US President Barack Obama has reportedly asked his administration to "deliver a tough love message" to Pakistan over its reluctance to act against the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba havens bordering Afghanistan.
"The Obama side is calculating that Pakistan's military can deliver on subjects important to the US, but doesn't want to, while the civilian leadership in Pakistan wants to, but isn't able to," the magazine quoted a high-level official, as saying. (ANI)
Link to similar report in khaleej times.arjunm wrote:Angelina Jolie Not Happy With Her Visit to Pakistan
The Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Rajasthan Police has arrested three activists of terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and unearthed a LeT conspiracy of using Indian youth for Pakistan inspired terrorist activities in the country, an ATS Spokesman said here tonight.
The Spokesman said, in a statement, that certain Pakistani spy and/or terrorists lodged in jails in India worked on diktats from the Pakistan based LeT commanders and trapped some Indian jail inmates--lodged in jails with them, for participating in disruptive activities like bomb blasts, inciting communal violence, smuggling of fake currency, arms and narcotic and get free some Pakistani prisoners,--on directives from Pakistan based bosses.
Among such youth Babu alias Nishachandra Ali of Lalgarh-Bikaner, Arun Jain of Nagaur and Hafiz Abdul Majid--a Madarsa teacher of Jhabar (Jhalawar) were inducted in the terrorism while they were in jail and on release were sent to Pakistan for training.
The trio was taken into custody earlier this week at different places, for interrogation and subsequently they have been arrested.
Their case was still being investigated and processed further by the ATS officers here, the Spokesman said.
She is better of changing her diet !!Nandu wrote:arjunm wrote:Angelina Jolie Not Happy With Her Visit to Pakistan
So KLB bill = $7.5Babhishek_sharma wrote:US pledges $2 billion more to Pakistan after course correction
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 794604.cms
The $ 2 billion military package, which is in addition to the $ 7.5 billion civilian aid under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, and billions more in reimbursements, will have to pass muster with the Congress, where there are deep reservations about whether Pakistan is willing to make a course correction.
Our national begging bowl though carried in Mercedes limousines and handled by designer suits is ever present and slick.
Pakistanis must have the most resilient psyche in the world to deal with a collapsing economy, persistent terrorism, runaway prices, rising unemployment, absent healthcare, target killings, recurrent natural disasters and governmental and political antics that would shame a bad Hollywood movie.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?pa ... 2010_pg3_3We have perpetually looked outward for everything. Not just for praise and positive reinforcement but also disconnected Euro-Americans to point out our problems and give reprimanding solutions. Independence from the British occurred physically in 1947 but mental colonialism is alive and well. And from that same land Shakespeare’s line seems written for us: “The fault dear Brutus lies not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.”
The people of this country have elected this intellectually deficit lot, probably because of our own national embargo on rationality and reason
Proposing a resolution in the Punjab Assembly seeking to ban Indian cartoons on Pakistan’s airwaves, Ms Hayat is beginning to sink to a level lower than can be imagined. Apparently, the PML-Q MPA is of the opinion that the culturally potent nature of the cartoons will impact our children in unimaginably blasphemous ways. Pondering on the many debasements of a Hindu culture setting up shop in the impressionable minds of Pakistani children, Ms Hayat is eager to strip media programming of animation because it is somehow “far greater” than the devastation brought on by the recent floods and the cataclysmic earthquake of 2005
The cartoons in question are ones belonging to a mould of religious mythology, commonly broadcast all over the world targeting children aged anywhere between five and fifteen. Indian cartoons such as those depicting the Mahabharata and the Ramayana belong in the same league as, for example, the Judeo-Christian The Story Keeper series and the Buddhist comic strip series Rahula Leads the Way. All such caricatured attempts at feeding the ever-evolving child’s mind aim at one thing only: teaching the child the essence of good. All religions and all their mythological renditions profess only to teach the doctrines of love, struggle, faith and human goodness. The Mahabharata lays down some golden philosophical nuggets that transcend the petty limits that humans have blindly bestowed on themselves in the name of rejectionist ideologies. Using characters of allegorical standing, the tales carried in the Mahabharata speak of benevolent actions, intentions and righteousness (dharma), goals for life and fabled epics of yore. From where I see it, these are not exactly instructions in debauchery imparted to children who are today growing up in a society where the gun and jihad have become mascots in a macabre version of the desi Teletubbies. Instead of looking to wipe out such ideologies, more cultural and religious diversity ought to be introduced on the airwaves so that our children today understand the enrichment of cultural cultivation, where fables and folktales provide them with some sanity and sufferance, and the ethos of tolerance and human virtue. No bad can ever come out of learning about the essence of good, no matter which religious core it belongs to.
However, there are many like Ms Hayat who believe that such myths will amount to nothing except severing our children’s cultural jugular from the crescent on the green. If we allow the nation’s children to grow up in a world envisioned by Ms Hayat, we would have a youth of amplified proportions sitting on psychiatrist couches all over the country because the fathers of the land would be off making merry with four wives in tow.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?pa ... 2010_pg3_5I have a novel idea for Ms Hayat, one that might actually benefit the children she is so keen to protect. Seeing that the practice of attaining power through ill-gotten means is a lesson in vice that every child is taught to abhor, your fake degree is morally repugnant for our future generations. The fact that you attained a Bachelors degree in 2002 from a university that did not offer it until 2009 ought to serve as a lesson in the diversion of ethics for our children
Six soldiers have died in a roadside bomb in a part of north-west Pakistan where the military declared victory over Islamist insurgents this summer
That's nothing to laugh about. It is clear that Pakistanis have invented time travel. Learn from them you Kaffirs.The fact that you attained a Bachelors degree in 2002 from a university that did not offer it until 2009 ought to serve as a lesson in the diversion of ethics for our children
Take that you SDRE smelly kuffrs - see how our ministers look so well-to-do, TFTA and smartly dressed. And they also manage to conquer kufr wimmens easily in a matter of minutes while deftly balancing the begging bowl! 
So you've got dozens of Pakistani officials holding intensive meetings at the State Department all week, hammering out details on cooperation and trading views on points of contention. Then finally, at the end, everybody gathers in the Benjamin Franklin room at the State Department for some nice snacks, some friendly speeches, and a happy send off, right? Not this time.
There was no standard farewell reception for the Pakistani delegation after this week's Strategic Dialogue sessions at the State Department. Your humble Cable guy, who just adores the savory parmesan flan, carrot and apricot fritters with vanilla-apricot chutney, Argentinean pulled chicken, petite lamb burgers, samosas, and sesame-encrusted salmon that are sometimes served at Foggy Bottom, was personally disappointed that there would be no formal send off. Not to pour salt in the wound, but the Indians got a reception, didn't they?
So what happened? Well, as it turns out, both sides decided it just wasn't a great idea.
One State Department official told The Cable that Special Representative Richard Holbrooke had proposed a reception when planning the week's dialogue agenda but that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't approve the idea.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told The Cable that Clinton had a meeting she couldn't move that conflicted with the 4:00 PM reception time. He didn't specify what that meeting was, and it was not on her daily public schedule.
"The secretary ran into a scheduling conflict. We raised it with the Pakistanis. And there was a mutual agreement to cancel the reception," Crowley said.
The Pakistanis did not appear to be particularly perturbed by the cancellation. Our Pakistani sources said they were totally fine with skipping the reception, especially since Clinton wasn't going to be there. This way, Pakistani officials could board a 7 pm flight back to Islamabad and return to the mountain of work awaiting them there.
...
As with most aspects of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, the significance of this non-event is in the eye of the beholder. For some we talked to, this was a total non-story, just an example of another thing that didn't make it onto Clinton's ridiculously busy schedule. Others, however, saw it as a slight -- that Clinton didn't want to do the‘grip ‘n grin' with the Pakistanis and a signal that the Obama team wanted to drive home the message that they are unhappy with Islamabad's cooperation these days.
What's clear is that there was a lot of positive interaction this week between the U.S. and Pakistani governments, and that most actors on both sides genuinely want to see relations continue to improve. While President Obama delivered a direct message to top Pakistani officials Wednesday, calling on Pakistan to provide more help in fighting the Taliban, we're told by multiple officials that he couched his message in praise for the government's actions on other fronts and expressed genuine sympathy for the country's current flood predicament.
At the same time, there's an underlying tension on both sides of the relationship as differences on several specific issues pile up: The Obama administration doesn't know how to convince the Pakistani military to speed up its timeline for going after groups in North Waziristan, and the Pakistani military doesn't know why they should take on such a huge risk, especially if peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government are gaining momentum, and the United States is preparing to leave Afghanistan.
Some in the administration are also feeling some buyer's remorse after working hard to secure billions of dollars in aid for Pakistan, which they feel is not appreciated. But many Pakistani officials see the aid as ultimately too little to compensate for the cost of the decisions Washington is asking them to take and far too little to solve the core problems plaguing their country.
The Pakistani leadership still views its relationship with the United States as transactional -- based on short-term deal making, rather than long-term friendship. Of course, that's exactly what the Obama administration is trying to change with structures such as the Strategic Dialogue. But that effort still has a ways to go.
"The Pakistani point of view is, ‘exactly what's being invested in the long term?'" explained Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. He said that so little of the money from the Kerry-Lugar Pakistan aid bill has been delivered that the effect had been minimal.
Nawaz is concerned that, unless the Obama administration is able to resolve some of the pressing issues facing the U.S.-Pakistani relationship, there will be little desire for future meetings of this kind.
"The fact that [the Strategic Dialogue meetings] are still taking place is a very good thing," said Nawaz. "But unless there are some immediate results, I doubt it will go on. If it's seen like a futile endeavor, both sides are going to find ways to not be present at the highest level."
...
US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton did not respond to a question on Pakistan''s quest for a civil nuclear deal on the lines of India, thus clearly indicating that it is not on the radar of the Obama Administration, which has announced a series of civilian and military assistance to Pakistan during the US-Pak Strategic Dialogue.
Similarly, US State Department spokesman P J Crowley clarified for the second successive day that the US has no role to play in the Kashmir issue and both India and Pakistan has to resolve it bilaterally.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, however, asserted that he will not give up and continue to persist on these issues.
"Things we''ve tried in the past, it hasn''t worked.
That doesn''t mean we give up. We are persistent. And as they say: Perseverance commands success. So I am not giving up," Qureshi said at a joint-press conference with Clinton in the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department.
WASHINGTON: Pakistan has formally asked the US to consider grant of temporary protected status for its nationals currently living in the US without proper documentation in view of devastation caused by the floods in the country, Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Friday
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan needs to sensitise its security forces for responding to gender issues during conflicts and crises, both at home and abroad. Despite being the largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping force, Pakistan is one of the lowest contributors when it comes to female peacekeepers.
There are only 22 women peacekeepers among a force of over 10,000. The role of women in conflict resolution and their special needs during conflicts were discussed at a stakeholder consultation organised by the Jinnah Institute (JI) on Gender and Peacekeeping on October 22.
Given the deteriorating law and order situation in Pakistan, the JI said it saw it important for not only peacekeepers but all security personnel to undergo gender sensitisation training.
Representatives of civil society, the government, military and colleagues from Argentina discussed the successful experience of Argentina in sensitising its peacekeepers to gender issues and progress made in Pakistan on sensitising security forces.
JI President Sherry Rehman highlighted the need for sensitising peacekeepers and security forces to gender issues. Argentinean Defence Ministry Peacekeeping Director General Alejandro Salesi shared the Argentinean government’s experience with developing and implementing a gender policy. Participants noted that Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence does not have a gender policy and asked it to develop one.
Alice Shackleford, UNIFEM representative informed speakers that the UN had made a commitment to sensitising its peacekeepers on gender issues enabling them to respond more sensitively and innovatively to women’s issues in crises and conflicts.
Siraj Haqqani sheltering in Kurram, near area of US helicopter strikes
By Bill Roggio & Kaushik Kapisthalam
October 22, 2010
Two of the US helicopter cross-border helicopter strikes that took place last month in Pakistan's tribal agency of Kurram occurred in an area where Siraj Haqqani, the operational commander of the Haqqani Network, was sheltering. The Pakistani military and government's severe reaction to the US incursions in Kurram are attributed in part to concern that Siraj, a key asset, was close to being killed in the attack, US intelligence officials and a Pakistani official told The Long War Journal.
The helicopter strikes, which took place on Sept. 27, occurred near the village of Mata Sanger, after US forces pursued Haqqani Network fighters who attacked Combat Outpost Narizah on Khost province in Afghanistan.
The helicopter attacks sparked a major protest from the Pakistani military after two Frontier Corps soldiers were killed. In response, Pakistan closed NATO's supply lines through the Khyber Pass for more than a week as Taliban force saved convoys in Baluchistan and in the northwest, destroying more than 150 fuel and supply trucks.
It is now believed that Siraj Haqqani was in a safe house close to the scene of the helicopter strike. Siraj, the son of Mujahideen commander Jalaluddin, is said to have relocated to Kurram from Miramshah in North Waziristan after a family member was killed in a US Predator strike. Siraj's brother Mohammed was killed in a US strike in February, and a military commander named Saifullah Haqqani was killed in a strike in September.
Siraj and other "key guest mujahideen" recently left North Waziristan for Kurram, with the knowledge of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, a US official said. The move occurred sometime in September, officials believe.
Members of the Turi tribe, a Shia tribe in Kurram, as well as members of the Bangash tribe attempted to resist the influx of Haqqani Network fighters into areas run by rival tribes, and clashed with the Haqqanis. Also, the Turis were moving against a stronghold operated by Gulbudin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami faction in Spina Shaga.
The Pakistani media characterized these clashes as local sectarian fights over a water dispute, but US and Pakistani officials said this story cover to allow the Pakistani military to intervene on behalf of the Haqqanis and Hekmatyar, who are viewed as "good Taliban" as they do not fight the Pakistani state. In September and October, multiple reports of Pakistani helicopter gunships intervening in the "water dispute" were reported in the Pakistani media. The Pakistani military claimed more than 70 "militants" were killed in the strikes.
The Haqqani Network is now said to be "mediating" between the rival tribes. Khalil and Ibrahim, two sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani, have appeared in Peshawar and Islamabad, to "bring peace to the area," Dawn reported.
The Turis have battled the Taliban for years, and have fought them to a standstill [see BBC report, The Pakistani tribe that is taking on the Taliban, for more information on the Turis' struggles in Kurram]. The Turis has not received support from the Pakistani military.
Both the Taliban and the Haqqani Network have maintained a presence in Kurram for years. The tribal agency borders the Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia, and Nangarhar, and is an ideal launchpad for attacks into Afghanistan.
Fazl-e-Saeed Haqqani is the local commander for Haqqani Network fighters in Kurram. Hakeemullah Mehsud, the current leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Paksitan led Taliban forces in Kurram prior to his promotion in 2009. Mullah Toofan, who is considered to be a successor to Hakeemullah, currently leaders Taliban forces in Kurram.
Kurram is also thought to be a possible safe haven for al Qaeda's top leaders. Last week, a NATO official told CNN that Osama bin Laden was hiding in an area between Kurram and the northern district of Chitral in Pakistan's northwest. Bin Laden is said to be living comfortably and is being aided by members of the ISI.
The author is "Josh Rogin" which sounds like a clever variant of Rogan Joshabhishek_sharma wrote:What? No closing reception for the Pakistani delegation?
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts ... delegation
WASHINGTON: A Pakistani national, who entered the US on a student visa, has been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment for conspiring to help the Taliban and illegally possessing firearms, a Justice Department statement said.
Adnan Mirza, 33, who entered the US on a student visa to attend a local community college in 2005 and 2006, was convicted in May 2010 following a jury trial of all nine counts charged.
Beside the imprisonment, he was also been fined USD 1,000 for each of the nine counts of conviction by Senior District Judge in Houston Ewing Werlein yesterday.
As a foreign national with student visa, Mirza was not permitted by federal law to possess firearms while in the United States, the statement said.
An FBI undercover investigation found that Mirza and others intended to send funds to the Taliban and had engaged in weekend training and practice sessions with firearms to prepare for "jihad" on six different occasions beginning in May 2006 at a location on the north side of Houston.
Here, Steve Walt presents a good analysis of what will happenSSridhar wrote: It will be interesting to watch which of the several options that are available to the Pakistanis that it will use to delay acting in North Waziristan. In the worst case, it can always engineer another terror attack on India and make the border tense and use it as a reason to avoid action.
Karachi has become a favorite spot for war-weary militants from Pakistan's northern areas to rest, recoup, seek medical treatment, and hide out. They integrate easily into the city's sprawling Pashtun and Afghan slums that sit at the major entry and exit points of the city. According to a Taliban commander from South Waziristan, "We are more alert and cautious following the drone attacks, we understand that it is not a wise approach to concentrate in a large number in the war-torn areas." He says groups of 20 to 25 militants will fight for a few months and then "take leave" for a month in cities including Karachi. Mullah Omar has reportedly visited Karachi several times in recent months.
In an Urdu-language news report uploaded in August 2008, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Omar offers a chilling but clear picture of the group's reach in the southern port city:
"Karachi, praise be to God, is ours. There are mosques, madrassas, ulema, and talibs [religious students] there. We have a right to be in Karachi. Until now, the Taliban has not done anything in Karachi. We are there and we are strong, but there is no need [to attack] -- there are no Americans there, no Indians. But if the time comes, we will see who Karachi belongs to, the MQM or the Taliban."
Given, 15 years of temporary protected status for youBrad Goodman wrote:pakis wants unkil to give vijja to its terrorists
Pakistan seeks temporary protected status for its nationals in US
WASHINGTON: Pakistan has formally asked the US to consider grant of temporary protected status for its nationals currently living in the US without proper documentation in view of devastation caused by the floods in the country, Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Friday
shynee wrote:Paki gets 15 years in US jail for aiding Taliban {Paki's do believe they are Paki's}WASHINGTON: A Pakistani national, who entered the US on a student visa, has been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment for conspiring to help the Taliban and illegally possessing firearms, a Justice Department statement said.
Adnan Mirza, 33, who entered the US on a student visa to attend a local community college in 2005 and 2006, was convicted in May 2010 following a jury trial of all nine counts charged.
Beside the imprisonment, he was also been fined USD 1,000 for each of the nine counts of conviction by Senior District Judge in Houston Ewing Werlein yesterday.
As a foreign national with student visa, Mirza was not permitted by federal law to possess firearms while in the United States, the statement said.
An FBI undercover investigation found that Mirza and others intended to send funds to the Taliban and had engaged in weekend training and practice sessions with firearms to prepare for "jihad" on six different occasions beginning in May 2006 at a location on the north side of Houston.
Open page to view charts.Since 2004, the US has been conducting a covert program to target and kill al Qaeda and Taliban commanders based in Pakistan's lawless northwest. The program has targeted top al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda's external operations network, and Taliban leaders and fighters who threaten both the Afghan and Pakistani states.
The charts below look at the following: 1) the number of US airstrikes inside Pakistan per year; 2) civilian casualties vs. Taliban/al Qaeda casualties; 3) the distribution of strikes over time by tribal agencies; 4) the overall distribution of strikes, by tribal agencies; 5) the distribution of strikes over time by territories targeted; 6) the overall distribution of strikes, by territories targeted; and 7) the number of high value targets killed in territories managed by individual Taliban commanders.
I do not know if Gilani understood what he said. Obviously, if the Parliament and India are against talks, the PM cannot go against those wishes. May be he was speaking from the Pakistani way of doing things.Asked what had gone wrong in several recent meetings and talks between India and Pakistan, Gilani said he believed no breakthrough could be made because of domestic pressures faced by Singh.
"I think the Prime Minister (Singh) could not stand the pressure within Parliament and India," he said.
And on October 15th Pakistan’s beleaguered president suffered another assault. At a dramatic midnight conclave, the country’s Supreme Court judges gave credence to rumours that Mr Zardari planned to sack them and vowed to defy him. The judges, who have claimed great powers during Mr Zardari’s two-year rule, have been trying to reopen a money-laundering case against the president. His main opponent, Nawaz Sharif, a two-time former prime minister and supporter of the judges, piled in by calling for the government to fall.
Mr Zardari is plainly in trouble. A discredited figure, linked to the corruption that flourished under his murdered wife, Benazir Bhutto, he has never seemed fit to lead his crisis-ridden country. Even in the PPP, which accepted Mr Zardari as its leader in the panic-stricken wake of Ms Bhutto 2007 death, many despise him. And the generals are believed to consider him a corrupt and incompetent fool who should be banished.
and count it twice just to make sure...Vashishtha wrote: Pakis create new lows for themselves, they might just discover '-infinity someday'.XD
