A Journey Into Afghanistan To Kafir K. Khan,

``Afghans have known only violence and plunder. They would come to India periodically to loot``

and leave behind the Taj Mahal, Shahi Masjid, Lal Qila, civilization.

Whitman’s World

Why the Israelis revealing all US nuclear secrets?

By Nusrat Javeed

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/oct2001-daily/08-10-2001/main/main5.htm

ISLAMABAD: Some Islamabad-based diplomats from countries actively

supporting the US-led `war on terror` are not willing to confirm or refute

reports that US forces now located in Central Asia and ready to jump into

Afghanistan, have already been armed with ``tactical nuclear weapons.``

But Debka, an Israel-based news and intelligence analysis portal, is

already claiming that ``US nuclear weapons have been deployed in four

former Soviet Central Asian bases: the military air facility at Tuzel, 15

km (10 miles) northwest of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent; at Kagady in the

Termez region; in Khandabad, near the city of Karshi; and at the military

air base in Dushanbe (the capital of Tajikistan).``

Without specifying the mark, design and calibre of the said weapons, the

Israeli news portal only described the supposedly deployed weapons as:

``small neutron bombs, which emit strong radiation, nuclear mines, shells,

and other nuclear ammunition suited to commando warfare in mountainous

terrain.``

Analysts and strategists are wondering whether America was again on the

verge of becoming the first country to use neutron bombs, after it

acquired the infamy of dropping the first atom bomb in Japan, something it

finds embarrassing to live with even today.

Debka also claimed that the decision to deploy the tactical weapons,

before the US and its allied forces really move to get Osama and his

Al-Qaeda, had been agreed during the 70-minute conversation, the US

president had on phone with his Russian counterpart on September 23. The

News had already reported Thursday that as a consequence of the said talk,

Pushtu and the Dari speaking troops of Russia joined the Delta and Seal

commandos of the USA in crawling up to the heights of Pamir, where the US

and its allies are getting convinced Osama and his diehard loyalists are

maintaining a hi-tech and state of the art command and control center.

But Debka seems to believe that the Russian role in `war against terror`

is not limited to sharing intelligence on Osama and his possible hideouts

in Afghanistan. Lending some of its Pushtu and Dari speaking troops for

reaching these sites is not the end of the story either. The ``strategic

partnership`` between the arch-rivals of the cold war rather appears

growing on multiple fronts.

As quid-pro-quo to Russia`s agreeing on the deployment of tactical weapons

in areas, Moscow jealously considers its ``sphere of influence,`` Putin also

got ``no objections`` from President Bush for encircling independence

seeking Chechnya with ready-to-use tactical weapons. Debka even claims

that parallel to the deployment of tactical weapons by the USA in Central

Asian territory, Moscow had also completed putting the same kind of the

lethal material around Chechnya.

They are reported to have been deployed at ``Stavropol, northwest of

Chechnya, the Codowta base in the Georgian south, and Mozdok in northern

Osetia.`` Moscow and Washington are not willing to discuss a thing with

journalists, regarding their collaborative moves in `war against

terrorism.` Yet, Debka could claim to have it from unnamed ``military

sources`` that the USA would not be the first to use the nuclear weapons in

Afghanistan.

They are deployed for use, ``only in certain extreme circumstances,`` which

have been described like this: (1) To counter a move by bin Laden`s men to

bring out nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against the US forces

fighting inside Afghanistan. (2) In case of a chemical or biological

assault ``by the Taliban against Pakistan.`` (3) Should groups of bin

Laden`s Al-Qaeda network -- either in Central Asia or the Balkans -- wield

these weapons of mass destruction against US military targets or US

nuclear arms in other parts of the world. And (4), if using them is the

only way to save heavy American combat casualties.

With the condition of not named, a respected defence analyst of Pakistan

agreed with the claim that the US would only use the ``tactical weapons`` in

case of the ``extreme circumstances`` described above. Though, he wasn`t

very sure that the US had already completed the deployment of ``the

nuke-related goodies`` so close to Afghanistan. ``Hawks around Dick Cheney

(The US Vice President) are dying to nuke Afghanistan, no doubt. They ask

for it for assuaging the blind ire of the US public over the

suicide-hijack attacks of September 11, which the jingoistic media is

fuelling every minute.

But the use of the neutron bomb at Osama-related sites in Afghanistan may

only come in dismal circumstances,`` explained the expert. The US has a

variety of air-to-surface ``smart bombs,`` which can eliminate the smallest

concentration of the enemy troops without destroying the physical

structures and buildings around.

``But the radiation wouldn`t stop after elimination of the enemy troops,``

stressed the expert. In simple terms that means, the expert went on, ``the

US ground forces can`t land at spots where the smart bombs have been

dropped. At least for many months to come. Till, you get very sure that

radiation had completely stopped.``

Some other defence sources, The News talked to Sunday agreed with our

expert. ``After bombing the suspected hide outs of Osama and his group in

Afghanistan, the US needs to quickly land its ground troops at the bombed

spots. To check out whether Osama, or any of his dreaded lieutenant, is

really dead. The use of nuclear bombs, how `smart` they may be, would

cancel out the option of physically verifying whether Osama is really dead

by sifting through the dead bodies at the bombed spots,`` they all

believed.

To insist that the use of nuclear weapons in Afghanistan for getting Osama

was not the preferable option, some experts also referred to the Sunday

edition of The Observer, London. After briefed by the ``sources in the

intelligence community,`` the paper reported: ``An absolute priority (for

the US and its allied troops in Afghanistan) had to be placed on his

(Osama`s) delivery for trial in the US, or else production of a

forensically verifiable corpse.``

Instead of widespread military strikes against the Taliban regime of

Afghanistan, the Observer maintains, the US prefers to focus its act on

getting Osama. ``Officials in the Justice Department and intelligence

services believe that the bin Laden network, still operative in cells

across the globe, would implode if he were beheaded. Cut off the snake`s

head and the body shrivels up,`` reports the paper.

The focused moves of getting Osama, ``Dead or alive`` as the US president

had declared like a true Texan, do not cancel out the possibility of

deploying tactical weapons as part of the military build up in Central

Asia, however. Though the USSR is no more for almost a decade, almost each

leader of the newly liberated Central Asian states runs his country

through the Stalinist methods of ``total control.`` The notions of

transparency and free press are still too alien to these countries.

The governments of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are still not willing even to

officially confirm the news stories, reported by The Washington Post and

CNN, that over 1, 000 American light infantry troops had already landed in

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for the ultimate objective of crossing into

Afghanistan.

No journalist should expect them to discuss reports, claiming the

deployment of tactical weapons on their soil, therefore. Yet, the eyes

trained to get solid hints to ``real stories`` by reading the fine print of

the news and articles printed in the Soviet press during the cold war

days, may get a sort of confirmation to reports that Osama-specific

tactical weapons had been deployed in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan through

analyzing a ``comment.``

Talking to Russian Public TV on October 2, Rustam Jumaev, the press

secretary of the Uzbek president denied ``rumours`` that the US Special

Forces had landed in Uzbekistan. But `denying` the said `rumors` he also

revealed: ``The men mistaken for special forces were, in fact, US customs

officers who were training Uzbek border troops in ways to prevent the

smuggling of nuclear weapons and radioactive material.`` He did not bother

to tell as to when, how and from where ``the US custom officers entered

Uzbekistan.`` The CIA-financed Radio Free Europe also made fun of the

`denials,` the Tajik government keeps issuing regarding the presence of

the US troops on its soil.

``In the process (of denying the troop deployment stories),`` said one of

its commentators in the weekly report on Central Asia Sunday, ``unwittingly

highlighted (are) the questions whether the (military) airport in

(Dushanbe), the largest in the country and host to a squadron of Russian

jets, was actually under Tajik control or joint Russian-Tajik

jurisdiction, as some Russian sources have indicated.``

The Radio went on: ``Last week Russian military officials in Tajikistan

made no bones about the fact that they were firmly in control of the

republic`s security, with announcements that 1,500 Russian soldiers were

being transferred from the Volga-Urals Military District to serve with the

201st Motor-Rifle Division based in Tajikistan, and that the Afghan-Tajik

border was being reinforced.``

Altogether 7,000 servicemen of the 201st Division have been present in

Tajikistan for many months. Coming of another 1,500 to this country almost

confirms The News story of Thursday that Pushtu and Dari speaking troops

of the same division had been detached to enter Afghanistan and crawl up

to the Pamir mountains, for reaching the suspected hideouts of Osama.



====

Violent Changes

FACTS ABOUT ISRAEL

Did you know that non-Jewish Israelis cannot buy or lease land in Israel?

Did you know that Palestinian license plates in Israel are color coded to

distinguish Jews from non-Jews?

Did you know that Jerusalem, both East and West, is considered by the

entire world community, including the United States, to be occupied

territory and NOT part of Israel?

Did you know that Israel allots 85% of the water resources for Jews and

the remaining 15% is divided among all Palestinians in the territories? For

example in Hebron, 85% of the water is given to about 400 settlers,

while15% must be divided among Hebron``s 120,000 Palestinians?

Did you know the United States awards Israel $5 billion in aid each year?

Did you know that yearly US aid to Israel exceeds the aid the US grants

to the whole African continent?

Did you know that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that has

nuclear weapons?

Did you know that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that

refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international

inspections from its sites?

Did you know that Israel currently occupies territories of two sovereign

nations (Lebanon and Syria) in defiance of United Nations Security Council

resolutions?

Did you know that Israel has for decades routinely sent assassins into

other countries to kill its political enemies?

Did you know that high-ranking military officers in the Israeli Defense

Forces have admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war were executed

by the IDF?

Did you know that Israel refuses to prosecute its soldiers who have

acknowledged executing prisoners of war?

Did you know that Israel routinely confiscates bank accounts, businesses,

and land and refuses to pay compensation to those who suffer the

confiscation?

Did you know that Israel blew up an American diplomatic facility in Egypt

and attacked a U. S. ship in international waters, killing 33 and wounding

177 American sailors?

Did you know that the second most powerful lobby in the United States,

according to a recent Fortune magazine survey of Washington insiders, is

the Israeli AIPAC?

Did you know that Israel stands in defiance of 69 United Nations Security

Council Resolutions?

Did you know that today``s Israel sits on the former sites of more than

400 now-vanished Palestinian villages, and that the Israelis re-named

almost every physical site in the country to cover up the traces?

Did you know that it was not until 1988 that Israelis were barred from

running ``Jews Only`` job ads?

Did you know that four prime ministers of Israel (Begin, Shamir, Rabin,

and Sharon) have taken part in either bomb attacks on civilians, massacres

of civilians, or forced expulsions of civilians from their villages?

Did you know that the Israeli Foreign Ministry pays two American public

relations firms to promote Israel to Americans?

Did you know that Sharon``s coalition government includes a party -

Molodet- which advocates expelling all Palestinians from the occupied

territories?

Did you know that Israel``s settlement building increased in the eight

years since Oslo?

Did you know that settlement building under Barak doubled compared to

settlement building under Netanyahu?

Did you know that Israel once dedicated a postage stamp to a man who

attacked a civilian bus and killed several people?

Did you know that recently declassified documents indicate that David

Ben-Gurion in at least some instances approved of the expulsion of

Palestinians in 1948? We often hear of Ehud Barak``s generosity about an

alleged return of 95% of the Palestinian Occupied Territories. When

Palestinians refused, they were blamed for ``missing an opportunity.``

Did you know that the Palestinians have already accepted Israel``s

existence on 78% of what was Palestine. Bible: God said to Abraham, ``Unto

thy seed, I will give thy land.`` Abraham had two sons. Ismael -the Arab

son, and Isaac -the Jewish son. So even if one wants to go to the Bible,

the land would belong to both.

Did you know that Palestinian Christians are considered the ``living

stones`` of Christianity because they are the direct descendants of the

disciples of Jesus Christ?

Did you know that despite a ban on torture by Israel``s High Court of

Justice, torture has continued by Shin Bet interrogators on Palestinian

prisoners?

Did you know that Palestinian refugees make up the largest portion of the

refugee population in the world?

WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT!? THE LEAST ANYONE CAN DO IS LET OTHERS KNOW!

Explaining it to an American Friend What the Other Side has to say

The Invisible Afghanistan

The Qur`an says, ``O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to

you with news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards

you become regretful for what you have done.`` [Al-Hujurat 49:6]

[Sayyid Rahmatullah Hashemi is the roving Ambassador from Afghanistan who

recently visited the US. The following is the edited version of the

transcription of a lecture given by him at the University Of Southern

California in Los Angeles, on March 10, 2001]

* - * - *

`` I was just coming from a meeting with a group of scholars, and the first

thing we started talking about there was the statues. And the first thing we

started talking about here was also the statues. It is very unfortunate how

little we see and how little we know. Nobody has seen the problems of

Afghanistan; nobody saw their problems before. And the only thing that

represents Afghanistan today are the statues.

Afghanistan is called the Crossroads of Asia. So, we are suffering because

of our geo-strategic location. We have suffered in the 18th century, 19th

century, and we are still suffering in this century. We have not attacked

the British. We have not attacked the Russians. It was them who attacked us.

So the problems in Afghanistan you see are not our creation.

The Soviet Invasion

The recent problems in Afghanistan started in 1979. Afghanistan was a

peaceful country. The Russians, along with their 140,000 troops attacked

Afghanistan in the December of 1979, just 21 years ago, stayed there for a

decade, killed one and a half million people, maimed one million more

people, and six million out of the eighteen million people migrated because

of the Russian brutalities. Even today, our children are dying because of

the landmines that they planted for us. And nobody knows about this.

After the Russians left during the Russian occupation, on the other side,

the American government, the British government, the French, the Chinese,

and all of the rest, supported the counter-revolutionaries called the

Mujahideen; There were seven parties only in Pakistan and eight parties in

Iran who fought the Russian occupation. And after the Russians left, these

parties went into Afghanistan. All of them had different ideologies, and a

lot of weapons. And instead of having a single administration, they fought

in Afghanistan. The destruction that they brought was worse than the

destruction the Russians brought. 63,000 people were only killed in the

capitol, Kabul. Another million people migrated because of this lawlessness.

The Beginning of Taliban

Seeing this destruction and lawlessness, a group of students called the

Taliban, i.e. a group of students (Taliban is the plural of student in our

language; it may be two students in Arabic, but in our language it means

students) started a movement called the Movement of Students. It first

started in a village in the southern province of Afghanistan, called

Kandahar. It happened when a war-lord, or a commander abducted two minor

girls and violated them. The parents of those girls went to a school and

asked the teacher of the school to help them. The teacher of that school,

along with his 53 students, finding only 16 guns, went and attacked the base

of that commander. After releasing those two girls, they hanged that

commander, and so many of his people were also hanged. This story was told

everywhere. BBC also quoted this story. Hearing this story, many other

students joined this movement and started disarming the rest of the

warlords. This same students movement now controls 95% of the country

including its capital. Only a bunch of those warlords are remaining in the

northern corridor of Afghanistan.

Our Achievements

We have been in government for only five years, and the following things

that we have done, and many of you may not know:

1.) The first thing we have done is reunifying the fragmented country.

Afghanistan was formerly fragmented into five parts. We unified it when

nobody else could do it.

2.) Second thing we have done, which everybody failed to do, was disarming

the population. After the war every Afghan got a Kalashnikov, and even

sophisticated weapons such as stinger missiles, and they even got fighter

planes and fighter helicopters. Disarming these people seemed to be

impossible. The United Nations in 1992 made an appeal asking for 3 billion

dollars to re-purchase those arms. And because of its impracticality, that

plan never materialized, and everybody forgot about Afghanistan. So the

second thing we have done is to disarm 95% of that country.

3.) The third thing that we have done is to establish a single

administration in Afghanistan, which did not exist for 10 years.

4.) The fourth achievement that we have that is surprising to everybody is

that we have eradicated 75% of world`s opium cultivation. Afghanistan

produced 75% of worlds opium. And last year we issued an edict asking the

people to stop growing opium, and this year, the United Nations Drug Control

Program, UNDCP, and their head, Mr. Barnard F. proudly announced that there

was 0% of opium cultivation. Zero, zilch, none at all.

Incidentally this was not good news for UN itself because many of them lost

their jobs. In the UNDCP, 700 so called experts were working there and they

got their salaries and they never went into Afghanistan. So when we issued

this edict, I know that they were not happy. And this year they lost their

jobs.

5.) The fifth achievement that we have, is the restoration of Human rights.

Now, you may think that we are involved in violation of Human Rights. The

reality is exactly the opposite. Among the fundamental rights of a human

being is the right to live. Before us, nobody could live peacefully in

Afghanistan.

The first thing we have done, is to give to the people a secure and peaceful

life. The second major thing that we have restored is to give them free and

fair justice; you don`t have to buy justice, unlike here. In Afghanistan

justice is free and readily available.

Women`s Rights

We have been criticized for violating women`s rights. Do you know what

happened before us? I can see some Afghans living here, and they will agree

with me, that in the rural areas of Afghanistan, women were used as animals.

They were sold actually. We stopped this abominable practice.

They didn`t use to have any say in the selection of their husbands. First

thing we have done is to let them choose their future.

Another thing that used to happen in Afghanistan was women were exchanged as

gifts. Of course, this was not something religious; this was something

cultural. When two fighting tribes wanted reconciliation, they would

exchange women. And this has been stopped.

Unlike what is generally said, women do work in Afghanistan. True that until

1996 when we captured the capital Kabul, we did ask women to stay home. It

didn`t mean that we wanted them to stay at home forever. We said that there

is no law, and there is no order, and you have to stay at home.

We disarmed the people, and we established law and order, and now women are

working. True, that women are not working in the ministry of defense, like

here. We don`t want our women to be fighter pilots, or to be used as objects

of decoration for advertisements. But they do work. They work in the

Ministry of Health, Interior, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Social

Affairs, and so on.

Similarly we don`t have any problem with women`s education. We have said

that we want education, and we will have education whether or not we are

under anybody`s pressure, because that is part of our belief. We are ordered

to do that. When we say that there should be segregated schools, it does not

mean that we don`t want our women to be educated. It is true that we are

against co-education; but it is not true that we are against women`s

education.

We do have schools even now, but the problem is the resources. We cannot

expand these programs. Before, our government numerous curriculums were

going on. There were curriculums that preached for the kings, curriculums

that preached for the communists, and curriculums from all the seven

parties. So, the students were confused as to what to study. We have started

to unify the curriculum and that is going on.

Recently we reopened the faculty of medical science in all major cities of

Afghanistan and in Kandahar. There are more girls students studying in the

faculty of medical sciences than boys are. But they are segregated. And the

Swedish committees have also established schools for girls. I know they are

not enough, but that is what we have been able to do.

Osama bin Laden

We are also accused of sponsoring terrorism. And for Americans terrorism or

terrorist means only bin Laden. Now you will not know that Afghanistan, or

bin Laden was in Afghanistan for 17 years before we even existed. Bin Laden

was in Afghanistan, fought the Soviet Union, and Mr. Ronald Reagan, the

president of America at that time, and Mr. Dick Cheney called such people

freedom fighters or the Heroes of Independence, because they were fighting

for their cause. And now when the Soviet Union is fragmented, such people

were not needed anymore, and they were transformed into terrorists. From

heroes to terrorists. This is exactly like Mr. Yasser Arafat who was

transformed from a terrorist to a hero.

What is the difference between those acts that bin Laden is blamed for and

the 1998 cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan. Neither of the two were

declared and both of them killed civilians. If it means killing civilians

blindly, both of them killed civilians blindly.

The United States government tried to kill a man without even giving him a

fair trial. In 1998, they just sent cruise missiles into Afghanistan and

they announced that they were trying to kill Osama bin Laden. We didn`t know

Osama bin Laden then. I didn`t know him; he was just a simple man. So we

were all shocked. I was one of those men who was sitting at home at night, I

was called for an immediate council meeting and we all were told the United

States had attacked Afghanistan. With 75 cruise missiles they tried to kill

one man. And they missed that man; killed 19 other students and never

apologized for those killings.

What would you do if you were in our situation. If we were to go and send 75

cruise missiles into the United States and say that we were going to kill a

man that we thought was responsible for our embassy, and we missed that man,

and we killed 19 other Americans what would the United States do? An instant

declaration of war. But we are polite. We did not declare war.

Our Proposals

Rather we have been very open-minded on this issue. We have said, that if

really this man is involved in the Kenya/Tanzania acts, if anybody can give

us proof or evidence about his involvement in these horrific acts, we will

punish him. Nobody gave us evidence. We put him on trial for 45 days and

nobody gave us any kind of evidence. The United States told us they did not

believe in our judicial system. We were surprised as to what kind of

judicial system they have? They just tried to kill a man without even giving

him a fair trial. Even if one of us is a criminal here, the police are not

going to blow his house; he must go to a court first.

So our first proposal was rejected. They said they do not believe in our

judicial system, and we must extradite him to New York. After the rejection

of this first proposal was we said we were ready to accept an international

monitoring group to come into Afghanistan and monitor this man`s activities

in Afghanistan. So that he does nothing. Even that he has no

telecommunications. That proposal was also rejected.

The third proposal we gave, six months ago, was that we were ready to try or

accept the trial of Osama bin Laden in a third Islamic country, with the

consent of Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. That was also rejected.

We are still very open minded. And for the fourth time, I m here, with a

letter from my leadership that I m going to submit to the state department

hoping that they will resolve the problem. But I don`t think that they will.

Because we think, and I personally think now that maybe the United States is

looking for a boogey man always. Remember what Gorbachev said? He said, that

he`s going to do the worst thing ever to the United States. And everybody

thought that he`s going to blow the United States with nuclear weapons. But

he said, I m going to remove their enemy. And then he fragmented Soviet

Union. And he was right. After he fragmented Soviet Union, a lot of people

lost their jobs in the Pentagon, in the CIA, and the FBI, because they were

not needed anymore. So we think that maybe these guys are looking for a

boogey man now. Maybe they want to justify their annual budget, maybe they

want to make their citizens feel that they are still needed to defend them.

Afghanistan is not a terrorist state; we cannot even make a needle. How are

we going to be a terrorist state? How are we going to be a threat to the

world? If the world terrorism is really derived from the word terror, then

there are countries making weapons of mass destruction, countries making

nuclear weapons, they are terrorist states; we are not.

Sanctions

Now, we are under sanctions. And the sanctions have caused a lot of

problems. Despite that we already had been going through so many problems---

the 23 years of continuous war, the total destruction of our infrastructure,

and the problem of refugees, and the problem of land mines in our

agricultural lands --- all of a sudden the United Nations, with the

provocation of Russia, is imposing sanctions on Afghanistan. And the

sanctions have been approved; we are under sanctions. Several hundred

children died a month ago. Seven hundred children died because of

malnutrition and the severe cold weather. Nobody even talked about that.

Everybody knows about the statues.

Renovating Statues as People Die

When the world is destroying our future with economic sanctions, then they

have no right to worry about our past. I called my headquarters, I asked

them, why are they going to blow the statues, and I talked to the head of

the council of scholars of people, who had actually decided this, he told me

that UNESCO and an NGO from Sweden, or from one of these Scandinavian

countries Norway, Sweden, one of these they had actually come, with a

project of rebuilding the face of these statues, which have worn by rain.

The council of people told them to spend that money in saving the lives of

these children, instead of spending it to restore these statues. And these

guys said, ``No, this money is only for the statues.`` And the people were

really pissed off. They said that, If you don t care about our children, we

are going to blow those statues.

If you were in such a situation what would you do? If your children are

dying in front of your eyes, and you are under sanctions, and then the same

people who have imposed sanctions and are coming and building statues here?

What would you do?

Kofi Annan

And there is Kofi Annan. You know Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of

United Nations? He went to Pakistan, and he said he is going to meet our

representative there. This man never bothered to come, to talk about these

children, he never bothered himself to talk about six million refugees, and

he never talked about the poverty of Afghanistan. He only goes to that

region because of these statues.

It is really, really ridiculous. These people do not care about children,

about people who are dying there, about the foreign interference that still

exists; they only care about the statues. And I am sure they don`t care

about our heritage. They only care about their picnic site one time. Maybe

they`ll have a good picnic site there, seeing those statues.

And I`m sure these sanctions which are imposed on our government will never

change us, because for us, our ideology is everything. To try to change our

ideology with economic sanctions will never work. It may work in the United

States, where the economy is everything, but for us, our ideology is

everything. And we believe that it is better to die for something than to

live for nothing.

Breaking News: September 11, 2001 This was no terrorist attack. It was a commando operation by trained military.

It is one thing tying a bomb to yourself and ramming driving a truck into a facility, or ramming a warship,and another thing carrying out such a concerted, organized, efficient military operation.

Four planes get hijacked simultaneously, three of them hit their intended targets simultaneously. Ther was planning, and execution and training carried out by professionals.

The Arabs or Afghanis don`t have the discipline or intelligence to do that.

I believe, it was done by retired veterans of the US armed forces or the Israeli intelligence to give Muslims a bad name.

Breaking News: September 11, 2001 Osama has not claimed it!!!

Big Boobs Been there done that.

Yes, a young girl would feel guilty, dirty, unclean, blame herself, etc. but that is the end of it.

After a while you will learn to deal with it.

The casual groper or ``talla`` marne walla (in female lingo) is a coward. Learn some choice curse words. Let go at full throat, in Punjabi if possible. Very suitable language for this kind of communication. As soon as you raise your voice, he will melt into thin air.

Keep a non-lethal weapon ready when you go out. I always used a loaded kit-bag ready, specially walking through Empress Market (worst offening area, St. Josephines will attest). The trick was to watch out, anticipate a possible ``talla mar``, and before he gets to you, bang him real good with the kit-bag.

Walk fast, and don`t look scared. They are looking for victims. Don`t look vulnerable.

Don`t lose your sense of humor. Talk to your friends about it. It will become easy.

A Medley of Internal Contradictions Veeresh,

One thing is becoming clear. You are digging out filth with both hands.

Don`t you people have a life?

If you are so concerned about social injustice, why not dig it out at home?

Why even look across the border?

Unless it is a concsious campaign to malign Pakistan.

A Medley of Internal Contradictions Dear Mr./Ms. Saxena,

I see that you have missed out on learning your manners somewhere.

Believe it or not, while your God is helpless in generating power, or building roads, etc., mine is all powerful, omnipotent and omniscient.

Yes, He does all that

A Medley of Internal Contradictions You wrote:

``Unfortunately, in Pakistan, ... the majority of public not ready to accept the supremacy of constitution over the “rules of God” ....``

This is not a contradiction.

The contradiction is, that, when the majority wants `rules of God`, then why did the minority impose on them a constitution that is based on other principals?

You think that Riba will make Pakistan strong?

Why don`t you visit the bankruptcy courts in the US, and find out what Riba has done to this economy?

Agra Summit and the Camera Assistant Yaro! You all missed the point.

The smart Dille Wala duped the Indians to provide him a visa for a visit back home, and at their own expense.

That is what it was all about.

White Charade Good Try!!

You sent a chill down my spine. I would have believed you were there,but for a few historical mistakes:

To set the record straight:

This event took place in late 1985 or early 1986. At this time, there was no `Prime Minister`. Ziaul Haq was the President.

The girls did not live in Drigh Colony. They lived in North Karachi.

I think their father was shot to death. So no one knew what really happened.

There were no MQM exhtortionists at that time. This event was actually the launch pad for MQM.

The girls were not found in Makli, Thatta. They were found at Chokhandi.

The Dream It is unfair to evoke the name of the `Land of the Pure` in connection with every fictional account of rape. Let us look at this in this context:

If you have watched the movie, `Prem Rog`, in which a young widow is raped by her brother-in-law, would you in honesty, conclude that all Indian brothers in law treat their sisters-in-law the same way? I don`t think so!

Therefore, it is unfair to come to such a conclusion from a piece of fiction about `The Lan d of the Pure`.

To the writer: You tried your best to condemn others of their sins, but succeeded only in exposing yourself as part and parcel of the same society.

You senteced the heroine to death, because she was raped. Honor killing???

Your mind could not concieve `life after rape`, where she could redeem what she had lost. Avenge herself. Defeat her enemies. No, she was raped, so she had to die a sudden and meaningless death

Miss India, Huma, and my photo How true! No need to say any more.

He had no Choice! Bilal,

You sound very idealistic. Don`t get disappointed if your dream is not fulfilled. Power is not seized with reform in mind. Power is seized with `power` in mind.

The question is, are we going to see another rerun of the Zia era, where freedom of speach would be labelled as `dissaffection` for the army?

Where people would have to vote on a referendum, stating that if they believe in Allah, and Rasool, then they believe in the present ruler?

Where people would be flogged in public for criticizing the government, and it would be called an Islamic punishment?

Neither you, nor I know the answers, so don`t get too excited.

Days and Nights on the Grand Trunk Road: A Review The journey seems unique also, because most traditional travel took place West to East historically.

From Alexander to Muhammed bin Qasim to Mahmood Ghaznavi, all travellers came from the West and travelled East.