POLITICS: Money and politics

Published June 21, 2009

Pas-i-Parda is a fascinating book. In it, the author, Dr Mujahid Kamran, argues that most of the wars being fought in the world today are due to economic interests and, more often than not, these interests are those of a handful of extremely rich people (a 'one world cabal') who control world politics from behind the scenes.


He says that the internal politics and foreign policy of the United States are astonishing examples of the way in which the elite controls America.


Pas-i-Parda contains 33 short but cogent articles on topics such as the 9/11 attacks, the use of torture and depleted uranium by the US, the CIA's connections with Wall Street and its involvement in drug smuggling, and finally, the control of mass media.


Dr Kamran discusses the role played by George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Alan Greenspan in destroying the lives of millions of people around the world (Donald Rumsfeld is a significant omission) and laments the decline of the rule of law in western democracies.


The author's understanding of American and international politics is wide-ranging, and his grasp of current affairs is as solid as his credentials as a physicist and teacher.


He is the winner of the Abdus Salam Prize in physics and the National Book Award for his Urdu book on the founders of modern physics. He was also awarded the Pride of Performance in 1999.


In Pas-i-Parda, he argues that 'the elite of the world's most powerful country is the greatest danger to humanity'. He says that they 'want control over all the resources of the world' and hold American society in its tentacles.
For this they have successfully instituted the terrifying rule of money in American politics. He argues that many American politicians are either part of this cabal or under its influence.


He points out that in 1913 the elite cunningly transferred the right to print American currency to the Federal Reserve, a right which in fact belongs to the country's Treasury Department. He also reminds us of the chilling words uttered by Baron Rothschild 'Give me control over a nation's currency, and I care not who makes its laws.'


The author has nothing but praise for peace-loving Americans and has dedicated Pas-i-Parda 'to the honest, large-hearted, powerful, and accepting people of America'. But he thinks the American public is being duped and the cabal can be stopped only if they work side by side with the rest of the world.


As Dr Kamran himself says, he is not the first to question the 'truth' about 9/11. He labels these attacks as 'very mysterious' and reminds us that many questions raised about 9/11 remain unanswered even today. Some of these include why the steel rods of the twin towers snapped at temperatures of around 400ºC when they can withstand temperatures of 1,500ºC?


He even questions why the Salomon Brothers Building collapsed like a deck of cards on the evening of September 11 even though no plane had hit it. Citing sources, Kamran says that this building contained records about the billions of dollars stolen from American taxpayers. He then goes on to tell the story of the stolen
money as well.


In an article titled 'The Truth about Pearl Harbour', he says that contrary to prevalent accounts, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour was not a surprise to President Franklin Roosevelt and his intelligence staff.


A letter written on October 7, 1940 by the office of the naval intelligence to the White House said that war with Japan was inevitable, and that the US should entice Japan into attacking America at such a time which will be in the American interest.


Since the American public and Congress were against the war, Roosevelt, who was from a privileged class, could not risk going against them. But the Japanese attack, which came exactly 14 months after the fateful letter mentioned above, changed public opinion in favour of war.


This breathtaking story of duplicity on the part of an American president was discovered in the 1990s by Robert Stinnett who later wrote Day of Deceit The truth about FDR and Pearl Harbour.


Kamran has devoted an entire essay to the event. In the light of Robert Stinnett's account of the attack, the many unanswered questions about the 9/11 attacks, and other disturbing events and activities discussed in the book, he is not ready to dismiss the presence of insiders behind the events of September 11, 2001. Unfortunately, in his analysis, he does not pay attention to the claims made by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri that they were the masterminds behind these monstrous attacks.


He further argues that despite the abhorrence that the American people have for wars, the deaths of a few thousand Americans is not considered a great loss by callous American leaders as long as these deaths lead to American dominance of the world.


In an essay titled 'Dick Cheney and 9/11', the author says 'Whenever an American government wants to push its people into a war, its intelligence agencies plan and stage incidents that result in the deaths of innocent Americans.'
Although all the articles in Pas-i-Parda were initially written for a daily Urdu newspaper, they are serious articles which cite books and articles as sources to support the author's arguments.


Detailed references of books and articles from which the author has drawn quotes are provided at the end of the book. The articles do not need to be read in chronological order; the reader can open the book at any page and start reading.


Unlike many books on politics published in Urdu Pas-i-Parda is written clearly, with crisp diction and elegance. But like many books in Urdu it does not include an index. It is useful to have an index no matter what language the book is written in.

 

Pas-i-Parda Almi Siyasat Kay Makhfi Haqaiq
By Dr Mujahid Kamran
Sang-e-Meel Publications
ISBN 10-969-35-2174-9
190pp. Rs350

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