Indian Intrigue against Pakistan

16th December is the day of tragic memory when Pakistan was dismembered and a new state of Bangladesh was created in 1971 as part of Indian intrigue which still continues. At present, New Delhi has been supporting separatism in Balochistan, Sindh, and insurgency in the Frontier Province in order to further weaken the federation of Pakistan.
India has a long-gone history of many centuries, based upon religious prejudice against the Muslims. In this respect, Indian intelligence agency, RAW which was founded in 1968, has assumed a significant status as invisible actor in formulation of India’s domestic, regional and global policies, particularly directed Pakistan.
Hindus give credit to Indira Gandhi who in the late 1970s gave RAW a new role to suit her Indira Doctrine specifically asking it to undertake covert operations in neighboring countries, especially Pakistan which comprises majority of Muslims. RAW was given a green signal to mobilise all its resources by exploiting political turmoil in East Pakistan in 1971 which this agency had created through its agents who provided Bengalis with arms and ammunition for conducting guerrilla acts against the Pakistani defence forces.
As regards the separation of East Pakistan, Indian RAW had unleashed a well-organized plan of psychological warfare, creation of polarisation among the armed forces, propaganda by false allegations against West Pakistan, creation of differences between the political parties and religious sects of East and West Pakistan, control of media, manipulating linguistic, political and econmic disputes in order to keep maligned the Bengalis against Islamabad.
There is no doubt that one can note political, economic and social disparities almost in every Third World country. India itself contians these disparities on larger scale. In seven states of India, separatist movements are at work. But New Delhi which has not recognized the existence of Pakistan since partition, left no stone unturned in planting and exploiting differences between the people of East and West Pakistan.
RAW has a long history of sinister activities in the East Pakistan, backing secular areas of Hindu minority who had played an important role in motivating Bengali Muslims against West Pakistan. RAW’s well-paid agents had activated themselves in East Pakistan in the 1960’s so as to dismember Pakistan. For this aim, it took the responsibility of funding Mujib-ur-Rehmans’ general elections in 1970 and the members of the Awami Party. It colluded with the pro-Indian persons and had paid full attention in training and  arming the Mukti Bahnis. RAW, playing with the bloodshed of the Muslims, succeded in initiating a civil war in East Pakistan. Meanwhile, India welcomed the refugees from East Pakistan, providing them with every facility to provocate them against West Pakistn.
However, huge quantity of arms started entering East Pakisan along with the guidline of Indian army and RAW. In this connection, Asoka Raina in his book, ‘Inside RAW: The Story of India’s Secret Service’, reveals, “Indian intelligence agencies were involved in erstwhile East Pakistan…its operatives were in touch with Sheikh Mujib as the possible ‘Father’ of a new nation-Bangladesh, who went to Agartala in 1965. The famous Agartala case was unearthed in 1967. In fact, the main purpose of raising RAW in 1968 was to organise covert operations in Bangladesh. Indian army officers and RAW officials used Bengali refugees to set up Mukti Bahini. Using this outfit as a cover, Indian military sneaked deep into East Pakistan. The story of Mukti Bahini and RAW’s role in its creation and training is now well-known.”
Asoka further explained, “Indian sources including journalists have put on record how much RAW had established the network of a separatist movement through ‘cells’ within East Pakistan and military training camps in Indian territory adjoining East Pakistan…carring out acts of sabotage against communication lines so that Indian forces simply marched in at the ‘right’ time. RAW agents provided valuable information as well as acting as an advance guard for conducting unconventional guerrilla acts against the Pakistani defence forces.”
Nevertheless, India had played a key role in the debacle of Dhaka, which culminated in dismemberment of Pakistan. Even at present, Indian RAW which has been implementing Indian hidden agenda against other countries such as China, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan in order to maintain Indian dominace in the region has made Pakistanan—a special target to disintegrate or weaken it.
India has established more than 200 foreign offices and training camps in Afghanistan where RAW’s intelligence officials with the help of Khad are doing their utmost to destabilise Pakistan by sending weapons to the separatist elements in Balochistan and the insurgents of FATA regions. Very young boys including Afghans, training recruits are mostly from Central Asia, bordering Afghanistan. Thus more than 20,000 ideologically motivated terrorists are regularly being infiltrated into troubled spots of Pakistan. They join the Taliban militants to fight against Pakistan’s security forces. These miscreants also conducted a number of suicide attacks and bomb blasts in Pakistan, killing a number of innocent people and personnel of the security forces. In Kurram Agency, RAW’s Afghan agents have also been actively involved in the sectarian conflict. However, their aim is also to create unrest in our country.
It is mentionable that Pakistan’s prime minister, interior minister and foreign minister have repeatedly stated that they have concrete evidence of Indian involvement in the terrorist activities in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s army spokesman, Maj-Gen. Athar Abbas disclosed in wake of the military operation in South Waziristan that huge cache of arms and ammunition of the Indian origin, entering our country from Afghanistan was captured.
A few days ago, two containers loaded with Indian-made weapons were caught in Balochistan after entering into Chaman, bordering Afghanistan.
In this regard, in its editorial on December 7, 2008, The New York Times wrote, “India’s growing investment and intelligence network in Afghanistan is also feeding Islamabad’s insecurity and sense of encirclement”. On September 20, 2009, NATO commander, Gen. McChrystal admitted: “Indian political and economic influence is increasing in Afghanistan including significant development efforts…is likely to exacerbate regional tensions.”
Nonetheless, after the separation of East Pakistan, India is fully backing the Baloh separatists who have been waging a low-level insurgency by destroying gas-pipelines and eliminating Pakistani citizens from other parts of the country including targeted-killings. RAW’s agents are regularly helping them in conducting the subversive acts. Notably, On July 23, 2008, in an interview with the BBC, Brahmdagh Bugti, while replying to a question regarding the acquisition of arms, remarked that they “have the right to accept aid from India.”
In the recent past, by assassinating the Baloch nationalist leaders, Indian elements wanted to fulfill a number of clandestine aims. In Balochistan, people, openly, began to blame Pakistan’s intelligence agencies for the abduction and killing of these leaders. This is what the external plotters intended to achieve. Another aim was to gain the sympathies of general masses for Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) which has been fighting for secession of the province with the logistic support of RAW. One of the major purposes of this agency was not only to create a rift between the center and Balochistan, but also to give a greater impetus to the people of the province so as to intensify their separatist activities through acts of sabotage against the federation and Punjabis.
Besides, another CIA and Indian-supported separatist group, Jundollah (God’s soldiers) is also working against the cordial relationship of Pakistan with China and Iran.
It is pertinent to note that Balochistan is replete with mineral resources. Its ideal geo-strategic location with Gwadar Deep Seaport alone could prove to be Pakistan’s key junction, linking the rest of the world with Central Asia.
However, besides separation of East Pakistan and perennial wave of suicide attacks in other regions, the largest province of Balochistan has become center of Indian intrigue. To avoid further disintegration, our politicians, armed forces and the general masses need a strong sense of unity in thwarting RAW’s sinister designs against the federation of Pakistan.

Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face Of Terrorism In India

A new book curiously titled Who Killed Karkare? says a nationwide network of Hindutva terror that has its tentacles spread up to Nepal and Israel is out to destroy the India most Indians have known for ages and to remould it into some kind of Afghanistan under the Taliban.

The writer, a former IG Police of Maharashtra, SM Mushrif, has reconstructed a fearsome picture out of former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s chargesheet against alleged Hindutva terrorists like Lt. Col. Purohit, Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur and others.

The chargesheet pointed towards a mind-boggling nationwide conspiracy with international support to destabilise the constitutional order and the secular democratic Indian state that upholds it, to be replaced by a Hindutva state run according to a new Constitution. For that the conspirators were prepared for a massive bloodbath, using bomb attacks on religious places to trigger an anti-Muslim holocaust.

Mushrif, who has over three decades of diligent policing behind him and whose feats include exposing the Telgi scam, has made an elaborate case out of nearly a dozen blasts over a large area of the country conducted by Hindutva terror groups of different stripes. His case: a section of India’s intelligence services, a miniscule group in the armed forces and a section of different state police forces have been compromised and infiltrated by these elements, a development that bodes ill for the future of the country.

In Hemant Karkare’s net (of investigations, of course) many big and small fishes of VHP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and Sanatan Sanstha (which has been found to be involved in Diwali-eve blasts in Goa last week) had been trapped. Serving and retired army officers, academics, serving and retired officials of India’s premier intelligence service were ensnared in Karkare’s fishing net. The menacing power of the latter groups, inspired by sustained anti-Muslim hate campaigns of the last six decades, gave the plot a sinister and highly destructive character.

Among the plans unearthed by Karkare was a blueprint for the assassination of 70 prominent Indians who could by a hindrance to the project of Hindutva. Interestingly, most of the persons marked for elimination would, naturally, be Hindus because it is they who primarily run the dispensation. The conspirators were also unhappy with organisations whose Hindutva they suspected to be less virulent than desired.

Mushrif, who very well knows the power of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to make or mar lives and careers, says he is prepared to face the consequences of hostility of this power hub. He musters “evidence” to show that the IB has regularly been interfering with regular police investigations to let Hindutva terrorists slip out of the net and replace them with random Muslim youth. To fudge the issues further obliging police officers in the states would not mind exterminating a few Muslim youth to be branded posthumously as “terrorists”.

There are quite a few number of such cases where such extra-judicial killing of Muslim youth has turned out to be false police encounters. All this is done to cover tracks of Hindutva terror. Mushrif says a “Brahminist” network that has its origins in Maharashtra, and is closely knit across political parties, government services, including IB, and other vital sectors of life is behind the terror that seeks to destroy the secular, democratic state. He hastens to clarify that very few Brahminists are Brahmins. Many are from other high Hindu castes, some from middle and lower castes.

Most Brahmins are fair-minded and would not like to associate themselves with hate ideologies. Hemant Karkare, too, was a Brahmin, Mushrif says. So is Mushrif’s son-in-law.

It is pertinent to note that “Brahminism” and “Brahminical order” first appeared in Dalit protest vocabulary in the Dalit uprising movement in Maharashtra towards the turn of the 20th century. Mushrif, who appropriates part of this vocabulary for the present discourse, says that Maharashtra still remains the centre of this ideology that, among other things, has the dubious distinction of killing the Father of the Nation.

The power establishment that really runs the affairs of this country (Mushrif says it is not Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh or Rahul Gandhi) does not want to expose the Hindutva terrorists. One example is the blasts in Samjhauta Express, which the IB said was carried out by Pakistan’s ISI. Mushrif quotes a report in The Times of India that said, “the Centre had blamed the ISI on the basis of the IB’s findings.” However, during a narco-analysis test under Karkare, Lt. Col. Purohit had admitted having supplied the RDX used in the blast. The IB, which draws its power from its proximity to the Prime Minister (its director briefs the PM every morning for half an hour), did not want Karkare’s investigation that blew the cover off the IB’s shenanigans, to continue.

Once Karkare was removed from the scene, the IB moved in to fill his position with KP Raghuvanshi, a pliant police officer with extremely low credibility among Muslims for his record of letting off known Hindutva terrorists and implicating innocent Muslim youth even in bomb attack cases on mosques.

There are quite a few interesting vignettes here, like Raghuvanshi and Col. Purohit’s association with Abhinav Bharat in Maharashtra, whose hand was evident in a series of blasts across the country. It has old connections with men like Veer Damodar Savarkar (whose relative Himani Savarkar leads the Abhinav Bharat movement), Dr Munje, who led the Hindu Mahasabha, and other Hindutva luminaries. It is at the Bhonsala Military Academy run by these groups that Purohit trained police officers, including Raghuvanshi. Mushrif asks a pertinent question: Will Raghuvanshi pursue the investigation against Purohit, his guru? A plausible answer is, perhaps no. Already charges have been dropped by a special court under MCOCA against 11 accused, including Purohit, on the grounds of insufficient evidence produced in the court by the prosecution.

This was just the beginning of the undoing of Karkare’s painstaking investigation. Mushrif says slowly the system is working to undo all of Karkare’s work and let off the terrorists who over the years destroyed scores of lives and wreaked irreparable economic damage. The ATS team under Karkare had pointed out VHP leader Praveen Togadia’s role in the blasts. The ATS under Raghuvanshi dropped the investigation against him saying (please hold your laughter) they do not know who Togadia is!

A number of investigations have been thus sabotaged by the powers that be and the tracks of the Hinduta terrorists duly covered. The 319-page book is crammed with such information.

But what about who killed Karkare? Mushrif says two teams were at work on 26/11 – one which did the maximum damage, and was from outside. The smaller team took advantage of the confusion of the moment and acted only on the relatively small CST-CAMA-Rangbhavan stretch that killed Karkare. It was a desi unit that wanted Karkare and his men out of the way.

America looking for excuses to attack Pakistan

Like the myth of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda headquartered in FATA, another absurd claim has been made that Mullah Omar along with his Shura is based in Quetta, Pakistan.

This story woven by spin doctors has caught the imagination of policy makers in Washington and they are playing it impishly. Pakistani leaders already harassed by never-ending allegations are at a loss how to respond to the latest assault since denials make no impression on the accusers.

After repeating the story several times, US officials laid bare their actual motive by mentioning their flaming desire to employ the horrible drones in Balochistan including its capital as well.

Let us carry out a dispassionate appraisal of this claim. It is now a well-known reality that Afghan Taliban hold control of nearly 80% Afghan territory and wield complete sway in southern, eastern and to some extent western Afghanistan.

These regions provide them a secure base to operate into western, central and northern Afghanistan and return back. Had their hold over southern and eastern Afghanistan been weak, it was logical to assume that they might have made FATA or Pashtun belt of Balochistan adjacent to Helmand Province as their bases of operation.

Now that over 30,000 troops of Pakistan Army have taken full control of South Waziristan and division plus force is in North Waziristan, part of which is in Makeen area, any possibility of Afghan Taliban operating from these regions is ruled out.

The same scenario is applicable to al-Qaeda. The only possible space which still requires further scanning is the countryside west of Ladha and Makeen in South Waziristan towards Afghanistan border. Using boots on ground strategy, our troops are gradually clearing these areas as well.

Within Afghanistan, morale of US Nato forces has sunk low and bunker mentality has crept in due to sudden increase in casualty rate. Karzai regime has no control over state affairs and his credibility after August fraudulent election has eroded further.

The Afghan National Army and Police are in bad shape and operationally unfit to confront Taliban challenge, even after years of training and billions of US dollars spent.

Afghan Pashtuns hate Americans and are supportive of Taliban. Gulbadin Hikmatyar, and Jalaluddin Haqqani are also anti-American and anti-Karzai.

Given the favourable operational environment in Afghanistan for the Taliban, it will be utterly foolish on part of Mullah Omar and his Shura to abandon the fully secure bases in Afghanistan and opt for insecure base in Quetta where CIA, FBI, US Marines, Blackwater, MI-6, RAW, and shady Baloch separatist groups command strong influence.

Target killings by Baloch terrorist groups in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan have become a norm. Jacobabad and Pasni air bases in this region of Pakistan are still under the operational control of US troops. Shamsi base near Kharan has also been in use for launching drones where reportedly Blackwater elements are employed.

Quetta being a capital city is too open and conspicuous for Mullah Omar to hide particularly with a large bounty on his head. He is conscious of his critical role in keeping Taliban resistance movement in Afghanistan alive. Realising that his personal survival is vital for the success of Taliban movement, he has opted to go underground and remain out of sight. Since December 2001, none has seen him.

Except for his hardcore loyalists, Omar cannot trust anyone, least of all Pakistan that had betrayed him and joined hands with USA to topple his regime in Kabul. How can he trust Pakistan which had arrested dozens of Taliban leaders and handed them to USA for internment in horrific Guantanamo Bay prison and continues to provide logistics to US NATO troops?

Pashtun areas in Balochistan have kept themselves dissociated from RAW-backed Baloch insurgency, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. Under such insalubrious environments, it is preposterous for the US to keep insisting that Afghan Shura is in Quetta.

If for discussion’s sake we accept the claims of presence of Afghan Shura in Quetta and that of Osama-led al-Qaeda in FATA theoretically; it implies that as far as US is concerned battle for Afghanistan is almost over.

The news should have logically instilled Gen McChrystal and his team with joy. Learning that the entire Taliban leadership and al-Qaeda had fled to Pakistan, making it much easier for them to get hold of few thousand rag tag Taliban fighters and not more than 100 al Qaeda fighters devoid of leadership, especially considering the military situation in the region, would mean the war was won.

Some of the precautionary measures required to be taken were to prevent re entry of Afghan Shura and al Qaeda leadership into Afghanistan by enhancing number of border check posts from 100 to 1000, improving surveillance means coupled with fencing and mining of entire 2500 km long Afghan-Pakistan border as frequently requested by Pakistan but refused by Karzai and USA for reasons best known to them. These measures would have broken the nexus between leaders and the led and rendered the two entities like fish out of water.

No such thing has happened since McChrystal is depressed because of Osama phobia. He considers Osama an invisible phantom residing in FATA who can walk across Durand Line unobserved and unless he is killed war cannot be won. Within Pakistan, once US intelligence agencies acquired credible intelligence, should they not have carried out joint raids on suspected locations without wasting a minute?

CIA, FBI and US diplomats should not have encountered any bottlenecks since they move about in Pakistan unchecked and enjoy full cooperation of all law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Was it wise on part of US leadership to broadcast the locations of Omar and Osama prematurely thereby giving them full chance to runaway?

Knowing well that the Pakistan Army is deeply committed in fighting foreign agencies sponsored terrorists in various parts of NWFP and FATA and achieving fruitful results, the US instead of feeling mighty pleased and cheering up its ally, is it morally correct to criticise and complain?

Areas in Waziristan which are presently quiet and neutral are being provoked through drone attacks. The US is pressing Pakistan to shift more troops from its eastern border and to start operations in Wazir inhabited SW and in NW where it fantasises that most Taliban insurgents have fled.

It is trying to create conditions wherein Pakistan Army is compelled to fight the combined force of Maulvi Nazir, Hakimullah Mehsud and Gul Bahadur, opponents who would never normally be aligned.

Having fully committed the army in fighting a futile US war on terror, RAW sponsored terrorists duly aided by Blackwater elements are playing havoc into major cities of Pakistan through almost daily bomb blasts and suicide attacks. Focus is on such targets which hurts the military the most.

ISI’s regional offices have been repeatedly struck since it is frustrating the designs of enemies of Pakistan. Focus is now towards destabilisation of Punjab, after which emphasis will shift to Sindh to upturn main economic base of Pakistan.

While CIA and FBI along with its shady private mercenary outfits are fully involved in the destabilisation game, the US leaders are hypocritically singing tunes that Pakistan is a key ally and the US seeks its stability and prosperity.

Our leaders having been provided with clinching evidence of involvement of India’s RAW in terrorism have still not picked up courage to expose India and to forcefully ask USA to bridle its strategic ally.

Fact of the matter is that Omar, Osama and nuclear cards are being played with devious intentions. The real purpose behind it is to cast aspersion on Pakistan that Pakistan Army and the ISI are aligned with Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda and sheltering them.

It implies that there is a nexus between Pakistan-Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda and Pakistan is fully supporting Taliban and al Qaeda in their war against US Nato forces in Afghanistan. With leadership of the two deadly organisations based inside Pakistan, it becomes a fit case for USA to mount an offensive against Pakistan to root out safe sanctuaries and turn the corner. (A preferred place for this incursion would be oil and gas rich Balochistan, directly in the path of the proposed American ‘surge’ into Helmand.

The writer is a defence and security analyst. Email: asifharoon7751@yahoo.com

Blackwater: Licence to kill

The New York Times reports that US CIA has terminated its contract with Xe Services formerly Blackwater Worldwide for loading bombs onto drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This comes as Xe Services and CIA have come under fire from US congressmen for the nature and extent of the involvement of a private contractor in the conduct of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. New York Times also reported that Xe Services had already lost another defence contract earlier this year, which was for providing protection to the US embassy staff in Iraq because of its involvement in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007. Five employees of Xe Services have been indicted for those killings. Many reports of local activities of Xe Services have been printed by this newspaper earlier.
War is an instrument of state policy and therefore should be conducted by the state forces alone. No legal system in the world authorises the outsourcing of war to private entities because of its sensitive nature and the possible fallout from an authorisation to kill given to people over which they have no formal control.
CIA maintains that it hires private contractors to do support duties though the involvement of Xe Services in the Iraqi killings is proof that once they come under fire in a hostile situation who can stop them from shooting, being armed for the same.
The outsourcing of war has a long history starting from mercenaries of old times to the present day. What we are suffering today is also because of one such act of arming and training private armies in the last Cold War conflict, which have now turned on their former masters. Most of the top leadership of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are those who were once trained by us, equipped by CIA and financed by the Saudis to fight a war against the Red Army in Afghanistan when all three desired to stay out of active engagement for the fear of turning a cold war into a hot war.
However, it does not behove us to point a finger at others, as in Pakistan we are still outsourcing our security jobs to private groups. Our police cannot be relied to provide internal security due to widespread corruption, incompetence and a lack of will to fight amongst its members, whose majority signed up not to fight but to make money through corruption. This is proved by the existence of numerous security outfits with licences to bear deadly firearms, private security guards and the issuance of arms permits to people by the thousands every year.

Obama Declares War On Pakistan

Obama's West Point speech of December 1 represents far more than the obvious brutal escalation in Afghanistan -- it is nothing less than a declaration of all-out war by the United States against Pakistan. This is a brand-new war, a much wider war now targeting Pakistan, a country of 160 million people armed with nuclear weapons. In the process, Afghanistan is scheduled to be broken up. This is no longer the Bush Cheney Afghan war we have known in the past. This is something immensely bigger: the attempt to destroy the Pakistani central government in Islamabad and to sink that country into a chaos of civil war, Balkanization, subdivision and general mayhem. The chosen strategy is to massively export the Afghan civil war into Pakistan and beyond, fracturing Pakistan along ethnic lines. It is an oblique war using fourth-generation or guerrilla warfare techniques to assail a country which the United States and its associates in aggression are far too weak to attack directly. In this war, the Taliban are employed as US proxies. This aggression against Pakistan is Obama's attempt to wage the Great Game against the hub of Central Asia and Eurasia or more generally.
The ongoing civil war in Afghanistan is merely a pretext, a cover story designed to provide the United States with a springboard for a geopolitical destabilization campaign in the entire region which cannot be publicly avowed. In the blunt cynical world of imperialist aggression à la Bush and Cheney, a pretext might have been manufactured to attack Pakistan directly. But Pakistan is far too large and the United States is far too weak and too bankrupt for such an undertaking. In addition, Pakistan is a nuclear power, possessing atomic bombs and medium range missiles needed to deliver them. What we are seeing is a novel case of nuclear deterrence in action. The US cannot send an invasion fleet or set up airbases nearby because Pakistani nuclear weapons might destroy them. To this extent, the efforts of Ali Bhutto and A.Q. Khan to provide Pakistan a deterrent capability have been vindicated. But the US answer is to find ways to attack Pakistan below the nuclear threshold, and even below the conventional threshold. This is where the tactic of exporting the Afghan civil war to Pakistan comes in.

The architect of the new Pakistani civil war is US Special Forces General Stanley McChrystal, who organized the infamous network of US torture chambers in Iraq . McChrystal's specific credential for the Pakistani civil war is his role in unleashing the Iraqi civil war of Sunnis versus Shiites by creating "al Qaeda in Iraq " under the infamous and now departed double agent Zarkawi. If Iraqi society as a whole had lined up against the US invaders, the occupiers would have soon been driven out. The counter-gang known as "Al Qaeda in Iraq " avoided that possibility by killing Shiites, and thus calling forth massive retaliation in the form of a civil war. These tactics are drawn from the work of British General Frank Kitson, who wrote about them in his book Low Intensity Warfare. If the United States possesses a modern analog to Heinrich Himmler of the SS, it is surely General McChrystal, Obama's hand-picked choice. McChrystal's superior, Gen Petraeus, wants to be the new Field Marshal von Hindenburg in other words, he wants to be the next US president.

The vulnerability of Pakistan which the US and its NATO associates are seeking to exploit can best be understood using a map of the prevalent ethnic groups of Afghanistan , Pakistan , Iran , and India . Most maps show only political borders which date back to the time of British imperialism, and therefore fail to reflect the principal ethnic groups of the region. For the purposes of this analysis, we must start by recognizing a number of groups. First is the Pashtun people, located mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan . Then we have the Baluchis, located primarily in Pakistan and Iran . The Punjabis inhabit Pakistan , as do the Sindhis. The Bhutto family came from Sind .

The US and NATO strategy begins with the Pashtuns, the ethnic group from which the so-called Taliban are largely drawn. The Pashtuns represent a substantial portion of the population of Afghanistan , but here they are alienated from the central government under President Karzai in Kabul , even though the US puppet Karzai passes for a Pashtun himself. The issue involves the Afghan National Army, which was created by the United States after the 2001 invasion. The Afghan officer corps are largely Tajiks drawn from the Northern Alliance that allied with the United States against the Pashtun Talibans. The Tajiks speak Dari, sometimes known as eastern Persian. Other Afghan officers come from the Hazara people. The important thing is that the Pashtuns feel shut out.

The US strategy can best be understood as a deliberate effort at persecuting, harassing, antagonizing, strafing, repressing, and murdering the Pashtuns. The additional 40,000 US and NATO forces which Obama demands for Afghanistan will concentrate in Helmand province and other areas where the Pashtuns are in the majority. The net effect will be to increase the rebellion of the fiercely independent Pashtuns against Kabul and the foreign occupation, and at the same time to push many of these newly radicalized mujaheddin fighters across the border into Pakistan , where they can wage war against the central government in Islamabad . US aid will flow directly to war lords and drug lords, increasing the centrifugal tendencies.

On the Pakistani side, the Pashtuns are also alienated from the central government. Islamabad and the army are seen by them as too much the creatures of the Punjabis, with some input from the Sindhis. On the Pakistani side of the Pashtun territory, US operations include wholesale assassinations from unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, murders by CIA and reportedly Blackwater snipers, plus blind terrorist massacres like the recent ones in Peshawar which the Pakistani Taliban are blaming on Blackwater, acting as a subcontractor of the CIA. These actions are intolerable and humiliating for a proud sovereign state. Every time the Pashtuns are clobbered, they blame the Punjabis in Islamabad for the dirty deals with the US that allow this to happen. The most immediate goal of Obama's Afghan-Pakistan escalation is therefore to promote a general secessionist uprising of the entire Pashtun people under Taliban auspices, which would already have the effect of destroying the national unity of both Kabul and Islamabad .
The other ethnic group which the Obama strategy seeks to goad into insurrection and secession is the Baluchis. The Baluchis have their own grievances against the Iranian central government in Tehran , which they see as being dominated by Persians. An integral part of the new Obama policy is to expand the deadly flights of the CIA Predators and other assassination drones into Baluchistan . One pretext for this is the report, peddled for example by Michael Ware of CNN, that Osama bin Laden and his MI-6 sidekick Zawahiri are both holed up in the Baluchi city of Quetta, where they operate as the kingpins of the so-called "Quetta Shura." Blackwater teams cannot be far behind. In Iranian Baluchistan, the CIA is funding the murderous Jundullah organization, which was recently denounced by Teheran for the murder of a number of top officials of the Iranian Pasdaran Revolutionary guards. The rebellion of Baluchistan would smash the national unity of both Pakistan and Iran , thus helping to destroy two of the leading targets of US policy.
Even Chris Matthews of MSNBC, normally a devoted acolyte of Obama, pointed out that the US strategy as announced at West Point very much resembles a Rube Goldberg contraption. (In the real world, "al Qaeda" is of course the CIA's own Arab and terrorist legion.) In the world of official US myth, the enemy is supposed to be "Al Qaeda." But, even according to the US government, there are precious few "Al Qaeda" fighters left in Afghanistan . Why then, asked Matthews, concentrate US forces in Afghanistan where "Al Qaeda" is not, rather than in Pakistan where "Al Qaeda" is now alleged to be?

One elected official who has criticized this incongruous mismatch is Democratic Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who said in a television interview that 'Pakistan, in the border region near Afghanistan, is perhaps the epicenter [of global terrorism], although al Qaida is operating all over the world, in Yemen, in Somalia, in northern Africa, affiliates in Southeast Asia. Why would we build up 100,000 or more troops in parts of Afghanistan included that are not even near the border? You know, this buildup is in Helmand Province . That's not next door to Waziristan . So I'm wondering, what exactly is this strategy, given the fact that we have seen that there is a minimal presence of Al Qaida in Afghanistan, but a significant presence in Pakistan? It just defies common sense that a huge boots on the ground presence in a place where these people are not is the right strategy. It doesn't make any sense to me.' Indeed. 'The Wisconsin Democrat also warned that U.S. policy in Afghanistan could actually push terrorists and extremists into Pakistan and, as a consequence, further destabilize the region: "You know, I asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen, and Mr. Holbrooke, our envoy over there, a while ago, you know, is there a risk that if we build up troops in Afghanistan, that will push more extremists into Pakistan?" he told ABC. "They couldn't deny it, and this week, Prime Minister Gilani of Pakistan specifically said that his concern about the buildup is that it will drive more extremists into Pakistan, so I think it's just the opposite, that this boots-on-the-ground approach alienates the Afghan population and specifically encourages the Taliban to further coalesce with Al Qaida, which is the complete opposite of our national security interest." Of course, this is all intentional and motivated by US imperialist raison d'état. .
Obama's speech did everything possible to blur the distinction between Afghanistan and Pakistan , which are after all two sovereign states and both members of the United Nations in their own right. Ibrahim Sajid Malick, US correspondent for Samaa TV, one of the largest Pakistan television networks, called attention to this ploy: 'Speaking to a hall full of cadets at the US Military Academy of West Point, President Barack Obama almost seemed like he might be declaring war on Pakistan . Every time he mentioned Afghanistan , Pakistan preceded mention. Sitting at the back benches of the hall at one point I almost jumped out of my chair when he said: "the stakes are even higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan , because we know that al Qaeda and other extremists seek nuclear weapons, and we have every reason to believe that they would use them." I was shocked because a succession of American officials recently confirmed that the Pakistani arsenal is secure. This article is entitled "Did Obama Declare War On Pakistan?", and we can chalk the question mark up to diplomatic discretion. During congressional hearings involving General McChrystal and US Ambassador Eikenberry, Afghanistan and Pakistan were simply fused into one sinister entity known as "Afpak" or even "Afpakia."

In the summer of 2007, Obama, coached by Zbigniew Brzezinski and other controllers, was the originator of the unilateral US policy of using Predator drones for political assassinations inside Pakistan . This assassination policy is now being massively escalated along with the troop strength: "Two weeks ago in Pakistan, Central Intelligence Agency sharpshooters killed eight people suspected of being militants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and wounded two others in a compound that was said to be used for terrorist training. The White House has authorized an expansion of the C.I.A.'s drone program in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, officials said this week, to parallel the president's decisionto send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. American officials are talking with Pakistan about the possibility of striking in Baluchistan for the first time - a controversial move since it is outside the tribal areas - because that is where Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to hide. The US is now training more Predator operators than combat pilots.
The CIA, the Pentagon, and their various contractors among the private military firms are now on a murder spree across Pakistan , attacking peaceful villages and wedding parties, among other targets. Blackwater, now calling itself Xe Services and Total Intelligence Solutions, is heavily involved: 'At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command  in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.
As shocking as Scahill's report is, it must nevertheless be viewed as a limited hangout, since there is no mention of the persistent charges that a large part of the deadly bombings in Peshawar and other Pakistani cities are being carried out by Blackwater, as this news item suggests: "ISLAMABAD Oct. 29 Chief of Taliban movement in Pakistan Hakimullah Mehsud has blamed the controversial American private firm Blackwater for the bomb blast in Peshawar which killed 108 people, local news agency NNI reported Thursday. This was blind terrorism designed for maximum slaughter, especially among women and children.
Scahill's report also suggests that US black ops have reached into Uzbekistan, a post-Soviet country of 25 million which borders Afghanistan to the north: 'In addition to planning drone strikes and operations against suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Pakistan for both JSOC and the CIA, the Blackwater team in Karachi also helps plan missions for JSOC inside Uzbekistan against the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, according to the military intelligence source. Blackwater does not actually carry out the operations, he said, which are executed on the ground by JSOC forces. "That piqued my curiosity and really worries me because I don't know if you noticed but I was never told we are at war with Uzbekistan ," he said. "So, did I miss something, did Rumsfeld come back into power?"' Such are the ways of hope and change.

The role of US intelligence in fomenting the Baluchistan rebellion for the purpose of breaking Pakistan apart is also confirmed by Professor Chossudovsky: 'Already in 2005, a report by the US National Intelligence Council and the CIA forecast a "Yugoslav-like fate" for Pakistan "in a decade with the country riven by civil war, bloodshed and inter-provincial rivalries, as seen recently in Baluchistan." (Energy Compass, 2 March 2005 ). According to the NIC-CIA, Pakistan is slated to become a "failed state" by 2015, "as it would be affected by civil war, complete Talibanization and struggle for control of its nuclear weapons". (Quoted by former Pakistan High Commissioner to UK , Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Times of India, 13 February 2005 ). Washington favors the creation of a "Greater Baluchistan" which would integrate the Baluch areas of Pakistan with those of Iran and possibly the Southern tip of Afghanistan, thereby leading to a process of political fracturing in both Iran and Pakistan. The Iranians, for their part, are adamant that the US is committing acts of war on their territory in Baluchistan : " TEHRAN , Oct. 29 Iran 's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that there are some concrete evidences showing U.S. involvement in recent deadly bomb explosions in the country's Sistan-Baluchistan province, the official IRNA news agency reported. . The deadly suicide attack by Sunni rebel group Jundallah (God's soldiers) occurred on Oct. 18 in Iran 's Sistan-Baluchistan province near the border with Pakistan when the local officials were preparing a ceremony in which the local tribal leaders were to meet the military commanders of Iran 's Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Why would the United States be so obsessed with the breakup of Pakistan ? One reason is that Pakistan is traditionally a strategic ally and economic partner of China , a country which the US and British are determined to oppose and contain on the world stage. Specifically, Pakistan could function as an energy corridor linking the oil fields of Iran and possibly even Iraq with the Chinese market by means of a pipeline that would cross the Himalayas above Kashmir . This is the so-called "Pipelinestan" issue. This would give China a guaranteed land-based oil supply not subject to Anglo-American naval superiority, while also cutting out the 12,000 mile tanker route around the southern rim of Asia . As a recent news report points out: ' Beijing has been pressuring Tehran for China 's participation in the pipeline project and Islamabad , while willing to sign a bilateral agreement with Iran , has also welcomed China 's participation. According to an estimate, such a pipeline would result in Pakistan getting $200 million to $500 million annually in transit fees alone. China and Pakistan are already working on a proposal for laying a trans-Himalayan pipeline to carry Middle Eastern crude oil to western China . Pakistan provides China the shortest possible route to import oil from the Gulf countries. The pipeline, which would run from the southern Pakistan port of Gwadar and follow the Karakoram highway, would be partly financed by Beijing . The Chinese are also building a refinery at Gwadar. Imports using the pipeline would allow Beijing to reduce the portion of its oil shipped through the narrow and unsafe Strait of Malacca , which at present carries up to 80% of its oil imports. Islamabad also plans to extend a railway track to China to connect it to Gwadar. The port is also considered the likely terminus of proposed multibillion-dollar gas pipelines reaching from the South Pars fields in Iran or from Qatar , and from the Daulatabad fields in Turkmenistan for export to world markets. Syed Fazl-e-Haider, " Pakistan , Iran sign gas pipeline deal," Asia Times, 27 May 2009 .[9] This is the normal, peaceful economic progress and cooperation which the Anglo-Americans are hell-bent on stopping.

Oil and natural gas pipelines from Iran across Pakistan and into China would carry energy resources into the Middle Kingdom, and would also serve as conveyor belts for Chinese economic influence into the Middle East . This would make Anglo-American dominion increasingly tenuous in a part of the world which London and Washington have traditionally sought to control as part of their overall strategy of world domination.

US domestic propaganda is already portraying Pakistan as the new home base of terrorism. The four pathetic patsies going on trial for an alleged plot to bomb a synagogue in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City had been carefully sheep-dipped to associate them with the shadowy and suspicious Jaish-e-Mohammad, allegedly a Pakistani terrorist group. The same goes for the five Moslems from Northern Virginia who have just been arrested near Lahore in Pakistan.
As far as the neighboring states are concerned, India under the unfortunate Manmohan Singh seems to be accepting the role of continental dagger against Pakistan and China on behalf of the US and the British. This is a recipe for a colossal tragedy. India should rather make permanent peace with Pakistan by vacating the Vale of Kashmir, where 95% of the population is Moslem and would like to join Pakistan. Without a solution to this issue, there will be no peace on the subcontinent.

Regarding Iran, George Friedman, the head of the Stratfor outlet of the US intelligence community recently told Russia Today that the great novelty of the next decade will be an alliance of the United States with Iran directed against Russia. In that scenario, Iran would cut off oil to China altogether. That is the essence of the Brzezinski strategy. It is urgent that the antiwar movement in the United States regroup and begin a new mobilization against the cynical hypocrisy of Obama's war and escalation policy, which suprasses even the war crimes of the Bush-Cheny neocons. In this new phase of the Great Game, the stakes are incalculable.

Indian Blame Game

By Sajjad Shaukat

13th of December, 2001, the day when a group of militants had attacked Indian parliament by penetrating the tight security, resulting into deaths of four gunmen along with six police officers after an exchange of gun battle, has come at a time when India has been repeating the same blame game against Pakistan in relation to Mumbai terror events which occurred on November 26 last year. 

On December 14, 2001, Indian ruling National Democratic Alliance  had accused Pakistan-based militant groups, Lashkar-i-Tayiba and Jaish-i-Mohammed for the assault on Indian parliament. In that regard, the then Home Minister LK Advani had disclosed indirectely referring to Pakistan, “We have received some clues that a neighbouring country, and some terrorist organisations active there are behind it.”

Just like the former leadership, Indian present rulers have continuously been acting upon a blame game against Pakistan regarding the November 26 Mumbai carnage. In this regard, prior to his recent visit to the US, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh already exposed his cunning diplomacy by showing his illogical approach during his interview to the Washington Post and Newsweek. He remarked that India “wants to resolve all outstanding issues with Pakistan”, while accusing the latter of “sponsoring terrorism…planning another Mumbai-type attack in India.” During his trip, Singh left no stone unturned in convincing Washington raising alleged concerns that Pakistan was supporting militancy in both Afghanistan and India.

In the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks, Singh and the then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukerjee had pointed fingers at Pakistan. Like Indian media, Mukerjee while alleging our country, urged Islamabad to stop supporting the militants.

The militant group, Lashkar-i-Tayiba which was banned by Islamabad in 2002 and which has often been accused by the Indian leadership having support of Pakistan’s ISI was held responsible for Mumbai catastrophe, but on November 28, 2008, a spokesman of Lashkar-i-Tayiba, Abdullah Ghaznavi while strongly condemning the attacks clarified, “We have nothing to do with Bombay attacks,” and “we do not believe in killing innocent civilians. It appears to be an act of Hindu militants who will then unleash a reign of terror against Muslims under the garb of these attacks.” 

It is notable that Lashkar-i-Tayiba had also denied any hand in the parliament attack of 2001. 

In the immediate aftermath of the parliament incident, Indian print and electronic media including many politicians had called for strict action against Pakistan, suspecting in arming and training the militants. One can note Indian same old blame game which still continues against Islamabad in respect of Mumbai catastrophe.

Interestingly, similarity in the two different events could be noted not only from Indian same nefarious designs against Pakistan but also from a number of other developments. In this context, India had demanded Islamabad to hand over some most wanted persons to New Delhi. Surprisingly, she had presented the same list of the suspected men to Islamabad, which it had sent in 2002. Afterwards, New Delhi submitted a new list in this connection. On December 2, last year, Pakistan urged India to provide credible evidence about persons living in Pakistan, allegedly involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, but India failed though Pakistan arrested some suspected men, but still there is no concrete proof against them. Even in the past, when Pakistan demanded solid evidence for the official involvement of Pakistan’s any intelligence agency in the terrorist incident of Indian parliament, New Delhi could not produce anything, which had exposed the hollowness of its anti-Pakistan propaganda.

Like the present leadership, while responding to Indian blind accusations, the then Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S., Maleeha Lodhi had explained on June 5, 2002 that her country’s soil was not allowed to be used for carrying out terrorist activities against other countries. 

Nevertheless, despite the denials of any involvement of our country in the Mumbai tragedy and Pakistan’s full assurance in cooperation in the investigation as stated by the President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a continued wave of similar allegations by India against Islamabad which it had conducted through a deliberate game in 2001-2002 has exposed her real designs behind the Mumbai devastation.

The fact of the matter is that in 2001, India wanted to avail the Bush’s anti-terrorism enterprise by manipulating the parliament incident, so that Pakistan could be pressurized in order to get good bargaining leverage over Paki-India disputes, especially the thorny issue of Kashmir. India had cancelled fights between both the countries, besides suspending trade. 

On December 20, 2002, India deployed its troops across the occupied Kashmir and the international border, what was called Indian largest military mobilization since the 1971. In response to the Indian nefarious designs, Pakistani forces were put on high alert. Pakistan’s former military spokesman Major-General Rashid Qureshi had revealed  that the “Parliament attack was a drama staged by Indian intelligence agencies to defame the freedom struggle in the occupied Kashmir,” warning that India would pay “heavily if it engages in any misadventure”. 

Again, under the pretext of Mumbai mayhem, India concentrated its troops on the Pak-Indian border. On December 6, 2008, Prime Minister Gilani after chairing a meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervaz Kayani and ISI Chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha made it clear that the government would “defend every inch of the country’s soil and those who cast an evil eye on Pakistan would face an appropriate response.”

It is of particular attention that three suspected Kashmiris, Mohammed Afzal, Shaukat Hussain and a professor were arrested and sentenced to death in 2002 for aiding in the attack on Indian parliament. In July, 2004, Indian Supreme Court delayed the execution of the suspected. Nevertheless, uptil now, no evidence has been brought against them and that is why, there cases remain pending.

Meanwhile, Indian police had arrested two persons of Indian origin; accused of illegally buying mobile phone cards, used by militants in the Mumbai attacks. Before it, India had accused that the arrested gunman, Ajmal Amir confessed his links with Lashkar-i-Tayiba and told that he is from Faridkot, situated in Pakistan. In good faith, Islamabad fully cooperated with New Delhi in the investigation. While, early reports disclosed that an organization, calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the Mumbai terror incident. 

However, as regards Indian blame game against Pakistan, Newsweek indicated on December 4, 2008, “India has been extremely reluctant to come to terms with the fact that at least some of its terror problem is now homegrown Indian Muslims face substantial discrimination in many facets of everyday life. Their second-class treatment has led some Muslims to lose faith in India’s democratic institutions and to violently turn against the state.”

Last year, relations between Pakistan and India had reached the breaking point as the latter was pursuing coercive diplomacy, setting aside the peace process which started in 2004 and perhaps was ignoring the fact that the former is also a nuclear power. Some political analysts indicate in case of Indian prospective ‘surgical strikes’ that New Delhi can hit some selective targets in Pakistan. But it is not possible because Islamabad could also target Indian suspected places from where Indian intelligence agency, RAW with the support of Israeli Mossad has been sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan. Any irresponsible act by India will culminate into an all-out war, even to a nuclear conflict between the two rivals who have already fought three wars on the issue of Kashmir.

Taking cognizance of Indian war-mongering style, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Quereshi had warned that any deterioration of situation would force the country to divert troops to the Indian border and away from a US-led war against terrorism on the Afghan frontier. While taking serious notice of the situation, some western countries like UK, Australia and the US had asked India to exercise restraint. On December 6, 2009, a White House official Scott Stanzel had refused to favour Indian calls for punitive actions against Pakistan, insisting that the best way was to resolve the crisis through diplomatic channel.

Nonetheless, in the aftermath of the Mumbai tragedy, war-mongering posture coupled with a blame game did not pay India and she faced a diplomatic defeat like 2002 when after one year, New Delhi had to withdraw her troops from the Pak-Indian borders.

suspected Blackwater operatives arrested in Islamabad

Islamabad, Dec. 13 (ANI): Four alleged agents of American spy agency Blackwater were arrested by Pakistani security agencies while they were trying to forcibly trying to enter into Lahore Cantonment on Saturday. According to The Nation, lethal weapons including AK-47 rifles and spy gadgets were recovered from their possession at a checkpost near Sherpao Bridge.
Sources said that security personnel intercepted a suspected vehicle near Sherpao Bridge in which four foreigners were sitting.
The sources further revealed that the suspects started arguing with the law-enforcing agency officials. When the arrested agents failed to produce necessary documents and the purpose of entering into the most sensitive area in the city, they were arrested and taken to an unidentified location for further interrogation.
Following their arrest, the law-enforcement agencies have been put on high alert across the provincial metropolis and armed patrolling had been intensified.
According to sources, some foreigners have rented residential apartments in Cantonment area and the search operation is underway to keep a check on their activities.
In another incident, the police detained a suspected vehicle near Shimla Hill but later the vehicle was released on the intervention of US Consulate high-ups.
The persons who were inside the vehicle refused to allow snap-checking. Some staff members of the US Consulate reached the spot and later the vehicle was released. (ANI)

FACEBOOK SHOWS BIAS: TAKES DOWN POPULAR PAKISTANI FAN-PAGE

Facebook has this morning taken down one of the most popular ‘fan-pages’ on its site without offering as much as an explanation to nearly 20,000 of its members.


The page titled ‘SYED ZAID ZAMAN HAMID: OFFICIAL’ has been taken offline for what Facebook calls ‘violation of terms and conditions’, without providing details as to exactly what term or condition was violated.



Zaid Hamid is Pakistan’s most highly rated and popular Security and Defence analyst, with regular tv appearances on all major Pakistani channels as well as Doha based Al-Jazeera TV and occasionally on Indian media. He has featured in many popular tv shows, covering a wide rage of topics such as Islamic history, philosophy, and regional security and geo-politics. Zaid has also featured alongside Ali Azmat, a veteran of the Pakistani popular music scene, in a show titled ‘Iqbal ka Pakistan’ on the youth-oriented ‘AAG’ tv channel; one of the most watched tv programmes with the highest ratings for the tv network.

Zaid Hamid is one of Pakistan’s most popular figures and has in a very short time become the voice of the youth of Pakistan who feel frustrated at the incompetence of the US installed democratic government. In his tv programmes, Zaid has constantly called for a complete review of Pakistan’s relations with the United States, due to the latter’s inability to purge the influx of weapons and funds from Afghanistan directed to terrorists in Pakistan.



Zaid’s facebook page, launched just over a month ago, had reached almost 20,000 members before it was taken offline by facebook, and was used mainly for updates on upcoming television and public appearances, and sharing photographs and videos of Zaid’s TV appearances.



Facebook have yet to provide an actual explanation as opposed to a generic automated message. Untill the time that facebook provides the exact reason for taking down Mr.Hamid’s page, it will be considered as yet another attempt to silence the critics of the US-backed government of Pakistan and will only add to the disenchangtment of Pakistan’s youth with the current establishment.

Zardari: India destabilising the region

President Asif Ali Zardari has urged United States of America to scrutinise Indian role in the region and must acknowledge that it has from time to time played a destabilising role in the South Asia. Linking the Kashmir problem with the Middle East conflict, the president also asked the US to demonstrate "neutrality" and step up efforts to mediate on the issue between India and Pakistan. In an op-ed article "How to Mend Fences With Pakistan" in New York Times, the president also charged India of playing destabilising role in the region and said that the perceived "rhetorical" one-sided American policy often fuels conspiracy theories in Pakistan.  "Public mistrust of the United States also stems from regional issues, specifically policies concerning India. I know it is the conventional wisdom in Washington that my nation is obsessed with India," he wrote. "But even to those of us who are striving toward accommodation and peace, the long history and the unresolved situation in Kashmir give Pakistanis reason to be concerned about our neighbour to the east." Just as the Israeli-Palestinian dispute cannot be resolved without accommodating the Palestinian people, "there cannot be permanent regional peace in South Asia without addressing Kashmir," Zardari said.  President also called for allies' help not only in the war on terror, but also in building a new "economically viable and socially robust" Pakistan. "We are not looking for, and indeed reject, dependency.  We don't need or want (nor would we accept) foreign troops to defeat the insurgency, and we seek trade more than aid from you in the future," he said. "It is an economically viable and socially robust democratic Pakistan that will be the most effective long-term weapon against terrorism, extremism and fanaticism," he said. "This is the necessary endgame. And this is how history will judge victory," he added. The president outlined the elected government's agenda and its accomplishments as also the progress made by military in combating the militants. - Online

Obama in Oslo Insults Norwegian King, Journalists and Orphans

US President Barack Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on December 10, but acknowledged the controversy over the award. In addition, a scandal marred Obama’s arrival for the official ceremony in Norway. Officials of Obama’s administration canceled the dinner with the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the news conference, the interview for television, the meeting with children, the concert, the attendance of an exhibition organized in honor of the laureate and even the scheduled lunch with the King of Norway.

The fact that Obama canceled the lunch with the King of Norway insulted the whole nation, a Norwegian official said.

"Of all the things he is cancelling, I think the worst is cancelling the lunch with the king," Siv Jensen, the leader of Norway’s largest party in opposition said. "This is a central part of our government system. He should respect the monarchy," The Guardian quoted the official as saying.

Cuba ’s Fidel Castro criticized Obama for accepting the Nobel Peace Prize too. The leader of the Island of Freedom believes that the US president does not deserve such a prize. Castro also criticized Obama for the USA’s new strategy in Afghanistan.
“It seemed to me that day that I was listening to George Bush. His arguments did not differ much from the philosophy of his predecessor except for one fig leaf – Obama condemned tortures,” the ailing Cuban leader wrote for Granma.

“The politics, which the new administration suggests in Afghanistan, does not differ from that of Bush, who ordered to invade Iraq – the country that was not related to the Twin Towers terror acts,” Fidel Castro said.

"Why did Obama accept the Nobel Peace Prize when he'd already decided to fight the Afghanistan war to the last? He wasn't obliged to commit a cynical act," Castro wrote.

"The president of the United States doesn't say a word about the hundreds of thousands of people, including children and innocent elderly people, who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about millions of Iraqis and Afghanis who suffer from consequences of the war, although are do not carry any responsibility for the events in New York,” Castro wrote in his article.

The Cuban leader believes that Obama delivered yet another theatrical speech in Oslo, pronounced a new set of phrases to justify the existence of the imperial superpower that has hundreds of army bases all over the world and 200 years of history of armed invasions.