The United States of America is really a great country democratically, militarily, economically and technologically with enormous resources of men and material, holding values that are common to all religions and civilized societies around the world. As a matter of fact, everyone should be respecting Americans and Uncle Sam should have been a welcome sign in every country on the surface of the earth. Her friendship should have been the most sought-after object in the community of nations. By virtue of its position, America ought to have emerged as a model country and its people as the most revered ones around the world. People should have been citing its example as the model of justice and fair play, playing the role of the savior of mankind. By this time, the USA should have been accepted by the contemporary world as the most respectable nation, upholding the rights of the oppressed and the have-nots, irrespective of the fact where they are and who they are.
But unfortunately, the ground realities are totally different. The USA has become the most unreliable nation of the world. Even its friends and allies have their reservations. Those who are siding with her policies and program at global level are the “pirates” in their domain, usurping the rights of others and a bad stigma on the face of humanity. The countries that were proud of its friendship are trying to distance themselves from its global strategies and her game of world dominance. Wherever the American forces landed to help the country in their hours of trouble, its forces are still stationed there in spite of the fact that decades have passed and they are there only as “undesirable and unwanted guests”. People around the world have practically lost trust in America, dislike it’s game of cultural and economic domination and are scared of its interference in their internal affairs often and on.
The world organizations that were constituted in the wake of destruction of World War II to serve the political and economic needs of the poor and the underdeveloped countries have been manipulated by the USA to serve her global interests. As such, most of the deprived and exploited countries have lost faith in the IMF, the World Bank and the UN itself. These financial institutions are constantly busy in promoting the vested interests of America. All the debtor countries are buried deep in foreign debts up to neck, with no relief in sight. The G-7, headed by the USA is dominating the economy of the world. The UN and the Security Council have become subservient to American interests through political maneuverings, intimidation, coercive means, stopping and denying the share of the expenses of the world body.
Internally, America stands as a country of contrast. The richest and the poorest of the world are living in this country. By its own standard, there are about 32.6 million American people who are poor, many living under subhuman conditions and deprived of even two square meals in a day. Whereas the party in power is benefiting the rich by cutting taxes and denying the very fundamental needs to the poor by cutting their welfare, medical aids, housing facilities, retiring benefits and equal job opportunities, making the rich, richer and the poor, poorer day by day. Human rights are violated and very often are denied to many, especially the immigrants from the Muslim world, on fictitious grounds, like fight against “terrorism”. The scenario of a police state is visible all around. Innocent people are detained for months together without any judicial proceedings. What a perverted sense of justice and fair play, the leadership of America is presenting to the contemporary world.
The USA holds today, both at home and abroad, a very anomalous position. The more a person thinks about this state of affairs, the more he becomes perplexed and confused. He looks around for reasons to this catastrophic end. The only reason that occurs to his mind is the duplicity of its policies and strategies at home and abroad. Americas treats different people and nations with different standards. Its policies differ from country to country in terms of national needs and international strategies. For the poor countries, its dealings are different from what it holds for the rich and the strong. It discriminates if it is a Muslim country with religious background and will again be different if the regime of that country is secular and dictatorial. Again on the same ground, if the country is sitting by its side as an “ally, collaborator or a friend”, it is tolerable to America howsoever it may be treacherous, usurper of human rights, brutal and ruthless in crushing the freedom movement of the people of its occupied land.
The USA is behaving with Iraq quite differently than dealing with the same set of “crimes” of North Korea. The so-called crimes of Iraq are yet to be proved but that of NK, which are obvious and confirmed, are “ignored” conveniently. Iraq is at the verge of war with the mightiest power of the time and facing total annihilation in its wake while all channels of negotiations are being kept opened for NK. The Secretary of State, Mr. Colin Powell has just rooted out all the possibilities of going to war with NK. Is it not the duplicity of American foreign diplomacy? Muslim countries are microscopically “nicknamed” for “breeding” terrorism. But what about India, Israel, Russia, China and Spain that are involved in the worst kind of state terrorism against the freedom fighters in Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya, Sinkiang/Tibet respectively? America is “unashamedly” keeping mum over all these human rights violations and their extreme type of state terrorism. Why this duplicity? What impression America is giving to the world community? How can they believe the USA?
What Sharon is doing ruthlessly with the poor Palestinians, usurping their entire human rights, demolishing their houses, killing their innocents indiscriminately every now and then and rendering them to live under a constant siege? Could Israel behave like that without total connivance with the people sitting in the White House? Why this double standard? Why America is treating Israel like the untouchable “sacred cow” of India and has turned a deaf ear to human cries and lamentations? America is the champion of human rights but raising no voice against Israel, Russia, China and India? How the world opinion will trust the USA? The American Muslims are subjected to all kinds of human rights violation but who cares? How the Americans themselves will trust the duplicity of their so-called elected government in power? Perhaps, no more!
The above instances of human rights violations are being subscribed by the USA by giving tacit approval to these regimes. The self-contradictory position of Americas foreign diplomacy for the Muslim and non-Muslim world is crystal clear. It cannot be trusted any more. This game of American duplicity at home and abroad is creating distrust in its friends and adversaries equally. America is fast loosing its trust in the community of nations and if this policy of duplicity continues for some time more, it will help only in growing the numbers of “unfaithful allies” and “unreliable friends”, making its foreign policy more hollow and “no-longer-trustworthy”. Will the stalwarts of American policy makers make a genuine effort to give up their game of duplicity and resort to an unanimous policy of friendship to all and malice to none and resolve to stand for justice and fair play to all and every country, irrespective of the fact whether it is a Muslim, secular, rich or poor. It may put the world opinion in a reverse gear and restore the lost position of America in due course of time.
Shamim Siddiqi
New York December 30, 2002