Articles

Like his British counterpart, Australian prime minister John Howard is finding that being hand in glove with Bush et. al. means having difficulty sleeping soundly at home.

Iraqi president Saddam Hussain must be wondering what more he can do to get off George Bush’s list of “evildoers” who are marked for destruction. He has allowed unimpeded access, even to his palaces, to the UN weapons-inspectors, who have found nothing suspicious so far, although that is unlikely to prevent an American attack.

The Fiqh Council of North America, which is linked to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), has issued an astonishing statement regarding the date of Eid al-Adha, which amounts to a recommendation that Muslims ignore the commandments of Allah.

Democracy has almost always been a tool of tyranny, oppression and subjugation. The “world’s largest democracy”, India is no exception to this rule. There is one key strategy that is employed in every democratic process: ‘manufacturing consent’.

The only Russian officer to be charged for war crimes in Chechnya has been acquitted on the basis that he raped and murdered a teenaged girl while suffering from temporary insanity. Colonel Yury Budanov was cleared of all charges against him on December 31.

The attacks on September 11 have brought a slow thaw to the frosty relations between Khartoum and Washington. America’s drive since then to enlist new allies for its “war on terrorism” gave the government of Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir an opportunity to establish a working relationship with Washington.

Given president George Bush’s limited grasp of international affairs, it would be unrealistic to expect him to understand why America is hated so much worldwide, but his advisors should be better equipped to deal with the reality of global politics.

From Beirut To Jerusalem by Dr Ang Swee Chai (new edition). Pub: The Other Press, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2002 (www.ibtbooks.com). Pp: 330 plus photos. Pbk: $12.00.

A Grand Delusion: Democracy and Economic Reform in Egypt by Eberhard Kienle. Pub: I B Taurus, London & New York, 2001. Pp: 274. Hbk: $24.50.​

The elections in Gujarat, won for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by Narendra Modi, the architect of the anti-Muslim pogroms in the state last year, overshadowed the tenth anniversary of the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya...