Who’s A Low Level Terrorist? Are You?

When threatened, should we conform with lock-step in perverse obedience to the State’s dictates, outlooks  and agendas in an increasingly Orwellian milieu? If not, then we must constantly remind ourselves and each other of US Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas’s vision: “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”

By Emily Spence

Recently, an American Civil Liberties Union report pointed out, “Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as ‘low level terrorism’.” [1]

Despite that DoD officials removed the offensive section from their educational resources at the urging of ACLU members, the DoD stance is still troubling since a longstanding practice to designate peaceful, law abiding activists as dangerous and treasonable still exists in many government departments and agencies. Indeed the participants of the first antiwar protest against the Vietnam incursion, put together in the mid-1960′s by peaceable Quakers and FOR members after having discussed Gandhi’s Salt March as a model for a nonviolent demonstration, faced government operatives filming them face by face from rooftops as they moved en masse down Broadway to the UN Plaza. (My mother, a pacifist married to a World War II Conscientious Objector, and I, a child at the time of the march, both were in attendance. When the film crew focused on us, she stood tall, faced the agents with their telephoto lens, glared in disdainful defiance and, simultaneously, throw the corner of her coat over my face. Afterwards, she muttered, “How dare they try to intimidate us!”)

This sort of happening in mind, the treatment of Nobel Peace Award winner Aung San Sui Kyi in Myanmar is not necessarily all that different than the response that she’d receive in the USA and, while it’s commendable that American spokespersons publicly object to her most recent arrest, they, certainly, might seem to be a bunch of hypocrites. This is due to the fact that a number of Nobel Peace Award recipients, such as American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), have had difficulties of their own on American soil.

For example, “AFSC’s work, always open and resolutely nonviolent, has been under government surveillance for decades. The Service Committee secured nearly 1,700 pages of files from the FBI under a Freedom of Information request in 1976. These files show that the FBI kept files on AFSC that dated back to 1921. Ten other federal agencies kept files on AFSC, including the CIA, Air Force, Navy, Internal Revenue Service, Secret Service, and the State Department. The CIA has intercepted overseas mail and cables in the 1950s, and some AFSC offices (and even its staff’s homes) have been infiltrated and burglarized in the late 1960s into the 1970s.” [2]

In relation, AFSC associate general secretary for justice and human rights, Joyce Miller, asked, “How can we speak of spreading democracy in Iraq while dismantling it here at home?” She further remarked, “Political dissent is fundamental to a free and democratic society. It should not be equated with crime.”

Add to the AFSC problems, those pertaining to Nobel Peace Award recipient Nelson Mandela, who only a year ago had the designation “terrorist” removed from his name, under protest by the State Department, so that he no longer suffered travel restrictions from the US government. Yet his travel curtailment was not nearly as awful as was Ramzy Baroud’s blockage. He, the editor of Palestine Chronicle, had his US passport seized by a consular officer at an overseas American Embassy [3]. Similarly, Senator Edward Kennedy was, also, flagged by the U.S. no-fly list.

Then again, Ted Kennedy received much less harassment than did Nobel Peace Award winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire after her flight from Guatemala had been directed to Ireland through Houston:

“She was probably tired and ready to get back to Belfast, where her attempts to bring about an end to The Troubles in 1976 made her at 32 the youngest Nobel Peace Prize-winner ever. Since then, she’s been given the Pacem in Terris Award by Pope John Paul II, and the United Nations selected her (along with the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Jordan’s Queen Noor and a dozen or so other fellow Nobel Laureates) as an honorary board member of the International Coalition for the Decade.

“Unfortunately for Maguire, her flight back home to Northern Ireland was routed through Houston, where none of that meant diddly. Federal Customs officials were far less interested in any of that than they were in a box on the back of the transit form she filled out on her flight.

“‘They questioned me about my nonviolent protests in USA against the Afghanistan invasion and Iraqi war,’ Maguire said later in a statement. ‘They insisted I must tick the box in the Immigration form admitting to criminal activities.’

“Maguire was detained for two hours — grilled once, fingerprinted, photographed, and grilled again. She missed her flight home. She was only released after an organization she helped found — the Nobel Women’s Initiative — started kicking up a fuss.” [4]

On can add to her troubles countless other ones wherein human rights and environmental supporters have been repeatedly hassled for no other reason than that they’re holding views that don’t jive with positions at any number of U.S. government institutions. One needn’t return in time to the McCarthy Era to find many individuals who have been investigated and persecuted for holding vilified opinions. For example, Stephen Lendman, a peace advocate and writer in his seventies with a permanent knee injury that delimits travel, has been repeatedly investigated by the FBI.

At the same time, he is joined by myriad others such as assorted activists in Maryland whose names were put on federal terrorist lists by state police who infiltrated their groups. [5] As such, their perfectly legal activities, freedom of speech and right to unhindered assembly have been criminalized.

Simultaneously, there’s a certain inescapable irony and disingenuous quality presented by the Western government heads who are harshly critical of the Iran crackdown on dissenting citizens while they, themselves, condone similar ironfisted policies in their own lands. Their two-faced position is barely hidden beneath the surface of their mock concern for the well-being of Iranian protesters as they urge their own and allied troops into battle, show little (if any) sincere remorse over the slaughter of masses of civilians that happen in the process and make sure that demonstrators at home are disregarded, denigrated or  preemptively rounded up as happened at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Then again, one might find himself in pretty good company if he were singled out as unpatriotic and treacherous for holding viewpoints or undertaking actions that go contrary to the perspectives that a certain hawkish and totalitarian segment of society holds. All the same, every method conceivable might be used to hunt down the offenders and, when taken to the extreme, render their seemingly provocative positions ineffectual by any means possible, including imprisonment and murder.

Anyone who doubts this to be the case needs only to remember about what happened to people like Howard Fast; the slain Freedom Riders Andy Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner; the thirteen shot students at Kent State University at which Ohio National Guardsman fired sixty-seven rounds over a thirteen second period, and scores of others who have stood against mainstream policies.

Meanwhile, stigmatizing dissidents is a fairly common practice. As such, “There are 1.1 million people on the [U.S.] Terrorist Watch List and there is a 35 per cent error rate, minimum, for that list,” according to ACLU’s Michael German. [6] Furthermore, the overzealous and aggressive surveillance tactics used by the National Security Agency (NSA) to check the public’s e-mails, telephone calls and other communications are the same ones as were in use during George W. Bush’s administration. Likewise, the amount of spying on personal exchanges is as high as it ever was.

In relation to recent claims by Justice Department and national security officials that the overcollection was unintentional, House representative, Rush Holt, a Democrat from New Jersey and Chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, commented “Some actions are so flagrant that they can’t be accidental.” Additionally, the act of tracking e-mailed transmissions and other interactions has seemed in violation of federal law according to lawyers at the Justice Department. Regardless, the practice continues.

At the same time, the decision to designate social activists as troublemakers, while singling them out for intimidation, threats and investigations, carries serious legal and political implications in democratic societies.The further measure of subjecting them to the sorts of difficulties that Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Ramzy Baroud, AFSC members and innumerable others have endured is clearly based in xenophobic, paranoid and despotic thinking. It embodies the kind of authoritarian mentality and oppressive activities that one finds in the worst types of tyrannical regimes.

As Harry S. Truman suggested, “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” Due to this fear, are we, then, to all conform with lock-step in perverse obedience to the State’s dictates, outlooks and agendas in an increasingly Orwellian milieu? If not, then we must constantly remind ourselves and each other of US Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas’s vision: “Restriction

of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”

References

[1] Pentagon Rebrands Protest as “Low-Level Terrorism” (http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/06/pentagon-rebrands-protest-as-low-level-terrorism/).

[2] American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) (http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0201-03.htm).

[3] “Punishing activists or pursuing terrorists?” by Maggie Mitchell Salem in Asia Times Online :: Asian News, Business and Economy. (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/GL10Aa01.html).

[4] Nobel Prize Winner Gets Hassled At Bush Intercontinental … (http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/05/29-8).

[5] Police Spied on Activists In Md. – washingtonpost.com (http:// www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ content/article/2008/07/17/ AR2008071701287.html) and Md. Police Put Activists’ Names On Terror Lists – … (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wpdyn/content/article/2008/10/ 07/AR2008100703245.html).

[6] One third of FBI Terror Watch List are innocent people | Top … (http://www.russiatoday.ru/Top_News/2009-06-17/One_third_of_FBI_Terror_Watch_List_are_innocent_people.html).

Emily Spence is an author living in Massachusetts. She has spent many years involved in human rights, environmental and social services efforts.

Farkhor/ Ayne Air Force Base

Farkhor/ Ayne Air Force Base :

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31 May, 2009  Dr Khurram Shaukat Yousafzai

Farkhor Ayne Air Base is an Indian Airbase located in Farkhor/Ayni in Tajikistan,130 kilometers (80 miles) south east of its capital Dushanbe. It is the only Indian military base situated in a foreign country and just 2 km from the Tajik-Afghan border.
Historically, After Badly Planned Kargils Battle, which Pakistan initiated under General Musharaf which resulted in Nasty surprise to Indians exposing their fragility in Highly Strategic Area of Jammu and Kashmir and its nearness to Wahkhan Corridor the presence of most of Aksai Chin the area once part of Indian held Kashmir now under China. which the Indians were considering as their Entrance into Afghanistan and CIS countries and Control over OIL and mineral Resources of CIS states.

The Taliban rule in Afghanistan and Pakistan Resistance to open up the Trade Routes to Indian Trade across Pakistan because of Kashmir issue had undermined India,s participation in the “ Great Game “.

As Wahkhan Corridor separates, Pakistan from Tajikistan and Afghanistan and China’s Xingjian Uyghur Muslim Populated Region and Russia which lies further north of Tajikistan. The Durand line starts from Wahkhan region that separates us from Afghanistan. Wahkhan is just a few kms wide corridor that separates us from Tajikistan.

Presence of this Air force base at the Rear of Pakistan just a few Kilometers from Durand Line is a worrying development for both Pakistan and China. Russians too might have some strategic worries attached to it and there are reports of arm twisting of India.

In 2001, the Indian military opened a 25-bed hospital at the base at Farkhor to treat Afghan Northern Alliance members injured in fighting with the Taliban, including military leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, who was rushed there after the fatal suicide attack against him on 11 Sep 2001.

After the September 11 World trade centre attacks, Tajikistan offered its bases, including Farkhor, to the United States in its war against terror. The Indian military hospital unit was relocated inside Afghanistan with the progress of Northern Alliance forces. The U.S. showed Great interest in this base, It then offered Forkhan base to India, which USA considered as partner in the “New Great Game Strategy”, completely undermining Pakistan which was its front line state partner in War on terrorism.

India Immediately saw it as a Potential gold Mine towards its Forward Strategic Interests and the race for Oil and mineral resources of CIS countries. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov’s has signed many Pacts and Agreements with India, when Pakistan was busy fighting Taliban and trying to please America on war on Terror. Underming its own National Interests . The ISI has not been able to counter this new threat effectively.

Recently after Successful opening up of a new land route from Kandhar and Heart in Afghanistan to Iranian Free Trade zone of Chubahar in Sistan Iran, bordering the Balauchistan Province as recently as on 8 September 2008 just a day Before Zardari was sworn in as President with Karzai sitting besides him. Pakistan seems to have lost the trump card of blocking the land routes to Afghanistan and CIS countries. As of now Afghanistan(Read USA) can have an alternate trade route all made up by a road constructed by cost of one billion US dollars of Indian Money with its Indian Army Engineers right under the noses of ISI and Taliban.

The agreement between India and Tajikistan for the base was signed in 2003 and ratified in late 2004. It stipulates the presence of the Indian Air Force and Indian Army to be permanently stationed there. Work on the base commenced immediately and the air base is now in full operational readiness since early 2007.

India has constructed three hangars at Ayni, two of which will be used by Indian aircraft. India has stationed about 12-14 MiG-31 bombers with Nuclear capabilities. The third hangar would be used by the Tajik air force. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is also stationing trainer aircrafts, under a 2002 defense-cooperation agreement whereby India has been training the Tajik air force. Technicians from the Aviation Research Center of the Research and Analysis Wing (India’s external intelligence spy agency, RAW) also repaired the Northern Alliance’s aging Soviet-made Mi-17 and Mi-35 attack helicopters there. It was out of Tajikistan that India channeled this help to the Northern Alliance.

Neither New Delhi nor Dushanbe officially admits to an Indian air base at Ayni. Delhi maintains that it is only renovating this base. The first reports of India’s intentions surfaced in 2002, and speculation gathered momentum in 2003, now the base is operational since early 2007.

It is its presence at Ayni that has enabled India, to play a significant role, in Afghanistan’s reconstruction since 2002. Since Pakistan does not allow India overland access to Afghanistan, India has had to channel its economic and relief assistance to Afghanistan through Farkhor. The IAF airlifts supplies to Ayni, which are then transported to Farkhor and onward to Afghanistan by road.

Mr. Phunchok Stobdan, research fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, told Asia Times Online. After the fall of the Taliban regime due to USA, India was determined not to lose the foothold it had gained in Afghanistan thanks to its ties with the Northern Alliance in the late 1990s. Delhi was anxious not to allow Pakistani influence to grow again in Afghanistan.

This was behind India’s decision to remain at Ayni / Farkhor after the fall of the Taliban, say Indian intelligence sources. A military base in Tajikistan is attractive as it also enhances India’s options in the event of war with Pakistan. From Tajikistan, India would be able to strike Pakistan’s rear.

Pakistan has the weakest, Air defense, at Durand line area and might miss Aircraft coming from that Angle, as it not geared for that kind of threat and our forces look towards India Pakistan Border for enemies not Afghanistan.   As for now, the US Predator drones and American Aircraft come and go freely and Indian Mig 29, s will be hard to differentiate from them.

As for China, steps are afoot to counterbalance India’s rising profile in Tajikistan. A Stobdan point out that Chinese-Tajik cooperation is growing. Visits by senior Chinese leaders to Tajikistan have been followed up with generous military assistance to that country. While growing Chinese engagement with the Tajiks are perhaps motivated more by the increasing US presence in the region, India is no doubt a factor weighing on Chinese minds.

Now the question Arises, should we be looking at the Pak –India border and Kashmir Problem or concentrate on this Monster problem on our Durand line Border and the Wah khan area in the form Nuclear armed Indian war planes breathing on our necks.

If Pakistan does not revise its strategic plans immediately, its relationship with USA should be revised followed its relationship with India and Afghanistan too.

Our relationship with China and importantly with Russia should be strengthened. Now is the time if Pakistan does not form a Strategic Alliance with Russia and China., Pakistan would regret and pay heavily for this Mistake.

The recent briefings of ISPR are quite indicative about the forces behind terrorism. all the fingers point towards India, America, and Afghanistan,. Look at the poppy crops, which CIA had used against Russia during afghan Jihad. Now they are growing in Afghanistan under patronage of USA and NATO, after they were eliminated under Taliban. Maybe they are being used against Pakistan this time in form of funding the Terrorism. Recently the Presence of Explosive materials found in Malakand and Tribal regions were of Indian origin. All this have raised suspicions.

New York times daily , has recently claimed that Ammunition used by Taliban is definitely of American origin as one of the ammunition by Brand name “ Wolf “ ,made in California USA was used by them . The Guns were those, which were issued to Afghan police by USA.  So it possible that Ammunition is being smuggled from Tajikistan to Pakistan which geographically very near. As shown by the Map to destabilize Pakistan.

Pakistan should join the “Shangai Cooperation Organization,” immediately as it contains China, Russia, and most importantly Iran as well. This is the Platform, which can offer what is the Right thing. As it seems we are at same side when strategic interests are concerned of these players instead of towing the USA line of war on terrorism. The more we dance on USA lines the more we are going to suffer. As of now India is more important for USA, the nuclear deal which it offered to India is not for offer to Pakistan. Who has sacrificed its national interest in 1965 under Ayub Khan, in the 1980,s under Zia and in 2001-ongoing Period under Musharaf for USA?

The U2, s spy Missions against Russia from Badaber Peshawar during Ayub Khan which prompted Russia to warn us to strike Peshawar, the Operation Cyclone / Charlie Wilson war (Texas Senator , who wanted Vietnams revenge from Russia ) or Islamic Jihad against Russia under Gen Zia and the war on Terrorism under Musharaf ( New Great Game for CIS OIL ) . We as Pakistanis seem to be a small dispensable pawn in the great game for USA economic and Geo strategic Interests. A wake up call is needed urgently.

source ; http://www.opinion-maker.org/navigation.do?mode=showArticles&id=584

Thanking you in Anticipation from ,

Dr. Khurrum Shaukat Yusafzai.
Khurrumuk@gmail.com

Exporter updates: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan

The Central Asia-Caucasus region is one of the oldest hydrocarbon producing areas in the world. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the region has attracted special attention from oil and gas consuming nations and international companies.

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, in particular, enjoy several advantages. They hold oil and gas proved reserves sufficient to represent the main sources of future production increases outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Equally important, they are strategically sandwiched between two major energy-consuming regions—China to the east and Europe to the west, both of which depend heavily on foreign supplies of oil and gas. And, unlike most oil and gas producing nations in the Middle East, Latin America, and Russia, the three Caspian states other than Russia and Iran have welcomed foreign investment to consolidate their political independence and to attract capital with which to build and modernize their energy industries.

These advantages aside, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan all lack direct access to the high seas and major shipping routes. As a result, the only way for their hydrocarbon exports to reach major global markets is shipping via other countries, largely by pipelines. Oil and gas pipelines are not merely economic schemes; they also reflect and contribute to changing strategic parameters. For most of the last 2 decades, Central Asia and the Caucasus region’s three close neighbors—China, Europe, and Russia—have proposed and built several pipelines to serve their energy and political interests.

Together, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan hold 3.8% of the world’s proved oil reserves and 3.3% of its gas reserves. In 2008 their combined share of global oil production was 3.2%, and that of gas was 3.5%. Recent discoveries strongly suggest that the region’s oil and gas production will substantially increase.

The scope and timing of oil and gas development in these three Caspian Sea states depend on two dynamics. One is the availability of foreign investment and technology, which in turn depends on the approach authorities in Baku, Astana, and Ashgabat take toward international oil companies. The other is the yet-unclear ability of export capacity to keep pace with expected increases in oil and gas production in the region. The rivalry between regional and global powers will have a great impact on pipeline construction.

Reviews of recent energy developments in these countries follow:

Azerbaijan

Since independence, Azerbaijan has taken a more pro-Western, foreign investment-friendly approach than most other regional powers. This opening to international oil companies has contributed to the vast expansion of the country’s hydrocarbon production. Most of the oil comes from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli structure, developed by Azerbaijan International Operating Co. The bulk of Azeri oil is exported via two major pipelines: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), with a terminal at the Turkish port on the Mediterranean, and Baku-Novorossiysk, with a terminal at the Russian port on the Black Sea.

Azerbaijan has a similarly successful story with natural gas. The country’s production almost doubled in the last decade. Most of the gas comes from three fields—Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, Bakhar, and Shah Deniz. The latest is considered one of the world’s largest gas discoveries in the last few decades. In 2007 Azerbaijan became a net gas exporter. Azeri gas moves mainly to Turkey with small volumes to Georgia and Iran. The major gas pipeline is the South Caucasus, known also as Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum, which runs parallel to the BTC for most of its route with a connection to the Turkish gas network.

Kazakhstan

Given its size and massive hydrocarbon reserves, Kazakhstan has the potential soon to become a major energy exporter. Astana’s oil and gas production has more than tripled over the last decade. Most of the country’s oil comes from Tengiz and Karachaganak fields. Kashagan field, discovered in 2000, is the largest oil field outside the Middle East and the fifth largest in the world in terms of reserves. ENI was the major operator of the international consortium developing Kashagan until early 2008, when the Kazakh government doubled its stake in the scheme and stripped ENI of its leading role. Kashagan is scheduled to come on stream in 2013; however, geological and environmental hurdles might delay production.

Kazakhstan exports most of its oil via three major pipelines. Traditionally, Kazakhstan used to export all its oil via the Atyrau-Samara pipeline, a northbound link to the Russian distribution system. In recent years, pumping and heating stations were added to the pipeline. Astana, however, has decided to diversify its oil shipment routes.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) connects Kazakhstan’s oil fields in the Caspian Sea with Novorossiysk. It is the only export pipeline on Russian territory with partially private ownership. CPC was officially inaugurated in October 2001. Expansion of the CPC, including additional pump stations and storage facilities, is planned.

The Kazakhstan-China Pipeline represents an important diversification step. The pipeline connects oil fields in Atasu in northwest Kazakhstan with Alashankou in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region. China started receiving Kazakh oil in 2006. Kazakhstan also agreed to swap arrangements with Iran. And Astana has endorsed a plan to build a link connecting oil fields to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

Almost all Kazakh gas is associated with oil production, with Karachaganak and Tengiz the largest sources. Kazakh gas, along with that of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, is shipped via the Central Asia Center connecting western Kazakhstan with Russia’s gas system.

Turkmenistan

Unlike Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan has limited oil reserves but some of the richest gas endowments in Central Asia. Upon independence, Turkmen gas was seen as a competitor to that of Russia. All Turkmenistan gas was exported to Russia via the Central Asia Center pipeline, and the two countries became locked in a price dispute. As a result, Turkmen gas production stagnated for most of the 1990s.

The two nations have signed several agreements since the late 1990s, and Turkmen gas production has since skyrocketed. In addition to gas deals with Moscow, two other developments have boosted production and brightened the outlook: discoveries and a change in political leadership.

Most of Turkmenistan’s gas comes from Dauletabad and Shatlyk fields. In the mid-2000s the supergiant South Yolotan-Osman was discovered in the southeastern part of the country. In October 2008 an independent audit confirmed that the field was among the world’s biggest. In August 2008 another large field, South Gutlyayak, was discovered.

In addition to the Central Asia Center pipeline, a small proportion of Turkmen gas is exported to Iran via the Korpedzhe-Kurt Kai pipeline. Built in 1997, it was the first in Central Asia to bypass Russia.

Following the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov in December 2006, his successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, promised a fresh start in domestic and foreign policies. The new president invited international oil companies to develop the country’s hydrocarbon deposits. Though he declared the county “open for business,” authorities say Turkmenistan will develop its vast onshore resources itself. International oil companies will be limited to exploration in the Caspian Sea and offered service contracts rather than production-sharing agreements.

Berdymukhammedov has sought to diversify gas exports. In addition to the links to Russia and Iran, his government is negotiating gas deals with Pakistan and India via the so-called Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) or Trans-Afghanistan pipeline. In July 2007 Ashgabat and Beijing signed an agreement under which the former will supply the latter 30 billion cu m/year of gas for 30 years via the proposed Central Asia Gas pipeline. China will participate in development of Turkmen gas fields.

In April 2008 Berdymukhammedov signed an agreement with Germany’s RWE to explore for and develop gas fields in Turkmenistan and agreed to supply the European Union with 10 billion cu m of natural gas.

‘Uptick’ in the American-Made Tides of Violence in Iraq

DOES OUR CONTINUING U.S. OCCUPATION DECREASE CHANCES OF WAR-CRIMES PROSECUTION? WHY ELSE ARE WE THERE?

It’s All Good, Again: ‘Uptick’ in the American-Made Tides of Violence in Iraq

by Chris Floyd

The recent “uptick” in military fatalities and wounded is just part of the endless ebb and flow of death that the bipartisan American war on Iraq has set in motion. These bloodsoaked tides will continue to “surge” across the conquered land as the years of America’s military implantation drag on and on.

From the very beginning of the abomination that is the American war in Iraq, imperial courtiers have pushed the same line: every act of mass slaughter in the occupied land was actually an encouraging development — a sign that the insurgents were “getting desperate,” that “dead-enders” were launching last-gasp efforts, unable to derail the bounty of liberty and peace that America’s paternal goodness had bestowed upon the Iraqi people.

This has held true from the first suicide attacks following George W. Bush’s declaration of “Mission Accomplished” in the spring of 2003 and all through the mounting violence that has claimed more than a million innocent lives. The only exception was during the height of the genocidal fury of 2006, when the forces unleashed and empowered and assisted by the American occupiers carried out a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against fierce resistance. The American elite suffered a slight wobble at that point, putting together a conclave of worthies in the “Iraq Study Group” to suggest ways to tamp down the raging PR disaster. (And that’s all there was to the ISG plan; they were never going to pull out of Iraq.) The whole episose could be seen as yet another sorry chapter in the saga of the ghoulish, goonish family that somehow came to hold sway in American affairs for almost three decades, with Daddy Bush’s factotums guiding the ISG, while Junior Bush brushed them off and consulted his own little circle of militarist agitators to find a way to continue the war but get it off the front pages.

This was, of course, the famous “surge,” which saw a fresh influx of not-so-fresh American troops, blanketing the country and helping consolidate the gains of the ethnic cleansing campaign for the occupier’s favored factions. The ultimate result was the violent demographic shift — including the forced migration of 4 million people — and mass murder that is the foundation of the American-propped Maliki regime. Its sole purpose was to ensure that the war continued, and that the American military presence could be more deeply embedded in the client state.

The levels of violence did drop from the horrific heights of 2006 and 2007 — again, partly because the American-assisted ethnic cleansing had been so successful. (In much the same way, there was a significant drop in Nazi violence against Jews in, say, Poland — after the Nazis had killed most of the Jews in Poland.) But the violence in Iraq never went away; the conquered land remained one of the most dangerous places on earth, and very few of the 4 million refugees felt safe enough to return home. (And in many cases, their “ethnically cleansed” homes were no longer available to them.) And of course, the million dead are still dead — and the millions more maimed, broken, ruined, grieved and traumatized are still suffering.

Now that the Americans and their Iraqi clients have reneged on their payoff deal with the Sunni insurgents they had bribed to keep quiet during the surge, we are seeing the inevitable “uptick” in violence.

And now that the Americans and their Iraqi clients have reneged on their payoff deal with the Sunni insurgents they bribed to keep quiet during the surge, we are seeing the inevitable “uptick” in violence (to borrow Joe Biden’s atrociously dismissive term for the coming slaughter in Obama’s Afghanistan “surge”). More than 150 people have been killed in just two bombings of Shi’ite sites in the past five days.

And right on cue, the Obama Administration trots out the same old platitudes: “Nothing to worry about, nothing to see here, things are just hunky-dorry, don’t sweat the small stuff, it’s all good.” Or as Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell put it:

“Despite the fact that you’ve seen sporadic high-profile attacks still taking place in Iraq, the overall security climate is a good one and we remain at all-time lows.”

“All-time lows” means that, on average, “only” a few dozen or more are murdered in war-spawned violence each and every month of the year. The Obama mouthpiece then tried to blame the “sporadic” mass slaughters on the “Status of Forces Agreement,” which calls for American troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June. This is all part of an overall “withdrawal” plan concocted by the Bush Regime and their client Maliki, and adopted, with only the slightest modifications, by Barack Obama as his own. Naturally, both the “withdrawal from cities” this month and the promised “withdrawal of all combat troops” from the country in August 2010 are riddled with “exceptions.” For example, Americans will remain thoroughly ensconced in strategic points inside the city of Baghdad (not least in the massive Crusader fortress they are building in the Green Zone), while continuing to “assist” Iraqi military operations in all Iraqi cities. And of course, the long-range “withdrawal” plan will leave tens of thousands of American troops on the ground in Iraq — again, “assisting” and “training” Iraqi forces.

The recent “uptick” (and yes, Morrell used that very word in his spin session) is just part of the endless ebb and flow of death that the bipartisan American war on Iraq has set in motion. These bloodsoaked tides will continue to “surge” across the conquered land as the years of America’s military implantation drag on and on — and no doubt for long afterward.

“But you know what they say, man: It’s all good.” — Bob Dylan

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Chris Floyd has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years, working in the United States, Great Britain and Russia for various newspapers, magazines, the U.S. government and Oxford University. Floyd co-founded the blog Empire Burlesque, and is also chief editor of Atlantic Free Press. He can be reached at cfloyd72@gmail.com.This column is republished here with the permission of the author.

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This story was published on June 25, 2009.

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Countdown to Total Chaos

This week’s bombings are a demonstration to the world, to provide Obama with a face-saving excuse for back-tracking on his campaign promises on Iraq. If pulling-out would condemn Iraqis to non-stop terror (as if they are not now), then continuing the occupation would be portrayed as a humanitarian measure. An Iraqi pull-out was never in the cards, merely another sadistic hypocritical election ploy.

more about "Countdown to Total Chaos", posted with vodpod

Revelations made by Peter Chamberlin should awaken us

Published by editor Features, News Jun 24, 2009

By Asif Haroon Raja

The army enters the scene to tackle a serious law and order or security problem when all other options fail to deliver. By that time patience of the government and that of general public has worn out, tempers are high, law breakers have gone berserk in shredding writ of state, civil law enforcing agencies are on the run and civil administration is absent because of life threats and casualties sustained. Local population stand intimidated due to terror tactics of militants laced with sophisticated weapons and IEDs. Any person defying their orders is made a horrible example to put fear into others. Under such inhospitable environments, it is not an easy task for the military to put everything right in a jiffy since it doesn’t carry a magic wand. Soldiers are as thin skinned as their civilian counter parts and equally vulnerable to bullets, suicide bombers and IEDs.

Whatever advantages they have get diluted when they have to operate in home terrain of rebels, confront faceless enemy resorting to guerrilla hit and run tactics. Not only it has to differentiate between friend and foe, it has to remain mindful of collateral damage to the local population among which many support the militants quietly.

Factor of collateral damage kept the army restrained when operating in Waziristan, causing immense irritation to USA. Policy of selective and minimal force to avoid civilian casualties was objected to. From 2005 onwards, the US continuously lectured Pakistan to do more. Our measured actions displeased USA so immensely that it accused the army of either being incompetent or in league with militants. All sorts of libelous stories were circulated to malign image of the army. Ultra liberal writers hummed Indian and western themes that army and ISI consider Taliban as its strategic assets. Failing to evoke desired response and irked by peace deals, western media joined by own writers started to overplay militant threat and converted it into an existential threat to Pakistan. Fata was declared most dangerous place on earth and a danger to USA and rest of the world.

Our nuclear program came under sustained vilification attack feeding an impression to the world that Pakistan was not in a position to protect its nuclear weapons from Taliban. The US military began to flex its muscles and pressure was built up that US Special Forces had chalked out contingency plans to step in and takeaway the nuclear assets before they were stolen. As part of psy war, one Mustafa Abu Yazid in Afghanistan claiming to be top Al-Qaeda leader stated that Pakistani nuclear weapons instead of falling into US hands will be taken over by Mujahideen and used against Americans. He also hoped that Pak army would be defeated in Swat and that would turn the tables. US State Department and CIA pioneered the malicious campaign against Pak army, ISI and nuclear program through US media duly reinforced by western and India media. Once military was launched in Malakand Division in late April resulting in massive exodus, Manmohan Singh couldn’t contain his glee; he chuckled that Pakistan has collapsed. His merriment proved short-lived for he and his colleagues are now distressed over successes made by Pak troops, Swat front collapsing too soon, Hindu-Afghan agents getting killed or caught in large numbers and noose around Baitullah tightening and whole Pakistani nation supporting the army.

Swat valley, Buner and Lower Dir have been fully secured and few pockets are being cleared. Close to 1600 militants including Shah Duran have been killed and 800 families of IDPs have returned to Buner. The military has decided to tackle all sanctuaries of militants and to that end used air strikes and artillery selectively in Bajaur, Bannu, Orakzai, South Waziristan based on accurate intelligence and destroyed strongholds, training sites, weapons and ammunition dumps of militants. Idea is to give no quarter and breathing time to the militants and keep them dislocated and on the run. Baitullah’s former companion Zainuddin Mehsud, who had become his rival, has been killed in DIK most probably by Baitullah men. Zain’s brother Misbah has taken over. Drones have targeted Baitullah’s stronghold killing 50 people. Pro-government and anti-American Maulvi Nazir who had been at war with Baitullah has come close to him after latter’s area was hit by a drone on 14 February. Maulvi Nazir, Malang and Turkistan Bittani are important figures who would make the task of army easy or difficult.

India is now looking forward to exploit IDPs and is banking upon cornered Baitullah to turn the tide. It may be recalled how unreasonable and uncompromising stance Indian leaders had maintained from 26 November onwards in the aftermath of Mumbai attacks. They refused to investigate the case jointly or to have talks unless Pakistan agreed to do their biddings. For a change, Pakistan stood its ground since the so-called evidence provided was eyewash. All indications pointed towards Indian homegrown terrorists linked with Indian army, Hindu extremist parties/groups and RAW. Mahrashtra Chief Karkare who was assassinated on the first night of occurrence had made startling revelations and investigations had reached advanced stage. Real culprits had been exposed who had committed several incidents of terror for which Pakistan was blamed. Reputation of Indian army was at stake since large number of its senior serving and retired officers were found involved in terrorism. So was BJP which was looking forward to win May elections and recapture power.

Since stakes were very high, hence the drama was enacted by RAW in which Pakistan was roped in to kill several birds with one stone. By throwing the entire blame on the doorsteps of Pakistan, India has cleverly closed the case of Col Purohit and several other military officers directly involved in terrorism. Prejudiced western leaders and scandalous media are tightlipped about it. India has expressed willingness to resume talks but made it conditional to destruction of anti-India terrorist network in Pakistan. It has now issued arrest warrants of recently released Hafiz Saeed and 22 others blamed to be involved in Mumbai carnage.

Like tens of American and western writers, US journalist Peter Chamberlin has made startling revelations about designs of USA in our region. He says that since Pakistan is the keystone in US stratagem for materialization of its commercial interests in southern Central Asia and Middle East, it is a compulsion for it to take Pakistan under its total control. He says that Al-Qaeda and local Taliban in Pakistan are creations of CIA since Al-Qaeda was not in existence before 9/11. Involvement of Al-Qaeda was manufactured solely on the basis of single Israeli source and Osama who is long dead is purposely kept alive. War on terror against imaginary Al-Qaeda was conceived and mounted by neo-cons for fulfillment of US global ambitions and Af-Pak strategy is another deception. Chamberlin aptly says that CIA has managed to pull-off a world-class propaganda coup by making Pakistan scapegoat for the mess it has created in Afghanistan. The most disquieting part of his exposure is that CIA had used Northern Alliance most ruthless men to destabilize Fata and NWFP. He says that mostly Uzbeks from Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan had been launched from Afghanistan to indulge in kidnappings, bombings and beheading of over 400 tribal notables. Peace deals were disrupted through drone attacks or opening new fronts. In his view Nazir holds key to war and peace in South Waziristan.

Is it not another wake up call? Time for softness and vagueness has run out since half of the country is in flames. Unless our leaders gather courage and expose the real face of our so-called friends and bring to notice of the world and UN the perverse role played by RAW and CIA and extensive damage incurred under the garb of friendship, the whole country would get engulfed in foreign sponsored militancy.

-         Asian Tribune -

A Timeline of CIA Atrocities

Steve Kangas

CIA Discovered Planning “Soft Revolution” in Early 2009

TEHRAN, Jan. 19 (Mehr News Agency) — Iran has broken up a CIA-backed network that sought to carry out a “soft revolution” in Iran through people-to-people contacts.

The “soft revolution” plan is based in Dubai and is similar to a U.S. plan that targeted the Soviet Union in 1959, the director of the counterespionage department of the Intelligence Ministry told reporters at a press conference here on Monday.

He said the CIA was seeking to implement the plan under the cover of scientific and cultural contacts between Iranian and U.S. nationals.

Unfortunately, some Iranian nationals, especially cultural and scientific figures, were deceived through such activities, he added.

“The U.S. intelligence agency was seeking to (repeat) its experiences of color revolutions through such public contacts with influential persons and elites.”

The CIA tried to attain its goals by taking advantage of people-to-people contacts, joint studies, efforts to share scientific experiences, and other similar projects, he added.

The soft revolution plan was carried out through “NGOs, union protests, non-violent demonstrations, civil disobedience… and (efforts to) foment ethnic strife” all across Iran, the official stated.

Four of the people who led the network inside Iran were actively and intentionally cooperating with CIA agents, he noted.

These four persons were put on trial, some others were pardoned, and some others were acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence, he explained.

These four persons confessed and videotapes of parts of their confessions will be released soon, he noted.

He only named two of the persons, the brothers Dr. Arash Alaei and Dr. Kamyar Alaei.

The Intelligence Ministry official said that $32 million of the $75 million allocated by the U.S. Congress to destabilize Iran was spent on this project.

The CIA used institutions such as the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Soros Foundation, AIPAC, and charity organizations and sought the help of William Burns and other people in the United States and agents in the Azerbaijan Republic, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait.

He stated that the CIA enlisted scientists, physicians, university professors, clergymen, artists, athletes, and dress designers for its plot.

He went on to say that these people were invited to the United States in groups of 10-15 people, with visas issued for them in Dubai in the shortest possible time, and according to their professions, they participated in scientific seminars and toured various states, and when they returned home they were asked to write “analyses” of the situation inside Iran.

The CIA was actively seeking to recruit more people for the network, who also would have been invited to visit the United States, he added.

These persons were ordered to put pressure on the government to change its policy and to sow discord between the government and the people, he explained.

The Intelligence Ministry found out about the secret plan from the very beginning and “even allowed the operation to be conducted to a (certain level) so that we could inform talented people with full confidence that they should not be deceived by such scientific centers,” he stated.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry countered the plot by “infiltrating” the network and even derailed it from its path by providing false information, but the CIA eventually discovered the ruse, he explained.

Advice for Obama

The official advised the incoming U.S. administration to avoid repeating the previous “failed” policies toward Iran.

He made the remarks one day before Barack Obama is officially inaugurated as the next U.S. president.

The Intelligence Ministry official said the U.S. is discrediting its scientific and charity organizations by allowing the CIA to use them as cover for its activities.

“It is not in the interests of scientific and political institutions (to allow themselves) to be used by the CIA for its hidden agenda.”

Employing such organizations to conduct spy activities will create skepticism about them that will be very difficult to eliminate, he noted.

Solitary Confinement Prescription for Slow Death or Insanity (Report)

Solitary Confinement Prescription for Slow Death or Insanity

(Report)

Palestinian Information Center

June 24, 2009 With a voice full of hope for a brighter future, and optimism that the end of suffering is near, the prisoner Hasan Salamah repeated songs he has memorized in order to break the routine of a deadly dull life in cramped isolation cells where mercy is unknown and the only smells are those associated with depression, death or insanity. The prisoner, Salamah, sentenced to several life sentences, has been held in solitary confinement for six years. The occupation authorities have accused him of responsibility for the deaths of scores of Zionists. He is one of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners being held in isolation cells in various sections of Israeli prisons.  This isolation may continue for many years so as to drill into the prisoner’s mind, body and soul effects which can not be easily erased. The psyche and the body are subjected to ongoing pressure by being deprived of everything, even the simplest conversation with another human being. Although isolation is a punishment which is supposed to be limited to a specific duration, the occupation has deliberately set no time limits on it so as to crank up the psychological pressure on prisoners. Isolation is periodically extended throughout the period of confinement by means of a kangaroo court known as the Court of Extended Isolation. The prisoner is brought before the court without ever being informed of the reason for his isolation, which is usually based upon a recommendation by the Zionist internal security service, Shin Bet. The prisoner is merely informed that his isolation has been extended on the basis of confidential material. The extension will be for a year if the isolation is partial (i.e., two persons in one cell) and for a period of six months if the prisoner is completely alone in the cell. Throughout this new term the prisoner continues to endure all the forms of suffering he had previously endured until he is brought before a new court in the following year to receive a new extension from the judge for another year for the same reasons (confidential material), and so on, year after year. Punishment for Leaders! According to the Ministry of Current and Released Prisoners, in a report on prisoners being held in isolation, the Israeli Department of Corrections imposes the punishment of isolation on those prisoners accused of carrying out major resistance attacks that led to the death of Zionists or on prisoners who are considered leaders of the nationalist movement among the prisoners, whose words carry weight with the other prisoners. The goal is to humiliate the prisoner, break his will, destroy his psyche, and turn him into a body without a spirit. They are keen to turn him into fertile ground for the spread of debilitating diseases that weaken the bones and impair vision. They want the isolated prisoner to lose both spirit and body, so that he will long for death a thousand times rather than remain stuck within the same walls, talking to himself and counting the hours and days that drag by, waiting to emerge from this dark tomb. Riyad al-Ashqar, director of the Information Department of the Ministry, explains that isolation is of two types: The first is in individual cells -called snuke- in which a prisoner is held in solitary confinement. These are no bigger than 1.5 × 2 meters, and there is no room to move, walk or pray. There is one mattress, a blanket, one bottle for relieving oneself, and another for drinking water. The prisoner is only allowed to go to the bathroom once a day. In these cells prisoners lose all sense of time; they do not know the times of prayer or even when day turns to night. They are not allowed to have watches, radios, newspapers, or any means of communication with the outside world, nor are they permitted to purchase anything from the prison canteen. The second type of isolation is in a wing of the prison completely devoted to isolation cells. The cells in these sections are slightly better than snuke, and are large enough to house more than one prisoner. They have a toilet inside each cell, and prisoners are allowed to prepare food inside the cell. The Prisoners Subjected to the Greatest Isolation Al-Ashqar explained that the number of prisoners being held in isolation is more than 100 prisoners in various prisons, with some being held in solitary confinement within the isolation wings of the prisons of Askalan, Ramla, Ayalon, Nafha and Beer Sheba. There are a number of prisoners who have been singled out by the prison management for punishment by isolation on a continuous basis. They are: - Hasan Salamah, from the city of Khan Younis, has been sentenced to dozens of life sentences. So far he has spent six years in isolation. - Hamid Ibrahim, from Silwad, has been sentenced to dozens of life sentences. He has been held in isolation ever since his initial arrest more than three years ago. - Mahmoud Eesa, from Jerusalem, has been sentenced to several life sentences. So far he has spent eight years in isolation. - Tayseer Samoudi, from Yamoun, has spent more than 14 years being shifted from one isolation cell to another. – Mu’taz Hijazi, from Jerusalem, was sentenced to 11 years. So far he has spent six years in isolation. - Abd al-Naser Halees has spent more than ten years so far in isolation. - Jamal Abu Haija of Jenin, has been sentenced to several life sentences.  So far he has spent four years in isolation. - Abdullah al-Barghouthi, of Ramallah, has been sentenced to dozens of life sentences.  So far he has spent five years in isolation. - Ahmed al-Maghrabi, from Bethlehem, has been sentenced to several life sentences.  So far he has spent five years in isolation. - Mohammed Jamal Natsheh, from Hebron; a member of a Legislative Council, he was sentenced to eight years. He has spent five years in isolation. - Uwaydah Kallab from the Gaza Strip, was condemned to life imprisonment. He has stayed more than ten years in isolation. - Hisham Sharbati was sentenced to eight years; he has spent three years in isolation. - Zaher Jabareen, from Hebron, was sentenced to life imprisonment. He has been isolated more than once; the longest period was for two years. – Musa Dudeen, from Hebron, was sentenced to life imprisonment and has been subjected to isolation more than six times. - Mahawish Nu’aymat of Rafah has spent more than a year in isolation since his arrest. - Mohammed Jaber Ubaydi, of the town of Kafr Ni’ma, has spent four years in isolation. - Usamah al-Ainabusi of the town of Tubas. - Saleh Dar Musa from the town of Bayt Luqya. - Jihad Yaghmour of Jerusalem. Suffering without Limits Al-Ashqar identified a number of forms of suffering endured by prisoners confined in isolation cells. Among the most serious is being confined in sections that house common criminals; there they are subjected to every form of abuse, curses, and having flammable liquids thrown at them. They are also subjected to a steady assault on their religious sentiments and continued harassment by loud music, constant drumming on their doors and being repeatedly subjected to prisoner counts at short intervals. Prisoners are not allowed to go out to the exercise “yard” except one hour a day, and the guards manipulate the timing of that hour so that on bitterly cold days they come at six in the morning to announce that anyone who wants to exercise must wake up. If one prisoner wants to sleep and the other wants to go out, the one who stays must wake up to have manacles placed on his hands so that the other can go out. If he doesn’t wake up, the other will be deprived of the opportunity to go out in the yard. If they both want to go out, manacles are put on both, and they go out one by one. Frequently one of them will be required to remain out in the yard in manacles. Worse still, manacles are a feature of all the details of daily life. Prisoners are handcuffed when the trash is taken out, when receiving visits from lawyers or family members, and when going out to the clinic or the court. The prisoner will be placed on the examination bed and made to lie with his hands under his back. Prisoners are even forced to give urine samples in a most humiliating way while manacled. The prisoner in isolation is imposed upon in all aspects of life. The prison administration may, for instance, require one prisoner to be paired off with another in cells that are usually cramped and poorly ventilated. The administration will deliberately pair a non-smoker with a smoker or a religious prisoner with a non-religious one to set the prisoners up for 24-hours-a-day of conflict. If one of them tries to protest or get a transfer away from the other, the solution is blows and truncheons. They are forced to live together, and if they refuse, all their personal belongings are confiscated and the cell is converted to a snuke or torture chamber stripped of all personal belongings. More than once the brothers are told, “One of you could get rid of the other by having the other one die.” A prisoner is subjected to the severest penalties if he reads the Qur’an aloud, or breaks anything inadvertently, or speaks with another prisoner in the section. If a piece of metal, wire or string tied for some particular purpose is found in a cell, all electrical devices will be removed from it and the prisoner will be denied access to the canteen and the daily exercise outing. As for visits from family members, these are already prohibited, except in rare cases. In addition, there are sudden raids in the middle of the night by a special unit wearing masks and equipped with video cameras. They conduct violent searches in which the prisoner is stripped naked for no reason and handcuffed while his personal belongings are broken and trifled with and the room is turned upside down. After the inspection is completed, the door is locked and the prisoner sticks his hands through a large hole in the bottom of the door to have the handcuffs removed. For two or three days after an inspection a prisoner will work to restore order to his room, only to have the same procedure repeated a few days later. If a prisoner in isolation is afflicted by any health ailment he will have to go through a complicated set of procedures before being able to see a doctor. He will have to register for the clinic several times. Often the isolation section will have a specific day of the week set aside when those prisoners are allowed to go out for clinic visits. If the day is Monday, for example, and the prisoner gets sick on Tuesday, he will have to wait the whole week before being allowed to go to the clinic. If the officer assigned to take him happens to be busy or has the day off, he loses his chance and has to wait for another week. When he does finally get to the clinic he will remain handcuffed during the examination and forced to listen to insults from the doctor and the nurse. If blood tests or imaging are necessary, he will have to wait for months, if he ever gets one. Isolation wings tend to be unhealthy places with poor ventilation and poor hygiene; rats run on the food, and the rooms are filled with cockroaches and mosquitoes. Worst of all, the daily exercise yard is no more than a room 5 meters longs by 4 meters wide with a cement roof. It gets no sun, and it is not possible to use it for exercise or even a walk, it being frequently filled with the leftovers of the common criminals, such as urine, feces and other filth. Prisoners in isolation are denied all religious rights such as holidays, Friday prayers, even religious books. A prisoner may even sometimes have his prayer rug taken away. They are, likewise, deprived of family visits and of newspapers. Psychological effects The report pointed out that isolation leaves great psychological effects on a prisoner. For years on end he does not see anyone; he is either entirely alone or with one other person, but the two of them cannot mingle with other people. He is subjected to all forms of psychological torture and deprivation, and then when he shows some signs of protest or of being affected by his situation, he is accused of being suicidal. Force is immediately brought to bear; his hands and feet are bound fast to a high iron “perch” on which he sleeps. He is set free only twice a day for half an hour each in the morning and evening to eat and go to the bathroom. Many international human rights organizations have confirmed that isolation leaves clear, striking psychological effects on prisoners. Some prisoners go insane as a result of isolation from the world for long periods, for humans are by nature social beings; they need to talk with others. Should a person be forcibly deprived of expression of this natural instinct, he will be vulnerable to serious mental illnesses that will affect the course of his life. The prisoner Uwaydah Kallab from the Gaza Strip was sentenced to life imprisonment and has spent 20 years in Israeli prisons, during which he has been isolated for more than 12 years. This has led to serious mental illness and the loss of mental and legal competence. It has resulted in his inability to recognize his friends in prison. He refuses the visits of his relatives, and he refuses to acknowledge his only son, who was a young child when Uwaydah was taken away and is now a young man. Afeef Awawidah is suffering a serious psychiatric illness caused by isolation for long periods. The prison administration attempted to exploit the prisoner’s disease by goading him to attack one of his colleagues in isolation. The prisoner Darwish Dawhal is also suffering from a psychological and neurological condition as a result of solitary confinement; he does not wish to talk with anyone or come out of his cell for the daily exercise session. There are many other prisoners who are suffering from depression and mental illness as a result of isolation from the world for long periods. The situation calls for a serious stand to stop this criminal policy against the prisoners, which is in contravention of humanitarian conventions. The ministry is calling for immediate intervention by international institutions to curb the Israeli policy of punishing our male and female prisoners by isolation, and to improve the living conditions in prisons to bring them in line with the requirements of international law. They need to do that before they make demands of the Palestinians to release Corporal Gilad Shalit or allow him a visit by the Red Cross.

US Missiles Turn Pakistan Funeral to Grave

Special for IslamOnline.net

As mourners gathered for their funeral prayers later in the day in a nearby area, another drone fired three missiles into the crowd.(file photo) MIRAMSHAH – Wrapped in white bandages and lying on a bed in the dust-bowed district hospital in Miramshah, the capital of North Waziristan, Fazl-e-Rabbi is one of who lucky enough to survive a US deadly missile strike at a funeral ceremony in neighboring South Waziristan a day earlier.”We had just finished the funeral prayers and I was wearing my shoes when I felt that the sun had exploded on my head,” Fazl-e-Rabbi, who received injuries in his arms, legs and lower abdomen, told IslamOnline.net on Wednesday, June 24. “What I remember is that I was hit by something in my lower abdomen and then in no time I fell on the ground. I tried to control my senses but I could not.” Some 83 people, mostly civilians were reportedly killed and over 50 injured in three consecutive drone attacks in Lataka, an area located 50 kilometers north of Wana, the capital of South Waziristan, within 12 hours. The first strike killed several suspected Taliban militants in Shubi Khel, about 65 kilometers north of Wana. Intelligence officials say senior Afghan Taliban commander Khoj Wali, who was heading a meeting of local Taliban, was killed in the attack along with five others. As mourners gathered for their funeral prayers later in the day in a nearby area, another drone fired three missiles into the crowd. “The last feeling I had at that time was that I am going to die as people soaked in their own blood were running from here to there to take shelter,” recalled Fazl-e-Rabbi, a father of three, fighting back his tears. Since August 2008, about 43 US drone strikes have killed at least 410 people. The US does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its troops in neighboring Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy unmanned drones in the region. Publicly, the Pakistani government opposes attacks by pilotless US aircraft as a violation of its territorial sovereignty. Innocents Fazl-e-Rabbi, a farmer by profession, insisted that most of the victims were innocent civilians. “Most of the deceased were civilians. I know almost all of them. They were from my area,” he insisted. The victims included two of his cousins. “One of my cousins was standing next to me during the funeral prayers. I heard his deafening scream before falling on the ground,” he remembered. “I don’t remember what happened after that but his last scream has settled down in my mind.” Fazl-e-Rabbi was later informed that both his cousins breathed their last. According to local sources, the deceased were buried in a mass grave. “We have nothing to do with Taliban or Al-Qaeda,” he fumed. “It is a local tradition that whoever dies in your neighborhood, then it is a must for us to attend his funeral and burry him. We did the same.” His contention is backed by local journalists and a parliamentarian elected from the area. “Around 50 civilians who had nothing to do with Taliban have been killed in the strikes,” Irfan Khan, a local journalist, told IOL. He refuted reports that Afghan or foreign Taliban were killed in the drone attacks. “Most of them [victims] were civilians, while some local Taliban have also been killed.” Senator Saleh Shah, who belongs to South Waziristan, agrees. “As far as my information is concerned, most of the deceased were ordinary tribesmen who gathered to offer funeral prayers of some suspected local Taliban,” he told IOL. “Taliban are not as doofus as gathering under open sky and become an easy target for US drones.” Radicalizing Fazl-e-Rabbi, the wounded civilian, is furious at the treatment melted out to him and his fellow residents by the government and the media. “We are stuck between Taliban and US attacks and when we are killed, not only no one cries for us, but also we are dubbed as militants,” he fumed. He laments that no official has visited them to check on their condition, or even verify whether they are Taliban or not. “They won’t come because they know we are innocent. It seems as if we are aliens in our own country.” Fazl-e-Rabbi is equally critical of both Taliban and the Americans. “If Taliban are bombing the mosques, then America is bombing the funerals. What is difference between them?” Senator Shah warns that such attacks would further fan anti-government, anti-American sentiments in the already restive tribal area. “If this kind of practice continues, then mark my words, this so-called war on terror can never be won. “Taliban don’t need anything to coax the people. US drone attacks are enough to do that.” Fazl-e-Rabbi agrees. “We don’t demand anything. We just want to be treated equally. Don’t force us to become Taliban, which we don’t want to.”

Why Was Pakistan Drone Strike So Deadly?

• By David Hambling

The latest drone strike in Pakistan is apparently the deadliest yet: Reports describe between 45 and 70 dead and many injured. The details are far from clear, but we can at least answer some questions: is it really possible for a drone attack to be so lethal? Is new, more lethal weaponry being deployed?

One thing to bear in mind is that not all so-called “drone strikes” may be carried out by U.S. drones. On previous occasions, there have been strong suggestions that the strikes were actually carried out by Pakistani F-16 jets. It may be much more politically convenient for the Pakistani government to point the finger at the U.S. when it comes to killing its own people.

In this instance, however, Al-Jazeera does have an eyewitness:

“I saw three drones, they dropped bombs,” Sohail Mehsud, a resident of Makeen, said.

Whether the average Pakistani villager can tell manned from unmanned aircraft is another matter. But it may also be significant that in this case bombs, rather than missiles, are being reported.

In the early days of drone wars the only strike aircraft was the MQ-1 Predator, armed with one or two hundred-pound Hellfire missiles. The AGM-114 Hellfire was originally designed as an anti-tank missile for attack helicopters (the name is supposedly a contraction of “Helicopter-Launched Fire and Forget”) and carried a shaped charge for punching through armor. Later a version was developed for the Navy that replaced the shaped charge with a blast/fragmentation warhead, and most recently we have seen the AGM-114N thermobaric version with enhanced blast which flows more efficiently than standard explosives ” capable of reaching around corners, striking enemy forces that hide in caves or bunkers and hardened multi-room complexes.”

The Hellfire warhead weighs around twenty pounds; the anti-tank version will damage very little except the vehicle it hits, and the thermobaric version is extremely effective inside buildings but blast is has a relatively short range outdoors. The Air Force budget suggests that only a handful of the blast/frag version are being bought.

However, the Predator has now been joined by the much larger MQ-9 Reaper, which can carry a heavier payload, around three thousand pounds, including a large number of Hellfires and GBU-12 Paveway II and GBD-38 JDAM bombs. These are different types of 500-pound bomb, one with laser guidance and the other satellite guided. Both are based on the 1950’s-vintage Mk 82 bomb ; less than half the weight of the bomb bomb is explosive, and the rest is the steel casing. The reason for having such a thick casing is shrapnel: when the bomb detonates, the casing blows up like a balloon before bursting and spraying high-velocity steel fragments in all directions. It is these fragments, rather than blast, that do most of the damage.

Marc Herold, in looking at casualties in Afghanistan, quotes an ‘effective casualty radius’ for the Mk82 of 200 feet: this is radius inside which 50% of those exposed will die. Quite often the target is taking cover or lying down and the effect is reduced, but if you can catch people standing up or running then the full effective casualty radius will apply.

This brings us to the photograph above, which was originally supplied to NBC journalist Kerry Sanders by a U.S. military source in 2006. It was taken from a Predator and shows a group of almost 200 Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan; U.S. officers wanted to attack the group, but were prevented because the rules of engagement did not allow attacks on cemeteries. A military statement noted that coalition forces “hold themselves to a higher moral and ethical standard than their enemies.”

The situation in Pakistan was similar and may have offered a similarly dense concentration of targets: a funeral, attended by a large number of Taliban. However, there are differences in the accounts of when the attack took place, and although Al-Jazeera says it was “at the funeral of a suspected Taliban commander,” a Pakistani intelligence source quoted in the UK’s Guardian newspaper says that it happened “as people were dispersing” after the funeral.

In any case, the high body could have potential to be an embarrassment rather than a triumph. The apparent target of the attack, Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, seems to have escaped unscathed, and some of the dead may have been villagers attending the funeral rather than Taliban. In the long run, one well-placed bullet from a drone may be more effective than a five-hundred pound bomb.

Manas: Money for Nothing

Russia: Bishkek set us up!

Wed, 06/24/2009 – 11:17am

Russia is not happy that the government of Kyrgyzstan changed their mind and decided to allow the U.S. to continue operating at Manas airbase. But then, if I gave someone $2.1 billion for nothing, I’d be pretty upset too:

“The news about the preservation of the base was an extremely unpleasant surprise for us. We did not anticipate such a dirty trick,” the foreign ministry source told Kommersant.

[...]

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the decision to close the base in February during a visit to Moscow — on the same day that Russia unveiled a generous aid package to his impoverished country.

In the package, Russia agreed to settle an estimated 180-million-dollar debt owed by Bishkek to Moscow, extend Kyrgyzstan a grant worth 150 million dollars, and loan it two billion dollars more, news agencies reported at the time.

Russia has consistently denied playing any role in Kyrgyzstan’s decision to close the base. But the base’s presence had long irritated Moscow, which sees it as an intrusion into its former Soviet domains in Central Asia.

I understand why keeping Manas open is important to the war effort in Afghanistan, but being played like this by Kyrgyzstan against Russia for the personal enrichment of Kurmanbek Bakiyev (the U.S. is paying three times the original rent in order to keep the base open) can’t feel like much of a victory for the Pentagon.

JFK – Shocking New Footage! Stabilized, filtered and in high definition: 05/12/2009

more about "JFK – Shocking New Footage! Stabilize…", posted with vodpod

US drone attack claims 80 lives in Pakistan

By ROHAN SULLIVAN
Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD (AP) – What appeared to be the deadliest U.S. missile attack ever on Pakistani soil brought an unusual reaction Wednesday in a country that has

previously denounced such strikes as an affront to its sovereignty _ silence.

Tuesday’s attack killed 80 people, Pakistani officials said, but missed its chief target, Baitullah Mehsud. He is the country’s top Taliban leader and its public enemy No. 1, accused of masterminding numerous brutal operations including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

The seemingly accurate targeting appeared to point to cooperation between the U.S. military and Pakistani intelligence _ despite Pakistani denials. This was possible because Mehsud _ unlike some other U.S. foes in the northwest tribal region on the Afghan border _ is so reviled in Pakistan.

Missiles apparently fired by unmanned aircraft first struck a purported Taliban training center in South Waziristan, then another barrage rained down on a funeral procession for some of those who had been killed earlier.

Mehsud attended the funeral in Makeen village, and panicky militants reported losing contact with the Taliban chief for a short time immediately after the attack, according to radio intercepts cited by two Pakistani intelligence officials.

But the officials said they were later able to determine that Mehsud left the funeral shortly before the missiles struck.

The two missile strikes killed at least 80 people, including several senior militants, said the officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the information. Fifty-five of those killed were at the funeral, they said.

The Taliban gave a slightly lower count: Waliur Rehman, an aide to Mehsud, told the AP that 65 people were killed, including some militants.

It was not known if innocent civilians were among the dead, an issue that has drawn outrage in Pakistan and Afghanistan whenever U.S. missiles have been fired. The region is too dangerous for outsiders to enter, making independent confirmation of the attack’s details impossible.

Militant leaders have been targeted in dozens of strikes in the past two years from U.S. drones, high-tech, remote control planes used for both surveillance and to fire Hellfire missiles. The U.S. military never comments on such operations. The highest known death toll in earlier suspected U.S. missile strikes in Pakistan was 30.

Pakistan has loudly disapproved of past drone attacks because they involve the use of force by a foreign government on its soil and sometimes kill innocents.

But the latest strikes went unremarked upon by Pakistani officials for almost 24 hours. When the AP asked for comment, the Foreign Ministry issued a short statement reiterating “Pakistan’s consistent position that drone attacks are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and must be stopped.”

Pakistani officials have said previously that civilian casualties occurred when the U.S. struck suspected targets on the Afghan border without Pakistan’s agreement and intelligence.

At least two of those targets _ Sirajuddin Haqqani and Maulvi Naseer _ are fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but Pakistan has no quarrel with either man.

This time, the apparent U.S. target was Pakistan’s most wanted man and the focus of a military operation that is gearing up in his home territory of South Waziristan, part of the lawless tribal zone where Osama bin Laden and other high-value U.S. targets may be hiding.

The offensive comes on the back of the army’s operation to oust the Taliban from another northwestern stronghold in the Swat Valley region.

Both campaigns are strongly backed by the Obama administration, which views them as a test of Pakistan’s resolve to confront a growing insurgency after years of halfhearted offensives and peace deals with militants.

Many Pakistanis support the operations, fed up with the brutality the Taliban displayed in Swat and with Mehsud’s increasingly widespread and bloody campaign of bombings that have killed not just security forces, but also civilians and Islamic clerics who denounced the militant violence as against the tenets of Islam.

Mehsud is also accused of engineering last year’s assassination of former Prime Minister Bhutto, whose husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is now president of Pakistan.

The battle in the tribal zone, a mountainous area where the central government holds little sway over heavily armed and religiously conservative clans, will almost certainly be far tougher than in Swat.

Mehsud is believed to have some 12,000 loyal fighters, including hundreds of foreigners. He humbled the Pakistani army in past battles and has been forging fresh alliances with other powerful Taliban leaders and killing off opponents _ the most recent one on Tuesday.

“Baitullah Mehsud has crossed a red line, and the Pakistan government and military is declaring open war on him,” said Ishtiaq Ahmad, a Pakistan-U.S. specialist at Islamabad’s Qaid-i-Azam University.

“What we are seeing now is a relatively promising scenario where there is renewed commitment and closer collaboration between Pakistan’s security forces and NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan,” he said.

That tone could change, however, if the attacks kill leaders less disliked than Mehsud and his cohorts, Ahmad said.

Mahmood Shah, a former security chief in the tribal region, said the government’s failure to condemn the missile attacks forcefully could produce a backlash if the U.S. is perceived to be fighting Pakistan’s battles.

“Once the impression is established that Americans are assisting in this operation, the indigenous effort will be discredited and anti-American sentiments in the tribal region will overshadow everything,” Shah said.

___

Associated Press writers Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Kathy Gannon and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Operational plans against Mehsud on

By Iqbal Khattak

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Operational plans being made against Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in Waziristan might need “a slight readjustment” after the death of rival commander Qari Zainuddin, but plan to take on the “enemy No 1” will “stay the course”, military authorities told Daily Times.

Zainuddin was assassinated by his own guard while on his way from Peshawar to Dera Ismail Khan two days after he agreed to an interview with Daily Times.

Some analysts call Zainuddin’s death – days before formal kick-off of Operation Rah-e-Nijat, or Path of Salvation, against Mehsud – a “setback” to government preparations, but military authorities argue such action “is not planned around a single individual”. They add that the killing of the anti-Mehsud commander had “come at the wrong time” but was not “a major cause of concern”.

The analysts said Zainuddin would have been “more effective” if he was holding territory inside Waziristan.

“The government delayed the investment in Zainuddin and the result is that today the state stands humiliated as it could not protect its man against likely threats from Mehsud,” analysts told Daily Times.

Signs of all-out support of the government to Baitullah’s rival Abdullah and Turkistan groups was clearly visible in both Tank and Dera where government and private buildings were being used by anti-Mehsud groups to recruit foot soldiers and set up regional bases around Waziristan.

Waziristan tribesmen wait nervously for army assault

‘We can see a large scale movement by ground troops, they are equipped with small and heavy weapons.’ — APP/File

Pakistan

Militants destroy girls’ school in South Waziristan

WANA: The residents of South Waziristan know hard times are coming. Troops are massing on their doorstep, they say, food is in short supply, and tens of thousands of civilians are already on the move.

Military and government officials have vowed a full-scale operation into the semi-autonomous, fiercely-independent tribal belt along the Afghan border to hunt down Pakistan Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud and his fighters.

There has been no indication of when a ground offensive may begin, but Pakistani fighter jets have been pummelling Taliban positions in the area for weeks, and nervous residents are now just waiting for the worst to come.

‘We can see a large scale movement by ground troops, they are equipped with small and heavy weapons,’ said 28-year-old Noor Yaseen, who lives in South Waziristan’s main town of Wana.

‘The army are targeting the militants through air strikes or shelling by helicopters. The Taliban are not allowing technicians to repair the electricity towers damaged during the crossfire,’ he said.

‘I saw people bringing water on donkeys from miles away (to Wana and nearby villages). There is no water in mosques, in houses and in madrassas.’

The main Wana bazaar remains open, but people complain about food shortages, while most electricity has been disconnected because of outbursts of fighting between security forces and militants active in the area.

‘There has been no electricity for 20 days, we are already facing shortages of fuel, food and water,’ said 35-year-old farmer Umar Gul.

Roads in and out of the main district hub have been closed for about a month, in what analysts say could be a tactic by the military to impose an economic blockade on militants ahead of the tribal campaign.

Wana is surrounded by high hills covered with orchards, but although the fruit is ripe, farmers say there are no workers to harvest it.

‘You see, the Wana-Jandola road is closed, the Wana-Tank road is closed… we are fed up with this situation,’ said Gul.

Many people have already started packing up their belongings and heading to safer districts.

An army offensive against the Taliban in three other northwest districts which began in late April has already created Pakistan’s largest displacement crisis since partition from India in 1947.

The United Nations says that about two million people have been uprooted from Swat valley and nearby districts, and are now suffering in limbo in hot and dusty refugee camps, or crowding into relatives’ homes.

A similar exodus is beginning in the tribal belt.

Pakistan’s military says that so far 45,000 people have fled the area, most heading to the neighbouring districts of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, which unlike South Waziristan are under full government control.

Those who stay are kept awake at night by the sounds of war.

‘Every night we hear heavy firing, forces used artillery and this creates havoc,’ said Gul Wali Khan, a local shopkeeper in Wana bazaar.

‘We can see helicopters and Pakistan war planes flying in the sky. Jet planes fly very high and are almost invisible.’

It is not just Pakistani jets that residents fear.

On Tuesday, unmanned US drone aircraft fired missiles on a funeral gathering of militants in a remote Mehsud stronghold deep in the mountains, reportedly killing about 50 people in the deadliest drone attack in South Waziristan.

Washington alleges that the tribal belt has become a haven for Al Qaeda and Taliban rebels who fled Afghanistan after the 2001 US-led invasion.

There is a common feeling among Wana’s residents that this time the military offensive will be harsh.

Analysts have said that an operation into the tribal belt will be a tougher challenge than clearing out Taliban militants from Swat, with Mehsud entrenched among his supporters in remote areas and the government holding little sway.

Local government and law and order are run by tribal councils, with many sympathetic to the Taliban because of ethnic ties.

‘It looks like the army is preparing for a full-scale offensive,’ said Wana resident Zumurd Khan. ‘They are taking positions and gathering at various important places.’

Selling the war

While the showing of photographs of 54 dead militants by the ISPR director-general is a welcome step in that it helps remove some of the questions that are increasingly cropping up surrounding the death toll inflicted by the military operation on the militants in Malakand and Swat, it would be fair to say that an information and credibility gap has opened up on this very sensitive matter. If the general public is to continue supporting this war of ours then they need to know a lot more about it than the currently is the case. There is no independent verification of the death toll or even of the injuries inflicted upon the Taliban and in the context of the recent and not-too-recent past where official claims were often found to be otherwise, leaving the general public rightly sceptical, it would be in the fitness of things for more such information to be passed on to the public and the media. Also, and one needs to say this, slightly paradoxically, people in the UK may be better informed about out war than we are, courtesy of a recent investigative programme on the BBC’s flagship Panorama show. The BBC team were given access that out own media personnel have yet to get, and were able to spend time on an active frontline. Their report makes compelling viewing and raises questions which are just beginning to be addressed by those who brief our media every day. We wonder why the same access is not being offered to local news and media organizations.

Several conclusions may be drawn. Perhaps the most obvious is that the military do not trust the local media to properly or fairly represent them. Or that they would rather give privileged access to a foreign news organization for reasons that they may want to keep a check on the kind of information that is passed on for public viewing. It is more than possible – and understandable in fact — that the military do not want us to know precisely how many civilians have been killed in the various ongoing operations, or the number of prisoners taken. To be scrupulously fair it does appear that the military are taking note of some of the criticisms levelled at them, and the recent appearance of photos of the bodies of 54 slain Taliban begins to address at least one of the issues of concern; that of ‘how many dead’. We remain in the dark as to how many have been injured and, even more worryingly, unaware of the numbers of those captured and their fate in terms of whether they are to be tried for their crimes, or simply given a smack on the wrist.

We understand that there are issues of confidentiality – secrecy even – that are in play. It would be foolish in the extreme to reveal our strategies to the enemy, and we do not seek to stray into confidential territory. The military have to understand that they are not only fighting this war, they are marketing it as well. The politicians are in the same business but in general terms lack some of the competencies of communication that the military have – not the least of these being that the military sings from a single songsheet, a trick the politicians have yet to master. We would therefore request a little more openness about non-strategic information. For instance, we understand that there are going to be civilian casualties. We understand that the military will do its best to minimize them but we cannot escape the realities of war – so, do we have a ball-park figure for civilian dead? The reason for this also is that silence on this matter only undermines the objectives of the war because residents fleeing the area – most of them now IDPs – have by way of anecdotal evidence suggested far more civilian casualties than so far acknowledged. We can live with this reality in the same way we can live with the reality of the pictures of the dead Taliban. And lastly when are we to see our own journalists reporting from the frontlines? Selling a war is never easy – but this one might be a bit easier to sell if local faces and voices were speaking to the people who have to pay its price.

The Grim Reapers

Death has many names. The Grim Reaper, a cloaked skeletal figure holding an hour-glass and a scythe is one of the more familiar manifestations; and it finds a corporeal form in the name of the drones that regularly harvest souls in the ongoing battle against extremism. Confusion reigns as to the casualty figures. As many as 54 (but perhaps 83) have died as a result of two ruthlessly coordinated strikes. The first was on the compound of commander Khozhwali. Subsequently, and during his funeral prayers which were being offered at the home village of Baitullah Mehsud Shobikhel in South Waziristan Agency; there was a second strike on the assembled mourners. Two missiles were allegedly fired killing perhaps as many as sixty and wounding perhaps sixty others. That confusion exists around the numbers of dead and injured is unsurprising considering the likelihood of bodies being mutilated and dismembered.

Both of these strikes were clearly aimed either at killing Baitullah Mehsud and/or his close associates. A Taliban spokesman later said that he had been ‘in the area’ but was not hurt. We will never know if the drones missed by an inch or a mile. There can be little doubt that the drones which carried out this operation were American, though whether they were flown form a base inside or outside Pakistan remains a mystery. However, we may deduce that this operation was clearly designed to draw as many as possible into the target-frame and a loitering surveillance drone would have supplied the visuals enabling the second and more deadly strike. Numbers of dead and wounded are almost inevitably going to rise in the next twenty-four hours – as will local anger at this latest outing for the Grim Reapers.

Against this background there are reports of infighting within the Taliban themselves. They were never ever a homogenous entity – and even in the days when they ruled most of Afghanistan they were split into several not always compatible factions. The strains are now beginning to tell in Pakistan. The murder of Qari Zainuddin Mehsud, probably by one of his own bodyguards who was himself a defector (or a plant) from the ranks of Baitullah Mehsud is a clear indicator both of the factionalism and of the ‘reach’ of Baitullah Mehsud. Claims to have isolated him or pinned him down by various government officials have to be taken with a pinch of salt, as do those that Buner is now ‘pacified’ and ready for the return of the IDPs. Some have indeed returned, but it is far too soon to call the area pacified. The fact that it is only lower and middle-ranking commanders of the Taliban, not the senior management, who have been killed so far speaks volumes for their ability to survive in a negative environment.

Six PAF men face death, 51 jailed for contacts with terrorists

ISLAMABAD: Fifty-seven men of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) ranging from chief technicians to officers were arrested over their alleged contacts with terrorists and involvement in anti-state activities. According to reports, the arrests were made during the last one and a half to two years after conducting an inquiry.

Sources disclosed that six officials were sentenced to death. Among them were Khalid Mehmood, Senior Technician Karam Din, Technician Nawazish, Niaz and Nasrullah while 24 were arrested and dismissed from service for opposing the policies of then President Pervez Musharraf. The PAF men, allegedly found involved in having contacts with terrorists, were given strict punishments.

According to a private television channel, 26 PAF men were court martialled for their ‘involvement’ in terrorism. According to the reports, those arrested were working in airbases including Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra, Minhas Airbase, Sargodha Airbase, Lahore Airbase, Faisal Airbase and Mianwali Airbase.

Senior Tech Liaqat Ali, whose service tenure was 17 years 15 days and commissioned at Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra, was sentenced to three years in jail. Jahangir Khan, working as senior tech at Lahore Airbase, was imprisoned for two years.

Senior tech Muhammad Idrees arrested from Sargodha Airbase and whose service tenure was 11 years and 3 months was sentenced to nine years in jail with five years rigorous imprisonment.

These arrested officials had allegedly established contacts with Baitullah Mehsud and other banned outfits of the country.Spokesperson for the PAF Air Commodore Humayun Waqar said that action was taken against the PAF men according to law and arrests were made in Musharraf’s time. He said no new arrests have been made adding that several cases have already been decided.

Bahadur’s Taliban Release Guide, Keep Editor Jihad Unspun Captive

Kidnapped Canadian lady’s guide freed by militants

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 By By our correspondent

PESHAWAR: Taliban militants in North Waziristan have finally released a person they had kidnapped more than seven months ago along with a Canadian woman, Khadija Abdul Qahaar, and another Pakistani man identified as Salman. Zar Muhammad, belonging to Nowshera district, was freed on Sunday and has now reached his home. He told The News that he was released somewhere in North Waziristan and was blindfolded while being transported out of the tribal area and via the Frontier Region (FR) Bannu. “We were treated well by our captors. None of us was tortured or humiliated. They gave us good food and took care of our medical needs,” Zar Muhammad said. He added that the militants had promised to release Salman in a few days. However, he said the militants were unwilling to free the Canadian woman [Editor of Jihad Unspun]. Zar Muhammad was the guide and cook of Khadija Abdul Qahaar, who is in her late 50s and claimed to have converted to Islam. She used to introduce herself as an author, producer and presenter. The lady insisted she was a supporter of the Taliban and was keen to visit North Waziristan to meet the militants.