‘Raymond Davis’ Is Linked To Terrorism In Pakistan

Gordon Duff & Raja Mujtaba

The Americans, mis-identified by the US Embassy as “diplomats” are believed involved in covert or “black ops” operations inside Pakistan, reportedly against the government of Pakistan, America’s primary ally in the region.

Protests throughout the city of Lahore, university students, various political parties, demanded stiff punishment for a group of Americans, one identified initially as “Raymond Allen Davis,” now “identity unknown,” held on a variety of charges including 2 counts of murder along with four American security contractors currently being sought after fleeing the scene of a vehicular homicide in a related incident.

“Davis” is accused of two counts of murder and terrorism related charges. The other four, named to police but withheld from the media, are being sought for questioning in relation to a vehicular homicide while moving in traffic to assist “Davis.” The four, though described by Davis and the American press to be “diplomats” are believed to be security contractors who entered Pakistan illegally under assumed identities.

The four not yet in custody, believed to be Americans, fled the scene after killing Ibadur Rehman, a local merchant, during a bizarre incident. The Americans, mis-identified by the US Embassy as “diplomats” are believed involved in covert or “black ops” operations inside Pakistan, reportedly against the government of Pakistan, America’s primary ally in the region.

The victim of the vehicle homicide, Rehman, a bicyclist traveling on Jail Road in Lahore, was struck and killed by a four wheel drive vehicle that was part of what “Davis” describes as a “mission” in his statement to police.

According to the statement, the two vehicles, the Honda rental with “cloned” plates driven by “Davis” and the “chase vehicle,” a 4 wheel drive vehicle not registered to the American consulate, containing a 4-man armed security team, were heading toward the Mozang Chungi district.

Mozang Chungi is a densely populated area of small shops and street vendors typically only used by local residents. Security sources in Pakistan state:

“No American tourist or diplomat would ever go there, certainly not two car loads of heavily armed private contractors equipped for a mission of some kind. The only possible reason to be there would be terrorism. The area has been attacked before by terrorists, taking advantage of the crowds and confusion. We suspect we may have stumbled on the source of previous terror attacks and, in fact, broken up what may have become another ‘Mumbai.’

“This is a classic terrorist cover, false identity, phony license plates, car filled with weapons, radios and surveillance gear.”

INTERNAL POLITICAL ISSUES

Pakistan is, itself, governed by contradictions and what most believe to be an ineffective and corrupt civil government led by President Zardari, tied to money laundering in Switzerland, and an Interior Ministry seen as at odds with the powerful military. Pakistan is a nation of huge economic disparity with extreme wealth held by a few and extreme poverty for the majority, especially tribal minorities that make up a significant portion of Pakistan’s population.

Many Pakistanis long for a return to military government, citing failures by the current President, husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.

Accusations tying Pakistan’s Interior Ministry to “foreign elements,” US, India and Israel, intelligence agencies and private contractors, accusations alleging complicity in terrorism and money laundering tied to the massive drug trade in neighboring Afghanistan are commonplace.

REAL EVENTS UNCLEAR

“Davis,” in his statement to police, stated he fired in self defense. Weapons were said to be found alongside the bodies of the slain although counter-claims of weapons being “planted” fill the airwaves.

Autopsy results, as reported, indicate that both were shot in the back with special fragmenting anti-personnel ammunition, one receiving four hits to the back and the other three.

Witnesses report that two young Pakistanis were fired on by the American from inside his vehicle with a fully automatic submachinegun, firing through the glass.

Damage to the vehicle, a white Honda Civic, show shots to have been fired through both the passenger window and rear windscreen.

Media in Pakistan has given extensive coverage to the families of the slain, interviewing them and neighbors who indicate the slain had no criminal or “extremist” history and were respected in the community. In statements to the media, family members have demanded a “public hanging” for those involved, no “blood money” will be accepted. Islamic or “Sharia” law allows for cash settlements or “blood money” to be paid to family members of homicide victims in lieu of capital punishment or imprisonment.

DIPLOMATIC STATUS DENIED BY PAKISTAN

The man, held by Pakistan in the killing of two young men during a traffic altercation, is not “Raymond Allen Davis.” In fact, nobody seems to know who he is, including the US embassy in Islamabad.

Davis, and his four companions who have yet to be apprehended, according to police sources, entered Pakistan illegally, using assumed identities.

However, stories in the press in Pakistan and general belief by the “man in the street” say that the man being held is believed to be an American security contractor active in coordinating terror attacks inside Pakistan, working with Indian intelligence, the “RAW.”

The area of the city “Davis” and his four companions were driving to has been the repeated scene of terror attacks in this city of 7 million nestled on the Indian border, hundreds of miles from Taliban strongholds. Sources in Pakistan state that it simply isn’t credible that an American would be in the densely populated and poorest region of Lahore, especially an American with a false identity and rental car with license plates “cloned” from another vehicle 300 miles away.

“DAVIS” UNDER “SEMI-HOUSE ARREST” WITHDRAWN

Authorities in Lahore, Pakistan were allowing “Davis” to spend his nights at the American consulate and his days at a local police station. But now due to mounting pressures this arrangement has been cancelled. The United States government continues to demand the release of “Davis” though it has also refused to identify him or his associates or state their actual mission in Pakistan.

“Davis” is believed to be a native of Las Vegas, 36 years old with a military background in Special Forces. An internet search shows him to operate under a “one man” Florida based security company but there is, of yet, no known relationship between this entity and any State Department overseas mission.

A check of passport records show that “Davis” has traveled between Pakistan and Afghanistan 9 times during the past 18 months.

Is Pakistani Resistance to North Waziristan Combat Intentional or Circumstantial?

MAARS News

In response to questions by reporters on whether Pakistan will immediately be taking steps against the militants in North Waziristan, Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Chaudhary Ahmed Mukhtar, said that Pakistan will not take any action until it is ready.

“We can ‘do more’ only whenever we can. We have to see to our interests first,”he said, cited CNN.

Questions on action against the Taliban stronghold are suspected to have risen on account of comments by US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen who visited Pakistan earlier this week. Mullen had recommended that the people in charge in Pakistan should try to focus more on the threat of militants within the country’s borders rather than on the perceived strategic threat from India.

“They are weakening the American-led military effort in the nine-year-old Afghanistan war against the Taliban and al Qaeda, and they are killing Pakistani civilians as they seek to undermine the government in Islamabad,” Mullen said.

Mullen had already pointed out earlier that North Waziristan was a haven for terrorists where extremists like the Haqqani network plan and launch attacks on NATO-led forces across the Afghanistan border.

However, Mukhtar maintained that Pakistan will meet Mullen’s demands only when it is required by the country and its armed forces. He also added that the severity of the measures taken against these terrorist outfits will also entirely depend on the requirement of the country at that time.

For quite some time now, Pakistan has been feeling the push from the United States to start combat in North Waziristan. Over 100,000 troops have been moved to the border region from Islamabad so far. These troops have been fighting terror groups in Swat Valley, the Khyber tribal area and South Waziristan.

Over 18 months of sustained combat has seen the killing of thousands of Pakistani troops. The displacement of millions of Pakistanis during a massive flood also made the army undertake relief operations over large parts of the country.

Although the Pakistani military might have valid reasons for resisting The suggestions to go after the militant outfits in North Waziristan, it is suspected by some analysts that it may be intentional and have other reasons associated with it too. They have brought to note the existence of the Haqqani network in the area which is a faction of the Taliban and believed to be close to some of the members in the Pakistani security forces.

US was not onboard on Nov 3 emergency

By: Tariq Butt

ISLAMABAD: The United States had expressed “dissatisfaction” over the imposition of emergency and promulgation of the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) by Pervez Musharraf on November 3, 2007, according to a US Embassy Kabul dispatch, released by WikiLeaks.

Just three days after the sweeping steps taken by Musharraf, Secretary of Defence for Policy Eric Edelman noted in a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai that US-Pakistan Defence Consultative Group (DCG) talks were postponed to underscore US dissatisfaction with the imposition of the PCO; it was also not clear that our Pakistani interlocutors would be able to focus on the DCG agenda, given the current political turmoil.

The cable said that Musharraf recognises that if/when (Benazir) Bhutto takes power, he will be out, and he may not be ready yet to take that step.

It said the US government and Afghanistan share an interest in Pakistani authorities moving against terrorist sanctuaries and the Taliban’s Quetta Shura; arresting lawyers will not help in this regard.

“We are urging Musharraf to focus on keeping to the election schedule, completing the deal with Bhutto, and taking off his uniform. Although there are special interests that are seeking to extend the period for martial law, it must be kept short. If not, Musharraf’s interests and those of the Pakistani Army may begin to diverge. Karzai agreed the situation is complicated,” the cable said.

However, the Afghan president expressed hope that Musharraf’s extra-constitutional approach will work, but it was not clear to Karzai that Musharraf is ready to follow through in the short term on elections and a deal with Benazir Bhutto.

Karzai agreed that Iran is “busy.” It is seeking to undermine the US in Afghanistan, and it is trying to undermine development and reconstruction in western Afghanistan, the cable said.

The Afghan president asserted that Iran is bothered that Afghanistan is becoming an important transit hub for the region, and it wants to forestall Pakistani and Indian natural gas imports from Central Asia in order to protect its own market.

He emphasised that the issue of Taliban sanctuary in Pakistan has to be solved, noting with dismay that the Taliban flag has been raised in three districts in Fata.

Karzai observed that while Afghanistan has a national identity and a weak state, Pakistan has a strong state with no coherent national identity. Noting that he had discussed Pakistan in his November 7 telephone call with President Bush, Karzai expressed hope that Musharraf’s imposition of extra-constitutional rule will work; Musharraf must be sincere because he has no further room for “more games.”

No method to the madness

State of Pakistan

By Yousuf Nazar

More than one trillion dollars and nine years later the alleged and self-confessed master mind of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has not been convicted. Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zahwari, and Mullah Omar have not been caught, dead or alive; the Talibans instead of being eliminated are set to take over Kabul again, and Pakistan which hardly had a Taliban presence on September 11, 2001 has been rocked by bomb blasts and has had its worst year of violence since 2001. And Americans still cannot see what the problem is?

But then if their policies had a bit of wisdom, we never would have had Vietnam, Cambodia would not have been ruined, Shah of Iran would never have been allowed to suppress dissent, Afghanistan would not have been abandoned after 1989, and a just settlement of the Palestine conflict would have been achieved. It is easy to forget lessons of history in the confusion and noise of day-to-day reporting and in the age of 30 second sound bites of electronic media.

And it is ok for much over-rated Newsweek and its editor to declare Pakistan as the most dangerous country and the home of Al Qaeda and confess, without much regret or shame, three years later that Al Qaeda is not really that deadly a threat.

I would like to believe this sensational bit of journalism had little to do with the fact that Newsweek magazine had been making losses for years. As of 2003, worldwide circulation was more than 4 million, including 2.7 million in the U.S; however as of 2010 it is down to 1.5 million. The financial results for 2009 as reported by the Washington Post showed that advertising revenue for Newsweek was down 37% in 2009 and the magazine division reported an operating loss for 2009 of $29.3 million compared to a loss of $16 million in 2008. During the magazine’s first quarter of 2010, it lost nearly $11 million. By May 2010, Newsweek was said to be up for sale. The magazine was sold to audio pioneer Sidney Harman for just $1 on August 2, 2010.

Fareed Zakaria, then a Newsweek columnist and editor of Newsweek International, attended a secret meeting on November 29, 2001 with a dozen policy makers, Middle East experts and members of influential policy research organizations to produce a report for President George W. Bush and his cabinet outlining a strategy for dealing with Afghanistan and the Middle East in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The meeting was held at the request of Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy secretary of defense. The unusual presence of journalists at such a strategy meeting was revealed in Bob Woodward’s 2006 book State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III.

In the May 9, 2005, issue of Newsweek, an article by reporter Michael Isikoff stated that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay “in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Qur’an down a toilet. The magazine later revealed that the anonymous source behind the allegation could not confirm that the book-flushing was actually under investigation, and retracted the story under heavy criticism. But the damage had been done.

Yet, some make so much of the trash that is published in magazines like Newsweek and ignore the counsel of experienced and mature hands like Dr. Brzezinski.

The U.S. military and intelligence budgets have crossed all decent and reasonable limits. The intelligence budget alone has gone up by more than 250% since 2001 to $75 billion and the defenders of U.S. madness in Afghanistan and Pakistan do not see the irony of a mad campaign that has not achieved anything and destroyed much, including American credibility and standing in the world.

Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the foremost foreign policy experts in the U.S., who started the American involvement in Afghanistan in 1978-1979 as President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser, warned the U.S. government about the potentially disastrous consequences of its foreign policy in a testimony before the U.S. senate foreign relations committee on February 1, 2007. “If the United States continues to be bogged down in a protracted bloody involvement in Iraq, the final destination on this downhill track is likely to be a head-on conflict with Iran and with much of the world of Islam at large. A plausible scenario for a military collision with Iran involves Iraqi failure to meet the benchmarks; followed by accusations of Iranian responsibility for the failure; then by some provocation in Iraq or a terrorist act in the U.S. blamed on Iran; culminating in a “defensive” U.S. military action against Iran that plunges a lonely America into a spreading and deepening quagmire eventually ranging across Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.”

He dismissed the fears about Al Qaeda saying: “A mythical historical narrative to justify the case for such a protracted and potentially expanding war is already being articulated. Initially justified by false claims about WMD’s in Iraq, the war is now being redefined as the “decisive ideological struggle” of our time.”

Dr. Brzezinski warned: ” Vague and inflammatory talk about “a new strategic context” which is based on “clarity” and which prompts “the birth pangs of a new Middle East” is breeding intensifying anti-Americanism and is increasing the danger of a long-term collision between the United States and the Islamic world.”

He added: “One should note here also that practically no country in the world shares the Manichean delusions that the Administration so passionately articulates. The result is growing political isolation of, and pervasive popular antagonism toward the U.S. global posture. “

One consequence of the bloody military and covert operations is that the control of many aspects slips out of the hands of the politicians and away from Congressional oversight. Guantanamo Bay is one such example. Dozens were kept under detention without any trial and then released without much explanation. Abdullah Mahsud was one.. captured in December 2001 and released in May 2004.

Dissent was stifled with the neo-fascist rhetoric of “either you are with us or against us”, and thus giving the press little choice but to accept the official story line without much questioning or reasoning. The psychology of fear was used to pursue a Middle East policy that had everything to do with oil and little to do with terrorism as has been acknowledged by eminent figures such as General (rtd) Wesley Clarke, former supreme commander of NATO, Bill Clinton’s economic adviser Jeff Sachs, and the former FED chairman Alan Greenspan.

The latest casualty of the U.S. military and intelligence establishment’s what Brzezinski called a “mythical narrative” is Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. She may or may not have been involved with Al Qaeda. I do not know. No court ever charged her with any terrorist act. So all that noise is irrelevant in so far it relates to her sentencing by a U.S. court for 86 years on charges of committing a crime in Afghanistan as a Pakistani citizen. If the U.S. defense and intelligence establishment wanted to delay the case and avoid provocation, which it knew it would cause in Pakistan, it could have easily delayed the trial as it did in the case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed for reasons that remain obscure.

I won’t speculate on the motives for carrying on this trial at this time lest some naïve or biased readers accuse me of a conspiracy theory but the repercussions are obvious. It is a clear provocation even if that was not the intent. It is mystifying that while on one hand, the U.S. gives $405 million for aid for the floods; but it increases the frequency of drone strikes which for sure are going to destroy any good will it would have hoped to generate. Are they so stupid? But then even $10 billion is a small sum in the big power games when the total cost of the War on Terror is coming to over a trillion dollars according to the official figures and more than $2 trillion according to independent U.S. economists.

I quoted Dr. Brzezinski at length to make the points that some of us make but are dismissed as anti-Americanism. I worked for an American bank for 20 years. I have nothing against Americans. But their establishment’s Middle East and Central Asian policies are wrong, short-sighted, counter-productive and ultimately self-defeating. There is no method to their madness but only one way to prevent more harm than they have already caused, belated though it might be. They should get the hell out of Afghanistan and Pakistan and stop supporting or manipulating their puppets, be it in civvies or muftis. The world would be a better place if President Obama can focus on the ailing U.S. economy, which is not only in a long term decline but is not recovering well, and put an end to all costly overt and covert misadventures overseas.

Anger, hope meet Ground Zero mosque plan

By Sebastian Smith

NEW YORK – An ambitious plan to build a mosque next to New York’s Ground Zero is prompting hope — and anger — in a city scarred by terrorism.

AFP/File – Construction cranes stand on the site of the World Trade Center in New York in February 2010. An ambitious …

There’s little to see now at the site, an abandoned clothing store two blocks from the former World Trade Center where nearly 3,000 people died on September 11, 2001.

But Feisal Abdul Rauf, a New York imam and a leader of the project, says the planned multi-storey Islamic center will transform both the drab lower Manhattan street and the way Americans have looked on Muslims since 9/11.

Boasting a mosque with sports facilities, a theater and possibly day care, the center would be open to all visitors to demonstrate that Muslims are part of their community, not some separate element.

“There’s nothing like this that we know of in the United States,” Rauf told AFP. “This will be a community center for everyone, not just for Muslims, but non-Muslims.”

These are tense times for American Muslims who find themselves increasingly painted both by the public and law enforcement bodies as a possible source of terrorism.

A failed car bomb in New York’s Times Square on May 1 was allegedly planted by a Pakistani-born American, prompting senior figures in Washington to recommend stripping basic rights from US passport holders suspected of Islamist militant links.

The Islamic center is part of Rauf’s program, called the Cordoba Initiative, meant to build bridges between the West and the Muslim world.

But because of the proposed mosque’s location, just around the corner from the gaping Ground Zero hole, Rauf’s call for peace is seen by some as a battle cry.

“The outrage continues,” says website www.nomosquesatgroundzero.wordpress.com under a close-up of the collapsing Twin Towers.

Accusing the Cordoba Initiative of trying to “sneak it through,” the protest site says the center will “cast a rude shadow over Ground Zero.”

Others compare the idea to building a German cultural center at Auschwitz.

“Spitting in the Face of Everyone Murdered on 9/11,” writes Blitz, a self-described “anti-jihadist newspaper.”

That level of anger is not uncommon among New Yorkers who blame Islam, rather than just Al-Qaeda or other militant groups, for 9/11 and the global confrontation with the United States.

“This is the wrong neighborhood to put the mosque in,” Scott Rachelson, 59, said as he went to his office. Rachelson, who works with people seeking compensation over 9/11 related damages, said his life changed forever the day that two hijacked airliners smashed into Manhattan.

“I was here. For me, and everyone else who was here, we have post-traumatic stress disorder,” he said. “It feels like yesterday.”

A woman living in the apartment building next to the proposed mosque said she couldn’t accept the project.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me a little nervous,” said Jennifer Wood, 36, as she took her young son for a walk. “It seems a little in the face, a little too much too soon. I don’t know why it has to be here — this is a big city.”

An eloquent and erudite man, Rauf sounds slightly weary when asked about hardcore opposition, but says he hopes the center will become a catalyst for helping Muslims and the wider community to integrate.

“It’s about building an American Islamic identity, because we have second-, third-generation Muslims who don’t feel they are part of (the country),” he said.

“The complaint throughout the years has been: ‘Where’s the voice of the moderate Muslims?’” Rauf said. “Well, here we are.”

Many look forward to the center, which Rauf estimates will cost 105-140 million dollars to build, possibly financed with bonds.

Mohammed-Iqbal Hossain Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi immigrant running a newspaper kiosk across the street, called for an end to prejudice.

“The people who will come to pray here are working people. We are coming here to pray to God,” the 42-year-old said, lifting his hands skyward with a huge smile.

“Ground Zero — that is about terrorists. Terrorism is a different thing. There are a billion or more Muslims around the world. They aren’t all terrorists! I hope people will see us coming here and see that all of us come from one god.”

Walking past the shuttered-up Burlington Coat Factory retail store to catch a Subway train, local worker Angela Long, 60, said Muslims can be as American as anyone else.

“I don’t believe that Islam equals terrorism. There are crazy people everywhere,” she said.

And those arguing that a mosque has no right to exist near Ground Zero?

“They should read our Constitution,” she said.

58 Taliban killed in Orakzai

HANGU: Security forces, backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships, killed 58 Taliban in Orakzai Agency on Sunday.

Military operations are ongoing in Orakzai to purge the area of militants. (AP)

Sources said around 18 Taliban were killed and 25 others injured in a clash with the forces at Kol area of Dabori in Upper Orakzai.

Five security personnel were also injured in the clash, the sources said, adding that three explosives-laden vehicles were also destroyed in the fighting.

Meanwhile, 35 Taliban were killed and another 10 injured in airstrikes in Orakzai, the sources said.

They said the fighter jets bombed suspected terrorist hideouts in Dabori, Wali Qamar, Gujar Kaley and Tagah Sam areas of Upper Orakzai Agency, killing 15 Taliban and injuring 10.

Helicopter gunships also pounded terrorist hideouts in the area, killing another 20 Taliban.

Five of the Taliban’s hideouts were destroyed in the operations, the sources added.

INDIA IS THE PROBLEM; NOT A SOLUTION

By Moin Ansari

It has been a tumultuous week in which the United States Administration officials have played good cop and bad cop-with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blowing hot and Barack Obama blowing cold over Pakistan. US President Barack Obama on Wednesday fell into the Democratic Party lecture mode which tries to tell Pakistanis who the enemies are. He forgot Bharat (aka India’s obsession with Pakistan) and suggested Pakistan had some bad habits. As if talking to a child he lectured that his Administration wanted Pakistan “to get over its obsession with India” and focus more on terrorist groups operating in Pakistan.

Obama Hinduised

During a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai the American President said: “I think there has been in the past a view on the part of Pakistan that their primary rival, India, was their only concern. I think what you’ve seen over the last several months is a growing recognition that they have a cancer in their midst; that the extremist organizations that have been allowed to congregate and use as a base the frontier areas to then go into Afghanistan, that that now threatens Pakistan’s sovereignty.”

There appears to be mounting pressure from Washington on the Islamabad

government to act against the terrorist in North Waziristan. General Kayani has clearly said that the operation in North Waziristan will be conducted at the time of the Army’s choosing. President Obama seemed to echo the sense in his administration that that process was going to be gradual.

Delhi supports terror outfits in Lanka (LTTE), Bangladesh (Chakma), Iran (Jundullah) and Pakistan (TTP, BLA). Bharat has threatened Pakistan with all out war-and arrayed all her forces on the borders for months. She sent 80,000 terrorists into East Pakistan disguised as the Mukti Bahni, and dressed as Pakistani soldiers.

Mr. Obama has been to Pakistan and has talked to hundreds of Pakistanis. He is also internet savvy. What compels him to make a statement that is repugnant to all Pakistanis. Pakistan sees the TTP as an Indian appendage and an irritation-the real threat is from Bharat (aka India).

When Mr. Obama fails to recognize this simple fact-he represents “The Ugly American” to Pakistanis-and creates more Anti-Americanism.

President Obama declared that “It’s going to take some time for Pakistan, even where there is a will, to find a way in order to effectively deal with these extremists in areas that are fairly loosely governed from Islamabad.”

The American President’s statement comes in a week during which US administration officials have attempted to use the Times Square incident to exact more pressure on Pakistan.

Washington went into a tizzy fit with Hillary Clinton leading the Quixotic “Charge of the Light Brigade” against the Turkish Army which were windmills in actuality. Pandering to the domestic audience the right wingers in Congress she warned Pakistan of “severe consequences” if such an attempt originating from its territory were to be successful.

There was a huge backlash to the Hillary Clinton threat in Pakistan. The Pakistani Senate renounced the threat and the Pakistan media spent days analyzing every nuance of the bluster. Ms. Hillary Clinton lost a a lot of credibility in Pakistan, and it will be tough for her to build trust with the Pakistanis. If a lone wolf can tarnish US relations, what kind of strategic dialogue is it?

The threat apparently caught the State Department by surprise and they sent in their fire brigade to do as much damage

starving millions, who cares!

control as possible. Both the State Department spokesman PJ Crowley and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke tried to play down the impact of her statement by saying that she had not said what she had said.

Hillary Clinton had really gone off the handle when she declared in a CBS interview that “Pakistan has a real problem internally with terrorism and we’ve seen them fight back against it. But they also have a problem that affects the rest of us because all too often that terrorism is being exported.”

Mr. Obama-when will the Democratic Party stop defending Bharat-when will its Bharati obsession be over?

Punish guilty

The Army troops killing a 70-year-old man in Lolab area of Kupwara district and subsequently dubbing him a foreign militant is the yet another addition to the huge list of such unfortunate incidents. History of past over twenty years in Kashmir is replete with such incidents wherein innocent civilians have fallen to the forces’ bullets. However, more tragic is the fact that instead of acknowledging the troops’ culpability and taking measures to arrest the dangerous trend, the security establishment has all along shielded and encouraged the guilty. Had it not been so, then of course the situation on the human rights front, particularly the one involving armed forces, would have been relatively better.

After killing the elderly man, who army claimed was an “unidentified foreign terrorist” but who later on turned out to be a civilian, the defence spokesman reframed his earlier statement to leave room for some maneuverability. Now it was said that the slain person must have been used either as “human shield” or a “guide” by the militants. Spokesman also went on to suggest that the militants “who fled the encounter site” must have “left some arms and ammunition near the body”. If the two statements issued by the Army — one immediately after the man was killed earlier in the week and the other later in the week after public protests in Kupwara forced the authorities to exhume the body and register murder case — are carefully analysed, there is enough reason to suspect that not everything is as plain simple as Army wants people to believe. There is certainly more to the incident and it needs to be thoroughly investigated so as to bring out the truth. Given the assertions of the victim’s family (son), as well as other locals suggesting that the elderly person had nothing to do with the militants or militancy; that he used to roam around begging for his family, the killing certainly merits and deserves a serious and detailed probe.
Last week, Army chief while defending continuation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and opposing proposed amendments to it, claimed in an interview with a defence journal that “adequate measures” are taken against the men in uniform if found involved in rights violations. Obviously such assertions are always more than expected from top brass of the military leadership. However, notwithstanding such boastful claims, it goes without saying that wherever AFSPA has been in force, be it Jammu and Kashmir or North East, the incidence of rights violations involving armed forces have been galore. Reasonably then have there been the demands for revocation of such draconian laws from areas suffering its repression as well as from outside. A number of commissions and panels appointed by the government itself have also pointed out the abusive nature of AFSPA and suggested it be scrapped or at least made “more humane”. Even the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has indicated that the government is seriously reviewing AFSPA.

AFSPA must go. Anybody and everybody having some respect for human rights and dignity could never support such legislation. However, even if AFSPA is rolled back, it is not going to be of much help for there are other laws that could and would be misused by the men in olive greens or khakis. Unless and until a serious culture of accountability is put in place for the armed forces, and each act of violation involving them is accounted for and guilty punished, expecting any improvement in human rights record will remain a fanciful dream. Accountability and efficient correction system does not come about through official statements only, it needs serious and concrete measures on ground. Identifying and punishing those guilty of violating the right to life of a 70-year-old person could be a good take off point for dawning of such a culture. Once such a thing happens on ground, Army chief’s interviews and statements would carry the necessary weight and appeal.

DynCorp to stay on for anti-narcotics Ops in Pakistan: US

* Assistant secretary David Johnson appreciates Pakistani authorities’ measures to combat drug trafficking

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: DynCorp International will continue to provide maintenance facilities at the Interior Ministry’s Air Wing in Balochistan and does not plan to terminate its contract with the organisation, said David T Johnson, assistant secretary of the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that under an agreement, an anti-narcotics chopper surveillance squad was set up in Quetta in 2002 by the Interior Ministry with US assistance, which includes 14 Huey II helicopters and three Cessna Caravan aircraft. To a question, he disclosed that the Pakistan and US governments had agreed to carry out the maintenance of these helicopters for which Washington had engaged DynCorp.

Regarding Islamabad’s reservations over the presence of DynCorp officials, Johnson clarified that Washington was not considering changing them in the near future.

Drug trafficking: He appreciated the efforts of Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies for taking effective measures against drug-trafficking and poppy cultivation, saying poppy still continues to be cultivated at a small scale in FATA due to the poor law and order situation there.

“There are some very small areas in Pakistan where poppy is still being cultivated, but these are relatively very small,” he added.

Johnson said the US is working on a $150-million programme against drug trafficking with the cooperation of Pakistan’s anti-narcotics forces.

He said over 93 percent of the poppy used around the world was being supplied from Afghanistan, adding that Pakistan’s share in the drug’s supply was very low.

On achieving a “poppy-free” status for Pakistan, Johnson said it depended on how soon the law enforcement agencies could regain control of the areas where an anti-terror operation was going on.

The US assistant secretary said political will could play an important role in achieving a “poppy-free” status for Pakistan. He agreed that money earned through drug trafficking was being used to fund terrorist activities, adding that there was a need to keep a check on this type of income.

Acknowledging the processing of cases against drug traffickers, he said the rate of conviction in drug cases in Pakistan is very high. He, however, emphasised the need for scientific methods and explanations to examine evidence in drug cases to punish those responsible.

Highlighting other features of Pak-US cooperation against narcotics, Johnson said it had resulted in completion of 200 outposts in the NWFP and FATA, benefiting the Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary and Levies Force. He said the US had also been providing assistance and cooperation to Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies to cope with drug trafficking.

INDIA’S JASWANT MOMENT

by GHALIB SULTAN
First Published on: Aug 26, 2009

Secular, Democratic, Shining and Incredible—these were the adjectives with which India marketed itself. No one except Indians—Hindoo Indians—used these descriptions of India. Shining India took a fall when Indians themselves rejected this classification by the BJP and they did this by voting the BJP out and the Congress in. The general feeling in India was that poverty, corruption, crime and the miserable state of the common man were the realities that could not exist under the Shining India label therefore this label and its creators must go.

Of course there were other unsavory matters associated with the BJP. The support of fanatic, intolerant Hindu militant organizations. The botched Ram Mandir controversy that all but destroyed India’s secular image. The holocaust in Gujerat when mad Hindoos killed thousands of Muslims aided abetted and ignored by the Modi administration. Then there were the foolish utterances by Arun Gandhi in his short sighted bid for a political career. There were indirect consequences of these events—terror attacks by Hindoo mobs on Muslims and Christians, atrocities by security forces in insurgent areas like Kashmir and all of the north eastern states, Hindoo terrorism with involvement of military personnel (attack on the train Samjotha Express) , terrorist—criminal mafia involvement in the Mumbai incidents and political appeasement of Hindoo militancy for votes.

There were also direct consequences. The increase in violence and scale of operations in Kashmir and North East—both racked by separatist movements. The emergence of Muslim militant movements and attacks by them in retaliation to Hindoo terrorism. Stepped up brutality and violation of rights by India’s security forces—the rape and murder of two teenage girls in Shopian Kashmir and the more recent murder of Kashmiri youths are just two examples of many such incidents.

Now we have the Jaswant controversy. The treatment meted out to a respected liberal moderate and tolerant political leader who has served India well truly destroys India’s secular and democratic credentials. The Congress that is seen as an enlightened party has been silent—adding to the damage done to India’s image. India wants to be seen through the tinsel town magic of Bollywood and the bevy of Indian beauties who strut the stage. India wants to be seen as democratic, secular, moderate, tolerant and progressive. India wants to be seen as a world power with powerful connections to the US, Israel, Russia and capable of buying space in spots like Afghanistan. There is, however, another India and the Jaswant incident has highlighted it.

India is over populated. It lacks water resources. Its farmers commit suicide. It has a vicious caste system that keeps the lower castes deprived, humiliated and exploited. Its politicians are corrupt. It stereotypes Muslims as criminals and terrorists through its films. It has a biased media that can be irresponsible (as evident after the Mumbai attacks). It has slums and horrendous poverty. India has an intolerant and extremist segment in its population. These realities have to be confronted and managed otherwise the BJP’s Shining India debacle will be repeated.

Of course India is not the only country with such problems—there are many others?