My Pakistan

ahmedzai: my post #101 is messed up because i forgot to put quotes around the piece i cut and paste. my apologies. the corrected post (where i have taken out the lengthy extract), which replaces my most #101 follows:

ahmedzai: I went back and read the article that alephnull posted. alephnull is wrong in implying that taking off of shoes applies only to pakistanis. it applies to all - including US generals for that matter. but you take the mistake a step further - if the procedure is applied to all passengers, why should orakzai think he should be exempt? the answer of course is simple: because in pakistan generals think they are above the law.

i am appalled that in pakistan so many people have come to accept this lawlessness on the part of military generals as being their right. even the writer of that article in great earnestness writes:

``Of course there are a million questions which need to be answered now, some by General Orakzai and others by his hosts in Tampa, FL. First when the General was invited officially, where were his hosts when he arrived at New York? ``

The answer to this is simple. there are no VIPs in the US. i once saw senator kennedy coming out of the plane carrying his own luggage with no one to receive him. the US is a nation of free people. and i am sorry to say but 50 years of martial law have turned pakistanis into slaves of their own generals.

the writer asks: ``Why was he not escorted out of the JFK like US Army Generals are when they touch down at any Pakistani Airport.``

the answer again is simple. in pakistan most government officials and army officers have nothing more important than kissing up to their superiors. i once spent a day with a DC friend of mine in pindi, and twice he went to the airport to kiss ass of a VIP. in the US government officials use their time doing what pakistani officials should be doing - serving the public.

finally, the writer writes approvingly orakzai of the ``white skinned blue eyed`` descendent of alexander. what kind of a dimwit would write such a racist thing? does the fact that the general is blue eyed mean that the US officials should have let him go.

ahmedzai my friend - you are a good man. but dont let life in pakistan turn you into a slave. all men are equal according to the Quran. they know that in the US. not in pakistan it would seem from this article.

tahmed

I agree.

One thing I will say.... As God is my witness I travelled on a Pakistani passport (as my primary ID) after September 11th all over the US (Midwest and west coast) and except once I was never asked to remove my shoes. A lot of people are stopped and asked to remove their shoes... and there are even white americans amongst them.

I think the Paki-bashers and the Indi-bashers are definitely one nation... a nation of idiots.

-YLH

Ahmedzai - I am not an Indian. Never been one. So there goes another wet dreams of yours.

Tahmed32 - I am unable to compute your last post (post #97). No one can take my computer away from me. Maybe they can from you - but me no way, sirjee! I am not paid to use a computer. This m/c is but incedental to my daily life.

People like ahmedzai and others seem to have their heads buried in the sand ostrich like.

Do you realise that the FBI and other US /western agencies are already in pakistan. They are supposed to searching for the Al Qaeda and others. But seriously dont you think that this is justa cover story - since they are integrating themselves into the intelligence of the country and keep tabs on the INTERNAL AFFAIRS of the country. Mush-e-ruff has already had some 17 attempts (according to some accounts) on his life. Indeed it is unheard of in other countries of the armed forces circulating anonymous letters in the parliament.

[b]the iraqization of pakistan has already started[/b]. Urstruly was correct in his own way when he was protesting when these events like the FBI/ etc opening shop officially in pakistan.

ahmedzai: I went back and read the article that alephnull posted. alephnull is wrong in implying that taking off of shoes applies only to pakistanis. it applies to all - including US generals for that matter. but you take the mistake a step further - if the procedure is applied to all passengers, why should orakzai think he should be exempt? the answer of course is simple: because in pakistan generals think they are above the law.

He was paid more attention because he carried a Pakistani green passport and even more attention because he looked like a blue-eyed (true) white skinned descendant of Alexander the Great with a physique which comes with the uniform of an army general.

His ordeal in London was brief but a wake-up call of sorts. The plane took off with General Orakzai and after crossing the Atlantic, landed at JFK, the horror station for new comers, especially if arriving from a hot spot like Peshawar.

Here the General tried to use his brains and told the Immigration Officer he was a guest of the US Army, he himself was an army General and he had a flight to catch for Tampa which may leave without him if he was delayed.

John Ashcroft`s Homeland Security guys are used to such big mouths and big boasters. They don`t care who you are. So our key Corps Commander was asked to take off his shoes, carry the shoes bare footed to the machines for screening, was asked whatever number of questions were relevant and made to taste the medicine every Pakistani has been forced to gulp ever since 9/11, no matter how `tight` General Musharraf was with his friend George Bush.

This story was narrated to the two journalists before Mr. Nasim Ashraf in Peshawar, who, of all the people, got the clarification from the General whether his comments were on the record, as Mr. Khalid Hasan was taking notes and it was obvious that he would print what Gen. Orakzai was saying.

Orakzai did not stop him but asserted that he was on the record. In very calm and sober, implicitly of course very menacing tones, made a statement which should open some eyes in the Pentagon and at Centcom. This is what Khalid Hasan wrote in his Sunday, Nov 16, 2003, column in the Daily Times:

``Anyone who tells you that there is no racial or religious profiling at American ports of entry is reading too many government press releases. The Bush administration does not realize how much goodwill at home and abroad it has lost and continues to lose by such crass, poorly thought-out and zealously implemented practices.

``Last month, Lt Gen Ali Jan Mohammad Orakzai, who commands 11 Corps in Peshawar, told a group of which I was a member, that he would never come to the United States again because last time he did that on an invitation from the US Army, at JFK, New York, he was made to take off his shoes, asked to carry them some distance and searched like a criminal. The General added that he was speaking on the record.``

i am appalled that in pakistan so many people have come to accept this lawlessness on the part of military generals as being their right. even the writer of that article in great earnestness writes:

``Of course there are a million questions which need to be answered now, some by General Orakzai and others by his hosts in Tampa, FL. First when the General was invited officially, where were his hosts when he arrived at New York? ``

The answer to this is simple. there are no VIPs in the US. i once saw senator kennedy coming out of the plane carrying his own luggage with no one to receive him. the US is a nation of free people. and i am sorry to say but 50 years of martial law have turned pakistanis into slaves of their own generals.

the writer asks: ``Why was he not escorted out of the JFK like US Army Generals are when they touch down at any Pakistani Airport.``

the answer again is simple. in pakistan most government officials and army officers have nothing more important than kissing up to their superiors. i once spent a day with a DC friend of mine in pindi, and twice he went to the airport to kiss ass of a VIP. in the US government officials use their time doing what pakistani officials should be doing - serving the public.

finally, the writer writes approvingly orakzai of the ``white skinned blue eyed`` descendent of alexander. what kind of a dimwit would write such a racist thing? does the fact that the general is blue eyed mean that the US officials should have let him go.

ahmedzai my friend - you are a good man. but dont let life in pakistan turn you into a slave. all men are equal according to the Quran. they know that in the US. not in pakistan it would seem from this article.

``He will wait for his time and perhaps do an exact tit for tat on a Pakistani airport one day``

Is the good general planning on taking the job as an airport security officer?

bharatvaasi #93 telling you to fu!ckoff and do what you are paid to do before they take your computer away is not an abuse. it is a favor to you so you can keep your job.

ahmedzai #95 it would be foolish of the US government to ignore the fact that the bombers of 9/11 were all muslims. and that they were supported by al qaeda that had an entire country in its grip.

the US government has a duty to protect all individuals - not just americans, but any individual travelling in the US - and there were 6 or 7 million foreigners visiting the US last year. that is why this scrutiny is required. i can only wish that the pakistan government was equally mindful of its duties to protect pakistanis from terrorism.

rather than pandering to the maulvis and inflating these thugs and murderers by calling them freedom fighters it would have given them a taste of their own medicine by inflicting on them the same violence they seek to inflict on airline passengers in the US, bus passengers in Indian kasmir, and ordinary people on the streets and bus stops of pakistan.

Tauheed at # 91:

Mahatir Mohamed of Malaysia was another person who was body searched to his utter annoyance.

Btw, General Urakzai never whined. He went through the ordeal and mentioned it only informally to some gentleman who leaked it out. He is proud son serving his country. Rest assured he will never whine. He will wait for his time and perhaps do an exact tit for tat on a Pakistani airport one day. Just wait for that day :-)

And even if that has happened then its Americans who are guilty, not Pakistanis.

Iraquisation,

The iraquisation is already on. All of the funding from international organisations and donors are focussed on poverty aleviation programs, the equivalent of the food for oil program of iraq. Because there is no extra money, that is why the pak govt is paying of the loans so that soem monety is available due to reduced interest payments, to support the import of merc 500 SELs for the generals.
All of the high tech educational supprt has been stopped, travel is hard for pakistanis and already a pk visa on your passport is treated as al alquida insignia. Slowly and steadily the quality of life and tech access to pakistan will be denied. It took 10 years for iraq under overt program, it may take a little longer for pakistan, till the army is defeated. There is fencing on the afghan birder, fencing on the idian side, indian and iranian navy patroling the seas, at last the country is fenced, more than what happened to iraq. The process is on, while the YLH talks about secularism, romair talks of the words of chuck yaeger and tahmed defends the jihadists.

tahmed32 no point in abusing me. Do some reading - SA Tribune, Daily Times etc. ANd you will see what I am saying.

Now like a good little child go suck that lollipop and contemplate your navel.

Mantolives at # 79 & Alephnull at # 82:

Without getting into theoretics, please read my earlier post where I listed out the differences in practical terms.

1. I do believe on the basis of historical data that our Mullas are worse than the current Government of India in that if given power they will retrogress Pakistan to 1400 years ago.

2. I do not believe for a second on the basis of historical data that their leadership will absorb anyone who leads parades to destroy temples or condone a delinquent Government like that of Modi.

Tauheed & Alephnull:

Indian Chowsters have provided link to the following story:

Ordeal of Pakistani General:

The following is most prominent from the link:

``Anyone who tells you that there is no racial or religious profiling at American ports of entry is reading too many government press releases. The Bush administration does not realize how much goodwill at home and abroad it has lost and continues to lose by such crass, poorly thought-out and zealously implemented practices. ``

And from another news item, this one from myself:

``According to the Cornell University, students from the following countries need special scrutiny: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the territories of Gaza and West Bank.``

This is what they call religious and ethnic discrimination that Indians like Bharatvaasi and arjun_m are so proud of. Also, this is a way by the USA to find a new enemy in Islam. But Indians should understand that this attitude does not reflect negatively on Pakistanis. It does so only and only on the American Government.

Solution: The leadership of the Muslim countries is doing a fine job in siding with the USA. We should not give any chance to the USA to declare us an enemy and wipe us out on a false excuse since we are technologically and economically a no match for it.

If urstruly or any Indian has a better solution, I would like to listen to him.

AlephNull #84: This example you provide only highlights the falsity that you are trying to defend.

That is, this taking off of shoes is obviously part of the tightening of airport screening that all passengers go through, general or no general. Indeed, last year a serving US senator was asked to take off his pants (pants, not just shoes) by one airport screener, and also former vice president Al Gore later on as I recall had to do the same at an airport. Both took it in good spirit and didnt start whining like this general. And shoe removal is something that countless passengers (most of them no doubt far better individuals than this self-important general from pakistan) have to go through daily.

I have sometimes wondered alound on chowk on the reasons why one particular group of posters (south indians) have this great need to insult pakistanis on chowk. most other posters - north indians and pakistanis - are generally free from this need. and certainly they dont come running to the rescue of some idiot whose lies have been exposed. my theory (which may be wrong, but is seems to best explain the evidence) is that there are pschological insecurities and dysfunctional cultural reasons for this.

Let us look at some hard facts about the Indo-Pak tensions and the rise of fundamentalism.

It is in the interest of several powers, both domestic as well as foreign to keep the tensions alive.

The major powers` largest exports are military hardware, therefore it will always be in their interest to keep tensions alive.

Purchase of military hardware is a large expense for both India as well as Pakistan.

Commissions and kick backs to officials are not unheard of.

As long as there is tension around the borders, keeping a large military would always be justified.

As long as the army remains large and powerful, it will end of controlling the country either directly or indirectly.

Many a times the interest of the military and the fundamentalist groups whether Hindu, Muslim or otherwise are common.

At the end of the day it has nothing to do with religion or territory, but has everything to do with money and power and with keeping the vested interests alive.

The biggest issue around Kalabagh dam is not that influentials own land around the proposed site, but it is two very important issues. One that large tracts of land around the Kalabagh site would end up being inundated and would result in the relocation of a large number of villages in that area.

The second big issue is that in a country already facing water shortages downstream along the Indus, a large dam like Kalabagh would dry up areas below Rohri for the few years following the construction of the dam, during the filling up of the reservoir. Even after the reservoir has been filled up, the coastal areas in Sindh would suffer tremendous ecological damage because of reduced flow of water into the sea and would see a lot of soil erosion and sea water intrusion. Once a large dam has been constructed upstream, one province would essentially excercise increased control on the water supply of the lower riparian areas.