According to our history, natural disasters have been the biggest source of our foreign-exchange earnings. Whenever we were hit by an earthquake or a ferocious epidemic, huge amounts of dollars were poured into the country by various philanthropic countries. What we precisely did with the charity money is a secret known only to the Sphinx. For sometime, natural disasters stopped hitting us. It seemed that for some mysterious reasons they had got angry with us. Naturally, we were financially miserable. Russia pitied us. It rushed to our assistance. It invaded Afghanistan. The purpose was to crush the Taliban. America was dying to crush Russia. It sought our assistance. We were jubilant. For our assistance, America poured riverfuls of dollars into our barren pockets Russia did for us what natural disasters used to do in the past. A 7.5 billion dollar bill is under consideration in the American senate. The money is intended to be doled out to Pakistan for social development. Poor Uncle Sam How astonishingly ignorant he is about our social affairs. Washington believes that illiteracy, unemployment and poverty are our gravest problems. What an ignorance America must know that our social system has been thriving for decades on our national illiteracy, unemployment and poverty. Our social system is a manna from heaven for the politicians. There is nothing so easy for a politician to befool as an illiterate voter. There is nothing so easy for a politician to befool as a jobless voter. There is nothing so easy for a politician to befool as a poverty-stricken voter. So on and so on. The politicians must warn America that the bill is a conspiracy against the very essence of our social set-up. We do want the money. But America must not direct us as to what we do with it. America's intention that the money is meant for improving our social system is a naked intrusion in our sacrosanct national affairs. We are ready to accept the charity-money because we don't want to disappoint our friend America by rejecting the friendly gesture. But America must know that we love our traditions of illiteracy, unemployment and poverty like mad. If we got the money, we would spend it as our whims command us to spend it. We are very self-respecting beggars. As beggars, we are extremely choosy. Osama is alleged to have destroyed the Trade Towers. Bush has been bombing every nook and corner of Afghanistan to destroy Osama. So far, Osama has been able to make a fool of Bush. Bush's tenure is about to expire. If he leaves the White House without Osama's head in his hand, it shall be the most disgraceful failure of his entire political career. There is a rumour that Bush is emotionally in tatters. Another rumour says that while asleep, he keeps mumbling: "Would that I had never been America's president." Anyway rumours are rumours. You may embrace them or dustbin them. It all depends upon your aesthetic taste about rumours. Obama, the presidential hopeful, has vowed to achieve what the hopeless Bush has hopelessly failed to achieve. If Obama, as president, did succeed in hunting down Osama, that day would be the blackest day in Bush's life. And Bush would curse a black American for blackening his white face. In a statement Obama has implied that if circumstances required, he wouldn't hesitate to barge into Pakistani territories. If Obama did do something of the sort, it would not be something shocking. America's entire history is a history of barbarically violating other countries' territorial sanctity. Some of our politicians have denounced Obama's audacity. They have warned him: "We are a sovereign state. An intrusion into Pakistan would be a violation of the International Laws." Unfortunately, America religiously believes that it has a divine right to destroy any state under the sun in the interest of its supremacy. America's world supremacy is a gift of its military weapons. Obviously, America owes a great debt to its weapons. Since the weapons have blessed America with her world supremacy, it is America's obligation to keep her benefactors healthy and robust. And America can do so only by using the weapons round the clock all over the globe. If America were not to use the weapons for interfering in other nations' affairs, the weapons would rust. And the rust-eaten weapons would feel insulted. Obviously, America can't afford to offend its weapons. Our circumstances were never so depressing as they are today. We have done so deliberately. There is a purpose behind it. We want America to keep interfering in our affairs freely. And America has not disappointed us. The writer is an academic