Here comes the Drone!

A few decades past, it was the age of Cold War and the world was in a constant fear of nuclear war between the US and the then USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic) present Russia. That age was mainly dominated by the developments of nuclear bomb, ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile), SLBM (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) and so forth. The Cold War came to an end in the nineties of last century with the demise of USSR. Now we are living in a multi-polar world, arguably uni-polar with the US In centre. Probably with the demise of USSR, we not only left behind the age of nuclear bomb or ICBM, SLBM, but also we have entered in a new age of armament- the age of drone. According to recent research from International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) there are at least eleven countries that have their own drones while more countries are trying to develop their own version of it. More concern for us that our neighbor India has, as it is known, thirty drones. The unscrupulous and indiscriminate use of drone makes us ample causes to be worried about our country’s national securities and of course, security of individuals. Who knows, one morning you may find your fellow countrymen wounded in border areas by an attack from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), widely known as drone.

Let us enter into the short history of drone. Mainly, drone is the innovation of the US. The CIA and Pentagon first wanted to have it in the early 1980s, for reconnaissance. In the nineties of the last century, the US publicly unveiled the drone. When President George W Bush declared a "War on Terror" 11 years ago, the Pentagon had fewer than 50 drones. Now, it has around seven thousand and five hundred drones. But according to the IISS data it has at least 678 drones in service. Following 2001, the RQ-1 Predator became the primary unmanned aircraft used for offensive operations by the USAF and the CIA in Afghanistan and the Pakistani tribal areas it has also been deployed elsewhere. The US rarely discusses the top-secret drone programme. This is absolutely, humiliating for any country to be under the attacks of drone as Pakistan, Somalia have been experiencing for years. In the name of war against terrorism, in other words Al-Qaida, in fact, killed thousands of Pakistani civilians. Imran Khan, a political leader, in Pakistan completed a two-day long march towards South Waziristan province, in protest of US drone strikes in the country’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan commenced since last Saturday.

US government justifies its drone strikes with the argument that it is at war with al-Qaeda and its affiliates, one could imagine that India in the not too distant future might launch such attacks against suspected terrorists in Kashmir or in neighboring countries like Bangladesh. China might strike Uighur separatists in western China, or Iran might attack Baluchi nationalists along its border with Pakistan. The China has already expressed its interest to fly drone to vigil the activities of Japan in South China Sea. The more the time is progressing the more the intention to own drone is increasing from new states. This is why the concern of drone related insecurities is increasing. Recent report says that drone makers are trying amplifying their commercial destinations. They are diversifying the types of drone productions to attract wide range of consumers. May be they are thinking of selling by online booking. Those days are not far away when one may book a drone on amazone.com. So, non-state actors like terrorist groups, drug cartels may have it as there is lack of any regulation regarding the sell and production of drone, so far. Drone needs to be taken as a similar concern as it was taken for chemical and biological weapons. Because this is also a very heinous weapon. That’s why the other name of drone is ‘predator’.

In near future drone could be a serious threat for Bangladesh, as its neighbor India that surrounds Bangladesh almost on every front, owns it. The status of India’s relations with Bangladesh will be main determiner of the use of drones against Bangladesh. India has a common suspicion against Bangladesh for unrest in its seven sisters. Now and then, it claims that there are many hide outs of separatist leaders in Bangladesh. Therefore, Bangladesh needs to be proactive against the whimsical use of drone. It should extend its moral support for those ongoing anti-drone campaigns that are protesting against in many countries.

An abridged version of this article was published on 20th October, 2012

Why Ecuador Stands for Junian Assange?

Julian Assange the whistleblower of twenty first century has become a buzzing name of the present world. Emergence of Assange and his role in establishing a rare type of instance of ‘free world’ have attracted mixed reactions from experts to general pupil in both worlds of media and at the same time of politics. Many people say that Assange has established ‘right to information’ of laymen to government’ activities while other are saying that he has endangered national security of many countries. On which side you will stand for? Now there is another scenario regarding Assange. The question of Assange’s political asylum has placed many states in strained relations against one another. Now another popular question has risen among people that why Ecuador is eager to give asylum to Mr. Assange. Why does it dare to challenge Britain for Assange?  In the background of all those complex developments and queries I have sit to write for.

Assange is probably, the best whistleblower in world history in terms of his works that shocked most possible countries of the world. There is little doubt that Julian Assange, having exposed some of the barbarities perpetuated by the American military in its ill-fated war in Iraq, has reason to fear the wrath of an enraged US government — particularly given the appalling treatment meted out to whistleblower Bradley Manning, the army private accused of orchestrating the biggest leak of state secrets in US history. But what is the significance of whistleblower? There is strong evidence in American history that whistleblowers played a significant role in American Civil War. In Europe the historical instance is no less igniting than that of America. Ryszard Kukliński, a Polish colonel, Cold War spy and communist whistleblower believed that he would be able to prevent the war in Europe between the Warsaw Pact and Nato countries by handing in 40,265 pages of secret military documents of German Democratic Republic and People's Republic of Poland to CIA. Lev Trotsky in late 1920s gave an ethico-political dimension of whistleblowing. He started reading the correspondence between his predecessors Tsarist Russia and the ministers of the other countries. Official documents revealed that it was not fought for patriotic reasons. Trotsky did not hesitate in deciding what to do: the Foreign Ministry's archives had to be made public in order to make the whole world aware that the war in Europe was fought by the hegemonic classes against their own peoples. There Trotsky served as a whistleblower to expose the curse of secret diplomacy.

In the name of ‘national security ‘, secret diplomacy has been dominating administrative policy of governments in democratic countries. Secret diplomacy was just the make-up needed to hide this fact: “Secret diplomacy is a necessary tool for a propertied minority which is compelled to deceive the majority in order to subject it to its interests”. In the aspect of leaking the activities of secret diplomacies many experts see Assange is a continuation of Trotsky, Ryszard Kukliński and so forth. But Assange’s performance and its impacts have global range. Assange gave a big blow against the evils of secret diplomacy.  Clandestine diplomatic activities only served the regime interest. It never can be a pro-people strategy or policy.

Since the US government issued a warrant against those leaks, Assange had been on the run. He submitted to police questioning in Sweden in the immediate wake of the complaints in late 2010, left the country unaware that a police warrant had been issued for his arrest. Since then, he has taken his fight against a European Extradition Warrant (EEW) through three different courts in the UK, the Magistrates’ Court, the High Court and Supreme Court, and lost on every occasion. Later he flew to the Ecuadorian embassy two months ago and sought political asylum, which he was duly given. But this move has made the UK government annoyed over Ecuador. The UK government has made it clear that the Australian activist will be arrested and extradited if he steps outside the building after jumping bail. But the curiosity became indomitable when we had found Ecuador standing firmly besides Assange. Even thirty seven South American countries extended their supports for the decision taken by the government of Ecuador. Some experts say that Ecuador's President Rafael Correa and Assange have mutual interests- they both support the idea that the U.S. is an imperial power that has to be checked. Robert Amsterdam, a Canadian international lawyer presence of overwhelming anti-American sentiment in whole Latin America. He shared his experiences “When I'm in Guatemala, they still call the (U.S.) 'the empire.'” There really is an almost universal hostility toward American foreign policy. Assange would be welcomed in many countries just for that fact. Jorge Leon, an Ecuadorian political analyst who lives in Quito, said that with presidential elections in Ecuador scheduled for next February giving Assange asylum in the country could be "useful to Correa to give himself a leftist image." In this way Assange needs Ecuador and Ecuador needs Assange. There are mutual interests. But how far this mutual interest will last?  Will Correa be able to continue his support for Assange after the next election? Future will give the answer.   

This article was published in the daily Sun on 1st September, 2012