The Express Tribune; Mouthpiece of International Terrorists in Pakistan Launched

Distortions, deformations, lies and deceptions are the words which remind us of none other than “New York Times”. According to Daniel Pipes Op-eds are now more central in war than bullets. To him gone are days when General in battle fields would decide the fate of nations. The job is now performed by the News producers, editors, copy editors and writers. In fact “New York Times” along with a few others is fighting this unjust war for the America on that new but important front very effective.

For those who loose their flavor on reading the English Newspapers like The News International where the people like Ansar Abbasi, the only person who questioned the fake flogging video, is heading its investigative unit which gather round about half of the total reporting team in Islamabad office, the debut of “The Express Tribune” is indeed a good news. Good news because The Express Tribune is reportedly partnered with The International Herald Tribune which is the global edition of The New York Times.

Victims of inferiority complexes and confused Pakistanis are overjoyed with this news but I’m sure that these friends of ours have been against the US aggression on Iraq and Afghanistan of which New York Times was a great proponent and even defended it once the claims of WMD proved unfounded.   

Who says there were no WMD in Iraq? In the picture above are the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), some being destructed while some just wounded, are found in Iraq by The US in the light of investigative reporting by the American Media especially the New York Times and its partner publications. We are “glade” to become partner with those who are partner of the forces who want to enforce “American Liberal Values” which ask for the indiscriminate killings of the innocent Muslims.

To read “About US” of the online version of The Express Tribune is interesting and endorsed my claim that publications of New York Times are partners in International Terrorism by the US against humanity. Even the highlighted words say more.

The Express Tribune is the first internationally affiliated newspaper in Pakistan. Partnered with The International Herald Tribune – the global edition of The New York Times – the paper caters to the modern face of Pakistan. With its groundbreaking layouts created by an international award winning designer, the paper offers a stimulating visual experience designed to make stories come alive on paper.

With a staff of acclaimed journalists, our mission is to defend the liberal values and egalitarian traditions we believe in, and which deserve to be upheld in writing that is both informative and insightful. The newspaper covers a variety of topics ranging from politics to the economy, foreign policy to investment and sports to culture.

I would like to lift it on my readers to answer this question that who are the “modern face of Pakistan”? The supporters of uncheck assault on patriotic Pakistanis? The people who says that Black Water/Xe Services are the most peaceful people on earth and thus nothing to do with blasts inside Pakistan and that they are hundreds of their marines are here in Pakistan on Picnic?

The mission of a Newspaper or News Channel should be defending some values? What do egalitarian traditions mean? Egalitarian traditions which allow them the right to publish blasphemous cartoons with out thinking awhile that the same may hurt millions of Muslims? Being a journalist we were trained to report what we see but the Express Tribune will report what it want the people to see. And what it want the people to see is very much clear from its “About US” and its partnership with partners in international terrorism.   

Although it is good news for “protectors of the liberal values” [Read the words in inverted commas as pleaders of indiscriminate killing of innocent Muslims], it is bad news for a vast majority of Pakistanis that The Express Tribune, a mouthpiece of International Terrorists, US and its global allies has been launched in Pakistan.

The wrong target?

Editorial The News International

Tens of thousands of people who have fled South Waziristan tell terrifying tales of falling bombs and blocked roads, which placed them at enormous peril as they tried to reach safety. Others speak of houses being destroyed in the Mehsud areas of the tribal agency. The perception of these people is significant. Many IDPs have told the media in interviews that they simply do not believe the Taliban can be defeated through military action. They argue that the bombing raids most badly affect the civilian population rather than the militants. Many are fearful that the fighting in Waziristan could continue for weeks but serve very little real purpose. These people have after all seen similar war before – with the militants each time forcing troops out. They are convinced that this time too things will be the same. Civilians say also that they are caught badly between the two fighting forces and suffer at the hands of both. Amnesty International has expressed concern over the plight of non-combatants caught in a war that is not of their own making. Other international and local right watchdog bodies had also demanded more be done during the war in Swat to keep the civilian population safe. The same holds true in South Waziristan as well.

 Even in a condition of war, international humanitarian rules apply. The requirement that children, women and men be protected is the focal point. The fact that little heed has been paid to these clauses is sad, not only because it means the death of innocent people – such as the family of 12 who died after being hit by a bomb while trying to escape South Waziristan a few days ago; but also because it means the military fails to gain moral authority. It is already obvious the people of Waziristan equate it with the militants – and as a source of the suffering imposed on them. If the military campaign in Waziristan succeeds this time round, and the Taliban are genuinely defeated, the need will arise to win back the loyalty of these people. This will not be easy. Militants have held sway here for years. Alongside the secret negotiations with Mehsud tribesmen and the other efforts to break up backing for the TTP, ordinary people too need to be persuaded that state forces have respect for them and are willing to help them. This can play a key role in deciding which side they take – and their support will be a vital one in winning this war which will not end with the destruction of militant bases.

On whose side is US anyway?

US vacates checkposts ahead of SWA operation

۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔۔ 

By Qudssia Akhlaque

The US-led Nato forces vacated more than half a dozen key security checkposts on the Afghan side of the Pak-Afghan border just ahead of the major Pakistan Army ground offensive (code named: Rahe Nijaat) against Taliban-led militants in the volatile tribal area of South Waziristan, it is learnt.

It is feared that the American decision will facilitate Afghan Taliban in crossing over to Pakistan and support militants in striking back at the Pakistani security forces in the troubled tribal area.

Sources close to the NWFP government and military strategists involved in the planning of S Waziristan operation told The News over the weekend that the Americans vacated eight security checkposts on the Afghan side of the border just five days before the Army operation. Four of these close to South Waziristan including one each at Zambali and at Nurkha, and four in the north in the area of Nuristan where American forces recently came under violent attacks by the militants.

Latest reports indicate that the Americans have also removed some posts close to North Waziristan, which could encourage even more Afghan Taliban fighters to cross over to the Pakistan side. This has raised many eyebrows in government and military circles with points being made about “conflicting interests” and dubious American designs.

The NWFP government, civilian and military officials in the provincial capital have been astonished by this move and more so intrigued by its timing. Alarmed and concerned about its likely adverse affect on the military operation in S Waziristan where the Pakistani troops reportedly comprising 28,000 soldiers are expected to face fierce resistance from the heavily armed Taliban-led militants, the NWFP government recently alerted the relevant authorities in Islamabad about it.

Pakistan has now taken up this matter with the Americans and conveyed its serious concern about vacating the checkposts at this crucial juncture. Notably the security checkposts on the Afghan side of the border are already almost a third of what Pakistan has on its side.

Recent communication intercepts by Pakistani intelligence outfits have revealed that Taliban commander in Nuristan Qari Ziaur Rehman has invited TTP leader Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, former deputy of late Baitullah Mehsud, to come to Nuristan and operate from there if he finds space in Wazristan shrinking.

Experts believe the American move of vacating security checkposts on the Afghan side close to Pakistan’s border could undermine the military action by Pakistan Army. While on one hand it could offer an easy escape route to some militants, it is believed that this would facilitate movement of Afghan Taliban into Pakistan side to join hands with the al-Qaeda-backed local Taliban and other locals as well as foreign militant groups against the military action there.

Some observers see it as a tactical move by the US to ward off pressure from its own forces in Afghanistan that have been under severe attacks by the Afghan Taliban. Hence they want to provide them unhindered passage to Pakistan side, as it would help shift the main theatre of war from Afghanistan to inside Pakistan. Americans themselves have been saying that 70 per cent of area in Afghanistan is out of their control.

The Pakistani Tabiban in S Waziristan backed by al-Qaeda are joined by a large number of foreign militants including a battalion of Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens and Arab fighters. According to military sources the toughest resistance is expected from an estimated 1,500 battle-hardened Uzbek fighters, equipped with highly sophisticated weapons. “The Uzbek fighters face a do or die situation with the all-out army action in the hostile mountainous area,” a senior government representative maintained.

The uninterrupted flow of sophisticated arms and funding to the foreign militants in S Waziristan has also lured many criminals to join hands with them in challenging the writ of the state, defence experts say. The presence of various foreign and local militants in the rugged terrain of South Waziristan is estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000.

Officials in the military and civil bureaucracy are cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the operation. “Either these militants will run to Afghanistan, settled areas or stand and fight to the end,” is how one key NWFP government representative summed it up.

A seemingly more realistic view from a key office holder in Peshawar is: “We are half way in containing insurgency and hopefully by end of the year major military operations will be over and 2010 will be the year of consolidating the gains made in recovering the lost ground.”

Whatever the outcome, observers believe that operation in the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan became inevitable. “It became imperative to go for a military operation in South Waziristan to regain the lost space that has been used as training ground for planning and executing attacks targeting key security installations of Pakistan including the GHQ,” the Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said earlier shortly after the launch of the operation.

Despite several attempts on Sunday The News was unable to get an official version from the Pakistan Army Spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas on this alarming development. However, when the US Embassy Spokesman Richard Snelsire was contacted by this correspondent and his attention was drawn to the question of vacated checkposts he remained non-committal. When a confirmation was sought and he was asked what had prompted this move, Snelsire said he had no clue about it. “I do not have information on that, and that is outside our purview,” he noted, adding that he had not seen any reporting on that.

Courtesy: The News International