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 Shifting
Sands of Afghanistan
Comprehensive
overview of the changing times in this war-torn nation.
[HAMID HUSSAIN]
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Wran wijar,
wijar Afghanistan winam
Sanga lutye lutye proot kaur da Afghan winam
(I see the shattered land of Afghanistan the looted
home of Afghan is in front of me)
Introduction
After the removal of Taliban
in 2002, there was quiet for a while on Afghan front.
United States started its second military campaign
in Iraq in 2003. Last few months have seen escalating
violence in Afghanistan. There are many state and
non-actors performing on the stage of Afghanistan,
which makes any comprehensive analysis almost impossible.
The crisis of Afghanistan is a complex one as the
conflict involves 'internal armed factions with extensive
foreign links, neighbouring states that pursue competing
strategic interests, and ultra-regional players who
have ideological, security, or economic stakes in
the chaos'.
This article will review present
volatile situation of Afghanistan looking at different
players active in Afghanistan. The article will specifically
elaborate the role played by different state and non-state
elements in Afghanistan. It will also analyze the
role of Afghan individuals and groups and its impact
on the future of Afghanistan. The article will end
with possible future scenarios and its impact on region....more
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Japan
- A Power Without Arms
New Defence
Legislation
[EAS BOKHARI]
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Japan's defence posture is nearly quizzical if not
altogether paradoxical, and surprisingly and with
a fair amount of modesty the Japanese prefer to call
their Armed Forces as 'Self- Defence Forces'. This
I suppose is quite a bit of understatement. All the
same the present Japanese defence posture under no
circumstances could be termed as 'Militarism' as it
was during the early thirties and forties.
My impression based on a modest interaction with
some Japanese military officers is that the new intake
has only a very faint idea of the volatile Japanese
militarism for which Japan was famous throughout the
world during the early part of the nineteenth century.
The new brood of officers blatantly abhor the very
word 'militarism' which they think is something ugly
and unchivalrous if not totally ignorable.
It is good that the Japanese have realized the truism
that, 'Weapons don't make war', and it is the economic
power which really matters in war. And by not engaging
themselves in excessive militarism, the Japanese industry
had burgeoned and presently the Japanese economy is
one of the strongest in the world. Japan in fact is
a power without arms. For that matter Japan can fabricate
any weapons system she wishes at will, but is not
doing it....more
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Iran's
Nuclear Ambitions
Iran's
nuclear programme.
[Gp Capt (Retd) S M HALI]
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Joby Warrick, Washington Post Staff Writer's story
'Iran Admits Foreign Help on Nuclear Facility' published
in the "Washington Post" on Wednesday,
August 27, 2003 stating that: "Iran has admitted
for the first time that it received substantial
foreign help in building a secret nuclear facility
south of Tehran that is now beginning to enrich
uranium, turning it into a key ingredient in the
manufacture of nuclear weapons, according to UN
documents and diplomatic sources" should not
come as a surprise.
Only a day earlier, Associated Press writer, George
Jahn had reported from Vienna in his story titled:
'UN Finds Uranium at Iran Nuclear Plant' stating
that "UN inspectors found traces of highly
enriched, weapons-grade uranium at an Iranian nuclear
facility, a report by the UN nuclear agency says.
Iran said Tuesday the traces came with equipment
purchased abroad decades ago. The find heightened
concerns that Tehran may be running a secret nuclear
weapons programme. Agency inspectors found 'particles'
of highly enriched uranium that could be used in
a weapons programme at the facility at Natanz, said
the report prepared for a meeting of the UN agency's
board Sept. 8 in Vienna. Diplomats who requested
anonymity made contents of the report known to The
Associated Press. The United States has accused
Iran of developing a clandestine nuclear weapons
programme, violating the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty barring the spread of atomic weapons.....more
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