Pakistan's drift into the hands of extremists

The intention of the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team was to send a clear message to Washington: Pakistan is ungovernable

By Tariq Ali

The appalling terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan had one aim: to demonstrate to Washington that the country is ungovernable. This is the first time that cricketers have been targeted in a land where the sport is akin to religion. It marks the death of international cricket in Pakistan for the indefinite future, but not just that, which is bad enough. The country's future is looking more and more precarious. We do not know which particular group carried out this attack, but its identity is hardly relevant. The fact is that it took place at a time when three interrelated events had angered a large bulk of the country and provided succour to extremist groups and their patrons.

The first is undoubtedly the foolish decision by Washington (backed by Britain) to send more troops to Afghanistan, which has now united all those resisting them in that country and the North-West Frontier province of Pakistan. Instead of searching for a viable exit strategy, Obama has gone for a surge. On several occasions, I have warned that escalating the war in Afghanistan could seriously destabilise Pakistan and its army.

Second, Senator Dianne Feinstein's revelation that the US drones being 
used to target "militants" and "terrorist havens" inside Pakistan were, in fact, being despatched by the US from military and air-force bases inside Pakistan (obviously, with the approval of the Pakistani military and civilian leaders) created mayhem in the country. The shock and dismay should not be underestimated. Half-hearted government denials further fanned the flames. Since many in the country regard Zardari and his cronies running the country as US drones, the anger was multiplied.

Domestically, the country is a mess. The People's party has learnt and forgotten nothing. Corruption is rife and stories circulate linking the money being paid by bankers directly to the president's house. Add to this Zardari's refusal to honour an election pledge restoring anindependent judiciary, and his decision to manipulate tame judges to disqualify his opponents has not gone down well. The controversy was aggravated by Zardari's move to dismiss the elected government in the country's most populous and strategically important province, the Punjab (capital: Lahore), and impose direct rule, after its chief minister apparently refused to accept a bribe in the shape of a lucrative business deal in return for abandoning the fight to restore the chief justice fired by the military leader over a year ago.

The failures of this government and its inability to defend the country's interests or its population from drones or terrorist attacks are paving the way for the return of the army to power as a way of avoiding a serious split within its own ranks. All that is awaited is a green light from the US embassy in Islamabad. Not that this would solve anything, but it might create the illusion of stability for a few months. It's no good Pakistani politicians mumbling that this is "our Mumbai". The fact is that, over the last year, the Zardari government has done a great deal for itself and its clients, but nothing for the people or the country. The more Pakistan drifts, the more opportunities offer

themselves to the extremists.

• Tariq Ali guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 3 March 2009 10.32 GMT

Daily Pakistan--Mar 3,2009

If It’s Zardari’s End, It Should Be Nawaz’s Too

 

    

 

By Laila Sohail

“No one party can fool all of the people all of the time, that’s why we have two parties,” says Bob Hope. Zardari may be nearing his end, but what is there to rejoice for if Sharif is his replacement? Both are incompetent, and both belong to parties that are non democratic. Both have been given chances, both are products of dynasty politics, and neither of them deserves any share in the running of anything … be it the party, or the country. The only thing they can do for the country is to leave it alone, but that is too much to ask.

How many times does it take to fool someone? Once? Twice? Over and over again? 
No, Mr Sharif is not the one I am referring to, no need to keep count for natural fools. I am referring to the people of this country. Fooled once, fooled too many times. 

The ugliest face of Pakistani politics unmasks itself once again. 

Burning buildings, blocked roads and angry jiyalas. Welcome to Pakistani democracy. First we had an incompetent government, and now we have an opposition to match. 
The current government is a failed one with only individual self-interest on its agenda, and the future one is sure to bring times that are as dark. 
There is no plan for the economic crises. There may be an inflated cabinet in place and countless committees formed, but there is no policy for any issue we are facing on ground. With the newly begun wrestling match, things will only go from bad to worse. 

During the current global economic recession, private companies are announcing budget cuts and cost cutting measures, and while the government budget deficit is alarmingly high, the extravagance is no less. Dinner parties, huge entourages and foreign trips, our elites know how to maintain their lifestyles, while the common man struggles to earn a decent meal with the rising inflation. 
PEPCO, the power company, may run all the advertisements it wants on television, but how can you ask a man to minimize the use of the one light bulb he can afford in his house when he sees those in the Capital residing comfortably in dazzling, full lit buildings?

Tourism Minister Maulana Attaur Rehman has been sent for a visit to the beaches in South France and Switzerland, so that the romantic peaceful environment may help him think of more innovative ideas to attract tourists. Maulana Sahib here is an idea: start by cleaning the beaches, more tourists may be attracted if they are assured there is no danger of getting throat and eye infections at the Clifton beach in Karachi.

AND I did not have to go to France to think of it. 

Corruption, favoritism and nepotism characterize power struggles. There is overstaffing in the government and semi government departments, even the PPP workers who had lost their jobs ten years ago are being reinstated. Cars with number plates that say NAZIM [translation: do not mess with me, I am king] rule the roads, as for the jeeps with dark windows; it is impossible to see what their number plates say as they go zipping past. Accountability is a word only found in the dictionary. 
The PIA building in Rawalpindi looks like an inartistically designed PPP poster. Coins and stamps with political leaders’ faces on them, Bhutto family pictures replacing the pictures of Quaid-e-Azam and a Prime Minister who says that he is a member of a party and will follow the party decision, even if he disagrees with it…this is Bhutto land. So all that is important is that we keep remembering the great legacy of our rulers, the rest of the trivialities we are already used to. 

A hand written undisclosed will determines the future of the biggest political party in Pakistan. A piece of paper called the NRO turned a man facing charges [including criminal ones] into the President of the country. The lust for power brought the two archrival parties together, until they realized there was only one prize, and the same lust tore them apart. 
Mr. Nawaz Sharif placed his bet on one Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhry and the great lawyers’ movement, while Mr. Zardari relied on the charm of his wide grin, and the PCO judges. Mr Nawaz Sharif will play his lawyers’ movement card now, and he wants the people to join him. In this battle of the courts, the final decision is yet to be made. 

The lawyers’ movement has managed to get quite a bit of the attention of the educated class and the media, because of its high claims of standing by principles and reinstating an independent judiciary. All that Mr. Iftikhar Chaudhry will do for Nawaz Sharif is what Justice Dogar is doing for Zardari. The precedence set by the NRO will continue to be followed. The Nov. 3 actions may be unconstitutional, but even if the right principles are used for wrong reasons, they still remain wrong reasons. Replacing one pawn with another is not going to achieve the end of an independent judiciary. 

So what does it matter if the courts gave a decision against the Sharif brothers? It is just another move in the game we call Pakistani politics. It’s now all up to the power of the streets, and a match between the PPP jiyalas and the PML N workers. Mr. Sharif is openly calling for policemen and other civil servants to revolt. Students are missing school and taking their energy out by causing violence and destruction on the roads. 

The two parties are at each others’ throats again. And it won’t really make a difference to any one of them. No matter who wins this round, there is always another one to follow. The only sufferers in this catfight are the people of Pakistan. 

“No one party can fool all of the people all of the time, that’s why we have two parties,” says Bob Hope. 

How literally true for us. 

Zardari may be nearing his end, but what is there to rejoice for if Sharif is his replacement? 

Whether it is Zardari or Sharif, both are incompetent, and both belong to parties that are non democratic. Both have been given chances, Sharif twice before and Zardari currently [not counting his wife’s tenures] and at the end they have taken more than they have given and the country was better off before them. Both are products of dynasty politics, and neither of them deserves any share in the running of anything…be it the party, or the country. The only thing they can do for the country is to leave it alone, but that is too much to ask. 

Unfortunately there will be more to follow. In a disgusting display of defamation and dirty politics, the economy is already being hit, and the security conditions can only worsen. Instead of tightening the belt, it’s all you can eat…and everyone wants a piece of the cake. So those who think that Mr. Sharif is a ray of hope … think again. He offers nothing different. He is a part of the same dirty system that brought us here in the first place. The lawyers’ movement is just another power tactic, and the only way to hope for some real change is to say no to both these leaders. Whether it is from the public, the polity or the military, a third force needs to come up and fight for the interests of the people of Pakistan.

 

Pakistani Military Torpedoes Pro-U.S. Govt.’s Case On Mumbai

 

  

Two public officials – the Navy chief and a deputy attorney general – together have destroyed Rehman Malik’s case of ‘admission of guilt’ in Mumbai attacks.  The government has fired the deputy attorney general for taking a stand, but no one in the Pakistani media noticed since it is busy in the latest Pakistani political circus. But it is this story that could unravel this staunchly pro-U.S. setup.
Two developments in Pakistan have thwarted the deliberate effort of Pakistan’s pro-U.S. government to take the Mumbai investigations on a path that leads to placing the blame on the Pakistani military and intelligence.

The two developments, one by a public prosecutor and the other by the Pakistani military, confirms that the Zardari government, and especially his confidant and interior adviser Rehman Malik, deliberately led Pakistan into acquiescence to American and Indian demands by accepting partial responsibility for Mumbai attacks without verifiable evidence. It also raises questions about the motives of this government.

The first development took place on Feb. 18, when Zardari government’s special public prosecutor in the Mumbai attacks Sardar Mohammad Ghazi issued a statement saying Islamabad is formally requesting India to extradite Ajmal Kassab, the alleged lone survivor of the Mumbai attacks.  This was a surprising statement considering how the Zardari government unilaterally accepted – on behalf of Pakistan – every single piece of questionable Indian and American ‘evidence’ linking the attacks to elements with past links to Pakistani intelligence.

Sardar’s statement shook the Indians and the Americans, who lobbied hard to ensure Pakistan accepted some responsibility for the attacks as a prelude to implicating Pakistan’s ISI.

Pakistani investigators have yet to independently confirm that Kassab is indeed a Pakistani citizen, or that the person in Indian custody is indeed Ajmal Kassab.

Taking advantage of the political turmoil inside the country, President Zardari on Friday, Feb. 27, quietly fired Sardar from his job as the Deputy Attorney General. Zardari’s move was shrewd. No one in the Pakistani media paid attention.

Sardar created a hole in the investigations led by Rehman Malik, the de facto interior minister. But the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Noman Bashir, bulldozed Malik’s case in its entirety, coming out on the same day when the special prosecutor was fired to say that he has seen no evidence that shows Kassab went to Indian from Pakistan in a boat, as India says and as the Zardari government says.

 

Rehman Keeps ISI Out

Malik had ensured that the ISI stayed away from the investigations. He assigned a civilian department, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), to conduct the probe. On Jan. 16, an excited Malik came to a press conference and with broad smiles flashed a photograph of a boat he said that Kassab and his colleagues used to travel from Karachi to Mumbai. This was supposed to be the smoking gun that confirmed that Pakistanis did use Pakistani soil to attack India. The indirect message was supposed to be this: that the country’s military or intelligence is involved, since Pakistan has been supporting anti-India groups in Kashmir.

Malik’s revelations were stunning because he couldn’t show any progress in 12 months in resolving the murder mystery of Benazir Bhutto but here he was ‘successfully’ resolving in a few days a complex case that transcends borders.

Adm. Bashir’s salvo came on the same day that President Zardari quietly fired the public prosecutor who challenged his government’s admission of guilt on Mumbai.

Adm. Bashir said he has seen no evidence that Kassab traveled by boat from Karachi to India. He said there was no way anyone could escape Pakistani naval intelligence. And even if it happened, he added, where was the Indian navy that claims to be preparing itself for a global role?

The Navy chief’s statement basically confirmed that, unlike Mr. Malik’s admission of guilt and acceptance of Indian ‘evidence’ without challenge, Pakistani investigators want to confirm how Kassab reached Indian soil by sea penetrating the security parameters of the Indian navy. This breach is ironic considering how the Indian navy never ceases to boast that its readiness matches its ‘mission’ to police the entire Indian Ocean along with U.S., Britain and Australia.

Pakistani suspicions are also legitimate because India’s own investigations leave many important questions unanswered, especially regarding the inside help that Mumbai terrorists received to achieve their objective. Pakistanis have reason to believe that India’s intelligence services posing as diplomats in countries surrounding India have been reported to have kidnapped unassuming Pakistani citizens to use them to stage terrorist acts and blame them on Pakistan.

  

Why Elected Govt. Keen To Capitulate?

This brings us to the question: Why is the Zardari government so keen on seeing Pakistan take responsibility for Mumbai attacks?

The Zardari government is an elected government. But its election and the arrangement to bring it to power were manipulated by Washington, which weakened the previous military government through terrorism from Afghanistan and through direct secret contacts with Pakistani politicians, forcing a beleaguered Pervez Musharraf to cut a deal brokered by U.S. State Department to ease Benazir Bhutto, ANP and MQM into power.

Zardari’s corruption cases and those of other politicians in power were withdrawn thanks to this U.S.-brokered deal. Not to mention that the personal wealth and assets of President Zardari, Mr. Rehman Malik, Ambassador Haqqani and other stalwarts of his government, are based in either the United States or Britain. They have no interest in antagonizing Washington or London.

But why is Washington so keen to see Islamabad accept responsibility for Mumbai attacks?

Why U.S. Wants To Target Pak Military?

At a time when U.S. is in trouble in Afghanistan and wants to put more pressure on Pakistan, the Mumbai attacks are a blessing. The attacks allow Washington to exert pressure on Pakistani military, and especially blackmail ISI.  If Pakistan accepts that Kashmiri groups were behind the attacks, it would mean that Pakistani military bears some responsibility and its case of supporting Kashmiri freedom groups in Indian occupied Kashmir is discredited. Overall, Mumbai attacks provide a perfect opportunity to threaten the Pakistani military and intelligence from Pakistan’s eastern borders even as U.S. keep the pressure from the west, through U.S.-inspired insurgencies emanating from Afghanistan. Washington wants an emasculated Pakistani military, capable of holding Pakistan together but without the ability to defend Pakistani national security interests.

How Pakistan Benefits From Adm. Bashir’s Statement?

A fickle and shortsighted Pakistani media was busy in the local political circus to take note of the internal revolt against Zardari government’s Mumbai investigations. This is the time to highlight these discrepancies and discredit the positions of the Zardari and the Indian governments.

The firing of the deputy attorney general by President Zardari must be highlighted in the media. And both Mr. Zardari and his interior minister Mr. Malik must not be allowed to get away with their soft position on India’s failure so far to answer the list of 30 questions that Pakistani investigators posed to Indian authorities regarding Mumbai attacks. New Delhi is procrastinating on this request. Mr. Zardari and Mr. Malik must not be allowed to provide India a safe exit.

The opening salvos by the Pakistani naval chief and the ex-public prosecutor are a good start. Ahmed Quraishi

 

 

NATO member countries were underwriting the creation of a "narco-state"

Pierre Lellouche

President Nicolas Sarkozy has picked veteran politician Pierre Lellouche to be France's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, French officials said Sunday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the officials said a formal announcement of Lellouche's appointment would be made at the start of this coming week.

It will be accompanied by the creation of a special team that will bring together all government ministries involved with developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Lellouche, 57, who belongs to Sarkozy's conservative UMP party, is a member of the National Assembly and sits on its defence committee. He also heads the French delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly.

Last year, together with a Socialist legislator, he undertook a parliamentary mission to take stock of both France's military commitment in Afghanistan and NATO's strategy in that country.

He reported that the transatlantic alliance was "not winning the war in Afghanistan" and that taxpayers from NATO member countries were underwriting the creation of a "narco-state".

Pierre Lellouche (May 3, 1951, Tunis, Tunisia) is a French ultra liberal, politician, member of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. He was also the president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly since November 2004 until 17 November 2006. He was elected deputy of Sarcelles in 1993, and retained his seat at theNational Assembly until 2002. He has been director of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and a member of the Trilateral Commission.

Lellouche defended a traditional view of the family during the discussions concerning the Pacte civil de solidarité (PACS), a form of civil union. He is also a strong opponent of the solidarity tax on wealth (ISF) first voted under François Mitterrand. Now a supporter of Nicolas Sarkozy, UMP candidate for the 2007 presidential election, he is also a member of the UMP group named "Les Réformateurs," counting around 80 deputies, and which advocates ultra-liberal policies.

Lellouche was also the French negotiator concerning the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, finally implanted in Cadarache in France.

He wrotes several books, contributes in many newspaper and magazines. Pierre Lellouche  was very active from its student life.

 

Daily Pakistan--Mar 1,2009