FACEBOOK SHOWS BIAS: TAKES DOWN POPULAR PAKISTANI FAN-PAGE

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

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

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

PPP Government’s PromiseMeter!

Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS)

PPP Government’s PromiseMeter for 2^nd Quarter of Year 2009
PromiseMeter is an effort to keep track record of the promises that mainly the elected officials have made. This meter is a conscious effort to keep reminding the Government of all the promises that it would have made with the people of Pakistan. At the same time, this will act as a performance checklist for the people of Pakistan who voted in their government in historical February 2008 elections. The readings from the PromiseMeter is interpreted statistically and graphically for better understanding of the people interested in Pakistan.

Highlights:

As opposed to the first quarter of January-March, 2009, in second quarter of April-June 2009:

• President Zardari made 75% more promises.
• PM Gilani made 14% more promise.
• Other government officials made 14% less promises.
• Overall, the government officials made 75% more promises with Pakistani people.

Click here for all the promises data (MS Excel workbook).

Click here for comparison of both quarters of 2009.

Click here for PromiseMeter for the first quarter i.e. January-March 2009.

Click here for PromiseMeter for the second quarter i.e. April-June 2009.

India Wants To Fight In Afghanistan Until The Last American

After months of arrogant behavior, the United States is conceding to some of Pakistan’s demands, like unconditional aid and a check on Indian terrorist activities against Pakistan using Afghan soil. But does Washington know that India wants a war in Afghanistan until the last American soldier?

Read Full Article | Zaid Hamid

India’s Gen. Kapoor Can Learn From Pakistan’s Gen. Kayani

Instead of behaving like a villain in some third-rated Indian movie, the Indian army chief can learn a lesson or two from Pakistan army chief’s studied calm under immense pressure.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor has once again come up with a highly irresponsible and rather humorous statement when he stated that Indian Army was ready for surgical strikes, missile and infantry attack inside Pakistan.

This statement of the Indian Army Chief came when Pakistan government and Pakistani authorities were conducting a high profile probe into the Mumbai attacks on the basis of what should be termed as a rather shady dossier provided by the Indian government. The statement came when the Pakistan government was doing the job with all sincerity and when the Indian government itself had agreed to wait for the outcome. In such a situation, when Pakistan and the entire global community was making an all out effort to ease tensions between the nuclear archrivals, General Deepak Kapoor jumped the stage with a statement that surprised everyone.

SPECIAL REPORT: US Grand Designs on Pakistan

الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُواْ لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَاناً وَقَالُواْ حَسْبُنَا اللّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ

“Those whose faith only increased when people said, ‘Fear your enemy: they have amassed a great army against you,’ and who replied, ‘Allah is enough for us: He is the best protector.” Al-Imran, 3:173

Introduction
Pakistan since its inception has faced one crisis after another. It has continued to stumble from one problem to another due to never having a leadership with the capability or the will to tackle Pakistan’s problems head on. Today, Pakistan faces a situation which is unprecedented in its history. From some perspectives Pakistan’s inability to deal holistically with its problems has compounded its current woes. US plans for Pakistan are fast reaching boiling point, with the Mumbai attacks accelerating attempts by the US to weaken Pakistan.

What should be clear is that Pakistan is in no position to shape the geopolitics taking place in front of its very eyes. India is playing a very prominent role with the US in order to shape what happens to Pakistan. Both India and the US have successfully created international public opinion against Pakistan for having so called ‘rogue elements’ within its security services that say are a menace to the world due to their support for Jihadi groups. Such claims are eerily similar to the case the US built against Iraq and should confirm to every Muslim that we are in the early phase of the world gathering against another Muslim nation. The question remains that is Pakistan fast descending into the next Iraq? This paper attempts to analyse US historical interests in south Asia, the problem Pakistan represents for the US and what options remain open for Pakistan.

Who’s Country Is It Anyway?

Ours, Or U.S. Think Tanks?

Beware: Pakistanis trained and groomed by U.S. think tanks are being inserted into Pakistan’s corridors of power, planted to teach us, the uncouth Pakistanis, what our national interest is and how to achieve it. While we have no problem with U.S. per se, we do have a big problem with diktat. Behind the scenes, the Pakistani capital has become a battleground, pitching a pro-U.S. lobby in the government against Pakistani nationalists. The pro-American lobby wants Pakistan to forget how India is blocking our water and is exporting terrorism inside Pakistan. They want us to allow India access to Afghanistan and transform Pakistan’s Army into an Indo-American proxy force. For this plan to succeed, a maximum number of these turncoat Pakistanis have been mobilized. Gen. Durrani’s ouster is one dent in the armor. We need more of these dents.

Read Full Article | Ahmed Quraishi