Tab'an Khamosh ~~~ طبعاً خاموش

On PMLN's Latest Temper Tantrum (re: NAB Chief)

2010-10-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

Note: This comment was posted on PkPolitics however it is in moderation. Maybe because I used the word "Ass" in it? In any case, just in case it gets deleted, I'm posting it here because I think this temper-tantrum-at-the-drop-of-a-hat thing is getting a little old now. I mean really. A long march over a fucking appointment? Give me a break. Ooops! I said Fucking.

Seriously, I think PMLN is losing it. Why are they making this such a big deal? Shahbaz Sharif even threatening a long march over this.

Is this really a battle you wanna fight at this particular time?

Also, consultation is not consensus. They gave 2 names and picked the third one. Nisar on the other hand didn’t suggest any names.

This is why this whole appointment thing needs to be figured out. We need to have parliamentary committees like the US congressional committees vet the candidates put forth by the executive branch. But even there, its a game of give and take. People don’t get caught up in stupid personal feuds.

It happens here because parties are led by petty politicians and not by a long term strategy put forth by the party organization and supporters voice. If NS wants to work with Zardari, then things are fine. If NS didn’t wake up on the right side of the bed any given day, then f’kin hell is going to have to pay, and vice versa.

But seriously this is getting to be ridiculous on both sides. NO legislation is being passed and both parties are engaging in BS grand standing while the economy sinks.

Shahbaz Sharif is holding a truckload of ministries including the interior one last I checked. But far be it from PKP to EVER criticize ANYTHING that PML-N does. What about conflict of interest here? what about the fact that one guy just can’t do it all regardless of what ever kind of superman he is (this coming from a guy who thinks Shahbaz Sharif would actually make a good Prime Minister. Not because I like to kiss PMLN’s a55 but because he’s a good administrator, but how does that translate to not criticising anything that a party does?)

On a general note, I don’t get this jiyala pan on every side. It is killing our political culture and it is taking us to the same old place where we’ve been before and we didn’t like it one single bit.

This time it was supposed to be different.

Dungurr Dawkturr -- Redux

2010-09-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

مہمان: ایک تھا تیتر ایک بٹیر

ڈنگر ڈاکٹر: اچھا تو پھر کیسے؟ مطلب کیسے؟ میرا مطلب ہے کیسے؟ کیا تیتر اور بٹیر کی نورا کشتی ہے؟

مہمان: لڑنے میں تھے دونوں تیز

ڈنگر دوکتور: مطلب ہے کہ ملک میں افرا تفری ہے؟ تو کیا یہ انقلاب کی آمد آمد ہے؟ ہے نا؟

مہمان: لڑتے لڑتے ہو گئی گم

ڈنگر دوکتور: واہ! واہ ! اسکا واضح مطلب تو یہ ہوا کہ انقلاب آ رہا ہے؟ یعنی کہ فوج آ جی گی؟ مطلب الله نہ کرے! (یا پیر یا مرشد فوج کے بوٹ کا مزہ دوبارہ چکھا !)

مہمان:ایک کی چونچ اور ایک کی دم!

ڈنگر دوکتور: اچھا تو پھر کیسے؟ مطلب کہ انارکی ہے؟ یعنی کے حکومت پوری طرح ناکام ہو چکی ہے؟

مہمان: دار اصل میں بات کچھ اور کر رہا...

ڈنگر ڈاکٹر: (بات کاٹتے ہوے..) تو ناظرین! جیسا کہ انھوں نے تفصیل سے واضح کیا جو کچھ بھی ہو رہا ہے وہ حکومت کی پوری ناکامی ہے اور اگر فوج آ گئی تو پھر مطلب کیسے؟ میرا مطلب ہے پھر ... لیکن کس طرح؟

ناظرین اپنے گردو نواح وغیرہ وغیرہ ...

(چوری شدہ میوزیک کے بجتے ہوے ایک اور ڈرامے کا اختتام ہوتا ہے ... ڈنگر ڈاکٹر کے چہرے پر گھمبیر تاثرات چی ہوے ہیں ... انکے مداح اش اش کرتے ہوے کوممنٹ باکس کا رخ کرتے ہیں)

Pakistan Floods - How to Help.

2010-08-26T03:45:00.000-07:00

Flood Relief - How to Help (Via MosharrafZaidi.com)

August 26, 2010 - UPDATED “WHERE TO GIVE”:

Folks trust UN brands. Here are three that doing great work, and where your money is going be used well:

World Food Program: https://www.wfp.org/donate/pakistanflood

UNICEF: http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=1023561

UNHCR: http://www.unhcr.org/emergency/pakistanfloods/global_landing.html

In the last list, I left out Save the Children, who are excellent:http://www.savethechildren.org/emergencies/asia/pakistan-floods-2010/

Here’s the old list as well:

Pakistani civil society:

* TCF Relief: Donate here: http://www.thecitizensfoundation.org/floodrelief.html

* Edhi Foundation. Contact here: http://www.edhifoundation.com/contact.asp

* Karachi Relief Trust. Contact/Donate here:http://www.karachirelief.org/donation.htm

International Organizations

Of course, the most robust interal management systems belong to international humanitarian organizations and NGOs, and they do most of their work through Pakistani partners and employees. Some of the most trustworthy options are:

* UK’s Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC), which is an alliance of 13 British NGOs, including British Red Cross, Action Aid, Merlin, Oxfam, Islamic Relief and Christian Aid. You can donate here: http://www.dec.org.uk/donate_now/

* UNHCR, which is a UN organization, with whom I have worked directly on several occasions, is the UN’s premier humanitarian organization. You can donate to UNHCR’s Pakistan flood fund, here:http://www.unhcr.org/emergency/pakistan/global_landing.html

* Islamic Relief has one of the lowest administrative cost ratios among all international humanitarian NGOs. You can donate here:https://www.islamicreliefusa.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=499

* International Committee of the Red Cross/Crescent. Needs no introduction. Donate online, here: http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList2/Help_the_ICRC?OpenDocument

Aug 19, 2010 - Another great collection of links where you can donate:http://www.chowrangi.com/donation-links-and-relief-resources-for-pakistan-flood-victims.html

Aug 17, 2010 - Latest from the UN: Analysis Summary:

Over 2,300 villages and 43 towns were identified as probably severely affected by the flooding, the majority completely inundated or surrounded by flood waters without open land evacuation routes. Over 1,440 km of primary and secondary roads are likely submerged along with almost 300km of railway tracks and 43 bridges.

“Analysis of Flood-Affected Villages, Towns & Infrastructure, Sindh Province”

http://www.unosat.org/asp/prod_free.asp?id=65

Aug 16, 2010 -Engro Foundation, stewarded by Asad Umar, has a Rs. 200 million plan to support four districts, two each in Sindh and Southern Punjab. You can learn more, including how to contribute, in this powerpoint presentation: Engro Foundation’s Flood Relief Plans

Aug 15, 2010 - With the floods now having entered week three, folks want to know who they can trust. There are three categories. Pakistani organizations. International organizations. And individuals that I am either working with directly, or whose trustworthiness I feel comfortable endorsing. Here’s the list:

Pakistani civil society:

* TCF Relief: Donate here: http://www.thecitizensfoundation.org/floodrelief.html

* Edhi Foundation. Contact here: http://www.edhifoundation.com/contact.asp

* Karachi Relief Trust. Contact/Donate here:http://www.karachirelief.org/donation.htm

International Organizations

* Islamic Relief has one of the lowest administrative cost ratios among all international humanitarian NGOs. You can donate here:https://www.islamicreliefusa.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=499

* International Committee of the Red Cross/Crescent. Needs no introduction. Donate online, here: http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList2/Help_the_ICRC?OpenDocument

Individuals

* Ehsaan Kiani of the Islamabad Jeep Club (IJC) has not rested in almost two weeks. He and his colleagues from the IJC have zero admin costs, as they are borne by the group themselves. I visited two camps being supported by Ehsaan and team. You can learn more about their work at the website http://ijc.com.pk/forum//viewtopic.php?f=23&t=211 which also contains contact information for Ehsaan.

* Samad Khurram, who was a prominent student activist during the lawyers’ movement, is working with the Pakistan Youth Alliance and a number of other groups. His activism is on full throttle once again. Samad was in Nowshera at the same time as us on Friday. He can be contacted via e-mail: samadkhurram@gmail.com

* Faisal Kapadia, a Karachi-based blogger, is working with SA Relief and just completed a truck run to Sukkur and Shikarpur. The SA Relief website is:http://www.sarelief.com/2010/08/mcpfloodrelief/ . Faisal can be reached through his Twitter account, @faisalkapadia.

==============================

please email, re-post and forward widely …

@Faisal Kapadia’s page: http://deadpanthoughts.com/2010/08/pkfloods10-flood-relief-campaign-for-southern-pakistan/

@US State Dept. Text SWAT to 50555:http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/08/145778.htm

@UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee: http://www.dec.org.uk/item/200

@Beena Sarwar’s blog: http://beenasarwar.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/2234/

@Sam Mirza’s FB page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=451097122802&id=519796991&ref=mf

@All Things Pakistan’s list: http://pakistaniat.com/2010/08/05/best-ways-to-help-flood-victims-in-pakistan/

@Pakistan Crisis Wiki: http://pakistan.wikia.com/wiki/Floods_2010

@Changing Up Pakistan: http://changinguppakistan.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/turning-grief-into-action/

@Karachi Relief Trust: http://www.karachirelief.org/index.htm

The Islamist Project - REDUX

2010-08-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

I am ashamed.

2010-08-07T07:49:00.001-07:00

افغانستان جہاں سامراج کی شکست اس کی موت بنے گی

2010-08-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

Written by Alan Woods
Friday, 06 August 2010

Urdu translation of Afghanistan ‑ the war is being lost (July 23, 2010)

تحریر: ایلن وڈز - ترجمہ: فرہاد کیانی

چنگاری ڈاٹ کام،02.08.2010۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ اکانومسٹ میگزین کے نمائندے نے اس جریدے کے مخصوص ہتک آمیز اور بے اعتنائی کے لہجے میں بیان دیا ہے کہ جو چیز وہ معاف نہیں کر سکتا وہ یہ ہے کہ جنرل میکرسٹل فرانس کے علاقے براڈیے کی مشہور شراب(وائن) کے مقابلے میں افیون کو ترجیح دیتے ہیں۔ لیکن اس مشہور فرانسیسی شراب کے رسیا کو اس بات کا اضافہ کرنا پڑا کہ ذوق کی یہ کمی کتنی ہی سنجیدہ کیوں نہ ہو اتنی بڑی وجہ نہیں تھی کہ ایک حاضر سروس امریکی جرنیل کو برطرف کر دیا جاتا۔ جنرل کی برطرفی کی اصل وجہ کہیں زیادہ سنجیدہ نوعیت کی تھی اور اس کا تعلق حکمران طبقے اور ریاست کے تعلقات سے ہے۔ بورژوازی یہ محسوس کرنا چاہتی ہے کہ وہ اپنی ریاست پر مکمل کنٹرول رکھتی ہے۔ لیکن ریاست میں ہمیشہ ایک رجحان ہوتا ہے جو آخری تجزیے میں مسلح لوگوں کی فوج ہوتی ہے کہ وہ سماج سے بالا ہو کر اپنی آزادی کو مسلط کرے یہاں تک کہ حکمران طبقے پر بھی۔ ہمیں یہ رجحان قدیم دور میں بھی نظر آتا ہے جیسا کہ سلطنت روم میں پریتورین ازم واضح طور پر دکھاتا ہے۔ اپنی مشہور کتاب ’خاندان، ذاتی ملکیت اور ریاست کا آغاز‘ میں اینگلز وضاحت کرتا ہے کہ ریاست ’’ایک طاقت جو بظاہر سماج سے بالا ہوتی ہے، جو تضاد کو کم کرے گی اور اسے ’’نظم و ضبط ‘‘ میں رکھے گی،اور یہ طاقت جو سماج سے نکلتی ہے لیکن اپنے آپ کو اس سماج سے بالا کر لیتی ہے اور اپنے آپ کو اس سماج سے مسلسل بیگانہ کرتی چلی جاتی ہے‘‘۔ شدید طبقاتی جدوجہد کے ادوار میں جب کوئی بھی طبقہ فیصلہ کن فتح حاصل نہ کر رہا ہو تو ریاست فوج کی شکل میں اپنے آپ کو زیادہ سے زیادہ مسلط کرتی ہے۔ طبقاتی حکمرانی کے عام طریقے ان طاقتوں کو قابو کرنے میں ناکام ہو جاتے ہیں اور حکمرانی کے دوسرے طریقے ضروری ہو جاتے ہیں۔بوناپارٹزم تلوار کی حکمرانی ہے۔ لیکن حکمران طبقہ ایسے اقدامات آسانی سے نہیں کرتا۔یہ پارلیمانی جمہوریت کے عام طریقہ کار کو ترجیح دیتا ہے کیونکہ اس میں زیادہ بچت ہے۔ اس بات کو یقینی بنانے کے ایک ہزار ایک طریقے ہیں کہ جب محنت کش طبقہ ووٹوں کے ذریعے کامیاب ہو جائے تو اسے سماج اور ریاست پر کنٹرول حاصل کرنے سے روکا جائے۔ اس کے لیے بلواسطہ اور بلا واسطہ کرپشن کے لیے اخراجات کرنے پڑتے ہیں اور دھڑے بندی کرنے،مارکیٹنگ،تعلقات عامہ اور میڈیا کے ذریعے ووٹ ڈالنے والوں کو دھوکے کے ذریعے یقین دلایا جاتا ہے کہ وہ قوم کے مقدر میں کوئی اہمیت رکھتے ہیں۔ لیکن تمام وقت کنٹرول مضبوطی سے ایک اقلیت کے پاس ہوتا ہے۔لیکن حقیقت یہ ہے کہ کوئی بھی امریکہ کا صدر اس وقت تک نہیں بن سکتا جب تک وہ ارب پتی نہ ہو یا کم از کم ان بڑی رقوم تک رسائی نہ رکھتا ہو جو ارب پتیوں سے آتی ہیں۔ روایتی بورژوا جمہوریت کے اضافی اخراجات حکمران طبقے کی نظر سے ایک پریشانی ہیں لیکن امریکہ جیسے ممالک میں اس نظام کو کئی نسلوں سے چلا کراتنا بہتر کر لیا گیا ہے کہ یہ قابل برداشت ہے ۔اور متبادل کے اخراجات اور پریشانی بہت زیادہ ہے۔اس لیے عام حالات میں حکمران طبقہ ان جرنیلوں کو پسند نہیں کرتا جو حد سے زیادہ آزادی دکھائے اور اپنے سیاسی آقا ؤں کی خواہشات کے برعکس ا پنے ایجنڈے پر کام کرنے کا رجحان دکھائے۔ ان سیاسی آقاؤں کو بینکوں اور بڑی اجارہ داریوں کے مفادات کی ترجمانی کے لیے بہت احتیاط سے چنا جاتا ہے۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ بورژوازی اپنا کنٹرول مسلط کرتی ہے ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ موجووہ واقعہ کوریا کی جنگ کے دوران امریکی صدرٹرو مین اور جنرل ڈگلس میکارتھرکے تنازعے کی یاد دلاتا ہے۔ میکارتھر نے بوناپارٹسٹ رجحانات دکھائے تھے اور اسے برطرف کر دیا گیا تھا۔ میکرسٹل نے سیاسی اسٹیبلشمنٹ کی توہین کی ۔ بہت سے دوسرے اقوال زریں کی طرح اس نے دنیا کی سب سے بڑی سپر پاور کے نیشنل سیکیورٹی کے مشیر کو ’’مسخرہ‘‘ کہا، اس کے نائب صدر کو ’’بالکل غیر اہم‘‘ کہااور اس کے صدر کے متعلق کہا کہ وہ اعلیٰ فوجی قیادت کی موجودگی میں ’’بے آرام اور خوفزدہ‘‘ رہتا ہے۔ اپنے الفاظ اور اپنی حرکتوں سے جنرل نے محسن کشی اور بے عزتی کا مظاہرہ کیا۔اوباما نے پہلے ہی جنرل میکرنان کو برطرف کیا تھا، جو بش کے دور کا کمانڈر تھا۔ پینٹاگان کے دباؤ میں اس نے افغانستان میں فوج کی کمان کے لیے جنرل میکرسٹل کو نامزد کیا جسے وہ بہت کم جانتا تھا۔ گزشتہ سال کی خزاں میں اوباما نے جنرل میکرسٹل کے مزاحمت کے خلاف منصوبے کوین کی حمایت کی او ر اس نے جن اضافی فوجیوں کو مطالبہ کیا تھا اس کو بہت حد تک پورا کیا۔ یہ سب اس حقیقت کے باوجود تھا کہ جنرل ماتحت کے کردار سے منحرف ہو رہا تھا اور نائب صدر جو بائیڈن جو اس حکمت عملی کے خلا ف تھا اس کا مذاق اڑاتا تھا۔ اگر اوباما جنرل کو برطرف نہ کرتا تو وہ نائب صدر کی توہین کرتا اور ایسے لمحے میں کمزور نظر آتا جب وہ مضبوط دکھائی دیے جانا چاہ رہا ہے۔ جہاں کئی ماہ سے صدر کے ایسے تشخص کے لیے محنت کی گئی ہو جو برٹش پیٹرولیم کمپنی کے سامنے کھڑا ہو سکتا ہے، وہ ایسا تاثر نہیں دینا چاہتا تھا کہ وہ اپنے جرنیلوں کو کنٹرول نہیں کر سکتا۔ اب جنرل میکرسٹل کی جگہ جنرل ڈیوڈ پیٹریاس آگیا ہے۔ وہ اسٹیبلیشمنٹ کا زیادہ قابلِ اعتماد ملازم ہے، جو معزز ہے اور شاید سیاست میں آگیا ہوتا۔ میکرسٹل کی طرح آوارہ ، بد چلن نہیں جس کی انا بہت بڑی ہو ، منہ پھاڑ کے بات کرتا ہو جیسا ذہین لوگ بالکل نہیں کرتے۔ درحقیقت میکرسٹل آسانی سے چلا گیا۔ ملٹری قانون کے یونیفارم کوڈ کے مطابق جو افسر صدر یا نائب صدر کے لیے توہین آمیز الفاظ استعمال کرے اس کا کورٹ مارشل ہو سکتا ہے۔ فوج پر اپنی اتھارٹی مسلط کرنے کے لیے بھی وائٹ ہاؤس میں رہنے والے شخص کو پینٹاگان پر اتنی سختی نہیں کرنی چاہیے اور محتاط رہنا چاہیے۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ بش سے اوباما تک ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ سرمایہ داری کے ایک بڑے بحران کے باعث حکمران طبقہ مجبور تھا کہ وہ ری پبلکن جارج بش کو دھوکہ دے اور اس کی جگہ ڈیموکریٹ باراک اوباما کو لائے۔ انہوں نے صرف اپنا وزن دائیں پاؤں سے بائیں پر ڈالا ہے۔ عوام کو بتایا گیا کہ اوباما انتظامیہ ’’تبدیلی‘‘کی نمائندگی کرتی ہے اور امریکی سماج میں تبدیلی کی ایک گہری خواہش موجود ہے۔واضح ہے کہ تبدیلی صرف شکل کی تبدیلی تھی۔ صرف ظاہر تبدیلی ہوا تھا حقیقت نہیں۔ اوباما انہی امریکی سامراج ، بینکوں اور بڑی اجارہ داریوں کے طبقاتی مفادات کی ترجمانی کرتا ہے جن کی بش کرتا تھا۔ لیکن وہ ایسا غصے سے کرنے کی بجائے مسکراہٹ سے کرتا ہے اور سفار تکاری کو (جو کہ سستی ہے) ننگی طاقت پر(جو کہ مہنگی ہے) پر ترجیح دیتا ہے۔ اور وہ کم ازکم اس وقت ملک میں اور بیرون ملک عوامی رائے عامہ کو یقین دلا سکتا ہے کہ وہ واقعی ایسا کرنا چاہتا ہے۔ امریکی سامراج کے نقطہ نظر سے عراق پر حملہ ایک مہنگی غلطی تھی ، ایک مہم جوئی تھی۔ دیر سے سہی لیکن اوباما نے کوشش کی کہ امریکہ کی فوجی پالیسی کو عراق کی بجائے افغانستا ن کی جانب موڑے۔ در حقیقت کوئی بھی عراق میں ہوتا اسے عراق سے انخلا کرنا ہی پڑتا۔حقیقت یہ ہے کہ امریکہ جنگ ہار چکا ہے اور بہانہ ڈھونڈ کر اپنے نقصان کم کرنا چاہتا ہے جو کہ بہت زیادہ ہیں۔ ہزاروں مارے جانے اور زخمی ہونیوالوں کے علاوہ عراق پر قبضے کے اخراجات ایک ہفتے کے دوران دو ارب ڈالر ہیں۔ کر ہ ارض کی سب سے دولت مند طاقت بھی خون اور سونے کی یہ ہولی برداشت نہیں کر سکتی۔ لیکن افغانستان کی جنگ بھی ٹھیک نہیں جا رہی۔ نومبر میں میکرسٹل کے دباؤ کے تحت اوباما نے اس مہم کے لیے تیس ہزار مزید فوجیوں کو وعدہ کیا تھا۔اس وقت سے کچھ بھی ٹھیک نہیں ہوا۔ میکرسٹل کا خیال تھا کہ نئے فوجیوں میں اضافے کے بعد وہ عراق کی طرح طالبان پر سبقت لے جائے گا اور افغا ن حکومت کے لیے اس کی فوج اور پولیس کی مدد سے کنٹرول حاصل کرنے کا موقع پیدا کرے گا۔ایسا نہیں ہو سکا۔ پیٹریاس جو اب کمانڈر ہے عراق میں ا مریکہ کا کامیاب جنرل تھا۔ اسی شخص نے مزاحمت کاروں کے خلاف منصوبے کوین کو لکھا تھا جسے میکرسٹل افغانستان میں لاگو کرنا چاہتا تھا۔ لیکن پیٹریاس کے لیے یہاں کام مشکل ہو گا۔ یہ خیال کہ امریکی انخلا سے پہلے ایک مضبوط ریاست، فوج اور پولیس تخلیق کر لیں گے عراق میں ناکام ہو چکا ہے اور افغانستا ن میں کامیاب نہیں ہو سکتا جہاں پورا ملک لسانی، قبائلی،مذہبی تفرقوں میں بٹا ہوا ہے اور ریاست کرزئی کے گرد بد عنوان بدمعاشوں کے ہاتھ میں ہے۔ میکرسٹل نے ہلمند کے علاقے مرجا میں نئی حکمت عملی کی کوشش کی۔یہاں یہ ثابت کرنے کی کوشش کی گئی کہ مزاحمت کاروں کے خلاف حکمت عملی کوین کیسے لوگوں کے دل جیتے گی اور طالبان سے چھٹکارا حاصل کرے گی۔لیکن میکرسٹل نے خود مرجا کو ایک ’’رستا ہوا زخم ‘‘ قرار دے دیا ہے۔اس لیے جرنیلوں اور سیاستدانوں میں پھوٹ کا یہ بد ترین لمحہ تھا۔ لڑائی کے موسم کے آغاز پرجنرل کی برطرفی مزاحمت کے خلاف پوری حکمت عملی کو تبدیل کر دے گی جو پہلے ہی بہت برے طریقے سے چل رہی تھی۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ امریکہ جنگ ہا ر رہا ہے ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ اوبامانے افغانستان میں جنگ کو ’’ضرورت کی جنگ‘‘ قرار دیا ہے۔لیکن اب افغانستان میں امریکہ کی مہم ناکامی کے دہانے پر ہے۔جون میں افغانستان میں امریکہ کی مہم ویت نام کی مہم کا ریکارڈ توڑ کر اس کی تاریخ کی سب سے لمبی مہم بن چکی ہے۔ایک ہزار سے زیادہ امریکی فوجی مارے جا چکے ہیں اور چھ ہزار سے زائد زخمی ہوئے ہیں۔لیکن ابھی نتائج کافی برے ہیں۔طالبان اپنی کاروائیاں جاری رکھے ہوئے ہیں اور اتحادی فوجوں کو گوریلا طریقوں سے ہراساں کر رہے ہیں اور ان قبائلی سرداروں کو بھی مار دیتے ہیں جو اتحادیوں کی معاونت کرتے ہیں اور سڑک کے کنارے بموں سے تباہی مچا رہے ہیں۔ اوباماکی خواہش ہے کہ وہ افغانستان سے باہر نکل جائے اور مقامی فوجوں کو امریکی مفاد میں ان سے لڑنے دے، جو یا تو ان کی اپنی وجہ سے لڑیں یا پھر پیسے کے لیے۔ لیکن ایسا کرنے کے لیے ایک ایسی افغا ن ریاست اور فوج بنانی ہو گی جو طالبان کے سامنے کھڑی ہو سکے۔ امریکی کوشش کر رہے ہیں کہ خطے کی مقامی فوجوں کو اتحاد میں شامل کیا جائے۔ کاغذوں میں یہ طالبان کو مذاکرات کے لیے مجبور کرے گا۔ لیکن حال ہی میں ایک باغی افغان رنگروٹ کی جانب سے اتحادی فوجی کا قتل ظاہر کرتا ہے کہ ایک مضبوط افغان فوج کا قیام بہت دور ہے۔ مطلوبہ نتائج (مذاکرات )حاصل کرنے سے پہلے واشنگٹن حملہ کرنا چاہتا ہے جس طرح انہوں نے عراق میں کیا تھا۔یہ کہنا آسان ہے لیکن کرنا مشکل۔ہلمند کے صوبے میں آپریشن پیشگی اندازو ں کی نسبت بہت سست ہے۔قندھار میں بھی فیصلہ کن حملے کو ملتوی کر دیا گیا ہے۔یہ آپریشن جنگ کی سمت کا تعین کرے گا۔منصوبے کا ایک پہلو یہ تھا کہ قندھار میں کرزئی کے بد عنوان سوتیلے بھائی کو ہٹایا جائے۔لیکن وہ ابھی تک وہاں اقتدار میں ہے۔ میکرسٹل نے قندھار کا حملہ خزاں تک کے لیے اس لیے ملتوی کیا تھا کیونکہ وہ دیکھ رہا تھا کہ مقامی لوگ اس کی حمایت نہیں کریں گے۔ ایک سو بیس ایسے ضلعوں میں سروے کے بعد جہاں مزاحمت سب سے زیادہ ہے یہ بات سامنے آئی ہے کہ ایک تہائی سے بھی کم افغانوں میں کرزئی کی حمایت ہے۔ایک بڑی اکثریت بیرونی قابضین سے چھٹکارا حاصل کرنا چاہتی ہے اور انہیں ملک سے باہر دیکھنا چاہتی ہے۔اور امریکی ڈرون حملوں سے ہر افغان شہری کے قتل کے بعد یہ نفرت اور زیادہ بڑھ جائے گی۔ طالبان دشمن کی صفوں میں پڑنے والی دراڑوں سے حوصلہ افزائی حاصل کریں گے۔ وہ یہ نتیجہ اخذ کریں گے کہ امریکہ میں لڑنے کی ہمت نہیں۔ چوبیس جون کو اکانومسٹ نے ایک دلچسپ سرخی نکالی’’ باراک اوباما نے افغانستان میں اپنے جنرل کو برطرف کر دیا ہے۔ لیکن اصل پریشانی یہ ہے کہ وہ جنگ ہار رہے ہیں‘‘۔یہ معاملے کی اصل حقیقت کو سامنے لے آتا ہے۔ مضمون میں مزید لکھا ہے،’’لیکن صدر کا فیصلہ کن ہونا ایک گہری حقیقت کو نہیں چھپا سکتا۔امریکہ اور اس کے اتحادی افغانستان میں جنگ ہار رہے ہیں‘‘۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ کون ذمہ دار ہے؟ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ امریکی سامراج ہی طالبان اور القاعدہ کاذمہ دار تھا۔ امریکہ نے سعودی عرب اور پاکستان کے ساتھ مل کر نے ان نام نہاد مجاہدین کو منظم کیا اور ان کی پرورش کی تا کہ سویت یونین کو ایک گوریلا جنگ کے ذریعے شکست دے سکیں۔ جب تک وہ روسیوں کو قتل کر رہے تھے اس وقت تک ان رجعتی ڈاکوؤں کو مغرب میں ’’بہادر حریت پسند‘‘کے طور پر پیش کیا گیا۔ کچھ بائیں بازو کے گروپوں نے بھی جیسے برطانوی ایس ڈیلیو پی نے شرمندگی کی حد تک ان رجعتی طاقتوں کی حمایت کی۔ اس مرحلے پر امریکہ یہ بات قبول کرنے کے لیے تیار تھا کہ ان اسلامی جنونیوں کو جنہیں اس وقت کابل میں سوویت نوا ز حکومت کے خلاف تیار کیا ہے افغانستان پر حکومت کریں گے۔ انہیں اسامہ بن لادن جیسے لوگوں کی سرگرمیوں سے کوئی سروکار نہیں تھا۔ایک سعودی ارب پتی جس کے سی آئی اے سے گہرے روابط تھے۔لیکن جب انیس سو انانویں میں سوویت فوج نے افغانستان چھوڑاتو صورتحال تبدیل ہو گئی۔ فریکنسٹائن کی طرح واشنگٹن نے ایک ایسا بھوت تخلیق کیا تھا جسے وہ کنٹرول نہیں کر سکتے تھے۔ بہت سے دھڑے نسلی اور مذہبی بنیادوں پر تقسیم ہو گئے اور تمام رجعتی تھے۔پاکستان میں واشنگٹن کے اتحادی افغانستان کو کنٹرول کرنا چاہتے تھے۔آئی ایس آئی کے ذریعے پاکستان نے اس دھڑے کی حمایت کی جو اپنے آپ کو طالبان کہتا تھا اور اسے انیس سو چھیانویں میں اقتدار پر قبضہ کرنے میں مدد دی۔طالبان ایک عالمی دہشت گرد گروپ القاعدہ کے ساتھ جڑے ہوئے تھے جو مختلف ممالک میں امریکی اڈوں پر حملوں میں ملوث تھا۔اچانک امریکہ کا رویہ تبدیل ہو گیا۔’’بہادر حریت پسند‘‘ اچانک دہشت گرد بن گئے۔ اصل تبدیلی گیارہ ستمبر دو ہزار ایک کو ہوئی جب القاعدہ نے امریکی سرزمین پر حملہ کیا۔ بش نے جواباً عراق پر حملہ کر دیا جس کا ورلڈ ٹریڈ سنٹر پر حملے اور اس وقت القاعدہ سے بھی کوئی تعلق نہیں تھا ۔ اس کے ساتھ ہی گیارہ ستمبر کے کچھ عرصہ بعد ہی امریکہ نے افغانستان میں بھی آپریشن شروع کر دیا۔ ایسا کرنے لے لیے امریکہ نے افغانستان میں شمالی اتحاد جیسی تنظیموں سے معاہدہ کیا جنہیں طالبان نے اقتدار سے بے دخل کر دیا تھااور ساتھ ہی مغربی افغانستان میں شیعہ تنظیموں کے ساتھ جو ایران اور بھارت کے قریب تھیں۔ان گروپوں نے طالبان کی مخالفت یا پھر پیسے کے لیے واشنگٹن کی حمایت کی۔اس حکمت عملی سے واشنگٹن کو زمین پر امریکی فوجیوں کی زندگی خطرے میں ڈالے بغیر حملہ کرنے کا موقع مل گیا۔ حملے میں امریکہ کا حصہ اتنا تھا کہ وہ فضا سے بی ۔ باون بمبار طیاروں سے طالبان پر بم گراتے تھے۔اس شدید بمباری سے طالبان شہروں سے نکل کر دیہاتوں میں چلے گئے۔ طالبان کو شکست نہیں ہوئی تھی کیونکہ انہوں نے لڑائی ہی نہیں لڑی تھی۔اس کے بجائے انہوں نے اپنی طاقتوں کو محفوظ کیا اور افغانستان اور سرحد کے پار پاکستان کے پشتون علاقوں میں دوبارہ متحد ہوئے جہاں انہیں آئی ایس آئی میں موجود دوستوں سے تحفظ اور امداد ملی۔ اس وقت تک واشنگٹن نے زمین پر زیادہ امریکی فوجی نہیں اتارے تھے۔وہ دوسروں کو لڑوا رہا تھا۔لیکن اب سب بدل چکاہے۔ دو ہزار نو میں اوباما نے فیصلہ کیا کہ عراق کی بجائے افغانستان امریکی فوجی آپریشن کا مرکز ہو گا۔اس کا ارادہ تھا کہ طالبان سے مذاکرات کے حالات بنائے جائیں اور 2011ء میں انخلا شروع کیا جائے۔ایسا کرنے کے لیے، جیسا کہ ہم نے دیکھا اوباما نے پہلے اپنی فوجوں میں اضافہ کیا تا کہ طالبان کو شکست دی جائے اور انہیں ایک سیاسی حل قبول کرنے پر آمادہ کیا جائے جو امریکی انخلا پر منتج ہو گیا۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ اب کیا ہو گا؟ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ ۔ حال ہی میں افغانستان میں بہت زیادہ معدنی دولت کی باتیں شروع ہو گئیں ہیں۔ یہ ممکن ہے کہ ایسا پراپیگنڈہ اس لیے کیا جائے تا کہ مغربی حکومتیں اپنی فوجیں وہاں سے نہ نکالیں۔لیکن اگر یہ سچ ہے (جو ابھی واضح نہیں) تو اس ممکنہ دولت کو ایک جنگ کے دوران نکالنابعید از خیال ہے۔اس لیے ہم شروع کے سوال پر واپس آگئے ہیں کہ تنازعے کو ختم کیسے کیا جائے؟ فوجی فتح کا سوال ہی پیدا نہیں ہوتا۔امریکہ اب خطے میں اپنے آپ کو ضرورت سے زیادہ پھیلا چکا ہے۔دنیا کی سب سے بڑی فوجی طاقت کے پاس زمینی افواج کی مزید کمک موجود نہیں۔اس سے بھی بد تر یہ ہے کہ واشنگٹن کے نقطہ نظر سے افغانستان امریکہ کے لیے ضروری نہیں،اسی لیے تاریخی طور پر کبھی بھی یہاں وہ اپنی فوجوں سے نہیں لڑا بلکہ دوسروں کے خون کو استعمال کیاہے۔ اسی لیے امریکی افغان فوج اور ریاست کو تعمیر کرنا چاہتے ہیں تا کہ وہ افغان عوام کے ’’دل اور دماغ ‘‘ جیتتے ہوئے جنگ لڑیں اور طالبان کو تنہا کر دیں۔لیکن جب سے القاعدہ نے اپنی کاروائیاں پاکستان، یمن اور صومالیہ اور دوسرے ممالک سے شروع کر دی ہیں اور افغانستان میں اپنے اڈوں سے انکار کر رہے ہیں ، اس کے بعد سے ایسے مسئلہ حل نہیں ہو گا۔ جنگ کا یہ عام اصول ہے کہ کبھی بھی تمام فوجوں کو میدان میں نہ اتارو۔کسی بھی غیر متوقع و اقعے کے لیے کمک ہونی چاہیے۔لیکن امریکہ نے اس سنہری اصول کو توڑ دیا ہے۔ عراق اور افغانستان میں مشکل مہم کے باعث امریکہ دنیا میں دوسری جگہوں پر آسان ہدف بن گیا ہے۔امریکہ کے دشمن اتنے رحم دل نہیں ہوں گے کہ وہ دوسری جنگ شروع کرنے سے قبل پہلی جنگ کے خاتمے کا انتظار کریں۔پہلے ہی دہشت گردوں نے شمالی پاکستان کے قبائلی علاقوں میں وسیع اڈے بنا لیے ہیں اور ساتھ ہی یمن اور صومالیہ کے غیر مستحکم اور دور دراز علاقوں میں بھی۔ اس صورتحال کو جاری نہیں رہنے دیا جا سکتا لیکن اوباما کو ایک المیے کا سامنا ہے۔ایک طرف ضروری ہے کہ جلد از جلد انخلا کیا جائے لیکن دوسری طرف جلد انخلا سے اتحادیوں کی تعمیر اور مذاکرات ممکن نہیں ہوں گے۔ اگر امریکی انخلا کر رہے ہیں تو طالبان کے لیے مذاکرات میں کوئی کشش نہیں۔اسی طرح امریکہ کے اتحادیوں میں بھی کوئی کشش نہیں جب امریکہ انخلا کی بات کر رہا ہے۔ یورپ اور امریکہ کی عوامی رائے عامہ میں بھی مزید جنگ پر سوالیہ نشان سامنے آ رہا ہے۔جیسے جیسے جنگ لمبی ہو گی فوجیوں کو گھر لانے کی تحریک مضبوط ہو گی۔پہلے ہی امریکہ کی سیاسی اسٹیبلشمنٹ کا ایک حصہ جنگ سے تھک چکا ہے۔حال ہی میں امریکی کانگریس میں قانون سازوں نے اس وقت افغانستان کو امداد میں 4ارب ڈالر کی کٹوتی کی جب ایک اخبار افغانستان میں کرپشن کی خبر کو سامنے لایا۔ حقیقت یہ ہے کہ اتنے سالوں کے قبضے نے کچھ حل نہیں کیا۔طالبان کے پاس منشیات کی رقم کے ذریعے بہت زیادہ پیسے اور وسائل ہیں۔ان کے پاس پاکستان میں محفوظ مقامات ہیں اور پاکستانی فوج اور ریاست کے اہم حصے کی حمایت بھی حاصل ہے۔ان حالات میں یہ سوچنا کہ جنرل تبدیل کرنے سے جنگ کی سمت میں کوئی واضح تبدیلی آئے گی غیر حقیقی ہے۔ آخر میں ایک صدی قبل برطانیہ کی طرح امریکی سامراج کو دشمن سے سمجھوتہ کرنا پڑے گا۔افغانستان میں جہاں ننگی طاقت خصی ثابت ہو چکی ہو رشوت چمتکار دکھا سکتی ہے۔ افغانستا ن میں شکست تباہی ہو گی۔اس سے مغرب اور نیٹو کی توہین ہو گی۔جنگ کا سب سے محدود مقصد کہ القاعدہ کے کاروائیوں کے لیے اڈے ختم کیے جائیں ، بھی ناکام ہو جائے گا۔کہا جا رہا ہے کہ حامد کرزئی طالبان سے براہ راست مذاکرات کے رستے کھول رہا ہے۔افغان صدر نے اس کی تردید نہیں کی۔درحقیقت اس نے اس کا اعتراف کیا ہے۔یہ حیران کن نہیں۔وہ اپنی گردن بچانا چاہتا ہے۔ دوسری طرف پاکستانی افغانستان میں بڑھتی ہوئی بھارتی موجودگی پر غصے میں ہیں اور اپنی موجودگی بڑھا رہے ہیں۔ ایک خلا بن چکا ہے اور کسی کو اسے لازمی پر کرنا ہے۔ مغرب کا انخلا افغانستان کو ایک نئی خانہ جنگی میں دھکیل دے گا جو ماضی سے زیادہ خون ریز ہو گی۔یہ ہمسایہ ریاستوں کو مداخلت کی دعوت دے گا ۔ ایران ، پاکستان ، ہندوستان اور یہاں تک کہ روس بھی۔اس سے پورے وسطی ایشیا میں عدم استحکام پھیلے گا اور پاک بھارت جنگ کا خدشہ بڑھے گا۔ ہمیشہ کی طرح اصل نشانہ افغانستا ن کے عوام بنیں گے جو بربریت میں دھکیلے جا سکتے ہیں۔افغان بیرونی حملہ آوروں سے نفرت کرتے ہیں لیکن اس کا مطلب یہ نہیں کہ وہ طالبان کی حمایت کرتے ہیں۔بہت سے افغان طالبان سے چھٹکارا حاصل کرنا چاہتے ہیں لیکن انہیں کوئی متبادل نظر نہیں آتا۔ان حالات میں مارکسزم کی محدود قوتوں کا افغانستان میں کام انتہائی مشکل ہے۔انہیں لازمی طور پر سامراج اور بیرونی قبضے کے خلاف لڑنا ہو گا لیکن بنیاد پرست رجعتی طاقتوں کو کسی قسم کی کوئی رعایت دیے بغیر۔ یورپ اور امریکہ کے لوگوں کے ذہنوں میں افغانستان کا مطلب پسماندگی،وحشت اور مذہبی جنونیت بن چکا ہے۔لیکن تاریخی طور پر یہ وسطی ایشیا کی عظیم ثقافت کا مرکز تھا۔کچھ عرصہ قبل یہاں ایک کمیونسٹ روایت تھی جو ابھی تک زندہ ہے گو کہ اسے بہت زیادہ دبایا گیا ہے۔افغان عوام کو چاہیے کہ وہ ماضی میں اس سنہری دور کی طرف دیکھیں جب ’’کمیونسٹ‘‘ اقتدار میں تھے۔ آخر کار جیسا کہ ہمیشہ ہوا ہے افغانستا ن کی قسمت کا فیصلہ کہیں اور ہو گا۔افغانستان وسطی ایشیا کا حصہ ہے۔اس کی سرحد چین اور ایران سے ملتی ہے۔یہ برصغیر جانے کا بھی راستہ ہے جو ہمالیہ کے پہاڑوں اورشمال میں پنجاب کے وسیع میدانوں سے لے کر جنوب میں بحر ہند تک پھیلا ہوا ہے۔ ہمسایہ ممالک میں تیار ہونے والی انقلابی تحریکیں افغانستان پر بڑے اثرات مرتب کریں گی۔سب سے بڑ ھ کر
ایران میں ایک انقلاب تمام صورتحال کو تبدیل کر دے گا۔ یہی افغانستان اور پورے ایشیا کے لیے امید ہے

Source: Chingaree.com

When one day, you sit down to wonder ...

2010-08-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

اوکھے پینڈے لمیاں راہواں عشق دیاں

2010-08-01T04:24:00.000-07:00

The "Diggri Ishuu"

2010-07-31T12:32:00.000-07:00

Yes. That shit still drags on. Kashif Abbasi did yet another show on the same thing and the same people came out to play and said the same kind of things. Umair over at Recycled Thought put forth some theses that feature Abid Sher Ali as the central figure (paraphrasing) of this "fuck up" (or "stroke of genius") .

I think there is another option which has been overlooked by pundits of the blogging (and non-blogging) kind, and I think it goes as follows:

TL;DR:

As I mentioned in a comment on the post linked above, my pet theory is that this was a ploy by NS to precipitate mid-term elections. Getting a large number of MP's disqualified in one go including his own would trigger mid-term polls, without getting the blame for "rocking the boat" as it were.

Long drawn out version:

I haven't looked into the rules as to what percentage would trigger such an event. But there might be an obscure rule in the playbook of the Pakistan Election Commission which they were hoping to use to move a court or some such (through proxies of course) to order an midterm election.

Why mid-term elections? because then they can openly put forth candidates in all constituencies against PPP-P candidates.

I think the way they played it, it would seem like they were the un-intended victims of their own overzealous adherence to "parliamentary" procedure and even though they had a large number of MP's affected, they decided to 'go back to the people'. Since they can't afford to boycott the parliament outright and take the blame for "destabilizing democracy", they went the way of the "smart suicide bumbaar".

This also explains the 'apparent' (slight) schism between the provincial and federal leaderships (or at least cadres) of PML-N which became evident during the Punjab Assembly motion against the media and Nawaz Sharif's immediate, almost pre-rehearsed reaction afterwards.

So, in my view, it is simple. They wanted mid-term elections but without having it look like they were the cause of it so they let their boy Abid Sher Ali "go at it", Nawaz Sharif cheering him on all the while to "stay loyal to the democratic principles" etc. The "expected" end result was that either the court or the election commission would have to declare by-elections, and they would score points based on the fact that they eliminated the 'black sheep' while Peoples Party fought it using dirty ploys to weasel out of having their members disqualified.

It remains to be seen whether this strategy would work. I doubt this was a "stupid mistake" by Abid Sher Ali. I think the whole thing was pre-planned with a specific effect and end goal in mind and I don't think it was "the establishment" which instigated this though they may also be the un-intended beneficiaries of the fallout.

Afghanistan War logs

2010-07-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency.

The disclosures come from more than 90,000 records of incidents and intelligence reports about the conflict obtained by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks in one of the biggest leaks in US military history.

The war logs also detail:

• How a secret "black" unit of special forces hunts down Taliban leaders for "kill or capture" without trial.

• How the US covered up evidence that the Taliban have acquired deadly surface-to-air missiles.

• How the coalition is increasingly using deadly Reaper drones to hunt and kill Taliban targets by remote control from a base in Nevada.

• How the Taliban have caused growing carnage with a massive escalation of its roadside bombing campaign, which has killed more than 2,000 civilians to date.

And of course the ISI gets its share of "leaked" blame.

"Anti-Communist Program in East Pakistan"

2010-07-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

This propaganda plan, that was translated into the rhetoric of the "religious parties" will ring a painful bell with those who've had to endure the BS spouted by the likes of JI and Zia'ists and their jihadi demon spawns who fought America's wars in the 80's against the Soviets using propaganada that issued from an equally Anti-Muslim source, the United States.

PURPOSE: To destroy Communist influence and develop a positive (counter) program based on the new national ideals of Pakistan. ... Collaboration between the USIS and the Government of East Bengal is to be kept secret. To this end every attempt will be made to keep knowledge of the program confined to the three officers of the American Consulate and the three officers of the Government of East Bengal whose concerted effort is necesssary to the formulation of plans and policies.

OPERATIONAL THEMES: ... To link communism with imperialism by demonstrating that the original meaning of the word is being used as a cloak for planned conquest. ... To show the communists as anti-God and therefore a threat to the continued existence of the Muslim world as a free and independent religio-political entity. ... To promote the Islamic socio-economic concept under which there will be freedom and dignity for the individual and which will provide for the elimination of economic disparities and inequities. Coordinated Program for Combatting Communism in East Bengal, Aug. 7, 1951

Developments in Iran and Egypt are seriously affecting Pakistan popular position reference United States and we should now expect period of critical attitudes. This change may imperil parts of information program. Clearly any revelation of my private understanding with top GOP officials will create greatest embarrassment to them. ... View GOP changing position it is most imperative that all discussion be halted bringing GOEB personnel to Washington for discussion this highly delicate operation. If information officer GOEB is later sent to US as Leader Specialist, he should be given leader itinerary treatment and should not repeat not be consulted about policy matters affecting cooperation East Pakistan. We must assume he does not know of my overall understanding. Secret Telegram from Karachi Embassy, Nov. 5, 1951

More here at Paul Wolf's page on "Pakistan: Partition and Military Succession"

General Kiyani's extension and the Reactionary Right's..umm.. Reaction. REDUX.

2010-07-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Nuff said!

Who's gonna save my soul now?

2010-07-17T19:37:00.001-07:00

Maududi's books banned in Bangladesh.

2010-07-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Bangladesh, seeing what Pakistan is facing teetring on the edge of the abyss, has decided to ban the intellectual poison spewed by a party that calls itself "the Party of Islam" aka Jamat-e Islami.

From BBC, "Bangladesh bans books written by radical Islamic Scholar" (anyone know which madrassah he went to?) :

The Bangladeshi government has ordered mosques and libraries across the country to remove all books written by a controversial Islamic scholar.

The chief of the government-funded Islamic Foundation told the BBC that the books by Syed Abul Ala Maududi encouraged "militancy and terrorism".

You think?

Pakistani society however, has neither the guts, nor the historcial perspective to shutdown these merchants of death and anarchy. These very same merchants of death who once called Pakistan, "Na-Pakistan", and who within a few years became the "asli tay waDDay thekay-Dars of not only Islam but of Pakistan"... And we suffer under their treachery to this day.

There is an elephant sitting in Pakistan's proverbial drawing room half demolished by terrorists and their heinous blasts, and that is this so called "religious party" which is providing moral, logistical and intellectual (now cyber) support to the terrorist groups.

JI has a shamefully sordid history of supporting fascist, violent actions against the interests of the People of Pakistan. From sanctifying rapes of fellow East Pakistani women "captured" by the "army of truth" to being the overt shock troops of America for the filthy geopolitical wars conducted by America and it's Western gang of theives.

Even today, JI is supporting the terrorist actions and is acting as the PR cell and logistics cell of the terrorists networks operating within the country. It is quite obvious who, ultimately, will recieve benefits from these violent terrorist and anarchist actions being taken against the innocent People of Pakistan, and that is foreign powers who are hellbent on making Pakistan their permanent base of operations in the "new cold war"...

Once again the Islamo Mercenaries of Jamat Islami, it's fascist student wing and it's very organized cyber supporters are acting on behalf of foreign powers, destroying Pakistan, one of the few remaining bastions of Muslim power at the behest of their foreign masters, all the while crying themselves hoarse about Islam and Islami nizam (and murdering and intimidating those who dare to so much as even raise a verbal protest against their patently un-islamic actions)

This action by Bangladesh is certainly a response to what the whole world sees happening in Pakistan. The destruction, implosion and eventual takeover of the state by "Jihadi Proxies". Proxies whose strings will be pulled, via Saudi extremist regimes (themselves complete puppets of the west), to control Pakistan through extreme repression (in the name of Islam of course, modeled after the Saudi State Repression methods) and to execute the wishes of the thieving (but quickly aging west -- hence all the robots) .

Once again Pakistan will be used as a pawn, and once again the western "assets" in Pakistan, namely the kleptocratic elite, the army and most importantly, the "religious/islamic parties" will be used to enslave and subjugate the people of Pakistan, this time for another half century for fulfillment of the geo-political goals of the western powers.

India may have gained independence in 1947, but we have not lived for a minute but under the yoke of neo-colonialism. We became neo-slaves on 14th of August 1947. This is precisely why Maududi moved from India (which had a larger Muslim population and needed more "religious party support") to "Pak"-isthan. Because that is where the british wanted their most valuable asset, their fifth columnists, to be.

! دم گٹکو

2010-07-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

A tale of two meetings.

2010-07-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Two different kinds of meetings happened in the National capital in the last couple of days. One was the meeting of the federal cabinet and the other was the 130th corp. commander meeting. There is a subtle difference between these two meetings. Let's see if you can pick it up.

did you notice something? ... no? Okay, let me help you:

Can someone tell me what exactly the fuck is that military guy doing in the highest level meeting of the civilian leaders of Pakistan? And why isn't there a 'civilian aide' sitting behind Kiyani, listening in on the proceedings of the OH SO IMPOHRTUNT corp. commanders' meeting?

Is this to provide "security for the prime minister"? Whatever happened to a simple, civilian seargeant at arms? or a civilian Federal Police Officer? Why is a high level military officer joined at the hip with the Prime Minister of Pakistan 24 fucking 7 ?

Our country is being overtaken by foreign powers, and these fuckers are still playing the same old fucking games, completely obvlivious to what's happening around them. And why not? when the shit hits the fan, these bastards will get in their planes and leave for their houses in the richest most affluent neightbourhoods in the west.

Allah Allah, Khair Salla!

So much for "making progress" ...

A message to the "Oh so pious" 1% Wahabbi Minority

2010-07-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

The following post was instigated by another pretentious post by another Wahabbi extremist masquerading, yet again, as "a true muslim", exhorting people to "destroy centers of shirk" (meaning the mazarat of aulia etc). (previously pointed out by Red Scorpion in the comments section)

That particular "gem" (or piece of garbage) is right here at PKP discuss titled "Demolish the "centers of shirk"..."

We will remain in this mess, that we find the Muslim ummah today, until we wake up and demolish the "Centers of Shirk", like data darbar and the likes of it, and believe in the Tawheed of Allaah Subhaanuhu wa Ta'aala the way the Sahaaba (may Allaah be pleased with all of them) believed in it.

Here is my response to it (which is probably in moderation in PKP for the time being even though I can't find a cuss word that I didn't carefully self censor):

The way I see it, a twisted, psychotic, 1% minority sect, namely takfiri wahabbi's, have NO RIGHT to tell the 99% that they are engaging in shirk.

Do us all a favor, Mind your own bloody (literally) business and do what you do best, which is fighting fake "jihads" to hand over victories to the western powers and wagging your tails in front of the fake monarchs of the "brother arab mumalik" who are just as foreign as amrika bahadur (and suck amrika's you know what) but that doesn't seem to 'click' with Lashkar-e-Pretentious one tiny bit!.

A miniscule 1% can't force the 99% to follow their twisted logic, unless they use extreme violence, and this is precisely why they do use violence.

I hope the original poster is happy since Data Darbar was attacked and hundreds were maimed and killed by takfiri dogs, made possible by moral support such as this.

We are sick and tired of you. Your fake "jihads" for Jews and Christians conducted by rabbi's and psyop "ulema"-e soo. We're sick and tired of your sick version of Islam and you murdering us in the thousands. We're sick and tired of you lording it over us and telling us we're all wrong and you, the shamefully small number not even 1 percent of the world's Muslim population (however shrill and violent) is right!

We're sick of your pretentious "hijab" and your pretentious 'shalwar over the gitta" and your promotion of arab culture as "authentic Muslim" culture and to top it all off your tiresome and constant badgering about "oh look, how pious we are... ... "

You may not like to hear this, but we're sick of this sh*t.

Leave us the F***K alone!

If you think you can take Pakistan. You got another think coming.

And just to rub it in your faces, here is Baba Bulleh shah reaching out from his grave, smacking you upside your proud, empty heads. He can still make a bunch of hindoo's stand up and dance to the chants of 'Allah Hoo'.

You on the other hand are good for one thing it seems. Innoculating the whole world against the faith you so pretentiously profess to 'love'.

Why we fight?

2010-07-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

مرن کولوں مینوں روک نہ ملا مرن دآ شوق مٹا ون دے
کنجری بنیاں عزت نہ گھٹدی نچ کے یار مناون دے
جدوں مل جاوے دیدار تے نچنا پیندا اے
سامنے ہووے یار تے نچنا پیندا اے

Aukhay painDay, lammiyaaN rahvaaN ishQ di'yaaN

2010-07-10T18:07:00.001-07:00

Regarding "Outsourcing Torture"

2010-07-10T05:56:00.000-07:00

Since I've been put in moderation on PKP (probably because of the occasional "F" word), I will post my response to their current "featured article" titled "Outsourcing Torture".

Before I do that though, just a comment that I find it disturbing that PKP has become such a monoculture of ideas and ideologies. Seems like it's been taken over by the people from the reactionary right. Or maybe that is what was bound to happen given the political and intellectual leanings of the founders to begin with.

In any case, at a time when Data Sahib Darbar was attacked, PKP posted an inane article about "Kalabagh Dam" either to avoid any uncomfortable discussion of the horrific problem of terrorism facing the nation or (more sinisterly) to deflect and distract attention away from it (which indicates an even more sad state of affairs.)

So now, when a 104 women and children were mercilessly attacked and killed by the beastly talib dogs (who accepted responsibility this time for a change), PKP and it's "editor" (note: you know who you are) decided to engage in a shameless rehash of the extra-ordinary rendition issue while Pakistan is burning and its innocent citizens are being attacked and murdered by hell fiends called "taliban".

The "featured" JI/Alqaida propaganda starts out with a picture of the flags of a few Muslim majority countries, notably amongst them "Saudi" Arabia, "Pak"-isthan, Egypt and a few others like Libya, Uzbekistan etcetera.

The article starts by asking, 'What do all these ... countries have in common?"

Here is my response to that post:

What do all these countries have in common? they’re all America’s bitches. And the self flagellating holier than thou jamatias, insafia’s and other open and closeted talib supporters only have themselves to blame for this state of affairs. Just an uncomfortable fact that some of these fake, propped up regimes also support the worst wahabbi elements in other Muslim countries. Pakistan maybe the least worst in some aspects.

Let us take the example of Saudi Arabia. This country is ruled by a corrupt “royal” clique which is about as “royal” as the royal fulsh of a useless card game. These pricks came to power by running a successful “Jihad” against the “westernized” turks and help break up the last remaining Muslim power. For this “service” they got a piece of the desert and got to call it “Saudi” and got to become “royal”.

There is only one purpose for these gulf “monarchies”, to maintain control over the oil supplies of these nations and let the West steal that oil at horrifically low prices which they then turn around and deposit in western banking systems (kiyoonki banking Islam men Haram hai).

How do these “monarch butterflies” stay in power? By implementing a beastly system of oppression and control, which is backed by a beastly interpretation of Islam (It would be the “religion of peace” in case you forgot since this comment started).

This very same, horrific and beastly system which is glorified and aggrandized by the useful idiots in other Muslim countries which take this system of religio-political oppression as some kind of “second coming” of Khilafat-e-Umar and want to “implement” it in their own countries.

So, let’s recap the “bitch relationships”

– Jihadi Kuttay (dogs) (talib, red-mosquiyay, waghaira waghaira) are intellectual bitches of the Deobandi/Wahabbi schools flourshing in the country being sustained on the meagre money the arab fucktard “monarch” get and then use 95% for fucking russian whores and 5% on Islamic Schools (to assuage their guilty consciences.)

– Deobandi/Wahabbi schools are bitches of their Saudi paymasters, and preach the same kind of horrific, tortuous, torturous and violent version if Islam which is keeping the Saudi jackals in power. (The Wahabbi “ulema” eat that shit up, regurgitate it and feed it to _their_ bitches aka the Islamo-cannon-fodder)

– The Saudi and other arab monarchs are Bitches of America. In every sense of the word.

– And guess whose bitch America is?

I got one word for you: Flotilla.

What is the answer then?

The Answer is complicated. Bitches!

P.S. And how did the wahabbi “jihadi” dogs (notice I didn’t say “Mujahideen”) helped create Israel and defeat the only Muslim power (Ottomon) which would have been able to resist the efforts? Lets leave that for another day.

Khudai rakh kol apReN, saanu kaafi ey yaar daa dera

2010-07-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

Better audio version here:

A very interesting "seena ba seena" part starting at 6:00 ... observe the visible discomfort of certain folks present... ;-)

"
naa tu rab saaDaa
naa asi banday teray
na teriaN maariyaaN marnaa

jeRhay bahisht daa tu maan kareN
aseN uss vich mool (?) naiN vaRnaaN

jeRhay dozakh tu piyaa DaraaweN
aseen us toN mool naiN Darnaa

Baahooo sab chuDD kay JheRaay Jhagray
ik laRR murshidd daa phaRnaaN

SanooN kaafi eh yaar da dera
tay khudai rakh kol apReN
o mera tay maiN haaN odaa
tay khudai rakh kol apReN

yaar apReN nooN arsh bulaaweN
asi bulaaiyay taa tu fatway laaweN
kuch bhed niiN aaNdaa tera

tay khudai rakh kol apRaeN
saanu kaafi eh yaar daa deraa!

poojaa butaaN di mool naa chaDsaaN
tai jhiyaaN rabb vatt hor labhsaaN

asi karaaN gay aap nabeRa
tay khudai rakh kol apReN
""

P.S. What now bitches?

FAIL! FAIL! FAIL!

2010-07-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

Can someone please, for the love of all that is still decent and worth living for, tell me:
WHAT.IN.THE.FUCK.IS.THIS.MAN.SMOKING. ???

GODDAMMIT! GODDAMN THESE TALIB APOLOGISTS!

Ref: Suicide bombings a result of toeing US policy: Imran

Data Sahib: 1 , Talib, Qazi, Imran Group: 0

2010-07-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Kal, Aaj, aur kal.

2010-06-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

The thing is. The fight has barely started.

Daikh! Qa'im rahay is gavaahi peh hum!

2010-06-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

For Neda!

2010-06-20T07:03:00.001-07:00

On her first death anniversary.

Tum yeh kehtay ho ...

2010-06-19T18:26:00.001-07:00

Jon Stewart bitchslaps Bill Oreilly

2010-02-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

The legacy of Lawrence of Arabia

2010-02-06T09:53:00.000-08:00

The western project to dismember the Ottomon empire and crack that hard nut to get at the tasty prize inside, Jerusalem, was spearheaded by one man. And the witless fools who aided the British empire and the west in general were the fucknuts who are still at it. Still fighting "Jeeehaawds" in the name of Islam, but actually working unwittingly to dismember and destroy Islam itself.

In 9 years, they kill 4000 foreign occupiers, and 100,000 fellow Muslims. Yet they classify it as Jeehawwd! and yet unwitting fools follow them in their sick JeeHaawd in the service of the West.

They pulverize and make ready for plunder the last remaining Muslim powers for the west.
They fight for the enemy.
with their fako beards and their fako calluses on their wretched foreheads.

goyim. cattle. useful idiots.

They fight in the name of Islam. For the enemy. Against Islam.
All in vain.

DIVX:

The Legacy of Lawrence of Arabia -- Part 1
The Legacy of Lawrence of Arabia -- Part 2

P.S. And don't for a second believe in the angsty whit-man-guilt'ish bullshit this guy is spewing about lawrence doing it to "free the arab nation from the yoke of turks". My ass. They did this to bring down the Ottomon empire and strike a psychological blow to Muslims that they may never recover from. And gues who were the "guerilla fighters" engaging in Jeeehawd against the "westernized turks" ????

You got it. The fucking wahabi's. And that is EXACTLY what you have right now. The west has pulled a page out of an old play book and the fucking beardo's have fallen for the Jeehaawd against the "apostates" trick, yet one more time.

Fuck them. Fuck these bitches.

Obama, Pakistan and the US Empire -- Tariq Ali

2009-12-26T12:31:00.001-08:00

Well, well, well! I'm glad Mr. Ali is coming around to see it my way. Why else would they destabilize Pakistan?

Why indeed.

That part is 17:00 - 19:00 but the whole talk is good. Knock yourself out.

Balrog of Morgoth.

2009-12-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

"Darkness took me. And I strayed out of thought and time. Stars wheeled overhead and everyday was as long as a life-age of the earth. But it was not the end. I felt light in me again. I've been sent back until my task is done."

-Quoth the Raven.

10/10

2009-10-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Still think these animals are the saviours of the "Ummah" ?

think again bitches.

Trusting Pakistan to Solve its own problems

2009-07-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

It isn't over! Not by a long shot!

2009-07-09T17:49:00.001-07:00

Iran: Requiem for a Revolution

2009-06-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Political Cartoons on Iran Repression

2009-06-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

via TwitCaps

New Flag for Iran

2009-06-25T20:18:00.001-07:00

You saw it here first folks!

Witnessing History in Iran

2009-06-24T03:35:00.000-07:00

Worldwise: Witnessing History in Iran

Deep divisions within the Iranian regime (09:37)
Moussavi, the “accidental leader” of the opposition (03:39)
Eroding legitimacy and expanding repression (06:10)
Obama’s huge challenge (06:57)
Afshin: What Bloggingheads viewers can do (01:23)
Political Islam: It’s not easy being green (05:00)

The Green Brief No. 6.

2009-06-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

The Latest news culled from tweets by an Iranian translator

6. There are sporadic reports coming in from Qom at this point. Sources claim that Rafsanjani who was in Qom has had meetings with clerics inside Qom. It has been also reported – but not confirmed – for the past three days that Ayatollah Montazeri has declared a three days’ mourning period. It likely is a hoax because it has not been confirmed by anyone. What can be confirmed is that the Council of Combatant Clerics – which includes in its members Rafsanjani and Nateq Noori – have backed the protesters. Khamanei is going to lead Friday prayers in Tehran. If there was a speech, we'll have a translation availble here within the hour.

Interview of the Fiance of Neda Aqaa Sultan, the 26 year old who was mercilessly shot through the heart by the goddamned Basij.

These bastards sound equivalent to the fucking Taliban and the Jamatia enforcers in Pakistan. These "religious" hyena's have no qualms in killing innocent bystanders, but they cry like stuck pigs when one of their cunts gets a little furlow.

FUCK THEM BITCHES! is all I have to say to this.

Where is their vote?

2009-06-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

A whole lot more pictures at "The Big Picture (Boston.com)" from the seemingly un-ending protests in Iran against the stealing of the Presidential elections by Ahmedinejad & company.

June 21st : Don't be afraid! Don't be Afraid! We are together!

2009-06-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

"Have no fear, we are all together. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we are all together!"and then "Down with dictator".

edit: street battle

Mir Hussain Mousavi's Statement No. 5 To the People of Iran

2009-06-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

Quote Source:
(1: http://elections.7rooz.com/englishnews/Mousavi%27s_statement_number_5_to_Iranian_people)
(2: http://www.kalemeh.ir/vdcf.cd1iw6dexgiaw.txt )

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
God commands you to return what you've been entrusted with to its owners, and to judge in justice when you judge among the people. [Koranic quote]
Honorable and intelligent people of Iran,
These days and nights a turning point is being forged in the history of our nation. People are asking each other and also me, when amongst them, what should be done and in which direction we should go. I consider myself responsible to share what I believe with you, to talk to you and learn from you. Let us hope that we will not forget our historical mission and will not shirk from the burden of duty put on our shoulders by the destiny of generations and ages.
Thirty years ago a revolution succeeded in our country in the name of Islam; a revolution for freedom, a revolution for the rekindling of the compassion of human beings, a revolution for truth and honesty. During this period, and especially during the life of our perspicacious Imam, vast investments of life, property, and honor were made to consolidate this blessed monument, and precious achievements were attained. An illumination, never experienced before, encompassed our society and people arrived at a new life that was sweet for them, in spite of most difficult hardships. I am confident that people who have seen those days will not consent to anything less.
Have we people become unworthy, resulting in our not experiencing that exhilarating atmosphere anymore? I had come to say that is not the case; it is not too late yet and our path is not far from that illuminated atmosphere. I had come to show that you can live spiritually within today's world. I had come to retell the warnings of our Imam about ossification. I had come to say that bypassing the law results in tyranny; to remind that attention to human beings' generosity does not weaken the foundation of the regime, but strengthens them. I had come to say that people expect truth and honesty from their servants [a government dedicated to serving the people] and a lot of our troubles have arisen from lies. I had come to say that backwardness, poverty, corruption, and injustice is not our destiny. I had come to invite to the Islamic Revolution as it was, and to the Islamic Republic as it should be.
I was not eloquent in this invitation, but the noble message of [original 1979] Revolution was so pleasant, even coming from my inadequate expressions, that it excited the younger generation, a generation that had not seen those times and felt a distance between themselves and this great inheritance, and reconstructed scenes only seen during in the times of the [Iranian Revolution] movement and the Holy Defense [the Iran-Iraq war]. The spontaneous movement of the people chose the color green as its symbol. I confess that I followed them in this matter. And the generation that was accused of being far from religious roots, arrived at Takbir among its slogans and leaned against "Victory Comes from God and an Opening is Around", "O Husayn" and the name of Khomeini to prove that this fine tree brings similar fruit whenever it bears fruit. Nobody had taught them these slogans except the Innate Teacher [God]. So unfair are those whose little interests makes them call this miracle of the Islamic Revolution fabricated by foreigners and a "velvet revolution".
But as you know, all of us were confronted with lies and fraud in the way of renewing the life of the nation and realizing the ideals that have roots in the heart and soul of our old and young, and our prediction of the consequences of lawlessness materialized in the most explicit shape possible and in the shortest time.
The great participation in this election was, in the first degree, indebted to the efforts for creating hope and trust among the people, to obtain a befitting response to the existing administrative crises and the widespread social dissatisfaction, whose accumulation can target the bedrock of the Revolution and the Regime. If this good faith and trust coming from the people is not answered by protecting their votes, or the people can not react in a civil and peaceful way to defend their rights, there will be dangerous pathways ahead, responsibility for which lies with those who can't stand peaceful behaviors.
If the high volume of cheating and vote manipulation, that has put a fire to the foundations of people's trust, is itself introduced as the proof and evidence of the lack of fraud, the republicanism of the regime will be slaughtered and the idea of incompatibility of Islam and republicanism would be practically proven. Such a fate will make two groups happy; one group being those who arrayed their troops against the Imam [Khomeini] from the beginning of the Revolution and assumed that the Islamic government is the same as Tyranny of the Rightful and, in their false surmise, want to bring people to Heaven by force, and the other group being those who, by claiming to defend the rights of the people, basically consider religion and Islam to be blockers for realization of republicanism. The wondrous craft of the Imam was rendering the witchcraft of these dualisms null and void. I had come to neutralize the efforts of the witches who have found a new life.
Now by endorsing what happened in the elections, the government officials have taken responsibility for it, and have set limits on the results of any further investigation and auditing, in such a way that such an investigation should not annul the election or change its results, even while the number of votes cast in 170 voting centers has exceeded the number of people eligible to vote there. In this situation, we are being told to follow up on our objection with the Guardian Council, but this council have proven their lack of neutrality in their acts, before, during, and after the election. But a prerequisite for any fair arbitration is observing impartiality.
I still strongly believe that the request for annulment of this election and a renewed election is a given right and it should be investigated impartially by a board trusted nationally, instead of rejecting the possibility of any positive results from the investigation beforehand; or propose the possibility of bloodshed in order to keep people from rallying and demonstrating; or the National Security Council, instead of answering the righteous question about the role of plainclothes in attacking people and public property, and inflaming public movements, resolves to [pyschological projection] and blaming others for the tragedies that have happened.
As I look at the scene, I see that it has been set to achieve more than just forcing an unwanted government on the nation, it is set to achieve a new type of political life in the country. As a companion who has seen the beauty of your green wave of participation, I will never allow anybody’s life to be endangered because of my actions. At the same time, I stand by my firm belief of this election being null and void, and insist on reclaiming people’s rights, and in spite of the little power I possess, I believe that your motivation and creativity can still result in following up your legitimate rights in new and civil guises. Be confident that I will stand by your side at all times. What this brother of yours advises for finding these new solutions, especially to the beloved youth, is: Don’t let the liars and fraudsters steal the flag of defending the Islamic regime from you; Don’t let "the delinquents and the strangers" [quote from Ayatollah Khomeini, quotation marks ours] confiscate from you the precious heritage of the Islamic Revolution, which is built from the blood of your honest fathers. With trust in God and hope for the future and relying on your capabilities, continue your social movements based on freedoms explicitly stated in the constitution and stay away from violence, as you have been doing. In this road, we are not up against the Basij members; Basiji's are our brothers. In this road, we are not up against the Revolutionary Guard members; they are protectors of our Revolution and regime. We are not up against the military; they are the protectors of our [country's] borders. We are not up against our sacred regime and its legal structures; this structure guards our Independence, Freedom, and Islamic Republic. We are up against the deviations and deceptions and we want to reform them; a reformation that returns us to the pure principles of the Islamic Revolution.
We recommend those involved [the office-holders] to, in accordance with Article 27 of the constitution, not only facilitate non-violent gatherings in order to achieve peace in the streets, but also encourage such gatherings and release radio and television from the shackle of ill-speaking and biased behavior. They should let the voices, before becoming cries, to get corrected and balanced in this flowing media in the shape of good argumentation and disputation. They should let the press criticize, report the news as it is, and in short provide a free space for people to express their agreements and disagreements. Let us let those who like to say Takbir's say them, and let us not treat them as opposing us. It is perfectly clear that in this case, there won't be a need for the presence of military and regulatory forces in the streets, and we won't come face to face with scenes that upon watching them or hearing about them brings pain to the heart of everyone interested in the Revolution and the country.
Your brother and companion, Mir-Hossein Mousavi

TOOP, TANK, BASIJI, DEEGAR ASAR NADARAD

2009-06-20T15:00:00.001-07:00

EXTREMELY GRAPHIC WARNING!!! Mullah Bastards doing what they do best! killing unarmed civilians! Lanat Lanat Lanat!

She dies on camera, in the arms of her brother and father! I'm lost for words!

More killing by Fcuking Baseeji goons

An Interview with Reza Aslan re: the Iran Situation

2009-06-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Edit: An interview supposedly with Reza Aslan (an Actual Iranian) wherein Eli Lake acts like a total frikkin DOUCHEBAG for 40 minutes straight trying to impress upon an Iranian as to how the situation is "really like in Iran". Yup. Proceed at your own risk. Major Douchiness ahead!

Public Order has broken down in Iran

2009-06-20T09:35:00.001-07:00

Mousavi is telling his supporters to strike indefinitely if he is arrested.

Mousavi 20th June.

Clay Shirky: How cellphones, Twitter, Facebook can make history

2009-06-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Wonderful talk by Clay Shirky:

From the blurb:

While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics.

"Rooftops of Iran"

2009-06-20T04:45:00.001-07:00

A transcript of the poem from another blog:

Today Friday 18 June 1388
Tomorrow Saturday is very important; Day of destiny.
Tonight the screams of “God is great” [Allah-o Akbar]
is louder than on any other night.
Where is this place?
Where is this place that all paths are closed? All doors are shut?
Where is this place that no one helps us?

Where is this place that we shout out our words with only silence?
Where is this place?
Where is this place that its people’s only call is to God?
Where is this place that its cry of Allah-o Akbar ["God is Great"]
Grows louder and louder every minute?
Every day I wait to see if at night
The cries of “God is Great” grows louder or not.
I tremble as I hear them getting louder and louder.
I do not know if God trembles too or not.

Where is this place that we the innocents are stuck in [imprisoned]?
Where is this place that no one can help us?
where is this place that we are only shouting out our words with silence?
Where is this place that the youth are killed and people stand in the street and pray?
They stand in the blood and pray.
Where is this place that citizens are called [vagrants] trouble makers?
Where is this place?
Do you want me to tell you?
It is Iran.
It is my home land and your home land.
It is Iran.

Iran Protests still ongoing

2009-06-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

Something really amazing is happening in Iran. I think the irreversible process of formalization of change has begun. The Mullah's are fighting for their political lives.

And they are going to lose.

The shah had Savak, and the Mullah's have Basij.

What really is the difference?

I am floored by the level of organization shown by the Iranian protesters. This is what an educated and informed public looks like. They came out on the streets in their hundreds of thousands.

All Quiet.

The Mullah's are pissing their long flowing gowns!

The end is near. If not this year, it will be next year. But the beginning of the end has begun!

Salaam Democracy! (hopefully).

Here is twitpic feed of the protests today.

http://twitpic.com/photos/madyar

The future is GREEN!

2009-06-18T04:21:00.001-07:00

Some pics from tehranlive.org:

Situation in Iran:

The Guardian Feed (updated automatically).

The Flickr Feed. (aka Pictures )

more pictures from tehranlive.org

The Twitter Feed

#IranElection
#PersianKiwi (An Iranian reporting from Tehran.)
#Mousavi1388 (Another Mousavi supporter)

Video of the Iranian Protests

2009-06-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

"He called us dust, we showed him a sandstorm!" -- Tweet from an Iranian protester, commenting on Ahmadi Najad calling them "dust" and "soccer fans"

The Revolution Will Be Tweeted!

2009-06-15T18:56:00.001-07:00

Twitter had a scheduled outage, they have postponed it as Iranian protesters are using it to communicate. The Iranian government spies are trying to catch people in Iran based on their TimeZone info. The 'twitterati' are changing their timezones in solidarity with Iranian Pro Democracy Protesters to confuse the Iranian agents.

Here is a sample of the IranRT feed. Reminds me of the Long March time not too long ago in Pakistan.

Real-time results for "RT From Iran"
16 more results since you started searching. Refresh to see them.

MMontalvo RT from Iran The Revolution in Iran: A Recap http://gawker.com/5290819 #foreignaffairs #iranelection
less than 10 seconds ago from web

DenaRobinson RT from Iran- If you are outside Iran, change your location/ timezone to Iran/ Tehran to make it harder to track Iranians #IranElection
less than 10 seconds ago from web

Flowersophy RT @2joeacosta: RT @ #iranelection Free proxy servers http://poxy.us.to/ #musicmonday #iremember Tehran Iranians AT&T RT from Iran
less than 20 seconds ago from web

TheNofairs RT from IRAN: also 6 students who were beaten last night in the dorm died today. they were from my university. we wore black today :(
less than 20 seconds ago from Twitterrific

Bryagh RT from Iran: If u r outside Iran, change ur location timezone to Iran/Tehran (GMT +3:30) make it harder to track Iranians #IranElection
less than 20 seconds ago from twhirl

momaydani RT from Iran Open link in a tab, and keep it open. Let's keep Iran propaganda servers busy for a while http://bit.ly/17jifY #iranelection
less than 20 seconds ago from web

pineapple_maria #iranelection RT from Iran 1. Dismissal of Khamenei for not being a fair leade http://bit.ly/WNTvS
less than 20 seconds ago from web

cdinboston RT from Iran: Help the Iranian Protestors -- Change your location and time zone to Tehran, Iran (Settings: Time Zones: GMT +3:30 Tehran)
less than 20 seconds ago from web

twistedpuppet RT from Iran - If u r outside Iran, change ur location timezone to Iran/Tehran to make it harder to track Iranians #IranElection
less than 20 seconds ago from web

Sky2042 @slimhazard Use "RT From Iran" instead of an Iranian poster's name!
half a minute ago from web

stephmayo #iranelection RT from Iran 1. Dismissal of Khamenei for not being a fair leade
half a minute ago from web

RebeccaCl RT from Iran - If you are outside Iran, change your location / timezone to Iran / Tehran to make it harder to track Iranians #IranElection
half a minute ago from web

thomasmpowell RT from Iran - If you are outside Iran, change your location / timezone to Iran / Tehran to make it harder to track Iranians #iranelection
half a minute ago from TweetDeck

que_falsa RT from Iran: They call homes, tape says you were in the protests,don't repeat otherwise you will be arrested. Dont be afraid! #iranelection
half a minute ago from web

DianCecht RT from Iran Open link in a tab, and keep it open. Let's keep Iran propaganda servers busy for a while http://bit.ly/17jifY #iranelection
half a minute ago from web

Redswipe RT from Iran Everyone change your setting to Iranian and Tehran time (GMT+3:30) Harder for Iran Gov to track. Pls RT
half a minute ago from web

justalt When RTing Iranian users, omit usernames -- just say "RT from Iran". Iran gov. is watching. Spread the word. #IranElection
less than a minute ago from web

guardianangel08 RT @jonjon275 When RTing Iranian users, omit usernames-just say "RT from Iran". Iran gov. is watching. Spread the word. #IranElection
less than a minute ago from web

meskwaki RT from Iran: Help takedown an Iranian propganda server. Click this link! RT! http://bit.ly/Qv7Dv #iranelection
less than a minute ago from TwitBin

RuthanneReid RT from Iran: If u r outside Iran, change ur location timezone to Iran/Tehran (GMT +3:30) make it harder to track Iranians #IranElection
less than a minute ago from Spaz

Follow these tags on Twitter to keep track of the situation in Iran.

· #IranElection
· Tehran
. #IranElection
· #iremember
· RT From Iran
· Twitter Reschedules
· Iranians

Basij goons have started shooting protesters. At least 12 are reported dead as of now. Many Pro Mousavi supporters have been disappeared from Tehran University Dorms.

The Mullah's are Panicking!

2009-06-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

More pictures here.

Courtesy: The Big Picture (Boston.com)

So It Begins!

2009-06-14T06:45:00.001-07:00

Let us see how long it takes before the convulsions turn into a full fledged revolt.

"Unheeded Lessons of Democracy"

2009-05-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Two quotes from this article I just saw at sacw. The Dawn link doesn't seem to work.

Humourist Imran Aslam took a potshot at the way Pakistanis view core values when he pointed out in a recent play that we are a country where Ideas is a departmental store, Liberty is the name of a market and Freedom and Trust are personal hygiene products. Maybe it’s time to ask if Pakistan was ever a democracy, or have we rapidly slipped from being a colony to an oligarchy constituted by a powerful, dishonest and self-serving elite that connives at monopolising politics, land, the military and industry. The conspiracy to keep the majority disenfranchised is clear to anyone who has lived through or studied the country’s short history.

For any tangible success the real battle has to be fought within each Pakistani as he/she struggles to re-learn the spirit of democracy. The blueprint to victory lies in the understanding and practice of the constitution which has been forsaken by citizens and leaders alike. The first step in this direction would be to dismantle the system of economic apartheid which resides both in attitudes and in the crumbling brick-and-mortar facilities for the masses.

All talk, and no f'kin walk! That is us.

From SACW

The TTP IS the Western Threat to Pakistan.

2009-05-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

We are all afraid and worried about "The American Threat"
We think it will be drone (too tactical, in-effective and can't do sh!t to Pakistan's existence in isolation))

But in fact, it is America's secret weapon, the so called 'pakistani taliban' who are the real existential threat!

TTP IS The American Threat ™

some thoughts:

1. we need to decouple Afghan Resistance fighting for Afghanistan from these groups operating in Pakistan who also like to get "Brand Effect" by calling themselves "Taliban" ... Although, they are neither totally indigenous, nor religious scholars or studest (by a LONG shot).. TTP is a mercenary operation consisting of foreign agents (Lawrence of ARabia types, Raw, Mossad etc.) uzbeks, chechens, disgruntled locals and misguided Pakistani youth who are being fooled into thinking they are "participating in jihad" while all they're doing is hollowing out the tree on which they live. Need I remind you of the Najdi "resistance" to the "evil, corrupt, westernized Turk imperialism", fueled by Britain and the Western gang of thugs, planned by the Elders of YOUKNOWHO , fought by wahabi jihadi nitwits who thought they were "fighting in the cause of Allah" .. All they got is a kleptocracy of Ten Thousand Princes all bowing to the will of ~~Allah~~ Amreeka to the Detriment of the interests of the Arabs and Muslims at large.

Result: Dissolution of the last remaining bastion of Muslim power (aka The Ottomon Empire), Break up and subsequent subjugation of Muslim nations, and creation of Israel.

You really gotta think hard every time some halfwit raises the flag of Jihad, because our enemies have used our urge to jump blindly into anything called "jihad" successfully before. I'm not Against "Jihad Fi Sabeelallah" I'm against stupid Jihad-fi-Sabeel-Amreeka/Inglistan/ blah!

DON"T BE STUPID! is all I'm saying... but I digressed .. slightly.

2. Afghan Taliban, despite their recent tactics are fighting a nationalist type resistance war which should not be confused with the Anti-pakistan insurgent type activity TTP is engaging in.

3. Afghan resistance needs some kind of support, mainly moral support, but if it is going to be actual support, then it has to be extremely covert ... (for obvious reasons) ... Look at Iran and how it is supporting groups in Iraq (I have no doubt about it)

4. I don't care if the rhetoric of Jihad is used in Afghan case, actually, it makes sense in that context, but the "spillover and its consquences in Pakistan" should be kept in mind. America is using the spillover effect to legitimize destablization of Pakistan in the name of "Jihad against American agent govt" and every time the effort slows down, they come up with a new drone attack ...

Drone attacks are NOT to kill insurgents, they are to rile up Pushtoons against Pakistan, to fuel the insurgency against the existence of Pakistan.

5. If there are people in Pakistan who want to go for Jihad in Afghanistan, why don't they go quietly? leave all identification behind and fight till they are martyred?

Why this business of "Fight in Paktika in the Morning, Lunch in Waziristan, Back to ambush in JalalAbad for the night"

I mean, really, should someone doing this kind of SH!T be considered "A momin (don't get bit twice from same hole)", "A Mujahid?" or "A Friend of Pakistan" ???

Why would a patriot Pakistani (Waziri or Mehsud tribal in this example) put Pakistan in jeopardy and do such things which will only incriminate Pakistan for no good reason (if reason is Jihad, then go, fight, become shaheed, why do you want to come back for lunch every 3 days in Wana? ...

It is this "back & forth" which is giving the western powers the PRETEXT TO WAGE WAR AGAINST PAKISTAN.

So, are these people our friends? NO
Granted we have predatory ruling class, corrupt and morale deprived army and a rapacious political and bureaucratic class.

BUT still this is Pakistan we're talking about.

IF there is Pakistan, we can make improvements, fix the army, muzzle the lutera establishment, fix the police, get some real justice and real democracy for the people.

We KNOW it's possible!
We did it with a peaceful, constitutional, lawyer's movement for Rule of Law.

Other areas of civil rights can be addressed in the same way!

There are no "revolutionary" shortcuts, and those who are seduced by the call of "Islamic Revolution" may find that on the other end, all they get is subjugation and slavery of American/West "in the name of Islam" (as they have in "Saudi" Arabia now... Whoopty Frickkin Doo! ...)

But if we keep supporting Anti Pakistani-State activities posing existential threat to Pakistan, simply because "there is injustice inflicted by the state apparatus" ... then we are going to give the WEST the excuse they need to dismember and destroy us.

The TTP IS the Western Threat to Pakistan.

The Mathematics of War

2009-05-12T18:27:00.000-07:00

humma humma! piyari! humma! humma! o siyaaNRi!

2009-05-07T15:38:00.001-07:00

Empire, Obama and Afghanistan 29 Apr 09

2009-05-04T07:18:00.001-07:00

Aljazeerah's latest piece on the Af-Pak situation

Part 1.

Part 2.

No More Trouble!

2009-05-03T18:30:00.001-07:00

And HE is the "Sane one"!!!

2009-05-03T18:06:00.001-07:00

Polemics, Politics and Problematizations (and me?)

2009-04-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

I always find Foucault to be a hard read for an untrained and un-schooled reader like me, but this interview of Michel Foucault really caught my attention maybe because it is a conversation more than Foucault's mostly opaque (to me) lectures. Specifically because I think that Pakistani discourse, if there is such a thing, mainly consists of polemics. Our political discourse especially is mainly polemic in nature, and I think it emanates from the fact that we (as a people) take cues from the weekly barrage of sermons that are repeated ad-infinitum, contra everything that the sermoneer doesn't think is "cool with the world". This attitude then permeates the school, the parliament and the public sphere in general.

I think I myself have been guilty of polemicising, not to mention "vitriol", ... but mostly it has been exorcism (for me at least.) Perhaps others see this in me, but I see myself as the opposite of "the polemicist" as defined by Foucault. Simply because discourse (tinged with occasional or frequent vitriol) for me is search for truth, regardless of where it leads. While I see so many falling in the trap of being polemicists while leaving the search for truth (not necessarily 'solutions') on the back burner.

I guess it is because it "feels good". Search for truth is a arduous and difficult journey. Polemics on the other hand has all the trappings of mob rule and mob justice KKK style, but only in the intellectual domain.

Reading this passage reminded me of the way how discussions have been shaping up on the Pakistani Political forums, at least the ones I hang out at, and it probably says more about me than the forums:

Perhaps, someday, a long history will have to be written of polemics, polemics as a parasitic figure on discussion and an obstacle to the search for the truth. Very schematically, it seems to me that today we can recognize the presence in polemics of three models: the religious model, the judiciary model, and the political model. As in heresiology, polemics sets itself the task of determining the intangible point of dogma, the fundamental and necessary principle that the adversary has neglected, ignored or transgressed; and it denounces this negligence as a moral failing; at the root of the error, it finds passion, desire, interest, a whole series of weaknesses and inadmissible attachments that establish it as culpable. As in judiciary practice, polemics allows for no possibility of an equal discussion: it examines a case; it isn’t dealing with an interlocutor, it is processing a suspect; it collects the proofs of his guilt, designates the infraction he has committed, and pronounces the verdict and sentences him. In any case, what we have here is not on the order of a shared investigation; the polemicist tells the truth in the form of his judgment and by virtue of the authority he has conferred on himself. But it is the political model that is the most powerful today. Polemics defines alliances, recruits partisans, unites interests or opinions, represents a party; it establishes the other as an enemy, an upholder of opposed interests against which one must fight until the moment this enemy is defeated and either surrenders or disappears.

Regarding the finely balanced intercourse that is the search for truth:

In the serious play of questions and answers, in the work of reciprocal elucidation, the rights of each person are in some sense immanent in the discussion. They depend only on the dialogue situation. The person asking the questions is merely exercising the right that has been given him: to remain unconvinced, to perceive a contradiction, to require more information, to emphasize different postulates, to point out faulty reasoning, and so on. As for the person answering the questions, he too exercises a right that does not go beyond the discussion itself; by the logic of his own discourse, he is tied to what he has said earlier, and by the acceptance of dialogue he is tied to the questioning of other. Questions and answers depend on a game—a game that is at once pleasant and difficult—in which each of the two partners takes pains to use only the rights given him by the other and by the accepted form of dialogue.

And about the polemicist itself:

The polemicist , on the other hand, proceeds encased in privileges that he possesses in advance and will never agree to question. On principle, he possesses rights authorizing him to wage war and making that struggle a just undertaking; the person he confronts is not a partner in search for the truth but an adversary, an enemy who is wrong, who is armful, and whose very existence constitutes a threat. For him, then the game consists not of recognizing this person as a subject having the right to speak but of abolishing him as interlocutor, from any possible dialogue; and his final objective will be not to come as close as possible to a difficult truth but to bring about the triumph of the just cause he has been manifestly upholding from the beginning. The polemicist relies on a legitimacy that his adversary is by definition denied.

A Brief History of the Internet

2009-04-18T06:45:00.001-07:00

Interesting animated video that explains the history and concepts of the global internet as we know it today, starting from the humble beginnings out of the nuclear holocaust paranoia of the post WWII fifties.

9 Life Lessions from Rock Climbing

2009-04-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

1. Don't Let Go!
2. Hesitation is bad.
3. Have a plan.
4. The Move is the End.
5. Know how to rest.
6. Fear Sucks.
7. Opposites are good.
8. Strenght DOES NOT equal success
9. Know how to let go.

You're welcome. :)

How Balochistan was "won" ...

2009-04-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

A fascinating history of the accession of Balochistan States Union to Pakistan after 1947. (Try finding this in Mutala-e-"pakistan") Oh wait... Balochistan is not really part of Pakistan proper... doesn't seem so given the way we've been treating them for the last 60 years!

Some expcerpts. The whole article, "THE ACCESSION OF KALAT: MYTH AND REALITY" is well worth the read:

A series of meetings between the Viceroy, as the Crown’s Representative, the Quaid and the Khan of Kalat followed, which resulted in a communiquéй on August 11, 1947. The communiquй stated that:

a. The Government of Pakistan recognizes Kalat as an independent sovereign state in treaty relations with the British Government with a status different from that of Indian States.

b. Legal opinion will be sought as to whether or not agreements of leases will be inherited by the Pakistan Government.

c. Meanwhile, a Standstill Agreement has been made between Pakistan and Kalat.

d. Discussions will take place between Pakistan and Kalat at Karachi at an early date with a view to reaching decisions on Defence, External Affairs and Communications.

...

On March 18, 1948, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan issued a press note that the States of Kharan, Las Bela and Mekran had applied for accession to Pakistan, which was granted to them. The press report also said that after the accession of these three states to Pakistan, Kalat’s territory had been reduced to half of its previous area, and had ceased to have any outlet to the sea.54 The UK High Commissioner in Pakistan reported that the offer of accession was accepted by the Pakistan Cabinet when Jam of Las Bela, Chief of Kharan and Nawab Bai Khan of Mekran met the Quaid on March 17, 1948 and told him that “if Pakistan was not prepared to accept their offers of accession immediately, they would be compelled to take other steps for their protection against Khan of Kalat’s aggressive actions.”55 This was seen as a blow to the Khan as head of the Confederacy, the Baluchistan States Union.

...

As this account makes amply clear, the story of the accession of Kalat was a long drawn out process. And although Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947, the accession of Kalat did not take place till March 27, 1948. The three feudatories, two of which Las Bela and Kharan, which were recognized by the British as independent, played a key role in forcing the Khan of Kalat to accede to Pakistan.

The issue of the accession of Kalat has been clouded in controversy and mythology, because little or no research has been done on the subject. One scholar has described the annexation as, “a nine month tug of war that came to a climax in the forcible annexation of Kalat.”60 The reality is quite different. Khan of Kalat had no choice but to accede after Kharan, Las Bela and Mekran’s acceded to Pakistan, cutting off Kalat from the sea. The announcement on All India Radio that Kalat had been negotiating with India, which Nehru was at pains to deny in the Indian Parliament, caused such an outcry within Baluchistan and outside that the Khan acceded immediately to Pakistan.

The Curious Case of Ibn Saiyad

2009-04-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

Volume 2, Book 23, Number 437:

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

'Umar set out along with the Prophet (p.b.u.h) with a group of people to Ibn Saiyad till they saw him playing with the boys near the hillocks of Bani Mughala. Ibn Saiyad at that time was nearing his puberty and did not notice (us) until the Prophet stroked him with his hand and said to him, "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" Ibn Saiyad looked at him and said, "I testify that you are the Messenger of illiterates." Then Ibn Saiyad asked the Prophet (p.b.u.h), "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet (p.b.u.h) refuted it and said, "I believe in Allah and His Apostles." Then he said (to Ibn Saiyad), "What do you think?" Ibn Saiyad answered, "True people and liars visit me." The Prophet said, "You have been confused as to this matter." Then the Prophet said to him, "I have kept something (in my mind) for you, (can you tell me that?)" Ibn Saiyad said, "It is Al-Dukh (the smoke)." (2) The Prophet said, "Let you be in ignominy. You cannot cross your limits." On that 'Umar, said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop his head off." The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "If he is he (i.e. Dajjal), then you cannot over-power him, and if he is not, then there is no use of murdering him." (Ibn 'Umar added): Later on Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) once again went along with Ubai bin Ka'b to the date-palm trees (garden) where Ibn Saiyad was staying. The Prophet (p.b.u.h) wanted to hear something from Ibn Saiyad before Ibn Saiyad could see him, and the Prophet (p.b.u.h) saw him lying covered with a sheet and from where his murmurs were heard. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw Allah's Apostle while he was hiding himself behind the trunks of the date-palm trees. She addressed Ibn Saiyad, "O Saf ! (and this was the name of Ibn Saiyad) Here is Muhammad." And with that Ibn Saiyad got up. The Prophet said, "Had this woman left him (Had she not disturbed him), then Ibn Saiyad would have revealed the reality of his case.

Volume 3, Book 48, Number 806:

Narrated Abdullah bin Umar:

Allah's Apostle and Ubai bin Kab Al-Ansari went to the garden where Ibn Saiyad used to live. When Allah's Apostle entered (the garden), he (i.e. Allah's Apostle ) started hiding himself behind the datepalms as he wanted to hear secretly the talk of Ibn Saiyad before the latter saw him. Ibn Saiyad wrapped with a soft decorated sheet was lying on his bed murmuring. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw the Prophet hiding behind the stems of the date-palms. She addressed Ibn Saiyad saying, "O Saf, this is Muhammad." Hearing that Ibn Saiyad stopped murmuring (or got cautious), the Prophet said, "If she had left him undisturbed, he would have revealed his reality." (See Hadith No. 290, Vol 4 for details)

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 290d:

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

Umar and a group of the companions of the Prophet set out with the Prophet to Ibn Saiyad. He found him playing with some boys near the hillocks of Bani Maghala. Ibn Saiyad at that time was nearing his puberty. He did not notice (the Prophet's presence) till the Prophet stroked him on the back with his hand and said, "Ibn Saiyad! Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" Ibn Saiyad looked at him and said, "I testify that you are the Apostle of the illiterates."

Then Ibn Saiyad asked the Prophet. "Do you testify that I am the apostle of Allah?" The Prophet said to him, "I believe in Allah and His Apostles." Then the Prophet said (to Ibn Saiyad). "What do you see?" Ibn Saiyad replied, "True people and false ones visit me." The Prophet said, "Your mind is confused as to this matter." The Prophet added, " I have kept something (in my mind) for you." Ibn Saiyad said, "It is Ad-Dukh." The Prophet said (to him), "Shame be on you! You cannot cross your limits." On that 'Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop his head off." The Prophet said, "If he should be him (i.e. Ad-Dajjal) then you cannot overpower him, and should he not be him, then you are not going to benefit by murdering him."

Volume 8, Book 73, Number 194:

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:

'Umar bin Al-Khattab set out with Allah's Apostle, and a group of his companions to Ibn Saiyad. They found him playing with the boys in the fort or near the Hillocks of Bani Maghala. Ibn Saiyad was nearing his puberty at that time, and he did not notice the arrival of the Prophet till Allah's Apostle stroked him on the back with his hand and said, "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" Ibn Saiyad looked at him and said, "I testify that you are the Apostle of the unlettered ones (illiterates)". Then Ibn Saiyad said to the Prophets . "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet denied that, saying, "I believe in Allah and all His Apostles," and then said to Ibn Saiyad, "What do you see?" Ibn Saiyad said, "True people and liars visit me." The Prophet said, "You have been confused as to this matter." Allah's Apostle added, "I have kept something for you (in my mind)." Ibn Saiyad said, "Ad-Dukh." The Prophet said, "Ikhsa (you should be ashamed) for you can not cross your limits." 'Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop off h is neck." Allah's Apostle said (to Umar). "Should this person be him (i.e. Ad-Dajjal) then you cannot over-power him; and should he be someone else, then it will be no use your killing him." 'Abdullah bin 'Umar added: Later on Allah's Apostle and Ubai bin Ka'b Al-Ansari (once again) went to the garden in which Ibn Saiyad was present.

When Allah's Apostle entered the garden, he started hiding behind the trunks of the date-palms intending to hear something from Ibn Saiyad before the latter could see him. Ibn Saiyad was Lying on his bed, covered with a velvet sheet from where his mumur were heard. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw the Prophet and said, "O Saf (the nickname of Ibn Saiyad)! Here is Muhammad!" Ibn Saiyad stopped his murmuring. The Prophet said, "If his mother had kept quiet, then I would have learnt more about him." 'Abdullah added: Allah's Apostle stood up before the people (delivering a sermon), and after praising and glorifying Allah as He deserved, he mentioned the Ad-Dajjal saying, "I warn you against him, and there has been no prophet but warned his followers against him. Noah warned his followers against him but I am telling you about him, something which no prophet has told his people of, and that is: Know that he is blind in one eye where as Allah is not so."

Volume 8, Book 73, Number 193:

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:

Allah's Apostle said to Ibn Saiyad "I have hidden something for you in my mind; What is it?" He said, "Ad-Dukh." The Prophet said, "Ikhsa."

Volume 8, Book 73, Number 194:

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar:

'Umar bin Al-Khattab set out with Allah's Apostle, and a group of his companions to Ibn Saiyad. They found him playing with the boys in the fort or near the Hillocks of Bani Maghala. Ibn Saiyad was nearing his puberty at that time, and he did not notice the arrival of the Prophet till Allah's Apostle stroked him on the back with his hand and said, "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" Ibn Saiyad looked at him and said, "I testify that you are the Apostle of the unlettered ones (illiterates)". Then Ibn Saiyad said to the Prophets . "Do you testify that I am Allah's Apostle?" The Prophet denied that, saying, "I believe in Allah and all His Apostles," and then said to Ibn Saiyad, "What do you see?" Ibn Saiyad said, "True people and liars visit me." The Prophet said, "You have been confused as to this matter." Allah's Apostle added, "I have kept something for you (in my mind)." Ibn Saiyad said, "Ad-Dukh." The Prophet said, "Ikhsa (you should be ashamed) for you can not cross your limits." 'Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! Allow me to chop off h is neck." Allah's Apostle said (to Umar). "Should this person be him (i.e. Ad-Dajjal) then you cannot over-power him; and should he be someone else, then it will be no use your killing him." 'Abdullah bin 'Umar added: Later on Allah's Apostle and Ubai bin Ka'b Al-Ansari (once again) went to the garden in which Ibn Saiyad was present.

When Allah's Apostle entered the garden, he started hiding behind the trunks of the date-palms intending to hear something from Ibn Saiyad before the latter could see him. Ibn Saiyad was Lying on his bed, covered with a velvet sheet from where his mumur were heard. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw the Prophet and said, "O Saf (the nickname of Ibn Saiyad)! Here is Muhammad!" Ibn Saiyad stopped his murmuring. The Prophet said, "If his mother had kept quiet, then I would have learnt more about him." 'Abdullah added: Allah's Apostle stood up before the people (delivering a sermon), and after praising and glorifying Allah as He deserved, he mentioned the Ad-Dajjal saying, "I warn you against him, and there has been no prophet but warned his followers against him. Noah warned his followers against him but I am telling you about him, something which no prophet has told his people of, and that is: Know that he is blind in one eye where as Allah is not so."

Volume 8, Book 77, Number 615:

Narrated Ibn 'Umar:

The Prophet said to Ibn Saiyad, "I have kept for you a secret." Ibn Saiyad said, "Ad-Dukh." The Prophet said, "Keep quiet, for you cannot go beyond your limits (or you cannot exceed what has been foreordained for you)." On that, 'Umar said (to the Prophet ), "Allow me to chop off his neck!" The Prophet said, "Leave him, for if he is he (i.e., Ad-Dajjal), then you will not be able to overcome him, and if he is not, then you gain no good by killing him."

This pretty much sums it up.

2009-04-15T05:46:00.001-07:00

This, and the FP Editorial:

Simplifying complexity

One wishes fervently for a durable and lasting peace in Swat, though. But by consenting in haste to the ANP-led Frontier government's expedient accord with Maulana Sufi Mohammad of TNSM for Nizam-e-Adl in Malakand division, the legislators of the National Assembly have only smitten a gigantic complexity into just a simplicity untenably.

Whether for the extremists' death threats or for their own disinterest, they have not even bothered to grasp the Swat complexity. Nizam-e-Adl was the Swatis' compulsion, not a demand. They had voted predominantly for the ANP for its promise of security and development. Nizam-e-Adl was not even a plank of this self-styled secular party's electoral platform. But since the party failed in delivering them security or progress and ditched them to live under blood-soaked thuggery of Fazlullah's brigands, it was in desperation that they had asked for this nizam in the hope this could perhaps rescue them from their woeful distress and travails. But that hope is still a big question mark.

Peace in the beleaguered valley may be holding now, but nothing can be said for sure for the future. For, the party has not just practically abandoned the Swatis. So much so, while it should have been endeavouring to build upon the fragile peace for its durability by plunging robustly into rebuilding the valley's shattered administrative apparatus and embarking upon a massive development work, almost the whole lot of its mob in the government and the assembly took to days-long rest and recreation trip to the Emirates. Worse, the party has ceded the state writ in Swat to Maulana Sufi Mohammad. He has anointed himself it suzerain and a law unto himself. He has rolled up into himself the roles of judge, administrator and spiritual guide.

Still worse, neither has Fazlullah disarmed nor has dismantled his militia. It is his gun that rules in the valley. Not the state authority. Indeed, he has laid down instructions even for the state minions' movement in the valley and insists on and exacts compliance with his diktat on the pain of penalty. One thought the lawmakers of the National Assembly would look deep into the complexity of the Swat situation and grasp the grave implications entailed by the ANP's expedient accord. If the ANP had been inept, they didn't have to be, too. For the accord to be worth it, it had to have necessarily an inbuilt guaranteed stipulation that Fazlullah would demobilise and disarm his militia. That is not there. His private army is all intact, brandishing all the lethal weaponry it had had. And it is fanning out, to the great worry and utter desperation of the residents of the areas it is grabbing to put under its sway.

Already, it is embedded critically at strategic points in Buner, from where it can expand and advance into crucial regions of the Frontier province and beyond. It is also making inroads into Dir to the local populace's deeply troubling concern. Reports also abound that Fazlullah's private army has arrogated to itself the veto power as to who from amongst the displaced Swatis can return to their homes and who cannot. And statedly they do not want to see the face of anyone whose kith and kin had they slain or maimed for fear of revenge. The lawmakers should have taken all these factors into account before affixing the stamp of their assent on this ANP-effected deal, euphemistically eulogised as a peace accord, which is just a deceitful misnomer.

It is no peace accord. It, at best, is a deal to strip the state of its legal power and invest it in an obscurant, who indeed is mincing no words in declaring that he has become the ultimate law authority not just in Swat but the whole of Malakand region. With their consent, the lawmakers have in fact opened up the floodgates for spiritual charlatans and gun-wielding warlords to make similar forays to throw out the state writ and create their own fiefdoms. Make no mistake, sooner than later, the nation will witness not just in FATA or other tribal regions but also in settled areas trigger-happy gunmen with imposters posturing to be blessed spiritual lights as their cohorts, making bids for carving out their own sultanates and caliphates. Just forget about attracting foreign investments and enterprise. Who on earth would be the stupid to put his money in such a crumbling fanatical place? Keeping a mere semblance of statehood would then be just a feat. Couldn't the lawmakers be a bit incisive, farsighted - and brave?

Courtesy: The Frontier Post

Swat deal! BITCHES!!

2009-04-13T20:00:00.001-07:00

Muslim Khan Khush Huaa!!

Why Buner? Or Why I Should Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Taliban.

2009-04-12T07:25:00.001-07:00

I've been wondering out loud: Why Buner?

I mean, what is the point of the Talibs moving into Buner? Is is it because they just can't handle the thought of a few "pir parast mushrikeen" hanging around at the local sufi saint's mausoleum? Or is it because they just had to show the people of buner as to who was boss? Was this an 'invitation' by the disgruntled JI, who after having been defeated in the election, wouldn't mind a little local dada-geeri in the name of Islam? (Muft haath aa'ay to kehtay haiN keh maal achchaa hai!)

Then it hit me! Like an unsuspecting electrician hits the outer walls of manawan police training center alarming the fuck out of underpaid, over-criticised "heroes" of our nation. Heroes who can't be bothered with such terms of endearment (and the obligations of an honorable death that such honorifics bring with themselves) and proceed to run around like scared little chickens. Meanwhile, the hapless electrician escapes the bursts of automatic gunfire aimed at him by those "commandos" who were sitting there waiting for exactly this kind of eventuality, and who manage miss him anyway, and all is quiet once more.

Anyways, so it hit me, let's just say "like a ton of bricks"!

Buner puts the Taliban in direct strategic control of various areas for future operations, most troubling of which is Islamabad itself. There is a little tributary that flows by Buner, right into the Tarbela reservoir. They can start off in Buner and end up right at the head of Tarbela Dam. It would be nice if they got caught way before or that they didn't bring a 1000kg of plastic explosives, but knowing the Taliban, and knowing the FUCKWITS that we have handling the civil & military affairs, we can be sure that both these things will come to pass.

Now, if they attacked the Tarbela dam by sinking a 1000kg explosive to the base of Tarbela Dam ... Wouldn't that be a hell of an attack?

I wonder what the scions of the Pakistani state, i.e., ISPR/Kayani, and/or Rehman Malik or Zardari will have to say about it then? "We DIDANT GAT EEVUN WAN DAY NOTAASS FRUM DEE TAALIBAAAN" ???

Another option for the talibs could be major attacks on Wah Cantt., and Islamabad even. If you type in "Buner Pakistan" in Google Maps and look around a bit, you would know why I'm getting so paranoid about the Talibs Taking over Buner.

Ulmai Soo kay Naam.

2009-04-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

The biggest mistake that we have made is to equate these religious vultures with Islam! The Mullah Class is just as predatory, craven, and disgusting as our ever incompetent sockpuppet kleptocracy.

We must, somehow, make this realization CLICK in the minds of the Public. Mullacracy IS NOT Islam! Nuff said!

Here is some Jalib.

Interview with Shahabuddin Yaqub Qureishi (Election Commissioner of India)

2009-04-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

An interesting interview with S.Y.Qureishi, on of the 3 election commissioners of India. It is interesting to note that India has implemented an all electronic voting system. I don't know if something like this would work in Pakistan given that here, with the state structures of administration dissolving rapidly, it is kind of hard to stop a couple gunmen who take over a booth, kick everyone out and vote as they please.

Still, in hopes of better days to come, it might be something that we should do as well.

Blurb about S.Y.Qureishi:

Shahubiddin Yakub Quraishi is one of India's three election commissioners. A career official, he is keen to throw off the dusty image of his bureaucratic profession.
He reveals that he plays guitar and keyboards in a rock band, a pursuit he says he finds most therapeutic. And it could be the perfect antidote to organising the hundreds of millions of voters who go to the polls this month in the world's biggest elections.

The Interview site is here if the above link doesn't work.

The "Post Ottomon Islamist": Ever the Foreigners' Bitch! (CIA and the "Muslim" Brotherhood)

2009-04-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

1954-1970: CIA and the Muslim Brotherhood Ally to Oppose Egyptian President Nasser

In 1954, Egyptian President Gamal Abddul Nasser’s nationalist policies in Egypt come to be viewed as completely unacceptable by Britain and the US. MI6 and the CIA jointly hatch plans for his assassination. According to Miles Copeland, a CIA operative based in Egypt, the opposition to Nasser is driven by the commercial community—the oil companies and the banks. At the same time, the Muslim Brotherhood’s resentment of Nasser’s secular government also comes to a head. In one incident, Islamist militants attack pro-Nasser students at Cairo University. Following an attempt on his own life by the Brotherhood, Nasser responds immediately by outlawing the group, which he denounces as a tool of Britain. The following years see a long and complex struggle pitting Nasser against the Muslim Brotherhood, the US, and Britain. The CIA funnels support to the Muslim Brotherhood because of “the Brotherhood’s commendable capability to overthrow Nasser.” [BAER, 2003, PP. 99; DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 101-108] The Islamist regime in Saudi Arabia becomes an ally of the United States in the conflict with Nasser. They offer financial backing and sanctuary to Muslim Brotherhood militants during Nasser’s crackdown. Nasser dies of natural causes in 1970. [DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 90-91, 126-131, 150]
Entity Tags: UK Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Saudi Arabia, Central Intelligence Agency, Gamal Abddul Nasser, Muslim Brotherhood
Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks

1967-2001: Israel Provides Support to Militant Islamic Groups in the West Bank and Gaza
Following the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel takes over the administration of the West Bank and Gaza. Whereas Egyptian President Gamal Abddul Nasser had been tough on Islamist militants (see 1954-1970), Israel is much more permissive. One of their first actions is to release Sheikh Ahmed Yassin from prison. Yassin, a charismatic radical Islamist and the future founder of Hamas had been jailed in 1965 during one of Nasser’s crackdowns. [DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 195] David Shipler, a former New York Times reporter, later recounts that he was told by the military governor of the Gaza Strip, Brigadier General Yitzhak Segev, that the Israeli government had financed the Islamic movement to couteract the PLO and the communists. According to Martha Kessler, a senior analyst for the CIA, “we saw Israel cultivate Islam as a counterweight to Palestinian nationalism.” In the 1970s, Yassin is able to form some Islamic organizations (see 1973-1978). In the 1980s, he forms Hamas as the military arm of his organizations (see 1987). [DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 195, 197, 198]
Entity Tags: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Palestinian Liberation Organization, Hamas
Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks

October 1970-1981: After Nasser’s Death, Egyptian President Sadat Brings Back the Muslim Brotherhood and the CIA
After Egyptian President Gamal Abddul Nasser dies in October 1970, he is succeded as president of Egypt by his former Vice President, Anwar Sadat. Sadat is also a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and he promptly reinstates the group as a legal organization and welcomes them back into Egypt. Sadat also has a very close relationship with the head of Saudi intelligence, Kamal Adham. Through Adham, Sadat also develops close working relationships not only with the Saudis, but with the CIA and Henry Kissinger. Sadat uses the power of the religious right, and the Muslim Brothers in particular to contain the Nasserites and their resistance to the radical changes he introduces. During Sadat’s tenure in the 1970’s Egypt becomes a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism, and figures like Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman and Ayman al-Zawahiri gain great power in Egypt during this period. Ironically Sadat himself is assassinated in 1981 by Islamic Jihad, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 1981, because of his accomodation with Israel. [DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 147-162, 165]
Entity Tags: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Central Intelligence Agency, Anwar Sadat, Henry A. Kissinger, Gamal Abddul Nasser
Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks

1973-1978: With Israel’s support, Ahmed Yassin Forms Islamist Organizations in the West Bank and Gaza
In 1973 Israeli military authorities in charge of the West Bank and Gaza allow Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to establish the Islamic Center, an Islamic fundamentalist organization. With Israel’s support, Yassin’s organization soon gains control of hundreds of mosques, charities, and schools which serve as recruiting centers for militant Islamic fundamentalism. In 1976 Yassin creates another organization called the Islamic Association that forms hundreds of branches in Gaza. In 1978 the Islamic Association is licensed by the government of Menachem Begin over the objections of moderate Palesinians including the Commissioner of the Muslim Waqf in the Gaza Strip, Rafat Abu Shaban. Yassin also recieves funding from business leaders in Saudi Arabia who are also hostile to the secular PLO for religious reasons. The Saudi government, however, steps in and attempts to halt the private funds going to Yassin, because they view him as a tool of Israel. [UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, 2/24/2001; COUNTERPUNCH, 1/18/2003; DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 195 - 197] Yassin will go on to form Hamas in the 1980s, which is created with the help of Israeli intelligence (see 1987).
Entity Tags: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Saudi Arabia, Rafat Abu Shaban, Islamic Center, Islamic Association, Israel
Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks

1987: Hamas Forms with the Support of Israeli Intelligence
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin forms Hamas as the military arm of his Islamic Association, which had been licensed by Israel ten years earlier (see 1973-1978). According to Charles Freeman, a former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, “Israel started Hamas. It was a project of Shin Bet, which had a feeling that they could use it to hem in the PLO.” [COUNTERPUNCH, 1/18/2003; DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 191, 208] Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies, states that Israel “aided Hamas directly—the Israelis wanted to use it as a counterbalance to the PLO.” A former senior CIA official speaking to UPI describes Israel’s support for Hamas as “a direct attempt to divide and dilute support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious alternative.” Further, according to an unnamed US government official, “the thinking on the part of some of the right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the other groups, if they gained control, would refuse to have anything to do with the peace process and would torpedo any agreements put in place.” Larry Johnson, a counterterrorism official at the State Department, states: “The Israelis are their own worst enemies when it comes to fighting terrorism. They are like a guy who sets fire to his hair and then tries to put it out by hitting it with a hammer. They do more to incite and sustain terrorism than curb it.” [UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, 2/24/2001 SOURCES: LARRY C. JOHNSON, UNNAMED FORMER CIA OFFICIAL]
Entity Tags: Israel, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Bin Laden Family
Timeline Tags: Alleged Use of False Flag Attacks, Complete 911 Timeline

1988: Al Taqwa Bank Co-Founder Is Long-time CIA Asset

Artist’s sketch of Said Ramadan. [Source: Wall Street Journal]
In 1988, the Al Taqwa Bank is founded in Switzerland, and it quickly becomes one of the major funders for radical Islamic groups, including al-Qaeda (see 1988). The Al Taqwa Bank is closely associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and one of its key founders, Said Ramadan, is one of the Muslim Brotherhood’s top leaders, and also the son-in-law of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Ramadan helped Saudi Arabia found the Muslim World League in 1962; the charity will go on to fund al-Qaeda and many other radical groups. But there is strong evidence that Ramadan also was a long-time CIA asset. [DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 136] Declassified Swiss documents reveal that in the 1960s, the Swiss government considered him to be, “among other things, an intelligence agent of the British and the Americans.” The Wall Street Journal will report in 2005, “Historical evidence suggests Mr. Ramadan worked with the CIA.” For instance, he traveled on a Jordanian diplomatic passport given to him by the CIA, “his expenditures are financed by the American side,” and he worked closely with CIA supported propaganda fronts. [MOTHER JONES, 1/1/2006] The Egyptian government apparently also believed Ramadan worked with the US, and that he may have had a role in a plot against Egyptian President Abddul Nasser in the 1960s. Ramadan even met with President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Oval Office in 1953. [DREYFUSS, 2005, PP. 135-138] Ramadan will die in 1995 at the age of 69. It is not known how long his ties to the CIA and possibly other intelligence agencies lasted. Journalist Robert Dreyfuss will later comment: “It’s no exaggeration to say that Ramadan is the ideological grandfather of Osama bin Laden. But Ramadan, the Muslim Brotherhood, and their Islamist allies might never have been able to plant the seeds that sprouted into al-Qaeda had they not been treated as US allies during the Cold War and had they not received both overt and covert support from Washington.” [MOTHER JONES, 1/1/2006]
Entity Tags: Al Taqwa Bank, Muslim Brotherhood, Said Ramadan, Central Intelligence Agency
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

Ref: Context of '1954-1970: CIA and the Muslim Brotherhood Ally to Oppose Egyptian President Nasser'

Secret Lives of Bacteria

2009-04-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

This reinforces my view that simple rules of thumb can be used to dissolve and overcome complex systems. It IS possible to dissolve complex systems like "states" using "bacterial approaches". Petraeus used the "oil patch" technique in Iraq to the point that they are able to now relocate forces to Afghanistan.

So, it is indeed possible to fight fire with fire. Simple rule of thumb with simple rule of thumb.

The Trouble With Pakistan

2009-04-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

Or... "What's the Problem With Pakistan" -- Foreign Affairs.

An interesting piece well worth a read. The "Sumit Ganguly" guy can't help himself but be an un-abashed advocate for the Indian interests but still it's a good piece and Stephen Cohen poked his ass a little in part III ! lol.

Another reason why we need Pakistani intellectuals in influential Think Tanks and in positions of influence in western capitals (and eastern capitals for that matter). How long are the crazy citizen blogger-journalists going to try to fight a losing battle for a state ruled by an exceedingly incompetent 'ruling class' ??

I will quote two passages by Aqil Shah, for the rest, run over to ForreignAffairs.Org and help yerself!

Aqil Shah: Recent events in Swat show only that the military-dominated Pakistani state is either unwilling or unable to perform its basic function: enforcing the legitimate monopoly over the means of coercion and administration in its own territory. Even if we concede that striking a cease-fire agreement with the Taliban was the only feasible option in the face of abject military failure and the rising human costs of the military campaign, how is the government going to make sure that the Taliban have made a credible commitment? What is to stop the Taliban from reneging on their promises? Press reports suggest that they have already violated the terms of the cease-fire agreement by attacking and kidnapping security personnel, just as they did in all of the previous "peace deals" in the FATA. The cease-fire agreement basically gives the Taliban a pass on their crimes against the state. They have terrorized the population, burnt down hundreds of girls' schools in Swat, and murdered civilians and military personnel. As Shaun says, it's déjà vu all over again.

and

Aqil Shah: The transition to democracy has done little to change the dynamics of political power. The politicians appear too busy protecting their flanks to realize the gravity of the situation. Opinion polls show a sharp downslide in public confidence in the government's performance. The Sharif-Zardari showdown may not have been unexpected, but it has certainly disappointed Pakistanis who perceived the 2008 elections and their results as a first step toward extricating Pakistan from its authoritarian trap. The political, economic, and security problems faced by the elected government are largely legacies of Musharraf's military rule. But the PPP [Pakistan People's Party] government cannot hide behind that excuse to mask its own incompetence. Power in Pakistan, as in any other aspiring democracy, needs to be restrained by the rule of law. This, in turn, requires the supremacy of the constitution, enforced by an autonomous judiciary. But the PPP-led government has used paltry subterfuges to subvert judicial independence and has held over other anti-democratic measures from the Musharraf era, such as the presidential power to arbitrarily sack elected governments. The PPP and other parties may find it inconvenient to be restrained by constitutional checks and balances, but without them democracy is likely to remain feeble and vulnerable to authoritarian backsliding. If that happens, civilian politicians will have to share a good part of the blame for squandering the democratic gains of the last few years.

And for the kicker, Shaun Gregory, uses the appropriate term for the Pakistani "ruling elite" ie; Kleptocratic ... yup! You heard it bitches! he said "KLEPTOCRATIC ELITE"

Shaun Gregory: I've just been re-reading Tariq Ali's (admittedly leftist) analysis of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, The Duel. The basic thesis is that since 1958 the major Western powers have put their own short-term interests first, propping up one military dictatorship after another and paying only lip service to support for democracy. If such a course had achieved U.S. and Western objectives, it could perhaps be countenanced. But it hasn't. For decades, Washington and others have put the interests of the Pakistan army and the country's tiny kleptocratic elite first while neglecting the Pakistani people. This is a basic error that cannot be repeated if Pakistan is to be turned around. I can't help thinking that if the same resources and intellectual energy that have been put into the Pakistani military had been put into genuine support for democracy, social progress, and development, we'd be in a very different place today. Over the past ten years, Washington has spent almost six billion dollars on the FATA, 96 percent of them on military activity and just 1 percent on development. This is a sterile, failed policy, and there surely have to be other ideas worth trying. The Obama administration says it wants to change course. We'll see if it does.

Fujimori gets his come uppance! When will Musharraf?

2009-04-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has been sentenced to 25 years in jail for ordering killings and kidnappings by security forces.
At the end of a 15-month trial, judges found him guilty of two death-squad killings of 25 people during the conflict with guerrillas in the 1990s.
After being sentenced, Mr Fujimori said he would appeal against the verdict.
Human rights group Amnesty International described the verdict as "a milestone in the fight for justice".

Ref: BBC News

I hope we in Pakistan can also set an example like this and get Musharraf and his cronies tried and convicted for his crimes against the Pakistani People.

A new world is being born

2009-04-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

When will be the next world war which will make official the Next World Order?

More at: The Big Picture (Boston Globe)

QOTD

2009-03-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

"Just because it is not your fault does not mean it is not your problem"

Re: "*"

Civil Disobedience -- Henry David Thoreau

2009-03-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

Civil Disobedience is Thoreau's primary essay on how to interact with Government. Here the author argues that a citizen must always uphold conscience over what is prescribed by law. Never one to accept the status quo, Thoreau says that if called, we must all disobey a system that is inherently prone to corruption and that even personal endangerment may be needed in order do what is right. An inspiration to luminaries such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., this essay is one of the core American writings on government.

Part 1 (30 min mp3)
Part 2 (28 min mp3)

Via eJunto

Oh No they didn't!!!!!

2009-03-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

"Sharif Wins a Battle" -- The Economist

You know you're screwed when The Economist turns on you!

The political fallout is also worth celebrating. Mr Zardari, the unpopular president of a country he is alleged to have looted, has been reduced. With Mr Chaudhry, a dream of judicial independence in Pakistan has been restored. Mr Sharif, a populist and conservative leader, shunned by Pakistan’s and America’s previous administrations, is now talking to everyone and, confident of winning power at Pakistan’s next election, is apparently happy to play by the rules. To encourage him—and as a precursor to Mr Zardari’s cave-in over Mr Chaudhry—Mr Gilani has announced that the government will ask the Supreme Court to review its judgment against the Sharif brothers. In fact Mr Gilani, and the parliamentary system he represents, is another winner. Mr Zardari’s humbling should make it likelier that he will now, as he has long promised, hand back some of the souped-up presidential powers he inherited from Mr Musharraf.

AND...

Though chastened by their leader’s disgrace, some senior figures in Mr Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) are also quietly content. Mr Zardari, widower of Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister, has become a clownish regent for her dynasty, dismaying a party that sees itself as Pakistan’s most liberal and democratic. The recent resignation of two PPP ministers once close to Miss Bhutto, Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman, hinted at this. Ms Rehman, the information minister, quit last week after television news channels were taken off air by the de facto interior minister, Rehman Malik—one of several unelected cronies through whom Mr Zardari has been misruling his crisis-stricken country.

Pakistan Day... 62 Years in the Wilderness!

2009-03-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

The "PAKISTAN Resolution"

While approving and endorsing the action taken by the Council and the Working Committee of the All-India Muslim League, as indicated in their resolutions dated the 27th of August, 17th & 18th September and 22nd of October, 1939, and 3rd of February, 1940 on the constitutional issue, this Session of the All-India Muslim League emphatically reiterates that the scheme of federation embodied in the Government of India Act 1935, is totally unsuited to, and unworkable in the peculiar conditions of this country and is altogether unacceptable to Muslim India.

It further records its emphatic view that while the declaration dated the 18th of October, 1939 made by the Viceroy on behalf of His Majesty’s Government is reassuring in so far as it declares that the policy and plan on which the Government of India Act, 1935, is based will be reconsidered in consultation with various parties, interests and communities in India, Muslims in India will not be satisfied unless the whole constitutional plan is reconsidered de novo and that no revised plan would be acceptable to Muslims unless it is framed with their approval and consent.

Resolved that it is the considered view of this Session of the All-India Muslim League that no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to the Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principles, viz., that geographically contiguous units’ are demarcated into regions which should be constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of (British) India should be grouped to constitute “independent States” in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign.

That adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the constitution for minorities in these units in the regions for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultations with them and in other parts of (British) India where the Mussalmans (Muslims) are in a majority adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specifically provided in constitution for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them.

This session further authorises the Working Committee to frame a scheme of constitution in accordance with these basic principles, providing for the assumption finally by the respective regions of all powers such as defense, external affairs, communications, customs and such other matters as may be necessary.

via All Things Pakistan

Balls! What a concept!

2009-03-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

A little lesson for the fucking pussies that we got here for our "ruling class" who can't get enough of the ole American Sphinctre to lick and spitshine on a daily basis at the cost of their own national interest (which they have no fucking idea about to begin with!)

Hugo Chavez, told Obama to go fuck himself after Obama made an ignorant ass remark about chavez.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama was at best an "ignoramus" for saying the socialist leader exported terrorism and obstructed progress in Latin America.

"He goes and accuses me of exporting terrorism: the least I can say is that he's a poor ignoramus; he should read and study a little to understand reality," said Chavez, who heads a group of left-wing Latin American leaders opposed to the U.S. influence in the region.

and ...

Chavez expelled its U.S. ambassador in September in a dispute over U.S. activities in his ally Bolivia, which also expelled its U.S. ambassador. Ecuador's left-wing President Rafael Correa this year kicked out a mid-ranking U.S. diplomat.

Our "ruling class" ought to be executed.

Fair Use Photo courtesy: Reuters.

Another perspective on "the victory".

2009-03-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that the popular will in Pakistan needs an outlet, and my view has always been that although Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif recognize this and have shown willingness to USE it for achieving their own objectives, I saw it as very unlikely that Nawaz Sharif (or even Aitezaz) would become party to the destruction of an order in which they themselves are "somebodies"

Some people in the PTI/JI camp are raising some questions on the mysterious moves of NS, SS and AA when the rest of the leadership of Movement for Rule of Law was incomunicado. (Imran was doggedly pursued, while AA was let out while the police looked away. note that there was NO MOB outside his house asking for him to be freed... he basically walked out of his house .. same thing happened to SS the night before and exactly the same thing was repeated with NS the next day around 1pm)

I'm not saying there was some back-door "deal", as TeethMaestro had pointed to while the long march was in progress (and which I didn't really buy into at first, at all to be honest!)... but at the very least these occurances are really myesterious and need some looking into.

Here is another perspective from World Socialst Website (WSWS) writer Keith Jones:

All of these measures were patterned after those that the dictator Musharraf had employed in 2007 in the face of mounting popular opposition.

But unlike then, sections of the military-security establishment in the Punjab balked.

Sharif quickly escaped from detention, with police reportedly joining in dismantling the barricades that they had erected round his house. Also escaping from house arrest was Aitzaz Ahsan, the lawyer and one-time PPP leader who has spearheaded the campaign to restore the purged judges to the bench.

He also seems to confirm my views that due to his right of center leanings, and the changed US strategy in Afghanistan despite the so called "surge", Nawaz Sharif has actually become more palatable for the US and he is only slightly less controllable than Zardari and it will all be done through the Saudi's to whom he (NS) owes big time! ...

The Obama administration also feared that a showdown between the country's principal bourgeois parties, involving mass demonstrations and confrontations with the police, could provide an entry point for Pakistan's oppressed masses to voice their anger at a devastating economic crisis and wrenching IMF restructuring program.

With its intervention in Pakistan's most recent political crisis, the Obama administration appears to have made a definite shift in US policy toward Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) or PML (N).

So? was this really the victory that Sharif(s) are proclaiming it is? the author doesn't seem to think so:

Sharif and much of the Pakistani media are proclaiming the restoration of the judges an historic triumph for democracy. It is nothing of the sort.

Once again Washington and the military have manipulated Pakistan's political structure for their reactionary ends.

The judges, Chaudhry included, have a long record of providing a legal fig-leaf for the authoritarian and arbitrary actions of the military and, even more importantly, have served as the legal enforcers of Pakistan's grossly unequal capitalist social order.

That is why all manner of right-wing forces, including the Ex-Servicemen's Association of former ISI-head Hamid Gul and other reactionary generals, and the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamic fundamentalist party, were willing to campaign for their return to the bench.

If Sharif has focused his opposition to the PPP government on the judges issue, it is precisely because he has no fundamental disagreement with the PPP-led government's support for the Afghan war or its neo-liberal economic policies.

Seems to me that they (ie; Messers Sharif Brathran) just wanted this "itmaam-e-hujjat" so that they could get this "judiciary restoration monkey" off their back. Because now they seem ready to get on-board with the PPP government and the whole judiciary thing is out of the way too... still remains to be seen whether Zardari will actually want them back in after them having stolen all the credit for "restoration of judiciary".... (wtf?)

And finally, some thoughts on the class aspects of the "leadership" of the march and those "who were led". The ruling elite of Pakistan, averted a disaster for itself when Nawaz and Aitezaz, members of the ruling elite and therefore having the same class interests, made the decision to call off the long march after the token restoration of the chief justice... who gives a shit about real reform that the nation really wants. eh? This is exactly why neither Nawaz nor Aitezaz bothered to have the PM give guarantees in the speech about taking concrete steps in the parliament viz-a-viz the independence of judiciary. Something that I had talked about a while back.

VICTORY! (Kind Of...)

2009-03-16T05:50:00.003-07:00

First they IGNORE you,
Then they LAUGH at you,
Then they FIGHT with you,
...
Then YOU WIN!!!

WE WON! (kind of)

3.15.09 - Day 4 - THRILLA IN MOHALLAH!

2009-03-15T04:14:00.000-07:00

mayhem in Lahore as police seem powerless to contain the crowd. AA arrested. Javed Hashmi arrested. First day for new information minister Kaira. LOL. Nawaz Sharif and others are still defying orders.

I'm sure Zardari has "a plan"

GPO chowk has been occupied by violent protesters. A policeman nearly got killed by the mob, but then, the mob itself protected him and dropped him off by the other policemen.

I have a gut feeling that Zardari wants to impose emergency on account of this.

Long March Day 3 -- Sherry Rehman Resigns! Phew!

2009-03-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

Casualties So far:

Geo News Blocked in all of Pakistan - FUCK THESE FUCKERS!

2009-03-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

Fuck Zardaro!
Fuck craven yes men in People's Party

You have soiled the name of Pakistan, it's People and this Party.

SHAME ON YOU!

YOU WILL NOT WIN! WE PROMISE YOU!

3.13.09 - Day Two - Long March For Rule of Law is Still ON!

2009-03-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

Islamabad is quaking in her pretty little red slippers. By some accounts at least a hundred thousand people are already in Rawalpindi and Islamabad staying hidden until they converge on the "Constitution Avenue" on March 16th 2009.

Rauf Klasra is reporting that our "kleptocracy" and her "foreign owners" have realized that Zardari may have become a liability. He is to be sidelined and some key demands are to be met. Kiyani has met Zardari and the PM multiple times.

Javed Hashmi relating that people are being dragged out of their houses, half naked. Other reports are that A human rights worker was arrested in Islamabad. A worker's leg was broken by the police as they tried to detain her. Sindhi women activists were brutally treated by the authorities and their crime was that they wanted to join a peaceful long march.

But Aitezaz came on the phone and said that the long march was on! Nawaz League stayed or left, the lawyers movement for Rule of Law would proceed as planned. They will not believe any "tassali tashaffi" from the likes of Rehman Malik and Zardari. He said that the main deficit was that of trust which the Zardari regime had squandered away.

So, it is day 2. The long march has already succeeded by creating the panicked response in these incompetents and we have seen them make fools of themselves on the international scene. 2000+ articles in Google news regarding this event and counting.

Could we see a stronger prime minister come out of this? Could we see a more independent judiciary?

This is why I wish there was a charter of demands, enforceable via parliamentry drafts of bills ALREADY prepared by the lawyers movement.

Welcome to Zardari Raj!

2009-03-12T09:11:00.001-07:00

3.12.09 - DAY ONE Long March For PAKISTAN!

2009-03-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

"Fascism in Action" (Editorial in "The News"):

We spiral downwards in the direction of totalitarianism, of the destruction of democratic process and institutions. Whatever good we might have glimpsed in the aftermath of last years election has died, sacrificed on the altar of ambition and selfishness that sadly grips the minds of those who govern. It is Pakistan's tragedy that we have once more been betrayed. The forces that claimed to stand for judicial independence and democratic principle have turned brutally on people. Under its present leadership, the PPP has lost all right to be called a party of the people. Those who head it have been completely exposed. Their actions have plunged a struggling nation into still greater turmoil. History will not absolve them for what they have done.

LONG MARCH 2009 - CYBERSPACE ISHTYLE!

2009-03-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

How to Follow Long March Online and How to Report if You are participating:

Live Coverage -
http://cli.gs/LongMarch

Monitor on your GPRS enabled cell phone -
http://cli.gs/LongMarchCell

Blog -
http://marchforjustice.wordpress.com/

Pictures can be sent via MMS / Email -
http://longmarch.seenreport.com

Yaser said...

A small Addition: the coverage on seenreport is live so if anyone wants to send Pictures or videos through their mobile then simply MMS those to
longmarch@seenreport.com or longmarch.cityname@seenreport.com and those mobile updates will be published right away.

The phone number is only for SMS and not for MMS.

GENERAL EMAIL UPDATES Re: Your Long March Experiences:
Send an email to longmarch@seenreport.com

CITY SPECIFIC EMAIL UPDATES
Send an email to address longmarch.cityname@seenreport.com
For example, to update about Jhelum, send email to: longmarch.jhelum@seenreport.com

SMS UPDATES to 0332-4797546 in the format "longmarch YOUR MESSAGE"
While sending SMS you can also use the cityname variant like in email or mms ( "longmarch.jhelum YOUR MESSAGE" )

Twitter: - http://twitter.com/LongMarch or Follow twitter Hashtag at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=LongMarch

PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ALL

CREDIT: TEETHMAESTRO ET AL.

"Yehi hamaaraa raastah hai, aur yehi hamaaraa vaastah hai"

2009-03-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

Thieves in the Night

2009-03-10T18:39:00.001-07:00

Democracy!

2009-03-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

"Sung" Version

Its coming through a hole in the air
]from those nights in tiananmen square
Its coming from the feel
That it aint exactly real
Or its real, but it aint exactly there
from the wars against disorder
from the sirens night and day
from the fires of the homeless
from the ashes of the gay
Democracy is coming to the u.s.a.

Its coming through a crack in the wall
On a visionary flood of alcohol
from the staggering account
Of the sermon on the mount
Which I dont pretend to understand at all
Its coming from the silence
On the dock of the bay
from the brave, the bold, the battered
Heart of chevrolet
Democracy is coming to the u.s.a.

Its coming from the sorrow on the street
The holy places where the races meet
from the homicidal bitchin
That goes down in every kitchen
To determine who will serve and who will eat
]from the wells of disappointment
Where the women kneel to pray
For the grace of God in the desert here
And the desert far away
Democracy is coming to the u.s.a.

Chorus
Sail on, sail on
O mighty ship of state!
To the shores of need
Past the reefs of greed
Through the squalls of hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on...

Its coming to america first
The cradle of the best and of the worst
Its here they got the range
And the machinery for change
And its here they got the spiritual thirst
Its here the familys broken
And its here the lonely say
That the heart has got to open
In a fundamental way
Democracy is coming to the u.s.a.

Its coming from the women and the men
O baby, well be making love again
Well be going down so deep
That the rivers going to weep
And the mountains going to shout amen!
Its coming like the tidal flood
Beneath the lunar sway
Imperial, mysterious
In amorous array
Democracy is coming to the u.s.a.

Chorus

Im sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I cant stand the scene
And Im neither left or right
Im just staying home tonight
Getting lost in that hopeless little screen
But Im stubborn as those garbage bags
That time cannot decay
Im junk but Im still holding up
This little wild bouquet
Democracy is coming to the u.s.a.

In Protest of Zardari Party's ILLEGAL and UNDEMOCRATIC Actions of March 10, 2009

2009-03-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Wimminz Day!

2009-03-08T10:10:00.001-07:00

Inturrusting....

2009-03-08T10:00:00.001-07:00

Hello Chris Broad, Welcome to FUCKUP-ISTAN!

2009-03-04T06:42:00.000-08:00

These FUCKING FUCKS! Can they FUCKING DO ANYTHING RIGHT? DOEST THIS COUNTRY EVEN DESERVE TO EXIST????

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCJJJJJKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK EM ALL!!

The police ran the fuck away! JTFC!

Topi Drama?

2009-03-03T06:40:00.000-08:00

You set'em up!

He'll knock'em down!

Nasir Kazmi (March 2nd - 37th Anniversary)

2009-03-02T17:45:00.000-08:00

More at: Iqbal cyber Urdu Library

Miscalculate Much?

2009-03-02T15:50:00.000-08:00

Courtesy: Dawn Group of News Papers.

¡Ya basta!

2009-03-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

There are two sides emerging in Pakistan. One that thinks 9th of march 2007 was "just another day" and the other side which firmly believes that 9th March 2007 (Yaum-e-Iftikhar) was a watershed event in the history of this country. Not only because some Judge finally said "No" to some gun-weilding treasonous jurnails, but also because the Pakistani Nation said ENOUGH!

YA BASTA!