The picture that comes to mind when reading daily newspapers is that of a full-blown war going on between the corrupt politicians and their military and civil bureaucrats on one side and rest of the nation on the other. The Supreme Court decision to strike down the notorious NRO is not only just but also symptomatic to the aspirations of the people. In the face of adversity, the corrupt have united under one umbrella to fight back for a common cause ---to keep their ill-gotten wealth intact. I wish well to all those who seem to be gunning for them. The corrupt of our country aren't a rare breed of the world; there have been others like President Mobutu Sese Seko who decamped with $4 billion of the people of Zaire to live the rest of his life in a lakeside hotel he had purchased in France. He feared the people he had plundered would pursue him to his grave if he had stayed on. Our corrupt leaders, though, have no such fear as they are popular enough to have repeatedly returned to the assemblies by vote of the electorate. -MAJ (Rtd) ZAHID SALAM, Rawalpindi, December 23