"Where have all the leaders gone?"

Lee Iacocca, a legendary corporate executive, is well known for turning the fate of Chrysler Corporation in 1980s when it was in "death throes". An American born of Italian immigrants, Lee Iacocca had a distinguished educational career, graduating from Princeton on a prestigious fellowship. Interviewed for a career in the CIA, he rather joined the Ford Motor Company where he rose to the top. In 1978 he was sent home by Henry Ford II with whom he clashed over principle; although the company had posted a profit of two billion dollars that year. Mr Iacocca, now 82, has written another book entitled Where Have All the Leaders Gone? He has addressed his fellow Americans, but much of it applies to today's Pakistan. He wrote: "Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course'. Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out' You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognise this country anymore...While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the 'America' my parents and you travelled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you? Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes....We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving...Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership....Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened....Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem...these are the crises eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry. I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit...do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I believe in America. In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises... If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a 'Call to Action' for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough." The writer is a former ambassador at large