India-US News and Discussion

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 31 Oct 2009 05:59

WASHINGTON — And the first state dinner of President Barack Obama's administration goes to ... India.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/2 ... 03343.html

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is coming to America for a state visit Nov. 24, just before Thanksgiving. Such visits include an elaborate arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn, one-on-one time with the president and, in the evening, a state dinner.

It's a plum presidential nod of recognition for the world's largest democracy and most stable U.S. ally in a hostile corner of the world.

But why India first?

It was just four years ago that President George W. Bush and Singh raised their glasses and toasted the U.S.-India relationship at the start of a July 2005 state dinner.

Indian officials, however, have watched warily since then as the U.S. has become more engaged with its archrival, Pakistan, focusing on greater military cooperation in dealing with Islamist extremists there and in neighboring Afghanistan. Honoring Singh with what is considered one of the grandest and most glamorous of White House affairs 10 months into Obama's presidency may allay some of those concerns, along with perceptions that Pakistan has surpassed India as America's best friend in South Asia.

It also may be Obama's way of closing the loop with all the major U.S. allies as his freshman year in office draws to a fast close.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 31 Oct 2009 07:25

Mort:
Your last post is highly articulate and lays down your opinions quite well. And that is why it is not possible to ignore good knowledgeable people like you

We need more such posts. I do not know if I am sensitive, but charged words can elicit charged words. That is my core point. We should avoid them wherever possible - that is all I am saying.

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 31 Oct 2009 21:11

SwamyG wrote:Washington gasps at Hillary charm-el-shake offensive that leaves Islamabad stunned. It is more about US-Paki News and Discussion article, but what concerns Pakistan concerns us

Well, only India-US relation we have is US-Paki relation.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 31 Oct 2009 21:24

Would be great if Dilli in the next press conference displays crates of fake USD notes printed in TSP caught while attempted to smuggle in via Rajouri onlee...

That would be ISI signaling to umreeka that it doesn't need unkil's largesse, esp when its printing prersses do a better jawb than the khan's....

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 31 Oct 2009 22:23

Articles on Bush's visit to India. Must say MMS is doing the right thing in cultivating Bush. It should pay dividends in the next Republican administration. Would be even better if it is another Bush administration.

And the list of attendees at the lunch is pretty revealing. Looks like we can confirm Hindustan Times and CNN-IBN as pro-Government and pro-Republican organisations.

When Bush met his close friend PM Singh

Bush favours UNSC seat for India

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 01 Nov 2009 05:26

The Bush visit was a paid speaking engagement on behalf of the Hindustan Times group. Here is a good editorial by Vir Sanghvi of the HT:

Doing US an ex-presidential favor

More worrying was the underlying tenor of his remarks. He seemed to believe that America, under Barack Obama, would move against outsourcing, would cut back on visas to Indians, and would favour a more protectionist approach to trade. This had not been his policy, he said. And he opposed stricter immigration barriers against Indians as well as protectionism. But his attitude suggested that we would have to steel ourselves for a change in American policy.

Whatever dubya's faults were, in the 2nd term he attempted to change US strategic policy towards India. It was more obvious after Colin Powell left and Condelleza Rice took over. Powell was an advisor in the Nixon administration and had gone through the full ranks of the Pentagon to make it as chairman of the Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff by the Bush-I administration. His anti-India policy was well ingrained.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 Nov 2009 22:15

In Barbara Bush's biography there is a large para on her meeting Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi. It is very nice.

csharma · Post by **csharma** » 04 Nov 2009 08:14

cross posting from the geopolitical thread. Talks about late realization in Obama administration about India's importance.
MKB will be disappointed.

Where does Brezinski stand in all this?

India fast becoming Asia's 'swing state'

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/ ... 040048.asp

The choice of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as President Barrack Obama's first state visitor in late November is enormously significant. India was President George W. Bush's big strategic play in the twilight of his presidency. New Delhi is now confirmed as one of Obama's strategic priorities early in his administration.

After an initially churlish reluctance to take up the baton - demonstrated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's shunning of New Delhi on her inaugural trip to Asia - the Obama administration has seen the irresistible logic of nurturing the extremely promising strategic relationship with India. Criticized for incompetence in other areas of foreign policy execution, the Bush administration had done too good a job in forging enduring institutional, bureaucratic and personal links between Washington and New Delhi for the Democrats to change direction and scupper any good work done.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 04 Nov 2009 08:57

csharma wrote:c Talks about late realization in Obama administration about India's importance.
MKB will be disappointed.

Mostly unrealized. Indian weakness for flattery

Rangudu · Post by **Rangudu** » 05 Nov 2009 03:58

While surfing some sites, I discovered that C. Rajamohan has been appointed the 2009-10 "Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress"

Interesting stuff...

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Nov 2009 04:16

Yes he has been writing that in his signature.

He did earn his Phd and is able to use his scholarship. Amybe we can have him over for DC BRF meet!

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 06 Nov 2009 00:10

csharma wrote: http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/ ... 040048.asp

After an initially churlish reluctance to take up the baton - demonstrated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's shunning of New Delhi on her inaugural trip to Asia...

I can imagine the whinefest on BRF if Hillary had done an Indo-Pak visit, instead of just a kick-ass Paki visit.

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 06 Nov 2009 03:36

ABC news has Identified one of the gunman.

His name is Major Malik Nadal Hasan

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 Nov 2009 04:00

More on the shooting at Ft. Hood.

NYT link

Shooters: One dead + two in custody.

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 06 Nov 2009 04:13

amdavadi wrote:ABC news has Identified one of the gunman.

His name is Major Malik Nadal Hasan

Let me guess. He visited Pakistan several times in the past 5 years. He has been having a continuous dialog with Paki terrorists.

vijayk · Post by **vijayk** » 06 Nov 2009 04:32

Officials say a shooting suspect at Fort Hood has been identified as Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, who they say was an Army mental health professional.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/0 ... 20.html&cp

Imagine that! Mental health professional ... Thank Gog he is not Nuclear Security Chief....

ashkrishna · Post by **ashkrishna** » 06 Nov 2009 04:36

a 40 yr old major who happens to be a mental health professional....name: malik nad ul hassan.

He had two associates.

From the looks of it, not an attack resulting from frustration. Not a good sign.

Somebody here talked about soldiers coming into contact with faithfools.....

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 06 Nov 2009 04:55

MSNB Link

CAIR issues statement condemning the shooting!

NOT

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 06 Nov 2009 05:32

Unconfirmed reports that Malik Hasan is from Virginia (Went to Virgina Tech).

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 06 Nov 2009 05:41

One of the Tweets:
Malik Nadal Hasan IS A TERRORIST!! - Col. Lee, heard Hasan say US shldn't be in Mid-East, that Muslims have right to stand up to U.S.

Note: Tweets are tweets and may not be truths and also could be truths. We may find it by tonight.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 06 Nov 2009 05:53

Amber G. wrote:Unconfirmed reports that Malik Hasan is from Virginia (Went to Virgina Tech).

Was not that terrorist DC sniper Muhammad something from Virginia too?

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 06 Nov 2009 05:56

Prem wrote:
Amber G. wrote:Unconfirmed reports that Malik Hasan is from Virginia (Went to Virgina Tech).
Was not that terrorist DC sniper Muhammad something from Virginia too?

Yes he too is from VA. Dc/VA/MD are all DC.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/? ... FhOWNlM2Y=

Major Nadal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old Muslim convert, was born and educated in Virginia. He is a psychiatrist who worked at Walter Reed for six years (and got a poor performance evaluation there). Hasan was transferred to Ft. Hood and worked at the psych ward there. He complained about deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Fox has interviewed someone who worked with him at Ft. Hood (Terry Lee) who says he was a harsh critic of U.S. foreign policy who said Muslims had a right to stand up and fight against the aggressor in Iraq and Afghanistan — i.e., us.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 06 Nov 2009 06:01

http://www.wacotrib.com/blogs/content/s ... ms_pe.html

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 06 Nov 2009 06:06

He is an American Citizen of Jordanian descent. Not Paki but we don't know if he visited the Mecca of jehad.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 06 Nov 2009 06:08

The law of immutable paki behavior says that there will always be a paki connection to any terrorist attack across the world.

What mosques has he been attending in the DC/VA area? Has he visited TSP and/or met their IT experts?

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 06 Nov 2009 06:18

It's confirmed that he graduated from Virgina Tech in 1995... But he just finished Residency in May of this year. 39 is a bit old.. Has MD as well as as MPH (Masters in Public health). (Worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for last 6 years)
(He is listed as Nidal Malik Hasan --- those who want to google etc.. here is something to look for)
Nidal Hasan, M.D., M.P.H.
Fellow, Disaster and Preventive Psychiatry
Department of Psychiatry
F.Edward Hebert School of Medicine
Uniformed Services University of the Health Science

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 06 Nov 2009 06:32

It may not be entirely Paki or jehadi mentality at work here.

When they get out of college, they don't necessarily get accepted to medical school, hence pursue an MS/PhD program in the easy life sciences like public health and pharmacology, then go on to medical school. Some guys are obsessed about going to medical school in the US at any cost because of the relatively easy money with little effort. If he had any brains, then he would have had a PhD in biochemistry followed by an MD and residency in neurology or oncology/pathology. More than likely this fellow couldn't get any other residency except psychiatry and saw his chance for getting into a lucrative practice since he had time in the army. Now that he was being deployed in Iraq, he lost a lot of money and his cool. He may have had massive debts due to banks and credit cards lending him money since he was an MD - that angle has to be looked into. Age 39 is not too old for what he was doing.

I'm just glad he wasn't a doctor of Indian origin.

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 06 Nov 2009 06:33

RaviBg wrote:The law of immutable paki behavior says that there will always be a paki connection to any terrorist attack across the world.

What mosques has he been attending in the DC/VA area? Has he visited TSP and/or met their IT experts?

Six degrees of Jihadi seperation

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 06 Nov 2009 06:41

Mort,

All you are saying may be true when the last suspect is also released. The folks are suspecting it is more than one shooter. If that is proved true then all the psycho shooting is suspect. It becomes an organised crime at that time.

saip · Post by **saip** » 06 Nov 2009 06:53

Malik Nidal Hasan

Grad School: Uniformed Services University Of The Health Sciences F. Edward Herbert School Of Medicine - Bethesda MD
Year Completed: 2003

Medical, Osteopathic, or Podiatric Post Grad School

Last Updated 10/13/2009Psychiatry
WRAMC
Washington, DC USA
Year Residency Completed: 2007

This is from Virginia Medical Board Website

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 06 Nov 2009 07:01

Okay: Almost confirmed... Hasan was being watched and was known to act strange .. (Eg fasination with suicide bombings ) was critical of US foreign policy.. He said he was harassed by fellow american... (He was Muslim from birth according to his cousin) .. Let us wait for the press conference...

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 06 Nov 2009 07:04

I heard as per CNN,
1) Major Malik Nidal Hasan has less than 1 year of clinical experience in USA/Canada.
2) Federal authorities have kept an eye on him regarding some internet chatter about him saying something about suicide bombings etc.
3) there was also mention of possible switch of ideology!! as a reason for shooting.

Manny · Post by **Manny** » 06 Nov 2009 07:07

Nidal Malik Hasan Was a Psychiatrist Who Got a Poor Work Evaluation ... 6:34 PM EST: ABC is reporting that he was a Muslim, from Pakistan.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 06 Nov 2009 07:14

From Telegraph.uk
Nidal Malik Hasan 'said Muslims should rise up'

He was making outlandish comments condemning our foreign policy and claimed Muslims had the right to rise up and attack Americans," Col Lee told Fox News.
"He said Muslims should stand up and fight the aggressor and that we should not be in the war in the first place." He said that Maj Hasan said he was "happy" when a US soldier was killed in an attack on a military recruitment centre in Arkansas in June. An American convert to Islam was accused of the shootings.
Col Lee said that other officers had told him that Maj Hasan had said "maybe people should strap bombs on themselves and go to Time Square" in New York.
He said he was aware that the major had been subject to "name calling" during heated arguments with other officers.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 06 Nov 2009 07:33

Manny wrote:..................... 6:34 PM EST: ABC is reporting that he was a Muslim, from Pakistan.

More Background from NY Times:
Gunman ‘Mortified’ About Deployment to War
Note that he was a pious Muslim and...

Nader Hasan said his cousin’s parents had both been American citizens who owned businesses, including restaurants and a store, in Roanoke, Va. He declined to confirm reports that they were Jordanian,

And yes, the Shooter is still alive!

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 06 Nov 2009 07:40

CNN is claiming "Fort Hood gunman not dead":

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live ... am=stream1

NYTimes too:

http://www.nytimes.com/

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 06 Nov 2009 07:47

He is alive and that is confirmed by the US Army. He will be interrrogated.

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 06 Nov 2009 07:49

RaviBg wrote:The law of immutable paki behavior says that there will always be a paki connection to any terrorist attack across the world.

What mosques has he been attending in the DC/VA area? Has he visited TSP and/or met their IT experts?

There are many Pakistani Mosques in DC, Nothern VA and Maryland.

shaardula · Post by **shaardula** » 06 Nov 2009 07:49

Roanoke, Va, Blacksburg Va. nice little hotbeds they are turning out to be. There used to be a fox news analcyst(thanks to senior mullah of LMU) from pakistan who was somesort of an 'expert' during 911 days. basically an apologist for TSP was what he was. ejaz haider or something. he was also from the area.

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 06 Nov 2009 07:55

Lethal Rampage at Fort Hood

A defense official said that there "were some signs that this might be an Akbar-type event," a reference to a bloody incident in early 2003 when Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar threw grenades into tents occupied by fellow members of the 101st Airborne Division.

Any reason why WSJ would remove this from their initially published article.