5-26-05, 8:29am

US President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced after their talks held on May 23 that the United States and Afghanistan have established 'strategic partnership' formally and both sides will hold high-level meetings regularly on the issues of common concerns in the future in the fields of politics, security and economy according to a signed article by Zhang Jingyu and published by People Daily.

That the United States, the only superpower in the world, offers such a treatment of 'strategic partner' to a small country like Afghanistan generously seems to safe enough 'face' for President Karzai, making his visit seem to be a 'worthwhile trip'. Another coincided thing happened almost at the same time in the same area lets people produce doubt about the actual 'gold content' of the US 'strategic partner'.

It is revealed by Indian media on May 22 that the US government sent a letter to the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently, making clear its attitude that the US will impose sanctions on India according to the 'Law of D'Amato' if India goes its own way to insist in its cooperation with Iran in petroleum and natural gas regardless of US's opposition. India and the US established 'strategic partnership' as early as a few years ago and the US knows very clearly that India is in the serious shortage of energy and in the urgent need of international cooperation to ensure its power supply for economy.

Then why does the US take so impolite attitude towards its 'strategic partner'? The key lies in the behavior of India, which does not accord with the US control of Iran and with its pursuing western strategy of democracy in the whole world. This overbearing conduct of the rude interference in the normal international economic cooperation has completely revealed the true status of 'strategic partner' in the American mind. Out of its own interests, it may turn against a friend at any time.

President Karzai's visit to the US was made under the delicate background of the exposure of the US soldiers' profaning 'the Koran' incident that triggered off serious protests in Afghanistan as well as in many other Islamic countries. Prior to the visit he had many complaints about the US army's maltreatment of prisoners in Afghanistan as well as about the US behavior in searching private residences at will, demanding all the Afghan prisoners detained by the US troops return to Afghan government immediately. In addition, Karzai also asks for getting more administrative power over the US troops stationed in Afghanistan on behalf of the Afghan government, however his demand does not receive responses from the Bush administration. What did Afghanistan want was not obtained and 'accidentally' Afghanistan has established 'the strategic partnership' with the US. For President Karzai although there are some 'lip services with unlikely realities', but by contrast what the US has done seems to have even more 'strategic significance' than a certain commitment to solve a certain concrete problem. But since becoming 'partners', they should be equal and have consultations whenever there is anything that crops up with mutual help and understanding; it is not allowed to only deliberate own interests while ignoring 'partner's' feelings or even insulting the religions emotions of the Moslem world wantonly. There is not even minimum equal treatment mutually starting from the very beginning, how cannot such a partnership lose flavor for a long time?

The US choice of 'strategic partner' has been always conditioned. In 2002 when Bush made his visit to Peru for the first time both sides announced to form the 'strategic partnership for anti-terrorism and anti-drug drive', but nothing was said about the cooperation in other areas. Several years ago, the US upgraded the relations between the US and India to 'the strategic partnership', but, for no better reason than that it focused on the momentum that India emerged rapidly. The US hoped to draw the support from India for restraining its strategic rival in order to achieve the balance of strength in the South Asia or even in a larger range. For this reason, the US has repeatedly expressed its Indian friendship in recent years and showed constantly that it is glad to see India as a new emerging powerful country to play a role in Asia and the international arena. And when the 'partnership' conflicts with the US's own benefits, the true US intention of being affectedly bashful in the order of importance and urgency gives away and Washington can never sacrifice its own interests in order to look after the so-called 'partnership'.

The reason for US and Afghanistan to establish 'strategic partnership' is: first for 'putting out a fire' in order to put down the anger triggered off by the US soldiers in profaning 'the Koran' in Afghanistan and the Moslem world; the second for seeking a long-term cooperation with the Afghan government to consolidate the anti-terrorism result and prevent al Qaeda and Taliban's remnant forces from reviving. The starting point of the wishful thinking is for safeguarding US's own interests with the emphasis on the global strategy of US anti-terrorism, considering nothing of the terrible sufferings of the Afghan people.

As for the fashionable and debased 'strategic partnership', what is unforgettable is the vision and insight of a major media in India, which has warned its government and people meaningfully: 'Don't take seriously the so-called 'strategic partnership' with the US; be more careful, don't regard the 'strategic partnership' with the US as the partner of the 'US's strategy.'

By People's Daily Online