Pak Govt in Cahoots with Bin Laden

As revealed by WikiLeaks and reported by the Telegraph, Stratfor received evidence that Pakistani govt officials were in routine contact with Bin Laden:

According to one of the e-mails, the firm was shown the information papers collected from bin Laden's Abbotabad compound after the US special forces attack last May that resulted in his death. The e-mail, from a Stratfor analyst, suggested that up to 12 officials in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency knew of the al-Qaeda leader's safe house. The internal email did not name the Pakistani officials involved but said the US could use the information as a bargaining chip in post raid negotiations with Islamabad.

More:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17188120

The Death of Saleem Shahzad

The New Yorker has an interesting article on events leading upto the murder of Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad. Here's an interesting excerpt:

The trouble, he said, had begun on March 25th, the day that he published the story about bin Laden’s being on the move. The next morning, he got a phone call from an officer at the I.S.I., summoning him to the agency’s headquarters, in Aabpara, a neighborhood in eastern Islamabad. When Shahzad showed up, he was met by three I.S.I. officers. The lead man, he said, was a naval officer, Rear Admiral Adnan Nazir, who serves as the head of the I.S.I.’s media division.

“They were very polite,” Shahzad told me. He glanced over his shoulder. “They don’t shout, they don’t threaten you. This is the way they operate. But they were very angry with me.” The I.S.I. officers asked him to write a second story, retracting the first. He refused.

And then Admiral Nazir made a remark so bizarre that Shahzad said he had thought about it every day since.

“We want the world to believe that Osama is dead,” Nazir said.

Bin Laden was still alive, his whereabouts presumably unknown, when that conversation occurred. I pressed Shahzad. What did they mean by that?

He shrugged and glanced over his shoulder again. They were obviously trying to protect bin Laden, he said.

“Do you think the I.S.I. was hiding bin Laden?” I asked him.

Shahzad shrugged again and said yes. But he hadn’t been able to prove it. (The I.S.I. calls this claim an “unsubstantiated accusation of a very serious nature.”)

Perhaps the US should abduct Pakistan's Rear Admiral Nazir, and give him a thorough interrogation on the issue of how much Pakistan knew about Bin Laden's whereabouts.

Pak Arrests Informants Who Aided Bin Laden Raid

Pakistan has arrested 5 of its citizens who helped the CIA to raid Osama Bin Laden's compound.

Now, if ever there was a sign that Pakistan was sheltering Bin Laden and opposed to seeing him killed, this would be it. Those who helped the US get Bin Laden have been arrested. So much for Pakistan being an "ally" in the war on AlQaeda.

Ilyas Kashmiri Reported Killed in US Drone Strike

One of the most violent Kashmiri militant leaders and potential future leader of AlQaeda, Ilyas Kashmiri has reportedly been killed in a US drone strike.

Pak Journo Reported on AlQaeda-Military Links, Now Dead

A Pakistani journalist who had recently reported on the close ties between AlQaeda and his country's military has now been found dead, with his body bearing torture marks.

Apparently, ISI doesn't want certain secrets to get out.

Edit: Here's an editorial by international political analyst Pepe Escobar.

More:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/31/missing-pakistan-journalist-found-dead

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13608971

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/world/asia/01pakistan.html

Serb Nationalist General Radko Mladic Captured

An article in the Atlantic asks why Serbia captured nationalist general Radko Mladic and handed him over to Europe, while Pakistan continued harboring Bin Laden rather than handing him in.

The answer is simple: Atlanticism.

The Americans will bend over backward in service of European interests, while even letting their own national interests take a back seat. That's how the lobbying power in Washington is set up.

Attack on Naval Base Has Pakistanis Asking Questions

In the aftermath of the attacks on Pakistan's Mehran naval base in Karachi, talkshow hosts and panelists wail over why Pakistan is in its predicament, and what to do about it:



As usual, Pakistanis always seem to be one major disaster away from introspection.

Pak Naval Base Attacked, P3C Orion Aircraft Destroyed

In a scene reminiscent of Colombo airport in 2001, armed militants are attacking Pakistan's Mehran naval base in Karachi, destroying both of its prized P3C Orion aircraft, used by the country for maritime patrol and surveillance. They may have taken hostages.




Since Pakistan continues to refuses to dismantle the terrorists, it seems the terrorists will continue to dismantle Pakistan.

More:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-22/explosions-firefights-erupt-at-pakistani-naval-aviation-base-under-attack.html

Update: Looks like the operation is now over, and Interior Minister Rehman Malik has arrived on scene to make an inspection.

Maher Asks Clarke About Pakistan

Comedian and nightly talkshow host Bill Maher asks former Whitehouse National Security Advisor Richard Clarke about Pakistan:



Here's the whole interview:

Prayers Held in Pak Parliament for Bin Laden

In parliament yesterday, prayers were offered for Osama Bin Laden by Pakistani MPs .

US Was Ready to Fight Pakistan During Raid

Details are now emerging that during the raid against Bin Laden, the US had kept forces on standby, ready to engage Pakistani forces in combat had these arrived and become involved in battle.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/10/pakistan.us.military.fight/?hpt=T2

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/10/eveningnews/main20061618.shtml


The Americans were lucky that this situation did not come to pass, however there's no guaranteeing that for any future raid the US might try.

Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) Says Ditch Pak for India

US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) wants to scrap the US relationship with Pakistan, in favor of pursuing ties with India:

US Says India Can't Launch Raids on Pak Terror Targets

The US is asserting its own double standard, saying that India isn't justified in similarly launching its own cross-border raids against Pakistani terror targets:

Will ISI Head Roll Over Bin Laden Raid?

Will ISI Chief Shuja Pasha lose his job over the fallout from the Bin Laden affair? As tensions build up in the aftermath of the US attack, a sacrifice may be demanded.

Captured Osama Notes Show 9/11 Train Attack Plot

Notes captured during the raid that killed Bin Laden show that he was plotting new attacks against rail targets for the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001.



Who knows what else is on the cards for 4 months from now?

Raid Puts Pak Army on Defensive

Pakistan's army is on the defensive following the surprise US raid against Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, just north of Islamabad.

Tale of Bin Laden's Demise

The NYT has an article on how Bin Laden was taken out. What seems clear is that the raid very narrowly avoided disaster, as the clueless Pakistanis were scrambling forces in response to what they perceived as an attack. Had the US SpecOps team been a little slower, or lost the use of their remaining chopper, then the situation could have turned into 'Blackhawk Down'. I wonder what that would have done to US-Pakistani relations?

Meanwhile, the Pakistanis are fretting about their country's image.

Osama Killed in Pakistan Army Town

Bin Laden was gunned down in a compound 100 yards from Pakistan Military Academy, in the town of Abbottabad, which is filled with military personnel. This all happened 35km north of Islamabad. Well, remember that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was captured in Rawalpindi.

May Surprise: Osama Confirmed Killed

No, apparently it's not an April Fool's joke. Today on May 1st, 2011, the US conducted an raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. After obtaining DNA confirmation, the announcement has just been made by US President Obama:



So Bin Laden has not lived to celebrate a 10th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. At least the Americans finally got their key enemy, even if there are plenty of others who can fill his place.

Can India claim the same for those who have terrorized and continue to terrorize it?
When will Manmohan ever make such speeches?

I suspect that the growing desperation of Pakistan over the War on Terror contributed to this raid. They must have finally realized that it was no longer worth it for them to continue allowing Bin Laden sanctuary on Pak soil. But is AlQaeda going to just go away because Osama has been killed? Only time will tell.

Taliban Murder Pak Minister of Minorities

Shahbaz Bhatti, a Pakistani Christian who was Pakistan's Minister for Minorities, was assassinated by gunmen who left leaflets at the scene signed by AlQaeda and Taliban, warning that his opposition to Pakistan's infamous blasphemy laws justified his murder.