President Erdogan leads Turkey into Civil War & Possible loss of Territories

 

 

President Erdogan leads Turkey into Civil War & Possible loss of Territories

 

Part I-Internal

Like World War I , neo-Turkish Sultan and pretender Caliph Erdogan joins piecemeal World War III's Western Nato Alliance  

 

Some observations and notes;

 

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu used to claim that a leaf could not move in the Middle East without Turkey's approval.

 

There is hardly any country left in the Middle East that is knocking on Turkey's door for advice or guidance. 

 

After the secular-religious and Sunni-Alevi fault lines there is now what is potentially the most dangerous of these divisions, namely the Turkish-Kurdish fault line

 

The flames of the havoc created by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria have started to burn Turkish homes, despite Turkey not yet becoming a part of the war.

The death toll from the protests over  ISIL attacks on Kurdish Kobane in Syria is increasing everyday .The Turkish government is imposing curfew in more and more predominately Kurdish-populated – provinces near the Iraqi and Syrian borders. In Diyarbakır ,the largest Kurdish city in Turkey and elsewhere people are being killed daily and since the years following the 1980 military coup, the military was on the streets with infantry and tanks. This time, it was called on duty by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.

 

Meanwhile, local schools have been closed .There are millions of Turks in European states , with over 4 million in Germany alone with almost 25% being Kurds , who have been protesting vociferously in EU capitals .Such protests also took place when PKK iconic leader Abdullah Ocalan was apprehended in Kenya and brought to Turkey. He is in prison on an island near Istanbul and had agreed to a resolution of the Kurdish problem .It would appear that Erdogan was only playing for time to get elected as President. He has left Syrian Kurds at the mercy of ISIL , whom he prefers over Kurds. .

 

Peace at home and peace abroad: Kemal Ataturk.

 

Before his death in 1938 Kemal Ataturk had advised his team that Turkey must keep out of the coming WWII in order to avoid being destroyed by the Nazis and then liberated by the Soviet Union .This advice and its implementation left Turkey unharmed and intact following the war.

 

Almost since the Justice and Development party, AKP was catapulted into power in Nov 2002 elections obtaining 2/3 seats with only 34% of votes , I have had this premonition that something is going wrong for the people I came to know, respect and love and this beautiful land of 40 civilisations , where I spent 10 years in two tenures ( 1969-73 ,1992-96 ,1992-98 ) travelling extensively from the Bulgarian coast to the Georgian coast along the Black Sea , from the Greek coast to Syrian coast, many times and very close to the Syrian -Turkish border, now a flame , because of stupid policies being followed by megalomaniac Tyep Erdogan with this Sancho Panza like now prime minister Davutoglu .The latter debates with Hegel in his dreams. He could be an amusing third rate copy of Nesssereddin Hoca, a folk tale comic hero which one finds from Turkey to Iran, Afghanistan and in the subcontinent as Sheikhchilli.

 

I have kept a watch on Turkey since 1967, first from the ministry of external affairs, then four years in Ankara, followed by twenty years later as an Ambassador from 1992 to 96, after which I stayed on as accredited journalist for another two years. Later I passed through Istanbul and Ankara a couple of times, its commercial progress accelerated by central Anatolian neo- Liberal crony capitalists of the AKP, with massive investments and transfer of green money from the Gulf States. .

 

Kemal Ataturk, in my opinion ,one of the all time greatest military commanders, modernizer and state builder, who fashioned the secular Republic of Turkey from the ashes of a rotting Ottoman Empire after WWI knew what he wanted .To preserve and modernize Turkey, instead of engaging in a long war of attrition with the British for what is now Kurdish north Iraq with its oil-rich Kirkuk region, he decided to consolidate the new state and modernize it with half Kurdish people inside Turkey .Slimy British left the Turkish -Kurdish fault line legacy which is not likely to be resolved any time soon. It were the British machinations from the newly created Iraq from Turkish Ottoman provinces with support from Kurdish sheiks in Turkey that, with a heavy hand Ataturk decided to suppress them and concentrate on the task of nation building.

 

The tribes from Central Asia ,first the Seljuk's and then Ottoman's idea of nation building and reign was to leave their flock or subjects, guarded by shepherds /administrators ,without interference in religious and personal lives of subjects belonging to religions other than Islam. Thus, the system of millets was created for Orthodox Greek Christians, Armenians, and Kurds and later on Jews.

 

The Turkish invaders from central Asia were able to slowly move westwards after the battle won by Seljuk Turks in mid- 11 century east of Lake Van, who later rolled back the Byzantine Empire up to its capital Constantinople (now Istanbul) in Europe across the straits of Bosporus. Successive Ottoman Sultans went right up to the Gates of Vienna in Europe and up to Morocco in North Africa, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman in the East and South, Ukraine and in Caucasia in the north-east. The border between Roman and then Byzantine empires in the West and Persia in the East, more or less along the river Tigris has remained the same.

 

Perhaps the influence of Islam in cosmopolitan ruling philosophy of the Ottomans was increased after the Ottoman Sultan, in 15 century, defeated the Memelukes in Cairo, got hold of the last relic of the Arab Caliph and made him transfer the caliphate to the Ottoman Sultan. From that day the number of right-wing religious fanatic Islamists from Mecca, Medina and other places, assembled in Istanbul with their influence growing, thus making the outlook of the ruling Ottoman establishment more religious, extremist and fanatical opposed to ingress of science and technology and modern ideas in civil life and even warfare.

 

Except for rare exceptions during my end of stay as a journalist in Turkey, beginning with late 1960s, in my wide travels right up to poor East and south-east of Turkey, I found people, simple pious, very honest ,proud and very hospitable. After the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 there was the transfer of nearly 1million Orthodox Greeks in a population of around 12 million .There were also 30,000 Christian Turks from central Asia who had not converted to Islam, they were also exiled to Greece. There are Christian Turks known as Gagaus in Moldova, who had migrated there along the north Black Sea from central Asia.

 

The entry of increasing Islamism in the Turkish population and polity began in early 1970s, when Hoca Necemettin Erbakan established his Islamist national order party. His political parties when banned, emerged under another name .Erbakan was part of the coalition government since 1973, opting for departments like education, health et cetera to put his Islamic leaning followers into key positions in the ministries. In early 1990s, he established the Welfare party, along with the current president of Turkey, Tyep Erdogan and his predecessor, Abdullah Gul. Abdullah Gul worked for many years in an Islamic bank in Jeddah before he returned to Ankara to join Erbakan's party to head its Dept of foreign affairs. At his invitation I visited the party headquarters which I would have done in any case, unlike most other ambassadors, who kept away from Erbakan's party

 

With billions of dollars of help from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, Gul, having worked in Jeddah, AKP was catapulted into power with only 34% of votes, but 66% of seats, because of high thresh hold of 10% to keep smaller and basically Kurdish parties out of the Parliament. Since then, slowly but surely, Erdogan, with his authoritarian almost fanatical belief in Islam and as God's Caliph in this age has worked even crudely and bluntly towards his objective of ultimate power as president with a presidential system, but has not yet achieved it .But he has succeeded in sidelining, annoying, punishing almost all the stakeholders in Turkish polity even his colleagues and supporters .Even president Gul's palace was bugged.

 

Verily a headstrong , fanatical and unthinking Erdogan has reduced Turkey to a Tyranny , a political state between Kingdoms and democracy in Greek historical evolution , when once elected you continued winning elections by hook or crook .From 34% support AKP won 50% votes in 2010 elections and almost that much in the direct presidential elections a few months ago .He abused his position, TV channels , cowed down media , sending his fanatical and paid supporters to make sure that they brought out voters in his support on the pains of severe punishment . He has cowed down even the irrepressible media by jailing them , getting them expelled by pressurizing media owners and personally attacking journalist like Amberine Zaman , also writing for New York Times , whose Bangladesh Ambassador father and Turkish mother I have known since we were together in Senegal in late 1970s.

 

Erdogan has great propensity to go after anyone who dares cross his path , which is greatly acclaimed by his tutored cheerleaders at public speeches .Almost all leaders ,of Israel, almost all neighbors, of France, Germany and even of USA have received his fury and tirades.

 

Since end 2002 ,Erdogan was joined by Hikmet party boss Fatheullah Gulen, now residing in America that has a large number of followers in education ( all over Turkic states in central Asia and elsewhere ) ,judiciary ,civil services ,business community ,media and other walks of life. But since end of 2013, there has been an open battle between him and Gulen ,because the latter's supporters exposed massive high-level corruption, including Erdogan's own son .Erdogan had used Gulen's followers and sympathisers in judiciary, police and other areas to go after opponents of his policy and cult like following. Since the beginning of 2014 Erdogan has gone after Gulen supporters and has put most of them behind bars, the very cadres which were used to go after Erdogan's secular and other opponents , especially the secular Turkish Armed Forces , which have been defanged and humiliated .

 

Using Gulen's and his own supporters in police, judiciary and media ,Erdogan blatantly jailed on farmed up charges against senior military officers, including generals ,even his former chief of powerful army staff. Thus, under the pretext of removing the influence of military , the Turkish Armed Forces, which under the command of founder of the republic Kemal Ataturk had fashioned a secular republic , and which had been originated and grew for nearly 5 centuries ,have been sidelined .It is feeling insulted and aggrieved and its loyalty in case of war may be in some question .After World War I Ataturk and his supporters used the Armed Forces for socializing and secularizing the polity and even for commercial trading and other mercantile activities, because, barring a hand full of Jews, the Armenians having been slaughtered in World War I and trading Christian Greek populations had been expelled to Greece in exchange for Muslim speaking Turkish Ottoman citizens.

 

I have regularly written in the context of the struggle between the spiritual and temporal leader ship in Islamic countries like Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt that the pendulum has been changing from time to time. In Pakistan the military is making life of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, not a great politician precarious. In Egypt Field Marshall El Sisi forced out the Muslim Brotherhood President and his supporters after they had gained power not by fair means after the long reigning Pharaoh Gen Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power during the so called Arab Spring.

 

Erdogan believes that he has solved the problem of Armed Forces' interference in Turkish politics. Recently, most of the military officers who had been imprisoned on trumped up charges have been released by the Courts, which at the highest level remain independent. It is quite logical to believe that the Turkish Armed Forces, which carried out to the coup d'états as in 1961 and 1980, 1/2 coup d'état in 19 71 and 1/4 coup d'état in 1995 are nursing their humiliation and at appropriate time make an effort to regain their historic prestige, standing and role since the Turkish hordes started entering Anatolia.

 

Except during the war for independence, the Turkish Armed Forces have not really fought against a professional army. A Turkish brigade fought valiantly in the Korean War in 1950s in order to join North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, to counter pressure from Moscow, which wanted return of two Turkish provinces in North East and joint control over the Straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles.

 

In 1974 Turkish Armed Forces invaded Cyprus when its regime in a coup d'état went for union with Greece ie ENOSIS. The Turkish Armed Forces were able to easily quell the resistance of police level resistance and even occupied 40% of the Cyprus territory more than it had planned for .Since 1984, the war mostly in SE Turkey over 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, but including 5000 soldiers have died in the rebellion led by secular gender equal Marxist guerrilla forces of PKK, whose leader Abdulla Ocalan has been imprisoned on an island in Marmara Sea near Istanbul since 1999. I have given a little history of the Turkish Armed Forces and its fighting quality for the readers to judge what can be achieved if it is ordered to invade Syria in search of Islamic state fighters and as now appears against Kurds...

 

Historic role and the stake of Turkish Armed Forces.

 

The evolution and development of Turkish Armed Forces originates from Turkish tribes who migrated and invaded Anatolia and then under Ottomans were organised into a fighting force in which the corps of janissaries, composed of young Christian children from Anatolia to begin with and then from kingdoms and states conquered in Eastern Europe formed the spearhead of attack. Those selected out of them on pure merit and trained in the Ottoman Palaces provided 80% of the ruling elite, like Prime Ministers, the governors of the provinces, military commanders and other high positions except that of Sheikh ul Islam. The armed forces were modernized and trained by German Armed Forces up to World War I. After World War II, when Turkey joined NATO in 1950s, its forces have collaborated in training and other matters with NATO's military philosophy, policies, objectives, technology and armaments etc.

 

Not only for modernizing and westernizing a backward Ottoman polity which before World War I could be compared with that of Saudi Arabia now without its energy resources, it should be remembered that it was Kemal Ataturk, who forbade the Turkish Fez and baggy trousers and turban etc and veils for women. The West looking at Erdogan, Abdulla Gul and others in latest Western clothing would think that these leaders have modern European thinking, as they have been playing around with the process of joining the European Union, without both sides not being very serious or keen about it. But the fact remains that they may not be as extreme and reactionary, but may not be much different than many leaders in the Gulf, .The Muslim brotherhood is admired by Erdogan.

 

The Turkish Armed Forces, which until the introduction of capitalism by Pres Turgut Ozal, in 1980s introduced trading and industrial mechanisms, mores of production, through establishment of state-controlled banks, trading companies and industrial undertakings. Thus, the Turkish Armed Forces played a major role and are stakeholder in Turkish polity and economy.

 

Therefore, the Turkish Armed Forces have expertise, wherewithal, long experience of even foreign and defence policy studies and options. After the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's forces in 1990, Pres Turgut Ozal was very keen to join the Americans led coalition to invade Iraq from North, but the military brass was so opposed to this that the Turkish Chief of staff resigned giving a sleepless night to Ozal , since it was a first  . Normally the governments resigned on such differences Turkey got nothing out of the war and lost trade with Iraq.

 

When the U.S.-led illegal invasion of Iraq by Pres George Bush and his poodle liar Tony Blair was contemplated in 2003, and in order to win approval of Western nations, the newly elected Islamist AKP leaders led by Erdogan were very keen that Turkey should join US, UK, led invasion of Iraq. The Turkish military was noncommittal, but might have agreed in order to get control over north Kurdish Iraq, a PKK hideout. However, with many thousands Turks protesting against the U.S.-led invasion in front of the Parliament, the Turkish parliament narrowly defeated motion to join US in the invasion from the north. In fact, hoping for the yes the Americans had already loaded military hardware from the Turkish port of Mersin to go to Turkish-Iraq border.

 

When Erdogan as Prime Minister, expressed a desire to become president, it brought out millions in protests in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, so he got Abdullah Gul elected as the President .In the pre-Islamist AKP period, the secular parties across the spectrum had worked out a modus Vivendi with the Armed Forces, having persuaded first to have Ozal elected as the Pres and later another politician Suleyman Demirel and then a retired Chief Justice of the Turkish Supreme Court.

 

Kurdish problem.

 

When I reached Ankara in early 1969, the use of word Kurd was taboo. It was used only in whispers, until around September 1969 as part of a tour of eastern Turkey, I reached, Diyarbakir, where I was greeted by Kurdish young boys singing Kurdish songs, but telling me in Turkish, Kurdum ,Kurdum.

 

The problem of Kurds as a problem facing the governments of Turkey, Syria , Iraq and Iran was brought to my attention in 1969 in Ankara ,by a charming lady counsellor of Syria. She said that the Kurds of the four countries want to have an independent state of their own, which would also provide an exit to the Eastern Mediterranean through the Syrian port of Tartus. Never mind that the port of Tartus now provides strategic tier in Russia's MAD equilibrium with U.S.-led West .Putin made Obama blink on Syria last year.

 

Internal part II and External to follow ;Watch this space.

 

K.Gajendra Singh 10 October, 2014, Delhi

 

Biden; Saudis, Emiratis, Turkey & Allies Funded & Armed Al Nusra, Al Qaeda & others

US VP Biden; Saudis, Emiratis, Turkey & Allies Funded & Armed Al Nusra, Al Qaeda & other Extremists

So what is new! West, Allies and protected Gulf Gas pumps began it in 1979 in Pak-Af

 

Background from old notes;

 

When questioned if he had any regrets in supporting Islamic fundamentalism in Afghanistan during 1980s, Zbigniew Brzezinski in a January 1998 interview with Le Nouvel Observateur, Paris, replied, "What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?"." Nonsense--" responded Brzezinski when asked "If Islamic fundamentalism represents a world menace today." Brzezinski was President Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser.

Brzezinski admitted on July 3, 1979, that unknown to the public and Congress President Carter secretly authorized $500 million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia to destabilize the Soviet Union. This was called 'Operation Cyclone'

"Terrorism is a tactic, a technique, a weapon that fanatics, dictators and warriors have resorted to through history. If, as Clausewitz wrote, war is the continuation of politics by other means, terrorism is the continuation of war by other means." Patrick J. Buchanan

"The United States has supported radical Islamic activism over the past six decades, sometimes overtly, sometimes covertly," and is thus "partly to blame for the emergence of Islamic terrorism as a world-wide phenomenon." Robert Drefuss.

Establishment of Terrorist Nurseries in Afghanistan and Pakistan

When one analyzes the history, the causes and the phenomenon of Islamic terrorism, it is important to look at the role played by and still being played by USA, UK, Israel and Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and others, in stirring up Muslims, either as mercenaries or for proxy wars to preserve their regimes and promote their interests.

The major axis controlling fundamentalist Islamic terrorism is composed of the ruling corporate elites in USA and UK, the Saud dynasty and the military establishment in Pakistan.

From 1979 to the exit of Soviet troops in 1989, USA , UK other western countries, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf and Muslim states and even China (which sold AKM assault rifles and Type 69 RPGs, with US even supplying Stinger anti-aircraft missiles systems) exploited Jihadis as a weapon against the Russian forces in Afghanistan. Washington and Riyadh contributed most of the funds, reportedly totaling even up to $40 billion on the war in Afghanistan (US with $600 million in aid per year, with a matching amount coming from the Gulf states.) The CIA and its allies, Pakistan ISI, British MI6 and others recruited, supplied, and trained almost 40,000 hard core radical Mujahedeen from forty Muslim countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Algeria, and Afghanistan itself. Zia's military government established some 2,500 religious school nurseries, which were funded by Saudi Arabia and backed by the U.S. Some 225,000 children who went to these schools were trained to fight as guerrillas in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Not a penny was spent in defense of the Afghan people.

 

Pakistan has been the largest recipient of Counter terror funds since 9/11. It's Army has been receiving almost over USD 1 billion a year since 2002 under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) towards meeting the expenses incurred by Pakistan to fight terrorists. With this count Washington administration has already spent more than USD 5 billion to bolster the Pakistani military campaign against al-qaeda/Taliban. If reports are to be believed, Pakistan has received an additional US 7.5 billion to USD 9.5 billion in CSF since 2002.

 

Today's New York Times has a story which paints alarming picture about Pakistan's intention and puts question marks against its role in the US led War on Terror campaign. According to the report, US aid worth billions of dollars, given to Islamabad administration towards counter terror efforts have been 'wasted and much of it was diverted to help finance weapons systems designed to counter India rather than fight al-Qaeda/Taliban combine. Centre for Public Integrity, Washington had raised this issue in May this year (Billions in Aid, With No Accountability) while investigating CSF's funding to Pakistan. The latest NYT report will raise some thinking eyebrows in the region, both within Hawks and Doves.

December 24, 2007

 

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Tells the truth

But Biden had to apologize to Turkish President Recep Tayep Erdoğan over his comments that accused Turkey and other allies for paving the way for the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

"The Vice President apologized for any implication that Turkey or other Allies and partners in the region had intentionally supplied or facilitated the growth of ISIL or other violent extremists in Syria. The Vice President made clear that the United States greatly values the commitments and sacrifices made by our Allies and partners from around the world to combat the scourge of ISIL, including Turkey," a White House statement said on Oct. 4.

Biden called Erdoğan to clarify recent comments made at Harvard University, according to the statement. "The two leaders reaffirmed the importance of Turkey and the United States working closely together to confront ISIL," it added.

Earlier, Erdoğan had demanded an apology from Biden. "If Biden said these words, then he will be history for me. I never uttered such remarks," he said after the morning prayer for Eid al-Adha - the festival of sacrifice observed by Muslims all over the world - in Istanbul early Oct. 4.

"President Erdoğan told me, he is an old friend, said you were right, we let too many people through, now we are trying to seal the border," Biden had said during a speech on foreign policy at Harvard Kennedy School on Oct. 2, while complaining about the conduct of his country's regional allies that led to the rise of the ISIL.

However, the Turkish president vehemently denied these claims. "I was prime minister at the time. We absolutely didn't provide even the smallest amount of support to any terrorist organization, including the ISIL. Nobody can prove it. Foreign fighters never crossed from Turkey to Syria. There were people coming to Turkey as tourists and went to Syria, but nobody can suggest that they were armed while crossing the border," Erdoğan said.

He also stressed that Ankara's "sensitivity" over the issue continues, as do its measures to prevent the jihadist flow into Syria. 

"I view [Biden's remarks] regretfully. I never admitted any mistake, nor did we tell them that they 'were right' during my visit to the U.S. If Mr. Biden uttered these remarks at Harvard, he should apologize. I'm saying this clearly. We won't accept slander, indirect explanations," Erdoğan added.

 

Wrote Sharmine Narwani, a hard hitting based in Lebanon on 4 October, 2014.

 

On my blog tonight, I examine the breathtaking admission by US Vice President Joe Biden that America's Sunni coalition partners have funded and armed ISIL & Co. None of the major US networks have reported this story yet - that scoop was left to Russia Today and Al Manar. Less mentioned are Biden's comments that there are no "moderates" among Syria's opposition fighters. The only moderates inside that country, he stresses, are "shopkeepers, not soldiers."

 

Biden may be known to often put his foot in his mouth, but this time he has done the world a favor. Awesome stuff.

 

 

Link: http://mideastshuffle.com/2014/10/04/biden-turks-saudis-uae-funded-and-armed-al-nusra-and-al-qaeda/

 

Biden: Turks, Saudis, UAE funded and armed Al Nusra and Al Qaeda

 

Update: The White House on Saturday said Vice President Joe Biden "apologized for any implication that Turkey or other allies and partners in the region had intentionally supplied or facilitated the growth of ISIL (IS, ISIS) or other violent extremists in Syria."  The operative word here is "intentionally" – please note that this language does not constitute a retraction of Biden's claims that the US's closest Mideast allies armed and funded extremist groups in Syria.

 

When Joe Biden gets candid, he really lets rip. The US vice president, speaking at the John F. Kennedy Jr Forum at Harvard University's Institute of Politics, on Thursday told his audience – point blank – that America's Sunni allies are responsible for funding and arming Al Qaeda-type extremists in Syria.

 

And he named names: Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, specifically. Others – like Qatar – are undoubtedly complicit too, but Biden's comments were made off-the-cuff during the question and answer period following his prepared statement.

 

Of course, much of what Biden said has been suspected for years by Syria watchers, but to acknowledge this outright during the early days of President Barack Obama's much-vaunted ISIL-busting Coalition – featuring these very same Sunni Arab partners – is a jaw-dropping concession.

But that's not all. Biden also managed to fundamentally undermine his administration's efforts to train and arm "moderate" Syrian rebels today, by claiming there is no "moderate middle (in Syria) because the moderate middle are made up of shopkeepers, not soldiers."

 

Keep in mind now that just two weeks ago Congress approved – at the request of this White House – $500 million dollars to train and arm "moderate" Syrian rebels. Obama's second-in-command is saying there are none of those, so who exactly are US forces teaching to fight with heavy weapons in Saudi training camps today?

 

Let's go directly to the Q&A session following Biden's speech. Here is an unedited version taken from the audio recording released on The White House's YouTube channel:

Question: In retrospect do u believe the United States should have acted earlier in Syria, and if not why is now the right moment?

 

Biden: The answer is 'no' for 2 reasons. One, the idea of identifying a moderate middle has been a chase America has been engaged in for a long time. We Americans think in every country in transition there is a Thomas Jefferson hiding beside some rock – or a James Madison beyond one sand dune. The fact of the matter is the ability to identify a moderate middle in Syria was – there was no moderate middle because the moderate middle are made up of shopkeepers, not soldiers – they are made up of people who in fact have ordinary elements of the middle class of that country. And what happened was – and history will record this because I'm finding that former administration officials, as soon as they leave write books which I think is inappropriate, but anyway, (laughs) no I'm serious – I do think it's inappropriate at least , you know, give the guy a chance to get out of office. And what my constant cry was that our biggest problem is our allies – our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria. The Turks were great friends – and I have the greatest relationship with Erdogan, which I just spent a lot of time with – the Saudis, the Emiratis, etc. What were they doing? They were so determined to take down Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war, what did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad except that the people who were being supplied were Al Nusra and Al Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world. Now you think I'm exaggerating – take a look. Where did all of this go? So now what's happening? All of a sudden everybody's awakened because this outfit called ISIL which was Al Qaeda in Iraq, which when they were essentially thrown out of Iraq, found open space in territory in eastern Syria, work with Al Nusra who we declared a terrorist group early on and we could not convince our colleagues to stop supplying them. So what happened? Now all of a sudden – I don't want to be too facetious – but they had seen the Lord. Now we have – the President's been able to put together a coalition of our Sunni neighbors, because America can't once again go into a Muslim nation and be seen as the aggressor – it has to be led by Sunnis to go and attack a Sunni organization.

 

So what do we have for the first time?

The audio clip ends there. While you are taking a moment to readjust your worldview and re-categorize the 'good guys' and bad guys,' do also note the veiled swipe Biden takes at former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whose recent book criticizes Obama's Syria decisions while he is still a sitting president.

 

Before you allow Biden to transfer all blame for the radicalism in Syria onto the convenient Muslims-du-jour, consider for a moment the US's role in all of this.

 

We have press reports that the CIA was a major conduit for the transfer of weapons from Libya to Syria – a role, no doubt, facilitated by US Ambassador Christopher Stevens who was killed in Benghazi by unknown extremists.

 

We are also told that the US assisted in the logistics of delivering a Saudi-bankrolled transfer of Croatian weapons in 2012 to Syrian 'rebels.' According to the BBC: "The CIA is also reported to have been instrumental in setting up the alleged secret airlift of weapons from Croatia. And here is

 

The Telegraph's take on things:

"The shipments were allegedly paid for by Saudi Arabia at the bidding of the United States, with assistance on supplying the weapons organised through Turkey and Jordan, Syria's neighbors."

 

These weapons were later caught on video in the hands of Ahrar al-Sham, which today is a target of US airstrikes inside Syria. The New York Times goes further:

 

"With help from the C.I.A., Arab governments and Turkey have sharply increased their military aid to Syria's opposition fighters in recent months, expanding a secret airlift of arms and equipment for the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to air traffic data, interviews with officials in several countries and the accounts of rebel commanders."

 

"From offices at secret locations, American intelligence officers have helped the Arab governments shop for weapons, including a large procurement from Croatia, and have vetted rebel commanders and groups to determine who should receive the weapons as they arrive, according to American officials speaking on the condition of anonymity."

 

Exactly how does that exonerate Americans from delivering weapons to "Al Nusra and Al Qaeda?"

Biden's comments on Thursday were a bombshell that will be heard across the globe. They will fundamentally undermine Obama's attempts to arm "moderate rebels" and assemble a coalition that includes the very same Sunni Arab states that have helped create ISIL.

 

So what did the mainstream US media say about it? Nothing. Zip. Nada.

 

No – wait. There were headlines about Biden's speech – let me be fair. But this is what CNN, ABC,

 

NBC, CBS and Fox News pulled out of their collective hats:

CNN: "Joe Biden gets colorful on being a VP – and it rhymes with glitch." This, a reference to Biden's use of the word "bitch" in jokingly describing the job of a vice president.

CNN (again): "Joe Biden explains how Ebola is like ISIS."

ABC: "This might be the best thing Joe Biden's ever said."  Another reference to the 'bitch' comment.

NBC: "Vice President Joe Biden's Foul-Mouthed Quip on Job Draws Laughs."  Bitch, again.

CBS: "Joe Biden's salty description of being VP."  Yawn.

Fox: "Biden on being Vice President: It's a b-itch."  Kill me now.

Enough said. Washington's partners in fighting extremism – and trampling all over international laws to do it – are the same ones who have fueled it. The Vice President of the United States just said so. And Americans are snickering over the B-word. Leaders of the free world indeed.

 

Thanks to Walid Itayim for his research assistance on this blogpost. Follow the author on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Re: Indian boxer Sarita Devi at Incheon Asian games

 

Indian boxer Sarita Devi at Incheon Asian games

 

After the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, when I was posted at Ankara, Nick Ludington, associated press bureau chief, who had gone to cover the games, told me that when Indian wrestlers were fighting in the ring, the Indian officials were nowhere to be seen. He said that he could sense that an Indian wrestler had definitely won. But the fight was awarded to his opponent. He said that in such games where there are many judges from the contesting countries there is lot of give-and-take and scratching each other's back is the done thing. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that officials in charge should be present so that no such thing can take place easily.

 

It was quite well known that in Olympic and other regional games villages many Indian officials who had no business to be there quite often sneak in and then made the athletes even sleep on the floor while they took over their beds and ate their food. One of the reasons is that athletes are still considered a category inferior to those who control the games in this country. During my stay in Patiala during 1958-61 , I used to go over to a friend's house for some badminton in the police lines  , where one could meet with legendry hockey players like Balbir Singh, Udham Singh and others jogging around and sometimes coming over for a spot of badminton .Balbir Singh perhaps the  best of  all times centre forwards with the game played on natural turf with different rules was humility personified . The game of hockey was then fostered ,encouraged and controlled by the likes of Ashwini Kumar IP , one of the only two Deputy Inspector Generals (DIG) of police in the united Punjab state ,posted at Patiala and another  was at Ambala ,both  under one IG at Chandigarh .Now some chief ministers of states have security details led by higher ranked police officers .Ashwini Kumar used to send his talent hunting teams to villages and towns looking for young men , whom he would appoint as assistant sub-inspectors of police , a great job in those days .Thus Ashwini Kumar nurtured hockey and controlled it too .I had him and his wife over for dinner when I was posted as ambassador at Bucharest in early 1980s .He and others like him while encouraging sports also controlled them, sometimes to the detriment  with the mai-baap like relationship .

 

Look how the likes of Srinivasan the charged president of the cricket control board, in spite of being asked to quit, still controls the game in which billions of dollars are involved. There is no accountability .There are many such examples specially in cricket which has now become the most paying and popular game in India .Most of the money is collected indirectly from the Indian public which has to pay for the extra charges for advertising which are included in the sale price of daily use items like soap, toothpaste, oil, tea, coffee, sugar et al. Most of the money for BCCI  a private body , comes from advertising revenues from TV channels broadcasting cricket matches .The money which is given to athletes and officials, especially in cricket is extracted from ordinary Indian citizens. The government should intervene so that things are fair and guard public interest.

 

Fortunately, by now it is accepted and observed by the Supreme Court of India and other high Courts that a large number of Indian politicians are corrupt and have cases against them in trial courts, found guilty and have even been convicted. Unfortunately, every sports body whether it is cricket, hockey, football, badminton or athletics is controlled by politicians or their sidekicks who have little knowledge about the games in which they monopolies these positions for decades. It gives them money, patronage and leverage .It is not going to be easy to clean up the sports in this country. Prime Minister Modi should start a campaign for cleaning up sports. But it seems his majordomo Amit Shah has already declared that Motera in Gujarat will have the largest cricket stadium in India. Let us see how it is built.

 

Let us take the case of Sarita Devi

 

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/sarita-devis-brave-act-at-asian-games-deserves-respect-not-scorn-1739829.html

 

Tariq Engineer praises L Sarita Devi and adds ," Her decision to refuse a tainted bronze medal at the Asian Games was an act of courage rarely seen in the sporting arena  She has put everything at risk: her career, her reputation and her livelihood to make it clear that she will not go quietly into that good night.

 

"While sporting bodies the world over act as if sports are a refuge for all that is good and noble, the truth is much uglier. Far too often these bodies are laws unto themselves and are run like dictatorships where any dissent or difference of opinion is swiftly crushed.

 

"Organisations from IOC to Fife demand the highest standards of sportsmanship and fair play from their athletes while remaining free to disregard even a basic level of ethics whenever they find it convenient to do so. They understand the athlete is the public face of sports and as long as that face appears bright-eyed and clean cut, fans won't care about what happens behind the scenes.

Keeping athletes in line is also why the Olympic code specifically prohibits them from making political statements at major sporting events, as if athletes exist in a bubble outside of society. Sports are as much part of popular culture as theatre or movies or books. Yet while playwrights, actors and authors are free to use their art to critique society and culture, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled from the 1968 Olympic Games for giving the black power salute on the medals podium to draw attention to racial discrimination.

 

"It is all to perpetuate the myth that sports are pure and free of the messiness of real life because the myth has made a great many people a great deal of money.

 

"Athletes recognise the game is rigged but the vast majority of them don't dare speak out because retribution can be ruthless. Indian badminton star Jwala Gutta was hit with a life ban earlier this year just for protesting a sudden and random changing of the rules during the Indian Badminton League. As in any dictatorship, public dissent and questioning of authority cannot be tolerated.

Sure, Sarita could have pushed her case behind closed doors but it would have been hopeless and she knew it. She was left with nothing but the pain of her sacrifices and the broken shards of her hopes and dreams.

Sarita Devi cries as she steps on the podium for the medal ceremony at the Asian Games. AP

"By her own account, Sarita was moved to speak out when she saw the Indian flag at the medal ceremony. Her actions were not premeditated, as in the case of Smith and Carlos. It was the last stand of a desperate fighter who found herself cornered and decided she could not, would not participate in the charade any longer.

 

"When I went to the medal ceremony I broke down because I wanted to see the Indian national flag go up but when I saw it down, I couldn't control myself," Sarita told CNN-IBN. "It wasn't my medal. I didn't want to take the medal to India. I wanted to leave the sadness behind in South Korea."

It was no surprise that a few hours after the presentation ceremony, AIBA announced they were initiating disciplinary proceedings against Sarita. But in doing so they tipped their hand, revealing just what they are afraid of:

 

"I had to request OCA to review this incident, so any boxer or athlete in other sports will not follow in her footsteps by respecting the spirit of fair-play and sportsmanship of the Olympic Movement," David B Francis, the Technical Delegate, wrote in his report.

 

"If other athletes follow in Sarita's footsteps, the whole house of cards could come tumbling down.

 

"By rejecting her medal in the most public way possible, Sarita has exposed the hypocrisy of sports bodies everywhere that demand respect for sportsmanship from the athletes without respecting it themselves.

 

"This isn't the first time AIBA has been accused of corruption. Their history is littered with examples of fixed fights. And we can expect AIBA's punishment of Sarita to be severe. They will want to send a strong message that such public outrage will not be tolerated to discourage others from following in Sarita's footsteps.

 

"But as fans and lovers of sports, we ought to stand by Sarita and show her that we too won't participate in this charade any longer. For unless that happens, Sarita's brave act will likely be in vain."

 

She, and all of us, deserve better.

 

Reaction in India

 

I was particularly disappointed by Karan Thapar show on Sarita Devi, where he took a very unsympathetic view from a high moral position. He was supported by an ex -billiards champion, quite a different game in which India is okay because most other nations play snooker in which India is no nowhere. There were some reports about his sleazy associations in a financial scandal. It was clear that those who are closely associated with the sports know that Sarita Devi is quite correct .Let us hope that Sarita Devi gets a very warm reception when she arrives in India to shut up all these TV Channel jokers. Thapar in general is sympathetic to north Indians specially the outgoing Prime Minister .He went out of his way to harass  and harangue Mr Rai ,the Comptroller and Auditor General. It was like a Spanish inquisition .No wonder that Rai after writing his book preferred to be interviewed by high decibel Arnab Goswami, then by Mr Thapar.

 

As for sportsmen showing their unhappiness and even bitterness, the example of Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar was quoted when he refused to come out of the dressing room where he was crying after India had lost to Pakistan, in spite of his century, for which he was selected for the man of the match award .But he refused to come out and accept it. Do not forget the case of the great Algerian origin French footballer Zidan Zindan who in the WC final against the Italians, butt headed Italian footballer for having said something nasty about his sister. He may not have got the so-called great honours, but most people sympathised with him and were with him than the Italian lout.

 

 Let us also not forget the famous and ugly cricket incident in Pakistan some decades ago when the Pakistani umpire gave many incorrect decisions against the visiting English cricket team. The English cricketers, one evening, took a towel, covered the Pakistani umpire's head and thrashed him, which the latter thoroughly deserved .The sporting Brits were delighted but nothing much came out of it .One can cite many such examples when sportsmen under constant pressure , tension and expectations lose their cool .

 

For someone to suggest that Sarita Devi's reaction was premeditated should be sent to a lunatic asylum. In that case if a biopic is made on her like gold medal winner Mom Mary Kom, Sarita could act the role herself and not need an actor like Priyanka Chopra.

 

In any case most of the international sports organisations are headed by international mafia gangs, who donot quit and continue to remain in positions of authority, dispensing favours openly, bragging and bribing their way .They awarded the next world cup football to Qatar, which is farcical, both in terms of Qatar's local spectators and the quality of its football team.

 

In India corrupt politicians, their families and hangers on occupy and control money and patronage which accrues from controlling the purse strings of sports organisations. This is not going to change any time soon. Look at the board of Cricket control of India from which an allegedly corrupt head refuses to leave and influences its decisions through his proxies. In this case, people are very disappointed with Justice Mudgal, who has done very little so far in producing not even an interim report. In the last hearing at the appointed judicial authority, he almost cleared everyone and asked for more time .In his first interim report he had raised doubts about the integrity of many BCCI members and some of the top Indian players .Many lawyers and judges are a law into themselves .So the politicians exploit them for enquiries, delays and favorable conclusions. The cases of Sukhram, Laloo Yadav and now Jayalalitha are some of such cases .What about the decisions taken from the date of crimes were committed and now convicted of!!.

 

International sports have become like noisy patriotic propaganda wars, where countries literally fight for their own team using all means, fair or foul.  A win makes the political leader popular and gets votes .Indian politician Sharad Pawar, always in BCCI affairs, organised a big reception for the Indian Cricket team for its victory in T20 championship in 2007, to garner blatant publicity for himself and his cronies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew over to Brazil when the German football team reached the final of the World Cup, thus aborting a possible meeting with Indian Prime Minister Modi who was on way to Brazil with a stopover in Berlin, to attend Brics Summit.

 

The use of drugs to enhance performance is very common and ancient .Many concoctions were used even by gladiators in Roman stadiums as researchers have shown. In this field United States has an advantage in creating new illegal performance enhancing drugs and using other unfair means to garner medals and then boasting about them. Many US athletes have been found guilty of these practices and then deprived of whatever gold and other medals won by them .This era of illegal drugs in sports gives an advantage to countries like USA with its advances in biochemistry and biotechnology. Many poor Indian athletes have been caught out only because the production of such drugs is not as advanced as in many Western countries.

 

In India, most of the athletes come from very poor families. In states like Haryana, if they win a gold medal they are appointed straightaway as police officers, jobs which one can get only after very tough academic and physical competition .In many cases such jobs are given to the relatives of ruling party and their cronies. Such jobs can also be bought and cost crores of rupees. It costs six or seven lakhs of rupees to get the job of police constable by bribing the selection authorities. It holds true for all almost all posts in India except those that are selected by union public service commission.

 

One can have a comfortable and well paid career only in the game of cricket, which has become very wealthy dispensing billions of rupees. A cricketer once selected for the Indian national team becomes a rupee billionaire. Playing for state cricket team and extremely rich Indian Premier League, ie IPL sets one up comfortably for life .Therefore; many families invest full attention and money into their talented and promising cricketer progenies, because when successful they are amply rewarded with money and fame. . It has become more rewarding then getting selected into Indian administrative service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian police service and others civil services.

 

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union and its associated states in East Europe, the emphasis was placed on showing the capitalist West that the communist and socialist system was superior in athletics, games, culture, et cetera. Recruiters used to roam around in villages looking for talented youngsters who were then picked up, when 10 or 12 years old, transferred to cities and finally to the capital along with their parents who were provided with better jobs. Still the system established in former Communist states appears to be paying .Look at the tennis, football and other sporting stars produced in these countries .In USA the Blacks have only athletics and music left to them so many excel in them .Something like this is happening in recruitment of young football players from Africa and Latin America to play in European and other rich leagues.

 

K.Gajendra Singh 3 October, 2014.

 

Indian boxer Sarita Devi at Incheon Asian games

 

Indian boxer Sarita Devi at Incheon Asian games

 

After the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, when I was posted at Ankara, Nick Ludington, associated press bureau chief, who had gone to cover the games, told me that when Indian wrestlers were fighting in the ring, the Indian officials were nowhere to be seen. He said that he could sense that an Indian wrestler had definitely won. But the fight was awarded to his opponent. He said that in such games where there are many judges from the contesting countries there is lot of give-and-take and scratching each other's back is the done thing. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that officials in charge should be present so that no such thing can take place easily.

 

It was quite well known that in Olympic and other regional games villages many Indian officials who had no business to be there quite often sneak in and then made the athletes even sleep on the floor while they took over their beds and ate their food. One of the reasons is that athletes are still considered a category inferior to those who control the games in this country. During my stay in Patiala during 1958-61 , I used to go over to a friend's house for some badminton in the police lines  , where one could meet with legendry hockey players like Balbir Singh, Udham Singh and others jogging around and sometimes coming over for a spot of badminton .Balbir Singh perhaps the  best of  all times centre forwards with the game played on natural turf with different rules was humility personified . The game of hockey was then fostered ,encouraged and controlled by the likes of Ashwini Kumar IP , one of the only two Deputy Inspector Generals (DIG) of police in the united Punjab state ,posted at Patiala and another  was at Ambala ,both  under one IG at Chandigarh .Now some chief ministers of states have security details led by higher ranked police officers .Ashwini Kumar used to send his talent hunting teams to villages and towns looking for young men , whom he would appoint as assistant sub-inspectors of police , a great job in those days .Thus Ashwini Kumar nurtured hockey and controlled it too .I had him and his wife over for dinner when I was posted as ambassador at Bucharest in early 1980s .He and others like him while encouraging sports also controlled them, sometimes to the detriment  with the mai-baap like relationship .

 

Look how the likes of Srinivasan the charged president of the cricket control board, in spite of being asked to quit, still controls the game in which billions of dollars are involved. There is no accountability .There are many such examples specially in cricket which has now become the most paying and popular game in India .Most of the money is collected indirectly from the Indian public which has to pay for the extra charges for advertising which are included in the sale price of daily use items like soap, toothpaste, oil, tea, coffee, sugar et al. Most of the money for BCCI  a private body , comes from advertising revenues from TV channels broadcasting cricket matches .The money which is given to athletes and officials, especially in cricket is extracted from ordinary Indian citizens. The government should intervene so that things are fair and guard public interest.

 

Fortunately, by now it is accepted and observed by the Supreme Court of India and other high Courts that a large number of Indian politicians are corrupt and have cases against them in trial courts, found guilty and have even been convicted. Unfortunately, every sports body whether it is cricket, hockey, football, badminton or athletics is controlled by politicians or their sidekicks who have little knowledge about the games in which they monopolies these positions for decades. It gives them money, patronage and leverage .It is not going to be easy to clean up the sports in this country. Prime Minister Modi should start a campaign for cleaning up sports. But it seems his majordomo Amit Shah has already declared that Motera in Gujarat will have the largest cricket stadium in India. Let us see how it is built.

 

Let us take the case of Sarita Devi

 

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/sarita-devis-brave-act-at-asian-games-deserves-respect-not-scorn-1739829.html

 

Tariq Engineer praises L Sarita Devi and adds ," Her decision to refuse a tainted bronze medal at the Asian Games was an act of courage rarely seen in the sporting arena  She has put everything at risk: her career, her reputation and her livelihood to make it clear that she will not go quietly into that good night.

 

"While sporting bodies the world over act as if sports are a refuge for all that is good and noble, the truth is much uglier. Far too often these bodies are laws unto themselves and are run like dictatorships where any dissent or difference of opinion is swiftly crushed.

 

"Organisations from IOC to Fife demand the highest standards of sportsmanship and fair play from their athletes while remaining free to disregard even a basic level of ethics whenever they find it convenient to do so. They understand the athlete is the public face of sports and as long as that face appears bright-eyed and clean cut, fans won't care about what happens behind the scenes.

Keeping athletes in line is also why the Olympic code specifically prohibits them from making political statements at major sporting events, as if athletes exist in a bubble outside of society. Sports are as much part of popular culture as theatre or movies or books. Yet while playwrights, actors and authors are free to use their art to critique society and culture, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled from the 1968 Olympic Games for giving the black power salute on the medals podium to draw attention to racial discrimination.

 

"It is all to perpetuate the myth that sports are pure and free of the messiness of real life because the myth has made a great many people a great deal of money.

 

"Athletes recognise the game is rigged but the vast majority of them don't dare speak out because retribution can be ruthless. Indian badminton star Jwala Gutta was hit with a life ban earlier this year just for protesting a sudden and random changing of the rules during the Indian Badminton League. As in any dictatorship, public dissent and questioning of authority cannot be tolerated.

Sure, Sarita could have pushed her case behind closed doors but it would have been hopeless and she knew it. She was left with nothing but the pain of her sacrifices and the broken shards of her hopes and dreams.

Sarita Devi cries as she steps on the podium for the medal ceremony at the Asian Games. AP

"By her own account, Sarita was moved to speak out when she saw the Indian flag at the medal ceremony. Her actions were not premeditated, as in the case of Smith and Carlos. It was the last stand of a desperate fighter who found herself cornered and decided she could not, would not participate in the charade any longer.

 

"When I went to the medal ceremony I broke down because I wanted to see the Indian national flag go up but when I saw it down, I couldn't control myself," Sarita told CNN-IBN. "It wasn't my medal. I didn't want to take the medal to India. I wanted to leave the sadness behind in South Korea."

It was no surprise that a few hours after the presentation ceremony, AIBA announced they were initiating disciplinary proceedings against Sarita. But in doing so they tipped their hand, revealing just what they are afraid of:

 

"I had to request OCA to review this incident, so any boxer or athlete in other sports will not follow in her footsteps by respecting the spirit of fair-play and sportsmanship of the Olympic Movement," David B Francis, the Technical Delegate, wrote in his report.

 

"If other athletes follow in Sarita's footsteps, the whole house of cards could come tumbling down.

 

"By rejecting her medal in the most public way possible, Sarita has exposed the hypocrisy of sports bodies everywhere that demand respect for sportsmanship from the athletes without respecting it themselves.

 

"This isn't the first time AIBA has been accused of corruption. Their history is littered with examples of fixed fights. And we can expect AIBA's punishment of Sarita to be severe. They will want to send a strong message that such public outrage will not be tolerated to discourage others from following in Sarita's footsteps.

 

"But as fans and lovers of sports, we ought to stand by Sarita and show her that we too won't participate in this charade any longer. For unless that happens, Sarita's brave act will likely be in vain."

 

She, and all of us, deserve better.

 

Reaction in India

 

I was particularly disappointed by Karan Thapar show on Sarita Devi, where he took a very unsympathetic view from a high moral position. He was supported by an ex -billiards champion, quite a different game in which India is okay because most other nations play snooker in which India is no nowhere. There were some reports about his sleazy associations in a financial scandal. It was clear that those who are closely associated with the sports know that Sarita Devi is quite correct .Let us hope that Sarita Devi gets a very warm reception when she arrives in India to shut up all these TV Channel jokers. Thapar in general is sympathetic to north Indians specially the outgoing Prime Minister .He went out of his way to harass  and harangue Mr Rai ,the Comptroller and Auditor General. It was like a Spanish inquisition .No wonder that Rai after writing his book preferred to be interviewed by high decibel Arnab Goswami, then by Mr Thapar.

 

As for sportsmen showing their unhappiness and even bitterness, the example of Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar was quoted when he refused to come out of the dressing room where he was crying after India had lost to Pakistan, in spite of his century, for which he was selected for the man of the match award .But he refused to come out and accept it. Do not forget the case of the great Algerian origin French footballer Zidan Zindan who in the WC final against the Italians, butt headed Italian footballer for having said something nasty about his sister. He may not have got the so-called great honours, but most people sympathised with him and were with him than the Italian lout.

 

 Let us also not forget the famous and ugly cricket incident in Pakistan some decades ago when the Pakistani umpire gave many incorrect decisions against the visiting English cricket team. The English cricketers, one evening, took a towel, covered the Pakistani umpire's head and thrashed him, which the latter thoroughly deserved .The sporting Brits were delighted but nothing much came out of it .One can cite many such examples when sportsmen under constant pressure , tension and expectations lose their cool .

 

For someone to suggest that Sarita Devi's reaction was premeditated should be sent to a lunatic asylum. In that case if a biopic is made on her like gold medal winner Mom Mary Kom, Sarita could act the role herself and not need an actor like Priyanka Chopra.

 

In any case most of the international sports organisations are headed by international mafia gangs, who donot quit and continue to remain in positions of authority, dispensing favours openly, bragging and bribing their way .They awarded the next world cup football to Qatar, which is farcical, both in terms of Qatar's local spectators and the quality of its football team.

 

In India corrupt politicians, their families and hangers on occupy and control money and patronage which accrues from controlling the purse strings of sports organisations. This is not going to change any time soon. Look at the board of Cricket control of India from which an allegedly corrupt head refuses to leave and influences its decisions through his proxies. In this case, people are very disappointed with Justice Mudgal, who has done very little so far in producing not even an interim report. In the last hearing at the appointed judicial authority, he almost cleared everyone and asked for more time .In his first interim report he had raised doubts about the integrity of many BCCI members and some of the top Indian players .Many lawyers and judges are a law into themselves .So the politicians exploit them for enquiries, delays and favorable conclusions. The cases of Sukhram, Laloo Yadav and now Jayalalitha are some of such cases .What about the decisions taken from the date of crimes were committed and now convicted of!!.

 

International sports have become like noisy patriotic propaganda wars, where countries literally fight for their own team using all means, fair or foul.  A win makes the political leader popular and gets votes .Indian politician Sharad Pawar, always in BCCI affairs, organised a big reception for the Indian Cricket team for its victory in T20 championship in 2007, to garner blatant publicity for himself and his cronies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew over to Brazil when the German football team reached the final of the World Cup, thus aborting a possible meeting with Indian Prime Minister Modi who was on way to Brazil with a stopover in Berlin, to attend Brics Summit.

 

The use of drugs to enhance performance is very common and ancient .Many concoctions were used even by gladiators in Roman stadiums as researchers have shown. In this field United States has an advantage in creating new illegal performance enhancing drugs and using other unfair means to garner medals and then boasting about them. Many US athletes have been found guilty of these practices and then deprived of whatever gold and other medals won by them .This era of illegal drugs in sports gives an advantage to countries like USA with its advances in biochemistry and biotechnology. Many poor Indian athletes have been caught out only because the production of such drugs is not as advanced as in many Western countries.

 

In India, most of the athletes come from very poor families. In states like Haryana, if they win a gold medal they are appointed straightaway as police officers, jobs which one can get only after very tough academic and physical competition .In many cases such jobs are given to the relatives of ruling party and their cronies. Such jobs can also be bought and cost crores of rupees. It costs six or seven lakhs of rupees to get the job of police constable by bribing the selection authorities. It holds true for all almost all posts in India except those that are selected by union public service commission.

 

One can have a comfortable and well paid career only in the game of cricket, which has become very wealthy dispensing billions of rupees. A cricketer once selected for the Indian national team becomes a rupee billionaire. Playing for state cricket team and extremely rich Indian Premier League, ie IPL sets one up comfortably for life .Therefore; many families invest full attention and money into their talented and promising cricketer progenies, because when successful they are amply rewarded with money and fame. . It has become more rewarding then getting selected into Indian administrative service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian police service and others civil services.

 

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union and its associated states in East Europe, the emphasis was placed on showing the capitalist West that the communist and socialist system was superior in athletics, games, culture, et cetera. Recruiters used to roam around in villages looking for talented youngsters who were then picked up, when 10 or 12 years old, transferred to cities and finally to the capital along with their parents who were provided with better jobs. Still the system established in former Communist states appears to be paying .Look at the tennis, football and other sporting stars produced in these countries .In USA the Blacks have only athletics and music left to them so many excel in them .Something like this is happening in recruitment of young football players from Africa and Latin America to play in European and other rich leagues.

 

K.Gajendra Singh 3 October, 2014.