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Show -moressions ot the Middle East Lltor's note This news-F"0' news-F"0' fateful for this ser-'Cf ser-'Cf article written by Gary V0' reviewing activities , Home of the experiences of BVU entertainment troupe 'le the Middle East, under SL of the State Depart- r. akistan 9 ne of the first things no- ed by American travelers in nv countries abroad is the 1 leral anti-American tone ex- fhed m the newsPaPer,s-ough newsPaPer,s-ough many articles seem only U over-emphasize negative as-ts as-ts of American ways and lcies, stories containing lib-1 lib-1 quotes from militantly -American sources are not I i'ommon. What causes a nor-jly nor-jly pro-Western country reft re-ft i- ceiving generous doses of Amercan aid to allow, or possibly pos-sibly even encourage, such neg-l alive interpretation? It was a question that concerned us during dur-ing our whole stay in Pakistan a stay that was, nevertheless very delightful and afforded us receptive audiences at every stop. J Though a simple nutshell answer an-swer incorporating all factors cannot be given, plausible explanations ex-planations have been forwarded forward-ed which deserve serious consideration. con-sideration. When Pakistan achieved independence in 1947 the United States, following our general aims of foreign policy, was eager to help preserve pre-serve it and help in any way to discourage encroachm e n t from her neighbors. The groundwork for later serious misunderstnTirtino-e. when Pakistan and the US entered into an armament agreement with different motivations mo-tivations and expectations. For our part, we were happy to supply arms to Pakistan to bolster our containment program pro-gram against Communist expansion. ex-pansion. Pakistan, on the other hand was very willing to accept ac-cept them, but for the reason of defending herself against her arch-enemy, India. Obviously Obvi-ously this couldn't continue indefinitely and in 1962 things began to crumble. When China attacked India, the U.S. upon request from the Indian government gov-ernment started arms shipments ship-ments to help repel the Com-munict Com-munict tliwirt . ..u,v., a myve viewea by Pakistan as entirely incompatible incom-patible with the U.S.-Pakistan arms relations. The result in the intervening three years has been a trend by Pakistan to solicit help from whatever quarters available, not excluding exclud-ing Communist-bloc nations. The resulting friendship agreements agree-ments combined with a feeling of having been stabbed in the back by the U.S. give us pos- sible insights into the behavior of the people. Apart from a specific factor pertaining only to one country, a more pervading factor can be cited which pertains to many less-developed nations. The leaders of Pakistan have come to realize that due to burgeoning populations cancelling cancel-ling many of their economic gains, their people will never be able to enjoy the high standard stan-dard of living known to America. Amer-ica. In our age of communica- tion wonders, receiving too much information about what one nation enjoys and possesses posses-ses could conceivably cause chronic discontent among the people of another nation. As one U.S. embasy official expressed ex-pressed it, "If the people of Pakistan could vote with their feet, they'd all go to America." Therefore, as the theory goes, it behooves the leaders of the country to play down U.S. successes and emphasize only their own. Project this practice prac-tice one step further and we see the negative side wherein newsp a p e r s concentrate on such issues as Selma, Alabama and gas in Viet Nam. Continue to steadily supply such a "sour grapes" diet to the public and we can begin to see how effective ef-fective a tool it can become in staving off restless elements in a society. Whether this practice, undoubtedly somewhat some-what successful in short-range terms, can be justified over a long period of time, is a much debated question. A study by insurance companies com-panies shows that excessive speed continues to be the number num-ber one killer on American highways. Speed was involved in about 35 of the accidents which killed 48,000 persons in 1964. |