afghanistan (Photo credit: The U.S. Army)
The Syrian crisis is not going to come to a peaceful solution anytime soon. The main actors in the “drama”, Syrian President, Russia and the US and its allies are deadlocked over the issue of whether Bashar Al Assad should be shown the door. Iran has deployed troops in Syria to help Assad. It has brought weapons which are now being deployed against the people of Syria. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has stated that 93,0000 lives have been lost and out of these there are 1700 children. The situation in Turkey has taken a turn for the worse, the peaceful protest against felling of some trees in downtown Istanbul turned violent when the police fired teargas shells. It was reported that the government wanted to impose restrictions on sale of liquor and public display of affection.
The meeting of the G8, an annual gathering of the very rich and not so rich nations, this time in Northern Ireland, is going to tackle the issue of tax dodging. India has the lowest percentage of tax collection, only 3 percent. Most of the people are too poor to pay taxes and those who earn billions, find ways to hide their money in places the taxman can’t reach. The Syrian situation may not get the top billing here.
High level delegates from South Africa, Turkey and Russia were put under surveillance by a British agency during the G20 and G8 meetings. It came to light in an article in the Guardian newspaper, UK. Meanwhile, the situation in Afghanistan appears to be one of concern. It is feared that once troop withdrawal happens, Taliban would be again taking centre stage, a TV report has suggested that the businesses such as beauty care would be attacked by Taliban, once the troops withdraw.
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Western democracies promised Afghanistan a better future. But they will leave the country in a state of widespread corruption and disillusion, with thousands of lives lost, and the Taliban more powerful than ever.
Afghanistan, which was once the ideal target, has today become a volcano. “
From: Aljazeera.com
The war that began as a revenge for the 9/11 attack has left a nation so badly scarred, that no armies or governments, howsoever powerful could put it right again. It would require massive public will to straighten things out. The role of the US comes under direct spotlight as the drawdown comes close. It would be massively hypocritical of us to believe in the rhetoric that democracy would show the way in Afghanistan. The people are weary of living under the threat of war lords, they are fed up with the corruption. Moreover they are scared.
While the G8 meeting, as always, a multi-million dollar affair is nothing more than a talk show among the rich and the powerful, things are getting worse for people around the globe. No amount of international level meetings, summits and conferences are going to affect the change necessary, the “leaders” have insulated themselves from any need to show that the money was well spent. What they will get is sumptuous meals, served in ornate halls, and empty meaningless words.
Filed under: People, the State and Technology Tagged: Afghanistan, Bashar al-Assad, Iran, Russia, Syria, Taliban, Turkey, United States
