Comments on Informed Comment: Pakistani Reaganism Must End: The New Government ...

I feel sorry for father of this terrorist Ajmal wh...

2008-12-12T11:14:00.000-05:00

I feel sorry for father of this terrorist Ajmal who was captured Indian security forces. This is the toughest thing any father have to go through. I don't blame his family for this attack, as no one else from this family involved in terrorist activity and working hard to survive with respect and dignity. The big culprits are Pakistani ISI, Army, Let and leaders (like Zaid Hamid) who spread venom in Pakistani young people against Indians for their own advantage. Their own children are studying in foreign schools for better education and on the other side they encourage young Pakistani to become terrorists (so called Jehadi) . These so called leaders project themselves "Masiha" of Muslims around the world. Every country has its own issues. India is a country with 1.1 billion people practicing 8 different major religions. Indian Muslims are facing same issues as Hindus and other religion groups are. Pakistan should focus on betterment of Muslims of Pakistan only. India had Muslim president and has a Sikh priminister and Kashmiri origin priministers (Indira and Rajiv Gandhi). India has many Muslim ministers too. Indian Muslims have same opportunities as other religious groups. Many of them are working in Space science, Finance and Management, IT and Communication industry. Muslims of India has freedom to speak against Indian Govt and any Govt. agencies. In contrast Pakistan's Muslims can not speak against ISI and Army. It seems that anti-India centric policy is the key to survive any Govt. agency in Pakistan. Pakistan has wasted their billions of $ foreign aid in spreading terrorist and military. India never had an ambition to increase its territory so Pakistan has nothing to worry from Indians. Pakistan should focus on right education and employment creation which is the only path to the peace and prosperity. Most importantly people of Pakistan need to come out of influence of Mullah. "Well educated Pakistani youngster can interpret and understand Quran better than non-educated (or madresa educated) Mullah.". The real problem of radicalism in Pakistan is wrong interpretation of Holy Quaran, which is beyond doubt, teaches peace and harmony. FIRST STEP TOWARDS REMEDY OF ANY DESEASE IS ACCEPTANCE OF THAT DESEASE". God bless India and Pakistan.

This is actually quite a good piece, nice work.I ...

2008-12-07T14:14:00.000-05:00

This is actually quite a good
piece, nice work.
I think your international audience must realise that in today's world India is a unique poistion. Between the African west coast to Indonesia in the east,India is the only functioning multi-ethnic democracy. Sure, it has short-comings but it is a democracy with a largely pleuralistic society. It is the only one with the capacity to project a kind of soft power - kind of projecting a message to people in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh etc. that look it is possible for people of different ethnicities and religions to live together and do business with each other. It is imperative for the west to also realise that our democracy is only 60 odd years old and not 200 odd and so we need some time to mature. India is also a very important country in this time of economic uncertainity, one of the few economies that is projected to grow inspite of the downturn. So it has to be supported so that it can project to other countries in the vicinity that it is better to be like India and grow economically rather than use guns to settle disputes, sow hatred in the minds of future generations or to engage in mindless killing and in the bargain ruining their own economies and having to beg for aid and getting a bad name in the bargain. Remember terrorism has to be fought as much in the minds of the people who sympathize with it as much as with the people who perpetrate it.

Some people in the Pakistani media said 9/11 was a...

2008-12-07T03:52:00.000-05:00

Some people in the Pakistani media said 9/11 was a plot from the US to garner support of the world against Muslim countries!

Just visited few Pakistani blogs discussing Mumbai terror issues, most of them seem to agree to 9/11 opinion aired in Pakistani media, naturally it can be clearly made out from their language how uneductated and uninformed they are, mostly the discussions are in Urdu or in poor English.

How uncivic these people could be even in their thinking. God help them with good education and sanity so they can be able to sense the denial state would bring doom to themselves in Pakistan.

Hi professor, do you rule out the possibility of a...

2008-12-05T09:09:00.000-05:00

Hi professor, do you rule out the possibility of a CIA-Mossad-RSS conspiracy in Mumbai attacks?

Refer:
http://www.countercurrents.org/misra031208.htm

The Obama administration does not "need to do some...

2008-12-04T23:54:00.000-05:00

The Obama administration does not "need to do some serious negotiation on Kashmir" - it is recognized to be a bilateral process and meddling/mediating is likely to inflame anti-US sentiments, esp. on the Indian side.

Too quick to blame Reagan too - Carter may not have gotten much aid through before he lost the election, but the network was set up, and interviews with advisors reveal that a massive expansion was planned for the 2nd term.
-Sabir

Reading the following report, one gets the impress...

2008-12-02T06:41:00.000-05:00

Reading the following report, one gets the impression that the case of "Ajmal Amir Kamal" may be one of a mistaken identity:

Saeed Shah in Faridkot, Pakistan
Sleepy village baffled by link to captured terrorist
The Guardian, Tuesday, December 2, 2008.

That "India today downplayed the possibility of military action in response to the Mumbai attacks" is heartening:

Julian Borger, et al.
Mumbai attacks: India demands Pakistan hand over terror suspects
The Guardian, Tuesday, December 2, 2008.

BF.

India joined its portion to largely Hindu Jammu to...

2008-12-02T00:52:00.000-05:00

India joined its portion to largely Hindu Jammu to create the province of Jammu and Kashmir

This is not correct.

The original princely state was always Jammu and Kashmir (J&K); it was formed in the 19th century by the ruler of Jammu. And it is futile to say that it was "largely Muslim" since Muslims in India are not one single community.

For that matter Muslims in Iraq: Shia-Sunni, Arabs, Turkomen, Kurds, etc. are also not one community.

Hence in J&K there are many diverse communities, but the three major ones are: Dogras, Gujjars, and Kashmiris. Dogras are the people of Jammu, Kashmiris inhabit the Kashmir valley, and Gujjars are a pastoral tribe found in both regions.

Dogras are Hindus while Gujjars and Kashmiris are mostly Muslims; but the latter two have nothing in common, to the extent that they speak different languages and rarely inter-marry. Even Pakistan, a state formed for Muslims, has broken apart on ethnic grounds in the past and will probably do so again in the future.

To think that this was a false flag operation to g...

2008-12-01T23:29:00.000-05:00

To think that this was a false flag operation to get rid of Karkare shows mind-numbing stupidity. Kill 200+ people in attacks accross the city?
It would have been easier to have him shot by an unidentified person.
Please dont insult the Indian people by suggesting that this was a false flag operation.
Pakistan has long maintained the death by a thousand cuts philosophy to deal with India and this is an off shoot of that.
To think that such an opeartion could have been planned and executed from Pakistan without the Pak armed forces and Intellignce services not having a clue about it also shows and "head in the sand" attitude.
Pakistan has long been a state sponsor of terrorism. In the 80's Pak instigated and supported Sikh terrorism in India. Helped no doubt by in-fighting in the state of Punjab's politicans. India could have snuffed that out without too much trouble hadn't it been for the US support of Pakistan then. India has long warned the US about supporting extremsist Muslim organisations but unfortunately that fell on deaf ears till too late.Then there is Saudi Arabia who are hell bent on exporting the Wahibi brand of Islam who also support Pakistan financially. Pakistan just went to the IMF with a begging bowl to help pay its bills. It can ill afford a war now. But if it hands over Dawood etc to India now, the complicity of its government in terrorist acts will be made very public.
All said, Pakistan is a rouge state and needs to be sorted if the terrorist scourge is to be curtailed!

Zbigniew Brzezinski meant to goad the Soviets into...

2008-12-01T23:10:00.000-05:00

Zbigniew Brzezinski meant to goad the Soviets into invading. A quote at Wikipedia: "We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would... That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap...

Yesand know we are in the trap we laid for the Russians. I doubt the young grunts and officers of the Russian army will ever forgive their leader at the time and us for what we did to them. We just can't learn from history, some one once said if you can't remember it you're bound to ?
Sad but here we go again.
Oh, some of you might remember him as ronnie ray gun
jo6pac
Thanks Juan

It just seems odd that anyone in Pakistan or Kashm...

2008-12-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

It just seems odd that anyone in Pakistan or Kashmir would do this. Let's look at the effect and the talk that this was "India's 9-11." Now India will draw closer to the U.S., be more hostile to Pakistan, and also limit civil liberties for its own citizens. How does any of that help Pakistan or the Islamic movement in Kashmir? Who does it help? Also, the shooting of the police official who was investigating homegrown Indian "Hindu" terrorists is maybe too big of a coincidence. Who would want him dead? There's the odd sense that this was a professional job, or at least that we don't know who or how many were involved.

I would have to agree with several people who have...

2008-12-01T17:29:00.000-05:00

I would have to agree with several people who have pointed out the earlier connection to the nurturing of terrorism in Afghanistan under President Carter..of course, they were "freedom fighters" to the US administration. The aggressive imperialism practiced by the US is "bipartisan", as the rulers in Washington like to call it.
Regarding the specific attack on Mumbai, there is another consideration, i.e., the possible -role of the notorious Indian terrorist holed-up in Pakistan, Dawood Ibrahim. He escaped to Pakistan via the Gulf soon after the first major terrorist attacks in Mumbai. In March 1993, car bombs were detonated across the city, near the Air India building (close to the one of the latest targets, the Oberoi hotel) including the stock exchange, killing 257 people. In July 2006, a series of bombs planted on Mumbai's commuter trains killed 183 people. In both cases, Ibrahim and his well networked henchmen were strongly implicated. The difference this time is in the method...killing indiscriminately again, not with hidden bombs but with very well armed and trained terrorists. Dawood Ibrahim and his underworld gang also known to have financed and extorted money from the rich Bollywood industry) embarked on terrorism soon after attacks on poor Muslims following Hindu-Muslim violence in the city during December 1992 and January 1993 when a mob of Hindu militants destroyed a mosque and attacked other Muslim targets in the north Indian town of Ayodhya. Working-class Muslims were the principal victims, often shot at point-blank range by members of the city's police force egged on by goons of the Hindu nationalist party, Shiv Sena.
Ever since India formally demanded Dawood Ibrahim's extradition from Pakistan during the 2001-02 military crisis, there has been little hard evidence on where the mafia lord is holed up. In June, the Karachi-based newspaper The News reported that Dawood Ibrahim had shifted his base to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, after undergoing extensive plastic surgery. "The tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, which were being searched for Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, are now being combed for the man accused of the Mumbai blasts," The News asserted. As early as 2002, Indian intelligence reported that both Dawood Ibrahim and his second-in-command Shakeel Ahmad Babu were hidden at an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-run safe house near Peshawar.

Pakistan's support for Dawood Ibrahim has long been evident. Shortly after the mafioso left Dubai for Karachi in the wake of the Mumbai serial bombings, he was issued a passport back-dated to August 12, 1991, bearing the number G-866537. Soon afterwards, he moved into a 6,000-square metre plot in the upmarket Clifton area of Karachi that had amenities such as a swimming pool, a gymnasium and a tennis court. Shakeel was gifted with a similar premises in the Defence Housing Authority enclave. Abdul Razzak `Tiger' Memon, the third author of the Mumbai serial bombings, purchased several properties, including the multi-storey Kashif Crown plaza situated on the Shara-e-Faisal boulevard.
In October 2003 - a decade after the Mumbai bombings - the United States Department of Treasury finally designated Dawood Ibrahim a terrorist. The mafia lord, it recorded, was "involved in large-scale shipments of narcotics in the United Kingdom and Western Europe. The syndicate's smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle East [West Asia] and Africa are shared with Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network. Successful routes established over recent years by Dawood Ibrahim's syndicate have been subsequently utilised by bin Laden. A financial arrangement was reportedly brokered to facilitate the latter's use of these routes. In the late 1990s, Dawood Ibrahim travelled in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban." The U.S. also charged him with funding "groups working against India, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba".

So this latest massacre in Mumbai may well bear the finger prints of Dawood Ibrahim. There have been several inter-communal (i.e Hindu-Muslim) riots in India even this year (most recently in Malegaon in Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital). In which case, the cause of the terrorist attack on Mumbai may not be just Kashmir. The difference is in the method used..the kind of frontal assaults with AK-47's/grenades has not been the style of Dawood Ibrahim but very much that of the Pakistani-based militants fighting in Kashmir.

However, there was a previous incident of a cachment of weapons that was discovered on shore south of Mumbai some years ago that was traced to Dawood Ibrahim. On January 9, 1993 - well before the communal carnage in Mumbai had ended - the first consignment of ISI-supplied weapons landed on a beach near the village of Dighi, on the Raigad coast.
Dossa bribed customs officials and policemen to ensure that the consignment passed on to Mumbai safely. Indeed, the weapons travelled under the personal escort of Customs Inspector Jaywant Keshav Gaurav. The police intercepted the consignment at Gonghar Phata, near Shrivardhan - and then let it pass after accepting a bribe of Rs.700,000.

Tiger Memon personally met with customs officials at the Big Splash Hotel in Raigad to ensure these consignments also reached Mumbai safely. Investigators later found that Additional Collector of Customs Somnath Thapa responded to specific intelligence warnings on the landings of explosives by asking his staff to keep a watch on a stretch of the coast he knew the mafia would not use.

Even as weapons and explosives were landing on the Maharashtra coast, Tiger Memon had begun sending mafia members to Pakistan to learn to use these resources. and how to assemble explosives, use assault weapons and throw grenades.

So Ibrahim's style of terrorism might have evolved.

I believe UN Secy General Kofi Annan has said that...

2008-12-01T17:24:00.000-05:00

I believe UN Secy General Kofi Annan has said that the UN resolutions re: Jammu & Kashmir are no longer implementable. So no, no plebiscite.

Regarding who supported the Mujahidin from the day...

2008-12-01T17:06:00.000-05:00

Regarding who supported the Mujahidin from the days of Zia until 9/11, the book Ghost Wars by Steve Coll provides incredible detail. It tells of Brzezinski's involvement, the CIA in the Reagan years, also the Clinton years (should satisfy the bipartisans in the audience)and the few months of Bush before 9/11.

Thanks for another wonderful blog post, Dr. Cole. I have sent the link out via email to lots of friends.

Carter never acted that way anywhere else? Carter ...

2008-12-01T16:31:00.000-05:00

Carter never acted that way anywhere else? Carter increased military aid to the Suharto dictatorship during Indonesia's worse atrocities in East Timor. He backed the Shah of Iran until he was overthrown. Not to mention, as stated above, Carter and Brzezinski's support of the overthrow of the Afghan government with the intent purpose of creating a 'Soviet Vietnam.' Carter certainly wasn't as violent as Reagan or the other mass-murderers who've sat in the Oval Office but is there any doubt that if the Nuremberg laws were applied today Carter would be hanged for war crimes?

-- Rodolfo

What's unsettled about Kashmir other than the fact...

2008-12-01T14:54:00.000-05:00

What's unsettled about Kashmir other than the fact that the Pakistanis aren't satisfied with their share?

Juan -Why do you continue to allow John Francis Le...

2008-12-01T14:31:00.000-05:00

Juan -

Why do you continue to allow John Francis Lee to post his irrelevant, predictable anti-Israel messages on these boards? He manages to twist every posted story into something about Israelis, Palestinians and Neo-cons.

Who knows how much Carter would have sent to the m...

2008-12-01T14:28:00.000-05:00

Who knows how much Carter would have sent to the mujahideen had he won a second term.

Zbigniew Brzezinski meant to goad the Soviets into invading. A quote at Wikipedia: "We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would... That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Soviets into the Afghan trap... The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter, 'We now have the opportunity of giving to the Soviet Union its Vietnam War.'"

I recognize the differences between the Carter and Reagan administrations. But on this particular issue, although Reagan built a mansion, Carter laid the foundation.

To continue with the false-flag theme, there are 3...

2008-12-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

To continue with the false-flag theme, there are 3 Faridkots in Pakistan, all small hamlets. The BBC has visited all 3 and found no one by that name.

The MO of LeT is large explosives delivered by suicide bombers. The MO of Hindu extremists is fire (Agni), be it of the Samjhauta express, Godhra, Gujarat riots, etc. Fire of the saffron color, of the band clearly seen on the wrist of the attacker in both pictures. I have never seen a Muslim or Christian wear such a band in S Asia. Sikhs and Jains do.

CNN reported that the phone call was made to Jalalabad in Pakistan. Jalalabad is in Afghanistan.

It gets curiouser and curiouser....

The "Pakistani Taliban" was found to be funded by ...

2008-12-01T13:46:00.000-05:00

The "Pakistani Taliban" was found to be funded by the CIA. I have my doubts about Lashkar Tayba's involvement in the Mumbai bombings, if only because that cell phone evidence was so obviously planted. Also because there is a push within the US to criminalize support for this group (the poor kid Fahad is detained in solitary confinement because someone who slept over at his house had a suitcase full of -gasp-galoshes and wool socks that allegedly ended up on the feet of Lashkar Tayba. The US needs a good excuse to step up its war on Pakistan. Also, reports have come out connecting the bombers to a Hindu fascist group and there also seems to be evidence that the Mossad was involved. I will try to post some of these articles on WVNS later today. Also what makes me suspicious is the inordinate amount of time the media has spent focusing on this one hotel bombing. The Zionist media is clearly trying to get people riled up against Pakistani Islamists.

"My only slight quibble however is that as satisfy...

2008-12-01T13:12:00.000-05:00

"My only slight quibble however is that as satisfying as it is to blame it all on Reagan, it was a thoroughly bipartisan affair."

I agree with Michael. Reagan was more intent on supporting the contras in S. America, and hadn't put that much into supporting the Afghans. Rep. Wilson (Dem- Texas) seems to have been responsible for the huge increase in spending to support the mujahidin. (See Charlie Wilson's War - the book, not the movie.)

But I do agree with Juan about Reagan abandoning Carter's human rights framework. A lot of people died very unpleasant deaths as a result of Reagan's election.

I very much appreciate the background information ...

2008-12-01T12:40:00.000-05:00

I very much appreciate the background information and your political insight regarding INDIA and PAKISTAN, Professor Cole. Often when we get a "wake up call" such as the current events in Mumbai it seems as if terrorism has suddenly and spontanteously metastasized from Baghdad to Bombay ~ until we are properly informed of historical context ~ which is difficult to find outside of the Military-Industrial-Media complex.

Can we finally have that plebiscite on Kashmir, pl...

2008-12-01T12:06:00.000-05:00

Can we finally have that plebiscite on Kashmir, please?

Oh, cut it out with the bipartisan meme. Carter g...

2008-12-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

Oh, cut it out with the bipartisan meme. Carter gave like $60 million to the Mujahidin and he didn't behave like that elsewhere-- he pushed for human rights in Latin America!

Reagan spent *billions* on the Mujahidin, winked at or encouraged a growing narco-terrorism, and used the *same* tactics against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and on behalf of the far right regime in El Salvador.

Reagan abandoned decades of containment doctrine and Carter's human rights framework in favor of radical right death squads.

There is not any comparison.

cheers Juan

I was much enlightened by this. Zia is a link in ...

2008-12-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

I was much enlightened by this. Zia is a link in the chain I didn't understand before (how the mujahadeen movement morphed into a violent, global, extremist jihad). It seems increasingly evident that Pakistan must indeed take action. However, I don't think that justified Rice's typically domineering comments about what the US "expects" Pakistan to do. If the Obama regime does nothing else, they must change the bullying, domineering tone of US foreign policy.

Professor, but what are the chances that this is a...

2008-12-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

Professor, but what are the chances that this is a false-flag operation? The head of the Mumbai police antiterrorism unit, Hemant Karkare, was killed during the operation, apparently without firing a shot in defense, according to the account I read. What are the chances? He was, according to some, deep into investigations of home-grown domestic terrorism meant to bring about a hard right government in India. Also, there are reports that there were no police visible at the train station, where usually there are police all over the place. Where did they go? Also, I saw a photograph of one of the train station terrorists. According to the comment with the photo, his orange wrist band is an item often worn by Hindu militants. And recently, members of the Indian military were caught attempting to do just such a false flag operation.

There just seem to be a lot of strange coincidences associated with this attack - the convenient witnesses, the ability of unarmed police to subdue and take one armed militant, who appears to be the sole source of the Lashkar claims (who honestly believes he isn't being tortured to admit this very thing?). It may be premature, at this point, to start pointing fingers at Pakistan. Who benefits most from such an attack?