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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (47989)	3/7/2005 6:50:01 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

Global influence is not an off the shelf commodity, it has to be built, US ability to control global events beyond strategic interventions like Afghanistan and Iraq lies in US ability to deliver force in lightening time. The 400 billion $ US spends on defense should be considered as a global stability expenditure, take that ability of Americans to dictate terms to would be war lords out, and you end up with a fully connected world where hot wars between nations would be ongoing at least on five fronts since 911. Post 911 world has averted a full blown war between two largest armies in South Asia, a war that could have had a nuclear dimension to it; today those two nations are playing cricket, the power that brought them together was the ability to carry a stick and a carrot, very tactically utilized by a very able US administration. Look at the Syrian admonishing by US and their very sedate listening and national demure, from pure Syrian standpoint this all is very unlike Baathists approach, all credit due to ability of US to administer proper dosage of threat and room for withdrawal, Iran the very reason EU initiative is alive so far is due to US threat of forced application if Iran does not listen, some how if EU has a range of creditability it is because EU is superceded by Nato as a strategic alliance of Europe, although Europe depends on Russian planes to carry their soldiers Nato can do wonders for them; from Bosnia to Kosovo the intervention of Nato is engraved on peace initiatives within Europe. American taxpayers actually bore brunt of peace in the whole world, like CO2 tax Europeans should be levied a proportional tax for peace keeping activities carried out by the Americans, the world is not that straight and Old Europe does not have the capability to make any amends or enforce peace, the bite is provided by the Americans unfortunately grandiosity of the old Empires is still fresh in Chiracan and Shoreodien minds.

To: TimF who wrote (47989)	3/7/2005 7:15:15 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

AFGHANS SEEK TO REDISCOVER THE MEANING OF LEISURE Patrick Andrade 1/14/05 Amid the tumult of Afghanistan’s reconstruction, a fortunate few are trying to rediscover the concept of leisure. The Kabul Golf Club is among the recreational options that have appeared in and around the Afghan capital. But as this photo essay by Patrick Andrade illustrates, a round of golf features some unique hazards. The nine-hole golf course is landscaped in a unique "desert" style. That means the putting greens contain no grass. Instead, the surface around the golf holes is a mixture of sand and motor oil. While golfers now struggle to negotiate the rock-strewn fairways, the course at one point during the 1990s was literally a battleground – the scene of skirmishes between rival Mujahedeen factions who were vying to take control of the capital at the time. The club recently sponsored Afghanistan’s first golf tournament in over 30 years. Caddies were the primary competitors to become the Kabul club champion. Prior to the 1979 Soviet occupation, Afghanistan was a popular tourist destination that offering a variety of Western-style recreational activities. The anti-Soviet insurgency, followed by civil warfare, put an end to recreational activities for the next quarter century.