Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP): 15 Jan 2012

[ArmenT]

Court allows Haqqani to travel abroad

Which country is Haqqani going to seek asylum in? Gentlemen, please place your bets

[vina]

Court allows Haqqani to travel abroad

Which country is Haqqani going to seek asylum in? Gentlemen, please place your bets

His wife is a US citizen per Anujan's find. He will move his Musharraf to the US along with his wife (who is already there I suppose).

[RajeshA]

^^^ well timed release...

Seems Unca Sam wants future terrorists to move around in crutches so they take more time to approach you with their suicide jackets.. Why not pull the old trick from book - say that polio vaccine is made out of pork belly?

I've heard all Chinese medicines use pork bones and fat in their medicines!

The pork bone is a harmless inert component. For example tablets with just 1 mg of a medicine need to have an inert substance to make the tablet visible. What could be better than powdered pork bone in China. Cheap, plentiful and ubiquitous. Pakistan have been having this for years - there should be no worry. Chinese pork bone in medicine is perfectly safe.

shiv saar,

thanks for the explanation. I love pork so I'll try to use Chinese medicines onlee where possible!

[Aditya_V]

Can these explanations in some way be communicated to the Pakistani public, as consumers it is human duty for them to know they are having Pig bone a.k.a they are Pork eaters.

[ArmenT]

Pork = pig meat. Any meat, beef, pork etc. has different cuts. E.g. Pork tenderloin = literally a cut of a pig's loins i.e inner thighs. The bone from that is obviously not eaten and therefore can be used for other things.

Small correction here sir. Pork Tenderloin is not taken from the inner thighs (Sorry, happened to have been reading an Alton Brown cookbook earlier today). The tenderloin is generally extracted from a larger butcher cut known as the "loin". Anatomically speaking, the loin is the part of the body between the ribcage and the hip bone. See this link for details about various cuts for pork. This link shows the cuts for beef.

The tenderloin cut is generally made from a specific area of the loin cut. The tenderloin cut comes an area just below the backbone and just past the ribs. As to why tenderloin, loin, sirloin and ribeye (for beef) are the most expensive cuts, Alton Brown provides an explanation. Seems that the meat that is the furthest away from the legs is the best of all because the muscles here are not used for locomotion and are not as stressed. Therefore the meat from these areas is much more tender.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[Neela]

Very happy to read that someone in MEA atleast disagrees with what MSA keeps peddling:
Relations with Pak should be India's top priority: Aiyar
MSA peddling stuff like:

....

But, Lalit Mansingh brings him back to reality:

Lalit Mansingh, former ambassador to the United States and erstwhile foreign secretary, taking exception to Aiyar's contention, argued, "It's not a question of dominance, it's a question of our right to exist as a nation as large as we are and we need to find our place within our region."

"We need at least 10 years of uninterrupted growth at 9 to 10 percent in order to deal with our primary domestic issue, which is poverty," he said.
Mansingh said, unfortunately, for all of Aiyar's call for peaceful co-existence, "There are countries, which are threatening this path of growth and the immediate threats are of the military kind and are only from two countries -China and Pakistan."

..."

Real it all... MSA almost sounds like a 400% Paki if one didnt know his nationality.

MS Aiyar, although known to have this strange attitudes and views, displays how naive he is. Now , when someone like MSAiyar , who has worked with the IFS and has been an MP , displays this kind of ignorance, one can only assume that GoI does not seem to have a a coherent policy wrt TSP. Please bear in mind while this is anytime better that being the gullible suckers the Amreekis are, it shows that GoI since the 1980s, is continuing to act like a deer caught in the headlights, throwing a blank face. MS Aiyar says one thing, MEA does the firefighting after his barf!
What this shows is a serious lack of vision from GoI. We seem to be content with where the tide takes us . Result? 60000 deaths and a lot of that on Indian soil and on unarmed people. This is a failure.
A constant stance wrt to TSP, same message repeated from different sources, people NOT speaking out of turn etc are all indicators of a clear policy.
Repeating what I said earlier, the GoI has managed to wriggle out of this since TSP is now consumed by its own terror - a very lucky escape I should say.
We cannot keep attributing this under-preparedness to some Chankian strategy like saying MSAiyar is part of the "good cop , bad cop" strategy or he is part of Track II or Tack 200 diplomacy.When TSP is cornered, they can always use these loose mouths as an escape hatch, thereby undercutting our argument, like they do with the Samjautha express investigations.

[shiv]

Saar, Pak-is-tan is the Land of spiritually pure Muslims. There is no negotiation with respect basic tenets of Islam. The Chinese are playing around with this basic tenet.

Ptchah! Not at all. You are talking about fundamentalists. Only a minority are fundamentalist - and only 0.006% of votes go to extremist parties. Pork is not banned in Pakistan so pork-bone and gelatin based Chinese medicines are welcome in Pakistan. No one objects and Chinese pork bone medicines are preferred over Indian vegetarian medicines which are said to cause weakness and darkening of skin.

[Aditya_V]

Or rather Pakis should ask the Chinese to give up Pork in order to not to Hurt Religious sentiments and if the Chinese do not accept at first, take firm actions to use their crown jewels against the Chinese.

[Dan Mazer]

Very happy to read that someone in MEA atleast disagrees with what MSA keeps peddling:

Relations with Pak should be India's top priority: Aiyar

Audio recording of the whole panel discussion is here: http://www.gwu.edu/~sigur/news/audio.cfm

[kenop]

But I think in Pakistan the cold chain to preserve Chinese medicines is poor and hence the Chinese medicines may have become toxic.

Shiv, deaths due to fake and contaminated drugs are rampant in China itself. There have been many seizures of fake Chinese drugs with 'Made in India' tag in African and Latam countries. Pakistan may claim poor storage facilities (which is true also) to keep the taller friends' H&D in tact but that might just be only a part of the story.

Yes.
China admits its cos' involvement in shipping fake drugs

[CRamS]

Sum/Neela,

I think you guys are being naive and too harsh on a statesman and Chanakyan like MSI. Some stalwarts on BR will argue that MSI through his WKK cowardice is creating a split between TSPA and civilians, which is good for India, because the TSP civilians and their RAPE leadership will live as decent neighbors alongside India and there won't be anymore terrorism thereafter.

[MN Kumar]

Was just reading the news about Pakistan's proposed mega dams. Bunji & Diamer-Bhasha Dams fall in PoK and munna's two favourite masters are planning to finance to the tune of $12 Billions and $15 Billions respectively.

Bunji Dam

Diamer-Bhasha Dam

[SSridhar]

Army Under Siege - Op Ed in DT by Brig. (Retd) A.R. Siddiqui

The then US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles happened to be in Karachi (then the national capital) for a meeting of CENTO. As he met Foreign Minister Hamidul Haque Chaudhry, he requested him to arrange a special guard of honour for his wife to see, who had greatly admired the tall and sturdy Punjabi soldiers.

Such was our military’s image abroad.

Promised to be a glorious victory (Fateh Mubeen), the 1965 war ended in a tame draw. It was, by all means, a brave effort against an enemy many times its size and resources. War remains like a child’s fantasy to the Pakistani psyche and generalship subject to the horoscope of individuals.

Even Musharraf’s deadly Kargil misadventure and consequent debacle was ignored for the sheer good faith in the army.

[RamaY]

Sum/Neela,

I think you guys are being naive and too harsh on a statesman and Chanakyan like MSI. Some stalwarts on BR will argue that MSI through his WKK cowardice is creating a split between TSPA and civilians, which is good for India, because the TSP civilians and their RAPE leadership will live as decent neighbors alongside India and there won't be anymore terrorism thereafter.

Aah, finally some wisdom there CRS garu

During vanavaas I did penance for Paasupata and Pasupati Almighty explained me how the world works (Pasu = one with paasa = one with a leash; the leash that holds the necks of Indians is this very chanikyan logic).

See, we complain that Mr. Rashdie's 'freedom of expression' is not honored but here on this very forum we do not respect the 'freedom of expression'. I got banned for praying the 'prophet of Christianity to punish the Christians, who committed wrong, in a Christian way' (I neither blamed the Christianity - the ideology, nor its prophet - the guy who proclaimed it. I was asking Individuals to pay the price for their misdeeds), yet we had so much takleef on the forum and I got banned. On the other hand Mr. Rashdie insulted the prophet and the ideology of Islam. Yet we want to protect his 'freedom of expression'. Because it is ok to criticize Islam on BRF (we can use Pakis as the fodder in that effort = the people who happened to be born on the other side of the border that almighty Curzon drawn on a piece of paper; which made our Mr. Clean and Perfect Prime Minister a Person of Paki-origin by birth )

Sri Mani Shankar Iyer is correct. India should and must learn to live with a Pakistan on its side. It might be a good thing if Pakistan is stable and progressive, but it is none of India's concern if Pakistan isn't. India must walk all the miles till the western border of Pakistan, if need be, to meet Pakistani demands

Sri Lalit Man Singh is the one who is naive here. What is he expecting to do with Pakistan?
- Kill all Pakistanis, 187+ million of them? India's secularism doesn't permit that!!!
- Destroy Paki Army? Doesn't it hurt Pakistani sentiments; a non-muslim India killing Muslim jihadi army?
- Occupy Pakistan? Didn't we learn anything from America's unsuccessful wars on Iraq and Afghanistan?

That leaves only one option - Peace with Pakistan, at any cost. INC want's to make that cost (to India) atleast some benefit to the die-nasty by asking Paki-political parties to represent entire sub-continental muslims (> 300+ million votes) as a loyal vote bank to INC.

[RamaY]

Army Under Siege - Op Ed in DT by Brig. (Retd) A.R. Siddiqui

The then US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles happened to be in Karachi (then the national capital) for a meeting of CENTO. As he met Foreign Minister Hamidul Haque Chaudhry, he requested him to arrange a special guard of honour for his wife to see, who had greatly admired the tall and sturdy Punjabi soldiers.

Reminds me of a TVMA TV serial on Spartacus.

There the owner of gladiator stable arranges a show of gladiators for the pleasure of visiting senator's wife; and even offers to own (discreetly of course) a gladiator of her choice for a small price. The senator's wife (naturally) wants to pick someone with you know what, a large <snip>.

[Lalmohan]

methinks that the tall and (s)turdy brigadoon siddiqui is having auto-hairotic pha(n)tasies about his own situation with visiting dignitaries

[Suppiah]

This is a big surprise...Hakkani to go to Uncaland..

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/30/haqqani- ... urces.html

BTW, SS garu seems right. The civvies have stared and not blinked. Even the jehadi terrorist Pakbaric judges have been asked to cool it and let him go, or their wards green cards and study visas may not go through. Who knows when the real greens takeover, these not-so-greens are gonna be waji-bull-cattle.

Proof of all this will be when Kiyanahin is shown the door along with his jehadi pig buddy Pasha....let us watch the space..

Mani Shankar Aiyar would be disappointed. These are very nice gentlemen, we should serve them biriyani a-la- Kasab and request them to be nice to us..

[Yogi_G]

I never can understand women and the TSPA. The former maybe in this lifetime but the latter never (if it survives till then). Tall and sturdy Punjabi soldiers? What do they smoke? I am disgusted with such thought lines, I mean how cheap can one get to lie their way to some non-existent fake glory?

[RamaY]

Be that as it may, I am quite astonished by the general resistance to the PA/ISI put up by Zardari/Gilani combo since 2008. First, they decided to bring the ISI under civilian control which indeed misfired within a few hours and the orders had to be withdrawn hurriedly. But, the effort was well worth recognizing since nobody before had attempted this. Then, Zardari bravely attempted to redefine the nuclear doctrine to NFU by himself, which again fell through. Again, the attempt needs recognition. The Pakistani Supreme Commander described India as not the threat facing the country, puncturing the PA's raison d'etre. After 26/11, Gilani agreed to send the ISI Chief to India, which he had to retract immediately under PA/ISI pressure. Normally, I would have called it a coordinated drama between the civilians and the khakhis, but this appeared genuine to me. Then, the political setup agreed to the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, which imposed restrictions on the PA and directly named the LeT, but the bill had to be eventually diluted as the PA put its foot down and the Americans dithered and surrendered to the khakhis. Even the extension of the terms of Kayani & Pasha were not automatic and they were kept on tenterhooks for quite a while before the announcements were made. Gilani's recent taking on of Kayani, through the interview to Xinhua, or in the National Assembly, and his sarcastic remarks about the type of visa given to OBL for staying in Abbottabad, were unprecedented IMO. He then sacked the Lt. Gen. who was the Kayani choice for Defence Secreatry's post and for the first time, since the 70s, appointed a civilian as the Defence Secretary. The Def Sec was blamed for causing a rift between the govt and the PA, a nice reason which put the PA on the mat. The replacement was a woman, to add to the insult of the mard-e-momin. I have not seen such concerted efforts to tame the PA/ISI anytime before.

Therefore, let us see what happens to Pasha. He offered to quit in front of the Parliamentarians during the debate after Abbottabad. So, Gilani may have a good excuse to ease him out of office though he may not cite this publicly.

SSji,

Like I thought in my blog, it is none of outsiders business if Pakistan gets ruled by Jihadis, Taliban, TSPA, Civilian Jihadis, seculars, communists, or hindus as it is completely their internal matter.

What I am interested about is how this affects India and its interests. The empirical data shows that India might get more terror attacks and even a war from Pakistan in near future.

Following is a graphic from my Blog that shows the periods of civilian govts in Pakistan and cross-border terrorism or wars with India. Blue color is the periods when Pakistan had civilian governments.

[anupmisra]

Rama, what does the yellow color represent? Also, I wonder if you were to correlate this with the different governments (UPA, etc) in India, what would that look like?

[Prem]

Quadrexistan
we have failed you

Over 5,000 gathered in Rawalpindi yesterday, blaring witness to the systematic hate, prejudice that has been curtailed by a whole series of ordinances, acts and constitutional amendments against the Ahmadiyya community, that had been the cause of Salaam’s self exile four decades ago. Nothing has changed since, for the Ahmadis it has only gotten worse.The rally called out by traders’ associations was attended by activists of Jamaatud Dawa, Jamaat-i-Islami, Sipah Sahaba (banned organisation) and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat in Rawalpindi, claimed that a ‘worship place’ belonging to the Ahmadiya community was built without permission, The irony of protest on land encroachments by parties who themselves have been involved in extortion and land encroachments is immeasurable. But it was not long until the real incentive became clear. A few weeks ago anti-Ahmadi banners had appeared in the same area, threatening the residents to leave, claiming their existence was unconstitutional and any restraint from them could lead to ‘repercussions’.
Terrified, no one spoke.Through intimidation and hate mongering, speakers at the conference yesterday blatantly announced that there will be a 100,000 Qadri’s ( Heeeerow) raging against the Ahmadis, issuing an ultimatum to the Ahmadiyya community to stop praying.

Nisar mein teri galiyon kay aye watan kay jahan
Chali hai rasm kay koi na sar utha kay chaley’
(My salutations to thy sacred streets, O beloved nation!
Where a tradition has been invented- that none shall walk with his head held high)
jo koii chaahanewaalaa tawaaf ko nikale
nazar churaa ke chale, jism-o-jaan bachaa ke chale
(If at all one takes a walk, a pilgrimage
One must walk, eyes lowered, the body crouched in fear)

(Removes any doubt that Pkajabis converted fearing sword)

[Philip]

Having encountered MSA mano-a-mano,he is a very clear-headed and articulate gent.We all admired his rfank talk to MMS on the CWH brigand,which got him sacked in the bargain! Therefore let's hear him out.As a foreign policy expert,MSA is adopting a very pragmatic philosophic viewpoint,the equiv. of that "it is better to live with Pak as a friend than an enemy". However,how does one achieve this utopian dream? Here LMS is equally pragmatic and conservative given the actual state of mind of the Paki establishment.as long as the Paki army is in control of foreign policy,there will be little headway,as its entire justification for its bloated miltary budget is based upon hatred of India.

I was watching Imran Khan on telly earlier.Even he with all his posturing for a new peace with India,says that the military will never take over again as times have changed after vast media exposure of the nation's problems,and the street protests,etc.,was stumped when asked about punishing the guilty of 26/11,talking to the very same outfits who were part of the terror outrage,falling back upon the great Paki SC in delivering the goods.He spoke of taking bold steps in an Indo-Pak solution criticising the former rulers like Gen.Bandicoot. Even if Imran wins ,he will find it very difficult to dislodge the Paki military-civil establishment who effectively run the country.I also doubt that Gen.KIll-any will give up thre reins of effective power that easily and will patiently wait like the vulture that he is,create an uproar at the appropriate time and take over just as his predecessors have done for a "limited time" only! Who knows,he might very well stand for election as Pak's next president with a campaign to "clean up" Pak!

[RamaY]

Rama, what does the yellow color represent? Also, I wonder if you were to correlate this with the different governments (UPA, etc) in India, what would that look like?

Yellow color indicates extended terror campaign such as Khalistan and J&K. That is why I put them in two different lines. Red color indicates major terror attack or war. Please note that each cell represents 1 year.

We can throw Indian political parties, but I seriously doubt it adds any value because INC is in power for the first 40 years and past 10 years. I do not think that adds any value in this equation.

On the other hand INC/Non-INC rule has high correlation with internal security situation, which is in different thread

[Prem]

B'stan MPA's wife, daughter, driver gunned down
http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-33280 ... unned-down

KARACHI: In what seems to be an apparent target killing, wife, daughter, and driver of Balochistan MPA, Sahibzada Bakhtiar, have been murdered near Gizri Bridge in Karachi, Geo News reported.
Earlier, reports had it that unknown gunmen had opened fire on a car parked outside a house in a street close by killing all its occupants.The bullet riddled dead bodies have been shifted to the hospital.The incident according Karachi police chief seemed to be an outcome of a family vendetta.
The unfortunate family members of Balochistan MPA were visiting Karachi to attend a marriage ceremony here, authorities told media.Mir Bakhtiar Domki, elected form Sibbi PB as member provincial assembly, is a maternal grandson, whereas his now deceased wife was a paternal granddaughter of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. A bereaved Domki told media that he expected no justice from Sindh government.“ I am looking up to Almighty Allah for justice”, said he.Earlier, it was found out that car's registration number was "ANR 353" and a plaque fixed on top of license plate read “MPA Balochistan”.

[Anujan]

Those were Brahmdagh Bugti's sister and niece. He is in Switzerland and has applied for asylum.

A Swiss couple were kidnapped in Paki badlands and Pakis have offered to "rescue" them though "negotiations" if Switzerland hands Brahmdagh Bugti.

[CRamS]

DipankarJi, this one is for the likes of you. Jihadi Lodhi likes Zbigniew Brzezinski. You know why? He advocates go slow on India because that would offend TSP. No mention of all the stats you reel off about how many lives US lost due to TSP perfidy, the money spent on TSP etc. This from a demi God of U foreign policy. Read it all

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDe ... =1/31/2012

Asia’s stability, he says, will rest in part on how America reacts to two regional triangles centred on China. The first being China, India and Pakistan, while the second relates to China, Japan and Korea. Brzezinski asserts that the US will remain the key player to influence ‘balances’ and determine outcomes.

In the China-India-Pakistan triangle he urges a cautious US role, taking issue with those in his country who advocate a policy of building India as a counterweight to China. He sees such a policy to be inimical to American security interests. This will risk the US getting embroiled in avoidable Asian conflicts. He casts as “unwise” the US decision to sell advanced weaponry to India and enhancing India’s nuclear programme. He disapproves of these for signalling a ‘contain China’ policy.

He also regards a US-India alliance as likely to heighten Muslim animosity towards America, as this will be construed as implicitly directed against Pakistan. Better relations with India are in America’s interest, but says Brzezinski, these “should not imply support on such contentious issues as Kashmir”.

[menon s]

Talibanisation of Pashtun land will only lead to the de pakistanisation of Pashtuns.
from, Friday times.
http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta2/tft ... 7&page=8.1

Nationalist movements promote and protect national language, culture and identity through political expression. They aim to control their affairs without outside interference. They are about managing their economic resources by themselves. They may want autonomy within a multinational state in order to structure it to protect their identity, or in certain cases for an independent state of their own.

Taliban meet none of these criteria in Afghanistan or Pakistan, and therefore cannot be considered a Pashtun nationalist movement. They take ideological and political inspiration from Arabs and other non-Pashtuns. They have consciously, as a matter of policy, targeted different cultural traits of Pashtuns, like tribal councils and folk music; they are not concerned about the language and promote mostly Arabic and/or interestingly, Urdu; Economic resources or their control is not their concern; neither is any political or administrative manifestation of Pashtun identity their goal.

They have killed a large number of traditional Pashtun elders in FATA and banned the Jirga as means of dispute settlement in areas under their influence. They have been eliminating the Pashtun way of life.

[abhishek_sharma]

A review of Ken Ballen's Terrorists in Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals.

[RCase]

Jihadi Lodhi likes Zbigniew Brzezinski. You know why? He advocates go slow on India because that would offend TSP. No mention of all the stats you reel off about how many lives US lost due to TSP perfidy, the money spent on TSP etc. This from a demi God of U foreign policy. Read it all

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDe ... =1/31/2012

Zbigniew Brzezinski is a spent force and a dinosaur of the cold war era. His thinking is out of step with current world trends as he is always viewing the world through the prism of the cold war era. No, he is not a demi God of US foreign policy. I don't think he is the one that comes to mind for most Americans who are interested in an opinion on foreign policy.

He was the guy who fathered the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and gave tons of arms and money to the TSPA and ISI and co-opted the Saudis.

[arun]

Demonstration of the IED Mubarak variant of the IEDology of Pakistan in Pehawar.

Suicide attack kills Haji Akhonzada, head of the turncoat Pro-Government Ansurul Islam group who were previously allied to the Taliban:

Pakistan militia leader Haji Akhonzada killed by a bomb

[ramana]

CRS and RCase lets discuss Ms Lodhi's review of Zbig's new book in Geopolitical thread. Will post it there.

ramana

[Virupaksha]

Quadrexistan
we have failed you

The rally called out by traders’ associations was attended by activists of Jamaatud Dawa, Jamaat-i-Islami, Sipah Sahaba (banned organisation) and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat in Rawalpindi, claimed that a ‘worship place’ belonging to the Ahmadiya community was built without permission, The irony of protest on land encroachments by parties who themselves have been involved in extortion and land encroachments is immeasurable.

So once again as through out history, it is the traders who are the prime movers behind these movements.

[CRamS]

Zbigniew Brzezinski is a spent force and a dinosaur of the cold war era. His thinking is out of step with current world trends as he is always viewing the world through the prism of the cold war era. No, he is not a demi God of US foreign policy. I don't think he is the one that comes to mind for most Americans who are interested in an opinion on foreign policy.

He was the guy who fathered the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and gave tons of arms and money to the TSPA and ISI and co-opted the Saudis.

He is IMO. Any half-arsed introspection of 9/11 should involve US dalliance with Al Queda and Talibunnies. But all you find are sob stories in US discourse. That "evil guys" were once "good guys" that US nurtured hardly exists in US narratives. So far from being taken to task for fathering Al Queda, Zbig is all over the place emanating this kind of hot air from his rectum. And for that Fareed Bhai true to his hallmark as an establishment boy, hails Zbig as an "elder statesman" whenever he has him on his show.

[SSridhar]

He [Z.Brzezinski] advocates go slow on India because that would offend TSP. No mention of all the stats you reel off about how many lives US lost due to TSP perfidy, the money spent on TSP etc. This from a demi God of U foreign policy. Read it all

That book should be interesting to read. I do not know how much influence the cold war generals like Kissinger & Brzezinski still wield over policy-making in the US. But, India can and should never trust the US. That much has been clear for a long time. Past history and recent episodes are proof of that. I think Bharat Karnad's reply on why American fighters were not considered for MMRCA, though it was not the kind of reply that should have been given, is largely the truth.

As for Pakistan, of course, they would jump with joy with such an analysis. But, US administration cannot do business with them as they used to do before, Pakistani perfidy will increase over time and the US support for Pakistan will decline (but will continue nevertheless), but India may not benefit largely from the US-Pak fracas. The US is not willing to translate its anger against Pakistan into support for India in our dealing with that evil country. ZB need not have any fear on that score. The US has many levers to turn the screws on Pakistan but it has desisted from doing two things: weakening Pakistan militarily or hit its H&D hard by exposing its fraud. The US can do the former easily but it has not chosen to do so. OTOH, it has continued to supply military hardware disproportionate to Pakistan's needs and irrelevant to GWoT. It cannot do the latter because then Pakistan has equal ammunition to expose the US fraud. Both are partners in the crime for six decades now.

That is why, Pakistan has to be sorted out solely by India. India cannot ignore Pakistan and hope the problem would die on its own because of internal contradictions within Pakistan etc. It may happen but that process has to be quickened because every passing day places a lot of burden on us militarily, politically, and economically if Pakistan continues to remain in its present shape, form and content.

[SSridhar]

Mansoor Ijaz sends a secret letter to the CJP
Again, the issue of authenticity of the letter comes under question. Not sure if he signed that letter.

[wig]

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... 03,00.html
the us soldier on the ground and his afghan army compatriot do not seem to be in any doubt of the source of terror in afghanistan as per perusal of this write up in the american newsmagazine TIme.

Throughout the intense fighting, the besieged defending force of 36 U.S. and Afghan army soldiers fought off multiple suicide bombers and at least four overrun attempts by between 400 and 500 heavily armed insurgents, who had been trucked in from Pakistan and who managed to advance to within five meters of U.S. positions. Afterwards, the soldiers confirmed 115 kills and estimated at least 200. "It was the most coordinated thing any of us had ever seen, but just the sheer number of forces they had massing on that position was ridiculous," Staff Sgt Everett Bracey of first platoon, Bravo Company, 2-27 Infantry Battalion, told TIME.

excerpts

The attackers were reinforced and resupplied throughout the fight from bases and depots in the safe haven provided by Pakistan. "We saw 60 vehicles come out of Pakistan — just drive in," said Staff Sgt. Anthony Fuentes looking at a topographical map a few days after the battle. "This whole route, it goes all the way up into Pakistan. It's a two-hour trafficable route from the border." Added company commander Captain Michael Kolton, "It was Pashtuns and Arabs and Chechens and Punjabis — everyone and their sister joined in on this one."

The defenders of OP Shal also recognized that their attackers had been well trained. "They used the standard operating procedures that the U.S. army uses," explained Fuentes. "We expected contact, but we didn't expect that. Their fire was so heavy and precise that to get up and look at their near sector, the joes just had to say, 'Ok, I'm just going to eat one in the face just to get up and see if somebody is moving on me.' And every time they lifted their head up, there was somebody there."

[Anujan]

http://thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail ... 0432&Cat=2

Pakistan in talks with India to remove flaws in Indus Water Treaty

Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo, revealed on Monday that the government was in talks with India to remove the inherent flaws in the Indus Waters Treaty that India misused to its advantage by undermining Pakistan’s interests.

The minister informed a seminar on Kashmir here at a local hotel that India was violating the treaty, which was imposed by a military dictator on the nation without evolving a consensus among people in this connection.

“Since no consultations were held or a consensus evolved, the treaty has some inherent flaws and India has been misusing it at the cost of Pakistan’s interests,” Wattoo maintained. {This is the new BS they are trotting out} He said the PPP-led government was in the process of removing those flawed terms so that India could not take water from the rivers that were reserved for Pakistan under the Treaty.
{And the a-hole follows it up with}
About the Kashmir issue, the minister said that the government was fully committed to the Kashmir cause and all possible assistance, whether moral, material or diplomatic, would be extended to the people of Kashmir for their just and fundamental right of self-determination as per the United Nation’s resolutions.

[ArmenT]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/29 ... ee-murder/

KINGSTON, Ont. — Three members of a Montreal family have been ordered imprisoned for life after a jury found them guilty of murdering four other family members in a what the judge called “cold-blooded, shameful murders” based on a “twisted notion of honour.”

Mohammad Shafia, 58, his second wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, were each found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder after a jury deliberated for 15 hours.

Hamed appeared to collapse onto the front railing of the prisoner’s box as the verdicts were announced. His father, standing next to him, put his hand on his shoulder and then on top of his head. Yahya appeared to begin crying.

Jo Lahore mein gandu, woh Montreal mein bhi gandu.

[KLNMurthy]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/29 ... ee-murder/

KINGSTON, Ont. — Three members of a Montreal family have been ordered imprisoned for life after a jury found them guilty of murdering four other family members in a what the judge called “cold-blooded, shameful murders” based on a “twisted notion of honour.”

Mohammad Shafia, 58, his second wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, 21, were each found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder after a jury deliberated for 15 hours.

Hamed appeared to collapse onto the front railing of the prisoner’s box as the verdicts were announced. His father, standing next to him, put his hand on his shoulder and then on top of his head. Yahya appeared to begin crying.

Jo Lahore mein gandu, woh Montreal mein bhi gandu.

It appears that these people were from Afghanistan FWIW.

[Charlie]

Pakis take sibling marriage to new heights lows

LONDON: A Pakistani family who systematically abused the UK immigration system, including marrying a sister to her brother, while fraudulently claiming thousands in benefits has been sentenced.

In a complex deception Bagh Ali, 82, fraudulently used the identities of his own son and daughter to enable the then teenage children of his new wife to settle in the UK. By switching identities Iram Shazadi and Usman Ali Khan were able to join their mother, Rehana Awan, in the UK and take up British citizenship. The plot took a further twist when Shazadi took part in a sham marriage to her own brother, Rizwan Khan to allow him also to take up UK citizenship.

Awan, 44, and Ali, who has British citizenship, were married in Pakistan in 1995. Following the marriage she tried without success to obtain UK citizenship before finally arriving in the UK as a visitor in 2001. The plot started in 2003, when they were living in Shalimar Street in Halifax. The couple, who have six children together, were divorced in January 2005.

The UK Border Agency Criminal and Financial Investigation Team found evidence that Shazadi, now aged 22, and Usman Ali Khan, now 23, had taken up the false identities. Leeds Crown Court heard how the team also uncovered the false marriage between Shazadi and Rizwan Khan, now 25, which took place in July 2006 in Jhelum, Pakistan.

The investigation showed that Awan had fraudulently claimed £17,500 in child tax credits and child benefit payments. Shazadi used her false identity to obtain a mortgage to purchase a house in Halton Moor Avenue, Leeds. Rizwan Khan used his illegally gained status to fraudulently claim job seeker’s allowance.

Steve Lamb, Acting Regional Director for the UK Border Agency, said: “This family has systematically committed immigration and benefit fraud. They have also shown a complete disregard for the marriage system. These are serious offences, as the sentences handed out today reflect. Immigration crime is not victimless. It defrauds the public purse out of huge sums of money at a time when the country can least afford it.”

Awan, Usman Ali Khan and Shazadi were all arrested in September 2010. Rizwan Khan was arrested in November of the same year at Dover, as he attempted to leave the country using a false identity. Bagh Ali was arrested in May last year.

Ali has been given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years; Awan was given a ten month sentence suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work; Usman Ali Khan was given a ten month sentence; Rizwan Khan was jailed for 15 months; and Shazadi was given a 12 month sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work.