U.S. expanding the Afghan war into Pakistan - part 2

Jason Ditz wrote:

It is unclear what prompted the Obama Administration's sudden interest in spreading its drone war into Kyber, far north from its usual targets in North and South Waziristan, nor is it immediately apparent why such moves were taken against the Laskar-e Islam, a group which has clashed with the Pakistani government but does not appear to be a major player in Afghanistan.

It may simply be a case of escalation for escalation's sake, as the Obama Administration struggles to claim some measure of progress in the nearly decade long occupation of Afghanistan and seems to be lashing out in odd directions in an effort to turn those claims into something at least vaguely credible.

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/12/17/pakistani-officials-us-drone-strikes-...

Seems this isn't the first time Mir Ali village has been in the news. The Pakistani army fought a battle there with the Taliban in 2007 and has been in and out of there several times after that. Since they can't go in there without a fight I'm willing to bet they are the ones asking or tipping off the CIA to watch that area and that strike probably benefitted them, the Pakistani military, more than "the war on terror".

The Pakistanis are good at playing the two sides of the fence. It seems to me they are trying to control that region from the sky through drones by way of CIA proxy (whom are more than willing to cooperate). Most of those drones are the size of small private aircraft now and the Pakistani air force could easily clear the skies of those drones if they wanted to. But they don't and it's not just because they are "USA puppets". They benefit from those drones as much as the USA or NATO does, maybe even more; the drones give them plausible definability to attack their enemies they might have truces with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mir_Ali

All Parties Demand End to Drone Attacks

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=2975&Cat=13

"Leaders of these parties said the government and authorities should sort out the matter in accordance with parliament's unanimous resolutions and take action against the extremists by itself wherever it is needed. 'It is because the US is fighting against the Taliban which are not an ideological group but their fight against Americans has been changed into a Pashtoon resistance. And this shows the US is fighting against a population which simply means that it is a never-ending-war. So the US is fully stuck in Afghanistan,' the PTI chief said.."

Obama's CIA War in Pakistan

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/73709.html

"The US does not acknowledge it is launching the attacks or making war in Pakistan, much less report the civilian casualties that it's inflicting. The war on terror is merely a cover story. These events are part of a broader strategy of the expansionist American empire."

US: No Way To Seal Afghan Border With Pakistan

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/12/28/us-no-way-to-seal-afghan-border-with-...

"the US has been demanding that the Pakistani military seal the exact same border virtually since the 2001 occupation began, and is only now conceding that even the much more powerful US military can't do what they'd been expecting Pakistan to do...It seems that the group with the closest thing to practical control over the border is the Taliban.."

Taliban Ask Tribesmen Not to Join Security Forces

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ts&nid=1856

"It is a conspiracy to pit the people of North Waziristan against each other.."

The Deepening Mystery of Raymond Davis

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff02082011.html

"The mystery of American Raymond A Davis, currently imprisoned in the custody of local police in Lahore Pakistan and charged with the Jan.27 murder of two young men, whom he allegedly shot 8 times with pinpoint accuracy through his car windshield, is growing increasingly murky. Also growing is the anger among Pakistanis that the US is trying to spring him from a Punjab jail by claiming diplomatic immunity.."

US Warns to Cut Pakistan Aid Over Davis

http://www.presstv.com/detail/164343.html

"Reports say Davis was not a consulate official but an agent for the notorious US security firm Blackwater. 'We continue to make it clear to the government of Pakistan that our diplomat has diplomatic immunity and in our view was acting in self-defense and should be released,' State Department PJ Crowley said Monday."

Societal fragmentation runs quite deep in Pakistan, however, the growing rage from US crimes against the population may very well serve as a uniting catalyst for some wonderfully spectacular event.

US Official Raymond Davis on Lahore Murder Charges

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12305049

"Lahore's police chief Aslam Tareen told the BBC Mr Davis was employed on 'security details' in the consulate. He did not have diplomatic immunity and was not one of the foreign security personnel allowed to carry firearms, according to the Pakistani authorities"

Did Ray Davis Shoot Two Pakistani Spies

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/ray-davis-shooting-pakistan/story?id=12869...

"Pakistani officials claim American killed men working for ISI.."

US Consulate Employee Kills Two in Pakistan: What We Know

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2011/0131/US-consulate...

"Pakistani outrage can be understood by 'reversing' the situation says Haider. 'Let's assume a Pakistani diplomat was carrying an illegal firearm in Manhattan and shoots two men, and a backup vehicle comes to his aid, which kills another American. How would the people of the US have behaved?"

Replies Sought on Pleas for Davis Record

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=29956&Cat=5&Result=0

"The issuance of a passport with a faked name to Davis by the US government was telltale.."

There appear to be great discrepancies in this story..

Pakistan Extends US Official's Detention

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164751.html

"A Pakistan court has extended the detention of a US consulate employee, who has been charged with killing two locals in Lahore, amid pressure from Washington to set him free. More suspicion has been raised about the case as Pakistan's police have caught two US consular vehicles holding fake license plates in Islamabad.."

NATO Truck Torched in Pakistan

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164736.html

"Pakistan militias have attacked a NATO supply truck transporting fuel destined for US-led forces in Afghanistan, setting it on fire in Baluchistan Province.."

Breaking: UK Guardian Reports Raymond Davis is Working for the CIA

http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/473

"A report today in the British Guardian newspaper is confirming that Raymond Davis, the man jailed in Lahore, Pakistan charged with murdering two young Pakistanis who were almost certainly themselves working for Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), is an employee of the CIA. The paper says that based upon its reporters' interviews with both Pakistani and US sources, it is 'confirming' that Davis is a CIA spy."

killing and droning them actually...

Sounds like the perfect set up to trade CIA man for Aafia Siddiqui

Davis was tied in to the drone strike program and some recent strikes in N Waziristan. There would appear to be a bit of a turf war in progress between CIA and ISI over 'assets'. Additionally, it is being reported that preliminary explorations as to possible Afghan peace talks have been met with Taliban demands that the participation by  Pakistan/ISI or Karzai's government, would not be acceptable at this point and only direct talks with US officials would be entertained, if at all. It should also be pointed out that the so called Pakistan Taliban and the Afghan Taliban are two discrete movements with very separate concerns and alignments.

Imam was Killed Last Month for Spying

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=32165&Cat=6&dt=2/21/...

 The situation is highly complex and very fluid at present.

US Caught in the Big Lie  -  by Dave Lindorff

http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/473

"Talk about getting caught in a Big Lie..."

The CIA's Killing Spree in Lahore  -  by Mike Whitney

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney02242011.html

'Al Qaeda'? The CIA is working with 'ancillaries of al Qaeda' in Pakistan? No wonder the US media has been keeping a wrap on this story for so long. If Davis was working with the Tehreek - e - Taliban, (as alleged in many reports) then we can assume that the war on terror is basically a ruse to advance a broader imperialist agenda.."

I guess it's all the more reason to vote for Jacko so he can work that old ndp magic on nato and 'transform it from within'.

Fidelio, believe whatever you like and vote as it pleases you to.

"No one that ever lived ever thought so crooked as we.."

Beckett

NDPP wrote:

'Al Qaeda'? The CIA is working with 'ancillaries of al Qaeda' in Pakistan? No wonder the US media has been keeping a wrap on this story for so long. If Davis was working with the Tehreek - e - Taliban, (as alleged in many reports) then we can assume that the war on terror is basically a ruse to advance a broader imperialist agenda.."

This is what our friend Fidel has been saying all along.

Can it be that my two friends are in agreement at this point?

Frmrsldr wrote:

NDPP wrote:

'Al Qaeda'? The CIA is working with 'ancillaries of al Qaeda' in Pakistan? No wonder the US media has been keeping a wrap on this story for so long. If Davis was working with the Tehreek - e - Taliban, (as alleged in many reports) then we can assume that the war on terror is basically a ruse to advance a broader imperialist agenda.."

This is what our friend Fidel has been saying all along.

Can it be that my two friends are in agreement at this point?

I have always understood that the war on terror was itself the 'advance of a broader imperialist agenda.' Notwithstanding this, there is  still authentic indigenous resistance movements working to defeat and destroy an occupying enemy. Tehreek e Taliban is only one formation, with a particular provenance, characteristics and objectives. Such terminology and tags as 'Taliban' or 'AQ' are highly unreliable and unspecific, as is the formation of hard and fast theories that are then applied too neatly to an entire theatre like Afghanistan or Pakistan. Things are not cut and dried in this regard no matter the schemes of CIA, ISI etc. I will continue to monitor things as they play out. The contributions of yourself, Fidelio and others only enrich my own, irregardless of what we may agree or disagree on.

Raymond Davis Incident Shows How Tangled US-Pakistan Web Is  - by Conn Hallinan

http://www.fpif.org/blog/raymond_davis_incident_shows_how_tangled_us-pak...

"...In short, the US and Pakistan don't see eye to eye on Afghanistan and Islamabad is suspicious that Americans like Davis are undermining Pakistan's interests in what Islamabad views as an area central to its national security. The result of all this is a major diplomatic crisis on what is arguably the most dangerous piece of ground on the planet."

[url=http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5084.htm][color=blue]Pakistani Writers Question CIA's Role in Pakistan Following Arrest of Raymond Davis:[/color][/url] It's 'No Longer Rational… To Dismiss Questions About the Presence, Motives, Activities and Scale' of CIA Agents' Operations in Pakistan'; 'The Duplicity of Our Successive Governments, in Terms of Hidden Deals with the U.S., Certainly Needs to Be Exposed' Via Davis Case; 'Anti-Americanism in Pakistan is Reaching Dangerous Proportions'

Quote:

In an article titled "The CIA, the ISI and 'Desi Liberals," Pakistani author and former Citigroup executive Yousuf Nazar questioned the CIA's operations in Pakistan, also noting however that the CIA could not have placed its operatives inside Pakistan without the consent of the ISI. Nazar also accused 'desi liberals' – i.e. local/indigenous liberals – of becoming defenders of the CIA's 'biggest' operations in Pakistan in their zeal to fight Islamic extremism.

In another article, titled "America's Mala Fide Intent?" Pakistani politician and strategic affairs commentator Dr. Shireen Mazari questioned the "U.S. agenda" in Pakistan and called for Davis to be tried for espionage in view of new evidence that he is a CIA operative.

Could it be that this CIA-ISI rift in recent years is complete and utter bullshit as usual by two right wing spy agencies that were bosom cold war allies in during anticommunist jihad against the Soviet-backed PDPA government in Kabul? Why would cold warriors in the CIA and ISI be at loggerheads now with the rich in Pakistan growing richer than ever under the neoliberal agenda backed by Warshington?

Phony wars and phony espionage. It's a corrupt US-backed military dictatorship in Pakistan same as before.

US to probe CIA contractor killings in Pakistan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110316/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_detained_american

Quote:

The American Embassy says the Justice Department has opened an investigation into the killings of two Pakistani men by a CIA contractor in Pakistan.

The statement Wednesday came hours after the contractor, Raymond Allen Davis, was released from prison. A Pakistani lawyer for the families of the two victims in the Jan. 27 shooting says the United States paid $2.34 million in "blood money."

Raymond Davis Walks  - by Dave Lindorff

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff03172011.html

"The surprise 'deal' which Pakistani news reports are saying appears to have been forced on the relatives of the families, who up to March 15 had insisted they wanted no blood money, but only justice, was announced in a court session March 16 in Lahore, at which the prosecution's case of murder was to have been presented.."

Foreigners Escalate Pakistan Civil War (and vid)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184290.html

"...There is a civil war going on in Pakistan. And the civil war is between the militants who dislike the foreign policy, who dislike the US occupation of Afghanistan, who dislike, resent and protest against the drone attacks in the Tribal Areas;and the enforcement agencies and the Pakistani military, and the Pakistani intelligence agency, they are all perceived to be siding with the US and foreign elements...

There are civil wars going on in at least seven Muslim countries, from Tunisia, to Libya, to Syria, to Afghanistan, to Iraq and now to Pakistan. And they are also trying to foment a civil war in Iran. So it seems like the foreign elements want each Islamic country to have a civil war, so that there is economic stagnation, so that there is total chaos.

So there is a pattern and there are foreign elements in every civil war in a Muslim state."

CIA Instigates Mutiny In the Pakistan Army  -  by MK Bhadrakumar

http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2011/06/16/cia-instigating-mutiny-...

"The unthinkable is happening..."