Ummah’s economic lift - Is it achievable?

FIFTY-SEVEN Islamic countries have enormous resources. Some of them have an advanced industrial base. One is a nuclear power. Most of the countries in the Middle East have vast reserves of oil. Petrodollars of oil-exporting Islamic countries continue to fuel American and European economies. The investments of the Arab world in the West, if diverted to other Muslim economies, can radically change the lives of over a billion people of the Islamic countries.
Despite unlimited resources, lslamic countries are rated amongst the poorest nations on the globe. The rich amongst us would like to import luxury items from the West. The Muslims by and large lag behind other nations in almost all spheres of economy. Illiteracy, disease, lacks and in fact absences of basic amenities etc. characterize their social pattern. President General Pervez Musharraf while addressing the 2nd World Islamic Economic forum at Islamabad on Monday underscored the need for revitalizing Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) so as the facilitate a co-ordinated and effective approach to promote economic activity within the Muslim would.
There is no denying the fact that without forging unity, Muslim countries can not benefit from each other’s resources and expertise. It is indeed gratifying to note that elebrities from non-Muslim countries are participating in the WIFE moot. The Muslims do not wish to start any conflict with other nations. They in fact want that make joint efforts by pooling their resources to help upgrade the quality of life of the vast majority of people in the Muslim world. In this highly globalized world, they need cooperation of other nations.
Problem No. 1 the Ummah is confronted with is lack of education. Unless Islamic countries make substantial investment in education and research, we shall continue to groan under the weight of illiteracy, disease, backwardness and economic slavery. The Muslim countries shall have to depend on themselves. Their approach to world issues continues to be guided by the major powers. We are slave to the whims of the sole super power. Muslim countries by and large have bartered away their sovereignty. They shall have to be independent and depend on one another for their advancement.
The Ummah above all desperately requires a dynamic leader. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad did show the signs of emerging as a leader of the Muslim world. The Ummah needs a strong leader and visionary to guide the Muslim world. Without political independence, spread of education, pooling of resources, a political will amongst leadership of Muslim countries to unite for the uplift of the Muslims sermons, conferences and speeches, etc. alone can not change destiny of Muslims.

Battle for America

AMERICANS go to mid-term Congressional elections today amid strong indications of a pro- Democrat swing, thanks largely to the perceived policy blunders of President Bush both at home and abroad. In all likelihood, the results could redefine the course of America’s history.
Stakes are high for the Democrats, of course. If predictions prove right, they will regain control of the House of Representatives, where all the 435 seats are up for grabs. Democrats’ current strength being 201, what they require is an additional 15 seats to upset the Republican applecart. In the Senate, Democrats need to gain six seats to establish a majority.
As for Republicans, the elections are going to be a verdict on the performance of their six year reign, and therein lies the crunch. What is the balance sheet of the Bush administration? There can be no disagreement even among Republicans that both on the domestic and foreign fronts, Bush has not succeeded in ways that Americans can give a collective clap, leave alone a standing ovation. Iraq has been the worst disaster, a waste of billions of dollars for no matching benefit to Americans; and no benefit yet to Iraqis, whom Bush and his men wanted, so to say, to “save” from a dictatorship. Deaths of American soldiers in Iraq in recent months have been the highest.
Quite understandably, the Iraq war has emerged as the central theme in this battle for the Congress.
Iraq is recoiling on Bush and America in many ways. Waste of resources for war meant a resource crunch at home. What the Republicans inherited from the Clinton Administration was a huge budget surplus; Bush is currently carrying on with a staggering deficit. That has a telling effect on the life in general, and Americans are not happy at the way Bush has turned things around to their disadvantage.
America stands isolated and alienated from the world today with more enemies facing it than friends. Bush, and by extension America, has been made to eat a humble pie by even the likes of the North Korean leader. Iran, on the other hand, has in so many words told Bush to mind his business.
Americans going to polls cannot be impervious to the Bush administration’s mishandling of both domestic and foreign issues, which is the reason why Democrats’ hopes of a better showing are soaring. A setback for the Republicans in this poll will make Bush a lame duck president and almost clear the way for Democrats to retake the White House.

—Kahleej Times