Page 4 - Pakistan Link - March 26, 2021

P4 – PAKISTAN LINK – MARCH 26, 2021 OPINION
Pakistan Link n By Mowahid Hussain Shah Imprisoned

he war on terror was an
Advisory Board error which diminished
Dr Sohail Masood TAmerica and, in the process,

President inflicted collateral damage on in-
Arif Zaffar Mansuri nocents.

ArifMansuri@PLpublications.org This was the
unmistakable take-

Editor away after viewing
Akhtar Mahmud Faruqui the landmark 2021

afaruqui@pakistanlink.com movie, “The Mauri-
tanian,” based on a
Editor Urdu Link & Bureau Chief (Pakistan) true story.
Shabbir Ghori Mohamedou Slahi was a bright
urdulink@yahoo.com young lad from the northwestern
Resident Editor Urdu Link African country of Mauritania,
& Director Video Operations alongside the Atlantic coast. Por-
Anwar Khawaja traying Slahi onscreen was 2021
akhawaja@pakistanlink.com Golden Globe Best Actor nominee,
Tahar Rahim. Actress Jodie Foster,
Manager Sales & Advertising who played Slahi’s attorney, Nancy
sales@pakistanlink.com Hollander, won the Golden Globe
award for Best Supporting Actress.
Regional Offi ces
Slahi, detained by authorities
in Mauritania in November 2001,
YKKB eventually was transported in Au-
ykkb03@gmail.com gust 2002 to Guantanamo Bay mili-
tary detention camp, where he was
Sacramento, CA
Sacramento@plpublications.com imprisoned for 14 years, undergoing ended up forgiving his tormentors. ited Slahi in Nouakchott, Maurita- of them liquor) in Black neighbor-
varying degrees of torture and tor- He was a ‘high-value’ detainee. As- nia, and stayed at his home. Captor hoods were burned and ransacked.

San Fransisco/Bay Area, CA ment. He was never charged. tonishingly, in prison, his winsome and captive now address each other There was a palpable lack of self-
Sanfrancisco@plpublications.com Slahi’s heroic lawyer, Nancy nature won the heart of his guard, as “Brother,” with Slahi saying that awareness of their perceived money-

Hollander, from Albuquerque, New Steve Wood, who had a key to his “being Muslim means first and fore- centric attitudes.
New York, NY
Newyork@plpublications.com Mexico, contested his detention cell. most being a good person” and that Facing the Coronavirus fallout
as violative of habeas corpus safe- Such was the impact of Slahi on “I believe in humanity.” Slahi still are Asian Americans. 20 years after

Houston, TX guards embedded in the US Consti- his guard that Steve Wood embraced cannot leave Mauritania but, with 9/11, President Biden, in his first
Houston@Plpublications.org tution, eventually winning the case. Islam, stating about Slahi; “I trust his forgiving nature and infectious national address on March 11, was
She never gave up, nor did her cli- him. He is an honest person, impos- smile, he leads a purposeful life and seen condemning the scapegoating
Phoenix, AZ ent. The sad part is after the US Dis- sible not to like the guy.” Slahi was has married an American lawyer, and hate crimes directed against

Phoenix@Plpublications.org
trict Court ordered Slahi released the first Muslim Steve had ever met. Kitty, and is now the father of a cute Asian Americans, the numbers of

Ontario, Canada on March 22, 2010, the Obama ad- A remarkable documentary on chubby boy, Ahmed. which have soared exponentially. A

Ontario@Plpublications.org ministration kept him locked up for In the aftermath of the overre- non-profit center, “Stop AAPI Hate,”
nearly 7 additional years (October Portraying Slahi onscreen action on 9/11, American Muslims has compiled over 3,000 incidents of
Letters to the Editor 17, 2016.) Mohamedou Slahi was was 2021 Golden Globe bore the brunt of misdirected hu- anti-Asian violence and harassment
never charged with a crime. miliated rage, with elements of the over the past year.
Readers are welcome to express their opinion Best Actor nominee,

in these columns. Please keep your letters The movie spotlighted how cap- Asian-American community quick The syndrome of target-
brief and to the point. Letters without full tors and interrogators can degener- to join the bandwagon. Notable ing vulnerable groups makes ever
name, complete address, and a daytime Tahar Rahim. Actress
phone number will not be published. ate into cruelty and allow themselves among them was Korean-American more pertinent the quote of promi-
Also, copies of letters sent to other news- to become bereft of integrity. Jodie Foster, who played John Yoo who, as Deputy Assistant nent German theologian Martin

papers are not encouraged. Letters can be
mailed, faxed or e-mailed to the Editor at What made it particularly Slahi’s attorney, Nancy Attorney General of the United Niemöller (1892-1984):
the Pakistan Link Headquarters address egregious was that these were men States, demeaned his legal training First they came for the Com-
listed below.

Pakistan Link (ISSN 1074-0406) is pub- and women in military uniform, Hollander, won the through his drafting in 2002-2003 munists
lished weekly for $85 a year by JAZ LLC, schooled and disciplined with tenets of the infamous “torture memos”, And I did not speak out because
DBA PL Publications, LLC. of duty, service, and honor. Golden Globe award for which gave legal rationale for sordid I was not a Communist.
Periodical postage paid at Anaheim, CA Slahi was an unusually bright Best Supporting Actress terror practices on detainees, which Then they came for the Social-

and additional mailing offices.

POST MASTER: Send address changes to young lad who had won scholarship led the United States on the road to ists
Pakistan Link, P O Box 1238, Anaheim, CA
92815 to Germany and, in detention where the bond forged between the cap- Abu Ghraib. And I did not speak out be-
The management has the right to refuse he learned English, was able to pen tor and the captive encaptioned “My Caught unprepared, the Ameri- cause I was not a Socialist.
to print any advertisement, news, article,

letter or any other material. In case of letters documenting his harrow- Brother’s Keeper” was posted on the can Muslim community lacked the Then they came for the trade
any errors in advertisement the manage- ing experiences, which formed the Guardian’s website. In it, Slahi says collective determination to rally to- unionists
ment will not be liable for more than the
amount paid for the advertisement to the crux of his blockbusting bestseller, both “transcended stereotypes and gether. And I did not speak out because
Link. “Guantanamo Diary”. Throughout hatred when it mattered, during the Asian Americans similarly were I was not a trade unionist.

Advertisements in Pakistan Link are

placed in good faith. The newspaper is not his chilling ordeal, Slahi kept him- darkest moments.” Steve mentioned not prepared. In the aftermath of the Then they came for the Jews
responsible nor endorses the contents of self going through sustained Iman, that they were “two people from Rodney King beating in Los Angeles And I did not speak out because
any advertisement. In case of a frivolous

lawsuit, the plaintiff will bear the total cost which kept his spirit unbroken, with two different parts of the world who on March 3, 1991, I was invited to I was not a Jew.

of the suit, including but not limited to the the unflappable conviction that God crossed that divide.” That divide a White House briefing where Ko- Then they came for me

Link’s costs and the attorney’s fees.

wouldn’t abandon him. evaporated in May 2018, during the rean-American attendees were per- And there was no one left to
His Iman never faltered and he month of Ramadan, when Steve vis- plexed as to why their stores (many speak out for me.
Information for n By Touqir Hussain Re-engaging America guiding principle of Pakistan-US
Subscribers Georgetown University relations except that now it pro-
The printing of Pakistan Link is unfail- vokes conflict. Cooperation is still

ingly completed by Wednesday every
week and its copies are handed over to akistan-US relations in re- possible in areas such as stabiliza-
the mailing house for prompt dispatch cent years have derived tion of Afghanistan and counter-
to the subscribers. The Link should
reach its destination on time if there is Plargely from Washington’s terrorism. The US feels that con-

no delay at the post office. If a delay is China and India policies, the Af- tinued Afghan conflict will keep

occasioned it is in no way attributable ghanistan war and
to the performance of Link’s manage- AMERICA, P28
ment. In case of delayed receipt of Pak- US national secu-
istan Link or missing issues, please con- rity concerns relat- Views and
tact your local Post Office and submit a opinions ex-

“Publication Watch” form. ed to international
terrorism. And pressed by
they have not per- authors and
formed well, leav-
PAKISTAN LINK ing both sides unhappy. The Biden has given no indication of how pecially when Pakistan’s value as contributors
in
articles,

Headquarters administration has given no hint the competing objectives in its an economic partner is anything letters, opin-
P O Box 1238, Anaheim, CA 92815 of what comes next. wish list can be reconciled, and but obvious. Here a little history is ion pieces,
Tel: 714-400-3400 reports, advertisements, etc
Fax: 714-400-3404 Pakistan for its part, going by hasn’t provided any clues about relevant. Pakistan’s close relations appearing in Pakistan Link

E-Mail: Editor@PakistanLink.com official statements and think tanks its own policies to induce the de- with the US have historically been
reports, is hoping for a reset where sired change in US policies. All we a function of geopolitics (1954 to and Urdu Link are their own.

relations find their own rationale hear is talk that Pakistan is mov- 1965 and 1979 to 1990) or issues The paper neither shares
Pakistan Offi ce yet reflect a balance in America’s ing away from geopolitics to geo- relating to US and global security nor endorses them and thus

42 Rehman Court ties with India and Pakistan, and economics. (2001 to 2011). That is where the should not be held responsi-

Plaza Square, Off M. A. Jinnah Road its consent to Islamabad’s strategic In fact, there’s no such thing relations found their logic. ble for the views/opinions of
Karachi-74400, Pakistan the writers & advertisers.
links with Beijing. But Pakistan as stand-alone geo-economics, es- Geopolitics still remains the
www.PakistanLink.com