Crash investigation
Dawn Editorial
Friday, 03 Sep, 2010
It has been over a month since Airblue flight ED202 crashed in the Margalla Hills but we have yet to learn of any meaningful details produced by the consequent investigation. There have been piecemeal reports, with statements and counter-statements coming from Airblue, the Civil Aviation Authority, etc, but little that has given a coherent picture of the tragedy.
The lack of information by credible sources has resulted in a situation where it has become impossible to distinguish between fact and speculation. Meanwhile, some of the details that have emerged, such as the possible presence of a third person in the cockpit as indicated by extracts from the Cockpit Voice Recorder, and Airbus’s claim that there was nothing wrong with the aircraft, have deepened the mystery.
The families and friends of the 152 victims who died in the crash need to achieve a degree of closure. That will only happen when it is conclusively established why the flight went down. They, and the public at large, have a right to know the reasons that led to this aviation disaster, the worst ever in this country. Delays in the release of information about the investigation serve only to increase confusion and deepen the pain of the victims’ relatives and friends. Meanwhile, speculation is also damaging reputations without any solid evidence. For instance, there has been much debate on the character and professionalism of the pilot and co-pilot of the ill-fated flight. It needs to be conclusively proved whether or not they or others, such as those responsible for air traffic control, were in any way at fault. The authorities must step up the investigation and make the findings public. Pakistan has a history of never providing credible explanations for preventable disasters, including earlier air accidents. The Airblue tragedy must not go the same way.
----------------------
Post-America Iraq
Dawn Editorial
Friday, 03 Sep, 2010
President Barack Obama’s announcement on Tuesday that America has officially ended its combat mission in Iraq should be seen against one harsh reality: some six months after the March 7 election, Iraqi politicians have not yet been able to form a government.
The American president appeared hopeful about Iraq’s future when he said, “Out of the ashes of the war, a new beginning could be born in the cradle of civilisation.” Does the situation in Iraq inspire confidence in Mr Obama’s words? Violence is rearing its ugly head, and the two victorious blocs — Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s National Alliance and Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya — have not yet been able to strike a power-sharing arrangement. The situation within the National Alliance worsened when a Shia group refused to support Mr Maliki for a second term. On Aug 17 Mr Allawi broke off talks, because in a TV interview the prime minister called the Iraqiya a Sunni bloc. Mr Allawi felt hurt. He insists it is a national group. Even though the talks were later resumed after the prime minister explained his position to Mr Allawi in a letter, the incident serves to show Iraqi politicians’ cavalier attitude towards the gravity of the situation in their country.
Unlike the considerable improvement in the security situation after the ‘surge’ ordered by George Bush paid off, violence has returned, with Al Qaeda reasserting its power. Terrorism is rising, for the casualties in July were twice those in June. On Aug 17 a suicide bomber blew himself up in a line of job-seekers at an army recruiting centre in the heart of Baghdad, killing more than 60 people and injuring 250. A minimum of 1.5 million are homeless, while hundreds of thousands abroad are keen to return but cannot because of the grave economic and security situation. Observers of the Iraqi scene fear a new era of civil war if the politicians continue to bicker. What they should concentrate on is moblising such government machinery as exists to rebuild Iraq economically, create jobs and have in place an infrastructure that will give security to the people.
----------------------
Sectarian violence
Dawn Editorial
Friday, 03 Sep, 2010
Everyone’s worst fears were realised on Wednesday when a Youm-i-Ali procession in Lahore came under attack by at least two suicide bombers. Another explosion also took place but it remains unclear whether a suicide attacker or a time bomb was involved in that particular blast.
Either way the result was carnage: more than 30 mourners lost their lives and nearly 300 were left injured. The bombings were a grim reminder of the Ashura and Chehlum blasts in Karachi a few months ago and reinforced fears that there is no stopping the sectarian terrorists who are repeatedly targeting the country’s Shia community. Given the bloodshed that recently took place in the Sindh capital, it was generally believed that Karachi was the city most at risk this time round as well. So what did the terrorists do? Apparently one jump ahead of the authorities, they hit the mourners in Lahore instead. Not that Karachi was spared altogether. Mourners were fired at in the Saddar area on Wednesday in an incident that many believe was aimed at triggering not just sectarian but also ethnic unrest.
It is time that Pakistan’s politicians realised that the ultimate aim of such extremist outfits, many of whom are hand in glove with the Tehrik-i-Taliban, is to ignite sectarian conflict in the country. To foil their mission of further destabilising an already battered nation, politicians of every hue must be on the same page irrespective of their ideology or affiliation. There is no room here for playing politics, for the opposition scoring points at the expense of the government and vice versa. The enemy here is common to all and it cannot be tackled effectively without a united front. Much is made of intelligence failures vis-à-vis the fight against terrorism and there is clearly some merit in those arguments. But there is a possibility that the agencies may get the right message if the country’s legislators embark aggressively on a joint strategy for taking sectarian terrorists to task.
That said, the Shia community must also accept the fact that local administrations, inept or otherwise, cannot go it alone in preventing attacks on its members. Community volunteers are already doing a commendable job manning entrance points to various imambargahs and conducting security checks on those who wish to enter. Worshippers do not mind this frisking because it is carried out by their own. Perhaps it is time that such checks, though admittedly a far more testing task, were replicated at checkpoints along procession routes because the police are naturally hesitant to offend anyone’s religious sensibilities. In short, this is a joint struggle and everyone must be on board.
-----------------------