By  Dr. Ghulam M. Haniff
St. Cloud, Minnesota

 

September 21, 2007

Obama: Bomb Pakistan

The moment reports came in that the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had advocated air strikes on Pakistan the country erupted in anger. All over the nation people went wild expressing their disappointment, and showing disdain for the United States. No one could believe that after all that Islamabad had done for America and its war on terrorism Pakistan itself was considered a fair game for bombing.
The Obama statement was so incredible to the ears of the Pakistani decision-makers that the National Assembly wasted no time in issuing a strongly worded condemnation. The heated debate that took place in that body indicated the depth of despair felt by the government in its relations with the United States.
Having listened to the barrage of negative statements for years from the US the general public has become convinced that Washington holds Pakistan in contempt. Everyone remembers how Pakistan was used to fight communism during the Cold War and once that struggle was over the country was dumped like a sack of garbage.
At the moment the American public is tired of war. The last thing they want right now is to drop bombs on yet another country. The strong reactions to his negative comments made Obama hurriedly back-peddle. However, he did not retract his statement. In a number of speeches he has praised Pakistan’s efforts in fighting terrorism. This was his way of clarifying what he meant by his earlier statement.
Obama’s blunder in this regard lies partly with the Pakistani-American community. Despite their professed interest in politics Pakistani-Americans have failed to reach out to Obama to educate him concerning their homeland. The community has not attempted to rectify his mistake even as the Democratic candidate has soft peddled his remark.
His rival, Hillary Clinton, characterized Obama as naïve. However, she did not say how she would deal with the situation that was discussed about Pakistan.
In recent years the subject of bombing Muslims has repeatedly come up. Some of the most provocative statements have been heard on the conservative talk shows. “Bomb Muslims” is a topic of discussion not only on the mass media that frequently carry the likes of Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly but on many others as well.
Several commentators have suggested bombing the Muslim Holy sites. Among those Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has gained particular notoriety by advocating the bombing of Mecca and Medina. In fact, he would even go a step further and have those cities nuked.
It is very shameful that no Muslim personality (either political or religious or academic) has spoken out against these reprehensible words on the global stage. Muslims ought to develop an international podium for countering the derogatory remarks made about them. Qazi Ahmad Hussain’s condemnation, if there was to be one, or that of some other mullahs in Friday khutbah, simply would not do the job.
The field of international communications is a “terra incognita” for the Muslims the world over and remains to be mastered by them. Just look at the global media. You’ll not find a single Muslim journalist writing regularly for one of the major newspapers of the world. There is no one, anywhere, comparable to Tom Friedman or Gwen Dwyer or Robert Fisk.
Because Muslims don’t strike back with equal force at the irresponsible statements made the world has come to accept that Muslims are a fair game for ridicule. Therefore, disparagement has become their lot.

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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