Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan (TSP): Sep 03, 2010

[Satya_anveshi]

talking of attacks:
Suicide bombers strike Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine

KARACHI: At least eight people were killed when two suicide bombers exploded at a major shrine “Abdullah Shah Ghazi” in the port city of Karachi late Thursday, a senior government official told AFP.

[Amber G.]

From the link I posted above and other sources ..
While, Junior officials statements are a little fuzzy (Some used "apology" some "regret" etc..).. FWIW we have:
WH: (Gibbs):

President Obama has not spoken to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari but a Pakistani delegation is due in Washington later this month as part of a continuing strategic dialog

[This etc] don't have any impact on that [India Trip] that I'm aware of ..He is involved in a series of regular meetings on that (India trip). I don't know that there have been a series pull-out meetings ....

(Kerry's - Chairman Senate Foreign Relations- words just after meeting with Hillary Clinton))

The ISI's continued involvement with various entities remains an issue of concern between us.

(Also TSPA will move in " type of way" - to overtake civilian Govt)

[Amber G.]

For links etc see:
pundita's blog

A senior Pakistani security official said the two missile strikes near the town of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan tribal area followed intelligence passed on by Rami Mackenzie, 27, during interrogation following his arrest in the middle of this year by Pakistani security officials in Bannu, the principal city of Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province.

At the time of his capture, Pakistani authorities said they believed Mackenzie, who had been disguised in a traditional woman's burqa, was an expert in manufacturing suicide vests.
[...]
Mackenzie was recruited in Germany this year and sent to North Waziristan for training. However, after spending only a few months he became disillusioned.

"The Europeans who were recruited by al-Qaeda are in really bad shape. They converted to Islam or even if they were Muslims born in Europe, they were reared in a comfortable atmosphere," the security official told Asia Times Online.

"The rugged terrain of North Waziristan and then the ruthless behavior and treatment of the local Wazirs and Mehsuds made most of the Europeans disillusioned. Rami was among one of those who decided to go to Islamabad and surrender himself to the German Embassy. But to his bad luck he was spotted and arrested by the security agencies in Bannu."
[...]

Pakistani and Arab sources tell The Guardian that the Afghan government held tentative direct talks with senior members of the Haqqani insurgent group, and the U.S. has made indirect contact via a "Western intermediary" with the Haqqanis (Guardian). Al Jazeera reports that members of the Haqqani network will be present at a meeting in the Maldives later this month, where the Taliban and Afghan government officials have reportedly had conferences in the past (AJE). The Serena Hotel in Kabul is said to be hosting meetings right now sponsored by the United Arab Emirates between Afghan officials, former Taliban leaders, and retired Pakistani security officials on the topic of peace talks (WSJ). The meetings do not include insurgents or members of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's official 'peace council, which had its inaugural meeting today (AP).

[shiv]

More than 50 injured and death toll climbing in Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine blast.

For a country self-claimed to have been created to provide a safe haven for the Muslims of the Indian Sub-Continent the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been adept at conjuring up arcane differences in the practice of Islam that results in frequent Muslim on Muslim blood letting.

Any Idea which variant of Muslim on Muslim bloodletting this act of violence is?

Sectarian Shia Muslim vs Sunni Muslim blood letting or Sub Sectarian Sunni Deobandi vs Sunni Brelvi bloodletting or some other variant of violence?

Muslims do not kill Muslims. Killers of Muslims are not Muslims. Therefore kafirs hate Muslims and are against Islam. ISLAMOPHOBIAAAAAAAAAAAA!

An entire population has been fed of this stuff which is no more enlightening than a pool of dog-shit. So you see Pakistan. Not that many of the other Islamic nations are not guilty of trying to sell this diarrhea. But Pakistanis are the current owners of this stinking lie.

[A_Gupta]

One by one Americans are waking up.
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/2010/ ... ncentives/

Whenever I read reports about US government officials being frustrated by Pakistan’s cooperation in fighting militant groups, I always wonder what it is policymakers are expecting will happen. Our current policy, after all, is to give the Pakistani military a lot of aid that’s predicated on the existence of an Islamist militant threat. If the threat went away, the aid would probably dry up and even if it didn’t dry up it would be redirected away from military matters—we wouldn’t be interested in explicitly funding an arms race with India.

When the Pakistanis give us a desultory effort it seems to me that we’re just getting what we paid for.

[anupmisra]

Loose Cannon
Mushy, that's who. Something to do with pa'astaniyat.

Cannon on the loose

The 'clarification' from a spokesman for Musharraf -- that he has apparently been 'misunderstood' as far as his comments on Pakistan's involvement in training militants to infiltrate Indian-Held Kashmir go -- will convince no one. The unfortunate comments were made to a respectable German publication; they were affirmed several times during the interview and there seems to be very little possibility of 'misunderstanding'.

The former dictator appears to have parted ways with good sense, dignity and the restraint expected of anyone who holds a position of responsibility.

The remarks on militants are obviously a huge embarrassment for Pakistan and, for obvious reasons, have left almost everyone in the country foaming at the mouth.

His swaggering attack on the PML-N chief puts before us all the nature of a man who has, time and again, proved that he is both arrogant and quite capable of behaviour that verges on the idiotic.

Musharraf has emerged as a kind of comic figure, ranting on in a manner that makes little sense. Some of what he has said could have unfortunate consequences for Pakistan.

[anupmisra]

NATO Contractors “Attack Their Own Vehicles” in Pakistan
Why doesn't this news iem shock any of us at BRF? Because we knew it.

The owners of oil tankers being used to supply fuel to Nato in Afghanistan say some of the attacks on their convoys are suspicious. They say there is evidence to suggest that bombs have been planted in many of the vehicles by the “Nato contractors” – individuals or companies who have been contracted by Nato to supply fuel and goods to forces in Afghanistan.

Dost Mohammad, an oil tanker owner from Nowshera district, said a Nato contractor had recently been caught trying to plant a bomb in an oil tanker. Dost Mohammad said the contractor had apparently sold off the fuel first. “Only 2,000 litres from the original 50,000 litres had been left in the tanker to cover up the crime,” he said.

Dost Mohammad said it is a win-win situation for the contractors.

“If an old vehicle is burnt, Nato gives them money for a new vehicle. In addition, they receive compensation for all the fuel lost as well.”

[anupmisra]

Our ally, Pakistan
The alliance with Islamabad is unreliable at best

Policymakers in the United States should begin discussing whether Pakistan is part of the solution to the challenges in the Mideast and South Asia or part of the problem.

In strategic terms, Pakistan is the gift that keeps on giving.

Pakistan has been a center for the proliferation of illicit nuclear-weapons technology and expertise, and the country's nuclear-weapons stockpile is a standing invitation to atomic tragedy. From an American national security standpoint, there is little positive about it.

Right now, the only forces that freely conduct cross-border operations are the insurgents.

Pakistanis will work with the United States when it's in their interest. There's no question whose side they are on: their own, and no one else's.

[SSridhar]

A key differentiator/marker in all those and Mumbai was the active role of David Headley who was an American agent (who got US immunity later to prevent him from falling into Indian hands) working with and for the ISI/LET in active scoping of the targets and even selecting targets. This aspect is what made Mumbai attack so deadly. A US-ISI/LET double agent who got US protection after the attack. Why we don't know.

To be fair to the US, they did indeed pass on information about an impending attack to GoI. Probably, the information was kept deliberately vague though they themselves had more detailed information. Just passing enough information to escape accusation later but nothing substantial to cause a failure of ISI/terrorist attacks. This is the balancing act that the US had to play. In its scheme of things, Indian lives and Kashmir are fair game for the US indebtedness to and dependence on the ISI.

[ramana]

Is it balancing or CYA?

[r_subramanian]

Pak Army chief orders probe into video footage
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Friday ordered an inquiry into an Internet video that shows men in military uniforms executing six young men in civilian clothes.
The COAS said in a statement that he has ordered setting up of a board of inquiry to establish the true identity of uniformed personnel and the veracity of the video footage.
'The board will be headed by a Major General, a two star officer of Pakistan Army. He will be assisted by two / three senior officers with the experience of investigating into such incidents. Necessary technical expertise will be made available to the board', the statement said.
General Kayani referred back to his Command Directive on the issues of Human Rights and Extra Judicial Killings, and stated that such violations of his orders, if true, will not be tolerated
...

link

[Philip]

Ramanna,what rubbish! Don't you know that Obama was BS'ing about the terror threat?Why the Pakistan authorities say so and we know that they never lie.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oc ... eat-claims

Barack Obama accused of exaggerating terror threat for political gain
• Pakistani diplomat launches scathing attack on White House
• European intelligence claims raised terror alerts 'nonsensical'

A US terror alert issued this week about al-Qaida plots to attack targets in western Europe was politically motivated and not based on credible new information, senior Pakistani diplomats and European intelligence officials have told the Guardian.

The non-specific US warning, which despite its vagueness led Britain, France and other countries to raise their overseas terror alert levels, was an attempt to justify a recent escalation in US drone and helicopter attacks inside Pakistan that have "set the country on fire", said Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the high commissioner to Britain.

Hasan, a veteran diplomat who is close to Pakistan's president, suggested the Obama administration was playing politics with the terror threat before next month's mid-term congressional elections, in which the Republicans are expected to make big gains.

He also claimed President Obama was reacting to pressure to demonstrate that his Afghan war strategy and this year's troop surge, which are unpopular with the American public, were necessary.

Dismissing claims of a developed, co-ordinated plot aimed at Britain, France and Germany, European intelligence officials also pointed the finger at the US, and specifically at the White House. "To stitch together [the terror plot claims] in a seamless narrative is nonsensical," said one well-placed official.

The plot claims, which western intelligence agencies were aware of for months, were leaked last week to the American media.

They were followed by a spate of what security and intelligence officials said were exaggerated claims in the British media, a US state department warning to American citizens to be vigilant when visiting Britain, France, and Germany, a "tit for tat" warning by France to its citizens visiting the UK, and alerts issued by the Swedish and Japanese governments.

Thomas de Maizière, Germany's interior minister, publicly expressed his scepticism about the US terror warning, saying he saw no sign of an imminent attack on Germany. He described the danger to Germany as "hypothetical".

The sharp rise in US unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas, coupled with several cross-border raids by American helicopter gunships that culminated in the killing of two Frontier Corps soldiers last week, was destabilising Pakistan, Hasan said.

"Why are they putting so much pressure on us? It is a threat to the democratic system … But people in Pakistan feel Washington does not care." American actions were "obviously" linked to Obama's decision to set a timetable for leaving Afghanistan. The US leader had "jumped the gun" and now "the Americans are in a hurry".

PS:Of course the Pakis should know better,after all they are the ones who are the masterminds of Islamist terror worldwide! Or could it be that the Messiah is a liar too?

[rajpa]

Ofcourse pakis will be pakis but it seems to me that the poaks have indeed got into various media organizations as part of a large propaganda strategy. Looks like there are way too many migrants from TSP who have joined these media outlets - compared to those from Desh. In any case our own folks would rather indulge in self-flagellation - which would bring down the efforts on our own propaganda.

Brfites could write to these media organizations / editors repeatedly showing how the reporting is pak-biased and asking for probity or restraint from their paki colleagues.

We could write to the Desi folks advising them not to self-flagellate.

I know there is a media thread somewhere... Admins could you pls do the needful..

Maybe a thread for "Poak Infiltration in Global Media Vs. Desi Self Flagellations And What to Do About That" ?

[Rajdeep]

Now how can we use this to our advantage ? lol

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... soaps.html

Here is a small gem

Muhammad Rashid, who owns a satellite TV shop in Lahore, said he had sold 300 dishes and receivers in the past month – almost three times what he would normally expect. "It is Pakistani girls who are nagging their husbands and fathers," he said.

"They love the dramas, the soap operas and say they won't cook until they can watch the programmes again."

[Philip]

Fine assessment from the Guardian on the failing state.Read the full article apartf rom xcpts..

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 00865.html

Is Pakistan falling apart?

It has suffered disaster after disaster. Its people have lived through crisis upon crisis. Its leaders are unwilling or unable to act. But is it really the failed state that many believe?

By Patrick Cockburn
Friday, 8 October 2010

Xcpts:

AP
In a bad state: American military supplies being transported through the Khyber Pass
Is Pakistan disintegrating? Are the state and society coming apart under the impact of successive political and natural disasters? The country swirls with rumours about the fall of the civilian government or even a military coup. The great Indus flood has disappeared from the headlines at home and abroad, though millions of farmers are squatting in the ruins of their villages. The US is launching its heaviest-ever drone attacks on targets in the west of the country, and Pakistan closed the main US and Nato supply route through the Khyber Pass after US helicopters crossed the border and killed Pakistani soldiers.

Pakistan is undoubtedly in a bad way, but it is also a country with more than 170 million people, a population greater than Russia's, and is capable of absorbing a lot of punishment. It is a place of lop-sided development. It possesses nuclear weapons but children were suffering from malnutrition even before the floods. Electricity supply is intermittent so industrialists owning textile mills in Punjab complain that they have to use their own generators to stay in business. Highways linking cities are impressive, but the driver who turns off the road may soon find himself bumping along a farmer's track. The 617,000-strong army is one of the strongest in the world, but the government has failed to eliminate polio or malaria. Everybody agrees that higher education must be improved if Pakistan is to compete in the modern world, but the universities have been on strike because their budgets had been cut and they could not pay their staff.

The problem for Pakistan is not that the country is going to implode or sink into anarchy, but that successive crises do not produce revolutionary or radical change. A dysfunctional and corrupt state, part-controlled by the army, staggers on and continues to misgovern the country. The merry-go-round of open or veiled military rule alternates with feeble civilian governments. But power stays in the hands of an English-speaking élite that inherited from the British rulers of the Raj a sense of superiority over the rest of the population.....

The military have ruled Pakistan for more than half the time since independence in 1947, but their control has never been quite absolute. The soldiers have never managed to put the politicians and the political parties permanently out of business, so the balance between military and non-military still counts. But there is no doubt about which way the struggle is going. A decisive moment came on 24 July this year when General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the army chief of staff, was reappointed for another three-year term. The US embassy in Islamabad is said by foreign diplomats and Pakistani officials to have protested vigorously but unavailingly to Washington. It said that keeping General Kayani in place would inflict a fatal wound on democracy and demonstrate that the civilian government could not get rid of its own army commander. In the event, Washington, always a crucial influence in Islamabad, decided that it would prefer to deal with a single powerful figure able to deliver in negotiations over Afghanistan. This was in keeping with US policy towards Pakistan since the 1950s. "We were put under intense pressure to keep Kayani," said an aide of President Zardari's. "We were left with no choice."

In one sense, the army never really left power after the fall of General Pervez Musharraf in 2008. It has continued to allocate to itself an extraordinarily high proportion of Pakistan's limited resources. Military bases all over the country look spruce and well cared-for, while just outside their razor-wire defences are broken roads and slum housing. At the entrance of a base just west of Islamabad last week was an elderly but effective-looking tank as a monument, the ground around it parade-ground clean. A few hundred yards away, a yellow bulldozer was driving through thick mud to make a flood-damaged road passable two months after the deluge, while a side street nearby was closed by a pool of stagnant grey-coloured water. At the other end of the country in northern Sindh, a local leader, who like many critics of the Pakistani military did not want his name published, pointed to a wide canal. He said: "This canal is not meant to be taking water from the Indus, but it is allowed to operate because it irrigates land owned by army officers."

The army projects a messianic image of itself in which it selflessly takes power to save the nation. It likes to contrast its soldierly virtues of incorruptibility and efficiency with the crookedness and ineptitude of civilians. "The army is very good at claiming to be the solution to problems which it has itself created," complained a local politician in Punjab. "It is also good at ascribing all failures to civilian governments, which cannot act because the army monopolises resources." He added caustically that in his area, the floods had arrived on 6 August and the first army assistance on 26 August.

Politicians and journalists criticising the army often employ code words where more is implied than stated. But last month, a government minister made a pungent attack on the army that astonished listening journalists. The minister for defence production, Abdul Qayyum Jatoi, directly accused the army of being behind the killing of the opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, in 2007, and the revered Baluchi leader Nawab Bugti, a year earlier.

"We did not provide the army with uniforms and boots to kill their own countrymen," Mr Jatoi said bluntly, suggesting that the army leaders do their duty by going to defend Pakistan's frontiers and end rumours of a coup. He added: "Not only politicians should be blamed for corruption, rather [army] generals and judges should be held responsible."

PS:After reading this article,the saying is accurate that "while states have an army,Pakistan is an army with a state"!

Plus,it is also clear that since Washington "sanctioned" Gen,Kill-Any,the Vulture's continuation,it is the puppeteer that ultimately pulls the strings in Pak and can do so more forcefully.It is also responsible by default for Pak's terrorist actions as it supports to the hilt the Paki military and its bloodstained generalissimo.

[Philip]

Interpol seeks arrest of serving Pakistani army officers over Mumbai attacks

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... tacks.html

Interpol has issued arrest warrants for five Pakistani nationals, including two serving army officers, for their alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Indian investigators said on Friday.

[Hari Seldon]

^^^ Interpol notices and all are pointless BS philip saar, or so I'm led to believe.

Doesn't matter that it nails 'international community' opinion on the genesis of 26/11 pretty darn well, short only of an almost unanimous UNGA resolution.

[Sumeet]

Elements in ISI have links to terrorists: Pentagon

Washington: The Pentagon has conceded that some elements of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence might be supporting the terrorist networks in the region, thus undermining the war against terrorism by the US-led forces.

It is for the first time probably, Pentagon, which often is accused of shielding the Pakistan army and the ISI, acknowledged that the latter has links with terrorist networks, which is a matter of serious concern for the US.

Pentagon spokesman Col David Lapan, told reporters that some members of the ISI "might be interacting with terrorist organisations in ways that aren't consistent with what the government and military are doing."

The spokesman was responding to questions about a news report in The Wall Street Journal which said that ISI is assisting Taliban against NATO and US forces in Afghanistan.

Noting that ISI as an organisation does not support terrorism, Lapan said some elements within the intelligence agency could be providing assistance to terrorists.

He said the top Pakistan military leadership is working to correct the problem but like any large organisation, change is difficult and comes slowly.

"The ISI has done a great deal in fighting terrorism. Some have said they probably have killed more terrorists than any other organisation. But we also have some concerns with the strategic focus of the ISI," Lapan said.

He added that Pakistan's Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is aware of these concerns and even shares them.

"Our optimism is that Gen Kayani understands and has made it clear that they need to make some changes," he said.

The Pentagon spokesman said there is no word from Pakistan yet as to when the Torkham Gate, an important supply route for NATO and US troops in Afghanistan, would be reopened.

The crucial supply line was closed after two Pakistani soldiers were killed in NATO air strikes on September 30 on the Af-Pak border. The US yesterday apologised for the incident.

Lapan acknowledged that the closure of the supply line has increased security threat to hundreds of trucks waiting to cross the border, as it was very much evident in increasing number of Taliban attacks on these Afghanistan-bound trucks.

"The Pakistanis understand that we would like to see these gates open as soon as possible. We also understand that ultimately it is their decision, they take the security situation into consideration," he said.

The Pentagon in the meantime is looking at alternative means till the gate does open. "Pakistan is a friend and an ally of the United States," the spokesman said.

[RajeshA]

Elements in ISI have links to terrorists: Pentagon

More like the whole Periodic Table!

[A_Gupta]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/07/1 ... s-but.html

TORKHAM, Afghanistan -- For more than a week since a U.S. helicopter strike killed two Pakistan paramilitary soldiers, Pakistan has blocked scores of Western supply convoys on the vital route that supports the U.S-led military campaign in Afghanistan.

Yet every day, say taxi drivers, security officials and border shop owners, Taliban insurgents cross from Pakistan into Afghanistan without a second glance from border officials.

"Every day, 40,000 to 70,000 people pass through the border. We can't handle it," said Gen. Mohammed Zaman Mamozai, the commander of the Afghan Border Police stationed at Torkham gate. "For us it's very difficult, and it's not possible to ask every single person where they are going and if they have a passport."

"If they want to come to Afghanistan, none out of a hundred will be arrested," said Sediqullah, an Afghan taxi driver, as he waited for Torkham-bound passengers outside Kabul.

Among the thousands of men he's picked up at the border, Sediqullah, who like many Afghans has only one name, suspects that he's unwittingly driven plenty of inconspicuous Taliban insurgents heading to fight U.S.-led military forces across Afghanistan.

Pakistan's willingness to allow sanctuary for Afghan insurgents long has strained ties with the United States, and its closing of one of NATO's critical supply routes to Afghanistan added to tension. However, Afghanistan shares the blame for not guarding its own front door.

For nearly a decade, the U.S. has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to cut off the remote high-altitude mountain trails that Taliban forces use to smuggle weapons and fighters into Afghanistan.

Now, the U.S. military is turning its attention to the border crossing.

"More and more we've realized that they are not coming through the passes, they're just coming through the . . . gate," said a U.S. government official in Afghanistan who spoke on the condition of anonymity so he could candidly discuss the unfolding plan to focus on the border crossing.

The U.S.-led coalition is setting up a special task force in eastern Afghanistan to deal with the insurgents who are coming into the country through the front door.

[Brad Goodman]

baki pleading to Ombaba not to emulate David Cameron from red fort

COMMENT: When Obama and India meet —Zafar Hilaly

There have been many, like Obama, who have arrived in Delhi determined to speak their mind but left listening to endless soliloquies about how moral, righteous and right was India’s stance even as the slaughter of the inhabitants of Kashmir continued apace

There are indeed two courses of action open to Obama. The first is to demonstrate that he, unlike David Cameron, has the courage and wisdom to be balanced in his utterances and upfront about his desire to help India and Pakistan mend relations; to say that the US is prepared to devote serious diplomatic resources to help arrive at a solution for Kashmir, the chief bone of contention, and to insist that as Kashmir now also concerns the US’s security because it impacts on Pakistan’s cooperation in the war in Afghanistan, the US has a stake in its peaceful outcome. In return, Obama could offer India a ticket to the UN Security Council.

Now bakis are offering is UN Security council for Kashmir

[Anujan]

^^^
This "UNSC for Cashmere" BS is doing the rounds lately. Pakis are adept at taking internal Khan discussions and shooting their mouths off. Ref: "Good taliban vs bad taliban" also, Mushy's statement vis-a-vis training JK terrorists must have come after he read this from Woodward's book:

As a result of nearly endless policy discussions in the White House, Jones (National Security Advisor), Donilon (Deputy NSA), Lute (senior advisor for AfPak) and others had repeatedly asked: How are we going to get these guys in Pakistan to change? For the moment, they knew that this was the wrong question. Pakistan was not going to change. The Pakistanis were hardwired against India. Lets quit banging our heads against the wall and accept it...Pakistan would be at such a disadvantage in a conventional war....that it had relied on two asymmetric tools -- proxy terrorism through LeT and threat of nuclear weapons....Jones tried to convey to them (Pakistanis): We've come to the conclusion that after years of trying, we're not going to change your strategic calculus. It's yours. We accept it and want to understand it better.

So the JK for UNSC should not be dismissed lightly. That offer might be made.

On the other hand, we are home to ~ 1/5 of the world's humanity, would soon be the second largest economy and are the largest democracy. (Second largest democratic elections used to be UP state elections!!) So let us sit out of the security council till it becomes irrelevant. (Whose permanent members include an erstwhile colonial power which is a small island these days, a country which is threatening Norway these days for awarding a Nobel prize).

[Philip]

Gen.David Petraeus says that Pak might collapse within two weeks? Is this a true assessment? Can it be so? I've posted above a Guardian report which contradicts the thought of Pak falining quickly,though in dire striats.The continual attacks against NATO convoys is probably the "petra" in the general's shoe that need's removal.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... lapse.html

US general says Pakistan could be just two weeks from collapse
There may be just two weeks left to prevent the Taliban from overthrowing Pakistan’s government, Gen David Petraeus, the commander of American forces in the region, has told officials.

By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
Published: 4:59PM BST 01 May 2009

David Petraeus: Gen Petraeus has now grown weary of the government's excuses, apparently telling colleagues "we've heard it all before".
Photo: BLOOMBERG
American officials have watched with growing anxiety as Taliban fighters have strengthened their grip on north-western Pakistan.

Militants advanced to within 60 miles of Islamabad, the capital, last month and were pushed back only when the US put pressure on Pakistan to launch a counter-offensive.

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Gen Petraeus, the head of Central Command, which covers all US forces in the Middle East and south Asia, is reported to have said that “the Pakistanis have run out of excuses” and now accept that tough action has to be taken to guarantee the government’s survival.

Gen Petraeus, who oversaw the American troop surge credited with quelling the insurgency in Iraq, is reported to have wearied of Pakistan’s excuses for failing to take on the Taliban.

According to Fox News, he told colleagues “we have heard it all before”.

He is reported to have urged concrete action to destroy the Taliban in the next two weeks before determining the United States’ next course of action.

Gen Petraeus made the assessment in private talks with congressmen and members of the senate, according to Fox.

Senior officials in President Barack Obama’s administration are said to have more confidence in Pakistan’s army, led by Gen Ashfaq Kayani, than President Asif Ali Zardari’s civilian government.

Hillary Clinton last week publicly accused Islamabad of “abdicating to the Taliban”.

The issue is likely to come to a head when Mr Zardari visits Washington next week with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan for a tripartite summit with Mr Obama.

Gen Petraeus’s comments came amid an escalating battle between security forces and Taliban militants yesterday.

Fighting in Buner district, just 60 miles from Islamabad, left up to 60 dead even as Pakistan’s government pressed on yesterday with a much-criticised peace plan in the region, officials said.

Maj Gen Athar Abbas, a spokesman for the Pakistani army, said at least 55 militants had been killed in the previous 24 hours, bringing to more than 100 the total dead since the offensive began on Tuesday. Two Pakistani soldiers were killed and eight others injured when weapons they were destroying exploded.

Gen Abbas said ground troops backed by helicopter gunships destroyed nine suicide vehicles and six vehicles of “fleeing militants”.

Three “suicide motorcyclists” were also shot dead by ground troops advancing on narrow mountain tracks while a suicide bomber blew up a booby-trapped house, killing two paramilitary soldiers and wounding eight others. it took Pakistan’s overall losses to 13 during the offensive.

Gen Abbas said the militants included foreign fighters who were well organised and armed with mortars and anti-aircraft machine guns.

The militants were still in control of parts of Buner valley, although Pakistani troops had secured the main town of Daggar after helicopters dropped forces behind enemy lines. In another district, Upper Dir, more than 50 militants stormed the headquarters of a paramilitary force and kidnapped 10 people.

Buner, Upper and Lower Dir are part of the North West Frontier Province’s Malakand Division, where the government agreed to allow Islamic law in February if militants gave up violence in their stronghold of Swat valley.

In recent days, the Pakistani army has sought to reverse that tide, retaking control of strategic points in the district of Buner even as the Taliban struck back by kidnapping scores of police and paramilitary troops.

It remains unclear whether the Taliban truly seeks to overthrow Mr Zardari’s government or merely to carve out a territory within Pakistan in which it can establish safe haven, impose Sharia law, and plot attacks on external targets.

PS:It looks like "Petra's" ass is on the line here.
Two weeks to save Pak" Obama wants to train the Pakis too!Hav eyou heard of such rot ever before?It shows that the White House boss is clueless as to what to do with Pak. and how to get it to behave.I recommend a strong dose of "B-52" antibiotics which will pulversise the Talibs and the ISI.

[RajeshA]

You can't give 20 billion USD to a whore, and then want to hear - mera mood nahin hai!.

[svenkat]

Philipji,
The report is dated May 2009 when the Taliban were advancing towards slumbad.

[Prem]

Gen Petraeus actually meant 2 years i.e coming up in May 2011.

[Anujan]

US National security advisor James Jones resigns. There are two people touted as his replacement

1) Thomas E. Donilon - He is a political hack. Our babus need to do Chai-biskoot with him
2) Gen. James Cartwright - Strong voice for "Kick Paki Musharraf" within the administration

[Rahul Shukla]

Pakistan to investigate execution video (Guardian - UK)

Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, has ordered an inquiry into a video that purports to show a group of soldiers gunning down six blindfolded men in the country's troubled north-west.

Appearing to take a tough stance, he said: "It is not expected of a professional army to engage in excesses against the people whom it is trying to guard against the scourge of terrorism," he said.

But he added that in the past Pakistani militants have posed as soldiers.

So they were miscreants! The verdict has been announced before the (so called) inquiry even began. Btw, it is funny to see an ex-Chief of the ISI talking about "terrorism" given the fact that Kiyani was/is the man in-charge of all IT export worldwide.

[Anujan]

^^^^
Let me be the first to guess the outcome. Youtube ban!!

[Rahul Shukla]

Pak contingent leader complains theft at CWG Village residence (TOI)

Muhammad Ali Shah said from Delhi that he had filed a complaint with the organisers that Rs 24,800 had been stolen from his room in the athletes' village.

Shah was earlier involved in a controversy at the Opening Ceremony of the Games when he carried the Pakistan flag to lead the team's parade instead of weightlifter Shuja Malik, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist.

[Lalmohan]

shah must have paid for a high class 'escort' who failed to deliver the goods
but then, he must be used to that being part of a government who specialises in that trick on a global stage...?

[Rahul Shukla]

India must open doors to Pak players in upcoming IPL auction: Akram (Sify)

Akram said, "With the IPL auction due early November, I am really keen to see Pakistan players this time around. Pakistan players add charm to the matches by sheer capability. Players like Umar Gul, Afridi and Saeed Ajmal can be assets for any team. Young quickie Mohammad Irfan is also an exciting T20 cricketer."

"More importantly, the IPL following will grow in Pakistan and fans will follow the league. They will also identify with the franchises and their players. That is why it is crucial to open the doors to Pakistan players. It will only improve ties between India and Pakistan," he added.

[Rahul Shukla]

Troubled History of Domestic Violence Legislation in Pakistan (Huffington Post)

For more than a year, Pakistan's Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill has languished in legislative limbo, awaiting political resuscitation. The National Assembly passed the bill on August 4, 2009, but the Senate failed to do so within the three months mandated by the Constitution, opting to let the bill lapse.

The bill would establish protection committees to supervise the provision of legal protections and guarantee medical care for victims of domestic violence. Further, it would increase the consequences for perpetrators by making the accused liable for the financial losses and damages inflicted on victims and their dependents as well as imposing harsher sentences on convicted offenders--with special sentencing guidelines regarding imprisonment and fines for repeat offenders. The bill also requires regular review of domestic violence legislation by the National Commission on the Status of Women.

The CII [Council of Islamic Ideology] did classify the bill as "discriminatory," pointing to the potential for its use by police as a justification for violating the "sanctity of the home," and further objected that the bill would increase divorce rates.

[Tamang]

Posted?

Pak clean chit: Minister says India never blocked water

Pakistan seems to have given India another chance to feel vindicated on a contentious issue. Pakistan water and power minister Raja Pervez Ashraf told the Pakistan National Assembly last Thursday that India had never blocked its share of water from rivers flowing from Kashmir, barring a brief period of one week in 2008.

Ashraf said India didn't have the capabilities to block the flow of Pakistan's share of water because it had only run-of-river projects over the Chenab and Sutlej, which New Delhi has reiterated whenever Pakistan raised the issue of blocking its water.

[Nandu]

BTW, what happened to all the dire predictions about millions dying from the after effects of teh flood, that Pakis used to milk money from the world?

[Lalmohan]

millions failed to die on queue (but TSPA might take care of that later)
however millions remain stranded and economically deprived (further)
longer terms effects may be more severe (whilst RAPE's return to fiddling)

[Amber G.]

Wrt to Gen Jones's departure today ..:"News blip :"Outgoing Security Advisor Jones Voices Concern on Pakistan")

I am going to take the optimistic view that rational people do rational things and that -- with the help of friends and allies and common goals -- Pakistan will avoid, or hopefully avoid, that unfortunate eventuality. But hope is not a strategy, so we have to be cognizant of the fact that there are things which could happen that could alter the relationship if we are not careful.

Hope Is Not a Strategy

[Amber G.]

Real problem is NOT pak terror but US travel alert ...How cruel of US to destabilize Pak...
US travel alert 'destabilizing Pakistan'

[shravan]

JUST IN: Miranshah: 5 people killed in two US Drone strikes in Dattakhel area.

[Nandu]

^^^ Amber G.. I found the original source (Wayne Madsen) for that article, but is just immensely stupid CT bs, and I think posting the link here would give him ten times more hit than normal, so no.