Timeline of Afghan war: Beginning of the end

By: RupeeNews

911: World Trade Centers attacked: Amidst the 1600 degree Fahrenheit flames of plane crash, the death of more than 3000 Americans (including 300 Muslims), and total destruction of several blocks of the Financial district of New York, the US authorities were able to retrieve the only surviving artifact out of the debris—the passport of one of the culprits. This document was retrieved within minutes of the crash and set the stage.

2001: OBL denies any responsibility of the attack. Several tapes later appear that show OBL acknowledging the attacks. Michael Sheuer of the CIA OBL Analysis cell in Afghanistan discusses these at length. Pictures of OBL widely differ in the tapes leading to conspiracy theories and suspicions that some of the tapes might have been engineered by agencies.

2002: Various players of the Bush Administration including Richard Armitage threaten Pakistan “of being bombed into the stone age”. When reminded of the long history of US-Pakistani relations since the 50s, Armitage responds “History begins today”.

US invades Afghanistan to avenge the attack, and eliminate all enemies: Pakistan advised the US, not to attack the country, and had offered 5000 marines to nab the evil guys. Pakistan also advised the US to negotiate with the moderate elements of the “T” and bring about a regime change. The Bush Administration ignores sanity and uses 20,000 pounder Daisy Cutters (one step below a nuclear bomb).

2002: As a result of carpet bombing the entire country a stream of refugees head to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. The very same thin g happened during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Instead of understanding the consequences of terrorizing the Afghan population with bombs, the US accuses Pakistan of “harboring” terrorists.

2002: The US attacks Iraq allegedly to find WMDs. None are found but 1 million Iraqis die and 20 million are rendered homeless.

2003: Ralph Peter’s egregious map truncating Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran to create new smaller states is published by a defense department journal give rise to conspiracy theories about US intentions about West Asia in general and Pakistan in particular.

2003: A drumbeat of Indian propaganda against Pakistan accuses it of interference. The US is fed the WMD type of information from three main spy agnecies, RAW and Mossad and Afghan KHAD.

In 2004, the US begins bombing Pakistani territory-either with the connivance or the knowledge of the compliant Pakistani president. The bombings create a

2005: There is a litany of US demands “to do more”. In response to these incessant demands, the Pakistani military launches several attacks into FATA.

2006: President Hamid Karzai directly threatens Pakistan. More than a dozen “Indian Consulates” are allowed on Afghan soil. The Afghan intelligence agency is patterned on RAW and ominously renamed RAMA.

2007: Reports emerge of massive Indian infiltration into the ranks of the insurgents.

In 2008 a spate of foreign sponsored “reprisal attacks” from foreign armed, foreign trained mercenaries begin in Pakistan.

2008: Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in Liaqat bagh—the 2nd Pakistani leader to be murdered on the same spot. The world suspects Mr. Zardari who in turn blames the TTP for the murder of the politician.

2008: President Musharraf is accused of duplicity by the Americans. US seeks more compliant leadership in Pakistan. Missteps by President Musharraf lead to his resignation and eventual self-exile in London.

2009: Pakistan attacks and successfully retakes Swat which had become a hotbed of Indian sponsored militants. Pictures of uncircumcised men with long beard raise speculation of Indian agents working as mercenaries to destabilize Pakistan.

2009: Pakistan eliminates vestiges of the so called TTP in South Waziristan. The TTP funded and armed from Afghanistan increase their waves of attacks on innocent Pakistani civilians in all areas of Pakistani territory.

November 2009: The language used, restrictions imposed, the tiny amount of “aid” ($6.5 Billion for Pakistan vs. $143 Billion for Afghanistan vs $605 Billion for Iraq) and the accusation listed in the Kerry Lugar Bill “Aid to Pakistan” are severely criticized in Pakistan.

November 2009: Hillary Clinton faces a barrage of belligerent accusations in Pakistan and a lukewarm welcome.

November 2009: The corruption charges against President Asif Zardari stand resurrected as the National Assembly fails to pass the NRO (amnesty for the misdeeds of politicians)

November 2009: US National Security Advisor James Jones tries to smooth over ruffled feathers of Pakistani civilian and military government. He delivers a personal message to President Zardari asking him to continue his offensive against the “Taliban”. Pakistanis suspect, it is part of a US Exit strategy.

November 2009: According to the New York Times “the latest internal government estimates place the cost of adding 40,000 American troops and sharply expanding the Afghan security forces, as favored by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top American and allied commander in Afghanistan, at $40 billion to $54 billion a year, the officials said”. In a front page story, the paper essentially says that the US can no longer afford the war in Afghanistan

Even if fewer troops are sent, or their mission is modified, the rough formula used by the White House, of about $1 million per soldier a year, appears almost constant.

November 2009: Media reports emerge about how the US can no longer afford the 40,000 additional troops request by General McChrystal.

November 2009: A new drumbeat of media and US administration pressure wants Pakistan to invade North Waziristan, which the US claims in the home of the Haqqani Network—much hated by US generals. Will the Pakistani army once again buckle to American pressure, attack North Waziristan and then face more domestic attacks. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi says his country will decide on its own, according to its priorities and resources, on how to fight militants. He says the international community recognizes Pakistan’s sacrifices and unity in the face of Islamist extremists. He says his country does not need to do more or less because someone is saying so.

November 2009: The TTP denies role in many of the bombings in Pakistan. Indian arms are discovered in Waziristan. The presence of Blackwater/Xe and Dynacorp, the uniquely unprecedented expansion of the  US Embassy, the maniacal statements of Admiral Mullen about “existential threats to Pakistan”, and Hillary Clinton’s strange rhetoric about Pakistan’s real enemies (India is not an enemy) fuel conspiracy theories about US intentions in Pakistan—and increase Anti-Americanism.

November 2009: Obama Administration announced another new Afghan policy (part of about a dozen re-assessments). A slight troop surge and plans to evacuate most of the country to garrisons seems to be the plan. This is exactly what happened to the British when they were thrown out of Afghanistan and the Russians. The sitting targets will be relentlessly attacked by the insurgents ‘till they eventually evacuate back to the States.

Rupee News has been predicting for about two years that inevitability of a US withdrawal and an end to the Afghan war in 2011, when some of the coalition partners will leave Kabul. More than 70% of the US public now opposes continued occupation of Afghanistan, and this number will grow when the Republicans begin hammering the Dems before the 2012 elections.

Tableeghi Jamaat’s 400,000 faithful condemn TTP atrocities

By: RupeeNews

RAIWIND, Pakistan — Inayatullah Khan sits on a dusty rug and prepares to pray at Pakistan’s biggest religious gathering of 400,000 Muslims, cursing the Taliban for their “unholy crusade” against humanity.

Khan travelled all the way from the lawless tribal region of South Waziristan to take part in the four-day event, one of the world’s largest Islamic meetings, in Raiwind on the outskirts of Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore.

A resident of Kanigurram, a former Taliban hub that the military says it has captured during its ongoing five-week offensive in the northwest, Khan, 50, accused the Taliban of straying from the path of God and butchering Muslims.

“They call those who refuse to follow their brand of Islam infidels, not knowing they are inviting the wrath of Allah the almighty by killing Muslims, which I call an unholy crusade,” Khan said.

A Muslim whose faith is important enough to make an arduous three-day journey and sleep in a tent for four days, Khan invited the Taliban “to join us in spreading Islam’s eternal message of love, affection and peace.”

The Tablighi Ijtema is an annual feature, founded by religious scholars more than five decades ago and focused exclusively on preaching Islam.

The Thursday-Sunday gathering in Raiwind, near the estate of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, is being held under tight security due to the campaign of attacks that have swept the country killing more than 2,500 people in two years.

Contingents of police guard the single-carriage road, lined by eucalyptus trees, that links Raiwind with downtown Lahore.

Spread over 150 acres (60 hectares) of land with a huge parking space made available for thousands of buses and vehicles, the venue looks like a big tented village where pilgrims sleep, say prayers and eat together.

“Despite having to sleep under tents in cold and inhospitable weather, there is no let-up in our resolve to make this country a cradle of peace, a country free of suicide attacks and explosions,” Khan said.

Hundreds of camps and sub-camps set up on the dusty ground accommodate people from cities across Pakistan.

Stalls sell cooked food, raw chicken and meat, vegetables and fruit, even electrical appliances and batteries for mobile phones at a subsidised rate.

A mixture of aromatic Pakistani dishes ranging from as little as 10 to 20 rupees (11 to 23 cents) gives the religious gathering a festival feel.

Faced with near-daily attacks, concentrated most heavily in the northwest, many mourn the mounting civilian toll from bombings, often targeting market places, but lace their comments with pervasive anti-American fears.

“Our hearts bleed for the hundreds of innocent people who have lost their lives… and our security officials who are being killed by the Taliban,” said Mohammad Farooq, from northwest town Tank, where some of the tens of thousands displaced by fighting in South Waziristan have sought shelter.

“The Taliban are enemies of Islam and humanity and advance only an American and Indian agenda — to destabilise Pakistan,” said Farhan Hamad Khan, who had come from Dera Ismail Khan, where many other refugees are also living.

When the prayer leader gave the call to prayer, people rushed towards hundreds of temporary washrooms to make their ablutions.

As Mohammad Azhar, a Islamabad-based chartered accountant waited his turn, he remembered how Pakistan’s “icon of democracy,” former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in a gun and suicide attack in 2007.

“Her killers still roam around scot-free,” said the bearded Azhar. “No religion, including Islam, allows the killing of humans.

“We need to hold gatherings like this one and inculcate in our people a true spirit of Islam, which is a code of life for all of us and not the kind of Islam that Taliban or Islamists want to introduce.”

The prayer leader in his Friday sermon addressed the same issue.

“A stern punishment awaits all those who refuse to follow commandments of Allah the almighty,” he said into a pin-drop silence among the avid masses. AFP. Taliban under fire from Pakistan faithful By Nasir Jaffry (AFP) –

UK seeking ‘new world order’ by Afghan war

PressTV

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown once again defends his plans for the Afghan war

Despite reports of the UK’s plan for peace talks with the Taliban, Premier Gordon Brown defends Britain’s military involvement in the Afghan war, saying his country must play a full role in ‘changing the world’.

“I believe that Britain can and must play its full part in changing the world,” the British prime minister said Monday.

“Britain can lead in the construction of a new world order,” he said in a speech, extracts of which have been released by Downing Street.

Supporting the UK’s military mission in the war-torn country, Brown said more has been planned in 2009 and “enacted with greater success” to cripple al-Qaeda than in any year since 2001.

“So I vigorously defend our action in Afghanistan and Pakistan because al-Qaeda is today the biggest source of threat to our national security,” he noted.

The premier is set to give his annual foreign policy speech to the London Lord Mayor’s banquet at Guildhall on Monday evening.

The US, with cooperation of its European allies including Britain, invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to allegedly eradicate the Taliban and arrest militant leaders.

But more than eight years after the so-called war on terrorism began, a leaked memo has revealed that the British government has been seeking reconciliation with Taliban’s leadership council based in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

Britain’s state television BBC reported on Saturday that the memo proposed that “reconciled” Taliban should be removed from the UN sanctions list.

After the beginning of the war, Taliban leader Mullah Omar and al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden fled to Quetta, where they received the support of Pakistani security officials.

The eight-year-old war in Afghanistan has so far failed to kill or arrest the main militant commanders.

Brown, who is tipped to lose a general election to the opposition Conservatives due by June, is under tense pressure at home as public support for the war is waning.

According to the latest opinion poll, an increasing majority of Britons want the country’s 9,000 troops out of Afghanistan within a year.

Some 71 percent of Britons would back a phased withdrawal of British forces within 12 months, a poll conducted by the Independent showed on Sunday.

In the latest casualty on Sunday, a British soldier was killed while on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan, taking the death toll to 233.

Pakistan Army to US / NATO: DO MORE!

By: PKKH

Orla Guerin, BBC News

Pakistani forces fighting the Taliban near the Afghan border claim American and Afghan troops aren’t doing enough to help.

Commanders in the troubled north western region of Bajaur complain of a lack of effort, and a lack of troops, on the other side of frontier. They claim American and Afghan forces aren’t taking strong enough action against the militants – an accusation traditionally levelled against Pakistan itself. Senior military officials claim Taliban fighters are able to re-arm in Afghanistan, and cross back into Pakistan.

‘Crush them’

“It is a problem that is haunting us,” said Lt Col Nadir Khan, commander of Pakistani forces in the Charmang valley, which leads to the border. He spoke within sight of the brooding peaks which mark the remote frontier.

“If you look at the distant ridge you can see the footpaths leading into our area,” he said.

“They have a number of routes open to them. They can muster support from over the border and can bring the manpower, weapons and ammunition. There is a constant stream of supplies.”

Lt Col Khan estimates that the journey to the Charmang valley from the Afghan province of Kunar takes eight to 10 hours on foot.

“We are able to crush them, and hit them,” he said, “but then with fresh supplies we have this type of problem.

“They can come and strike our heads again.

“While we are clearing them here, they are not being effectively dealt with across the border. I think the coalition can do more. They can choke off their supplies.”

Commanders here say they have “significant control” in the valley, but that the fight is far from over, because of the problems on the other side.

“Definitely it is frustrating for us,” said Lt Col Khan.

The coalition denies a lack of activity, or of personnel, on the Afghan side of the border.

It says there are several units operating in the Kunar river valley, as part of “Task Force Mountain Warrior” which is several thousand strong. These units are working with both the Afghan National Army and Afghan border police.

The coalition says that it recently conducted “complimentary operations” with Pakistani forces, “maintaining consistent communications”.

Pockets of resistance

“We will continue to co-ordinate with our Afghan and Pakistani counterparts,” said Col Randy A George, commander of Task Force Mountain Warrior, “to conduct complimentary operations along the international border to bring peace and stability.”

“Border security is an issue for both governments because it is rough terrain that isn’t easily accessible for either side, and is tough to defend.”

On that much, there is agreement on both sides of the frontier.

“This is a very porous border,” says Lt Col Khan. “To guard each and every inch of the border would be a Herculean effort. It’s not possible.”

Nearby, troops loaded up the heavy guns for another assault on Taliban positions. The’ve already been fighting in Bajaur for more than a year. Around 130 soldiers have lost their lives battling the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies.

The Charmang valley is one of the remaining pockets of resistance. Asked if he was worried he might be fighting there forever, Lt Col Khan replied: “Yes. Yes. If it is not done from across the border. Maybe.”

While arms and accusations go back and forth across the border, the Taliban continue to strike, often at soft targets. Two of their latest victims were women school teachers. They were shot dead in broad daylight in the town of Khar, not far from the Charmang valley.

Shazia, 30, was one of them. She refused to be intimidated into abandoning her pupils, according to her grief-stricken husband, Kamal Dilawar Khan.

“Earlier the Taliban sent out threats,” he said, “and I asked her not to go to Bajaur. But she replied that she was not scared and that she would continue with her teaching because it was a service to the nation. When I got the news I lost my mind, I lost my heart and the whole world collapsed for me.”

Her killer melted away, disappearing into the traffic. The army has been arresting hardcore Taliban suspects. But it says that for every fighter detained, someone else could be crossing the border to take their place.

US envoy opposed to Afghan surge

The US ambassador in Kabul has written to the White House to oppose sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan.

In a leaked cable, Karl Eikenberry said President Karzai’s government should first prove it would tackle corruption. The message arrived amid intense debate over strategy, with President Obama yet to make a decision on troop numbers. The dramatic intervention puts the ambassador – a former military commander in Afghanistan – at odds with generals seeking reinforcements. On Wednesday, President Obama held his eighth meeting to discuss the question of whether to send tens of thousands more troops to confront the Taliban.

Mr Eikenberry sent the secret cable in the past week, according to US media reports. Expressing concern about corruption in Afghanistan, he said it was “not a good idea” to send substantially more soldiers, the BBC has been told. The diplomatic dispatch appears to be a dramatic and last-minute intervention by the ambassador, says BBC Washington correspondent Adam Brookes. It comes right at the end of weeks of White House deliberation over how to proceed in Afghanistan, and appears to put the ambassador at odds with the US Army, whose generals favour reinforcing and intensifying America’s campaign. The US currently has some 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, among a coalition force of more than 100,000.

 

Military chief ‘fuming’

Officials say the Obama administration considered several options at Wednesday’s meeting, including:

• Deploying another 40,000 troops, the option pushed for by the top US military commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal

• Sending an additional 30,000 soldiers – a plan said to be favoured by Defence Secretary Robert Gates and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm Mike Mullen

• Sending about 20,000 extra troops

• A fourth option added in the past week involves sending 10,000 to 15,000 more soldiers, according to US media reports

In weighing up the options, Mr Obama is also preoccupied with how long it would take to see results and be able to withdraw, officials said. Gen McChrystal was said to be fuming about Mr Eikenberry’s intervention.

But a statement issued by the White House after Wednesday afternoon’s strategy meeting appeared to reflect some of the envoy’s concerns. “The president believes we need to make clear to the Afghan government that our commitment is not open ended,” it said. “After years of substantial investments by the American people, governance in Afghanistan must improve in a reasonable period of time.”

Kabul hits back

The Obama administration is also known to have concerns about the reliability of the government of President Karzai, who was last week declared winner of August’s widely criticised presidential election. Speaking on a visit to the Philippines, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration had raised the issues of corruption and poor governance with President Karzai.

“I think the corruption issue really goes to the heart of whether the people of Afghanistan feel that the government is on their side, is working for them,” she told reporters. Mr Obama was due to begin a nine-day tour of Asia on Thursday. A spokesman for President Karzai has insisted the Afghan administration is “serious” about tackling corruption, AFP news agency reports.

Siamak Herawi also suggested that Western governments could play a bigger role in combating abuse of aid donations. “We want the international community to do more to eliminate corruption in spending aid money,” he was quoted as saying. “Corruption in the international aid money spending affects Afghanistan, Afghan people and their lives, and the Afghan administration.”

Israel’s Role In Destabilizing Pakistan

PakAlert

When waging war “by way of deception,” the motto of the Israeli Mossad, well-timed crises play a critical agenda-setting role by displacing facts with what a target population can be deceived to believe. Thus the force-multiplier effect when staged crises are reinforced with pre-staged intelligence. In combination, the two often prove persuasive.

That duplicity was on display when U.S. lawmakers were induced to invade Iraq in response to the mass murder of 9-11. That crisis alone, however, was insufficient. Military mobilization required a “consensus” belief in Iraqi WMD, Iraqi ties to Al Qaeda, Iraqi mobile biological weapons, Iraqi meetings in Prague, and so forth. Though all were false, those “facts” proved sufficient to induce an invasion of Iraq.

Such agent provocateur operations typically include collateral incidents as pre-staging for the intended main event. Ongoing incidents suggest a follow-on operation is underway. Recent history suggests we’ll see an orgy of evidence that plausibly indicts a pre-staged Evil Doer. Though Iran is an obvious candidate, Pakistan is also a possibility where outside forces have been destabilizing this nuclear Islamic nation with a series of violent incidents.

The Indo-Israel Alliance

December 2007 saw the murder of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Mark Siegel, her Ashkenazim biographer and lobbyist, assured U.S. diplomats that her return was “the only possible way that we could guarantee stability and keep the presidency of Musharraf intact.”

President Pervez Musharraf had announced that resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict was essential to the resolution of conflicts in Iraq and neighboring Afghanistan. That comment made him a target for Tel Aviv.

During Bhutto’s two terms as prime minister, Pakistani support for the Taliban—then celebrated as the freedom-fighting Mujahadin—enabled her to wield influence in Afghanistan while also catalyzing conflicts in Kashmir. By fueling tension with India, she also fueled an Indo-Israel alliance as Tel Aviv provided New Delhi an emergency shipment of artillery shells during a conflict over the Kirpal region of Kashmir.

In January 2009, Israel delivered to India the first of three Phalcon Airborne Warning & Control Systems (AWACS) shifting the balance of conventional weapons in the region. That sale confirmed what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier announced: “Our ties with India don’t have any limitation….” That became apparent in April when Israel signed a $1.1 billion agreement to provide India an advanced tactical air defense system developed by Raytheon, a U.S. defense contractor.

In August 2008, Ashkenazim General David Kezerashvili returned to Georgia from Tel Aviv to lead an assault on separatists in South Ossetia with the support of Israeli arms and training. That crisis ignited Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Russia, key members of the Quartet (along with the EU and the UN) pledged to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.

More Game Theory Warfare?

Bhutto’s murder ensured a crisis that replaced Musharaff with Asif Ali Zardari, her notoriously corrupt husband. By Washington’s alliance with Zardari, the U.S. could be portrayed as extending its corrupting influence in the region.

On August 7, 2008, the Zadari-led ruling coalition called for a no-confidence vote in Parliament against Musharraf just as he was departing for the Summer Olympics in Beijing. On August 8, heavy fighting erupted overnight in South Ossetia. As with many of the recent incidents in Pakistan, this violent event involved armed separatists.

But for pro-Israeli influence inside the U.S. government, would our State Department have installed in office the corrupt Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, leading to record-level poppy production? Is the heroin epidemic presently eroding Russian society traceable to Israel’s infamous game theory war-planners? [See “How Israel Wages Game Theory Warfare” and “Israel and 9-11” .]

In late November 2008, a terrorist attack in Mumbai, India’s financial center, renewed fears of nuclear tension between India and Pakistan. When the attackers struck a hostel managed by Chabad Lubavitch, an ultra-orthodox Jewish sect from New York, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni announced from Tel Aviv: “Our world is under attack.” By early December, Israeli journalists urged that we “fortify the security of Jewish institutions worldwide.”

Soon after “India’s 9-11” was found to include operatives from Pakistan’s western tribal region, Zardari announced an agreement with the Taliban to allow Sharia law to govern a swath of the North West Frontier Province where Al Qaeda members reportedly reside.

Pakistani cooperation with “Islamic extremists” created the impression of enhanced insecurity and vulnerability for the U.S. and its allies. That perceived threat was marketed by mainstream media as proof of the perils of “militant Islam.”

With the Taliban and Al Qaeda portrayed as operating freely in a nuclear-armed Islamic state, Tel Aviv gained traction for its claim that a nuclear Tehran posed an “existential threat” to the Jewish state. Meanwhile Israel’s election of an ultra-nationalist/ultra-orthodox coalition further delayed resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

More delay is destined to evoke more extremism and gain more traction for those marketing the “global war on terrorism.” Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni argued after the assault in Mumbai: “Israel, India and the rest of the free world are positioned in the forefront of the battle against terrorists and extremism.”

In announcing that list, Islamabad was indicted by its exclusion even though Pakistan is dominantly Sunni and, unlike Iran’s Shi’a , abhors theocratic rule. The fact patterns suggest that Pakistan, not India, was the target of the murderous terrorism in Mumbai.

Advised by legions of Ashkenazim, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent mission to Islamabad was a diplomatic disaster. Abrasive and arrogant, America’s top diplomat reinforced Pakistani concerns that it is surrounded by hostile forces and that the nation is being set up to fail by Jewish nationalist advisers to a nation it considered an ally.

In a climate of heightened tensions, Clinton undermined U.S. interests, boosted the Israeli case for a global war on “Islamo-fascism” and lent credence to the Clash of Civilizations.

Destabilization as a Prequel to Domination

As Afghanistan and Pakistan join other nations being destabilized by outside forces, key questions must be answered:

Was India’s 9-11 a form of geopolitical misdirection meant to serve both the tactical goals of Muslim extremists and the strategic goals of Jewish nationalists? Who benefits—within Pakistan—from humiliation at the hands of India and the U.S.?

With Bhutto’s murder and Musharraf’s departure, the crisis in Mumbai drew Pakistani forces to the Indian border and away from the western tribal region. Was that the geostrategic goal of these well-timed crises? What role, if any, did Israel play?

Is delay in ending the occupation of Palestine part of an agent provocateur strategy? Was the latest assault on Gaza part of this strategy?

Each of these crises incrementally advanced the expansionist agenda of Colonial Zionists. Do these collateral incidents trace their origin to a common source? Is that source again using serial events to pre-stage a main event?

The public has an intuitive grasp of the source of this oft-recurring behavior. An October 2003 poll of 7,500 respondents in member nations of the European Union found that Israel was considered the greatest threat to world peace.

Is terrorism limited to “Islamo-fascists”? Are mass murders also deployed—from the shadows—as a strategy of geopolitical manipulation by those who Ashkenazim philosopher Hannah Arendt described as “Jewish fascists”?

Author, educator, attorney, merchant banker and adviser to policy-makers worldwide and U.S. Veteran

Jeff was counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance (1980-87) working for Democrat Russell Long, son of Louisiana Governor and U.S. Senator Huey P. Long. Specialist in employee benefits law—pensions, 401(k) plans, stock options, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), et.al. Tax-qualified employee benefit plans accounted for $17 trillion in assets (April 2007) and more than half the funds in the hands of institutional investors. As of 2007, ESOPs were in place in 11,500 firms nationwide, covering 10% of the U.S. workforce and holding $800 billion in assets. Law practice w/ former Senators Russell Long, Democrat of Louisiana and Paul Laxalt, Republican of Nevada, chairman of Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaigns.

PAFs lethal potency–150 FC-20s, 250 JF-17 Thunders & 75 F-16s

By: RupeeNews | Moin Ansari

The Pakistan Air Force has unveiled plans to purchase, build and fly more than 150 J-10 planes, one the finest flying birds in the Chinese inventory. This acquision (which includes shared development, improvement in design, and local manufacting in Pakistan) will add unprecedented fire power to the PAF which is continueing to build, and export the JF-17 Thunders. Islamabad plans to build more than 500 JF-17 Thunders and keep at least 250 of these for its own use.

Some versions of the redesigned J-10s will take off in 2009, however the official flight date for the Pakistani FC-20s is 2015, but in actuality the Pakistanis are way ahead on the schedule and working beyond the J-10 redesigns. The PAF is looking beyond the JF-17 thunders and the J-10s. The design for the next generation of Pakistani aircraft has already begun. The Chinese J-10s are ready for export now. The rediesgn and upgrade of the FC-20s will take about five more years. Here is a report by Defense Industry Daily, a very respectable news source on defense equipment.

Pakistani FC-20s–improved and redesigned versions of J-10s made per Pakistani specifications–will be manufactured in Pakistan: In November 2009, a long-rumored deal was announced for China’s Jian-10/ FC-20 4+ generation fighter, whose overall performance compares well with the F-16C/D Block 52 aircraft that Pakistan has ordered from the United States.

Pakistan and China have been cooperating for a number of years on the JF-17/ FC-1 Thunder, a low-medium performance, low-cost aircraft that has attracted interest and orders from a number of 3rd World air forces. In November 2009, a long-rumored deal was announced for China’s Jian-10/ FC-20 4+ generation fighter, whose overall performance compares well with the F-16C/D Block 52 aircraft that Pakistan has ordered from the United States.

The J-10 has been reported as a derivative of the 1980s Israeli Lavi project, and reportedly incorporates an Israeli fly-by-wire control base that was transferred in the project’s early years. The change in relations that followed the Tienanmen Square massacre hurt the J-10 project badly, however, forcing the replacement of planned Western avionics and engines with Chinese and Russian equipment. The required redesign was very extensive, affected all areas of the airframe, and took over a decade, amounting to the development of a new aircraft. The first operational J-10 unit entered service with the PLAAF in July 2004.

China has reportedly ordered 100 J-10s to date. The initial Pakistani order is for 2 squadrons, but could expand as technical cooperation and orders increase. The $1+ billion sale represents the J-10’s first export order… but almost certainly not its last.

Chinese J-10
(click to view full)

Nov 11/09: Widespread reports surface that Pakistan has signed a $1.4 billion contract for 36 of CATIC’s Jian-10 fighters, which will be known as FC-20 in Pakistan. The deal is described as a preliminary agreement, and there are reports that Pakistan may eventually be interested in acquiring up to 150 of these aircraft. Retired Pakistani general Abdul Qayyum is qoted as saying that:

“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 defence capability is growing rapidly.”

The UK’s Financial Times echoes this theme, noting that the $21.7 billion Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) group is rapidly emerging as a big military goods exporter. The group is also involved in China’s civilian aircraft program, and gives only total revenue figures, but the Financial Times quotes industry sources who believe a recent remerger of 2 split-out groups late in 2008 was aimed at creating a bigger and internationally competitive player.

It is not clear whether Pakistan’s FC-20s will carry Russian Salyut AL-31FN turbofans (17,130/ 27,557 pounds dry/afterburner thrust) that are similar to the engines in many SU-27 family aircraft, or the larger Chinese WS-10A derivative (reportedly a lesser 16,523/ 24,729 pounds dry/afterburner thrust) developed by China’s AVIC Aviation Engine Institute and Shenyang Liming Aero-Engine Group. Pakistan’s Daily Times |IBN Live | Press Trust of India | Times of India | UK Financial Times.

Pakistani FC-20s improved the J-10B: Nov 11/09: Widespread reports surface that Pakistan has signed a $1.4 billion contract for 36 of CATIC’s Jian-10 fighters, which will be known as FC-20 in Pakistan. The deal is described as a preliminary agreement, and there are reports that Pakistan may eventually be interested in acquiring up to 150 of these aircraft. Retired Pakistani general Abdul Qayyum is qoted as saying that:

March 7/09: The Associated Press of Pakistan reports that a contract for 42 co-produced JF-17/ FC-1 fighters has been signed in Islamabad by China’s CATIC and the Pakistani Air Force, financed by “seller’s credit.” Production capacity is listed at 15 aircraft in the first year, rising to 30 aircraft per year thereafter. Pakistan has been flying 8 aircraft to work out tactics, techniques, and procedures, and expects to stand up the first JF-17 squadron before the end of 2009. The aircraft will be based at Peshawar, alongside existing Chinese-made Q-5/A-5C “Fantan” fighters that are a hugely modified Chinese derivative of the MiG-19, and their accompanying JJ-6/FT-6 MiG-19 trainers.

The article adds a quote from Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mehmood Ahmed. He reiterates that cooperation on China’s canard-winged J-10/FC-20 is also progressing, with first deliveries to Pakistan expected in 2014-15. CATIC’s President MA Zhiping reportedly added that the first FC-20 aircraft built under that agreement would fly in 2009. APP | Pakistan’s The News.

March 29/07: Pakistan’s The News International references an interview that Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mehmood Ahmed gves to Jane’s:

“On other important projects with China, the Pakistani air chief also revealed that Pakistan is well advanced in negotiations with China on the possible acquisition of up to 40 J-10 fighters which are the most advanced fighter aircrafts so far produced by China. Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf was given a detailed briefing on the J-10 during his last visit to China.

“We are serious in our discussions and, as air chief, I look forward to getting this programme (of the J-10) to a stage where we can contract this. I am looking at two squadrons of aircraft, anywhere between 32 and 40 platforms,” said the Air chief.”Defense Industry Daily

The Pakistan Airforce has become an essential ingredient in the design and manufacture of Chinese aircraft. The Sino-Pakistani symbiosis is developing some of the best planes anywhere–at a fraction of the cost. The original metallurgy was Chinese, but now the manufacturing expertise developed in Kanbra and Sargodha provide valuable feedback to Beijing about the viability of the redesign. The PAF places tremendous pressure on the PLA Airforce on upgrading the aircraft to world class standards. The basic designs of the aircraft are taken from Russian prototypes, but the avionics, cockpits, and aerodynamics are provided by the PAF to the PLA Airforce. The joint ventures assist both countries in producing world class aircraft in record time.

 

In December 2008, rumors were rife of the J-10’s latest incarnation, the J-10B, had taken off for the first time. Now in April 2009, we see the initial leak of images for this plane. The J-10B appears as the next iteration of China’s vaunted 4th Generation fighter and looks to take the J-10 to the 4.5 Generation level.Grande Strategy

Why did Pakistan refuse the F-16s? There are three reasons for this location, location and location. The J-10s come with TOT (transfer of technology) while the F-16s come with stringent rules and regulations. The earthquake in Azad Kashmir allowed Pakistan a prefect opportunity to dump the F-16s and place an order for the J-10s also known as the FC-20s. Now, the time is near for receiving the FC-20s.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has shown a great deal of interest in the J-10 project as a possible substitute for Western combat aircraft for its high end requirements. The PAF, however, wanted a more modern version. Just as the FC-1s (and before the FC-1, the F-7s) were significantly upgraded due to the PAF’s push for improvements, the J-10 appears to be going through a similar phase. The reason for this is that the PAF has a far closer view of Western technologies and trends and thus can provide deeper insight than more insulated Chinese expertise. The J-10B in all likelihood has had major input from the PAF and is the FC-20 that the PAF has ordered. Grande Strategy

Is there a difference between the J-10s and the FC-20s. There is a world of difference. The Pakistan Airforce is one of the few Airforces in the world that flies Chinese and US equipment. The PAF has a lot of experience with F-86s Sabres, F-104s, and of course the F-16s. The Chinese have neither the experience nor the US equipment. Therefore it is very important for the PLA Airforce to partner with the PAF in designing and upgrading Russian designs. The PAF has been instrumental in helping the Chinese improve the basic deisgn of the FC-10s which emerged as the JF-17 Thunder. The PAFs role in improve the J-10s is recognized by the Chinese. The FC-20 is a vastly superior plane than the original J-10.

Chinese experts were observed giving exhaustive information on the J-10A to military delegations from Angola, Nigeria and Venezuela at the air show. Venezuela seemed most interested in the aircraft.

The first foreign buyer of the J-10A will be Pakistan, a source from the Chinese aviation industry said. In March, Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshall Tanvir MehmoodAhmed confirmed that a deal with China had been reached, and the aircraft would be delivered in 2014 and 2015. The version for Pakistan will be called the FC-20. UPI Asia. (Andrei Chang is editor-in-chief of Kanwa Defense Review Monthly, registered in Toronto, Canada. John Wu is a reporter for the same magazine.)

Pakistan used the earthquake as the perfect opportunity to gently turn down the offer of 60 F-16s (block 50) to Pakistan and reduced the number of American planes to be purchased. The Pakistanis then further diversified the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). In Pakistani minds, the US is an unreliable arms supplier. Pakistan has suffered many times by American sanctions. President Musharraf and PAF head was invited to China to evaluate China’s latest toy, at the time, the J-10.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has shown a great deal of interest in the J-10 project as a possible substitute for Western combat aircraft for its high end requirements. The PAF, however, wanted a more modern version. Just as the FC-1s (and before the FC-1, the F-7s) were significantly upgraded due to the PAF’s push for improvements, the J-10 appears to be going through a similar phase. The reason for this is that the PAFhas a far closer view of Western technologies and trends and thus can provide deeper insight than more insulated Chinese expertise. The J-10B in all likelihood has had major input from the PAF and is the FC-20 that the PAF has ordered. Grande Strategy

Pakistan is in midst of building about 500 JF-17 Thunder fighters, probably the biggest build up of planes in the history of the world. This is one of the greatest achievements of the Pakistani government in the past 8 years. This project removes the Pakistani defense from the shackles of foreign government. One can argue about the comparison with 4thgeneration American state-of-the-art planes, but this much is clear—it was designed for Pakistan, and is being produced in Pakistan. Serious plans are underway to upgrade the plane to new levels.HongKong, China — China is aiming at a substantial share of the international market for third-generation fighter aircraft, with a particular eye on oil-rich third-world countries as part of its arms-for-oil strategy. This was evidenced by the high-profile display of its J-10A fighter at the 2008 Zhuhai Air Show last November.

China did have its own indigenous engine on display at the show, the Taihangturbofan engine, with a thrust power of 13,200 kilograms – although some experts say it is only 12,800 kilograms. The Taihang’s exterior design and modular structure, as well as the processing and polishing technologies of the core machine and engine blades, seem to be an improvement over China’s previous aviation engines, but it is still far behind similar systems from Russia and Western countries.

Pakistan, on the other hand, is not a traditional client of Russian aircraft. Therefore Russia allowed its engines to be used on the JF-17 fighters China is developing with Pakistan. The same arrangement may therefore hold for the J-10A. UPI Asia

India, which according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is supposed to be a friend of Pakistan and not an “enemy” has been meddling with the Chinese and the Russian deals on aircraft exports. Delhi unsuccessfully tried to halt the export of the Russian engines to Pakistan when it was manufacturing the JF-17 Thunders. Delhi failed to convince Moscow and Pakistan got the Russian engines. There is a Pakistani plan to upgrade the JF-17 Thunders with Chinese made engines ultimately manufactured in Pakistan.

The J-10B incorporates a new small ECM housing on the vertical stabilizer and this stabilizer also appears to be longer and ending in a “shark-fin”. The ECM housing is similar to the housing on the JF-17. The two ventral fins are also extended further and are larger irrespective of the shark-fin. The aerodynamic refinements of the longer vertical stabilizer and the ventral fins appear to be a result of the DSI intakes which create greater lateral forces on the aircraft.

The wide angle HUD featured on the J-11Bs seem to have also appeared on the J-10B. While it cannot be confirmed, it appears that the cockpit itself has been redesigned extensively. Other than the new ECM housing on the vertical stabilizer, new MAWs appear on the tail bump. Just below these, curious breaks appear on the fuselage that some observers are referring to as possible formation lights “slime lights”, but expert opinion from a Lockheed Martin source suggest that they are FLIR sensors. A redesigned satellite communication unit appears right behind the cockpit.

A retractable refueling probe is likely, given the development of the J-10 thus far, and is possibly located on the port side, not visible in the latest photographs. The photographs also suggest new under-wing pylons. These appear to be strengthened for a variety of possible uses, ranging from larger drop tanks to ASMs.

The engine is likely to be either a redesigned WS-10A (B?) or possibly the WS-15, a new generation engine currently in advanced development. This would not only have higher thrust than the AL-31s, but also feature TVCs, giving the J-10Bs vaunted agility an even greater boost. The actual engine on the aircraft presently on the released pictures, is the AL-31. Grande Strategy

Both China and Pakistan want to build the FC-20s with Chinese Engines and Pakistani technology on license from Europe. Thus the upgraded FC-20 will truly be a different plane than the original J-10.

The J-10A is currently equipped with Russian-made AL-31F aviation engines. It is unclear whether Russia will permit China to install these engines on its aircraft and then export them to Pakistan. Such a move would have not only economic but also political repercussions, considering that Pakistan’s rival, India, is a major purchaser of Russian arms.

For this reason, the export version of the J-10A fighter is still under design. Both the engine and the weapon systems on board will be different from the domestic version, according to the source from the Chinese aviation industry.UPI Asia.

India’s unnecessary interference in the JF-17 Thunder deal did not delay the design to manufacture of the Thunders. The first squadron of the Thunders was recently placed in combat operations in Peshawar Air base. While Bharat is purchasing $10 Billion worth of airplanes because it cannot produce its own, the Pakistanis are now in the forefront of aircraft development.

India has been using the Russian AL-31FP engine extensively in its fighter aircraft. If China exports large numbers of J-10P/FC-20 fighters outfitted withRussian engines to Pakistan, India will be much more concerned over this deal than with China’s earlier export of JF-17 2.5-generation fighters to Pakistan. As a third-generation combat aircraft, the J-10A will pose a real threat to the Indian Air Force.

With this concern, India sent a strong delegation to the Zhuhai Air Show to expand its contacts with the Chinese, led by its air chief of staff. The Indian Air Force’s aerobatics demonstration team also put on a performance at this event. UPI Asia

Curiosity killed the cat. The Bharati generals are curious about what Pakistan has been able to do with a basic Chinese design, and which to their chagrinthey have been unable to do with Russian equipment. Bharat’s LCA and Tejas fighters have been in development for the past two decades with no end in sight while the JF-17 Thunders have already been operationalized with a squadron ready for combat in Peshawar. 450 more are on the way.

At the Singapore Air Show earlier last year, Indian Air Chief Marshall Fali Homi Major had already carefully inspected the simulation cockpit of the JF-17, which is being jointly developed by China and Pakistan. His trip to Zhuhai was to examine the J-10A/ FC-20 fighter. UPI Asia

The Russian-Indian arms relationship has been in the doldrums, the victim of geopolitical wrangling as well as Russian reluctance to transfer technology to Delhi. The case of the Russian Aircraft Career is a classic lesson in a relationship that has gone sour. The Russians keep escalating the price of the carrier, the Indians keep complaining and there is no agreement on the delivery of the Admiral G.

In contrast to India’s increased interest in engaging with China, Russia sent a much smaller delegation than usual to Zhuhai. For the first time, Russia did not exhibit any combat aircraft or radar systems at the air show. Some representatives of Russian enterprises even cancelled their planned trips to China at the last minute.

Since China has achieved technological independence it does not bank on Russian planes or technology.

The J-10B incorporates a new small ECM housing on the vertical stabilizer and this stabilizer also appears to be longer and ending in a “shark-fin”. The ECM housing is similar to the housing on the JF-17. The two ventral fins are also extended further and are larger irrespective of the shark-fin. The aerodynamic refinements of the longer vertical stabilizer and the ventral fins appear to be a result of the DSI intakes which create greater lateral forces on the aircraft.

The wide angle HUD featured on the J-11Bs seem to have also appeared on the J-10B. While it cannot be confirmed, it appears that the cockpit itself has been redesigned extensively. Other than the new ECM housing on the vertical stabilizer, new MAWs appear on the tail bump. Just below these, curious breaks appear on the fuselage that some observers are referring to as possible formation lights “slime lights”, but expert opinion from a Lockheed Martin source suggest that they are FLIR sensors. A redesigned satellite communication unit appears right behind the cockpit.

A retractable refueling probe is likely, given the development of the J-10 thus far, and is possibly located on the port side, not visible in the latest photographs. The photographs also suggest new under-wing pylons. These appear to be strengthened for a variety of possible uses, ranging from larger drop tanks to ASMs.

The engine is likely to be either a redesigned WS-10A (B?) or possibly the WS-15, a new generation engine currently in advanced development. This would not only have higher thrust than the AL-31s, but also feature TVCs, giving the J-10Bs vaunted agility an even greater boost. The actual engine on the aircraft presently on the released pictures, is the AL-31.

Like the J-10S, a J-10BS is also eventually likely. This would be an advanced trainer with the 360 degree view similar to the J-10S. EW/Wild Weasel variants could also eventually be possible.Grande Strategy

Now reports are surfacing that China has been able to duplicate the SU-27, the most lethal bird in the air. The Chinese version of the Sukhoi SU-27 (Flanker) is now called the J-11. The Su-30MKI (another derivative of the SU-27), a heavy-class fighter, with the F-16C Block 50, F-16C Block 60, and F-18E/F aircraft is largely theoretical. The American Fighters belong to conceptually different fighter classes and have their own, preferential areas of combat employment. The F-18E/F version, owing to the F/A-18 basic design, features a more pronounced strike-mission capability, while in terms of dimensions, this aircraft is close to the Russian fighter.The basic price for the J-10A is about US$29.3 million, according to the Chinese source. Considering that China aims to sell this fighter primarily to oil-producing countries – and is prepared to trade it for oil and other natural resources – it could be an attractive option for such countries.

A general assessment of the export version of the J-10A fighter can concludethat its engine has less thrust than the F-16 Block 52, while its radar system is more or less on a par with the Zhuk-ME multifunction radar on the Russian MiG-28 SMT. This is because Russia’s Phazotron Design Bureau exported to China three sets of its Zemchung multiroleradar systems after 2001, allowing China to come up with its own version of the Zhuk-ME radar. This radar has a detection range of 120 kilometers for 5m2 aerial targets and can attack four targets in the air simultaneously.

 

Pakistan In Chinese J-10 Fighter Jet Deal

By: PKKH

Farhan Bokhari, Islamabad

China has agreed to sell Pakistan at least 36 advanced fighter jets in a deal worth as much as $1.4bn, according to Pakistani and western officials.

Beijing will supply two squadrons of the J-10 fighter jet in a preliminary agreement that could lead to more sales, said a Pakistani official. The official said Pakistan might buy “larger numbers” of the multi-role aircraft in the future, but dismissed reports that Islamabad had signed a deal to purchase as many as 150 of the fighter jets.

 

Defence experts described the agreement with China as a landmark event in Pakistan’s defence relationship with the military power. China’s transition from a manufacturer of low-fighters to more advanced jets comparable to some western models is seen as evidence of Beijing’s increasing strategic clout in Asia.

“China is developing a real capacity to produce and export its arms. At one point, the Chinese were dependent on imported Russian technology, but obviously China has advanced significantly beyond those days,” said Marika Vicziany, Professor of Asian studies at Monash University in Melbourne.

“This agreement should not simply be seen in the narrow context of Pakistan’s relations with China,” said Abdul Qayyum, a retired Pakistani general.

“There is a wider dimension. By sharing its advanced technology with Pakistan, China is … also saying to the world that its defence capability is growing rapidly.”

China has supplied Pakistan with fighter jets for more than three decades. But Beijing has seldom supplied Pakistan’s air force with advanced fighter aircraft. Islamabad turned to France for Mirage fighter jets in the 1970s and to the US for F-16s in the 1980s.

Pakistan has a fleet of 45 F-16s built by Lockheed Martin. The Pakistani air force is using the fighter jet in its campaign against militants in South Waziristan.

The US has agreed to sell Islamabad another 18 new F-16s and Pakistani officials also expected the US to supply about a dozen older versions of the aircraft.

Over the past decade, China and Pakistan have collaborated on building their first jointly produced advanced fighter jet, known as the JF-17, or “Thunder”. Pakistan is expected to roll out the first domestically built version of the Thunder within weeks.

Pakistan’s air force plans to purchase at least 250 of the Thunder fighters over the next four to five years.

Experts see the new Pakistani focus on China as evidence that Beijing is trying to expand its military power.

“Countries like Iran and possibly some of the Middle Eastern countries would be keen to deal with China if they can find technology which is comparable to the west,” said one western official in Islamabad.

“Pakistan will work as the laboratory to try out Chinese aircraft. If they work well with the Pakistani air force, others will follow.”

The Afghan intelligence [RAMA] is entirely under the influence of Indian intelligence [RAW]–President Pervez Musharaf

By: RupeeNews

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has alleged Afghanistan is under influence of Indian intelligence agencies and he has documentary evidence against it.

“Afghan intelligence, Afghan President, Afghan Government. Don’t talk of them. I know what they do. They are, by design, they mislead the world. They talk against Pakistan, because they are under the influence of Indian intelligence, all of them,” Musharraf told reporters on Sunday. “The Afghan intelligence is entirely under the influence of Indian intelligence. We know that,” Musharraf said when asked that Taliban leader Mullah Omar is in the Quetta city of Pakistan.

14 Bharati “Consulates” are RAW terror centers spreading sabotage across the border in Pakistan. ‘Increasing Indian influence in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions and encourage Pakistani countermeasures in Afghanistan or India.’ (Gen Stanley McChrystal). Central Asia Tajikistan Pakistan: RAW trail of terror from Tajik bases to Indian Consulates in Afghanistan to targets in Pakistan. “They (the Indians) have to justify their interest. They do not share a border with Afghanistan, whereas we do. So the level of engagement has to be commensurate with that,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in an extensive interview with The Los Angeles Times, when asked about India’s building up its commercial and political presence in Afghanistan.

“Whatever I am saying, I am not saying it here for the first time. I have given documentary evidence of all this to everyone. There is the documentary evidence. And we know the involvement of Indian intelligence, in India, with their intelligence,” Musharraf, currently in London, charged. “I have given documentary evidence to everyone from top to bottom. Everyone knows it. And we have the documentary evidence,” the former Pakistan Army chief said. Musharraf denied reports and statements coming from the US leaders that ISI still has contacts with the terrorists. “They (ISI) will not support it (terrorists). That was not the government policy. That was not the military policy. However, there was ingress,” he said.

Central Asia Tajikistan Pakistan: RAW trail of terror from Tajik bases to Indian Consulates in Afghanistan to targets in Pakistan. “They (the Indians) have to justify their interest. They do not share a border with Afghanistan, whereas we do. So the level of engagement has to be commensurate with that,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in an extensive interview with The Los Angeles Times, when asked about India’s building up its commercial and political presence in Afghanistan.

RAW attack on Peshawar, Rawalpindi Wagah border using at least one Afghan who was captured alive. Pakistan has faced terror from Delhi for over three decades

Report on N-assets mischievous and absurd: Gen Majid

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Tariq Majid has dismissed as ‘absurd and plain mischievous’ a report by American journalist Seymour Hersh published in The New Yorker about alleged vulnerability of Pakistan’s nuclear assets and facilities.

He said Pakistan did not need any foreign help to guard its nuclear facilities because they were already well protected.

On Sunday, Foreign Office rejected the report and said it amounted to ‘nothing more than a concoction to tarnish the image of Pakistan and create misgivings among its people’.

General Tariq Majid said in a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations: ‘We have operationalised a very effective nuclear security regime which incorporates very stringent custodial and access controls’.

The statement said: ‘As overall custodian of the development of our strategic programme, I reiterate in very unambiguous terms that there is absolutely no question of sharing or allowing any foreign individual, entity or a state, any access to sensitive information about our nuclear assets. Our engagement with other countries through the International Atomic Energy Agency or bilaterally is to learn more about best practices for security of such assets and are based on two clearly spelt-out red lines —non intrusiveness and our right to pick and choose.’

Gen Majid added: ‘Also, our security apparatus has the capacity and is fully geared to meet all conceivable challenges, therefore we do not need to negotiate with any other country to physically augment our security forces, which in any case, we believe, are more capable than their forces.’

Commenting on the question raised through an article headlined ‘Pakistan nuclear security plan: How much does US really know?’, Gen Majid said: ‘Only as much as they can guess and nothing more’.

Another senior security official said there should be no doubt about the security of nuclear assets. ‘Our nuclear assets are not lying in a showcase that somebody will come and take it away.’

He said the foolproof mechanism was capable of thwarting any internal or external threat to the nuclear assets.

AFP adds: Larry Schwartz, a spokesman at the US embassy in Islamabad, said on Sunday that ‘the United States had no intention to seize Pakistani nuclear weapons or material.

‘Pakistan is a key ally in our common effort to fight violent extremists and foster regional security.’

Courtesy – DAWN NEWS