Secret US military camp established in Pakistan

Myanmar News.Net
Sunday 4th October, 2009
The United States has reportedly established a secret military training camp just a few kilometres away from Islamabad.

According to The Nation, the base is situated in the heart of an industrial estate and is being used to recruit retired Pakistani military officers to work for the US military.

The high-walled structure bears signs which suggest it is an auto repair shop.

Military-style barbed wire is fixed to fences around the building and a watchtower can be seen from certain vantage points.

It is believed the camp is closely associated with private US defence contractor, DynCorp, which has made no statement on the issue.

Earlier this week, a retired official of the Pakistani Army, who is allegedly a partner of the DynCorp company in Pakistan, was arrested after a huge cache of illegal weapons was recovered from his office in the heart of the high-security zone in Islamabad.

Any foreign military presence inside Pakistan should be of great concern.

It is good that these secret stories gets out in the media.

It's 30 KMs from Islamabad, with fortress like walls surrounding the complex.
It's a Pakistani Military Compound, and American/British presence has been witnessed there, but it's not their's for God's sake.

Only a tabloid is reporting that it's a US facility, because they sell when they blurt out such gossip.

The biggest threat to Pakistan is internal from suicide bombers like TTP. These assholes are killing muslims everyday and Pakistanis are jumping at conspiracy theories. Its time to clean up our own backyard first before blaming others for our own follies of 60 plus years.

absolutely correct ..... looks like we as a nation are going through collective paranoia ... !!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/world/as...6islamabad.html

October 6, 2009
U.S. Push to Expand in Pakistan Meets Resistance
By JANE PERLEZ
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Steps by the United States to vastly expand its aid to Pakistan, as well as the footprint of its embassy and private security contractors here, are aggravating an already volatile anti-American mood as Washington pushes for greater action by the government against the Taliban.

A $1.5 billion aid package passed by Congress last week asks Pakistan to cease supporting terrorist groups on its soil and to ensure that the military does not interfere with civilian politics. President Asif Ali Zardari, whose association with the United States has added to his unpopularity, agreed to the stipulations in the aid package.

But many here, especially in the powerful army, object to the conditions as interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs, and they are interpreting the larger American footprint in more sinister ways.

American officials say the embassy and its security presence must expand in order to monitor how the new money is spent. They also have real security concerns, which were underscored Monday when a suicide bomber, dressed in the uniform of a Pakistani security force, killed at least five people at a United Nations office in the heart of Islamabad, the capital.

The United States Embassy has publicized plans for a vast new building in Islamabad for about 1,000 people, with security for some diplomats provided through a Washington-based private contracting company, DynCorp.

The embassy setup, with American demands for importing more armored vehicles, is a significant expansion over the last 15 years. It comes at a time of intense discussion in Washington over whether to widen American operations and aid to Pakistan — a base for Al Qaeda — as an alternative to deeper American involvement in Afghanistan with the addition of more forces.

The fierce opposition here is revealing deep strains in the alliance. Even at its current levels, the American presence was fueling a sense of occupation among Pakistani politicians and security officials, said several Pakistani officials, who did not want to be named for fear of antagonizing the United States. The United States was now seen as behaving in Pakistan much as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan, they said.

In particular, the Pakistani military and the intelligence agencies are concerned that DynCorp is being used by Washington to develop a parallel network of security and intelligence personnel within Pakistan, officials and politicians close to the army said.

The concerns are serious enough that last month a local company hired by DynCorp to provide Pakistani men to be trained as security guards for American diplomats was raided by the Islamabad police. The owner of the company, the Inter-Risk Security Company, Capt. Syed Ali Ja Zaidi, was later arrested.

The action against Inter-Risk, apparently intended to cripple the DynCorp program, was taken on orders from the senior levels of the Pakistani government, said an official familiar with the raid, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

The entire workings of DynCorp within Pakistan are now under review by the Pakistani government, said a senior government official directly involved with the Americans, who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity.

The tensions are erupting as the United States is pressing Pakistan to take on not only those Taliban groups that have threatened their government, but also the Taliban leadership that uses Pakistan as a base to organize and conduct their insurgency against American forces in Afghanistan.

In a public statement, the American ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, suggested last week that Pakistan should eliminate the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, a onetime ally of the Pakistanis who Washington says is now based in Baluchistan, the province on the Afghanistan border. If Pakistan did not get rid of Mullah Omar, the United States would, she suggested.

Reinforcing the ambassador, the national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, said Sunday that the United States regarded tackling Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan as “the next step” in the conflict in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in an unusually stern reaction last week said that missile attacks by American drones in Baluchistan, as implied by the Americans, “would not be allowed.”

The Pakistanis also complain that they are not being sufficiently consulted over the pending White House decision on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.

The head of Pakistan’s chief spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, or ISI, Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, met with senior officials at the Central Intelligence Agency last week in Washington, where he argued that more troops was not the answer in Afghanistan, a Pakistani official familiar with the visit said.

The Pakistani Army, riding high after its campaign to wrench back control of the Swat Valley from the Taliban, remains nervous about Washington’s intentions in the region and the push against the new aid is reflective of that anxiety, Pakistani officials said.

Though the Zardari government is trumpeting the new aid assistance as a triumph, officials say the language in the legislation ignores long-held prerogatives about Pakistani sovereignty, making the $1.5 billion a tough sell.

“Now everyone has a handle they can use to rip into the Zardari government,” said a senior Pakistani official involved in the American-Pakistani dialogue but who declined to be named because he did not want to inflame the discussion.

The expanding American security presence has become another club. DynCorp has attracted particular scrutiny after the Pakistani news media reported that Blackwater, the contractor that has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, was also present in Pakistan.

Recently, there have been a series of complaints by Islamabad residents who said they had been “roughed up” by hefty, plainclothes American men bearing weapons, presumably from DynCorp, one of the senior Pakistani officials involved with the Americans said.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office had sent two formal diplomatic complaints in the past few weeks to the American Embassy about such incidents, the official said.

The embassy had received complaints, and confirmed two incidents, an embassy official said, but the embassy denied receiving any formal protests from the Foreign Office. It also declined to comment about the presence of Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, in Pakistan.

Officials at the Central Intelligence Agency have said that Blackwater employees worked at a remote base in Shamsi, in Baluchistan, where they loaded missiles and bombs onto drones used to strike Taliban and Qaeda militants.

The operation of the drones at Shamsi had been shifted by the Americans to Afghanistan this year, a senior Pakistani military official said.

Several Blackwater employees also worked in the North-West Frontier Province supervising the construction of a training center for Pakistan’s Frontier Corps, a Pakistani official from the region said.

There was considerable unease about the American diplomatic presence in Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province, one of the senior government officials said. Politicians were asking why the United States needed a consulate in Peshawar, which borders the tribal areas where the Taliban and Al Qaeda are based, when that office did not issue visas, he said.

Another question, he said, was why did the consulate plan to buy the biggest, and most modern building in the city, the Pearl Continental hotel — which was bombed in a terrorist attack this year — as its new headquarters.

As Parliament prepared to discuss the American aid package Wednesday, the tone of the debate was expected to be scathing. On a television talk show, Senator Tariq Aziz, a member of the opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, called the aid legislation, “the charter for new colonization.”

“People think this government has sold us to the Americans again for their own selfish interests,” said Jahangir Tareen, a former cabinet minister and a member of Parliament, in an interview. “Some people think the United States is out to get Pakistan, to defang Pakistan, to destroy the army as it exists so it can’t fight India and to break down the ISI’s ability to influence events in India and Afghanistan. Everyone is saying about the Americans, ‘Told you so.’ ”

I think went a bit overboard on the font sizes.... Important news, though. I guess it was not just all propoganda. Where there is smoke...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/world/as...6islamabad.html

U.S. Push to Expand in Pakistan Meets Resistance

By JANE PERLEZ
Published: October 5, 2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Steps by the United States to vastly expand its aid to Pakistan, as well as the footprint of its embassy and private security contractors here, are aggravating an already volatile anti-American mood as Washington pushes for greater action by the government against the Taliban.

An aid package of $1.5 billion a year for the next five years passed by Congress last week asks Pakistan to cease supporting terrorist groups on its soil and to ensure that the military does not interfere with civilian politics. President Asif Ali Zardari, whose association with the United States has added to his unpopularity, agreed to the stipulations in the aid package.

But many here, especially in the powerful army, object to the conditions as interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs, and they are interpreting the larger American footprint in more sinister ways.

American officials say the embassy and its security presence must expand in order to monitor how the new money is spent. They also have real security concerns, which were underscored Monday when a suicide bomber, dressed in the uniform of a Pakistani security force, killed five people at a United Nations office in the heart of Islamabad, the capital.

The United States Embassy has publicized plans for a vast new building in Islamabad for about 1,000 people, with security for some diplomats provided through a Washington-based private contracting company, DynCorp.

The embassy setup, with American demands for importing more armored vehicles, is a significant expansion over the last 15 years. It comes at a time of intense discussion in Washington over whether to widen American operations and aid to Pakistan — a base for Al Qaeda — as an alternative to deeper American involvement in Afghanistan with the addition of more forces.

The fierce opposition here is revealing deep strains in the alliance. Even at its current levels, the American presence was fueling a sense of occupation among Pakistani politicians and security officials, said several Pakistani officials, who did not want to be named for fear of antagonizing the United States. The United States was now seen as behaving in Pakistan much as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan, they said.

In particular, the Pakistani military and the intelligence agencies are concerned that DynCorp is being used by Washington to develop a parallel network of security and intelligence personnel within Pakistan, officials and politicians close to the army said.

The concerns are serious enough that last month a local company hired by DynCorp to provide Pakistani men to be trained as security guards for American diplomats was raided by the Islamabad police. The owner of the company, the Inter-Risk Security Company, Capt. Syed Ali Ja Zaidi, was later arrested.

The action against Inter-Risk, apparently intended to cripple the DynCorp program, was taken on orders from the senior levels of the Pakistani government, said an official familiar with the raid, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

The entire workings of DynCorp within Pakistan are now under review by the Pakistani government, said a senior government official directly involved with the Americans, who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity.

The tensions are erupting as the United States is pressing Pakistan to take on not only those Taliban groups that have threatened the government, but also the Taliban leadership that uses Pakistan as a base to organize and conduct their insurgency against American forces in Afghanistan.

In a public statement, the American ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, suggested last week that Pakistan should eliminate the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, a onetime ally of the Pakistanis who Washington says is now based in Baluchistan, a province on the Afghanistan border. If Pakistan did not get rid of Mullah Omar, the United States would, she suggested.

Reinforcing the ambassador, the national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, said Sunday that the United States regarded tackling Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan as “the next step” in the conflict in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in an unusually stern reaction last week, said that missile attacks by American drones in Baluchistan, as implied by the Americans, “would not be allowed.”

The Pakistanis also complain that they are not being sufficiently consulted over the pending White House decision on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.

The head of Pakistan’s chief spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, or ISI, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, met with senior officials at the Central Intelligence Agency last week in Washington, where he argued against sending more troops to Afghanistan, a Pakistani official familiar with the visit said.

The Pakistani Army, riding high after its campaign to wrench back control of the Swat Valley from the Taliban, remains nervous about Washington’s intentions and the push against the new aid is reflective of that anxiety, Pakistani officials said.

Though the Zardari government is trumpeting the new aid as a triumph, officials say the language in the legislation ignores long-held prerogatives about Pakistani sovereignty, making the $1.5 billion a tough sell.

“Now everyone has a handle they can use to rip into the Zardari government,” said a senior Pakistani official involved in the American-Pakistani dialogue but who declined to be named because he did not want to inflame the discussion.

The expanding American security presence has become another club. DynCorp has attracted particular scrutiny after the Pakistani news media reported that Blackwater, the contractor that has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, was also in Pakistan.

Recently, there have been a series of complaints by Islamabad residents who said they had been “roughed up” by hefty, plainclothes American men bearing weapons, presumably from DynCorp, one of the senior Pakistani officials involved with the Americans said.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office had sent two formal diplomatic complaints in the past few weeks to the American Embassy about such episodes, the official said.

The embassy had received complaints, and confirmed two instances, an embassy official said, but the embassy denied receiving any formal protests from the Foreign Office. It also declined to comment about the presence of Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, in Pakistan.

American officials have said that Blackwater employees worked at a remote base in Shamsi, in Baluchistan, where they loaded missiles and bombs onto drones used to strike Taliban and Qaeda militants.

The operation of the drones at Shamsi had been shifted by the Americans to Afghanistan this year, a senior Pakistani military official said.

Several Blackwater employees also worked in the North-West Frontier Province supervising the construction of a training center for Pakistan’s Frontier Corps, a Pakistani official from the region said.

There was considerable unease about the American diplomatic presence in Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province, one of the senior government officials said. Politicians were asking why the United States needed a consulate in Peshawar, which borders the tribal areas, when that office did not issue visas, he said.

Another question, he said, was why did the consulate plan to buy the biggest, and most modern building in the city, the Pearl Continental hotel — which was bombed in a terrorist attack this year — as its new headquarters.

As Parliament prepared to discuss the American aid package Wednesday, the tone of the debate was expected to be scathing. On a television talk show, Senator Tariq Aziz, a member of the opposition party, called the legislation “the charter for new colonization.”

“People think this government has sold us to the Americans again for their own selfish interests,” said Jahangir Tareen, a former cabinet minister and a member of Parliament, in an interview. “Some people think the United States is out to get Pakistan, to defang Pakistan, to destroy the army as it exists so it can’t fight India and to break down the ISI’s ability to influence events in India and Afghanistan. Everyone is saying about the Americans, ‘Told you so.’ ”

Well it seems our voices are being heard, not to see if any action is taken on them.

Powered by pride, Pakistan set to reject Kerry-Lugar Bill

Tuesday, October 06, 2009


By Kamran Khan

ISLAMABAD: The government is gently moving in a direction where it may reject the Kerry-Lugar Bill in its present shape. The rejection will be accompanied by a request to the US Congress and the Obama administration for an understanding of Pakistan’s sovereignty and its right to decide issues of national security and foreign policy, according to several senior Pakistani officials and an important federal cabinet minister. The sources spoke to this correspondent on condition of anonymity.

“I’ll be very very surprised if Pakistan accepts the Kerry-Lugar Bill with its present formulations because the nation wouldn’t allow a trade-off between sovereignty and US aid,” said an important federal cabinet member, reflecting the prevailing sense in government circles on the issue.

Less than a week after the passage of the Kerry-Lugar Bill by the American Congress, the civil and military leadership in Pakistan is sharing strong concerns with opposition politicians, the media, intellectuals and clerics over certain provisions in the bill where the US government has sought to oversee the key components of Pakistan’s foreign policy and national security. A public outrage was witnessed in the country as the content of the Kerry-Lugar Bill became public last week.

Renowned columnist and MNA Ayaz Amir wrote in his weekly column in The News: “This is less an assistance programme than a treaty of surrender.” “Thank God, Kerry and Lugar did not think of getting the name of Pakistan changed!” wrote renowned columnist Anees Jillani in an op-ed article in Dawn.

Amid growing concerns across the country that an increasingly controversial Kerry-Lugar Bill has also prejudged Pakistan as a state allowing bases for terrorist operations in the tribal areas and cities, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered a hold-back of an official response from the government on the bill until it is fully examined by parliament and the country’s military leadership, senior officials said.

As a result of this decision that will entail several actions over the next two weeks, these sources said, the premier also sent an urgent message on Sunday to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, now in Washington, not to make any comment on the bill during his public engagements there.

In the backdrop of an upheaval in the media and political circles soon after the passage of the Kerry-Lugar Bill, laced with somewhat insulting clauses, Gilani held an important review of the bill with Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in an unpublicised meeting on Sunday.

An informed official said an initial review of the Kerry-Lugar Bill by military strategists also shares a negative perception on various clauses of the bill and it is being shared with US security and military officials at various levels.

A federal cabinet minister said the prime minister has devised a multi-tier transparent review of the bill. Parliament and the prime minister want to carry out a threadbare examination of the bill followed by a similar scrutiny by the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC). Officials said the military- and security-related elements of the Kerry-Lugar Bill would soon be placed before the corps commanders of the Pakistan Army as well as the three services at the Joint Staff Headquarters level to assist the prime minister in drafting Pakistan’s official response.

A suspicion is gaining strength in the civil and military leadership that some elements of the Kerry-Lugar Bill aim specifically at creating a deep wedge between the civilian authority and the General Headquarters (GHQ) by raising well-settled issues and linking them with the US aid to Pakistan. The most provocative clause of the bill on this issue states: “An assessment of the extent to which the government of Pakistan exercises effective civilian control of the military, including a description of the extent to which civilian executive leaders and parliament exercise oversight and approval of military budgets, the chain of command, the process of promotion for senior military leaders, civilian involvement in strategic guidance and planning, and military involvement in civil administration.” The clause clearly dictates an upside down approach to turn the way the military and civilian authorities function in their well defined domains in Pakistan, an important official source observed.

“I think this is mischief to create a huge civil-military conflict but this will not happen. The prime minister fully understands the game,” the minister said.

Pakistani officials are unanimous in their opinion that the bill was a humiliating document for the country that has been offered to the government in exchange for Pakistan’s critical support in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. In post-Kerry-Lugar Bill discussions held quietly by the prime minister, some officials favour a transit treaty for Pakistan with Nato and American forces for a smooth flow of military and non-military supplies from the port of Karachi to Afghanistan. Some 5,000 containers of military and non-military supplies for the US and Nato forces are cleared through the port of Karachi for various destinations in Afghanistan every month, an official informed.

As controversial elements and critical strings attached to the Kerry-Lugar Bill continue to unfold, there is a growing impression in the opposition circles and the security establishment that Pakistan’s diplomatic corps, particularly its embassy in Washington, failed to convince the US lawmakers on matters of mutual security interest, thus clauses were added in the bill that may compromise Pakistan’s sovereignty over issues of critical national interest. Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani consistently maintains that neither the United States nor the government of Pakistan had a sway over content of the bill and Indian lobbying power far outweighs Pakistan’s meagre resources to lobby the US Congress.

The bill determines that major Pakistani cities such as Quetta and Muridke near Lahore were serving as bases for terrorist operations and Pakistan would have to mount operations in these cities to ensure flow of financial assistance under the Kerry-Lugar Bill.

The bill also carries a damning declaration that Pakistani military and its intelligence services support extremist and terrorist groups and desires that this perceived support is “ceased” for continued flow of funds to Pakistan.

The bill has so far not divided the Pakistani political spectrum along party lines. Condemnation of controversial clauses of the bill has been heard both from the leaders of the PPP, including Mian Raza Rabbani, and whole range of PML-N leaders besides more aggressive protests from the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Tehrik-e-Insaf.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Ch Nisar Ali Khan set the ball rolling for an anti-Kerry-Lugar Bill campaign in Pakistan on Monday when he stood up on the floor of the Lower House to declare that the bill only protects the rights and objectives of the American government while for Pakistan it has mortgaged even the future of Pakistani children.

Very much so on the contrary this DOG zardari is going against our interests so blatently


Zardari rejects criticismof Kerry-Lugar Bill




Tuesday, October 06, 2009

By Asim Yasin

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Zardari on Monday night asked party leaders and ministers to vigorously respond to the criticism of the party and government policies by its political adversaries.

“We have been elected by the people through a democratic and constitutional process and our legitimacy coupled with good governance should be the chief weapons to fight back the opponents,” he said while addressing senior party leadership at the presidency during a brainstorming session on current political situation in the country.

Briefing the media about the meeting, presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said the president and party co-chairman also explained the salient features of the Kerry-Lugar Bill and rejected all criticism that conditions ostensibly attached to it undermined the country’s sovereignty in any way.

The president said the bill was the first Pakistan aid bill that did not require presidential certification every year. It only required certification by the US Secretary of State that Pakistan was moving along the path of democracy, nuclear non-proliferation and drug control. Who in Pakistan under the present democratic dispensation would disagree with these goals, he asked.

This was in contrast with the past aid bills that required presidential certification that Pakistan was moving towards restoration of democracy, human rights protection, nuclear non-proliferation and drugs control, the spokesman quoted the president having said.

He said the bill acknowledges Pakistan as a critical friend and ally and also the profound sacrifices it has made in the war on terror. The language of the bill relating to nuclear proliferation had also been toned down. In the original bill, the wording was to “ensure access of US investigators to individual suspected”. This was changed to receiving cooperation “in efforts such as providing relevant information from or direct access to Pakistani nationals associated with such networks,” he said.

The bill authorises $1.5 billion per year primarily for economic assistance to Pakistan for five years extendable to ten years. It supports Pakistan’s struggle against extremist elements and recognizes it as a major non-Nato ally in the battle against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Farhatullah Babar quoted the president as saying that the bill authorises assistance to Pakistan for expansion of rule of law, building of democratic institutions and investment in people, including those displaced in ongoing counterinsurgency operations. It also authorizes assistance for capacity building of government institutions and promoting sustainable economic development

This is the concern being raised from every corner ...

Yesterday, I was watching Meray Mutabiq of Dr. Shahid Masood on GEO while he discussed Kerry-Lugar Bill with former Foriegn Minister

Dr. Massod said "On one hand we have nation REALLY getting concerned about such bills and condictions, including several politicians as well top brass of army yet what we listen from government i.e. Zardari while he deals with US is 'Please, ask us for more' ... and we will do it for you"

Its obvious Zardari is taking us down ... questions ... why opposition is sleeping? lawyers (liars) are sleeping? media is sleeping? Army?

It would be impossible once camel is inside your tent ...

An assessment of the extent to which the government of Pakistan exercises effective civilian control of the military, including a description of the extent to which civilian executive leaders and parliament exercise oversight and approval of military budgets, the chain of command, the process of promotion for senior military leaders, civilian involvement in strategic guidance and planning, and military involvement in civil administration.”


US 1.5 billion for all this ,,,, wow .. we all know that products coming out of Pakistan is dirt cheap .. but did not know that whole nation is even cheaper for grabs !

We have to take this issue & outrightedly refuse the bill & that aid.

Alongwith that we should review our assistance and the charge, especially in view of the inflation & rising costs related to losses of asset values purchased earlier for the jobs of US .. we need to take up higher profits due to exposure to loss. Just like the banks are doing, they are not asking us profit, they are asking us to pay for the losses which they did in the past years !

I am sure with the increase in our billing we might get at leat 1 billion + no aid ! Fine .. unless we have balls & say .. voila .. no more cooperation, last they were saying Iran & Russia are ready to feed their suppliers. So go on .. we will keep our attack on Taleban (which I am sure will become more strong once US starts feeding them from our back), but no business with US. But than we don't have balls !

But since we are not taking the aid, we should not allow the increase of US embassy staff ..

In fact for me .. even with the peanuts of aids .. we should refuse any US increase !

if you noticed the tone of the paragraph it treats Pakistan as a banana republic a client state i dont understand they are giving us only 1.5 billion dollars and they think they now own Pakistan.its rediculous that we are accpet this money Pakistan's budget ranges from 25 to 30 bilion dollars what is the value of 1.5 in front of 30. and americans treat us like they are completely running Pakistan and without their help we would collapse.

Because we are plain stupid or only involved in revenge against each other.

We should not at any cost accept this 1.5 billion. Infact such should be our reply that they come up with a totally new figure & new words.

Even if we are beggers do we have to collect the "spitted coin glued from the d$ck of US" ! Sorry for my language but this is the true fact, when you read the wordings of the bill meant for a nuclear Power !!

^How more low we will go yaar ... seriously it seems as if we love being beggers of worst kind ...

All praise to that sl$t Zardari

On all of us man ... there should be jalsa jaloos, torao pharo ... we should protest .. not just blame the dud Zardari.

This is our time to go bonkers & voila .. our own president says .. Your Excellency with all my strength ... I am unable to do anything, even if I have eaten your 100million in the swiss account, but still people are going crazy ! So sorry Sir !

The Kerry-Lugar Bill is an outrageous attempt to undermine the sovereignty of Pakistan. American snakes are showing their true colours by introducing such ridiculous demands. I hope that this bill creates a furore amongst the populace. Accepting this bill amounts to treason.

Treason, it is - but where is the Champion of suo-motto .. anybody heard anything from My Lord CJ !

It only required certification by the US Secretary of State that Pakistan was moving along the path of democracy, nuclear non-proliferation and drug control. Who in Pakistan under the present democratic dispensation would disagree with these goals, he asked.

No Mushy

CJ is just an insignificant pawn. A lot has been said about CJ the messiah. Only words but no deeds.

Firstly this is something done since Gen. Zia .. don't forget that .. Secondly you are now saying that a dictator who had to show sacrifice some egos had to take it with a pinch of salt, but today you are democratic & without any similar short comings .. but still you are ready to accept it ? Wow ..

This is exactly the thing .. forget what you have done in the past ! Too much is too much ... Yes the stick was bending before too .. but it is just a small angle which can make it break .. This is what I am saying .. break it .. & the US will remember it and in future avoid bending over the limit !

You have to realize that they are testing the waters ... Sign this today & tomorrow .. they will want to do an anal probe in your PM's sorry a$$ .. Yeah before new 1.5 Billion are given.

We are like prostitutes ... one demand you satisfy and the drunk guy will seek another hole ... ooops angle of enjoyment !

I know it all sounds dirty .. but than read the words .. they are dirtier then my words concerning our soverinity !

elected thru democratic process ~ my foot. yes u have been elected thru feudal/foreign backed process and this gives no right to any ****** to sell our honor & dignity.

Zaid Hamid on kerry-lugar bill.
http://forum.pakistanidefence.com/index.php?showtopic=84988

I think .. we should make a very loose song & start posting it on the web & different areas with pictures of our elected thugs including CJ & NS ...

"Hum gandoon hein" ... you know .. everybody will wake up from the somber !!!

This is completely outrageous! How dare they come up with this "paper of surrender" after all we have done for them in Afghanistan and ruining our country in the process.

A STRONG reply should be sent to Washington DC by sending the existing ambassador out of the country and demanding of a new one for her incompetence and failure to understand our culture and national psychic!

But we will have to do something in the long run. This whole mess we see today came about only after the Americans entered our region. As the old proverb on the dog falling into the well, the Americans must leave Afghanistan. They are neither Afghan nor do they hold Afghanistani passports. Pakistan is more then capable of managing their own region without American interference.

A first step would have to be a declared neutrality in Afghanistan and a ban on any passage of NATO supplies via Pakistan followed up with a total blockade of the Pak-Afghan border on the lines of LOC: anyone who intrude into our borders will be shot on the spot!

If all this is too much for Zardari then this shameful bill should be linked to the NATO supplies. In short: we want to get payed for our services or you can try the Iran route into Afghanistan. I am sure Tehran has much love for a bill like this one.

But I am dreaming aren't I? We all know that this curropt and morally bankrupt PPP government of Zardari is not going to do anything which goes against the interests of their masters in DC. The only solution is a forceful removal of this government and the establishment of a system that works for us and not against us like this illogical democratic regime where parties are family properties and it's leders manipulated by foreign power.

A kerry Lugar Bill or any other for that matter is not automatically Pakistani law. It is completely up to us if we want to accept it or not.

So the solution is very simple: a complete rejection of this bill!

This will also be helpful on the expansion plans in Islamabad as they wont need it because there wont be any money to be monitored.

But this money monitoring thing is just an excuse. Several American officials has made a point on the impossibility to monitor the money after it has been transferred to Pakistan or any other country for that matter.

Has anyone of you seen the faces of the PPP folks lately? They look like hungry dogs about to eat a baby. These people simply cant wait to get their hands on the money. I just hope they choke on it.

And exactly who do you think are behind the TTP son? TTP are getting all their backing from Afghanistan. How do you explain the Indians fighting hand in hand with TTP's in Swat or the continued red signal from CIA to hit TTP people with their drones. The Indians did not enter Swat crossing the LOC right!

No, the picture is much larger then "cleaning up our own" talk. TTP are directly backed by foreign powers in Afghanistan to create havoc in Pakistan. The most involved is RAW and America is turning a blind eye to their terrorist activities along the Pak-Afghan border.

But this TTP game is soon coming to an end inshallah. Soon the 6th largest armed forces of the world is going to make an example out of these terrorists in South-Wazirastan!

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=201062

Kerry-Lugar: bill or document of surrender?
Friday, October 02, 2009
By Ayaz Amir
The Kerry-Lugar bill, just passed by the US Congress and expected to be signed soon by President Obama, leaves an odd taste in the mouth. After wading through its tortuous prose, Pakistan seems less an ally than a rogue state straight out of the pages of science fiction.

A convicted rapist out on parole would be required to give fewer assurances of good conduct for the future than Pakistan is required to give in order to receive assistance under this legislation.

And for this the Pakistani nation is expected to go down on its knees and thank the US for its unbounded munificence. If this is American friendship, hostility sounds like a better option.

For many Pakistanis Hussain Haqqani is less our man in Washington than our suspect in Washington. To think he stood guardian of our interests when this package was being put together. Pakistan is not tough enough to afford his services. He would be doing everyone a favour, except of course himself, if he returned to his teaching job in Boston.

This bill implies -- nay, explicitly states -- that Pakistan has been a nuclear proliferator; and that parts of its territory are safe havens for terrorist networks. Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad are listed as such groups. Quetta and Muridke are listed as bases of terrorist operations.

Kerry-Lugar requires the US President to "develop a comprehensive interagency regional security strategy to eliminate terrorist threats and close safe havens in Pakistan, including by working with the government of Pakistan -- to best implement effective counterinsurgency and counterterrorism efforts in and near the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, including the FATA, the NWFP, parts of Balochistan and parts of Punjab."

Doesn't this language suggest that the US President is also president of FATA, the NWFP, parts of Balochistan and parts of Punjab? This is not wounded sovereignty but ceded sovereignty. And for what? A few pieces of silver.

US military spending in Afghanistan every year is close to 60 billion dollars. Kerry-Lugar foresees 1.5 billion dollars a year to us, for five years. This is being hailed as a strategic partnership. Sounds more like the cheapest rent-a-nation contract in modern history.

This at a time when the Pakistan army is doing a better job of fighting terrorism in Pakistan than ISAF forces are doing in fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistani casualties in this struggle far exceed anything suffered by the US. While the US is thinking of getting out of Afghanistan -- and American generals are openly saying that at current troop levels the fight against the Taliban is un-winnable -- the Pakistan army, in a remarkable turnaround, is rediscovering a new (and welcome) resolve against terrorism.

Pakistan should be commended for this achievement. Instead it is being asked to blacken its face and be grateful for doing so. Have the geniuses who make up the government of Pakistan read this bill? Has the Foreign Office studied it?

The US Secretary of State is furthermore required to certify that Pakistan has made progress on matters such as "ceasing support, including by any elements within the Pakistan military or its intelligence agency, to extremist and terrorist groups, particularly to any group that has conducted attacks against United States or coalition forces in Afghanistan, or against the territory or people of neighbouring countries."

These are unexceptionable aims. Pakistan should have nothing to do with supporting terrorist networks. But all this was in the past and if it is the past we are revisiting would it not be appropriate for the US Congress to offer a word of apology for the US's own role in the 1980s in making heroes out of the 'mujahideen' -- the precursors of the Taliban and from whose midst was born Al Qaeda?

Afghanistan's present troubles can be traced to the US decision in 1989 to wash its hands off Afghanistan after Soviet forces left. Already there is no shortage of signs pointing to US weariness with the present Afghan war. Shouldn't the secretary of state also certify that the US again will not cut-and-run from Afghanistan?

This is less an assistance programme than a treaty of surrender. The Simla Accord signed after our defeat at the hands of India in 1971 did not reflect such depths of humiliation. Yet President Asif Zardari and our man in Washington are hailing this exercise as a diplomatic triumph. If this is a triumph, the word disaster would have to be redefined.

Yes, President Zardari is an elected president. Yet that doesn't stop him from being a clueless figure. He may be a great one for cutting business deals. But he is out of his depth in international waters. That in itself would be no great disability -- no president, Pakistani or American, being required to be a Nobel laureate -- provided he had good advisers. That precisely is where the rub lies. The people closest to Zardari don't make up for his weaknesses. They rather duplicate and magnify them.

It is a safe bet that President Zardari has not read Kerry-Lugar and never will. It is a taxing document and the prose is not easy. But he is a victim of his own insecurities --the reputation which dogs him -- and it is these insecurities which make him a pawn in others' hands.

Gen Pervez Musharraf post-Sep 2001 succumbed to American diktat and pressure at the sound of Colin Powell's telephone call. Powell was the civilized face of the Bush administration, the least threatening person in what came close to being a diabolical cabal. Yet it was Powell -- not Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld -- before whom Pakistan's commando-general crumbled.

Musharraf at least had the excuse that the US was in a fearful mood and ruin threatened Pakistan if it did not go along with American wishes. Zardari has no such excuse. Pakistan, after the army's success in Swat and the cordon thrown around Waziristan, is now on a firmer wicket -- the mists of equivocation and vacillation having long since evaporated. But Kerry-Lugar makes it appear as if Pakistan has nothing to hold on to and is ever so grateful for any crumbs thrown in its direction. Zardari and company are agreeing to its terms in the full possession of their insecure senses.

But, say official hailers, Kerry-Lugar triples civilian aid to Pakistan. They are right but on terms and conditions that amount to a ten-fold increase in national humiliation. Pakistan needs all the assistance it can get. It needs to be close friends with the US. After all, fighting Talibanism is testing all our resources -- and our resolve. But we don't have to walk through filth and slime to get such assistance.

By fighting terrorism we do no favour to the US. Talibanism and Al Qaeda are anathema to our founding principles. Iqbal was one of the greatest theoreticians of modern Islam -- whose interpretation of religion outraged traditional mullahs. Jinnah was a modernist who would not have understood what Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar stand for.

Standing up to Talibanism terrorism means safeguarding the idea of Pakistan. This is a chance to reinvent ourselves as a nation, to go back to first principles. But Kerry-Lugar, insofar as it reads like a charter of dictation, demeans and diminishes the struggle we are engaged in.

It suggests that Pakistan is a recalcitrant partner, needing to be disciplined and cajoled. It makes it sound as if we are being led unwillingly to the water and would not do what we are doing but for the silver pieces offered us by the US Congress.

It makes us look criminal, in our eyes and in the eyes of the world. It is a certificate of juvenility and if we had any self-respect we would have nothing to do with it. No need to act emotionally. All that is required is a polite no thank you to America. Far from landing us in any trouble it will raise our stock worldwide. And if we remain firm in our resolve to fight terrorism, it is the world which will beat a path to our door.

But for this we need something better than the pathetic team at the helm which is merely adding to our woes. Will Prime Minister Gilani have someone read the small print of Kerry-Lugar to him? Will the National Assembly wake up? And will the PML-N get its act together? Coming days are crucial.



Email: winlust@yahoo.com

Ever heard of the phrase that beggers cannot be choosers. The U.S is giving us money for its own interest and not our interests. It wants us in return to serve its interests. Which is actually only reasonable. What were we expecting from the U.S? There are no free lunches.

Pardon the Pakistani news media going gaga over Washington’s plans to beef up, extraordinarily, its diplomatic presence in Pakistan. The plans are staggering and stupendous, for want of more descriptive adjectives. But they are, for the record, just geared to Washington’s diplomatic stake in Pakistan, lest the Pakistanis routinely clobbered in the ‘civilised western world’ for their outbursts of emotions over supposedly petty little things.

‘The Americans are coming, and coming big,’ according to media pundits in Pakistan. And none should blame them for going over the top because the figures being bandied about are, to say the very least, flabbergasting.

What’s on the drawing boards in Washington and Islamabad are the blue prints for vastly increasing the number of American personnel manning one of the most important diplomatic presence in the 21st century for the Americans in Pakistan. Apparently, Washington feels that its battery of 750 men and women stocking the American Embassy in Islamabad is far too inadequate to cope with the job on their hands. They need to be given a big injection to inflate their muscles. The magic potion said to be brewing would add at least another thousand people on what’s being described as a ‘war footing.’ That would take US diplomatic presence in Islamabad way above the current largest American diplomatic mission in Beijing, China; the number there stands at a paltry 1450.

The US Congress agrees with the mandarins at the State Department and has allocated 940 million dollars for the embassy in Islamabad and a number of American consulates, particularly those in Karachi and Peshawar. The fortress-like new consulate on Karachi’s Arabian Sea is spread over six acres of prime land, given to them at a throw-away price, of course. What are friends for, after all, and the Americans, don’t forget, have powerful friends in very high places in Pakistan.

(Meanwhile, US ambassador Anne Patterson, reacting to media reports, has said that the number of Marines in the new embassy would be less than 20. They would be accommodated in a bomb-proof facility. At present the embassy has 250 regular staff, 200 visiting American staff and 1,000 local personnel. Another 500 would be added in next three years.)

The government of Pakistan is obviously chipping into these plans with a magnanimity that our ruling elite is so well-known for, as far as their overseas ‘friends’ are concerned. They may be tight-fisted and niggardly to their own people but for minders and mentors from the world beyond Pakistan, sky is the limit.

Little wonder, therefore, that a huge parcel of 18 acres of prime land in Islamabad’s exclusive diplomatic enclave has been ‘sold’ to the American Embassy for just one billion rupees, a fraction of its market worth. What is 18 acres between friends; peanuts when you think of how magnanimously Pervez Musharraf presented the whole of Pakistan to his American mentors over just a phone call from Colin Powell. It was a friendly transaction between two soldiers.

So the fortress in Islamabad, when built, will dwarf the mini-fortress of Karachi. It will be a city in its own right, a typical American enclave on Pakistan’s soil, with its own residential colony for the staff and all the requisite paraphernalia of entertainment and security to convey the American sense in spades to its denizens.

But wait. The Pakistani pundits have nothing to grudge the Americans their plans to replicate their America on a little patch of Pakistan. What worries them is what’s at the core of these huge plans of expansion, and what kind of people are coming in droves to Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar with the obvious intent to cover all the bases in Pakistan.

Pakistan can’t seem to get rid of its perennial problem of being hyphenated with this or that of its neighbours in Washington’s esteem. It was India until not too long ago when American relations with India were taken to another, high, pedestal, with Pakistan left in a limbo to search its own station in American evaluation.

For a moment Pakistan thought it had jettisoned, for good, its hyphenated syndrome. But that feeling didn’t last long. The US is immersed deep into its Afghan adventure and Pakistan is back in its role of a key, front-line, ally. Hence Pakistan can’t be separated from Afghanistan; hence it must play out to the hilt its role of a soldier in a forward trench whose mission is to pull Washington’s chestnut out of the Afghan fire.

It doesn’t matter how Pakistan got involved in the Bush war on terror, or how Musharraf succumbed to the pressure. The ground reality, no matter how tart or unpalatable to a lot of Pakistanis, is that Pakistan is up to its eyeballs into America’s war and must pay the price of the follies of its rulers, past and present.

The US drew a seminal lesson from its involvement in World War II and that’s that America can best be protected, if not insulated from the outside world, by drawing its lines of defence in far off lands, in places wherever a threat to US security or its quest for global dominance may occur and must be pre-empted with maximum force.

The American wars in Korea and Vietnam were triggered by this policy of offence-being-the-best-defence. George W. Bush, an ardent practitioner of Pax Americana couldn’t be more articulate than coining the shibboleth of ‘taking the war to the enemy.’ The invasion of Afghanistan, on the heels of 9/11 was justified on this premise, besides being a prop to Bush’s dream of an imperial America holding the world in its thrall.

Barack Obama may be poles-apart from Bush on so many other things but shares his perception of fighting the enemy on its terrain. Add to it his own vision of winning the war in Afghanistan at any cost. So no price is too high once you commit yourself to achieving a goal; and Obama has his heart set on ferreting out victory of any sort in Afghanistan after having lost the one in Iraq.

But wars can’t be won cheap. They require elaborate logistics. Pakistan has become a cockpit of conflict and chaos spawned by its involvement in the Afghan imbroglio. So Pakistan must be primed to deliver according to Washington’s expectations. Logistics must be so arranged as to deal with Pakistan’s chaotic and turbulent scenario according to Washington’s master-plan for the area.

The logistics involve the building of fortresses bristling with hi-tech gadgetry that keeps the troublesome Pakistanis, or the Pakistani Taliban and their ilk, at a safe distance. That’s an essential tool of 21st century imperialistic reach. In the olden days of imperialism they used to occupy whole countries and convert them into colonies. Technological sophistication and advancement has offered better alternatives, dispensing with the archaic practice of outright colonies to intimidate the locals. Hence the logic and imperative for modern-day fortresses like the ones springing up from one end of Pakistan to another.

Those who have followed the American adventure in Iraq know what havoc mercenary American defence contractors wreaked there. Blackwater was a principal mercenary outfit to which the State Department outsourced its obligations in Iraq. Its gung-ho mercenaries raped and murdered Iraqis at will to such an extent that even the supine government of Noori Al-Maliki was forced to impel Washington to pull Blackwater’s notorious murderers out of Iraq.

The same Blackwater is now getting ready to replicate its Iraqi tactics in Pakistan and some of its operatives are already believed to be in action in Peshawar and its environs. The word has gone out that the Americans are keen to buy Peshawar’s lone 5-star hotel in order to accommodate the likes of Blackwater in luxury for special operations within Pakistan and beyond, in Afghanistan, of course.

The State Department has obviously drawn no lessons from its skewed Iraqi operations and seems willing to retry them in Pakistan. One shudders to think of the fallout of a lethal confrontation between the rogues of Blackwater, running berserk across the troubled North West Frontier Region just as they did in Iraq, and the trigger-happy Pakistani Taliban to whom these provocative aliens would be like red rag to an enraged bull.

The US is a global power charged with a self-anointed mission to fight wherever necessary to keep the terrorists away from its shores. Its history of such messianic adventures not only justifies war by any means but also sanctifies its actions. The question troubling the Pakistani minds is why should their rulers be so blind to this deadly game being played out on the Pakistani turf?

It seems like psychological warfare is taking place with the Pakistani public. Everyday we have some bad news and pressure from someone in the U.S administration, or India is doing X, Y or Z. I think the best we can do is ignore what is going around us and relax. We don't need to be paranoid. There is nothing that anyone can do you harm Pakistan, it is just pychological pressure aimed at intimadating the Pakistani awam.

I have one question, why Pakistan goverment allowed US embassy with 1000 staff to be located in built up residential areas in Islamabad when its going to be a prime target for terrorist attacks where Pakistani civilians are likely to get killed?

Americans are now fully operational inside Pakistan and within the military, I hope China doesnt get second thought about Pakistan, I hope Americans never get close to our Chinese made weapons like JF17 and F22P Frigates otherwise China isnt going to be happy, pakistans days are now numbered

mate get real ok!!! Americans is going to own Pakistan soon and unless we have massive shift in our policys we are doomed, u think 1980s and 1990s was bad just wait and see what the next 10 years will bring under current circumstances

Pakistanis are Yankee boot lickers!

"Bow your head!"

edit

Seems like you are paranoid already, and intimdated by their campaign. Ok tell me what will the U.S do to Pakistan over the next 10 years?

just few months ago in tribal region of Balochistan the mighty Pakistan army raided a house of a TTP leader, they found $10,000 cash and Indian/American and even Israeli made weapons, Israeli made weapons were not directly verified but the influence was there

where did so much money in poor Pakistan come from, it comes from USA, India and Israel, the only reason I know is cus my uncle who was working on a Pakistani army tunneling project in Larkana told me

do u know many consulates and embassys india has in Afghanistan which is country of only 15 million? they have provided over $750 in "aid" such establishments dont just give out visas they are intelligence gathering centres to destalbize the country

USA is doing same in Pakistan with embassys in Islamabad, Lahore and now Peshwar, tell me how many pakistanis got US green card last year? they are not here to hand out visas, what business has Americans opeing such massive centres in Pakistan even China dont have that many

I agree...


What I dont understand is...how come Pakistan lack revolutionary movements...?

In Latin America you have Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia...etc In Europe you have France and to some extend Spain/Italy...

Why do we lack this urge to revolt against the powers to be?...

My only conclusion is,

1. we are a self centered people only caring about our own immediate family or tribe...We never had this spirit to sacrifice our own immediate self interests for the betterment of society at large.

2. We are easily bought off (extremely corruptible)

3. We have a culture of servitude. We have a subservient class that is always willing to sacrifice their own basic-rights for some basic essentials food/clothing. This trend goes all the way up. The laborer class is subservient the business class. The business class is subservient to Feudal class. The feudal class is subservient to the elite feudal/political class. And the elites are subservient to the Imperial Western Powers!

We need a damn bloody revolution!

kill 'em all... & let God sort 'em out!

Yes it is true that they want to make their war into Pakistan's war. They want to get the Taliban to start fighting in Pakistan so that they can be safe in Afghanistan. They want to divert the focus of the Taliban from Afghanistan to Pakistan by buying some people. But after about a year or two they will have to leave afghanistan as the war they are fighting is unwinable. After that the Pakistani Taliban will also fizzle out. If the U.S could actually harm Pakistan then we would not have the pyscholigical campaign launched with Blackwater this, DynoCorp that, Embassy this, India buying XX and moving more troops to border, Taliban hiding in Quetta, possible terrorist attack on India. These are all pressure tactics to intimidate the Pakistani public and government as part of a pyschological campaign. It is very convenient how all these stories leak out to the media, and every few days we have some new information so that the pressure stays on the mind of the public.

like the US is leaving Iraq? just like they are handing over security to Iraqi? so why did they make the permanent Al Asad air base with 20,000 soldiers with full size olympic swimming pool, burger king, pizza hut and even a freggin car dealership? Look at the list of permanent air bases in Afghanistan with hardened runways and massive infrastructure, they are not there to leave

if India or USA openly threatened Pakistan they would be facing 650,000 Pakistani soldiers, why would anyone in the right mind want that!! they are not going to fight us and defeat us they are going to break us down slowly internaly which is cheaper and easier for USA

Indians fightin in Swat? Sounds like another conspiracy theoy to me!

The U.S would only be able to keep bases in Afghanistan if it can install a strong puppet government, that does not seem possible at the moment.

In Iraq they probably have an agreement with the Iraqi government that allows them to keep some bases there for a certain period of time. After a few years they may be asked to leave when the agreement comes to an end, and Iraq feels it is strong enough to stand on its own feet militarily.

We need to lynch ambassador (Hussein Haqani) in US. What a dumb @ss he is. Saw his arguments on the Hamid Mir show and what a complete idiot and piece of sh!t.

I am guessing he is getting few millions from the 1.5 B aid, that is why he is croaking like a frog.

Be a proud nation and reject the bill. PERIOD.

100% correct about the Taliban, but don't underestimate, under-highlight and ignore the threat posed by the US either. After all, we can safely assume that the US is the primary reason why Pakistan is in such an insecure state in the first place (Cold war after effects). Being in a state of denial will only harm Pakistan. Besides, let's not burry our head in the sand like an osstrich and pretend that all is fine with US intentions. These Americans are only here for their own interests which by the way happen to conflict with Pakistani interests. I think it's high time for Pakistan to make a clear cut distinction between good and bad friends. Pakistan cannot afford to remain oblivious for too long. Bowing under pressure and threats at such a critical juncture will mean catastrophe. US demands after 9/11 were always ridiculous, but slowly we're reaching a point where one has to ponder whether this one-sided relationship is really worth all the hassle.

Without any exaggeration, we cannot even begin to comprehend what effect the Kerry-Lugar bill will have if accepted by the current GoP. This is the biggest test so far for this so-called democratically elected government. This pathetic government has so far done everything in their power to defend and embrace the bill of slavery whilst the majority have totally rejected it on rational grounds. Not once have we heard one criticism towards the bill. The corrupt stooges are wholly convinced that this bill of peanuts is sent from heaven without any flaws. Not only should every letter of this bill be microscopically scrutinized in the parliament in a democratic manner, but also the people of Pakistan need to have a say in the matter. After all, the Kerry-Lugar fraud is going to affect the people of Pakistan in the long-term. We always boast about democracy being the best remedy for Pakistan, yet the people have no power. On the contrary, the people in Pakistan are always deprived from justice and power which are supposed be the very tenets of democracy. If that isn't ironic, what is?

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/ge...:s962es.txt.pdf

Full text of the bill. I havent read it yet, but it doesnt seem that long. Obviously there are some hidden classified parts that are not published, but this is what we are signing up for, ATLEAST.

everbody realises the intentions behind this so called kerry-lugar bill except zardari government~ traitors.

Corps commanders voice concern over K-L bill
Updated at: 1738 PST, Wednesday, October 07, 2009

ISLAMABAD: The meeting of the Corps Commanders with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani in chair has concluded here on Wednesday evening.

According to sources, the meeting raised concern over the Kerry-Lugar bill, saying the bill is a hard blow to sovereignty of country and liberation the people of Pakistan.

XE is my next door neighbour, i live in University town Peshawer mostly they travel in goup of five or four Bullet proof Toyota Land cruisers and drive too fast on narrow and buzi roadz. when the issue came in media they went under ground for few days but now again they are active. they have infrared cameras every where and a well eastablished communication system, they have also hired services of local security company known as SMS and provided them pickup trucks for petrolling. if u have a vehical parked on road side soon they will appear and will inquire ur reason of parking, if u sit on benches near a mosque they will come and will ask u to leave the place even if u r a resident of town. i wonder where is our law and basic rights we feel too much insulted.

92 per cent of USAID projects go to US NGOs

Local institutions being involved

Saturday, October 31, 2009
By Umar Cheema

ISLAMABAD: Over 92 percent of the US aid money granted in previous years is being spent through the American NGOs resulting in the return of a fair portion of the financial assistance back to the donor country.

The News investigation found that of the projects run through $1.05 billion assistance, the government agencies were granted an amount of $29.68 million (2.78% of the total amount), UN bodies received $50.80 million (4.8%) and US NGOs bagged projects of $960 million (92.30%). This coincides with Ambassador Holbrook's disclosure about short-listing more than 1,000 NGOs for awarding contracts in Pakistan.

As the misuse of the US taxpayers' dollar due to lack of oversight has drawn fire from American watchdogs and concerned Pakistanis, the beltway bandits-influential US NGOs with strong connections in the USAID—-continues having a field day in Pakistan.

A detailed examination of the USAID projects, the history of NGOs and their ties in Washington indicates that majority of the contractors running projects in Pakistan have their executives and directors that previously served in the USAID or former administrations. Not in Pakistan only, they also won major contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Out of 34 projects worth $ 1.05 billion in different sectors, 29 have US NGOs either as the lead implementing partner or carrying out exclusively without local partnership. Four projects are directly run by the government or local organizations and five by the UN organizations.

A call for establishing direct partnership with local organizations instead of involving the beltway bandits has so far fallen on the deaf ear of the USAID. As the projects carrying hefty funds have been awarded to the US NGOs, yet there is no proper oversight.

The fact can be illustrated through an example of a five-year project of $83 million intended to carry out education sector reforms. It was awarded to the RTI International, considered 16th biggest receiver of the US overseas contracts.

The company claimed in 2007 having "positively impacted" 400,000 Pakistani students but the USAID's inspector general could not validate the claims because the US mission in Islamabad reportedly didn't require RTI to adhere to reporting requirement. The big question mark on RTI notwithstanding, it still is carrying out a project, now in health sector. A former high-ranking official at USAID, Aaron S. Williams, is a senior executive of the RTI. According to the US Centre for Public Integrity, a new position—-vice president of international business development-was created for William upon his joining the office.

A Washington-based Chemonics International Inc. that is running a project worth $ 90 million—-Empower Pakistan: Firms—-is owned by Scott Spangler, who was a senior USAID official during the first Bush Administration. The organization that receives 90 percent of its business from the USAID has its senior vice president of the Asia Division, Douglas Tinsler, who used to design and manage large-scale development assistance projects for the USAID, according to the Centre for Public Integrity.

Yet another Washington-based International Resource Group (IRG), doing a $23.48 million project—-Energy, Efficiency and Capacity—-has its three corporate vice presidents, David Joslyn, Dough Clark and Timoth R. Knight. All of them served with USAID on senior positions.

A Maryland-based organization, Development Alternatives Inc. has a $17 million project—-Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Project. The company has its vice president of operations, Larry Birch, who served 17-year in USAID. Again, the USAID is among its principal clients of the company besides the World Bank, UN agencies and the US Agriculture Department.

A Massachusetts-based NGO, Abt Associates Inc. that implements a $ 10.9 million project named Pakistan Safe Drinking Water and Hygiene Promotion Project (PSDW-HPP) has a former senior USAID official its vice president for international development, Janet Ballantyne, according to the Centre for Public Integrity.

Arkanas-based Winrock International is working on a $150 million project—-Community Rehabilitation Infrastructure Support Program. The company has a former member of Clinton administration, Kay K. Arnold, and a senator Robert J. Junior, among its directors of the board. US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson also hails from the same state.

Other US organizations implementing projects include American Institute of Research ($107 million), National Academy of Science ($ 7.5 million), Population Council ($60 million), Centre for Disease Control ($ 5.7 million), Academy for Education Development ($75 millions), CDM Constructions ($120 million), Advanced Engineering Associates ($6 million), USEFP ($93million), IFES, Asia Foundation and others.

The aid money directly handed to the government agencies has only four examples as far as the distribution of $1.05 billion assistance is concerned: HEC ($6.8 million), Finance Ministry ($11.8 million), and Khushhali Bank ($11 million).

In other cases, the projects are either implemented exclusively by the US NGOs or the NGOs have partnered with local organizations/government agencies. According to the former finance minister, Sartaj Aziz, more than 40 percent of the aid money goes back to the donor country through consultants.


Source: http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=205974

Still any doubt left? The whole sum amounts to peanuts, but peanuts isn't what Pakistan gets. We can safely assume that Pakistan only gets the peanut shells.