On to war?
UNLESS something dramatic happens, the US might have unleashed its terror on the Iraqi people by the time these lines appear in print. The United Nations — founded by an American president and a British prime minister — now has lost all meaning for the power-wielding successors to Roosevelt and Churchill. They have both treated it with a contempt that brings to one’s mind the treatment meted out to the League of Nations by European dictators in the thirties.
Contrary to the impression given by President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Security Council has not yet given up on diplomacy. The majority of its members, including the three other permanent members, still want the UN inspectors to be given more time. France, for instance, believes the UN team should be given a month more to do its job. Yet, at his Sunday’s press conference at Lajes in the Azores, Bush gave diplomacy only 24 hours. It was less an ultimatum to Iraq and more to the world body. “We will determine,” he said, “whether or not diplomacy can work.” The remark flew in the face of reality. Diplomacy, as the whole world knows is indeed working. Resolution 1441 is being obeyed by Iraq, which also submitted a declaration to the UN within the 30 days stipulated by the Nov 8 resolution.
Even Hans Blix, chief of the United Nations’ Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, has admitted that UNMOVIC is receiving Iraq’s full cooperation. Baghdad has also begun destroying Al Samoud-2 missiles and is giving unimpeded access to all sites, including the eight presidential palaces, where weapons of mass destruction are allegedly being manufactured or have been stored. From all accounts diplomacy is working, and the majority of the Security Council members think a second resolution is not needed because 1441 is a sound basis for effecting Iraq’s disarmament. Frustrated by their failure to get the UN to authorize military action against Iraq, the US and Britain are virtually holding a gun to the world body’s head and asking it to go along or be sidelined.
The war against Iraq may well be short-lived, and the Anglo-Americans may achieve a military victory quickly. However, the real story will start unfolding itself after the war. Israel, which, in fact, will be the real beneficiary of this mad adventure, is itching for it. Whether it enters the war or not, it will consider the chaos of war and its aftermath perfectly suited to its purpose of obtaining a solution of the Palestinian problem on its own terms by finally annexing the occupied territories. Should this come to pass, America and Britain will be wholly responsible for the consequences of this crime. One does not know what form resistance to American occupation of Iraq and Israeli annexation will take. But there is no mistaking the fact that the crime now being perpetrated against the Iraqi and Arab people will only strengthen their resolve to fight for their cause. In the process, the leadership of a resurgent Middle East may pass into the hands of those very elements whom America’s war on terror is intended to rein in.
New Lahore airport
THE inauguration yesterday of the new Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore comes as a long-awaited message of cheer for air travellers from Pakistan’s second metropolis. The city can now consider itself truly on the international aviation map as a modern airline hub well equipped to meet the demands of a growing number of international airlines that already connect Lahore with the rest of the world. Constructed at a cost of Rs10.32 billion, the red-brick structure of the new terminal blends well with Lahore’s rich Mughal and Gothic architectural heritage. The terminal has seven boarding bridges, spacious transit lounges, 55 check-in counters, duty-free shops and other facilities of international standard. It is expected to meet the air travel needs of the city and adjoining districts up to the year 2015 when aviation experts forecast an annual turnover of 6.5 million passengers per year as against the current 2.5 million.
The construction of the terminal was commissioned in 1998 and it was expected to be completed by 2000. It has had its due share of bureaucratic delays and snags associated with public projects, with the Civil Aviation Authority revising the building plan to cut corners and save money. Had the project been completed within the stipulated time, a good amount of money could have been saved. That said, the relatively young CAA has come a long way since its birth in 1982. It has upgraded ground facilities at many existing airports, built a number of new ones and opened up Pakistan’s skies to international aviation under a liberal ‘open skies’ policy. The reduction offered in the landing and ground handling charges at the new terminal is a lesson well learnt from the bitter experience of the Jinnah Terminal in Karachi, which was abandoned by many international airlines because of a disproportionate increase in such charges some years ago. Hopefully, the new Lahore terminal will be able to lure some of these airlines back to Pakistan, which wanted flying rights to upcountry destinations where the majority of air travellers come from.
Death of a protester
SUNDAY’s tragic incident in which an American peace activist was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer is a grim reminder, once again, of the brutal methods being employed by the occupying Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories. The bulldozer was demolishing Palestinian homes in the Refah refugee camp in Gaza on mere suspicion of a Palestinian attack when the 23-year-old Rachel Corrie came there and sat in its path. According to eyewitnesses, the bulldozer refused to stop even though its driver could clearly see the activist. Having knocked her down and then run over her, the bulldozer is reported to have deliberately reversed and repeated the action, ensuring that the young woman died. Ms Corrie was a member of the International Solidarity Group, whose activists have been based in the occupied territories for the last two years. The group has been trying to prevent the demolition by the Israeli army of Palestinian homes and other buildings and pursues its objectives through non-violent means. The Israelis are embarrassed by the incident mainly because it involved an American citizen and earned the country bad publicity by focusing attention on the ruthless methods employed to quell the Palestinian resistance. If the driver of the vehicle could callously run over a foreign protester, one can imagine how the Israelis treat protesting Palestinians.
The incident should serve to draw the attention of the American public to the violent repressive methods being wantonly used by the Sharon government in the occupied territories with the tacit support of their own government. While Israel was forced to offer its regrets over the incident, it tried to evade responsibility by accusing the peace activists of engaging in “highly irresponsible” activities. One can only marvel at the courage of thousands of these peace and human rights activists who have left their homes and families behind to come to Palestine to show their solidarity with a beleaguered people. Like the thousands of foreigners now camped in Iraq as part of a ‘human shield’ to deter an attack on key facilities in Baghdad, one must pay tribute to those like Rachel Corrie who are willing to sacrifice their lives for what they believe to be a just cause.