Pakistan displays defiance in Washington: Pakistani Newspaper

WASHINGTON, Apr 11: Pakistan’s new found defiance against the United States was on full display in Washington on Thursday evening when Ambassador Husain Haqqani urged Americans not to attach ‘intrusive’ conditions to the aid they offer.

‘Once again there’s talk of fixing Afghanistan and Pakistan. Please do not fix us,’ said the ambassador in a joint appearance with his Afghan counterpart at a Washington think-tank, the Atlantic Council.

‘The world is not a problem for America to fix. The world is a place for the Americans to understand.’

He also defended the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), an institution seen by civilian quarters in Islamabad as too intrusive and too politicized.

‘It is important that the institutions that are to be partners in this (anti-terrorism) effort do not start feeling under attack, whether it is ISI or the Pakistani military,’ he said.

‘Mistakes have been committed on all sides. But this lack of trust will be addressed by talking to us, not by beating down on us.’

Mr Haqqani said that the Pakistanis these days were very concerned about an ‘unbridled indictment’ of their security services, giving no credit to Pakistan for the efforts that have been made.

‘We lost a lot of people along the border with Afghanistan. We have become a major victim of terrorism. More Pakistanis have died as a result of terrorist incidents in the last two years than in any other country.’

Diplomatic observers noted that Pakistan’s new defiant posture is not an instant flare up of sentiments on the part of the Pakistani leaders.

The change of mood followed a collective decision of the government and the security establishment to adopt a tough posture.

No blank cheques
When President Barack Obama announced his new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan late last month, telling Islamabad not to expect blank cheques from Washington, Ambassador Haqqani welcomed it as a step in the right direction.

He said Washington had consulted closely with Islamabad on formulating the policy and it was not formed in the clouds.

But on Thursday, he appeared offended with President Obama’s reprimand that the US will no more write blank cheques. ‘We will not accept a blank cheque, nor would we write any,’ said the Pakistani envoy.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan displays defiance in Washington: Pakistani Newspaper

Pakistani Media Needs to be Tamed

Pakistani media needs to be much more mature when it comes to displaying images to a nationwide audience which carries no real substance whatsoever. The showing of a grainy video clip supposedly showing Taliban carrying out a sentence on a woman in Swat serves nobody, especially in Pakistan. The incessant ranting of the media needs to be censured. It seemed to me the clip came straight out of Hollywood studios designed to brainwash the Pakistani nation after the speech of the American President Barrack Obama, where he wants to put Pakistan in the same category as Afghanistan and wants Pakistan to descend into chaos so that the US has an excuse to further infiltrate into Pakistani territory. I would discuss first the religious aspect of the punishment meted out to the woman and then what the US wants to accomplish from mass viewership of such clips.

Religiously speaking, punishments have been carried out publicly in countries and territories which adhere to the Shariah law and such a sight is not so uncommon in those countries. Countries such as Saudi Arabia regularly carry out public decapitations and flogging of criminals after the due process of law has been given its course. The public display of these is designed to serve as an example for all to observe and acts as a deterrent to such crimes. One of my acquaintances, who lives in Saudi Arabia once narrated a detailed account of one such floggings when he was visiting a small town in the country. There he saw a man being whipped for a crime he had committed according to the Shariah law. Many local town people were present to witness the event. Usually, the judge who announces the verdict is not present in the ceremony. But this time he was present himself when the punishment was being given so that the whip floggers do not show any leniency/mercy in meting out the sentence and it serves as a real example for all to see. Testament to the heinous crime he had committed. Two floggers on each side whipped the person one after another while the judge chanted “flog him more”, till the guy lay unconscious. At that time, the judge ordered the floggers to stop.

The force and the brutality of a whip lash is such that even one whip is enough to take virtually the life out of a person. Now, the way the woman was shown being beaten was actually a mockup and it clearly seemed it was purposely designed for the media. Had she been beaten or given out the real punishment it would have been impossible for her to even stand on her own or even be conscious after even a three or four flogs. The timing of the video although perfect for the US administration, just after the new US policy, is suspicious because it has been portrayed that such an event happened months ago and reports that the video is fake. Even if the video is somehow proved to be real, then the issue comes out to be which crime is more heinous, the shoddy flogging of woman by Taliban a few months ago which might have hurt the woman slightly or the death of women and children by the US drones which incidentally happened on the same day that the Pakistani media was busy ranting about the woman being flogged. Nobody cared that women and children were brutally and silently killed by the US drones in Pakistani territory but the media was very busy doing propaganda against Taliban and portraying a bad image of Islam, precisely what the US wants.

Pakistani media should better spend its time on more important issues of national importance like the violations of Indus Water Treaty by India which has made one of Pakistan’s largest rivers by volume of water the Chenab virtually dry. Furthermore, India is constructing even more dams in its territory on Pakistani rivers downstream. It should also cover the plight of the poor families every day whose loved ones die at the missile firings of the US drones. Innocent women and children should not be called collateral damage and each death should be discussed and thoroughly investigated.

United States is to blame for pushing all the militants fighting the US occupation in Afghanistan into Pakistan. US should realize it cannot occupy Afghani territory without the will of the Afghani people by installing corrupt puppet regimes like that of the Karzai government. The US occupation is designed to push the militant Afghanis into Pakistani tribal areas thereby destabilizing Pakistan and destroying the only Islamic nuclear nation from within and Pakistani media is playing at the hands of these neo-cons and neo-crusaders. The sooner, the US government figures out that they cannot kill or subjugate thirty million Afghans and rule them against their will, the sooner this mess would be solved. The Afghanis have a right to live however they feel to live their lives without the need of a foreign power to dictate their affairs. Time is now for a dialog with the Taliban and a deal with these people which brings an end to the violence that has been perpetrated in the name of terrorism. Al-Qaeda and suicide bombing is a US creation which has no place in Islam. In fact, suicide is the worst crime in Islam and the punishment for that is to burn in hell for ever. Osama bin laden used to work for CIA at one time, that is for sure, what we do not know is whether he is still working for the CIA. It is about time, the US had a clear exit strategy and leave Afghanistan permanently and solve problems through a dialog with the Afghani people rather through the use of force. If all the Afghanis who have come to Pakistan after the US occupation leave Pakistan, Pakistan would be a much secure place and Pakistani people would be relieved of the spate of bombings that have devastated this great country of late. Also, US should not be allowed to operate in Pakistani areas without impunity. Any civilian death at the hands of the US drones should be investigated and the US commanders should be tried under international law for killing innocent people. Pakistani blood should not be shed so cheaply and profusely in this criminal war of terror.

Unless the Pakistani people are serious about the true perils that face the Pakistani people like this idiotic war on terror and the fallout from it, the ramifications of the Indus water treaty violations by India which can force many people in Pakistan to die of hunger and the everyday issues of clean and renewable sources of energy like solar, wind and hydro-power, we cannot be a nation worthy to be respected in the comity of nations.

United States, an "International Migraine"

Never has there been so much strife and trouble in the world which threatens ordinary civilians living in the cities as has been since the US has taken over as the primary bully starting from the end of the cold war. In a uni-polar world the United States has left no stone unturned to use its military might to create chaos in one country or another. Whether, that is through supporting despotic regimes (Egypt etc.) to accomplish sinister designs or initiating war in the name of the so called “war on terror”. The United States is also in the fore front of the neo-conic crusade to settle the Jews in the Middle East in order for the second coming of Christ to take place, thereby, spreading chaos in the entire Middle East. Iraq is yet another mess along with Afghanistan where the war shows no sign of abating, thanks to overwhelming support from the local population of Afghanistan, besides help from the shadowy Al Qaeda.

Human Rights Violations by the US

US’s support for other like-minded terrorist states such as India and Israel is no surprise since they are all joined at the hip. Each of them is in business to terrorize, subjugate and suppress freedom of the respective countries or territories which they have occupied by force. Suppressing human rights has also been the main objective of these countries with human rights groups severely chastising these terrorist states but to no avail. Guatanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib are telling examples of how the US runs its business. Bush has finally conceded in the latest interview that the occupation of Iraq was a big mistake. Mahatir Mohamed, the ex-Malaysian Prime Minister in an interview with Al-Jazeera has called for the world to declare George Bush and Tony Blair as international terrorists and hold them accountable for the turmoil and misery they have spread throughout the world in the name of the so called “war on terror”. United States is continuing to destabilize neighboring Pakistan where Pakistani troops have already suffered close to a thousand deaths at the hands of the terrorists which the US is unable to handle in Afghanistan. Pakistani cities have also undergone a regular spate of suicide bombings for showing support to the US with the US having no plan or clear cut deadline for withdrawal.

Myopic Policies of the US and Pakistan in the Line of Fire

The Afghanistan government recently conceded that the real solution to the problem is to talk to the Taliban instead of fighting a losing battle. US firepower is of no use in the terrain, training and time the insurgents have at their disposal. If the US does not have support of the local populace, this war can go on for centuries without an end. It is about time Pakistan asked the US for at least 100 billion dollars in damages to the Pakistani way of life where terror has become part of ordinary everyday life. Pakistan should tell the US categorically to find a way that is workable without spreading terror through Pakistani cities. The best way for the US would be to leave immediately from Afghanistan and let the Taliban govern Afghanistan. The US can still maintain a good diplomatic relationship by having a pact with the Taliban emphasizing that no Al Qaeda be allowed to operate from Afghanistan. The sooner the US realizes the importance of diplomacy, the sooner we can stop the whole region and the world at large from descending into the US led chaos. Diplomatic engagement can accomplish much more than any bullet or missile can do and engaging Taliban is the key. Holding talks between the Afghanistan government and Taliban in Saudi Arabia was a step in the right direction. Myopic and gung-ho policies of the US are to blame for the current pandemonium we see everywhere in South Asia.

Indian Oppression in the Occupied Territories of South Asia

India has long been subjugating and oppressing freedom movements from various parts of India. Kashmir is in the forefront because Pakistan has fought three wars with India over Kashmir already and it has come very close to a full scale war with Pakistan on at least three occasions previously. Tamil freedom movement in the south is also not far behind in its scale and resolve where the movement has engaged India and Sri-lanka militarily on a daily basis. Khalistan movement in the Indian Punjab along with freedom movements in Assam, Nagaland and Mizo(90 percent Christian, wanted to join Burma) and parts close to Nepal have also shown their determination from time to time.

Kashmir is an especially troubled region where the indigenous population has fought against Indian occupation for many years now. Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris have already laid their lives for the cause of an independent homeland. Recently, even Indian journalists have started to take notice of the human rights violations that the Indian Army is committing in the occupied Kashmir. State terrorism from India it seems would never be able to subdue the local population as there has never been any precedence from history where an occupier has ever held on to a territory without the consent of the locals.

Hindu Muslim Conflict in India and India’s International Relations

Muslim population in India elsewhere has also suffered at the hands of the majority Hindus with Gujarat Massacre the most publicized event of them all. Even in Mumbai there has always been a sense of uneasy calm between the Muslims and the Hindus at daggers drawn during the Mumbai bombings a few years back. Even very recently there have been riots in the Hyderabad Deccan between Hindus and Muslims. On a national level India itself has never had good relations with any of its neighbors including China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma and Bangladesh; blaming each of these countries for supporting insurgencies or intrusions in the adjoining areas. Pakistan is no exception.

Militant Attacks in India

The acts of terrorism brought about by these freedom movements are also not so uncommon in India. In fact, they are the result of the oppressive Indian policies towards its own populace. It is interesting to note that some of the acts of terrorism have also been perpetrated by the extremist right wing Hindu parties. Very recently a serving Colonel of the Indian Army was arrested on charges related to terrorism. Blaming Pakistan for all of India’s problems can be a workable cry during election rallies but holds no weight if India itself does nothing to alleviate the problems in Kashmir and elsewhere.

Historical Freedom Movements in India

India has a history of territories that have broken apart from India simply because many South Asians do not find it acceptable that their territories and their lives be governed from the Hindu majority ruling from the center. Many states have already achieved freedom or separation from India. Pakistan and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma and Chinese Kashmir are the territories which have already separated. In order to avoid any further division of India, the Indian Army is in the habit of using full force to subjugate freedom fighters to keep modern India in one piece and calls these freedom movements as terrorist movements. United States is also hand in hand with India in depriving humanity freedom from oppression and calls many of these movements as terrorist movements. United States and India think they can fool the world in whatever banner or politically correct name they can conjure up.

Towards a Multi-polar World

United States thinks that bank rolling the United Nations can help it run the entire world as it feels free. It is about time the head quarters of the United Nations was shifted from the US to a neutral country or territory say Antarctica and all countries given their due voice. The current UN Security Council is ruled by the rich and powerful for the rich and powerful. Present day UN is just a tool used by the US to wage and legitimize one war after another. United States of Warica as it should be called should stop its bullying tactics and start following the playbook of China if it truly wants to earn respect and succeed as an economy. Waging war and financing current account deficits from borrowed money from the central banks of the entire world using the US treasury bills might have worked in the past but I am afraid in the modern world where there are plenty of sound options available especially with the West in the financial crunch; old strategies would be of no use. It is about time the US saw the writing on the wall; worried about its own economic problems and stopped meddling in the affairs of the entire world. Ethics over the politics of power would prevail.

Obama to propose $2.8 bln additional military aid to Pakistan: The News

WASHINGTON: Obama plans to propose spending roughly $2.8 billion in aid for the Pakistani military, as he steps up the U.S.-led campaign to battle extremists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

That money would be in addition to the civilian aid -- $1.5 billion a year for five years -- that the president called for Friday.

A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told media the money will be dedicated exclusively to "equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counterinsurgency operations."

Gen. David Petraeus told media in an interview Monday the plan will be called the "Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund".

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Obama to propose $2.8 bln additional military aid to Pakistan: The News

Drone Attacks Are Violation Of Pakistan’s Sovereignty: FO: Online News

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan condemning the drone attacks on its territory has termed them counterproductive and violation of country’s sovereignty.

Foreign Office spokesman in response to a question said, "drone attacks on our territory are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and definitely counter-productive. It is important that US Administration factors this in its operational policy.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Drone Attacks Are Violation Of Pakistan’s Sovereignty: FO: Online News

Pentagon plans blimp to spy from new heights: LAT

The giant dirigible would use radar to closely and constantly monitor activity on the ground from 65,000 feet.

By Julian E. Barnes
March 13, 2009

Reporting from Washington -- The Pentagon said Thursday that it intends to spend $400 million to develop a giant dirigible that will float 65,000 feet above the Earth for 10 years, providing unblinking and intricate radar surveillance of the vehicles, planes and even people below.

"It is absolutely revolutionary," Werner J.A. Dahm, chief scientist for the Air Force, said of the proposed unmanned airship -- describing it as a cross between a satellite and a spy plane.

The 450-foot-long craft would give the U.S. military a better understanding of an adversary's movements, habits and tactics, officials said. And the ability to constantly monitor small movements in a wide area -- the Afghanistan- Pakistan border, for example -- would dramatically improve military intelligence.

"It is constant surveillance, uninterrupted," Dahm said. "When you only have a short-time view -- whether it is a few hours or a few days -- that is not enough to put the picture together."

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pentagon plans blimp to spy from new heights: LAT

Time to quit Afghanistan: Edmonton Sun

PM acknowledges a war can't be won, so what are Canadian troops still doing there?

By ERIC MARGOLIS

It's taken far too long for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to finally admit the war in Afghanistan cannot be won. Better late than never. Kudos to Harper for facing facts and telling Canadians the truth.

If the war can't be won, why risk lives of Canadian troops for nothing? Why stay in harm's way a day longer when the writing is on the wall in Afghanistan? President Barack Obama, who is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, ought to be asking himself the same questions.

We must think hard about waging an increasingly bloody war against lightly-armed mountain tribesmen who face the 24/7 lethal fury of the U.S. air force's heavy bombers, strike aircraft, helicopter and AC-130 Spectre gunships, killer drones and heavy artillery. Do we really want a test of wills against men who have the courage to endure cluster bombs with thousands of sharp fragments, white phosphorus that burns through flesh to the bone, fuel/air explosives that burst the lungs and tear apart bodies? Will Canada's use of Soviet helicopters and Israeli drones win Afghan hearts and minds?

Our propaganda brands these Pashtun tribesmen as "Taliban terrorists." They call themselves warriors fighting occupation by the western powers and their local Communist, Tajik and Uzbek allies.

Al-Qaida's few hundred members long ago vanished.

Fatuous claims we occupy Afghanistan to protect women are belied by the continued plight of Afghan females under western rule. A British report just concluded 100,000 Indian women are burned alive each year for their dowries. Will we now send troops to India?

Only the first step

Admitting the U.S. and NATO cannot bludgeon the Afghan resistance into submission is only the first step. If the war can't be won, then Canadian soldiers should remain in their bases, stop aggressive patrolling and cease attacks on Taliban supporters and civilians. Other NATO members are doing so.

The next step is to understand that wars are waged for political objectives, not simply to kill your enemies.

The U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan have no coherent political objectives. The U.S.-installed Karzai regime in Kabul has no political legitimacy and commands no respect or loyalty. It is engulfed by corruption and massive drug dealing. The Obama administration is casting about for a new puppet, but so far can't find one who could do any better.....

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Time to quit Afghanistan: Edmonton Sun

Pakistan attacks a byproduct of the foundering US war on terrorism: SMH

Seumas Milne

Barack Obama's rise to power is a product of that record of failure: without his opposition to the Iraq war he would not be President. And since his inauguration, he has signalled potentially important shifts in US foreign policy, while ditching the rhetoric of the war on terrorism. But although the belligerent language has gone, what is striking is the continuity with the main elements of George Bush's "war on terrorism".

Obama's timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq mirrors last November's status of forces agreement between the Bush administration and the Iraqi Government, including his stated "intention" to pull out all troops by the end of 2011. And, as after last year's deal, that was quickly qualified by the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, who said he would like to see a "modest" US military presence stay on thereafter - if the Iraqi Government requested it.

In the crucible of conflict in the Middle East, between Israel and the Palestinians, there is also little sign of any substantive change in US policy, whether on lifting the continuing siege of Gaza or talking to the Palestinians' elected representatives, let alone using US leverage to bring an end to Israel's illegal colonisation of the West Bank or to end its occupation.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan attacks a byproduct of the foundering US war on terrorism: SMH

Pakistan, US can work for a secure world: Obama: Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: United States President Barack Obama on Saturday hoped that Pakistan and the US could work together in a spirit of friendship to build a more secure world. Responding to a felicitation message by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on assuming the office of the US president, Obama expressed his confidence that the two countries could jointly work to ensure global security in the next four years.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Pakistan, US can work for a secure world: Obama: Daily Times

Google Earth reveals secret history of US base in Pakistan: Times Online

The US was secretly flying unmanned drones from the Shamsi airbase in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan as early as 2006, according to an image of the base from Google Earth.

The image — that is no longer on the site but which was obtained by The News, Pakistan's English language daily newspaper — shows what appear to be three Predator drones outside a hangar at the end of the runway. The Times also obtained a copy of the image, whose co-ordinates confirm that it is the Shamsi airfield, also known as Bandari, about 200 miles southwest of the Pakistani city of Quetta.

An investigation by The Times yesterday revealed that the CIA was secretly using Shamsi to launch the Predator drones that observe and attack al-Qaeda and Taleban militants around Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

US special forces used the airbase during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, but the Pakistani Government said in 2006 that the Americans had left. Both sides have since denied repeatedly that Washington has used, or is using, Pakistani bases to launch drones. Pakistan has also demanded that the US cease drone attacks on its tribal area, which have increased over the last year, allegedly killing several “high-value” targets as well as many civilians.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Google Earth reveals secret history of US base in Pakistan: Times Online

Nato is deeper in its Afghan mire than Russia ever was: Guardian

Two decades after the Soviet withdrawal, ever more resources are being poured into a war with scant chance of success
Jonathan Steele

Twenty years ago tomorrow the last Soviet units left Afghanistan after a nine-year intervention that took 15,000 soldiers' lives. As they crossed the river Oxus I was in the air above them, the only foreign journalist to fly to Kabul that day.

Russian friends in Moscow, where I was this newspaper's correspondent, doubted my sanity, convinced a bloodbath was bound to follow the Soviet exodus. I disagreed. The secular regime under Mohammed Najibullah that the Kremlin left behind had a firmer base than many outsiders realised, thanks in part to support from Kabulis who feared chaos and blood-letting if the mujahideen won the civil war.

Two decades later the ironies of America's war in Afghanistan are telling. When Richard Holbrooke, the new US envoy to the region, visited the country this week he may not have been aware of the Soviet anniversary. But the US-led intervention is already almost as long. At this stage of their war the Russians were preparing to leave. Now the US and Nato want to get further in, and if Barack Obama's plans for 30,000 extra US troops are met, along with efforts to get more from Nato, coalition forces will almost equal the 115,000 troops the Russians had at their peak.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Nato is deeper in its Afghan mire than Russia ever was: Guardian

A Pakistani Attack On US Drones?: Daily.pk

Written by www.daily.pk
Tuesday, 10 February 2009 19:01

Here is a 7-point Parliament resolution authorizing Pakistan Air Force to shoot down CIA drones coming from Afghanistan and killing innocent Pakistani citizens. U.S. might expand its war into Pakistan. This is a time for concrete action. It’s now or never. If we have to then we must remove this government and install an interim technocrat based government until the situation in the country improves. We the people of Pakistan must demand these actions from this government and must not fall into the disguised rhetoric of our corrupt leaders.

It’s time Pakistan said farewell to the disastrous journey that we embarked upon right after 9/11. We must at all cost liberate ourselves from the yoke of Yankee slavery. This is the time we seek examples of other world rulers who are taking stand against U.S. hegemony. The Pakistani parliament must get together and get the following resolutions passed from the house:

1. Pakistan must pass a bill in the parliament that must authorize Pakistan Air Force to retaliate against deadly U.S drone attacks.

2. Pakistan must ask U.S. to pack up its military bases from Pakistani soil, since there was no open agreement between Pakistan government and U.S. All agreements done between Pakistan and the U.S. under President Musharraf must be made public and cancelled. If there is a need to continue with any one of those agreements with the U.S., they must be renegotiated in a manner that ensures Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: A Pakistani Attack On US Drones?: Daily.pk

Congress to consider tripling Pakistan aid soon: Kerry: Dawn

WASHINGTON, Feb 6: Within weeks, a new bill will be introduced in the US Congress which will seek to more than triple US economic aid to Pakistan, says Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

In an interview to Dawn and another news outlet, Mr Kerry also assured Pakistan that no new restrictions would be imposed on US military assistance to that country. However, the existing restrictions will remain.

The committee Senator Kerry chairs will play a crucial role in passing the bill, which was introduced in the previous Congress but now has to be reintroduced. The measure already enjoys bipartisan support, the senator said.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Congress to consider tripling Pakistan aid soon: Kerry: Dawn

U.S. Military Goods For Sale In Pakistan: CBS News

Sheila MacVicar

(CBS) U.S. equipment, coveted by the Taliban, is now openly for sale in the Pakistani border town of Peshawar, CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reports. Among the goods: boots, camouflage, even high-power binoculars and sophisticated night-vision gear.

A CBS News camera took these exclusive pictures of looted U.S. military supplies.

CBS News has been told there are U.S. weapons for sale there, too, improving Taliban capabilities and posing a growing risk to U.S. and coalition forces.

"This is state-of-the-art military equipment. If you're going to fight a war these days, you're much better off fighting at night," said defense analyst Paul Beaver. "If you've got the equipment, sniper scopes and night-vision equipment, you can put the enemy off balance."

All this brand new equipment ends up there after Taliban attacks hit and loot NATO convoys.

Nearly 80 percent of everything the U.S. forces need -- weapons, fuel, food -- passes daily through one choke point: The Khyber Pass between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This week, the Taliban blew up a bridge. There is no other. Fuel tankers belonging to American company Mondo International, working for the Department of Defense, were lined up by the side of the road.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: U.S. Military Goods For Sale In Pakistan: CBS News

Patrick Cockburn: Keep out... a message for foreign leaders: The Independent

I used to think that all these official visits did little harm, even if they did no good

Tuesday, 16 December 2008

The sight of the Iraqi reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi hurling his shoes at President Bush at a press conference in Baghdad will gladden the heart of any journalist forced to attend these tedious, useless, and almost invariably obsequious, events. "This is a farewell kiss," shouted Mr Zaidi. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Official press conferences of any kind seldom produce real news, but the worst are usually those given by foreign leaders on trips abroad in which they and their local ally suggest that they are in control of events and all is going according to plan.

One of the many infuriating, though also ludicrous, events in Iraq since the invasion of 2003 has been American and British leaders, arriving in secret at the enormous US base at Baghdad airport and travelling, accompanied by numerous armed guards, by helicopter to the heavily-fortified Green Zone. After a few hours there they would give upbeat press conferences, sitting alongside the Iraqi leader of the day, claiming significant improvements in security and chiding the assembled journalists for ignoring such clear signs of success.

Periodically reality would break in, such as the time a mortar bomb exploded nearby the press conference hall at the very moment when UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon was lauding security improvements, compelling him to cower down behind a display of artificial flowers.
Visiting US politicians during the presidential election sought determinedly to manicure what American television viewers would see. Diplomats at the US embassy complained that staffers of Republican candidate Senator John McCain had asked them not to wear helmets and body armour when standing next to him in case these protective measures might appear to contradict his claim that the US military was close to military victory. For similar reasons staffers of the Vice President Dick Cheney demanded that the siren giving a seven or eight second warning of incoming rockets or mortar rounds to people in the Green Zone be turned off during his visits.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Patrick Cockburn: Keep out... a message for foreign leaders: The Independent