Open Letter to O. B. Laden

From The BBC

Pakistanis pray for US victims

Special Friday prayers have taken place at major mosques in Pakistan for those killed in Tuesday`s suicide attacks in the United States.
Separate prayers were also offered for Pakistani citizens who are believed to have died in the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York.

In their sermons clerics expressed their sorrow for the loss of life, saying Islam was totally against such acts against innocent people.

However, more conservative religious leaders have warned the United States against any retaliatory action against Afghanistan`s Taleban rulers.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

romair,

[...If a multi-national force lands in Pakistan, and Pakistan is on worldwide television for even a few hours, what to talk of a few days or months, it will have finally gone beyond the US State Dept. and reached into the living rooms of America. This will be a public relations coup for Pakistan, and a disaster for India...]

have you gone completely wacko? just a while ago, you were arguing that under no circumstances should pakistan allow its ground to be used - air routes were ok. and suddenly it is a p.r. coup for pakistan and...a `disaster for india`.

oh...i forgot...you ARE all ears.

``Pakistan extends implicit support to US, Powell hails

(Updated at 1930 PST)

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has agreed to assist the United States in whatever might be required in dealing with global efforts to combat international terrorism, sources said.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Powell said he wanted to thank the president and people of Pakistan for the support that they have offered, and their willingness to assist us in whatever might be required in that part of the world.`` (NEWS, Pakistan)

``Pakistan agrees to provide ground facilities

(Updated at 1550 PST)

KARACHI: Pakistan Saturday extended military cooperation to the United States of America, reports a foreign news agency.

It said Pakistan would allow to use its soil for multi-national force.`` (NEWS, Pakistan)

If a multi-national force lands in Pakistan, and Pakistan is on worldwide television for even a few hours, what to talk of a few days or months, it will have finally gone beyond the US State Dept. and reached into the living rooms of America. This will be a public relations coup for Pakistan, and a disaster for India.

I am assuming and hoping that Musharraf has been able to get an explicit gaurantee from the US that it will help control the after-effects of a counterattack against Pakistan. If this is the case, then Pakistan will come out really well from this. If this is not the case, then Pakistan will be in huge trouble afterwards.

And I hope if the US launches a ground invasion, it knows what it is doing. Fighting in Iraq is one thing, but fighting in Afghanistan is completely another. Let`s see what happens. Pakistan seems to have gotten into the good books of the US again.

. I was in bed in my apartment, which by the way is only two blocks from the Pentagon, when it was attacked. I pray that all of your friends and relatives who are in NY and DC are all safe.

For those of you interested here`s my account of the tragedy that happened yesterday.

I had a splitting headache because I couldn`t sleep all night, so I called into work at 9:20 to let them know that I would be in late. I relaxed back into bed but then at 9:38 am my eyes popped wide open...something was terribly wrong...I felt tremors laying in bed...my entire apartment shook...my heart pounding as I got out of bed. Perplexed and disoriented from my headache I opened the blinds to my sliding glass door, the sun shone in and I saw what appeared to be dust particles out in the air. I thought nothing of it really...I just figured it was debris from the construction on the apartment going up next door.

So I reached for the remote control to my TV, when my telephone rang...my mother sounded panicked on the phone...`` * * * * * * *...have you heard what happened? They hit the Pentagon, they hit the Pentagon!...`` She was worried that something may have happened to me, after all I live so close. I reassured her that I was fine...but should really rush to work. Just then I heard sirens...ambulance, fire and police all right outside my apartment.

The sounds all a cacophony of tragedy blending together...my headache only got worse. So...still in shock really, not realizing the magnitude of what

had occurred I got ready to go to work.

I got into my car as I do every morning to leave the garage of my apartment building, and once outside it seemed like I was in a transported to a scene from the movie ``Independence Day``. There were panicked people everywhere...Navy and Army personnel running away from the Pentagon right next to us...crying and walking...hugging each other and in dismay...a women had taken off her Nine West heels and was now walking in her stockings...two lane roads were jam packed with three cars in two lanes...panicked people in cars everywhere...all heading no where...traffic signals weren`t working...horns and sirens going off...complete chaos...complete disorder in once a very quiet and orderly city...cars were wedged everywhere...a stern man in a Lexus was driving on the sidewalk...people all frantically trying to get anywhere but here. I sat in all the pandemonium and chaos and looked up to see the dark clouds of black smoke out of my sunroof...and that`s when it hit home...deep in the pit of my stomach...they hit the Pentagon...they hit this large building with fathers, mothers, aunts and uncles just two blocks from what I once thought was my cozy safe apartment. It was all so unreal...so scary...

My eyes darted right and left, trying to process the chaos...and that`s when I noticed the glares from the sets of eyes fixated on me...``go back to where you came from!!! you *#@ *&

romair,

[...i am all ears]

aah, so THAT was the problem all along! the missing thing is something in BETWEEN the ears. :O)

ok. about the network...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1544000/1544534.stm

...He has been described as a ``venture capitalist`` of Islamic extremism - running ``Jihad Inc`` and its subsidiary ``Jihad-Dot-Com``.

A group might come to him with a plan for which he might supply money - or he might put one group in touch with another - or he might come up with a plan of his own and find sub-contractors to carry it out...

News Item from Dawn: ``Thousands of Afghans throng border...The Taliban officials have also strengthened their border security and their guards were baton-charging the crowed to push them back. `` I think Pakistan should take the Afghan guards out and open the borders to allow the Afghans to come to Pakistan if they seek security. Just make sure, none of the animals ruling Afghanistan sneak in with them.

News Item from Dawn: ``Taliban may attack neighbours helping US strike``. Ha! Ha! I am shaking with fear.

The second Pakistani Prophet?

Is it true that osama is now the second most common name for newborn male Pakistani children?

Long Live Jinnah, the reasonable.

The Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa recommending feath for Salman Rushdie, because he wrote a book, and recommended that Muslims anywhere and in any way they can should carry out the sentence.

Is there a similar fatwa recommending that Muslims anywhere and in anyway they can should help in catching those responsible, whoever they may be, of the September 11 massacres ?

Or are there two different standards, one for those who offend Muslims, and one for those kill non-Muslims ?

-Arun Gupta

There no poiont talkig to mad lafanga. All highclass hotel busyness suffers due this mad man. He makes muslim look bad.

http://news.sify.com/cgi-bin/sifynews/news/content/news_fullstory.jsp?article_oid=7059664&page_no=1

Terrorists close camps along Loc

Jammu, Sep 15



Training camps for Kashmir militants close to the LoC were being shut down amid fears of US military attacks, a senior Indian defence official said Saturday.

``The rebels have been asked to move to civilian areas and camp in houses till further orders,`` the official said.

The orders follow apprehension among militant groups that their training centres could be destroyed during possible US retaliatory strikes in the region, following Tuesday`s terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, he said.

In Washington late Friday, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution authorizing President George W. Bush to use force against those responsible for terrorist attacks on US soil, with the US Senate also passing a similar measure unanimously earlier in the day.

``There are about 12 training camps in Pakistan controlled Kashmir, across the Poonch, Rajouri and Kupwara sectors,`` the official said.

``The rebels have been asked not to communicate using phones and wireless sets for sometime.``

Indian officials were interpreting this move as an attempt by ``Pakistani agencies,`` not to provide any further evidence of their involvement in the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

These developments had demoralised some of the rebels groups operating in Kashmir, the official said, adding that some militants who had crossed into Kashmir were discovered by troops trying to re-enter Pakistan.

``Three rebels were killed in Mandi area of Poonch on Friday, 225 kilometres north west of Jammu on their way to Pakistan,`` the official said.

Re: Scout

``Don`t know how much of that report is true or not, but I`m sure there are some crazy people out there who are celebrating. The important part is that the number of people celebrating is miniscule, microscopic to the number of people mourning this great loss.``

Here you are posting stupidity on yet another board, while asking others to go do something. Hypocrite if I ever saw one.

According to news reports, the Pakistani government and Palestinian authority were apparently pissed off at the journalists who took pictures of their people celebrating this. It was not ``miniscule`` as you conveniently say -- it was in the thousands. It is still going on, except cameras have been confiscated and you will be not seeing them. The Pakis even went so far as to warn journalists that they cannot guarantee the security of anyone videotaping these events.

So please, do keep your trap shut.

So now the muj have to keep their word and show the world the cajuns they have. Marines have landed in Pakistan. No planes flying over pakistan - they are taking an extar rpound trip.

Read the following from agencies

US marines land in Pak for surveillance, says report

K J M Varma in Islamabad

Amidst reports of US marines landing in Pakistan for surveillance against the Taleban and terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, international airlines stopped using the Pak-Afghan air corridor and the country`s airport was put on high alert.

The Nation daily reported on Saturday that a special plane carrying over two dozen foreigners landed at the Chaklala air base in the wee hours of Friday.

Another daily The News quoted an eyewitness as saying that he had seen a small contingent of US troops having already landed in Islamabad.

It said, according to unofficial reports, a contingent of over 50 personnel from the Special Services Group of the US marines `Green Seals` have landed for conducting `target oriented` operations against bin Laden, prime suspect in the terrorist strikes in the US.

However, it said there was no official confirmation on this from any quarter.

Diplomatic sources confirmed the arrival of two American aircraft but declined to give further details.

Heavy contingents of the army were deployed to provide security at all airports across the country, including Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, media reports said.

Unconfirmed reports also said that Pakistan`s air force was on high alert to guard the country`s airspace.

The News said that international airlines using a 396 nautical mile air corridor over Pakistani airspace that provided the shortest air route between the far east and Europe, stopped using the corridor.

The airlines would now have to take a circuitous route, it said.

I agree with what some of the people have been talking about... if Osama had such a well grained and trained set of resources Afghanistan would not have been a country without transport, electricity, proper health services etc. There is something else which the world is finding too easy to neglect, enemey, it appears, is surely in the shadows! I hope the Americans give it a second thought before propelling themselves into a war.

Shahgul:

An interesting way of delivering your thoughts.

On a general note:I think this horrific incident will capture many`s attention in its own way. Some will cry, some will shed silent tears, some will show anger, some will go into a state of shock, some will talk to friends and like to be in a cosy surrounding, some will write against all the evil forces on the face of earth, some will try to convey message of peace and harmony, some will curse the talibaans and their mukkar, shatir and ayyar guest...all will have their own way. At this time, no one is writing articles for the purpose of being liked/disliked/recognized - everyone is writing to give a food for thought to the readers and to share their perspectives. We all have our own way of sharing grief, pain, flow of thoughts, anger and all other human emotions. This is not the usual Chowk`s Interact: I hope we do realize that.

Many of us may disgaree with a viewpoint on this board and others, but we must realize that this is not the time to act like jerks and slap each other argumentatively. We have to let our human self take over our animalistic tendencies. The % varies amongst all of us; but it`s there otherwise, the poet would never have said:

Osama Bin Laden: Myth or Reality:



During this whole ordeal, has anyone taken the time to logically think out whether all the pieces of the puzzle fit? Everyone seems to be following the American media, and whatever the US State Dept. seems to state.

Let`s assume for the time being, that OBL is exactly the figure that the US has painted him to be. Now step back and think about something. This man would thus be the most powerful terrorist ever to have laid foot on earth. Could the CIA, with all its resources, have successfully carried out a WTC like act in even India or Pakistan. I doubt it. Yet this one man sitting in Afghanistan could carry out something like this, all the way across the Atlantic. How?

People talk of his network. It must be one hell of a network, that spreads from one end of the earth to the other. It can hit in Kenya, Yemen, New York, and other places. If there is such a grand network being run by a known entity, then why isn`t any information about the network available? How does a message get from OBL to Boston? And who finances this giant enterprise in so many countries? How does the money flow between the banks, etc.? It is difficult to send an email to hotmail from Afghanistan. How does this guy manage everything from there? Does he just make one phone call and things happen with such percision? And what kind of master terrorist allows his face to be shown on US TV again and again. Terrorists never appear in public. That is their biggest strength.

The four pilots of these aircraft were trained airline pilots. Unlike the people on the talk shows are suggesting, one cannot just learn to navigate a B-767 to a major city, without instruments, and percisely fly it into a building on the ground, with percision, by just practicing on a Microsoft flight simulator. I would guess the pilots had around 200 hours of real flight simulator time on the Boeing aircraft. How did they get their training? An individual cannot just go and start flying a Boeing simulator. It generally has to be through a govt. or private airline.

In my opinion, there is a much bigger organization behind all of this. If OBL is the guilty party, then he is a front person for this organization. He himself is not the organization. Since everyone has only seen his pictures briefly on TV, who can even say with certainity that the person being shown is the real OBL. Maybe the real man is behind the scenes, completely invisible to the rest of the world. Wouldn`t that make more sense for a head of a worldwide terrorist organization?

Adn who in the world funds the Taliban, when everyone and their grandmother has sanctions against them? Do a calculation of the costs of the armament they have to buy. It certainly cannot be supported by their economy. Who is giving them money?

Only a network spread out all over the world, with a good understanding of the financial market, with an awful lot of resources, can carry out such operations. Such operations are far far too complicated and sophisticated and spread out to be carried out remotely by one individual; and that too from Afghanistan. I highly doubt any head of a terrorist worth his salt would openly declare himself to the international public.

My guess is that OBL (if he is who the US says he is) is one interface of a large underground sophisticated, high tech, well-educated network of primarily Saudi and Arab wealthy men and women. I think the prominent players are Saudis millionaires who are fed up with the Saud kingdom (after all that is where OBL started from, i.e. multi-millionaire fed up with Saudi Kingdom), as well as with certain US policies. Their other interfaces are some of the other terrorist organizations. These people do not carry out the ops. themselves. They just fund and provide guidance to fledgling organizations. Call them terrorism venture capitalists, if you will.

Otherwise, how in the world can one man, even with some kind of a network, organize and carry out something so sophisticated, half way around the world. I doubt he could even buy something on ebay from Afghanistan, with all the US agencies monitoring him. If anyone has any theories on how such a network could be operated efficiently from Afghanistan by one person, I am all ears.