By Syed M.Aslam
Oct 29 - Nov 04, 2001
*** "THERE IS A REASON why it is not
called a crime, which it is, but a war, which it isn't. Crime is
specific, and if it is a crime you have to presence evidence. It's
very likely that the evidence the United States has is not
credible."
(US pro-people intellectual Noam Chomsky explaining
why for has chosen to call the terror attacks an act of war instead of
crime. He also asked the US to exercise in what it calls its 'war
against terrorism')
*** "AMERICAN THINKS that a few days of
bombing will defeat the Taliban. We have been fighting for 23 years
and we have yet to bring peace to Afghanistan."
(Anti-Taliban commander, General Baba Jan, saying
that US air strikes, deadly as they are, would not have any major
effect on the ruling Taliban, which makes a formidable foe)
*** "I WAS NO LONGER covering a story. I
was the story."
(New York Times journalist and bio-terrorism writer
Judith Miller explaining the odd position she found herself in when
she opened a letter filled with white powder that later proved to be
harmless)
*** "WE ARE AWARE of the additional
financial strain Air India has to bear due to an increase in insurance
costs and we wish to share in some small measure this additional
financial burden."
(Letter written by the engineers of Indian flag
carrier opting for a 15 per cent voluntary salary cut for three months
between October and December)
*** "HOW DO YOU restore those years that
you spent in prison? Maybe only God can answer that question."
(Anthony O Calabrese Jr, a US man who served 13
years in jail, asking a question to the Judge and prosecutors for his
wrongful conviction after his acquittal based on DNA evidence)
*** "IN THE UNITED STATES there is
support for the bombings, and the fact that some civilians are going
to be killed is part of the expectation of what bombing means."
(Sociology professor at the New School University
in New York, Jeffrey Goldfarb, defending civilian casualties caused by
heavy bombardment of Afghanistan)
*** "ALMOST AS SHAMEFUL, much of the US
media has cooperated, reducing its role from useful critics to public
relations hacks."
(Syndicated columnist Eric S. Margolis criticizing
the role of the US and western media to unquestioningly follow
government's censorship policy to block unfavourable news about war in
Afghanistan)
*** "MY VIEW on this is that we should
have free and open debate, and what on earth is the government so
afraid of?"
(Outspoken critic of UK's support for the US-led
coalition attacks on Afghanistan, Paul Marsden, challenging Prime
Minister Tony Blair to call vote on Afghan war)
*** "JUST AS THE AMERICANS used the Gulf
War scenario to obtain the cover of international legitimacy ... the
US found in the events of September 11 in New York and Washington a
pretext to wage war against Afghanistan with an eye on the oilfields
in Central Asia ..."
(Daily Al Ayyam of Bahrain explaining the 'real
reasons' for its war in Afghanistan)
*** "YOU ARE SHOOTING with one hand
while offering aid with the other. It really is a bit much."
(President of France's Medecins Sans Frontieres,
Jean-Herve Bradol, decrying US food drops on Afghanistan as
meaningless and hypocritical)
*** "I THINK America is the superpower,
America is enough for Afghanistan, there is no need for Australia to
come."
(Taliban's only ambassador serving abroad in
Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, failing to suppress a laugh while
answering a question put by an Australian reporter on his government's
view about the prospect of his country's special forces joining US and
UK elite troops in Afghanistan)
*** "THEY SHOULD NOT be under any
misconception that if they try to take advantage, Pakistan is fully
capable of defending its territory."
(President Gen Pervez Musharraf warning India not
to take advantage of crisis)
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