Twirp : Terrorist Wahabi Islamic Republic Pakistan 2

Shambhu · 08-07-2008, 01:33 AM

âThey were very hot on the ISI,â said a member of the Pakistan delegation. âVery hot. When we asked them for more information, Bush laughed and said, âWhen we share information with your guys, the bad guys always run awayâ.â <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' />

Got the link via rajeev's blog
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle4449330.ece

Naresh · 08-07-2008, 02:35 PM

CDSs rise amid presidentâs impeachment fears

QUOTEAnalysts say the exchange rate for the [United States dollar might reach Rs 150 if the premiums continue to rise.

Cheers

Naresh · 08-08-2008, 02:52 PM

SBPâs reserves fall while those of commercial banks rise

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan has entered into a danger zone on the external economic front as its precious foreign currency reserves dwindled by $328 million during the last one week and reached $10.159 billion, it is learnt.

With existing level of foreign reserves, the country can pay import bill of just over one month. Economic managers are really worried over rapidly depleting reserves in the wake of rising petroleum and food commoditiesâ import bill.

Balance of paymentsâ vulnerabilities are increasing in the wake of falling foreign reserves, which is putting pressure on the rupee.

The State Bank of Pakistan has not given details of forward liabilities, which according to market sources have crossed $1.2 billion. So the real reserves, held by the central bank, have touched the lowest level in recent years.

The foreign currency reserves stood at $10.487 billion on July 26 and dropped to $10.159 billion in the week ended on Aug 2, recording a decrease of $328 million. According to Reuters, the State Bank said its reserves fell *$48 million to $6.968 billion, while those held by commercial banks rose $151 million to $3.190 billion during the week.

âThere are no inflows coming into the kitty, leading to more pressure on the rupee,â an official said here on Thursday.

Former minister of state of PML(Q) government Omar Ayub Khan told The News the current economic situation clearly indicated the rupee would further depreciate in coming weeks and if the existing situation persisted the currency would dip to Rs85 against the dollar from the present level of Rs73 in one and a half months.

Last fiscal, the government met its financing gap of $5.5 billion by utilising foreign currency reserves, which stood at $16 billion in November 2007. However, the reserves have now declined to $10.15 billion.

This year, total financing gap will be around $16.5 billion against envisaged inflows of around $10.5 to $11 billion. So the country cannot afford to use its foreign reserves anymore and economic managers will have to do something to avert the threat of default.

The possibility of Saudi oil facility worth $5 billion could provide some relief in the current economic and political crisis as uncertainty is triggering capital flight from the country.

Independent economic analysts believe if the Saudi facility is not received in the next few weeks, then Islamabad will have to think seriously about approaching the International Monetary Fund during the second half of the current fiscal year.

*$48 million : Should be âUSD 480 Millionâ

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · 08-08-2008, 02:53 PM

Sugarcane output may drop by 40pc

QUOTEKARACHI, Aug 7 : Sugarcane production may drop by 40 per cent this year compared to last year owing to less area brought under cultivation, shortage of water and urea, and change in crop pattern.

The area under crop this year has been estimated at 2,65,138 hectares as against 3,08,806 hectares cultivated last year.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

**acharya** · 08-09-2008, 05:30 AM

QUOTE 
Musharraf must go

Pervez Musharraf must relinquish office in the spirit of cutting his losses before it is too late. As the ruling coalition of democratic forces observed in a communiquÃ© setting out the reasons for instituting impeachment proceedings against the President, he ought to have resigned as soon as his loyalists were drubbed in what was virtually a referendum on military rule. In the months since the February 18, 2008 general election, he has not appeared before parliament t o address it, as required by Article 56 of the Constitution. Retired general Musharraf made a commitment to the Supreme Court, before he was granted a second term by an electoral college, that he would seek a mandate from the federal and provincial legislatures to be formed after fresh elections. Instead of honouring this commitment, he tried to undermine the peopleâs verdict by colluding with the âkingâs party.â The coalition government led by the Pakistan Peopleâs Party might not be a model of efficiency but the claim that the military provided sounder and cleaner governance than democratic forces has been thoroughly discredited. The economy did not improve in any significant way during the eight years of the Musharraf dictatorship. In some areas, such as the power sector, there has actually been deterioration. Although President Musharrafâs failure to combat religious extremism does not figure in the list of charges drawn up against him, this will weigh heavily with the international community as it comes to a final judgment on his performance.

The dictator can still bow out with a fig leaf of dignity if he chooses the non-confrontational path the democratic coalition has wisely left open. Before the impeachment process gets under way, the provincial assemblies, which form part of the electoral college, are expected to adopt resolutions calling on the President to seek a vote of confidence, as he committed himself to do before the Supreme Court. The vote count on the confidence motion will indicate how parliamentarians will line up in the impeachment. The democratic forces are confident they will be able to muster the two-thirds majority â 295 out of 440 members in the Senate and National Assembly combined â necessary to oust the President. The momentum generated by this exercise against a common adversary can help the democratic coalition achieve a coherence and purposiveness that has eluded it so far. The agreement to restore, immediately after the Presidentâs impeachment, all the judges removed through extra-constitutional means will pave the way for Nawaz Sharifâs Pakistan Muslim League (N) to rejoin the government. And that will do a great deal for political stability in Pakistan.

Naresh · 08-09-2008, 01:04 PM

QUOTE(acharya @ Aug 9 2008, 05:30 AM)Musharraf must go

Pervez Musharraf must relinquish office in the spirit of cutting his losses before it is too late.
[right][snapback]86124[/snapback][/right]


acharya Ji :

The numbers in the Assemblies-Parliament-whatever do not matter as what really matters is the amount of âBribesâ that Uncle Sam is prepared to pay to either keep Mush or bring in Mr. 30% as El Presidante De La NaÃ§ion Al Jamhooriya Bakistania.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · (This post was last modified: 08-09-2008, 03:01 PM by Naresh.)

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[center]ASIF ZARDARI & NAWAZ SHARIF "PUSH" MUSH TUSH[/center]

QUOTEMusharraf to be made non-functional president

ISLAMABAD : Leaders of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) have decided to make history by turning President Pervez Musharraf the first-ever non-functional head of the state.

He would be no more welcome in any government function. Verbal orders have been issued to all the federal government departments and also to the four provincial governments not to invite the president of Pakistan for any ceremony.
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Last year, Musharraf declared Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry a non-functional chief justice of Pakistan and this year he is becoming a non-functional president of Pakistan. This will be the politicians' revenge.
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Both camps are very confident but there is one difference. One camp is led by a functional federal government having the support of four provincial governments. The other camp is lead by a virtually non-functional president who is looking towards the Army, which is claiming to be neutral and no more interested in politics.

If the Army does not come to rescue its supreme commander, then Musharraf will become a "lesson" in the history of Pakistan.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · 08-11-2008, 02:50 AM

China, India and Pakistan?

QUOTEPakistan and China cooperation on Gwadar was based on the understanding that this would be the port used to carry goods to Central Asia and give China access to Arabian Sea and Middle Eastern markets but perhaps due to Americaâs growing influence in the region, coupled with unrest in Baluchistan and tribal areas, Chinese, after development of the port, have shown little interest in using it.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · 08-11-2008, 02:51 AM

Musharraf past his shelf life <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' />

QUOTELAHORE - Despite the brave front being put up by President Pervez Musharraf in face of ever-increasing pressure on him to resign even before the impeachment motion is tabled in the Parliament it is becoming increasingly likely he will not be able to withstand the momentum of the political onslaught against him and in the coming days he will be forced to quit. The Provincial Assemblies resolution, being tabled in the Punjab Assembly today, also asks for his resignation forthwith.

With his loyalists in the PML-Q and its allies including supremo Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain distancing from him and advising him to fight or resign, the numbers game seems to be heavily skewed against Musharraf. Both PPP and PML-N are working overnight to woo the opposition and are already claiming to have mustered more than the required two-thirds majority of the joint strength of the Parliament to oust him.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

08-11-2008, 08:43 AM

Pakistan law is working, I hope one day India can do same.

08-11-2008, 11:32 AM

Pakistan intelligence helping Taliban: NATO general 
Basically. telling Pakis leave Mushy alone.

Naresh · 08-11-2008, 02:47 PM

Embattled Musharraf seeks Saudi Arabia's help

QUOTEIslamabad : Disappointed by his American friends, President Pervez Musharraf, who faces impeachment by the ruling coalition, has sent an "SOS message" to the Saudi authorities, a source said on Monday.

"The message was sent through a senior Saudi diplomat based in Islamabad," the source said, adding the president has received a response that is "not very positive". <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' />

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Naresh · 08-11-2008, 03:47 PM

China invested only $150m on Gwadar Port

QUOTEKARACHI : China, the most trusted friend of the country, constructed the Gwadar Port in 2002 at a cost of 150 million dollars and not 250 million dollars, highly-placed sources told The Post.

This, the sources said, was revealed by an "independent audit" of the deep-water port project which was conducted in 2006 when Islamabad was about to sign an agreement with Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), the Gwadar Port's operator.

"An independent audit revealed that the project was completed at cost of $ 150 million and not $ 250 million," they added.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

08-11-2008, 08:04 PM

QUOTE"An independent audit revealed that the project was completed at cost of $ 150 million and not $ 250 million," they added.

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- The Pakistani rupee plunged to an all-time low Monday against the U.S. dollar amid uncertainty over the fate of President Pervez Musharraf, dealers said.
The rupee was trading as low as 73.40 against the dollar in the official interbank market, but recovered to close at 73.20 rupees. The rupee closing rate on the open market was 74.20

ramana · 08-11-2008, 10:35 PM

Op-Ed. Pioneer, 11 August, 2008

QUOTEISI, state within a state 

Abhijit Bhattacharyya

The ISI is the most openly covert arm of the Pakistani military sustained by the generals. Irrespective of who is the President or Prime Minister of Pakistan, the ISI is likely to remain as powerful as ever. At least for the foreseeable future.

National Security Adviser MK Narayanan publicly suggested in July that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence needed to be "destroyed" while US President George W Bush wondered as to "who controls the ISI!" Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused the ISI of being at the root of the violence in his country. Two Prime Ministers of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif, have lost their jobs after tinkering with the ISI's established norms and conventions.

A lot of stuff is well-known to the world and the modus operandi of the ISI too is pretty obvious - it does things clandestinely, surreptitiously and through agents of all variety. What needs to be analysed is: Why is the ISI doing what it is doing? And, how did it become adept at taking on everyone whom it thinks worth confronting?

The ISI draws its personnel from the Army, Navy and Air Force. Its mandate is to provide strategic intelligence - including external intelligence, as well as work on threat perceptions and covert operations - to the Prime Minister, the military and the Joint Services Headquarters. It is also engaged in counter-intelligence activities vis-Ã -vis 'adversary' countries like India.

{So its both MI6 (military manned) for strategic intelligence and MI5(still military manned) for counter-intelligence with respect to some countries. Comparing it to IB and RAw and CIA is incorrect.}

When Gen Zia-ul-Haq was in power, the ISI's mandate was expanded to keep an eye on political developments within Pakistan as it began to actively participate in politics and supported preferred groups. The ISI currently functions with a 65:35 ratio of military and civilian staff; almost 90 per cent are serving officers from the forces.

{So it has IB kind of role inside TSP}

Seen against this backdrop, Mr Bush's query, as to who controls the ISI, though relevant and interesting, also betrays his innocence of a complex sector of Pakistan. To understand this sector, one needs to about the chiefs of the Pakistani Army who have ruled that country for 33 of its 61 years. Of 12 Pakistani Generals, four have been coup masters - which makes a third of the Pakistani Army's top brass capable of destroying civilian rule. Thus the basic philosophy of Pakistan's rulers is premised on the theory and practice of might is right.

{The author does not show understanding of the role of the military in an Islamic State. It is the basis of the Sultan's/Prseident's power. It asserts itself when it feels that the Sultan is not being Islamic enough and not keeping faith. Go read about the Sultanate period in Indian history}

It began with the founding of the Muslim League in 1906, which gained ideological momentum in 1940, attained the apogee of lethality in 1946 and forced the creation of Pakistan in 1947, only to get trapped in the net of recklessly ambitious officer corps and an inept and squabbling political class.

{See my above comment. Again shows not enough appreciation of a ModernÂ Islamic state. TSP is the first new Islamic state created in the modenr era. It has the trappings of modernity but all its structures at the core are Islamist in prinicple. Contemporary analysts are fooled by its modern trappings as Islamic states are new and not enough is known about them and what was known is forgotten.}

Not surprisingly, therefore, one comes across the Rawalpindi conspiracy of 1951 when senior officers were caught planning to overthrow Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and install a military-style nationalist Government. Major General Akbar Khan, Brigadier Abdul Latif Khan, Air Commodore MK Janjua, Major General Nazir Ahmed, Brigadier Sadiq Khan, Lt Colonel Ziauddin, Lt Colonel Niaz Mohammed Arbab, Captain Khizar Hayat, Major Hassan Khan, Major Ishaq Mohammad and Captain Zafarullah Poshni were arrested for hatching the conspiracy.

{How many of these officers were in the INA?}

The seeds of civil-military confrontation were thus sown early. This was strengthened by the arrival, and rule, of Gen Ayub Khan for 18 years - first as the Army Chief from 1951 to 1958 and later as dictator from 1958 to 1969. He bequeathed the mantle of dictatorship to Gen Yahya Khan, who managed the break-up of his country and the defeat of his Army in 1971.

While Gen Yahya Khan remained the Army Chief and later dictator from 1966 to 1971, the next two military rulers, Gen Zia-ul-Haq and Gen Pervez Musharraf remained Army chief for 12 years and nine years respectively, thereby making a mockery of the promotion prospects of the officer corps.

{I submit Ayub Khan was of different mettle than the Rawalpindi case folks. Just as Zia was different than Ayub and Yahya Khan.}

Hence, a large number of officers' career ended prematurely, thereby allowing them to retire after serving as one of the nine corps commanders at best or as director-general of ISI, which was the second best possibility to fulfil their ambition of shaping the destiny of Pakistan. Inevitably the Army chief decided who got to head the ISI and ensured it reported directly to him. The claimed subservience of the ISI to the Prime Minister sounds good in theory but is not applicable in reality.

The spectacular rise of the ISI began with Gen Zia's regime, which inculcated the conviction that only soldiers were capable of ruling Pakistan and gave credence to the view that while all countries have armies, in Pakistan the Army has a country. During the Zia years, the ISI served as the conduit for American arms and funds meant for the Afghan mujahideen.

With the US as the backseat driver, the ISI managed the Afghan jihad against Soviet troops. The war came as a windfall for the corrupt ISI, courtesy the CIA arms supplies and the Afghan drug trade. It also provided covert funds for Pakistan's nuclear and conventional weapons programme and Islamic insurgency in Jammu & Kashmir. The tradition was revived during Gen Musharraf's reign as America focussed its attention on the region after 9/11.

{So US asking who runs ISI is a very naive question and worrisome to boot!}

But whereas the ISI could escape scrutiny after organising the murder of Soviet soldiers, Afghans and Indians in the 1980s, it cannot do so today. This is because the ISI's activities are resulting in the deaths of American soldiers in Afghanistan and jeopardising US strategic interest. So, the US is irked and Mr Bush is provoked.

The ISI is the most openly covert arm of the Pakistani military sustained by the generals. Irrespective of who is the President or Prime Minister of Pakistan, the ISI is likely to remain as powerful as ever. It may, in theory, report to the Prime Minister, but it will continue to be accountable to the Army chief.

No serving Lt General can violate the chain of command by not reporting to the General. Moreover, while Prime Ministers and Presidents will come and go, the Pakistani military will continue to be seen as the most able and stable institution to run that country in the foreseeable future because of its location and tradition.

-- The writer is an alumnus of the National Defence College and a member of International Institute for Strategic Studies, London.



There are some good insights but no earth shattering disclosures here. The important fact not mentioned is ISI was setup by the Australian Maj Gen Cawthorne and he was prior to that the Director of Military Intelligence for British Indian Army and more iportantly he was a prominent member of the Olaf Caroe's Viceroy Study Group and latter became the Aussie High Commissoner and SIS head. So he was intimately nurturing the agency he created even after he returned to his native country. And Olaf Caroe was the expert/intellectual father of the modern Great Game which led to CENTO and SEATO. So the early origns are British and Australian. Australia was ion one of the power circles that Olaf Caroe sketched in his Roundtable paper quoted in Brobst's book. This power circle includes India and Aussies were hedging against a possible antagonist India.

Naresh · 08-12-2008, 01:43 AM

Sale of locally manufactured cars plummet by 51%

QUOTEKARACHI : Sale of locally manufactured cars plummeted by 51 percent during the month of July after a downward trend witnessed in its demand.

According to All Pakistan Auto Manufacturers Association, during the first month of the current fiscal year 5,700 cars were sold.

Cheers <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' />

Naresh · 08-12-2008, 01:13 PM

Army, ISI to stay away from impeachment

QUOTEISLAMABAD : Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has recently conveyed to President Pervez Musharraf that the military does not want to be dragged into any political controversy and prefers to remain focused on its professional and constitutional responsibilities, a source has revealed.

The source, having strong connections in military circles, said Gen Kayani does not want to spoil the efforts he initiated soon after becoming the Army chief to redeem the lost respect of the Army.
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dhu · (This post was last modified: 08-12-2008, 10:57 PM by dhu.)

13 killed in air force bus bombing in Pakistan

QUOTEAt least 13 people, mostly security personnel, were killed and around two dozen injured Tuesday when a bomb targeted a Pakistan Air Force bus in the country's northwestern city of Peshawar, officials said.
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"It was a remote-controlled explosive device which was planted under the bridge," said Inspector General of Police Malik Naveed.
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Fighter jets from PAF and gunship helicopters pounded several militants' positions in Bajaur tribal district Monday, killing at least 50 rebels and taking the death toll in five days of fighting to more than 160.

Taliban rebels had vowed to take revenge for the military action in the district, where clashes erupted last week when hundreds of militants surrounded a paramilitary base in Loi Sam area.

08-12-2008, 10:57 PM

QUOTESix civilians, 16 militants killed in Pakistan tribal area KHAR, Pakistan, Aug 12 (AFP) Six civilians and 16 Taliban were killed Tuesday when Pakistani helicopter gunships shelled militant hideouts in Bajaur tribal area where days of clashes have left scores dead, officials said. Five civilians were killed and three others injured when helicopters pounded suspected militant positions Tuesday in Takht village, 10 kilometres south of Khar, the main town in Bajaur, officials and residents said. Separately, an 11-year-old boy was killed and his six-year-old sister was wounded in clashes in Sevai village in Bajaur on Tuesday, they said. More than a dozen houses were also destroyed, they added. Helicopters later shelled areas east of Khar for about 45 minutes when they spotted militants âpreparing for an action against government forces,â a local administration official told AFP. Sixteen militants were killed in the attack and their bodies were still lying on the ground, the official said. Military officials said that six civilians and 50 militants were killed on Monday. At the weekend, security forces said that nine soldiers and 100 militants had been killed during the previous four days. (First Posted 16:30 PST Updated @ 21:05 PST)

08-12-2008, 10:57 PM

QUOTEGas pipeline blown in Pakistan QUETTA, Aug 12 (PPI): Suspected militants blew up a 16-inch gas pipeline in Pir Koh near Dera Bugti suspending supply of gas to Sui plant, well placed sources said. (Posted @ 21:15 PST)

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