Faulty Radar

[Solomon2]

By Ayesha Tammy Haq
As the Osama bin Laden story unfolded, it became the staple of the news, television talk shows, social media, dinner party conversation — in fact it was the only thing that everyone, everywhere was talking about. Amazed but largely not disbelieving, the conversation rapidly moved from Osama — there was a sigh of relief that he was gone — to how the radar (and take that to read the military) had failed us. In the middle, we debated the issues of competence and complicity and concluded both were in play. Competence or complicity, or both, the net result was an overwhelming sense of shame. How could we have let this slip through the radar?

That sense of shame has to get you wondering. What is it that we are so ashamed of? Are we ashamed of the fact that the Americans, in true Steven Segal movie mode, flew in the dead of night, got their man with minimum fuss, left a calling card so there would be no uncertainty as to what had happened and left without so much as getting anyone in Islamabad or Rawalpindi out of bed? “Yes” said everyone I spoke to. “It is shameful what has happened, as a Pakistani I am ashamed that my territory and sovereignty has been violated.”

This is serious stuff. So where do we pin the blame? What will make us feel better? How do we deal with this terrible blow to our national pride and, even more terrible, to our national psyche? It’s all the radars fault, it didn’t alert our armed forces to the fact that helicopters were flying in and were about to steal our honour and leave us emasculated and ashamed.

It has got to be the radar. But then, we have never stopped to wonder why it is that the radar has never caught anything over the last 63 years. We have never paused to think about how so much has slipped in under the radar. Our radar has not caught the fact that we are one of the most illiterate nations in the world. It has not caught abject poverty where, according to any standard, close to half our population lives at below the poverty line. It has not caught the fact that we cannot provide our citizens with the most basic of rights and facilities. There is no healthcare, access to clean drinking water is far from universal, tens of millions of Pakistani children will never see the inside of a school, and good law and order sounds like an ideal, gone Awol. Our radar has not caught the fact that women are raped and murdered in the name of honour. It has not caught the fact that we murder under the guise of religion and so leave whole segments of our population vulnerable and in constant fear for their lives. Nor has it caught the fact that we trade children for sex. It has not been able to detect the massive misappropriations of public funds by corrupt generals and politicians.

The radar is and has been non-functional from the very beginning. The question is why aren’t we ashamed of all that it has let slip through? Why don’t we feel the same huge sense of shame for an illiterate population as we do for two helicopters flying in undetected? Is it because we do not have our priorities right?

We have spent all of our existence blaming others for our woes. The reality is that it is what it is and now what are we going to do about it? We have muddled along and managed to survive thus far on foreign aid and debt. In all this time we have done little or nothing to deal with all the problems that have slipped by the radar. It is time we took stock of Pakistan, its problems, its resources and then prioritised the use of those resources to achieve optimal results. We need to understand that until you build a nation that is capable of standing on its feet and being a functional important contributing member of the comity of nations there really isn’t anything you can do when your radar doesn’t work.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2011.

 

[MastanKhan]

Solomon,

Thank you for the post----the 'radar' building happens when the nation shows character----when the nation and its citizenery loses its character---the radar also stops working---.

It is inadvertantly equal to the BLIP on an individuals conscience----when at the sign of the first thing going wrong or an unconscionable act taking place and the heart gives that sudden pounding---just like on the radar screen---a blip of sorts appears----that is the course a funtional and operating machinery takes----.

And when a people and a nation don't feel any reaction in their hearts and souls of any injustices and random acts of nation tear down---and there is no BLIP on the conscience----then how can you differentiate between a stealth and a non stealth aircraft cominmg in----when there is no distinction of right from wrong---when the soul cannot judge good from the bad---when the internal radar cannot tell them apart---then neither can the external radar.

 

[Solomon2]

...And when a people and a nation don't feel any reaction in their hearts and souls of any injustices and random acts of nation tear down---and there is no BLIP on the conscience----then how can you differentiate between a stealth and a non stealth aircraft cominmg in----when there is no distinction of right from wrong---when the soul cannot judge good from the bad---when the internal radar cannot tell them apart---then neither can the external radar.

Yes. Don't you think, then, that is why it is even more important for Pakistanis to embrace and defend Israel than it is for me? Through the moral stand you will have to take and the arguments you must muster won't you find yourself applying universal principles of justice to your own country, without phoney distortions? So by embracing the Jews of Israel you and your nation will be healed?

 

[AAtish]

btw solomen2.. just a question.. You being an American.. what were you doing on a Pakistani Newspaper's website? finding such posts to post here?? How much are you getting paid for this service by CIA?.. i mean there are few Americans here who keep on bringing this kind of posts.. and most of them joined in 2008.. is there a link there?

BTW, here is another article from the same newspaper..

Pak-US ties: Might is right

By Salman Shoaib
Published: May 18, 2011

To mourn Osama bin Laden, as many in Pakistan are doing, is outrageous. He was a bloodthirsty terrorist with little regard for Muslim and non-Muslim life, alike. However, to mourn the circumstances of his killing, and the consequences it leaves behind for Pakistan is more appropriate.

The US stated that Pakistan was not told of the raid in advance because it could not be trusted. The decision to keep Pakistan out of the loop was, clearly, the correct one if the goal was to enhance the mission’s chances of success. Given that Bin Laden appears to have resided in Abbottabad for a number of years, either Pakistan has comically incompetent security forces or he was being harboured by elements within. However, the US raid into Pakistan was clearly illegal. Even the Americans would be hard-pressed to deny this. US forces entered Pakistani airspace without permission (and detection), conducted a raid on the compound and left. The opposite circumstances — Pakistani helicopters with commandos landing on US soil to deal with a terrorist without telling the US authorities — are laughably inconceivable.

After all, Pakistan is at best a junior partner, at worst a servant on wages who can be pushed around at the whim of the master without any regard for the rules. America is a wealthy, well-managed nation which looks after its citizens in a way which we simply cannot. Of course, what angers Pakistanis is the lack of concern for non-American lives. The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Drone attacks have callous disregard for bystanders. On average there are 10 innocent deaths for every militant killed. So, the fallout of 3,000 tragic deaths on 9/11 has probably been at a cost in excess of a hundred times that number of Muslim lives, the large majority of which have been civilians. And there is barely an apology or a tear shed in America for these deaths.

Of course the major payoff to Pakistan has been aid; a total of over $18billion since 9/11 of which about $12billion has been in the form of military aid, the rest in economic aid. So this money flows to the armed forces, which have shown they are neither capable nor trustworthy. Congressmen in the US are asking why the US is providing funding to a nation that cannot be trusted.

America is a strong, well-organised country, hence, they flout international law and Pakistani sovereignty at their convenience, with Pakistani lives being collateral damage. As a consequence, Pakistan is left with the begging bowl and weakly managed institutions which deny us justice and sovereignty. It seems our government is in utter disarray and there is limited trust and communication between the government and armed forces. And even within the armed forces, it seems that there are splits. In other words, in contrast to the Americans, Pakistan is disunited and incompetent.

Pakistan should use this opportunity to learn lessons and take action that will put us on a better path. Firstly, there needs to be accountability for the fact that Bin Laden’s home was found on Pakistani soil in public view in a major city. We all know that running the army is a difficult job, particularly with much of it radicalised in the post 9/11 environment. But there is no excuse for incompetence of this magnitude, or indeed harbouring the world’s leading terrorist, whichever is the truth. So the right outcome would be for the army chief to resign for presiding over one of the worst national security lapses in our history. Secondly, Pakistan needs to re-evaluate its cooperation with America. As a principle, Pakistan needs to reassert sovereignty over its own soil. Thirdly, we should use Bin Laden’s death as a catalyst for a peace agreement. We need to bring elements of the Taliban to the negotiating table, however repugnant their ideology, and give them an opportunity to lay down their arms. Hilary Clinton is now hinting at this regularly. Pakistan should seize the opportunity to play a leadership role and help stop the ongoing carnage on our soil.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 19th, 2011.

 

[AAtish]

Yes. Don't you think, then, that is why it is even more important for Pakistanis to embrace and defend Israel than it is for me? Through the moral stand you will have to take and the arguments you must muster won't you find yourself applying universal principles of justice to your own country, without phoney distortions? So by embracing the Jews of Israel you and your nation will be healed?

Are you for real?? is that all this is about? Keep dreaming mate.. This is not gonna happen.. not until there are CIVILIANS living in THIS country..

 

[cheekybird]

Yes. Don't you think, then, that is why it is even more important for Pakistanis to embrace and defend Israel than it is for me? Through the moral stand you will have to take and the arguments you must muster won't you find yourself applying universal principles of justice to your own country, without phoney distortions? So by embracing the Jews of Israel you and your nation will be healed?[/QUOTE]

 

[roadrunner]

I think he's trolling you.

 

[secularbuster]

By Ayesha Tammy Haq
As the Osama bin Laden story unfolded, it became the staple of the news, television talk shows, social media, dinner party conversation — in fact it was the only thing that everyone, everywhere was talking about. Amazed but largely not disbelieving, the conversation rapidly moved from Osama — there was a sigh of relief that he was gone — to how the radar (and take that to read the military) had failed us. In the middle, we debated the issues of competence and complicity and concluded both were in play. Competence or complicity, or both, the net result was an overwhelming sense of shame. How could we have let this slip through the radar?

That sense of shame has to get you wondering. What is it that we are so ashamed of? Are we ashamed of the fact that the Americans, in true Steven Segal movie mode, flew in the dead of night, got their man with minimum fuss, left a calling card so there would be no uncertainty as to what had happened and left without so much as getting anyone in Islamabad or Rawalpindi out of bed? “Yes” said everyone I spoke to. “It is shameful what has happened, as a Pakistani I am ashamed that my territory and sovereignty has been violated.”

This is serious stuff. So where do we pin the blame? What will make us feel better? How do we deal with this terrible blow to our national pride and, even more terrible, to our national psyche? It’s all the radars fault, it didn’t alert our armed forces to the fact that helicopters were flying in and were about to steal our honour and leave us emasculated and ashamed.

It has got to be the radar. But then, we have never stopped to wonder why it is that the radar has never caught anything over the last 63 years. We have never paused to think about how so much has slipped in under the radar. Our radar has not caught the fact that we are one of the most illiterate nations in the world. It has not caught abject poverty where, according to any standard, close to half our population lives at below the poverty line. It has not caught the fact that we cannot provide our citizens with the most basic of rights and facilities. There is no healthcare, access to clean drinking water is far from universal, tens of millions of Pakistani children will never see the inside of a school, and good law and order sounds like an ideal, gone Awol. Our radar has not caught the fact that women are raped and murdered in the name of honour. It has not caught the fact that we murder under the guise of religion and so leave whole segments of our population vulnerable and in constant fear for their lives. Nor has it caught the fact that we trade children for sex. It has not been able to detect the massive misappropriations of public funds by corrupt generals and politicians.

The radar is and has been non-functional from the very beginning. The question is why aren’t we ashamed of all that it has let slip through? Why don’t we feel the same huge sense of shame for an illiterate population as we do for two helicopters flying in undetected? Is it because we do not have our priorities right?

We have spent all of our existence blaming others for our woes. The reality is that it is what it is and now what are we going to do about it? We have muddled along and managed to survive thus far on foreign aid and debt. In all this time we have done little or nothing to deal with all the problems that have slipped by the radar. It is time we took stock of Pakistan, its problems, its resources and then prioritised the use of those resources to achieve optimal results. We need to understand that until you build a nation that is capable of standing on its feet and being a functional important contributing member of the comity of nations there really isn’t anything you can do when your radar doesn’t work.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2011.

So, small countries should not be angry when their sovereignty is violated by benevolent forces like the US becuase they have many other much more serious shortcomings to be worried about! Matter of fact, Muslim states should not have sovereignty at all, it's unhealthy for them. If that's the case why all these mumbo jumbos about the equality of sovereign nations in the UN chart. Of course, we know by now that the UN chart is nothing but a hoax formulated by uncle sam to serve its purpose.

 

[muse]

So, small countries should not be angry when their sovereignty is violated by benevolent forces like the US becuase they have many other much more serious shortcomings to be worried about! Matter of fact, Muslim states should not have sovereignty at all, it's unhealthy for them.

That's not the point she's making - consider:

We have spent all of our existence blaming others for our woes. The reality is that it is what it is and now what are we going to do about it? We have muddled along and managed to survive thus far on foreign aid and debt. In all this time we have done little or nothing to deal with all the problems that have slipped by the radar. It is time we took stock of Pakistan, its problems, its resources and then prioritised the use of those resources to achieve optimal results. We need to understand that until you build a nation that is capable of standing on its feet and being a functional important contributing member of the comity of nations there really isn’t anything you can do when your radar doesn’t work.

So, her point is that were Pakistan to take responsibility for Pakistan, we may not have to be in absurd positions like the ones we find ourselves in.