Winning Wars and Hearts

It has taken the Bush administration too long to understand that force alone cannot win wars — unless the purpose is just to kill and destroy. Pakistan’s President Musharraf, unlike Bush a soldier, has always been conscious of this truth. He also realized, quite early, that Bush’s “war on terror” was not as straightforward as it was drummed up to be. So, when the war began to spill over to the North West Frontier Province and Balochistan, he initiated negotiations with various groups and brought peace to many parts of the two provinces, confirming once again the truth that diplomacy combined with soft power is the right solution for any crisis.

Those who argue that increasing the number of NATO troops will solve the Afghan issue do not know the country, its people or history. Though countless number of invaders, including superpowers, have conquered it at different times in history, they all had to leave in one circumstance or another — and never with honor. Afghans live in organized anarchy, where everyone fights everyone else. But when an outsider puts his foot in, all form a common platform to fight him. The current upsurge is a repetition of history.

The Taleban are getting support from the local people for two reasons: First, the war is targeting only Pakhtuns, which makes it a war for survival for them. Secondly, in the public mind, it has become a war between Islam and its enemies. That is why, despite its strength of 50,000 and sophisticated weapons, NATO forces are under siege.

It is time to be realistic. Terrorists use threats and power to intimidate; if legitimate powers use the same weapons in retaliation, it will increase the power of extremists. That is why under the US and allied forces, Afghanistan has, just like Iraq, sunk to chaos and anarchy. The war can be won only when a greater number of people support it. It is not the case now, and will not be, unless there is a change of strategy. The Bush administration needs to adopt Musharraf’s policy of using soft tactics to overcome the insurgency. Karzai needs to share power with all ethnic groups, especially the Pakhtuns. It is not just the Taleban who must choose moderation over extremism; so must America.

World leaders need to promote policies that can win hearts and minds through negotiation and persuasion — not through killing.

Tanvir Orakzai, Pakistan published 20 December 2006

Road Deaths

The report “Four Pilgrims Die as Buses Crash on Madinah Highway” by Roger Harrison and K.S. Ramkumar (Dec. 10) comes as a reminder that much more can be done to avoid deaths. Apart from the tragedies at the Jamrat, the other major cause of such deaths is road accidents. The efforts by the government to address the situation at the Jamrat can now be seen in the physical shape of the new colossal bridge. May Allah bless all those who worked hard to make it a reality. The road deaths too can be prevented in the same manner, if the authorities take imaginative steps to ensure the alertness and freshness of drivers. Whenever I travel to Madinah, I always make it a point to sit in the front seat of the coaches and, nine times out of 10, I find the driver exhausted and sleeping at the wheel and the coach veering dangerously from side to side. I keep them awake by offering glasses of water and chatting with them. Such situations can be avoided by laying down mandatory rules for rest for drivers.

Ismail Simjee, Jeddah published 20 December 2006

Cousins by Blood and Culture

Randall B. Hamud’s “Thank You, Cousins” (Nov. 11) reminded many of us of the human and familial bonds that should define Arab-Israeli relations, but are overlooked or deliberately ignored because of the political differences that have made, for both, the demonization of the other a matter of ideology.

It is true that all my Jewish brethren and I are cousins to the descendants of Ishmael. It is equally true that Judaism and Islam are cousin cultures and share their core beliefs about the nature of God and man’s (women’s too) responsibility to behave morally, modestly and kindly. It is also true that for many hundreds of years Jews lived, for the most part, protected and respected in many Arab lands.

There are many more reasons for Muslims and Jews to live in peace and mutual respect, than to live in enmity. At the core of current dispute is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. All Jews and Muslims should pray to God to help bring peace. God is All-Merciful. I feel certain that He has located the Israelis and the Palestinians right beside each other so that they can coexist in peace. I can’t imagine that the Almighty wants to see generations of war. If God has placed the Israelis and the Palestinians together, let us all respect what God has so obviously set in place. It was nice of the author and Arab News to call us cousins.

David Marx, Canada published 20 December 2006

Threat From Israeli Nukes

Prince Muqrin, chief of general intelligence, was right in saying that Israel’s nuclear arsenal was the biggest threat to the Middle Eastern region. Nobody will dispute that. The question is: What is the region, the specific target of Israel’s nukes, doing to remove or neutralize the threat? Has it not been known for decades that Israel has atomic bombs and continues to build more of them? What deterrent weapons have Arab countries developed in all this time? When will Arabs wake up and start something? If Arabs were to build only a few atomic bombs (not in hundreds), it would force the US to pressure Israel to make peace with its Arab neighbors, followed by negotiations to rid the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction.

Ead, Riyadh published 20 December 2006

Too Few Lions

Referring to the newfound self-confidence and assertiveness of African nations, Jonathan Power wrote, “There Are No Tigers in Africa but the Lions Are Coming” (Dec.11). One or two in Africa may be, as he predicted, “roaring” soon, but the majority will continue to be exploited. To prove my point, I would like Power to explain Mauritania and Mali, two West African desert countries where their wealth, iron ore, still dug out and shipped away by a two-mile-long train. There is little infrastructure because these ex-colonies, often masquerading as independent states, are still colonies of exploitation, suppliers of raw material. The same is true of Niger.

Linda Edwards, United Kingdom published 20 December 2006

Concert of Sin

Are fresh elections the right way out for the Palestinians as America, Europe and Israel claim? Is it for outside powers to decide what results an election should produce? Would Europe or America accept that test for elections in their countries? Such questions should go back further in history. Have foreign powers the right to hand over land belonging to one people to another, for the latter to drive out the original inhabitants to make way for foreign settlers? All seem to have accepted this as right and are labeling resistance by the rightful owners as terrorism.

This has been a concert of sin. Israel was created by the West and the inhabitants of Palestine had no choice but to accept that reality, because it was enforced with the might of arms. But that does not make it right and, never will. Israel does not deserve to have a state that is only Jewish, on land that is not theirs. The Palestinians have the right to demand that the whole of Palestine, their patrimony, be one nation and that the current occupied land called Israel become absorbed in the nation of Palestine. If the much-touted international law is about justice, it must provide for the return of the properties forcibly taken from them or payment of full compensation to the owners, and equal rights and privileges under the law of Palestine for all citizens, whether Jewish, Muslim, or of whatever faith or nationality that currently reside within the nation. The Jewish claim of sovereignty in a country built on Palestinian land is based on European colonialism. When that ended, Europeans lost their right in colonized lands, and with that ended the right of Israel for a colony. If Israel is to survive, it must accept the reality that it is a Middle Eastern state and accept the grave wrong it has done to the Palestinians. If it does, it will heal the rift created by the Europeans and supported by the Americans.

Jerry Copeland, United States published 20 December 2006

Concert of Sin [2]

By calling for new elections in Palestine, President Mahmoud Abbas is following the directives of outsiders. He is also saying to the people of Palestine, who had a fair and free democratic election, that they don’t have a right to put into office the people of their choice. In other words, democratic elections are OK, if the people that the outsiders want in office are elected. That is not what democracy is about.

Lucy Jones, United States published 20 December 2006

Concert of Sin [3]

Palestinians may choose Hamas once again. What happens then? Bush and Blair rejecting the result once again? That will be more of the same difficulties. Why don’t they leave the Palestinians out of it? Their opinions do not count anyway. Let Blair and Condi choose a Parliament for the Palestinians. How about Rumsfeld?

Sameer Shakir, Jeddah published 20 December 2006