Ref: http://www.e-bangladesh.org/2009/10/21/grid-lock-dhaka-%E2%80%93-some-suggestions/comment-page-1/#comment-8967
In e-Bangladesh Engineer Kh. A. Saleque offered some practical solutions to the gridlock situation with roads in Dhaka. I was in Dhaka just the last month, and I could testify to the fact that nearly 80% of one's productive time is lost or wasted in traffic congestion alone. That is too much by any standard. By the time one reaches one's destination, very little is left of one's energy to concentrate on matters important.
Many cities with equally high population density have mitigated such congestion problems. True that many of these countries are rich and can afford to implement solutions that are improbable for a country like Bangladesh. And yet with a strong government desire and well thought out plan that takes into consideration pros and cons of a futuristic plan is still within our reach to solve this problem in our lifetime.
In my own writing earlier, I mentioned that some 300 new cars are pouring into the streets of Dhaka, thus worsening the situation. No new roads have been built to take away the extra pressure. As A. Saleque pointed out, all the offices, government and non-government, are located inside the city. The city is crowded with hundreds of schools and colleges. Every day the city skyline is dotted with newer buildings, thanks to the construction industry. In a small lane with hardly 10-20 feet wide road, there are now several tall residential structures built to house hundreds of new residents, some with cars. When those residents move around, there is little room for them to roam about or drive through. The city planning over the last few years have been responsible for the mess in authorizing such construction permits. The new FAR rule is supposed to somewhat less burden localities, but already much harm has been done to the localities for city corporation' failure to be future thinking.
Most parents send their children these days to the schools in Dhaka by car or other means of transportation. Often times, someone from the family accompanies the little student. This means, the roads are doubly occupied at or close to school opening and closing hours. Thus even a good program like staggered timing for schools simply will not go far into mitigating the root causes. My suggestion there would be forcing schools, esp. the private ones, to pick students from homes in small vans, thereby reducing the pressure on the road. The same vans will also return the kids to their homes. This way, instead of every ten cars or other forms of transportation only one van will occupy the roads during the school opening and closing hours. Some transportation companies can be employed or rented by the school authorities to provide such hourly services at regular hours of the day. Bottom line is greater emphasis must be made towards promoting public transportation over the private ones to mitigate the traffic congestion problem in our cities.
I noticed that when buses move between locations, several buses are already waiting or starting at the same time at any given terminal, thus further narrowing down available space on the road side. There is hardly any designated curb for buses to load and unload passengers. This is where a good urban planning can do miracles. If a transportation policy is enforced such that next buses to a terminal come every five minutes and not simultaneously, and that these also stop at the designated curb side and not in the middle of the road, which usually is the case today blocking many commuters, we would have a much more smoother and continuous flow of traffic along the city roads. Traffic police must be empowered to penalize heavily any violator. A separate court can deal with such traffic violations.
More frequent use of local trains between various city centers can force commuters to settle for such public transportation systems, which are less aggravating, cheaper and faster than means employed now by most commuters.
These days, most cities, including Dhaka, don't have walking footpaths. Thanks to illegal over extension on the roadside by many shopkeepers, road-side restaurants, garbage dumps, and homeless shelters, these passages, if existing, are simply not functional any more in most localities. Pedestrians are thus forced into walking on the roads, which should have been dedicated solely to cars and rickshaws. In the absence of designated terminals for rickshaws and taxis, the available road space is increasingly shrinking at an alarming rate.
Many analysts have noted that any city that has mixed modes of transportation, esp. some requiring brute man power like the rickshaws, it is a losing battle to speed up things on the same road since just like in kinetic reactions the slower ones would dictate the rule of the road. Many concerned citizens have therefore called for banning rickshaws from our roads in major cities that are now plagued by gridlock phenomenon. I personally don't think it is a decision that any democratic government will take - knowing very well that there are now more than a hundred thousand rickshaw pullers in major cities like Dhaka each of whom in turn supporting five to seven family members on their income. On a usual day, they earn close to 300 taka, barely enough to support the needs of their family members. A gradual phased out option with guarantees for alternative means of employment for these rickshaw pullers can be tried to relieve the concentration on the city roads. Sadly, outside the garment industry and housing construction business, very little new jobs have been created in the last couple of decades. The salaries offered there are also too little to meet needs of many workers. For example, a garment worker usually earns about 1500 taka per month. If he pulls a rickshaw even for eight hours, he can make a minimum of 4500 taka monthly to his pockets. Most garment industry owners and executives today are filthy rich making earnings and salaries that are often times at par or more than those offered in Fortune 100 companies. And yet, when it comes to paying salaries of other employees they cheat them big time. In this respect, I was recently too shocked to learn the pay-scale of a new employee having a BBA degree from a reputed private university with one of the largest garment companies. It was only 3000 taka base salary. How can anyone who has spent 40,-70,000 taka per semester for 4 to 5 years of study afford to accept such salary offers? Just the transportation cost to work may cost the employee 3000 taka per month!
Getting back to the subject, I agree with Engineer A. Saleque that a phased relocation of government offices and headquarters away from the city centers would relieve pressure from the roads. I am however against relocating Dhaka University, BUET and Dhaka Medical College. They are part of our heritage and must stay where these are situated. However, newer annex campuses can be built outside the city centers. An all encompassing concerted effort must be made to ensure that no new universities are built within the Dhaka city limit. To sustain such projects adequate care must be made to ensure that such places are self-sufficient to cater to the needs of the teachers and employees. Otherwise, good wishes will not bear the necessary fruits. For instance, teachers and employees of such institutions would be forced to live in major cities that better cater to the needs of their own children. The same goes for any offices that should relocate outside the city centers. Without the necessary infrastructures built a priori, all attempts to force people to settle outside, and thus, reduce the burden on city roads, will fail. Government must develop a long term plan for building some satellite towns around many of the major cities today to further dilute population density in all major cities. Each new towns must be self-sufficient and self-sustaining to maximize their usefulness.
I also propose that the Prime Minister and the President use helicopters to move between their offices so as to less burden commuters. If a CEO of a major Fortune 100 company in the USA can afford to take such rides, why can't our head of state and PM? Such a measure can actually be less expensive not only to the state treasury, but stops wasting commuters' time and money for the extra hours that they now spend on the roads anytime the convoys of our PM or President pass through the busy roads.
Many streets within the city limits must be made one-way roads, strictly being enforced by the Police. In my own experience I have noticed that wherever it is a bi-way road, it is a mess along the frequent turns to the sides. Some narrow roads are now used making turns in all directions thus blocking traffic for hours. Sadly in many such places there were no traffic police to ease people's pains on the roads.
Our people also seem to enjoy law-breaking. Even where there are overpasses and underpasses for pedestrians, meant so that they do not cross the road, they avoid such designated passes. The traffic police don't penalize anyone for such routine violations.
I noticed speed-breaks in front of many schools, colleges and universities (and even hospitals). These unduly slow down the traffic during busy hours, and are totally ignored at night (most of these don't have any visible signs or warnings). Imagine a 10-20 ton lorry rolling over the street at night at 40 to 70 km/hour! All such speed breaks are now taking sleep away from the residents that live nearby. This stupid speed breaks must be eliminated now. Instead, city authorities should consider posting some flashing lights to warn the auto drivers at designated times. For example, during opening and closing hours, such lights would flash warning drivers that it is a busy time and they should slow down to a designated speed limit for safety. At night and at other hours of the day, when it is not necessary, the warning lights need not blink. Provisions must also be taken to ensure that the roads in front of all hospitals are as quiet as possible without any horns and sirens heard. A strict enforcement from Police can do miracles to alleviate people's pain. I say this because during my 3-week long stay in Chittagong, I did not have a single night of sound sleep, thanks to Mayor Mohiuddin's stupid speed breakers on Zakir Hossain Road. Every time a bus or truck passed, and went over those speed breaks, it felt like a small earthquake.
If our city authorities truly care about the residents that live and pay taxes, they should think about alleviating their pains, and come up with smart measures that are forward and future thinking. If they take care of the garbage and sewer problems, enforce laws, build overpasses for pedestrians at busy intersections, clear footpaths from the undesirable people and structures and dumps, they can do a great service to their citizens.
Many city planners and authorities in the western world are now using six sigma methodology to address traffic congestion problems, let alone city planning. Sadly, Bangladesh remains locked up in its past and has shown reluctance to embrace newer methodologies to move forward. Today, there are some Bangladeshi expats that are masters of this methodology and can assist Bangladesh to solve many such problems faced by our nation. But it will take someone in the government to grab their hands. Until then, we shall be deprived of their sincere offer to lend their hands. I am sure if we put our heads and hands together we can solve more than half the traffic problem fast without even spending much.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
American Travelers deserve better at their own airports
Last Friday I returned from a three-week long overseas trip. This has been the third of such trips for me in a year. These days, air travels are no fun for any passenger. The traveler is forced to pay for all security checks, arrive at the airport at least two to three hours ahead of the departure time and go through multiple checkpoints. And then, most flights are late in departing from the gate. In these days of job insecurity and high unemployment, security jobs at the airports seem to be exceptions. The companies doing business in this area, whether these are selling machines or providing security guards, are all doing great. I am told that many such security firms are actually managed by former Israeli agents. After all, they had the least number of plane hijacking! They ought to know something better that others don’t.
As usual, the security check-ups in the JFK are the worst. The security guys won’t allow anyone to pass through the security check points with any liquid -- even children’s drinks, not even body lotions and face creams. I saw a female passenger disapprovingly handing over her newly purchased unused expensive lotion and perfume to the security lady. She apparently forgot about those stupid rules! I am sure that someone within the security system is making a good business out of those snatched items. The passengers are also required to take their shoes off before passing through the checkpoints. Blame all such troubles on to Richard Colvin Reid – the failed shoe-bomber!
The intercontinental flight over the Atlantic was a long one – almost 12 hours. But thanks to the Qatar Airways’ Boeing flight with plenty of leg-space and great personal entertainment center, it was not too difficult to relax and enjoy the flight. The in-flight service from the crew, mostly from South-east Asia, was also great. With few passengers flying, many passengers in the economy class were able to lie down and sleep.
During my return flight from Doha, I had to face again the same type of security checks – a more thorough version for everyone flying to the USA. That is, those passengers flying to other places were not required to face multiple checks as we did. Well, looks like every traveler to and from American airports will have to endure the painful process for a long time, unless common sense dictates to stop this madness! As I hinted in the beginning, no one is winning from this madness except those involved in the security business. Billions of dollars are lost every year as a result of this extra security checks at the airports around the globe.
While American immigration officers are probably the most professional and efficient of their kind in the world, taking the least amount of time to process documents of arriving passengers (and causing the least amount of waiting time in front of the counters), the other services inside the arrival terminal -- from bag unloading from the carousels, which can take in excess of half an hour, to finding a cart to load baggage -- are probably worst in the world. One has to pay five dollars to get a wheel cart to load one’s bags. In my frequent flights to many countries around the world, I am simply unaware of any foreign airport charging its arriving passengers to pay for such carts, which are offered free to help them move their baggage easily. But here in the USA such a free service is simply absent, causing much irritation, annoyance and problem to many foreign travelers who may not have the right currency upon their arrival.
When a third world country like Bangladesh can afford to provide such cart services free to all its passengers, it is high time that the USA, the richest country in the world, modifies its policy to make its airports more friendlier to its travelers.
As usual, the security check-ups in the JFK are the worst. The security guys won’t allow anyone to pass through the security check points with any liquid -- even children’s drinks, not even body lotions and face creams. I saw a female passenger disapprovingly handing over her newly purchased unused expensive lotion and perfume to the security lady. She apparently forgot about those stupid rules! I am sure that someone within the security system is making a good business out of those snatched items. The passengers are also required to take their shoes off before passing through the checkpoints. Blame all such troubles on to Richard Colvin Reid – the failed shoe-bomber!
The intercontinental flight over the Atlantic was a long one – almost 12 hours. But thanks to the Qatar Airways’ Boeing flight with plenty of leg-space and great personal entertainment center, it was not too difficult to relax and enjoy the flight. The in-flight service from the crew, mostly from South-east Asia, was also great. With few passengers flying, many passengers in the economy class were able to lie down and sleep.
During my return flight from Doha, I had to face again the same type of security checks – a more thorough version for everyone flying to the USA. That is, those passengers flying to other places were not required to face multiple checks as we did. Well, looks like every traveler to and from American airports will have to endure the painful process for a long time, unless common sense dictates to stop this madness! As I hinted in the beginning, no one is winning from this madness except those involved in the security business. Billions of dollars are lost every year as a result of this extra security checks at the airports around the globe.
While American immigration officers are probably the most professional and efficient of their kind in the world, taking the least amount of time to process documents of arriving passengers (and causing the least amount of waiting time in front of the counters), the other services inside the arrival terminal -- from bag unloading from the carousels, which can take in excess of half an hour, to finding a cart to load baggage -- are probably worst in the world. One has to pay five dollars to get a wheel cart to load one’s bags. In my frequent flights to many countries around the world, I am simply unaware of any foreign airport charging its arriving passengers to pay for such carts, which are offered free to help them move their baggage easily. But here in the USA such a free service is simply absent, causing much irritation, annoyance and problem to many foreign travelers who may not have the right currency upon their arrival.
When a third world country like Bangladesh can afford to provide such cart services free to all its passengers, it is high time that the USA, the richest country in the world, modifies its policy to make its airports more friendlier to its travelers.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
My recent trip to Doha and Bangladesh
I returned home to Philadelphia last night from my trip to Bangladesh. The Qatar flight from Doha arrived earlier than scheduled although the flight had taken off almost an hour late. The in-flight service was great. I stayed in a hotel, provided by the Qatar Airways, for almost a full day.
Doha is a very organized, neat city, with lots of construction work going on everywhere. There were too many hotels for the people touring or staying in hotels. I don't know what the builders are thinking! Most of the foreign workers were either Indian or Phillippinos. Many of the crew members in the plane were also from SE Asia (again from Thailand and the Philippines). I hardly saw any Bangladeshi except inside the Doha airport. The Indians have effectively taken over the hotel, catering and grocery industries in Qatar, many of them driving expensive foreign cars. Chevrolet was rather very common brand among most Qataris owning foreign cars. Weather was great, not too hot, for this time of the year. It was in the mid-30s (deg C). I hardly saw anyone walking on the streets outside migrant day laborers, working for the construction or hotel industry. So, Qatar seems to be one place in the Middle East where Bangladeshi workers are too few.
By the way, on my first leg of the journey I saw and met some Bangladeshi workers returning from the ME. They had lost the job there, or were betrayed by their sponsors. There was a Sylheti who had spent some quarter million taka to come for his cherished construction job, only to be returned empty-handed (and without even his belongings) within three months. The Bangladeshi embassy, as usual, was of no help to ensure his rights. It is a sad story for some workers who had spent all their savings, even borrowing from others to make that dream trip and then end up like that broke. No one inside the govt, esp. inside the Bangaldeshi embassies, seemed ever to care for such wage earners.
As noted by Prof. Taj Hashmi in a personal letter from his latest trip to Bangladesh, the traffic situation in all major cities is deteriorating fast with almost 300 cars adding every day to the Dhaka city alone. The govt's plan for separate schedules for offices and schools, while well-intentioned and smart, may actually have little luck to alleviate people's miseries on the roads, unless newer ways are found to address the real issues culminating into the mess. They may like to follow other prudent methods, some tried in our neighboring countries. For a mere meeting anywhere, within 3 to 5 kms, one may spend nearly 2 to 6 hours on the road, thus wasting nearly 80% of productive time. I wish our people had learned the art of utilizing phone to do many of their tasks; they still seemed to like the face to face meetings over those held over the phone. The work-efficiency is still a far cry for most business operations. The press freedom is at an all time high. This can be somewhat confusing for some people though. While the price of rice and some food items have come down from the 1/11-days, the price of most items is still beyond the means of most Bangladeshis, costing more in real dollars than in the USA.
The cities are dirty and filthy without any drainage cleaning for years. With corrupt mayors in many cities, esp. in the big ones, the life of most residents is worsening. With all the fast moving heavy trucks and buses rolling over the major streets round the clock, I could hardly have a sound sleep in Chittagong. Mayor Mohiuddin has put up speed breakers in front of all schools and colleges in the cities. However, without any visible sign or warnings, only thing he has been able to do is take away people's sleep at night. It is a stupid policy - trying to apply a wrong formula at a wrong place, without ever thinking about the consequences of such stupid actions. Who advises stupid mayors like him, I don't have any clue! Crime and corruption, as usual, is on the rise everywhere.
Many of the govt-priorities are misplaced and ill-conceived. It needs to do a Pareto analysis to prioritize important deliverables and chalk out real plans to implement those within the shortest time possible effectively. I wish Prime Minister Hasina had the wisdom of appointing more experienced people in her Mahajote govt rather than many amateurs that now include her administration. As usual, tender-politics is on the rise, and this, in spite of her warnings not to favor her party folks. I see lack of sincerity in many such efforts. She should also understand that while her father was definitely the most important Bangladeshi ever in the long history of our people, and that our people are indebted to him, she does not own Bangladesh, and cannot therefore behave like a feudal heiress. She should try to distinguish between sincere advice and sycophancy. The latter practice unfortunately is on the rise. I was simply annoyed to see the name change of the China-Bangladesh Friendship Convention center to Bangabandhu International Convention Center. I don't know whether it was a reversal act from de-naming names though! But such naming games ought to come to a full stop. I don't mind though govt putting its petty name with things that it erects on its own count, but hate to see old structures renamed. It is a piracy and must stop before our people's patience runs dry!
Many of our people are already too frustrated with real reforms taking place; if at all, too slowly. They seemed betrayed. Many blame the bureaucrats for the on-going troubles. While most intellectuals think that it was the lack of continuation of civil administration that is at the heart of our troubles, most seem to opine that a benevolent dictator is probably what is needed for Bangladesh! This wish again epitomizes our failure as a nation state. We seemed to have wasted away the last 38 years! Our political leaders also have learned nothing from history and continues to do insane and stupid things with lack of far-sightedness, sincerity of purpose and intention. As it seems, we shall therefore see more of the same.
Doha is a very organized, neat city, with lots of construction work going on everywhere. There were too many hotels for the people touring or staying in hotels. I don't know what the builders are thinking! Most of the foreign workers were either Indian or Phillippinos. Many of the crew members in the plane were also from SE Asia (again from Thailand and the Philippines). I hardly saw any Bangladeshi except inside the Doha airport. The Indians have effectively taken over the hotel, catering and grocery industries in Qatar, many of them driving expensive foreign cars. Chevrolet was rather very common brand among most Qataris owning foreign cars. Weather was great, not too hot, for this time of the year. It was in the mid-30s (deg C). I hardly saw anyone walking on the streets outside migrant day laborers, working for the construction or hotel industry. So, Qatar seems to be one place in the Middle East where Bangladeshi workers are too few.
By the way, on my first leg of the journey I saw and met some Bangladeshi workers returning from the ME. They had lost the job there, or were betrayed by their sponsors. There was a Sylheti who had spent some quarter million taka to come for his cherished construction job, only to be returned empty-handed (and without even his belongings) within three months. The Bangladeshi embassy, as usual, was of no help to ensure his rights. It is a sad story for some workers who had spent all their savings, even borrowing from others to make that dream trip and then end up like that broke. No one inside the govt, esp. inside the Bangaldeshi embassies, seemed ever to care for such wage earners.
As noted by Prof. Taj Hashmi in a personal letter from his latest trip to Bangladesh, the traffic situation in all major cities is deteriorating fast with almost 300 cars adding every day to the Dhaka city alone. The govt's plan for separate schedules for offices and schools, while well-intentioned and smart, may actually have little luck to alleviate people's miseries on the roads, unless newer ways are found to address the real issues culminating into the mess. They may like to follow other prudent methods, some tried in our neighboring countries. For a mere meeting anywhere, within 3 to 5 kms, one may spend nearly 2 to 6 hours on the road, thus wasting nearly 80% of productive time. I wish our people had learned the art of utilizing phone to do many of their tasks; they still seemed to like the face to face meetings over those held over the phone. The work-efficiency is still a far cry for most business operations. The press freedom is at an all time high. This can be somewhat confusing for some people though. While the price of rice and some food items have come down from the 1/11-days, the price of most items is still beyond the means of most Bangladeshis, costing more in real dollars than in the USA.
The cities are dirty and filthy without any drainage cleaning for years. With corrupt mayors in many cities, esp. in the big ones, the life of most residents is worsening. With all the fast moving heavy trucks and buses rolling over the major streets round the clock, I could hardly have a sound sleep in Chittagong. Mayor Mohiuddin has put up speed breakers in front of all schools and colleges in the cities. However, without any visible sign or warnings, only thing he has been able to do is take away people's sleep at night. It is a stupid policy - trying to apply a wrong formula at a wrong place, without ever thinking about the consequences of such stupid actions. Who advises stupid mayors like him, I don't have any clue! Crime and corruption, as usual, is on the rise everywhere.
Many of the govt-priorities are misplaced and ill-conceived. It needs to do a Pareto analysis to prioritize important deliverables and chalk out real plans to implement those within the shortest time possible effectively. I wish Prime Minister Hasina had the wisdom of appointing more experienced people in her Mahajote govt rather than many amateurs that now include her administration. As usual, tender-politics is on the rise, and this, in spite of her warnings not to favor her party folks. I see lack of sincerity in many such efforts. She should also understand that while her father was definitely the most important Bangladeshi ever in the long history of our people, and that our people are indebted to him, she does not own Bangladesh, and cannot therefore behave like a feudal heiress. She should try to distinguish between sincere advice and sycophancy. The latter practice unfortunately is on the rise. I was simply annoyed to see the name change of the China-Bangladesh Friendship Convention center to Bangabandhu International Convention Center. I don't know whether it was a reversal act from de-naming names though! But such naming games ought to come to a full stop. I don't mind though govt putting its petty name with things that it erects on its own count, but hate to see old structures renamed. It is a piracy and must stop before our people's patience runs dry!
Many of our people are already too frustrated with real reforms taking place; if at all, too slowly. They seemed betrayed. Many blame the bureaucrats for the on-going troubles. While most intellectuals think that it was the lack of continuation of civil administration that is at the heart of our troubles, most seem to opine that a benevolent dictator is probably what is needed for Bangladesh! This wish again epitomizes our failure as a nation state. We seemed to have wasted away the last 38 years! Our political leaders also have learned nothing from history and continues to do insane and stupid things with lack of far-sightedness, sincerity of purpose and intention. As it seems, we shall therefore see more of the same.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The 64th UN General Assembly Session
With the opening of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly last Wednesday, September 23, the UN building and the entire New York City seemed to be busier than ever before. Leaders came from all around the world – from Iran’s Ahmadinejad, Brazil’s Lula, Bolivia’s Morales and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez to Israel’s Netanyahu, France’s Sarkozy, UK’s Gordon Brown and Zimbabwe’s Mugabe, just to name a few – to attend the session. There was also a trilateral meeting hosted by President Obama with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday that tried to resume the stalled peace talks.
As expected, the Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi also attended the session, his first appearance in the UN. With his nearly 90-minute long speech, he surely stole the show on the first day. Because of opposition from the local community, Libyan officials agreed not to pitch Col Gaddafi's tent in the grounds of a Libyan-owned property in the New Jersey town of Englewood. An alternate site in Bedford, 30 miles north of New York, was rented from the real estate mogul Donald Trump. Even there the town attorney Joel Sachs, acting like an arrogant cowboy, would not allow the erection of the tent citing that it "violated several codes and laws of the town of Bedford”.
This rude welcome, which violates the UN’s host-nation obligation, did not however deter the Libyan leader to speak his mind before the United Nations. Dressed in a traditional Libyan cap and robe, he slammed both the U.N. Security Council and the United States, and called for moving the U.N. headquarters out of the USA. He urged investigations of U.S. military activities. He took aim at UN and elaborated on the unfairness of the structure of the U.N. Security Council, which has five permanent members: the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain, each with veto power. He said, "No one is objecting to the preamble [of the U.N. charter], but everything that came after that is contradiction of the preamble. The preamble says the nations are equal whether they are small or big. Are we equal in permanent seats? No, we're not equals." He chided the Security Council for failing to provide security but "terror and sanctions." He said no one should accept the resolutions of the Security Council, which he said should be called the "terror council." He suggested abolishing the Security Council in favor of the General Assembly, which would become a "world parliament." If that is not possible, he called for a permanent African presence on the Security Council.
While those words may not jive well with veto-wielding members of the UNSC, they surely reflect the views of almost everyone else. If the UN is serious about promoting democracy in our world, it better show the path first by democratizing its own institute.
Gaddafi called the invasion of Iraq "the mother of all evils," criticizing the hanging of deposed leader Saddam Hussein and the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He also called for investigations into many incidents, such as the Afghan war, the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in 1982 during the Lebanese civil war, Israel's Gaza offensive and the killings in the 1960s of former President Kennedy and civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King. As a solution to the current Israeli-Palestinian problem, he called for a one-state solution in the region. The way things are, many keen observers of the six decade-long conflict now believe that the two-state solution may not be practical any more.
In his maiden address before the UN General Assembly, President Barack Obama said that his Administration would work with all Members States to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaida and its extremist allies. He pledged to keep his promise to remove all troops by the end of 2011. He said that Iran could play a significant role in shaping the future of the world and its security, should it abandon "the pursuit of nuclear weapons."
On the issue of nuclear non-proliferation, Obama suggested that the US was eager to take a step toward a world without nuclear weapons. He said that his government was ready to work with Russia on arms reduction as well as joining in discussions of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the US has refused to sign. He, however, warned the leaders of Iran and North Korea that their nuclear programs would take the world down a "dangerous slope" with the prospects of arms race rising in East Asia and the Middle East. This, in spite of the fact that Iran has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and maintains that its nuclear program is a civilian one and has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction around the globe.
Obama mentioned that the United States would continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, and the Arab world, and reiterated that America did not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This latter statement sounded hypocritical given the fact that on Tuesday, just a day before Obama’s speech on Wednesday at the UN, in a trilateral meeting the US Middle East envoy George Mitchell asserted that a full Israeli freeze on settlement construction on the occupied Palestinian land is not essential for the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. It is worth noting that the Palestinian officials have repeatedly said that they will agree with the resumption of the long-stalled 'peace talks' only after Tel Aviv halts its Jewish settlement expansions in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, a position that was also echoed earlier by the Obama administration. However when push comes to shove the U.S. has always caved into the Jewish pressure. This time it was no different either. Netanyahu came out as a winner and Abbas a loser, with the Obama administration in the middle losing its credibility in the Middle East. Mahmoud Abbas, who could not say no to Obama’s request to attend, returned home empty-handed and politically weakened after the summit. Overall, the New York summit yielded no signs of a breakthrough on freezing construction of Jewish settlements or restarting the long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli talks. The development indicates yet another round of hypocritical efforts by successive US administrations to supposedly bring 'peace' in the Middle East that, in effect only strengthens the apartheid Israeli state at the cost of making a mockery out of Palestinian rights, statehood and dignity.
It is not difficult to surmise that Obama administration’s foreign policy priorities have shifted. Finding peace in the Middle East and withdrawing forces from the region have taken now a back seat to the tough talks of sanctions and looming war against Iran. With the latest disclosure of a newly constructed nuclear facility near Quom, the West, spear-headed by Israel, seems bent on punishing Tehran, which it accuses of pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian program. The Iranian regime has repeatedly denied such accusations.
In a meeting held outside the Assembly Hall, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday, “Our level of enrichment is currently at 3.5 percent - within a range of 3 to 5 percent. The materials go to nuclear power plants. They are useless for a bomb. A bomb needs enriched uranium to the grade of 99.7 percent. We believe that the possession of nuclear bombs is immoral.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva following his meeting with Ahmadinejad said that Iran was entitled to the same rights as any other country in its use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. “I defend for Iran the same rights with respect to nuclear energy that I do for Brazil,” Lula told reporters outside the United Nations General Assembly. “If anyone is ashamed of having relations with Iran, it's not Brazil,” he added.
President Ahmadinejad, in his address to the 64th session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday said that the reform in the structure of the UN should turn the body into a "fully democratic organization, capable of playing an impartial" role in international relations. He also called for reforming the structure of the Security Council, especially by abolishing "the discriminatory privileges of the veto right". He said that the Israeli regime is committing "genocide" against the Palestinian people. "How can one imagine that the inhumane policies in Palestine may continue to force the entire population of a country out of their homeland for more than 60 years by resorting to force and coercion; to attack them with all types of arms and even prohibited weapons," Ahmadinejad said. To the chagrin of the international community, the occupiers are called "peace-lovers", he said, hinting at Israel. He continued, "How can the crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and children and destruction of their homes, farms, hospitals and schools be supported unconditionally by certain governments, and at the same time, the oppressed men and women be subject to genocide and heaviest economic blockade being denied of their basic needs, food, water and medicine?" "They (Palestinians) are not even allowed to rebuild their homes which were destroyed during the 22-day barbaric attacks by the Zionist regime while the winter is approaching, whereas the aggressors and their supporters deceitfully continue their rhetoric in defense of human rights in order to put others under pressure." He stated that the "unfair capitalism" system has reached the end of the road and the world needs fundamental changes. "It is no longer possible to inject thousands of billions of dollars of unreal wealth to the world economy simply by printing worthless paper assets, or transfer inflation as well as social and economic problems to others through creating severe budget deficits," Ahmadinejad said. "The era of capitalist thinking and imposition of one's thoughts on the international community, intended to predominate the world in the name of globalization and the age of setting up empires is over," Ahmadinejad concluded.
France was the first to walk out of the room on Wednesday as President Ahmadinejad once again accused Israel of committing Palestinian 'genocide'. Other than the US and France, delegations from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy and New Zealand left the room. Such walkouts don’t surprise us any more knowing quite well that all these countries have had blood in their hands, and are now making a mockery of human rights by behaving like the cheerleaders for the apartheid state that is responsible for the Palestinian Holocaust. Obviously, the word “shame” is not in their dictionary.
In his speech on Thursday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told the General Assembly, "It doesn't smell of sulfur here anymore. It smells of hope." This was a marked departure from his last year’s speech in which he depicted the former U.S. president as a racist, imperialist devil who smelled of sulfur. He said he was moved by President Obama's assertion that no country should dominate another, but he expressed frustration that the new U.S. leader has not acted on that view more firmly. He called upon Obama to lift “murderous embargo” embargo on Cuba. He said, "Are there two Obamas? I would like to believe the Obama I listened to yesterday." Who won’t?
But let’s face it: hypocrisy still remains the modus operandi of the U.S. foreign policy. It can be all vocal about Iran’s nuclear program but has no problem closing its eyes to Israel’s nuclear program despite a landmark resolution adopted recently by the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urging Israel to open its entire nuclear program to IAEA inspection and join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). Since 1958, when it began building its Dimona plutonium and uranium processing facility, Israel has reportedly manufactured scores of nuclear warheads earning reputation as the sole possessor of such hardware in the Middle East. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, aerial footage and decades of recurrent reporting have attested to the existence of the armament. But not a single western leader, and surely not the clowns like Sarkozy and Gordon Brown, chastised the only nuclear power in the Middle East. President Obama can hypnotize the world audience with his sweet, smooth talk but when it comes to walking the talk there is a gigantic gap, which is so frustrating to all those who aspired for change and tried to believe in him as the change agent!
The general assembly session will continue until the end of this month.
As expected, the Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi also attended the session, his first appearance in the UN. With his nearly 90-minute long speech, he surely stole the show on the first day. Because of opposition from the local community, Libyan officials agreed not to pitch Col Gaddafi's tent in the grounds of a Libyan-owned property in the New Jersey town of Englewood. An alternate site in Bedford, 30 miles north of New York, was rented from the real estate mogul Donald Trump. Even there the town attorney Joel Sachs, acting like an arrogant cowboy, would not allow the erection of the tent citing that it "violated several codes and laws of the town of Bedford”.
This rude welcome, which violates the UN’s host-nation obligation, did not however deter the Libyan leader to speak his mind before the United Nations. Dressed in a traditional Libyan cap and robe, he slammed both the U.N. Security Council and the United States, and called for moving the U.N. headquarters out of the USA. He urged investigations of U.S. military activities. He took aim at UN and elaborated on the unfairness of the structure of the U.N. Security Council, which has five permanent members: the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain, each with veto power. He said, "No one is objecting to the preamble [of the U.N. charter], but everything that came after that is contradiction of the preamble. The preamble says the nations are equal whether they are small or big. Are we equal in permanent seats? No, we're not equals." He chided the Security Council for failing to provide security but "terror and sanctions." He said no one should accept the resolutions of the Security Council, which he said should be called the "terror council." He suggested abolishing the Security Council in favor of the General Assembly, which would become a "world parliament." If that is not possible, he called for a permanent African presence on the Security Council.
While those words may not jive well with veto-wielding members of the UNSC, they surely reflect the views of almost everyone else. If the UN is serious about promoting democracy in our world, it better show the path first by democratizing its own institute.
Gaddafi called the invasion of Iraq "the mother of all evils," criticizing the hanging of deposed leader Saddam Hussein and the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He also called for investigations into many incidents, such as the Afghan war, the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in 1982 during the Lebanese civil war, Israel's Gaza offensive and the killings in the 1960s of former President Kennedy and civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King. As a solution to the current Israeli-Palestinian problem, he called for a one-state solution in the region. The way things are, many keen observers of the six decade-long conflict now believe that the two-state solution may not be practical any more.
In his maiden address before the UN General Assembly, President Barack Obama said that his Administration would work with all Members States to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaida and its extremist allies. He pledged to keep his promise to remove all troops by the end of 2011. He said that Iran could play a significant role in shaping the future of the world and its security, should it abandon "the pursuit of nuclear weapons."
On the issue of nuclear non-proliferation, Obama suggested that the US was eager to take a step toward a world without nuclear weapons. He said that his government was ready to work with Russia on arms reduction as well as joining in discussions of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the US has refused to sign. He, however, warned the leaders of Iran and North Korea that their nuclear programs would take the world down a "dangerous slope" with the prospects of arms race rising in East Asia and the Middle East. This, in spite of the fact that Iran has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and maintains that its nuclear program is a civilian one and has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction around the globe.
Obama mentioned that the United States would continue to seek a just and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine, and the Arab world, and reiterated that America did not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This latter statement sounded hypocritical given the fact that on Tuesday, just a day before Obama’s speech on Wednesday at the UN, in a trilateral meeting the US Middle East envoy George Mitchell asserted that a full Israeli freeze on settlement construction on the occupied Palestinian land is not essential for the resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. It is worth noting that the Palestinian officials have repeatedly said that they will agree with the resumption of the long-stalled 'peace talks' only after Tel Aviv halts its Jewish settlement expansions in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, a position that was also echoed earlier by the Obama administration. However when push comes to shove the U.S. has always caved into the Jewish pressure. This time it was no different either. Netanyahu came out as a winner and Abbas a loser, with the Obama administration in the middle losing its credibility in the Middle East. Mahmoud Abbas, who could not say no to Obama’s request to attend, returned home empty-handed and politically weakened after the summit. Overall, the New York summit yielded no signs of a breakthrough on freezing construction of Jewish settlements or restarting the long-stalled Palestinian-Israeli talks. The development indicates yet another round of hypocritical efforts by successive US administrations to supposedly bring 'peace' in the Middle East that, in effect only strengthens the apartheid Israeli state at the cost of making a mockery out of Palestinian rights, statehood and dignity.
It is not difficult to surmise that Obama administration’s foreign policy priorities have shifted. Finding peace in the Middle East and withdrawing forces from the region have taken now a back seat to the tough talks of sanctions and looming war against Iran. With the latest disclosure of a newly constructed nuclear facility near Quom, the West, spear-headed by Israel, seems bent on punishing Tehran, which it accuses of pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian program. The Iranian regime has repeatedly denied such accusations.
In a meeting held outside the Assembly Hall, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday, “Our level of enrichment is currently at 3.5 percent - within a range of 3 to 5 percent. The materials go to nuclear power plants. They are useless for a bomb. A bomb needs enriched uranium to the grade of 99.7 percent. We believe that the possession of nuclear bombs is immoral.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva following his meeting with Ahmadinejad said that Iran was entitled to the same rights as any other country in its use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. “I defend for Iran the same rights with respect to nuclear energy that I do for Brazil,” Lula told reporters outside the United Nations General Assembly. “If anyone is ashamed of having relations with Iran, it's not Brazil,” he added.
President Ahmadinejad, in his address to the 64th session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday said that the reform in the structure of the UN should turn the body into a "fully democratic organization, capable of playing an impartial" role in international relations. He also called for reforming the structure of the Security Council, especially by abolishing "the discriminatory privileges of the veto right". He said that the Israeli regime is committing "genocide" against the Palestinian people. "How can one imagine that the inhumane policies in Palestine may continue to force the entire population of a country out of their homeland for more than 60 years by resorting to force and coercion; to attack them with all types of arms and even prohibited weapons," Ahmadinejad said. To the chagrin of the international community, the occupiers are called "peace-lovers", he said, hinting at Israel. He continued, "How can the crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and children and destruction of their homes, farms, hospitals and schools be supported unconditionally by certain governments, and at the same time, the oppressed men and women be subject to genocide and heaviest economic blockade being denied of their basic needs, food, water and medicine?" "They (Palestinians) are not even allowed to rebuild their homes which were destroyed during the 22-day barbaric attacks by the Zionist regime while the winter is approaching, whereas the aggressors and their supporters deceitfully continue their rhetoric in defense of human rights in order to put others under pressure." He stated that the "unfair capitalism" system has reached the end of the road and the world needs fundamental changes. "It is no longer possible to inject thousands of billions of dollars of unreal wealth to the world economy simply by printing worthless paper assets, or transfer inflation as well as social and economic problems to others through creating severe budget deficits," Ahmadinejad said. "The era of capitalist thinking and imposition of one's thoughts on the international community, intended to predominate the world in the name of globalization and the age of setting up empires is over," Ahmadinejad concluded.
France was the first to walk out of the room on Wednesday as President Ahmadinejad once again accused Israel of committing Palestinian 'genocide'. Other than the US and France, delegations from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy and New Zealand left the room. Such walkouts don’t surprise us any more knowing quite well that all these countries have had blood in their hands, and are now making a mockery of human rights by behaving like the cheerleaders for the apartheid state that is responsible for the Palestinian Holocaust. Obviously, the word “shame” is not in their dictionary.
In his speech on Thursday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told the General Assembly, "It doesn't smell of sulfur here anymore. It smells of hope." This was a marked departure from his last year’s speech in which he depicted the former U.S. president as a racist, imperialist devil who smelled of sulfur. He said he was moved by President Obama's assertion that no country should dominate another, but he expressed frustration that the new U.S. leader has not acted on that view more firmly. He called upon Obama to lift “murderous embargo” embargo on Cuba. He said, "Are there two Obamas? I would like to believe the Obama I listened to yesterday." Who won’t?
But let’s face it: hypocrisy still remains the modus operandi of the U.S. foreign policy. It can be all vocal about Iran’s nuclear program but has no problem closing its eyes to Israel’s nuclear program despite a landmark resolution adopted recently by the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urging Israel to open its entire nuclear program to IAEA inspection and join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). Since 1958, when it began building its Dimona plutonium and uranium processing facility, Israel has reportedly manufactured scores of nuclear warheads earning reputation as the sole possessor of such hardware in the Middle East. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, aerial footage and decades of recurrent reporting have attested to the existence of the armament. But not a single western leader, and surely not the clowns like Sarkozy and Gordon Brown, chastised the only nuclear power in the Middle East. President Obama can hypnotize the world audience with his sweet, smooth talk but when it comes to walking the talk there is a gigantic gap, which is so frustrating to all those who aspired for change and tried to believe in him as the change agent!
The general assembly session will continue until the end of this month.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Comments on WSJ op/ed on Japanese PM's visit to Burma
Ref: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574427782507934914.html
I agree with the authors that Japan has an important role, esp. under the current PM Hatoyama to right its past wrongs. Hatoyama can't hide behind the curtain any more in doing what is right about Burma. Hopefully, things will change for better.
Although, as one who has seen dismal failures with so many of problematic global issues, I don't expect much happening with Burma also unless it changes from within. Her people sadly remain divided, xenophobic of one another and utterly racist - none of which is a good recipe for nation-building. Only when such animosities will die down within the very rank and file of the democracy movement and general people, can we truly hope for a positive change. People will be united for a common cause, and speak with one voice. It is then the international community will take the opposition seriously. Otherwise, even if the SPDC were to walk out today, the Burmese would be the greatest menace to Christian Karens, and Rakhine Buddhists to Muslim Rohingyas, and so on and so forth. It's a sad story there today with many such organizations that are nothing but closet racist entities. That attitude has to change first. Is the leadership of the so-called democracy movement listening?
I agree with the authors that Japan has an important role, esp. under the current PM Hatoyama to right its past wrongs. Hatoyama can't hide behind the curtain any more in doing what is right about Burma. Hopefully, things will change for better.
Although, as one who has seen dismal failures with so many of problematic global issues, I don't expect much happening with Burma also unless it changes from within. Her people sadly remain divided, xenophobic of one another and utterly racist - none of which is a good recipe for nation-building. Only when such animosities will die down within the very rank and file of the democracy movement and general people, can we truly hope for a positive change. People will be united for a common cause, and speak with one voice. It is then the international community will take the opposition seriously. Otherwise, even if the SPDC were to walk out today, the Burmese would be the greatest menace to Christian Karens, and Rakhine Buddhists to Muslim Rohingyas, and so on and so forth. It's a sad story there today with many such organizations that are nothing but closet racist entities. That attitude has to change first. Is the leadership of the so-called democracy movement listening?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Open letter to the US government (President Obama, vice president Biden, senators and Congressmen/women)
Don’t allow Afghanistan/Pakistan to become the next Vietnam. Every bomb that drops creates more terrorists than it kills because innocent civilians are being hurt and killed, too. There is no military solution in Afghanistan.
I was shocked to learn that for every dollar spent there less than a dime goes to non-military aid. This is a sure recipe for disaster and we can't afford it. Please work towards a political solution by increasing humanitarian aid, decreasing military aid and bringing our troops home from Afghanistan/Pakistan. We cannot afford the blood, the treasure, or the animus U.S. escalation is sure to incur. Nor can we afford the collateral damage from drone attacks that kill suspected Taliban and terrorist leaders along with innocent civilians.
There is far too much at stake to become entangled in Afghanistan/Pakistan. Our troops have served us well--but to no avail--please bring them home to their families.
I was shocked to learn that for every dollar spent there less than a dime goes to non-military aid. This is a sure recipe for disaster and we can't afford it. Please work towards a political solution by increasing humanitarian aid, decreasing military aid and bringing our troops home from Afghanistan/Pakistan. We cannot afford the blood, the treasure, or the animus U.S. escalation is sure to incur. Nor can we afford the collateral damage from drone attacks that kill suspected Taliban and terrorist leaders along with innocent civilians.
There is far too much at stake to become entangled in Afghanistan/Pakistan. Our troops have served us well--but to no avail--please bring them home to their families.
Open letter to Ambassador Susan Rice
Ambassador Susan Rice
Permanent U.S. Representative to United Nations
United States Mission to the United Nations
140 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017
Dear Ambassador Rice,
The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of West Bank and Gaza must end. The Goldstone report fairly and accurately documented violations of human rights and international law, war crimes, and possible crimes against humanity committed before, during, and after Israel's December 2008-January 2009 assault on the occupied Gaza Strip. This report is obviously an eyesore to the Israeli-firsters within the USA government and the Congress, including the AIPAC, who are trying to bury the fact-finding report at the UNHRC level where it will be discussed on September 29 so that it is not referred to international bodies with enforcement powers such as UN Security Council, General Assembly, or International Criminal Court, as the report recommended.
From your statement condemning the unbiased report, it is obvious that you have caved into such pressures. I strongly deplore your statement. It's a shame that the United States government appears to be shielding Israel once again from any accountability for its heinous war crimes in international forums. It's also painful to notice that when the United States, for the first time, assumed a seat on the UN Human Rights Council that it has chosen to make a mockery of its declared views that it will not look the other way in the face of serious human rights abuses.
Dear Ambassador, the truth must be told, the facts brought to light and the consequences faced. When we compromise on such basic principles, we do a terrible disservice to our humanity - we essentially become a party to the crime and lose credibility around the world.
On September 29, it is time for the United States to correct its past mistakes and make sure that the consequences are faced by the rogue Israeli state for her gross violations of human rights. We simply can't endorse Israeli crimes any more.
I strongly urge the United States to vote in favor of the recommendations in the Goldstone Report.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Dr. Habib Siddiqui
Permanent U.S. Representative to United Nations
United States Mission to the United Nations
140 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017
Dear Ambassador Rice,
The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of West Bank and Gaza must end. The Goldstone report fairly and accurately documented violations of human rights and international law, war crimes, and possible crimes against humanity committed before, during, and after Israel's December 2008-January 2009 assault on the occupied Gaza Strip. This report is obviously an eyesore to the Israeli-firsters within the USA government and the Congress, including the AIPAC, who are trying to bury the fact-finding report at the UNHRC level where it will be discussed on September 29 so that it is not referred to international bodies with enforcement powers such as UN Security Council, General Assembly, or International Criminal Court, as the report recommended.
From your statement condemning the unbiased report, it is obvious that you have caved into such pressures. I strongly deplore your statement. It's a shame that the United States government appears to be shielding Israel once again from any accountability for its heinous war crimes in international forums. It's also painful to notice that when the United States, for the first time, assumed a seat on the UN Human Rights Council that it has chosen to make a mockery of its declared views that it will not look the other way in the face of serious human rights abuses.
Dear Ambassador, the truth must be told, the facts brought to light and the consequences faced. When we compromise on such basic principles, we do a terrible disservice to our humanity - we essentially become a party to the crime and lose credibility around the world.
On September 29, it is time for the United States to correct its past mistakes and make sure that the consequences are faced by the rogue Israeli state for her gross violations of human rights. We simply can't endorse Israeli crimes any more.
I strongly urge the United States to vote in favor of the recommendations in the Goldstone Report.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Dr. Habib Siddiqui
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