Authoritarianism Strikes Turkey

Some say it’s the Turkish Spring, others opine that it’s a protest by the increasingly sidelined secularists who feel that Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government is not listening to their voice and turning progressively dictatorial.

Turkey has seen a remarkable rise in its fortunes under Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Exports have increased tenfold in the last ten years, credit rating upgrades by Moody’s, JCR and other agencies around the world, stellar GDP growth rates and a growing political influence in Africa and Middle East have all made Turkey, a major regional power.  But all of this came at price. At least this is how the apparently wronged secularists feel. Their major beef with Erdogan’s AKP led government is that under his rule, the country has started to lean towards Islamization thereby abandoning the secular principles on which Mustafa Kemal Pasha founded modern Turkey.

Tayyip Erdogan’s track record in listening to public opinion and media freedom has been less than stellar than his economic and foreign policy wizardry. These protests that are largely a grassroots movement are essentially a disapproval of the Turkish prime minister’s increasingly authoritarian style of government.

The protests started with the Turkish government’s plans to build a shopping mall on the Gezi Park on Turkey’s iconic Taksim Square. The protesters maintained that the park was one of the few remaining green spaces in Istanbul. However, the Turkish government seemed to be unimpressed by these views and pushed ahead with the development. At the start the protestors numbered in just hundreds, but due to the brutal response of Turkish authorities, the numbers ballooned to hundreds of thousands and protests have spread to 67 town and cities including Ankara, Izmir and Konya. Well over 3000 protestors have been injured and so far 2 deaths have been confirmed. The viciousness of the crackdown on protestors has drawn condemnation from both AKP members and international governments. Even the Turkish president Abdullah Gul and Deputy Prime minister Bulant Arinc have spoken against the police brutality on peaceful protestors and urged the authorities to show restraint. But the most important person in this episode, Tayyip Erdogan has bluntly said,

“"I am not going to seek the permission of [the opposition] or a handful of plunderers”. He further said, "If they call someone who has served the people a 'dictator', I have nothing to say”.

It is becoming apparent that Erdogan is succumbing to the disease of self-righteousness and authoritarianism that has plagued the heads of countries emerging out of Arab Spring. For example, according to human rights groups, Morsi led government in Egypt is proving worse than Mubarak’s dictatorship with curbs on media, judiciary and attacks on protestors. It’s a phenomenon that occurs every time leaders are swept into power by a huge public mandate. They begin to think that only they know how to solve the country’s issues since the people have trusted them and thus they bypass all the checks and balances that are kept on the heads of states, turning increasingly paranoid and see enemies everywhere-in short they become dictators.

The protests that started from saving a park have now become a demonstration against Erdogan’s style of government. Turkish media has been silenced on the protests, but it has been the social media that has risen to the occasion. No doubt perturbed by the success of social media in sharing the brutality of government crackdown, Erdogan has condemned it- especially twitter- saying,

 “Now we have a menace that is called Twitter. The best example of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society.”

He also declared social media as a ‘danger to society’. Parallels with Arab dictatorships can be safely drawn.

These protests have cracked open the divisions in the Turkish society, on one side are the rising Muslim conservatives that helped Erdogan secure 50% mandate and on the other hand are the Kemalist secularists that are getting disconcerted with what they term are ‘Islamist’ views on alcohol consumption, morality, women rights, abortion and of course,  intolerance of critical views. Also, they fear that Erdogan will pass laws by the time of 2014 elections that enable more power to be vested in the President and might to try to become President.

Well, these protests have surely dented Erdogan’s bid to become a powerful president- if he tries to become one- and might also effect his election campaign in 2014. How much damage has Erdogan’s AKP sustained? It seems that 2014’s ballot will decide. In the meanwhile, just a humble advise to the Turkish PM: Please listen to your people.

Book Review : Inferno by Dan Brown. A Thriller Tourist Guide

With a Bourne Identity meets Dante meets Harris Tweed thriller, Dan Brown is back with a bang with his new novel, Inferno and with it we again meet the erudite Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon.

Much was speculated before Inferno hit the shelves, including whether the book would be about Da Vinci’s long lost master piece in Florence but the speculations have now been laid to rest.

Robert Langdon in this story finds himself in a Florence hospital with no recollections of how he got there and only has a laser pointer that reveals renaissance artist, Sandro Botticelli’s depiction of medieval literary giant, Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, which is a part of Dante’s epic poem the Divine Comedy, the other parts being, Purgatory and Paradise. Aided by the attractive 208 IQ Dr. Sienna Brooks, and hunted by shadowy Backwater type security agency, The Consortium. Langdon is launched on a quest to discover a weapon, built by a crazy mad scientist that has the ability to depopulate the planet of human species. To find that weapon, Langdon has to race against time, solving various puzzles and codes, travel from Florence, Venice to Istanbul before it’s too late to save the planet.

The novel deals with the futuristic concepts of trans-humanism (an international movement that aims to enhance human intellectual, physical and psychological abilities by using cutting edge scientific research), delves deep into the question of overpopulation and its effects on human civilization while exploring deepest recesses of the hell visualized by Dante more than 600 years ago .    

Although Inferno is definitely a page turner, it suffers from being a bit too formulaic. From Angels and Demons, Da Vinci Code, Lost Symbol to Inferno, it seems that Dan Brown is following a certain pattern for the Robert Langdon series, consisting of famous art pieces, a mad genius villain on an arcane quest, beautiful but intelligent female sidekick and a forever alone Robert Langdon. All of this actually has the effect of making the novels a bit too predictable. Although to Dan Brown’s credit, he does pull out some surprises, thus upsetting the formula he has so faithfully followed in the preceding novels, but then quickly reverts back to the same setting as the novel nears ending, speaking of which, I found the ending of the novel somewhat anti-climactic, considering the crescendo of revelations and surprises that he was building up towards the end.

Also, the book falls into the trap of erudition in which its predecessor, The Lost Symbol fell in, thus making the pace of the story lethargic. Parts of the novel give an impression that Dan Brown is acting more like a tour guide rather than a thriller author. It seems that he is under pressure from the armies of fans and detractors alike who religiously dissect every piece of fact to either uncover some hidden knowledge or to prove that Brown is really a nutjob. And thus the author in order to impress (apparently) tries to cram ever more information so that you got to have an encyclopedia with you every time while you are reading the book.

Compared to Lost Symbol, this book is less lethargic, but unfortunately nowhere near the genius of Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Deception Point and Digital Fortress. That does not mean that Inferno doesn’t make up for a good read. The novel might make up for a summer blockbuster, but that, so far is undecided.

 Moreover it seems that Dante’s Divine Comedy will enjoy a brief resurgence in readership amongst the younger audience before slowly fading back to relative obscurity.

Despite some factual errors and a slow moving narrative, it nonetheless is a highly interesting read and towards the conclusion, the novel is unputdownable.

Inferno definitely deserves a place in your bookshelf. 

The Syrian Bear Trap

It seemed an unlikely alliance, an unholy matrimony, when Syrian rebel Jihadis and USA joined arms to get rid of embattled Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. Jihadis and USA maintained a tacit alliance, rebels didn’t disturb USA and USA returned the favor by not disturbing them despite clear indications that Al Qaida was behind them. All of that was kept under the table and it seemed that we were back to the good old days of Soviet-Afghan war where jihadis had the blessings of CIA. Jihadi rebels became more effective, car bombings increased, suicide attacks multiplied but NATO and USA remained mostly mum.

All of that now, unfortunately (sarcasm intended ) , is set to change as the most fundamentalist and undoubtedly successful Syrian jihadist group, Jabahat-an-Nusra’s leader Abu Mohammed Al Jawlani has  publically declared allegiance to Ayman Zawahiri’s Al-Qaida, thus placing the organization –literally-at Israel’s doorstep. Al Qaida’s “official” presence is now a cause of headache for both Israel and USA, as it is the very last group on planet Earth that Israel needs nearby. USA formally declared Jabahat-an-Nusra as a terrorist organization last year but didn’t take any action.

For jihadis that are now pouring from Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Palestine, Lebanon, Australia, Chechnya, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, France, Iraq and Spain etc.  into Syria, it is now a golden opportunity to establish a fundamentalist Islamic state in Syria (as has been their demand) and on cue Al-Qaida’s wing in Iraq, Islamic State in Iraq has announced to merge with Jabahat-an-Nusra to create a caliphate consisting of Iraq and Syria called Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), in the style of the 7^th century Islamic caliphate.

For the Americans and their regional allies, Jabahat-an-Nusra’s formidable fighting force of 5000 men along with undercover operatives and suicide bombers presents a serious challenge to the already fragile security apparatus in the Middle East.

It is now becoming increasingly evident that when the Syrian civil war is over and done with, Jabahat An Nusra would eventually fall out with Free Syria Army (FSA) (endorsed by USA and NATO and the official rebel army in Syria) and with seasoned fighters coming from Iraq and other neighboring battle fields, it would eventually succeed in stopping FSA from gaining further power and quite possibly open the way for bringing the Syrian war into Iraq against the Shiite government over there, led by Nouri Al Maliki. The battlefield of Syria is waiting to be spread all over, the chemical weapons that Assad possesses might fall into very wrong hands.

 

And to support this doom laden conjecture, out came Assad himself giving a dire warning to the western nations that the current support of USA and its allies to Syrian opposition groups will turn Syria into the next Afghanistan where the 1980’s support of jihadis by USA led to the rise of AL Qaeda and Taliban. ‘West will pray a high price’ he exclaimed in a state television interview.

Could, the rise of Alqaeda in Syria trigger western intervention?

Possibly so. 

The US now sensing the danger (again created due to its apparent folly)  has decided to put 200 intelligence, logistics and operations specialists from the Army’s 1st Armored Division in Jordan to help check violence along the Syrian-Jordanian border, help in ‘humanitarian aid supplies’, and plan for potential military strikes inside Syria. Chuck Hagel, the new US Defense Secretary  (highly unpopular with AIPAC) said that military option will be the last resort, but the worsening situation in Syria is showing no signs of betterment and Assad’s forces, despite  the repeated rebel onslaughts have largely withstood their ground with aid from Iran.

Obama is wary and doesn’t want to drag USA into another war which is showing every possible sign of being as costly as the Iraq and Afghanistan misadventures, if USA really decides to physically intervene. 

But the American intervention will only strengthen Jabahat as its branding as a terrorist organization by the US in 2012 only increased its jihadist credentials. Also, it is an established fact that Al-Qaida and its affiliates thrive in violence. Given this scenario, is Al Qaeda using Syria as a bait for US to come into Syria and hence drag the whole region into chaos? 

It’s a theory that another Al Qaeda affiliate, AQAP (Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula) is putting into action, as it stated last year that it wanted to drag USA into another “bleeding war”. Could this be the strategy that AL Qaeda is employing in Syria as well? Would USA take the bait? Could this prove to be the same ‘Bear Trap’ that USA had laid for the Soviets in Afghanistan years ago and which Al Qaeda is laying for US? Only time will tell.

The Joke that is Poll Scrutiny

On 2nd April, I was reading Dawn Newspaper when my eyes fell upon this headline:

“Poll Scrutiny turns into an Islamic Studies Test”

And then of course we all heard about how veteran and brilliant columnist, Ayaz Amir's application was turned down by the returning officer because in the past his articles have been accused of being against the "ideology of Pakistan".

Word is that ECP officials are employing “ruthless scrutiny” measures for properly screening the candidates. Candidates from different parties are being asked questions about Islamic injunctions, and upon failure to properly answer; the returning officers are rejecting  candidates applications thus enjoying their five minutes of media fame.

In order to grasp the sheer foolishness of such a process, let us run through this small mental exercise:

Suppose a candidate from an XYZ political party having degrees in civil engineering, town planning etc from prestigious universities around the globe, and who plans to introduce many changes in his constituency if elected as an MNA, presents his credentials to the ECP returning officer, who checks the documents. The returning officer , let’s assume, asks him to recite ‘Ayat-ul-Qursi’ , and let us suppose that the candidate doesn’t know it, and just on that basis the returning officer dismisses  the candidate’s  application. Degrees, aims and objectives, plans and policies be damned.

So now, those degrees, credentials and professional experiences are irrelevant, because the ECP official has to be satisfied that the candidate has necessary knowledge of Islam rather than governance to become Member of Parliament according to Articles 62 and 63.

After such a ‘Zia-esque’ demonstration of electoral scrutiny, I am guessing that the said ECP officials somehow time traveled from the good old’ Islamist 80s into 2013.

Thankfully, the political parties also have taken issue with these practices and ANP’s Mr. Bashir Jan was quite right in saying that “One can’t reject an honest and upright candidate just because he has not learnt any Quranic verse by heart”.

In the recent years, much has been written over the utter pointlessness of articles 62 and 63 and to summarize various commentaries, the contents of these articles are mostly vague and terms like “good character” ,“abstains from sins” etc can be easily slanted to serve one’s own purpose.  It would be highly irrational to even presume that 90% of parliamentarians have never indulged in major sins and I have not even begun commenting on 63-G (defaming judiciary) as politicians in the past and present have been guilty of indulging in it with relish.

The main point that can be gleaned from such articles in our constitution is that though the political parties are proposing to launch many projects and reform initiatives, one key reform that all parties have overlooked is the constitutional reform. It is irrational to build a tall building if the structure on which you plan to erect the building is corroded and fragile.  No reform, no policies in Pakistan can succeed unless and until structural changes in our constitution are made. Abnormalities like the Blasphemy laws, parallel judicial system (Federal Shariat Court), Articles 62-63, 203, are glaring examples. 

Thus before attempting to screen candidates, the ECP, respected lawmakers and upholders of those laws should revisit Quaid-eAzam’s oft quoted (and oft forgotten) excerpt from his 11th August 1947 speech:

“… You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State...”

Sadly, we have mixed religion with the business of the state and evolved into the exact anti-thesis of what the Quaid preached on 11th August 1947. Hence, now it has become more important to remember Quranic verses then to have proper educational and professional credentials. This has to end.

PS: On Ayaz Amir's case I shall just say  as  epigrammaticaly as possible:

There never was an Ideology of Pakistan. The  closest thing that we had near to an ideology died on the streets of Dhaka on December 1971, so don't kid us.

Time to Re-Evaluate Relations with Saudi Arabia

"We in Saudi Arabia are not observers in Pakistan, we are participants."

Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the US Adel al-Jubeir

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enjoyed strong bi-lateral ties for decades and Pakistani citizens mostly regard Saudi Arab rulers with reverence, as Saudi rulers are the self-proclaimed guardians of the Holy Shrines in Mecca and Medina. 

That being said, it is worth noting that the influence of Saudi Arabia in Pakistani affairs has been –for want of a better word- unhealthy. When it comes to making decisions on regional policies, solving energy issues or even parliamentary affairs, somehow Saudi Arabia will be involved in them. Thus, such an unhealthy interest in our national affairs by a foreign country should be a cause of concern for us a nation and more so for our policy planners, but are they even concerned?

Recently when Ex-Dictator cum Ex-President Pervez Musharraf arrived in Pakistan after four years of self imposed exile, it was reported that he did so after Saudis played a key role in sealing a deal with Nawaz Sharif to keep clear off Musharraf and turned the keys here and there in the corridors of power in Islamabad to ensure Pervez Muharraf’s safe arrival.

In wiki leaks cables it was found that though Saudis clearly favor Nawaz Sharif in Pakistani politics, and it has been shown a number of times, but they also have a certain likeness for Musharraf and view the Army “as their winning horse” Pakistan.  

In addition, it is common knowledge that many of our religious parties –dare I say all of them?-are on Saudi payroll, and the Saudis have funneled huge sums of money in creation of religious institutions throughout Pakistan. It strikes me as singularly amusing when I see religious parties in Pakistan indulging in anti-US tirades but conveniently forgetting that their biggest financier is USA’s main enforcer in this region.

Also, the Saudi petro-dollar being dished out to religious parties and seminaries is becoming a headache for Pakistan. In South Punjab, for instance, it has been reported that Saudis are funding almost 100 million dollars each year to Deobandi and Ahl-e Hadith clerics, who are using those funds to establish extremist networks in those areas and from where terrorists can fan out in Pakistan to attack religious minorities and security officials.

 The PMLN led government in Punjab has never been interested in dismantling those networks and putting restrictions on such financing. But they can be forgiven for  their lack of action in this regards, since Mian Nawaz Sharif himself is Saudi Arabia’s favorite politician in Pakistan, who is heavily indebted to them for their ‘generous help’ in election campaigns and providing ‘special development loans’ to him during his exile there.

Besides financing terrorist outfits in Punjab, Saudis are also ‘allegedly ‘involved in Baluchistan crisis (aren’t they already too much involved?). Reason being the Pak Iran Gas pipeline which is critical for addressing the nation’s crisis, but which is being sabotaged by the nexus of USA and Saudi Arabia because they do not want to see the spread of Iranian influence in the region and also because Saudis consider Iranian enemies based on differences in sects. Indeed, it has been revealed that this nexus of Saudi Arabia and USA has been involved in fomenting separatism in Baluchistan, which is resulting in numerous deaths in the province and is a cause of concern for both Pakistan and Iran because if the separatist strife keeps on increasing in Baluchistan, it would put the gas pipe line in jeopardy ( much to the satisfaction of Saudis and Americans).

Thus with all the trouble that Saudis are responsible for creating in Pakistan, it is time for our government and political/politico-religious parties to reevaluate their relations with KSA,  as its constant interference in our affairs is giving us more harm rather than the benefits it purports to provide. For that, our leaders will have to take tough decisions as Saudis still provide us with much needed crude oil and aid assistance. It is a tricky balancing act, but one that has to performed, as too much damage has already been done by our love affair with the ‘brotherly Muslim country’.

The SUPARCO Lag

In 1961 when our only Nobel laureate Dr. Abdus Salam and Commodore WJM Turowicz were busy laying down the foundations of SUPARCO, little they might have thought that 52 years later, the nation’s space agency would either, still be renting foreign built satellites or else hitchhiking on foreign rockets to launch indigenously built satellites into space. 

The beginnings of SUPARCO reflected the dreams and goals of its founders and the scientists involved. Frequent  rocket tests, collaborations with NASA regarding training of Pakistani scientists and engineers, and with keen government interest in the field,  one might have  had guessed that within a decade or two we would be sending our own satellites into space using indigenously built  rockets. But then Dr. Salam was shunned by the Pak government, collaborations with NASA stopped, government lost interest  and ever since that time SUPARCO seems to exist just because it has to, without any entrepreneurial zeal, devoid of innovation and lacking a clear cut direction. 

Currently, SUPARCO is undertaking programs relating to communication satellites, remote sensing, geo graphic information systems and space studies. It provides services in land surveying, crop monitoring, vehicle tracking systems etc. Its customer base is diverse; ranging from the Kutchi Abadi Authorities toPakistan Railways.  Also in its Space Program 2040-approved by Ex-Pm Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani- it plans on producing and launching its own satellites by the year 2040.

But is that it? Will our satellite system be only focused on crop monitoring, land surveys and tracking?  Where’s the vision in it?  The services that SUPARCO provides are a staple in any standard space agency-there is nothing special in that. Also, achieving indigenous satellite production and launch capabilities and that too by 2040 speaks volumes about the ‘vision’ that is set by SUPARCO. When right now, our neighboring countries are sending probes to mars and beyond, achieving the ability to develop and launching satellites by 2040 is just not enough! 

We have to realize that a well functioning space program is crucial to the development of a nation. From enriched baby food to solar panels used in homes, there have been many commercial spinoffs from the technologies that were originally intended to be used in space. Space Technology development does not only benefit one particular branch of science but is equally beneficial to an economy as well.  According to former NASA scientist, Scott Hubbard, for every 1 dollar invested in NASA projects $7-8 worth of goods are produced in the industry!

SUPARCO now has to take on a more active role and its vision 2040 should really be vision 2020. It has to work on increasing coordination with schools colleges and universities so that a crop of future engineers and scientists are motivated, and their skills honed. The government has to pay more attention to SUPARCO regarding its developmental projects. As Antoine St. Exupery once said, 

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”. 

Thus, the government along with SUPARCO should undertake initiatives to educate public about space sciences in a way that they understand in order to build popular support

Dear readers, Space programs not only satisfy human desire to explore the universe but also create thousands of jobs; jobs that are certainly not limited to engineering only but spill over to diverse fields, ranging from textiles to psychiatrics. 

The shambles in which European and USA economies are in right now means that the stage for the next space race would be set in Asia, aided and abetted by western companies who have the expertise but lack funding support from their respective governments. Indeed China and India are making significant progress in space exploration; the former is planning to send manned missions to the moon while the latter is sending a space probe to Mars by November. 

 The development of an ambitious space program would not only benefit Pakistan in the military field, but will also create an air of innovation and ideas that will cross-pollinate many separate scientific and business disciplines.  

Nevertheless, we face the daunting task of tackling our domestic terrorism and political issues in parallel to the development of a proper space program and that requires not only a visionary leadership but also entrepreneurs who are ready to propel us into the future.

This is not the time to lag behind. The next space race is ‘on’ in Asia and we have to be a part of it, otherwise we would be left very far behind, even farther than we are right now.

Black Contents of a White Memo

Image Courtesy www.boilingfrogspost.com

This is in response to the recent blog on The Express Tribune by the name of, Can the US Government kill American Citizens?

Although I agree with the author on the point that any person found guilty of treason should be punished, I would like to add a few points of my own, and clarify some confusion caused over the White memo.

A brief summary of the White memo is provided below:

1) The White memo lays down the legal justification for targeting persons through drones. US Citizens, who are al Qaeda operational leaders, members and sympathisers, are the intended targets.

2) USA assumes that al Qaeda is continually planning terrorist activities and thus US drones can strike al Qaeda suspects anywhere, any time. Even if the attack was never planned in actuality, nor had any threat appeared, but just on the off chance, US Administration can authorise a drone strike so that any ‘supposed’ threat might be neutralised.

3) If you can’t capture a “suspected” terrorist for questioning and interrogation because you “think” that, your troops might encounter mortal risk, then just carry out a drone strike and save the trouble of interrogation and tedious judicial process.

4) According to the memo, even if there is no evidence that the suspects are an imminent threat, but only believes and suspects that they “might” be an imminent threat, the USA has the authority to strike them whenever and wherever.

5) Without even confirmation from interrogation and just on the suspicion that the suspect has not renounced the terrorist activities, the USA can assassinate him.

6) USA assumes that killing of suspected al Qaeda members before they even become imminent threats is justified because the US Administration thinks so. So, please repose your faith in it and don’t question it.

7) The memo doesn’t define the word ‘imminent’. It doesn’t tell how imminent a threat has to be in order for a drone strike to be called. From the document, one gets an impression that if US officials think that such and such persons will come together to plan something sinister, they become qualified targets.

Dear readers, this is an extraordinary document, the implications of whose contents are horrific.

USA is fighting violence with more extreme violence. The issue is not about killing known terrorists who are US citizens. The issue is about killing “suspected terrorists” about whom the government will not share any information, nor the decisions will be available for judicial review, so that the government is not answerable to judiciary and cannot be held responsible even if the drone strike missed the intended target and killed innocent civilians.

There is a huge difference between killing a suspect and killing a known terrorist.

Yes, those US citizens who are promulgating extremism and threatening the US president must be brought to book, but killing and assassinating before the crime was even committed?

Before they are even brought under trial?

That is just plain barbaric and puts US administration at par with al Qaeda.

Through this memo, one gets the impression that the US government is advocating a ‘shoot first ask questions later’ policy and one has to ask, whom will it benefit?

image courtesy  blogdogcicle.blogspot.com

The first benefactor of this drone war would be al Qaeda itself. Remember, al Qaeda and its allies are fighting not just on the military front but on the ideological front as well. It is a hateful and detestable ideology that won’t be just eliminated by drone strikes but only gain followers due to unjustified American violence.

The second benefactor would be the neo-cons and defence contractors. The neo-cons, thanks to Obama, have just continued George W Bush’s policies without any hindrances and the appointment of Bush era CIA torturer John Brennan proves that.

The defence contractors would benefit because of increased orders for more drones and associated technologies, which would mean more cash rolling in.

Even if we assume that drone attacks have achieved intended military results (corroborated by the near wipe out of top al Qaeda cadre), then do they guarantee that the hateful ideology of al Qaeda would just disappear with it leaders?

Thanks to continuous military adventures and arrogant outreach efforts by USA, al Qaeda’s offshoots have spread far and wide, who act quite independent from the mother organisation and are even more eager to spread destruction.

If the American drone policy remains the same as evident from the White memo, then the issue of Islamic radicalism might never be resolved.

Frankly, I found the White memo as repugnant as Mein Kampf.

Read more by Jamaluddin here or follow him on Twitter @einsjam