Frenemies

During the good old days of the cold war, the West could call a spade a spade, an enemy an enemy. Not so with the fight against terrorism where they have to call the very people who murder them their friends. So the Saudis are “friends” as are the Pakistanis. Most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, and the Pakistanis hosted Osama bin Laden in a military town. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Well ok, you could term those as the compulsions of oil and geography (also known as the ‘supply routes to Afghanistan’). But it’s not just the American politicians who practice this charade: even Hollywood does the same. Cold war era movies often revolved around rogue Russian generals, but today, they don’t make any movie on rogue ISI or Pakistani army generals.

And while Iran and North Korea are the “axis of evil”, there's deafening silence on Egypt (the other supplier of the 9/11 perpetrators). And while there is an increasing effort to build US alliances against China all over the Pacific, the Chinese are never shown as the bad guys in the movies.

How I like the simpler days when you could call your enemy your enemy, and get great movies and books in the bargain!

Comments

  1. KumarDecember 7, 2011 at 8:29 AM

    What you say is true, no doubt.

    Nevertheless, we need to understand that what I term the 'politician paradigm' is also subject to the laws of the eternity of changes.

    While in olden times the politicians might have called the "enemies as enemies", that is no indicator that there was less of political crookedness and rot in those days. Only, the rot of politics was of a different kind. Today it is of a another kind.

    There is a saying, "The only thing constant in the world is change!" If we have a touch of humor, we can even say something similar, "The only thing constant in politics is rot!" Cynical no doubt, but truthful in a way too. If you don't believe that political rot is eternal, ask yourself, "Were not the whole of Russian government agencies in full support of Stalin's indulgence in actual massacre of people - people whom he feared may come in the way of his unquestioned power?" Not one word from Russia about his evil deeds till he died when they stopped fearing him; and the later Communist rulers had nothing further to gain by continuing to uphold Stalin.

    Seeing the way the politicians speak and manipulate everywhere in the world, I am devoid of respect for the politicians. Understandably, while we may all be self-centered to a degree, the politicians have much higher need and desire to be immersed in self-centered-ness. The stakes are far too high to worry about right conduct for themselves. Pretenses will do!

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