Pakistan Military Makes A Stand

ISLAMABAD – After several months of backroom wheeling and dealing between the United States and the top brass in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi, Washington has expressed its full trust in Pakistan’s military leadership and its apparatus, including the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which in turn is preparing to fight the next phase in the South Asia war theater.

This will focus on the hunt for high-profile al-Qaeda targets in the Shawal and Datta Khel areas of Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area, where it is believed Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Dr Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and the shura (council) of al-Qaeda are hiding. Over the past few weeks, the US has stepped up drone attacks in the region.

United States Senator Joe Lieberman, who recently visited Pakistan, confirmed on Sun! day that the Pakistani army “is on the move” and that there is the “possibility the US will see activity in that volatile northern region [North Waziristan]“. Lieberman met with Pakistan’s military chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani.

In the latest drone attack early on Thursday morning, two missile strikes were reported to have killed 10 suspected militants in a compound in the Pasalkot area of North Waziristan. Several days ago, the US said it had killed 12 people at a suspected Talibantraining center about 30 kilometers west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

In the latter stages of last year, the Pakistan military waged a months-long offensive in South Waziristan against the PakistaniTaliban, with some success. The operation in N! orth Waziristan, however, will concentrate solely on al-Qaeda and its affiliates.

This understanding was reached after some tricky negotiations. The US initially wanted a broader Pakistani campaign, even suggesting that if Pakistan did not cooperate, it would send in its own special forces for ground assaults and mount daily drone strikes inside North Waziristan.

Pakistan argued that its military was stretched as its forces were already committed in Swat, South Waziristan and the agencies of Mohmand, Bajaur and Khyber.

A senior Pakistani security official told Asia Times Online on the condition of anonymity that Pakistan was also reluctant to undertake a full operation in North Waziristan because that region was not a main sanctuary for the Taliban, as is South Waziristan. The official said that the Americans were therefore told that Pakistan’s participation would be limited to the elimination of al-Qaeda and its affiliate groups. At the same time, he hinted at a possible role for Pakistan in facilitating negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.

The recent deadly suicide attack on a US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) base in Khost province in Afghanistan was plotted by al-Qaeda in North Waziristan. (See US spies walked into al-Qaeda’s trap Asia Times Online, January 5, 2009.)

The dispute over the level of Pakistan’s involvement caused bad blood on both sides. At one point, the Pakistani militaryestablishment clamped down on the many American defense contractors in the country, and even American diplomats were forced to tangle with red tape, so much so that the US ambassador, Anne W Patterson, made a public protest.

Nonetheless, this proved to be just another episode in the love-hate relationship between the two allies who both desperately need one another. As a result, ! communication began at new levels. Sources privy to the military establishment say that a major turnaround was the visit late last year of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Islamabad.

Washington conceded that the government of President Asif Ali Zardari had a “credibility deficit” and the only option was to rely on the Pakistan army. The visit of Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, in the second week of December was also a milestone. He returned to Washington and lobbied in favor of the US dealing directly with Kiani.

There followed a string of visits by American military officials and senators, including that of Lieberman, who confirmed that the Pakistan army was the only hope in tackling the troubles in South Asia.

One of the consequences of this is that Washington has informed Islamabad that the term of the director general of the ISI, Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, should be extended. He is due to retire in March. A few months later, Kiani is due to step down, and if Pasha is not reappointed, Pasha will be the next chief of army staff by virtue of his seniority.

Understandably, Zardari’s government initially reacted badly to being snubbed – and dictated to – by the US. A senior member of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), barrister Kamal Azfar, said in a statement that both the CIA and the Pakistani militaryheadquarters aimed to derail democracy in the country. Then throughout the month of December, Zardari and cabinet members spoke out against the military establishment.

The military hit back, and under its pressure Zardari surprised everybody by giving up the chairmanship of the National Command Authority, which controls the country’s nuclear weapons. It is now firmly under the military’s wing.

On December 29, on the second anniversary of the assassination of his wife, Benazir Bhutto, Zardari delivered an inflammatory speech against the military, taking aback even members of his PPP.

Frantic meetings followed between Zardari and go-betweens for the military, resulting eventually in an understanding that the president would take briefs from the army chief on all issues and then speak accordingly.

The military has effectively put Zardari in his place, just as it has got its way with the US over North Waziristan: Washington andthe Pakistani civilian government have no option but to follow the game accordingly.

Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation At Work In Karachi

When the government was absent, Karachi’s patriots and PakNationalists moved and raised Pakistan’s flag across the area, in a message that Pakistan stands firm and proud despite what our enemies, internal and external, are doing to us.

These pictures were sent by Ibne Qassem, from FIF, one of the groups active in the rehabilitation work. We at PakNationalists and PKKH are proud to support the great work of the young men and women at FIF.

There were two distribution points:

1. First camp was at Light House, where we distributed approx 100 packs, and few sewing machines, to some affected tailors.

2. Second camp was at Bolton where approx 450-500 packs were handed out.

CIA Spy Assassin – An Inside Job?

Seven CIA agents were killed by another CIA agent who had conveniently met with and recorded a video with yet another CIA agent. To untangle this web, we need to ask the age-old question – ‘who benefits?’

The recent assassination of seven CIA spies in Afghanistan at the hands of another CIA spy has raised a host of questions about the operations of the infamous agency. Since its creation, the CIA’s history is replete with murder, drug running, false flag attacks and God only knows what else evil for the sake of the ever-expanding American empire. Could it be that the incident at the Afghan spy base is yet another black feather in the agencies cap?

A Jordanian double agent was able to pass through multiple security checks and blow up the spies in Khost with relative ease in what is the most successful attack on the agency in years. Yet questions were immediately raised when the world was told that the Jordanian was due to meet seven high-ranking CIA officers allegedly in order to exchange critical intelligence on the whereabouts of Ayman al Zawahiri – al Qaeda’s number two.

The CIA’s bread and butter business is murder, theft and extortion, and runs counter to all law, natural or man-made. Yet the agency has for the sake of its operational expediency, a few rules which are inviolable. The meeting itself was a violation of CIA protocol, which dictates that agents meet only with their handlers and no one else. The idea that an astonishing SEVEN agents rushed especially to meet the Jordanian goes totally against the agency rule-book. That this meeting could even take place only makes sense if we surmise that it was authorized from the highest echelons of the agency.

In addition, the video that conveniently surfaced afterwards of the Jordanian bomber holding hands with TTP arch-terrorist Hakimullah Mehsud only further muddies the waters. What did the TTP have to do with targeting the CIA, or anything American, when their primary (only) target has always been Pakistani Muslims? Why would the TTP waste time on making MTV videos when they are desperately on the run from the Pakistan Army? After all, the TTP is itself a CIA sponsored and funded outfit. Why are they physically biting the hand that feeds them?

The fact is, the TTP is on the ropes having been eliminated first from Swat, and then South Waziristan. Its rampage of terror against innocent Pakistani civilians has shocked and appalled the population at large who are now convinced that the group must be destroyed at any cost. Having totally much of its public support, operational capability and ability to destabilize the Pakistani state, the TTP has dramatically faded in value as an asset for the CIA. Meanwhile, with the American war in Afghanistan getting worse and worse in terms of tangible results, the CIA is being targeted by a cross-section of the American media for its continual intelligence failures.

Put simply, seven CIA agents were killed by another CIA agent who had conveniently met with and recorded a video with yet another CIA agent. By having the Jordanian kill its own, the CIA bigwigs may have sought to kill the proverbial two birds with one assassin. First, with its agents dead, the CIA was able to mobilize American public support for the American Afghan surge and respect for its ‘sacrifices’. Second, with the bombers TTP connection, the CIA may have hoped that the terrorist group might regain some of its lost credibility amongst the Pakistani people by being affiliated with a successful attack on the ‘hated’ CIA.

The CIA would kill its own agents without any hesitation at all. It has done so often in its sordid history. The sheer ruthlessness with which this terrorist agency conducts its operations is well documented. But this time its scheme flopped. Pakistani opinion was unmoved regarding the TTP and the American media only asked yet more cutting questions of the agency. Yet when the attempt to resurrect the TTP in Pakistan failed, the CIA desperately diverted the issue by planting stories in the US and Indian media of the possibility of the ISI’s involvement in the attack on its spies. Many stories falsely alleged that traces from ISI origin military grade explosives had been found at the scene. Lies upon lies!

Whereas in some places the CIA inspires fear and awe, in Pakistan, it only inspires anger and contempt. The Pakistani people are wise to the chicanery of this devious organization. Through its sponsorship of the TTP and its buy-out of the corrupt political classes, the CIA has openly declared its malicious intent to balkanize, denuclearize and destroy the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

They plot and they plan, but Allah is the best of Planners!

CIA: BUNGLERS OR CON MEN?

The Blackwater operations run from Camp Chapman close to the Pakistani border could have been for anyone, Iran, Israel, India or one of their dozens of clients. Here are some startling revelations.

Were the seven CIA employees killed in the recent terror attack at Camp Chapman in Afghanistan really CIA? Sources now tell us that some were Blackwater operatives, not CIA at all.
Is the CIA and Blackwater one in the same? Are either one or both working for the United States or has the disease of privatization created a culture of greed and incompetence that has left the United States vulnerable and defenseless? Are we simply “out of our depth” in Afghanistan?

WHO IS PULLING THE STRINGS?

Blackwater/Xe is a multinational corporation with endless divisions who, not only work for the CIA but governments and intelligence agencies around the world. No one has ever successfully penetrated their cover organizations to find who they really are or who they really represent. The Blackwater operations run from Camp Chapman could have been for anyone, Iran, Israel, India or one of their dozens of clients.
We don’t know, the CIA certainly doesn’t know, nobody knows. Was the attack that killed Americans an attack on the CIA, an attack on Blackwater or a carryover from a local drug war? All we do know is that everything we have been told is subterfuge and not necessarily meant to serve the intelligence and security interests of the United States of America.
The secret base in eastern Khost province in Afghanistan is in an area convenient to move personnel and “other things” in and out of Pakistan. The base itself is supposed to be designated for the use of USAID, a division of the State Department meant to aid foreign governments but which has been a front for covert operations for decades, one of the worst kept secrets in the world.
The camp itself is guarded by Afghani tribesmen, not US personnel. No information about their ethnic affiliations, training or qualifications is available. However, the idea of a highly secure CIA compound being guarded under such circumstances is an absurdity beyond human comprehension.
American military and civilian operations inside Afghanistan have proven to be utterly incapable of finding any group within Afghanistan to work with that is free of penetration by Taliban elements. Many lives have been lost already from numerous incidents of Afghani military, police and security personnel turning on American allies.

THE REAL FACE OF TERRORISM

The region of Camp Chapman is a staging area for terrorist operations, not only against Americans in Afghanistan but against Pakistan as well. Some of the terrorist groups are working for India and Israel, some for the Taliban and, frankly, most are working for both.
America and the CIA are totally out of their depth, ill informed, uninformed and being played, not only by our supposed Kabul allies, but by India, Israel and our private contractors who are playing both sides against the middle.

BLACKWATER AND PAKISTAN

Camp Chapman, now identified as a Blackwater command post near the Pakistan border has an unclear mission. Continual reports coming out of Pakistan indicate that Blackwater and/or other US contracting firms have become involved in criminal activities and terrorism.
Top Pakistani military analyst, Brigadier General Asif Haroon Raja has tied Blackwater and other US contractors to the assassination of Pakistani army officers, attacks on government installations and ties to terrorist groups who have killed hundreds of civilians.
Raja has indicated that, rather than being employed as CIA contractors in search of high profile terrorists, these contractors are working with, among others Israel and India coordinating terrorist operations meant to destabilize the government of Pakistan, America’s only military ally in the region.
If US contractors are working inside Pakistan, under cover of the CIA but actually serving the intelligence services of India or Israel, primary enemies of Pakistan, but also countries who are doing nothing to aid the US in Afghanistan, this would represent a serious threat to US security.
It has been reported that US personnel have been arrested carrying explosives and weapons near Pakistani nuclear facilities. Are they working for Israel or are they working for Iran? How would we know?

WHAT DRUGS?

Is there a danger in having unsupervised privateer mercenary operators working in the midst of the world’s largest narcotics production area? What if such a company also owned private airlines that can fly from country to country without any supervision by customs or drug enforcement organizations?
With the press filled with reports of organized crime activities tied to mercenary contractors working for the US in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports of murder, drug running, money laundering and arms smuggling, is there some possibility that tying groups involved in these acts to CIA intelligence gathering capabilities a poor strategy for success?
Why are the papers filled with accusations of every imaginable crime from mowing down civilians with automatic weapons to blowing up mosques and yet no mention of the remote possibility of participation in the regions $50 billion plus per year drug industry?
In fact, is participation in drug production, smuggling and related money laundering the only real secret we seem to be keeping?

THE BUSINESS OF FAILURE

America mourns 7 dead citizens, victims of an attack, maybe terrorism, maybe “business,” now uncertain as to who were loyal Americans and who were private contractors working for the highest bidder. CIA secrecy keeps us from knowing our heroic dead. Criminal absurdity keeps us from knowing the truth.
Decades ago, the CIA got involved with the Mafia in an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro, someone who has outlived everyone sent to kill him.
We are told that we never hear of the successes, only the failures. However, the failures are of such a devastating and catastrophic nature, the communist takeover of Cuba, the fall of Iran and the Iran/Contra scandal, the Chile coup, bungled buddies: Noriega and bin Laden, the Russian coup against Gorbachev, Vietnam, 9/11, the Ames spy case, the Iraq War, Afghanistan and so many others, that the “secret successes” are unlikely to measure up.
What could possibly be done to take a failed organization and make it worse? We only need to sit and watch, you can be assured that everything possible, humanly and otherwise, will be done as it always has.
Is it possible that decades of claimed incompetence and bungling is simply a cover for serving masters other than the United States of America? Can 70 years of consorting with dictators, swindlers, gangsters, war criminals, drug lords and politicians have blurred the CIA’s vision?

Are Hindu Extremists Going To Sabotage This Year’s Commonwealth Games In India?

After reports of threats made by the Hindu Extremist party, Shiv Sena, against the Australian cricket team, the Australian government and media are now very concerned about the safety of their players in India. So they should be. This threat was issued in reaction to incidents of random violent attacks against Indian nationals in some Australian cities. While the concern of the Indian government about the safety of its citizens is justified, it should be noted that Shiv Sena or the Army of Lord Shiva, is the same right wing Hindu extremist political party that has over the past years orchestrated violence against minorities in India, intimidated political opponents and carried out a reign of terror and intimidation against anyone who dares to speak against their hate-mongering leader Mr. Bal Thackeray. Hence if Bal Thackeray has issued a threat against the visitors, it is indeed a worrisome development for the international community in terms of the security of their players during the Commonwealth games which are to be held in India this year. There is a long list of heinous acts of violence that have been perpetrated by Hindu extremist parties like Shiv Sena for decades in India.

Apart from a history of genocide against Muslims, more than 2500 Muslims were massacred in 2002 in the Indian state of Gujarat where horrible scenes of arson, mutation and rape were perpetrated by the Hindu extremists against the unarmed Muslims. However, the hatred of the Hindu extremists is not limited towards Muslims; As recently as 2009 there have been violent attacks and alleged “reconversion” of over 1,700 Christians in the week leading up to Christmas by Hindu extremists. Something similar happened in August 2008 when around 600 Christians became victims of violent attacks by Hindu Extremists in Eastern India. It is noteworthy that Shiv Sena, the party that has issued threats against the Australian cricketers, is also one of the main military wings of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu extremist organization that influences the policies of every single political party in India, be it BJP, Congress or any other. In a recent talk show, RSS spokesman Tarun Vijay dubbed Australians as the “most atrocious and horrendous racists on this planet”. It is indeed ‘atrocious’ that this statement came from an organization that leads all the Hindu extremists groups, which are many and are mushrooming into newer and deadlier groups, and adhere to the violent ideology that Hinduism is the only religion and culture acceptable for humanity and that it is perfectly legitimate to use violence as means to achieve their goals. Perhaps, this is the reason why some officials in Australia are already sounding the alarm and casting doubts on Australia’s participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Sunshine Coast swimmer Nick D’Arcy alleged that he has been told by Swimming Australia insiders that the 2010 Commonwealth Games may have to be abandoned due to security concerns. Apparently, it’s not just the Aussies who are feeling the heat. England too, is seriously considering pulling out of this year’s Commonwealth Games in India over fears its athletes will be victims of a terrorist attack, only this time the threat is from India’s home-grown Hindu fanatics.

This threat also puts the thousands of Australian and other foreign professionals currently working or residing in India in a very risky position, for it is likely that in such a situation they might be targeted by this politically and ideologically motivated bunch of Hindutva activists. A recent cartoon, likening the Victorian police with the Ku Klux Klan shows the extremes to which the Indian media has gone to portray the incidents in Australia in a racial light. Therefore, a little urging from the likes of Bal Thackeray will be enough to set off mobs of inflamed and angry right wing militants seeking ‘revenge’ on the visitors. The extent of this concern can be determined by the reports that the Australian athletes participating in the Commonwealth games, if (and that is a big If) they are held in India at all, will be accompanied by members of the Australian Federal Police. If this happens, it will be a complete embarrassment for the Indian government as it would be a clear indication that it is entirely incapacitated and helpless before the right wing Hindu extremists.

The international community should perhaps seriously weigh in on the options that they have in terms of holding the Commonwealth games in another country as the simmering tensions between India and Australia, especially in view of the threats issued by Shiv Sena set a dangerous precedent for all those attending the games. Adding to this threat is the havoc that Maoist rebels are creating inside India along with several other separatist movements by rebel groups in the North East. The country is fast turning into a dangerous cocktail of Right Wing Hindu extremism and unrest among the minorities that have been long-oppressed by the Brahmin ruling elite. It would only be rational and responsible on behalf of all the relevant governments to think twice before sending their athletes to what is fast turning into one of the most dangerous places in the Sub-Continent for non-Hindus

‘In just 3 yrs, Islamist Pak will dump West’

London: Pakistan is likely to become a more Islamist state and increasingly anti-American in the coming years, complicating US efforts to win its support against Islamist militants, a report released on Tuesday said.

The report, which looks at Pakistan over a one-to-three year time horizon, rules out the possibility of a Taliban takeover or of it becoming the world’s first nuclear-armed failed state. “Rather than an Islamist takeover, you should look at a subtle power shift from a secular pro-Western society to an Islamist anti-American one,” said Jonathan Paris, who produced the report for the Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank.

Paris forecasts that Pakistan is most likely to “muddle through”, with its army continuing to play a powerful role behind the scenes in setting foreign and security policy. “Speculation of a Taliban takeover dramatically overestimates the willingness of the political and military elites to surrender power to the Taliban,” says the report, the result of months of research on the outlook for Pakistan.

Paris, who also works for the Atlantic Council of the US, nonetheless sees Pakistan slipping away from the west at a time when Washington needs its support in Afghanistan. “US and UK leverage over Pakistan is not growing. It is decreasing. Pakistani society is moving toward anti-Americanism and toward more sharia law,” says Paris.

The rising influence of Islamist political parties and of militant groups in its Punjab province will slowly transform Pakistan by exploiting local grievances. “The danger for the army, and for Pakistan generally, is not Talibanisation but Islamisation from Punjabbased militants and their allies,” the report says.

2010 dawns, but Delhi unprepared for Commonwealth Games

NEW DELHI: Delhi steps into the year of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) struggling to battle infrastructural delays, unending construction work and unimaginable traffic snarls.

The Oct 3-14 Games will have 17 disciplines to be organised at six venue clusters and five stand-alone stadiums in the metropolis. Yet, not a single venue is anywhere near completion.

Work at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, is way behind schedule and India’s sports minister announced on Monday that it will be ready only in June. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has admitted the slow pace of work is making her nervous.

Over 100,000 visitors are expected during the Games and there is a big shortfall in the number of rooms ready for them. As against 40,000 rooms required, only 10,000 rooms are available. The tourism ministry is trying to rope in budget hotels and guest houses near the New Delhi Railway Station and the suburbs. A clearer picture will emerge only by mid-year.

Home Minister P Chidambaram had informed the Lok Sabha during the winter session that the city skyline will be clear of the tangled mesh of cable TV, Internet and telephone wires and that the cabling will go underground.

Another major concern is Delhi’s serpentine traffic as well as poor public transport system. The Delhi government’s Public Works Department (PWD) is racing against time to give the city a makeover.

The civic authorities have already spent billions of rupees on building flyovers, roads, and new bus stops as well as on street-scaping and signages.

“We are constructing 24 flyovers for the Games. Of these, 12 are operational and another 12 will be ready in time for the Games. The infrastructure is not essentially for the event, it is part of the city’s routine developmental work,” PWD secretary KK Sharma said.

To ease traffic congestion, the public transport system is being strengthened and, in three months, the notorious Blueline buses are expected to be phased out.

About 3,500 low-floor buses will replace the Bluelines, but the recent fires in them has put a question mark on their safety. Around 950 low-floor buses are running on city roads now.

The only agency which seems to be meeting the deadlines is Delhi Metro, but its reputation, too, was tarnished in 2009 with a couple of accidents leading to loss of life.

Several countries scheduled to participate in the Games have raised concerns over security, but the government is firm in saying that they need not have any fears. The authorities have approved installation of an integrated security system (ISS), estimated to cost Rs.370 crore (Rs 3.7 billion), to cover all the venues.

Though the government has been promising security upgradation, it is still in the process of purchasing the equipment, raising questions on whether the security agencies would have enough time to train their personnel to handle the gadgets.

A big worry is the air quality during the Games. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, has developed a System of Air Pollution Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) that will start functioning in a couple of months.

“The system will tell us the quality of air at a given moment and also what it will be 24 hours later, thus alerting people and helping them avoid immediate exposure to unhealthy air,” Gufran Beig, SAFAR scientist and project director, said.

The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee recently launched a programme — Delhi United — to recruit and train 30,000 volunteers to present Delhi’s culture and etiquette.

The authorities are also training thousands of bus, taxi and auto drivers to converse in English and make them sound polite and tourist-friendly.

The centre and the state governments have lined up a host of cultural programmes during the Games. Neighbouring state Haryana is chipping in with a fair on the lines of the Surajkund Mela.

The question is how fast the plans fructify and whether everything will be in order before the opening ceremony Oct 3.