Friday, July 27, 2012

Now Pay for The Peace

Afghanistan is in an Abysmal State on all counts, and Nato has The Moral Obligation to rescue The Country from total chaos

The travel warning for Afghanistan is all over the place across the globe. Besides the fact that peace is a rare commodity in the nation since ages, their egregious situation portrays a vestige of the infrastructure and social standards that most countries enjoy today. The country is ranked 155 in Human Development Index (2010), 176 out of 178 in Corruption Perception Index (2010), and 4th from the bottom in Child and Maternal deaths!

Take the case of agriculture. A blossoming sector, but it was destroyed in the last 10 years because of war, deficient infrastructure and corruption. The only crop that makes profits is opium as the nation produces 90% of the world’s share! Shockingly, almonds grown locally are more expensive than the ones grown in California as they are not subsidized like their American counterparts. Road infrastructure is also on the verge of collapse. The three main roadways, Kishim to Fayzabad Road, Gardez to Khost Road, and Bamyan to Dushi Road are in primitive condition and often flooded by rainstorms. In power, per capita access has reduced from 22% to a mere 7% or 19.25 KW (USAID data). Around 15,000 women die every year due to pregnancy related complications! Literacy rate is 5.6% for women & 27% for men. Potable water can be accessed only by 17% & sanitation by 10%. Some 20% of children are malnourished, and 90% of girls have no access to education.

Clearly, a country that was already teetering on the edge has been brought to the brink of chaos and strife by years of war. Even as the NATO looks negotiating a settlement, it is equally important to take the onus of rebuilding Afghanistan.


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posted by Editorial at 4:54 PM

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Scrutiny-NATO: HISTORICAL MISTAKES

A Comprehensive Journey through The History of The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Libya will Convincingly Demonstrate that The World has more to fear from NATO than from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi!

NATO’s second mistake was getting itself into the 1999 Yugoslavia war. By doing so, it not only violated its own rules but also the international order. According to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, the organisation as a collective defence force is permitted to use force only if any of its members is attacked – and no NATO countries were invaded in that war. Also, Article 53 of the UN Charter says that no collective defence alliance has the right to bomb a nation without prior approval of the UN Security Council. NATO didn’t bother to ask UNSC. NATO’s involvement led to more deaths than those resulting from Yugoslavia’s ground attack on Kosovo.

NATO has also failed to redefine its role outside Europe. It was primarily formed with American influence and support; firstly, to combat Russia, and secondly, to keep American interests alive in Europe. However, 9/11 changed the course of history. It gave the US a chance to misuse Article 5 of the NATO treaty and that too, outside Europe in Afghanistan. NATO’s engagement in the Afghan war was carried out on the grounds that there was mutual consensus that NATO will not be used in the far east. But NATO later refused to have made any such claim. Under the leadership of US, NATO attacked a nation – Afghanistan – in the name of fighting terrorism. NATO operations killed thousands of innocent Afghans. While it may be argued that NATO’s Afghan moves reduced terrorist activities, what cannot be denied is the collateral damage being caused by NATO due to its gunslinger behaviour.

Now, NATO is committing the same mistake in Libya. The liberation that Libya needs is not what NATO can give and certainly not using the extreme methods that it has employed. Gaddafi, in a letter to President Obama, wrote that “democracy and building of civil society can’t be achieved by means of missiles and aircraft or by backing armed members of Al-Qaeda in Benghazi.”

It’s hard to disagree on that point. But NATO with 28 member states, an estimated 70% of the world’s combined military spending, is definitely not going to learn any lessons from Gaddafi. The West always wanted Libya at their feet for its vast oil reserves (Libya has the largest reserves in Africa and ranks 9th in the world with 41.5 billion barrels as of 2007) – and to defeat an erstwhile ally Gaddafi, the cherry on the cake. Undoubtedly, Gaddafi should seriously consider allowing democracy within the nation. And if NATO seriously wishes to prove a point, why not start with Saudi Arabia?


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posted by Editorial at 2:25 PM