Saturday, July 24, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Next Indo Pak war analysis Part 3 ( Will it be a nuclear war )
Now a question appear, will the next Indo Pak war be a nuclear war? Yes there are much possiblity of nuclear war. If India will attack on Pakistan , CIA will try to take over Pakistani nuclear weapons. If they will be succeed then there will be very less chances of a nuclear war according to some analysers but how can they capture Pakistani nuclear weapons? I think they can capture maximum of 25 to 30 of Pakistani nuclear weapons. What about others? If anyway Pakistan captured any city of India and vice versa then 80% chances will be of triggering nuclear war. But if both countries captured very few amount of enemy's territory then I think it will not trigger a nuclear war.
Now a question appears, Which country is more stronger in nuclear war? Who will win a nuclear war?
First of all I will like to write a quote by some scholar I don't know his name
"There are no winners or losers in nuclear war but only survivers"
It is the same case here. Triggering a nuclear war will not be a win of any country but it will be used for defence only to survive own people. I think attacker will not start nuclear war but he may.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Next Indo Pak war analysis Part 2 ( who is going to start it )
As I have already told you that there are not too much chances of Indo Pak war in next 5 years but any blast or terrorism may cause a war before next five years. Now question appear, Who is going to start the next war. I am not sure if it is going to be started by Pakistan or India but I can give my personal opinion and analysis. I think Pakistan is not going to start war with India but India will start 1st. Pakistan will just remain a defender nor an attacker. Actually Indians don't want peace with Pakistan. I know some people may be wanted peace but not at all. But it is not the cause of the war to be started by India. Actually, India is just waiting for an excuse to start war. They may start war just by a gang war in mumbai giving it the name of terrorism of Pakistan. Actually Pakistan may need a war with India for water and Kashmir problems but I think they are not going to start a war so soon. If in next two years war will start then it will cause much damage for Pakistan due to current situations in Pakistan. India is just waiting for CIA to take over the nuclear power of Pakistan. I am sure CIA is doing their job in Pakistan and maybe they know where some of Pakistani nuclear weapons are. If they will find all of the nuclear weapons or at least 80% then it may trigger a war b/w India and Pakistan. But I am sure Pakistan is not going to start war in next 5 years at least. War is expected from India this time.
My message to India
FUCK YOU INDIA
My message to India
FUCK YOU INDIA
Next Indo Pak war analysis Part 1 ( When taking place )
It's very hard to say when Indo Pakistan war may take place but there are many expectations which maybe true or false. According to some analysers it may take place till 2012 and some says it may took place before 2015. My expectations are a bit different. I think it is not going to take place before 2015. Maybe it take place after 5-10 years or later but not true. But if World War 3 started then it is confirmed Pakistan and India will also start war against each other. But if we talk only about Indo Pak war then I will say it will happen at least after 5 years. But I am a bit aware it may take place before 2013 if there is really a strategy like greater Pakistan. I am quite sure Indo Pakistan war will take place at least before 2025. These are just my expectations not the news so you don't need to worry about everything.
Indo Pakistan war strategic analysis eBook by A H Amin
If you are interested in Pakistan and Indo war and defence issues you must to read this eBook. It is 100% free so you don't need to worry about expenses. In this eBook you will be able to learn what were the causes of failure of Pakistan Army as well as Indian Army.
Follow the link for eBook Link
Follow the link for eBook Link
Monday, July 12, 2010
Conclusion-Pakistan Army Performance in 1965 War
CONLUSION
PAKISTAN ARMY TILL 1965
BY
Major Agha H Amin (Retired)
1999
CONCLUSION.
The Pakistan Army in 1965 had the potential keeping in view its equipment, particularly tanks and artillery,vis a vis the state of Indian Armour and Artillery to inflict a decisive defeat on India.
Poor Military leadership at the higher level in the final reckoning stands out as the principal cause of failure of the Pakistan Army to inflict a decisive military defeat on India.
Ayub Khan was directly responsible for the leadership failure of the Pakistan Army.Conversely it was superior equipment and in particular tanks and artillery apart from the BRB in the Ravi-Sutlej Corridor which enabled Pakistan to contain the Indians despite their considerable numerical superiority in infantry.
Valour,Morale,Motivation played a part,but we must remember that valour alone did not save the Poles from being overrun by the Russians and Germans repeatedly during the period from late 18th Century till 1939!
Valour did not save the Serbians from being over run by the German-AustrianBulgarian force in WW One.The tragedy of the Pakistan Army was that it failed to achieve even 50 % of what it was capable of achieving and only because of Qualitative reasons.
The definite edge over equipment was lost after 1965 and in 1971 Pakistan was saved largely because of the fact that Indian superiority in infantry coupled with superior equipment was divided between the Eastern and Western Fronts.
The year 1965 was crucial and Providence gave an opportunity to Pakistan to achieve something militarily.
The Seeds of defeat were sowed long before partition and the seal of mediocrity was laid once the Ayub-Musa duo headed the army during the period 1951-1965!
The Indian Army was handicapped because of an indifferent political leadership.Racially both the armies were largely similar and only fools can think that one was inherently braver than the other!
Long ago Hobbes had rightly said; "Nature hath made men so equal,in the faculties of the body and mind;as that though there be found one man sometimes manifestly stronger in body or quicker of mind than another; yet when all is reckoned together,the difference between man is not so considerable,as that one man can thereupon claim to himself any benefit to which another may not pretend as well as he " . 126
The Pakistanis failed to do as well as they potentially could in 1965 ,keeping in view the on ground tangible realities,because in terms of intangible qualities ,by virtue of a common historical experience;they were as qualitatively mediocre as the Indians!
My service in Pakistan Army from 1981 to 1994,and an intense study of Sub Continental Military history, has reinforced this conviction that I first developed as a student of Forman Christian College Lahore during the period 1977-1978!The rest is Fiction!
126 Page-140-Great Traditions in Ethics-An Introduction-Ethel.M.Albert,Thedore.C.Denise and Sheldon.P.PeterfreundAmerican Book Company-San Francisco-1975.
Major Ziauddin Abbasi
Author: Major A H Amin
Major Ziauddin Abbasi was killed in the tank battles that were fought near Chawinda.
Another very fine officer Captain Hussain Shah son of the legendary Colonel Pir Abdullah Shah was also killed in action in this attack.
 |
| Captain Hussain Shah |
His mother was a close friend of my grandmother and my father fondly remembers him as a very lively and brilliant young officer.I believe he was a close relative of late V.A Jaffery the famous ICS , who again was a close family friend.
Major Z. U. Abbasi, who was the Armour instructor at the Infantry School at Quetta, was posted back to the Guides Cavalry shortly before the 1965 War.
 |
| Major Z.U Abbasi |
Abbasi had just got married and moved into married accommodation in Quetta.
Guides Cavalry received orders on wireless at about 1000 hours 11 September 1965 that there had been a serious Pakistani reverse at Phillora, and that Guides Cavalry should take action to relieve pressure on Phillora.
The Indians wanted to advance towards Bhagowal and Khakanwali in the west.
The commandant of Guides Cavalry Lieutenant Colonel Ameer Gulistan Janjua decided to attack with two Squadrons of M-48s with the objective being area Libbe on track Phillora-Bhagowal.
He issued orders to this effect on wireless.
Both the squadrons attacked at the H-Hour. A Squadron led by Major Lateef and B Squadron led by Major Z.U Abbasi.
Both the Squadrons reached short of the objective and inflicted serious casualties on the Indian tanks .
Major Z.U Abbasi and Captain Hussain Shah were killed in action. Major Z. U. Abbasi was killed on this day when an artillery shell went through the open turret hatch of his tank. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurrat for the successful attack that he had led.
The attack was a success in the sense that Indians did not resume advance for the next two days.
 |
| Guides Dinner night.Major Z.U Abbasi sitting on the floor.Also in the photograph Major Fazal i Haq,Major General Shahid Hamid ,General Ayub Khan ,Colonel Pir Abdullah Shah and others |
My affiliation with the Guides Cavalry is very strong.Colonels Jafar Khan and Farooq Shahbaz were my farhers friend and served with him in Quetta in 1975-77.
Colonel Adnan Janjua alias Bunty was a senior in Saint Marys Academy Lalazar and his younger brother my class fellow.
Colonel Asad Khan my coursemate was a very dear friend .
Colonel Idress Niazi was a most inspiring senior and gave me great solidarity and guidance when we served at the School of Armour togerher in 1990-91.
A great regiment Guides , certainly ! Few regiments can match it in battle performance other than 11 Cavalry and 25 Cavalry.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Indian firing on Pakistan border injured cop, girl
SIALKOT (PPI): Chenab Rangers one Jawan and a civilian Pakistani girl were injured seriously by the indiscriminate firing of Indian Border Security Forces on Pakistani border villages in Bajwat and Akhnoor Sectors of Sialkot Working Boundary here early on Wednesday morning. According to the senior Pak Army officials, the Indian Border Security Forces continued indiscriminate intensified firing with heavy and light machine guns on Pakistani border villages Dera, Bagh Shah Jamal and Nawaz Maan in Bajwat and Akhnoor Sectors of Sialkot Working Boundary. Indian A Chenab RangersI Jawan Shaukat Ali and a civilian Pakistani girl Tahira Jamil (14) were injured seriously by Indian firing. Both of these injured were admitted at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Sialkot where their condition was stated to be critical. Senior Pak Army officials added that the Indian Security Forces started indiscriminate steeped up intensified firing on the above mentioned Sialkot border villages from 07:30 p.m. the last night, which remained continued the whole night (the night between Tuesday and Wednesday ) intermittently till 05: 00 a.m. (early in Wednesday morning). This Indian firing created a panic and harassment among the local people. The Indian forces had also had firing on these Pakistani villages early on Tuesday morning .The Chenab Rangers retaliated and gave a befitting answer to the Indian security forces. Tension on Sialkot Working Boundary mounted between Pakistan and India following the repeatedly intensified Indian firing on Pakistani border villages along the Sialkot Working Boundary here.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Towards an anti-terror strategy
Countering terrorism in a holistic manner is often difficult because the easier option is to simply resort to the use of overwhelming military force which is always available to the state. Unfortunately, as in any asymmetric or unconventional conflict, this response undermines the effort and creates a more enabling environment for the militants/terrorists. After all, while foreign sponsors may play a critical role in providing funds and weapons for the terrorists, most of the manpower involved is local which is why they are able to hide amongst the population.
In the case of Pakistan there are a number of strands of militancy and terrorism that are prevalent today within the country and unless the critical difference in the characteristics of each strand are recognised, it will not be possible to develop successful counter strategies. However, the one common prerequisite for operationalising an effective counter-terrorism strategy is to create an enabling environment. An enabling environment implies the prevalence of a situation on the ground where there is public trust and support for the government and its policies so that the terrorists are denied refuge amongst the people and denied future recruits.
In terms of typology of terrorism, in Pakistan presently there exists the post-9/11 extremist militancy now coming under the broad label of Al-Qaeda-Taliban; then there is the already existing current of sectarian terrorism that, to some extent, may well be enmeshed with the former but has its own roots in the country; finally there is the sub-national terrorism of separatists which is purely political in nature and has been flourishing because of disastrous federal policies and massive external support for dissident leaders from overseas sources. Finally, there is the now increasing threat of suicide terrorism coming not just from extremists, but also from the growth of poverty in the country which is pushing people into increasingly desperate acts. The overall environment is also not an enabling one so the state has been unable to deal with any of these types of terrorist threats and the major reason for this has been not only a lack of clarity of policy post-9/11 but in fact a lack of national policy because the successive governments have chosen to follow the US-led military-centric approach to combating “terrorism” which has already shown failure in Afghanistan and which has left Iraq in the throes of violence and sectarian rifts - and has provided a growing space for Al-Qaeda globally. In the case of Pakistan, this alliance with the US has also created a new type of terrorist threat - that of state terrorism from US drones and other covert activities - as well as being a major factor in vitiating the operational environment for combating domestic terrorism.
So as a first step towards formulating a national strategy for combating terrorism, the government needs to delink itself from US policies in the region. This can be done by reducing the number of US personnel present in Pakistan; calling for an outright halt to drone attacks and if this does not happen, actually using the PAF’s growing capabilities to bring down the next drone over Pakistan; and removing the military from FATA to be replaced by paramilitary forces as the military is redeployed along the eastern border and the western one to ensure no intrusions by either Afghan militants or US/NATO military forces; and a halt in the NATO military transit route. Bases given to the US must also be immediately taken back. Without a move to create this visible delinkage, no counter-terrorism strategy will work because of the negative operational environment. However, the moment the Pakistani public perceives this policy shift on the part of the government, the entire environment on the ground will become operationally positive for the state to tackle the menace of terrorism. Of course, what may take longer to dismantle are the octopus-like inroads the US has made into Pakistani society and intelligence agencies.
In the case of Pakistan there are a number of strands of militancy and terrorism that are prevalent today within the country and unless the critical difference in the characteristics of each strand are recognised, it will not be possible to develop successful counter strategies. However, the one common prerequisite for operationalising an effective counter-terrorism strategy is to create an enabling environment. An enabling environment implies the prevalence of a situation on the ground where there is public trust and support for the government and its policies so that the terrorists are denied refuge amongst the people and denied future recruits.
In terms of typology of terrorism, in Pakistan presently there exists the post-9/11 extremist militancy now coming under the broad label of Al-Qaeda-Taliban; then there is the already existing current of sectarian terrorism that, to some extent, may well be enmeshed with the former but has its own roots in the country; finally there is the sub-national terrorism of separatists which is purely political in nature and has been flourishing because of disastrous federal policies and massive external support for dissident leaders from overseas sources. Finally, there is the now increasing threat of suicide terrorism coming not just from extremists, but also from the growth of poverty in the country which is pushing people into increasingly desperate acts. The overall environment is also not an enabling one so the state has been unable to deal with any of these types of terrorist threats and the major reason for this has been not only a lack of clarity of policy post-9/11 but in fact a lack of national policy because the successive governments have chosen to follow the US-led military-centric approach to combating “terrorism” which has already shown failure in Afghanistan and which has left Iraq in the throes of violence and sectarian rifts - and has provided a growing space for Al-Qaeda globally. In the case of Pakistan, this alliance with the US has also created a new type of terrorist threat - that of state terrorism from US drones and other covert activities - as well as being a major factor in vitiating the operational environment for combating domestic terrorism.
So as a first step towards formulating a national strategy for combating terrorism, the government needs to delink itself from US policies in the region. This can be done by reducing the number of US personnel present in Pakistan; calling for an outright halt to drone attacks and if this does not happen, actually using the PAF’s growing capabilities to bring down the next drone over Pakistan; and removing the military from FATA to be replaced by paramilitary forces as the military is redeployed along the eastern border and the western one to ensure no intrusions by either Afghan militants or US/NATO military forces; and a halt in the NATO military transit route. Bases given to the US must also be immediately taken back. Without a move to create this visible delinkage, no counter-terrorism strategy will work because of the negative operational environment. However, the moment the Pakistani public perceives this policy shift on the part of the government, the entire environment on the ground will become operationally positive for the state to tackle the menace of terrorism. Of course, what may take longer to dismantle are the octopus-like inroads the US has made into Pakistani society and intelligence agencies.
Pakistan's political cancer grows
PAKISTAN is once again in the headlines and, as is often the case, mainly for bad reasons. Last Thursday, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at Lahore's Data Gunj Bakhsh, Pakistan's most famous Sufi shrine, killing 50 worshippers and wounding more than 200.
No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attack. However, the Pakistani authorities suspect it is the work of the Punjabi Taliban - a grouping of religious extremists based in Punjab - which is associated with the Waziristan-based Pakistani Taliban (known in Pakistan by its acronym TTP) and is known to have al-Qai'da links.
What makes this latest attack particularly significant is that the majority of Pakistanis adhere to Sufism, the softer, more mystical form of Islam. So this was a real blow to the cultural heart of Pakistan. Accordingly, the reaction to this devastating attack was profoundly different to previous attacks.
Forty religious leaders from different Islamic schools of thought issued a fatwa, declaring that suicide attacks were against the spirit of Islam and humanity and that whoever killed a Muslim had nothing to do with Islam.
Thousands of people took to the streets in several cities demanding that the government do something about this ever-growing terrorist threat.
The Pakistani government is getting worried, and rightfully so. President Asif Ali Zardari's spokesman has stated that Pakistan is a nation at war. Accordingly, the Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, with the ostensible support of the main opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, agreed to convene an emergency security summit to try to hammer out a strategy to deal with this threat.
Let's hope they come up with a credible plan because this political cancer is growing fast and has infected the Punjab, Pakistan's heartland and most populous province. And that's the big worry.
As long as the terrorist attacks were limited to the northwest of the country and the tribal areas, the authorities could pretend that it was only a Pakhtun problem, which could be contained in a remote part of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, the contamination has spread elsewhere.
Worryingly, many of the Punjab-based religious extremist groups - most of which have had the covert support of the military as proxy jihadists to fight the Indians in Kashmir - have increasingly turned their attention to the home front, targeting the pro-West army and government and anyone not toeing their strict version of Islam.
The Pakistan government will be under intense pressure to be seen to be doing something to avenge this latest attack. The Americans have been telling the Pakistanis they need to do something about this growing terrorist threat before it gets out of control. However, there will be limits as to what they can do.
Conducting military operations in highly populated Punjab would not be the same as the ones conducted in the sparsely populated tribal areas. Moreover, the army is not trained for counter-terrorism operations. As we have seen when it went into the Swat Valley to oust the TTP last year, the army's heavy-handed methods tend to cause a lot of collateral damage. In that case, more than 2.5 million people were forced to flee their homes, making it the world's worst sudden movement of refugees since the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The government doesn't want a repeat of that disaster.
Complicating the Pakistani government's options to manoeuvre is that the Punjabi government, which is headed by Nawaz Sharif's brother, is not at all keen to use force against these religious extremists. On the contrary, the Sharif brothers are advocating talking to the Punjabi Taliban instead.
The problem with that approach is that it doesn't work: all the peace agreements the Pakistani government has signed with the Pakistani religious extremists in the past have been broken by the militants.
But Nawaz Sharif doesn't care. He wants to regain power in Islamabad as prime minister from which he was ousted by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. So he wants Gilani to take all the blame for turning on fellow Punjabis, hoping to make it easier for him to win the next parliamentary election.
What is happening in Pakistan should deeply worry the international community. It is a well-known fact that the key to victory in Afghanistan is Pakistan. That is why the Americans have been putting so much pressure on the Pakistan army to launch a fully fledged military operation against the Taliban's safe havens in North Waziristan along the border with Afghanistan. But a Pakistani government distracted and weakened by its internal troubles cannot focus on fighting in the tribal areas.
In the meantime, the US continues its drone attacks against the Afghan Taliban and the TTP. But these drone strikes have negative repercussions: they fuel rampant anti-Americanism, give a boost to the recruitment of new terrorists and result in more TTP attacks against ordinary Pakistanis.
They also weaken an already very weak and less than credible Pakistani president who is perceived as simply being a stooge of the Americans.
And here is the snag: the deeper Washington gets involved in Pakistan, the weaker the Pakistani government becomes and therefore the more difficult it becomes for the Pakistani leaders to deal effectively with an ever-expanding home-grown terrorist threat which has claimed the lives of 10,000 people in the past four years.
No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attack. However, the Pakistani authorities suspect it is the work of the Punjabi Taliban - a grouping of religious extremists based in Punjab - which is associated with the Waziristan-based Pakistani Taliban (known in Pakistan by its acronym TTP) and is known to have al-Qai'da links.
What makes this latest attack particularly significant is that the majority of Pakistanis adhere to Sufism, the softer, more mystical form of Islam. So this was a real blow to the cultural heart of Pakistan. Accordingly, the reaction to this devastating attack was profoundly different to previous attacks.
Forty religious leaders from different Islamic schools of thought issued a fatwa, declaring that suicide attacks were against the spirit of Islam and humanity and that whoever killed a Muslim had nothing to do with Islam.
Thousands of people took to the streets in several cities demanding that the government do something about this ever-growing terrorist threat.
The Pakistani government is getting worried, and rightfully so. President Asif Ali Zardari's spokesman has stated that Pakistan is a nation at war. Accordingly, the Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, with the ostensible support of the main opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, agreed to convene an emergency security summit to try to hammer out a strategy to deal with this threat.
Let's hope they come up with a credible plan because this political cancer is growing fast and has infected the Punjab, Pakistan's heartland and most populous province. And that's the big worry.
As long as the terrorist attacks were limited to the northwest of the country and the tribal areas, the authorities could pretend that it was only a Pakhtun problem, which could be contained in a remote part of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, the contamination has spread elsewhere.
Worryingly, many of the Punjab-based religious extremist groups - most of which have had the covert support of the military as proxy jihadists to fight the Indians in Kashmir - have increasingly turned their attention to the home front, targeting the pro-West army and government and anyone not toeing their strict version of Islam.
The Pakistan government will be under intense pressure to be seen to be doing something to avenge this latest attack. The Americans have been telling the Pakistanis they need to do something about this growing terrorist threat before it gets out of control. However, there will be limits as to what they can do.
Conducting military operations in highly populated Punjab would not be the same as the ones conducted in the sparsely populated tribal areas. Moreover, the army is not trained for counter-terrorism operations. As we have seen when it went into the Swat Valley to oust the TTP last year, the army's heavy-handed methods tend to cause a lot of collateral damage. In that case, more than 2.5 million people were forced to flee their homes, making it the world's worst sudden movement of refugees since the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The government doesn't want a repeat of that disaster.
Complicating the Pakistani government's options to manoeuvre is that the Punjabi government, which is headed by Nawaz Sharif's brother, is not at all keen to use force against these religious extremists. On the contrary, the Sharif brothers are advocating talking to the Punjabi Taliban instead.
The problem with that approach is that it doesn't work: all the peace agreements the Pakistani government has signed with the Pakistani religious extremists in the past have been broken by the militants.
But Nawaz Sharif doesn't care. He wants to regain power in Islamabad as prime minister from which he was ousted by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. So he wants Gilani to take all the blame for turning on fellow Punjabis, hoping to make it easier for him to win the next parliamentary election.
What is happening in Pakistan should deeply worry the international community. It is a well-known fact that the key to victory in Afghanistan is Pakistan. That is why the Americans have been putting so much pressure on the Pakistan army to launch a fully fledged military operation against the Taliban's safe havens in North Waziristan along the border with Afghanistan. But a Pakistani government distracted and weakened by its internal troubles cannot focus on fighting in the tribal areas.
In the meantime, the US continues its drone attacks against the Afghan Taliban and the TTP. But these drone strikes have negative repercussions: they fuel rampant anti-Americanism, give a boost to the recruitment of new terrorists and result in more TTP attacks against ordinary Pakistanis.
They also weaken an already very weak and less than credible Pakistani president who is perceived as simply being a stooge of the Americans.
And here is the snag: the deeper Washington gets involved in Pakistan, the weaker the Pakistani government becomes and therefore the more difficult it becomes for the Pakistani leaders to deal effectively with an ever-expanding home-grown terrorist threat which has claimed the lives of 10,000 people in the past four years.
Probe finds Pak Army, intelligence, guilty of not cooperating in terror attacks cases
The Punjab government has said that the Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies have "neither assisted nor showed any interest in the trial" of those accused in suicide attacks on Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig and an Army bus.
The claims have been made in an inquiry report furnished by Punjab's prosecution department.
The inquiry related to two terrorist attacks: on an Army bus carrying trainees of the Armed Forces Post-Graduate Medical Institute killing a lieutenant-colonel, a major and six others on February 4, 2008; and one which killed Surgeon General, Mushtaq Baig, his guard, driver and three pedestrians on February 24, 2008.
"The role of the complainant department (Army) and the investigation agencies was deplorable," The News quoted the report, as saying.
"No one from any agency facilitated nor any liaison was made from any person to pursue the prosecution in the court of law," it added.
Although the report has also blamed the police and prosecution for poor performance, the Army and intelligence agencies have largely been accused of misconduct.
The report has proposed action against all 'responsible for negligence, no matter which department they belong to'.
Dealing with economic woes
The most common phrase we hear quite often is that Pakistan is passing through the hardest of times. For Pakistan it is almost Dickensian era, with scarcities, shallowness, corruption and massive mismanagement. Unlike the “Great Expectations” the dire straights are more of inefficient systems run by corrupt managers down the ladder, rather than Sans-availability of resources. There is a hole in every pocket even few have two straight openings. In the light of this back drop the federal budget can be thread bared with explaining the solo most prominent factor, of expenditure i.e. the defense budget. Out of total outlay of 3.529 trillion, defense budget is 422.2 billion, which seems to be a whopping figure as compared to the last year Budget of 387 billion. Before explaining Pakistan’s budget it will be down right prudent if we discuss the Indian defense budget as it will make the arithmetic’s more gullible and digestive. Indian’s budget estimates for year 2010 is Rs 1,108,749 crores, an increase of 8.6% from that of last year.
India is adopting a cyclic policy package to perpetuate the positive effects of long term fiscal polices. Indian economists and financial wizards have generated a generic façade into the figures of defense allocation. There is no transparency as that of Pakistan defense budget; rather the actual estimates are disguised under intelligently coined heads and tricky figures. India divides its defense budget into two parts, the plan budget and the non-plan budget. The plan will cater for 87344 crores of revenue expenditure of Indian armed forces and non plan budget of 60,000 crore will cater for the capital expenditure. The catch lies in the non plan (capital) budget of Indian armed force which will not be under the control of central government. This is a carte blanche to Indian armed forces for buying modern equipment and new state of the art weaponry. The revenue budget of Indians will cater for pay & allowances, stores and equipment, revenue works, transportation and miscellaneous expenditure. Even there is a proposal that net reduction of 1096 crores will be made in revenue budget to bolster the capital budget for purchasing new weapons over and above the non-plan allocations. This is going to be achieved through curbing wasteful expenditure by making Indian armed force a capability based force from that of threat based (Pak-China specifics).
A new performance based logistic strategy is being introduced against that of in house logistics (as that of Pakistan). Transportation charges of crores of rupees are being saved by utilizing the railways. These measures are not under taken to give the benefit to poor people of India rather along an overall increase of 8% defense allocation, additional amount is being spared for lethal weapons and new defense and security programmers for a transnational armed forces. Pakistan defense budget is almost an opposite story; here the maximum of its complete budget is being expended on revenue expenditure and war on terror. One thing has to be understood, that Pakistan is sustaining a war economy since year 2001. Even countries like Germany, Japan and Italy buckled under their war expenditures, which crippled them to almost the last degree of economic paralysis. Instead of a help coming Pakistan way, only promises are made like that of to a damsel by a Prince charming. From year 2002 till 2010 total 8141 incidents of terrorism bedeviled the streets and roads of Pakistan. The loss to property is in hundreds of billions, the loss to economy is in trillions. What recently came as bread crumbs is 735 million dollars through coalition support fund that too after the delay of two years. War economy of Pakistan is fighting the war on tenor not only for the sake of objectivity of Pakistani nation rather it is for the good of whole world.
In Pakistan’s defense budget a very little amount is left for modernization and buying new equipment, to compensate, it is going for refurbished military hardware like that of F-16s, helicopters and ships etc. Even most of the civil relief operations like that of Swat, sea storms, earthquake and natural disasters like Attabad lake etc, army uses its own recourses initially, rather in some cases totally. Indian defense forces through Jugglery of figures have hided the teeth estimates, whereas Pakistan defense budget with apparent increase is benign in nature due to expenditures on war on terror, revenue defense budget, civil relief operations and rupee dollar disparity. Another cause of worry is the grinding halt of economic engine of the country due to power failures and ever increasing cost of raw materials due to purchase in dollars. A cash strafed defense forces of Pakistan will be the enigma for the world, as in the war on terror no one can take chances of waiting for ebb and flow of time to mend the menace of terrorism. From a reality check and actual realm of affairs the defense budget allocations are not a inflationary phenomena, rather it is merely to sustain the huge war machine of Pakistan army which is now stretched from FATA till eastern border, Balochistan, line of control and working boundary.
War on terror is a very expensive war; army has given sacrifices in both blood and material. This is a time to popup the morale and motivation level of armed forces. There could be no better motivation than a bag full of dimes to buy new toys of balancing nature. Defense economist should also adopt other measures along austerity to siphon the saved amount towards new military purchases as India is under taking. The Pakistan nation is bearing the cost of war economy with the most bravest gestures of supporting their armed forces by facing the economic brunt, not even weaning for a while against defense’s allocations, bravado to a common Pakistan and petite bourgeois of this war economy’s financial chain.
India is adopting a cyclic policy package to perpetuate the positive effects of long term fiscal polices. Indian economists and financial wizards have generated a generic façade into the figures of defense allocation. There is no transparency as that of Pakistan defense budget; rather the actual estimates are disguised under intelligently coined heads and tricky figures. India divides its defense budget into two parts, the plan budget and the non-plan budget. The plan will cater for 87344 crores of revenue expenditure of Indian armed forces and non plan budget of 60,000 crore will cater for the capital expenditure. The catch lies in the non plan (capital) budget of Indian armed force which will not be under the control of central government. This is a carte blanche to Indian armed forces for buying modern equipment and new state of the art weaponry. The revenue budget of Indians will cater for pay & allowances, stores and equipment, revenue works, transportation and miscellaneous expenditure. Even there is a proposal that net reduction of 1096 crores will be made in revenue budget to bolster the capital budget for purchasing new weapons over and above the non-plan allocations. This is going to be achieved through curbing wasteful expenditure by making Indian armed force a capability based force from that of threat based (Pak-China specifics).
A new performance based logistic strategy is being introduced against that of in house logistics (as that of Pakistan). Transportation charges of crores of rupees are being saved by utilizing the railways. These measures are not under taken to give the benefit to poor people of India rather along an overall increase of 8% defense allocation, additional amount is being spared for lethal weapons and new defense and security programmers for a transnational armed forces. Pakistan defense budget is almost an opposite story; here the maximum of its complete budget is being expended on revenue expenditure and war on terror. One thing has to be understood, that Pakistan is sustaining a war economy since year 2001. Even countries like Germany, Japan and Italy buckled under their war expenditures, which crippled them to almost the last degree of economic paralysis. Instead of a help coming Pakistan way, only promises are made like that of to a damsel by a Prince charming. From year 2002 till 2010 total 8141 incidents of terrorism bedeviled the streets and roads of Pakistan. The loss to property is in hundreds of billions, the loss to economy is in trillions. What recently came as bread crumbs is 735 million dollars through coalition support fund that too after the delay of two years. War economy of Pakistan is fighting the war on tenor not only for the sake of objectivity of Pakistani nation rather it is for the good of whole world.
In Pakistan’s defense budget a very little amount is left for modernization and buying new equipment, to compensate, it is going for refurbished military hardware like that of F-16s, helicopters and ships etc. Even most of the civil relief operations like that of Swat, sea storms, earthquake and natural disasters like Attabad lake etc, army uses its own recourses initially, rather in some cases totally. Indian defense forces through Jugglery of figures have hided the teeth estimates, whereas Pakistan defense budget with apparent increase is benign in nature due to expenditures on war on terror, revenue defense budget, civil relief operations and rupee dollar disparity. Another cause of worry is the grinding halt of economic engine of the country due to power failures and ever increasing cost of raw materials due to purchase in dollars. A cash strafed defense forces of Pakistan will be the enigma for the world, as in the war on terror no one can take chances of waiting for ebb and flow of time to mend the menace of terrorism. From a reality check and actual realm of affairs the defense budget allocations are not a inflationary phenomena, rather it is merely to sustain the huge war machine of Pakistan army which is now stretched from FATA till eastern border, Balochistan, line of control and working boundary.
War on terror is a very expensive war; army has given sacrifices in both blood and material. This is a time to popup the morale and motivation level of armed forces. There could be no better motivation than a bag full of dimes to buy new toys of balancing nature. Defense economist should also adopt other measures along austerity to siphon the saved amount towards new military purchases as India is under taking. The Pakistan nation is bearing the cost of war economy with the most bravest gestures of supporting their armed forces by facing the economic brunt, not even weaning for a while against defense’s allocations, bravado to a common Pakistan and petite bourgeois of this war economy’s financial chain.
Indian army opens fire in Bajwat sector :: Challenging Pakistan ?
SIALKOT (INP): Indian troops on Tuesday opened unprovoked fire in two different areas of Bajwat sector of Sialkot, however, Pakistan Ranger in retaliatory fire silenced Indian guns. According to the security sources, Indian troops attempted to target Pakistani posts Shahjahan and Noor Zaman in Bajwat sector, Sialkot, but Chanab Ranger opened fire in retaliation and stopped the shooting string of Indian troops. Indian army used rocket launchers, mortar shells and rifles in this attack, an official of Pakistan Army said. Panic spread in the villages of border region after the incident.
On one side Indians are talking about peace and on the other side they are going for a war. This maybe an open challenge to Pakistan Army and defence forces and Indians must to get answer of that.
On one side Indians are talking about peace and on the other side they are going for a war. This maybe an open challenge to Pakistan Army and defence forces and Indians must to get answer of that.
US wants military operation in N. Waziristan: diplomat
Addressing a news conference here on Tuesday, she said that Washington greatly respected and admired the progress the Pakistan military had made in fighting the militants.
“We are convinced that you are determined to regain control of all of your territory and it’s not up to us to say to your military commanders what to do and when. At the same time, we very much would like to see action in North Waziristan,” she said.
“The Haqqani network is killing our soldiers. It’s understandable,” she said.
Ms Putnam brushed aside the speculation that the United States was fleeing from Afghanistan and stressed that the battle there was not over yet.
“Our strategy has not changed and President (Obama) has been very clear. Our main goal there is to defeat, dismantle (and) disrupt Al Qaeda. The president agreed to a surge in troops to help in that battle in Afghanistan,” she said.
Additional troops planned to be deployed in Afghanistan had not even reached the country, she said. Therefore, it was premature to say that the fight was over.
Ms Putnam, who would be relinquishing her charge at the end of the week to make way for the new consul general, Elizabeth H. Rood, reiterated that the US would start the withdrawal process of the surged troops in next July. “But this does not mean we are pulling out and fleeing Afghanistan. That is not the case.”
She alleged that extremists had found a safe heaven in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan and that was the reason Pakistan troops were fighting in that region.
She praised the Pakistan Army and police for making extraordinarily good progress in the battle against militancy in the tribal regions.
“Our hope is that you will succeed and this area will never become a safe heaven for these people to launch attacks against us and against you.”
Asked if the US would support similar action in Punjab, a careful Ms Putnam said that it was up to the government of Pakistan and Punjab to decide how to deal with reports of militancy in the province.
She did not agree to a question about reports of misuse of USAID and stressed that they were working very hard to make sure that the aid reached the right recipients.
“Do we succeed a hundred per cent of the tight? No. No-one ever succeeds a per cent of the time in this effort. But we do take extraordinary steps to monitor our assistance to check and double check and to triple check to make sure that the aid reached the right people.”
She said that her government was assisting the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to set up a hotline to enable people to report any complaints about the aid spending.
She acknowledged that there had been frustrations that the US assistance was slow in coming but maintained that bureaucratic and security issues were the main reasons for the delay.
Nonetheless, she said, the US had assisted the Fata secretariat to complete over a thousand small projects in Fata and it was spending a lot of money in Malakand in stabilisation and recovery there to fix the infrastructure that was destroyed, increase capacity and improve services.
She said that it took the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government a while to approve the design and complete the process for the construction of 150 schools in Malakand.But now, she said, tenders had been floated for 38 schools, the construction of which should begin this moth.
Of the 150 schools, she said, the US would be funding reconstruction of 108 schools besides 35 health clinics and six water systems.
“There will be more projects coming to recover the economy and to assist the population.”
'Foreign hands' involved in Balochistan unrest: Lashkari
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Balochistan President Lashkari Raisani has said that "foreign hands" were involved in the activities causing unrest in the region.
"Some foreign elements are involved in a major conspiracy against Pakistan, the recent spate of target killings is also part of that conspiracy, therefore, the responsibilities of government have increased manifold," The Daily Times quoted Raisani, as saying.
He further highlighted that the government was taking serious measures to maintain peace, and said that it was not easy to root out crimes overnight.
"The Balochistan Levies has been revived in many Tribal Areas where law and order situation has improved considerably. It will take time to completely normalise the situation in Quetta and some other parts of the province," Raisani said.
"We have promoted community policing to cut down the chain of culprits. The outcome has been good enough and the Balochistan Levies have successfully busted several gangs of criminals who were involved in highways robberies, hold ups and abductions for ransom," he added.
Six year old Rabia is the latest casualty which has shocked Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, where target killings, road side bomb blasts, land mine explosions, attacks on police check posts, trains, gas pipelines and electricity lines have become a routine affair now.
Rabia, the daughter of a retired school teacher of Punjabi origin, was playing inside her house in Moosa Colony at Sariab Road when unidentified men threw a hand grenade in the house and killed her on the spot, leaving three others wounded.
Quetta's Sariab road is one of city's crowded areas where Punjabi population dominates the locals and the insurgents are active with target killing to eliminate key Punjabi population.
Punjabi teachers, doctors, engineers, religious leaders and security forces' persons are the main targets, who are being killed in direct firing, bomb blasts and hand grenade attacks everyday.
Besides, Sariab road area, Quetta's busy Sirki road, Jinnah town, Smungli town, and Baruri town are the areas where forces are getting tough time.
The Pakistan Army has deployed its heavy contingent all over the province, but the districts of Khuzdar, Naushki, Kallat, Turbat, Dera Bugti, Kholu, Sui and Hub are still very difficult to control.
"The insurgency is still on the rise. This is spreading very rapidly and as you can't even count the number of attacks and casualties. They are killing at least one person in target killing every day apart from frequent bombings. The number of these incidents is continuously rising," said Chaudary Muhammad Yaqoob, former Inspector General Balochistan Police.
"It is inefficiency of our forces and intelligence agencies that they are unable to control the target killing and grenade attacks by the insurgents. We need to counter this technically and politically as soon as possible, otherwise situation will be out of our control very soon," he added.
Yaqoob said that mainly four groups Baloch Republic Army, Baloch Liberation Army, Balochistan Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation United Front are active in the area which have established close links with the criminals and the Taliban who are busy in anti Pakistan activities in Southern Punjab and Wazirstan areas. They coordinate with them for the actions like target killing, grenade attacks and land mine blasts.
"Some foreign elements are involved in a major conspiracy against Pakistan, the recent spate of target killings is also part of that conspiracy, therefore, the responsibilities of government have increased manifold," The Daily Times quoted Raisani, as saying.
He further highlighted that the government was taking serious measures to maintain peace, and said that it was not easy to root out crimes overnight.
"The Balochistan Levies has been revived in many Tribal Areas where law and order situation has improved considerably. It will take time to completely normalise the situation in Quetta and some other parts of the province," Raisani said.
"We have promoted community policing to cut down the chain of culprits. The outcome has been good enough and the Balochistan Levies have successfully busted several gangs of criminals who were involved in highways robberies, hold ups and abductions for ransom," he added.
Six year old Rabia is the latest casualty which has shocked Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, where target killings, road side bomb blasts, land mine explosions, attacks on police check posts, trains, gas pipelines and electricity lines have become a routine affair now.
Rabia, the daughter of a retired school teacher of Punjabi origin, was playing inside her house in Moosa Colony at Sariab Road when unidentified men threw a hand grenade in the house and killed her on the spot, leaving three others wounded.
Quetta's Sariab road is one of city's crowded areas where Punjabi population dominates the locals and the insurgents are active with target killing to eliminate key Punjabi population.
Punjabi teachers, doctors, engineers, religious leaders and security forces' persons are the main targets, who are being killed in direct firing, bomb blasts and hand grenade attacks everyday.
Besides, Sariab road area, Quetta's busy Sirki road, Jinnah town, Smungli town, and Baruri town are the areas where forces are getting tough time.
The Pakistan Army has deployed its heavy contingent all over the province, but the districts of Khuzdar, Naushki, Kallat, Turbat, Dera Bugti, Kholu, Sui and Hub are still very difficult to control.
"The insurgency is still on the rise. This is spreading very rapidly and as you can't even count the number of attacks and casualties. They are killing at least one person in target killing every day apart from frequent bombings. The number of these incidents is continuously rising," said Chaudary Muhammad Yaqoob, former Inspector General Balochistan Police.
"It is inefficiency of our forces and intelligence agencies that they are unable to control the target killing and grenade attacks by the insurgents. We need to counter this technically and politically as soon as possible, otherwise situation will be out of our control very soon," he added.
Yaqoob said that mainly four groups Baloch Republic Army, Baloch Liberation Army, Balochistan Liberation Front and Baloch Liberation United Front are active in the area which have established close links with the criminals and the Taliban who are busy in anti Pakistan activities in Southern Punjab and Wazirstan areas. They coordinate with them for the actions like target killing, grenade attacks and land mine blasts.
Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline
While laying the groundwork for strategic relationship with Pakistan, the US is persuading Pakistan to scuttle the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project due to its serious reservations about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The US administration is sympathetic about the energy problem of Pakistan but opposes the pipeline because it involves Iran, a country US President Obama labels as a ‘rogue state’.
The US wants to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state and has imposed Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. According to the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, the US President may impose sanctions on any international firm that does $20 million or more in oil or gas business with Iran (and $40 million with Libya). Consequently, US is “stepping up pressure”, as a $7.6 billion Iran-Pakistan pipeline project “could violate Iran and Libya Sanctions Act” passed by the US. The US special representative to the region cautioned Pakistanis not to over-commit themselves until the latest legislation on Iran is promulgated.
As a major non-Nato ally of the US in war on terror, Pakistan Army’s recent successes in the on-going military operation against the militants in Fata and Malakand areas, has earned a lot of respect from the international community. The Obama administration and the US Congress are committed to support Pakistan on a long-term basis and develop its institutions as well as energy requirements.
From December 2007 till now, the people of Pakistan began to suffer from severe electricity shortages, in the middle of winter, when electricity demand is at its lowest! The Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) enforced loadshedding, thereby cutting off electricity for hours at a time, which crippled industry, business and daily life. Pakistan’s need for natural gas is imperative than ever.
Pakistan is plagued by chronic electricity shortages that have led to mass demonstrations and battered the PPP-led government.
The gas supply in Pakistan, currently 71 million cubic meters per day, is expected to increase by 50% in the next five years. However, much of this increase would be met through an increase in domestic gas production. Gas production in Pakistan is expected to increase substantially as new fields like Sawan, Zamzama and Bhit come on stream. However, the longer-term projections would justify significant imports of gas by Pakistan. Pakistan is running out of options. Nonetheless, Iran-Pakistan pipeline project promised a ray of hope for the energy-starved country.
In the wake of Holbrooke’s warning that such a move could hit Pakistani companies involved in the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, what other options are available with the US to help its strategic partner.
The Rand Corporation’s proposal of considering a criteria-based nuclear deal to Pakistan tied to access to AQ Khan, greater visibility into Pakistan’s programme, submission to safeguards, a strategic decision to abandon militancy as a tool of foreign and domestic policy, and empirically verifiable metrics in eliminating militant groups operating in and from Pakistan, may not be acceptable to Pakistan. Pakistan would like to have a civilian nuclear agreement akin to the US-India civilian nuclear deal initiated in 2005, for meeting its growing energy needs. Pakistan’s energy needs are so pressing that less costly and time-consuming means to generate electricity deserve to be given priority.
Another option may be that the US should increase US-Pakistani trade cooperation and promote Pakistani infrastructure growth and economic development on issues from energy to the reconstruction of Opportunity Zones (ROZs). The crux of the matter is that political, economic and democratic forces are potentially capable of reversing the Talibanisation trend in the tribal areas.
If America insists on our true cooperation, then they should also be helping us in fighting terrorism on all vital fronts -- be it military or financial or development aspects. That’s what is expected from a real-time strategic partner. Pakistan is in a dire need of energy.
It will be in the supreme national interest of the country to help materialise the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. Understanding Pakistan’s energy requirements and needs, the British Foreign Secretary William Hague clarified that Britain would not interfere in the sovereign decision of Pakistan on the IP gas pipeline project.
It is hoped that the Obama administration would overlook the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act and persuade International Finanical Institutions (IFIs) to release funds for the proposed Iran-Pakistan gas line project so crucial for its survival or address the energy crisis by offering an unconditional civilian nuclear agreement to Pakistan.
A call for unity
Sir: PML-N chief, Mian Nawaz Sharif, has shed light upon many pertinent issues recently. First, his point of not defining terrorism on ethnic lines is valid. A terrorist need not to be identified as Sindhi, Baloch, Punjabi or Pakhtun as this classification is utterly ridiculous. The term ‘Punjabi Taliban’ was coined to define the militants of outlawed sectarian outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.
There is no ambiguity on what the motives of these terrorists are as they seek to create rifts within the nation. In such turbulent times, it is imperative that we join hands to chalk out a counter-insurgency plan. Reservations by the chief minister of Punjab on intelligence sharing need to be considered as there have been loopholes in inter-agency communications. By improving the intelligence-sharing mechanism, many tragic events can be avoided.
SADIA HUSSAIN
Islamabad
Sorrowful attack
Sir: As an Indian who understands the pain of terrorism, my heart goes out to the worshippers who were killed and injured in the attack on the revered sufi shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore. It requires a mind of extraordinary cruelty to plan and execute such attacks on innocent civilians.
The Sharif brothers seem to continue living in denial. It is common knowledge that sectarianism and terrorism are simply two sides of the same coin. Many analysts have pointed out the presence of terrorists in Punjab but Shahbaz Sharif has always denied it. His government even hobnobbed with them by openly associating with the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Instead of confronting the terrorists head on, he decided to ‘appeal’ to them to not attack the province. The federal and provincial governments are at each other’s throats during this hour of great tragedy. As my observation in India shows, whenever politicians fight about whose mistake it was, the public can be sure that both sides made mistakes. Pakistan must realise that terrorism has nothing good or bad about it and that terrorists can never be ‘strategic assets’.
SUBRAMANYAM SRIDHARAN
Bangalore, India
TTP denial
Sir: This is in reference to the recent act of brazen violence at the Data Darbar and the subsequent denial by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) of its involvement. I strongly caution the people not to believe the Taliban. Their claim that they do not attack public places is a white lie and a clear attempt to misguide the people. They have killed thousands of innocent Pakistani men, women and children in bombings all over the country. They have destroyed schools and attacked places of worship belonging to different religions. They are trying to fool and exploit the masses with their anti-US rhetoric by blaming it on Blackwater and others. Never has an American, British or Indian been caught in suicide bombings. It has always been members of either the Taliban or associated sectarian groups. The ideology that they subscribe to forbids them from going to shrines and that is why they have destroyed many in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. I urge the people to stand up against these extremists and help the government and the army eliminate them once and forever.
AMIN SHEERAZI
Abbottabad
The nation is sleeping
Sir: The Pakistan Army is fighting a full-fledged war against faceless enemies within its geographical boundaries on the western front. Pakistan is bleeding from within without any internal strife and is seeing bloodshed without any civil war.
In such a war-like situation, the nation is sleeping. There is no standing up and rising to the occasion by the people as we saw in 1965, 1971 and after the earthquake in 2005. At a time when inspiring the nation through words is much needed, everyone is inactive and in a deep slumber. The politicians, meanwhile, are concerned about scoring more political points and are engaged in the blame game, thereby creating further confusion.
In such times, the national media normally plays the most important role in inspiring the nation by airing patriotic songs and poetry. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Pakistan.
SYED SAYEF HUSSAIN
Karachi
What degree?
Sir: Chief Minister Balochistan Aslam Raisani has said that “a degree is a degree whether it is authentic or fake”. Hats off to the honourable chief minister for his unmatched vision and academic acumen. A step forward in this direction will be to introduce a uniform policy in our educational institutions, whereas a choice should be given to each student at the time of admission to either go for a regular degree or a fake one. We are sure that in future, this policy, if implemented, will put an end to the controversy that is haunting our parliamentarians.
DR IRFAN ZAFAR
Islamabad
A great setback
Sir: The huge electricity shortfall throughout the country is not only a hindrance for foreign and local investment but also a cause of misery for the entire population. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf makes commitments before the media and gives deadlines for the end of load shedding but he retreats, regularly, from his words.
No doubt, the worst democracy is better than a good dictatorship, but the current rulers are trying to prove that they are giving us the worst democracy possible. This people’s government seems to only work for the betterment of their own lives, without working towards solving the problems of the masses. If this continues, society will be like a volcano ready to erupt and then our leaders will have nowhere to turn. However, it is still not too late. The government should realise the gravity of the situation and take steps to decrease the power shortage, inflation, ever-increasing prices of commodities and the general woes of the common man. They must do this before it is too late.
DR SALEEM RAZA LAGHARI
Via e-mail
In defence of faith
Sir: The news about an attack on a shrine of Mian Umar Baba in Chamkani floated in the newspapers. This is not the first time a shrine or holy place has been attacked by these demented terrorists who call themselves the defenders of Islam. In 2009, they carried out an attack on the shrine of great Pashto poet Rehman Baba. I believe that was not an assault on the shrine but an assault on the literature and legacy of the Pakhtun people. I am forced to think that these people want Pakistanis to accept their version of Islam and do not agree with the idea of “no compulsion” in religion. I am forced to call them terrorists, not defenders of the faith.
YASIR QADEER
Islamabad
Safe havens
Sir: Our colleges and universities are the picture of Mexican-style lawlessness after the recent murder of some students and the presence of gang wars on campus. The politics in educational institutions have paralysed education and deteriorated the law and order of urban centres. As a result, quality education has been wiped out from the state. Therefore, there is a dire need of legislation to ban political organisations from educational institutions. Otherwise, the present state of these institutions is perfect for providing ‘safe havens’ to these new age Taliban.
Al-Qaeda's new man eyes Pakistan
ISLAMABAD - One chapter in the Afghan war came to an end with the killing in May of al-Qaeda's number three and Afghan operations chief Mustafa Abu al-Yazid in a drone attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area.
The appointment of a new commander, Egyptian Sheikh Fateh al-Misri, previously not an al-Qaeda member and in Afghanistan only as a battle-hardened Arab fighter, marks the beginning of a shift in al-Qaeda's strategy that aims for a more focused guerrilla war in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda's Pakistan operations will be used to complement the battle against foreign forces across the border.
A previous al-Qaeda commander, Libyan Abu Laith al-Libi, also killed in a drone attack in Pakistan, in January 2008, had a similar
background to Misri as he had not initially been a member of al-Qaeda and commanded his own Libyan groups that were active in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was appointed operational commander in 2007 and in a short time proved himself in battle. He also developed close coordination with various other groups.
According to militant contacts who spoke to Asia Times Online, the militants believe that while Misri will focus on tweaking Afghan strategy, he realizes that the war there cannot be separated from Pakistan.
Last month, for instance, Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani and the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, twice visited Kabul to offer their services in opening negotiations with the Taliban. The Pakistanis aim to connect with various Afghan groups and promote a battle against al-Qaeda and its affiliated Pakistani organizations.
Acutely aware of this, Misri unleashed the attacks in which at least 95 members of the Qadyani sect were killed and nearly 100 injured at their places of worship in Lahore. Apart from the immediate horror of the attacks, the militants aimed to monitor the response of the security and rescue forces. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, dozens of militants poured into Lahore. They included men from nearby areas, members of a militant cell in the southern port city of Karachi, as well as people from Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, previously North-West Frontier Province.
Their main targets were to be "non-Muslims" in the eyes of the militants, such as the Qadyanis, and "polytheists" like the Shi'ites.
Pakistani intelligence agencies, however, became aware of possible attacks on places of worship and security was beefed up in Lahore, especially at places frequented by Qadyanis and Shi'ites. In a series of raids, 28,000 kilograms of explosives were seized, along with many weapons.
The militants became unnerved and last week, without consulting their top leadership in North Waziristan, there was a double suicide attack on the shrine of a Sufi saint in Lahore in which more than 40 people were killed and nearly 200 injured.
The attacks certainly drew attention to the militants, but al-Qaeda is aware that such incidents can cause blowback, such as happened in Iraq when it attacked the Samarra Shrine of Imam Hasan Askari in 2007, one of Shi'ite Islam’s holiest shrines. This sparked a round of bloody sectarian retaliation in which up to 60 Sunni mosques were attacked and scores of people were killed.
Therefore, much as with the Moon Market blast in Lahore in late 2009 (in which innocent civilians were killed), the Punjabi Taliban denied their involvement in the shrine attack.
"Why should we do this kind of operation?" questioned Punjabi militant spokesman Muhammad Umar, alias Usman Punjabi, in a telephone conversation with Asia Times Online. "There were hundreds of shrines in Afghanistan during Taliban rule [1996-2001] and they never touched them. So why should we do that?
"I say a commander would be most incompetent if he sent in suicide attackers because there was such a crowd in the shrine that an explosive-laden car parked near the shrine would have been sufficient for a massacre. So I assure you, the Taliban were not involved in these attacks," Umar said.
The attack on the Syed Ali Hajweri Shrine has caused a serious rift between Pakistan's two major schools of thought - Deobandi (to which the Taliban adhere) and Brelvi (who are anti-Taliban Sufis).
Several Sunni organizations called strikes, while Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, a custodian of a shrine in Multan, announced a national conference to decide on a unified strategy to combat terrorism.
However, the initiatives only polarized the country, and Deobandi scholars, while condemning the attack on the shrine, said that all measures were clearly aimed against them.
It should be recalled that all of the top Brelvi (Sufi) scholars in Pakistan have their roots in pre-partition (1947) India, and they don't have strong political traditions in Pakistan. Deobandi scholars on the other hand do, and they have the largest network of madrassas (seminaries) and mosques.
As a result, no right-wing political party can afford to annoy the Deobandis, no matter how close they are to the Taliban or al-Qaeda. Therefore, immediately after last week's attack on the shrine, Nawaz Sharif, a former premier and the leader of the country's largest right-wing party, the Pakistan Muslim League, held a press conference to stress the need for negotiations with the Taliban.
He said that a wrong foreign policy (one that supports the American war in Afghanistan ) was the root cause of terrorism in Pakistan. Sharif's statement was immediately condemned by the ruling Pakistan People's Party, which added that he drew his support from radical groups.
Militants have lost much of their support base and sympathy in Punjab - the largest province - as extremists previously did in Iraq. All the same, they are establishing a reign of terror that has led to deep political and sectarian polarization. This in turn has diluted Pakistan's enthusiasm to streamline a negotiation process between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
However, there is another aspect, as pointed out by a prominent Sufi - a parliamentarian from Khyber Agency and the federal minister for Zakat and Ushr (charity department), Pir Noorul Haq Qadri. He told Asia Times Online:
By 2007, the whole of Khyber Agency comprised adherents of the Brelvi school of thought [Sufis]. We are traders and therefore we want peace in the area. Then militants silently came into the area. They selected people who could resist them and assassinated them and in an organized campaign they blew up shrines and created so much chaos that by mid-2008 the people's will was completely broken and nobody was prepared to take a stand against them. From 2008 onwards, Khyber Agency has been a completely different place - it is in the hands of the militants.
The clamor is growing for action against militants in Punjab, but the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation haunts the establishment - it does not want Pakistan's fault lines once again exposed. In July 2007, security forces stormed the Taliban-supporting mosque that had become a haven for militants. The action energized militants across the country.
The authorities might decide to take action against particular seminaries in Punjab and against some banned organizations, after a national debate through conferences. This will take time, and when it happens it will cause sectarian strife. This preoccupation and engagement of the security apparatus will provide breathing space for al-Qaeda, which has already defeated the military in Orakzai Agency, where it controls large areas.
New commander Misri will be waiting to strike, both in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Suicide car bomber kills soldier in NW Pakistan
MINGORA, Pakistan — A Taliban suicide car bomber shot at guards and detonated his explosives at the gate of a paramilitary base in northwestern Pakistan before dawn Monday, killing one soldier and wounding at least seven other people, said security officials.
Elsewhere in the volatile border region, the army said it had killed a top Pakistan Taliban commander in clashes with militants in the bazaar in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press. Hafeez Ullah, who identified himself as a local Taliban commander, said the goal was to free Taliban militants imprisoned at the base in Lower Dir district.
The bomber first tried to force his way onto the base by shooting at troops and policemen guarding the gate, said Maj. Suleman Khan, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. He blew himself up after realizing he couldn't penetrate the base, said Khan.
The guards killed a second suicide car bomber, preventing him from detonating his explosives, and also killed two suicide bombers who were on foot, said Khan.
The blast from the first bomber killed one soldier, said the army in a statement.
There were conflicting reports about how many people were wounded in the attack.
The army said seven soldiers were wounded. But a local police officer, Raffat Ali, said 12 were wounded, including 10 troops and two policemen. Two civilians also were wounded by retaliatory fire from guards trying to repel the bombers, said Ali.
The Pakistani Taliban has declared war on the government because the group deems it unIslamic and is upset at its alliance with the United States.
The military has responded by launching a series of offensives against the Taliban in the northwest, including one in Lower Dir and neighboring Swat in 2009. The army declared victory in reclaiming the areas from insurgents, but sporadic violence still occurs.
The army identified the Taliban chief killed in Miran Shah as Amir Ullah Mehsud who had a bounty on his head of almost $235,000. It described him as the top Taliban commander for parts of North and South Waziristan. The military launched an offensive in South Waziristan last year to clear the area of Taliban militants.
The Taliban have also teamed up with other militant groups to carry out attacks in Pakistan's heartland far from the Afghan border. Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed two mosques of the minority Ahmadi sect in the city of Lahore at the end of May, killing 93 people.
Police have arrested six militants in Lahore allegedly connected to the attacks and seized almost 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) of explosives, 21 hand grenades, six AK-47s and a lot of bomb making material, Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen said Monday.
"They were running a sort of bomb making factory," said Tareen.
Four of the suspects provided logistical support to the attackers by purchasing motorcycles, cell phones and SIM cards, said Tareen. They belong to the banned militant group Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami, as do the men who carried out the attacks, he said.
Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has suggested that rather than simply fight the Taliban, the government should negotiate with the militants to try to improve security.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said Monday that the government was not opposed to talking with militants as long as they lay down their arms.
"Anybody who surrenders, we are open to dialogue with him," said Kaira.
Elsewhere in the volatile border region, the army said it had killed a top Pakistan Taliban commander in clashes with militants in the bazaar in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press. Hafeez Ullah, who identified himself as a local Taliban commander, said the goal was to free Taliban militants imprisoned at the base in Lower Dir district.
The bomber first tried to force his way onto the base by shooting at troops and policemen guarding the gate, said Maj. Suleman Khan, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps. He blew himself up after realizing he couldn't penetrate the base, said Khan.
The guards killed a second suicide car bomber, preventing him from detonating his explosives, and also killed two suicide bombers who were on foot, said Khan.
The blast from the first bomber killed one soldier, said the army in a statement.
There were conflicting reports about how many people were wounded in the attack.
The army said seven soldiers were wounded. But a local police officer, Raffat Ali, said 12 were wounded, including 10 troops and two policemen. Two civilians also were wounded by retaliatory fire from guards trying to repel the bombers, said Ali.
The Pakistani Taliban has declared war on the government because the group deems it unIslamic and is upset at its alliance with the United States.
The military has responded by launching a series of offensives against the Taliban in the northwest, including one in Lower Dir and neighboring Swat in 2009. The army declared victory in reclaiming the areas from insurgents, but sporadic violence still occurs.
The army identified the Taliban chief killed in Miran Shah as Amir Ullah Mehsud who had a bounty on his head of almost $235,000. It described him as the top Taliban commander for parts of North and South Waziristan. The military launched an offensive in South Waziristan last year to clear the area of Taliban militants.
The Taliban have also teamed up with other militant groups to carry out attacks in Pakistan's heartland far from the Afghan border. Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed two mosques of the minority Ahmadi sect in the city of Lahore at the end of May, killing 93 people.
Police have arrested six militants in Lahore allegedly connected to the attacks and seized almost 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) of explosives, 21 hand grenades, six AK-47s and a lot of bomb making material, Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen said Monday.
"They were running a sort of bomb making factory," said Tareen.
Four of the suspects provided logistical support to the attackers by purchasing motorcycles, cell phones and SIM cards, said Tareen. They belong to the banned militant group Harakat al-Jihad al-Islami, as do the men who carried out the attacks, he said.
Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has suggested that rather than simply fight the Taliban, the government should negotiate with the militants to try to improve security.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said Monday that the government was not opposed to talking with militants as long as they lay down their arms.
"Anybody who surrenders, we are open to dialogue with him," said Kaira.
The World Today, July 5 - Pakistan to launch peace conference as Taliban insurgency revives
Pakistan's army is finding local Taliban insurgents a more resilient enemy than anticipated and is having to mount new operations in territory it believed it had won a few months ago.
At the same time, the government of prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is responding to public outrage at increasingly frequent Taliban attacks in Pakistan's urban centres by promising to organize a national conference on ways to combat terrorism.
In an unusual display of political unity, the announcement of the conference was made in agreement with the leader of the opposition, Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League.
Nawaz called for the inclusion in the national convention of Taliban leaders “who are ready to talk and ready to listen.”
The plans for the peace convention were announced in response to public outrage over the carefully planned and executed suicide bombing of a Sufi shrine in Pakistan's cultural and political heartland, the city of Lahore, on Thursday in which 42 people were killed.
A similar bi-partisan conference on terrorism was held two years ago, but without a clear conclusion and responsibility for attempting to defeat the insurgency reverted to the military.
This new attempt to take control of the agenda by the civilian politicians and government comes as the military, just like the American-led NATO forces over the border in Afghanistan, is finding the Taliban a dogged and resilient enemy.
Two years ago the Pakistan military launched major offensives against the Taliban, which had taken effective control of large areas of the lawless border regions with Afghanistan in South Waziristan, and, closer to heartland Pakistan, the Swat Valley.
Late last year the military declared victory in these campaigns, but the insurgents have re-infiltrated these territories, which have no effective government administration. The army is now preparing to re-take these regions.
Still largely untouched, however, is North Waziristan which is ruled by the Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, whose fighters are believed to play a major part in the insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan and who is thought to be the main protector of al-Qaida terrorists still hiding in Pakistan. This is Jonathan Manthorpe in Vancouver.
Pakistan Asks Parties, Clerics To Help Fight Militants
Pakistan's prime minister has called on political parties and religious leaders to help the state and army fight Islamist militants.
Yousaf Raza Gilani, speaking at a meeting of senior provincial and government officials, called for a national conference to formulate a strategy to combat terrorism.
Gilani's call came four days after at least 42 people were killed and 175 wounded when two suicide bombers struck a Sufi shrine in the eastern city of Lahore on July 1.
Ex-Taliban governor sees little hope for Afghan peace
"Peace cannot come to Afghanistan through the junior Taliban," the 59-year-old Mullah Abdul Salaam told Reuters in an interview in Kabul.
"This will bear no fruit if the Taliban leaders are not involved and listened to. The whole peace process that the government and the world wants to pursue is a joke ... a waste of time and money."
To many observers, the U.S.-led effort to destroy the Taliban and establish a stable government is already a monumental waste of time and money.
Nearly nine years after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda figures are still at large, the Taliban insurgency is raging and there is widespread loathing both for foreign forces and an Afghan government largely seen as corrupt or incapable.
Western governments want out and are training Afghan forces to replace them, but perhaps worried they will not be able to cope, President Hamid Karzai is making peace overtures to the Taliban.
The proposals include offering an amnesty and reintegration to foot soldiers who agree to accept Afghanistan's constitution, removing the names of certain leaders from a U.N. blacklist, and securing sanctuary in a friendly Muslim nation for others.
But these sort of modest steps simply don't appeal to the Taliban, Salaam said. The bottom-line is they believe they are winning.
The movement's leadership, based in the Pakistan border city of Quetta, still calls the shots, Salaam said, and has organised war plans, unity and "obedience in hierarchy" -- a reference to perceived differences between Afghan and Western officials.
Religious schools in Pakistan were producing suicide bombers in abundance for carrying out low-cost attacks against Afghan and foreign forces, he added, while it was costing the West billions to fund the conflict.
ICONIC TALIBAN
Salaam is among only a handful of ex-Taliban officials to have joined Karzai's government since the hardline Islamists were ousted in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.
Sitting crossed-legged on a mat and sporting a long beard dyed to match his jet-black turban, Salaam told how he fought the Soviet occupation of the 1980s and later joined the Taliban as Afghanistan descended into civil war and anarchy after they left.
He rose to become governor of southern Uruzgan province -- impressed with some aspects of Taliban rule, but also disturbed by others.
Frustrated with the meddling of Pakistan's intelligence service in Afghan affairs -- and also angered by the way Pakistani militants were killing non-Pashtuns during operations in northern Afghanistan -- Salaam said he quit the movement.
Then September 11 happened.
U.S. forces invaded, gave the Northern Alliance the muscle and firepower to tackle the Taliban and Salaam surrendered along with 200 of his armed men to the newly established pro-U.S. government of Karzai, only to be arrested later and jailed for eight months for "siding with the enemy."
Most of his men rejoined the Taliban, but once out of jail Salaam kept a low profile until approached by Karzai, who asked him to become district chief of Musa Qala in Helmand, the most restive part of Afghanistan and a key drug-producing province.
PILLARS OF GOVERNMENT
"My intention was to consolidate the pillars of the government after years of war and that was the reason I joined the government," he said.
Suddenly his services were in demand, and the Taliban approached him to become its shadow governor instead.
"I told them I am no longer a warrior and we should campaign through the ballot rather than bullets," he says of a meeting that left his old comrades furious and vowing vengeance.
Some even called him apostate.
Over the following years he had death threats and assassination attempts made on his life, and was also kidnapped before being released after intensive tribal negotiations. Dozens of his extended family were targeted too.
Salaam said the government gave him little help in starting development projects in the area, and that British troops based there stymied his efforts and smeared his reputation until he was dismissed a few weeks ago.
"They (people of Musa Qala) said I didn't even build a stable," he complained, adding he was now back in the capital to seek redress.
Meanwhile, Salaam now appears on local television discussion panels not as a voice of the Taliban, but someone who has a good insight into how they think.
"Peace will not come to Afghanistan until you speak to the Taliban leaders and show sincerity," he said.
Best shooting in the world claim during Sino-Pak joint anti-terror drill
Beijing July 5 (ANI): Pakistani and Chinese troops taking part in the ongoing anti-terror drill being held at a training base of the Lanzhou Military Command, which guards the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, have been hitting the target with never seen before perfection.
Both countries have sent their top and experienced troops for the drill dubbed 'Friendship-2010'.
"I have never seen such excellent and efficient shooting. It was second to none in the world," said Zafar Niazi, the 36-year-old commander of the 113-strong Pakistani Special Forces group taking part in the drill.
The weeklong anti-terror exercise coincides with the first year anniversary of the ethnic riots in Xinjiang, which left at least 197 people dead and more than 1,700 injured, and Pakistani officials pointed out that the exercise would prove to be of great help for the local security forces to counter terrorism in the region.
"Owning to the prevailing environments in our region, there is a need to enhance our cooperation," The China Daily quoted Lieutenant General Khalid Shameem Wynne, Chief of the General Staff of the Pakistani Army, as saying.
"The joint exercise is crucial for upgrading troops' capabilities in fighting terrorism together and safeguarding regional peace and security," added Lieutenant General Wang Guosheng, commander of Lanzhou Military Command.
According to reports, numerous members of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which led the riots in Xinjiang, have fled to Pakistan and planning future plots from there.
"It is not hard for them (ETIM members) to hide in Pakistan. They have similar religious beliefs, appearances and languages as the locals," a report in a local newspaper said.
It is also believed that the ETIM is working in close collaboration with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.
An ETIM leader is also reportedly hiding in Pakistan and there are reports of a "Chinese battalion" made up of about 320 ETIM members in the Taliban's military. (ANI)
China welcomes Gates visit at appropriate time
China said Thursday that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is welcome to visit at an appropriate time, just weeks after it rejected a proposed trip by him.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted the deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army as saying Gates was welcome.
"We still welcome him to visit China at a time which is workable for both sides," General Ma Xiaotian was quoted as saying when asked whether a visit by Gates was possible in the "coming months."
Xinhua did not give a reason for the change.
Relations between the world's most powerful military and the PLA, the world's biggest army, have been strained recently, with Chinese leaders especially angry over the Obama administration's decision in January to go ahead with arms sales to Taiwan worth $6.4 billion.
In Singapore in early June, Gates said China's military was a roadblock to better overall relations between the United States and China.
Gates had hoped to make a stop in China while he was in Asia, but aides said he was disinvited from a tentative visit. Gates suggested at the time that the PLA got cold feet.
One Chinese analyst said the shift shows China has not rejected bilateral military exchanges with the United States.
"It was just too early for China to accept his visit following the American decision on arms sales to Taiwan. Of course, it's in China's consideration to stabilize the development of overall bilateral relations," said Zhu Feng, a professor with the School of International Studies of Peking University.
"The suspension of the military exchanges does not tally with the active state of the exchanges of the two sides in other fields," Zhu said.
China is also angry over President Barack Obama's decision to meet with the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing accuses of trying to separate Tibet from China. The countries have also tangled this year over trade disputes and cyberspying accusations from Google Inc.
Calls to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing were not immediately answered Thursday.
On Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley would not confirm or reject reports that the United States was holding back arms sales to Taiwan because of pressure from China.
Crowley said in reply to a question that arms sales to Taiwan are made in consultation only with Taiwan.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted the deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army as saying Gates was welcome.
"We still welcome him to visit China at a time which is workable for both sides," General Ma Xiaotian was quoted as saying when asked whether a visit by Gates was possible in the "coming months."
Xinhua did not give a reason for the change.
Relations between the world's most powerful military and the PLA, the world's biggest army, have been strained recently, with Chinese leaders especially angry over the Obama administration's decision in January to go ahead with arms sales to Taiwan worth $6.4 billion.
In Singapore in early June, Gates said China's military was a roadblock to better overall relations between the United States and China.
Gates had hoped to make a stop in China while he was in Asia, but aides said he was disinvited from a tentative visit. Gates suggested at the time that the PLA got cold feet.
One Chinese analyst said the shift shows China has not rejected bilateral military exchanges with the United States.
"It was just too early for China to accept his visit following the American decision on arms sales to Taiwan. Of course, it's in China's consideration to stabilize the development of overall bilateral relations," said Zhu Feng, a professor with the School of International Studies of Peking University.
"The suspension of the military exchanges does not tally with the active state of the exchanges of the two sides in other fields," Zhu said.
China is also angry over President Barack Obama's decision to meet with the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing accuses of trying to separate Tibet from China. The countries have also tangled this year over trade disputes and cyberspying accusations from Google Inc.
Calls to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing were not immediately answered Thursday.
On Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley would not confirm or reject reports that the United States was holding back arms sales to Taiwan because of pressure from China.
Crowley said in reply to a question that arms sales to Taiwan are made in consultation only with Taiwan.
Korean War veteran looks back after 60 years
"I went out right at the end, just before the truce in 1953," explained Warren from Llanfairfechan, who has been back to South Korea this year.
"People tend to forget that the last UK troops didn't leave Korea until 1957. And really, the war still hasn't ended, even today," he said.
The war began on 25 June 1950 when the Soviet-backed North Korean army invaded the American-backed south.
Soon British and Commonwealth armed forces were sent over to help fight for the democratic south, and Chinese troops were sent in to bolster the Communist army to the north.
Warren had left Friars Grammar School, Bangor, to start his National Service when he found himself facing the formidable Chinese army.
"I joined the Royal Artillery and most of the time I was a wireless officer, operating in front of the guns," he said.
"It really was a dangerous theatre of war, wherever you were sent.
A peace treaty was never signed: the two Koreas remain technically at war
"One of the most difficult factors was the climate. The summers were very hot, like it must be for the boys out in Afghanistan now.
"Then the winters were very cold, and temperatures could dip to 40 degrees below. You had to melt the ice for water to wash and shave and starting up the tanks was a problem because sometimes the diesel would freeze.
"We were living in a hole in the ground - something which doesn't happen anymore in the army, except for maybe special forces. But it was back to being in trenches which could get very wet and muddy and in certain sectors compared to World War I."
Warren remembers hemorrhagic fever hitting the troops - a disease with symptoms similar to malaria which cause the skin to split and bleed.
"If it wasn't treated within three days, you were dead," he said.
While the American forces were lectured about their duty to fight for freedom against the Communists, Warren only remembers the British forces being told to get on with it.
"I was very conscious about what could happen, because I was an only child, and I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but I definitely had a taste for it.
Over 1000 British troops were killed, 2000 injured and 1000 taken prisoner
"I had many friends who tried to be based in RAF Valley during their National Service, so they could go home at weekends, but many have said they regret not taking the opportunity to do something different."
It definitely gave Warren a taste for travel because afterwards he enlisted with the Colonial Police Force and travelled the Commonwealth.
Earlier this year he was invited to visit Korea for the 60th anniversary commemorations.
"It was a very humbling experience, because people of all ages would come up to us, grasp our hands and thank us," he said.
"It's known as the Forgotten War here, but in South Korean schools British soldiers who won the Victoria Cross for their bravery are held up as heroes. Their vice president said they owed everything to us and our comrades."
While the five mile-wide no man's land between north and south reminded him of the continuing hostility, Warren was amazed at the changes in Seoul which was just piles of rubble last time he was there.
"It's a beautiful city now," he said. "And it was good to be with other veterans who you could talk to openly about the war, sometimes with humour. It was black humour, but at least it was there."
