THE ANNOYING TRUTH

 

 

AAMIR RAZA HUSAIN

Padma Shri, Theatre It was some years ago that I was researching a show on terrorism, which led me to the corridors of North Block where I found myself sitting across the head of the IB (Intelligence Bureau). Which nation is the biggest sponsor of terrorism, he asked me. With the names of Pakistan and Palestine hovering close to my lips I gasped when he replied himself “United States of America”. He saw the look of disbelief in my eyes and started explaining himself.

Having bloodied their nose in Vietnam and Iran, the US realised it had no stomach for traditional warfare. Body bags coming back from lands they couldn’t even identify on the map were unacceptable to the Americans. So, when Russia walked into Afghanistan they had no choice but to watch from the sidelines. It was, then, a brilliant tactic on their part to pitch the Islamic Bloc against the Soviets. They first got their faithful side-kick Saudi Arabia to raise the slogan of jihad – illiterate, out of work Muslims from Sudan, Egypt and Libya responded to the call with enthusiasm.

After initial brainwashing, they were shipped to another ally – Pakistan. Here they were given militant training and religious “Wahabi indoctrination”. Having accounted for the supply of manpower, the US now turned their attention towards the funding of the project. For hundreds of years the poppy trade had provided the impoverished farmers of Afghanistan a meagre sustenance. The poppy was smuggled by tribal warlords to Turkey and from there to Europe. The Americans suggested a shorter route through Karachi where an efficient distribution system by sea spread the poppy all over the world. The tribals made more money and hence supported the American efforts. The ISI Generals and military rulers of Pakistan gathered huge fortunes and the cess charged by the Americans financed the war efforts. Win for all.

Now, huge amount of weaponry was needed to arm this. The Egyptians, an erstwhile Russian ally, had been shopping for arms in the West. The Americans bought their entire stock of Russians arms, reequipped their Army with American weaponry, at a huge profit of course, and supplied the old stock to the various ragtag outfits that set out to liberate Afghanistan. Of course there were some modern weapons as well, like the US stinger missile used against India very effectively in Kargil. Till here the US script worked brilliantly. But once the Russians abandoned Afghanistan, and President Najibullah was hung from a lamppost, the Americans lost control over the proceedings. Once the Taliban were in control of the entire country under the one-eyed, mad Mullah Omar it converted itself into a society that was backward, tribal and completely unIslamic.

Soon, a shadowy figure was seen leading events. It was the American-trained CIA operative, the criminal Osama bin Laden. It took sometime for the Americans to realise that the guns they had trained against the Soviets were slowly turning on them. In Pakistan the ISI now had trained guerrillas, stockpiles of weapons and an annual income from drug smuggling. All dressed and nowhere to go, they suddenly discovered India in their crosshair. Consider this. In July 1987 the Soviets evacuated Kabul. In 1988 Kashmir blew up for the first time since 1965. This terror has been unleashed across the country since.

As India lines up for scraps from the nuclear table, we must consider that America, despite their sanctimonious doublespeak, is the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons on peaceful civilians. They have bombed over 20 countries. They were one of the first to use the car bomb in Beirut in 1985 killing 80 innocent bystanders. Accused by an UN-sponsored commission for the support of “Acts of Genocide” against the Mayan Indians in Guatemala in 1980.

They are the only G7 country which has refused to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty forbidding the use of landmines. They have successfully killed more helpless Iraqis in three years than the dictator Saddam Hussein had in 20, also destroying one of the oldest civilisations in the world. Their support of the Israeli genocide in Lebanon is adding to instability in the region even as they train their guns on Iran. With the connivance of the Saudis, they have split the Middle East pitting Jews against Muslims, and Shia against Sunni. In India their Wahabi terrorist trainers come under the garb of religious preachers from Saudi and take advantage of the illiterate ghettoised Muslims, destabilising this region as well.