Osama Bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan

[LETHALFORCE]

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio.../05/06/AF1QaqAG_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage

Obama meets with participants in raid that killed bin Laden

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — President Obama met Friday with some of the Navy SEALs who raided Osama bin Laden's compound and killed him, part of a day of events marking bin Laden's death that was far more celebratory than was Obama's solemn appearance a day earlier at Ground Zero.

In private meetings at this Army base, Obama and Vice President Biden congratulated members of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6 and units that supported their mission, presenting them with the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest award for a military unit, a senior White House official said.

Obama was given a briefing on the bin Laden operation that included photos and a scale model of the compound, the official said.

Afterwards, Obama publicly praised both the troops who killed bin Laden and those who serve throughout Afghanistan, including brigades from the Army's 101st Airborne Division, which is based at Fort Campbell. The more than 2,000 soldiers who heard the president in a hangar shouted and cheered throughout his speech, a marked break from the more formal appearances the president has made since bin Laden's death.

"I came here for a simple reason: to say thank you on behalf of all America. This has been a historic week in the life of our nation. Thanks to the incredible skill and courage of countless individuals, intelligence, military, over many years, the terrorist leader who struck our nation on 9/11 will never threaten America again," Obama said to loud applause.

Obama said his meeting with special operations forces "was a chance for me to say to behalf of all Americans and people around the globe, job well done, job well done."

"These Americans deserve credit for one of the greatest intelligence and military operations in our nation's history," he said.

The identities of the men who killed bin Laden are likely to remain secret forever. White House officials released few details of Friday's meetings and would not formally confirm whether Obama actually met members of Team 6, whose existence is officially classified.

But the always-candid Biden gave a strong hint. Beaming as he introduced Obama at the hangar, the vice president told the troops that he had tried to explain to one of his granddaughters what he was going to do in Kentucky, and she had replied, "My pop's going out to see the whales."

Joining Biden and Obama in the private meetings were Adm. Eric T. Olson, the commander of U.S. Special Operations and Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, the head of Joint Special Operations Command and the man who directed the SEALs' mission. Nearly 80 U.S. commandos were involved in the mission, including about two dozen who entered bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The president also met here with members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, which provided the helicopters that transported the members of Team 6 on the top-secret mission.

Obama used his appearance to speak broadly about the war in Afghanistan, where he has pledged to start reducing troops by July. About 1,000 soldiers from Fort Campbell returned this week from deployments, but more than 7,000 remain in Afghanistan, a base spokesman said.

"Our strategy is working, and there is no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to Osama bin Laden," Obama said.

Some lawmakers in both parties say the president is wrong and have called for withdrawing forces more quickly than Obama supports.

Sgt. Marcus Miller, who just returned from Afghanistan and heard Obama's speech here, said, "Everybody had a sense of accomplishment" following news of bin Laden's death.

But Spec. Miranda Dillon said, "I'm glad bin Laden is gone, but there are still how many people standing behind him."


Staff writers William Branigin and Anne E. Kornblut in Washington contributed to this report.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-british-muslims-mixed-feelings

Bin Laden death 'only the beginning', British Islamists warn

British Muslims seduced by extremist forms of Islam have celebrated Osama bin Laden as a spiritual and military warrior.

In his suicide video address, Mohammad Siddique Khan, the leader of the bombers who attacked London on 7 July 2005, said he prayed God would raise him up to join "today's heroes, like our beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden".

In public, Abu Hamza, the hook-handed preacher who once held sway over dozens of committed jihadists, including the shoe bomber Richard Reed, praised Bin Laden and his actions.

Like other Islamist leaders in the UK, Hamza used Bin Laden's life story – the millionaire who gave up everything to fight jihad – as a recruiting tool to inspire young British men who may have seen themselves as living in a privileged society without spiritual purpose.

But in private, the picture wasn't always so positive. According to one former London radical, Hamza had private doubts about the Saudi jihadist's actions.

The debate among Islamist radicals in the years after 9/11 centred on whether Bin Laden was right to use Afghanistan as a launchpad to attack the west, or whether it would have been better to leave the country to grow into a fully fledged Islamic state under the Taliban.

A few years after 9/11, Hamza believed Bin Laden was tactically wrong to have attacked America, and that he should have given himself up to the international community to stop the Taliban from being overthrown.

In the days after September 11, Omar Bakri, the former leader of the now banned al-Muhajiroun group, based in Britain, is said to have prevaricated "like a feather in the wind" on whether the 9/11 attacks were halal or haram – permitted or prohibited – under Islamic law.

But Anjem Choudary, the former number two in al-Muhajrioun, said Bin Laden was "a modern-day hero". "I believe he is loved by all Muslims," he said. "He stood for the struggle, a symbol of resistance."

Choudary said al-Muhajiroun often used Bin Laden "as an advertising ploy" to attract those who had heard about 9/11 and might want to know more.

"Sheikh Osama was the emir [leader] for people who want to franchise themselves to al-Qaida," he said.

Among mainstream Muslims, says Inayat Bunglawala, chair of Muslims4UK, the picture is also complicated. Bunglawala used to be a supporter of Bin Laden's but says that, after Afghanistan won its freedom from the USSR, Bin Laden turned to the "dark side".

"Bin Laden used to be admired because he was from the wealthy family [but] turned his back on luxury to fight the Soviets," said Bunglawala. "But after 1991, he developed the idea of a war with the US. He went over to the dark side, from someone who was opposing Soviet aggression to someone who thought killing innocent civilians was an appropriate response to US misdeeds."

"Today, in those circles where al-Qaida are viewed as heroes, he will be viewed as a martyr," added Bunglawala. "But to mainstream Muslims, he'll be seen as someone who started off with good intentions but dramatically lost his way."

This morning, a British-based radical passed an email to the Guardian that he claims has been circulating around Islamist groups, warning that Bin Laden's death was "only the beginning".

The email read: "Surely, the one who is really rejoicing right now is Osama. They claim to have found him in a large compound; may Allah give him mansions in Jannah [paradise]. They say they have arrested two of his wives; may Allah give him 72 in Jannah. They say this is the end; but it's only the beginning."

The source of the email could not be independently verified.

The radical added: "People will be in shock about this. But at the end of the day, as Bin Laden said himself, his death doesn't matter: the flame is already alight. That is what Bin Laden wanted to do, and that is his legacy."

 

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[ganesh177]

What flag is this ?
......

 

[LETHALFORCE]

What flag is this ?
......

Jamiat Ulama'a e Islam flag

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/pk}.html

 

[pmaitra]

^^ Interesting. So it looks like they got those pieces of cloth from prison uniform supplies.

I'd pick the zebra over this flag any day, but then that's me.

 

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http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/07/pakistan.bin.laden/?hpt=T1

Phone call tipped off U.S. to bin Laden compound, source says

(CNN) -- A single phone call by Osama bin Laden's trusted courier tipped off U.S. officials to his Pakistan compound, ultimately leading to last week's raid that killed the al Qaeda leader, a senior Pakistani intelligence official told CNN Saturday.

The telephone call the courier made was "not the final one -- it was the initial piece of evidence" that sparked the focus on the compound in Abbottabad, the official said.

Four years ago, U.S. officials uncovered the identity of a trusted bin Laden courier -- later identified as a Kuwaiti named Abu Ahmad -- whom they believed was living with and protecting the al Qaeda leader.

The Washington Post, citing U.S. intelligence officials, reported Friday that Americans had intercepted a "catch-up phone call" Ahmad took from an old friend.

"This is where you start the movie about the hunt for bin Laden," one U.S. official briefed on the intelligence-gathering leading up to the early Monday raid on the compound told the Washington Post.

The Pakistani official told CNN the phone call was made by the courier, though he didn't know when.

The courier and his brother were among those killed in Monday's raid. In recent days, the materials taken from bin Laden's compound continued to yield a trove of intelligence, including details about a possible attack on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Administration officials were expected to hold a briefing Saturday, focusing on the intelligence aspects of the raid.

As early as February 2010, al Qaeda members discussed a plan to derail trains in the United States by placing obstructions on tracks over bridges and valleys, the alert said, according to one law enforcement official.

The plan was to be executed later this year, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, though no specific rail system was identified, the official said.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed a notice was sent to federal, state, local and tribal authorities.

"We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the U.S. rail sector, but wanted to make sure our partners are aware of the alleged plotting. It is unclear if any further planning has been conducted since February of last year," spokesman Matt Chandler said.

Rail agencies across the United States heightened security.

A U.S. official said that "valuable information has been gleaned already" from the information gathered at bin Laden's compound, though no specific plots or terrorist suspects were identified.

But the material suggests that al Qaeda was particularly interested in striking Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to the law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. authorities have found that al Qaeda appeared especially interested in striking on significant dates like July 4, Christmas and the opening day of the United Nations.

The material seized from the compound included audio and video equipment, suggesting bin Laden may have taped messages there, a U.S. official said.

Ten hard drives, five computers and more than 100 storage devices, such as disks and thumb drives, were also found, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

Dozens of people in Abbottabad have been arrested because of their suspected connections to the compound where Osama bin Laden was shot and killed, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday. Investigators want to know whether any of the people are al Qaeda members or sympathizers.

The United States and Pakistan have been allies for years in the anti-terrorism effort, but U.S. concerns that Pakistanis haven't been robust enough in the fight against Islamic militants and suspected U.S. drone attacks that killed innocent civilians have heightened tensions. Another suspected drone strike killed 12 suspected militants on Friday in the Pakistani tribal region.

Questions remain over why and how Pakistani intelligence officials could not have known bin Laden was hiding out in the city, which is home to a military academy and has a strong military presence.

Pakistani armed forces chiefs issued a statement Thursday admitting "shortcomings in developing intelligence" on the terrorist leader's presence in the country.

The army chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, "made it very clear that any similar action, violating the sovereignty of Pakistan, will warrant a review on the level of military/intelligence cooperation with the United States," the statement said.

Since the raid, Pakistan has ordered U.S. military personnel on its territory drawn down to the "minimum essential" level, the statement said.

 

[maomao]

Look at the faces of beggarass failed state shameless pakistanis...and there delusional kids on internet think they are good looking.....mass dementia at its height LOL

 

[SHASH2K2]

US demands names of top ISI operatives after bin Laden's death

​

WASHINGTON: Pakistani officials say the Obama administration has demanded the identities of some of their top intelligence operatives as the United States tries to determine whether any of them had contact with Osama bin Laden or his agents in the years before the raid that led to his death early Monday morning in Pakistan.

The officials provided new details of a tense discussion between Pakistani officials and an American envoy who traveled to Pakistan on Monday, as well as the growing suspicion among United States intelligence and diplomatic officials that someone in Pakistan's secret intelligence agency knew of bin Laden's location, and helped shield him.

Obama administration officials have stopped short of accusing the Pakistani government — either privately or publicly — of complicity in the hiding of bin Laden in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. One senior administration official privately acknowledged that the administration sees its relationship with Pakistan as too crucial to risk a wholesale break, even if it turned out that past or present Pakistani intelligence officials did know about bin Laden's whereabouts.

Still, this official and others expressed deep frustration with Pakistani military and intelligence officials for their refusal over the years to identify members of the agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence ISI) Directorate, who were believed to have close ties to bin Laden. In particular, American officials have demanded information on what is known as the ISI's S directorate, which has worked closely with militants since the days of the fight against the Soviet army in Afghanistan.

"It's hard to believe that Kayani and Pasha actually knew that bin Laden was there," a senior administration official said, referring to Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the ISI director-general, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha. But, added the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue, "there are degrees of knowing, and it wouldn't surprise me if we find out that someone close to Pasha knew."

Already, Pakistani news outlets have been speculating that General Pasha, one of the most powerful figures in Pakistan, may step down as a consequence of the Bin Laden operation.

The increasing tensions between the United States and Pakistan — whose proximity to Afghanistan makes it almost a necessary ally in the American and allied war there — came as Al-Qaida itself acknowledged on Friday the death of its leader. The group did so while vowing revenge on the United States and its allies.

Pakistani investigators involved in piecing together Bin Laden's life during the past nine years said this week that he had been living in Pakistan's urban centers longer than previously believed.

Two Pakistani officials with knowledge of the continuing Pakistani investigation say that bin Laden's Yemeni wife, one of three wives now in Pakistani custody since the raid on Monday, told investigators that before moving in 2005 to the mansion in Abbottabad where he was eventually killed, bin Laden had lived with his family for nearly two and a half years in a small village, Chak Shah Mohammad, a little more than a mile southeast of the town of Haripur, on the main Abbottabad highway.

In retrospect, one of the officials said, this means that bin Laden left Pakistan's rugged tribal region sometime in 2003 and had been living in northern urban regions since then. American and Pakistani officials had thought for years that ever since bin Laden disappeared from Tora Bora in Afghanistan, he had been hiding in the tribal regions straddling the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

A former Pakistani official noted that Abbottabad, the site of the Pakistani equivalent of the West Point military academy, is crawling with security guards and military officials who established a secure cordon around the town, raising questions of how the officials could not know there was a suspicious compound in their midst.

"If he was there since 2005, that is too long a time for local police and intelligence not to know," said Hassan Abbas, a former Pakistani official now teaching at Columbia University.

Mr. Abbas said there was a tight net of security surrounding Abbottabad because Pakistani officials were concerned about terrorist attacks on sensitive military installations in the area.

Art Keller, a former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency who worked on the hunt for Bin Laden from a compound in the Waziristan region of Pakistan in 2006, said the Qaida founder's choice of the garrison town of Abbottabad as a refuge in 2005 raised serious questions. Bin Laden certainly knew of the concentration of military institutions, officers and retirees in the town — including some from the ISI's S directorate, Keller said. And because the military has also been a target of militant attacks in recent years, the town has a higher level of security awareness, checkpoints and street surveillance than others.

If bin Laden wanted to relocate in a populated area of Pakistan to avoid missiles fired from American drones, Mr. Keller said, he had many choices. So Keller questioned why bin Laden would live in Abbottabad, unless he had some assurance of protection or patronage from military or intelligence officers. "At best, it was willful blindness on the part of the ISI," Keller said. "Willful blindness is a survival mechanism in Pakistan."

The trove of information taken by the commandos from the compound occupied by Bin Laden may answer some of these questions, and perhaps even solve the puzzle of where he has been in recent years.

A senior law enforcement official said Friday that the FBI and CIA. had rapidly assembled small armies of analysts, technical experts and translators to pore over about 100 thumb drives, DVDs and computer disks, along with 10 computer hard drives, 5 computers and assorted cellphones. Analysts are also sifting through piles of paper documents in the house, many of which are in Arabic and other languages that need to be translated.

In Washington and New York alone, several hundred analysts, technical experts and other specialists are working round the clock to review the trove of information. "It's all hands on deck," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation.

Technical specialists are recovering phone numbers from several cellphones recovered at the compound. The experts need to distinguish foreign telephone contacts from any numbers in the United States, which undergo a separate legal review, the official said.

"We're also looking through notes, letters, e-mails and other communications," the official said. "We're looking at who owns the e-mails and what linkages there are to those people." The official said that the initial analysis would involve searching for information about specific threats or plots, or potential terrorists sent to the United States or Europe, and that the FBI. was pursuing a small number of leads from the information reviewed so far.

 

[SHASH2K2]

U.S. Demands More From Pakistan in Bin Laden Inquiry​

WASHINGTON — Pakistani officials say the Obama administration has demanded the identities of some of their top intelligence operatives as the United States tries to determine whether any of them had contact with Osama bin Laden or his agents in the years before the raid that led to his death early Monday morning in Pakistan.
The officials provided new details of a tense discussion between Pakistani officials and an American envoy who traveled to Pakistan on Monday, as well as the growing suspicion among United States intelligence and diplomatic officials that someone in Pakistan's secret intelligence agency knew of Bin Laden's location, and helped shield him.
Obama administration officials have stopped short of accusing the Pakistani government — either privately or publicly — of complicity in the hiding of Bin Laden in the years after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. One senior administration official privately acknowledged that the administration sees its relationship with Pakistan as too crucial to risk a wholesale break, even if it turned out that past or present Pakistani intelligence officials did know about Bin Laden's whereabouts.
Still, this official and others expressed deep frustration with Pakistani military and intelligence officials for their refusal over the years to identify members of the agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, who were believed to have close ties to Bin Laden. In particular, American officials have demanded information on what is known as the ISI's S directorate, which has worked closely with militants since the days of the fight against the Soviet army in Afghanistan.
"It's hard to believe that Kayani and Pasha actually knew that Bin Laden was there," a senior administration official said, referring to Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the ISI director-general, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha. But, added the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue, "there are degrees of knowing, and it wouldn't surprise me if we find out that someone close to Pasha knew."
Already, Pakistani news outlets have been speculating that General Pasha, one of the most powerful figures in Pakistan, may step down as a consequence of the Bin Laden operation.
The increasing tensions between the United States and Pakistan — whose proximity to Afghanistan makes it almost a necessary ally in the American and allied war there — came as Al Qaeda itself acknowledged on Friday the death of its leader. The group did so while vowing revenge on the United States and its allies.
Pakistani investigators involved in piecing together Bin Laden's life during the past nine years said this week that he had been living in Pakistan's urban centers longer than previously believed.
Two Pakistani officials with knowledge of the continuing Pakistani investigation say that Bin Laden's Yemeni wife, one of three wives now in Pakistani custody since the raid on Monday, told investigators that before moving in 2005 to the mansion in Abbottabad where he was eventually killed, Bin Laden had lived with his family for nearly two and a half years in a small village, Chak Shah Mohammad, a little more than a mile southeast of the town of Haripur, on the main Abbottabad highway.
In retrospect, one of the officials said, this means that Bin Laden left Pakistan's rugged tribal region sometime in 2003 and had been living in northern urban regions since then. American and Pakistani officials had thought for years that ever since Bin Laden disappeared from Tora Bora in Afghanistan, he had been hiding in the tribal regions straddling the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
A former Pakistani official noted that Abbottabad, the site of the Pakistani equivalent of the West Point military academy, is crawling with security guards and military officials who established a secure cordon around the town, raising questions of how the officials could not know there was a suspicious compound in their midst.
"If he was there since 2005, that is too long a time for local police and intelligence not to know," said Hassan Abbas, a former Pakistani official now teaching at Columbia University.
Mr. Abbas said there was a tight net of security surrounding Abbottabad because Pakistani officials were concerned about terrorist attacks on sensitive military installations in the area.
Art Keller, a former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency who worked on the hunt for Bin Laden from a compound in the Waziristan region of Pakistan in 2006, said the Qaeda founder's choice of the garrison town of Abbottabad as a refuge in 2005 raised serious questions. Bin Laden certainly knew of the concentration of military institutions, officers and retirees in the town — including some from the ISI's S directorate, Mr. Keller said. And because the military has also been a target of militant attacks in recent years, the town has a higher level of security awareness, checkpoints and street surveillance than others.
If Bin Laden wanted to relocate in a populated area of Pakistan to avoid missiles fired from American drones, Mr. Keller said, he had many choices. So Mr. Keller questioned why Bin Laden would live in Abbottabad, unless he had some assurance of protection or patronage from military or intelligence officers. "At best, it was willful blindness on the part of the ISI," Mr. Keller said. "Willful blindness is a survival mechanism in Pakistan."
The trove of information taken by the commandos from the compound occupied by Bin Laden may answer some of these questions, and perhaps even solve the puzzle of where he has been in recent years.
A senior law enforcement official said Friday that the F.B.I. and C.I.A. had rapidly assembled small armies of analysts, technical experts and translators to pore over about 100 thumb drives, DVDs and computer disks, along with 10 computer hard drives, 5 computers and assorted cellphones. Analysts are also sifting through piles of paper documents in the house, many of which are in Arabic and other languages that need to be translated.
In Washington and New York alone, several hundred analysts, technical experts and other specialists are working round the clock to review the trove of information. "It's all hands on deck," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation.
Technical specialists are recovering phone numbers from several cellphones recovered at the compound. The experts need to distinguish foreign telephone contacts from any numbers in the United States, which undergo a separate legal review, the official said.
"We're also looking through notes, letters, e-mails and other communications," the official said. "We're looking at who owns the e-mails and what linkages there are to those people." The official said that the initial analysis would involve searching for information about specific threats or plots, or potential terrorists sent to the United States or Europe, and that the F.B.I. was pursuing a small number of leads from the information reviewed so far.
Helene Cooper reported from Washington, and Ismail Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan. Eric Schmitt, Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Laden+plotted+against+from+Pakistan+compound/4745827/story.html

Osama bin Laden plotted against U.S. from Pakistan compound

WASHINGTON - Osama bin Laden was actively engaged in directing his far-flung network in plots against the U.S. from the compound in Pakistan where he was killed, a senior U.S. intelligence official said as new video images of the al-Qaida leader were released Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said information carted away from the compound by U.S. forces after the raid represented the largest trove of intelligence ever obtained from a single terrorism suspect.

"This compound in Abbottabad was an active command and control centre for al-Qaida's top leader and it's clear ... that he was not just a strategic thinker for the group," the official said.

"He was active in operational planning and in driving tactical decisions."

President Barack Obama's administration released five video clips of bin Laden taken from the compound, most of them showing the al-Qaida leader, his beard dyed black, evidently rehearsing the videotaped speeches he sometimes distributed to his followers.

None of the videos was released with sound. The intelligence official said it had been removed because the U.S. did not want to transmit bin Laden's propaganda. But he said they contained the usual criticism of the U.S. as well as capitalism.

While several video segments showed him rehearsing, one showed an aging and gray-bearded bin Laden in an austere setting, wrapped in a blanket and wearing a ski cap while watching videotapes of himself.

The official said the personal nature of the videos was further evidence that the man killed in the raid was bin Laden, who carefully managed his public image.

The revelations came as senior Pakistani officials said bin Laden may have lived in Pakistan for more than seven years before he was shot dead by U.S. Navy SEALs, a disclosure that could further strain relations between the two countries.

One of bin Laden's widows told Pakistani investigators that he stayed in a village for nearly two and a half years before moving to the nearby garrison town of Abbottabad, close to the capital of Islamabad, where he was killed.

The wife, Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah, said bin Laden and his family had spent five years in Abbottabad, where one of the most elaborate manhunts in history ended on Monday.

"Amal (bin Laden's wife) told investigators that they lived in a village in Haripur district for nearly two and a half years before moving to Abbottabad at the end of 2005," one of the security officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Abdulfattah, along with two other wives and several children, was among 15 or 16 people detained by Pakistani authorities at the compound after the raid.

The senior U.S. intelligence official said bin Laden's identity had been confirmed after his death in several ways - by a woman at the compound, by facial recognition methods and by matching against a DNA profile with a likelihood of error of only 1 in 11.8 quadrillion.

An initial review of the information taken from the compound showed bin Laden continued to be interested in attacking the U.S. and "appeared to show continuing interest in transportation and infrastructure targets," the official said.

"The materials reviewed over the past several days clearly show bin Laden remained an active leader in al-Qaida, providing strategic, operational and tactical instructions to the group," the official said. "He was far from a figurehead. He was an active player, making the recent operation even more essential for our nation's security."

Pakistan, heavily dependent on billions of dollars in U.S. aid, is under intense pressure to explain how bin Laden could have spent so many years undetected just a few hours' drive from its intelligence headquarters in the capital.

Suspicions have deepened that Pakistan's pervasive Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, which has a long history of contacts with militant groups, may have had ties with bin Laden - or that at least some of its agents did. The agency has been described as a state within a state.

Pakistan has dismissed such suggestions and says it has paid the highest price in human life and money supporting the U.S. war on militancy launched after bin Laden's followers staged the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Security officials said Pakistan had launched an investigation into bin Laden's presence in the South Asian country seen as critical to stabilizing neighbouring Afghanistan.

"It is very serious that bin Laden lived in cities (in Pakistan) ... and we couldn't nail it down fully," said one of the Pakistani officials. The U.S. intelligence official said Washington assumed Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, was likely to assume control of the organization following bin Laden's death, but that was uncertain because he was disliked in some quarters.

"To some members of al-Qaida, he's extremely controlling, is a micromanager and is not especially charismatic," the official said.



Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news...tan+compound/4745827/story.html#ixzz1LiLqgZUy

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/the-death-bin-laden-us-pakistan-relations-5257

The Death of bin Laden and U.S.-Pakistan Relations

No one is certain how Osama bin Laden's death will affect the future of U.S.-Pakistan relations. We will likely have a better grasp once more details about the operation come to light. For now at least, it appears that the circumstances surrounding bin Laden's demise exemplify a troubling feature of the U.S.-Pakistan partnership, and one that we've known for some time: Washington and Islamabad are enemies disguised as friends.

America's former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice once observed:

America's al-Qaeda policy wasn't working because our Afghanistan policy wasn't working. And our Afghanistan policy wasn't working because our Pakistan policy wasn't working . . . al-Qaeda was both client of and patron to the Taliban, which in turn was supported by Pakistan. Those relationships provided al-Qaeda with a powerful umbrella of protection, and we had to sever them.

This problem more or less persists. Still, the United States and Pakistan cooperate jointly on counterterrorism. Although the efficacy and depth of that cooperation is up for dispute, it seems bilateral cooperation has been more successful in that area of the relationship than another: America's endeavor to erect a U.S.-backed and India-friendly client regime in Kabul.

Pakistan will never cede Afghanistan to Indian influence. It's an open secret that elements of Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) meet regularly with insurgent commanders to orchestrate the scope and tempo of the Afghan insurgency. Indeed, a report last year by the London School of Economics suggested that the ISI not only funds Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, but is officially represented on the militant movement's leadership council. What is debatable is the extent to which the ISI functions independently of the civilian government.

Just last week, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said, "Wrong propaganda is being floated about intelligence agencies through newspapers. I want to tell them that the intelligence agencies are under the Pakistan government." It has long been believed that Pakistan's civilian political leaders have limited say over policy articulation. That argument, however, is not synonymous with the contention that civilian leaders operate under the direction of ISI. It seems highly improbable that bin Laden would be living in an urban area 35 miles north of Islamabad with the knowledge of only Pakistani intelligence and military units. Perhaps bin Laden went undetected by the civilians, but if not, what kind of support system do other militants enjoy inside Pakistan? Does that bring U.S. foreign aid under Kerry-Lugar into question? Are the civilians using plausible deniability by pointing to the power of the ISI?

Pakistani officials and President Asif Ali Zardari expressed amazement about bin Laden's whereabouts within their country, even though in his statement on Sunday night President Obama said, "Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding." Obama's chief counterterrorism advisor, John Brennan, does not believe, for now, that the Pakistani government knew of bin Laden's locations. But he does think it is entirely possible an official(s) within the "Pakistani establishment" knew of his location and provided cover.

The divergence in official claims and the very fact that individuals within Pakistan's establishment may have harbored Osama bin Laden brings the most pressing issues in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship to the forefront. We knew about the assistance to specific insurgents, but now it is entirely possible Pakistan was hiding our worst enemy.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/osama-in-pak-was-our-incompetence-musharraf/151635-2.html

'Osama in Pak was our incompetence'

Hello and welcome to Devil's Advocate. Nothing could be more embarrassing for Pakistan than the fact that Osama bin Laden was living in Abbottabad for perhaps five years before being killed in a stealth operation by US Navy SEAL commandos. With me to answer the many questions that arises, the countries former President and former army chief General Pervez Musharraf.
Karan Thapar: General Musharraf, let's start with the fact that Osama bin Laden was found in Pakistan. Would you accept that it is deeply embarrassing that he was living in Abbottabad a mile or so from the Pakistan military academy and just about an hour drive from the capital Islamabad?
Pervez Musharraf: It is about one and a half-two hours drive away from Islamabad. But yes it is indeed embarrassing.

Karan Thapar: Now, David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, Alain Juppe, French Foreign Minister, said Pakistan must explain what Osama bin Laden was doing in Pakistan. Do you believe Pakistan owes the world an explaination?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, I think more than the world Pakistan needs an explaination to itself that how did this incompetence and failure occur? I think we should answer that to ourself first and nobody has the right to start demanding from Pakistan first.
Karan Thapar: But you are saying that the Pakistan government needs to tell it's own people how what you call an incompetent situation happened.
Pervez Musharraf: Well yes we need to find out ourselves, because I strongly believe that is incompetence and not complicity. Therefore we need to find out who is incompetent and we need to bring those people who are involved in any form, in intelligence in that city Abbottabad or around Kakul need to explain to Pakistan authorities.
Karan Thapar: So, you are calling for a full open transparent and honest account from the Pakistan government to the Pakistan people?
Pervez Musharraf: Well yes, investigate. Let the people know, let Pakistan know and let the world know because here accusations are certainly there that there was complicity. But I reject that theory, I reject it because of certain facts that President Obama has thanked our intelligence agencies, who facilitate leading to the target. So why has he thanked them?
Karan Thapar: Let's then General Musharraf come to some key questions that arise. The first key question is that, did the Pakistan authority know that Osama bin Laden was living in Abbottabad and were they happy for him to continue there or were they unaware and therefore ignorant?
Pervez Musharraf: I'm reasonably sure or very sure that they were unaware.
Karan Thapar: Are you absolutely confident on that. That they had no idea whatsoever?
Pervez Musharraf: Yes very confident, because that is not the policy of Pakistan, that is not the policy of the intelligence agency, not the policy of the army. Therefore I cannot imagine that there was complicity involved.
Karan Thapar: Let me tell the problem with that answer General Musharraf, Osama bin Laden's wife Amal has told Pakistan intelligence that Osama bin Laden was living in Abbottabad for five years. Is it conceivable that he can live there for so long without any strong measure of official support?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, I doubt that statement because I have read a statement in a paper that they have come here just about three months back. So, I really now, purely from logical point of view, I don't have any intelligence or information to corroborate for what I'm going to say. I can't imagine that they were living there for five years.
Karan Thapar: Except the statement that I have just made, is from BBC and the BBC have said that infact the Pakistan army high command informed them of this. They themselves revealed to the world that Amal has told the Pakistani intelligence that bin Laden was living there for last five years. This is put out by the Pakistani high command.
Pervez Musharraf: Well, I don't know. I have my doubts. Pakistan high command has not been uttering a word as yet. They have not given any statement. I don't know which BBC correspondent got this statement. But however let's leave it at that. To my logic it doesn't appear logical that he could have been there for five years because the people surrounding that place, there have been umpteen number of interviews and none of them have said that they have seen Osama bin Laden. Now don't tell me that he has imprisoned himself in a room for five years, given himself rigorous imprisonment, staying inside a room not visible to anyone to the people living there 24 hours.
Karan Thapar: At the end of the day General Musharraf, whether he was living there for five years, five months or a shorter period of time, it's actually just a matter of detail. The key question is, he couldn't have lived there for as long as he did without anyone doing anything about it unless Pakistan was either complicit or incompetent. Are you sure this is not a case of complicity?
Pervez Musharraf: Yes! I have said so. I'm sure. I would like somebody to ask President Obama or find out why has he thanked our intelligence agency? My information says because it the lead, the intercept, a telephonic intercept from our intelligence agency was given to CIA. Now, if there was complicity they wouldn't have done that.
Karan Thapar: Except for the fact if you are talking about incompetence then the level of competence is astonishing because it now emerged this morning that the CIA has a safe house in the area which they occupied for at least five months. They were taking photographs, and they were closely monitoring intercepting conversations. So clearly if it incompetence, it is an astonishing level of incompetence.
Pervez Musharraf: Well as big as the Bombay, as big as the 9/11. It is incompetency that happens sometimes.
Karan Thapar: But it doesn't excuse it, even if you compare it to Bombay or 9/11. This is the Pakistan army and the ISI accused of incredible incompetence. Will you accept that?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, intelligence yes, and in intelligence I will like to pinpoint this place. Probably of the intelligence, that commander maybe of a very lower military rank. That is the person who is incompetence. It is not the whole agency which is incompetence. The detachment that is there and I know that place is headed by a junior officer. He is incompetent as his detachments are.
Karan Thapar: While you are pointing the finger at a junior officer, let me tell you what the British newspaper 'The Guardian' has published this morning. They have been told by Amarullah Saleh, the former head of Afghanistan National Directorate of Security, that as far back as 2004, Afghanistan told you (Musharraf), when you yourself was the President of Pakistan, that Osama bin Laden was in Mansehra near Abbottabad and you angrily dismissed the tip off. Do you think with hind side you made a mistake?
Pervez Musharraf: Amarullah Saleh is an anti-Pakistan person. I took him to task in front of President Karzai. Therefore, he will talk all kind of nonsense.
Karan Thapar: Alright. Let me put something else that underline the level of incompetence that we are talking about and I'm quoting from things that the Pakistani official have said after Osama bin Laden was killed. First the ISI told BBC that they had this compound in their sight from 2003 and on one occasion they even raided it. Then the foreign secretary of Pakistan told in an interview to BBC that in 2009 Pakistan had tipped off the Americans about the compound. Finally in January this year, just few months ago the Indonesian al Qaeda terrorist Umar Patek was captured and arrested in Abbottabad just two or so mile away from the compound and he revealed that he had come to Abbottabad to meet Osama bin Laden. So how is it that in fact the Pakistan authorities didn't know that Osama bin Laden was there. It's an astonishing level of incompetence.
Pervez Musharraf: Well yes it is. But as I said the people living there 24 hours all this time that he was inside whether for five years or for five months, didn't know about it. How is that possible? If that is possible, then for the intelligence not knowing that he was inside is also possible.
Karan Thapar: Except the ordinary people not knowing anything is the other thing, the ISI and the army not knowing it is quite another.
Pervez Musharraf: The ISI not know or the intelligence detachment not knowing is indeed it is different. But I think, I would say that the people there, they have greater access. They are there day-in day-out and night-in night-out. They ought to have know that Osama bin Laden was inside. Since they didn't knew there is a possibility that intelligence was not focusing there. And there is a very fact that you yourself are saying that in 2009 they did this, in 2003 they did that. So that itself reveal they were cooperating on the intelligence level.
Karan Thapar: Cooperating but nonetheless ignorant for what was happening in front of their eyes. Let's come to what American are saying about this operation. Leon Pannetta, the head of the CIA has told Time magazine that the intelligence was not shared with Pakistan because he was scared that they would tip off Osama bin Laden. In other words they didn't trust Pakistan. Now, coming from someone who is your closest ally in the world, isn't that a slap on the face?
Pervez Musharraf: Well that is terrible, because we are fighting terrorism together. I think if there is lack of trust, it is bad. It is bad for our war against terror and it must not be there. In my time, till 2007-2008, I know that all operations conducted in Pakistan, intelligence sharing was there, moving on to the target. But each and everyone invariably was attacked by Pakistan law enforcement agencies. This is the first time that this has happened and I know that there is a lack of trust since the last, maybe, about a year.
Karan Thapar: But you are not answering my question Mr Musharraf. What about the fact that the Americans didn't trust Pakistan enough to share intelligence that they were scared that rather than treat the intelligence in confidence, you would share it with Osama bin Laden. Coming from your closest political ally in the world, that is a slap on the face.
Pervez Musharraf: Well, there is a lack of trust, that is what I'm saying. It is bad. It must not happen.
Karan Thapar:Just a bad lack of trust, nothing more serious?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, it's a lack of trust and lack of trust will lead to lack of cooperation. Obviously, and it'll have terrible effects on the fight against terror.
Karan Thapar:Let's then come to something else that Leon Penetta and this time also John Brennon, President Obama's chief of Homeland Security have said very loudly and clearly that Pakistan had no idea of the operation until it was completely over and all the American helicopters had left Pakistani airspace. As a former Army chief, do you accept that or do you think this is a lie?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, the possibility is there. But, I think more possible is that during the operation, maybe Pakistan's some agency or higher command may have been told during the operation. But it is also possible that they came in and went out without our knowing.
Karan Thapar: I'm interrupting you but you are saying that it is quite possible that American helicopters violated Pakistani airspace for almost a total of 2 hours, American soldiers landed on a compound in Abbottabad just a mile away or so from the military academy for almost 40 minutes, killed and took away Osama bin Laden without being detected without being engaged, you do believe as Army chief that's quite possible?
Pervez Musharraf:Well, since I don't have access to information, I don't know it. For the whole two hours as you are saying, maybe that may not be plausible, maybe someone in the Pakistan chair of command may have known. But, however, I don't know.
Karan Thapar: Let me put it like this. Today as you must be aware, that there is outrage and anger in Pakistan, that its airspace could be violated, its sovereignty could be violated for almost two hours, that American soldiers could descend on a compound and kill Osama bin Laden and disappear without being detected, without being engaged. To many Pakistanis, this raises worrying and serious questions about Pakistan's defence preparedness and its ability to secure its borders. As a former Army chief how do you address those concerns today?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, let me frankly admit that our focus on all these radar information in intelligence is focused more towards your side and on this side, because of the mountains and hilly terrain, inaccessible terrains, the surveillance coverage is not that effective.
Karan Thapar: So what you're saying behind that answer is that Pakistan's army, air force and its defence preparedness was caught with its pants down?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, aren't you enjoying using these terms, slap in the face and pants down etc? Well, it has been an embarrassment already.
Karan Thapar: It has been an embarrassment, you frankly admit that. Many would say that its more than embarrassing, its humiliating because Pakistan is after all, not only a country with an Army, but a nuclear power state. Is it humiliating?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, why are you getting involved in all these adjectives? Let's forget it. It has been embarrassing.
Karan Thapar: Tell me General Musharraf, given the outrage and anger in Pakistan, do heads deserve to roll?
Pervez Musharraf: Yes, I think there is a requirement of enquiring, finding out the people who failed and punishing them.
Karan Thapar: What about General Pasha, there is speculation in Pakistan that he may be considering resigning, the Army has officially announced that is not the case, do you think as head of the ISI he should accept responsibility and resign?
Pervez Musharraf: He is the most competent officer and I don't think he should resign.
Karan Thapar: What about General Kayani? He is Army Chief and if Pakistan's defence preparedness and borders were so blatantly violated, should General Kayani accept some measure of responsibility?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, measure of responsibility comes from, if we go right on top, it comes right from the top to the bottom as I said the detachment commander. Let's leave at these things to the enquiry and actions to be taken later.
Karan Thapar: You are saying on the one hand that heads must roll, but you're leaving out of that tally, the possibility that Generals Pasha and Kayani should resign. Do you think that these two gentlemen owe the country an apology?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, I leave it to them to decide.
Karan Thapar: Now this time you have given a very careful, measured answer that you leave it to them to decide. If you had been in their position, would you have apologised?
Pervez Musharraf: I may have apologised on behalf of the intelligence agencies because this is a great slip up, this is a great embarrassment, to that extent, maybe yes, and then assured the nation that we will investigate and find out how this slip up occurred and convincing the world that this does involve complicity.
Karan Thapar: That's a very clear answer and a very telling answer as well General Musharraf. Now, the Americans are letting it be known that should the need arise in the future, they will not hesitate to carry out similar stealth strikes, without informing the Pakistanis and happily and clearly violating Pakistani airspace if required. How do you respond to that?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, this must not be done, the people in the streets already - they do not at all like United States. This will anger them and any agitations in the streets which will increase obviously, if this happens indiscriminately, then it will put that amount of pressure on the government, on the Army, on the intelligence agencies which will not be good in the point of view of cooperating in this war against terror, against al Qaeda or Taliban.
Karan Thapar: I hear you say that this must not happen, but do you think the Americans will listen to that? The Americans did what they wanted to the first time around, surely they'll do it again if they think the need is there.
Pervez Musharraf: Well, no comments, I don't know. I can only say that they must not do it. They must understand Pakistan's sensitivities, specially the sensitivities of the people of Pakistan.
Karan Thapar: Now the Pakistan Army has announced in an official statement that they want the Americans to reduce their military personnel in the country to an absolute minimum. Many people have interpreted it as an emotional response, others say that the Pakistan Army is speaking out of hurt or injured pride. How do you respond?
Pervez Musharraf: Well, I absolutely support this. They shouldn't have been there in any case, they should never have been there. There is no need of American troops in Pakistan. In my time, we had only cooperated on intelligence level, because we needed to develop technical intelligence to target all these al Qaeda people in our cities, To that extent, we sought cooperation. There were no troops in Pakistan and now if there are troops, they must not be there.
Karan Thapar: In other words, you are telling the Americans that if there are troops, they must not be there, they must get out. A quick Yes or No Sir?
Pervez Musharraf: Yes, they must leave.
Karan Thapar: Yes, they must leave. General Pervez Musharraf, thank you very much for speaking to Devil's Advocate.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/pakistan-hiding-osama-truth-claims-imran-khan/151551-56.html

Pakistan hiding Osama truth, claims Imran Khan


Pressure is building on the Yusuf Raza Gilani's government in Pakistan over Islamabad's handling of the Osama bin Laden killing. Leading the charge in Pakistan is opposition leader Imram Khan.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Imran called upon the Pakistan government to quit hiding the Osama truth from the people of Pakistan which left the country embarrassed and humiliated.
Rajdeep Sardesai: You seem to have become a magnet Imran, specially since Osama's killing this week for the anti-American forces in Pakistan. Do you believe that the Osama killing in the manner which the Americans did, it was wrong in some way?
Imran Khan: Well, I dispute that because it's not anti American that is rampant in Pakistan right now, tt's anti-Pakistani government. The anger is all coming out against the Pakistan government for the way they handled the whole thing. You know the big question is that the Prime Minister and President have still not come out with a clear statement about what happened.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Are you saying that the Pakistan civilian administration President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani are hiding something from the people of Pakistan, something about the operation which they don't want the people to know?
Imran Khan: People are sick of the lies, so many times they have lied. Like the Raymond Davis case, the government said they will put him on trial in Pakistan and then suddenly in the middle of the night completely prearranged with the Americans and he was whisked away. So again with this Osama episode, so many questions people want to know.
Rajdeep Sardesai: Are you then suggesting the Pakistan government colluded with the Americans to kill Osama but they don't want admit it to people of Pakistan?
Imran Khan: No! That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is we want to know if Pakistan had intelligence about Osama why did they not act? If we are allies of the Americans, why did they not tell the Pakistanis about the location? Why didn't they conduct the raid themselves?
Rajdeep Sardesai: You have led the anti-American campaign in the last few days including an attempted blockade of supplies to the American forces in Afghanistan. In the process don't you fear you may end becoming a tool in the hands of the jehadis who want the Americans out of Pakistan?
Imran khan: On the contrary it's people like me who believe in democracy and justice and rule of law. If we don't stand up for the rights of our people and become lackeys like the major part here who think that the only way to get into power is to boot polish the Americans, then we are playing into the hands of the extremists.
Rajdeep Sardesai: But do you really believe that what has happened in the last few days, the fact that Osama was maybe being sheltered by the Pakistani military, that the war against terror can really be won without the Americans in Pakistan?
Imran Khan: If you have a credible government, I'm telling you if the Americans left we would have peace here. The only problem in Afghanistan is before you leave you need to have a government of consensus there and that needs to start work right now. Because if they leave in a hurry there will be more bloodshed.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\05\08\story_8-5-2011_pg3_4

The myth of sovereignty

In their extreme deficit of confidence, the western imperialist rulers are lurching from one blunder to another. And yet the alliance between the imperialists, the fundamentalists and the Pakistani generals will continue to plod on

The hoarse bleating and the paranoia unleashed by the media and the intelligentsia in Pakistan complaining about the US operation in Abbottabad as a 'breach of sovereignty' is mindboggling to say the least. When did Pakistan ever have genuine and complete sovereignty in its history?

In the 64 years of its existence, the ruling classes have not been able to complete the tasks of the national democratic revolution or even establish a unified modern nation state. These unfinished tasks have created a society that is economically in permanent crisis, always on the verge of bankruptcy, and that is worsening with every passing day.

The reliance on imperialist aid has been a constant feature that has been an ever-increasing and crushing burden on the already impoverished populace. According to the budget presentation at the ministry of finance on Thursday, May 4, some 82 percent of the available national financial resources in the next fiscal year 2011-2012 will be allocated to three sectors: debt servicing, defence and running of the civil administration.

Even though these figures are a conservative estimate, they reveal the pathetic state of the economy and the callous nature of our ruling classes towards social development and the plight of the masses. The lust for loot and plunder to enrich themselves while the masses suffer the consequences of this economic disaster is typical of the ruling elites. Military and civilian rulers have alternated in power only to pile up this extortion of national wealth.

However, with the present unprecedented crisis of world capitalism, the plight of the working classes has worsened tremendously. Energy and food prices have shot up; healthcare and education have become unaffordable luxuries for the masses. Just to survive is a struggle that the masses have to endure, a situation unforeseen even in the chequered history of this tragic land.

Pakistan came into being not as a nation state but comprising different nationalities, the very name of the new country being an acronym of the various regions. The failure of the system has further complicated and bloodied the national contradictions that have now become irresolvable in the incumbent system. Throughout its history, its unity has been under constant threat. The breakaway of East Bengal was a glaring reminder of the fragile nature of national cohesion and the myth of its sovereignty. Ever since then, the situation has deteriorated and the events in Balochistan and elsewhere reveal the desperation of the state in trying to forcibly keep the federation intact by resorting to coercion and state terrorism. The infrastructure is rotting and society is constantly besmirched in anarchy, chaos, disillusionment, terrorism, violence and tyranny.

The military dictatorships tried to coerce the people through state repression and when this began to fail, the revolutionary mass upheavals were diverted and distorted through the so-called democratic discourse. But the democratic dispensations failed to deliver and now they have plunged society into an abyss of misery, poverty, deprivation and disease. The life of the vast majority of the masses has become a brutal agony. The recent revelations that almost half of the electoral lists are fraudulent have exposed the real nature of this democratic facade. The political parties that have emerged under this truncated democratic rulership have no fundamental differences in their social and economic policies. Listening to the speeches of the party leaders and parliamentarians in the assemblies and on television shows reminds one of Shakespeare's Hamlet: "Polonius: What do you read my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words." (Act II, Scene ii).

Paradoxically, with the economy in such a calamitous state and the social fabric in tatters, the army chiefs are reluctant to intervene to run the country through direct military rule. But the crisis refuses to spare the state and the military apparatus and fuels the contradictions that are shaking these institutions.

The recent abduction and killing of Osama bin Laden by the US Navy SEALs has further accentuated these conflicts and the army is facing embarrassment and humiliation. The trust deficit between the Americans and the Pakistan Army has never been greater. Not informing the military's top brass and jamming the Pakistani radar system while conducting this operation has exposed the frustration and distrust of the imperialists towards their main ally in this war against terror. CIA Director Leon Panetta's statement that "The Pakistan Army was either an accomplice or incompetent" in dealing with Osama's refuge within Abbottabad's military cantonment area added insult to the injury of the custodians of the ideological and geographical frontiers of the state.

Shouting about the breach of sovereignty is therefore frivolous. Without economic sovereignty, any political sovereignty is a mirage and a farce. The first economic planning commission set up in 1948 comprised a majority of US experts. The subsequent regimes, apart from the Z A Bhutto government for a few years in the early 1970s, slavishly carried out imperialist dictates. Ayub Khan said on January 3, 1966, "Pakistan will be willing, if necessary, to be a satellite of the US." Pakistan even supported the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt in October 1956 during the Suez war.

The present preposterous war was started by US imperialism more than three decades ago. Osama Bin Laden was recruited to this jihad by no less than the national security advisor of the US, Zbignew Brzezinski, in 1978. The ISI and the Pakistan Army were plunged into this war of attrition by General Ziaul Haq at the behest of the Americans. Now the conflicts within the black economy are changing loyalties and friends are turning into foes.

In their extreme deficit of confidence, the western imperialist rulers are lurching from one blunder to another. And yet the alliance between the imperialists, the fundamentalists and the Pakistani generals will continue to plod on. That is because, in the last analysis, their vested interests are based on this capitalist system in its terminal decay. But it will be a fragile, shaky and deceptive alliance. Conflicts will continue to erupt with even more perilous consequences for the whole region.

The inferno of this conflagration will continue to kill and injure hundreds of thousands of innocent souls in this region. As long as the present socio-economic system remains, the region will continue to sink into barbarism. The very existence of culture and civilisation is being threatened by this imperialist madness and fundamentalist bestiality. It may seem to be a momentous task, but without a socialist transformation the survival of humanity will be seriously compromised.

The writer is the editor of Asian Marxist Review and International Secretary of Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign. He can be reached at [email protected]

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/07/earlyshow/saturday/main20060735.shtml

Pakistan needs U.S. to survive


(CBS News) The follow-up from the raid that killed Osama bin Laden has raised serious new questions about the future of U.S. relations with Pakistan.
Eza Aslan, a Middle Eastern expert and founder of Aslanmedia.com, says he believes the relationship between Washington and Islamabad - shaken by the fact that the target of a worldwide manhunt apparently lived in a Pakistani suburb for five or six years - was on shaky ground to begin with but can be improved.

"I think it can be repaired - it must be repaired," Aslan said on CBS' "The Early Show on Saturday Morning." "Let's be serious: Whatever we think about Pakistan, it is really at the center of our war on terror strategy against both al Qaeda and the Taliban.

"Pakistan is where the problem lies, and in many cases. I think the situation with the Pakistani political establishment is that they're caught between a rock and a hard place," Aslan said.

"They need the United States' help in fighting the Taliban, because the Taliban is as much a threat to their stability as it is to the United States. And we know from the WikiLeaks documents that they're very adept at speaking with both sides of their mouth on this - to say to the public they're against the drone attacks, yet they're working with the United States intelligence to facilitate those attacks.

"I think that there is some reason to believe that perhaps with the death of bin Laden, that there is an opportunity now to purge the military and Pakistani intelligence of those problematic elements, and reframe this relationship.

"I think that you're talking about a country that is dealing with ethnic and political tensions. It's got a good crisis right now. It's still reeling from the floods. So the real issue here isn't so much about America's relationship with Pakistan, it's about whether Pakistan itself can survive."

"I think the politicians in the United States want an answer. I think the American public wants an answer. But President Obama is right to go very slowly. This is a fraught relationship. It's been a fraught relationship for awhile," he said, "but it's an important one and it must be preserved."

When asked by Early Show" anchor Russ Mitchell if Pakistan - which receives about $1.5 billion in U.S. aid annually - can be trusted, Aslan said no.

"I don't think that we can trust Pakistan, because the military and the intelligence apparatus is focused clearly on its own national security concerns, and at this point it still believes that fostering relations with the problematic elements in Pakistani society is vital to its security interests - with regard to Afghanistan, with regard to India," Aslan said. "But I do think that there is an opportunity now to perhaps shift that concern on their side.

"But we're going to have to deal with Pakistan on a more organic basis," he said. "$1.5 billion, we have to remember, without this money the Pakistani economy would very likely collapse."

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-th...e-send-money-people-are-not-dealing-us-fairly

'We Cannot Continue to Send Money to People That Are Not Dealing With Us Fairly'

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, should the United States pull the plug on money to Pakistan? Many lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle are insisting yes. They want Pakistan to do some explaining about bin Laden's hideaway in Pakistan before the U.S. sends them another dime.

Congressman Allen West of Florida joins us. Good evening, sir. And you have sent a letter, and already Congressman Ted Poe has introduced a bill. Tell me why you think we shouldn't send Pakistan another dime before we get an answer?
REP. ALLEN WEST, R-FLA.: Well, good evening, Greta. And I think that when you look at the situation surrounding Usama bin Laden hiding out there in Abbottabad for now we come to understand for five years, you're either dealing with ignorance, incompetence, or some sort of a complicit nature. And any of those three or a combination of all of those three is definitely not a reason to continue to support Pakistan with the hard- earned American taxpayer dollars.
It's not just that also, but we know that Pakistan's president a week ago called Hamid Karzai and admonished him not to go into a long-term security arrangement with the United States but rather join Pakistan and China. And there has to be a reason why all of these Islamic terrorist groups are flooding to Pakistan and to those tribal areas. Either they are being invited there or they feel that they will have sanctuary.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, according to the numbers we've gotten, just as sort of a point of reference, in the year 2011, about $3 billion is expected to go to Pakistan. In 2010, it was $3.4 billion, 2009, $3 billion, 2008, $2 billion. So these are substantial sums of money.
But I'm curious, Congressman, is that if we were to say not another dime, which is -- you know, I certainly can understand everyone's viewpoint not wanting to reward Pakistan after looking the other way, at best, with bin Laden hiding out there. I'm curious if someone else might sort of move into position, like a country not friendly to us, like Iran, and create even larger problems in the region.
WEST: Well, Greta, you have to understand that Iran is already causing great problems. Iran has been causing great problems ever since the Shah of Iran was deposed and they brought in the Ayatollah. So the thing is, if we continue with this Neville Chamberlain type of foreign policy, where we try to appease those who are playing us for fools and also our enemies, we're not going to get anywhere. The most important thing we have to convoy is a sense of strength, and also that we will no longer tolerate this type of behavior.
VAN SUSTEREN: Do we choke off our troops in Afghanistan if we do say to Pakistan, Not another dime, and they decide to -- you know, they decide to retaliate and cut off some supply routes to us? And do we make it more difficult for our troops to achieve their mission in Afghanistan?
WEST: Well, this is why I have always said the strength of the United States military is our strategic mobility. And we need to move away from the nation building occupation style of warfare and get to a United States military that is quite capable of launching strike operations, very much so, as you saw against Usama bin Laden. But we need to be able to employ our maritime forces over the horizon, airborne forces, air assault forces that can quickly go in and strike, 30 to 45-day-duration type of operations, and get the heck out of the areas of operation.
We've got to take the fight to these enemies in their sanctuaries and use all the means that we have available in our strategic arsenal so that we're not tied down to these logistical supply routes that can be choked off.
VAN SUSTEREN: But then there's the problem with India. India and Pakistan are mortal enemies. Both have nuclear weapons. If -- I mean, some have thought that to the extent that we were pouring money into Pakistan, we were putting a lid on them, you know, thereby creating more of a stable situation with Pakistan versus India.
Do we risk destabilizing an already unstable situation between those two countries if we pull out our money and lose the extent of any control that we do have in Pakistan?
WEST: Well, I think that it is already quite an unstable situation, and I'm quite sure that we are well aware of the nuclear facilities and we could launch any type of operation to neutralize those nuclear facilities in Pakistan. The most important thing that I see is that we cannot continue to send money to people that are not dealing with us fairly.
As well, you saw within the last week Fatah, the Palestinian Authority, has gone into a reconciliation pact with Hamas. And we all know that we send American taxpayer dollars to the Palestinian Authority, and our military trains the Palestinian Authority police, as well. Now is time for some serious assessments and reexaminations of where we are spending our resources in that part of the world.
VAN SUSTEREN: Congressman, thank you, sir.
WEST: Always a pleasure.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-th...eople-are-not-dealing-us-fairly#ixzz1LlP40bQQ

 

[maomao]

Time for heads to roll

OUR military and intelligence agencies stand indicted for being complicit with terror groups and our best defence seems to be to plead incompetence.

Osama's refuge in the shadows of the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul and his killing without the knowledge or permission of Pakistani authorities have not only raised piercing questions about the country's willingness to function as a responsible state but also cast fundamental doubts on the ability of our national security apparatus to protect Pakistan against foreign intervention.

An ISPR release after Thursday's corps commanders' conference that broke the security establishment's silence on the Osama operation is mostly gibberish.

While admitting "shortcomings in developing intelligence" on Osama's presence in Pakistan, it goes on to blow the ISI's trumpet for extraordinary achievement all around. The commanders feel betrayed by the CIA for not telling the ISI where Bin Laden was hiding.

The release doesn't say why the military failed to detect foreign choppers and troops in our territory for an hour and 40 minutes. The air chief has now chimed in: the radars were working perfectly but enough of them are just not located on the western border. Did no one ever think we needed radar and air cover in the drone-infested part of Pakistan that has been an active war zone for a decade?

Can the-dog-ate-my-homework routine pacify a nation worried sick about having penetrable defences, no response readiness and being on the way to be branded a rogue? An inquiry into the facts of the Osama operation to determine the causes of the intelligence failure will not be sufficient.

We need to rationally approach the concept of sovereignty together with state responsibility to understand why the world views us suspiciously. We need a thorough re-examination of our existing national security doctrine to determine whether it is promoting or jeopardising our security. We need disclosure on the scope of our military relationship with the US and if the latter has been afforded air bases and the permission to house troops or intelligence operatives within Pakistan.

We need to root the power and authority of the ISI within statutory law, provide for internal checks and performance audit, and subject the agency to effective parliamentary scrutiny. And we need to do away with our policy of deliberate hypocrisy reflected in our refusal to clearly articulate our security and foreign policy goals, especially vis-à-vis the future of Afghanistan.

This is keeping the jihadi project alive, confusing and polarising the nation and drawing a wedge between Pakistan and the world. But this won't happen unless the responsibility for failing to detect Osama's presence in Pakistan as well as the US military operation is ascribed to those in charge of national security.

It is unlikely that Osama was being hosted by Pakistan as a matter of policy. Shielding Afghan Taliban leaders or India-focused militant leaders, however misconceived, is still understandable as part of a warped strategy to promote our defined strategic interests. Hosting Bin Laden or other Al Qaeda leaders isn't.

Further, the assumption that our military and the ISI must have known of Osama's presence in Abbottabad is the product of a narrative that projects our national security establishment as extremely capable, effective and omnipresent. This narrative has been conjured up by the national security establishment itself and mercilessly fed to the nation.

The masses buy into it for lack of an alternative narrative and a misplaced sense of nationalism. The political class and the media buy into it because they remain subjects of the ISI's intrusive gaze, being followed, wiretapped, photographed, interrogated, cajoled and coerced. But hard facts do not back this narrative. Without distorting history can one honestly applaud our military high command's performance in any war? Have our military and its intelligence network succeeded in confronting the security threat emanating from within?

If the ISI and the MI are epitomes of excellence, what accounts for their inability to prevent terrorists from blowing up themselves, our soldiers, policemen, intelligence outfits and innocent civilians across Pakistan at will? What can possibly explain the ease with which a handful of terrorists broke into the GHQ, killed senior military officers and held others hostage for hours? Pakistan has lost more civilians and soldiers to terror since 9/11 than all other countries of the world put together.

Does this sacrifice not highlight the failure of our national security strategy?

Some days ago, army chief Gen Kayani declared that national honour shall not be traded for prosperity. A week before that he had boasted that we had broken the backbone of the militants. Air chief Rao Qamar Suleman had declared that the air force is capable of shooting down US Predator aircraft if asked to. The US Navy Seals then carried out a complex military operation in the heart of Pakistan with choppers and boots on the ground and all, and the air force and army slept right through it?

In a functional democracy, these gentlemen would be sacked after such a debacle. Unfortunately, national security related decisions in Pakistan fall within the exclusive domain of the military, which jealously guards its turf. But responsibility must accompany such power. And the responsibility for erosion of our international credibility and increased threat to security personnel and citizens from terror networks nestled within Pakistan rests squarely on the military's shoulder.

Be it a rise in suicide bombing and terror incidents within Pakistan, an increase in US drone strikes in our territory, the Mumbai attacks or the Osama operation, the threat to Pakistan's interests for being perceived as a pad for terrorist activity and to its citizens as targets of terror has proliferated under Gen Kayani's watch. Is it not time for Gen Kayani to call it quits and take along with him the DG ISI and the air chief? Shouldn't these heads roll to account for failing to do their jobs?

With them in the driving seat it might neither be possible to hold a transparent inquiry into the security breaches that led to the Osama operation and its execution without Pakistan's knowledge nor engage in a rethink of our perverse national security mindset. Can we shed some baggage and create room for untainted faces and ideas?

The concept of sovereignty assumes control over the territory a state claims. We cannot continue to shirk responsibility for the men, material and money transiting in and out of Pakistan and simultaneously wail at the disregard for our sovereignty. It is time to publicly articulate our legitimate security interests linked to the future of Afghanistan and develop a regional consensus around it, instead of vying for the whole hog.

It is time to completely liquidate the jihadi project and cleanse our state machinery of those who believe in its virtue. And it is time to shun the delusions of grandeur and conspiracy that prevent us from realising our potential as a responsible and industrious nation.

 

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There are some recent news that Americans had demanded an Access to the compound where operation Geronimo was carried out, and suddenly after some time two large explosions were heard in the city of Abbottabad. They are speculating that may be the compound might have been destroyed by Pakistani Authorities.