Pakistan: Between Crisis and Coup: New Age Islam's Selection, 05 May 2017
New
Age Islam Edit Bureau
05 May 2017
• Pakistan: Between Crisis and Coup
By Dr Ejaz Hussain
• Mapping the Future of Fata
By Ayaz Wazir
• Made In Pakistan
By Chris Cork
• What We Cannot Hide From
By Asha'ar Rehman
• Exclusive On Dawn's 'Exclusive'
By M Ziauddin
• Hillary Still Firm in Denial Mode
By M D Nalapat
• From Russia with Love
By Sultan M Hali
• Who Does Donald Trump Represent?
By Dr Imran Iqbal
Compiled By New Age Islam Edit Bureau
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Pakistan: Between Crisis and Coup
By Dr Ejaz Hussain
05-May-17
Civil-military relations in Pakistan have always been a hot topic for general discussion and, in cases, academic inquiry. It is a sad fact the majority of the people, especially our televangelists know little about the subject theoretically and empirically. Even the local scholarship on the subject is mostly polemical and biased to either side of the equation, those who pondered over and produced original thought, such as Hamza Alavi and Ayesha Siddiqa, are mostly nor read, and if somehow read, are poorly understood and, at times, are dubbed as traitors and anti-state. Factually, Pakistan’s history is replete with long phases of bureaucratic, civilian, judicial and military authoritarianism and, importantly, popular resisting to it. People did question Ayub regime, agitated against Zulfiqar Bhutto, confronted the Zia and Musharraf regime. Even, a section of populace, that followed Imran Khan and Tahir ul Qadri, did sit-ins against the Zardari and now the Sharif government. In other words, authoritarianism is equally taken on by its antithesis. Therefore, if we place the current debate on civil-military relations on the touchstone of Pakistan’s history, there is then ample room for conceptualisation and contextualisation. However, to do this, one got to be objective in theory and data analysis as well as honest to oneself and the country.
The current debate on the said subject revolves primarily around two actors, ie Nawaz Sharif-led civil government and General Bajwa led army. The latter, indubitably, is the powerful force in the country institutionally (it is comparatively organised and disciplined organisation), politically (it has been involved in politics), strategically (it determines foreign policy), and socioeconomically (it is engaged in approaching to the people for popular legitimacy). The civil government is weak as per the foregoing variables. Constitutionally, the military has no political and strategic role. This is the reason why every coup-maker had to abrogate the constitution and issue its replacement in terms of provisional constitutional order (PCO). However, the 21st and, now, 23rd constitutional amendments have provided the military with military courts to try civilians for terrorism. Indeed, the very being of military courts point to the comparative weakness of other state institutions particularly parliament and the judiciary. In such a context, where the military is already a powerful actor and the civil government is weaker, why does the latter confront the former? Why did the PM meet Jindal in Murree without the prior approval of the security agencies? Why did Maryam Nawaz tweet back vis-à-vis the ISPR, JIT and Mr Imran Khan? Or, put differently, if the military is a powerful force, why is it so concerned about the civilian dispensation, the tactics employed by the Sharifs and the role of India and the US, as per circulating WhatsApp messages, in our domestic politics?
To answer the posed questions, one has to grasp the means employed by the Nawaz government vis-a-vis the army. The former’s topmost priority is to complete the tenure, not to necessarily democratise the country but accrue political and economic dividends. To this end, the government approached the former army chief for arbitration. Resultantly, the government though survived the day but was weakened politically and institutionally. The formation of the military courts under Raheel Sharif is a case in point. To further appease the current top army brass and, to some extent, get itself absolved from governing responsibility, the Sharif government did its best to re-amend the constitution to re-establish military courts. Until this, Nawaz Sharif’s logic is simple and understandable for a lay reader. However, the former tried to assert in the domain for foreign policy, believing in his traditional formula: if Pakistan normalises with India, there would be less, and gradually zero, room for the army to stay relevant politically and strategically. Moreover, since the civil government has already bowed down by providing military courts and governance role even in Punjab, the military has no reason to stage coup. It is this conviction, which in my view, is at work with reference to inviting, first, India’s premier Modi and, now, businessman, Sajjan Jindal to Pakistan apparently without consulting the security establishment. Moreover, it is likely the civil government might have approached the Americans, reference Ishaq Dar’s recent visit to the US, to score a point over the army, at least in politically. Nevertheless, contrary to social media based conspiracy theories, it would be naïve on the part of the US to meddle in the domestic politics of Pakistan when the US is least interested in the county and has, instead, established strategic relations with India. Importantly, the past coups were never staged on the orders of the US. A basic text on US-Pakistan relations will be sufficient in this respect. In addition, Pakistan was brought closer to the US by the past military regimes of Ayub, Zia and Musharraf.
Another dimension of the Sharifs’ logic is domestic, whereby the PML-N, as a political party, is busy confronting its political opponents. Indeed, Nawaz Sharif’s speech in Okara reflects the party’s collective wisdom on the matter. Maryam’s tweets could be seen in this respect. Nerveless, the government’s approach of establishing civilian control of the military is, in my opinion, flawed and has instead caused a crisis in civil-military relations where the possibility of a coup cannot be ruled out given the military agency. However, a coup is always illegal and unconstitutional with political and economic cost. Will the military afford that? If so, will Pakistan afford that given plethora of problems the country is struggling with?
My answer is in the negative and I would urge our civil and military leadership to resolve the crisis within the constitutional framework. Pakistan’s survival in the 21st century onwards is contingent on adherence to the constitution on the part of every state institution and a citizen. Remember, if Pakistan’s interest as a state and society is compromised on account of any institutional interest, it is the state institutions, the society and overall the country that will suffer from within and outside as ours is a divided society with a weak state, struggling to establish its writ in a hostile regional and international environment. Lingering of the crisis or imposition of coup will put Pakistan in the past, not the future, and our neighbours (especially India) will surpass us economically and geostrategically. Pakistan’s initial and ultimate survival lay constitutional rule, balanced civil-military relations, tolerance and peace.
Source: dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/05-May-17/pakistan-between-crisis-and-coup
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Mapping the Future of Fata
By Ayaz Wazir
May 5, 2017
The conferences and seminars on Fata, that I have attended so far, have one thing in common: analysts from Fata are invariably outnumbered by analysts from outside Fata. The outnumbering in number is understandable. But the outnumbering in analysis and the way forward is beyond comprehension.
The analysis of experts from Fata is based on the firsthand personal knowledge and experience while the assessment of those from outside Fata depends largely on references from the old record and books written by British officers who had served in the region during the British Raj in the Subcontinent. And since a majority of participants in such conferences neither belong to Fata nor have they visited or worked in the region, they are easily swayed by inferences from the past rather than solid suggestions based on facts and the ground realities.
This was precisely the case at a recently held roundtable conference on mapping the future of Fata by a well-known think tank in Islamabad. Analysts from outside Fata had a field day. They were listened to more carefully and attentively than their counterparts from Fata.
Mapping, according to the Oxford dictionary, means “a graphic symbolic representation of the significant features of a part of the surface of the earth”. When this job is required to be done, it is given to those who have the required expertise and the firsthand knowledge of the area. Keeping this factor in view, when the mapping of Fata’s future was to be done one assumed that the job would be assigned to the people of Fata. However, that was not the case. The job was given to people who did not belong to Fata and had no firsthand knowledge of the situation. These inexperienced people were involved in making recommendations for mapping the future of Fata.
This way of dealing with Fata is not only unjust and unfair, but it contributes heavily to the sufferings of the people in the region. This attitude needs to be changed or else it will continue adding to the people’s sufferings, irrespective of the measures that are taken in the days ahead.
Although the government claims to be willing to mainstream Fata, at the same time it refuses to make the locals stakeholders who can share responsibility like people elsewhere in the country. The government wants to do everything itself without the involvement of the locals. That the Fata Reforms Committee does not include a single person from the region is a case in point. Even in the subsequent committees that the governor of KP constituted for the purpose of proposing and executing the 10-year development projects in Fata, local representation was missing.
For the first time, Fata will be coming out of the shackles of tribalism to join the country’s democratic system. It would be suitable if the process is initiated through democratic principles where only the people of the area – and no one else – will have the right to decide matters.
This right must be given to the people of Fata if the government believes in the principles of democracy and that is what matters the most for the mapping of Fata’s future.
According to the announced policy, Fata is to be merged with KP. But after five years and for 10 years, the federal government will provide funds for the development and the reconstruction of that region. Since a new entity (Fata) with a population of about 15 million people will be joining the province, it is natural that people of both regions will have reservations about the distribution of national resources between them.
To make sure that nothing goes wrong, particularly in the initial stages, it would be in the interest of both if an agreement is reached between them. According to this agreement, the governor of the province for that period should be appointed from Fata to supervise the utilisation of the funds (Rs110 billion per annum for 10 years) and ensure that it is spent in the development of the region and not misappropriated like the money donated by foreign governments for development of Fata and the rehabilitation of its internally displaced people.
An additional advantage of appointing a governor from Fata is that since he would know better than anyone else which project is suitable for which area. This will also ensure that the earmarked funds are spent on projects that exist on the ground and are not simply on paper as was the case in the past.
The top two positions in the province – the chief minister and the governor – should not belong to one area. If the chief minister is from KP, the governor should be from Fata and vice versa. This arrangement should continue even after the initial stage of integration as the people of Fata will take time to fully integrate politically and be in a position to safeguard their interests.
The people of Fata are kept in a cage-like situation under the Frontier Crimes Regulations and are not allowed to interact freely with the outside world. In this modern age, they are denied access to the internet and the mobile telephone system despite the fact that the facility is available and used by government servants and law-enforcement agencies in that area.
The government, for the time being, is pre-occupied with the Panama leaks controversy. As such, it looks difficult that it will have time to pay attention to the process of reforms in Fata.
However, when it comes out of the problem and begins to keep its promises on Fata, the only way to do that will be to involve people from the region in every decision that concerns Fata. If this is not done, the so-called Fata reforms will be a futile exercise.
Source: thenews.com.pk/print/202508-Mapping-the-future-of-Fata
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Made in Pakistan
By Chris Cork
May 4, 2017
It is not every day of the week that you meet a bona-fide magician. A person who conjures wonderful things from seemingly thin air. But behind a red door in deepest ‘Pindi there lives and works Mr Ibrahim, a prestidigitator par-excellence. He doesn’t do rabbits, Mr Ibrahim. Or saw people in half. He does cars. Cars. And they are a wonder to behold.
Not any old cars of course, dear me no. These are cars with a pedigree that reaches back to 1909 in England when the first Morgan cars rolled off the production line. They were a front-engined 3-wheeler and went like stink in their day. They still do and the Morgan Motor Company remains a thriving business. The likelihood of their knowledge of a remote outpost wherein the Morgan ethos and handbuilt ethic still runs strong and true is remote, and I doubt that Mr Ibrahim presents much of a threat to the marque as he runs what is probably the slowest production line in the world at around 4.5 units per year.
He does not pretend that these are ‘real’ Morgan’s — they are four wheels rather than three for starters — but there is a close family resemblance. Up front there is a 660cc Suzuki engine rather than the very grunty 1300cc’s that power the ‘regular’ version, and it rolls on motorcycle rims, has Fiat tractor headlights and does about 17 miles to the litre. If you want one it is going to cost you around $10,000, not cheap but then class never is.
And the workmanship! My-my the workmanship! The workshop has a small team of what Mr Ibrahim called ‘engineers’ which for me places them somewhere above the run-of-the-mill mechanic who are the magician’s assistants, and in true magician style there is going to be a lady assistant in the future. A young girl who put in a brief appearance during my visit and who, I was informed, ‘is a natural’ when it comes to all things nutty and spannery. She will be offered a traineeship once she completes her education. My opinion of Mr Magic Fingers went up a notch.
There were two ‘Morgans’ in the shop, one that belongs to a doctor in Lahore that needed a couple of tweaks, the other an in-production vehicle. But the real dream job was at the back. A replica of the world’s most expensive car (…so I am told, correct me if I am wrong) — the Bugatti Royale, of which only seven were ever made, is in-process. The original monster was a seven-litre straight-eight and it was too expensive even for the European royalty of the 1930s for whom Ettore Bugatti designed it. The Mr Ibrahim version will have two V-4’s coupled together and it is several years off completion, but given the level of magical forces surrounding his workshop I feel sure that one day it will grace the probably astonished streets of ‘Pindi.
And why bother to rattle on about a luxury product in a country that is poverty-stricken and prey to all manner of ills and vices? Because this is the best of Pakistan, that’s why. I have singled out the micro-production of Mr Ibrahim’s faux-Morgans because there is a considerable ‘hidden industry’ beavering away under the radar. The industry that restored the 1914 model Rolls-Royce that graces the foyer of a five-star hotel in Islamabad. It is worth paying a visit just to get your selfie taken standing next to it. The industry that is nurtured by the Vintage Car Club of Pakistan and the numerous and sometimes slightly batty enthusiasts that keep any number of Volkswagen Beetles on the road, some of them rather exotic. A bright yellow restored VW Combi recently got itself on the silver screen in Chalay Thay Saath. Another Combi in urgent need of some tender loving care passed through Bahawalpur a couple of years back. Also in Bahawalpur there is the 1939 model Ford V8 station wagon having pride of place in front of the museum.
None of this is the stuff of headlines, but all of it is worthy of some quietly modest recognition. Made in Pakistan huh? Yup…and distinctly proud of it.
Source: tribune.com.pk/story/1400339/made-in-pakistan-3/
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What We Cannot Hide From
By Asha'ar Rehman
May 5th, 2017
IT’S an old topic. Only some fresh evidence adds to the urgency of the situation. There was a news item in the papers saying a few thousand donkey hides were discovered in a Karachi locality. But there was more than an element of relief for the proud Karachiites in the story. It quoted a local police officer as saying that while the hides had been discovered ‘here’ the meat of the donkeys they once belonged to had been consumed in Lahore. Just like that. Categorical. No investigation was required. Matter closed.
The response was not a surprise, rooted firmly as it was in the Lahoris’ somewhat recent but fast-growing reputation as eaters of donkey meat. Those who vetted the story in the newsroom were alive enough to the reality to put in those necessary paragraphs about what cruelties the beast of the burden has of late been allegedly subjected to in Lahore. There were the very nauseating usual references to how raids over the last couple of years or so had yielded thousands of kilograms of donkey meat sold most probably as beef.
These revelations have given the Zinda Dilan a permanent source of discussion. And whenever it looks as if the topic is fading out in the wake of other day-to-day concerns there is a news report somewhere, like this latest one from Karachi, which forced the discussion on the meat which we eat to return to conversations with its usual sighs and grimaces.
There were the usual references to how raids had yielded thousands of kilograms of donkey meat sold most probably as beef.
With all these disturbing stories doing the rounds for so long, little has emerged to suggest that the residents of Lahore are in a mood to demand a bigger say in the provision of what they eat. The people are content with silent condemnation and the rights groups that we have perhaps think that the matter is not important enough to warrant an intervention from them. The political parties appear to think similarly, bar a half-hearted attempt at passing a resolution by an opposition member in the Punjab Assembly.
In the circumstances, the activism is restricted to government officials. It is said that they want to be Shahbaz Sharif when they grow up. This city has watched with much excitement and some admiration the onslaught by one Ayesha Mumtaz who according to many of the aggrieved was out to grab the livelihood of Lahore’s restaurant owners. Following her removal from the scene after she provided some of the most devastating images in the Punjab capital’s history, another government officer Noorul Amin Mengal was found chasing all kind of adulterators with full might in his new role as the food authority head.
The most salient and unexpected aspect to Mengal’s campaign were the advertisements in newspapers that named brands his authority found fault with. These included some very famous names which had turned out to be unfit for consumption or simply fake. This was a very revealing moment even though so many of us thought that the ad campaign by default betrayed the government’s own failures.
The campaign was proof that the official machinery tasked with the job had so far been unable to check the production and sale of food items unfit for human consumption. At the same time, the highly publicised drive was questioned since it tended to sensationalise the issue, something governments often accuse others of doing to score quick points. The angriest critics of the government dismissed the charge spearheaded by Mengal with much fanfare as an attempt at eclipsing other problems that were officially not handled for want of will or for lacking in sensational value.
Be that as it may, the loud campaign by the government against bad food items failed to draw any kind of response asking for reform by the typically laid-back Lahore population hiding conveniently behind a cosy exterior of bridges, roads and modern bus networks.
This attitude allows the inhabitants of this proud and privileged city to ignore so many unwanted incidents in their midst. It seems to be by and large blissfully unaware of the negative happenings and trends associated with it not only by those who the Lahoris say are jealous of them but by this wonderful town’s well-wishers as well. It is incredible how a city with the kind of exposure Lahore has had could shrug off instances of a makeshift shabby facility in one of its well-known localities offering kidney transplantation to foreigners.
It is sad that some of those who must be leading the city’s thrust towards a truly civilised modern metropolis — doctors, government officials, even journalists — choose to hide behind convenient explanations when an FIA raid lifts the veil on an illegal kidney facility we all had a feeling existed somewhere close to us.
Doctors and others often give the justification that a kidney sold is not one but two lives saved. If this theory sounds strong enough to those who forward it, let them lobby with the lawmakers openly instead of acting as silent conspirators.
Let the protest not be limited to sighs and an occasional grimace and once in a while a short-lived vow to stay away from a certain hospital or a particular offering on the dinner menu. And there was little evidence that Lahore was in any way likely anytime soon to throw up a group of people who have the know-how of guiding and pressurising the government to ensure a truly clean city. This leaves us totally dependent on government machinery.
More than 4,000 donkey hides? It must have taken some sustained activity for the exporters to collect that great a number. Surely, somewhere someone must have noticed some suspicious work undertaken by what increasingly appears to be a large organised group behind the collection of donkey hides and their export allegedly to China. Let’s not treat it as a concession to a friend who is to soon carry us into a new world via CPEC.
Source: dawn.com/news/1331058/what-we-cannot-hide-from
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Exclusive On Dawn's 'Exclusive'
By M Ziauddin
05-May-17
There are three players in the so-called ‘Dawn Leaks’ tale. But the ensuing debate raging since the publication of the story in question has turned the tale virtually into a civil-military tussle with the latter taking it for granted, one presumes, that Dawn had willingly obliged the former by accommodating the leaked ‘plant’ on its front page.
Not that the government is not capable of planting stories. Governments do manipulate compliant media and Nawaz government is no exception. But I find it almost impossible to believe that that is what had happened in the case of Dawn’s ‘Exclusive’. The Newspaper abides by a strict code of ethics. I should know, because I had served the newspaper for almost thirty years in various editorial capacities. It has its own peculiar culture that does not let you take liberties with professional ethics.
In the first place no story as important as the one the Newspaper published on October 6, 2016 (Exclusive: Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military) under the by-line of Cyril Almeida would have gone straight on to the front page just because the reporter known for his integrity and credibility as a professional journalist had filed it. Without fail such stories would land on the Editor’s desk for his judgment call.
It was, I am more than sure, the Editor’s decision to go with the story after he had had the reporter satisfy him that it was not a plant by an interested source and that it was based on interviews of credible sources and that he had obtained versions of all concerned.
Strangely disturbing was the Military officials’ response on being asked for their version: ‘They declined to comment’. Please note, they knew beforehand at least the salient features of the still to be published story but did neither deny nor contradict the story when they had the opportunity to do so; and they did not even think it prudent to try to talk to the Publisher and the Editor of Dawn to explain to them that publishing such a story at this point in time, in their opinion, would not be in the national interest and that it would compromise national security.
It is difficult to understand why the military officials did not do what they should have done before the story was published. And it is even more difficult to understand why the institution has made a mountain out of a molehill after it was published and the government had duly issued a curt denial.
The entire post- publication affair seems to have thrown the never ending saga of our civil-military distrust into bold relief on the international front, not helping in any way our security concerns. A committee was formed to identify the ‘whistle-blower’ failing which the government was allowed no option other than dismissing those who in their opinion should have stopped its publication and also those they assumed had ‘leaked’ and ‘planted’ the story. So, the three scapegoats. But still the tussle continues.
The very fact that the Editor decided to publish the story suggests that he had judged the story to be in public interest and also that its publication would not compromise national security. Indeed, there was nothing in the information contained in story which most well informed Pakistanis and Pakistan watchers outside did not already know except for the news that the civilians had confronted the institution with it. That is what perhaps the establishment did not like to see in cold print. But perhaps the publication of the story did spotlight a chronic fault-line in our on-going war against terrorism and in the process created the right kind of framework for future cooperation between the civil administration and the military institution in tackling the threats that the country is facing.
It is but natural for those who know very little about Dawn’s culture and the professionalism of its senior editorial staff to suspect some kind of conspiracy behind the whole affair. But I for one would find it very difficult to believe Dawn would allow itself to be used by the ruling party or for that matter by any other branch of the government.
Since the Dawn story was based on sources that had preferred to remain anonymous, it was again the Editor’s decision whether or not to go with the story. And I am sure the Editor took the final decision after having weighed the news value of the report, having satisfied himself that it was in public interest, having had the reporter double and triple check the information and having had the reporter tested it against inaccuracies and slants.
Even the most credible newspapers in the world carry on almost daily basis contradictions and clarifications of stories they had published on the previous day, week, month and even years before. Dawn is no exception. And Dawn also has what is called the Readers’ Editor in the person of Mr Mohammad Ali Siddiqui, one of country’s most senior journalists, an upright professional. Trained at the BBC, he is a hardnosed newsman but not one of those who would not let truth come in the way of a good sensational story.
Protection of sources is well recognised in international law as a key principle underpinning press freedom. Of course, before granting anonymity, the reporter/Editor must consider the motivations of the source and be wary of possible manipulation. The reporter should always guard against being used by sources that have their own personal, class or some narrow government or state agenda. Such stories are called ‘plants’ and journalists should avoid such tainted information coming from ‘interested’ sources at all costs. While using leaked classified documents whose origin appears dubious the reporter should consult the legal advisor of the media organisation with the permission of the Editor. I believe, Dawn had walked this entire lane before going ahead with the publication of the ‘Exclusive’.
Source: dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/05-May-17/exclusive-on-dawns-exclusive
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Hillary Still Firm in Denial Mode
By M D Nalapat
DESPITE the abuse showered on him, that the 45th President of the United States was a misogynist, Donald Trump acted the gentleman in refusing to investigate and subsequently prosecute Hillary Rodham Clinton on the numerous charges that had been levelled against her for months during 2016. This was a statesman-like decision, for vindictive action against a former rival for the Presidency could have set up a precedent, where each President sought to get either his election rival or his predecessor in legal jeopardy. Had a prosecution been launched against Hillary Clinton, it would have been that rather than the Clinton-inspired charges against Trump that would have dominated television and print coverage in the US. Instead, now that the barrage of criticism of Trump seems to be having an impact on voters, Hillary Clinton has begun the process of coming out of the shadows of silence, beginning by giving an interview to a correspondent wo since the 1990s has been a fervent booster of the Clintons and their policies, Christiane Amanpour of CNN.
Graciously, the former First Lady did not accuse FBI Director James Comey of having taken bribes from the Kremlin in order to, in her view, poison the minds of voters about her. Such an assertion makes little sense, for all that Comey did was to reveal the truth, that there were unanswered queries about Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for official correspondence. This would have made even the most confidential of communications of the then Secretary of State accessible to employees of the family-controlled Clinton Foundation. This entity itself received more than a billion dollars from foreign governments who would have been delirious with joy were they to have access to some of the communications of Hillary Clinton, an official who was in the direct line of succession to the Presidency, were the President and the Vice-President to become incapacitated.
Because of what may be termed the Trump Amnesty to the Clintons, as yet the public are not in the know of the actual provenance of several hundred million dollars in the Clinton Foundation’s kitty. Those in Washington familiar with the workings of the Clinton political machine say that intensive efforts are ongoing to try and secure information on the activities of the Trump family (notably the sons, daughter and son-in-law of the President). The expectation is that one or more of them can be charged with an offence, even if these be technical in nature. Indeed, by agreeing to be appointed as Counsellors to the President in order to get the legal right to view classified information, both Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have put themselves in danger of future prosecution, as the bar for action against such appointees is low.
Even technical breaches of the law may be sufficient to ensure a rough time ahead legally for the two individuals, of whom Ivanka is known to be an idealist and Jared a superbly efficient taskmaster. As was mentioned in these columns in June 2015, Hillary Clinton was as likely to lose to Donald John Trump as Bernie Sanders was poised to win. More than anything else, it was the way in which the Clinton machine pushed aside the Sanders campaign that resulted in the defeat of the Democratic nominee in the 2016 Presidential elections. It was not Vladimir Putin or Julian Assange who used every trick in the political repertoire to ensure that Sanders was denied the Democratic Party nomination. Ironically, the Vermont Senator was told to back Hillary Clinton loudly and often “in order to defeat Donald Trump”, when in fact the very nomination of Hillary Clinton made a Trump victory on November 8, 2016 all but inevitable.
Why Bernie Sanders did not keep his word to the people of his country and oppose Hillary Clinton on the convention floor remains a secret that perhaps this brilliant and dedicated fighter for the common man will someday answer. What put Trump across the finish line was that he was much more authentic in his outreach to the voter than Hillary Clinton. Subsequently, it became known that even questions asked in the Presidential debates were passed on to the Democratic nominee, so that she could give prepared answers to them that her focus groups were assured would resonate with the voter.
Unfortunately for the Democratic Party nominee, her prepared answers sounded the way they were, packaged in advance without reflecting her true views. In contrast, Trump came across as sincere, even when he made mistakes or gave answers that were sometimes seen as politically incorrect and even offensive to many. Throughout the campaign, Donald Trump held two aces, his wife Melania and his daughter Ivanka. Both were composed throughout, and presented a side of the Trump campaign that was appealing even to those who did not intend to vote for the Republican Party nominee. A visitor to Washington will not fail to absorb the fear that is caused by the power of the Clinton political machine. There are instances in plenty of the way in which the Clintons have wreaked revenge on those who they regarded as opposed to their political success.
Of course, even those who helped were not given much joy, unless they were part of the numerous cliques that were totally beholden to the Clintons. An example was the lady member of the House of Representatives who destroyed her political career after voting for a legislative measure that was hugely unpopular with her voters. According to insiders in Washington, the lady was simply left to her fate, despite the sacrifice of a promising political career just to give President Bill Clinton a legislative victory. Even in defeat, as evidenced by the silent but effective campaign post the November 8 election to ensure that Hillary Clinton got a Trump Amnesty, the Clinton machine is the most feared and ferocious in Washington.
The co-chair of that machine, Hillary Clinton, remains in denial about the fact that it was he personality and her actions that led to defeat on November 8, 2016, and not a combination of Comey and Putin. This columnist has said before, and will repeat, that Hillary Clinton ought to have kept her desire to be President in check and allowed another nominee to face Trump in 2016, ideally Bernie Sanders. Subsequently, they could help elect Chelsea Clinton as a member of the House of Representatives and later as Governor of New York. The fact remains that Chelsea Clinton has a far better chance to be a lady President of the US than her mother, whose personality and actions made it possible for Donald John Trump to do the impossible and get elected President of the world’s most powerful country.
Source: pakobserver.net/hillary-still-firm-denial-mode/
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From Russia with Love
By Sultan M Hali
THIS scribe is rendering this piece from Russia’s historical metropolis Saint Petersburg. Having been invited to attend the VI Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS), I found it opportune to combine the moot with personal sightseeing. MCIS addresses the most pressing problems of global and regional security. This year it was organized in the backdrop of the ensuing war in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan. The core issue at the plenary session was the fight against international terrorism, security issues in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the role of the military departments in enhancing security in various regions of the world. Counter-terrorism and counter radicalism in the Middle East, security of information space, BMD implications, and security in Central Asia were in the spotlight of separate discussion sessions of the Forum.
The organizers had taken pains to not only make the participants comfortable but also ensure that the burning issues were addressed and discussed in the most professional manner. Ministers of Defence from 29 countries led their respective delegations along with senior military personnel and security analysts who conversed on the problems prevailing globally. This scribe was afforded the opportunity to express his opinion in the session on Security in Central Asia: Afghan factor. On the day of the arrival, Anatoly I Antonov, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation hosted a Welcome cocktail for the participants while Pakistan’s Ambassador to Moscow welcomed the Pakistani delegation to a dinner.
The Conference was a roaring success. At the end of day one, General Sergey Shoygu, Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation hosted a reception for the participants. Besides serving sumptuous Russian cuisine, cultural troupes from the Russian Army, Navy and Air Force kept the guests enthralled with music and traditional dances. At the conclusion of the Symposium, the grand finale was a three and half hours boat cruise on the River Moskva. Delicacies from Russia were constantly served while different musical groups and troupes presented Russian songs, dances and music. Throughout the boat cruise, Moskva River was kept clear of other traffic to ensure the safety and security of the guests.
Having stayed on for sightseeing, visits to Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi Theatre occupied me for three days. Having caught short glimpses of Kremlin in various movies, I had a certain idea about Kremlin but was not prepared for the elegant grandeur that greeted me when I stepped inside. Walled Kremlin is an array of museums, cathedrals and palaces. The city has been razed by Mongols, French, Germans and other invaders but like a phoenix rising out of ashes, it has managed to regain its splendour. The Bolshevik revolution and the two world wars have left their marks but failed to subdue the elegance and magnificence of this ancient capital.
Even when Peter the Great moved the capital to St Petersburg, Russia’s rulers continued to leave their mark on the medieval town. Peter himself built the Kremlin Arsenal, originally planned as a military museum and now occupied by a barracks and the 18th and 19thcenturies brought Neoclassical masterpieces such as the Senate Building and the Great Kremlin Palace. After the 1917 Revolution, the Kremlin regained its rightful place as the seat of the Russian government, and the legacy of the Communist era is still visible in the large red stars that adorn many of the defensive towers, and in the vast, modern State Kremlin Palace, originally the Palace of Congresses.
Lying at the very centre of the Kremlin, the Sobornaya or Cathedral Square traditionally is the junction of all the main streets of the Kremlin. The square’s name relates to the great cathedrals that stand here – Blagoveshchensky Sobor (The Cathedral of the Annunciation), Uspensky Sobor (The Cathedral of The Assumption), and Arkhangelsky Sobor (The Cathedral of The Archangel), as well as the Church of the Twelve Apostles, and The Church of the Deposition of the Robe. This was once the stage for official parades to mark the coronations of the Tsars, and also of massed religious processions on great church holidays. On the Red Steps of the Faceted Chamber the sovereigns of Russia would appear before their people, and in front of these steps foreign ambassadors were traditionally welcomed to the city. Every building apart from the modern construction has a historical value. Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, Kazan Cathedral, Church of the Saviour on Blood, Peter and Paul Fortresses as well as the Winter Palace are some of the major attractions. The Winter Palace, which is now known as the Hermitage is one of the largest art museums of the world. It hosts art collections from international artists like Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, Heinrich von Brühl, Pierre Crozat, Horace Walpole, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Leonardo da Vinci, Tiepolo, van Dyck, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet, and Pissarro, numerous canvasses by Van Gogh, Matisse, Gaugin and several sculptures by Rodin and Michael Angelo among others.
The collection is both enormous and diverse and is an essential stop for all those interested in art and history. The experts say that if you were to spend a minute looking at each exhibit on display in Hermitage, you would need 11 years before you’d seen them all. Having visited Louvre in Paris or Versailles Palace in France or MET in New York, Hermitage was a pleasant surprise. For far too long, having been shrouded in mystery behind Iron Curtain, Russians are now keen to emerge as an affable and hospitable nation, which boasts of millennia of history and is definitely worth visiting.
Source: pakobserver.net/from-russia-with-love/
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Who Does Donald Trump Represent?
By Dr Imran Iqbal
05-May-17
Once considered a ‘wild-card’ for the American ‘Deep-State’ or ‘Military-Industrial-Complex’ (MIC), Donald Trump is now dubbed as a puppet in its hands. The neo-cons hawkish and warmonger’s fear that Trump might become ‘America First’ isolationist, undermining the role and power of military establishment and damaging the profit of military contractors have evaporated in the thin air after he retracted from his promise to depart from the ‘interventionist-policy’ of the previous presidents, especially Barack Obama.
On the contrary, Trump has become the leading proponent of an enhanced and pro-active role of US military in various regions especially in the Middle East geopolitics. His decision to launch missile strike against the Syrian air base, send more US soldiers in Syria and undo nuclear deal with Iran is like music to MIC-sponsored hawkish and warmongers. Moreover, Trump administration provocative and belligerent posture towards North Korea, threatening to launch pre-emptive strikes on Pyongyang with nuclear-capable submarines, warships, and intercontinental ballistic missiles is indicative of the fact that MIC business would continue flourish. Elsewhere in South Asia, Trump administration dropped an 11-ton bomb (mother of all bombs) on eastern Afghanistan and sending more US marines back to Afghanistan’s volatile province, Helmand. So why instead of making good on his promise to depart from Obama’s interventionist’s policies, Trump is furthering his legacy?
In his recent interview with Latin American TeleSUR TV, the Syrian President Bashar-al-Assad has offered a more plausible answer to Trumps rather topsy-turvy. Assad argued that Trump is ‘not a truly independent political leader but merely a puppet of US corporations, military and intelligence, and who serves their interests’. He asserted that Trump pursues ‘no own policies’ but only executes the decisions made by the American-Deep-State or MIC. According to Assad it is ‘American-Deep-State’ (the intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, the big arms manufacturers, oil companies, and financial institutions) which, by controlling US President and his administration, determines the course of US foreign policy.
Assad’s assertions resonate with the fears and concerns of President Eisenhower and Senator William Fulbright who, six decades ago, had warned the American public of the dangerous rise and power of MIC. In his farewell address to the nation in January 1961, President Eisenhower cautioned the American of the growing nexus between an immense military establishment and a large arms industry whose political, economic and even spiritual influence, he believed, had permeated in every city, every State house, and every office of the Federal government. Against this backdrop, Eisenhower particularly advised the American public to guard against the influence and ever growing power of MIC. He believed that ‘every gun that was made in US, every warship that was launched and every rocket that was fired signified in the final sense, ‘a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed’.
Irrespective of Eisenhower’s warning, the American public and their elected Congressmen failed, by and large, to prevent MIC’s influenced, or, perhaps, controlled Presidents and their administrations from instigating conflicts and wars in various regions. This is because MIC, prior to Eisenhower awakening, had permeated the electoral politics/system of the US, sponsoring and getting elected the ‘pro-MIC’ with ingenious minds like Robert S. McNamara, US Secretary of Defence who had served as the first non-Ford family member and have held the position of president at Ford Company. Playing as a front-man for MIC, McNamara personally oversaw thousands of nuclear weapons, billions of dollars in military spending, foreign arms sales and masterminded a number of military missions, especially the Bay of Pigs invasion. At President Lyndon Johnson behest, McNamara deliberately escalated war in Vietnam, approving the use of lavish firepower in the conduct of war which turned Vietnam into bombs dropping field, where stocks were depleted to warrant new orders. This enabled MIC sponsored warmongers to justify an exponential increase in the defence budget and as defence spending surged well over $600 million with Defence Department spending around $80 million a day on Vietnam War, the MIC began to swim in immense profits. This led none other than Henry Ford to confess that Ford Motor Co., along with other major US banks and corporations belonged to those classes of financiers who not only profited from wars but also used their influence to bring about wars for profit. The dirty and dangerous politics of American Deep State also prompted Senator William Fulbright to speak of MIC as ‘a direct threat to American democracy’.
Thus, Trump is not only a puppet but also a product of the American Deep State which effectively controls and dominates the political and electoral system in the US. Furthermore, the Deep-State has kept the ‘conscious’ and ‘free-judgement’ of peace and freedom loving American hostage to an environment of threats and insecurity. It does this by controlling the production and dissemination of knowledge, information and threat perception. Therefore, for the American Deep State rather than US, ‘the end justifies the means, no values, no morals at all, anything could happen.’
Source: dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/05-May-17/who-does-donald-trump-represent
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/pakistan-press/pakistan-between-crisis-coup-new/d/111026