Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan - July 07, 2009

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 26 Jul 2009 17:20

^^^ uptil now Unkil and chamchas ignored baluchistan. Now if the pak army cracks down, suddenly there will be a lot more spotlights being shone there. the western media is applauding pak army assault on the talibs in swat, but a crack down on the baloch will not look and smell the same. there is going to be more embarrasment for pakistan in this than gain.

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 26 Jul 2009 20:01

Pakistan arrests pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani police on Sunday arrested pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad, who brokered a peace deal between the government and militants in the Swat Valley that has since faltered.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 26 Jul 2009 20:13

New book on the Paki puppetmasters of 26/11,including "Gen.Kill-any"!
More deadly attacks on the anvil claim the authors.

http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?p ... 06&lang=en

ISI behind the Mumbai terror attacks”
Amir Mir
Saturday 25 July 2009

LAHORE: The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks were first conceived on the third floor of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters at the Zero Point in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, claims a recently released book “Investigating the Mumbai Conspiracy”, published by the Delhi-based Pentagon Press, adding that the head of the ISI directorate sits on the third floor of the headquarters, overseeing a shadowy empire of spies and jehadis which today poses a greater threat to global security than the al-Qaeda.

The book makes sensational claims – that the Mumbai terror attack was planned and executed by the Pakistan Army and its different agencies including the Inter Services Intelligence and the Special Services Group (SSG) and that the Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani was not only in the know of the attack but had planned every detail of the assault with his close confidants in the Pakistan Army’s top leadership. The book claims that the Pakistan army top brass including former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf had been playing one of the deadliest games in recent history to provoke a disastrous war among the two nuclear armed nations. Containing documents like the Mumbai charge sheet confessional statements of the lone surviving attacker Ajmal Amir Kasab and other details, the book lays bare the tale of the Mumbai attacks and warns of the coming wave of terrorist assaults on India from across the border in Pakistan.

The thrilling book has hit the news stands at a time when Pakistan has handed over a 36-page fresh dossier on its probe into the Mumbai terror attacks to New Delhi, giving an update on the investigations. The dossier confirms what India has been insisting all along – top operatives of Lashkar-e-Toiba were responsible for carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks. This is the first official admission from Pakistan that its citizens were involved in the November 26, 2008 terror attacks. The deadly assault was carried out with by ten heavily armed jehadis who came via ship and boats from Pakistan and held India hostage in Mumbai for over 60 hours.

It was the most audacious terror onslaught since the 9/11 terror attack on the US. Over 180 persons were killed and two nuclear armed nations almost came to war over the attack that shook the world. Who masterminded such an attack? From the evidence gathered by the various intelligence and security agencies, claims the book published by the Pentagon Press [wned by Rajan Arya], it is quite clear that Lashkar-e-Toiba, an al-Qaeda affiliated Lahore based terrorist organisation which trained and dispatched the attackers, do not have the ability to plan and execute such a major armed assault across the seas. It then adds: “Operations like the Mumbai terror attack are never discussed in official meetings [of the ISI]. Such meetings remain unlisted and no minutes are kept. Nor are they planned in a day. Only a handful of the senior officers decide the details, over a period of time, going back and forth over details and more details.

Co-authored by Wilson john, a senior fellow with Observer Research Foundation and Vishwas Kumar, a senior Indian journalist with special interest in crime and terrorism, states that a highly classified operation like Mumbai could not have been shared among more than four people would have known about the plan besides the Chief of Army Staff, who at the time of the planning was President General Pervez Musharraf. “The DG ISI was Lt General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Among General Kayani’s close confidants were four Major Generals — Sikander Afzal, Asif Akhtar, Muhammad Mustafa and Tahir Mahmood — all of whom played major roles behind 26/11”.

The book adds: “Akhtar headed ISI’s Operations Wing which handled terrorist groups operating in Jammu & Kashmir and other parts of India. Afzal was the Deputy Director General External and headed all sections which dealt with terrorist groups and India. One of his close confidants was Brigadier Riazullah Khan Chibb, one of the key masterminds of the Mumbai attack. Mustafa was in charge of the Evaluation wing and Tahir Mahmood was General Officer Commanding. Special Services Group (SSG), which sometimes acted as the armed wing of the intelligence agency. Tahir Mahmood, as the Brigade commander of Brigade 62 at Skardu, had launched terrorists from LeT and other Army supported groups across Indian territory to camouflage the movement of regular troops.

The book claims that a whole lot of homework had gone into before the Pakistani jehadi Generals laid out the plan for the Mumbai attacks. “They knew which terrorist group they could rely on to carry out the task. They had notes on previous attacks, the modus operandi used, the local support network and they knew the names of Brigadiers who could control the operation through satellite phones. According to the book, three retired Pakistan Army Brigadiers who had played a key role in the Mumbai terror attacks are Riazullah Khan Chibb, Ijaz Shah and Haji.

“Though names of other Brigadiers and other retired officers have time and again emerged during various investigations - Major Wajahatullah and Colonel Kayani - there are fewer details in open source about their past and present activities. There are, however, some details about Shah and Chibb, largely thanks to the emails which former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto wrote before her assassination in 2007. Both Shah and Chibb had retired from ISI a few years ago and have vast experience in running and handling terrorist groups targeting India. They are also confidants of Musharraf”.

“Generally, no serving officer is given control of terrorist operations as the discovery of such links, run the risk of attracting sanctions from international donors. Terrorist operations are always left to the ‘irregulars’. These are retired officers who are reemployed on contracts for specific missions for the Army which can be easily denied. They operate out of private offices in different locations in Pakistan, have access to weapons and equipment and are paid through slush funds maintained by the Inter Services Intelligence”.

Going by the book, it was a motley crowd of committed trainers, cartographers, communications experts and ideologues who worked on the front end of the mission. “The principal trainers were Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (alias Abu Wahed Irshad Ahmad); Muzammil (aka Yousuf aka Abu Gurera aka Abu Mohammad); Faheem Ahmad Ansari (alias Abu Jarar). Apart from them, Azzam Cheema, better known as ‘Babaji’, taught recruits how to spot vital installations on the map and uses satellite phones to keep in touch. Another Abu Qahafa, an expert commando trainer who joined the group in 2006, was the chief instructor for the Mumbai attackers. A confidante of Muzammil, he is an expert commando trainer and led the select recruits through the toughest training schedule at LeT’s Maskar Aksa camp. Abu al Qama, an old hand at training new recruits, and was in charge of LeT’s training camp, Ibn-e-Tamia, PoK, which received the Indian recruits across the Kashmir border”.

The book claims that the ideologue behind the operation was Abdur Rahman Makki, who is actually the LeT’s supremo Hafiz Saeed’s cousin and brother-in- law. “He is second only to Saeed in the hierarchy and is known as a firebrand proponent of suicide missions, having penned a highly popular book called Tehrik-e-Islam ke fidayeen dastay (The suicide squads of the Islamic movement). Another relative of Saeed, Ibrahim (aka Ali), a computer expert and fund distributor, put together the assault team. He recruited Faheem Ahmed Ansari (aka Abu Jarar), who trained under Muzammil, and was briefed extensively about the targets subsequently and selected for the attack in November 2008. Ansari was made to go through Google Map and other maps to pinpoint targets like the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Taj Hotel. Ansari drew maps for Muzammil and was later tasked to extensively videotape and photograph the locations after he returned to India. Abu Hamza (aka Ramzan aka Aamir) was one of the trainers at Baitul Mujahideen. Hamza and had a role in previous terror strikes in India like the ISI (Bangalore) attack of 2004. His inputs about making entry, traveling and then exiting the target areas were critical to the success of the Mumbai attack”.

The book claims that while Lakhvi and Abu Qahaf remained in touch with the terrorists from Karachi, it was Muzammil who was coordinating the attack pattern from Lahore, most probably from an ISI Forward Detachment Lahore at 7, Lawrence Road, Lahore. “Muzammil’s satellite phone conversations with the Mumbai attackers after they had set sail from Karachi was intercepted by the US electronic and communication intelligence service, NSA (National Security Agency) and passed on to the Indian intelligence agencies on November 18, 2008, six days before the attack took place. Zarar Shah (aka Abdul Wajid), LeT’s communications expert and urban combat trainer, confessed later of his involvement and said he had stayed with the attackers in Karachi for a few weeks to train them in urban combat skills. US agencies had intercepted his telephone calls to the attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace and tower. Shah, the intercepts showed, was directing the attackers almost minute-to-minute”.

The authors have claimed that once the plan was finalized by the ISI, the LeT supreme Hafiz Saeed was contacted and his two key operational commanders Zaki Lakhvi and Abdur Rehman Makki were briefed about the requirements of the Mumbai operation. “They wanted some two dozen men all fresh recruits, to be trained intensively in commando operations hostage taking and mass killing. These men had to be new; the handlers did not want to risk renegades or freelancers among the attackers. They wanted men who would obey them to the tee. They wanted martyrs. They knew none of them would come back alive. The LeT heads were told they had a year to train these recruits”.

The book states that during the training, the Mumbai attack team was briefed extensively about the movement of ships in the sea. “They were told to use boats similar to Indian fishing boats to avoid suspicion and detection. They knew that fishing boats traveled in groups of 50 to 100 and it would be easy to dodge the India Coast Guard and the Indian Navy if enough precautions were taken during the journey. More than 10000 fishing boats travel across the Arabian Sea in a day”, the book concludes.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 26 Jul 2009 20:16

Pookies outsmart the world

Nadra wins Nigeria contract

ISLAMABAD: Outsmarting the identity management system integrators of the US, France, Germany, the UK and India in a competitive bidding, the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has won a $1 million contract to help Nigeria produce the computerized national identity cards for its citizens, The News learnt here on Saturday.

Saying that Nadra’s expertise in IT solution has earned international acclaim, Tariq Malik said the authority has been awarded international projects including the Civil Registration Project by the Sudan government, Passport Issuing System by Kenya, High Security Driver’s Licence by Bangladesh and Afghan Refugee Registration Project by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

But wait! Before the pookies are handed over the $1M check by the Nigerians, they are to contact a certain Dr. Clement Okon and provide him bank account numbers, password, an advanced reimbursable application fee of $50,000 and other detailed information.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Jul 2009 21:18

they will be lucky to escape with their undies in this nigeria deal, in the end.

talk about going out looking for trouble.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 26 Jul 2009 21:26

Singha wrote:they will be lucky to escape with their undies in this nigeria deal, in the end. talk about going out looking for trouble.

It's one failed nation helping another one. What's that saying in Hindi: Chor Chor Mauseray Bhai?

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 26 Jul 2009 21:45

Pakistani held over Polish death
The headline is understating things a bit though. The paki in question is not just an average Abdul, he's Shah Abdul Aziz, a former member of parliament. Anyone know if an American official scheduled to visit Pakiland soon (in case pakis are putting up a show since they ran out of #3's captured), or is it old fashioned GUBO pressure?

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 27 Jul 2009 00:34

Movement of US, Nato troops worries Waziristan tribes

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 27 Jul 2009 04:10

Pak farmers to launch protest movement against India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s farming community on Sunday announced to launch a protest movement against India for stealing water and a rally would be organised at the Wagah border on September 6.

A seminar titled ‘Water Thefts by India’ was organised by the Pakistan Muttahida Kisan Mahaz here at the National Press Club where speakers severely criticised all governments irrespective of political divide inside Pakistan for failing to develop a national consensus over the construction of water reservoirs, resulting into looming water crisis.

President of the Mahaz Ayub Khan Meo warned the government that the Kisan Mahaz would organise farmers protest on August 15, which is the Indian independence day, adding that they would organise a protest at the Wagah border on September 6.

“If the government fails to take any action in this period, then farmers will start a campaign to stop paying water charges and surcharges from December 31,” Ayub Meo said and added that respective governments had been ignoring the fact that water supplies to the southern Punjab were on the decline.

Hayat Khan, District Nazim, Bahawalpur, said that the water flow should be hovering around 34,000 cusecs during April-May due to the summer season, but it stood at 17,000 cusecs this year. He added Indians released large quantity of water when it was not required and crops were damaged due to flooding.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 27 Jul 2009 04:15

Communicating an idea and expressing a thought

While the nation applauded the victorious Pakistan Cricket team for having won the Twenty20 World Cup, I incidentally met some youngsters at a local cricket club in Islamabad showing signs of frustration and inner anguish. I decided to interact with them to know their feelings and silent expression of ambivalence on this occasion of national festivity. They were really happy and proud of their national cricket team for having proved their metal in the world cup, but expressed their feelings of incapacitation for what was happening inside Pakistan and how the world was propagating against it. The salient aspects of their concern are given below: “We are proud Pakistanis. We like our country and love its land. We perceive that the people of Pakistan are cooperative, loyal and friendly. We are a normal people, with a blend of human feelings and emotions. We are peace-loving, gentle, accommodative and progressive people. Since, we like to be treated with respect, dignity and honour, therefore, we make sure others coming into contact with us are treated well. We dislike to be abused and avert violent or aggressive behaviour. We want to resolve the issues and conflicts through peaceful means of dialogue and negotiations. So far, the non-violent, prudent approach has worked well and our attitude and belief systems stand well reinforced.

<SNIP>
“Unfortunately, the world seems to have misperceived us and our beloved country ‘Pakistan’. The world poses to be scared of us and calls us fundamentalists and extremists. Contrary to the facts, the people of Pakistan are projected as unscrupulous terrorists, having insular mindset and prejudicial thoughts. Our religion ‘Islam’ is equated with terrorism and our virtues are presented as vices.

“As Pakistanis, we not only reject such allegations, but also protest against these insinuations designed to malign Pakistan. We also know that such propaganda against Pakistan is conducted by our archrival India that wishes to see/show Pakistan in bad light. India is not only an untrustworthy neighbour, but an evasive enemy. India does not want to resolve the outstanding Kashmir issue and desires that Pakistan should pull its forces from its eastern borders and deploy them in the western borders to fight militancy.

“Indian illegal occupation of Kashmir, human rights violation, desecrating the Indus Water Treaty, Indian involvement in the internal affairs of Pakistan to destabilise Balochistan and supporting militancy in Fata and the Malakand Division are clear intentions of Indian designs against Pakistan. In addition, India has started playing clever politics with Pakistan by managing to stage terrorist attacks and implicating Pakistan. Under such circumstances, especially when the Kashmir dispute remains unresolved, Pakistan must evolve a prudent and meaningful India-specific policy. Maintain its deployment posture in the east as per the ground reality/threat perception and follow it in letter and spirit.

“Our political leadership must realise that India projects Pakistan as a ‘failing or failed state’ and ‘the most dangerous place in the world’. This is being done to isolate Pakistan and damage its image as a nation/state. India also coins fake stories and resorts to picture paintings with oblique angle suggestions to malign Pakistan.

“Indian propagandists created mistrust between the US military commanders and the Pakistani efforts to fight the GWOT, and are still doing the same. Indian efforts are to get a bigger role for India in Afghanistan.

“Unfortunately, the Pakistani media and the counter-propaganda effort are too fragile to generate an effective and logical response against the Indian propaganda. The political leadership also shows inhibitive hesitation to reply in the same tone to the Indians when they tend to browbeat to score points against Pakistan.

“We Pakistanis are not extremists and terrorists. We believe in peaceful resolution of conflicts and reject all the negative propaganda against us. We are accommodative people and firm believers of peaceful mutual co-existence. We must unite and leave the petty matters aside to present a cohesive viewpoint and a comprehensive front to face the Indian threat. At the same time, we need to reach out to the world through means of the media to let the world know our fair pledges and real stance.”

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 27 Jul 2009 04:29

India has nothing to admit on Balochistan: Tharoor

LAHORE: New Delhi on Sunday said it was in no way responsible for the insurgency in Balochistan and a mention of Balochistan in a recent joint statement did not amount to implication of India in the matter. In an interview on Sunday, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said if Islamabad had a problem with terrorism or insurgency in Balochistan, India only sympathised with Pakistan on the problem. “But our record is an open book. There is no harm in mentioning Balochistan because it is not an admission by India—there is nothing to admit,” he said during the interview carried by the Indian Express. When asked that Indian diplomacy had worked effectively across the world but had failed in its South Asian neighbourhood, the minister said part of the problem was that Indians lived in a tough neighbourhood. “The truth is that countries around the periphery have so many challenges of their own — Pakistan is the most obvious example. And I don’t think India can be found wanting in that relationship. For instance, we extended Most-Favoured Nation trading status to Pakistan 14 years ago and there has still not been any reciprocity.” “On most issues you find India has taken the first step and the hostility is coming from the other side,” Tharoor said.

Editorial: Power crisis and power politics

Although all this is a fraction of the Rs 70 billion owed under the head of circular debt, it is enough to make the opposition politicians quiver with excitement. Somehow it doesn’t arouse the same collective wrath followed by rioting in India where the power gap is 70,000MW and load shedding is endemic and no less uncomfortable. In fact, if the government there is making sacrifices for the sake of Indian industry, the suffering of the domestic consumer must be more severe.

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 27 Jul 2009 08:25

Secret document possible key to PM’s bold initiative

Nothing terribly new, but interesting reiteration of some of the facts..

I dont quite dislike the payoff - a bunch of LeT types get prosecuted, admitted to in a dossier which is now being made "public gradually"..In return a bunch of semantics, dually interpretable!

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 27 Jul 2009 11:58

Swat — it’s too early to declare victory

But it is too early to declare a victory. Army officials concede that the insurgents have not been completely rooted out and there are still some strong pockets of resistance. ‘Taliban are still present in some mountainous areas,’ said Brigadier Tahir Hameed. The troops have been battling the Taliban in Shahdehri, Kuza Bandi and Matta, not far from Mingora.

The biggest failure of the army operation has been the escape of the top militant leadership. Army claims to have eliminated second and third tiers of Taliban commanders, but the top leadership has so far survived, raising fears of insurgents regrouping once the operation is over.

Last week Muslim Khan who is also on the list of 10 most wanted men told journalists on phone that the entire Taliban command was intact and had pulled back as part of a strategy. He also played to journalists a purported recorded audio message from Fazlullah. Senior intelligence sources believe that some of the commanders might have fled to adjoining tribal areas and communicating with the media from there.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 27 Jul 2009 13:24

Lalmohan wrote:^^^ uptil now Unkil and chamchas ignored baluchistan. Now if the pak army cracks down, suddenly there will be a lot more spotlights being shone there. the western media is applauding pak army assault on the talibs in swat, but a crack down on the baloch will not look and smell the same. there is going to be more embarrasment for pakistan in this than gain.

I suspect that the Baloch reference in S e S, is to give the fig leaf to their next move in balochistan.

Pakis are beginning to care more for fig leaves now, or maybe its uncle who is getting embarrassed a little too much?

r_subramanian · Post by **r_subramanian** » 27 Jul 2009 14:43

Pak Government will decide about manufacturing of nuclear submarine

The induction of nuclear submarine in Indian Navy is a step towards destabilizing the region, said Pakistan Navy.
...
The spokesman said Indian nuclear submarine could launch nuclear arms race in the region. Government will decide about manufacturing of nuclear submarine as Pak Navy is fully prepared to materialize any decision of government, he added.

New arms race could be triggered after Indian nuke submarine

amit · Post by **amit** » 27 Jul 2009 14:54

Subramanian ji,

Your link requires posting in full with annotation for the enjoyment of evil SDRE's who inhabit the BRF.

Let me do the honours:

KARACHI: The induction of nuclear submarine in Indian Navy is a step towards destabilizing the region, said Pakistan Navy.

Commenting on the induction of nuclear submarine in Indian Navy, spokesman of Pakistan Navy Salman Ali said Indian nuclear submarine will leave far reaching affects not only Pakistan but also Indian Ocean and adjoining coastal countries. {The auther means the sub will leave brown stains on pristine white uniforms of the Pak Navy}It is a step towards destabilizing the entire region, which could be dangerous for regional peace and balance.

The spokesman said Indian nuclear submarine could launch nuclear arms race in the region. Government will decide about manufacturing of nuclear submarine as Pak Navy is fully prepared to materialize any decision of government{it's actually very simple, all you have to do is ask the friendly Jinn to materialze a N-sub and hey presto you have one - do note the Jinn here is the traller than mountains and deeper than the seas kind of Jinn}, he added.

BTW it would be fun if the Chinese gave one of their Xia class submarines to the Pookies!

Bhima · Post by **Bhima** » 27 Jul 2009 15:00

Sikhs, Hindus dread Taliban tax in Pakistan

r_subramanian · Post by **r_subramanian** » 27 Jul 2009 15:02

amit wrote:Subramanian ji,

Your link requires posting in full with annotation for the enjoyment of evil SDRE's who inhabit the BRF.

Let me do the honours:

Thanks Amit

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jul 2009 16:20

Ex-MNA from Maulana Sandwich's stable held for the murder of the Polish Engineer

Shah Abdul Aziz, a former member of the National Assembly, was handed over to Attock police on Saturday for a two-day physical remand for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and killing of a Polish engineer.

The MNA was arrested and given in police custody in the light of a statement recorded by Attaullah, arrested on July 15 in Jalal Adah area, near Pirwadhai, by the Islamabad police.

Sources quoted the statement recorded before a magistrate (a CrPc-164 statement) of the alleged terrorist, Attaullah, in which he said he, along with Mufti Ilyas, Hussain and Bilal, had kidnapped the Polish engineer, Stanczak, from Attock and detained him in Teera Mozai on the direction and support of the former MNA, Shah Abdul Aziz, last year.

‘Mufti Ilyas and his brother Hussain slaughtered the Polish engineer after a week. I only held his legs,’ Attaullah said in the statement.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 27 Jul 2009 16:36

pgbhat wrote:Communicating an idea and expressing a thought
...some youngsters at a local cricket club in Islamabad showing signs of frustration and inner anguish....

Wow!! All that gyaan and thoughtful musings from a bunch of cricket-playing pooki youngsters? If one were to extrapolate that to the rest of the beknighted country, that's one heck of a learned, poetic nation.

The average Indian is definitely no match for that enlightened average puki.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jul 2009 17:25

I am abroad only to improve Pakistan's image - Musharraf

Musharraf said he had not left the country and was only abroad currently because he was on a lecture tour, which he said would help build the country’s image abroad.

The former president said his lectures were aimed at removing the misconceptions about the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the country’s military among the international community.

Musharraf said he would visit the country when he felt necessary, adding that he did not fear returning home. The former president said he was popular abroad but no less popular in Pakistan.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jul 2009 18:12

Terror Ties Run Deep Inside Pakistan, as Mumbai Case Shows - NYT
Excerpts

The membership of Lashkar-e-Taiba extends to about 150,000 people, according to a midlevel officer in Pakistan’s premier spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence. Together with another jihadi group, Jaish-e-Muhammad, the Lashkar loyalists could put Pakistan “up in flames,” the officer admitted.

Despite that risk, the jihadis “were good people” and could be controlled, the officer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity in keeping with the agency’s custom. {This officer is threatening Pakistani government over any over-enthusiastic attempts to take serious action against LeT & JeM}

But Obama administration officials say they are still trying to understand the state of relations between Pakistan and the group. Among the most likely versions, they say, none would tamp down hostilities between Pakistan and India.

The possibilities include that Lashkar-e-Taiba remains a lever of the Pakistani state; that the group and others have realigned themselves quietly behind the interests of Pakistan and could be used covertly; and that the groups have broken away from the official security apparatus and are running independently.

A senior Pakistani official reinforced the last option, saying the connections between Pakistan’s spy agency and Lashkar-e-Taiba were so sundered that it was a matter of regret that the military could no longer control them.

A lack of control could have as devastating consequences as if the Pakistani Army was still supporting the groups, two senior American officials said. “My guess is, the army did not have command knowledge” of the Mumbai attacks, one of the American officials said. “Was there a lack of discipline? It’s a very, very serious issue whichever way it is.”

“They say, ‘We are being more vigilant,’ but add, ‘By the way, India has to stop messing around in Baluchistan,’ ” an American official familiar with the conversations said of the Pakistanis, referring to a province that has been torn by a brutal sectarian struggle, in which Pakistan has accused India of financing insurgents.

The overarching goal of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which operates under the front of a charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, is the defeat of India. It also embraces a strong anti-Israeli platform and adheres to Ahl-i-Hadith, a strain of the Wahabi sect of Islam.

On those doctrinal grounds, Lashkar-e-Taiba has much in common with the goals of Al Qaeda, terrorism experts say.

“Lashkar-e-Taiba was definitely involved, but they had outside help and assistance,” said Sajjan Gohal, a terrorism expert in Britain. “The tape suggests that the handler had military training which went beyond basic terrorist preparation.”

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 27 Jul 2009 19:55

SSridhar:

Unless India remains steadfast, none of these expsoes will do us any good. We have the shameless MMS who surrendered and said love making will continue irrespective of LeT attacks. TSP will go further and say LeT exists because of "Kashmir dispute" (which is in synch with official US/UK position) and India's "messing around" in Balochistan. And WWKs will add their bit about 'doing bad things to each other'. The net result will be a nebulous equal equal with TSP not even having to hide behind the fig leaf of 'non state actors'.

I thknk it was K.C. Singh was it on Al Jazeera who was forthright. Short of retaliation, at least India must speak in one voice against TSP on terror. Thats our only hope to salvage something from the MMS curse that has been hoisted on the nation.

jarugn · Post by **jarugn** » 27 Jul 2009 20:42

“They say, ‘We are being more vigilant,’ but add, ‘By the way, India has to stop messing around in Baluchistan,’ ” an American official familiar with the conversations said of the Pakistanis, referring to a province that has been torn by a brutal sectarian struggle

I am surprised that the American official did not deny that India has no role in Baluchistan. Pakistani military establishment carries with it 40-50 year old concepts that really don't make sense today; of course it furthers their vested interests against India. Frankly, India has economic interests in making sure Afghanistan succeeds as a nation not this non-sense about influenceing Baluchistan. If there is a sessionist movement in Baluchistan; it is entirely Pakistan's making since it's founding. They should deal with it like India did it with it's own movements - fight them! It is important to belabor this point because this is another red herring that Pakistan is tossing around in international forums since the Kashmir sizzle has fizzeld.

bart · Post by **bart** » 27 Jul 2009 21:03

SSridhar wrote:Ex-MNA from Maulana Sandwich's stable held for the murder of the Polish Engineer

‘Mufti Ilyas and his brother Hussain slaughtered the Polish engineer after a week. I only held his legs,’ Attaullah said in the statement.

That has got to be the most ridiculous plea for innocence ever

OTOH, too bad about the Polish Engineer, may his soul rest in peace.

---------

Came across the below from our friend Zahid Hamid, posting it strictly for entertainment purposes onlee

:

http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.c ... episode-1/

In this latest episode by Brasstacks, Zaid Hamid sheds some light on Khilafat-e-Rashida that how it was the greatest form of governance ever by human kind.

Even funnier are comments stating that the < edited > who hosts the show is talking too much and should allow the great and wise Zahid Hamid to talk non-stop.

Although the personality like zaid hamid does not need an anchor to support the program he is versatile enough to give a perfect one man show, still as a hostess of Zaid Hamid’s program a person doesn’t need to give too much input when he is speaking as it breaks the momentum and the disturb the overall plot he is trying to create in the listener’s minds.

I hope Mahrukh would read this comment and will be taking it as a healthy feedback to her program.. Anyway Good word Brasstacks team.

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 27 Jul 2009 21:05

More from Ejaz Haidar

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?pa ... 2009_pg3_2

RayC · Post by **RayC** » 27 Jul 2009 21:49

Making sense of Pakistan’s identity crisis

Hasan Suroor

A new book argues that there is no hope for Pakistan unless it sorts out its identity crisis which, it says, is the root cause of the country being such a disaster.

Arguably 60 years are not a long time in the history of a nation but by 60, even a country with a troubled past such as Pakistan, is expected to at least start making sense of what it stands for and where it is heading, however fuzzy the direction. And when it continues to flounder — like Pakistan — lurching from one crisis to another, it becomes a liability not only to its own people but also has implications for the wider international community, especially its neighbours — in this case India.

Pakistanis are a proud people. They feel humiliated when their country is mocked at as a “failed state” and routinely mentioned in the same breath as the pirate-infested Somalia which does not even have a properly functioning capital. For all its afflictions, Pakistan (a functioning democracy, however flawed, with a free press, an independent judiciary and a vibrant civil society) is by no means a failed state.

Not yet. But signs of a meltdown are all too evident and there are genuine fears about its future. One view, of course, is that the West will not allow it to fail for its own strategic reasons. But that is hardly very reassuring.

So what went wrong? How did a country which has no dearth of talent and whose founders had such high hopes for it that they named it “Pakistan” (a pure country) go so horribly wrong? Was there something rotten at the very core of the idea of Pakistan that has been its undoing? Is Pakistan’s failure to make sense of itself the result of a deep confusion over its Islamic/Muslim identity? If yes, what is the way forward, if any?

A new book, Making Sense of Pakistan (Hurst & Company, London) by Farzana Shaikh — a highly regarded U.K.-based Pakistani scholar and Fellow of Chatham House — argues that there is no hope for Pakistan unless it sorts out its identity crisis which, it says, is the root cause of the country being such a disaster. Indeed, in order to make sense of Pakistan, it is important to make sense of its identity crisis first.

Everything that is wrong with Pakistan today — its “distorted economic and social development,” its “obsession” with India, the sectarian divisions that have blighted relations among its various communities, its proneness to military dictatorships and the rise of extremism first directed at its “enemies” and now devouring its own creators — is a direct or indirect result of its confused sense of itself, Dr. Shaikh says.

So deep is this confusion that more than six decades after its creation, even the definition of who is a “Pakistani” is not clear with the Indian Muslim migrants still being regarded as outsiders by ethnic communities which claim that they are the “real” Pakistanis by virtue of their historical roots in the region. Over the years, this conflict between indigenous Muslim groups and migrants has been a source of deep (and frequently violent) divisions in Pakistani society. And it is still festering.

But nowhere is Pakistan’s self-inflicted identity crisis more evident than in relation to India, according to Dr. Shaikh. Because of the nature of its creation — a secessionist state born in opposition to the Indian nationalist movement — Pakistan was lumped with an identity, defined in terms of what it was “not” (it was “not India”) rather than what it was.

“Indeed, much of the uncertainty over Pakistan’s identity stems from the nagging question of whether its identity is fundamentally dependent on India and what its construction might entail outside of opposition to the latter. This has prompted the suggestion that Pakistan is a state burdened with a negative identity shaped by the circumstances of Partition,” Dr. Shaikh says.

Ever since its formation, Pakistan has struggled to overcome this negative identity. Its search for what it regards as legitimacy has, in fact, been the “defining feature” of its policy towards India, especially the Kashmir issue, and is at the heart of its quest for military parity with a neighbour “almost seven times its size in population and more than four times its land mass.”

The dispute with India over Kashmir has come to symbolise Pakistan’s obsessive bid to delink its identity from its historical antecedents. To quote the author: “It is here [over Kashmir], amid the rhetoric of rival claims over territory and state sovereignty, that Pakistan has fought to assert itself and to liberate its identity from the uncertainties that have attached to its status as merely ‘not India’.” She argues that Pakistan’s efforts to achieve this identity underline its historical claim to parity with India: a claim “grounded” in Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s insistence that “equality of the nations of Hindus and Muslims” be the basis for any territorial division of British India.

As much as the national interest, it is Pakistan’s compulsive desire for parity with India (an extension of its efforts to assert its “independent” identity) that has shaped much of its foreign policy leading it to seek help from foreign powers. Take its alliance with America which, the author points out, has been motivated as much by security considerations — a protection against an attack from India — as by its “need for validation and its desire to win recognition of its special status.” Being a “strategic partner” of the world’s only superpower is seen in Pakistan as a boost to its “global image” to match India’s global status.

Again, it is Pakistan’s “self-perception” of national identity that, according to Dr. Shaikh, has led it to compete with India in the race for regional domination — by, for example, flexing its muscles in Afghanistan. “Although the consequences of these foreign policy ambitions have often been devastating to Pakistan and the strategic costs immense, no price is yet seen to be too high to validate Pakistan’s claim to nationhood ... Thus Pakistan’s struggle against India is deeply embedded in a painful awareness of its own lack of a national history,” she observes.

Ultimately, though, India is only part of a bigger story of Pakistan’s struggle with its identity which, Dr. Shaikh contends, has had a profound effect on every aspect of the country’s life and, indeed, its world view. The uncertainty resulting from a lack of consensus on what constitutes Pakistan’s national identity has “deepened the country’s divisions ... discouraged plural definitions of the Pakistani ... blighted good governance and tempted political elites to use the language of Islam as a substitute for democratic legitimacy.”

Today, Pakistan remains an enigma with no clear understanding of the nature of the Pakistani state. Analysing the causes of this debilitating confusion, she traces it back to the origins of Pakistan, the politics of its creation and the flawed assumption of its founders that religion could be the basis of a modern, forward-looking state.

A project forged around the idea that a Muslim religious identity, overriding cultural and social factors, was enough to unify a nation was doomed from the start. And, sure enough, the project started to unravel within years of its inauguration with Bengali-speaking Muslims breaking away from Pakistan to form their own Muslim state of Bangladesh. It is Pakistan’s “artificiality” as a nation-state — its eastern and western wings separated by more than a thousand miles of Indian territory and its citizens divided by a variety of linguistic and cultural traditions despite a common religion — that has prevented the evolution of a coherent national identity. This, in brief, is the thrust of Dr. Shaikh’s argument.

So what’s new, one might ask. Doesn’t it sound all too familiar? Dr. Shaikh may not be breaking new ground here but it is refreshing to come across a Pakistani viewpoint that doesn’t regard the discussion of Pakistan’s legitimacy as a no-go zone. It is a sensitive issue with Pakistanis who, as Dr. Shaikh points out, believe that India still “rejects the rationale of Pakistan’s statehood even if it has been forced to accept its reality.”

At the outset, Dr. Shaikh makes clear that her book is a “work of interpretation rather than of historical research.” Even so, one is often struck by what seems like an over-interpretation of Pakistan’s identity problem. There is a tendency to conflate issues which are not directly related to identity in order to fit an argument. For example, to see Pakistan’s arms race with India purely in terms of its attempt to overcome an identity crisis is to ignore the fact that any small country can have genuine security fears vis-À-vis a big and powerful neighbour, especially if there is a history of conflict between them.

That does not, however, take away from the importance of this book. It is a work of serious scholarship dealing with some of the most important issues that have shaped Pakistan and which, if not resolved, can have consequences for its future.

Pakistan's Indentity Crisis

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 27 Jul 2009 22:34

200 boys being trained for suicide bombing recovered

PESHAWAR: Security forces have succeeded in recovering 200 children who were being trained for carrying out suicide bombing from Swat.

According to sources, the children’s age ranges between 6 to 13 years.The security forces have kept the recovered children in Mardan where they are being mentally rehabilitated to become common citizens

.Steps are being taken to get the children through a treatment from psychiatrist.

Senior NWFP Minister Bashir Bilour talking to Geo News, said the children were completely brainwashed who now consider all others as infidels.

“These children have brainwashed in a way that now they even want to kill their own parents,”

he said, adding, however that they were not administered any drugs in the process.

Bashir Bilour said some children were pleased when they were handed over to their parents. But, a few days later, the parents came back with complaints that the boys are now threatening to kill them which, they (parents) said, is a worrisome thing for them.

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shravan · Post by **shravan** » 27 Jul 2009 22:40

Pak farmers to launch protest movement against India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s farming community on Sunday announced to launch a protest movement against India for stealing water and a rally would be organised at the Wagah border on September 6.
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It was said that under the Indus Basin Treaty, Pakistan had sold rights over Ravi, Sutlej and Beas to India, but Pakistan had the right over Chenab, Jhelum and the rivers flowing from Kashmir. They said that after Baghlihar and Ganga Kishan dams, India was building projects at all the water ways in Kashmir and the Punjab, while the Pakistani politicians were not fighting their case.

bart · Post by **bart** » 27 Jul 2009 22:51

shravan wrote:200 boys being trained for suicide bombing recovered

PESHAWAR: Security forces have succeeded in recovering 200 children who were being trained for carrying out suicide bombing from Swat.

Senior NWFP Minister Bashir Bilour talking to Geo News, said the children were completely brainwashed who now consider all others as infidels.

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Er...How different is that from a *normal* Paki.

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 27 Jul 2009 23:03

TSP as we know was founded on the basis of hatred towards India. This is what propels it today as it has done in the past. The progression of events in the context of IWT clearly shows the paks are coming up with something other than Kashimir to fan the india hatred among their masses. They did get a bloody nose in Kargil and Kashmir surely has not been resonating due to diminishing support from unkil. Now they are playing the victim act and slowly upping the ante on the water issue. This will be cleverly(foolishly) used by the Baki jernails at the right time to coax the politicians/people into accepting their intent to attack/usurp power and these events might come up in a year or two. I arrived at this two year time frame by looking at the deepening chaos in TSP. What we are going to see is in two years time when the politicians have failed the paki masses as usual and the country has transitioned into deep chaos this water issue will be used by tspa to gain power.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 27 Jul 2009 23:07

shravan wrote:Pak farmers to launch protest movement against India

Usually I don't think, it makes any sense to put money somewhere from where a terrorist can take it and use it against you, i.e. no need to invest in anything in Pakistan, but here I see an exception to the rule.

There seems to be a problem between 'REALITY' and 'Pakjabi Perceptions'. No amount of India taking a stand that India is not violating the Indus Water Treaty is going to sway the public opinion in Pakistan, as long as all those GoI opinions are confined to Composite Dialogue Statements, Think Tank Papers, or Press Releases on the 6th Page of some Indian Newspapers. India needs to take the media fight to the Pakistani People.

India should get full page ads printed in Pakistani local-language newspapers explaining the situation, our truth, the only truth. Points like

How the Indus River Basin Waters are distributed between India and Pakistan, both according to rivers, but also according to water share percentage.
What were India's responsibilities and how we have fulfilled them.
How all that what Pakistan is accusing India of, theft of water, is not true.
If there is less water, water are the reasons.
Why the water share of Pakistan over the years should be calculated absolutely and not per capita.
How we have held up our bargain despite wars and provocations.
How India is also suffering from water shortage, and that we still have not broken our part of the bargain.
We should give links in Internet, how they can corroborate India's claims.

At least in the Urdu, Punjabi, and Sindhi press we can get these ads printed. The money spent would be little but the effect substantial.

Why should we do it?

To tell the Pakistani public, that they are being taken for a ride by the Pakistani Government. The water problem in Pakistan is a creation of Pakistan itself, and India has done nothing to exacerbate it.

We should not talk to Pakistan only through the 'Civilian Government' but go directly to the people over the shoulders of the Pakistani Government.

In the end, this will turn the ire of the people on the Pakistani politicians further and they will not able to use the excuse of India to deny their own shortcomings.

Besides if Urdu Press, Punjabi Press, and Sindhi Press start earning some money from India, then may be they would even decide to not print such antagonistic articles. Just may be.

I believe this would put some more oil into the implosive environment in Pakistan.

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 28 Jul 2009 00:36

Ex-RAW chief foresees civil war in Pak
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Verma points out, "Pakistan would not settle for anything except the Kashmir valley itself which has been the main agenda of its hate campaign's against India. The demand for it would continue. The officer recruits who had entered the Pakistani army at the time of General Zia-ul-Haq, who nurtured radical Islamism, are now becoming two-three star generals. All of them are strongly motivated by such radical ideology."

"Nine corps commanders in Pakistan determine all major policies. The past shows that their judgments are not always rational. Pakistan's nuclear programme is entirely India centric. Statements by responsible individuals in Pakistan suggest that these elements have, at times, been desperate to put atomic weapons to use. The declared nuclear doctrine of Pakistan does not prohibit first use, and so India has to keep its fingers crossed," Verma said.

Despite all this, though, Verma said India will have to keep engaging Pakistan in talks. It is heavily dependent on US funding, and India can exploit the situation to its advantage on vexed issues, he said.

Gagan · Post by **Gagan** » 28 Jul 2009 00:44

The three and four star generals of today were indoctrinated in the Zia days. What of the junior officers of today. They are being indoctrinated by what the taliban says. Pakistan is not going to get any moderate, they are only going to get more islamic hawkish.

Pakistan is no more going to settle for the valley. They have raised the water bogey, so now they will want access to the Indus and the valley.

Pakistan is like a powder keg which is drying fast. The only problem that India is worried about is, once the powder keg is ignited, there is a danger of the neighbours house catching fire.
How will india seal the border? How can we ask the BSF to shoot refugees? Will we create refugee camps to feed and shelter the very people who not too long ago were baying for our blood?

Bhima · Post by **Bhima** » 28 Jul 2009 00:52

US, UK urge Taliban 'integration'

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 28 Jul 2009 00:54

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS ... 827533.cms

Pak army chief exploits Baloch bungle

Reports in the US media quoting official sources said Pakistan army chief Ashfaque Kayani recently sought to link Pakistan's actions against Lashkar-e-Taiba with India putting a stop to its alleged covert operations in Balochistan

But Pakistanis are already celebrating the victory in Sharm el-Sheikh. “We’ve externalised an internal problem,” the Wall Street Journal quoted a senior Pakistani official as saying.

The attempt at drawing a parity between ISI’s brazen sponsorship of anti-India terror and the alleged meddling by India in Balochistan strengthens the fears that Pakistan was not going to proceed against Lashkar masterminds of 26/11 and raises doubts about the explanation that Singh walked the

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 28 Jul 2009 01:31

“We’ve externalised an internal problem,” the Wall Street Journal quoted a senior Pakistani official as saying.

BijuShet · Post by **BijuShet** » 28 Jul 2009 01:44

Gagan wrote:...
How can we ask the BSF to shoot refugees? Will we create refugee camps to feed and shelter the very people who not too long ago were baying for our blood?

Udhiyah Skin Funds Pakistan Charities

KARACHI — For a common Pakistani, it takes not more than a couple of days to distribute the meat of animals sacrificed for `Eid Al-Adha among relatives and the poor, but the skin of the animal he donates feeds the needy yearlong.
"We meet almost 40 percent of our annual expenses by selling hides of sacrificial animals," Dr. Tabassum Jafri, Secretary Al-Khidmat Foundation charity, told IslamOnline.net.

Al-Khidmat, a sister organization of the country's most powerful religious party, the Jammat-e-Islami (JI), runs four charity hospitals, 16 basic health units, nine coffin carriage centers, one diagnostic center and a charity dental hospital in Karachi.

"The total annual expenses of these projects are Rs 100 million, of which Rs 40 million we get through hides of sacrificial animals," said Jafri.

Jammat-ul-Dawa'h, a new face of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LT), equally depends on udhiyah skin.

"We cope with our major expenditures through cash donations and hides of sacrificial animals," Abu Hamza, a spokesmen for Jammat-ul-Dawa'h, told IOL.

"We have received around 120,000 hides this year in all over the country on `Eid, which is likely to generate over Rs 120 million."

He said the amount shares 30 percent of the total expenses of ongoing relief projects.

Jammat-ul-Dawa'h came in limelight for its extra-ordinary relief efforts in earthquake-stricken areas.
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Most citizens of pakistan who will come across the border as refugees are contributors to pakistans terrorism against India. Why should the BSF jawan or any Indian for that matter show any mercy to such people who did not feel the prick of their conscience when they helped buy death for our fellow Indians.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 28 Jul 2009 02:01

Pushing South Asia Toward the Brink

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 28 Jul 2009 02:15

Takleef from UAE
New submarine can’t ensure India’s security