From Far & Near: Review of World Politics
By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
Honouring/Remembering Prithvi Narayan Shah the Great
Former King Gyanendra’s Major Statement
The 299th birth anniversary of Prithvi Narayan Shah the Great has come and gone on Poush 27, 2077 B.S. Unfortunately, this most important date in the calendar about the most consequential personality in Nepal’s history was forgotten by most politicians, intellectual and media pundits. Without him, Nepal as a sovereign, independent nation would not exist today.
Former King Gyanendra utilized the anniversary to underline the dire straits the country as a whole finds itself. His only thoughts were about the ways and means to keep the country safe from being buffeted by the harsh winds from within and without. Without a doubt, the nation’s national security is in complete jeopardy. Our politicians and so-called leaders are, on the other hand, least bothered. They are too busy being involved in ‘high politics’.
H.M. King Gyanendra rightly pointed out that we have reached the point of no return – i.e. no longer can we insist: ‘better late than never’. When he stated that ‘it was already too late to analyze whether current national politics were honest, nation-centred and pro-people’, he hinted at complete systemic failure.
He succinctly summarized the country’s disastrous situation: “Nepalis have felt that untoward incidents are taking place and the country’s history, civilization, religion, culture and national unity are being sabotaged in the name of change and according to the will of foreign forces” (My Republica, Jan. 10).
Without a doubt, this is a call for decisive action. But who will take the initiative? Who will bell the cat? The first step could be the formation of a ‘Council of Elders’ to initiate steps out of the morass we currently find ourselves in. It would be an independent, non-partisan, expert body with multifaceted tasks, including advising the prime minister to make sustainable policy decisions.
A random effort could include Dr. Govinda K.C. [health affairs], Dr. Swarnim Wagle [economics, development], Mahabir Pun [science & technology], Dr. Tirtha Rana [public health], Dr. Ratna Shumsher J.B. Rana [education, public affairs], Brig. Gen. Prem Singh Basnyat (Retd.) [national security/see below], Manisha Koirala [culture], and others.
Army General Praises Prithvi Narayan Shah
Brig.Gen. Prem Singh Basnyat (Retd.) had fulsome praise for the ‘Great Unifier’ (My Republica, Jan. 11).
He points out very cogently what a brilliant tactician Prithvi Narayan Shah was. However, he was not only a capable warrior but a keen military strategist and diplomat.
His decisive victories over the Bengali invaders of Mir Qasim and the troops of the British East India Company under Captain Kinloch at Sindhuli were the precursors to the unification of Nepal.
Let us hope to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Great King next year with suitable pomp and splendour.
American Democracy under Assault
Robert Reich, a former US Secretary of Labor and currently a professor of public policy at the University of California asserted that when the president of the United States encourages armed insurgents to breach the Capitol and threaten the physical safety of Representatives and Senators, it can be called an attempted coup d’etat (The Guardian, Jan.10).
The rampage last Wednesday left five dead, including a Capitol police officer who was injured when he tangled with the Trump mob, who had been egged on by Trump himself immediately before in a rally speech. If some of the miscreants had been heavily armed, the carnage would have been greater.
The attempted coup by the executive on the legislative branch of government failed, but its significance or the stain it has left on America should not be minimized. And Trump’s culpability is beyond dispute.
Some coup experts deny that it was a coup attempt, but other pundits are clear since the term is associated with “sudden and unconstitutional change of government or regime” [Dictionary of International Relations, Penguin, 1998].
It is also worthy of note that even if the ‘domestic terrorists’ had occupied the Capitol for a lengthy period of time and even killed many lawmakers, it would have ultimately failed because of the resistance of the security forces. Trotzky’s dictum seems instructive here: “A coup can succeed without the army but…it cannot succeed against the army.”
“There’s no question the president formed the mob, the president incited the mob, the president addressed the mob. He lit the flame,” said Elizabeth Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican [and the daughter of a former US vice president].
Reich is of the opinion that Trump has been a blot on American democracy and should be impeached, convicted and removed from office. He should not be allowed to seek office again and signal that attempted coups are part of the American system.
His enablers should also not go scot-free. This goes above all for his accomplices on Capitol Hill, most notably the Texas senator Ted Cruz and Missouri senator Josh Hawley. Both should be forced to resign. Knowing Trump’s allegations of voting fraud were false, Cruz and Hawley purposefully led the move to exclude Biden electors – even after the storming of the Congressional buildings, thereby giving Trump’s baseless claims credibility.
Both Cruz and Hawley are eyeing running for the presidency in 2024. Reich maintains that their candidacy should be barred. Both were ironically noted constitutional law experts and were educated in elite Ivy League universities: Princeton, Harvard Law School (Cruz); Stanford, Yale Law (Hawley). But they have now fallen very low in the esteem of their peers!
The U.S. Nuclear Option
Amid the security, political and constitutional turmoil in Washington – unleashed by none other than still president Trump himself – huge concerns among the cognoscenti over Trump’s mental state have drawn focus on his power to unleash an unprovoked nuclear attack [probably on his favourite enemy Iran].
Two days after rabid Trump supporters, under his express encouragement stormed the US Capitol [the complex of Congressional buildings housing both the House of Representatives, the Senate and the offices of members] and shut down Congress deliberating Joe Biden’s electoral votes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi contacted the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. She wanted to know exactly how to prevent “an unhinged president” from using the extremely secret nuclear codes to order a nuclear strike unilaterally (AFP, Jan. 9).
On paper, at least, the US Constitution gives the president the sole power to launch a nuclear weapon.
Congress cannot interfere, and the leaders in the Pentagon, both generals and civilians, are bound to transmit his order, whether they agree with it or not.
Everywhere he travels, the president is accompanied by a special aide carrying the ‘nuclear bag’ containing instructions, attack plans and codes for initiating a nuclear strike that only the president can initiate.
Given the supreme need to consider the justification for the nuclear attack, what means/equipment to use and what targets are chosen, such a decision would normally be done in consultation with the top defence chiefs. But is Trump a ‘normal’ president, or a cornered dog?
Once the president decides – whether rationally after much joint deliberation or irrationally in a fit of anger –“neither the military nor Congress can overrule these orders” (Congressional Research Service, Dec. 2020).
International Law of War only Hindrance
The only restriction on the US president would be the legality of the nuclear strike under International Law. The international laws of war would allow a U.S. military official to refuse to execute such an order to do something illegal.
In the prevailing U.S. system of nuclear command and control, there are unfortunately no exceptions for a scenario in which the president is seen to be mentally unstable and ignores the advice of his generals.
In such a case, there is the only option – which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for with regard to Trump – is to invoke the 25th amendment of the Constitution on removing a president from power. This requires Vice President Mike Pence and the majority of the cabinet to act – but this will not happen.
Trump Adds Insult to Injury
Just before his Twitter account was permanently suspended, Trump managed to tweet that he would not be attending incoming-president Biden’s inauguration, i.e. he “would eschew the traditional step of personally demonstrating the peaceful hand-off of power”…and would “be the first outgoing president to skip his replacement’s inauguration in more than 150 years” (CNN/Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak, Jan. 8).
In 1869, the last time a still-living president boycotted his successor’s swearing-in, incoming President Ulysses S. Grant refused to share a carriage with his predecessor Andrew Jackson [probably now the second-worst president]. Jackson said he would remain behind at the White House.
US President-elect Joe Biden welcomed Trump’s announcement that he would not attend the January 20 inauguration, calling it pointedly a “good thing”, adding sarcastically that it was the only thing in which he agreed with his predecessor.
Otherwise, Biden said:
– “He’s been an embarrassment to the country.
– “He’s not fit to serve.”
– “He exceeded even my worst notions about him.”
– “He’s one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the United States of America.”
Congressional Democrats began efforts to force US President Donald Trump from office, introducing one article of impeachment accusing him of inciting insurrection over the violent attack on the Capitol last week (Reuters, Jan. 11).
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, most of her fellow Democrats and a handful of Republicans maintain that the Republican president should not be trusted to serve out his term, which ends midday on January 20.
The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com
Login to add a comment