Opinion Wicked Leaks
Bismarck said that nothing is true until it is officially denied. Today we can say nothing is true until it is leaked,preferably on the internet
Bismarck said that nothing is true until it is officially denied. Today we can say nothing is true until it is leaked,preferably on the internet. We have had WikiLeaks and the Radia tapes,more may be leaked online or just passed to the media.
Officials,of course,denounce such leaks. Online leaks are hard to deny,hard to be labelled as quoting out of context. This is why they are so starkly revealing. The idea that the US wants to eliminate Irans nuclear capability is hardly a surprise nor that Saudi Arabia and Jordan and Israel agree and are eager for America to do its dirty job for them. But it is amazing that China is getting tired of protecting North Korea.
Incidentally,everyone who thinks Chinas authoritarian system gives it a development advantage over democratic India should explain why North Korea is so poor compared to South Korea. Given how North Korea is becoming belligerent,I suspect their diplomats had an early sight of these leaks. The North Koreans want to precipitate a crisis which will compel China to come to its aid. If a Korean war widens into an East Asian war with China on one side and USA on the other,India will have to watch its won borders very carefully.
Yet the juicy story from WikiLeaks is that the US is being bullied by Pakistan. It is clear from the leaks that the US has limited leverage over Pakistan in either making it control terrorist groups on its soil or keeping its nuclear fuel supplies safe. What we see is a US helpless in the face of Pakistani intransigence and unable to stop paying out large sums of money and shoring it up with arms. Even UK,which boasts of a Special Relationship,cannot get away with such arrogance. The Americans have got themselves into this mess by first using Pakistan as a base to fund the Taliban to throw the Soviet Army out of Afghanistan and then trying to undo the consequences of that folly when the same Taliban turned against them. Osama bin Laden is as pure an American product as a SuperMac is.
It is pointless for India to depend on America to bring Pakistan to book. America is obviously caught in Afghanistan and this gives Pakistan a tremendous blackmailing power. The fact that Joseph Biden reported to Gordon Brown that Pakistani Prime Minister Zardari was concerned that Chief of Army Staff General Kayani might kill him tells you how scared the Americans are. They know they are riding a tiger and afraid to get off. India may have been patted on the back by Obama but then what value is Americas support when you have seen the emails sent by successive American ambassadors from Islamabad. In any serious crisis with Pakistan,India cannot expect the US to exercise any influence and must depend on its own strength. The next time America tries to lay down some policy such as nuclear civilian liability,India should tell it to get lost.
But then,the Radia tapes also tell a familiar story. Nothing unusual in industrial houses employing the services of PR company to make contacts on its behalf,to get access. The real surprise is that everything we suspected about the corrupt ways of Indian politics has been shown to be true. The snag is that the media which one hitherto thought as neutral or even on the side of exposing political corruption have been sullied. Politicians corrupt all who come in contact with them.
The world outside has noticed the seizure in Indian politics. There are questions being asked whether India is a good country to do business in. India is running out of any cover to hide its nakedness when it comes to corruption. We have 2G and the CVC and the smaller scam of the PSU banks loaning money illegally to real estate companies,to say nothing of the smouldering crises in Karnataka and Andhra.
Congress has the standard defenceBJP is corrupt too. Is that a serious defence? Should Indians feel cheerful that both the national parties are corrupt and that they openly say so? Is the electorate only offered a democratic choice between more or less corrupt parties?
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