Creating new dangers

IRAQ, North Korea, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Chechnya and now Saudi Arabia — one by one, state after state is getting sucked into the vortex of the US-led blizzard against terrorism. American right-wing think-tanks, sections of the media, and administration hawks with links to fundamentalist Christian organizations discover fresh leads implicating now this country, now another in supporting and funding Al Qaeda or in helping develop weapons of mass destruction. There is a frenzied search to dig up old CIA files and come up with sensational new charges. Warnings of imminent attacks on the US mainland are issued and no explanations later offered about whether the warnings were based on credible information or not. Before 9/11 few in the world had given much thought to transfers of money to charitable organizations that the donors believed were genuine organizations; now the unsuspecting donors are susceptible to daily pillorying in the US press and action by the law enforcement agencies. A huge new department of homeland security has come into being, and this year’s US defence budget has grown to $400 billion, which, according to one report, is more than three times the combined defence spending of Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Cuba, Sudan and Syria.

The attacks on New York and Washington were a barbarous act. The US and its allies are right in seeking to root out the perpetrators. The Al Qaeda network continues to exist, as its own tapes boastfully claim. The intelligence services in some countries may have their own domestic or regional agendas that make them give sustenance to terrorist organizations. Americans are justified in being concerned about security. But it is becoming increasingly clear that the tragic events of last year are being crudely manipulated to bulldoze the world into accepting the Bush administration’s evangelical doctrine of what is right and what is wrong. It is not cooperation that is sought, which in many cases will be and has been willingly given, but submission. The US wants to bend the international community to its own will.

One of the ironies of the present situation is that many of the problems troubling America today are its own creation. It fanned the fires of radical Islam during its obsessive campaign against communism. It supported military dictators and autocratic ruling dynasties. It helped suppress populist movements in lands where it now wants democracy. It authorized its operatives to overthrow and eliminate leaders it did not like. The great danger is that in the way it has made the “war on terror” a reason for imposing its writ, and the manner in which it is pursuing this campaign, it may be creating new problems for itself and the rest of the world. Many of its steps since September 11 indicate that far from taking a dispassionate look at the causes which lead to popular alienation and resentment, it wants to exploit the opportunity to consolidate and expand its political and economic interests, breeding among many an added sense of injustice. This may create new monsters. A superpower should not believe that it has an unquestionable right to behave imperiously and unilaterally. It cannot experiment with “bunker busters” using depleted uranium and expect others to disarm. There must be a moral, rather than a military, basis for it to lead. Otherwise, even unquestionably sound objectives will lose their validity.

A wrong course

THE charge made by a PML-N MPA of Punjab on Tuesday that he was subjected to undue pressure to join the PML(Q) cannot be dismissed lightly. He said that he was taken to the residence of Chaudhry Pervez Elahi by intelligence operatives where he was asked to sign the PML-Q’s membership form. Coming in the wake of widespread allegations of open official support for the so-called king’s party during the run-up to the election, it only lends strength to the impression that blatant methods of coercion and blandishments are being used to make MNAs and MPAs switch their loyalties to the PML(Q). Recourse to such tactics seems surprising in view of the fact the PML(Q) has a clear majority in the Punjab Assembly and no change in its parliamentary fortunes is likely to occur as a result of one or two MPAs from other parties defecting to join its fold — unless, of course, the purpose is to make its parliamentary presence dominant nationwide.

In view of the PML(Q)’s wafer-thin majority at the centre, there would be suspicions that perhaps, with an eye to the future, floor-crossing is being deliberately encouraged to fortify the party’s position at all levels. Unseemly pressure tactics to prompt a change of loyalty point to a short-sighted approach, which, besides creating bad blood and vitiating the political environment, will not be helpful in the long run. Representing the largest element in the inter-provincial equation, the PML-Q as the majority party in the new Punjab Assembly would be well advised to set better standards of parliamentary conduct and practices in the interest of political and democratic stability and progress.

Quake victims’ distress

MUCH as one would acknowledge the government’s efforts to reach and rescue the calamity-hit people of the Northern Areas after the recent series of earthquakes in the region, the on-going efforts still fall short of the action required to provide succour for and rehabilitate the displaced population. The deterring factors in the way of the rescue operation are formidable: continued aftershocks causing more damage and road blocks through landslides, sub-zero temperatures, and a lack of resources to tackle the situation. Military sources now say they have distributed everything they had been given and require more tents, blankets, food and medicine. An estimated 35,000 people — the elderly, women and children among them — are forced to live under open skies in freezing temperatures, with the earth literally shaking under their feet.

The Karakoram Highway, the sole supply route into the Northern Areas, remains blocked by massive landslides covering as long a portion of the highway as 15 kilometres, and the road to Astore Valley, the worst hit area, for some 35 kilometres. The available stocks of commodities in Gilgit and Skardu, including meat, vegetables, milk and petrol, are running out and prices of those available have soared since the first deadly quake hit the region on November 2. The government has still not declared it a calamity-hit area or asked for international help to deal more effectively with the magnitude of the disaster that has wiped out some 10 villages and blocked road access to the area.

Government and NGO-affiliated emergency rescue agencies and personnel are doing their best to cope with the exigencies of the situation but find themselves handicapped for want of the resources required to tackle the emergency speedily and effectively enough. It is time Islamabad formally asked the international community for help so that more could be done to airlift the trapped people out of the disaster zone and ensure an adequate supply of food, medicine, tents, blankets and so on for the stricken people.