Story of an Intern – Part Seven

counterclockwise photo

 

By

Ratnesh Dwivedi

 

 

The Nose of the News

 

My idea was to search out websites, books, newspapers and television programs, and analyse their content and then dispatch it to these individuals and organizations who often considered my e-mails as worthless and a waste of time. At the end of every episode, I wrote:

 

Dear All,

“The Nose of the News” is a result of three years research work by me and is an exercise to select the 100 most influential individuals and reports of this world. The effort is an unbiased exercise to bring out the ablest brains without political, regional, communal, religious and racial bias.

The idea I have already brainstormed seeks assurances from all of you to carry on this work to mark the present era legends. This is the writer’s promise that it is so far an unfunded work but bears scientific facts about the evolution of the human brain.

I request the liberty from all my readers to allow me this long series which deals with both the sides of human behaviour and breed…the positive and negative, as they make the world together.

The long series would be sent to selected individuals across the globe, also there would be a trial to send it to those individuals/organisations who would make their valuable presence as selected members of this list of 100.

I would be happy to receive any queries from individuals receiving it as my readers.

Lastly, my practice is to let the world know what actually takes to be above normal in the world.

 

With warm regards

 

RATNESH DWIVEDI

15^th AUGUST 2004

 

 

Then there were the e-mail dispatches. For your convenience I am giving here the extract of sixteen dispatches that I filed between 2004 and 2010.

 

 

Dispatch-1

 

The Economics of Political South Asia

 

There is hardly anything to recall from the 1980’s South Asian economics boom. India, which makes up a larger part of the region, its neighboring countries having fatal religious tendencies, and politics is mostly governed by these sentiments and, thus, are the economics. The Hindus who are basically defenders of their faith and the Muslims who haves chosen an attacking mode to defend their religious identit, two chief religions in this region. Economic supremacy was always considered an area of selected individuals, and also which is also limited to the upper crest of society.

I have the Hindu faith and also the memories of bloodshed. Until my school days I had very little knowledge of economics as a subject. My interest started growing in this subject only when I was convinced by my siblings that economics are more of a social concern and less of limited breed of intellectuals.

The economics of political South Asia or Finance, Business, Marketing and Sales as it is called more generally, has now been modified by many new terminologies and has taken a front row within the last few years. Even sciences, which allows humans to grow towards perfection, has taken a back seat. Everything is now governed by Economics.

And new media, step by step, plays a phenomenal role in defining the society as these terminologies wish. In pre-liberalization South Asia there were not many brands of goods and appliances which one may recall that Tatas, Birlas, Singhanias, Ambanis were the business tycoons. Ambassadors, Fiats and Marutis were the cars on the roads. Teaching, Medical and Engineering were the jobs one would prefer to opt for, and the Times of India, Hindustan Times and Doordarshan were your sources of information. These were things to remember and use.

But the swift changes and feeling towards the western world has expanded the mind and mode of living among the diverse population in South Asia. I was guided by one of my UK based friends to know about the possibilities of newspaper access on my computer. Washington Post, NY Times, USA Today, The Guardian, The Independent and many more newspapers are possible to go through because of the new age of economics and I may see as many brands of cars in Delhi and Bangalore as many the numerical lines I have in both of my hands in Delhi and Bangalore. My elder brother and many of his friends are enjoying highly paid MNC jobs due to the new age economics and media. I myself got an internship due to the expansion plans of the BBC World in South Asia. Hence, if we see that the listed number of companies of foreign origin are growing day by day, it gives me a feeling of hope for more good jobs in South Asia and hope for new age economics.

Now probably the phrase of Marshall that, Economics is the study of Mankind in the ordinary business of life is more diligently suited. The all time political journalists too have begun realizing the importance of Economic and Business Journalism.

 

A treasure book of the 1930’s defines the basic code of Economics as under:

1. The need for Economics (Wants of Public) – Efforts of Selected People – Satisfaction of Whole People
2. Wants of individuals – Effort as member of group – Income Group – Income of individuals – Satisfaction of wants of individual.
3. Effort brings earnings – Income brings spending – Satisfaction

 

That is how Economics was defined in the 1930’s:

 

Complex Effort;

Sheep Farmers, Wool Merchants, Spinners, Weavers, Tailors

Carrier and Bankers, Carrier and Bankers, Carrier and Bankers

That is how a standard sheep industry was defined and thus was the oil and petrol business of 1930’s USA. The Mario Puzo’s masterpiece novel, ‘“The Godfather’” defines the oil business in a similar fashion.

 

The beginning of Economics and its various stages are brilliantly defined in Longfellow’s ‘Hiwatha’.

For building his Canoe, Hiwatha took the bark from the Birch tree and fastened it over a framework of Cedar wood- like two bended bows together. The whole was bound together with roots of Larch and seams were closed with resin from the Fir tree. Lastly the finished Canoe was decorated with Hedgehos’s quills, stained red, blue and yellow.

 

Thus the Birch Canoe was built

In the valley by River

In the bosom of Forest

And the forest life was in it

All its mystery and magic

All the lightness of Birch tree

All the toughness of Cedar

All the Larch’s supple sinews

And it floated on the river

Like a yellow leaf in autumn

Like a yellow water Lilly

 

Longfellow’s ‘Hiawatha’

 

Hence, after years of experience of watching television channels and surfing newspapers and websites and studying the change of age-old Economics and its modification by the insertion of new age terminologies by the media, I tuned in to television which was broadcasting war time economics due to the US led attacks in Iraq. The ongoing war and transition phase in Iraq had impacted South Asia and India as well. The terrorism and the war that marred the path of Economics have taken a lethal turn and impacted the coverage of Economics in the media, which controls it.

In the middle of this, when I got to know about the expansion plans of one of the pioneers in business news providers -Reuters, in Bangalore, it left a fresh breeze in my mind and encouraged me to submit my resume at its posh office on airport road. Many jobs were posted on the internet and I was tipped by one of my friends who ran the cyber cafe in Thipsandra about the expansion of Reuters in Bangalore.

When I got a call for an interview I straight away went to the office of Reuters. A young lady called Catherine, who was from Reuters headquarters and the head database intelligence team in Bangalore, swiftly and softly called me inside. The large reception area and two floored Reuters office was beautifully designed.

She interviewed me on my interests and my basic knowledge about Economics and finance and I felt that I did not make her disappointed.

She told me that Reuters is basically a Finance and Economics news provider. It earned 90% of its revenue from the financial news market, while 10% came from other news stories that it supplied to its consumers. So far it had hired 350 employees in Bangalore, and was set to grow to 700 by the end of 2004. Mumbai, being its hub center in South Asia, now leads over the Associated Press in the South Asia region. Its worldwide tie-up with the BBC World strengthens its capacity on radio, television and broadband.

When my interview was over I found myself feeling afresh and satisfied. The behavior and soft skills of the interviewer was far better than any I had faced in many other interviews. Catherine hails from London and stays in New York. She came down to the reception to tell me how they had decorated the reception. When I was returning to my house my mind was busy thinking that while I was busy in giving an interview to Catherine, President Bush would have addressed the UN General Assembly, would have visited the New England territory from where his political rival Kerry hails, and would have signed a new order on the US’s Space Exploration policies. NASA scientists would have begun various missions at NASA centers. ISS expedition – 9 astronauts would have reloaded pictures Hurricane Ivan and MNC’s in Bangalore and the rest of India would have recruited many new aspirants.

The world was surely marking the beginning of a new age of Economics in political South Asia.

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to ten individuals including [email protected] and many organizations as part of “The Nose of The News” on Thursday, 30 September, 2004 2:13 PM)

 

 

Dispatch-2

 

Democratic Dilemma (My note)

 

Probably Donald Rumsfeld is not in the dilemmatic state on the Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein link and the existence of WMD’s in Iraq, but this disastrous dilemma now has occupied the minds of democrats and their policy designers. Charles is probably repeating the report of Hans Blix (UN inspector, who submitted the report on the existence of WMD’s to the UN). In a sudden political move to bring down the confidence level down of US forces, Charles Dilfer is probably trying to confuse America and the rest of world. He is talking on the lines of John Kerry, who at once questions the legality of the war in Iraq, and then opines to restrict the use of German and French forces in Iraq.

 

 

(A report published in newspaper in the week of 1-7 October 2004)

 

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The former U.S. administrator in Iraq on Tuesday defended American actions there – a day after faulting troop strength following the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

Paul Bremer, appointed by President Bush as the head of the Iraq occupation, said on Monday that U.S. forces failed to stop widespread looting after toppling Hussein, and “paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness.”

During a speech on Tuesday at Michigan State University, he said his remarks had been somewhat distorted by the media.

“We certainly had enough (troops) going into Iraq, because we won the war in a very short three weeks,” Bremer said.

But he added: “As I look back now … I believe it would have been better to stop the looting.… that was found right after the war.”

“One way to have stopped the looting would have been to have more troops on the ground. That’s a retrospective wisdom of mine, looking backwards. I think there are enough troops there now for the job we are doing.”

Bremer’s latest comments differed somewhat from those of Bush campaign spokesman Brian Jones, who in an unusual public acknowledgment of internal dissent said Bremer and the military brass had clashed on troop levels.

“Ambassador Bremer differed with the commanders in the field,” Jones said. “That is his right, but the president has always said that he will listen to his commanders on the ground and give them the support they need for victory.”

More than a dozen people were escorted outside during Bremer’s speech. One woman accused Bremer of being a war criminal and another asked, “What do you get when you go into a country and kill innocent people?”

Several people also chanted “Paul Bremer, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.”

“I’ll tell you one thing, if people had behaved like this in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, they would be dead,” Bremer said at one point.

(SUBS overline and lead to correct that Bremer was appointed top administrator in Iraq, sted ambassador.)

 

( A Report on US warfare published on the Military.com website in the week of 1-7 October 2004)

 

The U.S. military is fighting the most complex guerrilla war in its history, with 140,000 American soldiers trained for conventional warfare flailing against a thicket of insurgent groups with competing aims and no supreme leader.

The three dozen or so guerrilla bands agree on little beyond forcing the Americans out of Iraq.

In other U.S. wars, the enemy was clear. In Vietnam, a visible leader – Ho Chi Minh – led a single army fighting to unify the country under socialism. But in Iraq, the disorganized insurgency has no single commander, no political wing and no dominant group.

U.S. troops can’t settle on a single approach to fight groups whose goals and operations vary. And it’s hard to sort combatants from civilians in a chaotic land where large parts of some communities support the insurgents and others are too afraid to risk their lives to help foreigners.

“It’s more complex and challenging than any other insurgency the United States has fought,” said Bruce Hoffman, a RAND counterinsurgency expert who served as an adviser to the U.S.-led occupation administration.

Insurgents aren’t striving for revolution as much as they are trying to spoil the U.S.-backed interim Iraqi regime by inflicting as much pain as possible on the United States and its Iraqi and foreign allies.

“We want every U.S. dog to leave the country,” said an insurgent leader in Fallujah who identified himself as Abu Thar, a 45-year-old former colonel in the Iraqi army.

Beyond that, the estimated 20,000 insurgents have little in common, although groups have occasionally work together in temporary alliances of convenience. U.S. commanders describe the war as a “compound insurgency” sorted into four groups with different tactics and goals.

Three are made up of Sunni Muslims, almost all of whom are Iraqis. A fourth group is the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia, formed of Shiite Muslims, Iraq’s largest social grouping.

The largest insurgent bloc is composed of Iraqi nationalists fighting to reclaim secular power lost when Saddam Hussein was deposed in April 2003.

The second is a growing faction of hardcore fighters aligned with terrorist groups, mainly that led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The U.S. military believes they want to turn Iraq into an anti-Western stronghold that would export Islamic revolution to other countries in the region.

A third group consists of conservative Iraqis who want to install an Islamic theocracy, but who stay away from terror tactics like car bombings and the beheading of hostages.

The fourth, al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, seeks to make the cleric the nationwide Shiite leader.

Ordinary criminals also pitch in on attacks when they are paid. And gangsters who abduct people regularly sell their hostages to terror groups, which have beheaded some.

Hoffman and other independent experts feel the insurgents are succeeding, with death tolls spiraling and a guerrilla-induced climate of fear that has reduced the U.S.-led rebuilding effort to a shambles.

Abu Thar, the former colonel who was interviewed by an Iraqi reporter for The Associated Press inside insurgent-held Fallujah, gloated over his compatriots’ successes, saying U.S. leaders were publicly contradicting each other about the state of the war. He also said U.S. counterattacks that kill women and children are turning public opinion in the militants’ favor.

“We see the conflicting statements by the U.S. administration on Iraq as another sign of their defeat,” Abu Thar said. “More volunteers are coming to us because they are fed up with the humiliation and the misdeeds of the Americans. They feel it is a national and religious duty.”

Public opinion is the war’s central front and it is tilting against the Americans, said James Dobbins, a former Bush administration envoy to Afghanistan and now a military analyst for RAND Corp.

“If we can’t protect the population, we can’t secure its trust and support,” Dobbins said. “If we or the Iraqi government lose that, we ultimately lose the war.”

U.S. military officers concede that the situation is tough, but they say that the intensity of the conflict could be much worse. And they argue that insurgents also alienate Iraqis with indiscriminate attacks – such as the car bombings on Thursday in Baghdad that killed 35 children and nine adults.

Commanders say U.S. strategy focuses on boosting Iraqi government control while fighting only the most necessary battles.

“History is replete with insurgencies that failed,” one general said privately during a discussion of Iraq.

History is also replete with insurgencies that triumphed. Vietnamese guerrillas ousted the United States in 1973. Afghan militias similarly embarrassed the Soviet Union in 1989.

If Iraqi insurgents succeed in toppling the U.S.-backed government, analysts believe the stark differences in the groups’ goals could lead to a civil war that might break Iraq into rival fiefs.

Bad decisions by the U.S.-led occupation administration are widely blamed for stoking the war. Those cited most often are the disbanding of the Iraqi army and the banning of Saddam’s political leaders from public life, both of which are said to have converted potential allies into enemies.

Independent analysts say 16 months of escalating warfare by U.S. troops with little practical experience in fighting insurgents have made clear the difficulty of defeating militants who mount attacks while hiding and moving among civilians.

The analysts say that the most promising chance for victory lies in U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces. U.S. and Iraqi troops reclaimed the city of Samarra from insurgents over the weekend, but it’s unclear how much fighting was done by the Iraqis.

“The United States can buy the Iraqi government time to get organized, but the U.S. has become too unpopular and lost too much support among the population to be able to itself win a counterinsurgency campaign,” Dobbins said.

The U.S. military has few homegrown models for counterinsurgency success. Its last two major campaigns – in Somalia in 1993 and in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s – failed.

Both times, a tenacious enemy fought hard enough to force U.S. troops from its soil. No one has said that the Iraqi insurgents are as tough as the Communist Viet Cong, and the United States had little incentive to stay in Somalia once the militias made things difficult.

“Vietnam was not easy, but it was certainly far less complex and more straightforward,” Hoffman said.

If the insurgents are unorganized and unfocused, their tactics are classic. Guerrilla wars often feature car bombings, assassinations and abductions in the early stages, said Richard K. Betts, director of the Institute for War and Peace Studies at Columbia University.

As the militants gain strength, they progress to fielding combat troops, Betts said. In Iraq, large formations of Iraqi insurgents have met with mixed success. U.S. commanders claim their troops killed more than 4,000 al-Sadr fighters in April and August. But Sunni fighters in Fallujah and other cities have mounted daring attacks and melted away with few killed.

 

 

(A Report on training of Muslim youth by Al-Qaeda published on Military.com website in the week of 1-7 October 2004)

 

After leaving university, Atta-ur Rehman traded his jeans and T-shirts for a beard and cap, his civil-service aspirations for a martyr’s spot in heaven.

He used to spend his time playing cricket, but he is now in a Pakistani jail facing a death sentence on terrorism charges. Mr. Rehman, along with nine other “comrades,” is charged with carrying out a deadly June attack against a senior Pakistani Army general in Karachi. The general escaped narrowly but 10 people, including seven soldiers, were killed.

Rehman’s circle calls themselves the ‘Jundullah’ (God’s Army) and have close ties to Al Qaeda. Most are young, educated men, whom Rehman allegedly sent to training camps in Pakistan’s remote tribal areas.

Rehman doesn’t fit the mold of the typical Al Qaeda leader. Traditionally, most were Arabs who gained status by resisting the Russians in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Younger, educated recruits tapped for suicide missions like 9/11 typically came from Middle Eastern countries with long histories of pan-Islamic resistance. What sets this new breed apart is that they are joining from places like Pakistan, where the focus has been on regional grievances, like independence for the disputed area of Kashmir. But as the Al Qaeda leadership ranks begin to thin, men like Rehman are starting to climb the ladder.

“It is a new generation of Al Qaeda,” says Riffat Hussain, a leading defense and security analyst based in Islamabad, Pakistan. “These are new converts to Al Qaeda. They may have no links with Al Qaeda in the past, but now they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the cause, as they feel that Al Qaeda is the name of defiance to the West. They are young and angry, and their number has swelled in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq.”

A voice on an audiotape last weekend, purported to be that of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s deputy, called on young Muslims to continue the global fight even if Al Qaeda’s leaders are killed or captured. It is people like Rehman and his colleagues that Mr. Zawahiri could have been talking about.

Police here suggest that Pakistan’s newly organized jihadis and educated radicals might number in the hundreds. Police say that more than 600 suspected Al Qaeda militants have been rounded up by security forces over the past three years.

 

Two types of recruits

 

Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, the 28-year-old known as Al Qaeda’s ‘computer man’, is among them. A middle-class engineering graduate, Mr. Khan is believed to have played an important role in planning terrorist attacks in the US and Britain, before he was arrested in Lahore on July 13(?).

Khan visited Afghanistan during his student days and later became a bridge between Al Qaeda leaders and their operatives. He helped Al Qaeda operatives send encrypted messages over the Internet.

“His journey to Al Qaeda started from outside a mosque in his Karachi neighborhood where he met extremists,” says his old friend named Khurram. He watched his friend’s transformation but “never imagined that he would become such a man.”

Under interrogation, Khan exposed part of Al Qaeda’s intricate web of contacts in Pakistan, Britain, and the US. The information led to the July arrest of Tanzanian terror suspect Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani and a top Al Qaeda operative, Musa el Hindi, in Britain.

“There are two types of recruits,” says a senior Pakistani counterterrorism investigator. “There are Islamist-educated young men from middle-class and upper -middle-class families whose feelings are ignited in Islamic congregations at private houses, mosques, and madrassahs, and are subsequently picked up by Al Qaeda men from there,” he says. “Then there are jihadis who were trained by Arabs and the Taliban in Afghanistan and have now been approached by Al Qaeda operatives or their trusted extremists.”

 

Drawn from local ranks

 

Some of the jihadis are drawn from the ranks of local militant organizations, including Al-Badr (backed by the extremist religious party Jamaat-e-Islami), the Kashmiri outfits Harakat-ul Mujahideen and Jaish-e Mohammad, and the Sunni group Lashkar-e Jhangvi. Most of these groups have, until recently, focused their energies on Kashmir or sectarian conflicts.

The new independent splinter groups are small, receive funding from Al Qaeda, and attack Western targets using tactics like suicide bombings – once unheard of in Pakistan. Investigators in Karachi say several such groups of around 10 members each are operating in the city alone.

“They [Al Qaeda] are mostly banking on local jihadis,” says one police investigator. “They themselves don’t want to be seen on the ground as they don’t feel safe, so they rely on these brainwashed jihadis.”

To recruit, Al Qaeda leaders or operatives rely on trusted contacts, preferably people who have fought with Arabs or have been trained by them, says a senior Karachi police investigator. The go-between appoints a group of leaders, who in turn hires the services of members and assigns tasks mostly on the instructions coming from the go-between. For the jihadis, the work can be lucrative – they are paid $170 to $340 a month.

Amjad Farooqi, a top militant reportedly killed by security forces on Sunday, was a main recruiter. A veteran of the Afghan resistance in the early 1990s, he linked up with Al Qaeda operatives following Sept. 11, 2001. Security forces arrested some 10 suspected Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani militants following the interrogation of two arrested accomplices of Mr. Farooqi.

The rise of splinter groups has made the task of investigators much more difficult. The police recently recovered a booklet of instructions from a jihadi in the wake of the ongoing crackdown.

“Don’t roam around with beard and Islamic dress in fashionable neighborhoods,” read the instructions. “Always take out the chip of the mobile [phone] while sleeping to avoid being caught. Use mobile [phone] from a crowded place so police don’t locate the positioning. Don’t write the original numbers of mujahids in a notebook, try to memorize the last three digits.”

To bolster secrecy, group members do not know the real names of their comrades, and only group leaders know the whereabouts of other members, says a police official. Suicide bombers are mostly young and usually live and operate separately, he adds.

 

‘The battle is on’

 

The growing influence of militant groups within the law enforcement agencies has also set alarm bells ringing. Three policemen acted as suicide bombers in the Shiite mosques in Karachi and Quetta. Several low-ranking personnel from the armed forces were arrested for their alleged involvement in the foiled assassination attempts against President Pervez Musharraf.

“It is difficult to monitor the profiles of these new recruits and the new groups,” says Karachi police chief Tariq Jameel. “If we want to defeat them then there is a need of collective effort from the entire society to eliminate terrorism and extremism. They are chasing us and we are chasing them. The battle is on.”

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to twenty one individuals including [email protected] and many organizations as a part of “The Nose of The News” on Thursday, 7 October, 2004 5:22 PM)

 

 

 

Dispatch: 3

 

President Bush’s Cabinet: White House Government (February 2005)

 

The tradition of the Cabinet dates back to the beginnings of the Presidency itself. One of the principal purposes of the Cabinet (drawn from Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution) is to advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of their respective offices.

The Cabinet includes the Vice President and the heads of 15 executive departments – the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, and the Attorney General. Under President George W. Bush, Cabinet-level rank also has been accorded to the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency; Director, Office of Management and Budget; the Director, National Drug Control Policy; and the U.S. Trade Representative.

 

Department of Agriculture

Secretary Mike Johanns

www.usda.gov

 

Department of the Interior

Secretary Gale Norton

www.doi.gov

 

Department of Commerce

Secretary Carlos Gutierrez

www.doc.gov

 

Department of Justice

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

www.usdoj.gov

 

Department of Defense

Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

www.defenselink.mil

 

Department of Labor

Secretary Elaine Chao

www.dol.gov

 

Department of Education

Secretary Margaret Spellings

www.ed.gov

 

Department of State

Secretary Condoleezza Rice

www.state.gov

 

Department of Energy

Secretary Samuel W. Bodman

www.energy.gov

 

Department of Transportation

Secretary Norman Mineta

www.dot.gov

 

Department of Health &

Human Services

Secretary Michael O. Leavitt

www.dhhs.gov

 

Department of the Treasury

Secretary John Snow

www.ustreas.gov

 

Department of Homeland Security

Secretary Tom Ridge

www.dhs.gov

 

Department of Veterans Affairs

Secretary Jim Nicholson

www.va.gov

 

Department of Housing &

Urban Development

Secretary Alphonso Jackson

www.hud.gov

 

 

Cabinet Rank Members

 

 

The Vice President

Richard B. Cheney

www.whitehouse.gov/vicepresident/

 

President’s Chief of Staff

Andrew H. Card, Jr.

 

Office of Management and Budget Director

Joshua B. Bolten

www.omb.gov

 

United States Trade Representative

Ambassador Robert B. Zoellick

www.ustr.gov

 

Office of National

Drug Control Policy

John Walters

www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

 

 

Presidents of United States of America (A Journey through History)

Adams, John

1797-1801

Adams, John

1825-29

Arthur, Chester

1881-85

Buchanan, James

1857-61

Bush, George H.W.

1989-93

Bush, George W.

2001-present

Carter, Jimmy

1977-81

Cleveland, Grover

1885-89, 1893-97

Clinton, William J.

1993-2001

Coolidge, Calvin

1923-29

Eisenhower, Dwight

1953-61

Fillmore, Millard

1850-53

Ford, Gerald

1974-77

Garfield, James

1881

Grant, Ulysses S.

1869-77

Harding, Warren

1921-23

Harrison, Benjamin

1889-93

Harrison, William Henry

1841

Hayes, Rutherford B.

1877-81

Hoover, Herbert

1929-33

Jackson, Andrew

1829-37

Jefferson, Thomas

1801-09

Johnson, Andrew

1865-69

Johnson, Lyndon

1963-69

Kennedy, John F.

1961-63

Lincoln, Abraham

1861-65

Madison, James

1809-17

McKinley, William

1897-1901

Monroe, James

1817-25

Nixon, Richard

1969-74

Pierce, Franklin

1853-57

Polk, James

1845-49

Reagan, Ronald

1981-89

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

1933-45

Roosevelt, Theodore

1901-09

Taft, William H.

1909-13

Taylor, Zachary

1849-50

Truman, Harry S

1945-53

Tyler, John

1841-45

Van Buren, Martin

1837-41

Washington, George

1789-97

Wilson, Woodrow

1913-21

 

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to twelve individuals including [email protected] and many organizations as part of “The Nose of The News” on Thursday, 10 February, 2005 8:50 P

 

 

 

Dispatch: 4

 

China’s Hidden Game (Excerpts from Military.com website between April-5, 2005)

 

On April 1, 2001, Chinese J-8 fighters intercepted a U.S. Navy VQ1 squadron surveillance aircraft, the EP-3, in the skies over the South China Sea. A mid-air collision involving one of the J-8s and the EP-3 sent the Chinese jet into the ocean and forced the U.S. plane to make an emergency landing in Chinese territory — the island of Hainan, just off the southern coast of China.

The 24 crew members of the EP-3 were eventually returned to the U.S. after being held on Chinese soil for 11 days, but other issues, including the return of the EP-3 aircraft and whether China is was appropriating its technology, turned out to be stickier.

Revisit this incident through the timeline and news articles below, and check the Media Center links to keep abreast of the latest developments involving the U.S. and China. You’ll also find more background on U.S.-China relations over the years.

 

China Threat, Round Three

 

Does China’s People’s Liberation Army have the teeth to chomp down on Taiwan? Responding to a twitchy New York Times story from last week, China-watcher Jeffrey Lewis said no. But Jane’s Defence Weekly thinks the answer may soon be yes.

An emerging consensus among long-time PLA observers, including within the US intelligence community, is that the Chinese military has successfully achieved a far-reaching qualitative advancement in its war-fighting capabilities since the beginning of this decade. The PLA is quickly becoming an increasingly credible threat against Taiwan and could even begin to pose a challenge to US military preponderance in East Asia in the next decade if the momentum is sustained.

The country’s leadership has given strong backing to the PLA’s transformation and force-regeneration efforts, which has translated into a hefty and sustained increase in military spending over the past few years. The officially published defence budget has risen on average by 15 per cent over the past five years from ¥121 billion ($15 billion) in 2001 to ¥220 billion last year…

The Pentagon and US intelligence community estimates that these published figures represent between one-third and one half of actual Chinese military expenditures.

 

The PLA is engaged in a rapid build up of necessary assets that includes amassing a sizeable short- and medium-range ballistic missile force, cruise missiles and special operations units, and strengthening its strategic surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting capabilities. The Taiwanese Defence Ministry in March 2005 reported that the PLA had deployed around 700 ballistic missiles in the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait and was also quickly building an arsenal of at least 200 Hong-Niao cruise missiles within the next year…

To be able to fight high-tech wars, the PLA is shifting its recruitment system from a reliance on poorly educated conscripts, who now serve only two years, to emphasise the development of a professional long-serving cadre of troops…. The PLA will reduce its manpower from 2.5 million to 2.3 million soldiers by the end of this year. This comes on top of a reduction of 500,000 troops in the late 1990s….

[With the troops that are left] “the PLA has shifted focus towards amphibious operations for a significant part of the ground forces”, Dennis Blasko, a former US Army attaché in China, points out. This has included the reorganisation of two motorised infantry divisions in the Nanjing and Guangzhou Military Regions into amphibious infantry divisions and the transfer of another infantry division to the navy to form a second marine brigade in the late 1990s.

Blasko estimates that around a quarter of all PLA manoeuvre units, which number around 20 divisions or brigades, plus supporting artillery and air-defence units, have participated in training exercises for amphibious operations…

[Meanwhile] The PLA Navy (PLAN) is rapidly transforming itself from a coastal force into a bluewater naval power with a force modernisation drive that is unprecedented in the post-Cold War era. “The range and number of warships the Chinese navy is acquiring can be compared to the Soviet Union’s race to become an ocean-going navy to rival the US in the 1970s,” said a China-based foreign naval attaché.

The US intelligence community has reported that since 2001, the Chinese shipbuilding industry has produced 23 new amphibious assault ships and 13 conventional attack submarines.

The current top priority for the PLAN is the replacement of its fleet of outdated Soviet-era conventional and nuclear submarines with five new advanced models of domestically developed and imported Russian vessels…

The long-awaited Type 093 nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) is also close to entering into service, with the lead vessel already undergoing sea trials and expected to be accepted by the navy this year. There are reports that three hulls of this new class have already been laid…

The Type 094 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, said to be an elongated version of the Type 093 and equipped with JL-2 sea-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles, is reported to have been launched last July and could be operational within the next couple of years. This is well ahead of Pentagon forecasts, which had previously estimated that the Type 094 would not enter service until towards the end of this decade.

 

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to seven individuals including [email protected] and many organizations as part of “The Nose of The News” on Thursday, 14 April, 2005 4:40 PM)

 

 

Dispatch: 5

 

The Year Bypassed: The Terror and Blood

 

London-In the second half of the year 2005, and perhaps in the worst manner, terror hit one of the world’s finest cities, London. A coordinated blast ripped through of the whole city of most civilized British people, at three different places. London was shaken. An Al-Qaeda supported terror outfit took the responsibility; investigations are still on. The Tony Blair government is thinking of strengthening its ties with its old partner the USA in the War on Terror.

July 5, 2005: The disputed pilgrim town of Ayodhya in a northern province of India suffered with one of the worst terror attacks in history ,when the 3.5 acres makeshift Ram Temple compound was attacked by five terrorists of Jaish-E-Mohammad/Lashkar-e Taiba in 3.5 acres makeshift Ram temple compound. In a two hour battle with security forces all five terrorists were gunned down.

Deepawali, 2005: A series of coordinated blasts hit India’s capital, New Delhi in a crowded market. Festivity turned in to a dark night. 70 people were killed.

Baghdad: Baghdad is burning. Despite an election under the shadow of the US military the insurgents and looters kept challenging US forces in Baghdad.

Kashmir Valley- The terrorists kept bombing India’s beautiful valley while getting support from across the border.

The Superescape: The Al-Qaeda boss Osama Bin Laden’s next in command Abu Musab Zarkavi and Mulla Umar narrowly escaped and survived death while coming under attack by US bombardment.

Abu Salem: One of the most wanted terrorists and aid of Dawood Ibrahim, was deported by Indian investigative agency officials from Portugal. He was wanted in many killings including that of music King Gulshan Kumar and also for the Mumbai bomb blasts of January 2003.

Indian Institute of Science: Towards the last days of 2005, when most of the people were bidding farewell to 2005 a terror groups, Jaish–e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e –Taiba attacked Indian’s finest institution killing two professors and four employees.

Hollywood also came under threat when Russell Crowe, a New Zealand born actor received threats from Al-Qaeda.

France: Witnessed one of the worst riots in its history when more than 5,000 motor vehicles were set on fire by rioters.

 

Nature’s Calamity:

 

USA, India, Indonesia and Baluchistan all suffered with major losses due to tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes, which took over more than a million lives in all kind of calamities.

 

The Success of Science:

 

Amidst many terror attacks and natural calamities, sciences kept taking steady steps across the globe. NASA over came with the traumatic loss of the Colombia STAS 117 tragedy. Jet Propulsion Laboratory peeped in to the center of the universe and searched out for new solar systems and also looked for facts about the origin and expansion of the universe. TARA spacecraft looked deep in to the tsunamis of India and Indonesia, while the Cassini space craft Cassini discovered new facts and a new moon about of Saturn.

 

Here are few great stories from JPL:

 

December 6, 2005

 

NASA’s Cassini Images Reveal Spectacular Evidence of an Active Moon

 

Jets of fine, icy particles streaming from Saturn’s moon Enceladus were captured in recent images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The images provide unambiguous visual evidence that the moon is geologically active.

 

“For planetary explorers like us, there is little that can compare to the sighting of activity on another solar system body,” said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. “This has been a heart-stopper, and surely one of our most thrilling results.”

 

The Cassini images clearly show multiple jets emanating from the moon’s south polar region. Based on earlier data, scientists strongly suspected these jets arise from warm fractures in the region. The fractures, informally dubbed “tiger stripes,” are viewed essentially broadside in the new images.

 

The fainter, extended plume stretches at least 186 kilometers (300 miles) above the surface of Enceladus, which is only 186 kilometers wide. Cassini flew through the plume in July, when it passed a few hundred kilometers above the moon. During that flyby, Cassini’s instruments measured the plume’s constituent water vapor and icy particles.

 

Imaging team members analyzed images of Enceladus taken earlier this year at similar viewing angles. It was a rigorous effort to demonstrate that earlier apparitions of the plumes, seen as far back as January, were in fact real and not due to imperfections in the camera.

 

The recent images were part of a sequence planned to confirm the presence of the plumes and examine them in finer detail. Imaging team member Dr. Andrew Ingersoll from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said, “I think what we’re seeing are ice particles in jets of water vapor that emanate from pressurized vents. To form the particles and carry them aloft, the vapor must have a certain density, and that implies surprisingly warm temperatures for a cold body like Enceladus.”

 

Imaging scientists are comparing the new views to earlier Cassini data in hopes of arriving at a more detailed, three-dimensional picture of the plumes and understanding how activity has come about on such a small moon. They are not sure about the precise cause of the moon’s unexpected geologic vitality.

 

“In some ways, Enceladus resembles a huge comet,” said Dr. Torrence Johnson, imaging team member from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. “Only, in the case of Enceladus, the energy source for the geyser-like activity is believed to be due to internal heating by perhaps radioactivity and tides rather than the sunlight which causes cometary jets.” The new data also give yet another indication of how Enceladus keeps supplying material to Saturn’s gossamer E ring.

 

November 29, 2005

 

NASA Rover Helps Reveal Possible Secrets of Martian Life

 

Life may have had a tough time getting started in the ancient environment that left its mark in the Martian rock layers examined by NASA’s Opportunity rover. The most thorough analysis yet of the rover’s discoveries reveals the challenges life may have faced in the harsh Martian environment.

 

“This is the most significant set of papers our team has published,” said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. He is principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity and its twin Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit. The lengthy reports reflect more thorough analysis of Opportunity’s findings than earlier papers.

 

Scientists have been able to deduce that conditions in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars were strongly acidic, oxidizing, and sometimes wet. Those conditions probably posed stiff challenges to the potential origin of Martian life.

 

Based on Opportunity’s data, nine papers by 60 researchers in volume 240, issue 1 of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters discuss what this part of the Martian Meridiani Planum region was like eons ago. The papers present comparisons to some harsh habitats on Earth and examine the ramifications for possible life on Mars.

 

Dr. Andrew Knoll of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., a co-author of the paper, said, “Life that had evolved in other places or earlier times on Mars, if any did, might adapt to Meridiani conditions, but the kind of chemical reactions we think were important to giving rise to life on Earth simply could not have happened at Meridiani.”

 

Scientists analyzed data about stacked sedimentary rock layers 23 feet thick, exposed inside “Endurance Crater.” They identified three divisions within the stack. The lowest, oldest portion had the signature of dry sand dunes; the middle portion had windblown sheets of sand.  Particles in those two layers were produced in part by previous evaporation of liquid water. The upper portion, with some layers deposited by flowing water, corresponded to layers Opportunity found earlier inside a smaller crater near its landing site.

 

Materials in all three divisions were wet both before and after the layers were deposited by either wind or water. Researchers described chemical evidence that the sand grains deposited in the layers had been altered by water before the layers formed. Scientists analyzed how acidic water moving through the layers after they were in place caused changes such as the formation of hematite-rich spherules within the rocks.

 

Experimental and theoretical testing reinforces the interpretation of changes caused by acidic water interacting with the rock layers. “We made simulated Mars rocks in our laboratory, then infused acidic fluids through them,” said researcher Nicholas Tosca from the State University of New York, Stony Brook. “Our theoretical model shows the minerals predicted to form when those fluids evaporate bear a remarkable similarity to the minerals identified in the Meridiani outcrop.”

 

The stack of layers in Endurance Crater resulted from a changeable environment perhaps 3.5 to 4 billion years ago. The area may have looked like salt flats occasionally holding water, surrounded by dunes. The White Sands region in New Mexico bears a similar physical resemblance. For the chemistry and mineralogy of the environment, an acidic river basin named Rio Tinto, in Spain, provides useful similarities, said Dr. David Fernandez-Remolar of Spain’s Centro de Astrobiologia and co-authors.

 

Many types of microbes live in the Rio Tinto environment, one of the reasons for concluding that ancient Meridiani could have been habitable. However, the organisms at Rio Tinto are descended from populations that live in less acidic and stressful habitats. If Meridiani had any life, it might have had to originate in a different habitat.

 

“You need to be very careful when you are talking about the prospect for life on Mars,” Knoll said. “We’ve looked at only a very small parcel of Martian real estate. The geological record Opportunity has examined comes from a relatively short period out of Mars’ long history.”

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to fourteen individuals including [email protected] and many organizations as part of “The Nose of The News” on Thursday, 12 January, 2006 8:27 PM)

 

 

 

Dispatch-6

 

The Ayodhya and Banaras Attacks: The Shadow on a Dozen More Cities

 

15th April, 2005

 

Jaunpur, a city on the railway tracks between Ayodhya and Banaras, an old heritage town of the British and the Moughals)

 

Place – A cyber café of one of my students in OlanGanj, by the name of Maximus.

Time –1:15 PM Indian time.

 

One after another a series of terrorist attacks strikes in India when it is trying to stand on its feet on a global platform and is declaring its new nuclear policies. The Indian dream of India for a big gain with a civilian nuclear deal with the United States of America has suffered with a series of terror attacks on certain soft target cities. Amazingly, it appears that this city lies within a radius of 200-300 kms on both sides of the railway track that has now been targeted. This time a wave of terror attacks has been planned on religious cities to destroy India’s communal harmony. This may be due to India’s increasing relations with the USA, in a Sonia Gandhi led new government

Amazingly, the attacks on the Sankat Mochak Hanuman Mandir in the holy city of Banaras, in the twin town of Ayodhya and Faizabad, in a mosque in New Delhi and in India’s silicon valley, Bangalore are trying to point out that plenty of terror groups are active in India. They may be working with different/ changed names as their mother organizations have already been traced out and now they have adopted a new strategy.

 

India’s leap in space science along with NASA, and its nuclear deal with the United States of America is are visible both on the NASA and white White House websites.

 

Well the terror strike in these religious cities may be seen in the light of India’s will for an international collaboration with the US. The scientists and teachers at VBS Purvanchal University indicates this when I talked about the terror attacks in Ayodhya and Banaras.

 

The city is a heavily Muslim populous town and you may see many mosques and madarsas   imparting fundamental and religious training to Muslim youths. You may see it in a broader light, but you have to think when you get to know that some of the young blood have been arrested and put behind bars on allegations of their involvement in such activities.

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to seven individuals including [email protected] and many organizations as part of “The Nose of The News” on Saturday, 15 April, 2006 2:08 PM)

 

 

Dispatch – 7

 

(Excerpts from whitehouse.gov website)

 

Protecting the Homeland

 

President Bush’s Top Priority Is The Safety And Security Of The American People. Since September 11th, President Bush has restructured and reformed the Federal government to focus resources on counterterrorism and to ensure the security of our homeland.

The Administration Has Worked With Congress To Implement The 9/11 Commission’s Recommendations. Since the Commission issued its final report, the Administration has taken action on 37 of the Commission’s 39 recommendations that apply to the Executive Branch and is working with Congress to continue to improve intelligence and homeland security.

Administration Officials Repeatedly Have Testified On The Implementation Of The Recommendations. Officials from the Intelligence Community, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and other agencies have testified before Congress on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission in over 50 hearings since the Commission issued its final report.

The President Supported The Work Of The Commission. The White House provided the 9/11 Commission with unprecedented access, including providing close to 1,000 interviews with Administration officials and making available 2.3 million pages of documents for the Commission’s review.

Key Institutional Developments And Accomplishments

Appointing The Director Of National Intelligence. President Bush signed into law the landmark Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which overhauls the intelligence community, mandating a range of reforms and centralizing in one office key authorities. The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) serves as President Bush’s principal intelligence advisor and the leader of the Intelligence Community. The first DNI, Ambassador John Negroponte, was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in this past April.

Establishing The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). The NCTC assists in analyzing and integrating foreign and domestic intelligence acquired from all U.S. government departments and agencies pertaining to the war on terrorism. The Center identifies, coordinates, and prioritizes the counterterrorism intelligence requirements of America’s intelligence agencies and develops strategic operational plans for implementation. In July 2005, the Senate confirmed the President’s nominee, Vice Admiral Scott Redd, to become the first Director of the NCTC.

Establishing The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO). The DNDO, in the Department of Homeland Security, provides a single federal organization to develop and deploy a nuclear-detection system to thwart the importation of illegal nuclear or radiological materials.

Appointing A Privacy And Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The President has nominated the Chairman and Vice Chairman and appointed the other three members to serve on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, to further help ensure that privacy and civil rights are not eroded as we fight the War on Terror.

Establishing The Terrorist Screening Center. In order to consolidate terrorist watch lists and provide around-the-clock operational support for Federal and other government law-enforcement personnel across the country and around the world, the Administration created the Terrorist Screening Center. The Center ensures that government investigators, screeners, and agents are working with the same unified, comprehensive set of information about terrorists.

Transforming The FBI To Focus On Preventing Terrorism. The President has led the effort to transform the FBI into an agency focused on preventing terrorist attacks through intelligence collection and other key efforts, while improving its ability to perform its traditional role as a world-class law-enforcement agency.

Strengthening Transportation Security Through Screening And Prevention. Since 9/11 the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has made significant advancements in aviation security, including the installation of hardened cockpit doors, a substantial increase in the number of Federal Air Marshals, the training and authorization of thousands of pilots to carry firearms in the cockpit, the 100 percent screening of all passengers and baggage, and the stationing of explosives-detection canine teams at each of the Nation’s largest. These initiatives have raised the bar in aviation security and shifted the threat.

Improving Border Screening And Security Through The US-VISIT Entry-Exit System. US-VISIT uses cutting-edge biometric technology to help ensure that our borders remain open to legitimate travelers but closed to terrorists. US-VISIT is in place at 115 airports, 14 seaports, and 50 land border crossings across the country. Since January 2004, more than 39 million visitors have been checked through US-VISIT.

Establishing The National Targeting Center (NTC) To Screen All Imported Cargo. DHS established the NTC to examine cargo and passengers destined for the United States to identify those presenting the greatest threat. The NTC screens data on 100 percent of inbound shipping containers (9 million per year) to identify those posing a “high risk.” CBP personnel examine 100 percent of high-risk containers.

Expanding Shipping Security Through The Container Security Initiative (CSI). The CSI is currently established in over 35 major international seaports to pre-screen shipping containers for illicit or dangerous materials before they are loaded on vessels bound for the United States.

Developing Project Bioshield To Increase Preparedness For A Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Or Nuclear Attack. Project BioShield is a comprehensive effort that will ensure that resources ($5.6 billion) are available to pay for “next-generation” medical countermeasures, expedite the conduct of NIH research and development on medical countermeasures based on the most promising recent scientific discoveries, and give FDA the ability to make promising treatments quickly available in emergency situations. Project BioShield will help protect Americans against a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack.

Cracking Down On Terrorist Financing With Our International Partners. Over 400 individuals and entities have been designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, resulting in nearly $150 million in frozen assets and millions more blocked in transit or seized at borders. We have built an international coalition that is applying more rigorous financial standards and controls to help prevent terrorists’ use of the international financial system. Specifically, we have established with the Government of Saudi Arabia a Joint Task Force on Terrorism Finance that serves as a coordinating mechanism to cooperate on important terrorism-financing investigations.

Increasing Cooperation And Reform Among International Partners At The Front Lines Of The War On Terror. In Pakistan over the next five years, we will provide more than $3 billion in security, economic, and development assistance to enhance counterterrorism capacity and promote continued reform, including of the education system. In the last three years, the United States provided more than $4.5 billion in reconstruction, economic, and security assistance programs to Afghanistan.

 

 

 

(This thread was dispatched by me only to [email protected]  as part of “The Nose of The News” on Wednesday, 3 May, 2006 11:46 AM

 

 

Dispatch-8

 

Friday, July 10, 2009

India, USA and Middle East—Changing Equations

 

Dear All,

 

We are living in a unipolar world. After the division of the former Soviet Union and its decline into a troubled economy, the world intended to lean towards the other super power, United States of America. The scenario emerged out after second world war, when the world was divided into communist and capitalist blocks this time a large number of countries started leaning towards the United States of America. The countries like France, Germany and Italy who were in the group of Axis countries and fought against the USA leaned towards America.

 

The USA not only helped these countries to re-strengthen their economy, but it also helped smaller countries in Africa. And in return, we all know that the CIA sought its own interest in these countries. The CIA reshuffled the govts and helped favourable governments to come in power. The USA also selected its power centers in the middle Middle East by supporting the countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. It also helped Israel to fight against Palestine and its so called terror organisation, Hamas. In Afghanistan, the USA initially helped the Taliban to fight out the USSR army, and succeeded in this.

 

This is the first half of the story, before the division of the USSR. In due course, and during the regime of Senior Bush Senior USA realised that its goal has been achieved in Afganistan, but the taliban Taliban was now is asking for its own pound of flesh, and thus wanted to rule in Afghanistan. A second threat that the US has had to face in the coming years was that of Al Qaeda, an organisation created on fanatic Islamic ideology.

 

Now, it is essential to know the ideology and origin of Bin Laden. Bin Laden (this includes ancestors of Osama Bin Laden), were rich businessman living in the western coast of the US. Not only this, but the Ladens were well connected with the royal family of Saudi Arabia and were having growing business with them in oil and real estate. A younger member of the Laden family, called Osama Bin Laden, had a keen tendency towards a rather rigid sect of Islam that is called Wahabism. The Wahabis restricts so many common traditions of Islam that it becomes difficult for everyday living. These Wahabis are supported by the Saudis. The liberal Islamic world and the countries which that were pro- America did not like it, but it is studied seen that religious leaders of these countries supported Osama to work on his ideology.

 

This was the birth of Al Qaeda.

 

Saddam Hussein was a dictator at large and had ruled Iraq for decades. He opposed the US on its claim of hidden biological weapons.

 

The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center made America realise that it is actually on the threshold of a clear confrontation and was the target of the once sheltered Laden. Now President Bush came up with a new terminology, of “WAR ON TERROR”, to fight against these evil forces and to extend its fight beyond American boundaries. In due course of time America claimed that Iraq not only had weapons of mass destruction but also had a link with Laden and Al Qaeda.

 

So the Bush administration, along with its old enemies and new friends, launched a heavy war fare in Iraq, and this time unlikely his father, Bush not only won the war but captured and hanged Saddam Hussein.

 

India, which was at one time a friend with of Iraq remained, a silent witness to this and leaned towards the US. America proposed a deal of civilian usage of nuclear energy and India welcomed it with an open heart. Experts suggest that the two countries, victimised by terror outfits, realised that it is time to shake hands and come closer.

In return India remained silent on US’s stand on imposing restrictions on Iran on developing nuclear arsenals.

 

This is a time when neither George W Bush is in power nor Saddam Hussein is alive.

India is visiting a swift change in its foreign policy. Bin Laden is there but the Obama administration has deleted the “WAR ON TERROR” term from the dictionary of the White House. India and the US are coming closer and the global recession of 2008 is slowly getting weaker.

 

And in this scenario we may see new friends and new foreign policies in India, US and in the Middle East. God knows who will be on more benefitting which side in the business of war and religion.

 

Written by Ratnesh Dwivedi on 10.07.2009

 

 

(This thread was dispatched by me only to seven individuals and organizations including [email protected]  as part of “The Nose of The News” on Friday, 10 July, 2009 5:28 PM)

 

 

Dispatch-9

 

Friday, July 17, 2009

Indo-Pak Relations-Moments of Truth

 

India and Pakistan are on clear confrontation with each other since the Mumbai terrorist attacks. India claims and it is true it is that the Mumbai terror attacks were planned in Pakistan, and the attackers were trained inside the Pak border. Hafiz Saeed, the Jamat –ud-Dawa chief is at large in Pakistan, and India claims and has given evidences of his being the mastermind of 26/11.

 

The Non Aligned Movement once founded by India, Egypt and Turkey on during the peak of the cold Cold War, to remain distant with from either of the super powers, has given a platform to Indian and Pakistani premiers to come together to think on bilateral relations. The Egypt edition of NAM in which both the sides diluted their stands, is an ice breaking step. Pakistan this time has hidden the Kashmir issue, while India only mentioned about the Pakistani action on the Mumbai accused. The Indian Prime Minister would be in Delhi when I am writing these lines.

 

The history of India- Pakistan relations has been a saga of truth, accusation, infiltration, terrorism, occupation and betrayal. So far, India and Pakistan haves come into clear confrontation that led to a war, for four times. But there haves been remarkable steps as well to re-strengthen the relations between the two neighbours.

 

THE BITTER MOMENTS

 

On the strategic will of British rule and Mohammad Ali Zinnah, Pakistan came into existence in 1947, and couple of months later Pakistan infiltrated Pashtun tribes with the help of the Pakistani army into the Kashmir. The then Maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh sought Indian help to fight out the infiltration and India asked to him to sign an accord to be an integral part of India. Seeing no way to of escape Hari Singh signed the deal and in return Indian troops defeated Pakistani infiltration.

 

In 1965, under the leadership of Lal Bahadur Shashtri India fought another war with Pakistan, and the Indian army reached as close as up to 18 kms from Lahore. The USSR mediated in for a ceasefire agreement that was signed in Tashkant. Experts say that Lal Bahadur Shastri could not stand up to the international pressure and died of a heart attack.

 

1971 saw another war between India and Pakistan on both sides of the border, when Shiekhs Mujjebur Rehman seeked sought Indian help to liberate East Pakistan from the traumatic leadership of integral Pakistan. India’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi helped Bangladesh Mukti Vahini and succeeded in liberating Bangladesh. The war was fought along the eastern and western borders.

 

Between 1972 and 1999 there haves been many issues including that of terrorism and Kashmir which have lead India and Pakistan to a clear confrontation.

In 1999 we saw the Kargil war in the back drop of the Lahore talks.

And most recently 26/11 happened which was again a cowardly act by Pakistan based militant groups, in the line of with many other attacks in Indian cities.

 

BETTER MOMENTS

 

Despite many turbulences and confrontations, full scale war and war like situations, there haves been moments when India and Pakistan sat together for betterment of relations and friendly ties.

 

Simla Agreement 1972 – First time India and Pakistan came together under the premiership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Indira Gandhi. Issues like intrusion and Kashmir were discussed and the Simla pact was signed.

 

In the 1988 the then prime ministers of India and Pakistan, Rajiv Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto talked about not interrupting the nuclear programmes of any country.

 

1998, visited Lahore talks when Indian prime minister Mr Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharif talked about opening diplomatic relations, starting a bus service and the Kashmir issue.

 

In 2003 again Vajpayee and Musharraf came together in the Agra summit, which was another ice breaking step after the Kargil war.

 

So the history of Indo Pak relation has been a story of magical and miserable moments . It also has been a story of trust and betrayal. India has always welcomed Pakistan for talks but not on the conditions of Internationalization of the Kashmir issue. On the other hand Pakistan has always has tried US interference in the Kashmir dispute.

 

For the first time US President Barack Obama is unwilling to interfere in the bilateral talks and wishes that the issue is actually an internal matter of India and Pakistan.

 

Again India and Pakistan are coming close and we have to see if a new chapter of friendship and warmth will be written or it would one more step towards false promises and assurance and betrayal. Two good neighbours are sharing the one grilling pain of terrorism or two old enemies are sharpening their weapons to stab each other; whether two emerging economies of South Asia wish to talk their domestic problems in the time of recession or two economies are troubling the common public by imposing disturbances, terrorism and war or war like situations.

 

The world is watching through the international media what is going to happen next in South Asian relations, a history written by the ink of friendship and trust or a chapter unfolding another war between two nuclear states.

 

Let us watch…

 

Written by Ratnesh Dwivedi on 17/07/09

 

(This thread was dispatched by me only to seventeen individuals and organizations including [email protected]  as part of “The Nose of The News” on Friday, 17 July, 2009 6:00 PM)

 

 

Dispatch-10

 

To,

Barack Obama

Honourable President of United States of America

White House Govt

White House

Washington D.C.

 

Sub- In the name of Peace and Prosperity. (Referring President’s Oslo Speech)

 

Honourable Sir,

 

Not too long ago when the world witnessed horrible terror attacks on American soil, to whom the media refers to as 9/11. Perhaps this incident was the beginning of Al Qaeda’s bloody foot print in the civilised world. It was not the first terror attack on American soil or people, or elsewhere in the world, but it was perhaps the beginning of a rare kind of war against human civilization. World Wars were as dangerous and the Cold War era was even more, but the religion adopted by these people to whom we refer as “terrorists” perhaps have given birth to an unending war against human institutions. We hardly see any sign that these animals and their religion is going to accept the idea of democracy and the idea of peace.

Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King were great men s of all time, and the path they made for humanity and brotherhood is a rare kind of example that must be adopted by one and all. But as you spoke out in your historical speech that there comes a time when the ideas and paths of people like Gandhi and King becomes a little irrelevant. In the a time when humanity and the concept of democracy is are in danger not only in the United States of America but also across the globe and in countries like India , we cannot sit together and look towards Gandhi and King for their advices. Rather, we should stand united in the name of humanity, peace and prosperity, for our generations to come and take an oath to defeat the idea of terrorism and extremism.

 

What I have understood in the last few years when I started writing to the White House govt that these people who claim to be fighting a “holy war” in the name of ‘God’ and ‘”Allah’,” have enlarged their organisations across the globe and haves garnered the support of many other outfits to come together to declare a big war against humanity and civilization. They do not want to see a common people living in peace and thinking about good livelihoods for their children. They do not believe that good democracies should talk to each other to solve the problems of humanity and planet earth. They fight for their own cause and a different kind of religion which claims only lives and leaves blood on the streets.

 

Mr President, I believe that each all countries and individuals have the right to think of its their betterment and prosperity of their people, and have a the right to protect its their own territories f it is attacked by these people to whom we refer as “terrorist”; and in order to do that a country have has all the right to talk to other heads of states to think about how to defeat these forces.

 

Terrorism is not a word which is restricted to the United States of America or the Republic of India, but it is a global war today. If one country thinks that the USA is suffering, hence, let it fight alone, then perhaps it is daydreaming. Today it is USA or India, another day it would be your country and your people. It is a global war of a different kind, and no territorry and nation is safe; even the nations which are sheltering these animals, because these animal do not believe in the idea of nations or the idea of democracy.

 

Let us understand and think and come out with an idea on how to defeat them. It is not a fight the USA should alone tackle. It is a fight of each and every individual. A fight of each and every nation and a fight of each and every member of the human institution and a fight of each and every member of and followers of the religion of humanity. So we must stand together and must take an oath  in the name of peace and humanity that we will support and protect the idea of democracy and the idea of human institution, and will defeat these animals and their religion, to whom we refer as “Terrorists”, by all means and methods. This is the time and this is the moment when we all across all continents should come out to protect our planet and to save humanity from these animals because we are in a “Danger”.

 

 

 

(This thread was dispatched by me only to five individuals and organizations including [email protected] as part of “The Nose of The News” on Saturday, 12 December, 2009 12:38 PM)

 

 

 

Dispatch-11

 

An Open Letter to President Obama

 

To,

Barack H. Obama

Honourable President of United States of America

White House Govt

White House

Pensylvania Avenue

Washington D.C.

Washington

20502

 

And his Three Senior Advisors

 

David Axelrod, Vallerie Zerrot and Peter Rouse

 

Sub.–In response to grounding up of NASA’a Lunar Mission.

 

 

Honourable Sir,

 

I am Ratnesh Dwivedi in India a regular recipient of NASA’s updates. But before I write anything on NASA or its missions, I would like to tell you a little about my knowledge on science research work in USA. The first American President who talked against racism was Abraham Lincoln. He was the one who seriously guided America on sciences through his mission to establish the world’s biggest and most respected research organisation–The National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Sciences is the most respected name and a person feels high amounts of pride even if he even talks to a receptionist of NASA in Washington. So far its worthy scientists haves been honoured with dozens of Nobel prizes and other laurels. In due course of time the Academy enlarged its operations and established a few other divisions like National Research Council, Institute of Medicine and Institute of Engineering, under its umbrella.

 

The world’s biggest space science research organisation, National Aeronautics of Space Administration (NASA) also got its association with the Academy and National Research Council launched one of its one of the rarest kind of  Research Associateship Programme (RAP) to select unpanelled research scientists from across the globe to associate them with the National Academy of Sciences and with NASA through this programme. Budding scientists from countries like India got a chance to associate themselves with NASA and other disciplines of sciences and engineering. It was a remarkable step of the Academy to allow them to work on the minutest areas of life sciences, biology, biotech, engineering, technology and space sciences.

 

I, by that time, had collected some original research work on space sciences with the help of the information I received through NASA newsletters. I compiled it and sent the 1500 pages of research work on Space Dynamics to Mary D Cox, an official with The National Academy of Sciences. I quickly got a reply that my work has been forwarded to a NASA coordinator.

 

Leaving this story behind, I have always felt a significant amount of pride to learn from NASA letters and to remain in touch with NASA officials. In a recent e-mail from Whitney Calvin of Media Relation Department of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (most respected division of NASA), I got to know about some of the most optimistic missions of NASA. And the information was about designing two mega spaceships – The Aries and The Orion, which may carry a Human Voyage to the Moon and Mars, by 2020.

 

It may be a giant leap of human kind to touch down on the surface of the Moon once more and on the Red Planet for the first time. Mars, as I predict, is our hope to establish a Human colony in the future.

 

Honourable Sir, I am writing this letter in great depression that now your government have decided to wind up these missions. It is a great loss to sciences and to human kind. It is a rare chance to give an opportunity to humans to explore our solar system and to our moon and to the Red Planet. Sir, I , who have a great amount of interest in Space Sciences and in NASA activity humbly request you to allow NASA with its Lunar and Red Planet missions and to allow its scientists to carry on with the Aries and Orion spaceship programmes.

 

Sciences, Human kind and our generations would be obliged to the Obama administrations for ages if you live up the dreams of thousands of people like me and people in NASA by not stopping these, rarest of its kind, missions.

 

Thanking You.

Ratnesh Dwivedi

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to one dozen individuals including [email protected] as part of “The Nose of The News” on Sunday, 7 February, 2010 12:13 AM).

 

 

Dispatch-12

 

Death of a Professor, of a Whistle Blower

 

When I was travelling to my home town of Ayodhya, a rather calm pilgrim town in the northern Indian province of eastern Uttar Pradesh, I had several things on my mind, and one of these things was to meet a Professor in Awadh University – a state university in the town. But I was did not knowing that destiny has written a cruel chapter for this meeting, as this time it was not going to be possible as in my earlier visits.

 

Professor Vijay Kumar Pande a historian in his own right and an archaeologist, was one of the most experienced professors in the state. He had been in academics for several decades, had written several books on the historical importance of Ayodhya and Faizabad. He had led a team of students to excavate several sites of historical importance in the region and had guided dozen of students for Ph.D programme.

 

But somewhere in his conscious mind he was not satisfied with several people in the University, with the system of working and the many restrictions imposed upon him by some of his colleagues.

 

I remember my first meeting with him when I was assisting a French film maker for a documentary on Ayodhya and its cultural importance. He was a great person. Always ready to help, always ready to meet and always ready to speak. My second meeting with him was when I decided to spend a couple of years in my hometown. I went straight to him and asked him to give me an opportunity for some guest lectures. And he trusted on me for this in 2005. I stayed with him for six months without asking for payment. He never imposed his seniority over me but humbly asked me to translate one of his books into English. I started the work but it remained incomplete.

 

We rather spent more time in discussing academic issues, .problems in the University and the atmosphere created against him. He never feared naming out the people who restricted him from doing some good historical and archaeological work. The chief proctor of the University, as he named many times before me, had been trying to defame his reputation and restricting his research work.

 

I remember how depressed he was when his years long work to establish an archaeological museum was restricted into just one room store of some stones. Not only this, but Mr Proctor also was involved in beating a man who was appointed by him to guard the museum.

 

He was under tremendous pressure by these people as none of his projects was getting approved. He was finding himself lonely and he complained many times about this with his fellow colleagues and even to me.

He also narrated once how brutally he was beaten up by some ‘gundas’ on the behest of the ‘Thakur’ lobby of the university, some twenty odd years back.

But I can remember that the Professor was fearless. I remember, I was sitting with him late night the day Ayodhya was attacked by terrorists. He had a diary with him, perhaps a Govt Of India PRO diary, from which he searched out the Home Minister Mr Shiv Raj Patil’s telephone number and straight away ranged him up and narrated the whole situation in the tensed town, for half an hour.

 

I remember him as my guru who taught me the ABC of Indian and World history in a couple of months.

 

I can’t forget his last phone call to me when he said, “I am very tense. Please help me out. I want to come to Delhi.”

 

Couple of months later he met with an accident and came to Delhi for an operation and returned to Ayodhya only after his death on the operation table.

 

I am writing these lines but still I am thinking what tension that professor was having with him or what irregularities he was willing to point out in Awadh University,…or what threat he was having from the people he mentioned in his conversations. May be his worries require an attention by the academia and media. May god rest him in peace.

 

Written by Ratnesh Dwivedi

 

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to eleven individuals including Rajdeep Sardesai and organization as part of “The Nose of The News” on Tuesday, 15 June, 2010 9:07 PM.)

 

 

Dispatch-13

 

Story of a Dying Unit: A Brain Child of Indira Gandhi

 

To,

 

The Prime Minister of India

Mrs Sonia Gandhi (UPA Chairperson)

Mr Rahul Gandhi (General Secretary – AICC)

(Through three of my best friends in Media)

 

Sub– Story of a dying unit–A brain child of Indira Gandhi.

 

Respected Sir,

 

I have never been in the practice to write an open letter to the three top political leaders and policy makers in India. However, my e-mail suggestions to Wwhite house House government has been appreciated -,the a practice which I am doing since 2004.

 

But, something inside my conscious pushed me up to write me this letter to the Prime Minister, UPA Chairperson and Mr Rahul Gandhi. I am calling him by name since I find in him a trustworthy friend and a hope of the future.

 

I have spent my 25 years in the area which is known as eastern Uttar Pradesh, in the district of Faizabad. I know it as a place where I have seen some of the best and worst moments of my life. Let us not go in to that.

 

Mankapur, a small town some 56 kms away from Faizabad and almost at the same distance from its district HQ Gonda, has been home to one of the units which brought the Telecommunication revolution in India. Indian Telephone Industries, as it is named by the Government of India, is a brain child of Mrs Indira Gandhi. Apart from its Naini Unit and Raibareli Unit, Mankarpur is blessed to have one unit of ITI at a place which falls on the railway route from Lucknow to Gorakhpur.

 

So, we may call it as a home and place of worship place for thousands of workers and officers who work day and night to give us equipment and technology so we may speak to our loved ones. Indian Telephone Industries has designed some of the latest technology and equipment which are at par with international standards, and the Mankapur Unit is a part of it.

 

The other unit or the HQ is in Bangalore.

 

I have been visiting the ITI Mankapur campus while I was studying in the 12th standard as one of my relatives served as an engineer in that unit. However, another reason was to enjoy the small journey through the jungle of Tikri. I guess I would have visited ITI Mankapur as many as 70 times. Hence, I have an emotional attachment with this pride of India, hence here is the story.

 

I can tell you with all my honesty that the ITI unit of Mankapur is a mini India. It is the bread and butter of thousands of workers and officers working inside it and also the bread and butter for several thousands of villagers and people who are indirectly dependent on the success of this unit. But now there is a danger on for these several thousands of these people and on this unit. Insiders suggest that the unit may be closed at any given point of time. The reason it is not making profit is it is under huge debt. Salaries haves not been distributed to hundreds of employees and if you talk to any of worker, officer or neighbourhood people you may examine the amount of depression they are going through.

 

So the brain child of Indira Gandhi is in ICU, and doctors from the places like ALCATEL (France), which tried to save it once have given up the hope.

 

The Big Question before these several thousands of people is how to survive?

 

Mrs Sonia Gandhi, once, consoled the unit with 1,000 crore rupees, but insiders suggests that it has been randomly distributed among high officials and there have been irregularities in investment of that amount.

 

Now the question is how to make this unit overcome with all these kind of challenges?

 

The Unit is dying and so are its workers and officers.

 

The sources suggests that only direct interference from the center may give any solution, so relying on that sources I am directing this letter to three of my friends in the Media ,in the hope that the message would be conveyed to the right people.

 

Regards.

Ratnesh Dwivedi

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to Rajdeep Sardesai as part of “The Nose of The News” on Thursday, 5 August, 2010 9:35 PM.)

 

 

Dispatch -14

 

The Judgement Day and Ayodhya as it Stands

 

by Ratnesh Dwivedi on Friday, October 1, 2010 at 5:44pm

 

I was in class 12 when, on Dec 6, 1992 the disputed structure was demolished by Kar Sevaks, which led to communal riots across the country. But now we all can proudly can claim that India and Indians have moved ahead, rather haves grown up mature from these unstructured sentiments. As Mr Madhukar Upadhyaya (Historian and Journalist) suggests that we cannot demolish the understanding of co- existence of Hindus and Muslims in four hours for those who are living together for thousands of years.

 

I have seen Ayodhya in the last thirty years growing rather in as a mature town where people do worship Lord Rama, but they also do bother about their economic standing in society, worries about the future of their kids and respect the sentiments of other communities. Ayodhya is home to Lord Rama, and other gods of Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Islam. What so ever the misunderstanding has been created between communities has been washed up. And Ayodhya reacts with full maturity to not only issues of Dharma and Rama, but to other national and international issues.

 

I remember when I decided to take a leave from my engagements and then to stay in my home town – Ayodhya for a couple of years, I was asked by a university professor to take some lectures in Dr RML Awadh University. I decided to speak on Space Science and I proudly can say that the students of Ayodhya were very keen to understand about this area about which most of the genius students where many bother to take care of. Even I found a little student of twelve years in the school where from I passed out from in 1992–Maharaj Intermediate College, asking me finer points of gravity and planetary systems.

 

So, Ayodhya has grown up and so has their beliefs in Lord Rama and the Islam.

 

This land mark verdict and reactions after this at least suggests it.

 

Now we all know that the honourable High Court suggests that the total land area of almost 70 acres shall be equally divided in three parts, while the main worship place to which the Hindus refer to as ‘Garbh Griha’, will stand with the Hindus.

 

I guess the learned judges of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court haves given a chance to both the communities to show the world that they stand together, their beliefs stand together, the people of Ayodhya and Ayodhya itself stand as one, and so is our nation –India.

 

This is an opportunity to show the world that the place which created such ideological, political, religious and social differences across the country may again can show the world that Ayodhya also can also give the lesson of national integrity and Universal brotherhood by constructing a huge mosque and a magnificent temple at one place where from the worshipers of Imam-e-Hind lord Lord Rama and Prophet Mohammad may show the world that we all are one.

 

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to nineteen individuals including [email protected] as part of “The Nose of The News” on Friday, 1 October, 2010 5:54 PM. And this was my last dispatch as part of the series.)

 

 

Dispatch 15

 

Ayodhya and Faizabad: Moving ahead from Ram and Allah

 

by Ratnesh Dwivedi on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 12:31pm

 

This time when I started a trip to my home town in Ayodhya and Faizabad, I was travelling with the shadow of the Ayodhya verdict and a low intensity blast that was a fallout of the Ayodhya issue. Ayodhya and Faizabad, the twin towns are located at some 125 kms from state capital Lucknow, and are known for Ganga Jamuni tehjeeb since ages. Ayodhya, a small Hindu pilgrim town is known as the birth place of Hindu’s holy god Rama, a seventh incarnation of lord Vishnu, and is one of the oldest cities of Hindu Mythology. Some 3000 temples are here as it is popularly called said that there is a temple in each house and there is a house in each temple. The temples of Ayodhya are manged by Akharas–Nirmohi, Nirvani and etc. Most of the Sadhus are Vaishnav, that means they worship Lord Vishnu.

 

This time when I tried to touch the pulse of common Ayodhya Vasi, interestingly no one showed any interest in the Ayodhya issue, rather they talked about the opportunities and development of the town.

 

Coming to Faizabad, one can profoundly say that its one of the most beautifully built (only ruins are there) cities. Once the capital of ‘Awadh’ in Nawab Asfuddaula’s period (which was later shifted to Lucknow) it is a Muslim populated city and the Hindus too live in newly built colonies. You can see Burqa clad women in rickshaws in chowk area. Faizabad itself has some 100 old mosques and is currently visiting growth.

 

HDFC, ICICI and other MNC banks have opened its their branches here and all the flyovers on link bypass between/w Lucknow and Gorakhpur are operational now. The University in the city is visiting ‘Winter Break’ and has now has a facelift.

 

However, there is an opinion among the Hindus that a Ram Temple must be built. The bank of the Saryu River is empty as there is no Mela season and so are the temples.

 

I also interacted with some Muslim girls on their way to school; they too feel that now it’s time for change and Faizabad and Ayodhya should be seen as a paradigm of change and growth and not only a place which created so much distance between the two communities.

 

As for as the rural population in the district is concerned, it is time to send the sugarcane crop to sugar mills and farmers are busy to shifting their crop to mills as soon as possible. One can see trucks and tractors loaded with sugar cane on its way to mills in Faizabad and Gonda. Eastern U.P produces the maximum of the total sugarcane in India.

 

There is a shift in the mood of Hindus and Muslims for a new chapter with religious harmony and eagerness for change and growth. The Member of Parliament from Faizabad, Nirmal Khattri should also be given credit for this change.

 

(This thread was dispatched by me to AP as part of “The Nose of The News” on Wednesday, 29 December, 2010 12:34 PM. And this was my last dispatch as part of the series.)

 

 

 

 

 

Ratnesh Dwivedi

Ratnesh Dwivedi is a seasoned Academician, Author, Journalist, NASA Certified Educator and Consultant with 15 plus years in teaching and corporate. He has seen the changing face of global politics and has written extensively on International Affairs.

He serves on board of a dozen global firms ranging from Mining, Oil & Gas, Electricity, Energy, Cyber Security, Intelligence, Defence and Counter Terrorism having the finest people from the corporate world and Goverment onboard.

He holds memberships with global organizations such as ECREA-Brussels, Mission Essential-Virginia, Global Ethics Network-Washington, American Astronomical Society-Washington, Internet Society-Virginia, CSIS-PONI-Washington, RTDNA-Washington, NSTA-Virginia, EIN News Desk, Bush Presidential Center, Texas, etc.

He has authored five books. The Story of an Intern is a Reportage, The Cosmic Mask is a Space Fiction, Third and fourth are awarded academic books. His fifth book, US Intelligence and Cost of War talks about USA Military engagements in the Middle East.