Clinton said it on Larry King Live when he was on the show to promote his book. Now Dr. Mahatir says the same thing. But George W. has no clue on how to fight terror. His Ramboesque approach is causing all the grief while the terrorists continue to strike at will anywhere they want to.
It is the Israeli-Palestenian conflict and Bush has done nothing to address that issue. How can he claim any movement towards success in the war on terrorism then?
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US must review terrorism policy, says Mahathir
By Farhan Bokhari
KARACHI: Dr Mahathir Muhammad, former Malaysian prime minister, currently on a visit to Pakistan, has urged the United States to review its policy of war on terror.
Speaking to a special panel of Geo television comprising Farhan Bokhari, Hummaa Ahmed and Amjad Bashir, Dr Mahathir criticised the US for treating the war on terror as a purely conventional military operation and in disregard of its complicated political dimension.
"The United States has done all the wrong things. It thinks that because it is a military power, it can use military means to put an end to terrorism. Terrorism is not a conventional war. You can fight a conventional war, defeat a nation, sign a peace treaty and the whole thing is over," said Dr Mahathir in the television interview.
He said: "With terrorists you don’t even know who they are. You cannot fight them because in the usual manner, conventional manner, because you don’t know where they are or how they’re going to strike." He said a main cause for the global fears of terrorism emanating from Muslim countries was embedded in the long drawn Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Referring to Malaysia’s own case of fighting a communist uprising, which threatened the government, Dr Mahathir said the strategy in launching a response was based not only on a military campaign, but also a concerted effort to establish the causes, which prompted support to the militants.
"A lot of people were supporting them (communist insurgents) because these people were disillusioned. They were not given citizenship of the country. We gave citizenship to some one million people and they stopped collaborating with the terrorists and then of course we continued to fight, offering them amnesty and things like that," said the former Malaysian prime minister, credited for overseeing his country’s success as an economic powerhouse of the Far East.
Dr Mahathir said it was important to clarify that there is not necessarily always a linkage between terrorism and poverty, as assumed by many. "When people are poor and suffering they take action against their government. They don’t fly an airplane and crash it into a building in some other country," he said, adding, <font color=red>"If they attack other countries, it is not because of starvation or poverty, it is because they’re angry about something."
<font color=black>Replying to a question about the factors that drove Malaysia’s economic success as a model for Pakistan, Dr Mahathir said it was absolutely essential to first iron out disagreements among members of different communities within a country before its economic fortunes would begin receiving a lift.
jang.com.pk |
