Fighting in Waziristan All For a Oil Pipe

more about "Pashtun from Waziristan talks about r…", posted with vodpod

Former ISI official Khalid Khwaja found dead in NW

[This probably shows that his captors were not Taliban, unless they fell victim to the universal hatred of lawyers, expressed so vividly by Mr. Shakespeare: "The first thing we do," said the character in Shakespeare's Henry VI, is "kill all the lawyers."]

Former ISI official Khalid Khwaja. — File photo

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A former Pakistani intelligence officer abducted by an alleged militant group last month was found shot dead Friday in a northwest tribal region, officials said.

Khalid Khawaja went missing in late March along with another ex-intelligence official known as Col. Imam and a filmmaker. There was no word on the fate of the two others.

Khawaja’s body was found on the road between Miramshah and Mir Ali, the two main towns in North Waziristan. Local TV channels broadcast a picture of what appeared to be Khawaja’s body.

He had been shot in the head and chest, and a note attached to his body accused him of being an American spy, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be named by media.

The men were first reported abducted in late March. Soon after, a previously unknown militant group calling itself the Asian Tigers claimed to be holding the men in a video delivered to local media. Any demands they had were not made public.

Khawaja was known to be sympathetic to the militants cause, often appearing on television speaking in defense of suspected extremists.

He has claimed to be close to Osama bin Laden in the early days of the Afghan resistance to the Soviet Union.

Recently, he has spoken up in defense of five young American terror suspects on trial in Pakistan.

He also filed a petition in a Pakistani court to stop any attempt by Islamabad to extradite recently arrested Afghan Taliban leaders, including the movement’s No. 2 Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.—AP

General Gambit

[Amid speculation about Musharraf’s part in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the ridiculous national posturing about the dictator forming a new political party to ease his return to power, I felt it equally important to open speculation into whether Musharraf ordered the 911 attacks upon America, or if he gave a “green light” to the Pakistani “al Qaida” groups who organized them.  As with all forms of free enterprise in Pakistan, the radical Islamist groups are dominated, or even owned by ex Pak Army and Air Force officers. This intimate link in Pakistan between military and militants is seen in all major terror attacks, but it is never reported on by Western, Pakistani, or even Indian media.]

By:  Peter Chamberlin

The war for the future of the human race is more about truth –vs- lies, than it is about a physical contest between hostile adversaries.  The strangest part of it all is that no one is seeking absolute vindication in this war of perceptions as either a liar or a “truth” teller.  No one wants to pin down the other side for telling obvious lies.  Why is that?  Everybody has something to hide in the war on terror.

Dig too deeply, or expose the most dangerous lies strung together to tie-up the world in a state of permanent limited war, and the flimsy alliances and “coalitions of the willing” begin to fall apart.  The utter hypocrisy of the entire “war on terror” brings to the front all the worst traits of mankind, in an endeavor that is the most stupendous fraud ever perpetuated upon the human race.

The weavers of the lies at the root of the war have created a paradoxical production that is manifested in our mission, fighting terror while simultaneously creating terrorists.  We wage war on an open-ended battlefield, where the “enemy” is always allowed an escape route, pursuing an ultra-violent strategy that is guaranteed to convert the survivor relatives of murdered militants into terrorists themselves.  The world is being engulfed with a wave of not-undeserved anti-Americanism and America has no plans to change the behavior of our leaders who have created the situation in the first place.

Anger at America within the Pakistani military is the direct cause of the war on terror.  Military defectors and veterans form the hardcore center in all of the outfits involved in starting the war.  This is because American leaders have chosen the Pakistani people to be their primary source of cannon fodder in America’s many aggressions, over the past thirty years, and payback time has arrived for some of them.

The wave of hatred came at us on September 11, 2001 because of past criminal American interactions with the Islamic world.  We built an international army of mercenaries in secret, to fight both friend and foe in illegal, undeclared, wars of aggression, without civilian control or oversight.  We used and abused the Muslim Umma in this manner for our own purposes up until the turning point came, since then, everything has been payback.  The war to defeat the radical extremists that we have created has been a series of attempts to preempt further reactions to our abuse of Muslim men as our militant foot soldiers, as well as their families, who have suffered in our retribution.

Obama has accepted responsibility for carrying on this war, which has been completely blamed on Bush.  The liberal press refuses to lay the blame for this war squarely at the feet of the Democratic Party for starting this with their interventionist policies throughout the world.  This war belongs to them as much as it does to Reagan and both Bushes.  (SEE:  BILL CLINTON: FIRST NEOCON PRESIDENT)  It was Jimmie Carter who armed the first Muslim mujahedeen in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.  It was Bill Clinton who hired mostly Pakistani, but also Iranian veterans of Carter and Reagan’s Afghan “holy war,” to send them off to fight the Serbians in Yugoslavia.

The future of the human race will be determined by the decisions that this Democratic administration will make.  Will Obama listen to the millions of voices of reason and end this God-forsaken war, or will he continue the modern-day Crusades, intended to remake the Middle East into a safe place for radical Zionists, by eliminating several million angry Muslims?  If Obama chooses to secretly send a new wave of Muslim mercenaries into the Middle East and Central Asia, then he will be choosing the losing side in this struggle for the soul of humankind.  More than anything else, the war on terror is a gigantic flashing sign, telling us that we have to change our ways.

Pakistan is in flames today because everyone refuses to sort-out the truth from the lies in the contest taking place there, even the Pakistanis themselves.   In order for the world to keep on spinning, without upsetting all the “apple carts” in every corner of every kingdom, world opinion must accept the lie—that Pakistan has created the Frankenstein monster of international terrorism on its own, and American forces are only there to clean it all up.  The world accepts the next lie—that the American hand in creating the Afghan mujahedeen (who are at the center of every “Islamist” outfit) was a benevolent one, intended only to “rid the world of the menace of Communism,” and that support for Muslim extremists is a thing of the past.  We must accept—that menace that later grew out of this effort was not America’s, or the CIA’s fault, even if the agency has once again been given the benefit of the doubt in its endless string of “mistakes.”

The Pakistani situation will be the death of the United States, if we do not face-up to the truth of what we have done there and the forces that have arisen as a result.  The forced conversion of Muslim holy warriors into “Islamist” mercenaries to fight for Clinton and the Democrat-led interventionists has not been without repercussions.  The merger of fanatic Shiite and Sunni Islamists into a mercenary army fighting for the “great Satan” in Yugoslavia produced simmering resentments, especially amongst the Sunnis, who had mostly been drawn from Pakistan’s sectarian Sunni outfits.

The movement of Sunni veterans of the Bosnian and Croatian wars into the struggle in Kashmir, where the United States was blamed for Pakistan’s defeat at Kargil, moved some of the extremists who fought and lost there to plot their revenge against us for this latest slap in the face, following our long history of abuse.  September 11 was their payback for that abuse, but mostly for dishonoring Islam and “betrayal” at Kargil.

It is here where the whole narrative gets sticky, because Kargil was Gen. Musharraf’s gambit, and according to the official version of events, it was lost because most of the Pakistani Air Force was grounded due to American anti-nuclear sanctions, which denied them vital spare parts for their F-16s.

The 911 attacks were the work of a bunch of pissed-off Afghan veterans, though American leaders like to call them “al Qaida.”  The most important players were ex-military men, primarily Pakistani Air Force veterans.  Amjad Farooqi and Ramzi bin al-Shibh were allegedly both Pakistani Air Force personnel, both had fought in Bosnia, both had manned the hilltop outposts in Kargil in 1999, both were acquaintances of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, both belonged to the anti-Indian Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, and both trained at the Khawar Zilli camps in Afghanistan’s Khost, which was also one of the targets of Clinton’s cruise missile strikes.   Bin Laden’s boys were also at Kargil, though, at that time, they called themselves the Al-Badar Brigade and Tehrik-i-Jihad, under the banner of the International Islamic Front.  Bin Laden allegedly dug the hilltop fortifications used by the paramilitary infiltrators at Kargil.  The Stinger missiles that they used to defend these positions from the Indian Air Force came from Afghanistan, courtesy of the USA (the ISI refused to return the leftover missiles, as agreed on).

After Clinton’s cruise missile strikes, group leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil subsequently said that HUM would take revenge on the United States.

“The USA has struck us with Tomahawk cruise missiles at only two places, but we will hit back at them everywhere in the world, wherever we find them. We have started a holy war against the US and they will hardly find a tree to take shelter beneath it.”

At that time, the militants were all united under the Taliban, which has always been under the Pak. Army’s thumb, via the ISI and CIA network.  The militants of HUM could not act without ISI permission.  No matter how much Musharraf and the other generals wanted their own retribution for imaginary American crimes at Kargil that would have seemed too much like cutting their own throats.  But there were other ramifications that arose from the defeat at Kargil which had entered the equation and had to be considered.

The failure of the generals’ gambit forced a severe rethink of the military’s situation. Even though Pakistan had established its own nuclear deterrent to Indian aggression, the attack at Kargil was going to force some kind of Indian retaliation.  Pakistan could not afford to resort to nuclear war to defend against an overwhelming Indian attack, given their F-16 problems and now that India had acquired laser-guided munitions.  Gen. Musharraf knew that Pakistan needed American help, to avert the coming Indian attack.  On October 11, 1999, Gen. Musharraf and his co-conspirators overthrew the democratic government of Pakistan.

This newfound sense of total power, and with that total responsibility for Pakistan’s fate, may have moved him to make a fatal decision to lend covert support to the plot to draw America into Afghanistan.  Since the Army commander of the Kargil operation was Lt. Gen. Mehmud Ahmad, and it has been reported since then that telephone intercepts pegged Gen. Ahmad as the man who had Omar Sheikh wire $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, who was also the roommate of Ramzi bin al-Shibh in Hamburg, Germany, then it does seem quite plausible.

But surely, all of this has been apparent to American military and intelligence bureaus for a long time, after all, all of the key militants in the plots are nearly all either dead now or rotting in some hell-hole, while the generals who secretly supported the militants became America’s top allies in the fight to erase our past mistakes.  They were our partners in the militants’ creation, rightly, they should be part of the militants’ end.

But nothing ended, except for the lives of a lot of militants and regular Pakistani civilians.  The plan was successful, in that it bogged American forces down in a state of endless war in the center of the world’s energy basket, but that was exactly what our leaders have wanted, all along.  Which leads us to the next assumption, that Pakistan’s generals were only doing what American generals wanted them to do, just as they had done for the past thirty years or more.

Even though nuclear war between the two eternal antagonists was impossible, conventional war was ruled-out because of America’s presence in the region, which successfully restrained India’s forces.  With Israel’s help, a covert war within Pakistan was then begun, following the pattern set by Pakistani “ultras,” otherwise known as paramilitaries, militants, or simply terrorists.

The ball of retribution was set in motion, opening the door for other Pakistani militant groups, organized by other military veterans of Kargil; this time from the Pak. Army.  The Lashkar e-Taiba (LET) outfit was headed by Special Forces commando Ilyas Kashmiri. Possibly with the aid of Dawood Ibrahim’s criminal underworld, LET attacked the Indian Parliament on Dec. 13, 2001.

The same combination of Lashkar and underworld forces was later repeated in the 2008 Mumbai attack, if reports based on forced confessions from lone terrorist Ajmal Kasab can be believed.  The question being pondered today is—Was that operation was actually carried-out by Pakistan, or whether it was a duplication of the earlier attack in a “false flag” operation meant to advance the agenda of the American/Indian partnership?  The ongoing controversy over American/Lashkar e-Taiba spy David Headley may give the answer.  Since the US has partnered with both sides in this conflict and is obviously pitting one side against the other, this question will probably go unanswered until the violent resolution that one side (probably the big dog’s side) has planned plays-out.

The victor in all of this drama will determine the fate of the human race, whether that is to be a martial reshaping of the planet, or the struggling of the survivors is anyone’s guess at this point.  All that I really know is, that all of these lies must come to an end and let the chips fall where they may.  All we can do is to keep investigating and exposing whatever we find, no matter what we find.

The truth must prevail.

peter.chamberlin@hotmail.com

Bernanke Admits Printing $1.3 Trillion Out Of Thin Air

21 APRIL 2010 16 COMMENTS

By Greg Hunter

USAWatchdog.com

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke admitted the central bank created $1.3 trillion out of thin air to buy mortgage backed securities.  This shocking admission came from the Joint Economic Committee hearing on Capital Hill last week.  I was dumbfounded when I saw Bernanke shake his head in the affirmative as Representative Ron Paul said, “Well, where did you get the money? You created this money. So you did monetize debt, and that went into the banking system.”  I was amazed he admitted this.  I looked up the original hearing on C-Span to make sure the clip was not edited.  It was not. 

What is even more shocking is I could not find a single mainstream news agency that covered this revelation.  Congress just finished voting on the bitterly contested Obama health care bill that is supposed to cost nearly a trillion dollars over ten years.  (Some contend it will be more than twice that amount.)  The mainstream media doesn’t even bat an eye over the Fed creating $1.3 trillion in a little more than a year to buy worthless debt no one else will touch.  I do not get it.  I guess we could have asked the Fed to print up a trillion dollars to pay for health care and avoided that drawn out battle in Congress.

Then, Rep. Paul brings up printing another $105 billion to bailout Greece.  Bernanke answers by saying, “. . . I think one of the agreements that the G20 leaders came up with was sort of a mutual commitment to put more money into the IMF as a way of addressing the financial crisis around the world. . .” Notice how Bernanke used the term “mutual commitment.”   I think what that really means is an agreement between all the G-20 nations of a “mutual debasement of their currencies.”  I think this is why gold has been rising in price around the globe.  I have been saying for months that we are going to have some very big inflation.  (Real inflation is already at 9.5% according to shadowstats.com.)  I wrote about this last November in a post called “The Fix Is In.”

I think Bernanke just opened the Fed playbook and revealed money will be printed to fix all financial problems.  I don’t think he’s even trying to hide it anymore.  Rep. Paul also brought up the big debt trouble coming soon with many, many bankrupt cities and states such as Los Angeles and California.  I think they will all be bailed out one way or another by the printing press.

New York Fed President William Dudley seems to be on the same page as his boss.  Dudley recently said, “The fact that our foreign indebtedness is for the most part denominated in our own currency is a huge advantage in the event the dollar were to come under significant downward pressure.”  (Zero Hedge has a complete text of Dudley’s speech, click here)  Is Dudley making a not so subtle hint about devaluing the U.S. dollar?  Once again, I say yes.

Anyone with a savings account or money market denominated in dollars should be terrified.  You have scrimped and saved only to have the Fed print money and devalue what you have worked so hard for!   Inflation has been chosen for you by the Federal Reserve, and we the taxpayers can’t even audit its actions.  Below is the video from the Joint Economic Committee Hearing last week.  Watch for yourself Bernanke nod yes to printing $1.3 trillion:

Britain Is Becoming a Police State Faster Than You Think

Thought police muscle up in Britain

• Hal G. P. Colebatch
• From:The Australian

BRITAIN appears to be evolving into the first modern soft totalitarian state. As a sometime teacher of political science and international law, I do not use the term totalitarian loosely.

There are no concentration camps or gulags but there are thought police with unprecedented powers to dictate ways of thinking and sniff out heresy, and there can be harsh punishments for dissent.

Nikolai Bukharin claimed one of the Bolshevik Revolution’s principal tasks was “to alter people’s actual psychology”. Britain is not Bolshevik, but a campaign to alter people’s psychology and create a new Homo britannicus is under way without even a fig leaf of disguise.

The Government is pushing ahead with legislation that will criminalise politically incorrect jokes, with a maximum punishment of up to seven years’ prison. The House of Lords tried to insert a free-speech amendment, but Justice Secretary Jack Straw knocked it out. It was Straw who previously called for a redefinition of Englishness and suggested the “global baggage of empire” was linked to soccer violence by “racist and xenophobic white males”. He claimed the English “propensity for violence” was used to subjugate Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and that the English as a race were “potentially very aggressive”.

In the past 10 years I have collected reports of many instances of draconian punishments, including the arrest and criminal prosecution of children, for thought-crimes and offences against political correctness.

Countryside Restoration Trust chairman and columnist Robin Page said at a rally against the Government’s anti-hunting laws in Gloucestershire in 2002: “If you are a black vegetarian Muslim asylum-seeking one-legged lesbian lorry driver, I want the same rights as you.” Page was arrested, and after four months he received a letter saying no charges would be pressed, but that: “If further evidence comes to our attention whereby your involvement is implicated, we will seek to initiate proceedings.” It took him five years to clear his name.

Page was at least an adult. In September 2006, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, Codie Stott, asked a teacher if she could sit with another group to do a science project as all the girls with her spoke only Urdu. The teacher’s first response, according to Stott, was to scream at her: “It’s racist, you’re going to get done by the police!” Upset and terrified, the schoolgirl went outside to calm down. The teacher called the police and a few days later, presumably after officialdom had thought the matter over, she was arrested and taken to a police station, where she was fingerprinted and photographed. According to her mother, she was placed in a bare cell for 3 1/2 hours. She was questioned on suspicion of committing a racial public order offence and then released without charge. The school was said to be investigating what further action to take, not against the teacher, but against Stott. Headmaster Anthony Edkins reportedly said: “An allegation of a serious nature was made concerning a racially motivated remark. We aim to ensure a caring and tolerant attitude towards pupils of all ethnic backgrounds and will not stand for racism in any form.”

A 10-year-old child was arrested and brought before a judge, for having allegedly called an 11-year-old boya “Paki” and “bin Laden” during a playground argument at a primary school (the other boy had called him a skunk and a Teletubby). When it reached the court the case had cost taxpayers pound stg. 25,000. The accused was so distressed that he had stopped attending school. The judge, Jonathan Finestein, said: “Have we really got to the stage where we are prosecuting 10-year-old boys because of political correctness? There are major crimes out there and the police don’t bother to prosecute. This is nonsense.”

Finestein was fiercely attacked by teaching union leaders, as in those witch-hunt trials where any who spoke in defence of an accused or pointed to defects in the prosecution were immediately targeted as witches and candidates for burning.

Hate-crime police investigated Basil Brush, a puppet fox on children’s television, who had made a joke about Gypsies. The BBC confessed that Brush had behaved inappropriately and assured police that the episode would be banned.

A bishop was warned by the police for not having done enough to “celebrate diversity”, the enforcing of which is now apparently a police function. A Christian home for retired clergy and religious workers lost a grant because it would not reveal to official snoopers how many of the residents were homosexual. That they had never been asked was taken as evidence of homophobia.

Muslim parents who objected to young children being given books advocating same-sex marriage and adoption at one school last year had their wishes respected and the offending material withdrawn. This year, Muslim and Christian parents at another school objecting to the same material have not only had their objections ignored but have been threatened with prosecution if they withdraw their children.

There have been innumerable cases in recent months of people in schools, hospitals and other institutions losing their jobs because of various religious scruples, often, as in the East Germany of yore, not shouted fanatically from the rooftops but betrayed in private conversations and reported to authorities. The crime of one nurse was to offer to pray for a patient, who did not complain but merely mentioned the matter to another nurse. A primary school receptionist, Jennie Cain, whose five-year-old daughter was told off for talking about Jesus in class, faces the sack for seeking support from her church. A private email from her to other members of the church asking for prayers fell into the hands of school authorities.

Permissiveness as well as draconianism can be deployed to destroy socially accepted norms and values. The Royal Navy, for instance, has installed a satanist chapel in a warship to accommodate the proclivities of a satanist crew member. “What would Nelson have said?” is a British newspaper cliche about navy scandals, but in this case seems a legitimate question. Satanist paraphernalia is also supplied to prison inmates who need it.

This campaign seems to come from unelected or quasi-governmental bodies controlling various institutions, which are more or less unanswerable to electors, more than it does directly from the Government, although the Government helps drive it and condones it in a fudged and deniable manner.

Any one of these incidents might be dismissed as an aberration, but taken together – and I have only mentioned a tiny sample; more are reported almost every day – they add up to a pretty clear picture.

Hal G. P. Colebatch’s Blair’s Britain was chosen as a book of the year by The Spectator in 1999.

Fake antivirus software is ‘growing threat’ to computer users, warns Google

[This is a warning that should be heeded by anyone who surfs the Net, especially people who cruise alternative news sites (even more dangerous than porno sites).  Antivirus failure, or no anti-malware protection can corrupt all your files and your whole computer, usually causing the loss of all data that has not been saved to hard disc.  I have purchased three different fake, or inadequate, anti-virus programs in the past, meaning that I no longer have such nice things as pictures of my grandkids, or other valued information.   F.Y.I., I now run AVG 9.0, the free version; Malwarbytes, professional; and Super anti-spyware pro version.  This combination has let be run without problems for about 8 months now (fingers crossed).  I have also been using Google Chrome, which has built-in protection.]

Millions of computer users are being duped in to installing software they think will protect them online but actually leaves their computer vulnerable to hackers, a study found.

By Claudine Beaumont, Technology Editor

More than 15 per cent of all the malicious software online is in the guise of fake anti-virus software, Google has found Photo: CLARE KENDALL

Google analysed more than 240 million web pages in the last 13 months, and found that fake antivirus programs accounted for 15 per cent of all the malicious software it detected online.

Cyber criminals are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to trick unsuspecting computer users in to downloading and installing software laced with malicious code, which, when activated, gives hackers “back door” access to a computer. This allows criminals to use the machine to send spam emails, or to try and capture personal information and login details for online banking and email accounts.

Security experts have warned that one of the most popular scams is to frighten computer users by popping up messages on their screen, warning them that a virus has been detected on their machine, and advising them that the only way to remove the virus is to download the advertised antivirus software.

But users who click on the link are in fact duped in to handing over their credit card details to cyber criminals in exchange for software laced with malicious code that can put their machine at the mercy of crooks.

“The fake antivirus threat is rising in prevalence, both absolutely and relative to other forms of web-based malware,” said Google in its findings. “Clearly, there is a definitive upward trend in the number of new fake antivirus domains that we encounter each week.

“Surprisingly, many users fall victim to these attacks and pay to register the fake antivirus software. To add insult to injury, fake antivirus programs are often bundled with other malware, which remains on a victim’s computer, regardless of whether a payment is made.”

More than half of the fake antivirus software is delivered through adverts. Google said that although it uses special tools to filter out websites containing malicious code from its search results, cyber criminals were quickly moving the sites between different web addresses to throw them off the scent. Google identified more than 11,000 web domain names used to distribute malware-laced antivirus software.

Security experts have advised computer users to ensure they only install legitimate antivirus programs from reputable companies, such as Norton and McAfee, and not to click on any unsolicited pop-ups that claim to have detected a virus, and offer tools to remove it.

Paktunkhwa: The Evil Dream of Sarhadi Gandhi

Posted on 28. Apr, 2010 by Raja Mujtaba in Opinion

IS THERE SOMEONE WHO CAN TAKE A NOTE TO ARREST SUCH NEFARIOUS MOVEMENTS?

Editors Note: Awami National Party was never worth more than 5 seats in the Assembly, it was the short-sighted Nawaz Sharif for his motives that he promoted this party to the level that it has attained today. Not only this, then to get his third time eligibility that he supported the 18^th amendment to the constitution that also incorporated the name change of NWFP. After the passage of the bill, Nawaz Sharif wanted to appease the Hazaras who booed him out from the area.

By Naveed Tajammal

Pakhtunistan Flag

It was a sad affair reading a news report, that Asfandyar Wali and Hoti, the CM of K-P,

will be holding a festival in New York, on 15 may 2010,to celebrate the renaming of NWFP and the 2nd Bacha Jan peace conference,(Bacha Jan being, Ghaffar Khan, grandfather of Asfandyar).The chief guest to grace this auspicious bench mark in the redshirt history is to be Sonia Gandhi, who heads the Congress party of INDIA, The same India, which has encircled us with defence pacts, and strangulated our water resources, it seems the renaming has brought out the true colours of the ANP band.

What amazes one is the audacity of this band of recent immigrants in our lands as will be explained, who are claiming divinity over the majority of non-Pathan population of old NWFP.

A peep and a brief prelude on the workings and role of the founding father of this party, is a must for an average reader, only then can most comprehend the designs of old red shirts, and the new redcap party, it is true that ANP did manage to grab a few seats of the total 125 seats of old NWFP. However in reality it was a staged managed affair, to propel a secular minded party, from the shadows to the limelight, never mind what destruction it would bring, Games being games, played by players who call the shots

for the time being, to serve their own vested ends.  (read HERE)

Islam in Bosnia is the new stepping stone

LEE JAY WALKER

Apr 29, 2010

By Lee Jay Walker | The Ottoman Empire was the last major Islamic assault on Europe in order to Islamize the continent because the earlier Islamic conquest of Spain had crumbled into dust.  However, in the mindset of modern Islamists it is clear that Bosnia is “the Islamic bridge” whereby a new Islamic power can rise in the Balkans and then link with Islamists in Western Europe.

This may appear absurd to some people, however, in the mindset of the former Muslim leader and radical Islamists then this is the case.  For many moderate Muslims in Bosnia or secular minded Bosnian Muslims this may also seem groundless but history tells us something different.

After all, in modern day southern Thailand the Muslim insurgency once was based on nationalism or identity but today many Islamists want to cleanse southern Thailand of all Buddhists and many Buddhist monks have been killed.  Therefore, within a few generations in southern Thailand it is clear that radical Islam is growing and any accommodation with Buddhism is no longer warranted and instead it is pure Islamization.

Christian slaves being sold in Constantinople. Islam enslaved Christians in the Balkans and forced dhimmitude on all non-Muslims.

Therefore, current events in places like southern Thailand can be linked to places like Bosnia because it is like a re-run of past history.  After all, it is clear that the Islamic ideology often rises up from the ashes and the logical conclusion of this is the complete destruction of all things not deemed to be Islamic.

In my article called Southern Thailand and Islamization, which was published by the Assyrian International News Agency, I stated that “In the past the conflict in southern Thailand was mainly an internal struggle between the majority Muslim community of three southern provinces (Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala) and the government of Thailand. Therefore, for many decades you had the desire for an Islamic state but nationalism was also a core base for demanding independence. However, in recent times it is clear that the Pattani United Liberation Organization (PULO); the Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Coordinate (BRN-C); Bersatu; Gerakan Mujahadeen Islam Pattani (GMIP); and others, desire an Islamic state and they have a jihadist agenda.”

“In the past the Muslim insurgency was aimed at the government and military of Thailand but times have changed. Therefore, since 2001 it is clear that you now have an overwhelming Islamic jihadist agenda and this is aimed at forcing the Buddhists to flee and moderate Muslims are also being killed because they are deemed to be traitors.”

If we return back to Bosnia it is also clear that Alija Izetbegovic had a pan-Islamic dream and he welcomed Islamic terrorists from all over the world and accepted funding from nations like Saudi Arabia in order to Islamize society.  Izetbegovic was fully aware that Saudi Arabian funding and other forms of Islamic funding was part and parcel of his dream which was to Islamize Bosnia.

After all, Saudi Arabia is not interested in supporting all the communities of Bosnia because this does not serve their Sunni Islamic Wahhabi cause.  Therefore, irrespective if Orthodox Christian or Roman Catholic, both are deemed to be infidels. The bigger agenda is the creation of an Islamic state and then for this state to be the foundation of a pan-Islamic super-state.

Izetbegovic stated that “… Muslim nations will never accept anything that is explicitly against Islam, because Islam here is not merely a faith and the law, Islam has become love and compassion. He who rises against Islam will reap nothing but hate and resistance. …”

Alija Izetbegovic therefore shared a common thread with the global jihad movement because he also stated“… In one of the thesis for an Islamic order today we have stated that it is a natural function of the Islamic order to gather all Muslims and Muslim communities throughout the world into one. Under present conditions, this desire means a struggle for creating a great Islamic federation from Morocco to Indonesia, from the tropical Africa to the Central Asia. …”

Vojin Joksimovich who is the author of “The Revenge of The Prophet” stated that “The jihadists, from their bases and support facilities in Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere, did not come to Bosnia only to fight against the ‘Serbian aggressor,’ but for the first European religious state at large, for the establishment of the only faith among the European Muslims.”  (Page 145)

This clearly rings true because this is what Izetbegovic believed in and Vojin Joksimovich continues by stating that the “Creation of Islamic states, so-called Jamahirya states, was the ultimate objective of all these movements.  With the Koran in their hands the jihadists did not distinguish between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, only between believers and unbelievers.”  (Page 145)

According to Western media the war in Bosnia was about the Serbian aggressor against the innocent Muslim lamb.  However, the innocent Muslim lamb invited Islamists and terrorists from all over the world and clearly Izetbegovic had an important agenda and this was the Islamization of Bosnia because he laid down his theories

Izetbegovic had written “The Islamic Declaration” (“Islamska deklaracija”) and he clearly had an agenda because he desired to start the stepping stone and major Western nations either fell into “the trap” or had “covert interests” in order to further their ambitions in the Balkans?  Either way, for radical Islamists and Izetbegovic it became apparent that major Western nations would do their bidding and on the ground it would be up to the Islamic community to make the most of this golden opportunity.

This “hidden agenda” was kept from people because it did not fit the media image of an innocent community which was being victimized.  However, if the truth had been told then clearly serious questions would have been raised and the Western media would have been forced to have given a neutral version.

Yet the “hidden agenda” and the reality of thousands of Islamic terrorists entering Bosnia and killing and slaughtering innocent Christians remained hidden from the general public.  The same applies to major funding from Saudi Arabia and other nations, and the real motives of Izetbegovic were never stated.

Turning back to the writer Vojin Joksimovich he states that “The Saudi Wahhabists, as a part of Wahhabi proselytism, lavishly funded penetration of Islamism into the Balkans.  As an example, Saudi scholar Ahmed ibn-Nafi of Mecca circulated a summon to all centers of the Pan-Islamic Salvation Committee at the outset of the conflict in Bosnia.”  (Page 144)

Ahmed ibn-Nafi of Mecca stated “We entrust you to see to the imminent establishment of the Caliphate in the Balkans, because the Balkans are the path to the conquest of Europe.  Every individual imam in our states, and especially Turkey, is ready to help.  Know, therefore brothers, that the time is working for us.  Let us help our brothers who are fighting for the holy cause in Bosnia.  Let us help them for the sake of Allah, by sending them money and weapons as we can, by sending them new mujahideen……The Caliphate is at hand.”  (Page 144 – Israeli, 2002)

Therefore, radical Islamists in collusion with certain Western governments had a shared interest and the mass media acted shamelessly by denying these facts.  Islamists obviously had a different long-term agenda but surely Afghanistan should have been a learning curve for Western governments which had special vested interests because the same forces which were unleashed could not be contained.

Pakistan today is paying the same price because Islamists were welcomed and supported in order to defeat communism in Afghanistan but the very same Islamists today have turned on their master.  Therefore, in modern day Pakistan you have many terrorist attacks and Islamization is a threat to the central state and all religious minorities, notably Christians, Hindus, Ahmadiyya Muslims, and Sikhs, suffer daily persecution.

Despite this, the Izetbegovic agenda and Islamic dream was supported and in a strange irony you had the democratic world supporting an ideology which desires to defeat and destroy democracy.

Izetbegovic had stated that “… In perspective, there is but one way out in sight: creation and gathering of a new intelligence which thinks and feels along Islamic lines. This intelligence would then raise the flag of the Islamic order and together with the Muslim masses embark into action to implement this order. …”

Therefore, just like Osama Bin Laden it is clear that Izetbegovic desired to raise “the flag of the Islamic order” and while secularists may deny this in modern day Bosnia, it is clear that others have a different agenda.

If we turn back to southern Thailand then it is clear that you once had a nationalist movement but today we are talking about the systematic annihilation of Buddhism in southern Thailand by radical Sunni Islamists.  At the same time we are witnessing the destruction and marginalization of Hinduism and Buddhism in modern day Bangladesh.

The Islamic agenda may ultimately fail in Bosnia and the same applies to an Islamic caliphate in the Balkans.  However, one thing is for sure and this is that Islamists and funding from Saudi Arabia and other nations will certainly try.  After all, their version of the world is based on an Islamic ideology which desires power and to enforce dhimmitude on non-Muslims.

LEE JAY WALKER is a reporter for THE MODERN TOKYO TIMES

Turkey-Russia-Iran, New Power Bloc in Caucasus (Google translation)

[Here we see from this poor Google translation from Russian that the Armenian/Azerbaijan contest is not what it seems at first look. Contrary to the message carried in the Western media, it looks as though Russia has enlisted American support to handle the tangled mess in the Caucasus. If neither side can bomb "strategic" targets, because Russia maintains ownership of all railway, pipeline, hydro infrastructure, then, neither Russia nor America can safely route pipelines from Baku to Turkey.  The ethnic conflicts that make the area unsafe require some very tricky, convoluted solutions. With America playing the "bad cop," instead of Russia, then perhaps the historical antagonism between the former Soviets and their former clients can be temporarily pushed aside long enough to grab the gas and oil.]

Turkey-Russia-Iran – a new redistribution of the Caucasus

Vigen Hakobyan

International diplomatic operations for the withdrawal of Armenia from the deadlock of communication failed. Memorable snapshots of the world October 10, 2009, which sealed the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey, the signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols, and the background are smiling Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sergei Lavrov and Javier Solana, has lost its relevance. Today, the media publish more photos – the crowd, burning national flags of Turkey and Armenia in Yerevan and Istanbul. And this is only an intermediate result. What can end the Transcaucasian performance with Turkish actors, it’s hard to imagine but now it is obvious that Armenia should have no absolutely no illusions.
At one time one of the famous Armenian political scientist said that in the Caucasus, there are only two problems – the Georgian-Russian and Armenian-Turkish. To this we add that these two issues are being very closely intertwined, because in the dry residue, is the result of competition, Russia and Turkey for influence in the region. In that context, Russia has traditionally and with varying success protects the security of Armenians from Turkey, and Turkey, also traditionally and with the same success, strengthens the Georgians against Russia. Not accidentally, the events of August 2008, when Russia in a hard-force regime crushed Georgia, became an original starting point for the Turkish Armenian activity in the area.
Watching how to build relations between Georgia and Turkey after the August war, you will notice a sharp drop in the intensity of contacts in the military and political level. Obviously, during the fighting against Russia in Tbilisi expect from Ankara – its main arms supplier and a key conduit for NATO – what you like, but do not block U.S. ships in the approaches to the Black Sea and the nomination of so-called "platform of peace and security in the Caucasus .Moreover, the platform is focused not on Abkhazia with South Ossetia, and Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. Could Georgia do not pay attention and coordinated between Azerbaijan and Turkey to stop the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum for two or three days before the bombing of Georgian territory by Russian airplanes. In fact, in Georgia at that time had every reason to suspect Turkey of betraying their interests. Participation after the arrest of Turkish merchant ships and their crews – the nervous reaction of the Georgian side, which was fairly easy to fixed cautionary remarks of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Tbilisi.
In fact, Turkey has had its problems, having nothing to do with the protection of Georgia from the Russian counterattack. Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Moscow almost daily completion of a five-day war, carefully highlighted the role of Turkey in the Caucasus and, apparently, described in detail the scope of Turkish interests in the current postwar situation. In fact, the Turkish political elite was inclined to consider the Georgian-Russian war as a very convenient moment to address the Armenian-Turkish problems, part of which is the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. To motivate the need for urgent solution to the problem of the Armenian Turkish prime minister was not so difficult, because at that time the territory of Georgia were prudently blow up the bridge leading to the Armenian territory. In the blockade was not only the economy of the republic, but also the military base of Russia on its territory.
Any further action by the Russian leadership – from August 2008 until the present moment – may indicate, at least, increased efforts in Moscow in Karabakh process. It was signed by the infamous declaration Mayendorfskaya not vozymevshaya no practical effect, held several rounds of summits, including in Sochi, where he was put forward the need to update the Madrid (basic) principles of Karabakh conflict settlement. However, Turkey does not see the tangible results of the Russian mediation mission, and, judging by the reaction of Foreign Minister of this country, is going to encourage Moscow to be more active. "Turkish leaders intend to discuss with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the upcoming May his official visit to Ankara on the issue settlement of the Karabakh problem" – said April 26 Davutoglu minister, speaking at the Turkish Parliament. "We view this problem as its own, and will continue to keep it on the agenda of every platform," – said the minister. "We very much hope that Mr Medvedev will take all necessary steps in this direction. Because the stability in the Caucasus in the interest of all countries in the region," he said. "We are against the continuation of the status quo in the Caucasus", – said the head of Turkish diplomacy.
It is noteworthy that this speech Davutoglu inadmissibility prevailing status quo in the Caucasus "was delivered on the day of the visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze in Ankara. Obviously, the status quo with the decision of the Georgian-Russian conflict, but active Armenian-Turkish are not satisfied with Turkey, and break it in a special situation were not working. Another interesting point is that neither Moscow nor in Yerevan voiced Davudoglu agenda of negotiations with the Russian president did not respond.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev moved from direct threats to the "Karabakh separatists" to threats to the CSTO member-states of Armenia. April 23, he stated that the Azerbaijani army is equipped with the most modern types of weapons, including armored vehicles, antiaircraft missile launchers and aircraft and has the potential "hit any targets on the territory of Armenia." Abiyev also said that the recent military exercise involving all types of troops were fulfilled, among other things, and "offensive." He reported on the strengthening of the capacity of intelligence units, equipping them with modern means, including unmanned aircraft, training of military personnel Armenian language. They expressed Abiyev Supreme Commander of Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani armed forces "able to perform the task to liberate the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
Here it is worth paying attention to the fact that the Armenian-Azerbaijani expert debate on the Karabakh problem has recently been completely lost its rational content and revolves around the choice of potential targets in the territories of two countries. In this context, referred to various strategic sites, including oil and gas pipelines, and even nuclear power station. These arguments are not worth paying any attention, if Defense Minister Abiyev not threatened strikes rocket artillery on Armenian territory. Meanwhile, virtually all of the strategic infrastructure of Armenia – nuclear power plants, gas pipelines, railways, communication towers, high voltage electrical networks and hydroelectric power plants – one way or another, partially or fully owned by Russia. And in this case is not clear where exactly will aim Abiyev. Even more incomprehensible silence, which met in Russia, the threat of the Azerbaijani Minister. "The offensive" against Armenia Azerbaijani Armed Forces under the Charter of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, is an offensive operation against Russia itself. On the rest of the defense of the block should not be here to speak, although the same of Kazakhstan, who heads the OSCE declared the priority of security in the conflict zone, known by his silence and initially his chairmanship of the OSCE have failed, not to mention the devaluation of its role in the CSTO.
Anyway, after the Georgian-Russian war which, as already stated, to the obvious increase in Turkey’s regional ambitions and the beginning of a dense discussion of the Karabakh problem in Russian-Turkish bilateral agenda, Armenia has been, to put it mildly, in a very difficult situation.In these circumstances, the American initiative for normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations in isolation from the Karabakh problem might seem to the Armenian side in this "savior". In the meantime, and in the U.S. in the region at that time were its complexity and its long-term calculations.
The American strategy deployment in the Caucasus, which was built with an emphasis on the territory of Georgia, in August 2008 was a difficult and a member of a hard conflict not only with Russia’s regional interests, but also directly border security in Russia itself. The war in Georgia showed that the Bush administration has not been calculated before the end of the consequences of their policies. March of Russian troops to the U.S. base of Senaki and its destruction of nearly two years, turned off Georgia from the U.S. foreign policy orbit. The expediency of further use of Georgian territory as a springboard for regional reference, was the subject of a new study in Washington. While this process is not completed and proof of that vacuum, in which resides the Georgian foreign policy. Suddenly deprived of the subject "strategic" dialogue with Washington, the Georgian ruling elite was forced to return to the harsh reality, to redefine the external priorities, but in a narrow regional space – between Russia, Turkey and Iran, with an eye on the situation of Azerbaijan and Armenia. And so, until Mikhail Saakashvili is trying to re-inspire all Americans to the indispensability of the Georgian military and transit capacity, the head of the Georgian Foreign Ministry holds consultations in Tehran and Ankara, and the Georgian political opposition in the broad composition of searching for contacts in Moscow and participated in forums in St. Petersburg.
In turn, the U.S., lost his balance in Georgia, and being deprived initially be fully compatible with a complex partner – Azerbaijan, constrained Iranian and Turkish influence, drew his attention to Armenia, by this time trapped in a rather sad state. However, as events proved last year, hope the Americans to use their traditional lever – the problem of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, as well as their lobbying capabilities in Europe (Sweden sudden recognition of the Armenian genocide – the fruit of an American, not the Armenian lobbying) to the expected results have not led. Turkey is closely tied process of normalizing relations with Armenia in the Karabakh issue, and to U.S. efforts to answer a number of anti-American actions, in particular, found the unprecedented warm relationship with Iran and Russia, reinforced the anti-Israel rhetoric, defeated the Israeli-American stronghold in Turkish military circles, and so on.
Russia, which formally supported the U.S. initiative for normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, in reality, played in this process, a dual role. Moscow began an intensive rapprochement with Azerbaijan, the government is very nervous reaction to U.S. plans to unlock Armenia in isolation from the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Feeling supported by the Russian pole, Baku safely deployed a powerful pressure on Turkey. Although, in fact, the Azerbaijani-Turkish "contradictions" of the last period, miraculously removed from the agenda, in particular in the gas field, after the failure of the Armenian-Turkish dialogue, quite calmly could be co-ordinated action, whose purpose was to demonstrate the impossibility of the Americanplan as a whole.
As a result, it is necessary to note that the Armenian-Turkish talks were deadlocked efforts of Ankara and Baku, with the tacit consent of Moscow. It was quite obvious that Armenia ratified the protocols in the form in which they have been signed in Zurich in October 2009, immediately after they are accepted by the Turkish Parliament. However, fears of Yerevan were quite justified. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan in the presence of the American leader Barack Obama has explicitly stated that the Turkish Parliament to ratify the documents do not meet until the Karabakh problem. Armenian leader had only one thing to withdraw records from the operational agenda of the Armenian parliament, which he did on his return from the U.S.. The minutes were left in a large agenda of the Armenian parliament in the hope that the U.S. is their active operations again will call on them to life. However, hopes for a little no.
Summarizing the situation in Transcaucasia, the current after the events of August 2008 and the failure of the American initiative to unblock the Armenian-Turkish border, select the following provisions:
1. The problem of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict arose on a regional agenda with particular urgency.At the same time, Turkey and Azerbaijan are virtually issued an ultimatum requiring Russia to exert pressure on Armenia. Russia after the war with Georgia being deprived of the field for maneuver. Balancing between Azerbaijan and Armenia, to some extent lost its meaning, since a massive involvement in the process of Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan have ceased to be equated with the military-political point of view of regional poles. No longer just land, but safe and air links with Armenia denies Russia the chance to fully supply its military base in Gyumri, in the case of renewed hostilities tactical space.
2. The sharp weakening of the American factor contributed regionalization of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Azerbaijan lobbies connected to the process of Turkey. On the other hand, the willingness to mediate in the process, but in fact its right to participate in the new regional redistribution said Tehran. Rhetorical Azerbaijan’s consent to the Iranian initiative – hot-expressed anti-American move, indicating that the Azerbaijani side makes every effort to withdraw from the process of the United States and France to strengthen its position in the region through closer relations with Turkey, Iran and Russia simultaneously.
3. Agreed Baku and Ankara shooting priority for the European gas project NABUCCO was intended to keep European countries from the pressure on Turkey to unblock the Armenian-Turkish border. Here the "rigid" position of Baku, long time not signing gas agreement with Turkey, has played a role of lightning rod for Turkey. The very next day after the failure of the Armenian-Turkish negotiations, Azerbaijan and Turkey execute the necessary agreement.
4. The weakening of U.S. influence in the region is strictly contrary to the interests of Georgia.President Saakashvili held in the United States more than three weeks, trying to facilitate the return of Washington into action. In this case, Saakashvili has indirectly for Armenia. New destabilization of Georgia in the consolidated Azerbaijani-Turkish offensive could lead to unfortunate consequences Armenia. U.S. in some way dilute the stringent regional realities, allowing Yerevan for a long time to balance in foreign policy.
5. Turkey in every possible way to strain the situation, trying to urge Russia to fulfill a verbal agreement reached in August 2008. Shortly before the official visit of President Dmitry Medvedev in Ankara, Turkish authorities have updated the problem of Nakhichevan, actually declared himself the guarantor of security in this autonomous republic within Azerbaijan. Accusing Armenia in that it represents a threat to the security of the enclave, devoid of all possible ties with Azerbaijan, Turkey is actually called a legitimate reason for possible action against Armenia. However, Turkey has openly declared its right to Nakhichevan, referring to the provisions of the Treaty of Kars, which can be regarded as a kind of signal to Azerbaijan, demonstrating lately some degree of independence in foreign policy.
6. Turkey is a long-term threat for Georgia, strengthening its political and economic presence in Adjara. Obviously, in the case of large-scale destabilization of the situation in the region, Ankara reclaim their rights and to this territory – the same logic as in the case of Nakhichevan, and with reference to the same document.
7. May 8, 2010 in Moscow will meet the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia. In May, is also expected to visit Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev in Turkey. Russian president to be an easy task. Its complexity lies in the fact that the bargaining position of Yerevan and Baku for nearly 20 years of negotiations, not one iota closer. The key issue – the problem of the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh. The rhetoric of the Azeri leadership leaves no doubt that the official Baku in this part of the concessions is not going to go, even if the status will be determined by time-delayed referendum and after the phased delivery of Azerbaijan controlled by Armenian side areas – security belt around Nagorno-Karabakh.

The separatists want to split into two Kyrgyzstan Democratic Republic – South and North

Ilyna: The separatists want to split into two Kyrgyzstan Democratic Republic – South and North

09:14 30.04.2010

The separatists want to divide Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan separatists urge to share two democratic republic – South and North, with the delegation that they have equal powers. Interim authorities consider these ideas as “dangerous tendencies”, and former Prime Minister Kulov is sure: people will never support such a division.
The appeals of the section of the State into two parts, began to sound in the south of Kyrgyzstan. Journalists were told by the acting Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic Baktybek Alymbekov, relevant leaflets and videos are distributed in the Osh and Jalal-Abad certain “destructive forces”. “We have considered this issue at the commission, the distributors will apply appropriate measures” – he promised.

At the same time head of the committee protect the deposed president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev – Tolon Dyikanbaev told Azattyk Radio’s intention to work towards a federal system in Kyrgyzstan. The separatists consider that to stabilize the situation in the country can only be divided into two democratic republics – South and North, with the delegation that they have equal powers. According Dyykanbaeva, the initiative group intends to apply to this proposal to the Provisional Government of the Republic and hopes that this initiative will be reflected in the new constitution, whose draft is being discussed in Kyrgyz society.

The deputy head of the Provisional Government on constitutional reform Tekebayev has already expressed its position, calling the proposal bakievtsev dangerous trend. The new authorities of the country, he said, aware that with elections approaching, the subversive work of the separatist nature will only intensify. “The closer the legalization, the greater the risk. During the six months before the parliamentary elections we will be vulnerable to political risks. And if you join the economic risks, the situation will get worse,” – admitted Tekebayev.

According to experts, the federal structure will cause the “destruction of statehood in the presence of large regional differences and underdeveloped institutions of the State in the country, “said the radio station.

Former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Felix Kulov, for its part, believes that the partition of the country will not happen. “There will be no federal system in Kyrgyzstan. Too close economic, social and demographic connection between north and south. The people do not get no divided into two parts, and he would never agree to the division of the country’s south and north. Such appeals are heard only at the level political elites “, – quotes the policy of” Kommersant “.

According to Kulov, all in Kyrgyzstan understand “if the country is divided into two parts, it will lead to a colossal collapse of the economy in the south.” The purpose of these leaflets are not just dividing the country, and discredit the provisional government, I’m sure ex-prime: “Such things are bad for the image of the Provisional Government, because they underscore – this government can not govern the country.”

Customers campaign, according to Kulov, may well be people Bakiyev – in particular, his brothers, which issued the warrant and that the period of destabilization can freely move and exist. “

According to the media, supporters of Bakiyev had already planned a date for the return of its counter-retired leader to power: rebellion appointed on 17 May. Own the counter-revolution going to arrange and youth organizations in Kyrgyzstan. So until full settlement of the situation in the country far.

Author: Vera ILJINA

30.04.2010

Source - Respublika-kaz.info

How Much of Pakistan Do Retired Military Officers Own?

LNG Verdict: Further Sign of a Military / Judicial nexus – New Pakistan

Rabia

Source New Pakistan:

The Supreme Court’s verdict against a billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contract on Wednesday has been met mostly with uninterest, most people seeming to view it as a routine matter of the court policing a lack of transparency in the awarding of government contracts. While I will certainly not suggest that lack of transparency is not a problem, there are a few items about this particular case that I find curious. Namely, the little talked about relationship between the court and the military in this case.

The first curious thing about the case was that it was a suo moto action. That means that the court took it upon itself to take up the case without a complaint from any party. This might be the case, but if there was a problem with the award of the contract to French company GDF Suez, why did no other company make a complaint?

This brings us to the next curious fact: the company that supposedly had the lowest bid was Fauji Foundation – an investment group run by former military officers.

[The Supreme Court] took up the natural gas deal case after media reports that Pakistan had lost $1 billion when senior petroleum ministry officials ignored the lowest bid by the Fauji Foundation, an investment group run by former military officers, and European company Vitol, and chose France’s GDF Suez.

So, the government took bids for an LNG supply contract and awarded to a French company. The Supreme Court, without any complaint from another company, took it upon itself to step in and void the contract. One of the losing bidders just happens to be tied to the military.

This would be curious enough by itself, but the situation becomes more so when we take a step back and consider the context for this action.

Pakistan is presently suffering a severe energy crisis. Actually, the energy crisis is one of the top reasons that people are unhappy, and also a top reason why Pakistan has had difficulty attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The contract with GDF Suez would have provided 3.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas supplies every year for six years. Surely this would have gone a long way towards solving the energy problem and attracting new foreign investment.

Of course, making progress on energy and foreign investment would also be seen as a success for the present government, which the court has constantly attacked. Cancelling this contract is also seen by foreign analysts as a means for the Chief Justice to assert his own power as supreme.

One analyst said a Supreme Court seen as intrusive would be bad for business, in a country struggling to keep its budget deficit at the levels required under politically sensitive reforms the International Monetary Fund is pushing for.

“To what extent is the action on the part of Chaudhry great and to what extent is it stifling matters?,” asked Kamran Bokhari, regional director for the Middle East and South Asia at STRATFOR global intelligence firm.

“This issue of cancelling a deal because it wasn’t transparent is a tool by which the judiciary asserts itself because ultimately it is also a power.”

Then there is the fact that the military is involved. Following Ahsan Iqbal’s (PML-N) recent statements that there is a “third force” trying to cause a clash between judiciary and government, one must wonder if there
is some relationship here. Is this all part of an effort to execute a ‘coup by judiciary’?

Awarding of government contracts should be transparent, fair, and in the best interest of Pakistan. The government should not give away contracts to one company if there is a better deal from another. Also, the government should not give away contracts to former military officers if some other company can do a better job. The fact that the Supreme Court has inserted itself into this situation without being asked by party to the contract process raises serious questions about whether the court is being honest and transparent itself.

Where is the Baitullah Mehsud audiotape?

[While they are looking, maybe they can provide the intercepted tapes which implicate Mehsud's associates in the Islamabad Marriott bombing?]

Rabia

The easiest way for the military to put to rest any suspicions that the Musharraf government was involved in the death of Benazir Bhutto is to produce the audiotape of the conversation between Baitullah Mehsud and his associate which Brigiadier Cheema claimed that the ISI had intercepted on Dec 27 2007. The joint investigative team of the FIA formed after the release of the UN Report has approached the ISI directly but apparently been rebuffed and so the Interior Ministry is now approaching the ISI via the Defence Ministry to get this tape.

Why isn’t the military releasing this tape for analysis? If the military is unable to produce the tape then the only conclusion is that the Musharraf government deliberately falsified evidence immediately following the death of Benazir Bhutt

Russian Bill to Restore Soviet-Era Restrictions On Russian Press

Russian bill gives FSB authority to arrest critical journalists

Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, April 29, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists urges members of Russia’s parliament to reject a sweeping new bill that would return censorship rights to Russia’s KGB successor, the Federal Security Service, if passed.

Amendments to the country’s administrative code and the law on FSB activities would give the security agency the right to summon journalists for questioning and demand that editors remove articles that “aid extremists” or “appear undesirable” from their publications. The proposed amendments introduce penalties that range from a fine of up to 50,000 rubles (US$1,710) to a 15-day detention for noncompliance.

“Instead of focusing their energy on fighting work-related violence against journalists inRussia, authorities are gearing up to fight the journalists for doing their job,” CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. “The bill, which gives the security services Soviet-style power to censor information, must be scrapped immediately.”

Particularly disturbing is an “explanatory note” to the proposed law amendments, which openly blames “certain media outlets” for the rise of extremist activities in Russia and singles them out. The note reads:

An analysis of the information available to the organs of federal security attests to intensification of the activities of radical organizations, which leads to the rise of social tension and the strengthening of negative processes in society, in the first place among youth.

Certain mass media outlets, including print and electronic, openly aid the formation of negative processes in the spiritual sphere, the affirmation of the cult of individualism and violence, the mistrust in the ability of the state to defend its citizens, thus practically involving the youth in extremist activities. 

Immediately after the introduction of the vaguely worded bill on April 24, Russian media experts, lawyers, and editors criticized its formulation as too broad, and noted that it returns the country’s main security agency the unlimited censoring powers that its predecessor, the KGB, had in Soviet times. Andrei Soldatov, a prominent expert on the activities of the FSB, told The Moscow Times, that the bill gives the security services the right to act preemptively against media outlets, without having to go through a prosecutor.

Yuliya Latynina, a journalist and political commentator who specializes in the North Caucasus, told the Moscow-based Ekho Moskvy radio: “According to this draft law, if I or my editor mention the absolute inability of the authorities to arrest [North Caucasus] separatists, we would be held responsible for our comments.” She added: “Obviously, it is easier to arrest editors than terrorists.”

The new amendments follow in the footsteps of two sets of amendments—on the law on extremism—which were passed in 2006 and 2007 amid domestic and international criticism. Those broadened the definition of extremism to include media criticism of state officials as a social group and public discussion of extremist activities. A number of individual journalists and media outlets have been prosecuted under those laws since.

On March 31, the independent Moscow-based newspaper Novaya Gazeta received a warning from the state media regulator Roskomnadzor, accusing the paper of distributing extremist information because of its reporting on the activities of the neo-Nazi group Russky Obraz (Russian Image). The newspaper had reported on the group in January as part of its investigation into the double murder of its journalist Anastasiya Baburova and lawyer Stanislav Markelov; the two suspects in the murder are reportedly affiliated with Russky Obraz. A publication can be closed down after receiving two official warnings.

Obama/Democrats Losing Turkey, Azerbaijan and Nabucco, Over Armenian Issue

Armenia-Turkey peace collapse fans Caucasus tension

Source: Reuters

By Matt Robinson

TBILISI, April 29 (Reuters) – The collapse of a plan to end a century of hostility between Armenia and Turkey may have its biggest repercussions in the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a flashpoint near a corridor bringing oil and gas to the West.

The peace initiative between two of the players in a complex web of relationships in the south Caucasus crumbled last week when Armenia suspended ratification of the accord.

Observers said the pact, which would have established diplomatic relations and opened their land border, was already deadlocked as neither parliament had approved the deal.

But its suspension has left another, potentially explosive issue hanging in the balance — the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region lost by Azerbaijan to Armenian-backed forces in the bloodiest of the ethnic conflicts that accompanied the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Many had hoped normalised relations between Armenia and Turkey would help unlock talks on the enclave, which has run its own affairs with the support of Armenia since splitting away from Azerbaijan. It is connected to Armenia by a slim corridor.

Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally and energy trading partner, saw the accord as a betrayal, potentially robbing it of leverage over Armenia in negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh.

Analysts say the suspension will do little to soothe Azeri concerns.
“The process has left Azerbaijan isolated, and effectively pulled the rug from under its foreign policy framework,” said Svante Cornell of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.

“It also leaves Armenia’s leadership weakened. thus — more frustration and more insecurity, the last thing the region needs,” he said.  The deal agreed a year ago was the closest Turkey and Armenia had come to moving past the World War One mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks that has poisoned their relationship.

The United States and Russia both backed the accord as a means of stabilising the south Caucasus and encouraging greater trade and prosperity.
Turkey stood to reap diplomatic kudos in the West as it bids for membership of the European Union. Landlocked Armenia would have benefited from the reopening of its western frontier, closed by Turkey in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan.

Washington said last week the deal was not dead, but more time might be needed to “create some new momentum”.  But diplomats say they see little chance of Turkey dropping its demand for Armenian concessions on Nagorno-Karabakh, or of Armenia complying in exchange for an open frontier.

STRAINED AZERI-TURKISH TIES

The peace overtures have severely strained ties between Turkey and Azerbaijan, affecting negotiations on gas supplies key to the planned Nabucco pipeline, which aims to bypass Russia to supply gas to the European Union.
Azerbaijan late last year struck deals to sell more gas to Russia, whose South Stream pipeline project is the main rival to Nabucco. such deals will draw supplies away from Nabucco and make it harder for the project to get off the ground.

In the belief that Washington was the main driver of the Turkish-Armenian thaw, Azerbaijan this month cancelled joint military exercises with the United States and threatened to reconsider their “strategic relationship”.

“Long-term peace and normalisation of relations in the south Caucasus cannot be achieved by rewarding aggression and by excluding the region’s strategically most important country,” Novruz Mammadov, chief foreign policy adviser to Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, wrote last week.

An estimated 30,000 people died in the Nagorno-Karabakh war before a ceasefire was agreed in 1994. More than 15 years of mediation by Russia, the United States and France have yielded a loose framework of “basic principles”, but no peace deal.

Snipers and landmines on the frontline meanwhile pick off young Azeri and Armenian conscripts on a regular basis.  Intensified negotiations last year between Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan fuelled hope that some sort of solution might be close.  The International Crisis Group thinktank warned this month of a threat from “domestically entrenched maximalist forces” opposed to a Nagorno-Karabakh deal in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“If the talks fail now, Armenia and Azerbaijan may find themselves trapped in a spiralling military escalation which will have unpredictable consequences for both countries and for wider regional security,” ICG analyst Tabib Huseynov wrote.

Thanks to its elevated position and heavy fortifications, military experts say Nagorno-Karabakh would be difficult to retake. But that has not stopped Azerbaijan from spending heavily on its military and frequently threatening to try.

“The Azerbaijan army has all capabilities to hit any target on the territory of Armenia if necessary,” Defence Minister Safar Abiyev said last week.
A resumption in hostilities could quickly suck in other powers in a region criss-crossed by energy pipelines.

Russia’s largest military base outside its borders is located in armenia, and the two countries are close allies. (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

China’s Pakistan Corridor

Maha Atal
Forbes Asia Magazine dated May 10, 2010

Balochistan is treacherous territory for many, but Beijing keeps buying its way in.

In the Pakistani province of Balochistan, South Asia and central Asia bleed into the Middle East. Bordered by Afghanistan, Iran and the Persian Gulf, and well endowed with oil, gas, copper, gold and coal reserves, Balochistan is a rich prize that should have foreign investors battering at the gates. But for a half-century it has been the exclusive playground of the Pakistani government and its state-owned Chinese partners. China would prefer it to stay that way.

China is Pakistan’s oldest military and political ally, but in the last two decades it is the economic component of the alliance that has taken center stage. Pakistan, and in particular Balochistan, is China’s physical link to its sizable investments in Iranian gas, Afghan hydropower and Gulf oil. Explains Andrew Small, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, the Sino-Pak relationship “matters more now, because of India’s economic growth. Pakistan being a trade and energy corridor means that possible pipelines and projects [in Pakistan] have a strategic significance beyond the specific investments.” Chinese control of Pakistan’s commodities corridor can “bind India down in South Asia, restricting its capacity to operate elsewhere.”

Chinese companies have poured at least $15 billion into Baloch projects: an oil refinery, copper and zinc mines and a deepwater port at Gwadar, in the Gulf of Oman. “They wanted Gwadar to be another Dubai,” says Khurram Abbas, the port’s managing director, “to capture the transit trade with countries that are landlocked, like Afghanistan, and to encourage transshipment trade from the Persian Gulf to East Africa.”

China’s Tianjin Zhongbei Harbor Engineering has invested $200 million to build the first three berths and plans to invest a total of $1.6 billion to expand the port in the future. But business at Gwadar has been slow. Though the three berths have the capacity to handle $2 billion worth of cargo a year, the port saw only $700 million in 2009. “The challenge,” says Abbas, “is that Gwadar is not yet linked to the rest of the country. The government was supposed to provide road connectivity. Without roads there can be no commercial activity [in Balochistan]. And we need commercial activity, investors to set up factories around Gwadar, to get cargo for the port.”

China is taking matters into its own hands, starting to build a highway from Gwadar to the capital of Balochistan, Quetta, on the Afghan border, where it will connect to Pakistan’s national highway network, and from there to the Karakoram Highway that leads into China. China’s Harbor Engineering Corps is also working on a new airport at Gwadar, due to open in 2013.

Infrastructure is not the only challenge that Chinese investors in Balochistan face. The province is a key battleground in the wars currently threatening Pakistan. Quetta is rumored to be hiding wanted leaders from the Afghan Taliban. Small towns in the Baloch heartland, meanwhile, are a launchpad for a decades-old separatist movement that capitalizes on populist resentment of federal agencies and foreign investment.

Another Acid Attack on Different Pakistani Sisters in Balochistan

Acid attack on Pakistani sisters in Balochistan

Campaigners say up to 150 acid attacks are reported every year Three sisters have suffered serious facial burns after two unidentified men on a motorbike threw acid at them in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. The sisters, aged between 14 and 20 years old, were attacked as they walked from Kalat city to Pandarani village – one is still in a serious condition. Political activists held a protest in Kalat shortly after the attack. There are no reliable statistics, but campaigners say there may be 150 acid attack victims in Pakistan each year. The police named the girls as Fatima Bibi, 20, Saima Bibi, 16 and Sakina Bibi, 14. They were taken to a government hospital in Kalat, but Fatima Bibi was later shifted to a hospital in the provincial capital, Quetta. No arrests have been made as yet. Two weeks ago, an unknown group – the Baloch Ghairatmand Group (the Honourable Baloch Group) – claimed responsibility for a similar attack on two women in a market in Dalbandin city. The group had warned women to wear the hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf, and not to visit markets unaccompanied by men from their families. The attack was criticised by Balochistan’s political leaders as well as armed rebel groups, who said it had been carried out by elements that wanted to push the Baloch people back in time.

Creating Electronic Super-Soldiers

Military Wants to Super-Charge Troop Smarts

By Katie Drummond

The Pentagon’s been trying to get ahead of the curve on neuroscience for years, toying with ideas like mind-reading whether people are lying and performance-degrading drugs for enemy combatants. Now, it’s launching a major effort to harness neuroscience in a way that might better prepare soldiers for the mental rigors of modern warfare.

In a series of small business solicitations released last week, the Office of the Secretary of Defense outlined plans for a new “Cognitive Readiness Technology” program with the aim of “making our warfighters as cognitively strong as they are physically strong.”

Neuroscience is at the locus of the program. Before they can super-charge cognition, Pentagon scientists need to understand exactly how it works. So they’re launching “Neuromorphic Models of Human Social Cultural Behavior” (HSCB) to accurately model human cognition, including how we perceive, learn and retain information. HSCB models already exist, and are used by troops and decision-makers to predict the outcome of a choices during a mission. But the models “are only as good as the fidelity of the human behavior representations (HBR) that form them.” Right now, those representations are based entirely on empirical observation, which the military wants to swap out for a model that can tap into “the functions of the brain that give rise to actual human cognition.”

It’s not the first time the Pentagon has tried to map the human mind. Last year, research agency Darpa requested proposals for systems that would synchronize neural brain waves to optimize the mind’s storage capacity and memory recall. The agency has also tried to create synthetic versions of living brains, complete with “neuroscience-inspired architecture.”

The military wants cognitive mapping to help assess troop readiness in a war-zone. Their small-business solicitations include a request for embeddable body sensors that could automatically determine mental preparedness, which can be influenced by factors like fatigue, cognitive overload or stress, based on physiological and neural data. The sensors would do more than just analyze the cognitive status of their wearer — they’d be combined with the data from other team members, to instantly identify just how performance-ready a given unit actually is.

But no matter how cognitively capable troops become, they’ll still rely on computers to handle much of their workload. Humans, the solicitation notes, “are quick to arrive at initial decisions,” but computers can more quickly calculate pros and cons of different tactics. That’s why the military also wants neuroscience to “bridge the human-machine systems gap” and turn troops and computers into collaborative units. Their “neuro-cognitive control of human machine systems,” would tap into the neural signals that indicate desired actions, then transmit them to a computer to determine the optimal approach and carry it out.

And a training program that emphasizes brawny brains over bodies reflects a trend across Pentagon departments: Just last month, the Army announced a redesign of their physical-fitness program to accommodate troops spending more time behind computer screens than they do on their feet.

Photo: U.S Army