RAWALPINDI: The military leadership has announced victory formally against the militants in Swat and Waziristan and stressed on the civilian government to take control of these areas soon hence army will support it.
The announcement to this effect was made during briefing to the Senate Defense committee at GHQ here on Tuesday.
Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani also attended the meeting, who also held meetings with all the committee members.
The senate defense committee headed by its chairman Lt. Gen (Retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi and its other members included deputy chairman senate Jan Mohammad Jamali, Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, Haji Adeel, Waqar Ahmad Khan, Prof. Khurshid, Sardar Ali Khan and Maulana Mohammad Shirani.
After 9 years of maintaining an expensive presence on Afghan soil, thousands of lives and billions wasted in aid and reconstruction efforts, not to forget bribes to warlords and drug barons, the US and its allies have come up with a real gem of an idea – trying to buy themselves a safe exit from the Afghan mess for a cool $500m.
The world leaders gathered at the Afghanistan Conference in London seem to have realised the only hope left is to save face and exit Afghanistan with some dignity intact. Their offer of cash to the Taliban, laughable as it is, is a last ditch effort to save Hamid Karzai’s government by attempting to buy out his only real opposition in Afghanistan.
Taliban today control 33 out of 34 provinces of Afghanistan and are under no pressure to negotiate with the ‘Governor of Kabul’ – as he’s mockingly called in Afghanistan due to his rule being limited to parts of the Afghan capital. The momentum is with the Taliban and they are in a position to dictate terms. Therefore the plan to rope in ‘moderate’ elements of the Taliban by promises of cash and power is a non-starter.
The decision reached at the conference to invite Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to mediate with the Taliban and Kabul’s Government seems to have little point, even though it confirms what Pakistan has been saying for years – that there will not be a solution to the Afghan problem until the Taliban – who represent Afghanistan’s Pashtun majority – are ignored.
LAHORE: General (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg has alleged that the US has shifted Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud and the other Taliban leadership to Afghanistan.
In an interview, Aslam Beg said when the Pakistan Army started the operation in South Waziristan, a helicopter flew from the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan and shifted Hakimullah Mehsud and other militants to Afghanistan.
Musharraf proved excessively compliant from the beginning and this came as a shock even to the Bush Administration, but they realised his limitations in terms of compromises at the tactical level because of the military – which often put a spanner in the US agenda for Pakistan. Hence the constant critique of the Pakistan military and its intelligence outfits – especially once the CIA fell out with the ISI two years ago over whom to target in FATA.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—There is a dangerous pattern connecting the events happening in and around Pakistan today. Unless we can see this larger picture, we will be overwhelmed by the fallout and our detractors like the US will have fulfilled their agenda for this nuclear capable country.
The roots of this US agenda go back to Musharraf’s hasty embrace of the US “war on terror”. What was not realised at the time was the psychological trauma the US had undergone as a result of 9/11, which had led to the bolstering of the already suspicion-tinted view the US had of the Muslim world. Of course, some pliant Muslim leaders were reluctantly embraced as “allies”, but always on a tight leash, but by and large nationalist Muslim leaders and their nations were something the Americans never felt comfortable with. If these nations were also militarily or economically strong, the US felt even more uncomfortable. In this context, Mahathir’s Malaysia, Revolutionary Iran and nuclear Pakistan certainly stood out as irritants in one way or another. So when 9/11 happened, even though it was Saudi citizens who were responsible for the actions, Pakistan was brought centre-stage and the US saw this as the opportunity to cut the country down to size and finally gain control of its nuclear assets.
QUETTA: India and Afghanistan are supporting an insurgency in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, trying to bolster the leadership of separatists fighting the Pakistani government, a top security commander said on Saturday.
Baloch nationalists have for decades campaigned for greater autonomy and control of the province’s abundant natural gas and mineral resources, which they say are unfairly exploited to the benefit of other parts of the country. Separatist guerrillas have also been fighting a low-level insurgency for decades.
‘A lot of evidence of Indian involvement through Afghanistan is there, supporting the separatist movement,’ Major General Salim Nawaz, inspector general of the Frontier Corps paramilitary force in Balochistan, told Reuters in an interview at his headquarters in the provincial capital, Quetta.
A pro-US fifth column inside Pakistan is now talking about southern Punjab as the hub of Al-Qaeda just as it earlier pointed to Balochistan in the same manner. For those who had failed to connect the dots to the US grand design of targeting Pakistan a year ago, it should be easier today. There are covert US operatives now spread across the length and breadth of Pakistan; drone attacks have increased in frequency since Obama took office; aid packages are demanding unacceptable conditions; the military is being pushed on all fronts, with India increasing its deployments along the western border with Pakistan and aiding low intensity conflict through Afghanistan.
With talk of NATO pulling out of Afghanistan, an increasingly potent Taliban threat and rising questions in the U.S. about whether defeating the insurgency is possible, there is even less incentive for the Pakistani authorities to share intelligence on Haqqani and Omar, said Shaun Gregory, a professor at Bradford University’s Pakistan Security Research Unit.
“The Pakistanis want the Americans out; above all they want India out. And the only creatures who can do that are the Afghan Taliban,” he said. “If the Pakistanis hand over more info on al-Qaida and the rest, it will have a marginal effect as to what happens in Afghanistan.”
The Pakistanis have not supplied the U.S. with any intelligence on the Haqqani network, Gregory said. In return, Haqqani and other Afghan Taliban have not joined their Pakistani Taliban brethren in trying to seize other regions and advance on the capital, Islamabad.
“They don’t want to antagonize several groups in Pakistan. If the Haqqani group starts helping the Pakistani Taliban, then God help us,” said Talat Masood, a Pakistani defense analyst. “The Americans cannot stay in Afghanistan forever, but we will have to live here forever.”
Dr. Shireen Mazari has had the honor of being one of the targets of the US Embassy in Islamabad particularly since 2008 when in her columns she broke the news of US Army’s General Hood coming to Pakistan and the 11 conditions that the Pakistani government was quietly planning to accept granting unfettered access in Pakistan for US personnel with no legal restraints.
Baitullah Mehsud must know that USA and India are friends of none. So-called TTP is being misused to serve their vested interests to kill two birds with one stone. He will be out of mind if he thinks that foreign patrons would allow him to carve out an independent state and introduce Sharia. One of the main reasons of ousting the Taliban in Kabul was that they had introduced Sharia and had refused to tow their line. The US is keen to convert Pakistan into a secular state and a client state of India and is actively working on this agenda. Taking into account Indo-US objectives duly complemented by Israel and UK, where does Baitullah led TTP figure out? The US has already chalked out a comprehensive Af-Pak policy wherein all extremist elements residing within Pak-Afghan border belt will be eliminated. FATA has been declared as the most dangerous place on earth and a hub-centre of terrorism posing a threat to world peace. The US troop surge of 21000 in southern Afghanistan and heightened pressure on Pakistan to act as the anvil is part of the gory plan.
If he thinks that he can defeat the army with the help of his foreign mentors and carve out an independent Islamic state, he is living in world of fancy. I am sure he must have seen a glimpse of power of military in Malakand Division where the terrain for fighting guerrilla warfare is more favorable for the militants. Everywhere else the militants are being clobbered and they are on the run. In South Waziristan, the terrain is wide open and devoid of congested built up areas. He must also know that unlike Malakand Division where the military plunged in without adequate preparations, it is more prepared for Waziristan. Here the units have been operating since 2002 and are well versed with the topography and environments. He may be banking upon his suicide brigade duly trained by notorious Qari Hussain supposedly an expert in motivating and training boys of tender age.
The US seems to have belatedly got after Baitullah; some serious attempts have been made to kill him. Apart from head money, deadly drone attacks were launched on his main strongholds for the first time killing over 100 people. One possible reason could be that the latter has seen through the game hatched in the form of Af-Pak policy which aims at decimation of militants. He may have felt the tightening noose around him and his fighters cornered within a specific locale, and seen the raised hammer of US-Nato troops. This apprehension prompted him to join hands with Gul Bahadur and Faqir, form a Council and declare allegiance to Mulla Omar. Second; he carries too many secrets and his capture alive by the military could spill the beans. Third; the Americans have determined that Baitullah has lost considerable public support including his own clan as was evident from splinter group headed by deceased Zain and now by Misbah and has lost his usefulness. Fourth; he might not have obeyed their commands to rush to the aid of marooned Fazlullah. Americans always bet on a winning horse and ditch a losing horse. Whatever the reasons, ground realities have changed and Baitullah has lost popular support of the public and possibly confidence of his mentors. Myth of TTP has shattered and Baitullah is finding it difficult to get a fatwa (edict) issued to legalize Jihad against Pak army. It is still not late for him to abandon the path of militancy and lead a peaceful life.
History has proven that some of America’s most trusted friends and allies have been the recipients of her most insidious and deadly intrigues. Pakistani leaders are delusional if they think that their friendship with the United States is stronger than that of Italy or Germany. The CIA turned Pakistan into the “epicenter of terrorism” for a reason.
The Army and the ISI were always intended to be America’s scapegoat. That time has come. The recent assassination of Pakistan’s other “ace in the hole, Qari Zainuddin, has destroyed Pakistan’s last chance to restore the writ of the state without resorting to all-out civil war. Either Gen. Kayani submits entirely to Obama’s will, including the planned submission to Indian domination afterwards, or he stands-up to the United States, meaning he stops the drone attacks and reveals the entire ugly scenario that the CIA cannot allow anyone to reveal.
There are credible reports that Indian and Israeli intelligence involvement in U.S.-controlled Afghanistan has deepened in the past seven years. American military and intelligence officials are impressed with the record of both countries in fighting Islamic groups in Kashmir and the Mideast. Israel invested heavily in establishing schools that study the art of Islamic indoctrination. These schools were used to learn how clerics can brainwash recruits and then exploit them politically. Israeli spymasters have used this knowledge to penetrate Islamic groups and plant agents. They have passed this technique on to the Indians to help them counter pro-Pakistan religious groups in Kashmir. In the Kargil war in 1999, Pakistanis and Kashmiris faced a direct Israeli special operations intervention on the side of the Indian military.
The ex TTP commander who had denounced Baitullah Mehsud and revealed Mehsud’s links with foreign agencies, has been shot dead by a gunman. (Read: Israel, India Backing Mehsud: Reveal Former Aides)
Qari Zainuddin, had recently given statements to the media opposing Mehsud. He was killed in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan, police said.
Haji Turkistan Betani, a former close aide of Baitullah Mahsud, has claimed that assassination of Benazir Bhutto was plotted by Baitullah Mehsud.
Talking to Sana Bucha in Crisis Cell programme of Geo News, Haji Turkistan said that he was with Baitullah, who had stated that he had sent two persons to Rawalpindi for assassinating Benazir Bhutto. He also revealed that Baitullah is an American agent and this is the reason he has not been targeted by the US drones.
Haji Turkistan said that Baitullah is misguiding innocent youths on the instigation by Israel and India to destroy mosques and educational institutions and martyr religious scholars inside Pakistan.
This comes after Qari Zainuddin, a rival commander of Tehrik-e-Taliban Chief Baitullah Mehsud, on Wednesday disclosed that the TTP has links with India and Israel. He said that Baitullah Mehsud has acted against Islam as well as the country and if not eliminated now, militancy would surge and problems for the government would grow.
“Activities within Pakistan led to differences with Baitullah Meshsud, we are Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan and we have nothing to do with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan” – says Qari Zainuddin, representative of Afghan Taliban in an interview to a local news channel today.
The irony is that the UN has more guts to criticize US drone policy than the Pakistani government whose 700 innocent citizens, mostly women and children, have been killed in exchange for 12 or 16 al Qaeda terrorists, whose death reports are questionable at best, considering that all US intelligence reports in recent years have been cooked.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—President Obama’s special envoy Richard Holbrooke landed the pro-U.S. Pakistani government in trouble when he told journalists that the issue of CIA-manned drones that have killed hundreds of innocent Pakistanis was not even raised in any one of his several meetings with senior Pakistani officials in the Pakistani capital.
Mr. Holbrooke’s terse answer during a briefing stunned Pakistanis who thought the controversial drones were at least the second most important issue on government’s list after the issue of the refugees from the military operation against terrorists.
So far the principle result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the events of 9-11 has been the destabilization of Pakistan. That breakdown is peaking with the events in what AP calls the “Swat town” of Mingora—actually a city of 375,000 from which all but 20,000 have fled as government forces moved in, strafing it with gunships. We’re talking urban guerrilla warfare, house-to-house fighting, not on the Afghan border but 50 miles away in the Swat Valley. We’re talking about Pakistani troops fighting to reclaim the nearby Malam Jabba ski resort from the Tehreek-e-Taliban, who since last year have been using it as a training center and logistics base. We’re talking about two million people fleeing the fighting in the valley and 160,000 in government refugee camps.
‘We have the capability – Government needs to make the decision’
Air Chief Marshall on India’s purchase of AWACS, Pakistan’s own plans of purchasing AWACS, Swat Operation and ability to shoot US drones in Pakistani airspace.
MUST WATCH: Zaid Hamid speaks on Pakistan Army’s operation ‘Rah-e-Haq’ in Malakand Division, Northern Pakistan. Also discusses the reality of provincial autonomy for Baluchistan.
Politically, by giving the Pakistani Taliban a chance for peace, General Kayani has won the sympathies of the people of the region and broad national support. The local population have also had a chance of looking at life under the Pakistani Taliban, a large part of whom are former thugs and thieves. This has bought the Pakistan Army a great deal of political mileage. Meanwhile, militarily the Pakistani Taliban are overstretched. They are also dangerously close to being strategically dissected, outflanked and caught with their pants down.
Finally this puppet government appears to have woken up to Indian/Afghan backed terrorism in Pakistan:
ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday startled the Senate by saying that Russia and India were supporting the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) in its secession bid, saying the same outfit had kidnapped UNHCR official John Solecki.
Making a policy statement while winding up the five-day debate that in fact continued for three days, excluding Saturday and Sunday, on the killing of there Baloch leaders and the deteriorating law and order in Balochistan, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik claimed they had proof of foreign involvement in the province.
Watch Ahmed Quraishi and Zaid Hamid discuss the Balochistan situation in our last week’s episode of Loud & Clear, from Islamabad
Ahmed Quraishi discusses the CIA backed game in Balochistan, Swat peace deal, the recent aid promised to Pakistan and the conditions attached to it – with strategic defence analyst Zaid Hamid.
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So Senator Kerry has come to do the usual doublespeak to the Pakistani people through its already confused leadership! Like the other US leaders before him, his understanding of Pakistan ran skin deep at best as he tried to justify the drones by declaring that terrorism existed in Pakistan before these attacks. Oh what a revelation Senator; but we all know qualitative difference between the pre- and post-9/11 status of terrorism in Pakistan. And, while some elitist part time residents and drawing room analysts (the very group that they seem to decry) of the capital may see drones as merely red herrings, the fact is that drones have killed almost 900 innocent Pakistanis between 2006 and 2009 and only 10 Al Qaeda targets.
The ex TTP commander who had denounced Baitullah Mehsud and revealed Mehsud’s links with foreign agencies, has been shot dead by a gunman. (Read: 
