A comment on the Newsweek cover story on Pakistan is long overdue. I was halfway through a post expressing my dismay at such irresponsible journalism when the imposition of martial law came as a rude interruption. Suddenly, all energies were focused on the General. Despite the delay, I must voice my protest if only to allay my conscience. That I also deem it a moral obligation may not be relevant.
‘Contributing’ to a discussion on a forum (SAJA Forum) Steve says, “I hate to agree with Newsweek, but Pakistan scares the hell out of me. We all know that if bin Laden is still alive he is most likely in Pakistan. It is indeed the most dangerous part of the world today.”
Not to be outdone, Alex felt compelled to share his views “Most of America know that at least half the people of Pakistan support terrorism (if not more). After all, whenever you hear about someone going off to join a terrorist training camp, they most often go to Pakistan.” He is then benevolent enough to share a website link to provide his sundry readers an insight into the dangers that Pakistan embodies. Before addressing the Newsweek story itself, it is worth my while to point out to you that people do not randomly decide one fine morning to ‘go off to join a terrorist training camp’. The situation is a bit more nuanced. Cognizant of your limited understanding, however, I will spare you the intricacies of the Soviet-Afghan war, the Cold War, US support of and active endorsement of ‘terrorist training camps’ in Pakistan, the power play animating the dynamic of the Pakistani ISI to give but a few examples. I also do not agree with your branding of madrassahs which I think you’re trying to refer to as terrorist training camps. If books trouble you, I suggest a film to you. It’s been made by a Pakistani and it’s called ‘Khuda Keliye’. I hope it does not scare you too much. From the film it becomes clear that this world is home to many terrorist training camps. I, personally, think the ‘terrorist training camps’ operating in the US aka the CIA and FBI with untrammeled power to arrest, detain, question (torture), buttressed by state support and protected under legal cover are much more terrifying than these outlawed camps dotting the Pakistani landscape. This is a rejoinder to your uninformed opinions. The aim is not indulge in mud slinging.
M. Saeed, commenting on the Pak Tribune.Com, has some interesting figures to offer: “Almost one third of faculty lists America as the ‘greatest threat to global stability.’ About 29% name the United States, second only to North Korea (70%). The third choice was Iran, 27%. China was named by 19% of faculty, Iraq 13%, Israel 12%, Pakistan 8%, Syria 7%, and Russia 4%. Faculty see the United States as a greater threat to world stability than Russia by a ratio of 7-to-1. Nearly half of humanities faculty, 46%, see the United States as a threat to international stability, as do 34% of the social science faculty.” Clearly, the propagandistic discourse endorsed by the likes of Newsweek is awfully biased when not downright false.
“Some of the brainier operatives (amongst the Taliban) attend courses in computer technology,
video production and even English” (emphasis added). I do not deem this statement
worthy of a reply so let’s just say, it is nice to see people so proud of their language.
- The depiction on the cover of the bearded man baring his teeth is a sorry attempt to
present the prototype Pakistani male. It is also the quintessential illustration of
depicting the other. That said, a Saidian critique would be too sophisticated for
such crude journalism.
Anonymouse 1
