Getty ImagesPrime Minister David Cameron flaunts his ignorance of history. Again. He's only been in the job for a matter of weeks and already is proving himself as gaffe-prone as BP's Tony Harwood.
He's said he would take on China in a nuclear bust-up, stated that Britain played second fiddle to the US in 1940, and now he tells Pakistan it isn't doing enough to combat terrorism:
"To be fair to the Pakistan government, they have made progress in chasing down militants and terrorists in Pakistan that threaten their own country and threaten others. But we need them to do more and we should work with them to do more because as I said yesterday, it's not acceptable to have those within Pakistan who are supporting terrorist groups that can do so much damage to their own country and to British people whether in Afghanistan or back home in Britain."
In India to sell military hardware, Cameron has insulted poor beleaguered Pakistan by tellling them to get their finger out. Considering it was the CIA who trained up Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda forces in the early 1980s during the Cold War with the Soviet Union and then left the region with the problem once the USSR was defeated, it's a stunning bit of hypocrisy for us to be blaming them.
What started as Taliban resistance to the US has now gone national as the Pashtun people have been radicalised by indiscriminate killings. By October 2009, the US had killed 14 Al Qaeda but 700 civilians. That is not a ratio designed to win hearts and minds.
It's us who have brought the Afghanistan war to Pakistan.
As ex-cricketer and former Indian MP Imran Khan said last year:
" ... it’s just a blatant lie. How can they say that Pakistan has to be stabilized and then Afghanistan will become [stable]. Surely, stability in Afghanistan will stabilize Pakistan. In fact, a CIA ex-station chief of Kabul, Graham Fuller, actually wrote in the International Herald Tribune that unless and until NATO leaves Afghanistan, Pakistan is going to descend into radicalization and chaos which is absolutely right, because we had no Taliban in Pakistan."
While Cameron drones on, Imran Khan has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to declare the use of drones in his home land illegal.
In his petition, Khan asked the court to declare as illegal and unconstitutional all acts that take away the fundamental rights of citizens, the provision of facilities and logistics to any foreign country, any alliance for mass destruction due to drone attacks inside Pakistani territory. Such acts should also be declared a violation of the United Nations charter, the universal declaration on human rights, international laws and international humanitarian laws. Khan said the respondents should be directed to lodge complaints against the killings of innocent Pakistanis, destruction of their properties and displacement from their homes at appropriate international forums. He also asked the court to direct the respondents to take all preventive measures against the drone attacks to protect the life, liberty, dignity, property and other fundamental rights of citizens.
Back in India, Cameron has just done a nuclear deal worth billions with his hosts. I wonder how his arms shares portfolio is doing.
3 comments:
I am sure or fierless leader is doing very nicely thank you very much. Just as shame about the rest of us
Another small illustration of the massive debt which we all owe to those nice folk who voted Lib Dem in the General Election.
Couldn't have done it without ya ...
The stunning prescience displayed by Pete Townshend when he wrote Won't Get Fooled Again (one of the five best. Political rock songs. EVAH) is once again stupefyingly apparent.
*Jeez, I hope PT didn't vote Lib Dem ...*
Mr. Cameron who is looking two ways?
After surfacing of Wikileaks talking of Pakistan’s Intel angencies British PM David Cameron said ”we have to make sure that the Pakistan authorities are not looking two ways.” The intel agencies throughout the world keep contact with all relevant players in a conflict. Therefore, role of MI6, CIA, SISMI, DGSE, Mossad, RAW and ISI looking two ways is understandable and somewhat justifiable but can western governments and leader who follow looking two ways approach as policy justify the following:
“For months, British and US diplomats and intelligence officers have been approaching Taliban commanders considered "reconcilable".” (Guardian)
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a presentation to the gathering, said the United States supports efforts for "reintegration" -- winning over foot soldiers through incentives. (LA Times)
Robert Gates, referring to talks with the Taliban, said a similar rapprochement strategy worked in Iraq. "We promoted a reconciliation that involved people we were pretty confident had been shooting at us and killing our soldiers," he said. "At the end of the day, that's how most wars end," Gates said. (CNN)
The United Nation's former envoy to Afghanistan has confirmed that he began secret contacts with senior Taliban members in 2009. (Press TV)
“British Army chiefs believe paying Taliban fighters to sever links with the insurgency could bring stability to the war-ravaged country.” (Daily Mail)
ADM. MULLEN: There’s a political solution here. It’s the only solution. The military and security, obviously, is a hugely important part of setting the conditions. But I certainly wouldn’t reject out of hand that political entities that are very much the enemy right now would participate. (Admiral Mullen)
The Italian secret service has been involved in paying off the local Taliban to allow Italian civil reconstruction workers to get into that area and do projects… The problem seems to be that the Italians didn’t inform the French of this” (French 24)
So Mr. David Cameron actions speak more than words. Do not mix your economic endeavor with India to an extent where your words become irrelevant and personality doubtful.
Regards
Arjun Shrivastava
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