Mohd.Asif Strikes Eairly Leading New Zealand In Big Trouble.
They Still need 335 Runs To win the Test.
Peter Fulton * --13
Ross Taylor * --15
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pakistan. Show all posts
Friday, December 4, 2009
Asif Strikes leads New Zealand in Trouble
Mohd.Asif Strikes Eairly Leading New Zealand In Big Trouble.
They Still need 335 Runs To win the Test.
Peter Fulton * --13
Ross Taylor * --15
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Nothing to fear from india-Manmohan Singh to Pakistan
WASHINGTON:
Terming as "tragic" Pakistan's use of terror as state policy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India is ready to resolve all outstanding issues with the country on the condition that it will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour.
In an interview to the Washington Post ahead of his state visit to the US, Singh said India has been a victim of Pakistan-aided terrorism, and intelligence reports still suggest that terrorists based in that country are planning attacks in India similar to last year's Mumbai carnage.
"Every day I receive intelligence reports saying that terrorists based in Pakistan are planning other similar acts," Singh said in the interview that would be carried in the daily's print edition on Sunday - the day of his arrival here.
He, however, asserted that Pakistan has "nothing to fear" from India, and it was a "tragedy" that Pakistan has come to the point of using terror "as an instrument of state policy".
"We are committed to resolve all the outstanding issues with Pakistan through bilateral negotiations. Our only condition is that Pakistan should not allow its territory to be used for acts of terrorism against India.
"If Pakistan really honours that commitment, we can go back to negotiation to resolve all outstanding issues between us," he said.
Noting that India has been a victim of "Pakistan-aided -abetted and -inspired terrorism for nearly 25 years," Singh said India wanted the US to use all its influence with Pakistan to ask it desist from that path.
Asked about actions being taken by Pakistan to bring to book those involved in the Mumbai terror attack, the Prime Minister said they have not done enough.
"As far as perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre are concerned, (Pakistan) has taken some steps but not enough," he said.
Singh also expressed concern about the rise of terrorism in Pakistan and said terrorists' increasing grip over several parts of the country was a threat to India's security as well.
"Now if the Taliban and al-Qaeda type of terror, which in the past was located in Pakistan's FATA, gets transferred to the mainland of Pakistan, I think it has very serious consequences for our own security," he said.
"We would not like terrorism to lead to a situation where civilian government is only a nominal government," he said.
Singh said there appears to be a mismatch between the US' and Pakistan's objectives in Afghanistan and observed that he does not see Islamabad fully committed to the war against terrorism.
"As far as Afghanistan is concerned, I am not sure whether the US and Pakistan have the same objectives," he said. While Pakistan, he said, would like the US to get out of Afghanistan soon, the US objectives are to get Pakistan to deal with the Taliban.
"Pakistan would like Afghanistan to be under its control... I don't see Pakistan wholeheartedly in support of action against the Taliban in Afghanistan," Singh told The Post in the interview posted on the daily's website.
"They are of course taking action against Taliban, but only when it threatens the supremacy of the army," he said.
Hoping that the US and the global community will stay involved in Afghanistan, Singh said a victory for the Taliban would have "catastrophic consequences" for the world, particularly for South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.
"We (in India) of course have more immediate concerns. We are victims of terrorism and the extremist ideologies of the type that the Taliban represent. If this is not checked, this could destabilise our country," the Prime Minister said.
Responding to a question, Singh said al Qaeda and Taliban are chips off the same block.
Though he agreed that the regime of Afghan President Hamid Karzai is not perfect, he asked the international community to rally behind him now that he has been re-elected.
"President Karzai's regime is not perfect... But you cannot transform Afghanistan overnight. It is going to be a long-term affair. Democracy, as the West understands it, may not be introduced in a short period of time in Afghanistan," he said.
"But the very fact that millions of Afghan children, including millions of girls, are now in school, when none was in school when the Taliban was in power, shows some human freedom. One has to take a balanced view," he said.
Terming as "tragic" Pakistan's use of terror as state policy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India is ready to resolve all outstanding issues with the country on the condition that it will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour.
In an interview to the Washington Post ahead of his state visit to the US, Singh said India has been a victim of Pakistan-aided terrorism, and intelligence reports still suggest that terrorists based in that country are planning attacks in India similar to last year's Mumbai carnage.
"Every day I receive intelligence reports saying that terrorists based in Pakistan are planning other similar acts," Singh said in the interview that would be carried in the daily's print edition on Sunday - the day of his arrival here.
He, however, asserted that Pakistan has "nothing to fear" from India, and it was a "tragedy" that Pakistan has come to the point of using terror "as an instrument of state policy".
"We are committed to resolve all the outstanding issues with Pakistan through bilateral negotiations. Our only condition is that Pakistan should not allow its territory to be used for acts of terrorism against India.
"If Pakistan really honours that commitment, we can go back to negotiation to resolve all outstanding issues between us," he said.
Noting that India has been a victim of "Pakistan-aided -abetted and -inspired terrorism for nearly 25 years," Singh said India wanted the US to use all its influence with Pakistan to ask it desist from that path.
Asked about actions being taken by Pakistan to bring to book those involved in the Mumbai terror attack, the Prime Minister said they have not done enough.
"As far as perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre are concerned, (Pakistan) has taken some steps but not enough," he said.
Singh also expressed concern about the rise of terrorism in Pakistan and said terrorists' increasing grip over several parts of the country was a threat to India's security as well.
"Now if the Taliban and al-Qaeda type of terror, which in the past was located in Pakistan's FATA, gets transferred to the mainland of Pakistan, I think it has very serious consequences for our own security," he said.
"We would not like terrorism to lead to a situation where civilian government is only a nominal government," he said.
Singh said there appears to be a mismatch between the US' and Pakistan's objectives in Afghanistan and observed that he does not see Islamabad fully committed to the war against terrorism.
"As far as Afghanistan is concerned, I am not sure whether the US and Pakistan have the same objectives," he said. While Pakistan, he said, would like the US to get out of Afghanistan soon, the US objectives are to get Pakistan to deal with the Taliban.
"Pakistan would like Afghanistan to be under its control... I don't see Pakistan wholeheartedly in support of action against the Taliban in Afghanistan," Singh told The Post in the interview posted on the daily's website.
"They are of course taking action against Taliban, but only when it threatens the supremacy of the army," he said.
Hoping that the US and the global community will stay involved in Afghanistan, Singh said a victory for the Taliban would have "catastrophic consequences" for the world, particularly for South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.
"We (in India) of course have more immediate concerns. We are victims of terrorism and the extremist ideologies of the type that the Taliban represent. If this is not checked, this could destabilise our country," the Prime Minister said.
Responding to a question, Singh said al Qaeda and Taliban are chips off the same block.
Though he agreed that the regime of Afghan President Hamid Karzai is not perfect, he asked the international community to rally behind him now that he has been re-elected.
"President Karzai's regime is not perfect... But you cannot transform Afghanistan overnight. It is going to be a long-term affair. Democracy, as the West understands it, may not be introduced in a short period of time in Afghanistan," he said.
"But the very fact that millions of Afghan children, including millions of girls, are now in school, when none was in school when the Taliban was in power, shows some human freedom. One has to take a balanced view," he said.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Bomb Blast in Peshawar Thrilles Pakistan
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN:
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court building in Peshawar on Thursday, killing at least 15 people, Officials said, in the latest of a series of attacks on the northwestern Pakistan city.
The city, near the Afghan border, has been targeted several times since the army began an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan last month and militants stepped up retaliatory attacks.
"The attacker was on foot and blew himself when guards tried to search him at the gates of the court," senior city administrator Sahibzada Anis told reporters.
At least 15 bodies had been brought in to Peshawar's main hospital along with about 25 wounded people after Thursday's attack at the court complex, said senior hospital official and doctor Sahib Gul. Three policemen were among the dead, said Anis.
The court is across a road from the city's top hotel, which was attacked by a suicide car-bomber in June. A security agency building on the same road was attacked last week.
The army went on the offensive in South Waziristan on the Afghan border on Oct. 17, aiming to root out Pakistani Taliban militants who stepped up their war on the security forces in 2007. The militants have responded with intensified attacks in towns and cities, in particular in Peshawar, killing several hundred people.
The United States, weighing options for how to turn an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan, has welcomed the offensive but is keen to see Pakistan tackle Afghan Taliban factions based in lawless enclaves along the border.
Earlier, Pakistani security officials said a US drone aircraft fired two missiles into a northwestern militant stronghold killing four people. The late night attack was in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, about 20 km (12 miles) west of the town of Miranshah, the intelligence agency and paramilitary force officials said.
The identity of the four people killed and six people wounded was not known, said the officials, who declined to be identified. North Waziristan is a stronghold of Taliban militants and their al-Qaida allies. The United States has carried out 44 attacks with its pilotless, missile-firing aircraft in northwest Pakistan this year as it forces in neighbouring Afghanistan have faced an intensifying Taliban insurgency. There were 32 such strikes last year, according to a Reuters tally of reports from Pakistani security agents, government officials and residents.
Act Against Preparator's of Mumbai attack-US to Pak
NEW DELHI:
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington, the US on Wednesday pressed Pakistan to act against perpetrators of Mumbai attacks, including Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, saying it wants to see results.
Describing Lashkar-e-Taiba as a global threat, US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer said Pakistan should recognise the dangers and dismantle the terror infrastructure existing on its soil.
Situation in Pakistan, the Mumbai attacks and cooperation in counter-terrorism will be high on the agenda of Singh's meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington on November 24, amid the US' keenness to work "hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder" with India in preventing terror strikes.
The two leaders will also discuss implementation of the historic civil nuclear agreement, regarding which a few issues like liabilities, licensing and reprocessing, remain to be sorted out.
Climate change, education and poverty-alleviation would also be among the issues of discussion of the Singh-Obama meeting during which the two sides are expected to unveil a "new relationship based on strategic global partnership" and chalk out path of cooperation for meeting global challenges.
"The seven Mumbai suspects should be brought to justice in Pakistan... We need to see action and results from our partners in Pakistan," Roemer told a press conference here, adding even Saeed should be brought to justice.
Equating 26/11 with 9/11, the US Ambassador said the Mumbai attack was "tragic and heart-rending" incident, which will be discussed by PM Manmohan Singh and Obama.
Talking about the already-existing unprecedented cooperation in counter terrorism between India and the US, Roemer said collaboration like information sharing is taking place even on hourly basis.
He also highlighted the fact that FBI had testified against "blood-thirsty" attackers of Mumbai.
Referring to the visit of Home Minister P Chidambaram to the US recently, he said it was successful and he had "captured the best" the coordination between the two countries.
Asked whether the US would extradite to India David Coleman Headley, an LeT operative held by FBI, he said it was a hypothetical question.
On the delay in implementation of Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Roemer said four-five issues had remained to be resolved when he arrived in India as Ambassador earlier this year.
"Tremendous progress" has been made on this issue but three issues were yet to addressed, he said. These issues are -- enactment of a Liability legislation by India, negotiations on setting up of a Dedicated Reprocessing Facility in India and licensing aspects.
"We are optimistic that all the three issues will be resolved soon... We are pushing hard to implement the agreement," he said.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington, the US on Wednesday pressed Pakistan to act against perpetrators of Mumbai attacks, including Jamaat-ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, saying it wants to see results.
Describing Lashkar-e-Taiba as a global threat, US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer said Pakistan should recognise the dangers and dismantle the terror infrastructure existing on its soil.
Situation in Pakistan, the Mumbai attacks and cooperation in counter-terrorism will be high on the agenda of Singh's meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington on November 24, amid the US' keenness to work "hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder" with India in preventing terror strikes.
The two leaders will also discuss implementation of the historic civil nuclear agreement, regarding which a few issues like liabilities, licensing and reprocessing, remain to be sorted out.
Climate change, education and poverty-alleviation would also be among the issues of discussion of the Singh-Obama meeting during which the two sides are expected to unveil a "new relationship based on strategic global partnership" and chalk out path of cooperation for meeting global challenges.
"The seven Mumbai suspects should be brought to justice in Pakistan... We need to see action and results from our partners in Pakistan," Roemer told a press conference here, adding even Saeed should be brought to justice.
Equating 26/11 with 9/11, the US Ambassador said the Mumbai attack was "tragic and heart-rending" incident, which will be discussed by PM Manmohan Singh and Obama.
Talking about the already-existing unprecedented cooperation in counter terrorism between India and the US, Roemer said collaboration like information sharing is taking place even on hourly basis.
He also highlighted the fact that FBI had testified against "blood-thirsty" attackers of Mumbai.
Referring to the visit of Home Minister P Chidambaram to the US recently, he said it was successful and he had "captured the best" the coordination between the two countries.
Asked whether the US would extradite to India David Coleman Headley, an LeT operative held by FBI, he said it was a hypothetical question.
On the delay in implementation of Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Roemer said four-five issues had remained to be resolved when he arrived in India as Ambassador earlier this year.
"Tremendous progress" has been made on this issue but three issues were yet to addressed, he said. These issues are -- enactment of a Liability legislation by India, negotiations on setting up of a Dedicated Reprocessing Facility in India and licensing aspects.
"We are optimistic that all the three issues will be resolved soon... We are pushing hard to implement the agreement," he said.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Expand military campaign against Taliban-US to Pakistan
WASHINGTON:
The Obama administration is stepping up pressure on Pakistan to expand and reorient its fight against Taliban and al-Qaida and wants its army to pursue the militants into north Waziristan.
Washington has also warned that failure to do so would undercut new strategy and troop increase for Afghanistan that President Obama is preparing to approve of, The New York times reported quoting US officials.
This message was delivered by General (retd) James Jones, the National Security Advisor; who was sent to Islamabad by the US President, Barack Obama, and delivered a letter on his behalf to the Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari.
"His message, officials said, was that the new American strategy would work only if Pakistan broadened its fight beyond the militants attacking its cities and security forces and went after the groups that use havens in Pakistan for plotting and carrying out attacks against American troops in Afghanistan, as well as support networks for Al Qaeda," the paper said.
Times said Jones while praising the Pakistani operation in South Waziristan had urged officials to combat extremists who fled to North Waziristan.
According to the newspaper, if Pakistanis voice concerns about a lack of American commitment, they express equal concern that sending tens of thousands more American troops to Afghanistan could force Taliban militants into Pakistan.
"Whatever we do - put in more troops or put in fewer troops -- they'll freak out," an American intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing his relations with Pakistani officials, told The New York Times.
For their part, Pakistani officials have told Americans that they harbour two deep fears about Obama's new strategy: that the US will have too many troops on the Afghan side of the border and that the American effort will end too soon.
It is a concern that some of them say justifies Pakistan's continuing ties to the militants who fight American troops in Afghanistan.
The Obama administration is stepping up pressure on Pakistan to expand and reorient its fight against Taliban and al-Qaida and wants its army to pursue the militants into north Waziristan.
Washington has also warned that failure to do so would undercut new strategy and troop increase for Afghanistan that President Obama is preparing to approve of, The New York times reported quoting US officials.
This message was delivered by General (retd) James Jones, the National Security Advisor; who was sent to Islamabad by the US President, Barack Obama, and delivered a letter on his behalf to the Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari.
"His message, officials said, was that the new American strategy would work only if Pakistan broadened its fight beyond the militants attacking its cities and security forces and went after the groups that use havens in Pakistan for plotting and carrying out attacks against American troops in Afghanistan, as well as support networks for Al Qaeda," the paper said.
Times said Jones while praising the Pakistani operation in South Waziristan had urged officials to combat extremists who fled to North Waziristan.
According to the newspaper, if Pakistanis voice concerns about a lack of American commitment, they express equal concern that sending tens of thousands more American troops to Afghanistan could force Taliban militants into Pakistan.
"Whatever we do - put in more troops or put in fewer troops -- they'll freak out," an American intelligence officer who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing his relations with Pakistani officials, told The New York Times.
For their part, Pakistani officials have told Americans that they harbour two deep fears about Obama's new strategy: that the US will have too many troops on the Afghan side of the border and that the American effort will end too soon.
It is a concern that some of them say justifies Pakistan's continuing ties to the militants who fight American troops in Afghanistan.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Pak ISI Receives Million's of Dollars Since 9/11--Reports
LOS ANGELES:
The CIA has paid millions of dollars to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) since 9/11, accounting for as much as one-third of the foreign spy agency's annual budget, says a media report.
The ISI also collected "tens of millions of dollars through a classified CIA programme", which pays for the capture or killing of wanted militants, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday citing current and former US officials.
An intense debate has been triggered within the US government due to "long-standing suspicions that the ISI continues to help Taliban extremists who undermine US efforts in Afghanistan and provide sanctuary to al-Qaida members in Pakistan".
But US officials have continued to make the payments as ISI's assistance is considered critical: "Almost every major terrorist plot this decade has originated in Pakistan's tribal belt, where ISI informant networks are a primary source of intelligence."
The report went on to say that the payments to Pakistan are authorised under a covert programme initially approved by then president Bush and continued under President Obama.
"The ISI has used the covert CIA money for a variety of purposes, including the construction of a new headquarters in Islamabad, the capital. That project pleased CIA officials because it replaced a structure considered vulnerable to attack; it also eased fears that the US money would end up in the private bank accounts of ISI officials."
"What we didn't want to happen was for this group of generals in power at the time to just start putting it in their pockets or building mansions in Dubai," a former CIA operative was quoted as saying.
CIA officials argue that their own disbursements - particularly the bounties for suspected terrorists - should be considered a bargain.
"They gave us 600 to 700 people captured or dead," a former senior CIA official, who worked with the Pakistanis, was quoted as saying.
"Getting these guys off the street was a good thing, and it was a big savings to (US) taxpayers."
Another US intelligence official said Pakistan had made "decisive contributions to counter-terrorism".
"They have people dying almost every day," the official said. "Sure, their interests don't always match up with ours. But things would be one hell of a lot worse if the government there was hostile to us."
The ISI is a highly compartmentalised intelligence service, with divisions that sometimes seem at odds with one another. Units that work closely with the CIA are walled off from a highly secretive branch that has directed insurgencies in Afghanistan and Kashmir, the Los Angeles Times report said.
"There really are two ISIs," the former CIA operative said.
"On the counter-terrorism side, those guys were in lock-step with us," the former operative said. "And then there was the 'long-beard' side. Those are the ones who created the Taliban and are supporting groups like Haqqani."
The network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani has been accused of carrying out a series of suicide attacks in Afghanistan, including the 2008 bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.
The CIA has paid millions of dollars to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) since 9/11, accounting for as much as one-third of the foreign spy agency's annual budget, says a media report.
The ISI also collected "tens of millions of dollars through a classified CIA programme", which pays for the capture or killing of wanted militants, the Los Angeles Times reported on Monday citing current and former US officials.
An intense debate has been triggered within the US government due to "long-standing suspicions that the ISI continues to help Taliban extremists who undermine US efforts in Afghanistan and provide sanctuary to al-Qaida members in Pakistan".
But US officials have continued to make the payments as ISI's assistance is considered critical: "Almost every major terrorist plot this decade has originated in Pakistan's tribal belt, where ISI informant networks are a primary source of intelligence."
The report went on to say that the payments to Pakistan are authorised under a covert programme initially approved by then president Bush and continued under President Obama.
"The ISI has used the covert CIA money for a variety of purposes, including the construction of a new headquarters in Islamabad, the capital. That project pleased CIA officials because it replaced a structure considered vulnerable to attack; it also eased fears that the US money would end up in the private bank accounts of ISI officials."
"What we didn't want to happen was for this group of generals in power at the time to just start putting it in their pockets or building mansions in Dubai," a former CIA operative was quoted as saying.
CIA officials argue that their own disbursements - particularly the bounties for suspected terrorists - should be considered a bargain.
"They gave us 600 to 700 people captured or dead," a former senior CIA official, who worked with the Pakistanis, was quoted as saying.
"Getting these guys off the street was a good thing, and it was a big savings to (US) taxpayers."
Another US intelligence official said Pakistan had made "decisive contributions to counter-terrorism".
"They have people dying almost every day," the official said. "Sure, their interests don't always match up with ours. But things would be one hell of a lot worse if the government there was hostile to us."
The ISI is a highly compartmentalised intelligence service, with divisions that sometimes seem at odds with one another. Units that work closely with the CIA are walled off from a highly secretive branch that has directed insurgencies in Afghanistan and Kashmir, the Los Angeles Times report said.
"There really are two ISIs," the former CIA operative said.
"On the counter-terrorism side, those guys were in lock-step with us," the former operative said. "And then there was the 'long-beard' side. Those are the ones who created the Taliban and are supporting groups like Haqqani."
The network led by Jalaluddin Haqqani has been accused of carrying out a series of suicide attacks in Afghanistan, including the 2008 bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Pakistan Denies of geting nuclear aid from china
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Friday dismissed a media report about Beijing providing it with weapons-grade uranium and a blueprint for an atomic bomb and described it as an effort to divert attention from support being extended by "some states" to India's nuclear programme.
Foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit described the allegations made in an article in the Washington Post newspaper as "baseless".
"Pakistan strongly rejects the assertions in the article that is evidently timed to malign Pakistan and China," he said.
"This is yet another attempt to divert attention from the overt and covert support being extended by some states to the Indian nuclear programme since its inception and intensified more recently in stark contradiction to their self-avowed commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.
Pakistan and China have "comprehensive and all-dimensional cooperation", which includes civilian nuclear cooperation for peaceful purposes, Basit said.
"This has always been above board. Pakistan and China have always respected their respective international obligations and non-proliferation norms," he said.
Citing an account provided by disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, the Washington Post reported on Friday that China provided Pakistan enough weapons-grade uranium for two atomic bombs and the blueprint for a simple nuclear weapon in 1982.
Pakistan on Friday dismissed a media report about Beijing providing it with weapons-grade uranium and a blueprint for an atomic bomb and described it as an effort to divert attention from support being extended by "some states" to India's nuclear programme.
Foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit described the allegations made in an article in the Washington Post newspaper as "baseless".
"Pakistan strongly rejects the assertions in the article that is evidently timed to malign Pakistan and China," he said.
"This is yet another attempt to divert attention from the overt and covert support being extended by some states to the Indian nuclear programme since its inception and intensified more recently in stark contradiction to their self-avowed commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.
Pakistan and China have "comprehensive and all-dimensional cooperation", which includes civilian nuclear cooperation for peaceful purposes, Basit said.
"This has always been above board. Pakistan and China have always respected their respective international obligations and non-proliferation norms," he said.
Citing an account provided by disgraced nuclear scientist A Q Khan, the Washington Post reported on Friday that China provided Pakistan enough weapons-grade uranium for two atomic bombs and the blueprint for a simple nuclear weapon in 1982.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
China set to sell advanced jets to Pakistan
BEIJING:
China has sent out an interesting signal ahead of US president Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Beijing by offering a set of advanced fighter jets to Pakistan. It has agreed to sell $1.4 billion worth of jets to Islamabad days ahead of the planned visit of the US president Barack Obama to Shanghai and Beijing on November 15-18.
The move is expected to jolt the US administration as it works on notes and talking points for Obama's meetings with Chinese leaders. He is expected to discuss Beijing's relationship with India and its role in internal conflicts in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Beijing is keen to reduce US influence on Pakistan, which will make it easier for it to deal with India, sources said. Washington's recent decision to extend massive financial assistance to Islamabad is seen in some quarters as a policy setback for China.
It is now trying to get back its influence over Pakistan by selling two squadrons of advanced jets, sources said. Even more significant is Beijing's eagerness to share advanced technology with Pakistan, which is something US suppliers are usually reluctant to do.
A report from Pakistan said it wants to buy a larger number of war planes from China besides the two squadrons of J-10 fighter planes it is buying at the moment. A Pakistani official described the plane sales deal as a "landmark" in Pak-China relations.
"The agreement should not simply be seen in the narrow context of Pakistan's relations with China. There is a wider dimension. By sharing its advanced technology with Pakistan, China is ... also saying to the world that its defense capability is growing rapidly," Abdul Qayyum, a retired Pakistani general, was quoted in the Pakistani media as saying.
China has sent out an interesting signal ahead of US president Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Beijing by offering a set of advanced fighter jets to Pakistan. It has agreed to sell $1.4 billion worth of jets to Islamabad days ahead of the planned visit of the US president Barack Obama to Shanghai and Beijing on November 15-18.
The move is expected to jolt the US administration as it works on notes and talking points for Obama's meetings with Chinese leaders. He is expected to discuss Beijing's relationship with India and its role in internal conflicts in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Beijing is keen to reduce US influence on Pakistan, which will make it easier for it to deal with India, sources said. Washington's recent decision to extend massive financial assistance to Islamabad is seen in some quarters as a policy setback for China.
It is now trying to get back its influence over Pakistan by selling two squadrons of advanced jets, sources said. Even more significant is Beijing's eagerness to share advanced technology with Pakistan, which is something US suppliers are usually reluctant to do.
A report from Pakistan said it wants to buy a larger number of war planes from China besides the two squadrons of J-10 fighter planes it is buying at the moment. A Pakistani official described the plane sales deal as a "landmark" in Pak-China relations.
"The agreement should not simply be seen in the narrow context of Pakistan's relations with China. There is a wider dimension. By sharing its advanced technology with Pakistan, China is ... also saying to the world that its defense capability is growing rapidly," Abdul Qayyum, a retired Pakistani general, was quoted in the Pakistani media as saying.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Bomb Blast Thrilled Pakistan again 10 killed Charsadda
PESHAWAR:
A bomb blast ripped through a busy traffic intersection in Pakistan's northwest town of Charsadda killing at least 10 people and injuring many, police said.
"Seven people were wounded in a car bomb blast in Charsadda," district police chief Mohammad Riaz told AFP.
Another police official, Mudassir Khan, in Charsadda police station said: "It was a bomb blast. We have reports of people killed and injured".
The suspected bombing would be the third attack in as many days in or close to Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
Khan said Tuesday's blast in Charsada city caused panic and threw up huge clouds of dust in the air. The city is some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Peshawar.
A bomb blast ripped through a busy traffic intersection in Pakistan's northwest town of Charsadda killing at least 10 people and injuring many, police said.
"Seven people were wounded in a car bomb blast in Charsadda," district police chief Mohammad Riaz told AFP.
Another police official, Mudassir Khan, in Charsadda police station said: "It was a bomb blast. We have reports of people killed and injured".
The suspected bombing would be the third attack in as many days in or close to Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
Khan said Tuesday's blast in Charsada city caused panic and threw up huge clouds of dust in the air. The city is some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Peshawar.
Pak Nuclear weapons will not be seized-US
WASHINGTON:
The US has assured Pakistan it has no intention of seizing Pakistan's nuclear weapons or material, saying it has confidence in Islamabad's ability to provide adequate security to its nuclear programmes.
"The US has no intention of seizing Pakistani nuclear weapons or material," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters on Monday when asked to comment on a US magazine report that the Obama administration wants Pakistan to let Washington help secure its weapons in a crisis with an added goal of reassuring India.
"We see Pakistan as a key ally in our common effort to fight violent extremists and to foster regional stability," he said. "We're working very closely with Pakistan on a number of important initiatives regarding regional security.
"And as the Secretary (of State Hillary Clinton) has said, we have confidence in the ability of the Pakistani government to provide adequate security for their nuclear programmes and materials."
An article published online and in the Nov 16 issue of The New Yorker states that Washington has serious fears about Pakistan's arsenal and has a covert team ready to fly to Pakistan at short notice.
The article, written by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, reports that the Obama administration has been working on "highly sensitive understandings" with Pakistan's military that would let the US military to provide "added security for the Pakistani arsenal in case of a crisis".
One goal of the proposed agreements would be to reassure India, Hersh said. US officials, he said, hope securing Pakistani bombs will convince India to pull troops off the Pakistani frontier, allowing Pakistan to turn more of its military's attention toward battling Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters along its northwestern border with Afghanistan -- where US troops have been battling the Taliban since 2001.
"It's all part of the broad strategic scheme," Hersh said. But the plan has had unintended consequences in Pakistan, "one of which is they hate our guts", he said.
Pakistan remains mistrustful of the US, fearing its nuclear secrets will fall into Indian hands, and "there's an enormous discrepancy between what they say and what they agree to do", Hersh said.
The New Yorker also reported that a "highly classified" emergency response team was activated within the past few months in response to a report that a Pakistani nuclear component had "gone astray".
The team was already in Dubai by the time the report turned out to be a false alarm, Hersh's article states, citing an unnamed Pentagon consultant.
In November 2001, another of his articles on Pakistan's nuclear programme stirred a similar controversy, CNN said.
Hersh reported at that time that the US was making plans to seize or disable Pakistani nuclear weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands of Islamic extremists. That report was met with widespread denials as well.
But Hersh said Sunday there is an "enormous difference" between what the Obama administration is trying to do and what was being considered before.
"They're now saying, 'We're going to help you'," he told CNN. In addition, he said, the current US plans focus not on removing warheads, but on separating them from the trigger mechanisms used to set them off.
The US has assured Pakistan it has no intention of seizing Pakistan's nuclear weapons or material, saying it has confidence in Islamabad's ability to provide adequate security to its nuclear programmes.
"The US has no intention of seizing Pakistani nuclear weapons or material," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters on Monday when asked to comment on a US magazine report that the Obama administration wants Pakistan to let Washington help secure its weapons in a crisis with an added goal of reassuring India.
"We see Pakistan as a key ally in our common effort to fight violent extremists and to foster regional stability," he said. "We're working very closely with Pakistan on a number of important initiatives regarding regional security.
"And as the Secretary (of State Hillary Clinton) has said, we have confidence in the ability of the Pakistani government to provide adequate security for their nuclear programmes and materials."
An article published online and in the Nov 16 issue of The New Yorker states that Washington has serious fears about Pakistan's arsenal and has a covert team ready to fly to Pakistan at short notice.
The article, written by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, reports that the Obama administration has been working on "highly sensitive understandings" with Pakistan's military that would let the US military to provide "added security for the Pakistani arsenal in case of a crisis".
One goal of the proposed agreements would be to reassure India, Hersh said. US officials, he said, hope securing Pakistani bombs will convince India to pull troops off the Pakistani frontier, allowing Pakistan to turn more of its military's attention toward battling Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters along its northwestern border with Afghanistan -- where US troops have been battling the Taliban since 2001.
"It's all part of the broad strategic scheme," Hersh said. But the plan has had unintended consequences in Pakistan, "one of which is they hate our guts", he said.
Pakistan remains mistrustful of the US, fearing its nuclear secrets will fall into Indian hands, and "there's an enormous discrepancy between what they say and what they agree to do", Hersh said.
The New Yorker also reported that a "highly classified" emergency response team was activated within the past few months in response to a report that a Pakistani nuclear component had "gone astray".
The team was already in Dubai by the time the report turned out to be a false alarm, Hersh's article states, citing an unnamed Pentagon consultant.
In November 2001, another of his articles on Pakistan's nuclear programme stirred a similar controversy, CNN said.
Hersh reported at that time that the US was making plans to seize or disable Pakistani nuclear weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands of Islamic extremists. That report was met with widespread denials as well.
But Hersh said Sunday there is an "enormous difference" between what the Obama administration is trying to do and what was being considered before.
"They're now saying, 'We're going to help you'," he told CNN. In addition, he said, the current US plans focus not on removing warheads, but on separating them from the trigger mechanisms used to set them off.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Encounter is the solution in waziristan
To overwhelm the Taliban, Islamabad needs to learn from the mistakes the British, Soviets and Americans made in Waziristan. For an unstable Pakistan, it’s now or never...
Much has been written about how and why Waziristan and Afghanistan turned into valleys of death for invaders. In 1920 a British brigade was decimated in Waziristan losing 400 soldiers, including 28 British and 15 Indian officers.
Since 9/11, the Pakistan Army has made several forays into Waziristan but each time it failed to achieve its objectives. In December 1979, the Soviets occupied Afghanistan. But it didn’t take them long to realize that it was far more difficult to withdraw than it was to come in.
Then the Americans came and occupied Afghanistan. Eight years on they too have discovered this cardinal truth. History supports much of what has been written. Pakistan has taken a fateful decision; it has chosen to defy history. After months of the softening up of targets, the ground operation began this month. The strategy employed seeks to capture the ‘critical space’ of the guerrillas in the triangle formed by Makeen-Ladha-Sararogha by advancing on it from three directions, then undertaking mopping-up operations.
This strategy may well succeed depending on what is perceived as success. Would it be the occupation of spaces under Mehsud’s control? Or would it be the elimination of Hakeemullah’s Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)? In a conventional war, occupation of enemy territory constitutes success; in counter-insurgency, elimination. Unless the occupation of TTP spaces also leads to their elimination, the army would inevitably be drawn into a protracted guerrilla war of the kind that the Soviets fought and lost, and the Americans are fighting and losing.
Time and space are of the essence for an army, both in a conventional and an unconventional war. For the guerrillas they are not as they keep moving from one location to another, striking not one large blow but a number of small blows in different directions to make the army bleed from a thousand cuts; they avoid pitched battles unless the terrain favours them. Otherwise they give away space by design to fight another day. This is what their counterparts in Afghanistan did when thousands of US Marines landed in Helmand River valley in a pre-dawn assault recently. The guerrillas simply withdrew into the mountains, and then returned to devastate the invaders with hit-and-run attacks that forced Gen McChrystal to demand 40,000 more troops or else face defeat within a year.
The only spatial situation the guerrillas fear is when they are denied access to their safe havens in the mountains and areas adjoining the theatre, and when they know that after hitting, they cannot run. A situation such as this creates a choking effect. If the Soviets had blocked the Durand Line on their side to prevent crossborder movement, the Mujahideen in Afghanistan would have been isolated from their handlers and logistics based in Pakistan. The Soviet forces had become victims of their general staff’s lack of strategic vision.
The Americans, too, made the same mistake. If they too had secured the Durand Line on their side prior to launching their air-bombing campaign, the Taliban fighters, tormenting them for the last eight years, would not have been able to slip away into Pakistan. Instead of correcting their strategy, they have chosen to blame Pakistan for their failure.
It remains to be seen whether the strategy under which the ground operation was launched will succeed in creating a situation where the guerrillas are subjected to progressive choking and elimination. The advance from three directions is reminiscent of the ‘advance to contact’ operation of a conventional war. It is a set piece and slow operation, hence predictable, and any strategy or tactics that can be predicted can be countered.
In an unconventional war, it is the army’s unconventional strategy that usually succeeds as it carries the all important element of surprise. Thus, one such strategy, though risky, as all such strategies are, comes close to meeting this requirement. Under it the theatre of operations is isolated during the preparatory phase to prevent the guerrillas from making ingress into it or exit from it.
The ground operation is then opened by seizing the heights that dominate Makeen, Ladha and Sararogha by heliborne troops under suppressive fire by gunships, artillery and F-16 s. In Phase 2, waves of helicopters land more troops while the force employed to isolate the theatre moves forward. In Phase 3, as more troops are landed, Makeen, Ladha and Sararogha are attacked. In Phase 4, the troops attack outwards with the troops of the isolating force moving inwards. A stage is then reached where the noose is finally tightened.
Much has been written about how and why Waziristan and Afghanistan turned into valleys of death for invaders. In 1920 a British brigade was decimated in Waziristan losing 400 soldiers, including 28 British and 15 Indian officers.
Since 9/11, the Pakistan Army has made several forays into Waziristan but each time it failed to achieve its objectives. In December 1979, the Soviets occupied Afghanistan. But it didn’t take them long to realize that it was far more difficult to withdraw than it was to come in.
Then the Americans came and occupied Afghanistan. Eight years on they too have discovered this cardinal truth. History supports much of what has been written. Pakistan has taken a fateful decision; it has chosen to defy history. After months of the softening up of targets, the ground operation began this month. The strategy employed seeks to capture the ‘critical space’ of the guerrillas in the triangle formed by Makeen-Ladha-Sararogha by advancing on it from three directions, then undertaking mopping-up operations.
This strategy may well succeed depending on what is perceived as success. Would it be the occupation of spaces under Mehsud’s control? Or would it be the elimination of Hakeemullah’s Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)? In a conventional war, occupation of enemy territory constitutes success; in counter-insurgency, elimination. Unless the occupation of TTP spaces also leads to their elimination, the army would inevitably be drawn into a protracted guerrilla war of the kind that the Soviets fought and lost, and the Americans are fighting and losing.
Time and space are of the essence for an army, both in a conventional and an unconventional war. For the guerrillas they are not as they keep moving from one location to another, striking not one large blow but a number of small blows in different directions to make the army bleed from a thousand cuts; they avoid pitched battles unless the terrain favours them. Otherwise they give away space by design to fight another day. This is what their counterparts in Afghanistan did when thousands of US Marines landed in Helmand River valley in a pre-dawn assault recently. The guerrillas simply withdrew into the mountains, and then returned to devastate the invaders with hit-and-run attacks that forced Gen McChrystal to demand 40,000 more troops or else face defeat within a year.
The only spatial situation the guerrillas fear is when they are denied access to their safe havens in the mountains and areas adjoining the theatre, and when they know that after hitting, they cannot run. A situation such as this creates a choking effect. If the Soviets had blocked the Durand Line on their side to prevent crossborder movement, the Mujahideen in Afghanistan would have been isolated from their handlers and logistics based in Pakistan. The Soviet forces had become victims of their general staff’s lack of strategic vision.
The Americans, too, made the same mistake. If they too had secured the Durand Line on their side prior to launching their air-bombing campaign, the Taliban fighters, tormenting them for the last eight years, would not have been able to slip away into Pakistan. Instead of correcting their strategy, they have chosen to blame Pakistan for their failure.
It remains to be seen whether the strategy under which the ground operation was launched will succeed in creating a situation where the guerrillas are subjected to progressive choking and elimination. The advance from three directions is reminiscent of the ‘advance to contact’ operation of a conventional war. It is a set piece and slow operation, hence predictable, and any strategy or tactics that can be predicted can be countered.
In an unconventional war, it is the army’s unconventional strategy that usually succeeds as it carries the all important element of surprise. Thus, one such strategy, though risky, as all such strategies are, comes close to meeting this requirement. Under it the theatre of operations is isolated during the preparatory phase to prevent the guerrillas from making ingress into it or exit from it.
The ground operation is then opened by seizing the heights that dominate Makeen, Ladha and Sararogha by heliborne troops under suppressive fire by gunships, artillery and F-16 s. In Phase 2, waves of helicopters land more troops while the force employed to isolate the theatre moves forward. In Phase 3, as more troops are landed, Makeen, Ladha and Sararogha are attacked. In Phase 4, the troops attack outwards with the troops of the isolating force moving inwards. A stage is then reached where the noose is finally tightened.
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