and took the time and effort to investigate the matter and saw fit to send a squad car to Azhar's house to arrest him.

Here is Azhar's comment:

Azhar, while British, is obviously of Arab extraction. In modern multi-cultural Britain, rife as it is with with racism, this clearly didn't go down well with the more 'right wing' British Facebookers. Indeed, while those lobbying for the incarceration of Azhar accuse him of 'hate crimes', Azhar's motivation was clearly humanitarian - he was incensed by the deaths of civilians - while his detractors are clearly racially motivated, i.e. they either don't like him because he is of Arab extraction, or they are fiercely pro-British.

The simple fact of the matter is that Azhar was making the reasonable, if emotionally charged, point that the British media is massively biased towards British troops as they engage in an imperial war of aggression that has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians. When British soldiers die in combat in Afghanistan, the British press calls it a "tragedy", when Afghan civilians are murdered by British or US soldiers, the US and British media simply report it, if indeed the story even reaches the Western media.

On the deaths of the six soldiers last week for example, the British Prime Minister David Cameron said that it was a "desperately sad day for our country". And that, "every death and every injury reminds us of the human cost paid by our armed forces to keep our country safe."

Of course, this isn't quite true. It's only the deaths of British soldiers that are used to catapult the propaganda lie that any Western soldier in Afghanistan is there to "keep our country safe". The murder of Afghan civilians is used to to reinforce the lie that most Afghan civilians are probably Taliban and that Western troops are trying to "keep our countries safe" by killing them. The truth of the matter is that the deaths of those six British soldiers probably saved the lives of an unknown number of Afghan civilians, because there are at least six less Western soldiers in Afghanistan that might end up murdering, or facilitating the murder of, Afghan civilians. For example, here's a fraction of the known reports over the past few years:

Afghan family slain in NATO strike

Killing fields: US imperial forces butcher 64 civilians in Afghanistan

Thirteen Civilians Killed in Afghanistan by Airstrike

NATO Expresses Regret for Airstrike That Killed 8 Young Afghan Civilians

'Death Squad': Full horror emerges of how rogue U.S. brigade murdered and mutilated innocent Afghan civilians - and kept their body parts as trophies

NATO Airstrike Kills 8 Afghan Civilians

Soldier faces trial in Afghanistan 'sport killing' case

US Army 'kill team' in Afghanistan posed with photos of murdered civilians

Afghan Civilians Pay Lethal Price for New Policy on Air Strikes

The Afghan village that's been wiped from the map - with 25 tons of coalition bombs

Civilians killed by NATO airstrike in eastern Afghanistan

The Wedding-Day Massacre: An Ominous Afghan Tragedy

NATO Air Strike Kills Civilians, Afghans Say Most Children

Rogue US army unit leader saw Afghans as 'savages'

US Air strike kills nine Afghan soldiers

US Govt. blames Afghan civilian victims for their own deaths in bombing raid

More than 100 Afghan civilians killed in US air strikes (2007)

16 Afghan civilians killed or wounded by U.S. troops

US forces kill 7 Afghan police in not so friendly fire

Seven civilians killed in US terror strike: Afghan Governor

US Afghan strikes kills another 100 civilians (2009)

Afghan villagers say NATO strike killed six civilians

US 'mistake' vaporizes 33 Afghan civilians

U.S. and NATO Forces Kill 13 Afghan Police, Civilians by "Mistake"

The most worrying aspect of Azhar's case however is obviously the fact that he was arrested for something he posted on Facebook. If he is charged and imprisoned, or even merely fined, it will set a dangerous precedent in British courts. At the same time, we have to wonder what, if any, relation the arrest of Azhar has to the recent announcement that the British government is attempting to push through new totalitarian laws that would allow British intelligence to monitor and retain data on all civilian internet communications, including Facebook posts.

The only appropriate response to this obvious effort to criminalised political dissent is for as many people as possible to post comments on Facebook that, more or less, say the same thing that Azhar said: British (and US) troops in Afghanistan are there illegally and are engaged in committing war crimes against a civilian population. Their deaths should ALWAYS be used to highlight that fact, rather than used by the press and others to disseminate the lie that they are there to protect anyone or anything other than the psychopaths in power and their desire to dominate the entire planet.

Joe Quinn

As an essayist and print author, Joe has been writing incisive editorials for Sott.net for over 10 years. His articles have appeared on many news sites and he has been interviewed numerous times by Sputnik News and Press TV. His articles can also be found on his personal blog JoeQuinn.net.

Reader Comments

gdpetti · 2012-03-14T11:06:04Z

The ONLY appropriate response?

Perhaps encourage people to 'let go' of their Facebook addiction would be another 'appropriate' response?

Joe · 2012-03-14T11:17:14Z

You think allowing oneself to be scared off posting on FB by the threat of arrest is an appropriate response?

Highland Fleet Lute · 2012-03-14T11:22:45Z

A New Career In A New Town

But the omni-towering, all-integrating EM babel-fizz of cyberspace is your new home. Don't you "like" it?

Luke · 2012-03-14T11:23:01Z

Waste of public resources

Azhar's defense in court should be that he is a peace junkie.. He should go down the hippie route. Should say that "the all soldiers should die" comment was because he doesn't like the idea of war or violence and he equates it to the existance of the military and that as far as his logic goes, no military equals no war therefore all soldiers should die and then go to say he is very sorry for his naivety and the pain he caused the parents of those soldiers.. He should just leave out the injustice of the whole affair... Basically play dumb and hope for a slap on the wrist if these people are that serious(hysterical)..

He also said, soldiers, didn't say British soldiers... He didn't even mention the incident explicitly..

I mean I could easily say, all over-paid footballers should die and by the logic of this case, I will be arrested for hate crimes??? No allusion to any race, nationality, religion, just an occupation and that is all it takes?

Laura · 2012-03-14T15:26:10Z

Good point. He said ALL soldiers, nothing racist about that.

So, being against war is now illegal in Britain...

Luke · 2012-03-14T17:42:10Z

I hope

he didn't say anything that might incriminate him because they could easily manipulate him into incriminating himself during an interrogation... All they have to make him do is admit that he was alluding specifically to British soldiers and they have a stronger case.

griffin · 2012-03-14T20:26:16Z

Azhar posted only the same thing that a certain (probably apocryphal) religious leader reportedly said about soldiers, albeit less emotionally: "They who live by the sword shall die by the sword."

But of course the reigning authoritarians of his time and their followers killed him, too.

Highland Fleet Lute · 2012-03-14T11:52:56Z

The fact he's being charged under race-hate laws is pretty weird. His comments are the kind of thing you might hear in any English pub up and down the country, and as far as I know, that kind of thing isn't illegal yet. It's notable that muslims, Pakistanis and Arabs don't tend to drink in English pubs much.

Luke · 2012-03-14T13:02:05Z

Sooooo....

People gassin about the laziness of mediterraneans for European Economic meltdown! What about the fact that they have been ripped off by the structure of the EU - that they have no choice but to incur endless debt.. The countries that are now getting raped by banksters.. The children who have had there childhood sliced up! Your enemy's were the inefficient distribution of resources and macro/micro economic stagnation, not economic and social stability. All banksters should DIE & go to HELL! THE LOWLIFE FOKKIN SCUM! gotta problem go cry at the loss of your country's triple A rating & kiss it goodbye because you'll never see it again...

NOTE TO ANY AUTHORITY FIGURE/FOLLOWER: Banksters are unicorns responsible for the economic meltdown, not to be confused with bankers, the human beings who ensure proper functioning of the financial system. I love bankers, I hate banksters, no good fictional unicorns causing havoc.

Ruth · 2012-03-14T14:21:24Z

Strange Feeling

Can't shake the feeling that there is something really quite 'off' about this whole thing. Almost like a set up.

The sort of scenario where the 'Powers That Be' go round pushing some buttons to see how certain people react. I'm not sure what to make of it or whether the British teenager is going to get compromised in the process. Something not very pleasant is at work here and it may be deliberate.

ippos · 2012-03-14T17:54:39Z

The guy was a little bit too emotional

Though he was right about many other things he wrote about, one cannot just say that "All soldiers should DIE and go to HELL!". He's just giving PTB an excuse to punish him and point a finger at him saying that he is a messanger of hate and all that stuff.
And as far as Facebook is concerned, the Onion News Network has put it quite nicely by saying that Facebook reduces CIA's costs... [Link]

On the "Phone and email records to be stored in new spy plan" article, it seems that ACTA or no ACTA, our internet providers will become snitches and my information, and your information will be available to psychopaths and they will do with it whatever they please.

Joe · 2012-03-14T18:15:19Z

Being too emotional isn't a crime, last time I checked, although that may have changed.

Rowan Cocoan · 2012-03-15T19:17:30Z

Re: The guy was a little bit too emotional

The overall tenor of your text seems "somewhat emphatic," which many would take to be an expression of emotion, or, perhaps, some might see as "a little too emotional."

The scumbags - oops, I showed some emotion showing there. “Sorry Sir! It won't happen again, Sir!” (“Yeah, right!”*) - who have the level of control to have made this happen as it has, (a/k/a, the PTB/P-path "Elite") could just as easily apply their arbitrary evaluation to your (mere) rationalization.

I remember learning as a schoolchild, some quote

"Sticks and Stones
May break my bones,
But words will never hurt me."

Then, as I grew older, I heard this "sound bite" regarding the position of some guy named Voltaire. (I think he invented electricity and that the amp is named for him.*)

I MAY NOT AGREE WITH WHAT YOU SAY, BUT WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.**

Since then, I have learned to try to hold that principle dearly while modern society and my government have chipped away and away at it. Of course, this age old tactic has been, is, and will continue to be, exactly an essential tenet of all Successful Authoritarian Government Takeovers - (such P-paths being rather limited in their abilities to do much creative thinking***) - with resulting reduction in the freedom of its citizens. (As I recall, this has been described as the "Politics of Incrementalism," and we're watching it happen in realtime.)

R.C.

*Sarcasm.

**Which, as phrased, is itself apparently is a paraphrasing of E.B. Hall’s summary of one of Voltaire's philosophies, at least if certain unnameable web "reference" sources can be in this instance trusted.)

*** E.g., See Operation Northwoods, (1963) and events of 9/11/2001. [ [Link]]

Divide By Zero · 2012-03-15T21:57:56Z

Umm, so how come it is not a crime when citizens scream how they want to kill all Arabs (or specific country, be it Iraq, Afghanistan, etc)???

Luke · 2012-03-14T18:47:04Z

Not so far back

my small sister showed me a youtube video that was doing the rounds in her school... (it caused abit of a sensation on the inter-webs)

Clearly under these new draconian laws, this girl if she was living in the UK should expect a knock on the door from the men in blue for clearly inciting genocide/hate crimes against a whole race of people...

[Link]
Point being, if the PTB are planning on being serious about this arrest people for what they say on social networking sites, a lot of people should be expecting knocks on there doors in the not-to-distant future.

ippos · 2012-03-14T20:07:36Z

Sorry

I didn't mean that being emotional is a crime, it does happen, especially when one thinks of or discusses the results of psychopathy on our world. The guy is generally right to express his emotions and there is no doubt that there's no free speech, especially on Facebook. I gave it a little bit of thought and I think that even if he had avoided what I quoted earlier, he would have still received some attacks for stating that same opinion as it seems to go against what the PTB want. Excuse my English, please.

waitew · 2012-03-14T21:51:44Z

Here I thought Nazi Germany fell the US/UK,but lo & behold,it appears it was the other way around.

Highland Fleet Lute · 2012-03-15T08:43:47Z

"Can't shake the feeling that there is something really quite 'off' about this whole thing."

It seems unlikely to me that Dewsbury police have got time to sit around scanning Facebook all day for inflamatory posts, otherwise they would have nicked all the respondents who filled Ahmed's Facebook wall with phrases like "p*ki c*nt" etc, which is illegal under British law. Also, the content of some of those posts could quite easily be construed as death-threats.

Amerikagulag · 2012-03-15T15:02:34Z

Speaking the truth?

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act - George Orwell

bedower · 2012-03-15T15:36:19Z

I really hope...

...that you will all jump on me for saying this, but the arrest of Azhar Ahmed might possibly be another in the long line of 'leading by the nose' scenarios that TPTB are so good at devising? In other words, don't use 'social media, because we know who you are and where you are, and if you cross the line, we will come and arrest you' type of thing?

This whole story has the theme of 'putting the frighteners on'.

Panic the populus, in other words, MAKE THEM FEAR US!

"Slowly I turned, and step by step..." and so on etc etc!

Ruth · 2012-03-15T17:24:32Z

Its always interesting to try and figure out who or what the Cointelpro types are trying to manipulate. And one must assume that the 'clients' they are attempting to manipulate are not all 'fear everything' animal types (also known as sheep) who want to be lead by the nose. They would be extreemly foolish if they thought that.

They might find greater success if their 'bait' was innocent, rather than less than innocent (Kony?). Either way, doesn't look so good for the 'bait'....

bedower · 2012-03-15T15:41:34Z

BTW

as long as I've lived in the 'Islamic' world, I've never yet come across the first name of 'Azhar'.

El Azhar University I've heard of,

but never the first name of 'Azhar'.

Maybe I don't get out enough...

ippos · 2012-03-16T05:07:33Z

At DBZ and RC

Well, in my opinion, expressing what you think and feel should in no way be a crime but what I think to be right is one thing and what the PTB decide is another, after all, with the PTB almost everything you do is a crime (remember also the terrorist checklist) unless one is their pet zombie. For me personally, saying that someone should DIE (and go to HELL) is NOT OK, not really a crime, but most definately something I would avoid and even when emotional, I personally wouldn't go that far. Come to think of it, I do not wish anyone's death, do not celebrate it, etc.