Desicritics Category: Politics: US

The Healthcare Crisis, Part One

Ravi Kulkarni — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:28:32 EST

There is a big crisis in the health care system (some would like to call it sick care system). The prices are going up by 10-15% every year, and correspondingly the insurance premiums. There is a tuberculosis epidemic that is threatening to breakout anytime, even in the developed countries. The chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension continue to plague us with no solution in sight. The pharmaceutical companies and the medical community have managed to find palliative measures that keep a patient alive for a long time, but there is no true cure for many health problems. Every new drug invented, every new procedure developed is costlier than the one before, but with few exceptions, most of them do not cure the patient. Instead they keep him or her dependent on the system for a long time, with attendant expenses and unwanted side effects. Even antibiotics which saved so many lives in the 20th century have become ineffective against increasingly virulent and resistant bugs.

Every spoke in the wheel of health has had its own role to play in creating the mess we find ourselves today. Let's start with the health care professionals. General physicians seldom get to spend enough time to understand an individual patient, his or her lifestyle or diet. More than 50% feel they are overworked. More often than not, it is a quick enumeration of symptoms and some lab tests and a prescription. Physicians are happy to prescribe antibiotics and other strong medications even when they are not strictly called for. The pediatricians are the worst offenders of overprescribing antibiotics. Majority of the cases do not even need them because the infections are viral. This not only creates super bugs, but also weakens the immunity of a child. My reasoning is simple – if you give a crutch to the body, the body stops making an effort to heal itself and comes to rely on the crutch. See this article on antibiotics. Specialists such as dentists and orthopedics doctors are even more culpable. Often they tend to treat individuals like mechanics treat your cars – the more repairs the better – for them. This is not to say that there are no ethical, sincere and loving doctors around. But often they become unwitting part of an establishment that is too hard to navigate and change.

Next come the insurance companies. They show no interest in ensuring that an individual gets proper health care. For them every medical expense is another expense and it is their stated goal to reduce this expense. For example, most insurance policies do not cover preventive measures such as multi vitamins or supplementation. Most policies won't cover the membership of a health club or give discounts if you are an active member. Most often they are not interested because the employers who provide the biggest chunk of insurance policies, keep changing the insurance companies frequently. Thus insurance companies have zero incentive in keeping an individual healthy.

Then come the pharmaceutical companies. While they have done some wonderful work in the past in developing life saving drugs, now they are in a rat race. Their credibility lies in tatters due to recent scandals. Peddling drugs that are of dubious efficacy, suppressing research that shows negative aspects of their drugs, bribing doctors to prescribe more medicines, encourage doctors to use the drugs off label, you name a perversion, they have indulged in it. The scandal goes on and on and with no end in sight. What is worse, there is hardly any liability for the individuals who consciously swindle the society. At the most they get a slap on their wrists.

This brings us to the fourth spoke – the regulator – FDA in America. For all practical purposes they do the bidding of the pharma companies. It is a revolving door at the FDA, often professors and researchers with deep connections to pharma industry head the FDA. While there is a process to certify and monitor drugs, FDA uses its big stick to beat back any attempt by alternative medicines to address a market need. In the States, no supplement or food producer can make a claim that his ware can cure anything. There are many such instances where a traditional (really traditional like an Ayurvedic preparation) can and does alleviate a certain condition, but they are not allowed by FDA to make that claim or at least FDA won't certify them. According to FDA, something is a drug only if it has gone through certified clinical study. No matter that these clinical studies are conducted by the interested parties, and that the traditional medicines have gone through millennia long trials. A lot of the funding for FDA comes from the pharma industry itself.

The final spoke is the consumer. This is where the biggest blame lies in the whole system. People tend to believe that a doctor knows everything. We are ultimately responsible for our own health – failure to recognize this simple truth often results in fatal consequences. People go to doctors with their mundane problems and accept prescriptions which are often not necessary. Doctors have become very defensive because of the ever hanging threat of malpractice lawsuits. So they will choose the strongest measure even when a wait and watch method will work just as well. We are too lazy to choose a careful diet that's suitable for our lifestyle, genes and body. We do not exercise enough. We eat and drink a lot of junk food. In the end is it any surprise that we are at the mercy of harsh chemicals and - at best - indifferent professionals?

In the second part of this article I will write about some of the methods we have adapted to ensure a healthy lifestyle.

Meeting The Congressman For The Sri Lanka LTTE Crisis

Kalugu — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:21:20 EST

Well finally I have met a US Congressman - I mean a personal meeting with a politician for the first time in my life.

Living in the relatively remote Midwest region of USA with a very small Indian community, the inaction of the Indian government over the human sufferings in Sri Lanka has been a factor of frustration for quite some time now, not just for me but for quite a few family friends here. Watching the human suffering and the brutality of the Sri Lankan forces for several weeks has finally thrust me to swing into action. Consultation with friends lead us to conclude that meeting the district Congressman and presenting the evidences for human rights violations would be the most logical step.

After launching a swift online signature campaign with area residents of Indian origin, we started working with the congressman's office to get an appointment. We were hoping to have a personal meeting at the Congressman's office so that we can show the videos and images that have bothered us much. However the scheduler/Office Manager of the Congressman informed me that the Congressman is busy until a month or so and asked if I would be interested in meeting him at an event in two days. I was aware that the US Senate foreign relations committee is planning to discuss the Sri Lanka crisis in a week and thought the timing would be perfect.

With a decent number of signatures by several area Indians (Not just Tamils, but the entire Indian community signed it displaying a sign of solidarity) and the disturbing videos and images burned to a CD, six of us were all set to meet the Congressman.

We were quite apprehensive about discussing the issue openly since the Tamil rebels are still proscribed in the USA. We all agreed that we will not make any references to the rebels in our discussion but focus on the excesses committed by the Sri Lankan forces.

The meeting was to take place at the Health Care field hearing scheduled at the downtown church. We arrived early and were waiting for the District Director & Staff Agent who was supposed to brief us about the standard procedures of meeting the Congressman and facilitate the meeting.

The Staff Agent arrived and was indeed very helpful and appreciated us for bringing the issue to the Congressman's attention. He also appreciated us for having run the signature campaign. After listening to the information we provided, the Staff Agent collected the file folder with the signed petition and the CD's and informed us that we will be able to meet the Congressman prior or after the event. He also advised us to forward the petition and evidences to other committee members, especially members on the foreign relations committee.

The Congressman arrived and was greeted by few public that were waiting to meet him just like us. The Congressman engaged in a long conversation with a lady who appeared to be in despair due to a loss of a family member. The Congressman was very polite and listened to her long story and hugged her to offer some solace. We knew then that we will have to sit through the meeting and will be able to meet the congressman only at the end of the event. Some of my friends decided to drive home and come back later, while three of us decided to stay.

We found the Health Care field hearing very informative. I was very impressed at the way the hearing was organized.

I started comparing the meeting with that of meetings involving Indians. Be it in India or the USA a meeting involving similar crowd would have been really noisy and full of confusion and chaos. I think we have to accept that confusion and chaos have become part of the Indian culture.

Americans sure have mastered the art of organizing events. Simple process's put in place by the organizers made the event progress in a smooth fashion. The Congressman was very polite and had a fair sense of humor and handled the questions well. A native Indian member who was full of humor asked the Congressman if he needed a job, referring to the acute shortage of doctors and paramedics in his clinic operating in the nearby Indian reservation. The Congressman also did not hesitate to ask for assistance from the folks in the crowd when he was not sure of some statistics.

Finally the meeting got over and we got the opportunity to talk to the Congressman. When I introduced myself and my friends, I mentioned that our roots are in India and we wanted to highlight the crisis in the South Asian nation of Sri Lanka. The congressman immediately said "I have a Tamil Tiger in my office". Looking at our blank reaction, he continued "That was a Joke...". He was making a reference to a Sri Lankan Tamil who works in his office. The Congressman seemed to be very knowledgeable about the happenings in Sri Lanka (obviously).

We informed about the evidences we have compiled and requested the Congressman to take up the issue appropriately and help bring justice to the people. The Congressman said before ending the conversation that he would like to one day visit Sri Lanka and have a vacation there.

That day may be too far away with the approach taken by most involved parties that have a stake in the region.

We all left home with a sense of relief that we have done the right thing. We do not know if the Congressman will be able to stop the terror faced by the people in the war zone, but we are happy based on what is mentioned in Bagavath Geethai - "Do your duty, Do not expect returns".

Satellites Colliding in Space

DeeptiA — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:26:08 EST

One always thinks of space as a large open area, with plenty of space in all directions. You combine this space with the concept of satellites being well regulated and following controlled orbits, and then it is difficult to believe that satellites under the control of such countries such as the United States and Russia could actually collide, and yet that is exactly what seems to have happened:

The collision between a U.S. and a Russian satellite over Siberia may have been accidental and the first of its kind, but experts say more crashes will inevitably occur and could have geopolitical consequences. "This is an event that really makes us realize that things are not so straightforward as we originally thought," said Francisco Diego, a senior research fellow in physics and astronomy at University College London.

The collision, between a spacecraft operated by U.S. communications group Iridium Satellite LLC and a Russian Cosmos-2251 military satellite, happened 485 miles above the Russian Arctic on Tuesday afternoon. The crash sent at least 600 pieces of debris off into space, officials said, increasing the risk that other satellites, including the vast International Space Station, which orbits 220 miles up, could be struck and damaged.

This crash may have been accidental, but what is to prevent countries from investing in such technologies? For example, a couple of such crashes have the effect of impacting the GPS and communication technologies that are used by the US military to great affect. Already, the US is looking at even guiding bombs through the use of GPS and satellite, which makes the demolition of satellites an important aspect in war.

India's Obama Envy - Not!

Ashoka Chakra — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:43:11 EST

The International Herald Tribune (a New York Times company) had an interesting "letter from India" by Anand Giridharadas (published February 12, 2009). Labeled "India's case of Obama envy", the letter purported that India was suffering a political angst that could only be solved by an “Obama-like” person.

First - what is the author's, and indeed India's, understanding of Obama, and his election as the first black US president? Obama became President of the US because of a series of unfortunate events. To wit:

1. Bush fatigue, and revulsion towards all things Republican (deservedly so). Even if the Democrats had nominated a donkey (ironically their mascot), the ass would have won.

2. The Economy, and McCain's admitted lack of economic understanding. Till September, and after the Republican convention, McCain had reversed Obama's poll lead only to watch it wither with the stock market.

3. The liberal press that was so keen to see a black president that it neglected Obama's history of associations with unsavory characters (Bill Ayers, Rev Wright, etc) and absent tract record (remember all those "present" votes?) to hand him the Presidency.

4. Race - like it or not, Obama won because he is black. I know of so many whites who voted for him simply because they felt they needed to expunge the memory of slavery from their collective consciousness by voting for a black person.

5. Gifted, meaningless rhetoric that had Chris Mathews of MSNBC urinating in his pants, and wondering why his legs were tingling.

So, what part of the above would Mr Giridharadas like to see in an "Indian Obama"? Election to the PM's position simply because that person is Muslim or SC/ST, irrespective of qualifications? Or to elect a PM despite meaningless empty rhetoric by someone who has no track record and shady associations? Don't we already do that? Or are we to be enamored by Mr Obama's age? Let's look at this critically and retrospect some of the most remarkable changes that have happened in the world recently. Mr Gorbachev was no spring chicken when he launched Perestroika or Glasnost. Mr Deng was in his 70s when he turned China from a communist economic pygmy into today's giant. In contrast, take young turks in countries such as Georgia, where Mr Sakashvilli picked a ridiculous fight with Russia and lost a good portion of his country.

Or better still, take Mr Obama himself. His first three weeks as US President have been less than stellar, with appointees dropping like flies, with numerous ethical compromises that would make the Chicago political machine proud (such as hiring lobbyists after campainging against them), presenting half-baked economic plans which even Lalu Prasad Yadav could easily out-do (and this from the best of the best of the best, yes sir), and running away from campaign promises (so, are we going to drill off shore or not, and are guns going to be banned in DC or not?)

Mr Giridhardas writes

"The magazine fleshed out this thought with a survey of 1,600 young people spread across eight Indian cities. Two-thirds of India's 1.2 billion people are under 35, and the survey found them craving an Obamaesque new politics."

Remember, most Indians live in villages and have no idea of who Mr Obama is, nor do they care. To survey young folks in cities, who are bound to be connected to the internet and the world, and to extrapolate that to the country as a whole smacks of elitism at best and is disingenuous at worst.

The author also contradicts himself by saying that those surveyed wanted change (well, who doesn't?) and that the majority in India (again, careful with that word) wanted a authoritarian leader. Doesn't that contradict what Obama purportedly stands for? Despite my misgivings for him, I would not call Obama authoritarian by any stretch of the imagination.

India does not need Obama. India needs Sardar Patel and Bhagat Singh. India needs Tilak and Chandrasekhar Azad. We don't need to ape others - we can, and do, produce our own finest. But, as a culture, we only do so after we are pushed so far that even we cannot tolerate it anymore. That time is coming.

An Open Letter to President Obama on the Israel-Palestine Issue

Vinod Joseph — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:17:54 EST

Dear President Obama,

How do you do, Sir? Today is your 21st day in office and you must be busy with your bailout package for all those undeserving banks. However, I’m sure you have an eye on the Israeli election results. Exit polls have shown the ruling Kadima party in the first place and dramatic gains by Likud, its conservative rival, which is a close second. Avigdor Lieberman’s right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu is in third place and Labor, Israel's founding party and Kadima's current coalition partner is fourth.

Assuming Kadima comes to power and Tzipi Livni becomes Israel’s Prime Minister, you will be dealing with a hawkish bunch of people who have repeatedly failed to make the compromises that are necessary to bring peace in the middle-east. The worst aspect of this election is that Yisrael Beiteinu, much more rightwing than even Likud, is doing better than Labour.

Please don’t get me wrong Mr. President. I have always supported Israel’s right to exist. Israel was validly created by a UN resolution. Israel was meant to be predominantly Jewish and it is right in encouraging Jews to migrate to Israel. However, Israel wasn’t meant to be entirely Jewish. The UN resolution which created Israel did not allow it to carry out ethnic cleansing of Arabs. Israel’s treatment of its Arab minority has been shameful. Its treatment of Arabs in the occupied territories has been even worse. Further, building Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is something that can never be justified. Arabs in Israel are discriminated against and are second-class citizens in their own country. Israel’s economy is not in a good shape. To be very honest, Israel has survived till date mainly because of the unbelievable levels of US aid it has received over the years.

Though Israel has shed its socialist past and has many world class companies and entrepreneurs, Israel still relies on US aid to get by, mainly because of its very high defence budget. Mr. President, I’m all for ensuring that Israel continues to survive. However, Israel must be forced to make concessions to the Palestinians. Now that (relatively) secular Palestinian organisations like the Fatah are weak and unpopular among Palestinians, Israel will have to make its peace with Hamas and Hizbollah.

To begin with, Israel must allow the creation of a viable Palestinian state. No, I’m not talking of Jordan, though it may have more Palestinians than Jordanians. This Palestinian state should include not only the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, but should also have its capital in East Jerusalem. All Jewish settlements must be withdrawn from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mr. President, if there is any force on earth which can force Israel to make this concession, it is the United States of America.

The US of A has many levers with which it can force Israel to change. Withholding of financial aid is definitely one option. Not sharing US military technology with Israel is another. Israel may become weak in the short run, as a result, but in the long run, it will be stronger. Mr. President, to Save Israel, it must be made weak

Yours sincerely,

A blogger from the World Wide Web

Two Intelligent Men

Vinod Joseph — Sat, 7 Feb 2009 10:11:55 EST

Avid blog-readers would have noticed the presence of two very intelligent men in the blogosphere for some time.

One of them, Mr. Bahukutumbi Raman (Mr. B. Raman for short), has been writing columns for various magazines (especially Outlook) for some years now. Mr. B. Raman used to be with the Research and Analysis Wing, India’s external intelligence agency, where he headed its counter-terrorism division for more than a decade till his retirement in 1994. Presently Mr. B. Raman is the Director of the Institute For Topical Studies in Chennai. Mr. B. Raman’s blog can be found here.

The other ‘intelligent’ gentleman is Colonel Hariharan. Col. Hariharan’s blog informs us that he is a retired military intelligence professional with nearly three decades of experience in South Asian countries. Colonel Hariharan tells us in this very touching post of the time he spent in Sri Lanka as part of the IPKF.

Colonel Hariharan’s blog can be found here.

Mr. B. Raman’s articles tend to be very factual, with an abundance of information of the sort that is not usually available to lay persons. In that sense, they are a delight to read. For example, this article on the situation in Tibet is filled with facts with very little of Mr. B. Raman’s own opinions. However, there are other posts which contain Mr. B. Raman’s opinions and views. For example, in this post, he says that there is an urgent need to tighten Sonia Gandhi’s security due to threats from the LTTE.

Col. Hariharan’s posts are very different from Mr. B. Raman’s. They don’t contain as many facts, (other than what’s available in the public domain) and focus instead on conveying Col. Hariharan’s opinions on various issues. I can assure you that they are a delight to read. Here, you’ll find Col. Hariharan lamenting the fact that red tapism prevented the Defence Ministry from utilising its budget to the full, with the result that it had to surrender sixteen thousand crore rupees (that’s US dollars three hundred and twenty million) as unutilised money.

I think it is wonderful that Mr. B. Raman and Col. Hariharan have started blogging since their articles give lay persons access to expert analysis. So far, I think I have read every article written by each of these gentlemen. I don’t have any disagreement with anything that Col. Hariharan has written. I can’t say the same for Mr. B. Raman. In this article Mr. B. Raman argues that it would be in India's interest to help Sri Lanka destroy the LTTE's military capability, but not its political strength. Mr. B. Raman says that the current crop of LTTE cadres had no role in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. He argues that India should make a distinction between the ones involved in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and the others. This is in line with his view expressed in this post calling on the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora and the LTTE cadres to overthrow Prabhakaran.

I don’t agree with Mr. B. Raman’s views. The LTTE is not the only Tamil movement in the picture even now. Leaders like Douglas Devananda of the Eelam People's Democratic Party and S. Thondaiman of the Ceylon Workers Congress are around. The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal formed by Colonel Karuna is a political force in the East. Further, if Prabhakaran were to be captured or killed, the LTTE will cease to exist. The LTTE is centred on the cult of a supreme leader and without Prabhakaran, the LTTE cannot survive. I really don’t see why India should try and save the LTTE even if only as a political movement. Mr. B. Raman goes on to say in the same post that the ‘Indian political class never understands the importance of identifying and preserving our strategic assets in the neighbourhood. Jawaharlal Nehru let go our strategic assets in Tibet. I.K.Gujral, who was the Prime Minister in 1997, unwisely and in a moment of misplaced generosity let go our strategic assets in Pakistan. Manmohan Singh, the present Prime Minister, has let go our strategic assets in Nepal and Sri Lanka. It could be a great tragedy.’

What does Mr. B. Raman mean by ‘strategic assets’? Does he mean assets which give India the ability to cause trouble in a neighbouring country? For example, if the LTTE were to survive (on India’s patronage), greatly weakened, but with the potential to be re-armed, and Sri Lanka were to do something that is not to India’s liking, say, it were to cosy up to China, India could rattle sabres by threatening to re-arm the LTTE.

Is that what Mr. B. Raman has in mind? But it is exactly this attitude and approach that created the Sri Lankan mess in the first place! No country, however small or weak it may be, likes to be at the mercy of another country. India will not have a single friend in its neighbourhood if it follows this approach and tries to create ‘strategic assets’ in neighbouring countries! Mr. B. Raman says Nehru let go of India’s assets in Tibet. I don’t claim to have Mr. B. Raman’s expertise or knowledge, but I don’t think Nehru did anything of that sort. Under Nehru, India did not give much importance to defence and cut defence spending, as a result of which, we were unprepared for the Chinese assault in 1962.

I believe that during I.K. Gujral’s time, India stopped arming Baluchi militants. Were they a strategic asset for India? If India were still doing that, could India have used them as a stick to beat Pakistan with? Could we have told Pakistan, ‘you stop causing trouble in Kashmir, we will stop causing trouble in Baluchistan?’ I doubt if it would have worked, since the trouble in Kashmir is caused by militants outside Pakistan’s control. On the contrary, the enormous sympathy which Indian received after the Mumbai attacks wouldn’t have materialised if the international community believed that India was causing trouble in Baluchistan.

As for Nepal, the average Nepali doesn’t have much love for India since India continued to prop up the monarchy long after it lost the people’s support. India stopped supporting the monarchy only after its downfall became inevitable. It cannot be said that India voluntarily gave up its assets (the monarchy) in Nepal. Having said all that, I do hope that Mr. B. Raman continues to blog and write articles and express his views which are very interesting, whether one agrees with them or not.

Searching for the Indian Obama

BangaloreGuy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:04:49 EST

One of the many welcome factors in Barack Obama's rise has been that the rest of the world, their elite is looking for their own Obama. In doing so, various conclusions have come up, but one thing has remained largely on the radar.

And that has been his race. Barack Obama is being seen as a black man who's become the President of the United States of America. But that's the most superficial - and make no mistake - racist view of the event. Barack Obama has become the President not because, or in spite of being black. He's become the PotUS after establishing that he was the better candidate in terms of views, in terms of Vision - not only winning over the formidable Hillary Clinton machine but also the Republican war Machine. And to top it all, he's made Hillary his Sec. of State. How many people can claim to win over their opponents?

To credit this to his race, and race only, is stupid. Hence the comparisons to Mayawati should stop. Mayawati represents everything that is corrupt about our politics - criminals running the roost, black money, identity politics, cult worship. Barack Obama represents a clean (more or less) break from such politics.

To find the Indian Barack Obama, look elsewhere - look to a competent, clean, inspirational politician, irrespective of his identity - racial, class or otherwise.

Shalom, Salam and Hello

temporal — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:50:46 EST

"Why ... should I not dream and hope? For is not revolution the making real of dreams and hopes? So let us work together that my dream may be fulfilled, that I may return with my people out of exile to live in one democratic state where Christian, Jew and Muslim live in justice, equality, fraternity and progress...Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat: do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” Nobel Peace Laureate Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, UN Address November 13, 1974.

Shalom

Last week rumors floated suggesting Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister might be arrested to face war crimes, if she attended the Summit of European Foreign Ministers in Brussels.

Mounting fear in Israel that the country's leaders face war crimes charges over their involvement in the recent Gaza offensive pushed officials into a frenzy of activity at the weekend to forestall legal actions abroad.

According to Menachem Mazuz, Israel will soon face "a wave of international lawsuits".

In response, the government is setting up a special task force to work on legal defenses, has barred the media from naming or photographing army officers involved in the Gaza attack, and has placed restrictions on overseas visits. Today, ministers were expected to approve an aid package to help soldiers fight warrants abroad for their arrest.

The concern about war crimes trials follows a series of pronouncements by Richard Falk, the United Nations' special rapporteur on the occupied territories and a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University in the United States.

He has accused Israel of gravely violating the laws of war during its three-week offensive, which killed more than 1,300 Gazans, most of them civilians, and wounded thousands more.

There is a well-grounded view that both the initial attacks on Gaza and the tactics being used by Israel are serious violations of the UN charter, the Geneva conventions, international law and international humanitarian law," he said during the final stages of fighting. Jonathan CookIn an attempt to make life more difficult for Israeli leaders, anonymous activists in Israel launched this website -- "outing" those it accused of war crimes, including Ehud Barak, the defence minister, Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, and Ms Livni. It also identified most of the senior military command.

This link in Hebrew could also have the support of the former, tainted politician Bibi Netanyahu and his party of right wing Likudniks in the hope of making gains in the forthcoming Israeli elections.

Israel is the non NPT Signatory nuclear power in the region and it behooves it to extend to its neighbours, including those in the occupied territories, the same dignity, rights and respects that it demands from them. all the states, and occupied territories should also learn that force is not the solution to solve their problems, however rudderless they may appear at times.

Salam

In a frank blunt assessment, unusual for the usually taciturn Saudis, Prince Turki al Faisal, former head of the Saudi Intelligence and then ambassador to UK, Ireland and the US, warned the Obama Administration that "the US-Saudi relationship and the stability of the region are at risk."

First he speaks candidly about the Bush Administration:

America is not innocent in this calamity. Not only has the Bush administration left a sickening legacy in the region, but it has also, through an arrogant attitude about the butchery in Gaza, contributed to the slaughter of innocents. If the US wants to continue playing a leadership role in the Middle East and keep its strategic alliances intact - especially its "special relationship" with Saudi Arabia - it will have to revise drastically its policies vis a vis Israel and Palestine.

And then he proffers advise to Obama Administration without mincing words:

First, President Barack Obama must address the disaster in Gaza and its causes. Inevitably, he will condemn Hamas's firing of rockets at Israel. When he does that, he should also condemn Israel's atrocities against the Palestinians and support a UN resolution to that effect; condemn the Israeli actions that led to this conflict, from settlement building in the West Bank to the blockade of Gaza and the targeted killings and arbitrary arrests of Palestinians; declare America's intention to work for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, with a security umbrella for countries that sign up and sanctions for those that do not; call for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Shab'ah Farms in Lebanon; encourage Israeli-Syrian negotiations for peace; and support a UN resolution guaranteeing Iraq's territorial integrity.

The Saudis believe in quiet diplomacy and almost never speak out like this. The royal family rules with consensus and these words from Turki reflect their current exasperation and fears. At stake is not only the fate of the warring factions in the the mid-east, but one can sense their own insecurities. Nobody can predict what may happen to their rule if the Kingdon's citizens rebel.

(I owe an apology to readers of Baithak, where I had linked this article by Prince Turki and dismissed it derisively, bracketing him with the double speak that emanates from the usual suspects in the region and alluding a collusion of interests bandying the Saudis, the Mubaraks and the Abdullahs with the Olmerts.)

Hello

Barak Obama in the first interview granted to a major network chose Al Arabiya. As every move by the his administration is keenly observed and analysed this first interview to Hisham Melhem when compared with his first phone call to a foreign leader (President Mahmud UncleTom Abbas of the near defunct and puppet PA) gave out mixed signals.

He spoke of instructing Mitchell to "listen" lamenting that in the past the US started off by "dictating". He was careful to mention "Syria or Iran or Lebanon or Afghanistan and Pakistan. These things are interrelated" while skirting around India.

Obama reiterated the US support for Israel in no uncertain terms to his Arab and Muslim audience ..."... Israel is a strong ally of the United States. They will not stop being a strong ally of the United States. And I will continue to believe that Israel's security is paramount." But almost in the same breath he spoke to a increasing lobby within Israel that has had enough of the mayhem and violence..."But I also believe that there are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace." and added these encouraging words, "They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side."

I want to communicate is the fact that in all my travels throughout the Muslim world, what I've come to understand is that regardless of your faith -- and America is a country of Muslims, Jews, Christians, non-believers -- regardless of your faith, people all have certain common hopes and common dreams. And my job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect.

Steve Clemons of the The Washington Note notes that Obama's "first moves have been utterly brilliant." He also connected his Al Arbia interview with what he called "Prince Turki al-Faisal's warning in the Financial Times this week" that the Arab Peace Proposal offered by King Abdullah would not remain on the table indefinitely, and that the window could be closing in the wake of the Gaza crisis."

After the previous administration's my way or the highway attitude, Obama's respect's for "words" was evident in this interview. He used "respect" four times in his interview which ran over from the initial 6-7 minutes to over 25 minutes. While ostensibly speaking to the Arabs and Muslims he also provided a parameter that his Secretary of State, Defense and National Security Adviser would find illuminating and illustrating of Obama's approach, beyond which they would venture at their peril.

The sense that IDF and Israeli politicians could be hauled for War Crimes, the loathing and impotence felt in the Arab/Muslim Main Street articulated by a reticent Saudi Prince Turki al Faisal - and responding to them as well as the haughty disregard of the Bush era - Obama's reach out to the Muslims - will prove to be the seminal events that will cast their shadows for long.

This Obama interview reminds one of Yasser Arafat's maiden speech at the UN. Now that the neoconzix era is over, let us hope this olive branch is cherished.

Friends Don't Let Friends Torture and Murder in the Name of National Security

ENSAAF — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:42:12 EST

As Indians gathered for Republic Day celebrations this week to mark the adoption of the Indian constitution, the international human rights organization Ensaaf and the Benetech Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) released a joint report that presents verifiable quantitative findings suggesting that Indian security forces actually have very little respect for the rule of law and human rights. The report, “Violent Deaths and Enforced Disappearances During the Counterinsurgency in Punjab, India,” adds scientifically defensible evidence to the litany of charges against Indian security officers for systematically perpetrating human rights violations for decades across all corners of the country. The report also has implications for exactly how President Obama should explore the US’s “rapidly growing and deepening friendship with India,” which he declared in a public statement on Republic Day.

After analyzing six sources of information comprising over 21,000 records relating to the Punjab counterinsurgency between 1984 and 1995, the report found a strong correlation between the increase in counterinsurgency deaths reported by the police and human rights violations reported by the victims’ families - meaning that the patterns of frequency for both events closely matched each other. The analysis specifically reveals a strong correlation between enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions reported by the victims’ families and “encounters” reported in the local newspaper. These observations are consistent with claims by human rights organizations that reported “encounters” concealed targeted extrajudicial killings by security forces.

The correlations strongly undermine the claims by the Indian government and security officials that human rights violations were “random excesses” perpetrated by a few officers. The data establishes that there’s nothing random about it – as security forces intensified their operations, reports of disappearances and extrajudicial executions correspondingly increased.

The pattern is also consistent with claims that security officials were more concerned with the body count than with actually identifying and capturing terrorists. Security officials in Punjab were rewarded with cash and promotions based on the number of dead terrorists they produced. As one Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Punjab told human rights investigators:

Before a meeting with [former Director General of Punjab Police K.P.S.] Gill, 300 to 400 Sikhs used to die in Punjab. Every SSP had to report: I have killed 14. The other who said “I have killed 28”was appreciated more. The third SSP, who had to outsmart the first two, had to report 31. The night before the meeting with Gill, the Sikhs used to die so that the SSPs could vie with each other in showing their anti-terrorist achievements (Kumar, et al., Reduced to Ashes, pp 107-108).

Given the empirical findings suggesting systematic abuses in Punjab, the government can no longer cover-up the facts or justify their acts with the rhetoric of national security. We need to have honest and clear answers about the policies and practices of security forces, not only in Punjab, but also in places like Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Nagaland, that lead to these pandemic abuses. A debate on the issues raised by the report is even more urgent in light of the new amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, (UAPA), 1967, and the establishment of a National Investigating Agency (NIA), exclusively meant to probe acts of terrorism in the country. These measures give security forces greater powers to detain suspects, frequently the precursor to extrajudicial violence, and put blind faith in the very people who seem to consistently abuse the powers given to them. According to the Asian Center for Human Rights, four people a day die in police custody and jails in India.

We should, therefore, all be concerned when US President Obama expresses blind solidarity with India within a week of condemning the use of torture and closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center, while India is revamping its own draconian laws. The US undoubtedly should be a strong friend and ally to India. This friendship, however, must include engagement on the rule of law and the primacy of human rights, irrespective of the circumstances, and condemning the widespread use of torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings that currently pass for national security policy in India.

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The Ensaaf and Benetech report, “Violent Deaths and Enforced Disappearances During the Counterinsurgency in Punjab, India,” as well as and accompanying photo essay and podcast, is available online.

Change Has Come to America. What About India?

Ruchi — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 11:17:02 EST

Two million braved sub-freezing temperature to watch Obama's inauguration"

Can we imagine this scene in India? This kind of national euphoria over the swearing-in ceremony of the head of state? What a joke! In a country riven by regional politics, overt power-broking, and endemic political apathy. Of course, had this been Shahrukh Khan (an actor who once danced in his underpants at a wedding on a paid appearance) running a contest for one week at his house, the Indian public would have trumped these numbers and more.

Sure, Obama owes, at least in part, the almost religious fervor for his leadership, to Bush. For the indisputable screw-ups that created the the kind of perfect storm national emergency that made many overlook Obama’s color (democratic party: blue; his race: black). But the fall from grace and the growing economic insecurity that spurred Americans towards change are still aspirational goals in India. We hit bottom a while ago, and are now digging ourselves into a hole. The poorest amongst us are living like animals, debased to their lowest physiological and safety needs, and the financially secure Indians overwhelmingly lack sophistication, choosing peripheral self-interest over basic common good, consumption over creation, and frivolous entertainment over real culture.

India *is* in a crisis. Just cause our economy grew at nine percent (or six percent in recession) doesn’t mean that we can continue living in our la la land. Disproportionate growth came through unproductive bubbles¹,²: of passive, uneducated fat men and women sitting on vast tracts of land that suddenly became worth more than the cumulative income of their entire generation; of sensex (bombay stock exchange) going from 15000 to over 21000 in a span of six months (July 07 - Jan 08); of investment banks and private equity firms bringing pay scales hitherto unheard of in India.

There is heartbreak everywhere we turn. Collectively as a country, we have dehumanized the poor. Men dirty, disheveled, with matted hair and vacant eyes line up for handouts, of coarse rice and dal in Chandni Chowk, next to a large open dump. Little children are on the streets everywhere, begging, picking up trash, their innocence discarded, potential trivialized. Old and young men in urban markets lug heavy burden like cattle. To become old on the sidewalks of urban India, away from family for lifetime, saddled with weight - can anything be more sad? And we sit in a stupor, nary an uprising in sight.

We bypass the government, treating it as irrelevant or worse, a hindrance. And it is. Our government is corrupt, and filled with partisan and uneducated criminals. But we the people of India are doing nothing about it! The whole concept of the government is to pool resources for development projects too big for individuals/organizations. But in India, we don’t even seem to know what the govt should do, let alone debate on the how and where. Or we are too busy safeguarding our own narrow interests to care. The ideals of common good are so routinely flaunted, the flaunting itself a cliche. And no, the market economy will not save us. Capitalism is first and foremost self-interest. And a country without an underlying base of equal opportunity (or something approaching it) can’t claw out of the morass of overpopulation, poverty, and pollution through uncoordinated, and discrete vested interests alone.

As a society, we collectively legislate and uphold the need to contribute to the basic infrastructure of the economy. If I as an individual fail to pay my taxes, I can be prosecuted, even incarcerated. If mere resistance to contribution merits prosecution, then what of those who squander and embezzle our collective goodwill and resources? We all know that our politicians are corrupt, yet we repeatedly elect them by vote or default, legitimizing the illegitimate. We need to hold our public officials accountable, for every rupee wasted/stolen, every promise broken.

I propose a public audit of the government funds (state and center): from collection, to allocation, to disbursal. Down to the smallest municipal corporation and gram panchayat. With a complete list of those with spending authority, and authority limits. This information should be available to the public not as the fruits of an RTI (an onerous application process designed to disuade), but as a matter of course. When Amar Singh gives USD 1-5M to the Clinton Foundation, we should be able to identify the source of that money. When a public school is understaffed, the principal/parent should be able to verify the exact point where the money was misappropriated. When we see a Mercedes parked on the street with a GoI seal, we should be able to determine which account that money came from. A public audit will deincentivize those who enter the administration, vested in their own self-interest. Let’s get all the televsion networks, all the newspapers behind this idea, and and push through this change. It’s our money (literally!), and we have a right to know.

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Would you like to support this initiative? If yes, contact me via email or through my blog. Please state your preferred mode of contact (listserve, facebook, orkut etc) with relevant contact info. I will follow-up with more information once there is some critical mass. All comments are welcome. Your contact info will not be shared without your permission.

Thanks,
Ruchi.

1. Overall growth rate of 7.6% GDP over the Q2 of 2007-2008. Sector growth rate (selected sectors): manufacturing: 5%; construction: 9.7%; trade, hotels, transport and communication: at 10.8%; financing, insurance, real estate and business services: 9.2%; community, social and personal services: 7.6%; agriculture, forestry & fishing: 2.7%, Estimates for 2008-2009 Q2, The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

2. Yes, there is slight fallacious reasoning here in my equating “construction” activity with skyrocketing real estate prices etc, incongruous pay scales in the finance industry etc. However, I feel the point holds.