Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Two doctrines

Sir, — Raja Mohan's `A Tale of two cities' ( April 9 ), provided an interesting study in contrast to the courses of action pursued by the British and the American forces, for wresting control of Basra and Baghdad respectively. Actually, the modus operandi mirrors their respective ``tactical doctrines''. The British, with their experience in Northern Ireland and in the ``then Malaya'' in the early '50s (counter insurgency operations), lay emphasis on the important psychological factor of ``winning the hearts and minds'' of the local populace. Thus, one has viewed on TV, the emphasis in restoring electricity and drinking water to the people of Um Qasar and Basra, as also providing medicare.

The Americans, on the other hand, subscribe to the use of overwhelming force — a sledge-hammer where a hammer would have sufficed. In adopting such a course, the enduring image of an American G.I. (in a generic sense) has been that of a ``brash, gun-toting, trigger happy cowboy, who shoots first and answers later''. The number of ``blue on blue'' incidents in the current campaign, despite the presence of state-of-the-art sensors on the various weapon platforms, bears ample testimony to this.

H. Balakrishnan,

Chennai

Sir, — Though the U.S.-U.K. coalition forces can take credit for bringing the dictatorship in Iraq to an end, they should allow the United Nations to take control of the post-war situation in Iraq. It is not enough if the U.S. President says that the U.N. will have ``a role'' to play in the formation of the interim government. He should make it clear to the world that the interim authority, that will govern Iraq after the war ends, will be chosen by the U.N. and the U.N. alone. Any move by the U.S.-led coalition to install an America-friendly regime would be termed an imperialistic design with an eye on the oil resources of Iraq.

R. Venkatesan Iyengar,

Gulbarga, Karnataka

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Understandable concerns
• Securing railway safety
• Sangh Parivar in Government
• Avoid confrontation
• India can write off Iraqi debt
• A balancing exercise
• What is imperialism?
• Two doctrines
• Iraq resolution
• All to blame

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu