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President’s dilemma Mumbai blasts |
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Dreaded dengue
Kabul another Baghdad
Hello! Hello!
Leadership failure Inside the heart and mind of terror Delhi Durbar Universe is egg-shaped?
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President’s dilemma The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister has been apparently swayed by street protests and political compulsions in taking the highly unusual step of advocating mercy for terrorist Mohamad Afzal Guru, but the President of India will have to follow a totally objective and sagacious approach if a mercy petition comes up before him. Therein lies a complicated dilemma for him. Should a terrorist be spared just because there is fear that there will be a strong reaction to his hanging in his home state? After all, what he did was no ordinary crime. He and his colleagues mounted an attack on Parliament, the very symbol of Indian democracy, and had they been not stopped by valiant policemen in their tracks — some of whom lost their lives in the process — the entire political leadership of the country could have been wiped out. Just as the death penalty is given in the rarest of rare instances, the President too is supposed to grant pardon in the rarest of rare cases. There may be circumstances where the crime has been committed in a fit of rage; the accused might be too enfeebled to get the extreme punishment; or there might be a sneaking suspicion still that he might not have committed the crime. Afzal Guru’s death sentence having been confirmed by the Supreme Court, none of these exists in the present case. Perhaps clemency at this stage may even give credence to the belief in the separatist circles that India is a “soft” state. In any case, the punishment has nothing to do with the peace process, because no country in its right mind can justify or condone such a diabolic act as attack on Parliament. What must be remembered is that the apex court reduced the sentences of several others. By not doing so in Guru’s case, it has established that his guilt is proven beyond all doubts. There seems hardly a ground for clemency for Afzal Guru, but it will be no surprise if the President seeks recommendations of the Home Ministry before exercising his prerogative. What will ultimately determine his course of action is how he resolves his dilemma. |
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Mumbai blasts When the Maharashtra police on September 30 claimed to have found conclusive proof that Pakistan’s ISI was behind the Mumbai blasts on July 11, 2006, resulting in the death of as many as 187 train passengers, Pakistan’s immediate reaction was that “it is baseless, it is irresponsible ”. Islamabad issued a kind of challenge to India by saying that “If they have any evidence they should provide it to (Pakistan) and we will carry out our investigations”. India has accepted the challenge with the new Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon’s announcement to confront Islamabad with the necessary evidence. Pakistan’s action will show how sincere it is with regard to the idea of the Indo-Pak joint mechanism to fight terrorism. The Mumbai blasts may prove to be a test case for the efficacy of the new arrangement to eliminate the menace. Mr Menon may present evidence against the ISI and the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba during the Foreign Secretary-level meeting between India and Pakistan in November. The Mumbai police deserves praise for cracking the bomb blasts case affecting 11 suburban trains. It has found out how the ISI implemented its heinous designs with the help of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The police has taken in custody 23 persons so far and more arrests are likely. The conspiracy was hatched in Mumbai, but those in police custody got their training in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. The details available with the Mumbai police are sufficient to nail the Pakistani lie that it has nothing to do with terrorist violence in India. The truth is that Islamabad has hardly been sincere about implementing its promise made to India and the rest of the world on the question of fighting terrorism. On the one hand, Pakistan has been saying that it will not allow any territory under its control to be used by terrorists, on the other its ISI has been busy planning destructive activities by floating and patronising terrorist outfits. This cannot be accepted if peace is to prevail in South Asia. |
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Dreaded dengue The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has once again showed that it is incapable of pre-emptive planning and action in the discharge of its duties. It has now booked eight city hospitals for not maintaining requisite standards of cleanliness on their premises. But this action comes after 11 people succumbed to the dreaded dengue. A committed and focussed approach to the discharge of its responsibilities, ranging from monsoon drainage to sewerage treatment to enforcement of regulatory standards, may have well saved these lives. That it consistently chooses to react rather than go in for advanced action, is an indictment not only of the civic body itself, but of the political and administrative context in which it functions. This is true not just of the MCD, but of all municipal corporations in the country. Dengue and other outbreaks are seasonal, and municipal corporations and governments have no excuse for not taken preparatory action. The fumigation drive announced on a war-footing could have been carried out earlier, as well as the checks on hospitals and other public places. At the least now, other cities should take the cue and ensure that various measures to limit the spread of the infection are put it place immediately. Delayed action could well mean the loss of more lives. Chandigarh has already reported one confirmed case, and several more are suspected in Punjab and Haryana. It is time that civic bodies and local governments initiate a concerted effort to promote safe sanitation and hygienic environments. Much of course, requires a mind-set change on the part of citizenry, but effective enforcement of existing regulations can lead such a change. When the Director-General of Health Services meets with the civic bodies over the issue, apart from the immediate fire-fighting of the situation at hand, such a holistic overhaul should be uppermost in his mind. The maintenance of a safe environment for public health is a key state responsibility, and the routine failure to do so is condemnable. |
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The faith that stands on authority is not faith.— Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Kabul another Baghdad
US
President George Bush’s dinner diplomacy between Afghanistan’s
Hamid Karzai and Gen Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan has not worked. But
on the ground, NATO commanders are claiming success. Just give us another 1000 troops and the Taliban will be on its knees (in Helmund), says Brig Ed Butler, British Commander in Southern Afghanistan. Lt-Gen David Richards, the overall Force Commander of the UN-mandated ISAF and NATO-led forces, agrees. He has a sound plan: to defeat the Taliban in six months in Helmund and Kandahar provinces by winning hearts and minds of the locals through creating jobs and improving governance. On July 20, though, General Richards had described the situation in Afghanistan as close to anarchy. Maj-Gen Eric Olson 18 months ago observed that the Taliban “is a force in decline”. The US Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Peter Pace, does not consider the situation worrying. But the frequency of suicide attacks in Kandahar and Kabul makes them look like Baghdad. These confusing signals sum up the present situation. The Supreme Commander of NATO, Gen James Jones, feels that an additional 2500 troops are required but none of the 36 countries contributing troops is prepared to provide more. So the already stretched British may have to do it. Winter is a few weeks away and troops have to get in fast. Till the end of September 50 suicide attacks had been carried out this year out of a total of 70 so far. And with mounting casualties among security forces, the situation is quite unstable despite a series of offensives against the Taliban. But this war can only succeed if the war against opium is fought simultaneously. The latest deal between Pakistan and the pro-Taliban and Al-Qaida tribals in Waziristan has given the militants a virtual sanctuary. How General Musharraf has sold this deal to the Americans is not a mystery. He is probably going to eat the cake and have it too without giving the US anything more than assurances to deliver Osama bin Laden. Like Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq, where conventional victory came easily, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan also ensured a swift regime change. But the Iraqis and the Afghans are both enduring the lack of freedom as near-civil war conditions prevail there. Although Afghanistan is not as bad, it seems headed in that direction. With a resurgent Taliban, fleeting tactical successes create the illusion of victory. As historian Olaf Caroe observed: “Wars in Afghanistan begin after they’ve ended.” Crippled by war and violence for 25 years, a new Afghanistan with a constitution, an elected Parliament and a President has emerged. Unfortunately, the US is employing the Iraq template with greater emphasis on military forces rather than the political process. For example, there is no intra-Afghan dialogue to establish a multi-ethnic government which could lead to improved governance. Corruption, extortion and drug trading are destabilising the government whose control over Kabul and outlying provinces is being challenged by the Taliban. Restoring the peace process by ending violence must be the top priority. The escalation in the guerrilla war by the Taliban is instigated by Pakistan’s renewed quest for strategic depth. So far this year, nearly 1000 deaths have been reported. Some put a figure as high as 1600 for the last four months alone. The new Taliban has a force of 12,000 fighters deployed in the South with strongholds in Kandahar, Helmund, Zabul and Urozgan. The force is Pashtoon-dominated and receives support from the NWFP and Baluchistan. Taliban leaders are based in Quetta. The strategy is to bleed foreign forces and make them leave Afghanistan as the Soviets were made to do in 1988. A Taliban offensive in Southern Afghanistan took temporary control of Garamsehr and Nawa-I-Barakzayi. Intense fighting took place in Panjwayi, the birthplace of the Taliban movement. IEDs and suicide attacks and occasional assaults on posts are the favoured weapons of the Taliban. In the last three months coalition troops launched their biggest ever operations called Mountain Thrust, Medusa, and Mountain Fury. General Jones claimed that 1000 Taliban were killed during Operation Medusa for six NATO fatalities. The Afghan National Army is authorised 70,000 troops and 37,000 police. Only 36,000 troops are operational. The actual need is for 150,000 troops. A total of 20,000 US troops and 19,000 NATO forces from 36 countries with complex rules of engagement are involved. On August 1 as many as 8000 NATO troops extended security operations to Southern Afghanistan replacing US forces. Security operations are accompanied by development projects. At least 23 provincial reconstruction teams, more than half under US command, are deployed outside Kabul. The Afghan government is required to disarm illegal groups by the end of 2007. Since 2005 nearly 150 troops and 2000 civilians have been killed. The biggest problem facing Afghanistan is opium. Poppy products and drugs constitute half of the $7 billion economy. That is why many call Afghanistan a narcotics state. Nearly 20,6700 hectares of land has been under opium cultivation since 2003 and 3.8 per cent of the population is addicted to drugs. The European Union apparently invests $3 billion in counter-narcotics strategies but the actual amounts will be much lower. Helmund is called the poppy province. And this is where the Taliban is the strongest. The official role of security forces is to help in the destruction of the poppy crop, but as this is destroying the means of livelihood, it goes counter to winning hearts and minds. The poppy war has to be fought alongside the war against the Taliban. The economy is severely debilitated as Afghanistan raises only 18 per cent of its budget from its own resources. On top of this, 4.5 million refugees have returned from Iran and Pakistan. The US alone has provided $11 billion between 2001-06. A problem that is bound to resurface sooner than later is about the Durand Line which was demarcated in 1893 for a period of 100 years that separated Afghanistan from British India. Pakistan and Afghanistan have avoided legal interpretations over the line though the Afghan Shoora had negated all treaties with the British. The old border was along the Indus river. Pakistan wants to fence the Durand Line and turn it into an international border. A tripartite commission of the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan has been set up to settle routine border issues. Despite geographical constraints, India has established an impressive foothold in Afghanistan. It is hosting a meeting of 22 Foreign Ministers of donor countries in Kabul in November. India has been involved from day one for rebuilding a new Afghanistan. Nearly 3000 Indians are working in Afghanistan on Indian projects. The thrust areas are infrastructural development, humanitarian assistance and institutional and human resource development. India has pledged $650 million of which $200 million has already been used. The reconstruction projects are chosen by the Afghan government. India has donated 400 army trucks, 35 mini buses and three Airbus aircraft in addition to 1000 scholarships for students and training for diplomats. ITBP and CISF personnel are deployed for the security of projects and consulates which are located at Jalalabad, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif. At an India-Pakistan conference in Colombo in June, a former DG of the ISI, Lt-Gen Asad Durrani, suggested that India and Pakistan should cooperate rather than confront each other in Afghanistan. “Let us make it the ninth item of the composite dialogue”, he added. For India, Afghanistan is strategically so vital that any serious offer by Pakistan cannot be passed. This is worth exploring. India must also not keep all its eggs in the Karzai basket. Last month President Bush hosted a dinner for Mr Karzai and General Musharraf to end their war of words. The tripartite commission will need to monitor Pakistan’s deal with the Taliban as also verify the presence of the Taliban headquarters in Quetta. Earlier Mr Bush had said that if required US troops would cross into Pakistan to hunt down Osama. There is a deal of sorts between the US and Pakistan over Afghanistan. In the guise of hunting down Osama and Al-Qaida, the new Great Game will ensure US presence in Afghanistan with access to Central Asia. Pakistan in turn would regain its strategic depth in
Afghanistan.
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Hello! Hello!
The telephone is the greatest nuisance among conveniences, the greatest convenience among nuisances”, says Robert Lynd. I have stories to agree with this dictum. My wife’s voice on telephone matches that of a kid and creates problems. Once a gentleman telephoned to her, “May I talk to your papa?” She replied, “It may not be possible.” “Why?” it was a surprised note. “He is no more in this world,” was the straight reply. “When did it happen? I met him yesterday on the Mall,” the note had higher element of surprise this time. “He died four years ago. How could you meet him on the Mall yesterday?” was the crooked reply. “Oh, is that Mrs. Joshi speaking?” And that had resolved the partly genuine and partly created misunderstanding. It was that age of adolescence when hair setting on my son’s upper lip was visible and the grains of his voice had matured. One day, by chance, I was at home when I was supposed to be in office. I picked up the receiver on hearing the telephone-ring. The female voice on the other end immediately asked, “Is it the right time to call you?” I said, “Yes, but the person on this end is not right.” I handed over the receiver to my son but my presence made the conversation shorter than bikini bathing suit — beginning nowhere and folding up all at once. Perhaps the time was not right. Such misunderstandings could be removed if the instructions on the dos and don’ts page for the user that were there in the olden versions of telephone directory were properly followed. First line on it was “disclose your identity on picking up the receiver”. I know a gentleman who used to give his name and short address, the other would call out the number that you had dialled, the commercial organisations would greet you and announce the name of the organisation. Most common, however, is “Hello”. It started with “Hallow”, and then being spelt as “Hallo” and in Britain during 1865-70, its variation was “Hullo” which is still continuing. This “hello” or “hullo” could be sweet sounding or bombarding. Most harsh-sounding “hello” is generally heard from the Personal Assistants of government officers who consider telephone on their office table as an invention of the devil called Alexander Graham Bell. One of them had shortened the expression to “Hell”. That required to be patented by the government because that was the true version of a government office. With the popularity of Indian Laughter Channel among the Indian masses, that day will not be far when ancient “hello” will be replaced by modern “Pehchan Kaun?”
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Leadership failure The most prominent impression of Thailand as a country in the world is of a very popular tourist destination. The impression that most tourists carry of the Thai people is of mild, polite, and peaceful folks. But such a country has now had 18 military coups in the past 70 years. There have been several analyses of the reasons that make Thailand prone to coups and of the reasons that led to the latest coup. There is no danger of a military coup in India, but there are lessons for the political establishment and for the citizens. One of the contributing reasons for the travails of Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatraby, was his inability to balance the interests of the rural majority of Thailand with those of the Bangkok elite. This is an extremely critical factor, particular in highly diverse polities. Such highly diverse polities are susceptible to polarisation and fragmentation, particularly if these are instigated and encouraged by those who are supposed to be mobilizers and consolidators of public opinion, and also opinion leaders. As a matter of fact, balancing of diverse view points, often conflicting and seemingly reconcilable, is one of the primary functions of the political processes and the political establishment in any society. In a country as diverse as India, on almost every conceivable dimension one can think of, this function becomes extremely critical. How well has the political establishment in the country fulfilled this function and is continuing to fulfill it, is a matter of opinion. One of the lessons, clearly, is that political establishment in India must be willing and able to balance such interests if Indian democracy has to survive. A prerequisite to even approaching this balance in the society at large is the need for different political formations to find agreeable and common working ground where larger national interests are involved. The frequent bickering that one sees amongst different political formations on almost every conceivable issue, does not generate much optimism on this score. Another lesson that the Thai coup may hold for the political establishment in India is that unless the political establishment gets its act together, it runs a grave risk of becoming irrelevant, or at least being overtaken by events which may well be beyond its control. This lesson emerges from the statements given on behalf of the coup leaders, which possibly have at least the tacit approval of the King and at least some support from the citizenry at least in Bangkok, that it was the inability of the political parties to work together that brought the situation in Thailand to such an impasse that some coalition of forces, obviously including the armed forces and possibly the King, decided that matters could not be allowed to drift any further. Some ongoing developments in the Indian political scene are also possible pointers towards a not too dissimilar situation arising in the country sometime in the future. The most important indicator of this is the plight of some of the so-called major political parties having to support independent MLAs to form government in Jharkhand. Another indicator is the almost total neglect of the legislative function by legislatures. Laws these days are knee-jerk reactions, usually made in a great hurry to meet some perceived emergencies which are often created by application of existing laws. This happens because the earlier laws, the application of which creates emergencies, were themselves made in a hurry without any real application of the collective mind of the legislature. This is what is on display in Delhi and what the Supreme Court has euphemistically referred to as “rule by notification”. This is also what has often caused stand-offs between the judiciary and the legislature. Political parties must learn to put their own houses in order without which they cannot perform their legitimate and necessary role of mobilizing, consolidating, and leading public opinion; and legislatures must do their primary job of legislating with careful consideration and application of mind. What could be the lesson for citizens and voters? Where did the voters of Thailand go wrong? It seems Thaksin got overwhelming support in the rural areas but alienated the political and influential elite of Bangkok. The critical question is: Was Thaksin an appropriate person to be given the responsibility for governing the country? He is a former policeman who turned into an extremely successful businessman and apparently tried to run the country as a business. The complexities of running a society, a diverse and complex one at that, are often not appreciated by many of us who are forever trying to tell the Prime Ministers, or whoever is in charge, what to do. Politics is a very intricate and often messy activity and not everyone can do it. No wonder our own N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys has politely turned down suggestions of his entering politics. Presuming that the military does appoint an interim Prime Minister within two weeks as it has announced, a new constitution is in the place during the next one year, and a new popular government is elected, one can be reasonably certain that an investigation into the misdeeds, particularly financial ones, of Thaksin will be launched and attempts will be made to recover his ill-gotten wealth. What we need to learn from this is that irresponsible, ill-informed, or uninformed voting ultimately not only does not do any good to anyone including ourselves and the country, and it has immense potential to cause harm even to ourselves. It would be naive to take comfort from the fact that even if the political establishment and the citizens and voters of India do not heed these lessons, there will not be a military coup in India. Certainly there will not be a military coup but what turn the event would take, though not possible to guess at this time, is likely to be extremely debilitating, if not destructive, for democracy in India and for Indian society at large. ————
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Inside the heart and mind of terror Mohammed
Atta, the leader of the September 11 hijackers, is shown laughing and joking while filming his ‘martyrdom testament’ along with others involved in a newly released video. The footage was taken at a camp used by Bin Laden and senior al-Qa’ida figures in Afghanistan in January 2000 when some of the final details of the plan for the New York attack are said to have been put together. Atta, who flew one of the planes into the Twin Towers, is seen alongside Ziad Jarrah, the pilot of the United Airlines flight 93, which crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers stormed the flightdeck. It is the first time the two hijackers, who both appear to be studying their testaments which were due to be made public after their deaths, have been shown filmed together. Also pictured, among the Bin Laden audience, is Ramzi Binalshibh, reputedly the quartermaster and coordinator of the September 11 attacks now at Guantanamo Bay, and the al-Qai’da leader’s bodyguard Abu Jandal, who is also known as Nasir Ahmad Nasir al-Bahiri. Abu Jandal, jailed in the Yemen until 2003, claimed he carried a second gun to be used to shoot Bin Laden if he was ever in the danger of being captured. The videotape, thought to have been obtained by Yosri Fouda, a journalist with Al-Jazeera television, is soundless and, according to US security sources, lipreaders have not been able to decipher what was being said. The filming is said to have taken place at Tarnak Farm, near Kandahar, where the CIA had once plotted to kidnap bin Laden with the help of tribal fighters. Atta, the son of an Egyptian lawyer, disappeared from his home in Hamburg in January 2000. Jarrah, who came from a middle-class Lebanese family, had also studied in Germany. In the film the two men are seen sitting on the floor with a Kalashnikov rifle propped on a wall beside them. Atta wears a dark coloured sweater with horizontal stripes with a zipped collar. At one point he tries on a traditional Afghan hat before tossing it aside with a wry smile. Jarrah, wearing plastic framed spectacles, wears a long white robe. Atta is said to have travelled to Afghanistan by road after flying from Germany to Pakistan in November 1999. He returned to Hamburg by the same route in February 2004. Five months later he went to the US to begin flight training. The video, made at the last day of Ramadan, appears to be of raw footage An edited tape of similar ‘death wills’ made by two others of the 9/11 hijackers, Wali al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi, was released last month. Bin Laden, wearing a brown robe is seen walking to a makeshift podium, in front of a single storey mud coloured building, alongside three armed bodyguards. He then speaks into a microphone to a crowd of around a hundred, including some children. Tarnak Farm, a complex of 80 buildings housed Bin Laden, two of his wives, and his chief lieutenants. The American operation to seize him, in 1998, was called off at the last moment by the CIA hierarchy. One theory behind the aborting of the mission was apprehension that it could have led to casualties among women and children at the base. Another was that some of the plan had been inadvertently leaked to Pakistani intelligence, which had strong links with Bin Laden, and the al-Qa’ida leader was likely to have been tipped off. By arrangement with
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Delhi Durbar Having to face the ire of some Congressmen from Gujarat over some of his remarks relating to the Narmada dam at the height of the Narmada Bachao agitation in the capital, union Water Resources minister Saiffudin Soz has become guarded in his interaction with the media. The minister, who went for a joint visit with his Bangladesh counterpart to some sites in the two countries along three common rivers, did not say anything about contentious issues. During his interaction with the media in the capital following his visit to Bangladesh, Soz said that discussions mainly focussed on matters relating to embankments, soil erosion, drinking water supply and minor lift irrigation on Ichamati, Feni and Muhuri rivers. His refrain was that the issues will be sorted out by the next meeting of the Joint River Commission to be held in the national capital.
Foreign travails The Prime Minister’s foreign trips have never been known for being picnics. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had a more relaxed schedule during his foreign trips but even he was not laid back. When it comes to Manmohan Singh, his foreign visits are truly gruelling. A demonstration of this came during his recent nine-day visit to Brazil and Cuba. At least one journalist who accompanied the Prime Minister on this trip could not cope with the almost 18-hour work schedule and had to be hospitalised in Havana. The journo had to be left behind in Havana for treatment. Even the return flight of Air India One from Havana was not without its share of anxieties. Two scribes had liquor bottles in their suitcases when they sent in their check-in luggage. Though the liquor itself was not an issue, the scribes had ignored the security drill and handed over their check-in suitcases in locked condition. The SPG was in a tizzy as x-rays showed the suitcases containing liquid — a big no-no in aviation security these days.
Plans for Connaught Place The New Delhi Municipal Council’s grandiose plan for the beautification of the city’s commercial hub, Connaught Place, has left traders worried. The NDMC’s proposal to ban entry of private vehicles into CP and instead turn it into a pedestrians’ paradise, they aver, may sound romantic but spells bad news for business. The idea of walking to a shopping arcade from parking lots as far as a kilometre or more away, the traders claim, will put a damper on the shopping, especially during the summer months. The traders also rue that the inflow of customers that has increased thanks to the Metro passing right underneath will be negated by shifting the parking slots to Kasturba Gandhi Marg or Shivaji stadium. The relocation of the parking slots aside, the NDMC has announced that to improve the facade of the decades old shopping plaza, all shops will have similar signage and there will be central air-conditioning and improved water and power connections. ————
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Universe is egg-shaped? Italian scientists using data gathered by NASA’s WMAP probe say evidence points to the universe having a shape somewhat akin to an egg, rather than the expected round kernel of puffed cereal. WMAP, or the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, was launched in 2001 to measure fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background radiation. This, say the authors of a paper being published this week in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters, would explain some curious anomalies over the broad expanse of the heavens. Looking at small chunks of the sky, the measurements agreed with a conventional spherical model of the observable universe. But when the data were measured on the largest scale, taking in the entire night sky, for instance, the radiation was too low, physicists say. These anomalies may signal what Leonardo Campanelli of the University of Ferrara in Italy termed “a nontrivial cosmic topology” that is different from the sphere. “Generally, inflation would predict a spherical universe,” said Gary Hinshaw, an astrophysicist and lead data analyst for WMAP. Hinshaw said he was impressed by the research, but not necessarily convinced. “The observations they are trying to explain are not that anomalous,” he said. There is a 10 percent chance the results found by the probe would occur even if the universe is spherical. Over the years, cosmologists have proposed other shapes for the universe, including a doughnut and saddle shape, said Edward Wright, a professor of physics at the University of California, Los Angeles. One theory is that the universe may really be quite small, and its apparent hugeness may result from a phenomenon like gazing into mirrors on opposite walls. The image goes on forever, but the walls remain fixed. By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post
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No battle can be won without commitment of the troops and the leader. Each and everyone must be fully dedicated to the cause. The side which is thus will certainly He converts the non-virtuous into the virtuous and makes the virtuous more virtuous.
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