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I was born in East Pakistan (now called Bangladesh), and after living in Islamabad for four years where my father worked for the central government as a scientist (MOD....rockets), and my mother a teacher. I returned with the family to Bangladesh in 1970 because father went to the UK to do his PhD. courtesy of the British Council.
I lived in the villages of Bangladesh during 1971 and the civil war, and was spared the worst aspects of that terrible war. Bangladesh Freedom Fighters, including people we were familiar with though not related came to our village for food, which was given by my grandmother freely. Mountains of rice served in bamboo caskets, with vegetable and curry dhal. The men ate together on the floor on mats, with their WWII sten guns supplied by India next to them.
Occasionally Pakistani army irregular scouts would turn up, asking questions, peering in all directions......glazed eyed, dirty from war, and I would respond in my best Urdu learnt in Pindi/Islamabad in the schools there (now forgotten, except for a few swear words the local boys taught me).
At wars end I saw the "action" from the distance from the village....the retreating Pakistani soldiers trying to hold a strategic bridge; the Indian MiG's strafing the bridge, with helicopters pursuing the Pakistanis then the T-54/55's rumbling through our village handing out fruits to all the children cheering them on.
It was a terrible civil war, caused by and mainly involving the Pakistani military as the most destructive agent in that tragic saga.
3,000,000---East Pakistani civilians killed by the Pakistani military according to Bangladeshi government sources.
500,000---women raped by Pakistani military personnel.
Targeted killing of intellectuals ( journalists, academics, artists, professionals, civic leaders) with the "wrong political persuasion", based on the hearsay of third parties........using Islamists groups ( as in Indonesia where 500,000 "Communist" sympathizers were killed in 1965 via the military coup there, backed by the USA).
Infrastructure destruction of East Pakistan by the Pakistan military...."You can begin from scratch again, but you aren't getting anything from Islamabad"
After 40 years, war crimes trials have started tentatively against local collaborators of the Pakistani military within the Islamist fraternity in Bangladesh, and presumably it will work there way against the culpability of senior Pakistani officers who are still alive (195 of them was the initial list in 1972).
1. Suffice to say the Pakistani military is an extremely dangerous institution which has a long tradition of slaughtering its own unarmed people.......whom they are supposed to defend. Their "best" and harshest wars are against their own people, and their worst non-performance are against professional ARMED Foreign FOES of the state.
2. The Pakistani military has a long history of using Jihadis as a proxy force against Pakistani civilians and against other countries. On the other hand the Pakistani military then appear straight faced in front of the media, and say they know nothing about, and have no control over their proxy Jihadi militia's. The 300 terrorist incidents in Pakistan which has killed 4400 people as a result of Jihadi action since 2001, is all directed by the Pakistan military (ISI). Since the 1970's the Pakistan military has trained up to 500,000 Jihadis in Pakistan.
3. The Pakistan military gives greater value and priority to the objectives, strategic interests and principles of the USA, covertly or overtly then they do the desire and wish of the ordinary Pakistan people. The objectives of the USA in Af/Pak and Pakistan do not in any way match, no matter how well it is argued by the Pakistan military. Many senior Pakistani military officers are trained in the USA/UK...and through this and military aid, the USA controls the Pakistan military. The ISI is funded by and directed by the USA, with regular visits from Washington giving them the latest orders that must be fulfilled. There after the Pakistani military to mitigate popular feelings LIES to the people, and what they are really doing in the country for the USA.
4. The Pakistani military since 1951, and the assassination of Liaqat Ali Khan by them has been the main destabilizing force in Pakistan via the ISI (A British created institution, headed by a British officer for 10 years initially). The military in many Third World countries destabilize their own country for power, with encouragement and finance from the USA....Indonesia, Turkey, Greece, Portugal, South America and so forth. In Pakistan many of the key decisions the Pakistan military made has
FUNDAMENTALLY destabilized the country, but were always considered smart by the Pakistan military.
In Pakistan, the struggle for the country is mainly a struggle against the Pakistani military which works for foreign Western masters.
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By therearenosunglasses via Compiled from McClatchy Newspapers and The Associated Press
Pakistan’s military lashed out Thursday at its critics at home and in the U.S. in a statement illustrating how deep a crisis the country’s armed forces are suffering.
(Sticks and stones.........the main victims are the ordinary Pakistani people here. When a nation loses peace, stability, national cohesion and $70 billion due to the miscalculation of the Pakistan military then the main victim is the Pakistan people. Everybody faces criticism from someone, but its never the end of the world. The criticism of the Pakistani military by ordinary Pakistanis is legitimate, and RIGHT)
The statement rejected all U.S. financial aid for the military, saying the money should go instead to the government to be spent on “the common man.”
(Is this more PR bluster? If true that would be good for Pakistan and the military only if Pakistan is served by an effective administration. But Pakistan is not served by an effective civilian administration.......Zardari in purdah is a billionaire crook. In addition Pakistan CAN survive without foreign aid and its dependency if the country is more effectively managed.........foreign aid has been used by the USA to buy politicians, and GENERALS)
It warned that it intended to “put an end” to domestic criticism of its actions.
(Martial Law????? That would be very smart.....declaring martial law because of criticisms)
The statement also tried to distance the military from the United States, saying it had stopped U.S. training of the country’s border guards and ordered the U.S. to “drastically” reduce the number of its troops in Pakistan.
(PR bluster? Or is this clear verifiable facts from the head of the military through written directives????
1. Pakistan needs to cut ALL aid from the USA.
2. Pakistan needs to stop ALL drone strikes.
3. Pakistan needs to expel ALL American/Gora military personnel from the country.
4. Pakistan needs to expel ALL suspects private contractors linked to XE, and others.
5. Pakistan needs to cut the size of the American embassy to a staff of about 20. Close ALL American consulates.
6. Pakistan needs to squeeze and reduce the supply of logistics going through Pakistan for the occupation forces in Afghanistan, thus encourage them to leave Afghanistan quickly.
7. Pakistan needs to stop ALL military training programs with the USA/UK.
8. Pakistan military commanders will no longer have regular PRIVATE meetings with their American counter-parts without the permission of Parliament.
ALL these things need to be done, and verified by written directives that they have indeed been done.)
Analysts considered the statement an effort to garner flagging public support.
(by threatening---very logical)
Pakistan’s military has been hit by a series of calamities in the past month that have led to unprecedented censure at home, especially in the media but also from members of Parliament.
Among the controversies:
1) Raymond Davis affair where an American of very shady background shot two Pakistani ISI officers dead, but was let go after immense pressure from the USA, and the total compliance of the PAKISTAN MILITARY all quiet about the murder of their own, and the Zardari government.
2) the May 2 U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, .......this story with the fake photo's gets sillier by the day.
The fairy tale narrative is that the Americans came in undetected into a garrison town, had a fire fight for one hour and left after killing Tim Osman. The idea that Tim Osman in his particular security situation would stay in one place for 5 years as a target is silly.
The idea that Tim Osman was still alive by 2011 given his condition is even sillier. The CIA closed the unit looking for him in 2005.
The Pakistanis are Third World but it does have a considerable military machine which has access to state of the art technology via the USA, and China and therefore considerable capabilities.....therefore it would be very difficult for the Americans just to fly into a garrison town deep inside Pakistan, and take such an action for such a long time, without the alarm systems/Radar ALL going off.....Abbottabad is close to the Indian border after all. THE ENTIRE GARRISON TOWN COULDN'T HAVE SLEPT FOR ONE WHOLE HOUR WITHOUT REACTING TO THE EVENT--------just inconceivable....at least 25% of the military personnel would be up all night any way.
What is more likely is that this was a Pakistani military ops for the benefit of the USA, and specifically Obama's re-election chances announced a week earlier, or so. Maybe a final closure on Tim Osman the mystical boogie. There was no Bin Laden in that house.......save as a staged ops. Bin laden died in 2001....as Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani political insider stated in 2007, a few weeks before her death by the Pakistani military (ISI).
What is incredible is that the Pakistani military carried out this fake ops for the USA, and then stood to attention whilst the USA and Obama gloated and beamed, and derided Pakistan......Mullen, Gates..."We've humbled the Pakistan military" (The ally of the USA) "We can pick and choose any suitable target in Pakistan and take unitary action when we feel like it ....bud" (The ally of the USA)...words to that effect......and more threats against Pakistan.
3) a humiliating terrorist assault on a naval base in Karachi in mid-May, ...........this operation may have been by the Americans using Afghans, with the logistical backing of insiders within the Pakistani military......equipped with state of the art commando equipment, which the Home Minister from Pakistan described as being from "Star Wars"....but on this occasion the reaction of the Pakistani security forces was immediate and 4 of the insurgents were killed vs 12 Pakistani security forces in a 17 hour fire fight.........to create the impression that PAKISTAN is a unstable terrorist infested country.....which it is......which can't even protect its sensitive military installations (read nuclear sites)...........NOT quite true.4) the kidnapping and beating death of a prominent journalist,........presumably by the Pakistani military, in a nation which is the most dangerous place for journalists. Shades of 13th December 1971, Dhaka when the Pakistan military using local Jihadis rounded up 250 journalists and the like, tortured them and then killed them, when it was certain they would lose the war---desperation.
5) the fatal shootings of five unarmed Chechens at a checkpoint in Baluchistan province .......VIDEO
6) and the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in Karachi. Video of security forces fatally shooting the man, 18, Wednesday and looking on as he cries for help in a pool of blood triggered fresh anger Thursday as the footage was aired repeatedly on TV: VIDEO
It came less than a month after the shooting of the Chechens, including a pregnant woman, also was caught on video. Witness testimony to a tribunal investigating the killings has cast doubt on police claims that the Chechens were suicide bombers.
Pakistani military and security forces are often accused of using excessive force and killing unarmed civilians, typically those suspected of being criminals or militants. The criminal-justice system in Pakistan is inefficient and conviction rates are very low, meaning officers sometimes kill suspects rather than attempt to prosecute them, human-rights activists said.
Six members of the paramilitary Rangers, headed by an army general but controlled by the interior ministry, were arrested in connection with the killing of Afsar Shah on Wednesday, according to the head of the force, Maj. Gen. Aijaz Chaudhry.
A Rangers spokesman initially said security forces detained Shah because he was attempting to rob people in a park Wednesday. He said a gun was recovered from Shah and that he was shot because he was reaching for a Ranger’s rifle.
But Chaudhry, speaking later at a news conference, did not mention any such threat. He called the incident “deplorable.”
Hundreds of people showed up at Shah’s funeral Thursday and denounced the Rangers.
Some shouted “Rangers, murderers!” and others carried signs that said “Down with the Karachi Rangers.”
For the military, which has dominated Pakistan since the nation’s creation in 1947, the public criticism is the harshest since 1971, when half the country broke away to form Bangladesh, and it was clear from the tone of the statement that the criticism has stung.
“This is an effort to drive a wedge between the army, different organs of the state and more seriously, the people of Pakistan,” according to the statement, issued after a meeting of top military figures with Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the army’s chief of staff. “Any effort to create divisions between important institutions of the country is not in our national interest.”
(legitimate Criticism, and outrage against open criminality by state institutions is not Treasonous---First World or Third )
Western diplomats in Islamabad say Kayani is angry. The unilateral U.S. operation to eliminate bin Laden exposed the inadequacies of Pakistani air defenses and intelligence capabilities. The 16-hour assault on the naval base in Karachi by fewer than a dozen terrorists made the armed forces look amateurish. The military’s Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency denies killing journalist Saleem Shahzad, though few in Pakistan seem to believe it.
“In their world, everything they do, they do in the national interest. Any criticism of them, they would conflate as criticism of project Pakistan,” said Cyril Almeida, a columnist for Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
The military also sought to cool criticism of its receipt of billions from the U.S. It said the oft-quoted figure that the military had received $13 billion to $15 billion in the past 10 years was “misplaced.” It said it had received only $8.6 billion of the money and the remainder — “approximately U.S. $6 billion” — had gone into Pakistan’s general fund, “which ultimately means the people of Pakistan.”
(Then what is the reason for the nation sacrificing $70 billion for the USA since 2001?????? Whats the rational logical "strategic depth" argument here?)
The numbers are lower than the $20 billion the U.S. Congressional Research Service says Pakistan has gotten since 2001. A large chunk of that was reimbursements for the cost of Pakistan’s war-on-terrorism operations.
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General Conclusions:
1. The Pakistan military comprehensively needs to be brought under the control of civilian governments as in INDIA, AND TURKEY. Only then will Pakistan see normal development across the whole of the country. In that process military commanders need to be prosecuted such as Musharaf, and others. The culture of military commanders such as Kiyani making policy statements about NATIONAL ISSUES in the media, and actually controlling the narrative needs to stop totally. The top brass of the Pakistan military are not qualified to speak on such issues or elected by the people to do so......Foreign policy, general security policies, economic policy or where foreign aid needs to be spent.
2. The Pakistan military piling up mountains of arms from the USA, and China above all else does not guarantee the NATIONAL COHESION AND VIABILITY of Pakistan. Pakistan is listed as failed state number 10....with a military of 800,000 and paramilitary of 300,000 with 200 generals, BUT a totally unsafe, insecure terrorist infested country despite all this security system. The Soviet Union in 1989 had under 6 million men under arms with 65,000 tanks 30,000 artillery pieces not including mortars and AA or Atk guns with 8500 jet fighters, and the largest intelligence agency and best intelligence in the world with 800,000 staff of the KGB....BUT it still collapsed.........so can Pakistan if the country led by the military in collusion with the USA does not disengage from the military/security centric policies of the state.
3. The Pakistan military needs to psychologically ditch its emotional dependency on the USA, at all levels if it is to do justice to the nation of Pakistan. Less covert and overt meetings with the USA, less training, less arms from the USA. The Pakistan military should seek emotional independence TOTALLY as is the correct strategic requirement......but if that is too much for the weak willed coolies then CHINA as an alternative can always be sought. Thus the call by Kiyani to seek more economic aid for the Pakistani people, and less military aid is FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG...what he should be seeking is NO further aid of any nature from the USA, military or economic.
4. The Pakistan military needs to disengage from the Jihadi proxy narrative totally. The Pakistani military narrative and convoluted explanations of the good Taliban/bad Taliban.....LeT, HUJI, Asian Tigers ......."al-Qaeda" has become so complicated that one is forced to conclude in Pakistan the left hand of the military does not know what the right hand is doing...that is a very dangerous scenario for Pakistan the failed state, and allows foreign powers to exploit the situation and harm Pakistan. There is lot to be said for keeping security in Pakistan transparent, simple and within the purview of Parliament. The covert security relations of the Pakistan military with the USA is absolutely dangerous.
5. The Pakistani people should expect zero positive results from the corrupt puppet government of Zardari which aligns itself closely with the USA for the USA aid. For realistic change on the above points a new strong patriotic government that puts Pakistan first must be sought politically, and through "peoples power". OBVIOUSLY the Pakistan military is very criticism averse by ordinary Pakistani taxpayers....because it has a lot of weakness which it can't explain even in its traditional convoluted manner..........or in the aam admi style that Kiyani recently adopted. Therefore it is regressive and aggressive with the ordinary people. The PAKISTAN MILITARY is an institution that is unable to change or reform itself for the sake of the country.........therefore logically a confrontation WILL take place between the ordinary people and the Pakistan military in the future.
