talkpolitics | Entries tagged with pakistan

"A dangerous game that could have serious consequences for the regional peace and stability", the Pakistani foreign ministry reacted to India's decision to revoke the part of its Constitution that granted Kashmir a special autonomous status. The unprecedented move will probably reignite the local clashes and make things even worse between the two nuclear powers. This is about to become a new episode in the decades old conflict, and possibly grow into a regional crisis.

Jammu & Kashmir is the only region in India where Muslims are a majority. The revocation of Article 370 that has regulated the complicated relations in India for 7 decades, is obviously an attempt for a deeper integration of the region into the rest of the country. But Pakistan will surely not let this slide.

( Read more... )

luvdovz.livejournal.com

We've talked about this before, haven't we. When a score of people were killed and dozens more wounded in the Brussels attacks, everyone was Brussels (Je suis Bruxelles!). Now when three-score were killed and hundreds wounded by a Taliban attack in Lahore, Pakistan, where are the tears? Some diplomats and heads of state have sent mourning letters of sympathy, and that's about it. Where are the flowers and teddy bears at the Pakistani embassy, where are the Tweets, the Pakistani flag in all sorts of Photoshopped versions?

Is anyone heartbroken by the scenes of body parts piling, blood spilling on the Lahore streets, dead, burned and disemboweled bodies of Pakistani people? Is anyone "sending their thoughts out" to the families of the killed and the injured? Did you even pay attention to the news? Hey, did you even notice it on the news? And if you did, did you feel as sad and concerned as you did a few days ago with the Brussels attacks? Did you feel chills of horror as you were watching the footage (if at all)? Would you feel a bit sadder/angrier/more-concerned if I tell you that someone famous that you can relate to, like Malala Yousafzai, has expressed her devastation from the incident, and said that her heart goes out to the victims and their families? Does your heart go out to them now?

I know. You were all Brussels. But admit it - are you Lahore now?

airiefairie.livejournal.com

She says she does not hate the Taliban who shot her almost to death. She says that even if he stood in front of her right now and she had a gun in hand, she would not have shot at him in retaliation. This is the sort of mercy, forgiving and compassion that we learn from Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha, she argues. Indeed, strong words of reconciliation and dialogue coming from a fragile teenage girl. She pronounced them at the youth UN summit last year. And even though she was nominated even then, Malala Yousafzai had to wait for another year to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But when she finally was, it was well earned. Perhaps much more deserved than many of her predecessors.

( Read more... )

luvdovz.livejournal.com

This vid tells the story of Zbigniew Brzezinski's involvement in perfecting the doctrine of combating nationalism with religious fanaticism. It was none other but Brzezinski himself (along with Carter), one of Obama's mentors on foreign policy since day one, who initiated the strategy of importing Islamic fundamentalists from all around the world into Pakistan, arming them and training them, and then sending them over the Afghanistan border to fight the Soviets.

On a side note, indeed it's now known that Brzezinski and Carter had funded the Mujahideen half a year before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan (the first directive for granting secret aid to them was signed on July 3, 1979). The idea was to use the right-wing religious extremists against the leftist pro-Soviet regime in Kabul, which largely contributed to the Soviets taking the decision to intervene (December 24 the same year). Says Brzezinski himself,

( Read more... )

mahnmut.livejournal.com

Picture the following scene. A sunny October afternoon in 2012. The 68 year old Mamana Bibi is picking up vegetables at her family yard in a small village in the north-western corner of Pakistan. Suddenly a missile comes flying from the sky and tears the old woman into a smouldering heap of boiling blood and scattered body parts, just in front of the horrified eyes of her grandchildren.

A few months later, in July, some workers in a remote village are gathered in a tent for dinner after a long and tiresome day. The first missile comes in, killing all 8 of them, including a young boy. The next strike hits the people who have later come to help them, bringing the death tally to 18. Witnesses describe a shocking scene of panic, horror, blood and flying limbs and heads all around the place. While American drones keep circling in the sky above.

In another incident, at least 50 civilians get killed in follow-up strikes while trying to help victims of a previous drone attack. And another 20 are killed in deliberate strikes on funerals and mourners.

( The list could go on )

mahnmut.livejournal.com

It seems the UN is going after the controversial US drone program:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/01/un-drone-inquiry/

When you have the words "special rapporteur" and "human rights" in the same sentence, you might expect to hear about the human rights violations in China, or the arrests of journalists in Belarus, or some "disturbing" situation in Iran, Sudan, North Korea or East Timor. But when one of the unusual suspects (like the US) gets into the sight of the UN human rights council (no matter how much the US doesn't give a damn about the UN anyway), then this certainly can't go unnoticed.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8dNrdjZ7RNI/T9OrAYMl_qI/AAAAAAAADDU/QsihMPCO0ds/s1600/obama_drones1.jpg

Last week the British attorney Ben Emmerson was assigned the task of a thorough investigation of 25 drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Palestine. The purpose was to "look at possible evidence that in some cases of drone strikes or other forms of attacks, disproportionate collateral damage and civilian casualties had been caused". Since it's pretty clear that there indeed are civilian casualties in those cases, the investigation soon took the shape and tone of an indictment, primarily against the US actions in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, where the US has been doing "secret" bombings for years.

( Read more... )

underlankers.livejournal.com

http://thediplomat.com/2013/01/02/pakistans-new-nuclear-problem/?all=true

So nowadays Pakistan, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to revive the old tactical nuke concept of the Cold War, and showing that its problem is not the absence of balls (brains, yes, balls no) is using US plans for WWIII with the USSR to justify this. Leaving aside that the USA did not use tactical nuclear weapons (and for that matter that Pershings and the like were not tactical nuclear weapons, but strategic), the reality is that Pakistan is a huge, impoverished, unstable country riddled by religious fanaticism. It has already fought the only war in modern times where two nuclear powers went to war directly, not via proxy. Tactical nuclear weapons were considered a bad idea by the superpowers in an age when calmly planning out a war that could have only ended civilization in nuclear fire was all the rage.

Now the idea is once again being revived by a country which again has collapsed once, and is appealing to plans for the end of civilization as we know it as a justification. Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn how they're justifying it, I see only bad things coming out of this.

What say you?

nairiporter.livejournal.com

Her death caused a political crisis that still echoes today in Pakistani politics. Five years ago Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack, and even after all that time the truth about her assassination remains a mystery.

The perpetrators remain unknown. But there are countless conspiracy theories about the motives and factors behind the demise of Pakistan's most popular politician. She died after an election campaign event in Rawalpindi, and her assassination left a power vacuum in her country that remains gaping to this day, with no one to fill it.

http://power500.arabianbusiness.com/static/content/images/larger2/pakistan-turns-out-to-bury-former-first-lady-nusrat-bhutto-img-140862.jpg

( Read more )

ddstory.livejournal.com

This is Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl who's not afraid to raise her voice. A year or so ago mass protests in Pakistan met the news of bin Laden's death; the Taliban were called freedom fighters, and US flags were being burned everywhere. Today there are protests as big as those ones, but this time against the Taliban. And they're being called terrorists. The Pakistanis are used to terror attacks and all sorts of ugly assaults, but the brutal attempt for public execution of a young girl couldn't but put the final drop in their cup of patience.

( The incident, and its repercussions )

meus-ovatio.livejournal.com

( News! )

zebra24.livejournal.com

Haji Nasrullah Khan - was threatened by angry mob, after he refused to close his shops and join aggressive mob to blame western countries for freedom of speech.
At first mob attacked businessman's house then mob forced police to take him in custody:
now he is accused in Blasphemy with potential death penalty punishment, even though no evidence except accusation from Muslim extremists.
Haji Nasrullah Khan's family luckily escaped before mob attacked his home.
Pakistani police "took action" - victim is arrested, nobody else is.

I just wonder how long media will ignore the facts and blame "provocateurs" for what happened in Muslim world?
How long western world can ignore Muslim totalitarian ideology in Middle East?

Where is Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch voice in support for oppressed people in Muslim countries?
Seems like AI and HRW too busy trying to forbid weapon and nuclear energy.
And CNN and FOX are too busy trying to blame "provocateurs" to give a coverage for that event.

Where is UN security council meeting for that reason? Isn't it enough?
US ambassador killed in Libya, France now is closing schools and embassies in fear of massacre and what was the leaders reaction?
Seems like they are "too busy" to notice that.
Obama is to busy trying to to cast aspersions on Romney.

Seems like almost nobody in media have the guts now to blame Muslim extremists for violence.
But everybody in public is "brave" enough to blame "provocateurs".
They are too coward to say a word in defense of freedom of speech and in defense of people oppressed by Muslim extremists over the world.

chessdev.livejournal.com

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/23/11827022-pakistan-jails-doctor-who-helped-cia-find-osama-bin-laden?lite

Updated at 8:18 a.m. ET: PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- A Pakistani doctor accused of helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden was convicted of high treason and sentenced to 33 years in prison on Wednesday.

Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program for the American intelligence agency to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence at the compound in the town of Abbottabad, where he was killed last May by U.S. commandos.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has previously called for Afridi to be released, saying his work served Pakistani and American interests.

Afridi was also ordered to pay a fine of about $3,500, Nasir Khan, a government official in the Khyber tribal area, told The Associated Press. If he doesn't pay, he will spend another three and half years in prison, Khan said.

His imprisonment is likely to anger ally Washington at a sensitive time, with both sides engaged in difficult talks over re-opening NATO supply routes to U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials had hoped Pakistan, a recipient of billions of dollars in American aid, would release Afridi. He was detained after the unilateral operation which killed bin Laden and strained ties with Islamabad.

In January, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a television interview that Afridi and his team had been key in finding bin Laden, describing him as helpful and insisting the doctor had not committed treason or harmed Pakistan

[chessdev] WTF!?!? Allegedly these guys are our allies in the "War on Terror". And they sure are quick to accept billions of dollars in American aid, including after several earthquakes... BUT we find Bin Laden virtually down the street from their government AND they're going out of their way to punish people who helped get Bin Laden???

My first thought for balancing the budget would be to withdraw some of the aid we're giving that government -- if they're going to take our money and still try to screw us over, then let's give it to OUR causes and let *those* screw us over instead...

Or is there some rationale that isnt as sinister as I'm thinking for why they would sentence this guy so harshly?

sophia-sadek.livejournal.com

During my years in college I toyed with the idea of working for the CIA in order to spy on the organization for the benefit of the American public. It was a tempting mission, but I decided against it. Some of my friends pointed out how I would not fit in anyway. Since then many insider accounts of the plight of CIA employees has convinced me that I made the correct decision. There is something about an organization where you have to check your brain at the door that does not sit well with me.

In his memoir of his time working at State with the Afghan Muhajeddin, Peter Tomsen recounts many actions on the part of the CIA that he felt showed a poverty of judgment. One of the smaller ones was the desire for the CIA to send ISI (the Pakistani equivalent to the CIA) representatives on a mission to buy back stinger missiles from the Muj. Tomsen opposed the presence of the ISI people on the grounds that it would send the wrong message to the Afghanis. Tomsen says that the CIA replied that they would not include ISI personnel, but Tomsen could not confirm whether they followed his recommendation or not.

Tomsen includes quite a bit of material that ties ISI to terrorism in the Muslim quarters of Central and South Asia. Their initials could easily stand for Islamists Supplying Insurgents. (This game of renaming organizations has come up with gems such as Fuck-ups, Boneheads, and Incompetents.) The involvement of ISI in terrorism is probably why they were admired so much by people like Reagan and Bush.

In our school we held a discussion of why dummies thrive in organizations like the CIA. One of our students pointed out that the admissions requirements tend to deter intelligent people. It is as if you have to kowtow to the flag in order to get in the front door. One of our guys said it was like the Masonic entrance requirement to express belief in the material Creator. Those who know better are simply turned away from the git-go.

Could you see yourself working for an organization with as many publicly documented disasters as has the CIA?

luvdovz.livejournal.com

Apparently, despite the protests from the US, Pakistan has allowed the Chinese to inspect the remains of the helicopter which was used in the operation to kill Bin Laden. So what's China really looking for?

It's a slap in the face that the US won't forget, I bet. Pakistan, whose relations with America got strained to an extreme after the operation against Bin Laden, has allowed America's biggest rival to look at the UH-60 stealth Black Hawk which was used in the operation. At least that's what NYT and FT are claiming, despite the official denials by Pakistan. But we all know how much we can trust Pakistan, who also used to insist that they had no idea where Bin Laden was.

The desire of the Chinese to get their hands on every bit of US military technology is no secret. And Pakistan has stepped up their cooperation with the fastest developing and most powerful Asian country. China even finances the construction of a strategic port in Pakistan, which the Chinese are hoping to use in the future. We all know how empires are being built, right? First you start with trade, establishing trade outposts, then you build military bases to support it, then you start messing into countries' policies, etc. America knows it, China too. Add advanced technology to keep up with the arms race, and you've got the picture.

( Read more... )

luvdovz.livejournal.com

First, on-topic, a relevant cartoon:

( Cartoon behind cut )

We've chewed the topic about Bin Laden's killing too much, so I won't focus on that part. Instead, let's talk about Pakistan. The mystery about the secretive inhabitants of that house in the suburbs of Abottabad who were burning their trash in their yard instead of risking to bring it out on the street, is already unraveled. Now Pakistan finds itself in the uneasy situation to have to explain how come the most wanted man in the world lived for at least 4 years right under the nose of the powerful Pakistani military.

It's still not very clear what part of the US operation was coordinated with the Pakistani authorities, if any. Pakistan hurried to deny any connections with the killing and announced that they didn't learn about the mission until the US special services had left the Pakistani air space. However a number of international experts are saying that they doubt such an operation could be possible without the knowledge, and probably assistance from Pakistan. Several facts point to that - the Pakistani intelligence services took responsibility for interrogating the women and children in the house, while local troops were clearing out the remains from the broken US helicopter which had technical problems.

It seems though that the Pakistani intelligence services were being kept aside from the operation itself. But even if they had known about it, I doubt they'd want to be part of the whole thing, in order not to aggravate the pro-Taliban populace, and meanwhile they didn't want to look like they had been aiding Bin Laden's hiding. On the other hand, and I know this is just a speculation, but the suspicions that Pakistan still played some part are supported by the fact that the Pakistani government was among the first to congratulate the US after the success - which could be also interpreted as a diplomatic move.

( Double games, diplomacy and betrayals )

mahnmut.livejournal.com

OK, sorry for doubling on the Osama topic, but I guess this is gonna be chewed over and over for the next few days. So let's form something like a bandwagon here, buhaha.

First of all, I have to say this.

HE'S DEAD, JIM! WE KILLED HIM! AND THREW HIM IN THE SEA! AMERIKKAAAA!

No, I promise not to troll any more. Now seriously.

( Just a few thoughts I'd like to throw around )

( Speaking of Zawahiri... )

* credit to

policraticus for the title.

mijopo.livejournal.com

I haven't seen anyone post on this yet, so let's open the lines to discuss Raymond Davis who was arrested in Pakistan for allegedly shooting two men who were allegedly posing a threat of some sort to him and has turned out to be an employee of the CIA. (Guardian stories: link 1, link 2)

( The story so far ... )

There are a few interesting issues that arise here. Do / should diplomatic rules still apply when the diplomatic passport was issued under false pretenses? Does the US's willingness to break diplomatic rules on spying nullify otherwise agreed upon conventions? Does the NYT really have absolutely no shame at all? Can/should diplomatic immunity ever mean allowing to shoot people with impunity? (Not to say that that's necessarily what happened here) I've always felt the case for diplomatic immunity was a little weak, a matter of convenience for government that probably caused more problems than it ever solved or avoided, and it certainly should never mean blanket immunity from any sort of prosecution for all sorts of crime. This might just be a good example as to why.

sophia-sadek.livejournal.com

The NY Times this morning contains two thought-provoking articles on the conduct of US forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One of them deals with an increase by the CIA in the use of Reaper drones to attack Mujaheddin bases in Waziristan. The other reports on Robert Gates' meeting with Pakistani officials.

In the article on the CIA operations, an official denies any vengeance at work in the escalation. Given all of the literature published by and about CIA officers, the assertion opposes the Company's modus operandi. They are a vengeful agency in denial.

Robert Gates had some denial of his own in Pakistan. One Pakistani official tried to place all of the burden for the Mujaheddin presence in Pakistan on American shoulders. He correctly observed that the Americans drove the Muj out of Afghanistan into Pakistan. He incorrectly failed to recognize Pakistan's involvement in training and equipping them in the first place (along with support from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and America).

It seems that both the DoD and CIA are well mired in a large African water course.

Obligatory question: Do you believe the CIA when it professes to legal use of lethal force? Also, if they perform military operations, how can they be considered an "intelligence" organization?

underlankers.livejournal.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8301249.stm

Madam Secretary, the Pakistanis are already in the shits. Why do you think Bangaladesh happened? Pakistan has been the world's largest failed state, and unfortunately there's the matter of those pesky nukes to deal with, otherwise it and Afghanistan would be the Asian versions of Somalia (without any Somalilands to be a redeeming factor). Please do us all a favor and understand Pakistan is not going to be functional any time soon. You'll spare us the war that will be our death knell.

*shakes head.*

a-new-machine.livejournal.com

So, it seems Pakistan's potent opposition parties are unhappy with the conditions on American aid. Now they're talking about negotiating with the US over it. While I don't think it's likely, a defeat in Pakistan's parliament could spell overall defeat both for Obama's war efforts in Afghanistan, and peoples' willingness to put up with Afghanistan any longer. Is there a way to keep Pakistan happy and sovereign without adversely impacting our actual goals? I think we can all agree that money we spend there has to have a specific purpose if we're going to spend it all. Can we trust the government to fight the Taliban? Can we expect that, without US conditions on aid, they'll do so in a way that compliments our own efforts across the border?

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Talk politics.

A place to discuss politics without egomaniacal mods.

Entries tagged with pakistan

Kashmir will burn soon again

Êtes-vous Lahore?

Two perfect ambassadors of peace

From the Grand Chessboard to ISIS

Shock'n'awe from the sky

With no direction... or pilot

This can't end well at all:

Bhutto the enigma

The Taliban shot themselves in the leg... maybe

Small Town Hit By Surgical Strike US Military Confirms

Pakistani businessman's life in threat after he refused to join anti-western mob

Pakistan jails doctor who helped CIA find Osama bin Laden - 33 year sentence

Feeling the Pulse of the Intellectual Void

China's (in)visible ambitions

Best (un)friends

Perhaps the end of the beginning?*

Ray Davis, spy and murderer?

Reflections on Afghan war reporting

And they say I'm behind the times:

Will Pakistan revolt?

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May 2025

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