Pakistan

While the presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar described the move as a “giant leap forward to empower the elected Parliament and the Prime Minister” the fact that the amnesty granted to Zardari came to an end on Saturday, may be a crucial fact to have triggered the move. Several corruption and criminal cases pending against President Asif Ali Zardari are likely to be reopened after a controversial amnesty agreement expired on Nov. 28.

The amnesty was granted as part of the National Reconciliation Ordinance introduced in December 2007 as part of a deal between then-President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and President Zardari’s, wife, ex-PM, Benazir Bhutto who was later slain by a suicide bomber. The ordinance allowed Mrs. Bhutto and Mr. Zardari to return to Pakistan and not face charges that had been pending against the duo. The amnesty also allowed to some key ministers in the current government who faced corruption and other charges of their own.

The ex-President, Pervez Musharraf was responsible for creating the National Command Authority and passing the 17th Constitutional Amendment to give himself sweeping powers. The ammendment allowed the President to dismiss the PM and dissolve Parliament at his will. The ammendment is also expected to be done away with in December.

The move also comes after a ruling by Pakistan’s Supreme Court in July of this year which required the government to get several ordinances issued by Musharraf endorsed by Parliament by November 28. After the government failed to do so due to pressure from political parties, Zardari re-promulgated 27 ordinances in total.

Now that the amnesty cover is out of place, several key ministers including President Zardari may face the heat. PM Gilani has already hinted that he may sack the ministers facing charges. Mr. Zardari was the minister for investment in his wife’s government during 1993-96. He has already spent almost eight years in prison facing trial on several corruption and three murder charges before being freed in 2004 by a court on bail. He also faced trial on a money-laundering charge by a Swiss court that was withdrawn at the request of the Pakistani government days before his election as the country’s president.

NowPublic

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! The late Benazir Bhutto's book about reconciliation is one of the many reasons I am grateful today.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I feel grateful for many gifts in my life.

Most basically, I am grateful for a wonderful family and circle of friends, a sense of wonder and spirit and purpose, meaningful work, a clear mind that allows me to read, think, admit error and learn, a sturdy constitution and good health, and financial sufficiency.

I’m also profoundly grateful for the slivers of experience and memory that I have each day that remind me of what life is about: love, shared connections with other people, working for a larger cause, and trying to make the world better than it is now.

This blog has been a major project for me this year, and I am extremely grateful to all of you who have clicked on, commented, or in some way joined the conversation and community we are creating together.

Your ranks have grown.

The first day I blogged last December, seven people looked at what I had put up and written.

For the past eight weeks, it’s been just about 1,000 people per day.

This is a shared venture of the heart in every way, and I want, on this day of giving thanks, to thank all of you who have joined and contributed to the space.

Have a wonderful day!!

I’ve got a couple of quick book thoughts.

Longtime Washington Wizards’ owner Abe Pollin died earlier this week at age 85.  He is a minor character in When Nothing Else Matters, Michael Leahy’s highly unflattering portrait of Michael Jordan, the man generally considered by many to be the greatest basketball player ever lived.

I recently finished Dart Fellow and Pulitzer Prize winner Amy Dockser Marcus’ Jerusalem 1913, an intriguing look at the waning days of the Ottoman Empire that suggests how the current Arab-Israeli conflict might have turned out differently.

And yesterday I completed the late Benazir Bhutto’s Reconciliation.  Written after her dramatic return to her native Pakistan and right before her assassination two years ago, the book is an effort to bridge the chasm of understanding between the Western and Muslim worlds.  Bhutto takes on the legacy of Western colonialism and the current war in Iraq as well as Muslim extremists.

Only 34 politicians are among the beneficiaries of NRO, according to the list provided by the government the other day. NRO came out after a deal between Former President, Gen. (retd) Musharaff and Benazir Bhutto, and as a result, the politically-motivated cases were withdrawn. Now the total number of beneficiaries is 8000, which includes only 34 politicians (according to government) and what about the rest of 7966?

MQM and PPP came up as the two biggest beneficiaries of NRO, 4 names from PML-N are among the beneficiaries as well. The beneficiaries include Asif Ali Zardari (President), Altaf Hussain (MQM chief), Dr Farooq Sattar (MQM’s parliamentary leader), Shoaib Bukhar (Provincial Minister, MQM), Babar Ghouri (Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping), Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad, Rehman Malik (Interior Minister), Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Nusrat Bhutto (PPP), Haji Nawaz Khokhar (former deputy speaker of National Assembly), Malik Mushtaq Awan (PPP), Mian Mohammad Rasheed, Tariq Anees, Anwar Saifullah Khan (MNA), Sardar Mansoor Leghari (ex-MNA), Aftab Sherpao (MNA), Habibullah Kundi (former NWFP minister), Ahmed Sadiq (ex-principal secretary to PM), Salman Farooqi (Secretary-General to the President, famous for his cases of Pakistan Steel Mill), Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington Hussain Haqqani and Wajid Shamsul Hasan, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Interestingly, most of the beneficiaries are denying the fact that they had taken any relief under NRO and it makes it obvious that how ‘badnaam’ this ordinance has become.

L’Isi, Inter-Services Intelligence, e’ il famigerato servizio segreto pachistano da sempre associato a molti crimini che hanno scosso il subcontinente e gli stati limitrofi negli ultimi anni. Oltre 10000 sarebbero i suoi agenti, esclusi gli informatori. Fondato nel 1948, all’indomani della separazione del Pakistan dall’India, il servizio segreto pachistano negli anni ‘50 divenne sempre piu’ legato al presidente di turno, staccato da qualsiasi controllo e soprattutto utilizzato per scopi politici, come indagini nei confronti di avversari politici del presidente. Nel corso degli anni, l’Isi ha acquistato sempre maggiore potere, tanto da essere chiamata ”lo stato nello stato”, definizione usata spesso anche da Benazir Bhutto. Dopo una riorganizzazione nel 1967, l’Isi, infatti, e’ stata impiegata durante le guerre con l’India, aiutando i militanti in Kashmir, ed altri conflitti nell’area. Ma, soprattutto, in Afghanistan, a seguito dell’invasione sovietica. Qui, foraggiati dalla Cia, gli agenti dell’Isi hanno tenuto moltissime operazioni coperte ed hanno addestrato i mujaheddin e i talebani, aiutando questi ultimi a salire al potere. I legami con i talebani sono ritenuti in piedi ancora oggi, tanto che c’e’ la convinzione che agenti dell’Isi informino i talebani degli attacchi americani attraverso aerei senza pilota, nella zona occidentale del Pakistan. Ma l’Isi, soprattutto sotto Musharraf, ha assunto contorni ancora piu’ oscuri. L’ex presidente e generale, nominando ai vertici del servizio suoi amici generali, si e’ assicurato i loro servigi, impiegandoli non solo nelle battaglie politiche di Musharraf, ma anche in operazioni terroristiche in India e in altri paesi. La mano dell’Isi e’ accertata negli attacchi a Mumbai del novembre dell’anno scorso ed e’ ritenuta molto probaile nell’attentato di quest’anno all’ambasciata indiana a Kabul e negli attentati alla metropolitana di Londra del luglio 2005. Dopo Musharraf, il capo dell’esercito, che comunque era stato nominato dall’ex presidente ed era il suo secondo, ha cambiato i vertici dei servizi, nominando un altro generale a se vicino, ancora oggi alla guida dell’Isi. Il governo pachistano ha tentato invano piu’ volte di controllare l’Isi. L’ultima volta, nel settembre dell’anno scorso, si e’ cercato, senza successo, di portare il controllo dell’Isi sotto il ministero degli interni e non sotto il capo di stato maggiore.

PakAlert

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

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

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

The Indo-Israel Alliance

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

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

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

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

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

More Game Theory Warfare?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Destabilization as a Prequel to Domination

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, addressing the media after their meeting. Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/09/xin_152030510072773424351.jpg

Islamabad, Pakistan: The highly anticipated meeting last week between President Zardari and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif did not result in any agreement, much to the disappointment of several journalists and qualified defense analysts across the country. The highly charged 90 minute meeting did not result in any breakthrough between the two leaders, prompting several observers to question what exactly happened during the meeting. PML-N and PPP members who were part of the delegation have remained tight lipped, and have refused to comment on any speculation.

However, two weeks after the meeting, Maila Times has had a chance to make exclusive secret contacts with some ‘higher ups’ in the government, who agreed to talk to Maila Times provided that they remained anonymous, as they are not authorized to talk to the media. Maila Times has exclusively found out that President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif dueled in an epic 90 minute carrom board game, while the members of each delegation cheered their respective leaders on. The carom board that was used was specially designed for the occasion, where it was made at Raiwind and was given finishing touches at Naudero. The manufacturer, in line with requests by the President’s House, engraved a picture of Benazir Bhutto onto the board, so as to match the same framed picture that President Zardari carries around with him in his pocket.

According to our sources, the game was marred with a lot of controversies, as the PML-N complained that President Zardari had a home court advantage. This matter was settled by allowing Nawaz Sharif to go first with the striker. However, when one of President Zardari’s goti stopped right at the edge of the pocket, he complained that there was not enough boric powder, and accused the PML-N of purposely removing the powder to gain an unfair advantage. In protest, members of the PML-N delegation staged a walkout from the room, screaming “We will not return until the 17th amendment is repealed!” However, Rehman Malik and Babar Awan convinced Nawaz Sharif to return and told them all matters would be amicably resolved after the meeting. After being placated, Nawaz Sharif asked to see the bed in which Zardari and the Americans slept in, but his request was respectfully declined by the staff members of the President’s House.

After President Zardari won the match, Nawaz Sharif complained of being hungry, so they all took a lunch break where the party members ate Dunkin Doughnuts dipped in nihari. The source pointed out that Nawaz Sharif is very health conscious and refused to have his usual glass of lassi, so he instead had a single gulab jamman for dessert.

After the meeting, the two leaders decided to meet again to discuss other pressing issues facing the country, including the amount of dishes allowed to be served at weddings.

Those of you who have a strong stomach(so as not to get nauseatic from the an overload of sickly sweetness) , can now win up to 3 lacs by taking part in PTV’s documentary competition, which is inviting 13-15 minute documentaries by December 15^th , on Shaheed-e-Wafa.

What’s that? You don’t know what a Shaheed-e-Wafa is?

Shame on you!

Who else but the bawafa biwi who got murdered by her own husband – and still gave him the Presidency of Pakistan as her Parting Gift!

The advertisement suggests you take one of the following angles

-          Muhib-e-Watan Pakistani.

-          Benazir Bhutto ,meri nazar main.

-          Khawateen kay huqooq ki alambardar, Benazir.

You get the basic idea I’m sure. Plus, they generously also add ‘or any topic of your choice featuring Benazir Bhutto.’

Hmmm……….

How about ‘Why is Shahee-e-Wafa constantly turning in her grave.’

It would of course be very statistical – I’ll calculate how many times, dear Zardari has added to her anguish by publicly proclaiming meri biwi dheshat gardi ki nazar ho gayi. Afterall, for someone who was wafa-dar enough to embrace shahadat for her husband, this whole deshatgardo ki nazar hona thing, must sound like an accusation of baywafai.

On a serious note, me and a reporter are actually considering sending in a revamped version of an investigative piece we did on her death anniversary last year.

We’d add all the things that were too sensitive to be aired. The SOTs about Rehman Malik & the DSP who was incharge of security that day – everyone knows what award Rehman Malik has reaped but the DSP was also given the charge of PM’s own city Multan.

There was also the matter of the ‘cause of death’. We could add back the SOTs that prove that a bullet was revived from her head.  Add the pictures taken IN the operation theatre. And maybe add a VO saying everything that we know but have no prove of – ofcourse, we would state is as a fact, rather add an innocent, yeh khabrain bhi samnay ayin kay…..

Hmmm….. only, I’m sure if we send that piece, instead of getting the 3 lacs, we’d end up paying more to save our skins.

I’m sure many people remember we used to have sniper firing in Lines Area, Saddar, Karachi, during Benazir Bhutto’s reign of terror during the early 90’s perhaps?

We couldn’t go to school because of the bitch.

Now the husband, son of a bitch, Zardari, who can’t handle anything right, has brought terror into the lives of our children.

Nixon College, Lahore Grammar School — in that DHA Phase 8 area, Karachi, where there are schools, there are bomb threats and helicopters flying over children’s heads. Kids aren’t allowed to go and play in the playground. Their bags are being checked upon entrance. And they’ve been told they gotta duck under their desks in case there’s a bomb blast.

We know how fond PPP is of education.

Bring Musharraf back!

Where should any self respecting Blog or article whether by remote computer repair, remote helpdesk, outsourced pc repair, online computer repair, or computer man start?

Hillary is soooo far outside traditional American Statesmen like the 55th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill, Jr., democrat, and the 35th President of The United States of America, John F. Kennedy, democrat, and America’s contemporary needs she is laughable if she (Hillary) were not so serious…soooo dangerous!

Computer Man’s brother, who shall remain nameless, is a dyed in the wool democrat and homosexual. Da computerman? I used to be republican until the republicans became democrats and the democrats became socialists.

These days Computer Man is independent, more like Joe Lieberman. Anyway, the last time brother/sister/what-ever was seen he/she adamantly and proudly proclaimed “I am a mean, vindictive bitch just like Hillary…don’t believe me?…cross me and find out”.

Well the time is at hand when we start to think about a new leader for the free world…a President of the U.S…a Commander-N-Chief of the military. Neither the race nor the gender matters to Tennessee Mountain Man, but to get the nation (the world even) caught in the Clinton crosshairs again? I think not and I believe Kathleen Wiley, the secret service, and the military would agree.

Consider these:

Female Leaders Extraordinaire:

Golda Meir:

“Golda Meir (Hebrew: גולדה מאיר‎, Arabic: جولدا مائير, born Golda Mabovitz, May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978, known as Golda Meyerson from 1917-1956) was one of the founders of the State of Israel.

Meir served as the Minister of Labour, Foreign Minister, and then as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel from March 17, 1969 to June 3, 1974.

As the BBC put it, Golda Meir was the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics years before the epithet was coined for Margaret Thatcher. David Ben-Gurion, the nation’s first Prime Minister, once described her as “the only man in the Cabinet.” She was Israel’s first (and, to date, only) female Prime Minister, and was the third female Prime Minister in the world”

Margaret Thatcher:

Champion of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalism

Benazir Bhutto:

“Bhutto went into self-imposed exile in Dubai in 1998, where she remained until she returned to Pakistan on October 18, 2007, after reaching an understanding with General Musharraf by which she was granted amnesty and all corruption charges were withdrawn.”

Dr. Condoleezza Rice:

“Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, on January 22, 2001.

In June 1999, she completed a six year tenure as Stanford University ’s Provost, during which she was the institution’s chief budget and academic officer. As Provost she was responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and the academic program involving 1,400 faculty members and 14,000 students.

As professor of political science, Dr. Rice has been on the Stanford faculty since 1981 and has won two of the highest teaching honors — the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities and Sciences Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton?!

Now, honestly, tell me Hillary Rodham Clinton, the purveyor of lost documents and friend of her security advisor Sandy Burger, belongs in that distinguished company!?

“KATHLEEN Willey, who claimed Bill Clinton groped her in the Oval Office in 1993, says he and his senator wife, Hillary, are up to more dirty tricks. Willey tells World Net Daily she was recently the target of a burglar who broke into her house and swiped a manuscript of her new book, which contains revelations that could supposedly damage Hillary’s presidential bid.

“Here we go again,” Willey told WND. “It scared me to death. It’s an awful feeling to know you’re sound asleep upstairs and someone is downstairs.” “Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton” will hit stores in November. A rep for the Clintons had no comment.”

Are you kidding? Hillary Clinton should not even be mentioned in the same breath as Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, or Condoleezza Rice or Kathleen Willey for that matter !!!!!!!

Hillary just does not measure up to Female World Leaders who were and are Presidents, Heads of State, or Premier Ministers.