U-turn on inspections

IT IS strange that the Bush administration should have reversed its position on weapons inspections with the turn of events in Iraq. On Tuesday, Hans Blix, chief of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, told the Security Council that the inspectors should be allowed to go back to Iraq to complete their job. But the White House made it plain that the inspectors’ return was not needed any more because it was now the responsibility of the coalition authorities to discover the weapons of mass destruction. Until now America’s position all along was that Baghdad was lying by denying the charge of its possession of weapons of mass destruction and that the only solution was that UN inspectors should be sent to Iraq to ascertain the truth. The inspectors went back to Iraq and conducted extensive searches and investigations. In his interim report to the Security Council in January, Hans Blix said his team had found no “smoking gun” in Iraq.

The real issue now is alleviating the suffering of the Iraqi people. Theoretically, the sanctions cannot be lifted unless there is a certification from the UN that Iraq has been disarmed. Such a certificate now cannot be issued, because America is opposed to the return of the inspectors. Then who is going to certify Iraq’s WMD culpability or innocence? Obviously an American discovery of the WMDs in Iraq will lack credibility. Only a verdict given by Unmovic will be acceptable to the world as genuine. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has not been on the best of terms with Blix. In American eyes, Blix is guilty of two cardinal sins. First, he found no smoking gun in Iraq; second, he cast doubts on the authenticity of the ‘evidence’ which Washington and London gave to the world of the alleged existence of WMDs in Saddam’s Iraq.

The truth is Washington does not want Unmovic to return to Iraq, because it would not want the Blix team to give its final report discounting the existence of the alleged weapons. That would tear apart the fig-leaf of moral and legal justification of America’s attack on Iraq. In any case, the discovery or non-discovery of WMDs will make no material difference to the situation because the Saddam regime is no longer there to be either lionized or lynched. If, therefore, there are any WMDs it is Jay Garner who will inherit them. And that makes the situation quite comical. The tragedy is that all sides seem to be playing politics with the weapons issue and are utterly indifferent to the plight of the Iraqi people, who have been doubly victims of Saddam’s tyranny and the UN sanctions. Russia wants inspections to continue only to embarrass America. As for the US, it wants to go it alone. By refusing to let the UN inspectors return, it is basically signalling to the world one obvious point: Iraq is now wholly America’s business and no one else’s.

In the given context, the best option for the Security Council would be to consider suspending the sanctions on Iraq, as the French ambassador to the UN has suggested, so that the oil-for-food programme can be adjusted with a view to phasing it out. Inherently, there is no contradiction between the sanctions being suspended and the inspections continuing to finally arrive at the truth about the WMDs. In the meantime, till the issue is finally sorted out, one expects the occupation authorities to realize that it is their responsibility to provide succour to the people they claim to have “liberated.

Fighting terrorism together

THE leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan have pledged to jointly fight terrorism in order to ensure the security of the people on both sides of the Durand line. During his short visit to Pakistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai met his Pakistani counterpart General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali and held talks on a number of important issues, including the fight against terrorism. Among the subjects discussed were the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, the release of Pakistani prisoners held in Afghan prisons and the progress of the on-going rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Afghanistan. Discussions were also held on the recent skirmishes between Pakistani and Afghan forces over control of a disputed border post. A Foreign Office spokesman later confirmed that the border dispute had been amicably resolved. Lately, Afghan officials have been accusing Pakistan of providing shelter to former members of the Taliban who have been launching attacks on targets inside Afghanistan. Pakistan has denied such charges and has pledged to train Afghan forces in policing the long and porous border between the two countries more effectively.

Close ties between the two neighbours would benefit both countries immensely. President Musharraf pointed out that trade between the two countries has recently soared from a modest five to ten million dollars to 250 million dollars. Pakistan could also play an important role in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan. Unfortunately, this process has been in the doldrums because of fears about security. The writ of the Karzai government barely extends beyond Kabul. In the vast rural hinterland, warlords rule the roost and remain a law unto themselves. The uncertainty and lawlessness that prevails under these circumstances have severely hindered efforts at rebuilding the war-ravaged country. With no proper police force or army at their disposal, the government in Kabul is unable to tame the warlords. Pakistan, for its part, must remain vigilant and ensure that fugitives from Afghanistan do not use the tribal areas as a staging post for attacks aimed at further destabilizing the Karzai government. One hopes that Hamid Karzai’s visit will pave the way for a deeper and more trusting relationship between the two neighbours.

Pension delays

THE observations recently made by the accountant-general, Punjab, about the delays in the disposal of pension cases are very disconcerting. He said that various provincial departments were not attaching due importance to the president’s directive for prompt disposal of pension cases. Not only were these not being disposed of well in time, some of the departments were not even extending cooperation to the AG office in this regard. He particularly referred to the dismal performance of the education and health departments in submitting pension bills of their retired employees. Orders issued by the AG were being ignored by many government offices and no action had been taken despite repeated reminders. This speaks of an apathetic approach to the plight of pensioners. Because of red tape, the AG office’s own performance in clearing pension cases has been far from satisfactory in the past.

However, it cannot be denied all the same that government departments, riven by corruption and inefficiency, sit on pension cases for years together, causing great hardship to their retired employees. Many have died in penury and privation, expecting in vain for the sanction of their pension benefits. Some years ago, there was the tragic case of a retired headmaster of a Lahore school committing suicide out of extreme frustration over non-sanction of his pension. It is encouraging that the AG office has introduced a new procedure for prompt payment of commutation through cheque. However, additional steps are needed to expedite the disposal of cases and mitigate the suffering of the pensioners.