Sale of F16’s to Pakistan 6-11-2005

11 June, 2005                         Sale of F16’s to Pakistan

I am pleased to make an exception to my usual diatribe against Indian politicians. Jaswant Singh deserves credit for his harsh criticism of the U.S. decision to supply arms to Pakistan, a country that can hardly lay claim to being a pillar of democracy and freedom. What is surprising is the deafening silence of the vast population of Indo- Americans in opposing the planned sale to Pakistan of F-16 fighter jets capable of delivering nuclear war heads. How many of your readers are more interested in the obscene profits of Halliburton, Bechtel and Lockheed Martin than creating a world order based on peace and justice? Surely, the message of our religious masters is to revere and protect all of his people - especially the voiceless and powerless. The grand duchess of the imperial empire, Condi Rice clarified the core of American foreign policy in stark terms -"to promote American interests (code language for corporate interests)".

The timing of such a sale could not have come at a worse time. Just as India and Pakistan are tip toeing to a period of rapprochement and lowering tensions, the decision is certain to escalate tensions and reignite the arms race. Consider the facts: the U.S. invades Iraq, a country that didn't possess WMD's and had no alliance to Al Qaeda and rewards Pakistan, after Islamabad admitted that Pakistani nuclear weapons trafficker Abdul Wader Khan — the father of his nation's nuclear bomb — provided Iran and Libya with the centrifuges essential to such a program. This make a mockery of U.S. claims that it opposes nuclear proliferation. Now, Lockheed Martin has been saved from certain closure of its F-16 production line by the White House decision to lift the arms embargo on Pakistan. The decision, overrides a 1990 embargo put in place by Bush senior, to punish Pakistan's development of a nuclear arsenal. This decision seems particularly hypocritical at a time when the U.S. scolded European nations for considering lifting their arms embargo on China. Such is the morality of nations driven by corporate profits rather than the sanctity of human life.

The misdeeds of this administration has had a predictable impact on Bush's approval rating. In the latest AP-Imposes poll Bush's approval rating plummeted to a low 43%.   The noose seems to be tightening. We don't need a 'deep throat' to provide a 'smoking gun' to expose the pre-meditative illegal war on Iraq. The recently published Downing Street memo offers conclusive proof that this administration 'cooked' the evidence to justify this anti-Christ crusade against Iraq. I urge concerned readers to contact their senators and demand a full investigation into high crimes and misdemeanors committed by this administration. Finally, I urge Indo-American Republicans to burn your 'draft cards'. The choice is simple. Either you are with God or against him!