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Terrorism is the scourge of the era. It is a fearsome symbol conjuring images of nasty-looking, bearded men brandishing AK-47s. The media focus only on the terrorism of official enemies like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. The notion that the U.S. and its allies engage in terrorism is simply not a topic for discussion. In the current discourse, the terrorism of the designated bad guys is magnified. A lot of important information is omitted or distorted.
Eqbal Ahmad was Professor Emeritus of International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He was born in Irki, Bihar, to an Indian Muslim landowning family. His father was murdered while parceling out the estate to landless peasants. Upon the partition of India in 1947 he went to Pakistan. He came to the U.S. to attend Princeton. For many years he was managing editor of the quarterly Race and Class. His articles and essays appeared in The Nation and other journals throughout the world. He wrote a weekly column for Dawn, Pakistan's oldest English newspaper. He was one of the the most original and influential anti-imperialist thinkers of his era. He was a leading figure in the anti-Vietnam War movement. He was a remarkable and persuasive orator. As a teacher, he was mentor and inspiration to many. He was a close ally of Edward Said, Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn. Confronting Empire and Terrorism Theirs & Ours are the two books he did with David Barsamian. Eqbal Ahmad died in Islamabad on May 11, 1999.
- KBOO