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HAROON SIDDIQUI THE TORONTO STAR MYSORE�This historic city in India has been overshadowed by nearby Bangalore, hub of India's information technology. But this former capital of a regional Hindu empire (1394-1947 but for a 40-year Muslim interregnum) offers greater charms: The exquisite palace of the maharajah, featuring a gilded dome and stained glass ceiling, teak and rosewood doors with silver and ivory inlay, and a bejewelled throne of fig wood; ancient temples in and out of the city; a lush countryside; and past it, up on a hill, British India's famous summer resort of Ooty. To this city came 230 academics and others for a joint meeting of the Canada-Asia Pacific Conference and the Indian Association for Canadian Studies. I posed two questions to a random sample of delegates: What do you think of George W. Bush? And of a possible war on Iraq? Herewith some of their responses: Myung-Bae Yeom: director, American Canadian Institute, Chungnam National University, Daejon, South Korea. I don't believe a word of what Bush says. He's not as wise as a president of the United States should be. He thinks the cowboyish way. Under him, the world may end up with a one-state tyranny. In our Oriental way of thinking, people of age and power are respected. But they have the wisdom to concede to the young and the weak. The United States does not. That's the core of the world's current conflict with America. Dr. Harish Narang, professor, English, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. What caused 9/11? Anger at America. The blatant manner in which America is supporting Israel is leading to a counter-movement in the world. More than Israel, it will be America that will pay the price. Sept. 11 was just a straw in the wind. Just about everybody hates America now, not only Islamists or jihadis or Al Qaeda or Osama bin Laden. Germany's Gerhard Schroeder won an election opposing an American war on Iraq. Hundreds and thousands of people are protesting in London, Rome and elsewhere for the first time since the Vietnam War. But the lessons of Vietnam seem to have been lost on America. It has become brash and arrogant: supporting acts of Israeli terror on hapless Palestinians, in total defiance of world opinion; bombing Iraq into the stone age and then forcing millions of innocent Iraqi people to pay either with their lives or by surviving at a subhuman level for the sins of Saddam Hussein; and now it's threatening another war. This is America at its brazen worst, an icon of barbarity. It's a political pariah. Sunil Sondhi, professor, international relations, Delhi University. I support George Bush. The currency of international relations is power. The United States is the biggest economic and military power. If the president perceives that Iraq is an emerging threat to his country, he has every right to take a stand. As for his double standards, I believe that any country in that position would do the same. Amarjeet Singh Narang, professor, social sciences, Indira Gandhi University, New Delhi. Bush's plan to attack Iraq is not justified, from a humanitarian or international legal point of view. He cannot be the self-appointed policeman of the world when he himself has the maximum number of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, there is no deterrent to American power. Russia, China and others are looking to improve their economic relations with America. The only possibility of a counterweight is the European Union. Dr. Jameela Begum, professor, English, University of Kerala, Trivandrum. I think Bush is another Hitler. He thinks there is only one nation and it must rule the world. Dr. Vinnay Jain, professor political science, Ambedkar University, Agra. Originally, I thought that Bush was daft. But his foreign policy, whether it is his own or dictated by his associates, shows maturity even if his pronouncements don't. His rhetoric � "smoke them out of the caves," "fight to the last man," etc. � is very cowboyish. I don't believe a word he says about Saddam Hussein. My students feel the same way. They think Saddam is a hero because they want someone, anyone, to stand up to America. Dr. Chandra Mohan, president of Indian Association for Canadian Studies. Bush adopts a soft attitude towards his friends' terrorism but wages war against other forms of terrorism. He has a double standard when it comes to Palestine and when it comes to Iraq. The same allegation applies to his dealings with our country, India, because he is giving monetary assistance to Pakistan (accused of cross-border terrorism in Kashmir). B. Hariharan, lecturer, English, Mysore University. Bush is aggressive when he need not be. Power is completely corrupted in his hands. It's painful to watch. What crime have the people of Iraq committed? What have those women and children done? Bush talks about Saddam's violation of human rights but American economic sanctions are the worst form of human rights violation. America is supporting Israel, which is also violating basic human rights. Somewhere along the line, the American soul has been lost. Dr. Cooni Vevaina, professor, English, University of Mumbai. Bush is full of banalities. It's very obvious that other people do the thinking for him. On Iraq, it's right-wing and myopic cowboy politics. ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca
