Pakistan not amused by British PM's crude remarks
Islamabad, Crescent-online
July 29, 2010 - 1530 EST
On his first visit to curry favour with the Indians, Britain's still green prime minister, David Cameron left his manners at home and lashed out at Pakistan. The July 28 remarks in Bangalore were not only crude but completely off base when he accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to terrorists and exporting it east and west. The remakrs delighted his Indian hosts that always take pleasure in denigrating Pakistan whenever they can.
Cameron accused Pakistan of exporting terrorism to India and Afghanistan after signing a 700 million pounds sterling aircraft deal--hardly the kind of activity that would promote peace or fight terrorism--he found it expedient to attack Pakistan.
The reaction from Pakistan was swift and strong but first let us hear what Cameron said about Pakistan while in Bangalore. "... we cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country [Pakistan] is allowed to look both ways and is able in any way to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan, or anywhere else in the world.”
The Pakistani rebuttal came not only from its High Commissioner in London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, but also officials in Islamabad. Writing on The Guardian’s Web site on July 28 night, the High Commissioner called Cameron’s remarks “completely contrary to the realities on the ground.” He linked them with the recently leaked WikiLeaks documents that have placed all the blame for US military failures in Afghanistan on the shoulders of Pakistan's military, especially its intelligence agency, ISI.
As far as the US and the west are concerned, the ISI is a super agency that has singlehandedly defeated not only the mighty US army but its army of coalition partners including Britain. If the Taliban have beaten the foreign invaders of their country, it is to their credit. Did we not hear in the eighties that that the Afghans had defeated the Soviet Army only because of US supply of Stinger missiles to the mujahideen? The US and its coalition of the willing have all the weapons in the world. Why have they failed to subdue the Taliban?
Since the US-led war of terror, Pakistan has lost 3,000 soldiers and an estimated 9,000 have been wounded. This is far more than the collective losses of all of Nato countries. Why should this be Pakistan's responsibility to fight the US-Nato war?
Besides, Pakistan's economic losses have been astronomical: at least $40 billion to date. Why should a poor country like Pakistan bear the cost of US-Nato war? Cameron did not have the courage to tell his Indian hosts to stop State terrorism in Kashmir where India maintains a 500,000-strong army of occupation. Since 1989, an estimated 100,000 innocent Kashmiris have been murdered and more than 9,200 Kashmiri women and girls have been gang-raped by the same Indian occupation troops.
Are Kashmiri and Muslim lives any less valuable than a few hundred British or American lives? Besides, if Cameron had any decency, he would have acknowledged that it was Britain that had created the Kashmir problem in the first place when it left India in 1947.
Instead of admitting their own crimes, western officials always find others to blame. This is what Cameron also tried to do after his crude remarks evoked strong reaction. Perhaps, Pakistan should sack the British High Commissioner from Islamabad until London offers an apology. But that would be expecting too much from western puppets like Zardari or Gilani. Self respect is not a characteristic of the ruling elite in Pakistan.
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Egypt denies visas to Gaza-bound Iranian Majlis Members
Cairo, Crescent-online
July 28, 2010 - 1700 EST
Even as Egyptians anxiously await news of the death of their aging Pharaoh, the octogenarian president Hosni Mubarak continues to work hard to please his zionist and American masters. Nowhere is this more evident than in Mubarak's harsh clampdown on any aid being sent to the besieged people of Gaza.
Four Iranian Majlis members (Members of Parliament) have been denied visas to travel to the illegally-blockaded Gaza Strip by the zionists. “The Egyptian government has stonewalled the visa process... no visa has been issued for the MPs as of yet,” Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash, one of four lawmakers, was quoted as saying.
Evaz Heydarpour, Parviz Sarouri and Shobayb Jouyjari were to travel with Bighash on July 27 but because the Egyptian government has stalled on giving them visas, they cannot go. The four had announced that they would enter Gaza through the Rafah Crossing. Obviously, they were not going to go through an Israeli checkpoint since Iran does not recognize the illegal zionist entity.
In June, the Iranian Red Crescent cancelled plans to send an aid ship to Gaza because of restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt. Iran had announced it intended to send an aid ship after a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists dead and sparked international outrage.
The Egyptian government of Mubarak is complicit in Israeli crimes by enforcing the illegal blockade which even the UN, no friend of Muslims, has condemned.
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German racists desecrate memorial to martyr Marwa el-Sherbini
Berlin, Crescent-online
July 23, 2010 - 1700 EST
How widespread is Islamophobia in Europe, especially in Germany where a three-month pregnant Muslim mother, Marwa el-Sherbini was stabbed 18 times in a crowded courtroom in Dresden last year, can be seen from the fact that a memorial erected to her memory has been smashed.
The group responsible for the memorial, Bürger.Courage, had erected eight out of a total of 18 columns so far but three have already been vandalised. The first column was erected on July 1, on the anniversary of Marwa's brutal stabbing death. The group also said informational plaques on two of the toppled columns had been pried off and stolen.
The police opened an investigation into the property damage but said there was “no evidence as to the motive of the perpetrators.” Why the police cannot see a connection between the vandalisation of the memorial columns and the brutal murder of an innocent Muslim woman a year ago reflects the blind hatred that exists in Europe against Muslims.
It will be recalled that when Marwa was being stabbed, not one guard in the courtroom came to her rescue. When her husband tried to shield her from the blows of her assailant, the police arrived on the scene and they shot her husband, saying they thought he was the assailant.
Marwa's brutal murder, who was 31 at the time, led to huge protests in the Muslim world, especially in her native Egypt.
Organizers are in the process of erecting 18 knife-shaped concrete columns around the city of Dresden to memorialize her murder, one for each time she was stabbed. Marwa el-Sherbini was in court last year testifying in a case against a man who called her a “terrorist” and “Islamist” in a Dresden playground. After she appeared as a witness the man took a seven-inch knife from his backpack and attacked both her and her husband in the courtroom, in front of their 3-year-old son. The guards just looked on while this brutal murder was taking place. Not one came to her rescue.
And now racist Islamophobes have vandalised and desecrated a memorial to her death.
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Pakistan Army Chief gets three-year extension
Islamabad, Crescent-online
July 23, 2010 - 1700 EST
Reflecting the true hierarchy of power in Pakistan, General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani got an extension of three more years to serve as army chief. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad on July 22.
It was widely expected since General Kiyani had made clear he would like to continue serving as rmy chief. Officially, it is the Prime Minister's prerogative to grant such extension but given how weak the civilian government is and it serves at the pleasure of the army chief, Gilani had little choice. Putting the best face on it, Gilani said the general's presence on the scene was essential for the fight against militancy.
General Kiyani was scheduled to retire in November. He took over as army chief from General Pervez Musharraf who was eased out of power after being at the helm following a coup in October 1999 against the government of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
General Kiyani is popular with the Americans as well who see him as a more stable and reliable partner. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has close relations with General Kiyani and has paid regular visits to him to press him to launch attacks both against Pakistan-based Taliban as well as those in Afghanistan. Kiyani has confined his army's operations to Pakistan, saying Afghanistan is America's responsibility.
Kiyani's extension must also be seen against the backdrop of anticipated changes in Afghanistan and the virtual defeat of US and Nato military forces there. Few generals have a better grasp of the situation in Afghanistan than Kiyani. Further, the Director of ISI, General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was also given an extension.
General Pasha is close to Kiyani and it appears the Pakistanis clearly anticipate major changes in Afghanistan in the near future. They want to have seasoned generals dealing with the issue when that happens.
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Zionist lobby threatens even US security to advance pro-Israel agenda
Washington, Crescent-online
July 19, 2010, 13:00 EST
Consumed by hatred of Islamic Iran, the US zionist lobby frequently papers over issues that really threaten US policies in order to advance its own agenda. Saudi funding of terrorist groups is one such issue that is conveniently ignored because it does not fit into the narrative the zionists are peddling: demonization of Islamic Iran.
In recent testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow and director of the rightwing Washington Institute's (WINEP) Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, soft peddled the involvement of US allies in terrorism financing.
Levitt mentioned that the Treasury Department Undersecretary, Stuart Levey had stated: “terrorist organizations and al-Qaeda raise money in the Gulf by going to individual donors and through charities,” but the bulk of his testimony was a tirade against Iran. It is not the first time that zionist circles have soft peddled Saudi involvement in al-Qaeda’s financing. Over the years, it has become Washington’s policy to safeguard its strategic ally in the Middle East because of close financial connections between the House of Saud and the House of Bush.
In a 2002 report, the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations stated that “individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important sources of funds for Al Qaeda. And for years, Saudi officials have turned a blind eye to this problem.” The Bush administration, in an attempt to protect their Saudi allies, immediately ridiculed these findings. Robert Nichols, the Treasury Department's deputy assistant secretary for public affairs, said the report was "seriously flawed." Had such allegations been against Islamic Iran or Venezuela, for instance, there is little doubt Washington would have immediately endorsed the report.
Earlier this year, during a lecture at WINEP seminar, Richard Barrett, UN coordinator on al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee, revealed that at the moment the UAE, a close US ally, is one of the places where al-Qaeda is actively raising money with tacit approval of the regime.
The zionist lobby soft peddles and often ignores the environment provided by despotic US allies for al-Qaeda minded groups to function with impunity. This clearly shows that for the zionist lobby and the neo-cons, their priority is to protct the illegitimate interests of US corporations and Israel.
If US citizens do not wake up to this reality, they will continually be waging wars on behalf of Israel, thus incurring the wrath and enmity of people worldwide.
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