Sticky Wiki
By Mowahid Hussain Shah
In cricketing terminology, a sticky wicket refers to a pitch that is partly dry and partly wet, creating a treacherous and uncertain bounce. A sticky wicket is a nightmare for batsmen in that it exposes their limitations and frailties.
In the political realm, WikiLeaks is having a similar impact in exposing the vulnerability of political leaders. Diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reconfirm what is already in the public domain and drive home that Pakistan’s political setup is rotten to the core. The New York Times reported that the cables portray the Zardari government as “weak, ineffectual and corrupt” and Zardari “lacks the power to fulfill his promises”. The cables also show how some of Pakistan’s elite seek direction from the US, which itself has lost its own sense of direction in the region.
More importantly, the WikiLeaks disclosures unveil the Arab establishment as a force of discord in the Muslim world.
During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980’s, the Arab establishment supported Iraq; in 1990, and again in 2003, they acquiesced to the invasion of Iraq. Now, with Iraq out of the way, focus has shifted again to Iran.
From Wikileaks, for example, is the November 4, 2009 cable, “King Hamad [of Bahrain] pointed to Iran as the source of much of the trouble in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He argued forcefully for taking action to terminate their nuclear program, by whatever means necessary.”
That this action may set a precedent against Pakistan has not been fully weighed.
Commenting on the WikiLeaks cables in The International Herald Tribune, Rami Khouri writes: “A few points about the conduct of Arab leaders … These points are about competence, accountability, truthfulness and dignity in the realm of leadership – or, as we have here, the shortages of these qualities … The assorted Arab leaders quoted as asking the United States to hurry up and do something about Iran’s growing nuclear technology capabilities reveal an apparent inability to care for their own countries and citizens.”
The OIC, founded by King Faisal to protect Muslim interests from encroachments by outside powers, achieved its all-time high, under King Faisal’s watchful eye, during the historic Lahore Summit of February 1974. Today, it is difficult to see the 57-member OIC as a bona fide repository of legitimate Muslim aspirations.Does anyone even recall the name of its current Secretary General? It sheds a troubling light on the implications and aftermath of King Faisal’s slaying in March 1975.
The erratic Ahmadinejad – who has isolated Iran on the international stage – suits neocons and pro-Israel interests who depict him as a symbolic irrational Muslim ruler with his hand on the nuclear trigger. Ahmadinejad is being exploited in the same way as Uganda’s Idi Amin was by South African white supremacists to malign black majority rule in southern Africa.
The key question is why Iran? The real issue surrounding Iran is not its nukes, but its support of Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran makes the Arab establishment look bad and subverts the sectarian divide-and-rule strategy, which has been the bane of the Muslim world. Resistance under the banner and tent of Islamic solidarity undermines ongoing schemes to widen the sectarian gulf.
The larger issue remains paucity of leadership. When Pakistan was being formed, it did not have much. But it had the vision of Iqbal and the unshakeable integrity of the Quaid. Today, the Muslim world is over-saturated with riches and resources but it is poor in vision and will. The dependent governing elites, by seeking direction and inspiration from outside forces, have conclusively proven their unfitness to lead.
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