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More articles on the Godhra/Ayodhya/Communal Tension in India

Major General (Retd) Ashok K Mehta on the role the Army does or should play

Another article by Varsha Bhosale on Ayodhya, reporting and the BJP

Prem Panicker on the history of the Ayodhya dispute and an option for the VHP

Arvind Lavakare on what the VHP / Sangh Parivar has been doing or not doing in the legal case

The US Government's new stand on International Aid -- welcome it.

I, for one, applaud George Bush's stand on International Aid --- he would only help those who help their people, not themselves.  Just sending money in to countries and governments where there was no improvement in living standards or the political processes was actually criminal -- it was neglecting the needs of the real poor and was like throwing money down the drain.  He is right when he says "Pouring money into a failed status quo does little to help the poor". 

There could be concerns about how the US Government decides which country is eligible for how much aid --- what are the standards and measures the US will adopt.  There is always the suspicion that the US only wants to export its brand of democracy and capitalism.  Whatever it may be, no nation can ask for aid unless it shows that it is willing to do some improving in return. 

Whether you view the new plan in economic terms (growth of international trade with mutual benefit to the aid recipients and the US) or in political terms (better political liberty and the rule of law in these countries), it can also ward off other dangers "We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror".

The Nuclear Weapons Policy Review -- I agree with the US here as well

It is time that the world acknowledged that nuclear weapons can be used as deterrents against non-nuclear countries as well.  Those who express horror at the proposed review of nuclear weapons policy by the US are living in the cold war era.  And, going further, why should nuclear weapons be deterrents only ?  It is only a matter of time before someone somewhere uses a chemical/biological/nuclear weapon.  Face up to the facts.  When spears were invented, they were used.  When guns were invented, they were used.  When aeroplanes were invented, they became fighter planes and bombers.

However, I must reiterate my belief that decades of interference in other countries and propping up the wrong governments has led the US to bring the scourge of terrorism onto itself.  And violent action in Afghanistan or Iraq will only like a bull in a china shop -- achieving nothing but damage all-round.