EXCLUSIVE: Foreign Secret Services Creating Unrest Inside Pakistan
The Indians are acting as spoilers for U.S. and NATO, orchestrating anti-Pakistan insurgencies and telling the western coalition their problem is in Pakistan. This Indian game plan is now seriously harming Pakistan and there is all possibility that Pakistan may shift gears to counter the Indian moves. The U.S. has failed in protecting its Pakistani ally’s interests in Afghanistan. A low intensity war has been declared on Pakistan. Time to respond.
By ZAID HAMID
Sunday, 3 February 2008.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network today is not the one that the Arab Mujahideen launched back in the 1980s. Today, the Islamic jihad business is infiltrated by intelligence agencies playing dirty games to secure strategic interests. Afghanistan has always been a playground for these interests. But recently, evidence is emerging that these groups are being used to destabilize Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani foreign office is rather stunned by the aggressive and proactive diplomacy of the Indian External Affairs Ministry in recent weeks. Pakistan is being encircled from all sides and even its old friend China is being lured by the Indians.
But the most serious nexus is what appears to be a joint India-Israel platform against Pakistan which has really come of age lately.
This nexus is now becoming a major threat for Pakistan.
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India launches Israeli satellite
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BANGALORE, Jan 21: India’s space agency launched an advanced Israeli reconnaissance satellite on Monday capable of taking images through cloud cover or at night, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
http://www.dawn.com/cgi-bin/dina.pl?file=top13.htm&date=20080122
Simultaneously, while India and Israel continue to unite in waging low intensity war against Pakistan, India is spreading its diplomatic reach to further isolate Pakistan both in the region as well as at the international forums. India is now simultaneously working with U.S., U.K., France, China, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and Israel to isolate Islamabad.
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New ‘centers of privilege’ opposed: Expansion of UNSC
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ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: Pakistan on Wednesday stopped short of denouncing Britain’s renewed support for India’s bid for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council and reiterated its opposition to the ‘creation of new centers of privilege’ on the pretext of UNSC expansion.
http://www.dawn.com/cgi-bin/dina.pl?file=top14.htm&date=20080124
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Sarkozy watches show of Indian military might
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NEW DELHI, Jan 26: French President Nicolas Sarkozy was guest of honor on Saturday at India’s Republic Day parade as New Delhi showcased its latest military hardware including nuclear-capable missiles.
http://www.dawn.com/cgi-bin/dina.pl?file=top14.htm&date=20080127
The Indian game plan to launch insurgencies from Afghanistan is now seriously irritating Pakistan and there is all the possibility that Pakistan may shift gears to counter the Indian moves.
Indians are acting as spoilers for U.S. and NATO but they are selling the idea to the western coalition that their problem has now been exported into Pakistan, hence NATO can rest while Pakistani army will do the dirty cleanup.
In reality, the Taliban are still focused inside Afghanistan as the latest statement from Mullah Omar and his sacking of Baitullah Mehsud suggests and we can say with surety that NATO is in for a big surprise in the coming days. But for now, Pakistan is indeed upset and trying to find ways to offset this Indian advantage.
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Nisar hits out at Indian navy chief
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QUETTA, Jan 24: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Nisar A. Memon has said that India should close down its so-called information centers in Afghanistan because their involvement in acts of terrorism in Pakistan cannot be ruled out. Addressing a press conference during a brief visit to Quetta on Thursday, he said that terrorism had come into Pakistan through the Afghan channel and India had opened around a dozen information centers close to the Pakistani border without any justification. If India wanted to improve relations with Pakistan it should close down these so-called information centers, the minister said.
http://www.dawn.com/cgi-bin/dina.pl?file=top3.htm&date=20080125
WHO IS AL QAEDA &
PAKISTANI TALIBAN?
Terrorism and violence in Pakistan these days is coming from multiple quarters. And it is certainly not just Al Qaeda and Taliban. In fact, these two may not be even be the same anymore.
The current sources of unrest in Pakistan are as follows:
- The Al-Qaeda. These were supposed to be foreign Arabs/Uzbeks led by Osama bin Laden and Zawihiri and have declared a global war against Zionists as well as all Muslim States. In reality, the al-Qaeda in its present shape is a CIA/Mossad backed intelligence outfit which has nothing to do with the ideology and motivation of the Arabs of the 1980s who came to participate in the Afghan Jihad. The Arabs of the 1980s were not Takfiris (those who declare fellow Muslims as non-believers) nor had ever declared war within the Muslim countries nor had even committed any act of terrorism inside Pakistan. But Al-Qaeda has morphed into a global terrorist ideology which is primarily targeting Muslim lands only and has no role in freedom struggles of Kashmir, Taliban, Iraq or Palestine. This makes it an ideal asset for foreign secret services intending to create unrest within Pakistan. The number of actual Al-Qaeda foreigners is not more than few hundreds and they are located in border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their role in fighting inside Afghanistan is minimal as they are primarily targeting Pakistan with the intention of taking over and creating enough mayhem to invite an Iraq-styled invasion. These fanatics are the real brain behind violence in Pakistan today and are drawing support from all hostile secret services like Mossad, RAW and Khad.
It’s Jihad! Al-Qaeda to Pak Army:
…tells supporters to seize control of Islamabad..
Pakistan: Al-Qaeda leaders call for new Jihad against armed forces
Islamabad, 17 Jan. (AKI – By Syed Saleem Shahzad) – Two al-Qaeda leaders in the north of Pakistan have called on their supporters to wage a new Jihad against security forces and seize control of Islamabad. In a graphic video sent to Adnkronos International (AKI), Takfiri militants Qadri Tahir Yaldeshiv (Photo) and Abdul Khaliq Haqqani called for urgent action against the armed forces to avenge the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in 2007. The video was sent from Tahir Yaldeshiv’s camp in North Waziristan which borders Afghanistan. Tahir Yaldeshiv’s closest aide and disciple Baitullah Mehsud , alleged to be responsible for the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was said to have been behind the fort attack. In the video, the al-Qaeda leaders show pictures of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) siege in July last year and call for revenge. After a three month standoff, Pakistani troops stormed the mosque and more than 100 people died in July. Tahir Yaldeshiv, the chief of the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan and the chief of Uzbek militants in North Waziristan, called for a Jihad against Pakistani forces.
- The Local Pakistani Assets/Supporters of Al-Qaeda/Uzbeks. They call themselves local Taliban but in reality are more close to Al-Qaeda than Afghan Taliban. Afghan Taliban have never declared war on Pakistan and have not killed a single Pakistan army soldier as yet. But this local tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud is a takfiri and based in South Waziristan and has declared an open war against the State of Pakistan. He has so far killed thousands of Pakistanis in suicide attacks, blasts, bombings and assassinations all over the country through his assassins. Army is almost fighting a high intensity war in these regions and the intensity is going to get higher in the coming days. The assets allied to Baitullah Mehsud are the Red Mosque gang and the Swat militants led by Mullah Fadlullah as well as militant groups in North Waziristan, Bajaur and Mohmand regions. Their actual number is in few thousands and their base is border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. They have suffered major defeats in Swat and the Red Mosque operation also caused them great loss. They are being heavily supported and supplied from the Afghan side with money and weapons as well as high quality explosives and communication equipment. None of the equipment and ammunition they are using to fight Pakistan and its army is coming to them from inside Pakistan where a virtual blockade is in place, making it clear that the supply line of these militants is totally operational from the Afghan side. This is creating further friction between Pakistan and the U.S. as well as Afghan government as involvement of Indian and Afghan assets in these wars is very clear. Pakistan army has made major gains against these militants in Swat region but has also suffered considerable losses in Waziristan tribal regions and the situation needs more strategic planning for a comprehensive solution to the crisis. Army would have wished to have waited till the end of the elections to launch any major offensive but the desire of the militants to disrupt the process and create mayhem in the country seems to have triggered an earlier response from the government. The militants were indeed successful in creating major mayhem in the country after the assassination of Benazir which is now very clear was done by Baitullah Mehsud. Now these takfiri militants are targeting strategic national security and defense establishments. Considering their backing, it is expected they will try to target strategic and nuclear installations to further increase pressure on Pakistan. The solution seems nothing else but a major and bloody war in the tribal region to take them out. With only a caretaker government in Islamabad, there is no chance that any serious political initiative would be undertaken by any political party or the government to try to engage these local tribals into giving up their war against Pakistan. With Al-Qaeda and foreign secret services at their back, there is no chance that these militants are going to compromise anytime sooner. Their desire to create mayhem in the country is so strong that dozens of them have been arrested already trying to target Shia processions during Moharram to create sectarian tensions. But some did go through. This is another sinister dimension of Al-Qaeda’s war against Pakistan that in addition to targeting the State, they are also trying to expand the axis into sectarian wars. The violence in Kurram agency tribal regions is also a similar ploy.
- Direct Indian/Afghan Assets Creating Random Terror In Pakistan. The religious terrorists direct their attacks against State, army or the rival sect. They do not cause general random terror in public places. This is done by Indian assets which want to add their share to the existing mayhem. The Karachi blast and the arson after BB’s assassination which targeted strategic State assets and communication networks belong to this class of violence.
- The sub-Nationalist Violence In Balochistan And Interior Sindh. The Balochistan Liberation army and the Sindhi sub-nationalists as well as Pashtun sub-nationalists belong to this quarter. The BLA is still active in Balochistan and is busy attacking State assets, energy lines and security forces. They have been badly burned lately but their backers in Afghanistan are pumping huge resources to keep them alive.
- Hardcore Sectarian Terrorists. Historically, sectarian terrorists were separate from the political Jihadi groups in the country. But lately, the phenomenon has changed and since the Al-Qaeda has declared their war against the State, the sectarian terrorists have also joined their ranks for protection. Now most of the dirty work for Al-Qaeda has been done by these formerly sectarian terrorists who are now doing a double duty as sectarian terrorists as well as assassins for Al-Qaeda. Their number is not more than few dozen but these are dead-enders with money on their heads and no hope for any pardon from the State. So, they continue their fight till they are dead or captured (or manage to escape).
Reasons For Islamabad’s Failure
In Checking Anti-Pakistan Terrorism
There are many reasons why the government has failed so far to develop an effective response to this threat of religious and political violence within the country. The failures are at multiple levels. Here we will briefly touch them as well.
· Nation and the opposition including the religious parties were not brought on board to develop a national consensus against the violence.
What the government failed to understand was that all religious and political parties reject the ongoing campaign of violence and their support should have been mustered in creating a larger consensus base to initiate a dialogue with the militants to put them on the defensive. The militants are waging a war against the State but deny every act of violence including the assassination of Benazir for fear that nation would unite against them.
· Media failed to support the drive of the government.
There is still no media strategy in the country to counter the threat of the militant propaganda and to create a favorable national perception. With hundreds of arrests of hardcore terrorists, not a single is brought on media with their confessions making people doubt the claims of the government or fall to the militant propaganda that government is actually waging a war against Islam on behest of the Americans!. The failure of the government media team is so complete that it is breathtaking considering the stakes involved for the State.
· Judicial / legal system collapsed totally under the load of the cases and justice was delayed and hence denied.
It is said that it is important that justice is done but it is more important that justice is seen to be done! This is another complete and total failure of the government and the judiciary (both Bar and bench) that the entire system has failed to deliver in these times of crisis. The protesting lawyers who claim to be fighting for the supremacy of law may like to shed some light on this that why is that lawyers do not take cases against hard core terrorists and why judges deliberately delay hearing of cases of these criminals? The last terrorist hanged in the country was in 2001 while over 10,000 people have fallen pray to terrorism since then and hundreds of terrorists are under arrest and cases pending. This is a sad commentary indeed on total collapse of national judicial system to handle the crisis.
These multiple failures only left the option of using brute force against these militants which gave the perceptions that the government was being dictatorial and brute in handling the crisis or have failed to curb the militancy. With nation not on board, media strategy non-existent and judiciary falling flat on its face, the entire load of curbing the menace fall on army which is fighting a war which remains very unpopular for the above reasons despite being a genuine national security war.
But the domestic problems for the government do not end with trying to battle the terrorism of various sorts. There are other issues as well like food, power and fuel crisis. The serious power shortage in the country is now touching almost 30% which is creating serious unrest in parts of the country due to load shedding and power cuts. The problem is compounded by shortages in flour supplies and increase in prices of fuel and transportation. Though the flour supplies have eased a bit, there are more bad news waiting for the public and with elections just around the corner, one can understand the reluctance of the government.
On the front of external security and threats from Afghanistan and United States, there are more tough challenges for Pakistan. To salvage his honor and dignity, President Musharraf will have to behave much more maturely than he had been in the past.
Last week we had written that:
“President Musharraf’s biggest negative has been that he was seen to be too close, too weak and too flexible to US demands by the general population. Now when the U.S. is also threatening to take action on two most sensitive issues in the country, the stakes are highest for any government in Islamabad. These issues are:
1. U.S. attempts to seize Pakistan’s nuke assets.
2. U.S. desires and threats to invade Pakistani tribal regions.
No government in Islamabad can afford to compromise on these two issues and then expect to survive. This explains President Musharraf’s above mentioned stance against the U.S. and Nawaz Sharif’s show of solidarity with his arch rival on the issue. The recent statements coming out from Islamabad are also reflective of this growing friction between Pakistan and U.S. and can be a source to unite the government and opposition. U.S. is now increasing pressure on both these counts and the threat is being taken very seriously in Islamabad. The possibility remains that if U.S. tries to cross the red line, then we might actually see a skirmish or even a limited military action between Pakistan and the U.S. forces”.
If Islamabad can take a tough stand here, on these two critical issues which remains extremely sensitive within the country, the government would be able to salvage some pride after years of humiliation and accusation of national betrayal.
There is no doubt that Pakistan and U.S. relations are now once again going through a turbulent patch and with such major disagreements on policy and on nuke issue, the situation is not going to improve in any time soon.
Pakistan’s Afghan policy will probably be shaped now with Pakistan’s own security concerns in mind and not the objectives of U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan. The massive violence within Pakistan has also caused alarm in U.S. circles who feel that instability of Pakistan may cause serious unrest in the entire region.
The future of President Musharraf still hangs in balance. He is stable for now and seems pretty confident that he will make it but it all depends upon how the bets are placed once the election results come in. For now, he is jet setting on a PR trip while the army gears up to launch another offensive in tribal regions.
Mr. Zaid Hamid is the Founding Consultant of BRASSTACKS, a security and defense analysis service based in Islamabad. He can be reached at info@brasstacks.biz
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Foreign elements are involved in the acts of recent terrorism and suicide attacks in the country and were actively supported by corrupt ruling mafia backed by imperialist neo-cons. Indian spies and Intelligence agencies are also exploiting the situation in the garb of Taliban, and damaging the country on behalf of Israel/US/India nexus. Real and genuine Taliban feel grief and sorrow over the death of common Muslims. Generally speaking, there are three types of Taliban in Federally Administrative Tribal Areas.
First type of Taliban are those resisting US imperialist agendas and want to expel US from Afghanistan. These Taliban though do not have any agenda about Pakistan. The second type, are the local Taliban, they want to implement Islamic system and Shariah in their own areas. These elements are active in one form or other form in Tribal area especially Swat before 9/11 and even before Soviet Afghan War. Swat was a small independent state which opted for Pakistan, at the time of partition, on guarantee of independent state from Mr. Jinnah. The state was governed by Shariah law. Swat state laws and governance was a natural, efficient and effective law which suited local tradition and Pathan culture. Justice was quick, simple and cheap. The British justice system practiced in Pakistan is based colonial state structure. It has long and unending proceedings, spread over years and even then there is no guarantee that the justice would be provided to the victim, due to culture of false witnesses, clever/fake lawyers and obliging judges. The Pashtuns were basically nomads and during 18th they started living in small villages. If someone from their family is offended by someone and they do not have remedy for that injustice, the family remains under social pressure/stress and feel a great shame. Under the British system, they see the oppressor and his relatives everywhere in the village and feel ashamed for not having natural remedy.
Normally it is considered that Taliban are remnants of Soviet Afghan Mujahadeen. However Shariah demand and Taliban movement date back to Bhutto regime in seventies when Swat state was annexed to Pakistan contrary to Jinnah commitment to Wal-e-Swat. Prior to that, Swat state was very developed till 70s and had very efficient and effective local administration, Qazi courts and Police System under patronage of Wali-e-Swat based on local tradition and mostly Shariah laws. Earlier Qazi Courts, local administration and police was replaced by existing corrupt Pakistani Police, inefficient/ineffective civil bureaucracy (DCs/ACs) and normal court system, which are colonial legacies and skewed state structure designed for colonial brute regimes. Their movement was hijacked/exploited by Zia-ul-Haq on his false promises of Shariah based Government for his eleven year draconian rule on US backing. Similarly many other uprising for change (namely labor and student movement) against colonial state structure and establishment were crushed and exploited by the agents of status-qou and colonial remnants in Pakistan ruling establishment.
The third group of Taliban are those who formed an organized group to achieve their vested criminal interests mainly drug trade on backing of local totalitarian ruling elite, various foreign Intelligence agencies and imperialist neo-cons. Their objectives are loot/plunder masses for their own kitty, while at the same time they will defame/malign and make controversial the cause/name of Taliban who are resisting imperialist neo-cons in Afghanistan and colonial remnants in Pakistan. They use various tools of terror, violence and disinformation. These elements have nothing to do with Islam or Taliban and they are simply using the name of Taliban. US and India trained them in Khurasan and Hirat provinces of Afghanistan. These trained elements were injected into tribal areas of Pakistan in order to spread chaos and crisis. Chaos and crisis is one of the reason due to which President Musharraf justified his clinging to Power. These foreign elements in the garb of Taliban are involved in the acts of terrorism in different cities of Pakistan like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Their violence and chaos justifies excessive use of fire power by state agencies for various incidents like Red mosque, Nov-03 and May-12. Their acts of violence also hijack various peace initiates, therefore whenever there will be a peace talks, either US will directly attack or some suicide bomber will hit inside Pakistan on the name of Taliban or Pakistani Ambassador issue will pop out.
Generally speaking real Taliban are crude and have various short coming, however misdoings of Taliban have been blown out of proportion by imperialist western backed media. But over all they were much better than present day US/West Puppets in Afghanistan and similar other prostitute states/governments ruled by puppets of the West/US. Taliban were from the people and they were answerable to people. Their roots were in the people of that area, therefore there could stand up against alone super power of world, whereas Pakistan being a nuclear state has been subjugated by US for last eight years. Their police system, justice, law/order systems were simple, straight forward and it was delivering to the common. It is very ironic that media and academics become so much idealistic when they deal with Taliban? Like any other system Taliban also had short comings. However normal Pakistan Police, courts and law order system is totally corrupt, highly inefficient and ineffective. Media and academic will tolerate 1001 errors in present skewed setups based on colonial draconian legacy and justify present setup full of corruption by corruption for corruption. Present setup is 90 % corrupt name any institution, any walk of life.
Just like present setup Taliban had some shortcoming and they can rectify that if they are guided and given time. Taliban are much better if compared with present corrupt Police, Bureaucrats, Executives and Courts of Pakistan. Yes at some points Taliban were wrong and they need to be rectified and criticized. After past 50 years one has to admit that present colonial state structure is incapable of rectification. We can tolerate/justify 50 years wrong doings of one system but can’t tolerate indigenous effort for nation building due to their stupidity.