Reaction
Zehra Rizvi December 22, 2001
#33 Posted by scout on December 24, 2001 3:57:59 pm
Zehra,
it was great to read your point of view.
i know some strong defenders of the hijab drop their covering post 9/11. although i`m not a fan of the hijab, i find the women who are wearing them despite the current political climate (esp. in NY, NJ) very courageous.
it was great to read your point of view.
i know some strong defenders of the hijab drop their covering post 9/11. although i`m not a fan of the hijab, i find the women who are wearing them despite the current political climate (esp. in NY, NJ) very courageous.
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#34 Posted by hamzadafaqui on December 24, 2001 3:57:59 pm
INTERVIEW---GENERAL HAMID GUL---26 sept 2001
Fascinating perspectives.
__________________________________________________
Transcript: UPI United Press International, Sep. 26, 2001 interviews General Gul:
De Borchgrave: So who did Black Sept. 11?
Gul: Mossad and its accomplices. The U.S. spends $40 billion a year on its 11 intelligence agencies. That`s $400 billion in 10 years. Yet the Bush Administration says it was taken by surprise. I don`t believe it. Within 10 minutes of the second twin tower being hit in the World Trade Center CNN said Osama bin Laden had done it. That was a planned piece of disinformation by the real perpetrators. It created an instant mindset and put public opinion into a trance, which prevented even intelligent people from thinking for themselves.
Q: So you`re already convinced bin Laden didn`t do it?
A: I know bin Laden and his associates. I`ve been with them here, in Europe and the Middle East. They are graduates of the best universities and are highly intelligent with impressive degrees and speak impeccable English. These are people who have rediscovered fundamental Islamic values. Many come from the Gulf countries where ruling royal families have generated hatred by the way they flout divine law, wasting billions on gratifying their whims, jetting around in large private jets by themselves, and sailing the Mediterranean in big private boats for weeks on end. Osama`s best recruits come from feudal areas that are U.S. protectorates and where millions of poor people are seeking human dignity. I have even visited a Christian convent school in Murree, 60 miles from here, where my 13-year-old daughter is studying. The young girls there have told me Osama is their hero. Osama`s followers identify with Mujahideen freedom fighters wherever they are defending Islam and its values.
Q: So what makes you think Osama wasn`t behind Sept. 11?
A: From a cave inside a mountain or a peasant`s hovel? Let`s be serious. Osama inspires countless millions by standing up for Islam against American and Israeli imperialism. He doesn`t have the means for such a sophisticated operation.
Q: Why Mossad?
A: Mossad and its American associates are the obvious culprits. Who benefits from the crime? The attacks against the twin towers started at 8:45 a.m. and four flights are diverted from their assigned air space and no air traffic controller sounds the alarm. And no Air Force jets scramble until 10 a.m. That also smacks of a small scale Air Force rebellion, a coup against the Pentagon perhaps? Radars are jammed, transponders fail. No IFF -- friend or foe identification -- challenge. In Pakistan, if there is no response to IFF, jets are instantly scrambled and the aircraft is shot down with no further questions asked. This was clearly an inside job. Bush was afraid and rushed to the shelter of a nuclear bunker. He clearly feared a nuclear situation. Who could that have been? Will that also be hushed up in the investigation, like the Warren report after the Kennedy assassination?
Q: At this point, someone might be asking what you`ve been smoking. What is Israel`s interest in such a monstrous plot, which, of course, no one believes except Islamist extremists who concocted this piece of disinformation in the first place, presumably to detract from the real culprits?
A: Jews never agreed to Bush 41 (George H.W. Bush, the 41st president) or 43 (his son George W. Bush, the 43rd president). They made sure Bush senior didn`t get a second term. His land-for-peace pressure in Palestine didn`t suit Israel. They were also against the young Bush because he was considered too close to oil interests and the Gulf countries. Bush senior and Jim Baker had raised $150 million for Bush junior, much of it from Mideast sources or their American go-betweens. Bush 41 and Baker, as private citizens, had also facilitated the new strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran. I have this from sources in both countries. So clearly the prospect of a Bush 43 was a potential danger to Israel.
Jews were stunned by the way Bush stole the election in Florida. They had put big money on Al Gore. Israel has given its imperialist guardian parent opportunities to turn disaster into a pretext for imposing an all-encompassing military, political and economic agenda to further the cause of global capitalism. While Colin Powell is cautious and others are reckless and want to make up for their failure to defeat Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War 10 years ago, the global agenda is the same.
Israel knows it has a short shelf-life before it is overwhelmed by demographics. It is a state that was born in terrorism that terrorized Palestinians into the exile of refugee camps, where they have now subsisted in squalid refugee camps, and is now very much afraid of Pakistan`s nuclear capability.
Israel has now handed the Bush family the opportunity it has been waiting for to consolidate America`s imperial grip on the Gulf and acquire control of the Caspian basin by extending its military presence in Central Asia. Bush conveniently overlooks -- or is not told -- the fact that Islamic fundamentalists got their big boost in the modern age as CIA assets in the covert campaign I was also involved with to force the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Bush senior was vice president during that entire campaign. And no sooner did he become president on Jan. 20, 1989, than he summoned an inter-agency intelligence meeting and issued an order, among several others, to clip the wings of ISI (Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence) that had been coordinating the entire operation in Afghanistan. I know this firsthand as I was DGISI at the time (director general, ISI).
Q: So how do you read U.S. strategy in Pakistan?
A: The destabilization of Pakistan is part of the U.S. plan because it is a Muslim nuclear state. The U.S. wants to isolate Pakistan from China as part of its containment policy. President Nixon`s book ``The Real War`` said China would be the superpower of the 21st Century. The U.S. is also creating hostility between Pakistan and Afghanistan, two Muslim states to reverse the perception that the Islamic world now has its own nuclear weapons. Bush 43 doesn`t realize he is being manipulated by people who understand geopolitics. He is not leading but being led. All he can do is think in terms of the wanted-dead-or-alive culture, which is how Hollywood conditions the masses to think and act.
All summer long we heard about America`s shrinking surplus and that the Pentagon would not have sufficient funds to modernize for the 21st century. And now, all of a sudden, the Pentagon can get what it wants without any Democratic Party opposition. How very convenient! Even your cherished civil liberties can now be abridged with impunity to protect the expansion of the hegemony of transnational capitalism. There is now a new excuse to crush anti-globalization protests.
Bush 43 follows Bush 41. Iraq was baited into the Kuwaiti trap when the U.S. told Saddam it was not interested in his inter-Arab squabbles. Two days later, he moved into Kuwait, which was an Iraqi province anyway before the British Empire decreed otherwise. Roosevelt baited the Pearl Harbor trap for the Japanese empire, which provided the pretext for entering World War II.
And now the Israelis have given the U.S. the pretext for further expansion into an area that will be critical in the next 25 years - the Caspian basin.
Q: Were you a fundamentalist in the days of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan when you worked closely with the CIA?
A: Not as much as I am today.
Q: What turned you against America?
A: Betrayals and broken promises and what was done to my army career.
Q: And what was that?
A: President Ishaq Khan, who succeeded Zia ul-Haq after his plane was blown out of the sky, wanted to appoint me chief of staff, the highest position in the Pakistani army. The U.S., which by then had clipped ISI`s wings, also blocked my promotion by informing the president I was unacceptable. So I was moved to a corps commander position. As ISI director, I held the whole Mujahideen movement in the palm of my hands. We were all pro-American. But then America left us in the lurch and everything went to pieces, including Afghanistan.
The U.S. pushed for a broad-based Afghan government of seven factions and then waved goodbye. Even in the best of democracies, a broad-based coalition does not work. So we quickly had seven jokers in Kabul interested in only one thing - jockeying for power. The gunplay quickly followed, which led to the creation of Taliban, the students of the original Mujahideen, who decided to put an end to it.
Q: What happened to the 1,000 shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that were supplied by president Reagan in 1986 and 87 to the Mujahideen, and that literally grounded the Soviet air force?
A: After the Soviets pulled out, the CIA allocated $60 million to try to buy them back. This just drove the black market price up for one Stinger from $100,000 to $300,000. The Taliban still have about 250 of them for the kind of situation they face today against U.S. aircraft.
Q: Is the U.S. now your enemy?
A: Is the U.S. national interest in contradiction with the Muslim world? The U.S. needs oil, as do its European allies. You have between 6 and 8 million American Muslims and their ranks are growing. About the same number in Europe. Israel aside, we are America`s natural allies. Prof. Sam Huntington in his ``Clash of Civilizations`` puts Confucius and Judeo-Christians in one corner, and us in the other. His prescription is wrong but is being adopted by Bush 43 who has now put 60 countries on his hit list. This is the diabolical school that wants to launch an anti-Muslim ``crusade.`` Muslims understood what Bush meant when he used that word.
We need a meeting, not a clash, of civilizations. We are on the brink of disaster. It is time to pull back from the brink and reassess before we blow ourselves up. The purpose of Islam is service to humanity. The time for like-minded people to have a meeting of the minds is now.
Q: But you are against democracy, so how can there be a meeting of the minds?
A: Democracy does not work. Politicians are constantly thinking of their next election, not the public good, which means, at best, constantly shading the truth to hide it from their constituents. Their pronouncements are laced with lies and the voters are lulled or gulled into believing utter nonsense. The Koran says call a spade a spade. It is the supreme law and tells right from wrong. There is no notion of ``my country right or wrong`` under divine law. The creator`s will predominates. All if subservient to Allah`s will and adherence to a set of basic, fundamental values.
Q: So what kind of a system are you advocating?
A: The world needs a post-modern state system. Right now, the nation-state and round the clock satellite TV lead people to imitate America`s way of life. Which is mathematically impossible. You have 4 percent of the world`s population consuming 32 percent of the world`s resources. The creator through Prophet Mohammed said equal distribution. Capitalism is the negation of the creator`s will. It leads to imperialism and unilateralism.
Q: So what does this post-modern state system look like?
A: A global village under divine order, or we will have global bloodshed until good triumphs over evil. Islam encapsulates all the principal religions and what was handed down 1,400 years ago was the normal evolutionary sequel to Judaism and Christianity. The prophet`s last sermon was a universal document of human rights for everyone that surpasses everything that came since, including America`s declaration of independence and the U.N. Charter of universal rights. If you superimpose true secular values on true Islamic values, there is no difference. So surely divine law should supersede man-made law. Islam is egalitarian, tolerant and progressive. It is the wave of the future.
Q: Marxism also believed that the nation-state would eventually wither away.
A: Socialism jumped the rails when it was co-opted by the imperialist Soviet state. Islam believes in dynamism, Christianity stands for static statism. The pope in all his pronouncements has expressed a dogmatic attachment to the status quo. Why are so many black Americans converting to Islam? Because they are looking for true equality which they cannot find under capitalism. Allah has no gender, neither male nor female. Islam has no indirect taxation in an interest-free economy. Usury was a Jewish concept.
Q: Is Iran your model?
A: There isn`t a single true Islamic state in the world today. Iran has moved forward from its 1979 revolution, but I am not sure whether it`s the right direction.
Q: And Taliban?
A: They represent Islam in its purest form so far. It`s a clean sheet. And they were also moving in the right direction when this crisis was cooked up by the U.S. Until Sept. 11, they had perfect law and order with no formal police force, only traffic cops without sidearms. Now, in less than two weeks, they have mobilized some 300,000 volunteers to fight American and British invaders if they come.
Q: And your reaction to U.S. demands on Pakistan?
A: If Pakistan gives the U.S. base rights we will have a national upheaval. And if the U.S. attacks Afghanistan, there will be a call -- a fatwa -- for a general jihad. All borders will then disappear and it will be a no-holds-barred Islamic uprising against Israel and American imperialism. Pakistan will be engulfed in the firestorm. So I can only hope that cooler heads will prevail in Washington.
Q: What about the other U.S. demands?
A: Overflight rights are meaningless since the U.S. violates air space daily all over the world. As for intelligence sharing with ISI, you can`t even catch your own terrorists. And what ISI gives you will be of marginal value anyway.
Q: President (Pervez) Musharraf has made strong statements supporting the U.S.
A: He was my student in the army. He is a good man, but he doesn`t understand Islam. The army will never fight the masses. If push comes to shove, Musharraf will say no to the Americans rather than turn against the people. He is not just facing a handful of angry people. By his own admission, it`s 10 percent to 15 percent of the population, or at least 10 million people willing to fight. For openers, they would close the port of Karachi. A country cannot breathe without lungs.
Q: Back to Osama`s terrorist network. Who was behind the bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya?
A: Mossad is strong in both countries. Remember the Israeli operation to free hostages in Entebbe (Uganda)? Both Kenya and Tanzania were part of the logistical tail. A so-called associate of Osama was framed at Karachi airport. The incidents took place on Aug. 8, 1999, and on the 10th a short, clean-shaven man disembarks at Karachi airport and presents the passport of a bearded man. Not your passport, he was told. He then tries to bribe the clerk with 200 rupees. A ludicrously small sum given the circumstances. The clerk says no and turns him in and he starts singing right away. Not plausible. Osama has sworn to me on the Koran it was not him and he is truthful to a fault. Pious Muslims do not kill innocent civilians who included many Muslim victims. The passport must have been switched while the man was asleep on the plane in what has all the earmarks of a Mossad operation. For 10 years, the Mujahideen fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and not a single Soviet embassy was touched anywhere in the world. So this could not have been Osama`s followers.
Q: What if bin Laden has been lying to you and is guilty. Is that inconceivable?
A: If Taliban are given irrefutable evidence of his guilt, I am in favor of a fair trial. In America, one is entitled to a jury of peers. But he has no American peers. The Taliban would not object, in the event of a prima face case, to an international Islamic court meeting in The Hague. They would turn extradite Osama to the Netherlands.
End of transcript: UPI United Press International, Sep. 26, 2001, Interview with General Gul
__________________________________________________
Fascinating perspectives.
__________________________________________________
Transcript: UPI United Press International, Sep. 26, 2001 interviews General Gul:
De Borchgrave: So who did Black Sept. 11?
Gul: Mossad and its accomplices. The U.S. spends $40 billion a year on its 11 intelligence agencies. That`s $400 billion in 10 years. Yet the Bush Administration says it was taken by surprise. I don`t believe it. Within 10 minutes of the second twin tower being hit in the World Trade Center CNN said Osama bin Laden had done it. That was a planned piece of disinformation by the real perpetrators. It created an instant mindset and put public opinion into a trance, which prevented even intelligent people from thinking for themselves.
Q: So you`re already convinced bin Laden didn`t do it?
A: I know bin Laden and his associates. I`ve been with them here, in Europe and the Middle East. They are graduates of the best universities and are highly intelligent with impressive degrees and speak impeccable English. These are people who have rediscovered fundamental Islamic values. Many come from the Gulf countries where ruling royal families have generated hatred by the way they flout divine law, wasting billions on gratifying their whims, jetting around in large private jets by themselves, and sailing the Mediterranean in big private boats for weeks on end. Osama`s best recruits come from feudal areas that are U.S. protectorates and where millions of poor people are seeking human dignity. I have even visited a Christian convent school in Murree, 60 miles from here, where my 13-year-old daughter is studying. The young girls there have told me Osama is their hero. Osama`s followers identify with Mujahideen freedom fighters wherever they are defending Islam and its values.
Q: So what makes you think Osama wasn`t behind Sept. 11?
A: From a cave inside a mountain or a peasant`s hovel? Let`s be serious. Osama inspires countless millions by standing up for Islam against American and Israeli imperialism. He doesn`t have the means for such a sophisticated operation.
Q: Why Mossad?
A: Mossad and its American associates are the obvious culprits. Who benefits from the crime? The attacks against the twin towers started at 8:45 a.m. and four flights are diverted from their assigned air space and no air traffic controller sounds the alarm. And no Air Force jets scramble until 10 a.m. That also smacks of a small scale Air Force rebellion, a coup against the Pentagon perhaps? Radars are jammed, transponders fail. No IFF -- friend or foe identification -- challenge. In Pakistan, if there is no response to IFF, jets are instantly scrambled and the aircraft is shot down with no further questions asked. This was clearly an inside job. Bush was afraid and rushed to the shelter of a nuclear bunker. He clearly feared a nuclear situation. Who could that have been? Will that also be hushed up in the investigation, like the Warren report after the Kennedy assassination?
Q: At this point, someone might be asking what you`ve been smoking. What is Israel`s interest in such a monstrous plot, which, of course, no one believes except Islamist extremists who concocted this piece of disinformation in the first place, presumably to detract from the real culprits?
A: Jews never agreed to Bush 41 (George H.W. Bush, the 41st president) or 43 (his son George W. Bush, the 43rd president). They made sure Bush senior didn`t get a second term. His land-for-peace pressure in Palestine didn`t suit Israel. They were also against the young Bush because he was considered too close to oil interests and the Gulf countries. Bush senior and Jim Baker had raised $150 million for Bush junior, much of it from Mideast sources or their American go-betweens. Bush 41 and Baker, as private citizens, had also facilitated the new strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran. I have this from sources in both countries. So clearly the prospect of a Bush 43 was a potential danger to Israel.
Jews were stunned by the way Bush stole the election in Florida. They had put big money on Al Gore. Israel has given its imperialist guardian parent opportunities to turn disaster into a pretext for imposing an all-encompassing military, political and economic agenda to further the cause of global capitalism. While Colin Powell is cautious and others are reckless and want to make up for their failure to defeat Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War 10 years ago, the global agenda is the same.
Israel knows it has a short shelf-life before it is overwhelmed by demographics. It is a state that was born in terrorism that terrorized Palestinians into the exile of refugee camps, where they have now subsisted in squalid refugee camps, and is now very much afraid of Pakistan`s nuclear capability.
Israel has now handed the Bush family the opportunity it has been waiting for to consolidate America`s imperial grip on the Gulf and acquire control of the Caspian basin by extending its military presence in Central Asia. Bush conveniently overlooks -- or is not told -- the fact that Islamic fundamentalists got their big boost in the modern age as CIA assets in the covert campaign I was also involved with to force the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Bush senior was vice president during that entire campaign. And no sooner did he become president on Jan. 20, 1989, than he summoned an inter-agency intelligence meeting and issued an order, among several others, to clip the wings of ISI (Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence) that had been coordinating the entire operation in Afghanistan. I know this firsthand as I was DGISI at the time (director general, ISI).
Q: So how do you read U.S. strategy in Pakistan?
A: The destabilization of Pakistan is part of the U.S. plan because it is a Muslim nuclear state. The U.S. wants to isolate Pakistan from China as part of its containment policy. President Nixon`s book ``The Real War`` said China would be the superpower of the 21st Century. The U.S. is also creating hostility between Pakistan and Afghanistan, two Muslim states to reverse the perception that the Islamic world now has its own nuclear weapons. Bush 43 doesn`t realize he is being manipulated by people who understand geopolitics. He is not leading but being led. All he can do is think in terms of the wanted-dead-or-alive culture, which is how Hollywood conditions the masses to think and act.
All summer long we heard about America`s shrinking surplus and that the Pentagon would not have sufficient funds to modernize for the 21st century. And now, all of a sudden, the Pentagon can get what it wants without any Democratic Party opposition. How very convenient! Even your cherished civil liberties can now be abridged with impunity to protect the expansion of the hegemony of transnational capitalism. There is now a new excuse to crush anti-globalization protests.
Bush 43 follows Bush 41. Iraq was baited into the Kuwaiti trap when the U.S. told Saddam it was not interested in his inter-Arab squabbles. Two days later, he moved into Kuwait, which was an Iraqi province anyway before the British Empire decreed otherwise. Roosevelt baited the Pearl Harbor trap for the Japanese empire, which provided the pretext for entering World War II.
And now the Israelis have given the U.S. the pretext for further expansion into an area that will be critical in the next 25 years - the Caspian basin.
Q: Were you a fundamentalist in the days of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan when you worked closely with the CIA?
A: Not as much as I am today.
Q: What turned you against America?
A: Betrayals and broken promises and what was done to my army career.
Q: And what was that?
A: President Ishaq Khan, who succeeded Zia ul-Haq after his plane was blown out of the sky, wanted to appoint me chief of staff, the highest position in the Pakistani army. The U.S., which by then had clipped ISI`s wings, also blocked my promotion by informing the president I was unacceptable. So I was moved to a corps commander position. As ISI director, I held the whole Mujahideen movement in the palm of my hands. We were all pro-American. But then America left us in the lurch and everything went to pieces, including Afghanistan.
The U.S. pushed for a broad-based Afghan government of seven factions and then waved goodbye. Even in the best of democracies, a broad-based coalition does not work. So we quickly had seven jokers in Kabul interested in only one thing - jockeying for power. The gunplay quickly followed, which led to the creation of Taliban, the students of the original Mujahideen, who decided to put an end to it.
Q: What happened to the 1,000 shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that were supplied by president Reagan in 1986 and 87 to the Mujahideen, and that literally grounded the Soviet air force?
A: After the Soviets pulled out, the CIA allocated $60 million to try to buy them back. This just drove the black market price up for one Stinger from $100,000 to $300,000. The Taliban still have about 250 of them for the kind of situation they face today against U.S. aircraft.
Q: Is the U.S. now your enemy?
A: Is the U.S. national interest in contradiction with the Muslim world? The U.S. needs oil, as do its European allies. You have between 6 and 8 million American Muslims and their ranks are growing. About the same number in Europe. Israel aside, we are America`s natural allies. Prof. Sam Huntington in his ``Clash of Civilizations`` puts Confucius and Judeo-Christians in one corner, and us in the other. His prescription is wrong but is being adopted by Bush 43 who has now put 60 countries on his hit list. This is the diabolical school that wants to launch an anti-Muslim ``crusade.`` Muslims understood what Bush meant when he used that word.
We need a meeting, not a clash, of civilizations. We are on the brink of disaster. It is time to pull back from the brink and reassess before we blow ourselves up. The purpose of Islam is service to humanity. The time for like-minded people to have a meeting of the minds is now.
Q: But you are against democracy, so how can there be a meeting of the minds?
A: Democracy does not work. Politicians are constantly thinking of their next election, not the public good, which means, at best, constantly shading the truth to hide it from their constituents. Their pronouncements are laced with lies and the voters are lulled or gulled into believing utter nonsense. The Koran says call a spade a spade. It is the supreme law and tells right from wrong. There is no notion of ``my country right or wrong`` under divine law. The creator`s will predominates. All if subservient to Allah`s will and adherence to a set of basic, fundamental values.
Q: So what kind of a system are you advocating?
A: The world needs a post-modern state system. Right now, the nation-state and round the clock satellite TV lead people to imitate America`s way of life. Which is mathematically impossible. You have 4 percent of the world`s population consuming 32 percent of the world`s resources. The creator through Prophet Mohammed said equal distribution. Capitalism is the negation of the creator`s will. It leads to imperialism and unilateralism.
Q: So what does this post-modern state system look like?
A: A global village under divine order, or we will have global bloodshed until good triumphs over evil. Islam encapsulates all the principal religions and what was handed down 1,400 years ago was the normal evolutionary sequel to Judaism and Christianity. The prophet`s last sermon was a universal document of human rights for everyone that surpasses everything that came since, including America`s declaration of independence and the U.N. Charter of universal rights. If you superimpose true secular values on true Islamic values, there is no difference. So surely divine law should supersede man-made law. Islam is egalitarian, tolerant and progressive. It is the wave of the future.
Q: Marxism also believed that the nation-state would eventually wither away.
A: Socialism jumped the rails when it was co-opted by the imperialist Soviet state. Islam believes in dynamism, Christianity stands for static statism. The pope in all his pronouncements has expressed a dogmatic attachment to the status quo. Why are so many black Americans converting to Islam? Because they are looking for true equality which they cannot find under capitalism. Allah has no gender, neither male nor female. Islam has no indirect taxation in an interest-free economy. Usury was a Jewish concept.
Q: Is Iran your model?
A: There isn`t a single true Islamic state in the world today. Iran has moved forward from its 1979 revolution, but I am not sure whether it`s the right direction.
Q: And Taliban?
A: They represent Islam in its purest form so far. It`s a clean sheet. And they were also moving in the right direction when this crisis was cooked up by the U.S. Until Sept. 11, they had perfect law and order with no formal police force, only traffic cops without sidearms. Now, in less than two weeks, they have mobilized some 300,000 volunteers to fight American and British invaders if they come.
Q: And your reaction to U.S. demands on Pakistan?
A: If Pakistan gives the U.S. base rights we will have a national upheaval. And if the U.S. attacks Afghanistan, there will be a call -- a fatwa -- for a general jihad. All borders will then disappear and it will be a no-holds-barred Islamic uprising against Israel and American imperialism. Pakistan will be engulfed in the firestorm. So I can only hope that cooler heads will prevail in Washington.
Q: What about the other U.S. demands?
A: Overflight rights are meaningless since the U.S. violates air space daily all over the world. As for intelligence sharing with ISI, you can`t even catch your own terrorists. And what ISI gives you will be of marginal value anyway.
Q: President (Pervez) Musharraf has made strong statements supporting the U.S.
A: He was my student in the army. He is a good man, but he doesn`t understand Islam. The army will never fight the masses. If push comes to shove, Musharraf will say no to the Americans rather than turn against the people. He is not just facing a handful of angry people. By his own admission, it`s 10 percent to 15 percent of the population, or at least 10 million people willing to fight. For openers, they would close the port of Karachi. A country cannot breathe without lungs.
Q: Back to Osama`s terrorist network. Who was behind the bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya?
A: Mossad is strong in both countries. Remember the Israeli operation to free hostages in Entebbe (Uganda)? Both Kenya and Tanzania were part of the logistical tail. A so-called associate of Osama was framed at Karachi airport. The incidents took place on Aug. 8, 1999, and on the 10th a short, clean-shaven man disembarks at Karachi airport and presents the passport of a bearded man. Not your passport, he was told. He then tries to bribe the clerk with 200 rupees. A ludicrously small sum given the circumstances. The clerk says no and turns him in and he starts singing right away. Not plausible. Osama has sworn to me on the Koran it was not him and he is truthful to a fault. Pious Muslims do not kill innocent civilians who included many Muslim victims. The passport must have been switched while the man was asleep on the plane in what has all the earmarks of a Mossad operation. For 10 years, the Mujahideen fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and not a single Soviet embassy was touched anywhere in the world. So this could not have been Osama`s followers.
Q: What if bin Laden has been lying to you and is guilty. Is that inconceivable?
A: If Taliban are given irrefutable evidence of his guilt, I am in favor of a fair trial. In America, one is entitled to a jury of peers. But he has no American peers. The Taliban would not object, in the event of a prima face case, to an international Islamic court meeting in The Hague. They would turn extradite Osama to the Netherlands.
End of transcript: UPI United Press International, Sep. 26, 2001, Interview with General Gul
__________________________________________________
#35 Posted by Kiran- on December 24, 2001 3:57:59 pm
A very good, straight-forward and no-nonsense piece from you Zehra. I agree with you, one has to work hard to not become a part of the viscious cycle of fear and hate.
I hope your Mom can feel like herself again soon, Inshallah. Semiprecious is right, don`t let her become an isolationist. Tell her to go out, and just stare back at the losers. Don`t let them stop her from living her life.
Regards,
Kiran
I hope your Mom can feel like herself again soon, Inshallah. Semiprecious is right, don`t let her become an isolationist. Tell her to go out, and just stare back at the losers. Don`t let them stop her from living her life.
Regards,
Kiran
#37 Posted by Romair on December 24, 2001 3:57:59 pm
RSexan #15: ``all those chaptas are just waiting with open arms for hoardes of pakis to show up...put a lampshade on your head, stain your teeth brown with soy sauce, and slip into your favorite chairman mao t-shirt...``
No country ever, ``waits`` for anyone to come in. It is economics that dictates it. Do you really think the US was, ``waiting`` for you, or other Indians to come into it? Do you specifically think they would prefer you over one of their own? Yet you are here. I assume you were not give a personal invitation by the US President. You probably applied/begged for visas and green cards, etc., like the rest of us. If the Americans did not need your skills, do you really think they would have let you into their country? I doubt it.
The same thing is going to happen with China. The Chinese economy is already half the size of the US economy. In twenty to twenty five years it will be bigger than the US economy. And nearly five times its current size of 5 trillion dollars. China is going to need skilled manpower, seaports, etc. just like the US needs them now. Added to this, it will need land to grow crops for its giant population. And many other things, for which it is looking towards Pakistan. Now, it is upto Pakistan to bring itself to a point where it can accomodate China.
There has been a significant and wise change in Pakistan policy towards China. Did you notice the reception Musharraf just received in China. This kind of reception is reserved for Presidents of countries like the US. Pakistan`s relations with China are now moving beyond military relations, and centralizing around economic ties. China is building a port in Gwadar. It needs it to ship its goods, through the Arabian Sea. China, I believe, imports $250 billion of goods, but Pakistan barely has $1 billion of that share. It is giving more and more access to Pakistan for its products. Pakistan and China have been and are jointly building their military aircraft, equipment etc. Every station I was posted to used to have a group of Chinese Engineers. Musharraf has also stated he will not support the state of East Turkmenastan (this was the only potential thorn between China and Pakistan).
Infact, most of Pakistan`s military engineers now go to China, and not to the US (like they used to) for projects. Pretty soon, most of Pakistan`s civilian students will start going there, as well. Primarily because the US will continue to ally itself more with India, and because the US has already started putting restrictions on Muslim students. And because it is way too expensive to go to the US. Also, as the Chinese economy grows and it becomes wealthier, they will automatically attract people from other countries as professionals. Pakistan should try to get a major chunk of this share (just like India got a major chunk of the labor shortage in Silicon Valley). And it is much easier for Pakistani to take the Karakoram highway to China, then it is to fly to the USA.
So Pakistanis will end up in China, just like you ended up in the USA. The Americans were not, ``waiting`` for you to come in. But you got rid of your Kualapuri chappal, your pale yellow dress shirt, and grey flannel dress pants, and started wearing Levis and a cowboy hat. Similarly Pakistanis will get rid of thier Shalwar Kameez, and end up wearing lampshades and start using soy sauce (chinese food is very popular in Pakistan, already), while they are in China. The laws of economics will dictate it.
No country ever, ``waits`` for anyone to come in. It is economics that dictates it. Do you really think the US was, ``waiting`` for you, or other Indians to come into it? Do you specifically think they would prefer you over one of their own? Yet you are here. I assume you were not give a personal invitation by the US President. You probably applied/begged for visas and green cards, etc., like the rest of us. If the Americans did not need your skills, do you really think they would have let you into their country? I doubt it.
The same thing is going to happen with China. The Chinese economy is already half the size of the US economy. In twenty to twenty five years it will be bigger than the US economy. And nearly five times its current size of 5 trillion dollars. China is going to need skilled manpower, seaports, etc. just like the US needs them now. Added to this, it will need land to grow crops for its giant population. And many other things, for which it is looking towards Pakistan. Now, it is upto Pakistan to bring itself to a point where it can accomodate China.
There has been a significant and wise change in Pakistan policy towards China. Did you notice the reception Musharraf just received in China. This kind of reception is reserved for Presidents of countries like the US. Pakistan`s relations with China are now moving beyond military relations, and centralizing around economic ties. China is building a port in Gwadar. It needs it to ship its goods, through the Arabian Sea. China, I believe, imports $250 billion of goods, but Pakistan barely has $1 billion of that share. It is giving more and more access to Pakistan for its products. Pakistan and China have been and are jointly building their military aircraft, equipment etc. Every station I was posted to used to have a group of Chinese Engineers. Musharraf has also stated he will not support the state of East Turkmenastan (this was the only potential thorn between China and Pakistan).
Infact, most of Pakistan`s military engineers now go to China, and not to the US (like they used to) for projects. Pretty soon, most of Pakistan`s civilian students will start going there, as well. Primarily because the US will continue to ally itself more with India, and because the US has already started putting restrictions on Muslim students. And because it is way too expensive to go to the US. Also, as the Chinese economy grows and it becomes wealthier, they will automatically attract people from other countries as professionals. Pakistan should try to get a major chunk of this share (just like India got a major chunk of the labor shortage in Silicon Valley). And it is much easier for Pakistani to take the Karakoram highway to China, then it is to fly to the USA.
So Pakistanis will end up in China, just like you ended up in the USA. The Americans were not, ``waiting`` for you to come in. But you got rid of your Kualapuri chappal, your pale yellow dress shirt, and grey flannel dress pants, and started wearing Levis and a cowboy hat. Similarly Pakistanis will get rid of thier Shalwar Kameez, and end up wearing lampshades and start using soy sauce (chinese food is very popular in Pakistan, already), while they are in China. The laws of economics will dictate it.
#38 Posted by Romair on December 24, 2001 3:57:59 pm
harimau #18: ``I suppose China is severely underpopulated and will need to import labor from Pakistan in 15-20 years....But if you guys have 4 wives each, I don`t think you can afford to send any women to China either.``
The first part of your statement is a legitimate enquiry. The second part is apparently an offensive attempt. Why do Indians combine legtimate questions with offensive ones, all the time? That is a question only Indians can answer. However, India does claim to have the second largest Muslim population in the world. I know you do not care much for Pakistanis, but don`t you think you offend Indian Muslims by such remarks. This to me is an indication of the importance Muslims have in your society.
Now to your legitimate question. China is obviously not severly underpopulated, at the moment. However, neither are the European nations or the US, for that matter. Yet these countries have been importing skilled labor for decades, and are actually increasing the imports, and not decreasing it (not counting the current temporary dot com bust).
83 countries in the world either already have a negative rate of population growth, or will have one soon. China is on top of that list. Infact the population of the world will peak in 2070, and then decrease. A super booming (not just booming, but super booming) economy like the Chinese, will never be able to keep pace in the skills dept. There will be a big shortage of highly skilled labor in China. Just like every unemployed American cannot do a Ph.D., neither can every unemployed Chinese.
Also, as a country grows wealthier, it starts to use its education institutions as a source of wealth generation. The US has mastered this art. It attracts the best and brightest of the rest of the world (people like our good friend RSexana), and keeps them. China will be no different. Pakistani students will be attracted to those universities, since it will be much cheaper than going to the US. And (hopefully) there will so many Pakistani-Chinese joint ventures that they will be accomodated easily on either side of the border. China is going to need well educated people who are fluent in English, South Asian languages (and Chinese). The best sources are India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. And one has to assume Pakistan would be the number one choice.
One example is the Chinese-Pakistani cooperation in military development. Pakistani military now has completely shifted from US hardware to Chinese hardware, with US electrical systems. It is co-developing its equipment jointly with China. And has some major successes. This is far cheaper than buying it from the US, and there is no spare parts problem. Also it results in indigenous development, and a technology transfer. Pakistani engineers regularly go to China, get trained there, and live there to work on these on-going projects. China in return gets expertise on Western systems from Pakistan`s experience, which it currently lacks. The bigger Pakistan`s infrastructure gets, the bigger these projects will become. Go to any PAF base and you will find a group of Chinese engineers permanently stationed there.
Why wouldn`t a similar phenomenon occur in the private sector, as China`s economy get bigger, and if Pakistan can start stablizing its economy?
The first part of your statement is a legitimate enquiry. The second part is apparently an offensive attempt. Why do Indians combine legtimate questions with offensive ones, all the time? That is a question only Indians can answer. However, India does claim to have the second largest Muslim population in the world. I know you do not care much for Pakistanis, but don`t you think you offend Indian Muslims by such remarks. This to me is an indication of the importance Muslims have in your society.
Now to your legitimate question. China is obviously not severly underpopulated, at the moment. However, neither are the European nations or the US, for that matter. Yet these countries have been importing skilled labor for decades, and are actually increasing the imports, and not decreasing it (not counting the current temporary dot com bust).
83 countries in the world either already have a negative rate of population growth, or will have one soon. China is on top of that list. Infact the population of the world will peak in 2070, and then decrease. A super booming (not just booming, but super booming) economy like the Chinese, will never be able to keep pace in the skills dept. There will be a big shortage of highly skilled labor in China. Just like every unemployed American cannot do a Ph.D., neither can every unemployed Chinese.
Also, as a country grows wealthier, it starts to use its education institutions as a source of wealth generation. The US has mastered this art. It attracts the best and brightest of the rest of the world (people like our good friend RSexana), and keeps them. China will be no different. Pakistani students will be attracted to those universities, since it will be much cheaper than going to the US. And (hopefully) there will so many Pakistani-Chinese joint ventures that they will be accomodated easily on either side of the border. China is going to need well educated people who are fluent in English, South Asian languages (and Chinese). The best sources are India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. And one has to assume Pakistan would be the number one choice.
One example is the Chinese-Pakistani cooperation in military development. Pakistani military now has completely shifted from US hardware to Chinese hardware, with US electrical systems. It is co-developing its equipment jointly with China. And has some major successes. This is far cheaper than buying it from the US, and there is no spare parts problem. Also it results in indigenous development, and a technology transfer. Pakistani engineers regularly go to China, get trained there, and live there to work on these on-going projects. China in return gets expertise on Western systems from Pakistan`s experience, which it currently lacks. The bigger Pakistan`s infrastructure gets, the bigger these projects will become. Go to any PAF base and you will find a group of Chinese engineers permanently stationed there.
Why wouldn`t a similar phenomenon occur in the private sector, as China`s economy get bigger, and if Pakistan can start stablizing its economy?
#39 Posted by tahmed321 on December 24, 2001 3:57:59 pm
I suspect that hijab covered women in the US enjoy the role of the tragic heroine they took upon themselves after 9/11. Trouble is: they must know deep down that no one really pays any attention to them in the US...people have more useful things to do with their lives in progressive societies (jobs, vacations, hobbies, and so forth) than worry about how some stranger on a street is dressed...
#40 Posted by sac on December 24, 2001 3:57:59 pm
Zehra:
I am afraid you are being too dramatic here for your own good. There have been incidents of questioning muslims by the FBI and the police but in most cases the questioning has been well-justified and conducted cordially. People are not staring at you in the subway or on the sidewalks either. If they are, its probably because you are wearing socks(or other habiliments) that are mistmatched than anything else. Life goes on. And please stop wondering like most New Yorkers about how bad the midwest is. It is doing just fine.
later
-sac(A diehard New Yorker)
P.S: username,Zafar Al Talib and other Girl Friday haters: Very simple balm for your affliction.......Don`t read it. If that doesn`t work how about chewing on this. A xxxxxxx is someone who is always thinking there is someone else out there who is always having more fun than he is.
I am afraid you are being too dramatic here for your own good. There have been incidents of questioning muslims by the FBI and the police but in most cases the questioning has been well-justified and conducted cordially. People are not staring at you in the subway or on the sidewalks either. If they are, its probably because you are wearing socks(or other habiliments) that are mistmatched than anything else. Life goes on. And please stop wondering like most New Yorkers about how bad the midwest is. It is doing just fine.
later
-sac(A diehard New Yorker)
P.S: username,Zafar Al Talib and other Girl Friday haters: Very simple balm for your affliction.......Don`t read it. If that doesn`t work how about chewing on this. A xxxxxxx is someone who is always thinking there is someone else out there who is always having more fun than he is.
#41 Posted by Kiran- on December 24, 2001 3:57:59 pm
A very good, straight-forward and no-nonsense piece from you Zehra. I agree with you, one has to work hard to not become a part of the viscious cycle of fear and hate.
I hope your Mom can feel like herself again soon, Inshallah. Semiprecious is right, don`t let her become an isolationist. Tell her to go out, and just stare back at the losers. Don`t let them stop her from living her life.
Regards,
Kiran
I hope your Mom can feel like herself again soon, Inshallah. Semiprecious is right, don`t let her become an isolationist. Tell her to go out, and just stare back at the losers. Don`t let them stop her from living her life.
Regards,
Kiran
#42 Posted by rajanjua on December 24, 2001 5:53:34 pm
re: hamzad afaqui sahib
Afaqui Sahib, This once brilliant cavalry officer seems to have lost his marbles.
re: romair (us-canada analogy)
Some people in the past have even suggested India to have the role of U.S. (I know its a joke) but has been suggested nonetheless - If we have to be someone`s canada why not stick with U.S. by making proper changes (for starters open an embassy in Tel Aviv - that should take care of most of our PR problems right away) They say, goo khaNRa tay wadda khao - chiRi da kha kay ki kar so.
re: studebaker (sikhs)
I don`t agree with you!
Afaqui Sahib, This once brilliant cavalry officer seems to have lost his marbles.
re: romair (us-canada analogy)
Some people in the past have even suggested India to have the role of U.S. (I know its a joke) but has been suggested nonetheless - If we have to be someone`s canada why not stick with U.S. by making proper changes (for starters open an embassy in Tel Aviv - that should take care of most of our PR problems right away) They say, goo khaNRa tay wadda khao - chiRi da kha kay ki kar so.
re: studebaker (sikhs)
I don`t agree with you!
#43 Posted by harimau on December 24, 2001 11:45:30 pm
Ref 12-headed-beagle #: 33
[all society is not misogynist as the hindian]
China is. You don`t have to try to whitewash the Chinese. At least in India you can try for more children if the first is a girl. In China you can`t.
[all society is not misogynist as the hindian]
China is. You don`t have to try to whitewash the Chinese. At least in India you can try for more children if the first is a girl. In China you can`t.
#44 Posted by hamzadafaqui on December 24, 2001 11:45:30 pm
rjanjua---43
janjua sahib,
I tend to agree with you.In fact I wonder if he really had any,marbles,that is.
You see it is important to know the views of the guy who was in the thick of it once.This also helps us to understand the mind of our military folks who in no uncertain terms try to convince us of their `discipline` & `traditions`(whatever that means).
What totally put me off was that his beef with the US was simply because he was not made the COAS because of US dispproval.Doesn`t that make one laugh & cry at the same time? So is that the whole purpose of life?No wonder we are in the gutter.I`m sure the other army(non-army)types are no different.As if the whole purpose of the war was to make sure that someone gets some position.Like that villager who thought that the whole mela was orchestrated to enable someone to steal his handkerchief(i hope you know the story)
The purpose to post such stuff here is to hear out all sides,alternates too,esp. the alterntates because they are being blacked out.They do provide a perspective and sometimes one can glean valuable insights.
janjua sahib,
I tend to agree with you.In fact I wonder if he really had any,marbles,that is.
You see it is important to know the views of the guy who was in the thick of it once.This also helps us to understand the mind of our military folks who in no uncertain terms try to convince us of their `discipline` & `traditions`(whatever that means).
What totally put me off was that his beef with the US was simply because he was not made the COAS because of US dispproval.Doesn`t that make one laugh & cry at the same time? So is that the whole purpose of life?No wonder we are in the gutter.I`m sure the other army(non-army)types are no different.As if the whole purpose of the war was to make sure that someone gets some position.Like that villager who thought that the whole mela was orchestrated to enable someone to steal his handkerchief(i hope you know the story)
The purpose to post such stuff here is to hear out all sides,alternates too,esp. the alterntates because they are being blacked out.They do provide a perspective and sometimes one can glean valuable insights.
#45 Posted by jay on December 24, 2001 11:45:30 pm
Fatima,
Pakistan is a modern country, it has a constitution made in 1971, but still the Lahore high court found honour killing as legitimate. In the office of Asma Jahangir a young woman was killed by her own parents henchmen. No one, not even a single person was arrested, even though there were eye witnesses to the murder, simply because it would be illegal to arrest a person for honour killing. That is the law of the land called pakillstan, where killing is a way of life. Tell me fatima is it not the law of seventh century, has anything in pakistan changed since then.
regards and best wishes for your eyes to open.
jay
Pakistan is a modern country, it has a constitution made in 1971, but still the Lahore high court found honour killing as legitimate. In the office of Asma Jahangir a young woman was killed by her own parents henchmen. No one, not even a single person was arrested, even though there were eye witnesses to the murder, simply because it would be illegal to arrest a person for honour killing. That is the law of the land called pakillstan, where killing is a way of life. Tell me fatima is it not the law of seventh century, has anything in pakistan changed since then.
regards and best wishes for your eyes to open.
jay
#46 Posted by rsaxena on December 24, 2001 11:45:30 pm
re: Romair
Brevity has never been your forte. Let me give you a lesson in it.
a) Indians were given visas because they offered a specific skill that someone in the US wanted (i.e. Bill Gates). Indians speak this language called English, and most graduate schools recognize IIT as much as Harvard.
b) What skills are Pukistanis going to bring chaptas? Jihad? And from which recognized educational institution? And are your madrassahs in Pakistan now teaching Chinese in addition to suicide bombing? Or is China making Urdu a second official language? Or does China not have enough people that Abdul, Zia, and Karim from Pakistan have to head over?
Brevity has never been your forte. Let me give you a lesson in it.
a) Indians were given visas because they offered a specific skill that someone in the US wanted (i.e. Bill Gates). Indians speak this language called English, and most graduate schools recognize IIT as much as Harvard.
b) What skills are Pukistanis going to bring chaptas? Jihad? And from which recognized educational institution? And are your madrassahs in Pakistan now teaching Chinese in addition to suicide bombing? Or is China making Urdu a second official language? Or does China not have enough people that Abdul, Zia, and Karim from Pakistan have to head over?
#47 Posted by rajanjua on December 24, 2001 11:45:30 pm
Indian Foriegn Minister complained that Musharaf`s usage of the words ``arrogant`` and ``kneejerk reaction`` is uncivilized barrack talk. He recalled that while he served with Women`s Gaurd, they never used words like these.
``A final response to Pakistan will be taken after Christmas when the cabinet committee meets again,`` Singh told reporters after emerging from a two-hour meeting held at the Indian premier`s residence.`` All options are open he added - from ``surgical strikes`` to recalling the Deputy of the Deputy High Commissioner to beating Pakistani embassy staffers in New Dehli.
Washington Post reporter R. Chanderashekar reported, quoting unnamed officials that India just wants to maintain a posture of ``warmongering`` in hope that chachas Bush and Blair will exert pressure on Pakis. The offcial on the condition of anonymity said ``now that we have created all this fuss of moving the forces again to the border, hopefully chacha bush will take care of musharaf the way chacha clinton dealt with mian sahib``.
In a related story, the Indian foreign ministry announced that it will open four consulates in Afghanistan. Newly appointed counselor R. Saxena arrived in Kabul and while talking to reporters commented that his country will do everything to help Afghans. He was especially delighted at the way he was mishandled at the airport by Deputy Afghan Security Dir. Mr. Speen Gul.
``A final response to Pakistan will be taken after Christmas when the cabinet committee meets again,`` Singh told reporters after emerging from a two-hour meeting held at the Indian premier`s residence.`` All options are open he added - from ``surgical strikes`` to recalling the Deputy of the Deputy High Commissioner to beating Pakistani embassy staffers in New Dehli.
Washington Post reporter R. Chanderashekar reported, quoting unnamed officials that India just wants to maintain a posture of ``warmongering`` in hope that chachas Bush and Blair will exert pressure on Pakis. The offcial on the condition of anonymity said ``now that we have created all this fuss of moving the forces again to the border, hopefully chacha bush will take care of musharaf the way chacha clinton dealt with mian sahib``.
In a related story, the Indian foreign ministry announced that it will open four consulates in Afghanistan. Newly appointed counselor R. Saxena arrived in Kabul and while talking to reporters commented that his country will do everything to help Afghans. He was especially delighted at the way he was mishandled at the airport by Deputy Afghan Security Dir. Mr. Speen Gul.
#48 Posted by OmarAkram on December 24, 2001 11:45:30 pm
Zahra I think you will be quite able to answer some of my queries. I had similar assumptions about me being protected by laws and stuff... I really believed when Tony Blair appeared on the tele and said ``its not a war against Muslims`` but guess what happened next day I got a call from my Bank and they told me that the US banks want to have all the details of my bank account and this is a must since the money transfer I had requested to a relatives account in Pakistan will not be possible without the details.
Now i tried to recall the money but then it dawned on me that the money I tried to tranfer is practically frozen it can nither mover forward or back to UK. I did send my bank details to the destination and it took them 2 weeks to process them. A friend of mine (non-Pakistani) transfered some to his family in Sri Lanka the same day through the same banks they were not INTERCEPTED (I wonder why?)
I take the same journey to my office never in my life was I looked at as someone different but ever since Sept 11 it has been many times on the train ride back home that I have seen and heard some racist remarks directed to me... I donot blame them for what the think since many factors lead to this behaviour and now a days un-employment is a major factor as well...
however i do agree with who ever said that we do need to educate others and ourselves too about our religion and honestly i do feel that after Sept 11 a lot of educated people are intrested in Islam both Muslims and non-muslims....
In these troubled times I do see a glimmer of Hope and I am still positive.
Now i tried to recall the money but then it dawned on me that the money I tried to tranfer is practically frozen it can nither mover forward or back to UK. I did send my bank details to the destination and it took them 2 weeks to process them. A friend of mine (non-Pakistani) transfered some to his family in Sri Lanka the same day through the same banks they were not INTERCEPTED (I wonder why?)
I take the same journey to my office never in my life was I looked at as someone different but ever since Sept 11 it has been many times on the train ride back home that I have seen and heard some racist remarks directed to me... I donot blame them for what the think since many factors lead to this behaviour and now a days un-employment is a major factor as well...
however i do agree with who ever said that we do need to educate others and ourselves too about our religion and honestly i do feel that after Sept 11 a lot of educated people are intrested in Islam both Muslims and non-muslims....
In these troubled times I do see a glimmer of Hope and I am still positive.
#49 Posted by username on December 24, 2001 11:45:30 pm
sac Reply #: 40
``P.S: username,Zafar Al Talib and other Girl Friday haters: Very simple balm for your affliction.......Don`t read it. If that doesn`t work how about chewing on this. A xxxxxxx is someone who is always thinking there is someone else out there who is always having more fun than he is``.
Dear sac
fyi, I`ve already tried not reading it. But I can`t resist (just like I can`t stop watching CNN!), although I know for sure that I`ll only end up feeling like sh1t. Then why do I read it? Because kabootar ki tarah aankhen band kerna is not in me. As long as it`s there, it`s THERE and I gotta read it. If they have the right to print it, then I have the right to complain. That is the very reason why this ``letters to Ed`` thingie is there in every good journal/magazine/newspaper. And even if it falls on deaf ears... well too bad but that doesnt mean if they are not doing their job, I should`nt do mine. Simply not reading it is gonna do no good to no one. I know for a fact that so many from the middle class read this crap and fall victims to inferiority complex. The only problem in the world Ms Aaminah Haq seems to be facing is to ``have an appropriate `shallu` to wear`` while 5 million ppl on our western border are starving to death right now. Did you read ``We, the fake`` on Chowk? I cud so relate to it as all my life, I`ve hung around on the streets of lahore, from zouk to freddys to cuckoos and at the bottom of my heart, all my life I`ve felt like an a$$hole! Sorry to disagree, but I think a xxxxxxx is someone who has always had the best of both the worlds, without even giving a thought to those who are made to take sh1t from this cruel world everyday! I know I`m rambling on and on but I feel like crap when I go back home and see sights like 4 girls covered in dupattas all over, packed on the back seat of an alto --- those eyes looking at you are so full of mehroomi --- it just breaks me apart from within. And to top it off, we give them ``girl friday`` to read :-(
By the way, ppl DO listen sometimes!
Subject : Re
Date : Thu, 20 Dec 2001 11:24:13 -0500
Reply Reply All Forward Delete
Dear * * * * * *:
Thank you for your message. We would like to print it as a letter in the next
magazine if that is agreeable to you.
Looking back on this, I chose the photo because, in some way, I saw it as an
illustration of the huge barriers to understanding that suddenly faced the
majority of Americans. I do agree that the image could be viewed as
stereotypical, and an accompanying caption might have explained this, saying
that some are unable to see the reality of the Muslim world because they are
kept in the dark by their own lack of knowledge. That was one of the challenges
put forth by the article that called for an immediate shift in
thinking and an openness to the truth.
Sincerely,
Original message follows:
Dear Editor
I got a chance to skim through the latest issue of your magazine. On page 2, I read and totally agreed with Duer McLanahan RT (letters etc.) who wrote that the magazine ``is very informative, well-written, has splendid photos...``. I moved on to ``Acts of hatred, or acts of love?`` (Search for understanding) and while it talked about avoiding generalizations and stereotypes, I was disappointed to see the accompanying photograph of five veiled women (page 13). I would very respectfully like to point out that a MAJORITY of Muslim women in progressive Islamic countries do not dress up in this manner. The photograph totally negated the spirit of the article and was, at best, out of place and less than ``splendid``.
Sincerely,
``P.S: username,Zafar Al Talib and other Girl Friday haters: Very simple balm for your affliction.......Don`t read it. If that doesn`t work how about chewing on this. A xxxxxxx is someone who is always thinking there is someone else out there who is always having more fun than he is``.
Dear sac
fyi, I`ve already tried not reading it. But I can`t resist (just like I can`t stop watching CNN!), although I know for sure that I`ll only end up feeling like sh1t. Then why do I read it? Because kabootar ki tarah aankhen band kerna is not in me. As long as it`s there, it`s THERE and I gotta read it. If they have the right to print it, then I have the right to complain. That is the very reason why this ``letters to Ed`` thingie is there in every good journal/magazine/newspaper. And even if it falls on deaf ears... well too bad but that doesnt mean if they are not doing their job, I should`nt do mine. Simply not reading it is gonna do no good to no one. I know for a fact that so many from the middle class read this crap and fall victims to inferiority complex. The only problem in the world Ms Aaminah Haq seems to be facing is to ``have an appropriate `shallu` to wear`` while 5 million ppl on our western border are starving to death right now. Did you read ``We, the fake`` on Chowk? I cud so relate to it as all my life, I`ve hung around on the streets of lahore, from zouk to freddys to cuckoos and at the bottom of my heart, all my life I`ve felt like an a$$hole! Sorry to disagree, but I think a xxxxxxx is someone who has always had the best of both the worlds, without even giving a thought to those who are made to take sh1t from this cruel world everyday! I know I`m rambling on and on but I feel like crap when I go back home and see sights like 4 girls covered in dupattas all over, packed on the back seat of an alto --- those eyes looking at you are so full of mehroomi --- it just breaks me apart from within. And to top it off, we give them ``girl friday`` to read :-(
By the way, ppl DO listen sometimes!
Subject : Re
Date : Thu, 20 Dec 2001 11:24:13 -0500
Reply Reply All Forward Delete
Dear * * * * * *:
Thank you for your message. We would like to print it as a letter in the next
magazine if that is agreeable to you.
Looking back on this, I chose the photo because, in some way, I saw it as an
illustration of the huge barriers to understanding that suddenly faced the
majority of Americans. I do agree that the image could be viewed as
stereotypical, and an accompanying caption might have explained this, saying
that some are unable to see the reality of the Muslim world because they are
kept in the dark by their own lack of knowledge. That was one of the challenges
put forth by the article that called for an immediate shift in
thinking and an openness to the truth.
Sincerely,
Original message follows:
Dear Editor
I got a chance to skim through the latest issue of your magazine. On page 2, I read and totally agreed with Duer McLanahan RT (letters etc.) who wrote that the magazine ``is very informative, well-written, has splendid photos...``. I moved on to ``Acts of hatred, or acts of love?`` (Search for understanding) and while it talked about avoiding generalizations and stereotypes, I was disappointed to see the accompanying photograph of five veiled women (page 13). I would very respectfully like to point out that a MAJORITY of Muslim women in progressive Islamic countries do not dress up in this manner. The photograph totally negated the spirit of the article and was, at best, out of place and less than ``splendid``.
Sincerely,
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