Sunday, December 22, 2024



By  Mowahid Hussain Shah

November 06, 2009

Hired Guns

 

The uproar in Pakistan on the $7.5 billion Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid package has exposed the limitations of the so-called ‘lobbyists’ and the policy of dependency on hired guns.

Grand claims cannot disguise results.

The minimum expectation for all those entrusted with the responsibility – Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis -- is to be alert enough to scrutinize and vet items specific to or affecting Pakistan, to accurately identify their sensitivity and applicability, and then take or suggest the necessary preventive or preemptive measures. The startled and angry reaction to the aid bill is proof enough that the ‘competent authorities’ did not do their basic job. It is as simple as that.

The havoc being wreaked today is a by-product of the “loot-and-scoot” culture which has infested society and polity like a spreading epidemic.

The message being sent (despite the fact that it is not working) is that the only way to lure others to one’s cause is to flash dollar bills. If that were truly the case, then the moneyed Arab Establishment would be enjoying widespread favorable perception in much of the Western world.

The Indian community in the US has been much more effective in quietly and steadily working toward their common goal of accumulating influence and penetrating inside US policy-making circles. One such example is the Gandhi Memorial Center in the Washington area. Here, in cooperation with the Embassy of India, programs are presented where, among other things, India is being portrayed as a “conscience of the world” and “at the vanguard of the struggle against colonialism and apartheid”. Never mind the sordid reality of the plight of India’s 200 million untouchable Dalit populace who suffer the most hideous forms of degradation and humiliation on earth.

In striking contrast, the Pakistan community does not enjoy a similar hub despite the fact that they have the ready-made infrastructure that can be converted by using the two landmark buildings (now empty) which once housed, along Embassy Row at Washington, DC, the old Pakistan Chancery at 2315 Massachusetts Avenue and its nearby annex at 2201 R Street.

The sad part is that discussions about the fate of these centrally located buildings sitting on prime real estate have focused less on using them as a community center but more on selling them to encash on their ample real estate value. Once again, the emphasis is on obtaining money rather than putting in money to achieve something substantial.

Missing in action is a coherent Pakistani voice in the conversation in “ Main Street” America. Why? Much of the energy – which could have been more usefully deployed elsewhere – has been wasted on wooing VIPs instead of developing the self-empowering route of building a base of youthful, confident thinkers and players who, on the basis of fair play, can demand – not beg – for their rightful place at the table, commensurate with their size in America and long-term significance of their ancestral homeland to vital US interests.

Whether in Islamabad or Washington, those who seek a Messiah in their midst will find only false messiahs.

PREVIOUSLY


Clash or Coexistence?

The Radical Behind Reconstruction

POWs & Victors’ Justice

Islam on Campus

Community of Civilizations

Rule of Law or Rule of Men?

Unpredictable Times

The Quiet One

Turkish Model & Principled Resignations

Live and Let Live

Leadership & de Gaulle

Dark Side of Power

2002: The Year of Escalation

Whither US?

Politics, God, Cricket & Sex

The Company of Friends

Missing in Action : The Kofi Case

Accountability & Anger

Casualties of War

A Simple Living

The Nexus & Muslim Nationhood

The Kith and Kin Culture

It Is Spreading

Road to Nowhere

Misrepresenting Muslims

The value of curiosity

Revenge & Riches

The Media on Iraq

The Perils of Sycophancy

Legends of Punjab

Mind & Muscle

Islam & the West: Conflict or Co-Existence?

The Challenge of Disinformation

Britain on the Backfoot

Paisa, Power and Privilege

The Path to Peace

On Intervention

Countering Pressures on Pakistan

A World at War?

Raising the Game

The Argument of Force

Affluence withtout Influence

The Shawdow of Vietnam

Heroes of '54

The Imperative of Human Decency

Hollywood and Hate

Living in Lahore

Fatal Decisions

Singer or the Song

Arrogance

The Power of Moral Legitimacy

The Trouble with Kerry

Green Curtain

A Nation Divided

Election 2004: Decisive but Divisive

Muslim Youth & Kashmir in America

The Big Picture: Wealth without Vision

Oxygen to Global Unrest

Punishing the Punctual

Change without Change

Don’t Be Weak

Passionate Attachment

The Confidence of Youth

The Other Side of Democracy

Campaign of Defamation

Pakistani Women & the Legal Profession

A Pakistani Journey

Farewell to Fazal

Mukhtaran and Beyond

Revamping the OIC

7/7 & After

Nuclear Double-Standard

Return to Racism

Hollywood – The Unofficial Media

The Sole Superpower

The UN at 60

A Slow Motion World War?

Elite vs. Street

Iqbal Today

Macedonia to Multan

Defending our Own

2006 & Maulana Zafar Ali Khan

Error against Terror

The Limits of Power

Cultural Weaknesses

Aggressive at Home, Submissive Abroad

Global Storm

The Farce of Free Expression

The Changing Mood

Condi & India

Xenophobia

Looking inward

Re-Thinking

A Tale of Two Presidents

Close to Home

Flashpoint Kashmir

The Spreading Rage

Confronting Adversity

The Illusion of International Law

Other Side of Extremism

Five Years after 9/11

The Educated Ignorant

The Decline of Humor

Icons

Six Years of Insanity

The War Not Being Fought

Munir Niazi

Compliance & Defiance

Counter-Message

Miscast

The Goddess of Wealth

The Meaning of Moderation

The Tora Bora of Fear

Clash of Civility

The Early Race

Challenge & Response

Will & Skill

Zealotry

Movie-Media and Pakistan

Hug with a Thug

Quest for Integrity

Unconquered

Vanity

Bringing Back the Past

Stuck in Iraq

Islam, Science and the West

Turmoil over Turkey

Leaders versus Leadership

Might Does Not Make Right

Kursi First

Vision & Will

Battle of the Billionaires

Assassination Alley

Extremism and Change

Rosy Expectations

Short-Term Gain, Long-Term Pain

Not Winning

Beyond Baghdad: Five Years after

The Hijab of Democracy

Hate, Fear & Hope

Weapon of Words

Hide N’ Seek

Yanking in the UN

Obama’s Breakthrough

Let Lahore Be Lahore

National Mood & Sports

Flirting with Fire

Trips Abroad

Georgia on the Mind

Duel for the White House

Zia to Zardari

Palestine: Avoiding the Unavoidable 

Not Working 

In the Ring 

Obama’s America

Smiles & Dreams

Quiet Deeds of Good

Crime and Indifference

Journey of Understanding

VIP-hunting

Terror via Counter-Terrorism

Umpires or Vampires?

The Long Road

Yesterday’s Reminder

Appeasement and the Real Threat

Israel’s Washington Agenda

New Challenges

Cairo and Beyond

Re-fighting Old Battles

America ’s Super Villains

Activism in America

Style without Substance

Overcoming Barriers

Ashes to Afghanistan

The Looming Change

Fear and Possibilities

What Is Not Debated 


2001

 

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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