Hypocrisy Big

Haroon,

Another poor soul unable to understand the working of human mind. People operate under a domain called bounded rationality. They have no capability nor time to understand the complex rational positions, they operate under some thumb rules. Killings in bali, kashmir, 9/11, yemen, ahghanistan, philippines, yes the rule is set, it is islamic terrorism. That is bounded rationality, supported by the notion of jihad from the book.

Next is the economics of terror/jihad. jihad is a leasure activity for the rich, when one is struggling for food, there is no money to support jihad. It is the rich, the middle class that are the root cause of jihadic killings. 9/11 can only be supported by saudi, not by poor yemenis. osama has to be a suadi, not a ppor pakistani. So the essence of attack on iraq is to dispocess the muslims of another sounrce of wealth.

Next is the technology. Iraq and pakistan are the only two muslim countries with some sembelce of technological capability. Pakistan is already a US colony, the capabilities will be stripped slowly. Focus will change to agriculture and the military infrastructure of pakistan will quickly vanish. That leaves only Iraq and has to be catrated to contain terrorism.

It is all so simple, but through green tinted glass, hard to decipher.

Hear hear!

I dont agree with those Chowkies who say that non South Asian matters are not a matter of concern on Chowk. The impending war on Iraq and concurrent ``war on terrorism`` is cause for deep concern esp. in light of our Constitution and the UN being wasted in dilletante politics.

Of course, as I type this, I am aware that John Poindexter is probably accessing this page right now, Haroon, with his big electronic tracing system...Hello Mr. Poindexter! Why dont you do something more constructive with your time like looking into Ken Lay`s files, rather than harrassing a bunch of Iraqi citizens in the US, hmm?

Also, are you aware of the student movement at Columbia that is calling for the university`s divestment from Israel? If so, can you let us know what that`s about?

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Re: Haroon Moghul

The United States of America is an empire; it has all the attributes of an empire. The Pax Americana started to emerge as a natural consequence of the the vacuum created, in the global balance of power by the First World War, and had matured into its early manifestions by time the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919.

The real imperuim of the United States started in the post-1945 international environment and the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1992, established the United States as the most technologically advanced economic/military power with an influence greater than the Roman Empire.

In this sense, Jay`s observations about the intent of the American power are apt, because this American imperial age is based on the notions of an economic power capable of projecting the political interests of the United States to safe guard its enegry sources, upon which that economic power is predicated. Technology and economics are the twin pillars of this new imperial age and any challenge to these founditions of the American will be resisted. Whether America has the capacity to ``pasturalize`` Iraq and Pakistan is another debate, because in the interational system, which is based on the idea of the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), multilateralism is more in vogue than unilateralism. For the United States to embark on a policy affectation, as Jay suggests, would depend on how the rest of the world reacts to American unilateralism.

Iraq was a test case and the limits of that unilateralism was that the United States had to cover its actions under the cloak of the United Nations; a sanction of consensus based on a multilateral approach towards solving international problems.

Since 1898 and the American invasion of Cuba and the American interests in the slicing the western hemisphere via the Panama Canal (1900), the United States has always been an imperial power. In fact, Rudyard Kipling`s ``White Man` Burden`` was written as an ode to the American quest for an imperial glory.

The arguments that the United States is behaving like an imperial power are outdated; people have only now accepted the reality.

Ciao

The lead-in to the article asks: ``Is America an Empire? Is the Pope Catholic?``

The real question is: ``Is Haroon Moghul? Really?``

Haroon:

``So I propose we the people vote the obstacle out. ``

And I propose we vote the dude in for another four years. Why the fuss?

``The übersupporters of President George Bush II, violator of international law, constitutional law and even grammatical law, are now bringing additional limp argumentation in favor of the next phase of the War on Everything. ``

``And a note to all of you who are Muslim, just a little something we all should remember, as our position in this conflict, and its resolution, is (to say the least) of the utmost importance: We Muslims are supposed to be a mercy to the world and thus, by inclusion, to all of humanity – regardless of race, gender, creed.``


And since you speak for all Muslims, or at least to all of them, I would suggest you give this advice to your brothers in Al Qaeda. They do not seem to agree on your position. In fact, compared to those chaps, Donals Rumsfeld does a danged fine job of inclusion. He at least lets you live.

Listen you ``Humble little intellectual fascist``, please enlighten us on what specific international law has been violated by the United States government under George Bush. Same goes for constitutional law.

And before you mention Kyoto Protocol and Iraq, please consider the difference between trends and laws.

It is legal to withdraw from treaties, and treaty, provided you do so openly. It is illegal on the other hand to sign a treaty and break it`s conventions in a secretive manner.

It is legal to declare war on another country, provided military action takes place after the declaration of war. Therefore, the attack on Pearl Harbor was illegal because it was NOT preceded by a declaration of War. I therefore eagerly await FACTUAL examples of the Bush administration breaking international or constitutional law.

As far as grammatical law is concerned, why do you feel so threatend by a non ivory tower individual running the country. If he does the job, and he cannot be accused of moral turpitude (unlike a certain predecessor) then why does it give you such an itch if he mispronounces certain words?

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....hahahaha...i was just waiting for stuka to get riled up about this attack on the elephant party and its beavis-n-butthead president...

Interesting summary of current concerns within our community.

America as a whole needs to study the long term impact of the

new Bush Doctrine and not just its impact on American Muslims.


Ras

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In the history of superpowers, the USA has (had) an interesting aspects that make it different from other superpowers of yesteryears.

First of all, any superpower is an empire. Why else would a country become a superpower, if it did want to dominate and control other countries? A military budget of 300-400 billion dollars annually (Pakistan`s is 2.8 billion and India`s is around 14 billion) is obviously used to intimidate others, not just to protect ones own borders (after all, Canada can protect its borders with a budget of 10 billion).

The US has a military budget that is greater than that of the next 25 to 35 countries combined. More human beings are killed by a bullet manufactured in the USA than by a bullet manufactured in any other country. USA averages one or so open military attacks against another country per year, and one or so covert ones/per year. It has launched more armament against other countries, since WWII than any other country. And it has directly or indirectly killed more human beings than any other country since WWII.

Just the blowing up of the pharmaceutical plant in Sudan knocked out half the drug producing capability of the whole country. The US then blocked a UN investigation into this incident, since it knew the US claims were incorrect and it actually was a pharmaceutical plant. Imagine how many people would die in the US if half its drug making capability were neutralized. Before our Indian US foreign policy lovers get too defensive, they should keep in mind that the Union Carbide tragedy in India killed thousands, and the Americans involved are walking free as a bird (this is only something an empire can get away with). Empires have no permanent allies.

So like all superpowers, US is an empire, and does what all empires do, i.e. subjugates directly and indirectly poor peoples and kills them when it wants.

The difference is that unlike other superpowers of old, the US has (had) a population that, though naive and ill-informed, does (did) speak out against the vicious foreign policy initiatives of its own govt. And if someone from another country (even a country the US was bombing) is able to make it into the US, he/she actually prosperes far more than they could have in their country of birth.

So, US domestic policy is great (though things are changing now) and humane. While US foreign policy is ruthless. This is the battle being fought right now. The ruthless US foreign policy lovers are trying to win over the US domestic population, thereby neutralizing the only obstacle in their superpower killing sprees (and, believe me, they are kiling sprees - read the details of an US ex-attorney general on the number of innocent people killed in Iraq). The attack on the WTC is the greatest prop available to their cause. These were the same people who argued that fighting the Soviets through, ``Mujahideen,`` and then dumping Afghanistan, was in the US interests (interestingly none of them is now willing to take the blame for the blowback that occured in the form of the WTC attacks).

Once this obstacle of the local populaiton lack of support is removed, I am afraid there will be no check left on the US, and it will then be no different than any other empire of yesteryears.

Afer Iraq, Iran is the next target.

``Is America an Empire? Is the Pope Catholic?``

Are the pakis standing in long queues outside US embassy begging for American visas ? Is mushy begging for more bail outs ?

`` And a note to all of you who are Muslim, just a little something we all should remember, as our position in this conflict, and its resolution, is (to say the least) of the utmost importance: We Muslims are supposed to be a mercy to the world and thus, by inclusion, to all of humanity ``

Sure .... muslims are showing a lot of mercy to the world. Some names come to my mind.... philippines, Middle east, bradford, oldham, chechnya, moscow theaters, kashmir, balkans, bali, WTC, washington etc etc.

`` regardless of race, gender, creed. Sometimes, being a mercy to humanity also entails speaking up for humanity, speaking truth to power and tyranny. ``

what a BS.

As other posters have suggested, you would be praising the virtues of Muhammad if the campaign had been against india.

re: arjun_m #9
[ ... Pakis on chowk resents American influence because America`s actions dont suit their jihadi worldview. If the Americans were bombing the Indians or the Israelis, the paki moral crusade would be chomping at the bits to support dubya.. ]

Yeah, just like you`re chomping at the bombing of Iraq and Afghanistan....
I actually admire the Indian quality (no sarcasm here, I swear) to align itself with the winner. When the Soviet Union was an empire, India hung to its coattails and enjoyed the ride. Now, when Bush considers India a ``strategic and natural partner`` and Bill Gates wants to fight the AIDS epidemic in the country and Oracle wants to build more offices in Bangalore, Indians have no moral qualms about the imperalistic tendencies of the Bush administration. I wish Pakistanis will take a page out of this wonderful book on self-interest written by the Indians. It works, it puts food on the tables of the poor and the hungry. Alas, we always drown ourselves trying to go against the flow. The banyaa (and I say this with the utmost respect) mentality is the winning strategy, let`s face it!

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[ ... President Bush works for me, a voter, and not the other way around. So I propose we the people vote the obstacle out. ...]

Haroon, this month`s elections have proved that the general public does not agree with your viewpoint. The American public has spoken. As Republicans bask in their terrorism-inspired glory, liberals, humanists and democrats are licking their wounds. In the end, it was the grammatically-challenged George Bush who turned out to be more savvy than the myopic Daschle.
If American Muslims are stupid enough to align themselves with the wrong side then they should be prepared for the consequences too. I grew up in the Middle-East, and let me be the first to tell you that the whole notion of `ummah` is farcical - nothing more than a figment of Maududi`s imagination. The Arabs do not, never have and never will consider Pakistanis (or any non-Arabs for that matter) as first-class Muslims. The issue of Kashmir, Palestine and Chechnya is not an Islamic issue. Its about land and super-sized egos. Do you really think a Palestinian gives a flying squirrel about a poor farmer in Sindh? Of course not. Sindhi farmers, as we all know, do not speak Arabic, and they`re not fighting the Israelis. So as far as the Palestinians are concerned, their plight is not an Islamic issue. Do I think that the Iraqis will suffer if a war is imposed upon them? Yes, of course. Am I gonna cry foul and bite the very hand that feeds me? Hell, no! Please don`t be fooled by the alhumdullillah, inshallah, blablah of the American Arabs. These people will stab you in the back sooner than you can say Assalaam-ulaikum.
The need of the day is to point out our own shortcomings and take our leaders to the task. We should ask for better jobs, better roads, better hospitals and better education for our fellow Pakistanis and Muslims if we really care about them. This whole Jihad and anti-American rhetoric will only serve to exacerbate the Muslim existence in the 21st century.