| October 15, 2001 | Monday | Rajab 27, 1422 |
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Coming clean on casualties
Before it collapses
IF the Americans want to know why there is so much animosity towards their country in many parts of the world, they have only to read a recent statement issued by New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani. The sentiments expressed there perfectly capture the self-righteous arrogance that has long been the hallmark of US foreign policy. Incensed by a statement from a Saudi prince who had donated 10 million dollars for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims of the World Trade Centre attacks, the mayor exploded in a self-righteous rage and refused to accept the cheque. The prince’s crime? To inform the US of some bitter truths. In a letter accompanying his donation, the prince expressed his deep sorrow over the September 11 incidents and condemned all forms of terrorism. However, he added that one must also look for the reasons behind such attacks and suggested that the US government re-examine its policies in the Middle East and deal with the Palestinian issue more even-handedly and justly. This fairly innocuous advice, however, proved too much for the mayor to stomach. Mayor Giuliani went on the offensive and dubbed the prince’s statement as “highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous” for daring to suggest that the attacks had anything to do with past US injustices. In the way of Mayor Giuliani’s thinking, even hinting at such a connection was tantamount to condoning terrorism and encouraging similar acts in the future. For Giuliani and others like him, it is far more comforting to view the perpetrators of such acts as evil barbarians motivated solely by envy for the American way of life and its power and affluence. In this obsessively self-righteous mindset, no vaguely rational motivation can be allowed. To detach history from events of this nature has the benefit of conveniently denying one’s own culpability, direct or indirect, in a crime.
It is this blinkered view of things, and more particularly of its own role and responsibility as a world power that has been the enduring theme in post-war American history. This attitude has survived even if the enemy has changed from the communist threat of the ‘50s and ‘60s to the ‘Islamic terrorism’ of today. Islamic terrorism has been classified as an amorphous and pervasive evil without any history or context. The US has steadfastly refused to see any connection between its self-serving policies and actions and the reaction they provoke. It has sponsored despots of every kind, backed thuggish regimes, condoned horrendous massacres and destabilized and overthrown democratically elected governments in countries from Indonesia to Chile, and from Nicaragua to Iran and beyond. Despite all this, it continues to point its accusing finger at the desperate acts its unjust policies produce in response. By pointing out that the unjust and partisan US policy in Palestine or the continuing bleeding of Iraq have fuelled rage against America does not in any sense amount to condoning terrorism. If the US is interested in rooting out terrorism, it must have the vision and maturity to listen to such criticism without becoming overly defensive. If it continues to see itself as blameless and refuses to change its overbearing attitude towards other nations, terrorism will continue to thrive among the desperate and marginalized victims of its unjust policies and actions.
EIGHT days after unleashing a relentless barrage of bombardment on Afghanistan, the US-led anti-terrorism coalition remains curiously silent about the number of casualties involved in these attacks. Despite repeated questioning by the media, US spokesmen have simply refused to answer questions on this sensitive issue, claiming not to have any reliable information. Most western television networks and news agencies have also failed to provide any reliable statistics, relying chiefly on Taliban sources for their information. This virtual silence has been deeply unsettling for those seeking independent accounts of the actual situation on the ground following the bombing raids. Given this lack of reliable information, the Afghan authorities have had the field open to themselves. According to the Taliban, more than 250 civilians have so far lost their lives in the bombing. The Taliban claim that some 200 people were killed near Jalalabad last Thursday, when an entire village was flattened during an air raid.
As usual, US spokesmen denied all knowledge of any casualties during this particular raid, only stating that if any civilian deaths did occur they were accidental and regrettable. A categorical confirmation or denial, however, was not forthcoming. The Taliban, meanwhile, were able to gain political mileage out of the incident and accused the US and its allies of a callous attitude and of deliberately targeting civilians. The coalition needs to answer some pertinent questions about its policy of silence on this vital issue. It is somewhat strange that with all its sophisticated know-how about the location of terrorist camps and hide-outs, the US is unable to assess the damage done by its raids. It cannot be unaware of the possibility that large civilian casualties could undermine the entire operation by alienating important sections of its painstakingly built coalition. Rather than encouraging the growing belief that they are engaged in a cover-up, it would be wiser if the US and its allies came clean about the precise number of casualties incurred during the raids. The anti-terrorism coalition should realize that in the absence of hard news, wild rumours and speculation will fill the vacuum.
THE nazim of Karachi says that the city government needs some Rs5 billion to solve the Karachi’s perennial water and sewerage problems. According to him, the city’s water and sewerage systems have nearly collapsed as a result of long neglect and having been left in a state of disrepair. The underground water distribution network has seriously corroded at places and needs to be replaced before it is expected to supply any increased volume of water to an ever-increasing population. This means that the water supply scheme of 100mgd (K-3) cannot be activated before the faulty distribution system is replaced with a new one. The problem, according to the nazim, is that the city government does not have the resources to undertake the required repair and replacement work.
The city government has thus requested the federal government to provide the necessary funds so that the required repairs can be carried out. This makes sense, because the bulk of the taxes collected from Karachi go directly into the federal exchequer, the city being the single largest contributor of all such taxes. A certain percentage of this money should be given back to the city to be spent on improving the necessary civic infrastructure which is in a crumbling state; and this need not come as a federal grant but as a rightful share of Karachi. Karachi, unlike any other city in the country, is unique, in that its over 12 million inhabitants comprise people from all different areas and provinces whose common civic problems run disproportionate even to their great number. Thus the demand that the city which accommodates and economically and otherwise looks after the country’s teeming millions should be able to provide at least the basic amenities to its own toiling citizens, is a reasonable and just one, and should be met at the earliest. This is necessary in order to avert an imminent and total collapse of the rustic civic infrastructure in Karachi.