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Jittery US Allies Snap at Each Other
K. Gajendra Singh
"7 July London bombers were British lads" –Pakistan Ambassador
"They were born in Britain , bred there, lived there, were by all accounts British lads. What motivated British lads to do this? It is not because their blood was from Pakistan . Whatever angst they had was a result of living in Britain," retorted Munir Akram, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations in New York to British accusations that the 7 July bombers, who struck at 3 tube trains and a double Decker bus killing over 50 persons and injuring many hundreds, were of Pakistani origin.
"You have to look at ... what you are doing to the Muslim community and why the Muslim community is not integrating in British society," he added.
Later Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf weighed in. "We certainly have a problem, which we are trying to address very strongly. And may I suggest there is a lot to be done in England also," he said in a televised address recorded before the copycat botched attacks in London on 21 July. "I would like to send a message to Prime Minister Tony Blair that we strongly condemn the July 7 acts of terrorism."
"We should stand together in fighting terrorism instead of indulging in a blame game," the President said, referring to suggestions of the London bombers' "Pakistani connection". "If the aspersion on Pakistan is that the alleged bombers were indoctrinated when they [3] came to Pakistan , where had the Jamaican [4th] gone (for indoctrination)?" he asked.
The General had a point when it was discovered that two of the 4 (even 5) suspects for the 21 July attempts were from Africa, Muktar Said Ibrahim from Eritrea and Yasin Hassan Omar from Somalia .They were given asylum and within a decade became disillusioned, hostile and anti- West .Their families were shocked at their kin's involvement .Omar with some more suspects has been caught along with bombs and other material indicating wide spread conspiracy. Gen. Musharraf and Pakistan should know a thing or two about terrorists, having incubated and nurtured Muslim militants, Jihadis and terrorists including Al Qaeda and the Talebans since early 1980s.
Gen. Musharraf also complained that there were two terrorist organizations, which had tried to assassinate him in end 2003, but the British government had not done much to ban them. It was like pot calling the kettle black as some governments in Middle East, Central Asia , India and elsewhere would point out, because since decades Pakistan has maintained terrorist training camps which have operated mostly against India ,specially Jammu and Kashmir, but also in central Asia and Russia, but the British and the Americans called them freedom fighters and militants, and pontificated on democracy ,self determination and freedom of speech. But Gen. Musharraf also re-launched a "jihad" against extremism and announced several regulatory measures "I urge you, my nation, to stand up and wage a jihad against extremism." Musharraf said all madarsas would have to register with authorities by December. Banned militant groups will not be allowed to take new names or raise funds in the name of jihad. Possession of unauthorized arms would be prohibited and actions taken against distribution of hate literature.
But this was like ‘arresting the usual suspects' a la the film Casablanca .
It was an unedifying public spat between US allies, Pakistan , its Non-NATO strategic ally and UK , its closest NATO ally and umbilical kin. More words were exchanged , after blasts in Egypt and Turkey , a consequence of US policies, neither well thought out , nor implemented competently , which are now unraveling in Iraq and even Afghanistan .
You shall reap what you sow
Blunt but suave Pakistani Ambassador Maliha Lodhi in interviews with BBC and CNN almost split the beans when she said that the very people who were being criticized now were the heroes when they were fighting in Afghanistan to expel Soviet troops ( to fulfill US policy of
revenge on USSR for its Vietnam defeat ).
Hitting the nail on the head, London 's outspoken Mayor Ken Livingstone blamed Western policies in the Middle East and Asia for the attacks.
"A lot of young people see the double standards, they see what happens in (US detention camp) Guantanamo Bay , and they just think that there isn't a just foreign policy," he said. "You've just had 80 years of Western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of a Western need for oil. We've propped up unsavory governments, we've overthrown ones that we didn't consider sympathetic," Livingstone added.
"I think the particular problem we have at the moment is that in the 1980s ... the Americans recruited and trained Osama bin Laden, taught him how to kill, to make bombs, and set him off to kill the Russians to drive them out of Afghanistan .
"They didn't give any thought to the fact that once he'd done that, he might turn on his creators," he told BBC radio.
But Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government remained in a state of denial and claimed that the London bombings had no link to its foreign policy, particularly its decision to invade Iraq alongside the United States . If malfeasance could be proved, he might even face impeachment.
Jack Straw the British Foreign Secretary remarked that the terrorist had attacked Indonesia , Spain , Turkey , Saudi Arabia , although they were not part of the US led coalition. It needs little intelligence to see that the Bali attacks were to punish vociferous US ally Australia (with some other attacks in Indonesia also targeting Australians).Spain withdrew its troops from Iraq after the Madrid bombings and earlier pointed attacks on its forces in Iraq . The ruling Socialists won elections on its promise of withdrawing Spanish troops.
In two Istanbul bombings in end 2003 , the targets were a synagogue and Jews , and the British Consulate and a British Bank. Al Qaeda which sprung up from Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden's philosophy is opposed to the policies of luxury loving Saudi ruling princes and the elite and has attacked foreigners in the Kingdom.
But the British public saw through the spin .An opinion poll last week showed that two-thirds of UK citizens saw a connection between the Iraq war and the bombings.
Wrote Osama Saeed , a spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain in the Guardian "By putting the onus on Muslims to defeat terror, the Prime Minister[Tony Blair] absolves himself of responsibility. Muslims are not in denial of our duties, but who are we meant to be combating? The security services had no idea about all that has gone on in London , so how are we as ordinary citizens to do better?"
"It is not Muslims but Mr. Blair who is in denial. He was advised that the war in Iraq would put us in more danger, not less. Silvio Berlusconi has admitted Italy is in danger because of his alliance with Bush; Mr. Blair should do the same," he added . Jack Straw has just apologized for Britain 's role in the Srebrenica massacre , but accepts no blame for London bombings.
British Intelligence leak and London think tank expose Blair
In February 2003, a month before the invasion on Iraq , Whitehall 's joint intelligence committee had told Blair that "al-Qaeda and associated groups continued to represent by far the greatest terrorist threat to western interests, and that threat would be heightened by military action against Iraq ". The collapse of the Iraqi regime would increase the risk of chemical and biological warfare agents or technology finding their way into the hands of terrorists. This was now leaked to the media.
Ten days after 7 July carnage, London 's reputed Royal Institute of International Affairs published a paper co-written by British Professor Paul Wilkinson, described as an epitome of conventional wisdom. "The UK is at particular risk," warned the paper, "Because it is the closest ally of the United States " and joined US-led military action in Afghanistan and Iraq . It said a key problem facing the government was that it "has been conducting counter- terrorism policy 'shoulder to shoulder' with the US , not in the sense of being an equal decision-maker, but rather as a pillion passenger compelled to leave the steering to the ally in the driving seat".
The paper continued, "it gave a boost to the al-Qaeda network's propaganda, recruitment and fundraising, caused a major split in the coalition, provided an ideal targeting and training area for al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, and deflected resources and assistance that could have been deployed to assist the Karzai government and to bring Bin Laden to justice".
Even Lord Butler's report on the use of intelligence on Iraq 's weapons programme suggested that Intelligence, "can be a dangerous tool if its limitations are not recognized by those who seek to use it ... " , those limitations were amply demonstrated in London on July 7.
Professor Richard Pape of University of Chicago , author of a book Dying to Win - The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorists has conducted a comprehensive study of every act of suicide terrorism over the past 25 years to understand what drives suicide bombers and why suicide terrorism is on the rise around the world. He says that it's too simplistic to assume Islamic fundamentalism as the central cause. America has misread the primary motivation of suicide bombers. Majority of the vital suicide bombers and terrorists are quite highly educated and not Madrassa types as glibly claimed.
Bush comforts Blair
It was amusing to note that US President George W. Bush, out of some concern and even pity finally gave some comfort to his buddy Blair .Just before the G-8 meeting in UK he had clearly said that Blair had joined the invasion for his own interests and there was no quid pro quo.
Apart from being faithful to its umbilical ally USA , there was the prospect of military and financial gains. The 1991 Gulf war on Iraq was paid for by Kuwait , Saudi Arabia , Japan , Germany and others. Both US and UK did very well out of it, with US charging even for soon to be discarded European winter military uniforms. During the air operations by US and UK planes to provide protection to Kurds in north Iraq or bombing Iraq at will , both did well out of it too. But now there seemed little gain except bringing Baghdad to London .
When there were some problems in the UK joining the invasion on Iraq in March 2003, with American troops ready to march to implement ‘Operation Iraqi freedom' , the US Defense Secretary said that it did not matter if UK could not join. The British keep on claiming how they won the second world war but when the Americans get annoyed or are in a mood they just thumb down the British .Look at the highly popular film on Gen Patton , in which Field Marshall Montgomery is depicted nothing but a buffoon .
Curbs on freedom in UK and USA
Of course the London bombings was another opportunity to further tighten curbs on freedom of US citizens. US Patriot Act, the premier American anti-terrorism tool was extended, making permanent 14 of 16 provisions of the original law. The Act was passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was to expire at the end of the year. It also gave a 10-year extension to two provisions -- one allowing roving wiretaps and another allowing searches of library and medical records – in spite of some passionate arguments between Democrats and Republicans.
Tony Blair met opposition party leaders who were all in agreement to introduce new legislation to prevent terror acts. The legislation would outlaw terror training schools "indirect incitement" of terrorism, including praise for those who carry out attacks, to control Islamist clerics accused of radicalizing disaffected Muslims in Britain .
21st July botched attempts and shooting of an innocent Brazilian
A coroner's inquest confirmed that an innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes , an electrician , while fleeing, was gunned down by police at Stockwell Underground station last Friday by seven shots to the head and one to the shoulder. Earlier Police version said that five shots were pumped into his head. Tony Blair apologized for the death, but de Menezes relatives said that they were thinking of suing the police , with the government of Brazil protesting at the cold blooded killing .There was wide spread horror and resentment in Brazil and elsewhere.
The killing also caused controversy in areas where immigrants predominate and affect electoral fortunes in UK . Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham said that police must act within the "parameters of reasonableness". He said many Muslims were concerned that they might fall victim to the current policy. "We know that we have about 500,000 or so illegal immigrants. If any one of them was challenged by a police officer, they would certainly run."
I am not suggesting for one minute that an illegal asylum seeker has the right to stay here, but he is not the same as a suicide bomber," he added. There was widespread anxiety among Muslims at the shoot-to-kill policy, although it was claimed that the police would resort to it only in certain extreme circumstances. This is hardly conducive to good race relations between whites and non- whites in London and elsewhere and bodes ill for communal peace.
British media reported that plans being hatched by an alliance of rightwing extremists and football hooligans to exact "revenge" on Muslims have come to the notice of the police. They intend causing widespread fear and injury with attacks on mosques and organize high-profile "anti-Muslim" events in London.
While denying links between the bombers of 7/7 and 21/7, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said the July 21 bombs, which failed to explode, were just as powerful as the first ones. Police found a fifth bomb in a park two days later, but said they were not looking for a fifth would-be bomber. All five bombs were assembled inside identical Indian made 6.25-liter plastic food storage containers with white lids, easily available in many British stores.
Pakistan- A Terrorists' hub
When accused that Pakistan was a global hub for al-Qaeda, a bristling President Musharraf claimed that he has "completely shattered" al-Qaeda in Pakistan . But
this assertion was met with deep skepticism from diplomats, analysts and Pakistani opposition politicians. "Our military, police and other law enforcement agencies have completely shattered al-Qaeda's vertical and horizontal links," he told the media on 25 July "It no longer has any command, communication and propaganda structure in Pakistan ." Since 2001 Pakistan has arrested more than 700 al-Qaeda suspects .Last year in an operation against 15 al-Qaeda bases in South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan , Pakistan army reportedly killed more than 300 militants (about half of them foreigners ).Same number of Pakistani soldiers also lost their lives. But analysts feel the General is not going after Pakistani extremists, which have even stronger links to international terrorism.
"It's just window dressing. He says al-Qaeda's back is broken after every major operation. It always turns out to be wrong," said Afrasiab Khattak, a human rights activist and opposition politician in Peshawar . A western diplomat said that Gen Musharraf had failed to deliver on similar promises after September 11. "Wait until you see, the same thing will happen this time."
Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Mohammad trained by the Pakistani intelligence to carry out terrorist acts in India and Kashmir , now also include western targets .They are active in Iraq and elsewhere .Though banned in 2002 Lashkar-i-Taiba leader, Hafiz Saeed, has openly preached in Lahore mosques and attended political rallies in Islamabad. The assassination attempts on Gen Musharraf in end 2003 were ordered by Al Qaeda but implemented by its Pakistani collaborators. The activities of Al Qaeda and terrorists operating in Kashmir have also become interlinked. ”What we are looking at is al-Qaeda look alikes or wannabes," said Samina Ahmed of the International Crisis Group think tank.
Gen Musharraf faces another dilemma. Two radical MMA religious political groups, which rule in Pakistan provinces of Baluchistan and Frontier Province support Musharraf government in Islamabad . But the major problem in Pakistan is its armed forces , which has been infected with the virus of terrorism after financing and training terrorists for decades . Many senior officers support anti-western ideology. Pakistan army also has its finger on nuclear trigger, which the West allowed Pakistan to develop in return for its support against USSR forces in Afghanistan . "Musharraf is bound by the Islamic consensus within the armed forces," said Khattak. "There has to be a paradigm shift if he is going to really tackle the terrorist networks."
Pakistan media mostly took the Pakistan authorities to task .Said ‘Dawn' in its 21 July Editorial, "General Musharraf has spoken the right words in combating rising religious extremism and fanaticism ... The only problem - and a major one at that - however, is that we have heard these words many times before ... The government has completely failed in its half-hearted attempt to regulate the madrasas ... Similarly, [it] has also failed in its attempts to stop mosque imams ... from glorifying a militant version of Islam ...
"The fight against religious extremism and for a more progressive and tolerant Pakistan has to be fought on these fronts, but, regrettably, it is nowhere to be found. Until that happens, what the president has said will remain empty rhetoric."
Egyptian retort to London allegations
The British authorities accused an Egyptian biochemist , living in Leeds , who had returned to Cairo several days before the 7/7 London attacks of a connection, soon realized that its abrupt conclusions were resented by Egypt 's interior minister, Habib al-Adli, who criticized the British police for coming to "hasty conclusions". The reports of the scientists' links to al-Qaeda were groundless, he said. The prosecutor general, Maher Abdel Wahid, also pointedly reminded that Egypt and the UK had no extradition treaty, so even if the chemist were charged in Britain , Cairo need not send him back.
Attack on Egypt 's resort – A US ally and Israel facilitator
Egypt itself again became terrorist's target when multiple bombings on 23 July killed scores of tourists including a dozen foreigners at its luxury Red Sea holiday resort in Sharm El Sheikh. There were many claimants for the vile deed including professed affiliates of the al Qaeda to a previously unknown Sinai-based group defending Bedouins, 3,000 were arrested after last October Taba attacks of which 200 people were still being detained according to the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights.
It was claimed as a "devastating blow to the Crusaders and the Zionists and the infidel Egyptian regime." The advertising campaign of luxurious life style of the resort on CNN and BBC interposed with news of mayhem in Iraq and Palestine looked incongruous. The attacks will adversely Egypt 's tourism trade from which it earns many billions of dollars.
“I believe that these attacks were masterminded by Al Qaeda," said Makram Mohammed Ahmed, an editorialist for the government-owned Al-Ahram daily and an expert on terrorism. "Following the assassination of the Egyptian envoy in Iraq, Ihab al-Sharif, and the Al Qaeda statement claiming the murder and accusing the Egyptian regime of being under the ‘orders of the Crusaders', it is clear that Egypt is being targeted because of its regional and international policies," he said.
"Al Qaeda considers Egypt an integral part of the US-led coalition," Ahmed said. Egypt , was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 and is seen to facilitate US and Israeli policies in the region. Washington 's aid package to Cairo is second after Israel .
"Besides, one should not forget that Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al- Zawahiri, is Egyptian and that he and his men have long been persecuted by the Egyptian authorities," the analyst added. Before joining bin Laden as his top adviser, Zawahiri led the Jihad group, which spearheaded with the Jamaa Islamiya organization a wave of terror attacks in Egypt during 1990s.
Egypt 's Interior Minister Habib al-Adly also seemed to agree. "Although we cannot speculate on the perpetrators of the Sharm El Sheikh bombings, it is obvious that these operations are very sophisticated, well-organized and require substantial funding," analyst Diaa ashwan said. "The planners chose to target a city under tight security which is one of the seats of power," said the analyst from the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies. Mubarak often stays there and Tony Blair has holidayed there too.
Another expert, Nabil Abdel Fattah, said that the attacks "were aimed at discrediting the Egyptian regime by challenging its ability to secure its own stability even as it poses as the guarantor of regional security." A top Israeli defense official bluntly questioned the quality of the regime's intelligence services and accused Cairo of having failed to learn the lessons of earlier Taba bombings. There have been a few smaller attacks on tourists in Cairo.
Egyptian police now believe that the organizers of the bomb attacks were home- grown militants rather than the followers of al-Qaeda,
Cairo accusations against Pakistanis denied.
Egypt , at least its media, first suspected a group of Pakistanis with fake passports who allegedly traveled from Cairo to the resort and then disappeared. State television even showed pictures of two Pakistanis. But after a testy response from Pakistan , the reports were denied, by the Egyptian Ambassador Hussein Haridy in Islamabad too, in an unusual step. Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Naeem Khan denied any connection with the blasts and Haridy clarified that at no time did the Egyptian government accuse Pakistanis of involvement in the bombings. The Egyptian ambassador added that his country had cordial relations with Pakistan and both countries would continue to co-operate in the war on terror.
NATO Ally Turkey
Another US NATO ally, Turkey , which has a party with Islamic roots in power, was targeted on 16 July at its Kusadasi sea resort, popular with British holidaymakers. The bomb blew off the roof and sides of a minibus carrying 14 holidaymakers traveling with UK tour company Thomas Cook. It clearly reinforced the idea of a concerted terrorist campaign against British targets worldwide, with increasing evidence pointing to al-Qaeda.
The author has written how the US administration helped in early 1990s transport many thousands of Al Qaeda fighters from Afghanistan to the Balkans to fight against Serbia , thus providing them exposure in Europe and international experience. Reportedly many of these fighters married local girls and settled down there, thus becoming sleepers cells .It will a constant menace to the Europeans. European nations remain as opaque and nationalistic on the question of fully sharing intelligence on terrorists as on Common Agriculture Policy and other matters.
During French Premier's just concluded visit to London to coordinate counter terrorist measures, it was revealed that UK has still not extradited a French national charged with the bombing of Paris Underground ten years ago. To a question Tony Blair expressed hope that the British Courts would expedite it. And the same time UK expects Egypt , Pakistan and others to handover suspects.
Turkey and USA have snapped at each other frequently ever since Turkey denied USA use of its bases in southeast Turkey to open a second front in north Iraq in March 2003. They now have major differences in their policies on the Middle East and the region. Turkey’s 40 -year-old journeys to join European Union, now faces opposition from Europe 's Christian populations. At best EU-Turkey agreement can be considered a long-term engagement without likely consummation of the marriage. But any major rebuff to Turkey could strengthen nationalistic, fascist and Islamist tendencies and elements, as has happened in the past. There are millions of Turks in Germany and elsewhere in Europe .
Response to British becoming dar-ul harb
In spite of British stiff upper lip and resilience , the slip was already showing after the botched up terrorist attacks of 21 July .As for the famous Blitz fortitude , after the air attack sirens went on , one could get down into shelters , including the underground , but now the underground itself was full of terror . The daily routine of commuting to work and back has become an ordeal of suspicion and anxiety for millions of Londoners.
Here are some of the reactions, "It does make you really scared but you've got to carry on. You can see passengers are more nervous as they get on the bus, they glance at people with bags and I am always looking at people's bags." "I'm not so much nervous, but more aware on the tube. I look for baggage hanging around. People seem more jumpy." "You can't help feeling a bit edgy," said another. "I think that being vigilant is the best we can do. I am now very wary of people with rucksacks." "It does make you really scared but you've got to carry on. ”I'm resigned to the fact that this is going to happen again,
"Then came the shooting down as it turns out to be, in cold blood of some one who looked like an Asian (aka Pakistani origin, he could be from India or Bangladesh too). He turned out to be a Brazilian electrician.
A witness, Mark Whitby, who saw the shooting at close range, said, "An Asian guy ran on to the train. As he ran, he was hotly pursued by what I knew to be three plainclothes police officers. He sort of tripped but they were hotly pursuing him and couldn't have been more than two or three feet behind him at this time. He half-tripped, was half-pushed to the floor."
"One of the police officers was holding a black automatic pistol in his left hand. They held it down to him and unloaded five shots into him. I saw it. He's dead, five shots, he's dead." Whitby added that the man did not seem to be carrying a weapon or wearing a rucksack.
Professor Paul Rogers of Bradford University said the police action appeared like the "very strong" methods used by Israeli security forces and US troops in Iraq . "This sort of thing happens only in Hollywood movies," exclaimed a TV journalist. Instead of a smooth operation from the famous Ian Fleming's creation 007, it looked like a clumsy parody of Laurel and Hardy going on a manhunt.
The Muslim Council of Britain said Muslims expressed concerned at the apparent "shoot-to-kill" policy now in operation. Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman, said Muslims were "jumpy and nervous".
New York 's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, had to apologies to a group of British tourists after armed police swarmed on to an open-top sightseeing bus, handcuffed them and forced them to kneel on Broadway. They were five Sikh tourists from Birmingham and they seemed suspicious. The police cordoned off the block for 90 minutes, ordered all 60 passengers off the bus, and searched their belongings and then their bodies. The five men were then identified by the employee and cuffed.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11 more than 400 Sikhs were attacked across USA , claims Amardeep Singh, legal director of the Sikh coalition in New York . Reports "across the board" showed that Sikhs [with beards but not white] were being confused with Arabs and other Muslims.
In the market driven world, London bombings have provided another opportunity to sell to Britons, fearful of more bombings, personal survival kits when caught up in emergencies. The pack, which can fit into a handbag, contains a particle mask to filter out dust, a torch to provide light, a whistle, water and antiseptic wipes. It is selling like fish and chips.
Similarity with trigger-happy occupation troops in Iraq
A study published in prestigious UK journal Lancet last year had estimated that over 100,000 Iraqis were killed since the invasion .In a recent report by the Iraq Body Count and the Oxford Research Group, the two independent researchers concluded that at least 24,865 Iraqi civilians were killed up to March 19, 2005. It said it should be regarded as the "baseline of the minimum number of deaths." Most of these deaths are thought to have occurred during the conflict and its aftermath.
Of this 9,270 or 37% died at the hands of the Americans or other coalition forces (86 were killed by British troops, 23 by Italians, and 13 by Ukrainians). Anti-occupation forces have been responsible for 2,353 deaths i.e. less than 25% of that by the occupation forces. But the media in USA and UK feed in the picture that it is the insurgents who are creating the mayhem.
Indians in Delhi , Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jammu, Srinagar and other cities have lived with this kind of terror for decades because the terrorists were all trained in camps financed and provided arms and training by countries like Saudi Arabia . Think of the hell the citizens of Iraq i.e. in Baghdad , Fallujah, Najaf and elsewhere are going through since the invasion in March 2003.
Anglo-Saxon- Pak marriage gone sour
Pakistan leadership can not hit back at USA , with its policies since decades now unraveling and creating serious problems at home in Pakistan , but Islamabad‘s retorts are also directed at Washington .
General Musharraf had Hobson's choice when after 11 September attacks , USA threatened and coerced him into jettisoning Pakistan's long crafted and cherished policy of defense in depth in Afghanistan to counter India , in the wake of the Soviet take over of Afghanistan in late 1970s . It had made Pakistani ruler Gen Zia-ul Haq a strategic Western ally from a pariah till then, for hanging Pakistani Premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and halting Pakistan 's wobbly movement towards democracy. In fact Pakistan has remained allied to the West since it was created in 1947 by bloodily tearing it apart from Hindustan as the subcontinent was known since centuries.
The author who spent ten years in two tenures in Turkish capital Ankara , where Gen. Musharraf spent early 1950s , his impressionable childhood years , has followed his statements and TV interviews , his turns and twists since he , a Mohajir , whose family migrated to Pakistan in 1947 after the partition ,was preferred for the top army job over ambitious Punjabi generals in 1998 and his taking over in October 1999 ,when Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif unwittingly tried to replace him with a loyalist.
In spite of his having imbibed the secular ideology of Kemal Ataturk , the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey, and his various attempts to marginalize the fundamentalists and fanatic elements in Pakistan's powerful Inter services intelligence (ISI) , the armed forces , with leadership opposed to him specially in Baluchistan and Frontier Province , he has a mission impossible on his hands.
Ataturk, his idol, after expelling invaders and occupation forces from what is now Turkey concentrated at home, modernizing and westernizing Turkey into a strong secular republic. He eschewed any idea of claiming former Ottoman territories and even let go , reluctantly , half of Kurdistan including oil rich Kirkuk ,now in Iraq , which the British had occupied after the armistice. But Musharraf keeps on eying Afghanistan and Kashmir and a bigger role for himself.
Conclusions
The so-called of British fortitude, efficiency, fair play, sportsmanship, assiduously created and marketed by its media and writings is now being tested,
as is clear from the case of shooting of the Brazilian by London police.
The writer who had organized in late 1980s at the Diplomats Training Institute in New Delhi , a week-long training module on political violence and how to manage crisis situations caused by abduction of diplomats ,takeover of embassies and hijacking of airplanes by terrorists was stuck by the British authorities response to engage the public attention by telecasting hourly police activities to feed the ever hungry 24 hour news channels . The police confusion gets magnified, the terrorists get the oxygen of publicity and learn from police's methods and mistakes or feints.
The Indian media coverage in 2000 when Pakistan based terrorists had hijacked an Indian airline plane from Kathmandu on to Delhi was pathetic, with TV channels showing the screams and tears of the affected families of hijacked passengers and ignorant TV anchors when interviewing government officials almost chided them for not acceding to terrorists demands , which the Indian government finally did. Omar Sheikh who was then released is now in Pakistani prison for the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.
In view of expert conclusions that UK would sooner or later face reprisals, whenever I wrote that there was a tacit understanding between the British intelligence authorities and the various terrorist and militant organizations based in London –‘that you don't touch us and we won't touch you', this paragraph was excised by the editors. London and UK are very useful hubs for communications for international terrorists, as those from South Asia and the Middle East, except for the French-speaking Maghreb countries, are generally English speaking. The situation for terror organizations has become quite difficult in USA after 911.They cannot operate freely because of language and cultural problems in European countries except for those from the Maghreb countries in France and Belgium . It would now appear that the terrorist organizations have decided ,having perhaps placed enough sleepers and infrastructure in place in UK and elsewhere, that the time has come for reprisals against UK, which has been doing back seat driving and even encouraging USA in its anti- Arab and anti- Muslim policies. It will be a long miserable war on terror.
For example, it was quite possible that George Bush senior might have been persuaded to accept an Arab solution, which was being worked out by King Hussein of Jordan and others after Saddam Hussein has foolishly invaded Kuwait in 1990. But at that time Margaret Thatcher happened to be with Bush Senior. Chiding him not to be wobbly, she persuaded him to deal with Saddam Hussein ‘sternly'. That more or less made up the mind of a wavering Bush Sr. This led to 12 years of sanctions against Iraq , economic deprivation , devastation and destruction and misery of the Iraqi people including death of half a million children, thus putting Muslim masses firmly against US and British policies . The US and UK leadership had even indicated that whatever Iraq might do to fulfill the UN resolutions, they would not relent on the sanctions. The British were equally active with USA in bombing Iraq at will during the period.
After the 2003 invasion , the perfidious Albion in the words of a great French leader , was quite smart and took over South Iraq knowing that being the home of oppressed Shias it would be passive to begin with , while the hubris driven Americans thought of pacifying the Sunni Arabs.
At the time of 1991 Gulf war I was based in Amman , among others a TV image left an indelible mark, of an educated Iraqi lady whose house was destroyed in collateral damage, snapping at US journalists ," We are not Red Indians" . After the London blasts, the British will have a more difficult time in Basra and South Iraq . In any case they have given a free run to criminal, obscurantist and fundamentalist Shia elements there who run their own fiefs almost like Talebans.
One of the countries which had nothing to do with the US supported and financed proxy war and has suffered the most is India . That proxy war was responsible for creating Jihadis and terror pollution in Afghanistan and Pakistan and has since globalized itself and ready for a blowback.
Some stirred-up Moslems
In an interview with Le Nouvel Observateur , Paris ,15-21 January 1998, Zbigniew Brzezinsky , former National Security Adviser to President Jimmy Carter, admitted that the CIA's intervention in Afghanistan preceded the 1979 Soviet invasion. When asked if he regretted having supported the Islamic fundamentalism, having given arms and advice to future terrorists? ,he answered;
"What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war? "Some stirred-up Moslems? You can say that again!
If Pakistan goes down under, which many fear it might, then the world has a real problem on its hands. The bear guzzling Punjabi Pakistanis, former ISI generals who have made tonnes of money cannot even escape to USA on UK . Would they follow dismissed Premier Nawaz Sharif, now in exile in Saudi Arabia , now itself under attack and could have a Sunni revolution like the 1979 Shia revolution in Iran . Perhaps Istanbul could provide some security and a place to hide.
Wherever he might be, bin Laden must be a very satisfied man. Populations of London and some other Western cities have got a taste of what the Iraqis have felt since 3 years. He may live in caves, which cannot be that easily targeted , but the way Western civilization has evolved, tall towers and suburban way of life, both dependent on cheep supply of energy, can be easily targeted and even squeezed.
Original article appeared in South Asia Analysis Group
http://www.saag.org/papers15/paper1482.html
Reprinted with permission of author
(K Gajendra Singh, served as Indian Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan in 1992-96. Prior to that, he served as ambassador to Jordan (during the 1990-91 Gulf war), Romania and Senegal . He is currently chairman of the Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies, in Bucharest . The views expressed here are his own.-
Email- Gajendrak@hotmail.com)
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