Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP): Apr. 11, 2010

[putnanja]

Pakistani prime minister: U.S. aid money goes through me

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts ... through_me

That is good, as it will ensure that the funds will be siphoned off to swiss accounts and will never reach the common man. Will keep the paki state in cycle of poverty and terrorism

[SSridhar]

Blast heard at Islamabad

[SSridhar]

Kayani is a pro-democracy Army Chief: Gilani
Hilarious as usual.

Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gilani has said Army chief Ashfaq Kayani is a pro-democracy army chief, reported a private TV channel on Monday. Addressing the US media in Washington, Gilani said Kayani had always backed democracy. He said he would keep Kayani’s support for democracy in mind while extending his tenure as the army chief of Pakistan.

[r_subramanian]

The place of explosion is of some interest but no casualties
According to Dawn on-line, the explosion occurred outside American school.

Blast heard at Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: An explosion took place outside the American School in H-8 sector of Islamabad on Tuesday.
According to the police, the explosive were hidden in a garbage dump outside the school.
No casualties have been reported.

link

[rohiths]

Looks like some Abduls were having a few practical sessions to prepare for their future career

[anupmisra]

Pakistan strike kills 71 civilians

Up to 71 civilians were killed in a weekend strike by Pakistani jets near the Afghan border, survivors and a government official said Tuesday — a rare confirmation of civilian casualties that risks undercutting public support for the fight against militants.

Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas on Monday denied that any of the dead in the Pakistani air force attack were civilians, saying the army had intelligence that militants were gathering at the site of the strike. The victims were initially reported to be suspected militants.

They said most of the victims were killed when they were trying to rescue people trapped by an earlier strike on the house of a village elder.

[SSridhar]

Pakistan strike kills 71 civilians

This is what Rahimullah Yousufzai, a well connected Pakhtun journalist had to say:

The Tirah tragedy was avoidable. As has been its method, the military initially claimed killing 35 militants in the bombing in Sra Vella village inhabited by the largely pro-government Kukikhel Afridi sub-tribe. Even when reports emerged that all or most of the 63 people slain in the bombardment were civilians, the military authorities kept quiet. In fact, the military has refused to concede civilian casualties, or 'collateral damage' in all its offensives todate in Swat and rest of Malakand division and in the tribal areas. Admitting the loss of civilian lives in misdirected aerial strikes, artillery shelling and raids and apologizing for the 'collateral damage' won't do any harm to the image of the military as the people understand that such incidents do happen in battle. In fact, this could reduce the pain of the bereaved families because the usual practice of referring to their loved ones as 'militants' or 'miscreants' invariably contributes to their agony.

The Khyber Agency administration is now required to do damage control and lessen the pain of the families that lost 63 members and are tending to the scores of others who sustained injuries. The political agent of Khyber Agency convened a jirga of the Kukikhel tribal elders on April 12, offered apology for the civilian deaths and announced Rs10 million as compensation for the innocent among those killed and injured in Tirah. However, federal minister for environment, Hamidullah Jan Afridi, who belongs to Khyber Agency, wants the Pakistan Air Force to tender an apology for the deaths of innocent people and is seeking accountability of those responsible for the tragedy.

The irony of the situation is that three sons of late Hameed Khan, whose three-storey house was bombed by the jet-fighters in Sra Vella in the first strike, are reportedly serving in Pakistan's security forces. They were on duty when their house was bombed and five to six of their family members including women and children were killed. The second bombing raid was far more devastating as rescuers who had rushed to retrieve bodies and recover the injured were attacked. Militants by now know that there could be a second strike and, therefore, avoid congregating at the site of an earlier aerial raid. Unassuming civilians often become victim of such attacks. Besides, aerial bombardment invariably causes 'collateral damage' and more so in an area as inaccessible and closed as Tirah valley where the government presence is non-existent and intelligence-gathering is difficult. As someone remarked, the drones with laser-guided missiles are far more on target in remote places than jet-fighters and gunship-helicopters.

[anupmisra]

Porkis get defensive
"I assure you that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and an emerging democracy"
And, I assure you the djinn technology is viable.

Instead, Gilani made a new pitch to the United States -- which relies on Pakistan in its campaign against Islamic extremists -- to support the blackout-plagued nation in developing civilian nuclear power.

Pakistan had explained to the United States the three-layer security system it has put in place for its nuclear arsenal.

"We are confident that our system is second to none. It's world class,"

Meanwhile:

The United States is reported to have quietly set up an elite squad that could fly into Pakistan and attempt to secure its weapons if the government disintegrated.

Bhy?

A study by Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government said that Pakistan was one of the greatest worries for nuclear safety.

[Rahul M]

apologies for the lighthearted post. this came by email.

[CRamS]

Unbelievable report on NPR yesterday talking about Indian and TSP's nukes. First, it is astonishing how western liberalism and neutrality can be so profuse when they choose to put on a show of it.

The report was about Obama's useless summit in DC. They put on a Nobel Piss prize winning turd, one of those scientists against nukes, well against nukes in the hands of SDREs, whites, its a God-given right. The moron went on about how Bush broke international law by signing a nuke deal with India and what a black day it was when that deal was signed. And he, and the reporter, went on to express sympathy for TSP who supposedly needs nukes to guard against Indian hegemony, Indian nukes and how many more India can stockpile as a result of the nuke deal yada yada. Not one word about what terror infested pig sty TSP is. Not one word about TSP nuke peddling, nothing. It was India TSP equal equal all the way. Classic western liberal sophistry whenever convenient.

Ironically, immediatly following the report on IndiaPak was the report on Israel's nukes. Here the tone of the report was 180 degress out of phase. The tone was Israel is surrounded by terrorist regimes, Isreal has a God-give right to nukes. And I liked Bibi nutinyahoo's brazen Chutzpah when he said, one can just look at the terrorist regimes surrounding Israel and what a frigtening prosepect it is for them to have nukes.

I mean the rporting contrast between Israel's right to nukes given the enemies that surround it, and the condescending sophistry in equating India with TSP was breathtaking.

[Ameet]

U.S. military playing expanded role in Pakistan

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63B5ZF20100412

U.S. defense and administration officials say the elite trainers, who currently number more than 100, have not and are not authorized to take part in Pakistani military offensives in the semi-autonomous tribal regions, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, along the Afghan border.

But Special Ops trainers play a bigger role than has been widely disclosed in helping Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps, such as surveying and coordinating projects aimed at winning "hearts and minds" and preventing Taliban fighters from returning to areas once they have been pushed out.

A Pentagon proposal would deepen that role by creating a special $10 million pool of funds the trainers could spend more quickly on civil affairs and humanitarian projects in the FATA in coordination with their Pakistani counterparts.

There are 200 U.S. military personnel in Pakistan, including troops who guard the sprawling American Embassy compound in Islamabad. The number of Special Operations trainers fluctuates from as little as 60 to about 120.

........Under the proposal, the $10 million would come out of State Department economic assistance funding for Pakistan, officials briefed on the matter said.

[arun]

Excerpt dealing with the security of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s nuclear weapon stockpile from a study by Matthew Bunn of Harvard University’s Belfer Centre titled “Securing the Bomb 2010”.

Matthew Bunn rightly identifies the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as the most likely source for a JDAM and for those not familiar with BR lingo, no that acronym does not stand for Joint Direct Attack Munition but rather stands for Jihadi Directed Atomic Munition:

Securing the Bomb 2010 : Securing All Nuclear Materials in Four Years

MATTHEW BUNN
PROJECT ON MANAGING THE ATOM
BELFER CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

COMMISSIONED BY THE NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE

April 2010 ……………………….

Pakistan

Pakistan’s modest nuclear stockpile arouses global concern because Pakistan is also the world headquarters of al Qaeda; its stockpile faces a greater threat from Islamic extremists seeking nuclear weapons than any other nuclear stockpile on earth. Despite extensive security measures, there is a very real possibility that sympathetic insiders might carry out or assist in a nuclear theft, or that a sophisticated outsider attack (possibly with insider help) could overwhelm the defenses. Over the longer term, there is at least a possibility of Islamic extremists seizing power, or of a collapse of the Pakistani state making nuclear weapons vulnerable—though present evidence suggests both of these scenarios remain unlikely.

Pakistan is believed to have an arsenal of some 70-90 nuclear weapons, stored at several sites.11 It also has HEU and plutonium production and processing facilities (including weapons-component fabrication facilities) and a small research reactor where a small amount of U.S.-origin HEU is located, all of which must be protected against nuclear theft. Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile is growing, as it continues to produce HEU, it announced the startup of a plutonium production reactor at Khushab in 1998, and it has two more plutonium production reactors under construction.

Extensive Security Measures

In the last decade, Pakistan has taken major steps to improve security and command and control for its nuclear stockpiles.13 While Islamabad maintains a veil of secrecy over the specifics of its nuclear security arrangements, its stockpiles are thought to be under heavy guard, protected by a 1,000-man armed security force overseen by a two-star general, which is part of the larger 8-10,000-person Strategic Plans Division that manages Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.14 Personnel participating in the nuclear program are subject to extensive screening, in a program reported to be comparable to the U.S. Personnel Reliability Program.15 Pakistani nuclear weapons are believed to be stored in disassembled form, with the components stored in separate buildings, so that thefts from more than one building would be required to get the complete set of components for a nuclear weapon.16 Pakistani officials also report that locks to prevent unauthorized use are incorporated into Pakistani weapons, though it is not known how these would be incorporated in weapons that are stored in disassembled form, or how difficult the Pakistani lock designs would be to bypass.17 In a crisis in which Pakistan sought to disperse its nuclear weapons to ensure their survival and prepare for their possible use, the controls that help prevent unauthorized use in peacetime might be seriously weakened.18 The United States has cooperated with Pakistan to further strengthen nuclear security, as Pakistan has acknowledged, and Obama administration officials have sought to broaden and deepen this effort, but specifics concerning what steps have been implemented, are still underway, or are still being discussed remain classified.19

While Pakistani generals share the U.S. concern over extremist threats to their nuclear stockpiles, their first concern is protecting these stocks from Indian strikes—or American seizure. The latter fear is stoked by repeated U.S. press speculation about planning for such possibilities.20 Hence, Pakistan has not permitted U.S. experts to visit its nuclear sites, or even disclosed where they are.

Though the U.S. and Pakistani governments describe themselves as allies, anti-American feeling and suspicion of U.S. motives is widespread in Pakistan, particularly on nuclear issues (as the United States long opposed Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, and is still suspected of trying to undermine it). These suspicions can sometimes undermine cooperation in sensitive nuclear areas, and are only inflamed by detailed public discussions in the United States of possible actions to improve Pakistani nuclear security.

Extraordinary Insider and Outsider Threats

While Pakistani security measures are extensive, they must provide protection against extraordinary threats, from both insider infiltration and outsider attack. In the global black-market network led by Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan, insiders within Pakistan’s program demonstrated both a willingness to sell nuclear weapons technology around the globe and an ability to remove major items from Pakistan’s nuclear material production facilities and ship them abroad. As discussed earlier, other senior Pakistani nuclear scientists led a “charity” that reportedly offered to help al Qaeda (and Libya) with nuclear weapons.21 Pakistan also suffers pervasive and deeply ingrained corruption, which can create opportunities for insider recruitment.22 Insiders among the elite group guarding then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf cooperated with al Qaeda in two assassination attempts that came within a hair’s breadth of succeeding. If the military personnel guarding the President cannot be trusted, how much confidence can the world have in the military personnel guarding the nuclear weapons?

Sophisticated outsider attacks involving scores or even hundreds of armed extremists are also a serious possibility. A January 2009 attack on a base for the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the Mohmand district near the Afghan border, for example, reportedly involved hundreds of attackers armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.23

There have been terrorist attacks targeting nuclear facilities in Pakistan, including attacks on or near the Sargodha air base and the Wah cantonment, both sites where nuclear weapons are believed to be stored or handled.24 These attacks, however, were typically simple car bombings that never breached the perimeter security of the facilities, having little to do with the tactics that would be needed to steal a nuclear weapon or nuclear material. Indeed, these attacks may have the effect of reducing the risk of nuclear theft, as mass murder of military and nuclear personnel (or their children, in the case of one attack) presumably will make it more difficult for the extremists to recruit military and nuclear personnel to their cause.

The 2009 attack on Pakistani Army headquarters was more worrisome (though it also may have had the effect of making military personnel less likely to support the extremists). The attackers, wearing Pakistani army uniforms, penetrated the site and seized dozens of hostages, apparently with detailed knowledge of the layout of the site. A Pakistani elite unit defeated the attackers and rescued most of the hostages, after several hours.25 With the right tactics and enough firepower, a similar attack—a terrorist assault on a heavily guarded facility, involving sophisticated planning, the use of deception (including, by some accounts, not just the uniforms but forged identifications), attackers willing and eager to sacrifice their lives, and probably insider knowledge of the security arrangements—would pose a serious threat to a nuclear weapons or nuclear materials site.

Ultimately, no nuclear security system can protect against an unlimited threat. Hence, reducing the risk of nuclear theft in Pakistan must include both steps to further improve nuclear security measures and steps to reduce extremists’ ability to challenge the Pakistani state, to recruit nuclear insiders, and to mount large outsider attacks. Fortunately, the Pakistani government, with support from the United States and other countries, is moving on both fronts, seeking to wage both a military/intelligence battle and a “hearts and minds” campaign against violent extremists in Pakistan (though as of early 2010, the Pakistani military was declining to take on those elements of the Taliban located in North Waziristan). The extremists’ ability to mount attacks throughout the country, and to acquire inside information on security arrangements at sites they are considering attacking, remain troubling, however.

Finally, it is important to understand the limits of the policy tool of improving nuclear security. The more extreme scenarios in Pakistan would not be addressed by any plausible nuclear security system. If the Pakistani state collapsed, or Taliban linked jihadists seized power, or hundreds of well-armed and well-trained jihadists attacked a nuclear site all at once, or senior generals decided to provide nuclear assistance to jihadis, better nuclear security systems would not solve the problem. However large or small these risks may be, other policy tools will be needed to address them.

Read it all ( 2MB Download ) :

Securing the Bomb 2010

[anupmisra]

Unbelievable report on NPR yesterday...

It's all about international media management. India sucks at it. Porkis have forever played the islamic victim card and are getting better at it. India should learn from the Israelis. Period.

[CRamS]

Unbelievable report on NPR yesterday...

It's all about international media management. India sucks at it. Porkis have forever played the islamic victim card and are getting better at it. India should learn from the Israelis. Period.

Forget about getting the status of Israel. Its not possible even in our dreams given the current state of national dis-unity (I am not sure Israelis will be breathless round the clock at one of their celebrities tying the knot with an Arab celebrity ; if at all that has ever occured. Israelis are Oriopeans onlee ).

But from a media management POV, the need of the hour is immediate damage control. India should forget this great power crap, and disabuse the west, in whatever way, shape or form it can, that it is TSP that is a threat to India's existence. TSP, while being the clear aggressor has managed to pull this con job off that India poses some kind of a threat to it, even as it drags India into a war with it through LET provocations.


I had a brief chat with Michael O'Hanlon of Brookings. He was on radio last week spouting the same rubbish: LET was focued on India alone, but if it matastasizes into Al Queda, the west should be concerned. I sent him a feedback and he was kind enough to respond; so I didn't feel like being too harsh .But I neverthless gave him a piece of my mind saying that his statement amounted to justifying terror against India. He denied the intent and said he would look into the transcript, but he agreed that LET was a savage terror group, but once again annoyingly, he didn't take an unequivocal stand in pointing the finger at TSP, rather, he said that it is a threat to TSP too. I pointed out to him that LET is part of TSPA arsenal, they don't view it as a threat, rather a lynch pin in their anti-India posture.

[Nandan D]

Pakistan strike kills 71 civilians

So this is the Pakistani strategy.

They will use their air force to bomb and kill their civilians.
Then say that the collateral damage is too much and they are losing the hearts and minds battle.

So they need something much more specialized.
Like the Predator.

America be happy, Pakistan be happy, China be happy.

[Theo_Fidel]

...disabuse the west, in whatever way, shape or form it can, that it is TSP that is a threat to India's existence...

Talk about own goals.

[Prem]

A Closer Look at Pakistan's Militants
By John Ballard
I have been drilling into Dr. Siddiqa'a paper, previously mentioned.
Another dry report follows.
Again it is tucked after a break not to take up screen space for casual readers.
I realize this is only one of many sources and this it almost two years old. But after watchingthe linked FORA video I am impressed with the depth of her commentary (as well as the deference with which she was treated at that gathering). I particularly like her description of what she calls the West's Cinderella Syndrome regarding the fantasy optimism of Western observers ready and eager to see military forces in Pakistan relinquish political power to civilian leaders.
In the past one month, I have seen... sat through articles after articles, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Washington Post... everybody seems to be writing to somebody to do a story on General Kayani. I find it very interesting; I call this the Cinderella syndrome of the West. There has to be that face, that particular face, to change things in Pakistan, you know, the knight in shining armor. Once upon a time, that knight in shining armor used to be General Pervez Musharraf; now it is General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
But I think the question that needs to be asked is that what changes would the world want to see? Short term that there is stability or long term that the political process actually takes off? And if the objective is that Pakistan becomes much more normal not just in the short term, but short to long term as well, then the question that one needs to ask is does General Kayani, does our knight in shining armor have all the answers to that problem, because don't forget he is here for three years' tenure. As a good general, he will retire, and there is no tradition which says that the military after having... after even having a series of very professional officers, would not throw up a praetorian... a predatory general. Look at the history: we had a series, General Asif Nawaz Janjua, Wahid Kakar, Jehangir Karamat, and then finally you have General Musharraf.

http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2010/03 ... tants.html

[Prem]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02614.html

A closer look at the divisions within Pakistan
Tuesday, April 13, 2010; 1:12 PM
RAZMAK, PAKISTAN -- A few miles from this isolated garrison town, a shallow, east-west gorge marks the administrative border between South and North Waziristan. In U.S. eyes, it is also the dividing line between the good Pakistan that cooperates with American counterterrorism goals, and the intransigent one that charts its own course.
The Pakistani officials said it was inconceivable that Pakistan would pull any more troops away from their eastern defenses against India, at a time when nearly a third of Pakistan's half-million-man army is now deployed against insurgents in and around the region, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. To attack North Waziristan, the Pakistani officials said, would risk the gains so recently won in the south, because it would require pulling troops from that region.
They also said they believed it would be possible to enlist the Waziri tribes of the north in the fight against insurgents, but that any attempt rush them would backfire.

We need to give them credit," a senior U.S. official said of the Pakistanis, and trust that they understand the "culture, history and geography" of North Waziristan better than Washington does.

[putnanja]

Pakistan: perceptions, prejudices & policies - Chinmaya R. Gharekhan

Pakistan is not at all unhappy with the present situation; if talks take place, it wins, if they don't, India is on the defensive.
...
...
Three issues dominate the India-Pakistan discourse — Kashmir, water and Afghanistan. On the way from the airport to the city, a square is named ‘Kashmir Chowk.' There is a sign: Srinagar 380 km. Water is now raised to the same level of importance as, perhaps even more than, Kashmir. Afghanistan, the Pakistanis insist, is best left to Pakistan, and to the Afghans of course; India should not want a role there. At the least, it should not permit its consulates to carry out subversive activities in Balochistan. Some people, who would certainly know better, place the number of Indian consulates in Afghanistan at 12! (The actual number is four and they have been functioning since 1949.) Incidentally, there are about 60,000 Pakistani workers in Afghanistan as opposed to around 4,000 from India.
...
...
No less a person than Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi himself publicly admitted that nearly 40 million acre feet of water goes to the sea for want of storage capacity and that India is not to blame for this state of affairs; his remark was blanked out in the Pakistani media. The print and electronic media ceaselessly churn out stories of India stealing Pakistan's water, building hundreds of dams, destroying ecology in PoK, etc.
...
...
.The Taliban, which Mr. Karzai wants integrated, is not the one Pakistan prefers. It seems Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who landed up in Kabul without an invitation, is laying down conditions which Mr. Karzai is in no mood to even consider, such as new presidential and parliamentary elections and the pullout of American and Nato forces within six months. It is obvious that the relations between the Taliban and Pakistan deteriorated during the period immediately preceding and following 9/11. This is described in detail in Mullah Zaeef's book My life with the Taliban. Zaeef uses some ‘choice' words to describe his feelings towards Pakistan. Pakistan would like to use its influence with the Taliban's senior leadership in the process of reconciliation and reintegration, whereas the U.S. wants to persuade the foot soldiers and lower levels of the Taliban to switch loyalties. There is some scope for serious differences between Pakistan and the U.S. on this score though we in India ought not to bank too much on them. Pakistan continues to be indispensable to Barack Obama's objectives in Afghanistan; he knows it and Pakistan knows it. Islamabad may not be very successful in using this leverage to persuade Washington to pressure New Delhi on India-Pakistan issues, but it will not be for want of trying.
...
...
This writer's hunch is that Pakistan is not at all unhappy with the present situation; if talks take place, Pakistan wins, if they don't, India is on the defensive. On balance, we should indicate our willingness to schedule another Secretary-level round, but not in a hurry and certainly not in a time-bound framework dictated by the timing of SAARC or other multilateral meetings. At the same time, we must not fight shy of discussing any subject Pakistan may wish to raise, including Kashmir. Let it elaborate its views on Kashmir. We can easily do the same, refuting its position. The only subject we must not discuss — as distinct from not allowing it to be mentioned — is water, which should be discussed only in the framework of the Indus Treaty.
...
...

[Gerard]

I've just deleted a post about a child 'marriage' rape/death in Yemen.

A reminder that this is not the place to discuss events in Arabia, or Arabic/Muslim alleged customs. Nor is it a place for Muslim bashing.

[Amber G.]

I was amused to see this picture from Geo TV accompanied with

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani met with world leaders including Japanese and Indian leaders here Tuesday at the Washington Convention Center on the occasion of Nuclear Security Summit...

[Gerard]

:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart, Yusuf Raza Gilani, were the cynosure of all eyes as they met and shook hands at a reception organised in connection with the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on Tuesday

[Gerard]

Pakistani prime minister: U.S. aid money goes through me

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts ... through_me

Many in the U.S. foreign aid community are upset with Holbrooke for trying to take the funds out their control, arguing that they already have the infrastructure in place to best disperse the funds. Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah are traveling to Pakistan separately this week.

This must be a source of immense takleef

[anupmisra]

[anupmisra]

Nukes for pakis

[arnab]

SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL
- India needs to get over its petty obsession with Pakistan
DIPLOMACY - K.P. NAYAR

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100414/j ... 333958.jsp

The Global Nuclear Security Summit, which concluded in Washington yesterday, was remarkable for its revelation that India cannot hope to be a global power of any significance unless it gets over its petty obsession, as a nation, with Pakistan.

Nirupama Rao is free of any blame for this predicament. Of the 13 questions that she took at the press conference, 11 were on Pakistan. If she had refused to answer any questions on Pakistan because the subject of her press conference was the highest level Indo-US meeting, there would have been only her opening statement and two questions: one about Obama’s forthcoming visit to India and another about the sanctions Obama wants to impose on Iran soon.

..Pakistan’s obsession with India is understandable because India is the raison d’être for Pakistan. Even now, historically speaking, six decades after it was born, Pakistan has no reason to exist as a state without India. But what is it that has made the opposite true?

If India is to get over its growing obsession with Pakistan, it has to firmly and decisively stop meeting the Pakistanis on the margins of multilateral summits such as the non-aligned movement and the Commonwealth heads of government meetings. Any such meetings should be restricted to within the territories of India or Pakistan.

Lately, Pakistan’s spin masters have begun to capitalize on this Indian weakness because they realize that it is so easy to unsettle New Delhi through the media. Whether this policy has anything to do with the recent relocation of the former US diplomat, Robin Raphel, to Islamabad is a moot question. When she was an assistant secretary of State for South Asia, Raphel publicly proclaimed that it is so easy to create a storm in New Delhi and proceeded to prove her theory by telling a media briefing in Washington on background that Kashmir’s Instrument of Accession to India was illegal. Her assertion led to such a ruckus in India that eventually Parliament passed a resolution declaring the inalienable nature of Kashmir’s link with the rest of the country.

Take the case of a nuclear deal which is about to happen between Pakistan and the US if sections of the Indian media are to be believed. Such a deal is entirely the creation of the Indian media and in recent weeks, Pakistan has attempted to capitalize on this and keep the story alive by making statements from time to time which are faithfully picked up and blown up in the Indian public domain.

[Prem]

Nayar Sahib forget that Pakiland is not an independent entity but the Muta child of many Fathers inc Uncle.

We all should thanks ABV for taking practical step to make Paki from India specific problem to whole world specific or massars specific problem without firing a shot . The whole insecurity about jahil Jehadi getting nukes ought not to be elaborate headaxe for India as we have lived with this phenomenon for long and have first hand experience of genocidal nature of this ideological animal, PS be damned. Not MMS but let one of many Kangressi jholawalas make noise about Indoo loosing few hundred millions wont be detrimental but lets see how other Paki eggers face the same monsterous choice.

[anupmisra]

Porki minister tells the pious citizens like it is. Enjoy!

KARACHI: Water and Power Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf has asked the nation to stop crying for electricity shortage

Enough is enough.

[anupmisra]

Porki spin! Gilani, Manmohan have informal chat. Even in this, there is the usual "we are better than you" paki under tone.

The ‘Washington -handshake could not produce any tangible outcome except exchange of mixed Seraiki Punjabi greeting sentences and few snaps for the photographers. Dr Singh is not that articulate on rostrum but good at social chat while Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani can be eloquent at both. Both are sober and serious leaders facing similar odd political syndrome.

Unlike Syed Yusuf Gilani, Dr Singh has to face stern opposition both within and outside.

It was diplomatic victory at Sharm el-Sheikh and use of diplomatic skill by Gilani that outsmarted the Indian ‘visionary.’

But Gilani showed courtesy and helped Singh subsequently in getting rid of the turmoil.

Indians were also reluctant on an additional reason that a meeting of the two on the US soil could cause some other connotations back in India.

Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Dr Manmohan Singh shook hands with warmth and chatted for about five minutes. The reluctance of Indian prime minister in taking an initiative was quite understandable.

And the piece de resistance:

Prime Minister Manmohan kept on holding Prime Minister Gilani’s hand for about a minute.

Love in Washington.

[anupmisra]

As if you didn't know about this. Pakistan lose in Kabbadi final. But that's not the whole news. The finger pointing has already started.

“We have never lost to India with so much difference. I don’t know why"

“Not only India had a huge crowd on their back but referees were also their own,”

[arnab]

COMMENT: Wishful soliloquy —Munir Attaullah

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.as ... 2010_pg3_2

The problem is, we want peace on terms acceptable to us. And those terms, so far, have been unacceptable to our adversary. Now we can, with every justification, say exactly the same about the Indian attitude (besides our claim that our case is a just one while theirs is not). But, in the impasse that so results, we ignore one crucial reality: as the status-quo power India can both comfortably resist and afford the consequences of confrontation; the costs for us are unbearably steep. So, bitterly unpalatable though it may be, it is us who will have to make the real concessions because our bargaining position is weak. Is it not high time we forget the past, look to the future and make that painful adjustment?

[shiv]

It's all about international media management. India sucks at it. Porkis have forever played the islamic victim card and are getting better at it. India should learn from the Israelis. Period.

Anup I agree with the observation - but I don't think we can learn from the Israelis. As followers of a religion that is older than Christianity and Islam, Jews were persecuted throughout history and Nazi Germany was one of the worst blows that survived as documented records. With only a handful of Jews left it is easy to give them a small reservation in Palestine and say "Oh what a tolerant world we live in"

That is not the stage we want to reach with Hindus. I am absolutely certain that over centuries there is a subtle correlation (mostly subconscious) that connects Hindu traits with undesirable traits. The untouchables of the world. It is ONLY the rise of secularism that leaves a gap in world politics for religions like Hinduism and Buddhism to survive the onslaught of religious decimation.

There has to be a concerted effort to change mindsets and protect by force if necessary. Just read the above two paragraphs I have written. You and many others may agree with the idea. Can anyone ever hope to sell that idea anywhere in the world outside of BRF? It will only evoke a ROTFL. But it must be worded right and with the right examples if it must be sold.

[Prem]

As if you didn't know about this. Pakistan lose in Kabbadi final. But that's not the whole news. The finger pointing has already started.

“We have never lost to India with so much difference. I don’t know why"

“Not only India had a huge crowd on their back but referees were also their own,”

There are many clips of Kabbadi matches on You Tube, These inbred lolas ( light on the mental side) have never won Kabbadi match with Indians weather it was held in Lahore, London , Vancouver or Yuba city.

[Amber G.]

Porki spin! Gilani, Manmohan have informal chat. ‘.

...Informal chat indeed!
while this news item says...:
PM says no talks with Pakistan until it acts

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday ruled out serious discussions with Pakistan until it took "credible steps" to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice.

Singh said he had exchanged pleasantries twice with Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of a two-day nuclear security meeting in Washington, but they had not covered serious issues during their brief encounters....

[...Gilani argued [ in press etc] that India needed to provide more evidence, to which Singh shot back that senior members of Lashkar-e-Taiba were "roaming around freely" in Pakistan and U.S. intelligence had pointed out its ties to al Qaeda.
"I don't see there is any need for me to provide any additional evidence to Prime Minister Gilani on this."

[Airavat]

Hazara division protests continue

A citizen was killed and several injured in fresh violence on Tuesday as protests against plans to rename NWFP continued amid a complete shutter-down strike in Hazara division. Despite the imposition of Section 144, protesters blocked Shahrah-e-Karakoram and Shahrah-e-Hazara in Haripur and pelted vehicles with stones.

Thousands demonstrated on the streets against the killings and set tyres ablaze in the middle of roads in Abbottabad, Mansehra and Haripur. Rioting and looting have also been reported from a few commercial areas of Abbottabad and Haripur. Educational institutions in the region have also been closed down.

[Amber G.]

WSJ Blog:
Obama, Singh, Gilani, Handshakes and Afghanistan

[shiv]

We all should thanks ABV for taking practical step to make Paki from India specific problem to whole world specific or massars specific problem

ABV does deserve credit here - but so does Advani for creating intense anger and jealousy in Pakistan which then had no option but to respond

[SSridhar]

I had a brief chat with Michael O'Hanlon of Brookings. He was on radio last week spouting the same rubbish: LET was focussed on India alone, but if it metastasizes into Al Qaida, the west should be concerned. I sent him a feedback and he was kind enough to respond;

CRS, that was a good job. As Indians, we have to do our bit too. It has to be brought to his knowledge that the bonding between LeT and Al Qaeda is deep, if he doesn't already know that. Let him know that Prof Hafeez Saeed was a great friend of Abdullah Azzam, the mentor of OBL, and they both started Maktab al Kidmat (Office of Service) for the Afghan mujahideen. This later became Markaz Daw'ah al Irshad after Azzam's assassination. After the December 2001 US ban, the Markaz morphed into Jama'at ud Dawah. Azzam was also the inspirator for Hamas. The LeT, to this day, uses speeches and writings of Azzam. Prof. Saeed has always openly and unabashedly admired OBL. He completely identifies himself with the Wahhabi/Salafi schools, aligning himself ideologically with OBL.

It is a common misperception that the LeT is limited to Kashmir or at the most India. There are possibly two reasons for this. One, the proximity of the LeT to the ISI probably makes some of these analysts feel so. Two, after circa 1989, the LeT, whose cadres themselves did not take a huge part in the Afghan jihad because the organization itself was formed towards the fag end of the jihad, started training centres in Muzzafarabad and turned its attention on Kashmir.

However, though immediate and significant focus of the LeT is India, it has been involved in incidents in several parts of the world. LeT commanders and foot soldiers have been caught in Iraq fighting the Americans. Upto 2000 of them were in Iraq. LeT has trained fighters from several countries including the US, the UK & France as well as Yemen, Iran, Chechenya, the Sudan etc. in their training camps. LeT's jihadi magazine speaks of planting the flag of Islam over Washington, Tel Aviv and New Delhi. When Prof. Hafeez Saeed repeatedly talks of Brahminic-Tulmudic-Crusader conspiracy, it is obvious he is not limiting himself to India. Ironically, there are few Kashmiris among its cadres.

On Mar. 29, 2002, Abu Zubaidah/Abu Zubaydah (Zayn al-Abidin Mohammed Husayn), a Palestenian, and a very top Al-Qaeda operative, was arrested in Faisalabad from the house of an LeT leader. Pakistan later released his LeT hosts. However, Zubaydah named four important persons (three Saudi Princesses and the PAF Chief) all of whom died in quick succession later. Abu Farraj Al Libbi, top Qaeda operational picked up in Pakistan in May, 2006, worked from an LeT site. On Nov. 9, 2003, three LeT men, including a Pakistani Khwaja Mahmood Hasan, were sentenced in Alexandria, Virginia for trying to wage jihad against India. On Dec. 18, 2003, a Pakistani man, Atique, was sentenced in the US to ten-and-a-half years in prison for training with LeT. LeT trained the Indonesia-based Jemmah Islamiyah (JI) as well as the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf in camps in Pakistan and Kashmir. A LeT terrorist, Faheem Khalid Lodhi, was arrested in Sydney with plans to attack electrical grid and other installations there. He was found guilty on June 19, 2006 of of planning to bomb Sydney defense sites and the city’s electricity grid. A British citizen of Pakistani descent, Mohammed Ajmal Khan, a “person of authority” in Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and described as a “quartermaster” for that terrorist organization was sentenced to 14 years in a British court on Mar. 17, 2006. We have the famous case of Willie Brigitte, the Frenchman, who was sent to Australia by the LeT after training in its camps. David Coleman Headley, the LeT operative has revealed the Danish mission too apart, of course, from the Indian ones.

[sum]

Pakistan: perceptions, prejudices & policies - Chinmaya R. Gharekhan

Very, very good and pragmatic article. Surprising to see this in Chindu after all the S. Vardharajan WKK articles we are used to reading.

[amit]

WSJ Blog:
Obama, Singh, Gilani, Handshakes and Afghanistan

Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper drew different implications from the meetings, focusing on Obama’s interest in fostering greater India-Pakistan cooperation, according to a briefing by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The paper reported that Obama told Gilani that better relations between India and Pakistan would have a positive impact on the entire region.

“President Obama’s remarks, as reported by the Pakistani foreign minister, indicated that the US was playing an undeclared mediatory role between India and Pakistan,” the paper said.

I think these two paras from the blog should be read with the "trilateral" talks report which also appeared only in Dawn.

IMO it's now pretty clear that it was a spin job by Dawn done with the blessings of the Paqui high command. Whether or not it also had the blessings of the US is moot. However, that tidbit in the Chindu article about Robin Raphel re-locating to Slumabad, if true, means more manipulation through media.