The Human Cost of War

... Or more specificially, the title should perhaps be The Human Cost of Someone Else's War ...

There must be a first rule - humanity, above all else. No other ideology - religious, political, economic, fashion or tradtion is equal to that first rule.

The downing of the the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 still has me in a state of shock. It seems to come admist a number of human tragedy/gloom stories making the news of late (including the current conflicts in Syria/Iraq/Palestine/Waziristan). At times like this I am forced to pause and return to that 'first rule' - humanity - the most sacred thing worth 'fighting' for. All else is second.

In the current Israeli-Palestinian bombardment, the major news-networks are cautiously selective and present a somewhat sanitised view; not quite able to be fully critical of Israeli aggression, despite a track record and a revealing body of evidence. Hamas is also responsible for aggression, so deaths and injury must not be sugar-coated but here is a clear case of imbalanced response. Considering that Jewish suffering during the Second World War is still within living memory of some, I can never understand how the Israeli state can have complete disregard for the most basic of human compassion.

The Pakistan army operation in Waziristan (Zarb-e-Azb) - again is illustrative of another human tragedy where the rights and wrongs of the conflict have disregarded basic humanity towards ordinary people who are caught in the cross-fire. Most Pashtuns in the tribal belt wish only to protect their land and possesions. Collective punishment, seemingly deemed legitimate in both the Israeli and the Pakistani case treats the innocent as expendable.

The same could be said for the non-combatant civilians caught in Iraq and Syria, and of course between the Russian-backed rebels in the Ukraine and the Ukranian government. The recent downing of the aeroplane is  exactly that - innocents caught up in someone else's war. A real human tragedy and one that has shaken my faith in others. I always expect humans to show humanity, but am fast adapting to the reality that this isn't always so. Pessimism perhaps. Somehow I must hang on to hope, as I fully endorse those genuine fights for autonomy, self-determination and rule of law. But this cannot be justified by mindless acts of violence where innocent humans have to pay for the costs of someone else's war.

 Source: Patheos.com

Waziristan Weeps

په ګران وزیرستان کی غیر اغیار نه منو

Post by Waziristan - The Lion's Den.

The song from the hills and mountains of Waziristan is fitting reminder that Waziristan whilst brave and tenacious, has been infiltrated and damaged by outsiders - jihadist militants, US drones, and Pakistani forces. And now the refugee crisis;  in Pakistan called, IDPs - Internally Displaced People, where even liberal Pakistanis have shut their doors on the human traffic that is the inevitable fallout from a military offensive (Operation Zarb-e-Azb). Déjà vu. We've seen this all before. The events today in Waziristan are not disimilar from the events four years ago: As If Hell Fell On Me.

Whilst the Pakistani establishment turns its offensive on Waziristan as a public reponse to this month's attack on Karachi Airport, there is an eerie reminder that we struggle to move forwards because we don't learn from the past. This is about Pashtuns caught in the middle of a bigger war, yet again. 

World War Z

I haven't seen the film of the same name, but I understand from the interviews with author, Max Brooks, that the film has had the Hollywood treatment and is very different from the structure of the original narrative, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Wars. That said, provide it is less gory horror, I do like an adventure/thriller flick and a reinterpretation of a story is no bad thing. In fact, Max Brook's book itself is inspired by Stud Terkel's The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two and the zombie films by George A. Romero. Alongside reading the book in ePub format on my iPad and on my Android phone (also available here), I've tried listening to the much celebrated audio (abridged) version of the book (it is there on Youtube). The latter, voiced by actors for the various different parts means that I need to be able to have the time to plug in my headphones whilst being pretty close to an Internet connection, which is something that isn't always a possibility, these days.

Apocalypse

The book, published in 2006, is a written as a series of first hand accounts in a world with a radically reduced population following an outbreak of a virus with Patient Zero in China over runs the Earth turning humans into the living dead. It goes beyond a traditional horror genre and deals with post-apocalyptic chaos brought on by world-wide panic. Fear of the zombie virus spreading uncontrollably and denial of the extent of the spread of the disease is followed quickly by sudden movements of entire populations and societal breakdown. Most governments can offer little in the way of strategy and are unprepared against zombie attacks and the spread of mass infection. The collapse of social order is explored through a series of individual accounts.

In the book, Max Brooks travels the world, and we learn about the individual personal wars and survival stories of the characters that he interviews. Underlying them is the subtext of how we live today - our political and social identities and how humanity can unite when faced with an adversary within. 

Ultimately World War  World War Z is both cautionary as well as hopeful. We are reminded that evil lurks, waiting restlessly to be unleashed when our structures fall apart. It also reminds us that good simmers below the surface, capable of defending and rebuilding a devastated world.

The Tragedy of Malala

In this climate of agendas, I admit to some confusion about what I am being told and it is never always absolutely clear what is the truth; and what is blatant propaganda. Over the years, and particularly since I began this blog I have been offered many loose ends and have read way too many conflicting accounts to be sure all the time. This makes the events surrounding Malala Yousafzai's shooting all the more tragic. Primarily I pray for her speedy recovery and condemn the bigotry that led to her shooting. May Allah bring peace and justice to all those caught up in the ongoing war and the acts of terror in the Pakistan-Afghanistan belt. May people be afforded the right to go about their business according to their faith and conciousness free from the threat coercion or attack. Ameen. 

Part of me cannot escape noticing the ring of political and media exploitation surrounding Malala's life, or even the fact that the girls who were shot with her, Kainaat and Shazia, are all but forgotten. There is no doubt that these are remarkable individuals and I keep them all in my prayers. Out of the tragedy, I wish to see these girls strong in their resolve - to acquire the education that has been the cause of the controversy in Swat and to be part of that change that will allow them as Pashtun women to be the social equals that men and women in Bacha Khan's vision were meant to be.

This is an important parallel. Bacha Khan recognised the crucial need for education amongst the Pashtuns - for both men and women and Malala would embody that. She bravely stood up to intimidation when girls' schooling was banned in Swat and in doing so adopted a very political position. I offer this with a little caution however. To be political is one thing; to be caught up in someone else's politics is something else. Since the fall of the Taliban in Swat, Malala has been courted by the Pakistani and the world media with their varying views  - all wishing to push their own messages through her.

Note this quote from BBC World TV documentary about her made two years ago. She is twelve years old at the time.

Malala: “I want to ba a doctor but my father told me you have to be a politician. But I don’t like politics.”
Father: “My daughter can be better than a doctor.”

Malala's desire for an education was genuine and highly commendable; but she was thrust into the firing line by an ambitious father and an ambitious documentary maker apparently unconcerned by her direct statement that she was being manipulated against her will.

Having been shot, Malala has now been airlifted and is receiving world class treatment in Birmingham, England. I hope that she recovers and in the long term goes on to a happy and fulfilled life as a doctor. For most children caught in the 'War on Terror', however, the story is very different. The truth is that Malala is not getting this treatment because that is what is done for children attacked in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She is getting this treatment because she became, and remains, an exploited propaganda symbol. If people really cared about Pashtun children, Malala would not be a public figure in the way that she now is. Pashtun children would not have to 'fight' for their right to education and nor would they be filmed fighting for their lives in hospitals.  

Read this view for more thoughts on this story. 

Link: Swat Educational Society

Coming of the Crowds

My voice rings out, this time, from Damascus

It rings out from the house of my mother and father

Nizar Qabbani

Morally speaking, I do not think that we can really disconnect ourselves from politics - but the problem with politics is the disconnect between the perceptions of those who lead and those whom they claim to serve. I believe that my cynicism can be applied universally to all politics, though increasingly and rather specifically the Syrian leader, Bashar Al Assad has not recognised the winds of change in the neighbourhood.  What we appear to be witnessing is a repeat situation of the type leadership that is guided by its own ego and vanity whilst Syria continues to tumble downwards in an erratic free fall. It is true that the world covertly intervenes by offering moral support to the Free Syrian Army and many regional and international saboteurs are likely to hijack the process with the likely scenario that the said leadership will fail to act on the inevitable and will continue to attempt to quell opposition voices with armed brutality. Few, who see clearly, would choose to go to war with their own people, so ultimately Bashar Al Assad's actions appear to spell fatality. At this stage, Allah knows best of course, but it seems that the moral responsibility seems to be with the crowds and not those in power, be that the regime or those intervening. Real power, as witnessed by the Arab Spring and its continuing after effects, lies with the people.

Thinking about the region, we only need to cast some thought back to when Saddam Hussain was ousted after years of resistance and the euphoria that ensued after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak etc. The headlines were typically jubilant - another 'fallen dictator'; 'victory to the people'; 'freedom' and a 'new beginning'. There was a strong sentiment amongst the people of these places that led them to rebellion and in the background the media has had a key role. Whilst the media is drawn to the suffering to make its headlines; foreign political movers and shakers make mileage out of this. Again, the morality of those within politics is sometimes up for question.

Significantly, post the celebrations, many revolutions are followed by a period of public disorder and shaky security. How long this goes on for and how long the international political goodwill towards the revolutionaries lasts varies. In general, the track record is not optimistic. Even after successive fallen governments across the middle east and beyond; we still question whether the world is safer and people are more prosperous as a result. Often the corruption of a few within a police state, is replaced by a break-down/free for all by the masses.

What now happens in Syria over the coming period remains yet to be seen. It is Ramadhan - and technically a month of peace when Muslims should put down their arms and focus on the spiritual. 

Letter to Blair Inc.

We seem to thrive on fear and this is especially true of what many 'westerners' think when it comes to what the Islamic world represents. Whilst the Islamic world has certainly had a past cultural glory when it made contributions to the arts, mathematics and sciences, even with this, there's the historical record of western prejudice against Muslims (see Orientalism). So whether one's opinions originate from a historic Christian set of values or a modern liberal or politically Eurocentric set of values, there is likely to be some point of difference/conflict with a given view in Islam. Adding to that the fear mongering, as in the interview here, and the type of responses that it provokes invariably there is a lack of a balanced and thoughtful judgement when it comes to Muslim-Christian (read 'western') relations.

In this interview with The Telegraph, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair continues to peddle the same old fear with his opinions on 'militant Islam'. I am not going to deny the marginalisation and subsequent radicalisation of Muslims and nor do I excuse it. It is wrong in fact - but one needs to consider the historical relationships of the east and the west to understand why differing sides are often caught up in conflict. A deep misunderstanding and fear continues to inform the way Islam is perceived and both the west and the Muslim world need to self-reflect to consider how their own actions affect the other. I will say however, for there to be a meaningful dialogue that the major need for self reflection vis-à-vis the other should come from 'Christian' west, who must come to terms with their own historical bias and personal animosity.

This might have nothing to do with how he feels, but Tony Blair is a 'new' Catholic and without doubt, a career politician. He knows how to draw attention to the fears/thoughts of middle England and exploit them for his own purposes. I wonder, if many readers of commentators on The Telegraph interview realised that Tony Blair's sister-in-law, Lauren Booth, is in fact, a Muslim? (She spent time in Iran). Mr Blair, himself is now, a somewhat lacklustre international figure. He has, by all accounts, been a low-impact UN peace envoy to the middle east and all indications are that he has profited healthily from this 'unpaid' position. 

Just goes to show, that with a little manipulation, the old forms of hatred and bigotry surface in order to wage contemporary political battles.

Image Credits: ShaneBertou

Malalai of Maiwand

The setting for Dr Watson's injuries (from the Sherlock Holmes stories) was on the Maiwand battlefield, one of the principle battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Whilst the character was clearly fiction, the battle was real and one of the heroes of that battle was a woman, killed on the battlefiled, known as Malalai of Maiwand د معيړند ملالۍ. Although it is Ayub Khan who became known as the Victor of Maiwand, it is said that it was Malalai (or Malala) who actually saved the day.

British sources, unsurprisingly, do not mention Malalai. Her actions may not have been noticed by any of the British, or they may not have seemed as consequential as they were to the Afghans. Afghan women are very rarely mentioned at all so it is interesting that Afghan men who should honour her actions and turn her into a national hero who is still revered today. 

Malalai came from Khig, a small village not far from the Maiwand battlefield, and was the daughter of a shepard. Both her father and fiancée had joined with Ayub's army in the attack on the British on July 27th 1880 (which some say was also her wedding day), and like many women, Malalai was there to help tend to the wounded and provide water and spare weapons. Eventually there came a point in the battle where the Afghan army, despite their superior numbers, started to lose morale and the tide seemed to be turning in favour of the British. Seeing this, Malalai shouted out:

که په میـــوند کـې شهـــید نـــه شـــوی
خدایګو ﻻلـیه بـې ننـګۍ ته دی سـاتینه

"Young love! If you do not fall in the battle of Maiwand,
By God, someone is saving you as a symbol of shame!"

This gave many of the Afghan fighters and ghazis a new resolve and they redoubled their efforts. At that moment one of the leading flag-bearers fell from a British bullet, and Malalai went forward and held up the flag (some versions say she made a flag out of her veil), singing a landay:

خــــال بـــه دیـــار لـــه ویـــنو کیــــږدم
چــــې شینکي باغ کې ګــــل ګلاب وشــــرمویـنه
که په میـــــوند کـــې شهـــید نـــه شـــوی
خــــدایګو ﻻلــــیه بې ننـــګۍ ته دي ســـاتینه

"With a drop of my sweetheart's blood,
Shed in defense of the Motherland,
Will I put a beauty spot on my forehead,
Such as would put to shame the rose in the garden."

But then Malalai was herself struck down and killed. However, her words had spurred on her countrymen and soon the British lines gave way, broke and turned, leading to a disastrous retreat back to Kandahar and the biggest defeat for the Anglo-Indian army in the Second Afghan War. Ayub Khan afterwards gave a special honour to Malalai and she was buried at her village, where her grave can still be found.

 

Malalai - Afghan Heroine of Maiwand by Garen C Ewing licensed under Creative Commons

Equal All?

There have always been acts of atrocity that have shaken us to the bone and in this day and age, the media moves in as some kind of catalyst so that the shock, condemnation and outpouring is magnified whenever a news-breaking actions occur. In and amongst we ask the searching questions about WHY these events happen. But do we learn, and can we then use this to prevent what may happen in the future? I am not sure that we can in every circumstance. The individual human condition is such that the chain of triggers that lead to a 'rampage' such as the shootings in Kandahar a few weeks ago cannot truly be predicted and everyone has a different breaking point. Of course, that is not an excuse - it is, however, an attempt to understand.

A thought ...

The 'rogue' American soldier, Sgt Robert Bales, who went on a killing spree in Kandahar was removed by the US from Afghanistan almost as soon as he was identified. Early reports claimed that the stress of events in the war led to a build up before he finally 'snapped'. Kandaharis reporting back to Hamid Karzai, claim that this was not a lone act and there are voices asking for the soldier to be handed over to the Afghans. Increasingly - though clearly very much in place from the beginning of this conflict - the balance of power in this conflict is not about who is morally right, but who is economically more powerful. If Afghanistan - a sovereign country - was invaded by the US because the Taliban refused to hand over Osama Bin Laden, is Afghanistan equally in the moral position to send Afghan soldiers to the US to invade so that a wanted man who is being protected by the state, is also handed over?

 Graphic taken from mcclatchydc.com

جنګونه ودروئ

 جنګونه ودروئ
* * *

ای د جنګ غاړو دا روان جنګــــــــــــونه ودروئ
دا د افغــــــــان په وینو ډک سینــــــــدونه ودروئ

ترڅـــــــــــوبه هره ورځ روانې جنــــــــازې وي دلته
د خـــــــــــدای په پار دا ناروا قتلــــــــونه ودروئ

ولې دبل په لمســون خپل ښکلی وطن ورانوئ؟
په خپل وطـــــــن کې د جګـــــړې اورونه و دروئ

د کونډو رنډو یتیمانو غږ اسمــــــــــــــــان ته رسي
نور مو په کليــــــــــــــــــو راروان بمـــونــــه ودروئ

زمـــــــــوږ د خاورې هر قـدم په هــدیرو ډک سوی
بس کړئ ، وطن کې په هر کور غمــــــونه ودروئ

تر څو به دا وطن سوزیږي د جـــــــګړو په اورکې
جنـــــګونــــــــه ودروئ دا مـــرګــــــــــونــه ودروئ

د وطن مــــــــــوردی چې ځوریږي دبچو په ویرکې
نور دې ویرجنې وطــــــــــــن مور دردونه ودروئ

* * *
حفیظ الله خالد
ویانا / ۷ /۹/ ۲۰۱۰

Sacrilege

Eventually there is a tipping point. The Afghan protests following the burning of the Quran by Americans in Baghram have escalated and have broken out across the country. Several deaths - first Afghan and now American - and a NATO shut-down have not slowed down the outrage.

Photo: MSNBC

The key to understanding the reaction to these events is simple. Muslims revere the Quran. Afghans are Muslim. Americans, allegedly trying to prevent Afghans in detention passing messages to insurgents deemed as Taliban sympathisers, incinerated copies of the Quran that were supposedly being used to pass on messages. The truth about the Afghans held in detention and to whom the messages were going was handled insensitively and with disrespect. US officials, even up to the US President himself have made attempts to apologise. In reality, however apologies don't always work, especially if they are seen as token and tensions are already high due to an over-long and unpopular occupation. The truth is the Afghan insurgency gains strength from just this sort of action.

Déjà vu

One day the Americans will need to leave Afghanistan and a dignified exit would always be the best way to go. The problem with occupation is that it is closely coupled with arrogance and the message that should be learned is that respect and humility is good. Neither have been shown and this is bound to accelerate calls for the Americans to go. History is testament to the fact that in Afghanistan, eventually, it is the Afghan way that prevails.

Ten Years of Meltdown

Another bomb explosion in Peshawar yesterday claimed yet more lives. Like the explosion in the Khyber tribal district not long back, this happened whilst people waited for a bus. Sadly, this comes less than a week after sectarian violence in Parachinar and today gunmen stormed a police station, again in Peshawar, leading to yet more killing. I can't help but think that right now, it doesn't really matter any more what the faith denomination, ethnic background or political slant of an individual is, in Pakistan - something is seriously malfunctioning. Whilst ultimately violence is indiscriminate; Peshawar, Khyber, Swat, Parachinar, Waziristan, Bajaur and much more, is Pashtoon land and when we turn our violence upon each other, I feel hurt and confusion. At times it feels that we are going down like flies. And I continue to ask why.

Ahmed Rashid, writing for the BBC describes the past ten years perfectly when he says that Pakistan is in Meltdown.  He writes that ten years after becoming embroiled in the US "War on Terror", Pakistan, mired in scandal, may have to face some kind of unilateral US action. This has long been conjecture, but let's face it, when the US enters Pakistani airspace with its drones, this results in civilians being killed. The Raymond Davis shoot-out saw Pakistan bowing to US pressure - thus effectively creating an immunity for American intelligence to kill on Pakistani soil, seemingly without impunity and of course, most infamously Osama bin Laden was hunted down and killed in Abbotabad, whilst Pakistan was asleep. All of these represent US action against Pakistan, whether anyone cares to admit it or not.

But of Pakistan itself - why is it headed towards meltdown? I have a theory. Rather simplistically much of Pakistan's past, present and future woes stem from its schizophrenic relationship with India and how this is dealt with. And yes, there is mass poverty, economic ruin, natural disasters, ethnic unrest and wide-scale political corruption at home. Everything in Pakistan is negatively over politicised - the intelligence services, militant groups, the judiciary, redrawing of provincial boundaries, college campuses, religion, the media, municipality services, the ordinary man on the street and of course, the military. 

Notice there that even whilst discussing this, I didn't even get to politicians. They of course, knowingly sit there in Pakistan temporarily or in exile to escape criminal or corruption charges, watching as everything melts before them.

 

 Cartoon by Satish Acharya

The Boys Who Walked to Europe

This pains me and impresses me at the same time. Leaves us with a lot of food for thought.  

Out of Afghanistan: the boys who walked to Europe 

Behind the security bars of a spartan, white-tiled room, 25 youths are arranging bedrolls on the floor. The workers on the Salvation Army nightshift, who watch over these lone foreign teenagers in a shelter in a gritty corner of Paris, are distributing sheets and sleeping bags; there are a couple of boys from Mali and a contingent of Bangladeshis; the rest have travelled overland, by every conceivable method, from Afghanistan. The youngest are 13 years old, pint-sized cousins from Kabul who arrived that morning after a journey of five months. They take off their trainers and place them at the end of their bedrolls. One of them, Morteza, gingerly peels off his socks. The undersides of his toes are completely white. I ask what happened to his feet.

"Water," he says. Where was he walking in water? Mohammed, the boy on the next bedroll who knows more English, translates. "In the mountains," he says. Which mountains, I ask, thinking about the range that forms the border between Turkey and Iran. "Croatia, Slovenia, Italy,'' Morteza says. Mohammed intervenes. "Not water,'' he clarifies. "Snow." Suddenly I understand. Morteza's feet are not waterlogged or blistered. He has limped across Europe with frostbite. Morteza's 13-year-old cousin Sohrab, pale and serious beyond his years, recounts, in English learned during two years of school in Afghanistan, what happened. 

"Slovenia big problem,'' he says, explaining how he and Morteza, "my uncle's boy'', were travelling with eight adults when they were intercepted by the Slovenian police. Two members of their group were caught and the rest made a detour into the mountains. They spent five days in the snow, navigating by handheld GPS, emerging from the Alps in Trento, in the Italian north. Morteza acquired frostbite on the penultimate part of a 6,000km journey that detoured through the Balkans: through Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia. Their aim is to join their uncle who lives in Europe, after Morteza's father was killed in an explosion. His mother died earlier "in the war''; Sohrab lost his own father when he was 11.

Morteza and Sohrab are among the world's most vulnerable migrants. Like scores of Afghan teenagers in transit across Europe, they are in flight from violence or the aftershocks of violence that affect children in particularly harsh ways. Those who turn up in Paris have spent up to a year on the road, on the same clandestine routes as adults, but at far greater risk. No one knows how many unaccompanied Afghan children have made it to Europe. Paris took in just over 300 in 2011 – the biggest nationality among the 1,700 lone foreign minors in its care. Sarah Di Giglio, a child-protection expert with Save the Children in Italy, says that at 4,883 in 2010, Afghans were the biggest group of separated foreign children requesting asylum in Europe. 

Adapted from this story from the Guardian, Jan 2012. 

Photograph: Ed Alcock/MYOP 

Robots of War

I begin with an extract: 

Imagine the face of warfare with autonomous robotics: Instead of our soldiers returning home in flag-draped caskets to heartbroken families, autonomous robots—mobile machines that can make decisions, such as to fire upon a target, without human intervention—can replace the human soldier in an increasing range of dangerous missions: from tunneling through dark caves in search of terrorists, to securing urban streets rife with sniper fire, to patrolling the skies and waterways where there is little cover from attacks, to clearing roads and seas of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), to surveying damage from biochemical weapons, to guarding borders and buildings, to controlling potentially-hostile crowds, and even as the infantry frontlines.

These robots would be ‘smart’ enough to make decisions that only humans now can; and as conflicts increase in tempo and require much quicker information processing and responses, robots have a distinct advantage over the limited and fallible cognitive capabilities that we Homo sapiens have. Not only would robots expand the battlespace over difficult, larger areas of terrain, but they also represent a significant force-multiplier—each effectively doing the work of many human soldiers, while immune to sleep deprivation, fatigue, low morale, perceptual and communication challenges in the ‘fog of war’, and other performance-hindering conditions.

The extract above is taken from this report and it demonstrates that militarily, at least, there is a push to engage with new technologies. Given that Artificial Intelligence like many emerging technologies almost certainly has military patronage, is it feasible to ask if robots programmed to identify and 'fire' on the enemy combatants are one day developed to 'think' intelligently?

Whilst some of this sounds a little like Skynet from Terminator, I do have a serious question. Can we predict the future directions of 'intelligent' technologies? Are people always in 'control'  or could there be a type of artificial intelligence that eventually develops its own reasoning and consciousness and in the process choose break free of control?

Artifical Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is a topic that captures my interest and over the next few postings I hope to explore some of the ethical thoughts and issues around this. 

In particular what inspires these postings are Sebastian Thrun's keynote speech at TED last year in which he spoke about Google's driverless car. Thrun's conjecture is that driverless cars can be programmed to scan the entire environment around them and react accordingly, thus making them safer than human-driven cars.

Master/Machine

I like the idea of developing technologies to make the world safer, though in the next posting we will explore a little more about what it means to be 'safe', bearing in mind that 'pilotless' drones do not inspire ideas of safety for those living in the Pak-Afghan border regions. Admittedly, some of these drones are operated remotely and thus there is still a human-control element to them, but there is a pattern of military needs shaping advances in technology. For now, Sebastian Thrun makes a plausible case for going driverless:

Find out more on Sebastian Thrun's speech at TED last year.

11.11.11

At the end of World War I an armistice (truce) was called and soldiers not more than a 100 yards from each other laid down their weapons and the silence on the battlefield was "the voice of God" speaking to mankind. In 2011 on the 11th hour of the 11th day on the 11th month bells will ring out across the world for remembrance of all who have suffered from war and for hope that the world will find its way out of this killing mindset that has plagued us for far too long. Join us by ringing bells and remembering on November 11th, on 11/11/11 at 11:00am.

Peace out,

Dave Logsdon

Veterans for Peace, Minneapolis

Read more.

Because Of the War ...

د دی جګړو له لاسه

حفیظ الله خالد
* * *

نور دی جګړو له لاسه

هر یوانسان ستړی دی

هلته زموږ وطن کی

هر یوافغان ستړی دی

ا نسان لا پریږده چې نن

ځمکه آسمان ستړي دي

د دی اوږده ناورین نه

وخت اوزمان ستړی دی

ګلان په اور کی سیزي

چمن بوستان ستړی دی

ځای هدیرو که نسته

غراو بیابان ستړی دی

مه وړې ماشی ته نورلاس

بس کړې روان جنګونه

په کلیومه شیندی اور

مه ورانوۍ کورونه

چی دی جګړو له لاسه

له دی قتلو له لاسه

نن هر افغان ستړی دی

هر یو انسان ستړی دی

* * *

Never Ending Story

11.9.11

Do I dare put on the television, switch on my computer or pick up a newspaper on a day like this? I, like millions across the globe, have expressed sadness and regret for what happened on this date 10 years ago and how the death and destruction associated with this date continue to haunt us.

The constant media reminders turn the 9/11 attacks into a tragic story of division and misery seemingly without end and this is the thing that troubles me the most. Any credible observer would come to the conclusion that Afghanistan and Pakistan have been brought to their knees by the war on terror and the Pashtoons have suffered the 'most' from the aftermath. 

This isn't about forgetting, but letting go. Last year I wrote: 

I hope that in letting go, we reach an understanding that all is not what it appears. I hope that the innocent are not punished for that that they didn't do. I hope that those with power understand that we must ensure the safety of each other ...

... And I hope that one day when we are free, we fully understand that collectively we are the custodians of the Earth and that collectively our freedom, prosperity and peace are mutual.

Dedicated to Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, BBC Pashto Journalist, killed by a US solider who 'mistook' him for a suicide bomber, July 2011.

 احمد اميد خپلواک

Discordia

Discordia was the Latin incarnation of Eris, the goddess of strife in the Greek mythological traditions and right now, there are many examples of strife around us. 

Without going into a 'depressingly' exhaustive list of trouble spots around the world, the wars in Libya and Syria serve to illustrate a key point. Both countries have resistance movements that stem from this year's Arab Spring and in both places the opposition threaten an older political tradition of despotic rule by singular individuals. Libya and Syria, had so far, manage to avoid general expectations around accountability at home, because, like the remaining Arab world, they are not democratic. The truth is that however Muammar Gaddafi and Bashar Al Assad choose to view this, the resistance is a form of People Power and undoubtedly both will recognise the significance of this. 

It is this combination of People Power and Discordia which bring me right to India, the world's largest democracy.

Of late the international media is beginning to pay more and more interest to news threads around Anna Hazare, an ex-military political activist in his 70s, who seems to have mobilised the masses and troubled the Indian authorities with his calls for accountability. The government's reaction to Hazare and his followers suggests that feathers indeed have been ruffled and the crack down is drawing both domestic and international comment. Arrested, and on hunger strike, Anna Hazare, seems to have challenged the established belief that India might not also be as draconian as the rest.

People Power and Discordia, live here too.

Two Wolves

Cherokee Wisdom

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one that you feed."

Global War: Local Cause?

More than 100 dead; many more injured. 

There is a terrible inevitability about the twin bombings in Charsadda, yesterday morning. Little about it is different from previous bombings. There is the same vicious tactic of two devices - one designed to kill helpers moments after the first blast. There is the familiar target: recruits to the underpaid, under-equipped paramilitary frontier corps. There is a familiar culprit: the Pakistani Taliban, who claimed the attack.

The difference is that this strike comes after the death of Osama bin Laden. It is an attack, claimed in the name of al-Qaida, by Pakistanis on Pakistanis. I'm not the sympathiser, the analyst, nor the strategist here, but I do have a question.

Why?

Why is it that we live in a world where the region to which I owe my personal history continues to be caught up in a war without end? Why is it that Pakistan and the US continue with a delusional marriage that aggravates the suffering? Why is it that Pashtoons appear to be caught up in someone else's war? Why is it that Islam ("peace") has increasingly little to do with this? Why?

The story goes that Osama bin Laden is dead, killed in a secret raid that may/may not have had Pakistani involvement and one that continues to raise questions on the legitimacy - should the US have entered sovereign territory; should bin Laden have been captured and tried; what was the exact narrative of events? Many questions unanswered and perhaps for another time.

But for now I wish to understand the whys I raised earlier. Jason Burke, writes in The Guardian that Osama's "strategy, happily, was not always a successful one ... [many groups across the Middle East] ... rejected Bin Laden's advances, as did others throughout the Far East, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia."

Global War: Local Cause?

But of those that did sign up, there is a decidedly local dimension which appears first. The global brand of terrorism, such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan, who were responsible for an attempted bombing in New York last year have hitched their local cause to the broader one – against the "Crusader Zionist alliance" or their local hypocrite, infidel, apostate stooges (in this case the Pakistani government and military and all who work for them).

In his article, Burke makes the key point about the appeal for radical groups not being universal across the Muslim world, but points out that "the global language usually disguises local weakness. That of the Pakistani Taliban is that they are not a conservative traditional group battling to preserve age-old customs but a bunch of marginalised men from smaller tribes, without education, without positions in the social hierarchy and who would be nothing without the power of the gun."

... Above all, what the invocation of a dead Saudi-born terrorist's name is aimed at disguising is the truth about the various conflicts that have been conflated into the narrative, in Washington as much as in compounds in Abbottabad, of one single civilisational clash.

In fact, there is no single conflict, simply a nasty mesh of individual wars, most of which pitch countryman against countryman, in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in Pakistan."