Pakistan Insurgencies

CNN - Afghanistan Crossroads - US Officials: Multiple insurgencies overwhelming Pakistan

According to the article Pakistan is "nation under siege." When was that not the case. Since it's inception as a Muslim country Pakistan has been under siege from one outside actor or another. India, Afghanistan, Iran, US, Russia etc. etc.

In 1971 half of the country was lost.

Fast forward to present day quagmire. The nuclear weapons are at the top of the open issues. Word on the street is that it's in the interest of US to somehow control the cache of nuclear tipped missiles and neutralize them. The hawks at the Pentagon are having sleepless nights and they have not spared a moment to see that this Muslim country's defenses are weakened for good. The resistance within Pakistan continues, for now under the banner of national pride. National pride? Its matter of national survival. But, in the process lives are being lost and greater enemies are being created that will perpetuate the cycle of violence for years to come.

In Afghanistan, after the election of Mr. Obama, US could have taken the high road to reconciliation while many factors play themselves out in the background. On the contrary, and against his better judgement while breaking his campaign promises, the Obama government decided to escalate and up the ante. He inherited the current crop of generals and they decided, at the military's recommendations, to continue the status quo: take no prisoners; make not peace with anybody; eliminate rather than integrate. In the process what is happening is that the insurgency is being pushed out of Afghanistan into Pakistan. Problem solved? Yes, of the nuclear arms since that will allow US to "create" the atmosphere to pressure Pakistan to give up its nukes. Pakistan without nukes is a sitting duck for any taker.

Internal problems and strife abound in Pakistan. Anything and everything goes to the highest bidder.

What Pakistan needs is open access to the most sophisticated arms and first rate training. The current crop of US operatives in Pakistan with their covert support for the Pakistani army, under the watchful eyes of Indian interests, is never going to do the job. The people of Pakistan, just like many times in the past, have bought the idea of Pakistan being an ally of US and want some action from US instead of empty promises.

The second rate under secretaries of defense and that of the state department, the trainees, should be replaced with somebody who has some clout to push the process through congress for substantial and real aid at the right place. They need to select people from outside, Pakistanis who have lived in US, Europe, Asia, or the Gulf countries to spearhead the distribution of the money allocated for aid to Pakistan. To head the progress and see through the completion of projects. Anybody from the inside is too corrupt to make a difference.

There is some hope for Pakistan and by proxy for Afghanistan but time is running out fast. As the article points out, the insurgency that was quelled is raising its ugly head back up and this time it will be twice as difficult to control it.

Crimes Against Humanity

Slowly the stories are trickling out. Murder, mayhem, torture, and any other atrocity one can imagine. All perpetrated against people around the world by those who still think they are purveyors of peace and democracy. Worst of all, the perpetrators continue to be defended by the US army, the civilian command, the press, and most American public.

Of course those who perpetrated these atrocities are directly responsible and should be held accountable and brought to justice without further delay. But don't hold your breath for that. There is no outcry, there is no outpouring of support for the aggrieved, there is no media frenzy, there is no call for special congressional hearings. The politicians are still celebrating the Healthcare bill approval by the congress.

Headline: How Americans are Propagandized About Afghanistan.

The story recounts the horrors of US military personnel killing people in cold blood, then covering their tracks with extensive procedures of extracting bullets from the victims' heads (no less). Then, after killing them, tying the women up to make them look like they were bound and gagged by the men for honor killing. What does it take to do all this? How much time does it take to extract bullets from skull? Who is actually doing the extraction? Is it a doctor/medic that is helping? Where are the platoon leaders, the people at the base, and others involved in the carnage?

All of these heinous acts take planning, time, and approvals from senior officers. How many people does it take to cover up these crimes?

The article cites major news media groups colluding with the army and corroborating the story as authentic at the time all of these atrocities took place. New York Times is part of that collusion!CNN is one of the most trusted names in the news business. They supposedly verified the facts, had their people on the ground and reporting the story, and the quotes from the officers in charge are all real. Is this really happening in America today? This is not a movie, this is real life.

After the truth is revealed neither of the original news sources have, to date, admitted complicity, responsibility, or even acknowledgement of false reporting. Do any of these organizations ever make a mistake?

Headline: WikiLeaks Video shows 12 dead in US Army Apache Assault on unarmed Reuters Cameramen.

"The WikiLeaks video of helicopter gunners shooting civilians and savoring their kills as if playing a video game, although horrific, is understandable." Understandable for who? Understandable from whose point of view?

Now the headlines are: WikiLeaks vidoe shows 12 dead in Iraq army assault
Another one says: WikiLeaks Misrepresents Apache Assault on Medhi [sic] Army Militia
The army senior officers defended these actions at the time. The problem is that even today they continue to defend these criminal and rogue elements. How wide spread is this problem? What about thousands upon thousands of murders in Iraq where people were finding headless bodies all around the city of Baghdad? Who really committed those atrocities? At least at the time they were blamed on militias? But is that really true. Who were those dead people?

The Nation (thenamtion.com), both in print and on their website most recently reported that their reporters in Pakistan saw operatives from US special operation forces involved in suicide bombings via cars and trucks. Since that reporting and some exposure of that news on news boards, the rate of suicide bombings have gone down to almost zero. Is that a coincidence?
Curiously enough, New York Times did not bother to print anything about either the murders in Afghanistan, (which they originally reported as honor killings and Al-Qaida fighters being neutralized) or the Video of innocent Iraqis being gunned down in broad daylight as if somebody is playing video game. CNN reported the story but did not bring all the horrific details to the fore citing concern for family members of the dead Iraqis. Really? Is the video not available in its entirety in million and one places, either directly or via a youtube embed?

These atrocities clearly amount to crimes against humanity. Will these criminals be exposed and brought to justice?

Toyota Has A Problem

What does Toyota and Iran have in common?

Stanley McCrystal has apologized to the people of Afghanistan for killing civilians by mistake. Media is all over it and he is a hero. All is good because the media says so. So where is the voice of the bereaved? Are they OK with it? Is Apology enough? Where are the scholarships, and the memorials, and memoirs for the dead? Maybe they were all just losers and had nothing to say or contribute to society. Maybe they deserved this fate!

So America kills and all they have to do is apologize. When it comes to Toyota, nobody is buying their apology. The tearful testimony from a driver, the repetition of bad news throughout the mainstream media playing in the hands of the special interest groups.

Iran making Nuclear weapons? According to media they already have their finger on the trigger ready to launch these weapons of mass destruction. In reality and according to the best estimates they are about 15 years away from nuclear weapon capability. The nuclear plant that Russia promised is still under construction. Constant delays and reneging of the signed contracts is the order of the day. Russia playing both sides to extract maximum political capital.
So what is the point? What does Toyota and Iran have in common? Apparently a lot. Both Toyota and Iran need better PR machines. Of course the media is not going to say the right thing unless they are paid lots of money. Buying journalists is age old practice and the media sacred cows always get the best treatment. How much is Ford and GM paying their lobbyists to spread the bad news?

The mealy mouth apology of Toyota chief and his cowering in front of the congress only shows a complete lack of understanding of American system and American way of doing things. Now they are going to spend a billion dollar fixing the damage caused by this apology. The lawsuits, the lost sales, and the image problem will cost Toyota hundreds of millions of dollars. Every little problem will be attributed to bad breaks and whatever other ills that they can find, all lumped in this giant issue of unintended acceleration because of stuck accelerator.

There was a better solution to this problem and may have saved Toyota few millions in the long run. They could have spent million dollar on securing a good lobbyist, a savvy PR firm, a team of well connected lawyers, and few well placed journalists and problem would have been mitigated. Not to mention, a few heads at high places should have rolled, blamed this problem where it belongs which is at the point these parts were tested and that happens to be at the factories here in the US. Aren't these cars assembled and tested here in the US. Sure the parts come from Japan but the final testing and approval rests on the engineers in the US factories.

Maybe this will be a lesson for the next generation of Toyoda family, the fourth generation. What would the grandfather have done if faced with the same situation? A question we may never find the answer to.

Headline: Pakistai Forces Capture Top Taliban

When Will Pakistan Get Any Respect

Kudos all around for Pakistan. Even from America and most of all from American media. Although the media coverage is still muffled and mealy mouthed. These things are absolutely unheard of. Is this the change Obama promised the world? Is this start of something new?

Pakistan can do no right. For years everybody has maligned Pakistan for not killing their own people, for having to work with archaic equipment, for having to deal with sanctions, tariffs, custom duties and countless other ways that have hamstrung them from making any progress against the forces of evil. Not only that but it has damaged the industry, education and everything in between. Yes there is corruption, yes there are actors in Pakistan working on both sides, but name one country that does not have that problem. Name just one country please.

For years Pakistan has been blamed for Afghanistan's internal problems while ineptitude and corruption in and outside of Afghan government has gone unnoticed. The same corruption that has been going on for years including Karzai telling the opium growers to continue producing opium has just now surfaced because it is in the interest of NATO and the US to bring that out after the botched elections.

The best way forward with Pakistan is to give them what they need in training, sophisticated warfare equipment, tanks, drones, and aeroplanes. State department should remove the hoops the Pakistanis have to jump to get even a lousy night vision goggles. Pakistan has the talent and the know how to take advantage of these "facilities" and reign in the actors that are colluding with anybody that America thinks is working against their interest. Perhaps they have shown too much talent in the past that soon after the new technology is sold to Pakistan they have come up with their own by reverse engineering.

More importantly, they need to tell Karzai to straighten his own house and stop the corruption in his government. Some but not enough of that is happening. One way to deal with the people of Afghanistan: kill all the Pashtuns, Pakhtoons, and Uzbek. Another way: give these majorities their rights and allow them to participate in the government. People of Afghanistan are tired of war and they are tired of interference from outside. People of Afghanistan are tired of proxy wars and wars for saving face. People of Afghanistan want to be left alone.

People of Pakistan are tired of having their sovereignty taken away. People of Pakistan are tired of politicians that are sold out to foreign governments for pittance, and they are tired of not being able to practice freedom in their own country. People are tired of living in fear. People of Pakistan want to be left alone and find their own way out.

The recent advances in democracy in Pakistan, although not perfect, are a clear indication of that. Will America oblige?

Policy: America's Pakistan Dilemma

Writing's On The Wall

Is anybody reading it

The advent of democracy in Pakistan has left many without a cause to bash Pakistan. Its not perfect but its as close its going to get for now. In the halls of congress on both sides, the House and the Senate this little advance has many looking for other ways to convince the president that Pakistan remains the rogue state it was before Musharraf was president.

They are finding that reason in the relatively new phenomenon of Pakistani Taliban. Pakistani Taliban did not exist before Afghanistan was attacked by US forces. Who created this problem for Pakistan? Could this have been handled better? Could hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars have been saved if this was approached with diplomacy after the fall of Taliban and Al Kaeda or more precisely soon after a legitimate Afghan government was sworn in?

The answers to those questions is a resounding yes! But was anybody thinking?

When Taliban found themselves pushed back in Afghanistan they adapted to their worsening influence faster than the US war machine. The US war machine was still celebrating and they were looking for an outright victory without realizing what that would require. The most important thing they neglected was the fact that those who were fighting against us had not seen anything but war for last 6-7 generations. They had partners on both sides of the border for centuries plus the intimidation factor. Top that with innate hatred of an occupying force from thousands of miles away regardless of the cause or reason and you have the sure making of an insurgency whose strength can test yours any day. And since most of these people are illiterate because of the ravages of war they have no clue what is democracy and more importantly what to do with it once they have it. Alliances were formed quickly and we have the making of Pakistani Taliban. This gave them base to work from, the sympathy of a thousand and one people, and the cause to fight for yet another day. We created the Pakistani Taliban and now, years later, we are having to deal with it with money and might. Are we getting anywhere fast?

Had we known ABC of what Afghanistan is all about we would have started the negotiations with anybody and everybody right after a legitimate government was formed in Kabul. Until most recently it was legitimate. These are people of Afghanistan. It's their homeland. They must have rights, they must be given a voice in the government, they must be shown some respect as citizens. Isn't that what democracy is all about. The alternative: carpet bomb them, get rid of them and start over again. For that we needed to bring in a ruthless dictator and not democracy. Unfortunately US had nothing but revenge on their mind.

We have come to realization now that diplomacy and negotiations is the only way forward. Was there a single voice of dissent in the lead up to where we are now? If there was one it was muffled so well that nobody could hear it. Being stubborn and stupid, being in the clutches of the war machine that controls Washington, being power drunk for so many years, and being lame duck for last two years of his presidency was no help for Bush to not come up with diplomacy. There is no surprise there.

Although the negotiations are going on, not enough legitimacy is being given to these negotiations. A lower level operative from state department is assigned to look after this issue. The operative is at such a low level that we don't know his/her name. In the meantime we are preparing for an offensive with hundreds of thousands of more Afghan citizens displaced from their homes, pushed out to Pakistan and other places, exacerbating an already acute problem to and emergency.

Americans need to realize that there is no military solution to this problem. Forty thousand, fifty thousand or hundred thousand troops are not going to matter. The victory, if they get any, will be temporary and short lived, a la Iraq. They need to realize that negotiations is the only way to resolve this issue. Pashtun, shias, the Tajiks, the Pathans, and the rest of the ethnicities that make up Afghanistan must be given their rights and representations. Without doing that there will never be a solution and Afghanistan will be the failed state that it is for last 50 or so years.

The Indian power play for the supremacy over Pakistan from both sides needs to be mitigated. This has been an issue that has never been addressed and never been brought to the fore for any discussion. India's hand in the continued destabilization of Afghanistan is something that has been kept muffled and under the cover for last several years. The foothold that Indians want in Afghanistan to be able to checkmate Pakistan is something that is promoted and discussed behind closed doors only at the highest levels within Washington and Delhi. Anybody denying that have absolutely no clue about the reality on the ground. One clue for the uninitiated: look up the number of Indian consulates across Afghanistan. They are not there for no reason.

Once there is negotiated settlement with various ethnicities within Afghanistan the Pakistani Taliban will disappear overnight. Pakistani people are tired of murder and bloodshed. They are tired of uncertainty. They are tired of being blamed for every problem in the sub-continent. They are tired of their politicians raking in money given to them from both sides, the Taliban and Washington. They are tired of seeing the future of their kids blown away by drones and the mercenaries of Blackwater. Pakistani people want the progress they have seen after the opening up of media during the Musharraf years. They want the same luxuries the rest of the world have. They want to do an honest day's work, and spend time with their families. Will America allow that to happen?