Richard Holbrooke and USAID in Pakistan
"The AfPak strategy constitutes a recognition that U.S. national security now depends upon producing internal change in states -- the kind of change development assistance (as opposed to, say, regime change) is designed to bring about." NewsTrust.net.
Pakistan to America: What Have You Done for Us Lately?
"But progress could perhaps be made if Washington delicately reduces New Delhi's expectations for influence in Kabul, facilitates Pakistan's partial movement in favor of 'good' actors in Afghanistan and push against the Afghan Taliban, and prods both India and Pakistan further along the negotiation table." By Arif Rafiq | The AfPak Channel:
Karzai 'very angry' at Baradar ' arrest
The Afghan government was holding secret talks with the Taliban's No. 2 when he was captured in Pakistan, and the arrest infuriated President Hamid Karzai, according to one of Karzai's advisers. The Associated Press via Google.
Mind Control: Another Out-of-Control Experiment Unearthed
"A 50-year mystery over the 'cursed bread' of Pont-Saint-Esprit, which left residents suffering hallucinations, has been solved after a writer discovered the US had spiked the bread with LSD as part of an experiment." Telegraph.
NATO's "Civilian Surge" Stumbles
"Abdul Zahir, the Afghan tribal leader chosen to bring law and order to the area cleared by the joint US and British troop surge, has previously been jailed for attempted murder." Telegraph.
Hezb-i-Islami Fights Taliban, Joins Afghan Government?
"Hezb-i-Islami's leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a ruthless mujahedin commander who fought the Soviets and later shelled Kabul in the early 1990s, killing thousands, is known to be Pakistan's man. Two weeks ago, Pakistani police arrested the Taliban's shadow governor in Baghlan who had slipped across the border. Taliban fighters may have suspected that Hekmatyar had something to do with their regional chief's capture." TIME.
Afghan Drug Trade Complicates U.S. Task in Marjah - TIME
"Having captured the town, NATO and Afghan officials face a quandary that, if mishandled, could jeopardize the operation's goal of turning Marjah's people against the Taliban. Local farmers are just a month away from harvesting the area's primary crop, opium poppy. Playing by the rules, the crop should be destroyed, but such an action could swiftly turn the local population against the Western alliance, and the 'government in a box' they brought to Marjah. Says one farmer, Mohammd Rahim Khan, 'I spent lots of money on my field and so did my neighbors. If the government officials destroy the fields, nearly all the people will rise against them.' That's why, according to highly placed Afghan officials, U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal opposes wiping out this particular poppy harvest." TIME.
A U.S.-Trained Pakistani Is Said to Support the Taliban - NYTimes.com
"Despite Pakistan’s recent arrest of several high-level Taliban commanders, men like Colonel Imam sit at the center of the questions that linger around what Pakistan’s actual intentions are toward the Taliban." NYTimes.com.
'The NYT Veers Neocon'
"As neocon propagandists pursue their goal of riling up the American public against some new foreign threat, that effort requires highlighting certain facts (and even fictions). But the propagandists equally must make sure that many inconvenient truths are conveniently forgotten. Otherwise the alleged threat might not seem all that unusual or threatening." Consortiumnews.com.
Endless Attrition?
"Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants, compared to a year ago, and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting." The Guardian.
Bashing the Bashers
A media blitz against 'conspiracy theorists' among Pakistani media people is getting fresh impetus. It started months ago from the pages of NYT and Washington Post - but is coming to flower in Pakistan. The intent? To hush up, malign, and discourage any mention of foreign clandestine operations in the Pakistani media.
Early on, the crusade to sanctify the Pakistani media of conspiracy theories was the fare of anonymous blogs. Now, with NFP and Ayesha Siddiqa weighing in just last week, it has become mainstream. The trend begs examination.
For instance, are the writers of such articles authority on clandestine operations? Or is it that they can account for every one of the 75 billion dolllars the US spends on intelligance annually? Mind you, the $1.5 billion annual injection sanctioned by the Kerry-Luger law is about remaking Pakistan - the world's sixth most populous nation. What could $75 billion spent on intelligance not achieve?
How much of the U.S. inteligance spending would flow to Pakistan? Not a dollar, the cinspiracy-bashers would seem to argue. On the other hand, when the U.S. is spending billions to help remake a pivotal ally, spending a few hundred million dollars on psyops would be the most logical thing to do; after all, it's about remaking.
One wonders why nobody is running about castigating, mocking, and demonising David E. Sanger and NYT for spreading the conspiracy theory (January 2009) that the U.S. is undertaking 'new efforts, some of them experimental, to undermine electrical systems, computer systems and other networks on which Iran relies' for nuclear resreach and development.
Early on, the crusade to sanctify the Pakistani media of conspiracy theories was the fare of anonymous blogs. Now, with NFP and Ayesha Siddiqa weighing in just last week, it has become mainstream. The trend begs examination.
For instance, are the writers of such articles authority on clandestine operations? Or is it that they can account for every one of the 75 billion dolllars the US spends on intelligance annually? Mind you, the $1.5 billion annual injection sanctioned by the Kerry-Luger law is about remaking Pakistan - the world's sixth most populous nation. What could $75 billion spent on intelligance not achieve?
How much of the U.S. inteligance spending would flow to Pakistan? Not a dollar, the cinspiracy-bashers would seem to argue. On the other hand, when the U.S. is spending billions to help remake a pivotal ally, spending a few hundred million dollars on psyops would be the most logical thing to do; after all, it's about remaking.
One wonders why nobody is running about castigating, mocking, and demonising David E. Sanger and NYT for spreading the conspiracy theory (January 2009) that the U.S. is undertaking 'new efforts, some of them experimental, to undermine electrical systems, computer systems and other networks on which Iran relies' for nuclear resreach and development.
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