Articles published in The Pioneer

Grave new world
The Iraq war is over. When the US unleashed its state-of-the-art weaponry on Iraq's innocent people, the world was vocal in its stand. Millions thronged the streets the world over in protest. France, Germany, Russia and China-all UN Security Council members- protested the attack. But the US showed it was the world's sole superpower and did not care too much about world opinion. Now the Americans pretty much control Iraqi oil, its people and the borders of another arch enemy: Iran.

Is this the new millennium, or are we travelling backwards in time? Imperialism is once again staring us in the face. The US flag can be seen fluttering in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan, South Korea, Japan, the UK, many of the NATO countries, a host of South American nations... The list goes on. Most of what Hitler did before and during World War II has been done by Uncle Sam's diplomacy. Where dollar diplomacy failed, the US pretty much resorted to aggression such as in Iraq. It is time for the world to wake up. There is no longer any doubt the US has one agenda: World domination.

While India rejoices in building a fighter like Tejas, which may or may not be superior to the vintage F-16, or in buying a second-hand aircraft-carrier, the US is making giant strides in military technology. It does not care for small aircraft or tanks now. Its technology is way ahead of other nations' including Russia and Britain, focusing on state-of-the-art computer technology funded by billions from its massive economy.

Barring Russia, the US presence can be seen wherever there is oil. English is the international language, the dollar the international currency and Hollywood films the international culture. The Americans are simply everywhere.



India's foreign policy has undergone a sea change under the current Government. Not only are we subtly toeing the US line, we are at times going overboard to accommodate them. After having protested Uncle Sam's actions in Iraq, we are actually mulling the decision of sending troops to Iraq! What the break-up of the former Soviet Union and Indian liberalisation could not do, the war on terror has done. It has apparently led to the formation of a bond between the two 'democracies'. True, the rapidly growing Indian economy has played its part in luring the US. The future however, may well be decided by who sides with the world leader, especially to crush jihad.



Is India doing the right thing by siding with US? The chances are that it's a shrewd move. Other than the reasons already mentioned, a significant motive for the US to keep India happy is that it needs an ally to check growing Chinese influence in the region. India needs to take advantage of this. Another aspect is Pakistan. It might be playing the role of 'best-friends' with the US for now. But the fact remains it is the hotbed of terrorism and hatred for both US and India runs deep with the majority of its population. Pakistan is also China's steadfast ally, making the US lean on India to counter the Chinese.



As for trade relations, the NRI community in US is growing by the day; so is the foreign exchange generated from trade. Now that the UN has been exposed as the toothless body it is, India perhaps has no choice. The Iraq war was wrong and we were correct to condemn it, but it is over. It is time to help rebuild Iraq now, and boost the Indian economy in the process. While the majority might oppose sending Indian troops to Iraq on moral grounds, they need to see the ground reality of the new world order.

Gulf winds again
The start of arms inspections in Iraq by UN inspectors seems to have made some headway in preventing another devastating war. But is this going to be enough? How far is US President George W Bush willing to go to provoke Iraq? While Mr Bush has shown an uncanny determination (previously seen only in his zeal to win the presidential elections) to finish what his father had left started in 1991, this time he might be biting off more than he can chew (no reference to a pretzel intended).

The toothless UN has, for a change, got support from Russia, France and Germany in its attempts to stop an invasion of Iraq. While the UK continues to unconditionally back Uncle Sam, support from the UN Security Council for a war was always unlikely. Mr Bush however, made some bold noises about going on it alone, and reports also came in about the UK making preparations for war. Surprisingly, these came even after the start of weapons inspections.

It may be recalled that UN arms inspectors had earlier been asked to leave Iraq after the Iraqi Government accused them of spying. However, Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix has categorically said that he will not tolerate any 'spies' on his team. Interestingly, he also admitted that he could not rule out the possibility of espionage paraded as arms inspection.

So, while the world breathed a sigh of relief after the arms inspectors were allowed back in Iraq, the trouble still seems to be far from over. This raises the question of why Mr Bush is so adamant about attacking Iraq. The official US stand is that Iraq's possible possession of weapons of mass destruction-which in the hands of Mr Saddam Hussein will supposedly be used against the US-needs to be dealt with.

One fails to grasp one fact though. How can a country with millions of starving people, ravaged by a destructive war and regular US air raids still have the financial clout and the technology to go about producing WMD? Could the US have some other reason for playing a cruel joke on the innocent and suffering people of Iraq? One can only speculate. What about oil? Or, as Gunter Grass recently put it, is Bush Jr just trying to live up to his father's legacy?

What President Bush does not seem to realise is that he is already fighting a war against terrorism. The world evidently has a number of Muslims who completely disagree with him on most issues. Some of them have made this plain through acts of terrorism. As has been justifiably pointed out time and again, an attack on Iraq at this time will further antagonise Mus-lims the world over. A war without the support of the Arab nations can hardly have wisdom, let alone god, on its side. But then, Dubya has one motto: God (read America) save the world.

Wars over the years have entered the homes of people the world over, courtesy the media's shocking or fantastic photographs and video footage. Mention of the Vietnam War conjures up the image of a young girl running, her body on fire, away from a US napalm bomb attack. The Gulf war evokes flashes of oil fields burning and spewing black, lethal smoke and soot into the sky. There are other pictures as well: Hollow, dessicated faces of Iraqi men, women and children and rubble littering the streets of Baghdad, the Arab world's ancient capital. Can Iraq go through it all over again? Is it not an irony that the Americans are trying to rebuild Afghanistan's nascent democracy from scratch on the one hand, while working to reduce Iraq to a broken Afghanistan, on the other?