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 Carnage
in Lebanon
From the Board of Editorial Advisers
Brig (Retd) SAEED ISMAT, SJ, writes about the disproportionate
Israeli response in Lebanon.
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It was widely believed that terror
is a weapon of the weak but as the ‘war on terror’
reveals its real face; one is compelled to acknowledge
that like most weapons, terror is a weapon of the
powerful. Terror is not an ideology as the West would
like the world to believe; it is technique or method
as deplorable as any other method that is aimed at
destruction of innocent people, be it by individuals,
groups or nations. In the aftermaths of 9-11, the
devastation of Afghanistan, the catastrophic invasion
of Iraq and now the horrific destruction of Lebanon
has underscored that Israel is a leading terrorist
state.....more
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The
Qana Massacre
DJ’s Editor SYED JUNAID AHSAN
relives the past and present (1996 - 2006).
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“On April 18 1996, 155 mm Israeli shells
donated by United States for self defense to Israel
were rained down on Lebanese men, women, and children
taking refuge in a UN peace-keeping compound in Qana,
southern Lebanon, to escape Israeli air, sea, and
land bombardment of their towns and villages, and
as a result, the bodies of 102 Arab civilians were
shattered to pieces.
Leading up to the Qana massacre, 17 villages had been
flattened, over a half million people had been rendered
homeless, more than 200 had been murdered, and hundreds
were wounded, in what was named as operation "Grapes
of Wrath". Israeli Prime Minister Peres, who
was granted the Nobel Prize for Peace, ordered the
bombing blitz. The entire world, with the exception
of the White House, condemned this barbaric attack
conducted intentionally against defenseless civilians.”
......more
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Who are the Terrorists?
Columnist
ADNAN GILL says that we must decide who are the real
terrorists?
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These days
the word “terrorist” is thrown around
more often than any other noun we can think of.
Pick up a newspaper or tune into a news channel
- all one sees or hears is somebody attacking another
under the pretext of ‘self-defense’
or ‘war-on-terrorism’. As a rule of
thumb, almost always, the stronger calls the weaker
a terrorist. It seems that all one has to do is
label his/her rival a terrorist, and a license to
wage indiscriminate violence is bestowed upon him/her.
Naturally, one has to wonder who the terrorists
are in reality, and who are the victims in today’s
asymmetric war-on-terrorism? Are the terrorists
whoever the media designates, or the American and
Israeli governments labels as such, or anyone who
dares to question the apartheid practices of governments
like Israel, India, Russia, and etc? ......more
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Israel
and Hezbollah Conflict
Columnist MEHMOOD-UL-HASSAN KHAN makes
a detailed analysis about the undeclared war in Lebanon.
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Fighting is going
on and on in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
According to latest reports 400 Lebanese and 40 Israelis
have also been killed. One million people have been
dislocated/displaced. Israel is destroying the entire
infrastructure of Lebanon - homes, factories, warehouses,
bridges, roads and airports. The physical damage is
estimated to already exceed $2 billion. Condoleezza
Rice has arrived in Middle East to meet with the concerned
people. She consulted with the Prime Ministers of
Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. She clearly showed
her intentions to gain “Durable Peace “
and “Re-shaping of New Middle East” free
from any kind of terrorism......more
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Israel’s
disproportionate war
Columnist HUMERA NIAZI gives an overview
of Israel’s air attacks on Lebanon’s civil
population and infrastructure.
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The longstanding
Palestinian-Israeli conflict has intensified
after the ‘soldier abduction’ crisis
and the ground situation now appears explosive.
Analysts predict that the Israeli attack on
Lebanon and the Gaza offensive is the beginning
of a long and disastrous war.
This is a ‘disproportionate
war’ which is a crucial international
issue in the recent crisis and overshadows claims
of acts terror causing the standoff. The world
community condemns terrorism as such there should
also be disapproval for a ‘disproportionate
war’ A war that targets innocent civilians,
non-combatants, women and children by lethal
means and excessive use of force becomes difficult
to accept on humanitarian grounds because this
creates a human-rights situation, similar to
that caused by terrorism. A war out of proportion
is horrendous because it is a ‘punishment
strategy’ unleashed on helpless non-combatants,
holding them hostage for something they have
not done. In this context, Will Hutton of the
Observer, writes “Disproportionality.....more
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F-16s
for PAF
Columnist Gp Capt (Retd) S M HALI makes
a case why additional
F-16s are necessary to augment our existing air combat
fleet.
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The US State
Department has notified Congress of a proposed sale
to Pakistan of up to 36 new Fort Worth-built F-16
fighter jets and 26 others the U.S. Air Force will
retire. The $5 billion deal, which could preserve
up to 4,000 jobs at Lockheed Martin Corporation's
fighter plant well into 2010, also includes upgrades
for Pakistan's existing fleet of 34 older F-16s, munitions
for the aircraft and other support, the State Department
said on June 29, 2006. The US provided two upgraded
F-16s gratis to Pakistan in December 2005, as a "goodwill
gesture". Lockheed's goal is to keep the line
open until at least 2012, when the company is to begin
major production of its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter,
confirmed spokesman Joseph Stout. "The big order
we're pursuing is in India, where they have a stated
requirement for 126 aircraft," Stout added. US
State Department spokesperson Julie Reside, in her
briefing on the subject stressed that the sale has
nothing to do with the nuclear partnership that the
US is building with India......more
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Pakistan
and Afghanistan
Columnist FAZAL HABIB
CURMALLY analyses the ideal love/hate relationship
between the two neighbouring countries.
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“This state
of affairs will persist for the middle term. It
is now to be seen whether Pakistan has the foresight
and political savvy to use its geography and its
position to the fullest and thereby grow by leaps
and bounds. I think we will have to wait till the
2007 elections in Pakistan and the leaders we will
choose. Then of course, there is the Pakistani penchant
to self destruct because of politicians who are
not only greedy but short sighted. They are still
present on the Pakistani political horizon and we
have seen what the Benazir Bhutto - Nawaz Sharif
– Benazir Bhutto - Nawaz Sharif version of
democracy has done to this country. Will we do it
again? If so then we will lose the game that is
being played and not only that, we will lose a rare
historic opportunity. There is no dearth of Pakistanis
who are quite willing to pull the country down to
show how good and great they are as individuals.
And it is this scenario that the monograph (a Rand
Corporation Monograph) has brought to the fore.
Can Pakistan survive and become a meaningful state?
Can Pakistan grasp this historic opportunity? I
pray we can curb our penchant of discussing non-issues
and have the strategic vision that is required for
progress and history at this time. Will our civilian
politicians develop this strategic vision? The gut
of the matter is, History has placed us in the lime
light today. Can Pakistan go about fulfilling its
destiny? Can Pakistan really be the energy corridor
and the outlet for Central Asia to the world? Once
again, I pray we can......more
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2002
India – Pakistan Crisis
Air Commodore (Retd)
JAMAL HUSSAIN derives some air lessons from the 2002
stand-off.
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An extract
of a portion of the paper presented by the author
in Monterey California USA while attending a seminar
on the 2002 India – Pakistan crisis is reproduced
below.
Escalatory
Nature of Employment of Air Forces
A study of conflicts between Pakistan and India
reveals that whenever both the sides have employed
their respective air forces in a conflict, a full-fledged
war has resulted. On the other hand, where the two
air forces, by design or default kept out of the
fray, the conflict remained confined and limited.
Not many might
recall the Rann of Kutch skirmish between Pakistan
and Indian land forces in April 1965. Many regard
the incident as a precursor to the 1965 India –
Pakistan War. Brigade size ground forces of India
and Pakistan were engaged in a battle over barren,
marshy and a relatively insignificant deltaic disputed
territory in the southern end of Pakistan’s
border with India. As the fighting raged on ground,
the danger of the two air forces getting involved
and the conflict escalating became real. To quote
John Fricker in his book “Battle For Pakistan”.....more
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Dialogue
of Civilizations
OMER
TARIN does a revaluation of this important exchange.
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It is an almost
apocryphal saying that the wars of today are chiefly
fought in the minds of men. This has never been
truer than at this point in history, when, as Fukuyama
posits, the “post-human future” has
been heralded in—a future where, “…the
‘war on terror dragoons the world into submission
and ponderous pundits wax lyrical about the ‘end
of history’…[and] the possibilities
for mass societal manipulation and mind control
through the use of language itself have been (deliberately)
ignored. In this ‘brave new world’ of
novo ordo seclorum the paramount public mantra has
become globalization. But what are we to understand
by this term?” (Saiyad Fareed Ahmad).
As far as this
mantra applies to an embattled and discredited Islamic
polity, it seems that our focus has been perforce
circumscribed to making trite platitudes echoing
‘standard’ Western views (for example,
such as represented by Huntington’s ‘clash
of civilizations’ hypothesis); or, to attempts
to rationalize such thinking in an apologetic and
conciliatory way. Only some years ago, during a
visit to Pakistan, no less a personage than President
Khatemi of Iran made a speech underlining what he
believed was the ‘need’ of the hour
for Muslims—to respond to the realities of
the present time by taking the ‘correct’
line i.e. encouraging a dialogue between civilizations
rather than a Huntingtonian ‘clash’
perspective. Following upon this, Dr.Rasul Baksh
Rais, a noted Pakistani scholar, vehemently backed
up this assertion in an article published in The
News, Islamabad, 19th July 2003.s.....more
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