Middle-East; the Never Ending Story.
1948 was the year when the region of Middle-East gave way to the state of Israel. It was ?the land without people, for people without a land? (Roger Garaudy) however it resulted in the relocation of about two thirds of the Arab population. West bank, Gaza and Jerusalem came under Israeli military occupation in 1967 followed by a slow yet effective takeover of the land and constant destruction of Arab homes under the pretext of illegal settlements .
Because of military superiority, Israel continued to put curbs and conditions on Palestinian Arabs including indiscriminate killing of civilians and young ones. This civil war gave way to the rise of several militant groups against Israeli forces which at that time were considered the best way to tackle the problem of human rights violation by Israel.
The world has seen the crisis of Middle East spinning out of control with clashes of militants and army on all fronts. With the recent takeover of Gaza by the famous militant Hamas group; the weak chances of any peace process in the region have further deteriorated. Right now the Palestinians are divided into two sects. One sides with Hamas and the other with Mr. Mahmoud Abbas who serves as the leader of ?Fatah? (a secular faction in Palestine). The internal strife among these sides with opposite governing ideals is further hindering the peace process which has already taken more than half a century to realize and is still no way near any possible end.
What is certain is that for any state of reconciliation to be reached, there has to be impartiality and a sense of fair play on both sides. Recently Israel announced the release of many Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to ease the peace talks but the recent Gaza episode and the escalating tensions among the Palestinian political factions, including the current dismissal of the unity government, are attempting to thwart the actual deal. There have been so many years of injustice on Israel?s part and so many years of retaliatory fighting by the Palestinian militants and with the people clearly divided, it seems almost impossible for a truce to take place.
The fact that USA has been the biggest foreign aid provider to Israel is not helping the peace process much. This brings US actions under scrutiny by the Palestinian people but not by those who are working with USA and Israel to find a middle ground. Israel has never openly trusted the Europeans and the Russians and they have defied United Nations resolutions countless times and the world?s only super power that has the ability to help solve this mess is backing Israel. Why hasn?t America been able to do anything when it has waged two wars in the name of democracy, freedom, terror and what not?
Recently President Bush put an offer on the table for an international peace conference, which has been rejected by Hamas citing it as another set of lies. Whether this call for a conference was to take away the attention of the world from Iraq war or was it a genuine peace offering-I don?t know. What I do know is that the long historical disbalance of power in Middle East has made many a mind skeptical of these peace talks.
Currently Hamas is isolated in the Gaza strip with no international backing. The emergency government set up by Mr. Abbas in the West Bank enjoys US backed support but is caught between a rock and a stone. Given the circumstances it is obvious that the Middle East peace process will fall into the hands of yet another American president. The question remains; will he be able to deliver?
Weapons go missing; and the winner is...
Recently I came across a news report which was alarming in its very essence; US military equipment approved and sent to train Iraqi forces has been repeatedly missing and has somehow found its way into Turkey. More than 70,000 rifles and pistols worth millions of dollars have been misplaced since 2004 and are being openly sold in the black markets of Turkey; not to mention that our soldiers are being shot at from the very guns that their country has its trademark on.
American military supplies are usually handled by independent contractors hired by the Department of Defense. America is known for its high tech gadgetry and superior weaponry and in this strategically important war of the 21st century when our government acts on ?high intelligent reports?; it can at the least appoint a special task force which oversees the whole contingent of independent contractors and make sure that the military hardware does not fall in the wrong hands. Repeated illegal use of American arsenal in Turkey?s neighborhoods have also raised many eyebrows and questioned the methods by which these arms are being transported across territories. These items have been identified by their serial numbers and are traced back to the shipments originally intended for Iraqi armed forces. Which makes me wonder; what kind of catastrophe would ensue if any arsenal with nuclear capability goes missing? Is our government so unconcerned that it did not take the time to investigate the profiles of the arm distributors they were hiring? This is a matter of grave importance; doesn?t it require a little extra caution and responsibility?
Corruption in general sectors of our government is now seen as a ?normal phenomenon? but corruption at the military level has far reaching ramifications. Pentagon did launch an investigation into this matter when in 2005 Col. Theodore Westhusing ;one of General Petraeus subordinates, came across severe corruption and arms fraud cases with in the contractor?s division. Two more years have gone by since the revelation was made and there is still no end to this problem. The only ?progress? seen was that the Colonel reportedly ?killed himself? because he could not serve in an atmosphere of lie and treachery and the General declines to comment on the incident as well as on the issue of the contractors. The sad part of the whole scenario is that the arsenal disappeared from under our very noses. Since 2005 more investigations have been launched but none of them have been able to identify who the actual perpetrator is or how the rifles and pistols continue to disappear?
Our government has used an estimated 661 billion dollars of the defense budget on the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a huge part of which has been utilized in manufacturing arms (142 billion dollars are reserved for the Iraq war in the coming year with 70 billion dollars already approved). Wars run on taxpayers? money. As far as the outcome of Iraq war is concerned; some of us are ready to wait with our President to witness the rosy outcome, but the same revenue that can be used at home to improve the weak structure of bridges, the condition of levees and for sorting out related pressing domestic issues is helping to strengthen those lined up against us.
After spending billions on this war and the hardware, it would be a good idea to actually track the shipment to their respective destinations rather than being clueless of how American artillery ends up on the streets of Turkish cities. I Wonder how many turns this war would take?
