Interesting reference to Oliver Stone's (Platoon fame) 1994 movie Natural Born Killers.
Excerpt from ToI :
The first verdict in the cases relating to the most grisly and gruesome spate of rapes and killings in the sleepy outskirts of Delhi at Nithari has come. Both Surinder Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher have been sentenced to death by the trial judge, Rama Jain, holding them guilty of rape and murder of 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar.
Koli had confessed to his crimes - rapes and murders - and chillingly added a nauseating dimension to his cold blooded streak by admitting that he was a cannibal too. Pandher, on the other hand, had denied any role in the crimes, which virtually was supported by CBI which gave him the clean chit in one case after the other in the Nithari serial rapes and murders.
But after the verdict and sentence came, many among the victims' families felt that the judge was right in giving death sentence to Pandher, who the presiding officer felt was equally liable for the crimes of his servant. For, it was the master's "hedonistic lifestyle" that activated the criminal instinct animal in Koli.
Was the Nithari case verdict inspired by the logic behind the failed law suit that was brought against celebrated Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone for the famous movie "Natural Born Killers" released in August 1994?
On March 5, 1995, two teenagers, Sarah Edmondson and Ben Darras, watched the movie repeatedly in a cabin in Oklahoma while being on a drug induced high. Next morning, the teenagers took their arms and drove off towards Hernando, where Darras killed William Savage by pumping two bullets into his head without any provocation. A little later, Edmondson let go a bullet at Patsy Byers, a store cashier, at Ponchatoula. Byers survived the shooting but ended up as a paraplegic until her death of cancer in 1997.
In July 1995, Byers filed a law suit against Edmondson and Darras. A year later, it was amended to include Time Warner Entertainment and Oliver Stone holding them responsible for inspiring people to commit murders.
The case meandered through various streets and layers of judicial fora and after seven years of litigation, the Supreme Court finally upheld the right of free speech and the trial judge found no evidence "that Stone or the film distributor Warner Bros intended to incite violence".
So, if Pandher had an abnormal lifestyle that was illegal, he should be punished for that. But, he cannot be put to sword for anything other than that. If it was rape, he should be punished for rape. But, if he has not committed murder, he cannot be punished for scripting a killing as was the case with the persecution of Oliver Stone.
The depiction of rapes by villains in our Bollywood movies could - and many sociologists and psychologists genuinely feel must - have incited frustrated young men to commit the crime. Going by the logic in the Nithari verdict, the villains, directors and the producers of these films as well as the theatre owners should face law as offenders like the frustrated young men who actually commit the offence.
Again, if this Nithari judgment logic epitomizing the unheard of vicarious liability in a criminal case was to be taken into account, health minister Anbumani Ramadoss would be happy to penalize Shah Rukh Khan and other film stars who smoke every time a person smokes in public after watching a film starring one of these stars.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A Q Khan could be on Mossad hit list!
** Article from ToI
NEW DELHI: Can Pakistan's nuclear scientist A Q Khan be on a secret hit list of the frighteningly efficient Mossad of Israel? He could,particularly since six of his closest associates, all nuclear scientists from the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), apparently are.
In a recent book on the history of Israel's ace spy service Mossad, the author, Gordon Thomas, says that after they traced the travel paths of Khan's associates to Saudi Arabia and Tehran during Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's regime, Mossad moved these scientists from their "detain" list to their "kill" list.
‘Gideon’s Spies’ records how Mossad got into the job of tracking Khan after al-Qaida's No.3, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, revealed to US investigators in 2003 of a dirty bomb plot in the US.
Soon after, the book relates, Mossad told the US that Khan had travelled to Afghanistan to meet Osama bin Laden in April 2003, along with another nuclear scientist, Murad Qasim, a leading expert in the intricacies of centrifugal technology in the Khan Laboratories.
The publication of book coincides with revived fears that the proliferation network established by Khan, who was last week released by a Pakistani court, could easily be resurrected with his old associates again footloose.
In his book, Thomas says that in May 2003, Khan hosted six nuclear scientists at his home in Rawalpindi - Murad Qasim, Muhammed Zubair, Bashiruddin Mahmood, Saeed Akhtar, Imtiaz Baig and Waheed Nasir. All had earlier helped out with the North Korean nuclear project. Bashiruddin Mahmood, one of the scientists who had been "dropped" by the Pakistan government, had actually admitted to meeting Osama and Mullah Omar, but told Pakistani investigators that he had refused their demand for a dirty bomb.
After Khalid Sheikh Mohammed revealed their names to US officials, these scientists disappeared from Pakistan. By 2004-2005, they were visible in Saudi Arabia, though by that time Khan was under house arrest. By October 2005, the book says, Mossad traced Khan's associates to Tehran, a week after North Korea transferred liquid propellant to Iran for its Shahab 3 missile.
That's one possibility. The other is that it would not take too much to resurrect the Khan network. Interestingly, Khan's release last week came soon after two Swiss brothers - Marco and Urs Tinner - indicted in selling nuclear technology from Khan's labs to Libya, were freed after three years in detention. A few months ago, another key member of the Khan nuclear network, Buhary Abu Tahir Sayed, a Sri Lankan held in Malaysia, was also quietly released.
Sources said Dawood Ibrahim has been known to put his organised crime network to the use of Khan's nuclear blackmarket, allegedly through a Dubai company, which has apparently disappeared. And he's on the loose.
In other words, the basic elements of Khan's nuclear network are free and able. But as B Raman, terrorism analyst, points out, "This time, the danger is not that Khan will supply to other governments, but could be available for help to anti-US, anti-India jihadi groups like al-Qaida." After all, Khan and Osama both reside within the same political boundaries.
Probably in anticipation, the US last month imposed financial sanctions on a number of Khan's associates. The state department sanctions include individuals and entities such as Selim Alguadis, Kursad Zafer Cire, Muhammad Nasim ud Din, EKA Elektronik Kontrol Aletleri Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, ETI Elektroteknik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Tradefin Engineering, Muhammad Farooq, Daniel Geiges, Paul Griffin, Peter Griffin, Abdul Qadeer Khan, Shamsul Bahrin bin Rukiban, Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir, Gotthard Lerch, Gerhard Wisser and Shah Hakim Shahnazim Zain.
NEW DELHI: Can Pakistan's nuclear scientist A Q Khan be on a secret hit list of the frighteningly efficient Mossad of Israel? He could,particularly since six of his closest associates, all nuclear scientists from the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), apparently are.
In a recent book on the history of Israel's ace spy service Mossad, the author, Gordon Thomas, says that after they traced the travel paths of Khan's associates to Saudi Arabia and Tehran during Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's regime, Mossad moved these scientists from their "detain" list to their "kill" list.
‘Gideon’s Spies’ records how Mossad got into the job of tracking Khan after al-Qaida's No.3, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, revealed to US investigators in 2003 of a dirty bomb plot in the US.
Soon after, the book relates, Mossad told the US that Khan had travelled to Afghanistan to meet Osama bin Laden in April 2003, along with another nuclear scientist, Murad Qasim, a leading expert in the intricacies of centrifugal technology in the Khan Laboratories.
The publication of book coincides with revived fears that the proliferation network established by Khan, who was last week released by a Pakistani court, could easily be resurrected with his old associates again footloose.
In his book, Thomas says that in May 2003, Khan hosted six nuclear scientists at his home in Rawalpindi - Murad Qasim, Muhammed Zubair, Bashiruddin Mahmood, Saeed Akhtar, Imtiaz Baig and Waheed Nasir. All had earlier helped out with the North Korean nuclear project. Bashiruddin Mahmood, one of the scientists who had been "dropped" by the Pakistan government, had actually admitted to meeting Osama and Mullah Omar, but told Pakistani investigators that he had refused their demand for a dirty bomb.
After Khalid Sheikh Mohammed revealed their names to US officials, these scientists disappeared from Pakistan. By 2004-2005, they were visible in Saudi Arabia, though by that time Khan was under house arrest. By October 2005, the book says, Mossad traced Khan's associates to Tehran, a week after North Korea transferred liquid propellant to Iran for its Shahab 3 missile.
That's one possibility. The other is that it would not take too much to resurrect the Khan network. Interestingly, Khan's release last week came soon after two Swiss brothers - Marco and Urs Tinner - indicted in selling nuclear technology from Khan's labs to Libya, were freed after three years in detention. A few months ago, another key member of the Khan nuclear network, Buhary Abu Tahir Sayed, a Sri Lankan held in Malaysia, was also quietly released.
Sources said Dawood Ibrahim has been known to put his organised crime network to the use of Khan's nuclear blackmarket, allegedly through a Dubai company, which has apparently disappeared. And he's on the loose.
In other words, the basic elements of Khan's nuclear network are free and able. But as B Raman, terrorism analyst, points out, "This time, the danger is not that Khan will supply to other governments, but could be available for help to anti-US, anti-India jihadi groups like al-Qaida." After all, Khan and Osama both reside within the same political boundaries.
Probably in anticipation, the US last month imposed financial sanctions on a number of Khan's associates. The state department sanctions include individuals and entities such as Selim Alguadis, Kursad Zafer Cire, Muhammad Nasim ud Din, EKA Elektronik Kontrol Aletleri Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, ETI Elektroteknik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Tradefin Engineering, Muhammad Farooq, Daniel Geiges, Paul Griffin, Peter Griffin, Abdul Qadeer Khan, Shamsul Bahrin bin Rukiban, Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir, Gotthard Lerch, Gerhard Wisser and Shah Hakim Shahnazim Zain.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Nice thought!
There were once 2 brothers who lived on the 80th level. On coming home one day, they realized to their dismay that the lifts were not working and that they have to climb the stairs home.
After struggling to the 20th level, panting and tired, they decided to abandon their bags and come back for them the next day. They left their bags then and climbed on. When they have struggled to the 40th level, the younger brother started to grumble and both of them began to quarrel. They continued to climb the flights of steps, quarreling all the way to the 60th floor.
They then realized that they have only 20 levels more to climb and decided to stop quarreling and continue climbing in peace. They silently climbed on and reached their home at long last. Each stood calmly before the door and waited for the other to open the door.
And they realized that the key was in their bags which was left on the 20th floor
This story is reflecting on our life...many of us live under the expectations of our parents, teachers and friends when young. We seldom get to do the things that we really like and love and are under so much pressure and stress so that by the age of 20, we get tired and decided to dump this load.
Being free of the stress and pressure, we work enthusiastically and dream ambitious wishes.
But by the time we reach 40 years old, we start to lose our vision and dreams. We began to feel unsatisfied and start to complain and criticize. We live life as a misery as we are never satisfied. Reaching 60, we realize that we have little left for complaining anymore, and we began to walk the final episode in peace and calmness.
We think that there is nothing left to disappoint us, only to realize that we could not rest in peace because we have an unfulfilled dream ...... a dream we abandoned 60 years ago.
So what is your dream?
Follow your dreams, so that you will not live with regrets.
After struggling to the 20th level, panting and tired, they decided to abandon their bags and come back for them the next day. They left their bags then and climbed on. When they have struggled to the 40th level, the younger brother started to grumble and both of them began to quarrel. They continued to climb the flights of steps, quarreling all the way to the 60th floor.
They then realized that they have only 20 levels more to climb and decided to stop quarreling and continue climbing in peace. They silently climbed on and reached their home at long last. Each stood calmly before the door and waited for the other to open the door.
And they realized that the key was in their bags which was left on the 20th floor
This story is reflecting on our life...many of us live under the expectations of our parents, teachers and friends when young. We seldom get to do the things that we really like and love and are under so much pressure and stress so that by the age of 20, we get tired and decided to dump this load.
Being free of the stress and pressure, we work enthusiastically and dream ambitious wishes.
But by the time we reach 40 years old, we start to lose our vision and dreams. We began to feel unsatisfied and start to complain and criticize. We live life as a misery as we are never satisfied. Reaching 60, we realize that we have little left for complaining anymore, and we began to walk the final episode in peace and calmness.
We think that there is nothing left to disappoint us, only to realize that we could not rest in peace because we have an unfulfilled dream ...... a dream we abandoned 60 years ago.
So what is your dream?
Follow your dreams, so that you will not live with regrets.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Jack Bauer is back!
I think i am watching too much TV... This blog is becoming like TV guide. :) Anyway, Jack Bauer is back in the critically acclaimed TV series 24 (Season 7).
24 and Lost are my most favorite drama series not only because of the quality of writing and cast but it is the genre of the shows which intrigues me most. 24 is an espionage-counter terrorist thriller drama shown in real time. real time story telling is something that separates this show from all of the other shows, past and present. Each episode of the show corresponds to an hour of the life of the characters and '24' represents the day (24 hours) wherein all the events takes place. jack Bauer is played by Kiefer Sutherland.
The quality of the show can be judged by the fact that it has been nominated 5 times for best drama category award (emmys) and one once in 2006 (for awesome season 5) . Also as a testimony to Sutherland's performance he has been nominated for all six seasons and won once in 2006. At least in my memory, handful of actors have been nominated for all the seasons and with such critical acclaim.
Another thing that really like about the show is that it has done many firsts and has taken bold steps which many shows never took. Season 1 stated with an African American contesting for US Presidency (this was way back in 2001) and is a serious contender for the office. Season 7 showcases a female president in charge. The show also dealt with depiction of the Muslim community as of moderates and extremists. There were storyline on severe corruption up to the rank of the president. Also the show doesn' shy from jack and others using torture as an interrogation instrument but many will disagree with that aspect. The show also has been very dynamic with change in the cast. kiefer is the only cast member who has appeared in all 7 seasons (haven't seen the character Aaron yet...). Some characters like David palmer (i loved this character) were killed/died or some have left the CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit).
Plot synopsis
Season 1
Season 1 begins and ends at 12:00 AM, and occurs on the day of the California presidential primary. Jack Bauer must protect Senator David Palmer from an assassination plot, and rescue his own family from those responsible for the plot, who seek retribution for Jack's and David Palmer's involvement with a covert U.S. mission in the Balkans.
Season 2
Set 18 months after season 1, season 2 begins and ends at 8:00 AM. Jack must stop a nuclear bomb from detonating in Los Angeles, then assist President David Palmer in proving who is responsible for the threat.
Season 3
Set 3 years after season 2, season 3 begins and ends at 1:00 PM. While struggling with a heroin addiction, Jack must re-infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel in order to acquire a deadly virus being marketed underground. Jack must then stop the mastermind behind the virus from releasing it.
Season 4
Set 18 months after season 3, season 4 begins and ends at 7:00 AM. Jack must save the lives of Secretary Heller (his new boss) and Heller's daughter Audrey Raines (with whom Jack is romantically involved) when they are kidnapped by terrorists. The same terrorists then launch further attacks against America, and Jack is forced to use unorthodox methods to stop them, methods which will have long-term consequences for both Jack and the U.S.
Season 5
Set 18 months after season 4, season 5 begins and ends at 7:00 AM. Jack is believed to be dead by everyone except a few of his closest friends. Terrorists with connections to the U.S. government attempt to steal nerve gas in order to protect U.S. oil interests in Asia, and Jack must resurface to stop them as well as dismantle the government conspiracy.
Season 6
Set 20 months after season 5, season 6 begins and ends at 6:00 AM. Jack is released after being detained in a Chinese prison for twenty months. Terrorists plot to set off suitcase nuclear devices in the United States and Jack must stop them; later, Jack has to prevent sensitive circuitry from falling into the hands of the Chinese to prevent war between the U.S. and Russia.
24: Redemption
Redemption is a television movie, aired on November 23, 2008, bridging the gap between the sixth and seventh seasons of 24. Set partially in Southern Africa, Jack finds himself caught up in a military coup while trying to find somewhere he can rest. Meanwhile, in the United States, it is Inauguration Day, where Allison Taylor is being sworn in to office.
Season 7
Set approximately three and a half years after season 6, season 7 begins and ends at 8:00 AM. A major national security incident occurs when the firewall responsible for protecting America's government computer infrastructure is breached. The season features the show's first female president, Allison Taylor, and this is the first season not to feature CTU.
24 frequently uses split-screen action to follow multiple plots, phone conversations, and shots leading into and out of commercial breaks, and emotional conversations, allowing the depiction of both participants' faces without breaking tension by cutting back and forth between camera angles. A real time clock is shown through out the run time and the ad breaks generally sows the time where nothing new happens like the characters are traveling etc.
Considering that the episode are hour long and are 24 in number, the writers have done okay job in terms of logical and sensible writing. (except season 6 i should say). Even considering many inherent flaws and how how Jack is always lucky, the show is too good to be just hated. If you love espionage, politics and thrillers this show is a must watch!
24 and Lost are my most favorite drama series not only because of the quality of writing and cast but it is the genre of the shows which intrigues me most. 24 is an espionage-counter terrorist thriller drama shown in real time. real time story telling is something that separates this show from all of the other shows, past and present. Each episode of the show corresponds to an hour of the life of the characters and '24' represents the day (24 hours) wherein all the events takes place. jack Bauer is played by Kiefer Sutherland.
The quality of the show can be judged by the fact that it has been nominated 5 times for best drama category award (emmys) and one once in 2006 (for awesome season 5) . Also as a testimony to Sutherland's performance he has been nominated for all six seasons and won once in 2006. At least in my memory, handful of actors have been nominated for all the seasons and with such critical acclaim.Another thing that really like about the show is that it has done many firsts and has taken bold steps which many shows never took. Season 1 stated with an African American contesting for US Presidency (this was way back in 2001) and is a serious contender for the office. Season 7 showcases a female president in charge. The show also dealt with depiction of the Muslim community as of moderates and extremists. There were storyline on severe corruption up to the rank of the president. Also the show doesn' shy from jack and others using torture as an interrogation instrument but many will disagree with that aspect. The show also has been very dynamic with change in the cast. kiefer is the only cast member who has appeared in all 7 seasons (haven't seen the character Aaron yet...). Some characters like David palmer (i loved this character) were killed/died or some have left the CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit).
Plot synopsis
Season 1
Season 1 begins and ends at 12:00 AM, and occurs on the day of the California presidential primary. Jack Bauer must protect Senator David Palmer from an assassination plot, and rescue his own family from those responsible for the plot, who seek retribution for Jack's and David Palmer's involvement with a covert U.S. mission in the Balkans.
Season 2
Set 18 months after season 1, season 2 begins and ends at 8:00 AM. Jack must stop a nuclear bomb from detonating in Los Angeles, then assist President David Palmer in proving who is responsible for the threat.
Season 3
Set 3 years after season 2, season 3 begins and ends at 1:00 PM. While struggling with a heroin addiction, Jack must re-infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel in order to acquire a deadly virus being marketed underground. Jack must then stop the mastermind behind the virus from releasing it.
Season 4
Set 18 months after season 3, season 4 begins and ends at 7:00 AM. Jack must save the lives of Secretary Heller (his new boss) and Heller's daughter Audrey Raines (with whom Jack is romantically involved) when they are kidnapped by terrorists. The same terrorists then launch further attacks against America, and Jack is forced to use unorthodox methods to stop them, methods which will have long-term consequences for both Jack and the U.S.
Season 5
Set 18 months after season 4, season 5 begins and ends at 7:00 AM. Jack is believed to be dead by everyone except a few of his closest friends. Terrorists with connections to the U.S. government attempt to steal nerve gas in order to protect U.S. oil interests in Asia, and Jack must resurface to stop them as well as dismantle the government conspiracy.
Season 6
Set 20 months after season 5, season 6 begins and ends at 6:00 AM. Jack is released after being detained in a Chinese prison for twenty months. Terrorists plot to set off suitcase nuclear devices in the United States and Jack must stop them; later, Jack has to prevent sensitive circuitry from falling into the hands of the Chinese to prevent war between the U.S. and Russia.
24: Redemption
Redemption is a television movie, aired on November 23, 2008, bridging the gap between the sixth and seventh seasons of 24. Set partially in Southern Africa, Jack finds himself caught up in a military coup while trying to find somewhere he can rest. Meanwhile, in the United States, it is Inauguration Day, where Allison Taylor is being sworn in to office.
Season 7
Set approximately three and a half years after season 6, season 7 begins and ends at 8:00 AM. A major national security incident occurs when the firewall responsible for protecting America's government computer infrastructure is breached. The season features the show's first female president, Allison Taylor, and this is the first season not to feature CTU.
24 frequently uses split-screen action to follow multiple plots, phone conversations, and shots leading into and out of commercial breaks, and emotional conversations, allowing the depiction of both participants' faces without breaking tension by cutting back and forth between camera angles. A real time clock is shown through out the run time and the ad breaks generally sows the time where nothing new happens like the characters are traveling etc.
Considering that the episode are hour long and are 24 in number, the writers have done okay job in terms of logical and sensible writing. (except season 6 i should say). Even considering many inherent flaws and how how Jack is always lucky, the show is too good to be just hated. If you love espionage, politics and thrillers this show is a must watch!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Israel and Palestine
Read an article on Times of India by MJ Akbar (he is a good writer for ToI) :
Saladin, the greatest of Muslim warriors, died of fever and old age on the morning of March 4, 1124. He was the iconic believer. Malcolm Lyons and D E P Jackson write in Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War, ''The imam Abu Jafar and al-Fadil were with him on the morning of March 4. The imam was reciting from the Quran. 'It is said that when he reached the words — There is no god but God and in Him I put my trust — Saladin smiled; his face cleared and he surrendered his soul to God'.''
On his last visit to Jerusalem, the holy city he had restored to Arab rule, in September 1123, he gave his fourth son, Abu Mansur al-Zahir, some immortal advice. As his son was about to leave, on October 6, Saladin kissed him, rubbed his hair fondly and said: be chary of shedding blood, ''for blood does not sleep''. He added, addressing his attendant emirs, ''I have only reached my present position by conciliation''.
Nine centuries later, blood has still not slept in that land. It keeps awake as a nightmare. No region in modern times has refused conciliation and invested as heavily in a nightmare.
Blood neither sleeps nor ceases; most cruelly, it does not discriminate between child and man. There is nothing new about war. But there is something new about the war raging on the sands of Israel and Palestine. Once, blood was lost on a battlefield, with honour. Blood is now spilt on the street. Civilians are no longer exempt from the havoc of war. Both sides target them, relentlessly. The difference is this: the Qassam rockets fired by Palestinians are crackers, pinpricks, compared to the overwhelming, bellicose firepower of Israel. Of all the images shivering into our consciousness from Gaza, none is more searing than the faces of children who have lost their laughter. Israel is building the foundations for war in 2025: children who are five today will be adults then. Blood will not sleep.
Israel has every right to protect its citizens, but there are grave dangers in a disproportionate action that punishes a population for the actions of a government. It is only the insecure who over-react, but why would Israel, with its overwhelming military superiority, feel vulnerable? Perhaps, after throwing a chain around Gaza and delivering maximum punishment, time after time, it is unable to deal with the persistence of defiance.
Defiance is courage, and courage is admirable, but courage is not victory. Victory too needs a definition, and it cannot be imposition. It must be justice, and equity demands that Palestine and Israel accept that neither will disappear. Both are nations. Facts demand peace, but fear engineers an essentially unequal war, its story told in cold statistics of dead, dying and destruction.
There is more than one reason why Palestinians are still in refugee camps and Israel is a regional superpower.
Gaza is imprisoned in two concentric circles. Only one is the blockade by Israel. The larger circle is a noose placed by cynical Arab ruling cliques who feed off Palestine's despair to perpetuate their own survival, using the alibi of conflict. When there is rage on the Arab street, as now, there is silence and wordplay in the Arab secretariat. Organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah have filled a vacuum created by military incompetence and pathetic governance. That is their appeal to Muslims beyond their borders.
Poor governance has created a knowledge deficit; and knowledge is the key to strength. An Arab friend sent me some startling statistics; the email was captioned 'A time for introspection'. Here are just a few: there are only 500 odd universities in the Muslim world. The United States has 5,758 and India has nearly 8,500. Literacy in the developed world is 90% against 40% in the Muslim world. If you removed Turkey from the list, the comparison would look grimmer. High tech goods and services constitute only 0.9% of the exports from Pakistan, and 0.3% from Algeria. They add up to 68% of Singapore's exports.
Men die for two diametrically opposed reasons: when they value what they seek to defend, and when there is nothing worth living for. Israel has created a state worth defending. The Palestinians must be given something to live for.
Saladin, the greatest of Muslim warriors, died of fever and old age on the morning of March 4, 1124. He was the iconic believer. Malcolm Lyons and D E P Jackson write in Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War, ''The imam Abu Jafar and al-Fadil were with him on the morning of March 4. The imam was reciting from the Quran. 'It is said that when he reached the words — There is no god but God and in Him I put my trust — Saladin smiled; his face cleared and he surrendered his soul to God'.''
On his last visit to Jerusalem, the holy city he had restored to Arab rule, in September 1123, he gave his fourth son, Abu Mansur al-Zahir, some immortal advice. As his son was about to leave, on October 6, Saladin kissed him, rubbed his hair fondly and said: be chary of shedding blood, ''for blood does not sleep''. He added, addressing his attendant emirs, ''I have only reached my present position by conciliation''.
Nine centuries later, blood has still not slept in that land. It keeps awake as a nightmare. No region in modern times has refused conciliation and invested as heavily in a nightmare.
Blood neither sleeps nor ceases; most cruelly, it does not discriminate between child and man. There is nothing new about war. But there is something new about the war raging on the sands of Israel and Palestine. Once, blood was lost on a battlefield, with honour. Blood is now spilt on the street. Civilians are no longer exempt from the havoc of war. Both sides target them, relentlessly. The difference is this: the Qassam rockets fired by Palestinians are crackers, pinpricks, compared to the overwhelming, bellicose firepower of Israel. Of all the images shivering into our consciousness from Gaza, none is more searing than the faces of children who have lost their laughter. Israel is building the foundations for war in 2025: children who are five today will be adults then. Blood will not sleep.
Israel has every right to protect its citizens, but there are grave dangers in a disproportionate action that punishes a population for the actions of a government. It is only the insecure who over-react, but why would Israel, with its overwhelming military superiority, feel vulnerable? Perhaps, after throwing a chain around Gaza and delivering maximum punishment, time after time, it is unable to deal with the persistence of defiance.
Defiance is courage, and courage is admirable, but courage is not victory. Victory too needs a definition, and it cannot be imposition. It must be justice, and equity demands that Palestine and Israel accept that neither will disappear. Both are nations. Facts demand peace, but fear engineers an essentially unequal war, its story told in cold statistics of dead, dying and destruction.
There is more than one reason why Palestinians are still in refugee camps and Israel is a regional superpower.
Gaza is imprisoned in two concentric circles. Only one is the blockade by Israel. The larger circle is a noose placed by cynical Arab ruling cliques who feed off Palestine's despair to perpetuate their own survival, using the alibi of conflict. When there is rage on the Arab street, as now, there is silence and wordplay in the Arab secretariat. Organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah have filled a vacuum created by military incompetence and pathetic governance. That is their appeal to Muslims beyond their borders.
Poor governance has created a knowledge deficit; and knowledge is the key to strength. An Arab friend sent me some startling statistics; the email was captioned 'A time for introspection'. Here are just a few: there are only 500 odd universities in the Muslim world. The United States has 5,758 and India has nearly 8,500. Literacy in the developed world is 90% against 40% in the Muslim world. If you removed Turkey from the list, the comparison would look grimmer. High tech goods and services constitute only 0.9% of the exports from Pakistan, and 0.3% from Algeria. They add up to 68% of Singapore's exports.
Men die for two diametrically opposed reasons: when they value what they seek to defend, and when there is nothing worth living for. Israel has created a state worth defending. The Palestinians must be given something to live for.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Firefly - a great sci fi TV series
Joss Whedon is a genius. We know him better by his popular serials like Buffy the Vampire slayer and Angel but my favorite of his works is TV series Firefly.
Firefly first aired on FOX in 2002 (US) and was canceled after fourteen episodes (three of those were not even aired). i watched the entire series on hulu.com (which is an awesome site btw :)). Low ratings were cited as the reason for cancellation of the show. The show always had a dedicated lot of fans but that could not bring the show back (a la Family Guy).
Firefly is my TV's Star Wars. It is just awesome. The series has a very different genre... not the typical aliens and inter galactic wars and time travel stuff but of a mix of future civilization and western settings. The series takes place in 2517 on several locations (planets, moons, spaceships). As time passed by on Earth, humans used all the resources and moved out of Earth and colonized many other planets in a different star system. Many of those were terraformed, a process in which a planet or moon is altered to resemble Earth. The process made the planet habitable but did not make it high tech. Which meant some of them (mostly part of 'alliance', a large consortium kind of planets) were very developed and while some planets were just habitable making them resemblance the wild west :)
The title of the show comes from the class of the space ship (called Serenity), which features all the main characters of the show, called Firefly (it looks like one with tail lighting up during acceleration). The awesome mix of the western genre and sci fi takes the series to a cult status.
Like all great TV series, Firefly had a great ensemble cast. Malcolm Reynolds is the captain of the ship Serenity and took part in so called Unification War (War between Alliance and other independent planets, Alliance wants to control those 'uncivilized ' planets). Zoe is second in command on serenity and she served under Malcolm in the war. Washburne is the pilot of the ship and husband of Zoe. There are several other characters like Inara the companion, Janye the soldier, Kaylee the sweet mechanic ;-), Simon the doctor and river his genius sister and Book the shepard.
Firefly takes place in a multi-cultural future, primarily a fusion of Occidental and Chinese cultures, where there is a significant division between the rich and poor. As a result of the Sino-American Alliance,Mandarin Chinese is a common second language; it is used in advertisements, and characters in the show frequently use Chinese words and curses.
The writing of the show is crisp and intelligent. The episode were aired as one hour episodes. But unfortunately after the end of 14 episodes the viewer is left with lots of unanswered questions (unlike Studio 60 on the sunset strip which was also canceled after one season ). Many of the questions were answered in the movie Serenity which is continuity of the TV series. I haven't seen the movie but the movie has got critical acclaim and already has a cult status like the series.
All in all, this series is great mix of drama and action. A Must watch!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Red Flag 2008
RED FLAG – ‘08
IAF took part in what is primarily NATO-only military exercise in Nellis Airforce base in Nevada, USA. The IAF contingent involved eight SU-30 MKIs, two IL-78 air-to-air refuellers and one IL-76 transport aircraft. The contingent comprised 156 personnel below the officers rank and 91 officers (including 10 members of ‘Garud’ — IAF’s special force). Besides the USAF (F-15s and F-16s), this exercise will saw the participation of the South Korean Air Force (F-15) and the French Air Force (Rafales, it seems that they were all set to bring in Mirage2000 but when they got news IAF was coming in with MKIs, they decided otherwise. J). Good Video link : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8122432671.
MKI stands for "Modernizirovannyi Kommercheskiy Indiski" meaning "Modernized Commercial India". Jointly-developed with India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited by the Sukhoi Aviation Corporation for the Indian Air Force. Includes Thrust Vectoring Control (TVC) and canards. They are equipped with a multi-national avionics complex sourced from Israel, India, Russia and France.
Joint exercises are not new but what was great was the fact this the first outing for Su 30 MKIs against USAF. Earlier Cope India ’04 exercise involved Su 30K (not MKIs) and Mirage2000. Reports suggest MKIs performed exceedingly well against F-15 and F-16 (sssh, sssh, is PAF listening? J) USAF and other were eager to see how well these Sukhois perform and so were the IAF contingent. There were pakka official reports or insider reports immediately after the exercise as to how did each team perform…Incidentally, a video got leaked on YouTube.com where F-15 pilot debriefs an audience. Have a look : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKEa-R37PeU&feature=related
Unfortunately big hype was made by Indian media (unnecessary, as this is not official USAF comment) because of so-called derogatory remarks on IAF. Anyway, good watch and those are that guy’s views!
Transcript for those who don’t have access to the video :
PART 1
Discussion on the Su-30MKI. These were version five airplanes, they had vectored thrust, canards, all the advanced weapons the Russians build, including the AMRAAMSKI, and there (Archer?) there IR missile, which has a 30 mile range on it. Nothing classified, all can be found in Janes... etc...
The Sukhoi engines (i believe he called them Tumansky? ) are very vulnerable to FOD. The Indians asked for a 1 minute spacing between take offs - with nearly 50-60 aircraft supposed to take of, if you have one person who will wait one minute between each take off to launch these six aircraft... yeah.... right, they can go find some other place to fly. So we trained with them, worked with them, and got them to shorten that down to 45 seconds, still not acceptable. But what we did was launch their aircraft ahead, since they had enough gas fuel, they would go and wait orbit ahead and the rest would join up. They were very concerned about fod and how Russian engines are not nearly as reliable as Americans. One of the things the Indians were very disapointed in, if an engine breaks down, they make them send the engine back to Russia, then you'll send you back a new one.
There's a great video on youtube, where somebody shows the F-22 flying its demo, and the Su-30MKI, side by side, and he does the exact same domonstration, as the F-22. And an airshow, then can do the same demonstration. The reality is, that's about as close as the airplanes ever get. When you compare it with out airplanes, the F-16 and F-15, it's a tad bit better than we are. And that's pretty impressive, it has better radar, more thrust, vectored thrust, longer ranged weapons, so it's pretty impressive. The Sukhoi is a tad bit better (holds arm at chest level, and the other arm signifying the Sukhoi a wee bit higher). But now compare with the F-22 Raptor, the raptor is here. (holds palm way above his head - signifying that the aircraft is much better). OK, next.
Now coming to the aircombat. You know the story of Cope India and how our F-15s went there for the exercise at the Indian Nellis. Our aircraft were a regular unit while they had the most experienced pilots on the Sukhoi-30s there. Ours were a mix of 80-20 - 80 percent with low experience, less than 500 hours on the F-15, the remaining 20 were fairly experienced but they came back from a staff appointment so they really hadn't had a lot of time flying. Anyway at Cope India, we held our own, but the Indians went to town thumping their chests - they said we (IAF) shot them down more times than they shot us down - which was true.
Now here at Mountain Home, the Sukhoi unit that they sent was a regular operational unit - had a mix of 50-50 (experienced and inexperienced). They had come off MiG-21s.. Well what happened was after the first two to three days of operations, you know exchanging patches and all, we went up in 1 vs 1 combat. The Indian pilots came from MiG-21 Bison units. the MiG-21 bison, as you know is based on the Mig from the Vietnam war era, but upgraded with an Israeli radar, Israeli jammer, active homing missile etc. the small RCS of the MiG-21 with the Israeli jammer would make them invisible to radar... mean they could close in on our legacy fighters (F-15 and F-16) and engage in aircombat. Remember back in 4477th... Mig-21 had ability to get into the fight, 110 knots, 60 degrees nose high, 10,000 feet to 20,000 feet, very maneuverable airplane, but it didn't have any good weapons. Now it has high off bore sight, helmet, jammer, good radar, and the archer, so that's the plane the SU-30 experianced pilots came out of.
So we get them to Mountain Home... amazingly, we dominated. Not with a clean F-15, we dominated with an F-15 in wartime configuration, I mean, 4 missile onboard, wingtanks, and they're sitting there in there Su-30s with ACMI pods. Floored to the point after the first 3 days, they didn't want any more 1 vs 1 stuff. Funny 'cause in India, they only wanted 1 vs 1 - cause they were winning.
The Sukhoi has TVC in a V (OFF AXIS 2D TVC... SEMI 3D TVC) . The TVC would kick in and push the aircraft the direction when the pilot engages the switch on the stick. All this is formidable on paper but what you would know is that with the TVC kicking in, its a huge aircraft, and thrusting such a huge aircraft in that direction creates a lot of drag. It's a biiig airplane. A huge airplane. We had enough experience with the F-22. which has up/down TVC nozzles.
What would happen is that the in a merge with the F-22... From our experience, that's the only way you would get the F-22. and the only way - this happens only if there is an inexperienced pilot because the experienced ones never make the mistake. You would be pulling in scissor fight hoping you would get the F-22 in your sights (laughs ). The F22 can sustain a turn rate of 28 deg per second at 20,000 feet while the F-15 can get an instantaneous rate of 21 and a sustained rate of 15-16. So you are pulling and hoping. Post stall, maneuver, the *** end drops and instead of going up, it just drops in mid air. This is where the F-15 pilot would pull up vertical, switch to guns, then come down and take a shot at the F-22. Of course you have to first get in close to do this, most probably the F-22 will kill you before that.
The Su-30? No problem. Big aircraft. Big cross section. Jamming to get to the merge, so you have to fight close... he has 22 - 23 degrees per second sustained turn rate. We've been fighting the Raptor, so we've been going oh dude, this is easy. So as we're fighting him, all of a sudden you'd see the *** end kick down, going post stall - but now he starts falling from the sky. The F-15 wouldn't even have to pull up. slight pull up on the stick, engage guns, come down and drill his brains out.
The Indians were astonished. We were amazed. After three to four days of `1vs1, they said, okay we had enough of this lets get back to the regular operations. While at Cope India , all the Indians wanted to do was just 1 vs 1
PART 2
While on paper, he has vectored thrust, all these great weapons and everything, he looks the same as a Raptor, he's no where near the same. So that was a really good thing for us to find out, that we really didn't know until this last excercise. Now, what I'm scared of, is congress is going to hear that and go 'great we don't need to buy any more airplanes... no no no, we used to be way ahead of them, now they're right up close to us and just a little bit higher. I say that they're just alittle bit better than us, is because when there pilots learn how to fly, they'll be abled to beat the F-16 and F-15, on a regular basis. Right now, they use TVC and just go into post stall.... so it's only a matter of time before they learn.
The french usually came with Mirage 2000 dash 5, one of there older airplanes, but the moment they knew the Indians were getting the Sukhois they decided to send the Rafales. their latest, advanced jet. 90% of the time, they followed the Indians in, but they never really came into the merge. Like in Iraq and Afghanastan, they would do local flights and say we participated, but what they were really doing is just sniffing electronically and finding out how our radars work. And that's really all they did out here.
One thing about the IAF - they were a professional lot and they were very strict about the rules of the flying area. During their stay they made zero mistakes -/ errors about the flying area and that was incredible. We had other expectations but they were quite good. And they're learning... The IAF was also very serious about another thing.
They killed a lot of friendlies. You know what was happening is that they didn't have the datalink with the Awacs. Big internet data links. Russian made data links no computer link - the Koreans, the French and us could see the complete picture on the HUD, but the IAF had to ask the AWACS. they would ask about a target ahead, "Contact on my nose 22 miles, friendly or hostile?" Awacs would say "No hostile within 40 miles of you" then "Fox2." (laughs/audience laughs) The first two days they got hit bad, they were getting shot down while waiting for answers so they decided to kill the other guy fast without knowing.. better you die than me. But they took the fratricides very seriously. They did not have combat I.D capability.
The Koreans bought in their brand new F-15Ks. beautiful aircraft, with AESA radar and all like on the F-22. Had Isreali targetting and jamming pods on them. Incredible airplanes. Very professional also. But they had less than 50 hours on it and none on the airplane, they were still learning the aircraft. so it did not have any significant impact.
So while Nellis is about training with people who we will go to war with, Red Flag Alaska (PACOM??): This is different from Red Flag Nellis. This where we exercise for friendship building. Most countries that fly there are in a conflict with each other. The Indians really wanted to participate in Red Flag Nellis, so they could mix right in and be a part of the coalition, and they learned, in a big way, that, that, wouldn't happen.
Questions...
Was the AESA radar in the Indian...? Well the Indian is PESA which is not active but passive, as apposed to AESA. Huge diferance, the AESA pings more, and sees more, and is more accurate, than just a passively scanned radar. PESA is good but ends up having more technical problems descriminating, and finding the right guy.
Some guy said F-15 was last dogfighting airplane, he discounted the fact the F-22 was really good...? I think the Raptor is the next great dogfighter we have. Reason is, electronic jamming, and not only electronic jamming, but we don't carry enough missiles. We're going to have to go in with guns. Gonna happen and thank god the Raptor still has a gun on it. It's fast, maneuverable, .... and the Block 50 (and 52 EHRM P&W FTW), is pretty good also, so these aircraft, the F-15, Block 50 F-16, and the Raptor, are still very capable aircraft, because when the Bison that gets in unseen with the small RCS and jammer.... going to need maneuverability.
What about the F-35? Let's save that for another discussion. We do too much work on it at this moment, but we'll save that for another time.
Comments welcome on what is true and what I not! I am not capable to get the technicalities of what he says! LB Pilots, opinions?!
This is what Vishnu Som (NDTV) has to say:
The IAF at Red Flag 2008: The True Story
Hi ... for all of you who are out there in the internet world and who have an interest in the performance of the Indian Air Force at Red Flag 2008 .. I have a few remarks. As the only Indian journalist who spent a lengthy period of time at Nellis after being granted permission by both the Indian Air Force and the US Air Force, I was granted access to impeccable sources in both forces. Whats more, I was able to independently corroborate this information with reliable, alternative sources.
Several of the points I present here in the form of this post on the Bharat Rakshak forum will be compiled into an article which I will post on my company website ndtv.com. For those of you not familiar with the Indian media ... New Delhi Television (NDTV) is India's largest 24 hour news network and our website is one of the most viewed among news websites in the country. For the moment, I have decided not to do a television news report on this since I believe the contents of this post are too technical for a larger audience.
For starters ... and this cannot be stressed enough ... the Red Flag exercises were a brilliant learning experience for all the participants, not least of all the Indian Air Force which, over a period of time, has earned the reputation of being one of the world's finest operational air forces.
This was a reputation which was reinforced at Red Flag 2008, the world's most advanced air combat exercises where the Indian Air Force fielded a number of state of the art Sukhoi 30 MKI jets in addition to IL-76 transports and IL-78 mid air refuellers.
For other participants at the Red Flag exercises ... namely the South Korean Air Force, French and US Air Force ... the opportunity to train with a platform such as the Sukhoi 30 MKI was an opportunity which just couldn't be missed. This has a lot to do not just with the jet but also with the air force operating the fighter, a force which has made a mark as an innovative operator of fast jets.
The US Air Force … the host of these exercises … was singularly gracious in its appreciation for the Indian Air Force contingent which came into Red Flag having trained extensively for the exercises not only back home but also at the Mountain Home Air Force base in the US.
Contrary to unsolicited remarks by certain serving US personnel not directly linked to day to day operations at the exercises … the Indian Air Force and its Su-30s more than made a mark during their stint in the United States.
For starters … not a single Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter was `shot down’ in close air combat missions at the Mountain Home air base. In fact, none of the Sukhois were even close to being shot down in the 10 odd one on one sorties which were planned for the first two days of the exercises at Mountain Home. These one on one engagements featured USAF jets such as the F-15 and F-16 in close air engagements against the Su-30 MKI. The majority of the kills claimed in these engagements were granted to the Indian Air Force with the remainder of these being no-results. Indian Air Force Sukhois did use their famed thrust vectoring in these one on one engagements. Contrary to what may have been reported elsewhere … the Su-30 has a rate of turn of more than 35 degrees when operating in the thrust vector mode. In certain circumstances, this goes up substantially.
By the time the exercises at Mountain Home had matured … the Indian Air Force had graduated to large formation exercises which featured dozens of jets in the sky. In one of these exercises … the blue forces, of which the Indian Air Force was a part … shot down more than 21 of the enemy jets. Most of these `kills’ have been credited to the Indian Air Force.
By the time the Indian Air Force was ready for Red Flag, the contingent had successfully worked up using the crawl, walk, run principle. At Red Flag though, they found themselves at a substantial disadvantage vis a vis the other participants since they were not networked with AWACS and other platforms in the same manner in which USAF or other participating jets were. In fact, Indian Air Force Sukhois were not even linked to one another using their Russian built data links since American authorities had asked for specifics of the system before it was cleared to operate in US airspace. The IAF, quite naturally, felt that this would compromise a classified system onboard and decided to go on with the missions without the use of data links between the Sukhois.
Neither was the Indian Air Force allowed to use chaff or flares, essential decoys to escape incoming missiles which had been fired by enemy jets. This was because the US FAA had visibility and pollution related concerns in the event that these were used in what is dense, busy air space in the Las Vegas region.
The Red Flag exercises themselves were based on large force engagements and did not see the Indian Air Force deploy thrust vectoring at all on any of the Sukhoi 30 jets not that this was required since the engagements were at long ranges.
Though it is true that there were 4-5 incidents of fratricides involving the Indian Air Force at Red Flag … it is important to point out the following:
In the debriefs that followed the exercises … responsibility for the fratricides were always put on the fighter controllers not the pilots. Its also important to point that unlike in Mountain Home, none of the Indian Air Force’s own fighter controllers were allowed to participate since there was classified equipment at Nellis used for monitoring the exercises. The lack of adequate controlling and the fact that Nellis fighter controllers often had problems understanding Indian accents (they had problems understanding French accents as well) resulted in a lack of adequate controlling in situations. Whats more … given the fact that the availability of AWACS was often low … the bulk of fratricides took place on days when the AWACS jet was not deployed. Whats important to remember though is that US participants in these exercises had a similar number of fratricides despite being fully linked in with data links and the latest IFF systems.
So was the Indian Air Force invincible at Red Flag. In a word … no. So yes, there were certainly days in which several Sukhoi jets were shot down. And there were others when they shot down many opposing jets. Ultimately though … the success of the Indian Air Force at Red Flag lay in the fact that they could meet their mission objectives as well, if not better, than any other participant. Despite the hot weather conditions, the IAF had a 95 per cent mission launch ratio, far better than some of the participants.
And no one went into the exercises thinking the score line would be a perfect one in favour of the IAF. In fact … the IAF went into these exercises with an open mind and with full admiration of the world beating range at Nellis with an unmatched system of calibrating engagement results.
Perhaps the most encouraging part of these exercises comes from the fact that the Indian Air Force’s young pilots … learnt from their mistakes, analysed, appreciated and came back strong. Mistakes were not repeated. In fact … the missions where the IAF did not fare well turned out to be immense learning experiences.
At the end of the exercises … its more than clear that the IAF’s Su-30s were more than a match for the variants of the jets participating at the Red Flag exercises. Considering the fact that the central sensor of the Sukhoi, its radar … held up just fine in training mode …despite the barrage of electronic jamming augurs well for the Indian Air Force.
As for its young pilots … these are skills and experiences that they will take back to their squadrons … experiences which will be passed on to a whole new set of pilots who will come into the next set of exercises that much wiser.
Vishnu Som
Associate Editor and Senior Anchor
NDTV
This brings up the MRCA contract which IAF has opened for 126 Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. The order will be huge, upto $10 Billion. The Six aircraft are competing for the order - the Saab Gripen, Eurofighter Typhoon, Dassault Rafale, Mikoyan MiG-35 and the American F-16IN and F/A-18IN (a version of the Super Hornet). If MKIs are so good and they have proven to be good, why does IAF need to invest so much in lower capability plane. I mean on paper, none of these bidders are better than Su. None of them have TVC (Mig 35 may have…) Is it something else other than just the quality? Is IAF trying for the ‘right mix’ or something??
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