Blackwill finds 'WMD' in Andhra

[Guest guest]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=101681

 

NEW DELHI: US President George Bush’s boys may not have been able to lay their hands on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, but his close friend and outgoing Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill claims to have found them in India. To be precise — Andhra Pradesh. Recalling his travels across the country at a farewell speech hosted by FICCI here, Blackwill said, “Andhra Pradesh with its pathbreaking e-governance and food hotter than hot. Don’t let anybody tell you differently; those Andhra peppers are without doubt weapons of mass destruction.”

 

In an address peppered with humour and affection for India, Blackwill praised India’s cuisine saying, “India is unquestionably the only country in the world where this Kansas lad raised on beefsteaks could happily be a vegetarian. But please don’t tell my relatives back on the Mid-West farms.”

 

Blackwill also perceived the world as divided into two parts Those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who have not. am proud to be in the first, still too exclusive group,” he added. Thanking India for every single thing he discovered here, he said, “Mother India has changed my life - forever.”

 

On a serious note, the outgoing Ambassador condemned terrorism against India and said no religion or political cause could justify these “merciless acts.”

 

In his address Blackwill, who leaves for home on Wednesday after a memorable two year stint, expressed confidence that India and US together would win the war against terrorism. Voicing grave concern over India’s death toll from terrorism, Blackwill said, “No respectable religion could excuse these merciless acts.”

 

“No moral framework could sanction these abominations. No political cause could justify these murders of innocents and yet they go on.” Pointing out the September 11 terrorist attacks against the US and “nearly everyday in India”, Blackwill said the terrorist outrages against the two countries will not continue indefinitely.

 

Referring to his visit to Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield and a bone of contention between India and Pakistan, he said, “I recall speaking to jawans on the Siachen. Those men from all over India give new meaning to the word tough.”