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Posts tagged with: US
Jan 23, 2013    |       7 comments

Are they “Children of a Lesser God?”

Drones Kill Children TooYou must have abundantly heard about School shooting in the US where children are brutally murdered by maniacs, the world gushed a shock at the inhumanity of how a person could have the heart to kill a child.

What people seem to forget amongst another statistics are the CHILDREN killed in Pakistan courtesy of US Drone action in Pakistan.  Drones Watch has aggregated a list of the names of about 97 Pakistani children killed by US Drones attack in Pakistan – The data has been extracted from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism – The excuse is that these highly accurate equipment is necessary to coordinate targeted attacks designed to take out various Al-Qaeda militants hiding in the tribal belt of Pakistan.

With the presented list of over 97 children under the age of 18 – is this a mere accidental casual collateral damage or are these actual innocent human children suffering due to shear ignorance of the Pakistani Parliamentarians to not stop the drone menace in Pakistan.  No one has heard about these children, probably no one wanted this list to be compiled – but what fault is it of these children to have been killed for no fault of their own – mind you this is a list of 97 children whose names have been documented and recorded – I fear to think how many hundred more there might be who simply dont get counted.

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Jan 10, 2013    |      Comments Off on The US Drone War in Pakistan Is Back

The US Drone War in Pakistan Is Back

Drone“Even if the White House doesn’t know a target’s name, he can still BE MARKED FOR DEATH.

Obama has provided the CIA with authority to kill not only suspected militants, but unknown individuals it believes FOLLOWS A PATTERN OF MILITAN ACTIVITY, in what it terms “signature strikes.”

Thank you to ALL our parliamentarians for this gift …
Wired.com – Danger Room : 6 Strikes, 8 Days, 35 Dead: The U.S. Drone War in Pakistan Is Back | Danger Room | Wired.com
– shared on Facebook by Awab Alvi

Dec 19, 2012    |      Comments Off on Drone Pilots: Did we just kill a Kid? No .. it was a dog with Two Legs

Drone Pilots: Did we just kill a Kid? No .. it was a dog with Two Legs

Drone PilotsA drone operator sitting in front of a video screen in New Mexico after he just bombed a target to oblivion

“Did we just kill a kid?” he asked the man sitting next to him.

“Yeah, I guess that was a kid,” the pilot replied.

“Was that a kid?” they wrote into a chat window on the monitor.

Then, someone they didn’t know answered, someone sitting in a military command center somewhere in the world who had observed their attack. “No. That was a dog,” the person wrote.

They reviewed the scene on video. A dog on two legs?

I have no words to express my frustration at reading this narration from a Drone Pilot sitting in New Mexico –

Mr Obama – TIME 2012 Person of the Year – please shed a tear for that DOG with TWO LEGS

LINK: Dreams in Infrared: The Woes of an American Drone Operator – SPIEGEL ONLINE

– shared on Facebook by Awab Alvi

May 17, 2012    |      Comments Off on What resuming NATO supply means to me

What resuming NATO supply means to me

Rana Usman in his blog I Believe writes What resuming NATO supply means to me – he wraps up his article with these touching words

Each day, I die morally, each day when I see my ruling class prostrating to the people who are killing my land. Eventually this nation will die morally, there will be 180 million bodies walking around but dead! yes Morally Dead. Thank you America, Thank you Leaders.

May 17, 2012    |      1 comment

Why does the Pakistani Gov allows the US to kill its citizens?

The question asked by the Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR) in its litigation filed in Peshawar last week – is Why does the Pakistan government allows the US to kill its citizens? – Clive Stafford Smith a director in the British Charity Reprieve ask this in his Op-ed in The Tribune titled Shoot the Drones

As a Britisher he tries to answer this for Pakistanis, but can we the Pakistani nation answer this for ourselves?

May 13, 2012    |      Comments Off on Pakistan Terrorism Accountability Act in US Congress – to fine Pakistan $2.2 Billion

Pakistan Terrorism Accountability Act in US Congress – to fine Pakistan $2.2 Billion

US Congress presented the Pakistan Terrorism Accountability Bill 2012 – which aims to block all aid to Pakistan – it is as per the new US rhetoric asking Pakistan to “do more” in terms of the War on Terror – It actually means to push the Pakistani  Government & the Military to allow for more access to our soil for NATO, drones and US military action.

As a sovregin nation I personally would tell the US to shove it … but with goofs like Zardari … we will most likely be acceding to all their demands and be back at the behest as to how the US wants to trample over us all over again.

FIRSTPOST: A Legislation has been introduced in the US Congress that would deduct $50 million from the aid to Islamabad for every American killed by terrorists operating from the safe havens in Pakistan with the ”support” of ISI.

“Pakistan has for decades leveraged radical terrorist groups to carry out attacks in India and Afghanistan,” Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said introducing the ‘Pakistan Terrorism Accountability Act of 2012′.

The Pakistan Terrorism Accountability Act asks the US government to pay the family of each US soldier killed in Pakistan $50 million/soldier for a grand total of $2.2 Billion from the promised aid being given to Pakistan to the soldiers that were killed in Pakistan.

H.R.5734– To provide compensation for the deadly acts by elements of the Pakistani military and intelligence services against United States citizens.

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Nov 12, 2011    |       7 comments

Meeting Under Secretary Maria Otero at the US Consulate in Karachi

Awab Alvi with US Consular General to KarachiOn 3rd November a small group of social & print media bloggers were invited to the US Consul General’s Residence in Karachi for a small luncheon discussion with the visiting US Under Secretary Maria Otero.

Maria Otero, is a well spoken representative of the US, coordinating U.S. foreign relations on a variety of global issues, including democracy, human rights, and labor; environment, oceans, health and science; population, refugees, and migration; and monitoring and combating trafficking in persons.

The discussion was interesting, everyone had a chance to put their point of view across, My issues were focused on
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Oct 22, 2011    |      Comments Off on US is Pakistan’s impossible to please mother-in-law, woman tells Clinton

US is Pakistan’s impossible to please mother-in-law, woman tells Clinton

At an event to honor Secretary of State Mrs Hilary Clinton a women stands up to say “We all know that the whole of Pakistan is facing the brunt of whatever is happening and trying to cooperate with the U.S., and somehow the U.S. is like a mother-in-law which is just not satisfied with us,” said Shamama

“We are trying to please you, and every time you come and visit us you have a new idea and tell us, ‘You are not doing enough and need to work harder,’” – LINK

Oct 19, 2011    |       3 comments

Who Watches the Watchmen? on Drone Warfare

A though provoking post by Kulsom from Changing up Pakistan she writes … the issue of drones goes beyond the issue of legality. It touches on the progression of warfare as a whole. Arguably the foundation of international law, is really being compromised in favor of the arbitrarily defined “greater good.”

This is not to say that human beings do not play a significant role in today’s conflicts. But is the “automation” of warfare something that should concern us. As we become more detached and more removed, are we losing touch with the humanity of warfare. Civilian casualties become dots on a computer screen, the collateral damage of the “best worst option.” And we in turn become increasingly distanced from the reasons why we engage in conflict in the first place. nevertheless. Who does watch the watchmen? – LINK

Oct 18, 2011    |       2 comments

US considered Cyber Attacking Libya & Pakistan

The New York Times is reporting that the United States nearly chose to use “cyber weaponry” just before the American-led strikes against Libya in March by hacking into the Libyan government’s air defense control systems. While the exact techniques remain classified, the goal would have been to break through the firewalls of the Libyan government’s computer networks to sever military communications links and prevent the early-warning radars from gathering information and relaying it to missile batteries aiming at NATO warplanes. But it is reported that the commanding officers balked at the idea fearing that it might set a precedent for other nations, in particular Russia or China

It is then reported that the military commanders again contemplated on using Cyberattack tactics during the Navy Seals raid in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2.

Naked Security: It is unclear exactly why the US didn’t proceed, but it appears several factors influenced the decision.

Some are suggesting that the urgency of the invasion may not have left an appropriate amount of time for the network attacks to proceed. Gaddafi’s troops were advancing quickly on the rebels, and breaking into their military networks would not have been as simple as it appears in the movies.

Another factor was a US law known as the War Powers Resolution. The President has limited powers to declare war without the approval of the US Congress. Would a cyber attack be construed as assistance to the NATO mission, or an act of war?

Update:- In light of the revelation that the Americans were contemplating to cyber attack Libya & possibly Pakistan. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague declares Britan is prepared to strike first to defend against a cyber attack from an enemy state – Foreign Secretary’s warning to the world is the first clear signal that the UK has developed new weapons for the online battlefield with a estimated £650 million pounds invested in strengthening its resources

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Aug 14, 2011    |      Comments Off on Daniyal Noorani presents Own2Feet

Daniyal Noorani presents Own2Feet

Daniyal Noorani presents a music video “Own2Feet” telling the story of dysfunctional partners and highlights some of the issues observed in US-Pak relations.

I believe in a mere 4 minutes Daniyal has presented a true picture of the imbalance of the US-Pakistan relationship possibly suggesting that its time for Pakistanis to standup for their own dignity and self respect

Jun 29, 2011    |       2 comments

Addressing Pakistan’s Sovereignty Deficit

Christine Fair writes a fairly good assessment of the Pakistan-US love-hate relationship at the German Marshall Fund of the United States to say -> The Pakistan government’s inability to provide for the security and prosperity of its own people has led to questions about its sovereignty, whether in terms of its monopoly of violence, fiscal solvency, or human security. Admittedly, the United States has often compromised long-term goals for short-term access.

Pakistan can certainly do better by following India’s example of self-sufficient economic growth. Pakistanis should also question Chinese and Saudi intentions as vigorously as they do those of the United States. Both countries have used Pakistan for their own interests, without attempting to invest in the country’s people. Pakistan can only escape the leash of donors and manipulative outsiders by raising revenue, securing its territory, providing for its citizens, and becoming a responsible international actor. [Read the full text in PDF]

Jun 27, 2011    |       4 comments

Stuxnet: Cyber Weapon of Mass Destruction

Stuxnet I’m sure over the past year you may have accidentally stumbled across the word Stuxnet, it is technically a simple computer virus that has started infecting Microsoft Windows computers since July 2010, I too heard some reports of the virus, but as usual shrugged it aside as just another scare, little did I worry any any further until I heard Ralph Langner speak about it at TED 2011 Cracking Stuxnet, a 21st-century cyber weapon. Only recently after reading a blog post by Amit Agarwal who shared an animated documentary on the Stuxnet Virus prepared by ABC1 Australia on Jun 8th 2011, that made me realize the implications of this mere virus to have the devastation power of becoming a Cyber Weapon of Mass Destruction, im not talking sci-fi, this weapon is being used, carried around on hundreds, thousands and millions of USB’s with the potential force of causing a meltdown in any [or possibly a certain series] of nuclear power plant around the globe.

Stuxnet How it spreadsLets start with a brief explanation – Stuxnet is a Windows worm virus spreading via USB drives once inside an organization, it self propagates by copying itself to network shares and other USB drives for further infection once it infects the system it hides itself with a rootkit and sees if the infected computer is connected to a Siemens Simatic (Step7) factory system and sends particular commands to modify PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers, i.e. the boxes that actually control the machinery) [centrifuges in nuclear power plants]

Take a moment to watch the animated documentary prepared by Australia ABC1 uploaded on Youtube on 8th June 2011
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May 1, 2011    |       22 comments

US and NATO imperialism in South Asia: The developing Pakistan Quagmire

After some nationalist and anti-imperialist elements succeeded in defeating the elaborate US and British plans to install two of their puppets- Parvez Musharraf and the late Benazir Bhutto-in the highest government offices in Pakistan, another puppet, Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir’s husband-also known as Mr. Ten Percent, because of his corruption and demanding and taking systematic bribes on contracts with national and international companies- during Benazir’s premiership, in which he was one of the members of her cabinet, managed to substitute both of them and has proven that he is a bigger puppet than both of them combined. Both he and his wife were methodically groomed for their roles by various organs and representatives of US imperialism.

During their government, they had stolen an estimated one and a half billion dollars from the poor people of Pakistan and had deposited those in foreign bank accounts. When numerous cases of fraud and corruption were filed against them in the Pakistani and foreign courts, they fled the country and lived abroad for years, in aristocratic and lavish life styles, when overwhelming majority of Pakistani people were suffering ever increasing levels of poverty and deprivation. It was only after an incredibly illegal, unjustifiable, and crooked deal with the Musharraf dictatorship, which was a desperate and reckless move to save itself against the rising tide of opposition-pushed and supervised by the representatives of US and British imperialism-in which all the corruption charges were dropped and the cases withdrawn, that they dared to return to Pakistan.
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Apr 13, 2011    |       10 comments

The Deal Undone: Pakistan, its Army and the Americans

The deal undone explores the strenuous relationship between the Pakistan – US military establishments. The documentary analyzes a specific period in the history of this relationship during the, following the 9/11 attacks in the U.S.

From the heights of friendship during the early years of the war on terror to the falling out with the passage of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act in 2009, are episodes explored in great detail in ‘THE DEAL UNDONE’.


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