OBAMA’S policy on Kashmir can ratchet up anti-Americanism in India

If the Obama administration wants to know why anti-Americanism gets ratcheted up in different parts of the world, it need not look anywhere else, but look hard at the dangerous Af-Pak policy it is toying with at the expense of India and the inevitable fallouts that might result.

What kind of talks did Under Secretary Nicholas Burns have in mind when he allegedly carried the US message to India that dialogue with Pakistan should resume once again? Can India trust Pakistan to walk the talk after nothing serious has been done after the Mumbai attacks that was hatched and perpetrated from Pakistani soil?

And talk with whom in the wake of the release by Pakistani courts of Hafeez Mohammad Saeed, the leader of the banned terror outfit, the Lashkar e Taiba, now masquerading as an NGO by the name of Jama’at-ud-Da’wah? His organization has been responsible for numerous terror attacks in India involving loss of innocent lives including the latest carnage in Mumbai last year. Read more

US needs Pak-Afghan help to identify moderate Taliban

WASHINGTON: Pakistan and Afghanistan can help the United States in approaching those Taliban activists who may have moderate views and are willing to lay down their arms, says US National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones.

In a rare, exclusive interview to Dawn, Gen. Jones also stressed the need for a greater cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the fight against terrorists and said that President Barack Obama’s new strategy offers new hopes for peace and security in the South Asian region.

‘Surely the Pakistani people and Afghan people know more than we do,’ said Gen. Jones when asked how the US would approach the moderates among the Taliban that President Obama says could be included in the peace process.

‘And they can certainly help us in identifying those who are moderate in their views and wish to be participating in the political process,’ said the US national security adviser when asked whether Washington would directly approach the moderate Taliban or would include Pakistan and Afghanistan in this effort.

Explaining who he believed were the moderates, Gen. Jones said those who were willing to participate in the political process ‘without violence and without terror and without causing breaches in the security of either country.

‘And so I think that as we work towards identifying those people who wish to enter into a peaceful dialogue, political dialogue, there’s certainly room on the table for them.’

Asked what’s new in President Obama’s new strategy for the people of Pakistan, especially when drone attacks have continued unabated, Gen. Jones said: ‘What’s new is a regional focus. There has been a tendency in the past to deal with Pakistan and Afghanistan as separate issues. By appointing Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as a regional representative, the US is signaling a more comprehensive strategy.’

The US official pointed out that trouble in the border areas were of concern to both countries and should be dealt with accordingly.

In the new strategy, he said, President Obama also has indicated that the US would like to be helpful to its Pakistani friends and wanted to do whatever it could to be supportive of the government’s efforts.

The new strategy, he said, focuses on the real threat, al-Qaeda. ‘Al-Qaeda, whether it is in the border regions, in Pakistan or in Afghanistan, is the real enemy here. It is an enemy to the Pakistani people, it is an enemy to the Afghan people and to people here in the US and people all over the world.’

Gen. Jones said that when President Obama announced a direct aid package of $1.5 billion a year for five years, this was meant to reassure the Pakistani people that the US was committed to bringing peace and security to their country.

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Ahmadinejad in Response to Obama: “Any Hand Outstretched to Attack Us Will Be Cut Off”

In an April 1 speech in the Khuzestan region in southern Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded to U.S. President Barack Obama’s videotaped message on the occasion of the Iranian New Year. Following are excerpts from Ahmadinejad’s speech:

Ahmadinejad to the West: Mind Your Manners

“…In order to take control of the [world's] people, the arrogant ones, those who speak through violence, the [most] corrupt people in history, are targeting first and foremost the honor [of the world's peoples], since a man who loses his honor is ready to bear any suffering and is trampled and easily eliminated. It is impossible for the arrogant ones to overcome a society and a population who have tasted the taste of honor…

“Seven years ago, following the Iranian nation’s steadfast stand on the nuclear issue, the enemies took up positions on both sides of Iran’s borders, in the east and in the west, and announced that the reason for their military show of force was in order to contain the Iranian nation in the Middle East region. Several times they made as though they were about to attack [Iran], with military preparations and threats against the Iranian nation. However, by the grace of God and thanks to the Iranian nation’s steadfastness, and thanks to the values of the martyrs, they were defeated…”

Ahmadinejad then addressed the world powers, saying: “We advise you to correct your behavior, since the world is changing… Stop the egotism, the aggression, and the lack of manners. Speak to the [world's] nations in a correct manner and politely…”
Iran “Is Known to the World as a Nation that Cannot Be Defeated”

“Thanks to the steadfastness of the Iranian nation, which stands behind the dear leader [Khamenei], this nation continues in its glorious path and is known to the world as a nation that cannot be defeated. Today, thanks to great achievements, the threat to Iran has been lifted, and no power in the world entertains the notion of taking action against the Iranian nation. Even if someone were to entertain this notion and want to undertake any act of aggression against the nation… he should know that the Iranian nation is ready, and any hand outstretched in order to attack will be cut off.

“The Iranian nation is one of civilization, culture, and values. It is peace-loving, and [its people are] people of reason and dialogue, justice and brotherhood. It desires that this atmosphere should exist throughout the world. They [the West] say that the world cannot be run through terror or militarism. We say the same thing; in fact, this is the deepest wish of the Iranian nation. However, the question here is: why are they making shows of force thousands of kilometers from their borders and attacking other nations? Stop your shows of force and aggression, and look to the world in peace and tranquility…” [1]

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Paris, Berlin bristle as Obama backs Turkey for EU

By Kerstin Gemhlich and Mark John

PRAGUE (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama urged the European Union on Sunday to accept Turkey as a full member of the 27-nation bloc, in remarks rejected outright by France and met coolly by Germany.

The disagreement was a rare outward sign of divergence at an EU-U.S. summit stage-managed to relaunch transatlantic ties that were strained under the Bush administration and which both sides are now eager to mend.

“The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbors and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence, forging a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interests,” Obama told the summit.

“Moving forward toward Turkish membership in the EU would be an important signal of your (EU) commitment to this agenda and ensure that we continue to anchor Turkey firmly in Europe,” he told EU leaders.

Turkey has long been seeking to join the bloc, and Obama’s comments were a reaffirmation of U.S. support for that goal.

But there is resistance among EU states such as Germany and France to its membership, including among ruling conservatives.

Sarkozy said it was up to the EU member states to decide on Turkish entry and reiterated his opposition. “I have always been opposed to this entry,” he told France’s TF1 television.

“I still am and I think I can say that the immense majority of member states shares the position of France,” he said.

“Turkey is a very great country, an ally of Europe, an ally of the United States. It will stay a privileged partner. My position hasn’t changed and it won’t change,” he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was clearly in the interest of all to forge ties between the EU and the Muslim world, but asked to comment directly on Obama’s remarks, she noted only: “It’s clear there are different opinions.”

Merkel said the form of any future connection between the EU and Turkey was still not clear, a reference to the possibility of a privileged partnership stopping short of actual membership — a formula favored by French and German conservatives.
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War on Terror and has turned into war between Obama and Osama

Since new president Barak Obama has took reigns in United States few things has changed. One of them is the security atmosphere in South Asian region as well as priorities of new administration of Oval office in this region. Last week when president of United States Barak Obama announced his new policy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan which has also been  called Af-pak policy it was first chance to judge the diplomatic competence of this young charismatic president of United States.

I want to remind readers that I was one of the rarest of rare in India to predict that policies of Barak Obama will not be helpful for India. My prediction was based on a reason that Barak Obama has some different design in his mind as for as south Asian region is concerned and this design is based on the regional solution. Although president George W Bush has done not any favor to India in its fight against cross border terrorism but he filled all the dots of local Islamic separatist groups in one global jihadi ambition but Barak Obama is going to deal the situation of Islamic terrorism not merely as an ideology but according to local geo-political realities. To some extent from theoretical point of view it seems very lustrous but its consequences are different. Read more

Under Obama, `war on terror’ catchphrase fading

By LOLITA C. BALDOR,

WASHINGTON – The “War on Terror” is losing the war of words. The catchphrase burned into the American lexicon hours after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is fading away, slowly if not deliberately being replaced by a new administration bent on repairing the U.S. image among Muslim nations.

Since taking office less than two weeks ago, President Barack Obama has talked broadly of the “enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism.” Another time it was an “ongoing struggle.”

He has pledged to “go after” extremists and “win this fight.” There even was an oblique reference to a “twilight struggle” as the U.S. relentlessly pursues those who threaten the country.

But only once since his Jan. 20 inauguration has Obama publicly strung those three words together into the explosive phrase that coalesced the country during its most terrifying time and eventually came to define the Bush administration.

Speaking at the State Department on Jan. 22, Obama told his diplomatic corps, “We are confronted by extraordinary, complex and interconnected global challenges: war on terror, sectarian division and the spread of deadly technology. We did not ask for the burden that history has asked us to bear, but Americans will bear it. We must bear it.”

Obama has made it clear in his first days in office that he is courting the Muslim community and making what is at least a symbolic shift away from the previous administration’s often more combative tone.

He chose an Arab network for his first televised interview, declaring that “Americans are not your enemy.” Before his first full week in office ended, he named former Sen. George J. Mitchell as his special envoy for the Middle East and sent him to the region for talks with leaders.

According to the White House, Obama is intent on repairing America’s image in the eyes of the Islamic world and addressing issues such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, unrest in Pakistan and India, Arab-Israeli peace talks and tensions with Iran.

Using language is one way to help effect that change, said Wayne Fields, professor of English and American culture studies at Washington University in St. Louis.

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