Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, an India-born American, had once the ambition to become Secretary of State in the land of opportunities but as the luck would have it, he had to be content with being an anchorperson.
Earlier, he was balanced and logical in his articles but for some time he is articulating as Indian lobbyist-cum-neocons’ spokesman. Fareed Zakaria in his article written just before Manmohan Singh’s visit to America wrote: “Strangely, however, that strategic focus has been lost in dealing with Asia’s other rising giant, India. At one level the administration is being extremely friendly. India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh comes to Washington this week for the first official state visit of the Obama presidency. There will be toasts and celebrations and many nice words said in public about the ties between the two great democracies. But underneath this lies unease about the state of the relationship”. One does not understand why Fareed Zakaria for some time has started behaving as a lobbyist for India. Instead of embracing sham nationalism, he should have emulated Jean Paul Sarter who had refused to accept noble prize on the grounds that he was a citizen of a country (France), which was trying to crush freedom movement of the Algerians. Referring to Indian officials worry he said: “The Obama team does not have the same fundamental orientation as the Bush administration regarding India’s role in the 21st century. He should realize that America needs Pakistan even if it decides to withdraw from Afghanistan to secure its interests in Central Asian Republics. He should also understand that America and members of nuclear supplier’s group may get business from India for $100 billions over a period of five years, but America has saved $500 billion during the last seven years due to the transit facility allowed by Pakistan for equipment, food, fuel and other items for the American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, as this is the nearest, cheapest and the most viable route for deliveries of above items. Despite denials from both sides, there are indications that there are indirect contacts between the US and the Taliban. If this is true it is sensible move, as unless the majority Pushtuns are taken on board, peace would remain an illusion in Afghanistan. America has spent more than one trillion dollars on these two misadventures, and financial meltdown and recession has brought America on the brink. It is in this backdrop that America has to look for the way out. In Iraq, the semblance of normality one witnessed today is due to the right mix – the majority is at the helm and ruling the country, whereby grievances of sunni minority have been addressed and this policy has helped isolate Al Qaeda in Iraq. Afghanistan was ruled throughout its history by the majority Pushtuns. After 9/11, America invaded Afghanistan and then onwards Northen Alliance dominated the government under Hamid Karzai, which is not acceptable to the majority. And unless that position is reversed there is not a speck of chance for peace in Afghanistan. The problem is that pillars of Obama administration are not working in cohesion resulting in more chaos and confusion. Neocons and Jewish lobby demand of the Obama administration to focus on Pakistan describing it fountainhead of terrorism. Whereas Generals do not see eye to eye with the Vice-President Joe Biden and want 40000 more boots in Afghanistan. Having said that, one has to admit that there is some change the way CIA is operating, as it does not have a free hand former president Bush had given to it vis-à-vis India. This is borne of the fact that the top US Commander General Stanley McChrystal in his report to Pentagon had mentioned about destabilizing effects of increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan, saying it could further escalate tension in the region of high-stakes importance to the United States. He admitted that the current Afghan government is perceived to be pro-Indian; and Indian activities and increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions, fearing serious Pakistani concerns in response to the development. As is obvious from joint statement issued after meeting between President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the US wants India to be considered not only as a regional power but a world power. In fact US-India flirtation had started during Bill Clinton’s presidency. For president Bush had signed civil-nuclear agreement granting India the benefits of a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty without requiring it to meet all of the responsibilities expected of responsible states. India had remained outside the international nuclear mainstream since it misused Canadian and US nuclear assistance to conduct its 1974 nuclear bomb test; refused to sign the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, and conducted additional nuclear tests in 1998. By adopting the nuclear bill, Congress had disregarded the provisions that would have required commitments from India to restrain its production of nuclear weapons and nuclear bomb material. With ignominious defeat in Vietnam in 1970s and then 9/11 events, invincibility of present day America was shredded into smithereens. Instead of identifying the reasons as to why many people in the world hate America and addressing the grievances of other countries, former President George Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq inviting retaliation and hostilities. America has spent more than one trillion dollars on these two misadventures, and financial meltdown and recession has brought America on the brink. The problem had started after Soviet Russia withdrew from Afghanistan, and the US left it to the CIA to run the affairs, which operated with the help of Northern alliance. Of course, there was civil-war like conditions when various groups were fighting to have control of the country. As the people of Afghanistan were fed up with the death and destruction due to invasion by Soviet forces and then internecine conflicts between the jihadi organizations, Taliban used the contradictions to control at least 90 per cent of the country. And even now after nine years of American and its allies’ presence, the Taliban control at least 60 per cent of Afghanistan. If history is any guide, nobody should make long term plans to stay in Afghanistan. If the US is looking for an honourable exit, it should facilitate the Northern Alliance and Pushtuns to agree on a working relationship to avoid civil war. Syndicated columnist George Will in his recent column quoted Military historian Max Hastings who said: “Kabul controls only about a third of the country - control is an elastic concept - and Afghans may prove no more viable than were Vietnamese, the Saigon regime”. It is too well known that Afghanistan never had a strong central government; it does not have industry to provide jobs to the unemployed. Secondly, its entire economy is based on illegal production of poppy, which the US and NATO forces have failed to stop. To make it worse, corruption has eaten into the vitals of the state organs. There is a general perception in America and elsewhere that President Karzai has failed to rein in the warlords, drug producers and drug-traffickers. And so long as Karzai is at the helm, America would continue drawing flak for supporting the corrupt and inept government.
Earlier, he was balanced and logical in his articles but for some time he is articulating as Indian lobbyist-cum-neocons’ spokesman. Fareed Zakaria in his article written just before Manmohan Singh’s visit to America wrote: “Strangely, however, that strategic focus has been lost in dealing with Asia’s other rising giant, India. At one level the administration is being extremely friendly. India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh comes to Washington this week for the first official state visit of the Obama presidency. There will be toasts and celebrations and many nice words said in public about the ties between the two great democracies. But underneath this lies unease about the state of the relationship”. One does not understand why Fareed Zakaria for some time has started behaving as a lobbyist for India. Instead of embracing sham nationalism, he should have emulated Jean Paul Sarter who had refused to accept noble prize on the grounds that he was a citizen of a country (France), which was trying to crush freedom movement of the Algerians. Referring to Indian officials worry he said: “The Obama team does not have the same fundamental orientation as the Bush administration regarding India’s role in the 21st century. He should realize that America needs Pakistan even if it decides to withdraw from Afghanistan to secure its interests in Central Asian Republics. He should also understand that America and members of nuclear supplier’s group may get business from India for $100 billions over a period of five years, but America has saved $500 billion during the last seven years due to the transit facility allowed by Pakistan for equipment, food, fuel and other items for the American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, as this is the nearest, cheapest and the most viable route for deliveries of above items. Despite denials from both sides, there are indications that there are indirect contacts between the US and the Taliban. If this is true it is sensible move, as unless the majority Pushtuns are taken on board, peace would remain an illusion in Afghanistan. America has spent more than one trillion dollars on these two misadventures, and financial meltdown and recession has brought America on the brink. It is in this backdrop that America has to look for the way out. In Iraq, the semblance of normality one witnessed today is due to the right mix – the majority is at the helm and ruling the country, whereby grievances of sunni minority have been addressed and this policy has helped isolate Al Qaeda in Iraq. Afghanistan was ruled throughout its history by the majority Pushtuns. After 9/11, America invaded Afghanistan and then onwards Northen Alliance dominated the government under Hamid Karzai, which is not acceptable to the majority. And unless that position is reversed there is not a speck of chance for peace in Afghanistan. The problem is that pillars of Obama administration are not working in cohesion resulting in more chaos and confusion. Neocons and Jewish lobby demand of the Obama administration to focus on Pakistan describing it fountainhead of terrorism. Whereas Generals do not see eye to eye with the Vice-President Joe Biden and want 40000 more boots in Afghanistan. Having said that, one has to admit that there is some change the way CIA is operating, as it does not have a free hand former president Bush had given to it vis-à-vis India. This is borne of the fact that the top US Commander General Stanley McChrystal in his report to Pentagon had mentioned about destabilizing effects of increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan, saying it could further escalate tension in the region of high-stakes importance to the United States. He admitted that the current Afghan government is perceived to be pro-Indian; and Indian activities and increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions, fearing serious Pakistani concerns in response to the development. As is obvious from joint statement issued after meeting between President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the US wants India to be considered not only as a regional power but a world power. In fact US-India flirtation had started during Bill Clinton’s presidency. For president Bush had signed civil-nuclear agreement granting India the benefits of a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty without requiring it to meet all of the responsibilities expected of responsible states. India had remained outside the international nuclear mainstream since it misused Canadian and US nuclear assistance to conduct its 1974 nuclear bomb test; refused to sign the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, and conducted additional nuclear tests in 1998. By adopting the nuclear bill, Congress had disregarded the provisions that would have required commitments from India to restrain its production of nuclear weapons and nuclear bomb material. With ignominious defeat in Vietnam in 1970s and then 9/11 events, invincibility of present day America was shredded into smithereens. Instead of identifying the reasons as to why many people in the world hate America and addressing the grievances of other countries, former President George Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq inviting retaliation and hostilities. America has spent more than one trillion dollars on these two misadventures, and financial meltdown and recession has brought America on the brink. The problem had started after Soviet Russia withdrew from Afghanistan, and the US left it to the CIA to run the affairs, which operated with the help of Northern alliance. Of course, there was civil-war like conditions when various groups were fighting to have control of the country. As the people of Afghanistan were fed up with the death and destruction due to invasion by Soviet forces and then internecine conflicts between the jihadi organizations, Taliban used the contradictions to control at least 90 per cent of the country. And even now after nine years of American and its allies’ presence, the Taliban control at least 60 per cent of Afghanistan. If history is any guide, nobody should make long term plans to stay in Afghanistan. If the US is looking for an honourable exit, it should facilitate the Northern Alliance and Pushtuns to agree on a working relationship to avoid civil war. Syndicated columnist George Will in his recent column quoted Military historian Max Hastings who said: “Kabul controls only about a third of the country - control is an elastic concept - and Afghans may prove no more viable than were Vietnamese, the Saigon regime”. It is too well known that Afghanistan never had a strong central government; it does not have industry to provide jobs to the unemployed. Secondly, its entire economy is based on illegal production of poppy, which the US and NATO forces have failed to stop. To make it worse, corruption has eaten into the vitals of the state organs. There is a general perception in America and elsewhere that President Karzai has failed to rein in the warlords, drug producers and drug-traffickers. And so long as Karzai is at the helm, America would continue drawing flak for supporting the corrupt and inept government.
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