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The corporate media won't tell you this -- but the Bush trip to South
Asia was nothing less than a disaster, according to direct and uncensored reports
from India and Pakistan. Street protests against Bush in India were not in the
"thousands," as reported by the media, but in the "hundreds of
thousands." And they involved more than Muslims, but included protestors
from left-wing and regional parties, as well as labor unions and student organizations.
The safest place Indian authorities could find for Bush to give his keynote
speech was the New Delhi zoo and boat club Purana Quila complex. Indian legislators
threatened a noisy reception for Bush if he address parliament.
Indians remained miffed that another noted Indian scientist was crudely denied
a visa to visit the United States. Agro-scientist P. C. Kesavan was invited
to attend a scientific conference in the United States this month. However,
Kesavan said he was forced to wait in line for three hours at the U.S. Consulate
in Chennai and was then handed a 14-item questionnaire and told to return in
two days. Kesavan told the Press Trust of India, "It is an insult to the
Indian scientific community. It always happens to Indian scientists whenever
they apply for a visa to visit the US." Two Indian nuclear scientists were
also denied visas to attend conferences in the United States: Dr. Placid Rodriguez,
the former director of the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR)
and former Indian Institute of Science head Goverdhan Mehta. All three scientists
were denied visas by the US Consulate in Chennai, Kesavan said he would never
again step foot on American soil and said that the US visa officer at the Chennai
consulate did not know what DNA, genetics, radiation biology, and sustainable
development meant. President Bush announced during his trip that his administration
would open yet another US consulate in Hyderabad -- perhaps staffing it with
additional US foreign service personnel who will continue to represent the incompetence
and ignorance of Condoleezza Rice and George W. Bush.
In his speech at the New Delhi zoo, Bush said, "I believe that a prosperous,
democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbor
for India and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world." Since
Pakistan is not an Arab nation, Indians and Pakistanis, alike, were confused
about what Bush was talking about.
Bush's usual overseas animal audience. In Botswana, he spoke to the elephants.
In New Delhi, he spoke at the zoo. But two elephants in Botswana decided to act
out what they thought of Bush, right to his face, proving that there are animals
that are much more intelligent than certain "elected" human "leaders."
