Asia News Digest
Malaysia's Mahathir Warns Against War; Free Trade
On a five-day visit to Great Britain, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad on Feb. 26 warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair to take aim at terrorists, not at countries; and sent a message to President Bush to the same effect, according to the New Straits Times. Dr. Mahathir "asked Britain to convey to the U.S. the deep concern of the Muslim world regarding the direction of the global war on terrorism," according to the Malaysia Star, and warned specifically against an attack on Iraq.
Then, on March 7, the New Straits Times reported that Dr. Mahathir, at the Asian Economic Summit in Kuala Lampur, said that the post-World War II monetary system worked, until the "free market" took over. He said the region could have avoided the financial crisis in 1997 if they had dared to oppose currency trading and manipulation. He noted that prior to the ascendancy of the free market, deregulation, and the retreat of governments, the economy of the world was doing rather well. "Countries devastated by war had recovered and gone on to unprecedented prosperity, becoming economic tigers and dragons, and admired for the miracles they performed."
Also, Dr Mahathir said while the West preached about free market, fair competition, and a level playing field, it was their companies which were busy engaging in mergers and acquisitions until the players became enormous and dominated the field. He added that the free market demand that there be deregulation should not be realized fully. "We should have at least some regulations," he said. "They demand for deregulation but whenever they face problems, they ask governments to regulate. It is not true they believe in deregulation and free market. They believe as long as they are doing well--but when they suffer, they come running to the government for help."
Dr. Mahathir will visit Russia March 14-16; meetings with government officials will focus on the international situation, with military cooperation a major issue.
State Department Official Reports "U.S. Is Out of the Infrastructure Game"
This truthful, if disgusting, admission came from State Department desk officer for Laos, Phillip Antweiler, at a March 4 forum on Laos in Washington. He and the other speakers at the forum were very supportive of U.S. assistance to landlocked Laos, and called for the granting of NTR (normal trade relations). Laos is one of only eight countries in the world not granted NTR--a result of the "Rambo fringe" around Jesse Helms who are still fighting the Vietnam War, as one speaker reported.
However, EIR pointed out that Laos could be much more than a provider of cheap labor for export to the U.S., if the several development corridors now in the works which pass through Laos were to go forward: the road/rail from Yunnan to Singapore, the East-West road from Da Nang to Yangon, and the Mekong River development project, which the U.S. has almost completely boycotted, despite the history of the use of the American TVA model in the original planning. DOS officer Antweiler responded, in paraphrase: "The U.S. is out of the big infrastructure game--we just don't do that anymore, anywhere in the world. It has been shown that it is not the case that funds invested in big infrastructure projects lead to sustainable development. Capital investments of that sort don't necessarily lead to growth. There is an absorption capacity limit in capital inputs, which is very low for a country like Laos. So it needs assistance, but the right kind of assistance."
Demise of the Taliban and al-Qaeda Was "Greatly Exaggerated"
The United States and its allies are now engaged in close combat in Afghanistan in the Arma mountains of Paktia province, bordering Pakistan. The battlefield encompasses a large area stretching from the Shahi Kot to Zurmat villages. Washington claims that it has killed hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, and is poised to end the "last battle" in Afghanistan by killing off hundred others who are holed-up and battling for their lives in the caves and bunkers of Arma mountains.
It is most likely that the number of al-Qaeda deaths cited by Washington is exaggerated. But what is true is that the U.S. B-52 bombers are carrying out intense bombing of the mountains, providing cover to the U.S. and its allied Afghan troops, at the same time demolishing the bunkers and caves where, allegedly, al-Qaeda members are hiding.
It is clear that the United States is functioning under a set of illusions. To begin with, following the bombing and flattening of the Tora Bora mountains in December, Washington came to believe that the enemy had been destroyed. It took Washington a couple of months to acknowledge that the report was grossly false.
The same thing is happening again. In the Paktia province, where the battle has been joined, Washington has no clear idea who its allies are. In Afghanistan, particularly in the Pashtun-dominated south and eastern Afghan provinces where warlords rule the roost, one warlord, to settle his scores and vendetta against another warlord, provides "information" about the other warlord's links to al-Qaeda. In addition, U.S. protection and about $200 offered by the United States per soldier, brings in power and money to the allied warlord. While the Americans do not know who they are killing, nor the real identity of their Afghan allies, the war is also helping to widen divisions within the Pashtun community. Washington is directly responsible for helping new animosities to breed. However, it has begun to dawn on the U.S. commanders that the Afghans cannot be "trusted"( a flashback to the South Vietnamese allies?), and more U.S. troops need to be deployed on the ground. One would then expect an incremental increase in U.S. force deployment, as also occurred in Vietnam. Surely, the "last battle" is chimerical.
In addition, the Americans are creating more problems for themselves. The Afghan interim chief, Hamid Karzai, who was handpicked by Washington, and whose "job" is to bring back to power in Kabul the 87-year-old self-exiled King Zahir Shah (in Rome for almost three decades), has little influence over either the Pashtun warlords or the non-Pashtun (Tajik and Uzbek, in particular) warlords. He belongs to the same Durrani tribe as the King himself. Most of the Taliban leaders belong to Ghilzai tribes, who do not see eye to eye with the Durranis.
Despite the visible weakness of Karzai, the United States, instead of working through him and strengthening him in the process, is dealing directly with the warlords--who therefore realize that Karzai's authority is limited, if not negligible. The power, like the money, lies with Washington.
The next problem that stares the United States in the face will begin to surface when Maj. Gen. Charles C. Campbell goes to Kabul, carrying President Bush's order to oversee the formation of a new Afghan Army. The U.S. is wading into turbulent currents here.
In stating this problem briefly, it is to be noted that the Ministry of Defense, under Gen. Mohammad Fahim, a Tajik commander, has 38 generals, of whom 37 are Tajik-Afghans and one is Uzbek-Afghan. Although the Pashtun population of Afghanistan is 40% of Afghanistan's ethnic groups, not a single general is of Pashtun origin. More important, 35 of Gen. Fahim's generals come from areas very close to Kabul. Twenty-seven of Afghanistan's 29 provinces have not been represented in the Ministry of Defense--a key sector in the present context. Needless to say, these generals have pledged their allegiance to Gen. Fahim, and not to Hamid Karzai. In structuring the new Afghan Army, this roadblock may become a heartbreak for the Americans.
Afghanistan War Far From Over--Turns Deadlier
As of March 5, more American soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan in the prior few days of fighting, than were killed in the entire war since October, the Pentagon and the U.S. press (Washington Post, Washington Times, Federal News Service) are now admitting, after months of triumphalism about "victory" in Afghanistan.
Early in the present battle around Gardez, two U.S. Chinook helicopters were shot down and at least eight U.S. troops have been killed. In that battle, approximately 2,000 Afghan, U.S., and coalition forces encountered a force of some 2,300 al-Qaeda fighters--a major intelligence failure for the U.S., which initially calculated only a "few hundred" al-Qaeda.
After days of Pentagon statements saying fighting around Gardez would end "in 24 hours," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had to admit the U.S. is facing "a brutal and determined adversary," and that "the battle very likely will take some time to play out."
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