War, What is it Good For?

There is only nothing more pathetic than a Loretto Convent A level kid trying to write humorous piece on life in developing country ,as if she was writing as a Seinfield script writer or Brit writing for ``are you being served``

Not only it is inappropropriate at this time of 5000 civilian possible dead ,but also Pakistan is not going to have picnic with American g.i. on its soil as Saudi or Bahraini already know.Sure M/s Kaneez can make more pen pals with marines & talk about trading baseball cards,hollywood & Insync. back street boyz.

Very bad timing for any jokes ,least of all involving areas under duress & difficult times

Very sharp Ms Rehman.

But while they may not actually bring those portable thingies, they will definitely bring their own paper.

...War, What is it Good For?

...the economy stupid! :)

Ciao

Reply KR,

I`ll second FR khan, its good for the economy. Inovative approach on your part made for an intersting read...thanks

Ms. Kaneez

This may be beyond your level of intellect - but please red the follwoing extract from ``SAIGON - THE LAST 10 DAYS`` by George H. Church:

“For the next week, long lines of Vietnamese, and some Americans, snaked through a former gym at Tan Son Nhut, waiting to be cleared to board the American C-130s and C-141s that were leaving constantly during daylight hours. Stamping of their papers continued all night. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, under pressure from the State Department, had agreed to let the Vietnamese enter -- mostly through Guam and the Philippines -- if they could find an American to vouch for them. To help Vietnamese women get out, Smith adds, ``we just married them right in the lines, sometimes,`` to American men. Says Smith: ``It was a quick thing: `Do you? I do.``` Then out. This system had its inequities. Bar girls, waiters and others who could easily find American sponsors in Saigon got out, while villagers who had risked their lives to supply vital intelligence to the Americans were sometimes left behind”

better make your choice now

War is the outcome of the following dogma that is

Enemy Today = Ally Tomorrow

vs

Ally Today = Enemy Tomorrow

All based on Current Foreign Policies/Agenda.

Welcome back Kaneez. I am sure a lot of people missed you. Loved the way you portrayed the Karachi yuppie talk Elaine style. Plz. write more.

later

-sac

This guy is an alumnus from my school....Its a worthwhile read.

My name is Usman Farman and I graduated from Bentley with a Finance degree last May. I am 21 years old, turning 22 in October; I am Pakistani, and I am Muslim. Until September 10th 2001, I used to work at the World Trade Center in building #7. I had friends and acquaintances who worked in tower #1 right across from me. Some made it out, and some are still unaccounted for. I survived this horrible event.

I’d like to share with you what I went through that awful day, with the hopes that we can all stay strong together; through this tragedy of yet untold proportions. As I found out, regardless of who we are, and where we come from, we only have each other.

I commute into the city every morning on the train from New Jersey. Rather, I used to. I still can’t believe what is happening. That morning I woke up and crawled out of bed. I was thinking about flaking out on the train and catching the late one, I remember telling myself that I just had to get to work on time. I ended up catching the 7:48 train, which put me in Hoboken at 8:20 am. When I got there I thought about getting something to eat, I decided against it and took the PATH train to the World Trade Center. I arrived at the World Trade at 8:40 in the morning. I walked into the lobby of building 7 at 8:45, that’s when the first plane hit.

Had I taken the late train, or gotten a bite to eat, I would have been 5 minutes late and walking over the crosswalk. Had that happened, I would have been caught under a rain of fire and debris, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. I’d be dead.

I was in the lobby, and I heard the first explosion; it didn’t register. They were doing construction outside and I thought some scaffolding had fallen. I took the elevators up to my office on the 27th floor. When I walked in, the whole place was empty. There were no alarms, no sprinklers, nothing. Our offices are, or rather, were on the south side of building seven. We were close enough to the North and South Towers, that I could literally throw a stone from my window and hit the North tower with it.

My phone rang and I spoke with my mother and told her that I was leaving, at that moment I saw an explosion rip out of the second building. I called my friend in Boston, waking her up and told her to tell everyone I’m okay, and that I was leaving. I looked down one last time and saw the square and fountain that I eat lunch in, was covered in smoldering debris. Apparently, I was one of the last to leave my building, when I was on the way up in the elevators; my co-workers from the office were in the stairwells coming down. When I evacuated, there was no panic. People were calm and helping eachother; a pregnant woman was being carried down the stairwell.

I’ll spare the more gruesome details of what I saw, those are things that no-one should ever have to see, and beyond human decency to describe. Those are things which will haunt me for the rest of my life, my heart goes out to everyone who lost their lives that day, and those who survived with the painful reminders of what once was. Acquaintences of mine who made it out of the towers, only got out because 1000 people formed a human chain to find their way out of the smoke. Everyone was a hero that day.

We were evacuated to the north side of building 7. Still only 1 block from the towers. The security people told us to go north and not to look back. 5 city blocks later I stopped and turned around to watch. With a thousand people staring, we saw in shock as the first tower collapsed. No-one could believe it was happening, it is still all too-surreal to imagine. The next thing I remember is that a dark cloud of glass and debris about 50 stories high came tumbling towards us. I turned around and ran as fast as possible. I didn’t realize until yesterday that the reason I’m still feeling so sore was that I fell down trying to get away. What happened next is why I came here to give this speech.

I was on my back, facing this massive cloud that was approaching, it must have been 600 feet off, everything was already dark. I normally wear a pendant around my neck, inscribed with an Arabic prayer for safety; similar to the cross. A hesidic Jewish man came up to me and held the pendant in his hand, and looked at it. He read the Arabic out loud for a second. What he said next, I will never forget. With a deep Brooklyn accent he said “Brother, if you don’t mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us, grab my hand, lets get the hell out of here”. He helped me stand up, and we ran for what seemed like forever without looking back. He was the last person I would ever have thought, who would help me. If it weren’t for him, I probably would have been engulfed in shattered glass and debris.

I finally stopped about 20 blocks away, and looked in horror as tower #2 came crashing down. Fear came over me as I realized that some people were evacuated to the streets below the towers. Like I said before, no-one could have thought those buildings could collapse. We turned around and in shock and disbelief and began the trek to midtown. It took me 3 hours to get to my sisters office at 3 avenue and 47th street. Some streets were completely deserted, completely quiet, no cars, no nothing… just the distant wail of sirens. I managed to call home and say I was okay, and get in touch with co-workers and friends whom I feared were lost.

We managed to get a ride to new jersey. Looking back as I crossed the George Washington Bridge, I could not see the towers. It had really happened.

As the world continues to reel from this tragedy, people in the streets are lashing out. Not far from my home, a Pakistani woman was run over on purpose as she was crossing the parking lot to put groceries in her car. Her only fault? That she had her head covered and was wearing the traditional clothing of my homeland. I am afraid for my family’s well-being within our community. My older sister is too scared to take the subway into work now. My 8 year old sister’s school is under lockdown and armed watch by police.

Violence only begets violence, and by lashing out at each other in fear and hatred, we will become no better than the faceless cowards who committed this atrocity. If it weren’t for that man who helped me get up, I would most likely be in the hospital right now, if not dead. Help came from the least expected place, and goes only to show, that we are all in this together … regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Those are principles that this country was founded on.

Please take a moment to look at the people sitting around you. Friends or strangers, In a time of crisis, you would want the nearest person to help you if you needed it. My help came from a man who I would never have thought would normally even speak to me. Ask yourselves now how you can help those people in New York and Washington. You can donate blood, you can send clothing, food, and money. Funds have been setup in the New York area to help the families of fallen firefighters, policemen, and emergency personnel. The one thing that won’t help, is if we fight amongst ourselves, because it is then that we are doing exactly what they want us to do, and I know that nobody here wants to do that.

My name is Usman Farman and I graduated from Bentley with a Finance degree last May. I am 21 years old, turning 22 in October; I am Pakistani, and I am Muslim, and I too have been victimized by this awful tragedy. The next time you feel angry about this, and perhaps want to retaliate in your own way, please remember these words:

“Brother, if you don’t mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us, grab my hand, lets get the hell out of here.”

Stuka,

That was amazing. Thanks.

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Samina

Yeah I thought so too. However, I would like to qualify this by saying that one should not let go of the need for retribution though.

BTW, The night of the attack, I was sitting at a friend`s house, who happens to be Pakistani-American. That time, she was talking about the need to avoid retribution, not going to war etc. Today, just today she found out that her roomate from freshman year was killed. She had gone from Boston for 1 day for a conference. Now you should ask my friend about her opinion. Diametrically opposite.

See, I want to live my life in peace and quite. But, in deciding if this country should go to war, I consider the ``what if`` formula. What if it was my family? What if it was my friend dead? Those 5000 people who died, I consider them all as my family.

TO THE PAKISTANIS ADVOCATING RESTRAINT.., I ask you this... Imagine Bombs exploding in Clifton and Defence. Imagine 5000 of Pakistan`s best and brightest killed by Hindu fanatics of the Bajrang Dal in a matter of a couple of hours....Imagine the international media showing Hindus in India celebrating and dancing on the streets...

Imagine, what would your reaction be like? Would you worry about the innocent Hindus who have no part in the attack? After all India is a country of a billion, in any city you attack, there will atleast be a few thousand Indians who will think this attack was reprehensible. Any city you attack will also have Muslims who presumably wanted no part of this attack...Imagine, that the Indian gov`t refuses to hand over the perpetrators to you...What would you advocate your country`s government to do??

Would you say that yes, there are Indians who are innocent, therefore India should not be attacked? Would you tell Mussharaf that you must look for the root cause of the attack? What if you brother, your sister or your wife was killed? Your son or daughter lying bloody and maimed? Would you still say, No there are innocent Hindus, therefore we must keep requesting the Indian government to hand over the perps, and rule out a military option? Be honest with yourselves, if not with this forum. The same goes for Indians advocating restraint, though I haven`t come across many...

I have already made my choice, and I stand by it.

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Re: Stuka

Wow.

What still haunts me and makes me lose sleep every night is thinking about the victims` last moments of life. I can only imagine how much more horrible it is for people like this fellow who had a vivid and up-close experience with it.

For a lot of New Yorkers, there is almost a feeling of guilt associated with trying to move on with our lives...in trying to bring normalcy to it. In the subways, the offices, the delis, one notices this daze over a lot of people`s faces. Even something simple like going to a restaurant becomes a painful experience where you keep asking yourself, ``What`s there to be happy about? What am I celebrating? Why am I here? Is it fair that I am sitting here while someone just like me went to work Tuesday morning and never came back? Could it be me next?``

Take these emotions and multiply them several times and that is what people like this fellow are experiencing. Ouch.

Stuka #8 That was a very nice piece, and very well written. And the Hasidic Jewish chaps “Brother, if you don’t mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us, grab my hand, lets get the hell out of here.” should be the rallying cry for all of us who know that we are ultimately all brothers and sisters.

Thanks for posting that piece.