Pakistan’s Army & People Are One

Pakistan Patriot

It didn’t begin with the Haqqanis, or the attack on Kabul. It didn’t even begin with Operation Geronimo-it actually began when President Obama made the blunder of not visitingPakistan and then going to Delhi. Trying to hide the failure of his administration to sign the Nuclear 123 deal he tried to appease the Indians by saying that he supported Delhi’s bid for the UNSC. He couldn’t had said anything worse.

In better day Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen reviews Pakistani troops.

The entire Pakistani nation was furious. The National Assembly was mad. The media was upset. There were demonstrations all over Pakistan-of course the US media missed it all. All of this was recorded on Rupee News. No American president had come across to biased, not Bush, not Nixon, not Johnson, not Kenney and not Reagan. They all tried to be even handed. Here was a president, with a middle name of Husein, who enjoyed tremendous popularity in Pakistan. Obama could have cahsed it on the equity he had with the Pakistanis. He however lost it all-because of his silly remarks, the loud mouth of his generals, the loose talk of his Secretary of State, and the exponential increase of drone bombings.

Why is that the American generals are so far off the mark when they begin to deal with the Pakistanis. The reason is that a mafia in Washington controls the access of information that reaches American policy makers. It is America’s fault too. They bank on the likes of Ahmed Rashid, the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Mr Haqqani, and Mr. Najam Sethi-plus a cabal of so called left wingers on the net-these guys are responsible for the failure of US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

US Pakistani relations have been deteriorating because of the heightened sense of frustration felt by the US Army in Afghanistan. Neither the surge, nor the increase in drone activity has helped increase the US footprint in Afghanistan. The Europeans have lost all appetite for the decade long quagmire in the Hindu Kush. The retiring American generals are leaving with a legacy of defeat. Unable to defeat the Afghan National Resistance (Talibs, Jamat e Islamai, Hizul Islmai, Haqqanis, Hikmatyar etc) – they needed a escape goat. They attempted to humiliate General Kayani and General Pasha-hoping that their resignations would allow them to deal with a more compliant COAS. They had tried that with Musharraf and had hoped that Kayani would do their bidding. It didn’t happen. Kayani walked half a mile with them-but would go no further. Like Ayub, Zia, and Musharraf, the US once again learned that the Pakistani Army will go only so far with them. When it comes to national interests, they go their own way. Ayub Khan threw them out of Badabare, Bhutto defied them and built the bomb, Zia fooled them and accelerated the Pakistani Nuclear program, and Musharraf hodd-winked them by doubling Pakistani nuclear bombs.

In the aftermath of the Abbotabad raid, General Kayani went to meet his corp commanders. He got an earful. This site also called for his resignation. Still reeling from what he had heard from the nation, he went to the army bases to listen to the “jawans’ (soldiers). The visceral response he got from the rank and file, probably surprised him also. It was the consensus of the army that they did not want American Aid and did not want the US to interfere in Pakistan’s internal affairs. The Chief or Army Staff then visited, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and China. All branches of the government were brought on board and a strategy was created. There was a flurry of activity between Riyad, Beijing, Istanbul, Astana, and Moscow. Russia announced the formation of theDushambe 4 (Tajiskistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia). General Kayani then got on the horn and pretty much turned down US military aid to Pakistan. He couched it in diplomatic language by saying that aid to the military should be transferred to the civilians. He then turned around sent all the US trainers home. His fellow general Pasha began hunting down the US operatives and began to hound them out. They Pakistanis knew what the reaction from the US would be. They knew that the American intelligence agencies as well as the defeated US Generals would be furious.

The Americans were left with no choice-they halted the 800 million in aid to the Pakistani military. They were banking on the advice given to them by Mr. Njam Sethi and gang. That line went as follows-”the generals are greedy, and the moment the aid is stopped, they will fold like a tent-begging Washington like poodles”. The US Generals took the advice of folks writing for dawn.com and dailytimes.com.pk and began to believe the “advice’ which was purchased with US Dollars.

Turns out, that that the Americans were wrong. The advice that they received was bogus and the US is now reeling from the consequences of inflamed Pakistanis, and the exponential growth of Anti-Americanism in Pakistan.

Of course the Bharati lobby in Congress is ecstatic, just like they are ever time they see an opportunity to hurt Pakistan. Hillary Clinton in one of her moments of sanity said that “The Pressler Amendment was one of the biggest blunders of American foreign policy”. General Petraeus (now the head of the CIA is known for his favorite anedtoe when he says, every Pakistan soldier knows what the Pressler Amendment is, and no US soldier has a clue what it is. Ted Poe a Respublican Representative was was spewing fire and brimsote the other day “Turns out they are disloyal, deceptive and a danger to the United States,” fumed Republican Representative Ted Poe last week. “We pay them to hate us. Now we pay them to bomb us. Let’s not pay them at all.” Pakistanis are praying for the day with the US Aid would be halted. The aid has strings and it has created more problems for Pakistan.

For many in Pakistan, Washington has been nothing short of perfidious since joining a strategic alliance with Pakistan 10 years ago- selectively bringing India into Afghanistan, installing an Anti-Pakistan government in Kabul, while allowing or supporting anti-Pakistan terrorists like the TTP.

John Chalmers in an analysis written for Reuters tries to explain why Pakistna is acting the way it is “The answer is that Pakistan wants to guarantee for itself a stake in Afghanistan’s political future.

It knows that, as U.S. forces gradually withdraw from Afghanistan, ethnic groups will be competing for ascendancy there and other regional powers – from India to China and Iran – will be jostling for a foot in the door.
Islamabad’s support for the Taliban movement in the 1990s gives it an outsized influence among Afghanistan’s Pashtuns, who make up about 42 percent of the total population and who maintain close ties with their Pakistani fellow tribesmen.
In particular, Pakistan’s powerful military is determined there should be no vacuum in Afghanistan that could be filled by its arch-foe, India.
Chalmers says “Relations between Pakistan and the United States have been stormy ever since, culminating in a tirade by the outgoing U.S. joint chiefs of staff, Mike Mullen, last week. Mullen described the Haqqani network, the most feared faction among Taliban militants in Afghanistan, as a “veritable arm” of the ISI and accused Islamabad of providing support for the group’s September 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.”

He accurately describes the mood in Pakistan “The reaction in Islamabad has been one of stunned outrage”. Washington has not gone public with evidence to back its accusation, and Pakistani officials say that contacts with the Haqqani group do not amount to actual support”.

Chalmer’s uses the sane advice of the most popular Pakistani leader today “However, Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricketer-turned-populist-politician, said this week that it was too much to expect that old friends could have become enemies overnight.

He told Reuters that, instead of demanding that Pakistan attack the Haqqanis in the mountainous border region of North Waziristan, the United States should use Islamabad’s leverage with the group to bring the Afghan Taliban into negotiations. ‘Haqqani could be your ticket to getting them on the negotiating table, which at the moment they are refusing,” Khan said. “So I think that is a much saner policy than to ask Pakistan to try to take them on’.”

Chalmers correctly describes the regional game-about which we have written multiple time here on Rupee News.

The big risk for the United States in berating Islamabad is that it will exacerbate anti-American sentiment, which already runs deep in Pakistan, and perhaps embolden it further.

C. Raja Mohan, senior fellow at New Delhi’s Center for Policy Research, said Pakistan was probably gambling that the United States’ economic crisis and upcoming presidential elections would distract Washington.

“The real game is unfolding on the ground with the Americans. The Pakistan army is betting that the United States does not have too many choices and more broadly that the U.S. is on the decline, he said.

It is also becoming clear that as Pakistan’s relations with Washington deteriorate, it can fall back into the arms of its “all-weather friend,” China, the energy-hungry giant that is the biggest investor in Afghanistan’s nascent resources sector.

Chalmer’s is right about the regional angle which has been part of our prescient forecasting for the past several years. LIke Rupee News, most Pakistanis see Central Asia as the future of Pakistan ‘Pakistani officials heaped praise on Beijing this week as a Chinese minister visited Islamabad. Among them was army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, arguably the country’s most powerful man, who spoke of China’s “unwavering support.’

Chalmer’s is also right about Islamaba’s burgeoning relations with Iran:

“In addition, Pakistan has extended a cordial hand to Iran, which also shares a border with Afghanistan. Teheran has been mostly opposed to the Taliban, which is dominated by Sunni Muslims while Iran is predominantly Shi’ite. But Iran’s anti-Americanism is more deep-seated.

“My reading is the Iranians want to see the Americans go,” said Raja Mohan, the Indian analyst. “They have a problem with the Taliban, but any American retreat will suit them. Iran in the short term is looking at the Americans being humiliated.”

Chalmer’s like most Indian analysts is under the impression that the Pakistani Army goes against the grain of what Pakistanis think. It cannot. The Army gets its strength from the folks that man it-if they army took up stances that are unpopular with the people, the Army could not sustain those stances. Even Mushaarraf understood that, and by attempting to fire the Chief Justice-he lost the support of the people and had to resign. For most Bharatis the Pakistani army is the culprit and their favorite whipping boy. Even though many corrupt practices have crept into the cadre, the fact remains that the army is a professional fighting force, and is the front line organization in the defense of Pakistan. Today, more so than ever, almost all political parties (from the leftis ANP, to the rightist JI) all stand behind it.

In this game of chicken, America, by suspending aid to the Pakistani Army has now lost all leverage on the Generals. Pakistan is not dependent on US arms anymore. America does not provide Islamabad the latest arms, and Pakistan can get plenty of 2nd tier arms from China or build them itself.

The Great Game is on, a defeated army is withdrawing from the graveyard of empires. Its defeated generals are desperate and their frustration can be heard in the howling in the news media and the halls of Congress. Mullen will not win any Congressional Medals of Honor. He will melt away ignominiously into the woodwork-he will write a book, become rich and no one will ever hear of him again. After all, does anyone remember the name of the general who was defeated in Vietnam?

The people of Afghanistan and Pakistan remember the name of the man who defeated the British Army at Maiwand. Millions of Afghans and Pakistanis are named Ayub Khan. President Ayub Khan was also named after the famous Ayub Khan who defeated the mighty British Army-and the Khan sent one surviving soldier back to the Khyber pass riding a donkey. The picture of the sole survivor of the British army, Dr. Brydon reaching Jellalabad alone-has been encapsulated by a British painter Elizabeth Butler and hangs in many Pakistani homes.

Kashmiri American Council Reiterates Its Statement of Objectives: Dr. Fai

South Asian News Agency

Washington, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Executive Director, Kashmiri American Council (KAC) said that once again, Kashmir is living proof that it is not going to compromise, far less abandon, its demand for Azaadi (freedom) which is its birthright and for which it has paid a price in blood and suffering which has not been exacted from any other people of the South Asian subcontinent. Fai said that the Board of Directors of the KAC in its 3-days meeting agreed to the following 18-points “Policy Statement” to be pursued during the fiscal year of 2011.

1. The Board clarified that the Kashmir dispute is simply this: the people of a large territory which is not part of any existing sovereign state were assured by the entire international community represented by the United States that they would be given the right of self-determination to decide their future by a free vote. Until now this assurance has not been honored;
2. The Board explained that there must be an early, just and durable resolution to the Jammu & Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions and in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir;

3. The Board noted with satisfaction the reiteration of President Obama on November 7, 2010 that “Kashmir is a longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan” and resolution of Kashmir is, “in the interests of the region; it is in the interests of the two countries involved and it is in the interests of the United States of America;”

4. The Board remains convinced that the people of Jammu and Kashmir constitute the principle stakeholders and should be an integral component of the ongoing peace process. Therefore, the talks must be tripartite between all parties concerned: i.e., the Governments of India & Pakistan and the legitimate leadership of the people of Jammu and Kashmir;

5. The Board voiced its continuing belief that India and Pakistan alone cannot solve the 64-year-old Kashmir conflict, it requires the deeper engagement of the United States with both these neighboring countries;

6. The Board reiterated that durable peace and development of harmonious relations and friendly cooperation between India and Pakistan would serve the vital interests of the peoples of both nations, enabling them to devote their energies for a better future;

7. The Board stressed that ‘Cricket Diplomacy’ and more trade between India and Pakistan will create a conducive atmosphere and must be appreciated but history testifies that it will do nothing to end the indigenous Kashmiri resistance against occupation, which is fueled by the denial of self-determination for more than 64 years;

8. The Board believes that moral suasion, not military force or violence, should be employed to resolve the Kashmir conflict. There cannot be a military solution of the problem; any such solution is bound to invite challenge. The Board rules out war as an option and calls upon all the parties to the dispute to work for a comprehensive cease-fire and bring every form of violence to an end to improve the environment for a constructive and progressive dialogue;

9. The Board made it clear that the Kashmir conflict is not about autonomy, nor is it about converting the ‘Ceasefire Line’ into an international border. It is about honoring the political and human rights of the people of Jammu & Kashmir in accord with international law, international treaties, international covenants, justice and morality;

10. The Board appeals to both India and Pakistan to negotiate a treaty to create a nuclear weapons-free zone in all of Jammu and Kashmir because Kashmir being the only country in the world that shares borders with three nuclear powers – India, Pakistan & China;

11. The Board calls for an intensive and comprehensive inter and intra Kashmiri dialogue outside Sub-Continent between different opinions and regions of the state on both the sides of the Ceasefire line including Kashmiri Diaspora. This interaction will improve the level of trust and confidence, as it will also help to develop a consensus in the conflict resolution. The governments of India and Pakistan must facilitate the dialogue by issuing the travel documents to the participants;

12. The Board resolves that all internally and externally displaced people of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947 including Kashmiri Pandits, should be facilitated to return to their homes in safety and dignity;

13. The Board expresses grave concern over the conditions of militarization and inhumanity endured by the people of Kashmir, and the violation of their inalienable right to self-determination. The militarization has induced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, unlawful detentions, torture, phenomenon of half-widows, orphans, displacement, migrations, and mass graves;

14. The Board expressed its disbelief that non-violent, civil disobedience, including the prolific agitation that began in 2007 and is sustained until today, enacted by the people of Kashmir has been repeatedly met with brutal force and collective punishment by the Indian state.

15. The Board decided to continue to draw the attention of the international community toward the gross human rights atrocities committed by 700,000 Indian military and paramilitary forces in Kashmir;

16. The Board decided to pursue the case of Rt. Major Avtar Singh of Rashtriya Rifles (Indian paramilitary force deployed in Jammu & Kashmir), accused of brutally killing Jalil Andrabi, Chairman, Kashmir Commission of Jurists on March 27, 1996 in Srinagar, Kashmir.

17. The Board recommended that following steps need to be taken by the Government of India to make the peace process meaningful, i.e.,

i. Immediate and complete cessation of military and paramilitary actions;
ii. gradual withdrawal of the military presence from the towns and villages;
iii. dismantling of bunkers, watch towers and barricades;
iv. release of political prisoners languishing in jails, interrogation centers and detained under emergency laws, like Mian Abdul Qayyum, Ghulam Nabi Sumjee, Ghulam Nabi Shaheen, Musarat Alam, and many others;
v. annulling of various special repressive laws, like the Indian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSAPA), the Jammu & Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act and the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act; and
vi. restoring the right of peaceful association, assembly and demonstrations;

18. The board proposed that an appointment of a special envoy on Kashmir by the United Nations or the European Parliament or President Obama will hasten the process of peace and stability in the region of South Asia.

Davis’ is the missing link of US support for ‘TTP’ terror in Pakistan

RUPEE NEWS

Undoubtedly this is the biggest scandal in US Foreign relations since the US was shot down by the Soviets in the sixties. Then, as now, both sides played out the drama in an iterative manner-neither side letting the other know how much they know.

‘Davis’ is the missing link to US support for ‘TTP’ terror in Pakistan

There are clear indications that there is much more to the “Raymond Davis” affair than the Pakistanis are letting on. THis isn’t about murder and diplomatic immunity. This is mush bigger. Something is very wrong with this picture, and Islamabad is tight lipped because it now has concrete evidence that Mr “Raymond Davis” is linked with the Tehrik e Taliban e Pakistan (TTP) and some of the terror activities that have been happening in Pakistan. The Pakistanis are not stupid. Americans stick out like sore thumbs in Pakistan. When they go running around in their black SUVs laced with Satellite equipment they are tracked, traced and followed. In a cat and mouse game, the contractors can sometimes shake their “tails”. On other occasions they cannot. In fact the ISI gives them enough rope to hang themselves with. In this case, it seems Mr. Davis fell into a trap and his situation is now fully compromised. In panic Mr. “Davis” used the Nuclear option and killed the two Pakistanis who were trailing him-knowing full well that killing Pakistani spies or those who knew his identity would blow up in this face. He doesn’t have to say much-the equipment he carried tells a long and bloody story. All this is irrefutable evidence in a Pakistani court of law. The Pakistanis have already released the pictures of the equipment and the evidence that they have gathered. Of course they are still holding on to the juiciest details.

The US has postponed the Afghan-Pakistan-US Trilateral meeting, dropped hints about postponing the date of Mr. Zardari’s visit to the US, and floated all sorts of other threats. Normally Islamabad would have been cognizant of the the problems of spoiling its relationship with the sole Superpower. However the smirking Pakistanis are so confident in the validity of their cause, that they are letting the US escalate the issue.

Pakistan has ignored some of the US pressure and has not buckled under intense US pressure. Both General Kayani and Former Foreign Minister Mahmood Qureshi were not very impressed by US posturing. In fact right after their threatening phone calls and messages Islamabad formally charged Davis with pre-meditated murder in the Lahore High Court. The Court promptly remanded Mr. “Davis” to prison for another 14 days of interrogation. There were stories that if Mr. “Davis” does not cooperate, the interrogation would have been upgraded to level 3 (a euphemism for torture). There are reports that despite admonitions from the US Embassy, Mr. Davis is singing like a bird, and has already given enough information to the Pakistanis to get him convicted in any court of law.

The Former Foreign Minister Qureshi publicly confirmed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressured him to “publicly confirm diplomatic immunity of Davis. However, I refused to do so because it was against the factual position in the case.” FM Qureshi’s confirmation that Mr “Davis” is not a diplomat was repeatedly discussed on all 80 TV channels with copies of his passports and visas prominently displayed for the audience. Mr. Quresh said that
“The kind of blanket immunity Washington is pressing for Davis is not endorsed by the official record of the Foreign Ministry,” adding that Washington even “threatened that Hillary Clinton would not meet me at the Munich conference on February 6 if the request was not granted.”

The situation is so polarized that even traditional US allies in Pakistan have condemned the intrusive murders. Mr. Pervez Hoodbhoy who almost never criticizes the US has condemned the “Davis” affair. The PMLN is of course threatened the PPP with a vote of no-confidence.

It is clear that Mr. “Davis” shot the Pakistani operatives knowing full well who they were. The Pakistani authorities have informed the the media that they are very well aware that Mr. Davis was in touch with the “Pakistani Taliban” (TTP). There is conjecture that Mr. “Davis” walked into a trap laid out by the ISI. In fact his contacts were actually ISI agents. All that he said and did is in the hands of the Pakistanis. Mr. “Davis” thought that by shooting the two operatives, he would eliminate the evidence against him. In fact, it made matters worse. Other operatives who were in the vicinity had already taken the necessary precautions. The ISI has leaked information to the media that Mr. “Davis” had crossed a “red line”.

Clearly, the Americans have panicked because the know that the Pakistani side knows much more than it is prepared to admit in public. This is typical behavior when spies are caught with their thumbs up their noses. There are clear indications that Mr. “Davis” has broken down after sustained interrogation in police custody, and has spilled his guts-making the Pakistanis aware of explosive stuff. Its not that this stuff has surprised the Pakistanis. When you have 3000 of these guys running around the country-something gives. The ISI is one of the world’s most powerful spy organizations in the world. It has deep roots in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Nothing that crawls or walks in Pakistan is hidden from the ISI and other agencies. On top of this there is a million man Pakistani army. 180 million Pakistanis are also watching the Americans and reporting on them. The panicked Americans have continually given highly contradictory versions about Mr. “Davis’s” identity and the nature of his assignment in Pakistan.

It is very clear that Mr. “Davis’s” discovery and detention has sent alarm bells ringing all the way to President Obama’s White House. In a way the Pakistanis are amused. They know they have the Americans where they want them-right up against the wall. The Americans are fully aware that the “Davis” case is shaking the very foundations of the transactional relationship with Pakistan. While the CIA, the State Department and the White House think that this is a new discovery-the Pakistanis point to a long trail of evidence that directly points to the US consultants and their hirelings in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The ISI and the Army believe that at the right time, the details of what the Pakistanis know will be revealed to President Obama and the world.

Pakistan and Pakistanis have known for a long time who is behind the TTP (Tehrik e Taliban e Pakistani). Its not that hard to guess. What surprised the Pakistanis was their ability to inflict bloody attacks on the Pakistani military in order to destabilize Pakistani. Mr. Davis is not an isolated incident-there is a history behind much of what is happening in Pakistan-most of which can be correlated to the rise of the US “consultants” and “contractors” in Pakistan. It is pedagogical to note that last year when the ISI put in requests for deep security checks on those coming into Pakistan-the US put up a hissy fit and forced about 500 of these “Davis types” through without any background checks. Is is noted that the ISI became very suspicious of the insistence of the US in getting these guys into Pakistan at short notice. These guys got very special attention-and that has paid off in the arrest and detention of Mr. Davis. This points to the fact that this incident was not just an accident-it was an incident waiting to happen. The ISI was ready to pounce on the situation once it happened.

Pakistan has been very suspicious of these “contractors” especially when Pakistani state institutions were attacked. The attacks on the the Army HQ, and the ISI sent alarm bells among the rank and file of the Pakistani government. The vibrant Pakistani press has also been on the trail and has repeatedly pointed out the facts about the former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh (who was eventually fired by Mr. Karzai). However the US security establishment was in cahoots with him.

The Pakistani military and its highly efficient intelligence set-up had concluded a very long time ago that the TTP was being aided by the very sort of free-wheeling “contractors” that Mr. Davis represents. It was just a matter of time when things came to a boil. It is amazing that the Americans are surprised they have finally be caught red-handed. This has happened in the past, but during the reign of President Musharraf, the Americans got away with it and escaped. This time Mr. “Davis” was caught with his hands in the cookie jar.

Over 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan facing the new Taliban “Spring Offensive” are totally dependent on supplies running through Pakistan. The last time Pakistan shut off the spigot, the Americans ran out of toilet paper and had to cut down on food rations. It must have been hard eating food with dirty hands! If the tiff between the US and Pakistan is not resolved the US may face the consequences in Afghanistan. Failure in the Hindu Kush will certainly impact the presidential elections in 2012.

OBAMA’S INDIA YATRA

By: Ghalib Sultan

As President Obama prepares for his India ‘yatra’ it would be instructive to see how an open source case can be built up for US complicity in the war on terror by using Islamic militants in pursuit of its own interests. Indians are busy highlighting the US-India convergence in the war against terror and according to India the epicenter is in Pakistan and its religious extremists (Hindu extremists that fan violence in India are conveniently not mentioned). The US coming out in support of India or agreeing to it on Pakistan would simply confirm the perception that the convergence that India harps on with the US is actually getting Washington to put its head together with Delhi to ‘deal’ with Pakistan and Islamic militants. Islam is not just in Pakistan-it is in the whole world so India’s view through a Pakistan prism can be unsettling.

Read Complete Article: http://www.zoneasia-pk.com/ZoneAsia-Pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2474:obamas-india-yatra&catid=41:securityissues&Itemid=62

U.S. must condemn Israel for ship killings

President Obama, in his memorable speech almost exactly one year ago in Cairo, Egypt, urged Palestinians to pursue nonviolent means toward securing their freedom and raised the hopes of many Muslim-majority nations who saw a new, unbiased Mideast policy in the making. Those hopes were shattered by America’s tepid response to the killings aboard a ship on a peaceful humanitarian mission Sunday night.

A year ago in June, Obama told the Muslim world: “Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed.” Like the civil rights movement in the United States, “this same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It’s a story with a simple truth: that violence is a dead end.

“It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered.

“Israel must also live up to its obligations to ensure that Palestinians can live, and work, and develop their society. And just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel’s security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank.”

Consider those words in light of what happened in international waters off the coast of Gaza this weekend. Six ships from Turkey, Greece and Sweden carrying humanitarian supplies — the same humanitarian supplies the United States government has unsuccessfully insisted Israel allow into Gaza for more than a year now — were boarded by Israeli commandos.

More than 600 human rights activists, including a Nobel Prize laureate, European and Turkish politicians and activists, and Turkish and Al-Jazeera journalists were accompanying 10 tons of humanitarian aid.

The killings all reportedly happened on the main aid ship, the Mavi Marmara. Israeli news accounts suggest that at least nine and as many as 16 of the civilians on the ship were killed by Israeli commandos. The Israeli government says the killings were in self-defense.

International response has been swift. Turkey, the European Union, Britain, France, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Russia, the United Nations secretary-general and others have all denounced the Israeli attack and called for a lifting of the siege on Gaza. Almost no Israeli ally has been willing to provide Israel with cover for its actions.

By stark contrast with all the leading members of the international community, the United States has responded with a mild statement noting that “the United States deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained, and is currently working to understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”

But, in fact, the United States has helped promote the circumstances surrounding this crime by simultaneously urging nonviolent resistance to Israel’s occupation, while defending Israeli violence against those who follow that path.

On the one hand, the United States has clearly sided with the international community for more than a year now, demanding that the siege be lifted in Gaza and that Palestinians and their supporters try to emulate the civil rights struggle in the United States and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

The Freedom Flotilla, which was attacked this weekend; the ongoing nonviolent demonstrations against the Israeli wall and fence on Palestinian territory; and the boycotts of settler products and companies that operate on occupied Palestinian territory are all efforts that began before Obama’s call, but have received increased impetus as a result of his eloquent speech in Cairo last year.

By contrast, the United States has no strategy to encourage Israel to stop the siege or to refrain from assaulting nonviolent civilian activists, which means the Israeli government has felt no compunction to do so.

In the same 24-hour period that Israeli commandos killed civilians on the ship, an American woman — Emily Henochowicz, a student at New York’s Cooper Union — demonstrating with Palestinians and other internationals near Ramallah, West Bank, was shot in the face with a tear gas canister, reportedly by Israeli soldiers, and lost an eye.

Israel is fully confident that it can continue escalating violence against the nonviolent protests with the United States as an indulgent, if embarrassed, parent watching on.

Israel may be right that it can ignore every nation in the world as long as the United States supports its actions, even when they contradict the president’s own demands. This has led Israel into a downward spiral of action against human rights activists that has left even its own supporters and citizens concerned.

The consequences for U.S. policy in the Middle East, and perhaps even for American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, could be dire. Already there have been demonstrations in Iraq.

Having just returned from an international conference in Qatar, I was struck by the level of disappointment in the United States and the waning hope that Obama might be able to turn his Cairo speech into U.S. policy — and this was before America’s unwillingness to join the rest of the world in denouncing this weekend’s killings — or even the injuring of American citizens such as Henochowicz.

U.S. and Israeli national interests, as defined by our respective governments, now obviously diverge. Pretending otherwise means that, in practice, the United States will subjugate its own interests to those of the right-wing coalition in Israel. You can be sure that Muslims, Europeans, Arabs and human rights activists throughout the world will be paying attention — both allies and rivals alike.

A stunning arrest

The dramatic arrest of Pakistan-born Faisal Shahzad, who had boarded a plane heading for Dubai after discovery of his involvement in the bombing attempt in New York, has come as a sharp blow to Pakistan’s image once again. After military operations against militant networks in Swat, South Waziristan, Bajaur and Khyber Agencies, the Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani seemed to have satisfied his interlocutors in Washington about Pakistan’s efforts on the militancy front in good measure. However, the abortive Times Square bombing has once again exposed the inherent contradictions in Pakistan’s policy of dealing with militancy germinating from its soil. Investigators in the US worked with lightning speed and the trail led to Faisal Shahzad, who had bought the car used in the plot. It has been reported that Faisal Shahzad, a naturalised US citizen and son of a retired Air Vice Marshal of the Pakistan Air Force, had returned to the US after spending five months in his hometown, Peshawar. Allegedly, during his stay in Pakistan he had also attended a training camp in the troubled North Waziristan, where he learnt how to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Faisal Shahzad has confessed to have acted independently. However, this sounds a little far-fetched.

Although the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attempted attack, there is little evidence to support their claim. They do not appear to have the capacity to launch an attack on US soil. Al Qaeda, however, has a proven track record and ability to attack Western targets at diverse locations, 9/11 being the most ferocious. It has repeatedly threatened to attack US interests throughout the world. This makes al Qaeda the top suspect of plotting this attack. There are strong indicators to this effect if the claims of Faisal Shahzad’s training in North Waziristan are correct. North Waziristan is the base of the Haqqani network that has known links with al Qaeda and the erstwhile Quetta Shura. This network is blamed for some of the deadliest attacks on the International Security Assistant Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s military had so far ignored US requests to take action against this network because of its perceived value in securing influence in Afghanistan.

The alacrity with which the US security forces have responded shows that it will not be long before they reach the real culprit behind the bombing attempt and take measures to prevent such a possibility in future. President Obama cannot afford to be seen as vacillating on this issue in view of American sensitivities about an attack on their home soil. Pakistan should therefore brace itself for intense pressure that will be brought to bear on it, given the North Waziristan connection in the bombing. The Pakistan military should have acted long before this unfortunate incident, which has cast long shadows on Pakistan’s credibility once again. Pakistan’s equivocal support to the war against terror has yielded bitter fruits in the form of international isolation and terror engulfing almost the entire country gradually. If we weigh the negative consequences of this approach with the potential benefits it may accrue in the long-term, it would not be difficult to see a huge interest deficit on all accounts. It is time the security establishment rethought its policy of treating certain militant groups as assets and take prompt action against them before the US loses patience and considers acting against them without involving Pakistan. *

Ominous signals

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has threatened the PPP-led federal government of dire consequences and a massive uprising if it fails to control the price hike and the energy crisis. Mr Sharif said that if present trends continue, he would be “forced” to join the masses in their protest against long hours of load shedding and rising inflation. In the past we have seen spontaneous protests erupting over the increase in transport fares and power outages. Such protests were not being led by any political party or organised group but were the result of the common people’s frustration at the difficulties they faced. If political leaders like Nawaz Sharif jump onto the protestors’ bandwagon, the consequences could be drastic for the government. Once the PML-N takes the lead, other political parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami and Imran Khan’s PTI would be encouraged to press home their already launched protest campaigns on these issues. If the government fails to tackle these issues, we could be in for another ‘long march’, with the same cast of main characters.

Some people may think that Mr Sharif is playing politics, but it cannot be denied that issues like the energy crisis and inflation are genuinely affecting the lives of ordinary people. Granted that there are no overnight solutions to these problems, but it is nevertheless the responsibility of the incumbents to try to tackle these issues on a war footing rather than harping on about the fact that the past regime is responsible for the present mess. As far as the energy crisis is concerned, there is an urgent need to revisit the plan for load management. The rental power projects (RPPs) need to be set up as soon as possible because the upcoming months will only bring more heat and increase the demand for electricity. Independent power projects (IPPs) must follow next. And is not too early to start developing alternative sources of energy, renewable such as solar and wind energy, fossil such as the coal reserves of Thar. The government also needs to come up with sound economic policies in order to deal with inflation. Mr Sharif’s warning is just the tip of the iceberg. If the people come out on the streets in full force, led by a coalition of the ‘dissatisfied’ political forces, the government will be hard pressed to manage the situation. *

A stunning arrest

The dramatic arrest of Pakistan-born Faisal Shahzad, who had boarded a plane heading for Dubai after discovery of his involvement in the bombing attempt in New York, has come as a sharp blow to Pakistan’s image once again. After military operations against militant networks in Swat, South Waziristan, Bajaur and Khyber Agencies, the Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani seemed to have satisfied his interlocutors in Washington about Pakistan’s efforts on the militancy front in good measure. However, the abortive Times Square bombing has once again exposed the inherent contradictions in Pakistan’s policy of dealing with militancy germinating from its soil. Investigators in the US worked with lightning speed and the trail led to Faisal Shahzad, who had bought the car used in the plot. It has been reported that Faisal Shahzad, a naturalised US citizen and son of a retired Air Vice Marshal of the Pakistan Air Force, had returned to the US after spending five months in his hometown, Peshawar. Allegedly, during his stay in Pakistan he had also attended a training camp in the troubled North Waziristan, where he learnt how to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Faisal Shahzad has confessed to have acted independently. However, this sounds a little far-fetched.

Although the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attempted attack, there is little evidence to support their claim. They do not appear to have the capacity to launch an attack on US soil. Al Qaeda, however, has a proven track record and ability to attack Western targets at diverse locations, 9/11 being the most ferocious. It has repeatedly threatened to attack US interests throughout the world. This makes al Qaeda the top suspect of plotting this attack. There are strong indicators to this effect if the claims of Faisal Shahzad’s training in North Waziristan are correct. North Waziristan is the base of the Haqqani network that has known links with al Qaeda and the erstwhile Quetta Shura. This network is blamed for some of the deadliest attacks on the International Security Assistant Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s military had so far ignored US requests to take action against this network because of its perceived value in securing influence in Afghanistan.

The alacrity with which the US security forces have responded shows that it will not be long before they reach the real culprit behind the bombing attempt and take measures to prevent such a possibility in future. President Obama cannot afford to be seen as vacillating on this issue in view of American sensitivities about an attack on their home soil. Pakistan should therefore brace itself for intense pressure that will be brought to bear on it, given the North Waziristan connection in the bombing. The Pakistan military should have acted long before this unfortunate incident, which has cast long shadows on Pakistan’s credibility once again. Pakistan’s equivocal support to the war against terror has yielded bitter fruits in the form of international isolation and terror engulfing almost the entire country gradually. If we weigh the negative consequences of this approach with the potential benefits it may accrue in the long-term, it would not be difficult to see a huge interest deficit on all accounts. It is time the security establishment rethought its policy of treating certain militant groups as assets and take prompt action against them before the US loses patience and considers acting against them without involving Pakistan. *

Ominous signals

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has threatened the PPP-led federal government of dire consequences and a massive uprising if it fails to control the price hike and the energy crisis. Mr Sharif said that if present trends continue, he would be “forced” to join the masses in their protest against long hours of load shedding and rising inflation. In the past we have seen spontaneous protests erupting over the increase in transport fares and power outages. Such protests were not being led by any political party or organised group but were the result of the common people’s frustration at the difficulties they faced. If political leaders like Nawaz Sharif jump onto the protestors’ bandwagon, the consequences could be drastic for the government. Once the PML-N takes the lead, other political parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami and Imran Khan’s PTI would be encouraged to press home their already launched protest campaigns on these issues. If the government fails to tackle these issues, we could be in for another ‘long march’, with the same cast of main characters.

Some people may think that Mr Sharif is playing politics, but it cannot be denied that issues like the energy crisis and inflation are genuinely affecting the lives of ordinary people. Granted that there are no overnight solutions to these problems, but it is nevertheless the responsibility of the incumbents to try to tackle these issues on a war footing rather than harping on about the fact that the past regime is responsible for the present mess. As far as the energy crisis is concerned, there is an urgent need to revisit the plan for load management. The rental power projects (RPPs) need to be set up as soon as possible because the upcoming months will only bring more heat and increase the demand for electricity. Independent power projects (IPPs) must follow next. And is not too early to start developing alternative sources of energy, renewable such as solar and wind energy, fossil such as the coal reserves of Thar. The government also needs to come up with sound economic policies in order to deal with inflation. Mr Sharif’s warning is just the tip of the iceberg. If the people come out on the streets in full force, led by a coalition of the ‘dissatisfied’ political forces, the government will be hard pressed to manage the situation. *

Israeli envoy sees “historic crisis” with U.S

Israel and the United States are in a “crisis of historic proportions” over a settlement dispute that has brought relations to a 35-year low, Israel’s ambassador to Washington was quoted on Monday as saying.

The comments attributed to envoy Michael Oren clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to play down tensions with U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration over a West Bank settlement project threatening to derail the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian talks.

“Israel’s ties with the United States are in their worst crisis since 1975 … a crisis of historic proportions,” the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Oren as telling other Israeli diplomats in a telephone briefing over the weekend.

The remarks, also carried by other Israeli media, appeared to refer to U.S. pressure in 1975 for an Israeli redeployment in the Egyptian Sinai, occupied by Israel since the 1967 war and the site of renewed fighting in 1973.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment.

An Israeli plan to build 1,600 more homes for Jews in West Bank land annexed to Jerusalem was announced during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden aimed at ushering in indirect peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Using unusually blunt language, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israel’s behavior “insulting”. But in a CNN interview on Friday, she said bilateral ties were “not at risk. I mean, our relationship is durable and strong.”

Netanyahu voiced regret on Sunday for what he described as bureaucratic happenstance.

“We know how to deal with these situations — with equanimity, responsibly and seriously,” he said.

SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION

Israeli media reported that Clinton, in a telephone call to Netanyahu on Friday, demanded he reverse the decision to construct the settler homes at Ramat Shlomo.

A spokesman for Netanyahu declined to comment. Palestinian officials have said indirect peace talks, which they agreed last week to hold with Israel under U.S. mediation, could not begin unless the settlement project was canceled.

Scrapping the construction could destabilize Netanyahu’s governing coalition, dominated by pro-settler parties, including his own.

During his visit to Israel, Biden steered clear of any public demand of Israel to cancel the project. He termed “significant” assurances from Netanyahu that building at the site, a religious settlement, would not start for years.

In Washington, the influential pro-Israel lobbying group, AIPAC, weighed in with a statement that called on the White House to take immediate steps to defuse tension with Israel.

“The Obama administration’s recent statements regarding the U.S. relationship with Israel are a matter of serious concern,” AIPAC said.

Netanyahu, who has vowed to continue building in and around Jerusalem while reining in construction of Jewish settlements on other occupied land where Palestinians seek a state, is due to attend AIPAC’s annual conference in Washington next week.

A U.S. envoy is expected back in the region later in the week to try to get peace talks, suspended since December 2008, under way. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had resisted restarting negotiations without a settlement freeze. (Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Dan Williams; editing by Samia Nakhoul)

Indo-US designs

A certain negative pattern in now becoming evident in the Indo-US designs for this region, especially Pakistan. Despite Pakistan continuing going out of its way to aid the US’s misguided “war on terror” and, in spite of the non-payment by the US of costs incurred in this process and under agreement relating to the Coalition Support Fund, US officials still remain dissatisfied with Pakistan. That is why General Petraeus has still refused to declare categorically that the US is “satisfied” with Pakistan’s efforts in aiding the US. Why? We have practically destroyed our own country’s stability, given in the lives of our soldiers, law enforcers and civilians, and in so many other incalculable ways simply to support the US in this region, but the US mantra of “do more” continues to haunt us. Even though Petraeus conceded that Pakistan with all its compulsions had been doing more and more, and that it was incumbent on the US to build up the trust with this country, yet in a niggardly fashion, he refused to state the US was satisfied with Pakistan. Worse still, the US seems adamant on providing India with strategic access in Afghanistan despite Pakistan’s protests over India’s use of Afghan territory for covert support to militants in Pakistan. This dubious US approach has emboldened India into declaring that it will not scale its operations in Afghanistan. So this factor will continue to aggravate Pakistan’s security environment.

Meanwhile, India has been capitalising on its strategic partnership with the US to pressure Pakistan through the Americans. Already it is protesting to the US for giving what are basically tactical weapons to Pakistan in the context of the so-called war on terror. Even the F-16s that Pakistan has paid for do not match up to the weapons systems and nuclear technology India is being supplies by the US. Also, the statements relating to the Pakistan-India dialogue coming from the Americans have not been encouraging – in that they seemed to be supporting the Indian position on the composite dialogue and especially on leaving Kashmir out of the initial talks.

Under these circumstances, the news in a Washington paper that President Obama might host talks between the Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India should be treated with trepidation. After all, given how vulnerable our leadership seems in front of the Americans, one can envisage compromises from the Pakistani side that could endanger our long term interests. At the very least, a new agenda for talks could be hoisted on Pakistan. Certainly, one will see a coalescing of Indo-US interests. Perhaps it would be better if Pakistan struck to its principled position of restarting the composite dialogue which is an approved structured format with provision for institutional inputs. The sensitivity of the Pakistan-India relationship cannot be left simply to US-compelled summits between the political leaders.