Will Pakistanis Listen and Act?
Sushil Bhatnagar July 22, 2005
#1 Posted by arjun_m on July 22, 2005 4:31:22 pm
Death by a thousand cuts, eh?
cut this...
The focus has shifted on Pakiland and it`s ties to extremism because of *drum roll* the indigenous Kashmiri freedom fighters..
Pakistan still a recruiting ground for extremists: WSJ
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: According to “South Asia analysts and Western intelligence officials,” reports the Wall Street Journal, “Pakistan continues to be a principal recruiting ground and logistical centre for global terrorists,” despite three years of Pak-US military operations to root out Al Qaeda and Taliban members in the remote tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The report published on Friday notes that President Pervez Musharraf has banned many militant Islamic organisations and tightened regulations on seminaries that have provided recruits to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. It quotes from President Musharraf’s televised address on Thursday in which he issued a fresh ban against militant Islamic groups and their fund-raising activities. However, adds the report, “Gen Musharraf’s moves to date have had little effect. Among the reasons: Pakistan’s armed forces have been reluctant to crack down on militias that have helped Pakistan defend its claim on Kashmir … even though those militias also may be connected with terrorist elements. Also, Gen Musharraf’s government relies on support from political parties that are often sympathetic to the aspirations of Islamic militants. These militants hold influence within the Pakistani Army, making it hard for the President to implement a thorough crackdown.”
The report points out that some of Pakistan’s most active Islamist militias, Jaish Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, continue to operate openly in parts of Pakistan, even though Gen Musharraf banned their activities in 2002. US and British authorities are concerned that Lashkar is allying itself with Al Qaeda and recruiting members from the Pakistani diaspora. The report quotes Christine Fair of the US Institute of Peace as saying, “Since 9/11, there are only really two prominent places in the world where you can train for jihad: Iraq and Pakistan. If you’re a young Muslim male looking for training, Pakistan is where you’re likely to find the opportunity, particularly if you have family and ethnic ties there.”
The Wall Street Journal report quotes unnamed officials who claim that Gen Musharraf has put less emphasis on dismantling home-grown Pakistani militant groups, even though he banned many of them in 2002. “On one subject the government and the militants have traditionally been in full agreement: Kashmir… Western experts say that if Gen Musharraf is taking a soft line toward domestic militant groups because he wants their help in Kashmir or Afghanistan, it is a flawed strategy because the line between Al Qaeda and these groups has increasingly blurred.”
The report alleges that in Pakistan’s tribal areas of Balochistan and the Northwest Frontier Province, the Taliban still train and recruit without government interference.
cut this...
The focus has shifted on Pakiland and it`s ties to extremism because of *drum roll* the indigenous Kashmiri freedom fighters..
Pakistan still a recruiting ground for extremists: WSJ
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: According to “South Asia analysts and Western intelligence officials,” reports the Wall Street Journal, “Pakistan continues to be a principal recruiting ground and logistical centre for global terrorists,” despite three years of Pak-US military operations to root out Al Qaeda and Taliban members in the remote tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The report published on Friday notes that President Pervez Musharraf has banned many militant Islamic organisations and tightened regulations on seminaries that have provided recruits to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. It quotes from President Musharraf’s televised address on Thursday in which he issued a fresh ban against militant Islamic groups and their fund-raising activities. However, adds the report, “Gen Musharraf’s moves to date have had little effect. Among the reasons: Pakistan’s armed forces have been reluctant to crack down on militias that have helped Pakistan defend its claim on Kashmir … even though those militias also may be connected with terrorist elements. Also, Gen Musharraf’s government relies on support from political parties that are often sympathetic to the aspirations of Islamic militants. These militants hold influence within the Pakistani Army, making it hard for the President to implement a thorough crackdown.”
The report points out that some of Pakistan’s most active Islamist militias, Jaish Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, continue to operate openly in parts of Pakistan, even though Gen Musharraf banned their activities in 2002. US and British authorities are concerned that Lashkar is allying itself with Al Qaeda and recruiting members from the Pakistani diaspora. The report quotes Christine Fair of the US Institute of Peace as saying, “Since 9/11, there are only really two prominent places in the world where you can train for jihad: Iraq and Pakistan. If you’re a young Muslim male looking for training, Pakistan is where you’re likely to find the opportunity, particularly if you have family and ethnic ties there.”
The Wall Street Journal report quotes unnamed officials who claim that Gen Musharraf has put less emphasis on dismantling home-grown Pakistani militant groups, even though he banned many of them in 2002. “On one subject the government and the militants have traditionally been in full agreement: Kashmir… Western experts say that if Gen Musharraf is taking a soft line toward domestic militant groups because he wants their help in Kashmir or Afghanistan, it is a flawed strategy because the line between Al Qaeda and these groups has increasingly blurred.”
The report alleges that in Pakistan’s tribal areas of Balochistan and the Northwest Frontier Province, the Taliban still train and recruit without government interference.
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#2 Posted by Urstruly on July 22, 2005 5:03:26 pm
I think in post cold war world the era of Goeblism has ended with it as well. The war that is on now has become immune to the propaganda. Positions have been hardened and the schism has widened. The analysts and propagandists can cry their throats hoarse but this war is now destined to only one of the two outcomes as the crow craoked in his last state of the union address `` There is a Third world war raging in iraq.......The terrorists (i.e we) know that the outcome will leave them emboldened or defeated. So we are waging a campaign of murder and destruction,`` he said.
#3 Posted by ZahraJ on July 22, 2005 7:59:46 pm
The following is indeed a very negative portrayal of Pakistan and Pakistanis. Some concrete steps ought to be taken to nip the evil (fanatic elements).
Battle Ground
Despite U.S. Effort,
Pakistan Remains
Key Terror Hub
Islamist Militias Still Operate
After Ban by Musharraf;
Some Havens for al Qaeda
A Spanish Cell Sends $18,000
By JAY SOLOMON in Washington, ZAHID HUSSAIN in Islamabad, Pakistan, and KEITH JOHNSON in Madrid
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 22, 2005; Page A1
In March 2004, al Qaeda leaders gathered at a mud hut in Pakistan`s remote tribal regions for a summit meeting. Among those who attended, according to senior Pakistani intelligence officials, was a Libyan operative described as Osama bin Laden`s top operational planner. Another attendee, Abu Issa al Hindi, now faces terrorism-related charges in the U.S.
On the agenda that day were plans to carry out attacks in Britain, say Pakistani officials involved in the capture of al Qaeda members in recent months. British and Pakistani intelligence officials are now exploring whether there`s a link to the July 7 London bombings.
Yesterday, explosions shut down three London subway stations and blew out the windows of a double-decker bus. One casualty was reported. The bombs appeared to be weaker than those used two weeks earlier.
Al Qaeda`s possible role in the July 7 bombings and the latest attacks remains murky, but one thing is clear to South Asia analysts and Western intelligence officials: Pakistan continues to be a principal recruiting ground and logistical center for global terrorists. This is despite three years of military operations by the U.S. and Pakistan to root out al Qaeda and Taliban members in the remote tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. ally, has banned many militant Islamic organizations and tightened regulations on religious seminaries, or madrassas, that have provided recruits to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Yesterday, Gen. Musharraf, in a televised speech to the country, issued a fresh ban against militant Islamic groups and their fund-raising activities. He gave madrassas a December deadline to register with the government.
Gen. Musharraf`s moves to date have had little effect, say South Asian and Western officials. Among the reasons: Pakistan`s armed forces have been reluctant to crack down on militias that have helped Pakistan defend its claim on Kashmir, a territory it disputes with India, even though those militias also may be connected with terrorist elements. Also, Gen. Musharraf`s government relies on support from political parties that are often sympathetic to the aspirations of Islamic militants. These militants hold influence within the Pakistani army, making it hard for the president to implement a thorough crackdown.
Pakistan emerges as a common thread in recent terrorism investigations. Three of the four suspected London suicide bombers apparently traveled to Pakistan within the past year, where they are believed to have met militant groups and possibly trained with them, Pakistani officials say. Last September, Spanish police broke up a cell of Pakistani nationals in Barcelona who police say had sent at least $18,000 to al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan -- among them a man who is a chief suspect in the plot to kidnap and murder Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Another al Qaeda operative, computer expert Naeem Noor Khan, was arrested in July 2004 in Lahore, Pakistan. He had with him photos and contact lists detailing a terrorism campaign targeted at London`s Heathrow Airport, the World Bank building in Washington and other places.
Some of Pakistan`s most active Islamist militias, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, continue to operate openly in parts of Pakistan, even though Gen. Musharraf banned their activities in 2002. U.S. and British authorities are concerned that Lashkar is allying itself with al Qaeda and recruiting members from the Pakistani diaspora.
``Since 9/11, there are only really two prominent places in the world where you can train for jihad: Iraq and Pakistan,`` says Christine Fair, a South Asia expert at the United States Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan federal think tank in Washington. ``If you`re a young Muslim male looking for training, Pakistan is where you`re likely to find the opportunity, particularly if you have family and ethnic ties there.``
In his speech yesterday, Gen. Musharraf expressed displeasure with the criticism of Pakistan following the July 7 London bombing. While three of the bombers` parents are of Pakistani descent, he said, the men were products of Britain, not Pakistan. ``We certainly have a problem here which we are trying to address very strongly. May I say England also has a problem that needs to be addressed,`` Gen. Musharraf said. Extremist groups ``operate with full impunity`` in Britain including ones that ``had the audacity to pass an edict against my life,`` said the Pakistani president, who has been the target of assassination attempts.
The arrest last year of Mr. Khan, the computer expert, was critical in helping authorities link al Qaeda`s senior commanders in Pakistan to terrorist cells in Europe and the U.S. Mr. Khan, then 28, is the son of a Pakistan International Airlines pilot and traveled often to Europe and the Middle East when he was young.
According to multiple officials involved in the investigation, Pakistani agents traced Mr. Khan`s emails and found he was communicating both with suspected al Qaeda operatives in the U.K. and with commanders in the South Waziristan district of Pakistan`s tribal areas. In interrogations, Mr. Khan said he sent encrypted messages of terrorist plots, sometimes by couriers on mules, to operations commanders based in caves, according to these officials.
U.S. and British authorities ultimately were forced to cut short a surveillance operation on the British cell after concerns mounted that an attack could be imminent. Investigators in Pakistan had found specific ``targeting sites`` on Mr. Khan`s computer, including pictures of London`s Heathrow Airport and British mass transit systems. In London, British authorities, using leads from Mr. Kahn`s arrest, found photos on suspects` computers of the World Bank headquarters in Washington and the Prudential Corporate Plaza building in Newark, N.J.
That caused the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to raise its terror alert to orange in August 2004. While some experts at the time played down the likelihood that these U.S. buildings could be targets, it remains unclear what the users of these computers were planning.
Among those arrested in sweeps inside Pakistan and Britain following Mr. Khan`s arrest were Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian al Qaeda member indicted by the U.S. for the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. The most prized catch for the U.S. was Mr. Hindi, the man reported to have been an attendee at the March 2004 summit meeting. He is believed to have been a senior al Qaeda operative in Europe and is linked to alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Mr. Hindi was indicted by the U.S. in April on charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction and conspiring to destroy buildings.
The young computer expert, Mr. Khan, was also connected to the cell of Pakistani nationals in Barcelona. He was one of the recipients of the money the Spanish cell sent to Pakistan. In April of this year a Spanish investigating magistrate described the 11-man cell in a writ seeking to keep the men imprisoned until trial. The writ says the cell provided funding and a possible escape plan to one of the alleged masterminds of the March 11, 2004, bombings in Madrid, Rabei Osman Said Ahmed, a k a Mohamed the Egyptian, who is now facing trial in Italy over separate terrorism charges. Another member of the cell was allegedly in charge of establishing sleeper cells in Scandinavia.
To raise funds for a ``global jihad,`` the cell got involved in drug trafficking, credit-card fraud and extortion, the writ says. Police found 141 grams of heroin, precision scales and machines used in making fake credit cards in one of the houses used as a meeting place by cell members, in addition to the equivalent of $22,000 in cash.
European law-enforcement agencies are taking a harder look at Pakistani militant groups that traditionally were thought to have at most loose ties to al Qaeda. One of these groups is Lashkar-e-Taiba, or ``Army of the Pure,`` an Islamist militia that has long trained Pakistani recruits for fighting in Kashmir. It also has a long relationship with the Pakistani military and intelligence services.
In March of this year, British police arrested Palvinder Singh, a 29-year-old British national of Pakistani descent, in Coventry for alleged links to Lashkar. The group is outlawed in Britain. Mr. Singh and two others were charged with conspiracy to fund terrorism and conspiracy to acquire equipment for terrorism. Law-enforcement officials say the arrests are part of a major, previously undisclosed operation by Scotland Yard to roll up Lashkar`s British cells.
Some officials say Gen. Musharraf has put less emphasis on dismantling home-grown Pakistani militant groups, even though he banned many of them in 2002. On one subject the government and the militants have traditionally been in full agreement: Kashmir, control of which is split between India and Pakistan. Pakistani government propaganda distributed at some overseas embassies depicts the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir as a horror zone in which Indian-sponsored terrorists rape and kill Muslims.
Western experts say that if Gen. Musharraf is taking a soft line toward domestic militant groups because he wants their help in Kashmir or Afghanistan, it is a flawed strategy because the line between al Qaeda and these groups has increasingly blurred.
Pakistan ``cooperated rigorously in going after al Qaeda, but went very slow in going after Taliban and groups operating inside Kashmir,`` says Ashley Tellis, who was senior director for Southwest Asia at the National Security Council during President Bush`s first term and now is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. ``This works in theory but not in practice.``
A visit to an Islamic center just outside Lahore, called Marzak-Dawa-al-Rasad, or MDI, is indicative of how Pakistan`s militant culture continues to thrive. MDI is the parent organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and its founder, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, was previously the militia`s chief before it was banned in 2002. Today, Mr. Saeed and his religious colleagues actively preach the necessity for jihad.
Mr. Saeed, a 60-year-old former university professor, proudly recounts attacks his army led on India as recently as 2001. The killing of ``infidels`` and the destruction of the forces of ``evil and disbelief`` is the obligation of every pious Muslim, says Mr. Saeed. He calls Mr. bin Laden ``a man of extraordinary qualities,`` but Lashkar leaders have denied that the group is part of the al Qaeda network.
The compound houses an Islamic university, a farm, a clothing factory and a carpentry workshop. The university promotes the austere Wahabi version of Islam and offers students boot-camp-like physical training, according to university officials.
Meanwhile, Lashkar has changed its name to Jammat-ul-Dawa, or Islamic ``Preaching Core,`` and solicits new recruits for the Kashmir conflict in Lahore and other cities. The group continues to publish magazines and operate a Web site. Currently there is an official cease-fire in Kashmir as the Indian and Pakistani governments conducts peace talks, but Indian officials claim that recent attacks in Kashmir have been supported by militant groups inside Pakistan.
In Pakistan`s tribal areas of Baluchistan and the Northwest Frontier Province, the Taliban still train and recruit without government interference. In the Baluch cities of Quetta and Chaman, the Taliban`s presence is particularly strong, and U.S. and Afghan military commanders complain that Pakistan is providing sanctuary and aid to the militias they`re fighting. Pashtunabad, a congested slum district in Quetta, is a hotbed of former Taliban activists. Several exiled former Taliban leaders are believed to have taken refuge there.
The main madrassa in the neighborhood is run by Maulana Noor Mohammed, a member of Pakistan`s national assembly, who belongs to an alliance of conservative Islamic parties allied with Gen. Musharraf`s government. Mr. Mohammed believes the Taliban`s version of political Islam will flourish again someday across South Asia. ``The Taliban will ultimately triumph,`` he said in an interview at the madrassa, the majority of whose students are Afghan refugees.
Efforts by Gen. Musharraf`s government to regulate the more than 10,000 madrassas in Pakistan have stalled in part because they continue to get support from Pakistanis overseas and foreign Islamic charities. A report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group says that Pakistan`s madrassas and mosques receive $1.1 billion dollars in domestic donations every year, but the number is believed to be significantly higher when foreign contributions are included.
Since the July 7 London bombings, Pakistani security forces have rounded up nearly 300 suspected militants in raids on homes and madrassas. The government has pledged again to weed out the militancy taught in the madrassas. Gen. Musharraf, in his speech yesterday, said he would act against newspapers that spread hatred and told the nation it was at a crossroads in choosing between progressive or ``retrogressive`` Islam.
Battle Ground
Despite U.S. Effort,
Pakistan Remains
Key Terror Hub
Islamist Militias Still Operate
After Ban by Musharraf;
Some Havens for al Qaeda
A Spanish Cell Sends $18,000
By JAY SOLOMON in Washington, ZAHID HUSSAIN in Islamabad, Pakistan, and KEITH JOHNSON in Madrid
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 22, 2005; Page A1
In March 2004, al Qaeda leaders gathered at a mud hut in Pakistan`s remote tribal regions for a summit meeting. Among those who attended, according to senior Pakistani intelligence officials, was a Libyan operative described as Osama bin Laden`s top operational planner. Another attendee, Abu Issa al Hindi, now faces terrorism-related charges in the U.S.
On the agenda that day were plans to carry out attacks in Britain, say Pakistani officials involved in the capture of al Qaeda members in recent months. British and Pakistani intelligence officials are now exploring whether there`s a link to the July 7 London bombings.
Yesterday, explosions shut down three London subway stations and blew out the windows of a double-decker bus. One casualty was reported. The bombs appeared to be weaker than those used two weeks earlier.
Al Qaeda`s possible role in the July 7 bombings and the latest attacks remains murky, but one thing is clear to South Asia analysts and Western intelligence officials: Pakistan continues to be a principal recruiting ground and logistical center for global terrorists. This is despite three years of military operations by the U.S. and Pakistan to root out al Qaeda and Taliban members in the remote tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. ally, has banned many militant Islamic organizations and tightened regulations on religious seminaries, or madrassas, that have provided recruits to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Yesterday, Gen. Musharraf, in a televised speech to the country, issued a fresh ban against militant Islamic groups and their fund-raising activities. He gave madrassas a December deadline to register with the government.
Gen. Musharraf`s moves to date have had little effect, say South Asian and Western officials. Among the reasons: Pakistan`s armed forces have been reluctant to crack down on militias that have helped Pakistan defend its claim on Kashmir, a territory it disputes with India, even though those militias also may be connected with terrorist elements. Also, Gen. Musharraf`s government relies on support from political parties that are often sympathetic to the aspirations of Islamic militants. These militants hold influence within the Pakistani army, making it hard for the president to implement a thorough crackdown.
Pakistan emerges as a common thread in recent terrorism investigations. Three of the four suspected London suicide bombers apparently traveled to Pakistan within the past year, where they are believed to have met militant groups and possibly trained with them, Pakistani officials say. Last September, Spanish police broke up a cell of Pakistani nationals in Barcelona who police say had sent at least $18,000 to al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan -- among them a man who is a chief suspect in the plot to kidnap and murder Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Another al Qaeda operative, computer expert Naeem Noor Khan, was arrested in July 2004 in Lahore, Pakistan. He had with him photos and contact lists detailing a terrorism campaign targeted at London`s Heathrow Airport, the World Bank building in Washington and other places.
Some of Pakistan`s most active Islamist militias, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, continue to operate openly in parts of Pakistan, even though Gen. Musharraf banned their activities in 2002. U.S. and British authorities are concerned that Lashkar is allying itself with al Qaeda and recruiting members from the Pakistani diaspora.
``Since 9/11, there are only really two prominent places in the world where you can train for jihad: Iraq and Pakistan,`` says Christine Fair, a South Asia expert at the United States Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan federal think tank in Washington. ``If you`re a young Muslim male looking for training, Pakistan is where you`re likely to find the opportunity, particularly if you have family and ethnic ties there.``
In his speech yesterday, Gen. Musharraf expressed displeasure with the criticism of Pakistan following the July 7 London bombing. While three of the bombers` parents are of Pakistani descent, he said, the men were products of Britain, not Pakistan. ``We certainly have a problem here which we are trying to address very strongly. May I say England also has a problem that needs to be addressed,`` Gen. Musharraf said. Extremist groups ``operate with full impunity`` in Britain including ones that ``had the audacity to pass an edict against my life,`` said the Pakistani president, who has been the target of assassination attempts.
The arrest last year of Mr. Khan, the computer expert, was critical in helping authorities link al Qaeda`s senior commanders in Pakistan to terrorist cells in Europe and the U.S. Mr. Khan, then 28, is the son of a Pakistan International Airlines pilot and traveled often to Europe and the Middle East when he was young.
According to multiple officials involved in the investigation, Pakistani agents traced Mr. Khan`s emails and found he was communicating both with suspected al Qaeda operatives in the U.K. and with commanders in the South Waziristan district of Pakistan`s tribal areas. In interrogations, Mr. Khan said he sent encrypted messages of terrorist plots, sometimes by couriers on mules, to operations commanders based in caves, according to these officials.
U.S. and British authorities ultimately were forced to cut short a surveillance operation on the British cell after concerns mounted that an attack could be imminent. Investigators in Pakistan had found specific ``targeting sites`` on Mr. Khan`s computer, including pictures of London`s Heathrow Airport and British mass transit systems. In London, British authorities, using leads from Mr. Kahn`s arrest, found photos on suspects` computers of the World Bank headquarters in Washington and the Prudential Corporate Plaza building in Newark, N.J.
That caused the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to raise its terror alert to orange in August 2004. While some experts at the time played down the likelihood that these U.S. buildings could be targets, it remains unclear what the users of these computers were planning.
Among those arrested in sweeps inside Pakistan and Britain following Mr. Khan`s arrest were Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian al Qaeda member indicted by the U.S. for the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. The most prized catch for the U.S. was Mr. Hindi, the man reported to have been an attendee at the March 2004 summit meeting. He is believed to have been a senior al Qaeda operative in Europe and is linked to alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Mr. Hindi was indicted by the U.S. in April on charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction and conspiring to destroy buildings.
The young computer expert, Mr. Khan, was also connected to the cell of Pakistani nationals in Barcelona. He was one of the recipients of the money the Spanish cell sent to Pakistan. In April of this year a Spanish investigating magistrate described the 11-man cell in a writ seeking to keep the men imprisoned until trial. The writ says the cell provided funding and a possible escape plan to one of the alleged masterminds of the March 11, 2004, bombings in Madrid, Rabei Osman Said Ahmed, a k a Mohamed the Egyptian, who is now facing trial in Italy over separate terrorism charges. Another member of the cell was allegedly in charge of establishing sleeper cells in Scandinavia.
To raise funds for a ``global jihad,`` the cell got involved in drug trafficking, credit-card fraud and extortion, the writ says. Police found 141 grams of heroin, precision scales and machines used in making fake credit cards in one of the houses used as a meeting place by cell members, in addition to the equivalent of $22,000 in cash.
European law-enforcement agencies are taking a harder look at Pakistani militant groups that traditionally were thought to have at most loose ties to al Qaeda. One of these groups is Lashkar-e-Taiba, or ``Army of the Pure,`` an Islamist militia that has long trained Pakistani recruits for fighting in Kashmir. It also has a long relationship with the Pakistani military and intelligence services.
In March of this year, British police arrested Palvinder Singh, a 29-year-old British national of Pakistani descent, in Coventry for alleged links to Lashkar. The group is outlawed in Britain. Mr. Singh and two others were charged with conspiracy to fund terrorism and conspiracy to acquire equipment for terrorism. Law-enforcement officials say the arrests are part of a major, previously undisclosed operation by Scotland Yard to roll up Lashkar`s British cells.
Some officials say Gen. Musharraf has put less emphasis on dismantling home-grown Pakistani militant groups, even though he banned many of them in 2002. On one subject the government and the militants have traditionally been in full agreement: Kashmir, control of which is split between India and Pakistan. Pakistani government propaganda distributed at some overseas embassies depicts the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir as a horror zone in which Indian-sponsored terrorists rape and kill Muslims.
Western experts say that if Gen. Musharraf is taking a soft line toward domestic militant groups because he wants their help in Kashmir or Afghanistan, it is a flawed strategy because the line between al Qaeda and these groups has increasingly blurred.
Pakistan ``cooperated rigorously in going after al Qaeda, but went very slow in going after Taliban and groups operating inside Kashmir,`` says Ashley Tellis, who was senior director for Southwest Asia at the National Security Council during President Bush`s first term and now is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. ``This works in theory but not in practice.``
A visit to an Islamic center just outside Lahore, called Marzak-Dawa-al-Rasad, or MDI, is indicative of how Pakistan`s militant culture continues to thrive. MDI is the parent organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and its founder, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, was previously the militia`s chief before it was banned in 2002. Today, Mr. Saeed and his religious colleagues actively preach the necessity for jihad.
Mr. Saeed, a 60-year-old former university professor, proudly recounts attacks his army led on India as recently as 2001. The killing of ``infidels`` and the destruction of the forces of ``evil and disbelief`` is the obligation of every pious Muslim, says Mr. Saeed. He calls Mr. bin Laden ``a man of extraordinary qualities,`` but Lashkar leaders have denied that the group is part of the al Qaeda network.
The compound houses an Islamic university, a farm, a clothing factory and a carpentry workshop. The university promotes the austere Wahabi version of Islam and offers students boot-camp-like physical training, according to university officials.
Meanwhile, Lashkar has changed its name to Jammat-ul-Dawa, or Islamic ``Preaching Core,`` and solicits new recruits for the Kashmir conflict in Lahore and other cities. The group continues to publish magazines and operate a Web site. Currently there is an official cease-fire in Kashmir as the Indian and Pakistani governments conducts peace talks, but Indian officials claim that recent attacks in Kashmir have been supported by militant groups inside Pakistan.
In Pakistan`s tribal areas of Baluchistan and the Northwest Frontier Province, the Taliban still train and recruit without government interference. In the Baluch cities of Quetta and Chaman, the Taliban`s presence is particularly strong, and U.S. and Afghan military commanders complain that Pakistan is providing sanctuary and aid to the militias they`re fighting. Pashtunabad, a congested slum district in Quetta, is a hotbed of former Taliban activists. Several exiled former Taliban leaders are believed to have taken refuge there.
The main madrassa in the neighborhood is run by Maulana Noor Mohammed, a member of Pakistan`s national assembly, who belongs to an alliance of conservative Islamic parties allied with Gen. Musharraf`s government. Mr. Mohammed believes the Taliban`s version of political Islam will flourish again someday across South Asia. ``The Taliban will ultimately triumph,`` he said in an interview at the madrassa, the majority of whose students are Afghan refugees.
Efforts by Gen. Musharraf`s government to regulate the more than 10,000 madrassas in Pakistan have stalled in part because they continue to get support from Pakistanis overseas and foreign Islamic charities. A report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group says that Pakistan`s madrassas and mosques receive $1.1 billion dollars in domestic donations every year, but the number is believed to be significantly higher when foreign contributions are included.
Since the July 7 London bombings, Pakistani security forces have rounded up nearly 300 suspected militants in raids on homes and madrassas. The government has pledged again to weed out the militancy taught in the madrassas. Gen. Musharraf, in his speech yesterday, said he would act against newspapers that spread hatred and told the nation it was at a crossroads in choosing between progressive or ``retrogressive`` Islam.
#4 Posted by Rakaposh on July 22, 2005 8:08:42 pm
So Musharraf`s speech from Thursday is taken and comments like `` agreed`` , `` good suggestion``..., `` how true ``, `` can you believe that ?? `` oh go suck an egg`` , are added and an article for front page is ready ....
#5 Posted by ZahraJ on July 22, 2005 8:32:48 pm
I did not browse through my today`s Journal until late in the evening and it was disturbing read. The 1st page had Musharraf`s sketch in a commando style cap with an unendingly long article. The most disturbing element was how the columnist drew parallels between Iraq and Pakistan.
#6 Posted by bbabu on July 22, 2005 10:15:45 pm
Urstruly #2
`` I think in post cold war world the era of Goeblism has ended with it as well. The war that is on now has become immune to the propaganda. Positions have been hardened and the schism has widened. The analysts and propagandists can cry their throats hoarse but this war is now destined to only one of the two outcomes as the crow craoked in his last state of the union address `` There is a Third world war raging in iraq.......The terrorists (i.e we) know that the outcome will leave them emboldened or defeated. So we are waging a campaign of murder and destruction,`` he said. ``
Let me make this simple for you. If you go around bombing New York, London, Madrid etc. those countries happen to be extremely powerful. They also have an alliance called NATO. They might turn around and wipe some countries off the face of the earth. May be you should learn to behave yourself :-)
`` I think in post cold war world the era of Goeblism has ended with it as well. The war that is on now has become immune to the propaganda. Positions have been hardened and the schism has widened. The analysts and propagandists can cry their throats hoarse but this war is now destined to only one of the two outcomes as the crow craoked in his last state of the union address `` There is a Third world war raging in iraq.......The terrorists (i.e we) know that the outcome will leave them emboldened or defeated. So we are waging a campaign of murder and destruction,`` he said. ``
Let me make this simple for you. If you go around bombing New York, London, Madrid etc. those countries happen to be extremely powerful. They also have an alliance called NATO. They might turn around and wipe some countries off the face of the earth. May be you should learn to behave yourself :-)
#7 Posted by cayenne on July 22, 2005 11:37:06 pm
Where does `chowk` find these people who write such articles??....
#8 Posted by AhmadBilal on July 23, 2005 12:43:09 am
Re: # 7
Did the ``author`` actually ``write`` something in this masterpiece?
Did the ``author`` actually ``write`` something in this masterpiece?
#10 Posted by alamgirKabir on July 23, 2005 1:31:08 am
A very good commentary. Here is another commentary appeared in another site. Follow the weblink for an interesting perspectives.
http://www.vinnomot.com/alamgir/TerrorMusharraf.htm
Thanks.
http://www.vinnomot.com/alamgir/TerrorMusharraf.htm
Thanks.
#11 Posted by Cadbury on July 23, 2005 4:32:49 am
The guy just panned out what steps Pakistan has taken and will take to erradicate terrorism, what more do you want ??? Its not something anyone can acheive overnight (and by that we are not inviting anyone to contest on how soon they can acheive the task on our soil) or something that can be acheived by one country on its own or for that matter one religion on its own. In this world we need to coexist with not pointing fingers at each other.
It would be stupid to say Pakistgan should kill / arresrt all terrorists or stop beleiving in quran or that islam is a religion of voilence cause all of these have been proven otherwise a million times already yet people still sight them as reasons.
The main reason a terrorist is born is the feeling of depreviation of their rights which for muslims urfortunately is happening all over the world exmples incase you ae wondering would be:
Palastine (A country broken and distorted in decades of voilence so they agree to giving all of their homeland to someone else, although after killing alot of people the occupying forces are now kind enought to let them live on cordoned blocks of their own land),
Bosnia (remember the mass graves, the slashed kids and raped girls ??? now where did muslims really do tht sort of massacres being such voilent ppl as we are depicted to be),
Afghanistan (all the bombs but no dead Bin Ladin, killing 10s of thousands of people as compared to those killed in the unfortunate 9/11 makes sense to only the insane logically),
Iraq (Oh the start of a democracy by occupying a free land even if ruled by a dictator funded by the old pal US of A until he went cuckoo nuts too)
and how can one forget after the drum roll mention the beautiful and blood bathed Kashmir( Yes the indo - pak own breeding ground for fanatics).
Now do you see why alot of muslims would be against Jews, christians and yes the poor hindus.
Yes we have a majority of moderates who wouldn`t go sporting a bomb dress killing innocent lives but like everyother socity we have our stock of nuts and they would because some people give them really good valid reasons.
Now that you know why terrorists are born coming up with a solution is simple, (incase you didn`t fugure it out earlier) live and let live. How does the christian or lets be on a broder scale western community feel when they have bombs exploding in their backyards. Has there been retaliatry attacks on muslims and mosques in UK after the london bombs and the unforgettable 9/11? Yes (please read the news reports if u must question this) so y do u think muslims would act any different?
Don`t get me wrong i am NOT justifying terrorism here its wrong carried out by anyone muslim or non muslim and Paki or non Paki, but please don`t drill these allegations on a religion, country or ethnicity as each of your countries have a fair share of wackos who you try to control and often fail, might i remind you of the Babri Mosque incident OR the IRA bombings OR the school shootings in US. It doesn`t make you a lesser country or religious community in our eyes and we expect to be treated likewise.
It would be stupid to say Pakistgan should kill / arresrt all terrorists or stop beleiving in quran or that islam is a religion of voilence cause all of these have been proven otherwise a million times already yet people still sight them as reasons.
The main reason a terrorist is born is the feeling of depreviation of their rights which for muslims urfortunately is happening all over the world exmples incase you ae wondering would be:
Palastine (A country broken and distorted in decades of voilence so they agree to giving all of their homeland to someone else, although after killing alot of people the occupying forces are now kind enought to let them live on cordoned blocks of their own land),
Bosnia (remember the mass graves, the slashed kids and raped girls ??? now where did muslims really do tht sort of massacres being such voilent ppl as we are depicted to be),
Afghanistan (all the bombs but no dead Bin Ladin, killing 10s of thousands of people as compared to those killed in the unfortunate 9/11 makes sense to only the insane logically),
Iraq (Oh the start of a democracy by occupying a free land even if ruled by a dictator funded by the old pal US of A until he went cuckoo nuts too)
and how can one forget after the drum roll mention the beautiful and blood bathed Kashmir( Yes the indo - pak own breeding ground for fanatics).
Now do you see why alot of muslims would be against Jews, christians and yes the poor hindus.
Yes we have a majority of moderates who wouldn`t go sporting a bomb dress killing innocent lives but like everyother socity we have our stock of nuts and they would because some people give them really good valid reasons.
Now that you know why terrorists are born coming up with a solution is simple, (incase you didn`t fugure it out earlier) live and let live. How does the christian or lets be on a broder scale western community feel when they have bombs exploding in their backyards. Has there been retaliatry attacks on muslims and mosques in UK after the london bombs and the unforgettable 9/11? Yes (please read the news reports if u must question this) so y do u think muslims would act any different?
Don`t get me wrong i am NOT justifying terrorism here its wrong carried out by anyone muslim or non muslim and Paki or non Paki, but please don`t drill these allegations on a religion, country or ethnicity as each of your countries have a fair share of wackos who you try to control and often fail, might i remind you of the Babri Mosque incident OR the IRA bombings OR the school shootings in US. It doesn`t make you a lesser country or religious community in our eyes and we expect to be treated likewise.
#12 Posted by shankar on July 23, 2005 5:22:25 am
Re: # 11
Mr Cadbury,
You are yet one of the millions of katlu phelwans of ``moderate enlightenment`` that sound like TYPICAL bleeding heart liberals.
You are quick to denounce the killings of innocent lives like every ``good`` muslim.
In the next breath you are quick to...er...``empathise`` with their actions because of ``atrocities`` in Bosnia, Chechnya, Palestine & Kashmir.
That reminds me of a story:
2 bleeding heart liberals were walking down a street. On the horizon, they saw 2 men brutally beating and mugging a man. They ran to the scene & came upon the victim, lying on the ground, bleeding profusely, gasping at his last breath.
They looked at the dying victim, shook their head sadly & said ``its such a tragedy...we must find those 2 muggers who killed this man
they need our help``....
Now that the rest of the kufr world has seen the character of the Land of the Pure; they are beginning to admit....
Gee, these Hindians were right about these katlu pigs of Pakistan; after all..
There is no point in liberal, enlightened people like you & Zahra J wring your hands & say:
``Oh Allah; we should do something about the negative image of Pakistan``.
Every Pakistani, living at home & abroad is VICARIOUSLY responsible for the tragic state of affairs that exist in your country today. Dont cry that you are strip searched & profiled the minute you step out of Pakistan & go to any international airport (even in other Islamic countries).
--Do people like you protest in front of every mosque where a kufr- hating mullah preaches jihad
NO!!!
Do you pick up the phone & call the Dept of Homeland security & tell them that there are guys on Chowk who fit a typical profile of an Al-Qeeda sympathiser...that they live in the West & openly espouse hatred against the West; sneer at a culture that gives them food, water & shelter?
NO!!!!
I could go on & on.
The bitter truth iss that yours are sins of ``Omission``; not ``Commission``.
A sin is a sin..
Does the Koran teach you different?!
Mr Cadbury,
You are yet one of the millions of katlu phelwans of ``moderate enlightenment`` that sound like TYPICAL bleeding heart liberals.
You are quick to denounce the killings of innocent lives like every ``good`` muslim.
In the next breath you are quick to...er...``empathise`` with their actions because of ``atrocities`` in Bosnia, Chechnya, Palestine & Kashmir.
That reminds me of a story:
2 bleeding heart liberals were walking down a street. On the horizon, they saw 2 men brutally beating and mugging a man. They ran to the scene & came upon the victim, lying on the ground, bleeding profusely, gasping at his last breath.
They looked at the dying victim, shook their head sadly & said ``its such a tragedy...we must find those 2 muggers who killed this man
they need our help``....
Now that the rest of the kufr world has seen the character of the Land of the Pure; they are beginning to admit....
Gee, these Hindians were right about these katlu pigs of Pakistan; after all..
There is no point in liberal, enlightened people like you & Zahra J wring your hands & say:
``Oh Allah; we should do something about the negative image of Pakistan``.
Every Pakistani, living at home & abroad is VICARIOUSLY responsible for the tragic state of affairs that exist in your country today. Dont cry that you are strip searched & profiled the minute you step out of Pakistan & go to any international airport (even in other Islamic countries).
--Do people like you protest in front of every mosque where a kufr- hating mullah preaches jihad
NO!!!
Do you pick up the phone & call the Dept of Homeland security & tell them that there are guys on Chowk who fit a typical profile of an Al-Qeeda sympathiser...that they live in the West & openly espouse hatred against the West; sneer at a culture that gives them food, water & shelter?
NO!!!!
I could go on & on.
The bitter truth iss that yours are sins of ``Omission``; not ``Commission``.
A sin is a sin..
Does the Koran teach you different?!
#13 Posted by KaalChakra on July 23, 2005 5:28:44 am
Shankar
Someone who empathises, sympathizes, and `understands` suicide murders is far more dangerous than the useless sod that actually engages in suicide murders of innocent people.
Someone who empathises, sympathizes, and `understands` suicide murders is far more dangerous than the useless sod that actually engages in suicide murders of innocent people.
#14 Posted by Cadbury on July 23, 2005 6:52:02 am
Re: # 12
Don`t confuse understanding of reasons for becoming a terrorist with empathy for the bombers and NO Koran does not teach us to empathize with such elements either.
We do get profiled like alot of other nationalities so what ? We are people who stand straight in the eye of authority and they have the right to ensure they can protect their land from fanatics but then being searched is better then bowing in front of others like you guys do and strip search tht might just happen to indies not us sweety.
Yes we do stop people when they go against the teachings of Koran and give wrong preceptions and understanding of the most forgiving religion a very good example is the condemnation by Musharraf in the article above just incase you missed it, banning Lashkar - i - Taiba and arrest of the computer geek Mr. Khan to name a few which bought in vital intelligence on future terrorist targets.
Yes, homeland security department is not the place we would call if we want to report a possible bomber as we have our own departments for that incase you have missed Pakistan has given alot of intelligence about possible bombing attacks in US and UK through various means.
Like you i can go on and on but then did u really read what i wrote i guess not or maybe u didn`t let it sink in hiding behind your shell of preceptions about muslims created by your Saffron Brigade.
And no we don`t just pray to Allah to stop the suicide bombers and the Hindis like yourself from going about your daily business of defaming our religion and country but we do catch them (like we did to several Al Qaida operatives in the recent past), try to give you a better understanding of our thoughts and beliefs while keeping our language under control however misbehaving yours is (like i just did).
Kaalchakra, Yes please do consider me dangerous as just like you when someone tries to tarnish my religion or countries image i will do anything in my power to first calm him down and if not then yes crushing an argument is something we learned from you in 1948. Nobody empathizes, sympathizes with killers but you have to understand the reason y anyone would go so ballistic to stop it from happening again.
MS. Cadbury
Don`t confuse understanding of reasons for becoming a terrorist with empathy for the bombers and NO Koran does not teach us to empathize with such elements either.
We do get profiled like alot of other nationalities so what ? We are people who stand straight in the eye of authority and they have the right to ensure they can protect their land from fanatics but then being searched is better then bowing in front of others like you guys do and strip search tht might just happen to indies not us sweety.
Yes we do stop people when they go against the teachings of Koran and give wrong preceptions and understanding of the most forgiving religion a very good example is the condemnation by Musharraf in the article above just incase you missed it, banning Lashkar - i - Taiba and arrest of the computer geek Mr. Khan to name a few which bought in vital intelligence on future terrorist targets.
Yes, homeland security department is not the place we would call if we want to report a possible bomber as we have our own departments for that incase you have missed Pakistan has given alot of intelligence about possible bombing attacks in US and UK through various means.
Like you i can go on and on but then did u really read what i wrote i guess not or maybe u didn`t let it sink in hiding behind your shell of preceptions about muslims created by your Saffron Brigade.
And no we don`t just pray to Allah to stop the suicide bombers and the Hindis like yourself from going about your daily business of defaming our religion and country but we do catch them (like we did to several Al Qaida operatives in the recent past), try to give you a better understanding of our thoughts and beliefs while keeping our language under control however misbehaving yours is (like i just did).
Kaalchakra, Yes please do consider me dangerous as just like you when someone tries to tarnish my religion or countries image i will do anything in my power to first calm him down and if not then yes crushing an argument is something we learned from you in 1948. Nobody empathizes, sympathizes with killers but you have to understand the reason y anyone would go so ballistic to stop it from happening again.
MS. Cadbury
#15 Posted by mohar11 on July 23, 2005 6:52:17 am
#2
From WSJ article:
//...International Crisis Group says that Pakistan`s madrassas and mosques receive $1.1 billion dollars in domestic donations every year, but the number is believed to be significantly higher when foreign contributions are included. ..//
Mullhas get $1.1B dollars per year? wow? that too not counting the saudi contributions.
that`s much more than the FDI pakistan gets per year.
From WSJ article:
//...International Crisis Group says that Pakistan`s madrassas and mosques receive $1.1 billion dollars in domestic donations every year, but the number is believed to be significantly higher when foreign contributions are included. ..//
Mullhas get $1.1B dollars per year? wow? that too not counting the saudi contributions.
that`s much more than the FDI pakistan gets per year.
#16 Posted by KaalChakra on July 23, 2005 7:05:04 am
cadbury
Every murderer has a reason. Not all reasons are reasonable.
Every murderer has a reason. Not all reasons are reasonable.
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