Trans-Atlantic spats

Preceded by his secretary of state, President George Bush is now in Europe to mend fences with his European partners. On top of the agenda are, of course, Iraq and Iran - and the crisis now brewing in the Levant.

On none of these issues does Europe see eye to eye with the US. The visit comes in the wake of the Iraqi election, which America considers a triumph for its policy to set up a viable post-Saddam political order.

For that reason, it wants greater European involvement in Iraq, especially for creating a new Iraqi security system. Europe, on the other hand (and minus of course Britain), feels that its opposition to the Iraq war stands vindicated because the basis of the war - the presence of weapons of mass destruction - turned out to be a hoax.

On Iran, Europe does not share the stridency that is found in American voices. Even though Britain, France and Germany have not yet been able to reach an agreement with Iran, they have kept themselves engaged with Tehran.

America, on the other hand, would welcome a failure of the talks so that it could take the issue to the Security Council, where it could have a sanctions resolution passed against Iran. A failure of Europe-Iran talks could also encourage the hawks in Washington and Tel Aviv to attack Iran's nuclear installations - an idea that Europe does not support.

The truth is that on all major Middle Eastern issues, Europe is appalled by the jingoism that characterizes American policy. For the Bush administration, Rafiq Hariri's murder has come in handy for threatening Syria.

Congress has also passed the Syria Accountability Act, and every now and then there is talk of military action. On the Palestinian question, European opinion has come to recognize the illegitimacy of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Having large Muslim populations, most European governments do not appreciate America's acquiescence in Israel's occupation policies and its human rights violations. There are also disagreements on policy toward Asia, for the European Union is soon to lift the arms embargo imposed on China in the wake of the Tiananmen square crackdown.

Europe is already China's biggest market, and it plans to develop closer relations with Beijing, even if this makes America and its Taiwanese friends uncomfortable.

There is no doubt that both the US and Europe want to put their differences behind, and there seems to be a meeting of minds on the broad contours of America's policy.

Trans-Atlantic differences should, therefore, not be exaggerated. Nevertheless, the display of American power as seen in unilateralist policies has hurt European pride.

Whether it is the Kyoto protocol, the refusal to sign the land mines treaty or the policy on the military crimes trial, the US acted in a spirit of arrogance and showed contempt for its European partners.

Europe never approved of America's regime change policy, and it has serious reservations about the way the war on terror is being conducted. The war on Iraq had nothing to do with terror, and the Europeans can clearly see that it was launched to advance America's (and Israel's) national interests.

Europeans have also been hurt by American remarks about Europe's military weakness and Mr Donald Rumsfeld's contemptuous references to "old Europe". In her recent tour of Europe, Ms Condoleezza Rice seemed to defend American unilateralism when she said that multi-polarity had not served the world well, and that it is "unity" that is needed.

A shift away from unilateralism and a greater effort to carry Europe and the world along could perhaps re-inject harmony into the trans-Atlantic relationship.

Dwindling NSS returns

The net withdrawal of Rs.2.3 billion from the National Savings Scheme (NSS) between July and December 2004 by investors indicates that the scheme is no longer a popular means of investment and support.

Under a well thought-out plan, the government has made over ten successive cuts in the rates of return since 1999 to bring it at par with market rates. This has rattled small investors, comprising mainly of pensioners and widows, who saw the NSS as a safe and secure avenue of investment.

As interest rates at which financial institutions lend money decline, the rate of return on saving schemes in which people put their money is also reduced. This is done so that people or institutions do not end up borrowing money from banks only to put them back into government saving schemes to make a tidy profit.

While there have been instances in the past where this has happened, the anomaly is easily checked with the reduction in the rate of return on the NSS. The problem with this approach, however, is that it closes off yet another channel of investment. Small investors are wary of the choices available to them in which to put in their hard-earned savings.

The worst hit in this rationalization of rates of return are widows and pensioners, many of whom have invested their life's savings in national savings certificates. The drop in the rate of returns bites deep into their pockets as they have to deal with inflation while profits from money invested in the NSS certificates continues to decline.

The government has been floating the idea of mutual funds for this category of investors where the risk is comparatively less and the returns better than what is offered currently by the NSS.

Despite much talk of such schemes, little has been done in this regard. It is time the government came up with such alternatives for the small investor who seems to be suffering despite the boom in the economy and undertook a campaign to stimulate interest in and knowledge of mutual trust funds.

Iranian quake tragedy

Damage inflicted by Tuesday's earthquake in south-eastern Iran is acquiring tragic proportions as rescue workers recover more and more bodies from under the debris of collapsed mud houses.

The tremor struck in the early hours of the day and measured 6.4 on the Richter scale. Some 40 villages in the remote desert-plateau, with an average height of 1,800 metres above sea the level, and comprising a combined population of nearly 30,000, have been among the worst affected.

Freezing cold weather, rainy conditions, blocked roads and mountainous terrain have made rescue operations a difficult task. The death toll is in excess of 500, while thousands have been rendered homeless.

Luckily, the Iranian Red Crescent Society was reportedly well organized, and rescue operations beginning within hours of the disaster's strike have helped save many lives. But as time goes by, chances of finding survivors is diminishing. Tehran has turned down offers of international help, saying it is in control of the situation, with the UN relief agencies confirming the claim.

The Iranian plateau - stretching all the way from Balochistan in the east to Anatolia in the west - lies on a number of fault lines, and is highly earthquake-prone.

The last tremor to have struck the same region in Iran was just 14 months ago when the entire historical city of Bam was reduced to rubble, killing some 31,000 people. The latest tragedy draws attention once again to the incidence of poverty in the remote region where most people live in more vulnerable mud houses.

Experts, however, argue that even the majority of concrete-built structures in most Iranian and Turkish cities in the tremor zone are not quake-resistant. Unless the governments concerned devise and enforce a stricter building system, greater loss of life in the event of a quake will unfortunately remain a threat to reckon with.