As most of you are probably aware by now, last week US helicopter gunships crossed the border into Pakistan and attacked an outpost of the Pakistan army, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers, and wounding 13 more. There can be little doubt that this was a deliberate attack, ordered and approved at the highest levels of the Obama administration. It is virtually certain that the President himself approved the attack.
How do we know this? Well, consider the fact that as soon as the attack started, the Pakistanis radioed NATO command, and told them that their helicopters were attacking an outpost of the Pakistan army. The gunships then broke off their attack and left. But, fifteen minutes later, they returned to renew the attack. How do you explain that as an accident?
This was done after a blunt warning from the Chinese a few months ago, to the effect that any US attack on Pakistan could lead to war.
And a similar blunt warning from General Hamid Gul, former head of the ISI, (think Pakistan's CIA), in May of this year, as seen in the video below.
(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)
If you're short on time and patience, drag the slider to 10:00 and watch the last 2 minutes of the video.
Now, with regard to General Gul. As a former head of the ISI, there can be no doubt that he has bloody hands up to his armpits. I'm not suggesting for one moment that he is an angel, or a nice guy. But I cannot help but respect him for his strategic acuity, and most of all for his willingness to state the blunt truth. After all, dear reader, this was the man who had the courage to say openly that the "War on Terror" was nonsense, and entirely a product of George Bush's imagination.
So, having said all that, the obvious remaining question is, what the fuck is going on is Washington? Have they succumbed to the Bush-era thinking that "we are an empire now; we create our own reality"? Are they utterly stark, raving insane? Or are they pursuing a dark agenda which has not yet become apparent, even to those of us who attempt to sift through the mega-tons of media bullshit, and follow events in the world outside our borders?
In all truth, dear reader, I do not have a clue. Your guess is as good as mine.
Showing posts with label pakistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pakistan. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Did The US Assassinate Burhanuddin Rabbani
Did The US Assassinate Burhanuddin Rabbani?
Somebody killed the man, and the Taliban are adamantly denying any involvement. Personally, I have long suspected that the US has been behind many of the bombings and killings which are commonly blamed on the Taliban.
Let's ask ourselves, cui bono? Who profits from this?
First, as with anything in Afghanistan, one must look at tribal issues. Rabbani, a former President of Afghanistan, was not a Pashtun (from southern Afghanistan), but a Tajik, (from northern Afghanistan). Furthermore, he was one of the few Tajik with enough prestige on both sides to act as a respected broker for talks between the government and the freedom fighters. By all reports, Rabbani was doing just this.
The Karzai government gains nothing from his death; they desperately want a negotiated solution, preferably one which excludes the USA.
The Taliban gain nothing from his death; they may or may not be serious about negotiating, (remember the "peace talks" between the US and North Vietnam?), but merely by forcing the government to negotiate with them, they gain immense prestige. So why on earth would the Taliban kill Rabbani, knowing that this would harm their credibility with the Afghan people?
So who profits? The US government does, Haliburton does, the oil companies do. They profit by scuttling any serious attempt to negotiate a solution in Afghanistan, thereby justifying their continued occupation of Afghanistan. And make no mistake, dear reader, the corporations are reaping immense profits from the occupation.
These are only my own thoughts and opinions, of course. And what do I know? Nasty, suspicious-minded Possum, bad boy, bad!
Open Salon readers can view the video here
Somebody killed the man, and the Taliban are adamantly denying any involvement. Personally, I have long suspected that the US has been behind many of the bombings and killings which are commonly blamed on the Taliban.
Let's ask ourselves, cui bono? Who profits from this?
First, as with anything in Afghanistan, one must look at tribal issues. Rabbani, a former President of Afghanistan, was not a Pashtun (from southern Afghanistan), but a Tajik, (from northern Afghanistan). Furthermore, he was one of the few Tajik with enough prestige on both sides to act as a respected broker for talks between the government and the freedom fighters. By all reports, Rabbani was doing just this.
The Karzai government gains nothing from his death; they desperately want a negotiated solution, preferably one which excludes the USA.
The Taliban gain nothing from his death; they may or may not be serious about negotiating, (remember the "peace talks" between the US and North Vietnam?), but merely by forcing the government to negotiate with them, they gain immense prestige. So why on earth would the Taliban kill Rabbani, knowing that this would harm their credibility with the Afghan people?
So who profits? The US government does, Haliburton does, the oil companies do. They profit by scuttling any serious attempt to negotiate a solution in Afghanistan, thereby justifying their continued occupation of Afghanistan. And make no mistake, dear reader, the corporations are reaping immense profits from the occupation.
These are only my own thoughts and opinions, of course. And what do I know? Nasty, suspicious-minded Possum, bad boy, bad!
Open Salon readers can view the video here
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Bug Splat
They call it "bug splat", the splotch of blood, bones, and viscera that marks the site of a successful drone strike. To those manning the consoles in Nevada, it signifies "suspected militants" who have just been "neutralised"; to those on the ground, in most cases, it represents a family that has been shattered, a home destroyed.
So begins a new article on the drone war in Pakistan, by Muhammad Idrees Ahmad.
I do suggest you take the time to read this article. This is a watershed moment in history, I am convinced of that in an overall sense. And this is a very relevant subject.
Here's the gist of it - the USA has killed 2500 Pakistanis with drone strikes. Of that total, thirty-five were actual targets. The rest were all civilians.
Ouch.
Go read it, please.
So begins a new article on the drone war in Pakistan, by Muhammad Idrees Ahmad.
I do suggest you take the time to read this article. This is a watershed moment in history, I am convinced of that in an overall sense. And this is a very relevant subject.
Here's the gist of it - the USA has killed 2500 Pakistanis with drone strikes. Of that total, thirty-five were actual targets. The rest were all civilians.
Ouch.
Go read it, please.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Osama bin Bullshit
We'll learn more as time goes on, but for the record I call bullshit.
I'm one of those who believe that Osama bin Laden has been dead for a decade now.
But why the whole big psy-op in the first place? Yes, I've heard about the so-called DNA evidence, and I'm not impressed. It can be faked, like anything else.
This looks to me like a setup, and Peter King's comment about al Qaeda wanting to retaliate as soon as they can sends chills down my spine. Pray to whatever gods you believe in that this is not a setup for another 9/11-style false flag attack.
On a far more positive note, can we bring the troops home now?
I'm one of those who believe that Osama bin Laden has been dead for a decade now.
But why the whole big psy-op in the first place? Yes, I've heard about the so-called DNA evidence, and I'm not impressed. It can be faked, like anything else.
This looks to me like a setup, and Peter King's comment about al Qaeda wanting to retaliate as soon as they can sends chills down my spine. Pray to whatever gods you believe in that this is not a setup for another 9/11-style false flag attack.
On a far more positive note, can we bring the troops home now?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Pakistan Closes Supply Route to NATO Convoys
Over the past weekend, NATO helicopter gunships raided across the border into Pakistan, killing 3 Pakistani soldiers and unknown numbers of civilians.
NATO justification for this raid is vague and contradictory. On the one hand, NATO has claimed the doctrine of "hot pursuit". On the other hand, they have said the alleged fighters who were the alleged target of the raid were "preparing" to attack NATO units. As usual, government spokesmen seem untroubled by the internal contradictions of that explanation.
In apparent retaliation for this raid, Pakistan has closed a crucial supply route into Afghanistan. AJE is reporting that the Khyber Pass has been closed completely, with all NATO convoys turned back. The Khyber pass, famous or infamous to those who know the history of the region, is the main supply route through Pakistan into Afghanistan.
Far more ominous are the words of Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik in regard to the helicopter raid. Speaking of Pakistan's relationship with the USA, Malik said, "We shall have to see whether we are friends or we are enemies."
It is at moments like these, dear reader, that I question most severely the motives and even the sanity of those who lead our nation. Either they are raving insane, or they are completely out of touch with reality, or they are pursuing an entirely different agenda then the rest of us. A fourth possibility, and perhaps the most disturbing of all, is that our national leaders are just criminally incompetent.
Given Joe Biden's recent admonition that we should just "stop whining", I think I'd put my money on completely out of touch with reality. Though criminally incompetent remains a strong contender.
Story at Al Jazeera English
Story at the UK Telegraph
NATO justification for this raid is vague and contradictory. On the one hand, NATO has claimed the doctrine of "hot pursuit". On the other hand, they have said the alleged fighters who were the alleged target of the raid were "preparing" to attack NATO units. As usual, government spokesmen seem untroubled by the internal contradictions of that explanation.
In apparent retaliation for this raid, Pakistan has closed a crucial supply route into Afghanistan. AJE is reporting that the Khyber Pass has been closed completely, with all NATO convoys turned back. The Khyber pass, famous or infamous to those who know the history of the region, is the main supply route through Pakistan into Afghanistan.
Far more ominous are the words of Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik in regard to the helicopter raid. Speaking of Pakistan's relationship with the USA, Malik said, "We shall have to see whether we are friends or we are enemies."
It is at moments like these, dear reader, that I question most severely the motives and even the sanity of those who lead our nation. Either they are raving insane, or they are completely out of touch with reality, or they are pursuing an entirely different agenda then the rest of us. A fourth possibility, and perhaps the most disturbing of all, is that our national leaders are just criminally incompetent.
Given Joe Biden's recent admonition that we should just "stop whining", I think I'd put my money on completely out of touch with reality. Though criminally incompetent remains a strong contender.
Story at Al Jazeera English
Story at the UK Telegraph
Monday, September 6, 2010
Ugly Secret Behind Pakistan Floods
Zeina Khodr reports from Pakistan's Sindh province, (South-East corner of Pakistan), that there are ugly secrets behind the worst of the flooding in Sindh and Baluchistan provinces.
First, that the channel of the river Indus was greatly narrowed by illegal construction along the banks, where the rich and powerful had constructed not only large farms, but villas and palaces. (Obviously, a wider river channel can accommodate a far greater volume of water than a narrow channel, all other things being equal.)
Second, that these powerful individuals then deliberately breached the embankment on the right bank of the river, in order to spare their own properties along the left bank.
A word on this Right Bank, Left Bank business; this is reckoned as though one were facing downstream. Since the Indus flows southwards, the Right Bank is to the West, toward Baluchistan and the Iranian border, while the Left Bank is to the East.
As an aside, with all due respect to the good folks at Al Jazeera, the title of this video is rather misleading. The video is about the causes of the flood, not the relief efforts. While AJE's standards of journalism are generally excellent, one encounters grammatical errors in Al Jazeera English stories in print on a distressingly frequent basis, and I suspect this is another aspect of the same problem. They definitely need to hire a good proofreader.
First, that the channel of the river Indus was greatly narrowed by illegal construction along the banks, where the rich and powerful had constructed not only large farms, but villas and palaces. (Obviously, a wider river channel can accommodate a far greater volume of water than a narrow channel, all other things being equal.)
Second, that these powerful individuals then deliberately breached the embankment on the right bank of the river, in order to spare their own properties along the left bank.
A word on this Right Bank, Left Bank business; this is reckoned as though one were facing downstream. Since the Indus flows southwards, the Right Bank is to the West, toward Baluchistan and the Iranian border, while the Left Bank is to the East.
As an aside, with all due respect to the good folks at Al Jazeera, the title of this video is rather misleading. The video is about the causes of the flood, not the relief efforts. While AJE's standards of journalism are generally excellent, one encounters grammatical errors in Al Jazeera English stories in print on a distressingly frequent basis, and I suspect this is another aspect of the same problem. They definitely need to hire a good proofreader.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Cholera in Pakistan
I've said before that sometimes I hate being right.
In the second paragraph of my post on August 10th, I said that the situation in Pakistan was "ripe for an massive epidemic of cholera or worse".
Sure enough, today it was announced officially that cholera has begun.
AJE is obviously trying to keep it low-key, nobody wants to start a panic. You'll notice in this video they dance around the subject, using the generic term "disease", and describing all the symptoms, but only actually mentioning the word "cholera" once, at about 1:34
It doesn't take a genius to predict this, of course. Floods, inadequate sanitation, large numbers of dead bodies left unburied in wet conditions, these things produce cholera quite predictably and reliably. And cholera, dear readers, is one of those diseases which can spread through a vulnerable population with unbelievable rapidity. And 15 million Pakistanis have been displaced from their homes by these floods.
It is by no means inconceivable that the death toll from this could reach into the hundreds of thousands or even millions. Let us earnestly hope that I am utterly and completely wrong this time.
In the second paragraph of my post on August 10th, I said that the situation in Pakistan was "ripe for an massive epidemic of cholera or worse".
Sure enough, today it was announced officially that cholera has begun.
AJE is obviously trying to keep it low-key, nobody wants to start a panic. You'll notice in this video they dance around the subject, using the generic term "disease", and describing all the symptoms, but only actually mentioning the word "cholera" once, at about 1:34
It doesn't take a genius to predict this, of course. Floods, inadequate sanitation, large numbers of dead bodies left unburied in wet conditions, these things produce cholera quite predictably and reliably. And cholera, dear readers, is one of those diseases which can spread through a vulnerable population with unbelievable rapidity. And 15 million Pakistanis have been displaced from their homes by these floods.
It is by no means inconceivable that the death toll from this could reach into the hundreds of thousands or even millions. Let us earnestly hope that I am utterly and completely wrong this time.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Pakistan Goes From Bad To Worse
The plight of the 99ers here in the US remains grim, but the situation in Pakistan has gone beyond that.
Farhan Safdar is a volunteer working for Doctors Worldwide, the British medical relief organisation, in the Pakistani province of Nowshera. What he is carefully not saying in his blog is that the situation is ripe for a massive epidemic of cholera or worse. Contaminated water, unburied dead bodies, huge numbers of refugees crowded into camps with grossly inadequate sanitation facilities, these are a certain recipe for disaster.
The United Nations is issuing a call for "hundreds of millions" in emergency aid, according to an announcement yesterday from UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon. The UN has also said that the devastation from these floods is worse than the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan (see a pattern here yet?), or last year's earthquake in Haiti.
Landslides in the Swat Valley, in Pakistan's Northwest, have cut the region off completely from surface traffic. And torrential rains have made it very difficult for helicopters to fly.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Express Tribune is reporting that food prices have quadrupled overnight. With the UN reporting that 1.4 million acres of crops have been destroyed in the Punjab region of Pakistan alone. Note, however, that the UN statement does not specifically say food crops, and a great deal of cotton is grown in Southern Pakistan.
My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan, but I cannot help but wonder, where is the rest of the Islamic world? Where are the Saudis, with their trillions in oil money? They claim to the the ultimate arbiters of Islamic correctness, why have they not stepped forward to help their fellow Muslims? By all means let us assist Pakistan, but let the umma help as well.
Farhan Safdar is a volunteer working for Doctors Worldwide, the British medical relief organisation, in the Pakistani province of Nowshera. What he is carefully not saying in his blog is that the situation is ripe for a massive epidemic of cholera or worse. Contaminated water, unburied dead bodies, huge numbers of refugees crowded into camps with grossly inadequate sanitation facilities, these are a certain recipe for disaster.
The United Nations is issuing a call for "hundreds of millions" in emergency aid, according to an announcement yesterday from UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon. The UN has also said that the devastation from these floods is worse than the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan (see a pattern here yet?), or last year's earthquake in Haiti.
Landslides in the Swat Valley, in Pakistan's Northwest, have cut the region off completely from surface traffic. And torrential rains have made it very difficult for helicopters to fly.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Express Tribune is reporting that food prices have quadrupled overnight. With the UN reporting that 1.4 million acres of crops have been destroyed in the Punjab region of Pakistan alone. Note, however, that the UN statement does not specifically say food crops, and a great deal of cotton is grown in Southern Pakistan.
My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan, but I cannot help but wonder, where is the rest of the Islamic world? Where are the Saudis, with their trillions in oil money? They claim to the the ultimate arbiters of Islamic correctness, why have they not stepped forward to help their fellow Muslims? By all means let us assist Pakistan, but let the umma help as well.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Helping Pakistan More Important Than Helping Americans?
Pakistan is in trouble.
Not just the same old troubles it has had for years, but catastrophic flooding on top of all that. The rains began about 10 days ago, and at first the devastation was mostly in the North. The once-beautiful Swat Valley, scene of the Pakistani Army's last big offensive against the Taliban, has been smashed and broken.
At first, the flooding was described as the worst in 100 years. Now, with the original misery added to by a second torrential storm, and the havoc spreading into the entire South of the country, it is being called the worst flooding the region has ever known.
There are many videos available, but for visual impact, this report by Kamal Hyder of AJE is probably best.
The USA has been there to help from the very beginning, as witness this story from Armed Forces Press Service, dated August 3rd. Ten Million dollars in immediate aid with more to follow, 200,000 packaged meals conforming to Islamic dietary restrictions, bridges, water purification units, and untold amounts of other aid.
I agree with the decision to help the Pakistani people. Conscience demanded it of us, and I would not ever suggest that we should have failed to send the aid.
But let us contrast this immediate help with the treatment afforded the 99ers, American workers who have been out of work for long enough to exhaust all available UI benefits. Congress has done nothing for the 99ers. President Obama has done nothing for the 99ers. Congress, in fact, went home a week early in order to campaign for re-election. Without doing anything to help the 99ers survive.
The 99ers are US citizens, the Pakistanis are not.
The 99ers have paid US taxes all their working lives, the Pakistanis have not.
The 99ers will be voting in US elections this November, the Pakistanis will not.
So, I ask you, dear reader, why is it more important to help Pakistanis, than to help our own people? What logic justifies abandoning 4 million plus US workers, who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, whose lives have been smashed and broken so that greedy Wall Street bankers could earn a fatter bonus, who have worked hard and paid taxes all their lives, who voted and believed in the America to which we pledged our allegiance every morning in class, since we were little children?
What is America coming to? How have our so-called elected leaders managed to become so desperately out of touch with reality?
Why have the 99ers been abandoned?
Not just the same old troubles it has had for years, but catastrophic flooding on top of all that. The rains began about 10 days ago, and at first the devastation was mostly in the North. The once-beautiful Swat Valley, scene of the Pakistani Army's last big offensive against the Taliban, has been smashed and broken.
At first, the flooding was described as the worst in 100 years. Now, with the original misery added to by a second torrential storm, and the havoc spreading into the entire South of the country, it is being called the worst flooding the region has ever known.
There are many videos available, but for visual impact, this report by Kamal Hyder of AJE is probably best.
The USA has been there to help from the very beginning, as witness this story from Armed Forces Press Service, dated August 3rd. Ten Million dollars in immediate aid with more to follow, 200,000 packaged meals conforming to Islamic dietary restrictions, bridges, water purification units, and untold amounts of other aid.
I agree with the decision to help the Pakistani people. Conscience demanded it of us, and I would not ever suggest that we should have failed to send the aid.
But let us contrast this immediate help with the treatment afforded the 99ers, American workers who have been out of work for long enough to exhaust all available UI benefits. Congress has done nothing for the 99ers. President Obama has done nothing for the 99ers. Congress, in fact, went home a week early in order to campaign for re-election. Without doing anything to help the 99ers survive.
The 99ers are US citizens, the Pakistanis are not.
The 99ers have paid US taxes all their working lives, the Pakistanis have not.
The 99ers will be voting in US elections this November, the Pakistanis will not.
So, I ask you, dear reader, why is it more important to help Pakistanis, than to help our own people? What logic justifies abandoning 4 million plus US workers, who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, whose lives have been smashed and broken so that greedy Wall Street bankers could earn a fatter bonus, who have worked hard and paid taxes all their lives, who voted and believed in the America to which we pledged our allegiance every morning in class, since we were little children?
What is America coming to? How have our so-called elected leaders managed to become so desperately out of touch with reality?
Why have the 99ers been abandoned?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Wikileaks blows it wide open
Once again, Julian Assange and Wikileaks have revealed information which embarrasses and angers the powerful of the world. The Wikileaks site is linked at the right of the page, but as I write this their server is bogged-down rather badly by traffic.
What have they done? Well, they have posted online 90,000 leaked US military and intelligence documents from 2004 to 2010, relating to the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Let's get right to the Telegraph interview with Julian Assange himself -
And the Al Jazeera interview with retired Pakistani General Hamid Gul, former head of the ISI, implicated within some of these newly leaked documents in all manner of nefarious Taliban-related activities. The interviewer is Jane Dutton, a South African reporter who is usually quite mellow. In this interview she goes after General Gul quite aggressively at several points, yet he seems not at all disturbed by it, other than asking her to let him finish -
The part that made me sit up straight was hearing General Gul compare this incident to the false accusations against Iraq (WMD's, etc) used to justify the 2003 invasion of that country. He then went on to suggest that perhaps the USA was preparing to move against Pakistan militarily. Some of the more lurid scenarios General Gul painted were obvious exaggerations, but his suggestion that perhaps the US is building a case to justify seizing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is entirely credible.
If it seems to you, my friends, that the world has grown very strange, you are not alone in that perception.
(edit 1300hrs 072610)
And as long as I'm going crazy with the videos today, here is the TED interview with Julian Assange on Al Jazeera English -
What have they done? Well, they have posted online 90,000 leaked US military and intelligence documents from 2004 to 2010, relating to the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Let's get right to the Telegraph interview with Julian Assange himself -
And the Al Jazeera interview with retired Pakistani General Hamid Gul, former head of the ISI, implicated within some of these newly leaked documents in all manner of nefarious Taliban-related activities. The interviewer is Jane Dutton, a South African reporter who is usually quite mellow. In this interview she goes after General Gul quite aggressively at several points, yet he seems not at all disturbed by it, other than asking her to let him finish -
The part that made me sit up straight was hearing General Gul compare this incident to the false accusations against Iraq (WMD's, etc) used to justify the 2003 invasion of that country. He then went on to suggest that perhaps the USA was preparing to move against Pakistan militarily. Some of the more lurid scenarios General Gul painted were obvious exaggerations, but his suggestion that perhaps the US is building a case to justify seizing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is entirely credible.
If it seems to you, my friends, that the world has grown very strange, you are not alone in that perception.
(edit 1300hrs 072610)
And as long as I'm going crazy with the videos today, here is the TED interview with Julian Assange on Al Jazeera English -
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