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

To: JD who wrote (48274)	4/8/2005 3:28:05 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

JD, such civilised change of politics is unbelievable, this is the place where just few years ago 500;000 soldiers on each side were in eye ball to eye ball confrontation post terrorist attack on Indian parliament, even yesterday they tried to derail the process, but momentum of peace has taken over lust of death, credit goes to behind the scene policies and objectives of present Bush administration, these ‘leftists self styled peace lunatics’ by their ‘do nothing approach’ help destruction, more peace and more accommodation is possible if ground root amendments to achieve peace are made, peace is not owned by great desire of having ‘no war peace’ is won by ‘show of determination to the merchants of death’ that their elimination is our objective albeit it takes a lot of hard work. Talebani lection instead of Vietnam scenario be proposed by lot of pundits and Karzai instead of grave liken USSR saw in Kabul and a new peace initiative in Palestine al our connected to the war against terror, this is the big picture, collateral benefit, change of thinking on ground floor level, a challenge that we are after you, the party of free gun slinging is over, the disservice would be not to make these connections and give the US administration for success of great policy, the hotspots of the world are not quietened because people have realised that end of war is great, concord and togetherness is preferred over death, the credit goes neocons and lets them enjoy the glory it. . Look at opening of border in this is exactly what this thread has been saying all along, the changes that have taken place in the mind set of nations, post 911, what was unimaginable in fifty years is now happening, behind all this was sincere efforts and policy of US administration to eliminate the terrorism and the terrorists, this could not have happened without that, if terrorist would be still free, if policy of appeasement would have continued we would have reign of terror on our hands, elations in Iraq freedom through peace are all integrated, short term people see this as growing out of vacuum I think otherwise this is growing out of policy of elimination of terrorists since ç11,that had taken the government in present case Pakistani a hostage, the proliferation of terror continued under name of freedom, they had closed links with Alqaeda, once the hotbed is destroyed and roots eliminated and most of all change of behaviour and positive approach of Pakistani government under duress post 911 after being told of the consequence the relentless fall of daisy cutters on Afghan Talebins, opened the eyes of hard liners that progress cannot be achieved through war of attrition or reign of terror, here we are now, positive all around, 1.2 billion people were living under nuclear threat now that looked little distant. The caravan of peace has started,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said as he sent off the Pakistan-bound bus in front of a crowd of thousands braving freezing drizzle at the Lion of Kashmir stadium in Srinagar. “Nothing can stop it.” Separatists tried, firing two rifle grenades at one of the Muzaffarabad-bound buses soon after it left. But no one was hurt, the bus was not hit and did not stop. Two guerrillas staged a suicide attack on a fortified government complex housing the passengers on Wednesday just a few hundred metres from the Lion of Kashmir stadium. They torched the complex. The passengers escaped, although five later pulled out, including two who got off almost as soon as the buses left. As the white-and-green buses draped with marigolds drove off, the complex was still smouldering nearby. One hundred and seventy kilometres away by road in Muzaffarabad, well wishers threw rose petals as garlanded passengers boarded a green-and-yellow bus for the Peace Bridge. A large billboard faces Pakistan at the bridge, reading: “No religion teaches animosity towards each other.” h

To: JD who wrote (48274)	4/8/2005 3:52:00 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Respond to of 50167

Saladin Incarnate, President Bush Sunday, April 06, 2003 I am reproducing a discussion I and Zachary had with some guests in our house two years ago- If I were a Hindu and believed that the heroes of past took form in the present age then it would be not be hard for me to consider President Bush the incarnate of Saladdin, the Kurdish general revered throughout the lands of Islam. This is not a war against Islam but a war for Islam, underlined by the liberation of Basra. My increasing empathy for American soldiers risking their lives for an alien people is fuelled by the hope of a thriving civilisation re-establishing itself on the banks of the Tigris. Baghdad will once again take its role as the capital of Islam, with Kerbala and An-Najaf as the minarets bellowing the cry of freedom to the oppressed Shi'ites of the world. Peculiarly some fail to see this and only a week ago was this brought to home, literally, when my father entertained guests. The discussion wended its way to the war on Iraq and there was an overt anti-Americanism displayed in contrast towards the decided partiality held by my father and myself. Paradoxically as Pakistanis we were justifying American action to an Etonian (who had a command of the English language, befitting his education) and an American passport holder. At any rate their flimsy argument, predicated on emotional bias, rested upon a few flawed premises, which could be summed up as thus: X Everything that went wrong in the world is attributable to America because as a hegemon it should have prevented any sort of mishaps. X America is wrong to interfere in the sovereignty of other nations. X America as a nation-state should not have override the United Nations and in effect negated the entire institution. X America proceeds with an undeserved arrogance. X America as a hyperpower should be held to a higher standard than other countries. X America's support of Israel implies that it lacks an empathy towards Islam. Of course I consider these statements to be rather ill-conceived and indicative of a biased opinion. My argument that America was a benevolent hyper power, in comparison to its predecessors such as the British Empire, the Roman Empire and Napoleon, was rather ill-received. However I further qualified that statement by laying down my own premise, which was: America as a hyper power still acts in the best interests of its 200mn or so citizens. Thus it will continue to operate in a manner to secure, rather engineer given its tremendous powers, a global environment that will be conducive to the progression of its own people. This is national self-interest and axiomatic basis for foreign policy. However in marked contrast to its dynastic predecessors, America had a direct accountability to its citizens (as opposed to subjects) and therefore evolved a system that allowed for checks and balances to prevent systematic exploitation. This inhibited the strain of totalitarianism and autocracy so often unchecked in other nations. America in defining its foreign policy has placed ¡§stability¡¨ and preservation of civilization as the foremost priority. Thus the fluidic definition has allowed the Americans to systematically perceive their greatest threats to a stability & civilization and accordingly use everything at their disposal to neutralize them. Consequently the Americans struck a deal with the Soviet to rid the world of Hitler, and then nurtured the Jehadis of Afghanistan to counteract the Soviet invasion. Saddam may have been an ally at a time when theocratic Iran was a threat however given the fluidity of geopolitics currently he poses a greater threat to civilization than his immediate neighbours. Ipso facto Osama Bin Laden was given covert support by the CIA because during the 80's he was a frontline defence against the Soviets. At the time he was the lesser of the two evils and thus American foreign policy has operated in such manner to counteract the greater of the two evils. There is no contradiction or inchoate logic to American foreign policy. Having consistently pursued these directives, it has tried to secure a globe that is amenable to the American Grand Strategy. This grandiose phrase can be reduced to a few key aims such as to effect a closer economic cooperation amongst nations, promote a democratic-capitalistic ideology whenever possible, make the world safer for Americans, to ensure regional stability and to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict. This Grand Strategy has been fundamental to the evolution of our world from 1945 and can be rated as an outstanding success. American citizens have been shielded and removed from the horrific realities of the world, notwithstanding isolated events like September 11. The flame of hatred may be fuelled in the lands of Islam however if it were not for the State of Israel (mind you readers this is not a qualitative judgment on Israel but rather a factual statement) and my theorizing of Boujloud¨. Nonetheless as I hope to discuss soon there is a multi-faceted response to America amongst Muslims that cannot be characterized as merely odium. America is Islam’s greatest friend and it is the benevolent power that has allowed for millions of Muslims to prosper and survive. Islam can thanks America for it’s survival in the Balkans where Belgrade, the Zion of Orthodox Christianity, was bombed to preserve the Muslims populaces of the Balkans. As for the United Nations lacks the requisite efficacy to ever become pivotal to global order especially when totalitarian China has tremendous leverage over the proceedings of the Security Council. Technically the United Nations should have sanctioned an invasion of India for not adhering to the relevant Resolutions on Kashmir! Anyone who displays enmity towards the United States, attacks the very beacon of light that illumines our dreary world. America is the lighthouse by which other nations can find their way in the turbulent ocean of geopolitics.