US agression and ‘Honorable existence’!

United States-led NATO forces killed 15 tribesmen, including women and children, in it’s first-ever ground attack inside Pakistani territory on Wednesday. The US forces landed by 3 choppers inside Pakistani village of Musa Neeke in South Waziristan Agency (SWA).  The soldiers started indiscriminate firing with their automatic assault rifles at the sleeping inmates and shot dead nine family members of Faujan Wazir, including four women, two children and three men. The troops also killed another villager, Faiz Mohammad Wazir, his wife and two of his other family members.

 

Prime Minister of Pakistan and President has strongly condemned the unprovoked and cowardly act while the Senate, National Assembly and NWFP provincial assembly passed unanimous resolutions condemning the killing of innocent civilians and demanded the suspension of logistic support to US forces in Afghanistan. “We reserve the right of self-defence and retaliation to protect our citizens and soldiers against any aggression,” remarked Maj Murad, an ISPR officer based in Rawalpindi.

 

Meanwhile, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani condemned the attack. “I have already raised the issue of repeated predator attacks by the coalition forces with the federal government,” the governor said, adding, “This is a direct assault on the sovereignty of Pakistan and the people expect that the armed forces of Pakistan would rise to defend the sovereignty of the country and give a befitting reply to all such attacks.” Such attacks, he added, hurt the pro-government and peaceful sentiments among the people of targeted areas.

 

Unfortunately, this is not the first attack on sovereignty of Pakistan, a key ally in war on terror, who has lost more troops since war began then the collective causalities suffered by US lead collation. Predator attacks by US lead forces were a common practice in Pervez Musharraff’s regime, which were mostly directed at innocent civilians. These unprovoked attacks on civilian population which have nothing to do with Taliban have badly hurt the pro-government sentiments in locals.

 

Continuous killing of innocent women and children by US lead forces serve no other purpose except breeding the sentiment of revenge in Tribal population. The family members of victim are later recruited as suicide bombers by US backed militants for attacks inside Pakistan. These suicide attackers have badly hurt the economy and investment climate in country. The foreign reserves are declining sharply and stock markets are heading nose down while foreign investment has come to a halt.

 

Not a single attack was directed at Baitullah Mehsud and his militants who are responsible for every suicide bombing inside Pakistan, despite the fact that Pakistani agenies provided details of his exect location to US lead collation, rather they are being facilitated by Kabul based US-India nexus. Ther previous dictatorial regime never raised a voice on this issue in fear of loosing US support. Not a surprise, the timing of this attack is when the presidential election is just two days away which will complete the democratic process. This is first ever land attack on Pakistani soil after newly elected government launched a full scale operation against US backed militant groups.

 

After presidential election, Pakistan seriously needs to re-consider her foreign policy and role in war against terror. US is encircling Pakistan from several fronts, through facilitating the militants by providing them local support against government and at the same time pushing her in to economic collapse with suicide attacks from Kabul based militants. If the present situation continues, there is going to be no alternate then a direct conflict, but by that time, Pakistan will loose too much in terms of economy and support of local population.

 

There is no reason for avoiding inevitable, if it’s going to be a direct conflict then let it be on your timing rather then playing on enemy ground and becoming a victim of delay. The newly elected government will have to choose from dying in installments and facing inevitable. In present situation war with Pakistan will be a costly bid for US, as she is not yet out of Iraq mess and her presidential elections are scheduled later this year.
 

At this point of time an immediate suspension of logistic support from Pakistan to US forces in Afghanistan might serve the purpose, leaving two enemies of Pakistan, Al-Qaida and US, to decide each others fate. Obviously, Pakistan will have to pay the price of such decision in economic terms; US will use every measure to hurt Pakistan’s trade and investment. This nation has survived the US sanctions and tough times before and is still capable of facing any challenge posed to our sovereignty. The only thing we need is a will of leadership to take tough decisions and protect our borders and innocent women and children.

 

After today’s cowardly attacks on Pakistani soil, government and armed forces have taken a serious note and all political parties have shown maturity by unanimously announcing support for government against any foreign aggression or internal conspiracies. If the newly elected President comes clear and asks the support of nation, there must be no doubt that people will stand with government facing any tough time ahead with courage. This seems to be only way for an honorable existence and is much better then humiliating attacks on our land and collecting dead bodies of our women and children.

The victory of ‘US lead war against terror’: over US judicial system and human rights

A United States court Thursday found American-educated Pakistani doctor Aafia Siddiqi guilty on charges to attack U.S army in Afghanistan as a member of Al-Qaeda, said a statement released from US court. This statement is a declaration of the first defeat of United States judicial system in so-called war on terror.  Although, many of the citizens of civilized world and United States might not consider it of any importance, as, this is a case of a lady from third world country, who is accused of being related to terrorists.

 

 

 

Dr. Afia Siddiqui, a PhD degree holder, was arrested by Pakistani intelligence agencies while on her way to the Rawalpindi airport and she was later handed over to the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). At the time of her arrest she was 30 years and accompanied by her three sons the oldest of which was four and the youngest only one month.

 

On December 30, 2003 Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, Dr. Afia’s elder sister met with Mr. Faisal Saleh Hayat (the then minister of interior) at Islamabad with Mr. Ejazul Haq, MNA, regarding the whereabouts of Dr. Afia. Mr. Faisal told Dr. Fowzia and Mr. Ejazul Haq that according to his information Dr. Afia Siddiqui had already been released by ISI and that she (Dr. Fowzia) should go home and wait for a phone call from her sister. Later, the Minister of interior confirmed her arrest on terrorism charges during his interview with a local weekly, “You will be astonished to know about the activities of Dr. Afia” the Minister claimed.

 

In 2004, Britain’s Lord Nazeer Ahmed, (of the House of Lords), asked questions in the House about the condition of Prisoner 650 in Bagram detention facility under US control, who, according to him is physically tortured and continuously raped by the officers at prison. Lord Nazeer has also submitted that Prisoner 650 has no separate toilet facilities and has to attend to her bathing and movements in full view of the other prisoners.

 

The detention of Dr. Afia was later confirmed by a Pakistani, Mr. Moazzam Begg (a former Guantanamo Bay detainee), who was arrested from Islamabad by ISI and later handed over to FBI. He recounted his experience during his detention in Bagram, Afghanistan including the details about the treatment of Dr. Afia and her childern in his book ‘Enemy Combatant’ , after his release in year 2005, when he was found innocent, after several years of torture and illegal detention by US forces.

 

After reading Mr. Begg’s book, a British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, decided to find further details about the ’Prisoner 650’ and visited Bagram and later called for help in a press conference on July 6, 2008, for a Pakistani woman. “I call her the ‘grey lady’ because she is almost a ghost, a specter whose cries and screams continues to haunt those who heard her,” Ms Ridley said at a press conference in Pakistan, which leads to the country wide protests against United States.

 

Several online petitions were signed (much earlier before date of  her alledged arrest in Afghanistan) by thousands of concerned Pakistan’s and International Human Rights Organizations, and sent to US and UNO officials demanding the release of Dr. Afia from US custody, months before  when US forces announced her arrest in Afghanistan on July 17th 2008 .  ”Siddiqui, 36, was arrested outside the governor’s office inAfghanistan’s Ghazni province on July 17, 2008 after police searched her handbag and found documents on making explosives, excerpts from the book “Anarchist’s Arsenal” and descriptions of New York City landmarks, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

 

Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan, President of Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, one of the leading intellectuals and human rights defenders in Asia, a nominee for UN award for Human Rights and recipient of Asian Human Rights award, declared Dr. Afia Siddiqui’s case as “a test for US judicial system” on his return from US after attending the proceedings against her in the US court.

 

However, the US judicial system, failed the test against the expectations of Human Rights defenders and plethora of evidence for her innocence.  Against the plea of Dr. Afia’s council, “We do know she was at Bagram for a long time. It was a long time. According to my client she was there for years and she was held in American custody; her treatment was horrendous”. The court charged a weak and badly wounded lady, to face trial for assault on highly trained and strong male US marines, while trying to snatch their weapons.

 

“What a mockery that after five years’ detention Afia is suddenly discovered in Afghanistan,” said Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, the missing woman’s younger sister, at a press conference in Karachi. While her minor children are still in illegal custody of US forces in Afghanistan, as per the recent admission of US authorities, one might wonder, why a terrorist lady planning an attack on US forces on foreign land was accompanied by her minor children, but certainly, it’s not important for a court working on principle of national security rather then rule of law.

 

Based on few of the facts of Afia’s case stated above (not all in the particular case), any person of average understanding will reach the conclusion that she is a victim of ‘state apparatus’, not a terrorist. Despite her illegal detention for several years, not a single piece of evidence was brought against her connecting her to any terrorist activity. However, only on immense international pressure by media and Human Rights organizations, she was produced before a court. The crime of her illegal detention is being covered with a concocted story and US court has provided an escape to the criminals, who illegally detained and tortured her for six long years

 

If we look in to history of third world states which are facing poverty, higher crime rates and terrorism, we will find that at some stage in past, the ‘state’ become victorious over judicial system, leading in to a process of judicial degeneration and social destruction. Similar, to the case of Pakistan, since we went under dictatorship; our judicial system was sacrificed for ‘broader national interests’ to state apparatus.

 

This is the first victory of ‘US lead war against terror’ over US judicial system and human rights. The defeat of helpless and weak lady who is a victim of cruelty of Pakistani and US agencies will open doors for further sacrifice of US judicial system over ‘national interests’, leading the world military and economic might to the path of self destruction. Similar, to what we did, back in history by making our judicial system a slave to powerful agencies. But, a simple difference is that while we are working to achieve the ‘rule of law’ the people of United States have just entered in process of ‘judicial degeneration’. We, the people of nations oppressed by US backed dictators, sympathetically, welcome the people of US, a champion of human rights and rule of law, to join the club of nations where judiciary is overpowered for ‘national interests’ by state and agencies.

Pakistan: A Revolution, A civil War or a United States Sponsored Terrorism?

A perception is systematically being spread in West about Pakistan being a nursery for terrorists and with the recent unrest in Tribal regions of Pakistan, the western media has started a campaign to prove that a ‘civil war’ is going on in Pakistan and some have gone to the extent that Pakistan is going to fall in to hands of extremists just like Iran, in an Islamic revolution and her Nuclear weapons can go in to hands of terrorist, quite understandable, as this very fear was created and nourished by former dictator Pervez Musharraff to get western support for his illegitimate rule that if he steps down, the militants would take over and George Bush administration which wanted to keep Americans in a constant state of ‘fear’ marketed the idea to international community for its so called war on terror. “The main objective of the Islamophobes, particularly in the US media, academia and politics was pitting Muslims against each other. It was promoted in the name of a “war within Islam.” Soon after 9/11 the calls for a “war within Islam” intensified. Pakistan was the high value target long before the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, but undermining the Soviet Union was a priority. Focus shifted to Islam and Pakistan after the Soviet withdrawal. Taliban became the perfect scapegoat. Instead of helping the Taliban to correct their approach and ways to living by Islam, Muslims fully participated in demonising the Taliban. Operation 9/11 was planned. A war on Afghanistan was planned even before that. The country was invaded and occupied not just for the sake of occupying Afghanistan but for encircling the cooperating Pakistan as well. Write Abid Ullah Jan a researcher and Author of famous book, “The Musharraff Factor: Leading Pakistan to its inevitable demise”.

Weather it’s a civil war, an Islamist revolution or a “United States sponsored terrorism for oil” and part of plan of Neo-conservatives and American oil giants who want an access to energy rich Central Asia and want to use Afghanistan, NWFP and Baluchistan region till Indian ocean as a route for their energy supplies. American CIA with the help of Pakistani dictator General Zia ul Haq and Pakistani intelligence service ISI successfully turned Soviet-Afghan war in to Jihad or a ‘holy war”, the students from religious schools around the world were recruited with help of Muslim clerics by CIA and sent to tribal regions of Pakistan where they were trained by ISI and armed with sophisticated Americans weapons before sending them to join the ‘holy war’ in Afghanistan. In 1986, the Soviets troops were forced to withdraw from many areas because of heavy casualties and finally, under heavy international pressure managed by USA and huge losses in the battlefield, Soviet Union withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan in 1988.

After withdrawal of Soviet troops, the President Najibullah was unable to resist the warrior groups for long and his shaky government finally tumbled to warlords. Around 1.5 million Afghans were killed, six million were forced to leave their homes to neighboring countries majorly Pakistan who hosted more then 3 million refugees, and the country’s infrastructure was badly damaged. The US, which was the main supporter of the so-called Mujahidin’s, had its aim achieved; its main rival, the Soviet Union was defeated and plunged into a process of disintegration. The US no longer needed those who were fighting for an Islamic cause, General Ziaul Haq’s plane mysteriously burst in air killing the entire team of top generals who played a key role in Afghan resistance against Soviet Union. Most Arab governments, directed by the US, also stopped helping the Mujahideen and wanted their citizens who fought in Afghanistan to go back home. Abdullah Azzam, who brought the Arab fighters to Afghanistan, was assassinated in a bombing, and Osama bin Laden who was sourcing arms for Mujahidin from international black market as a CIA middleman was put on the “most-wanted” list by the Saudi government.
The Afghan warlords, who were previously one united army on US payroll, were then divided into several groups as struggle for power started pushing Afghanistan in to a civil war, This was the time when Pakistani intelligence service ISI which has contributed a lot in terms of man power and resources in Soviet defeat and has deep strategic interests in region organized Taliban or students of religious schools who drive away the warlords in matter of no time. The Pakistan’s military establishment planned to install a ‘friendly’ government in landlocked Afghanistan which is heavily dependent on Pakistan for trade and food, in order to use it as a trade route to energy rich Central Asia. Benazir Bhutto’s government was swift to recognize the Taliban government and her foreign minister termed Taliban as ‘apney bachy’ meaning ‘our own kids. This enraged US whose intrestes were better served by an Afghanistan ruled by war lords, CIA and US oil companies have hailed the Caspian and Central Asia as a potential alternative to dependence on oil from the unstable Persian Gulf region, employed Osama Bin Laden who not only hijacked Taliban movement but also played a major role in downfall and dismissal of Benazir’s government after which she could never regain the trust of the west.
United States started negotiating Afghanistan pipeline route with Taliban government which was pushed by the US-based Unocal oil company from Turkmenistan across western Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean, and was engaged in intensive negotiations with the Taliban regime. However, once so called ‘our own kids’ proved to be tough negotiators and talks ended in disarray, the Clinton administration demanded handover of Osama Bin Laden who seek shelter in Afghanistan as a ‘guest’ of Taliban government as allegedly he played a role in bombing of US embassy in Tanzania and on Taliban’s refusal launched cruise missile attacks on alleged bin Laden training camps in eastern Afghanistan. According to a report in the Washington Post, the Clinton administration and Nawaz Sharif, then prime minister of Pakistan, agreed on a joint covert operation to kill Osama bin Laden in 1999. The US would supply satellite intelligence, air support and financing, while Pakistan supplied the Pashtu-speaking commandos who would penetrate southern Afghanistan and carry out the actual killing. The attack was aborted on October 12, 1999, when Sharif was overthrown in a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf, who halted the proposed covert operation.

After disgraceful removal of Bill Clinton and the installation of George Bush in the White House, the talks with Taliban continued, Bin Laden, the Forbidden Truth, written by Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, the two French authors write that the Bush administration was willing to accept the Taliban regime, despite the charges of sponsoring terrorism, if it cooperated with plans for the development of the oil resources of Central Asia. The failure of these negotiations shifted the focus of American Neo-conservative policy in Afghanistan to preparing for a full scale military intervention directed at the Taliban regime as a whole and introduction of ‘state sponsored terrorism in Pakistan, Cline and Alexander suggested a definition of state sponsored terrorism: The deliberate employment of violence or the threat of use of violence by sovereign states (or sub-national groups encouraged or assisted by sovereign states) to attain strategic and political objectives by acts in violation of law. These criminal acts are intended to create overwhelming fear in a target population larger than the civilian or military victims attached or threatened.

According to Boaz Ganor, of ICT ‘for many years, terrorism was perceived as a contest between two sides: on the one hand, a group of people or an organization, and on the other, a sovereign state. However, during the course of the second half of the twentieth century, various countries began to use, and indeed have expanded their use of terrorist organizations to promote state interests in the international domain. Instead of the “weapon of the weak” - minority groups, liberation movements, and revolutionary organizations - terrorism has become a tool of states and even of superpowers. In some cases, states established “puppet” terrorist organizations, whose purpose was to act on behalf of the sponsoring state, to further the interests of the state, and to represent its positions in domestic or regional fronts. In other cases, states sponsored or supported existing organizations, thereby creating mutually profitable connections. In order to understand more clearly who is behind the acts of violence in Pakistan and what goals they want to achieve we would have to look in to chain of events followed by the failure of US-Taliban talks for pipeline. Surprisingly that dozens of so-called Islamic fundamentalists, many with known ties to Osama bin Laden, were able to carry out a wide-ranging conspiracy on three continents, targeting the most prominent symbols of American power ‘the Twin Towers’, on September 11, 2001, without any US intelligence agency having the slightest idea of what they were doing which gave US an excuse to invade Afghanistan.

The major problem in exploiting the energy resources of Central Asia is how to get the oil and gas from the landlocked region to the world markets. CIA opposes using either the Russian pipeline system or the land route, across Iran to the Persian Gulf, while the most feasible and relevant to the so-called war on terror, south from Turkmenistan across western Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian Ocean. The only way to achieve this goal is by installing a puppet government in Afghanistan along with control over NWFP region of Pakistan, disintegration of Pakistan resulting in to an autonomous Baluchistan. The hidden plan of Bush-Musharraff for Pakistan came in to light when the ‘Rand Corporation’ published a future map of Pakistan which included NWFP as a part of Afghanistan, Sindh as a autonomous state and Baluchistan shown as a part of Iranian Baluchistan as an autonomous region, the greater US plan for control over energy resources of Central Asia and a safe transit rout till Indian gulf s a part of “New Asia” plan of Neoconservatives which can only be achieved with disintegration of Pakistan and possession of her nuclear weapons in wake of fear of these weapons going in to hands of extremists followed by an Iranian invasion by US. The state sponsored terrorism became a tool to bring Pakistan to its knees by breeding militant groups sponsored by India-US alliance and at the same time to cultivate a public hatred towards Pakistan army by providing full support to a military dictator and involving armed force in to government affairs to take blames for a dictator’s decisions.

There is a wide perception that Musharraff gave up on ‘one phone call’ and supported the so called ‘war on terror’ which does not seems to be true, the very installation of Musharraff in Islamabad was part of plan for American invasion of Afghanistan, he was supposed to face a trial for his ‘military misadventure’ in Kargil when Bill Clinton administration offered Nazaw Sharif a cover up for Kargil and in return demanded assassination of Osama, a long time friend and supporter of Nawaz, this was a claver move as Clinton administration would get rid of two key operatives of Neo-cons, an army Chief in Islamabad and Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, however with fall down of Nawaz Sharif government in a ‘quo’ by Musharraff, the Neo-cons were able to protect both of their allies and key partners for future oil plan. On October 17, 1999, Musharraf told the nation: “Our aims and objectives shall be: No. 1- rebuild national confidence and morale; No. 2 - strengthen federation, remove inter-provincial disharmony and restore national cohesion; No. 3 - revive [the] economy and restore investors’ confidence; No. 4 - ensure law and order and dispense speedy justice; No. 5 - depoliticize state institutions; No. 6 - devolution of power to the grassroots level; and lastly, No. 7 - ensure swift … accountability.

Once Musharraf was in power many secular and nationalist politicians were disqualified for much less, including not having a higher education and through controversial NAB many were forced out of politics. Banned groups were allowed to continue working under new identities with the same leadership, Baitullah Mehsud, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee came back to Pakistan and started recruiting ‘Mujahedeen’ with American funds and agencies were not allowed to take action against him despite the fact that ISI has very strong presence in Tribal Areas. To fuel the sentiments of unemployed Baluch youth the elderly Baluch Tribal Chief who was demanding arrest and trial of a Pakistan army captain, a relative of Pervez Musharraff, involved in rape of a lady doctor, was assassinated because of personal rivalry by dictator pushing the entire province on mercy of Indo-American financed ‘separatists’, in NWFP several groups of so called Pakistani Taliban pop up and started implementing their own version of Islam but no action was taken against them until they become strong enough to challenge the security forces. Obviously, there can be no war on terror unless there are terrorists, and the Bush-Musharraff plan was to breed terrorists to give legitimacy to war on terror. Despite the late and half hearted military actions which majorly caused civilian causalities rather then damaging terrorists, the promised US aid for development of Tribal region which included building infrastructure, creating employment opportunities for locals and giving the products of areas a free access in international markets never materialized resulting in a broader local support for terrorists. At the same time terrorists became a symbol of justice and peace by taking over the administrative powers from corrupt administrators appointed as a favor by the dictator. As a result the tribal regions of Pakistan became a sanctuary for Afghan and local terrorists in disguise of Taliban giving a valid excuse to US to launch attacks inside Pakistan on pretext that these groups were involved in cross border attacks on US forces. Surprisingly most of these attacks were directed on civilian population resulting in a sentiment of revenge against government in locals rather then causing any substantial damage to terrorist hideouts. The Osama Bin laden is not access able by US even with the most sophisticated technology and more then a decade’s war although one of his tape surfaces when Bush was near to loose second term elections or Musharraff was being impeached, to develop a favorable public opinion for the both Many people inside military and civil establishment including the retired generals started asking if Musharraf was really putting the final nail in the coffin of a nation.

He used excessive force in Baluchistan to solve a political problem in return of valid demands of Baluchistan nationalist parties over natural resources, unemployment in Baluch youth and extreme poverty as compared to other provinces and thousands of political activists were arrested commonly referred as ‘missing Pakistani’s, apart from those were handed over to US as “Al-Qaida” operatives and later proved to be innocent and an international embracement for US. He removed the Chief Justice who was hearing the cases of “Missing Pakistanis” presently detained by US in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay and later sacked majority of superior judiciary snatching away the last hope for justice from people in order to push the country in to a civil war. However he never forgot to patronize the ethnic and religious armed groups and successfully assembled a ‘collation of religious extremists’ who formed their governments in 3 out of 4 provinces. The Neo-Con backed Bush-Musharraff collation’s primary goal was to create political turmoil, sectarian violence, religious rivalry, and an atmosphere of fear and terror and alienate public from government, and most importantly to show the failure of state institutions to establish proper stability and security. The assassination of Bhutto is also a part of US agenda with two aims; first to weaken the democratic and secular forces which will strengthen the US backed extremists and secondly to accelerate the distrust in provinces and various ethnic groups to weaken the federation.

It is not hard to understand who is behind this these terrorist groups, Pakistan posses irrefutable evidence that the growth of militancy in Fata and insurgency in Baluchistan together with suicide bombings in Pakistan are the handiwork of a India-US nexus based in Kabul which is indulging in dirty tricks to destabilize Pakistan politically and cause economic deathblow to Pakistan so that its nuclear assets could be possessed along with causing a disintegration which suits the US oil plan for ‘New Asia’. “There are reports of presence of highly encrypted communications gear with Mehsud. This communication gear enables him to collect real-time information on Pakistani troop movements from an unidentified foreign source without being intercepted by Pakistani intelligence” Pakistani officials claim. The forces behind the terrorists operating in Pakistan can also be identified by the “Asia 2025“, a study conducted by the US under secretary of defence (policy), and distributed in limited circles, these documents show that US defence planners are shifting their focus from Europe to Asia where they would wish to contain the threat of an Islamist Pakistan and an economically-resurgent China.

There are several training camps being run by Indian intelligence agency ‘RAW’ in US occupied Afghanistan to train the militant groups involved in Baluchistan and US is harboring an extremist group ‘Jind Allah’ which is involved in terrorist activities inside Iran and uses Baluchistan border areas to enter Iran, these both groups coordinate and support each others activities, the recent suicide bombing in Pakistan are widely believed to be work of ‘BLA’ and Mehsud, both of them backed and hosted by Indian intelligence and being armed by Northern Alliance from Afghanistan. Recently the CIA official were questioned by high level Pakistani officials why the CIA-run predator and the US military did not swing into action when they were provided the exact location of Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan’s enemy number one and the mastermind of almost every suicide operation against the Pakistan Army and the ISI since June 2006. Admiral Mullen and Kappes were both provided information about the activities of the Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad and were asked “We wanted to know when our American friends would get interested in tracking down the terrorists responsible for hundreds of suicide bombings in Pakistan and those playing havoc with our natural resources in Baluchistan while sitting in Kabul and Delhi,”, an official described the change in Pakistani mood after the newly elected government came in to power, during the July 12 meetings. Pakistani intelligence service ISI was accused to be responsible for recent bombing in of Indian embassy in Kabul and Bush conveyed his concern to the newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister on his visit to Washington, conveniently ignoring the role of India and US in promoting terrorism inside Pakistan. India has a history of making such accusations and most of the time its own agency ‘RAW’ was staging such bombing similar to attack on Indian parliament. However involvement of ISI is not out of question as both agencies have a history of involvement in such acts on each others lands and it must not be a surprise when Indian-US backed terrorists are carrying similar acts inside Pakistan on daily basis killing innocent civilians and targeting security forces.
Conflict of interests is widening in US and Pakistan and establishment has come to a realization that it have to choose either Pakistan or US interests in the region, same thinking prevailed when in last elections Army refused to act upon the Musharraff plan of rigging elections and when Musharraff was being impeached establishment stayed neutral, the full scale military operation against militants began in tribal areas immediately after the new government came in to power resulting in displacement of more the 200,000 people but the world community and US, a champion of ‘war on terror’ never bothered to come forward to help these civilians rather a dirty campaign has been started against politicians through ‘CIA’ leaks. The expected victory of Barak Obama will also cause certain damage to Neo-Con agenda but would not create a major shift in long term US policies. There seems to be no visible end in US backed “state terrorism’ inside Pakistan in near future.

To what extent newly elected democratic government in Pakistan succeeds in developing counter terrorism measures against ‘US’ backed state terrorism in Pakistan is a question only coming time can answer but will certainly require a complete reversal of Musharraff’s policies, a crack down on extremists and terrorist groups and most required shift in foreign policy which can ensure less reliance on US while strengthening ties with China. However it would not be possible if there is lack of coordination between institutions. Visibly, Asif Ali Zardari is going to win the next presidential elections, he is very well aware of force behind assassination of Benazir Bhutto, in case he can stay away from practices associated with him in last Bhutto regime, and is willing to counter the conspiracy against Pakistan, he will require support and reconciliation with major opposition party PMLN and Nawaz Sharif as to achieve smooth working conditions for his government and Nawaz Sharif has expressed his willingness in case Zardari comes clean in national interest, similarly Justice Iftakhar Muhammad Chaudhry and judiciary sacked by Musharraff would be his natural allies in democratic process to ensure the impartial judicial system, General Ishfaq Pervez Kiani is a professional solider and his commitment of keeping army away from politics is unambiguous, he has shown his willingness to give political system a chance and stay impartial. If such coordination develops in all four major players in Pakistani establishment, it would not be difficult to face the terrorism and international conspiracies. However, if it happens, it will be a surprise in our history and a new experience, the main responsibility rests on politicians to show maturity and support and strengthen the national institutions to face the challenges.

LIVING WITH CORRUPTION

Corruption and governance goes together in developing countries, especially the third world where democratic process is influenced by bloodline, money politics, feudalism, intervention of imperialist powers through military and religious exploitations. The process becomes more painful when the society is trying to develop from under develop, while profiled as ‘high risk investment zones’ these countries need investment for development, the clever investor who is aware of this fact bargains for softer terms and governments are unable to deny, the rules are relaxed and projects vital for survival of society are given to these investors, an example of this is can be the IPP’s in past Benazir Bhutto’s regime in Pakistan which was widely criticized at that time but proved to be a lifeline for Pakistan’s industry in following decade.

It’s always not a national interest which forces the governments to relax the rules, once relaxed in broader national interests, these rules become a tool for corruption and personal benefits, the prime examples are Pakistan’s defense agreements, where an Air Force Chief got kick backs of Billion of $ and many politicians like Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif multiplied their holdings, Shaukat Azaiz sold the national institutions for personal gains and was forced to stop from handing over Pakistan Steel and a PIA owned hotel in New York by Supreme Court and Pakistan Senate respectively, the father in law of former dictator Pervez Musharraff's son got the contract of elevated Rail track in Karachi for five times higher bid from national exchequer then the Chinese company offered and that too on soft loan basis.

That’s not the end, the country I am living presently was a model of development for decades in developing world, one weekend while I was on a pleasure ride of motorbike with my Canadian friend to a resort hill nearby our housing, we were surprised that a few kilometers bridge on ocean existed just behind our houses to connect the mainland with an Island, standing on top of hill and surrounded by beautiful clouds watching the beautiful bridge, we asked a local about that bridge and answer was “It’s bridge to no where”, to our utter surprise, the contract of that bridge was given to oblige somebody, the second most surprising project I cam across was a ‘Slaughter House” built by public funds and capable of slaughtering entire population of animals in country in a single year, obviously it didn’t operated a single day from its installation.

The situation reminds me of a quote and policy statement of most respected former Prime Minister in Muslim world who turned his country in to a model of development “Let the cake grow and everyone have a bite”. There were a lots of failed projects awarded in his regime on political and personal grounds while the rules were being relaxed to achieve development and in the same time there was huge development in infrastructure and industrialization, the end result is the most developed nation in Muslaim world, not a bad achievement.

I always wonder, is corruption, incompetence, personal gains a valid reason for toppling the democratic governments by equally corrupt military dictators in uniforms? The answer can be obtained from developed world, President Bush, while accomplishing the “Neo Con” agenda, pushed United States of America in to two unwanted and undesirable wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which were initiated on false facts and have proven a disaster for economy and military of the worlds strongest economic and military power, they are facing a shameful defeat on military front and their economy is heading nose down, but surprisingly inside the military ranks of the biggest supporter of dictatorship in world, no general took over in wake of stupid decisions of a ‘cow boy president’. There are undeniable proofs of politicians and oil companies owned by the President and Vice President getting benefits from this war and many defense contracts being awarded as political favor to sponsor corporations of politicians, but still a chance is being given to the political system to refine itself by American public.

We a source less and helpless nation at time of independence in 1947 were subjected to dictatorship by General Iskindar Mirza, who was a great grand son of the notorious traitor Mir Jafar and subsequently were victims of Ayub, Yahya, Ziaul Haq and Musharraff on the sole ground of incompetence and corruption of political leaders and most of times these corruption and incompetence allegations were a result of agencies propaganda and part of plan of imperialist powers.

Considering such military intervention as a valid ground, there should have been several military intervention inside the biggest champion of democracy USA itself, but unfortunately this always happens in the third world countries where imperialism have its interests and these interests demand a ‘one man show’, as dealing with a one weak man in uniform is easier for imperialism then dealing with politicians who at some stage have to think about public opinion.

When we look around in free media, cyberspace and blogging, a great deal of ‘organized character assassination’ campaign against the political leadership is being systematically carried which can be divided in to two categories, one comprising of people who are frustrated with the status quo and want an ideal political leadership ignoring the fact that politics in Pakistan is not only influenced by military and civil establishment but also by international imperialist force which have deep interests in our policies. The second group is working to further the interests of ‘hidden hand’ or commonly reffered as agencies which have been involved in making and breaking political parties and promoting and demoting politicians on behest of military establishment.

The character assassination campaign against Asif Ali Zardari, declaring him of unsound mind, possessing fake certificates and associating him with corruption is a prime example of these two groups activities, lets us suppose these all allegations are true and he is really an evil, that, its vital to stop him from being elected as president, what course can be adopted for the purpose when the majority of Pakistani’s, weather uneducated or intellectuals has given his party a mandate and majority, should we deny the right of representation to majority, if so, the only way left is to seek help from establishment and welcome another military dictatorship once again, as the so-called campaigners against him do not have majority inside parliament.

As regards the allegations against him, apart from his imprisonment for eight years without a single charged being proved against him and admission of former chairman of NAB Mr. Saifu Rehman that corruption cases against Zardari were fabricated by him on directions of Nawaz Sharif and are false and the controversial NRO, the ‘people’s court’ has declared him 'not guilty' by voting for his party which has unanimously adopted him as a leader, we have no right to deny the majority decision otherwise we are negating the basic principal of ‘majority rule’.

On the other side, were all military dictators saints and have not been involved in corruption, political favors and weakening political parties, the answer comes from the latest studies which show that every general in Pakistan owns assets of US $500 million at time of retirement, this is a conservative estimate and does not include the foreign accounts and kick backs received by generals under proxy names, the wealth acquired by former dictators has never been accounted by our establishment but apparently the assets of Gohar Ayub, Ijaz ul Haq and Bilal Musharraff are several times higher then collective assets of all politicians in Pakistan and that too range from sale of “Missing Pakistani’s”, Dr. Afia Siddiqi and their mega corruptions in defense deals beside selling national assets on through away price for kick backs. So, what difference it makes, having a corrupt dictator in chair who is not answerable to anybody unlike politicians who are ultimately judged by public.

Although every nation and society deserves to be ruled by a transparent and honest leadership but there can be certain exemptions, even corrupt and incompetent political leadership opens doors for better a ‘better choice’ in future and must be given a chance in third world democratic process, the system and awareness in people will ultimately replace the corrupt and incompetent with more transparent and capable leadership. The same process through which the ‘Champion of democracy’ and biggest violator of it, went through in 200 years.

Obviously we the Pakistani’s deserve better, we have some of the finest professionals in world, we posses some of the biggest natural resources, we have the most hard working people on planet and we have a desire to excel, what we need its to undergo the natural process of transformation.

If Fatimah Jinnah was not defeated by a Dictator Ayub through state machinery, if Bhutto was not assassinated by a General and if Nawaz was not handcuffed by a dictator, undoubtedly our political institutions would have been a lot better then today, but its not late, we need to give a chance to system to work, we need to wait for political process to mature and bring some fine, honest and capable leaders but we can not skip the process itself for a refinement in leadership.

We have to live with corruption and incompetence and let the system refine itself, we have to bear the incompetence for competence, there is no quick fix in form of dictatorship and military take over’s, not 200 years as USA but we need to give system some time, there is a better tomorrow. This is what makes me live with corruption, the hope for a better tomorrow then under a dictatorship which takes away decade of our national development and our future and we end up at the beginning.

Let’s live with corruption for a transparent tomorrow while working as a pressure group to force leadership in making right decisions rather then killing the mechanism itself in dream of idealism and ending up with a dictator in beautiful uniform and becomming the prosecutors against democratic process and political leadership.

Following Shahid Masood's Foot Prints

Politics in Pakistan always has been a game of opportunities like other developing countries in the world where political institutions are still on early stages and lack the ideological directions, but interestingly there are many examples where people were successful in creating opportunities for themselves, a notorious example is former Chairman of NAB, Mr. Saif u Rehman, who played vital role not only bringing down Nawaz Sharif government but also the political process and Rehman Malik, advisor for Interior in present Pakistan government is believed to be latest version of Saif u Rehman. These so called ‘non-political people get access to political leaders through their brilliant ideas, courage and convection for wellbeing of public, in name of human rights and sacrifices for national interests and sometimes by blackmail through different means including ‘character assassination campaigns’ in name of criticism and free speech until the government through a bone, slowly they gain the confidence of decision makers and then share the powers and themselves become ‘kings’, once in power they would commit such heinous and unprecedented crimes while the actual leaders would bear the responsibility for these jugglers actions.

The latest addition in Pakistani politics is Dr. Shahid Masood, who was successful in winning the post of Chairman Pakistan Television, a state owned TV channel, by his lengthy and twisted political analysis program on a private channel, severely criticizing the government and her policies but was ever ready to accept the top slot on state run TV in the same government, after his appointment, many stories has been surfacing about his lavish spending from public funds and his unlimited desire for luxury and physical pleasure, he was also a strong critic of former dictator Pervez Musharraff and MQM however as soon as he became the Chairman of state TV, he not only accepted a dinner in his honor by MQM governor but on this eve when Pervez Musharraff unexpectedly arrived in the dinner, he was offered the ‘Chief Guests” seat by Shahid Masood, might be Musharraff was no more a dictator if you watch him from lenses of Chairman PTV.

The success story of medical doctor turned political analyst has grown hopes in many other fortune seekers and now many people are switching their professions to become future’s Shahid Masood, the easiest way is to get under civil society’s umbrella, not only criticize the political leadership but run a regular character assassination campaign against them until one is in lime light or taken notice of and government through a bone to keep him busy sucking the juice. Even some people in main stream Pakistani media are actively working on ‘Shahid Masood’ model, they give a colour of news to their personal desires and push themselves in a queue to be noticed by government, waiting for a ‘bone’, it might be a plot in government housing, a scholarship for son or daughter or a government post for themselves. Obviously this is professional dishonesty but as our national media is on its evolutionary stages, such ‘madaris’ are not only pocketing rewards from political rival groups but also gain public affection.

The Shahid Masood ‘syndrome’ is not limited to main stream media but almost in every field in various forms but goals are similar, most of these jugglers forget the fact that Shahid Masood was a close friend of Benazir and Zardari and also played his cards wisely, interesting though now many ‘Bloggers’ are also working on same model, the one who make me surprised is a dentist turned political analyst and a blogger who took shelter under umbrella of civil society movement and criticized Pervez Musharraff, un-noticed and unsuccessful, he turned his guns towards PPP and its Chairman Asif Ali Zardair and even yet unnoticed and frustrated has openly announced a full scale war against Asif Ali Zardari, above settled ethics of blogging and fair criticism of governments actions Zardari, the mysteriously educated ‘The next step into further character assassination, that the least we can do, is to genuinely question his education’, proudly writes the so called dentist turned political analyst, this development is extremely dangerous and may ultimately damage the very political process for which media and civil society has sacrificed a lot, in case such personal agendas are furthered in name of fair criticism.

There can be no second opinion that presents PPP government and Asif Ali Zardari has miserably failed to keep the promise to restore the judges sacked by Musharraff and deviated from the promise of Benazir Bhutto of restoring judiciary, Zardair is also accused of violating the written agreements with Nawaz Sharif, his explanations are vague and unacceptable for every citizen of Pakistan and he deserved to not only be criticized by strongly condemned for this specific inaction, but at the same time, running a so-called character assassination campaign against him or any other political leader seems to be tainted with ulterior motives and dishonest and equally condemnable. Such actions in name of civil society and freedom of speech will tarnish the little left confidence of people on political institutions and when the next dictator takes over public will once again distribute sweets in streets. The civil society and every honest critic of government actions must be aware of such black sheep who are furthering their personal agenda in name of educating people.

On the flip side Zardari might take notice of these petty losers who after failing in their professions has become ‘political analysts’ and their price is not that high, one might sell himself for top slot of national TV while another might be satisfied by getting a party ticket for election or even getting on medical panel of some government department, but this will certainly encourage these opportunists and induce further corruption and dishonesty in society, at the same time such opportunists will damage the sacred cause of civil society and public confidence on those who are fair in criticizing the decision makers in our country. This is a responsibility of civil society, free media and those who believe in better Pakistan to expose such opportunists at earliest stages before they become a cancer for civil society itself and damage the noble struggle as the first thing such opportunists loose is the public confidence when they become partial in their analysis blinded by personal goals and start targeting personalities rather then actions, this situation weaken the public confidence on genuine and honest criticism of government as the rule is to: criticize the actions not personalities.

After a long dictatorship we have got democratic process back on track, we need to strengthen the political process and built public confidence on political institution while at the same time keep check on political leadership not through organized character assassination campaigns but through fair, honest and reasonable criticism. Organized character assignation campaigns against politicians as proudly claimed by these jugglers for personal reasons, will only damage the institutions and civil society which is still at incubation stage.

(PS; as to guage the salogan of free speach I am sending a copy of this post to character assaisnation blog "Teeth Maestro" for publishing on his site)