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Pakistan Diverted Terror Aid to Fight India
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The Pakistani trait of diverting arms given to it by US goes back to the 1950s when it was a member of Cento (Baghdad Pact), which was an essentially Cold War grouping.
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The Pentagon has confirmed one of South AsiaÕs worst kept secrets that Pakistan has used billions of dollars of US aid to buy a mind-boggling array of conventional American weaponry to use against India.
The aid was meant for Pakistan to fight the war on terror. India has repeatedly pointed out that much of the military hardware on PakistanÕs shopping list was not suited to anti-terror operations. Now, Pentagon reports have revealed that even the money poured into IslamabadÕs coffers by the Bush administration after 9/11 specifically to fight Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, was used to develop offensive capabilities against India, The Times of India reported.
The Pentagon reports detail the brazen diversion of funds given to Pakistan between 2002 and 2009 and the Pervez Musharraf government--often described by George W Bush as AmericaÕs ÒstrongÓ ally in the Òwar against terrorÓ - to acquire arms ranging from anti-tank missiles to F 16s. The arsenal was meant to blunt IndiaÕs edge in conventional weaponry.
It is thought significant that the US Congress is currently debating another aid bill for Pakistan with a substantial military component, even as lawmakers express concern about Islamabad arming itself against India. The debate may have gained fresh traction, but Pakistan, which has shrewdly exploited the dubious distinction of being the epicenter of world terrorism, may have its way yet again.
The Pakistani trait of diverting arms given to it by US goes back to the 1950s when it was a member of Cento (Baghdad Pact), which was an essentially Cold War grouping. The field armor it received from the US was used in the 1965 war against India.
Sad Chapter
Six years later, in a letter to the Nixon administration at a time India-US ties were at their lowest ebb, Indira Gandhi noted that ÒIt was a sad chapter in our sub-continent when US began supply of arms to Pakistan in 1954 and continued to do so till 1965. The arms have been used against us, as indeed we feared they would be.Ó
This time around, almost four decades later, Pakistan seems to have done one better by using American money to buy American arms. Pentagon reports say arms were bought from America in the years under review with some of PakistanÕs own money, some US foreign military financing(FMF), some from what is called excess defense articles and some from a fund known as coalition support funds (CSF) given to Pakistan for fighting terrorists.
Pentagon concluded $4.89 billion worth foreign military sales (FMS) agreements with Pakistan between 2002 and 2008. The US gave $1.9 billion foreign military financing with what it calls a Òbase programÓ of $300 million a year from 2005-2009. It is this that has been used to buy US military equipment.
Pakistan is not inadequately equipped or trained to fight terror. If it wants, Pakistan can fight terror several times over. But it is seen to be preparing for conflict with India.
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Timing of US Spy Arrests Questioned
Fidel Castro called the case of two Americans accused of spying for Cuba ÒstrangeÓ Saturday and questioned whether the timing of their arrests was politically motivated.
In an essay read by a newscaster on state television, the former Cuban leader noted that the retired Washington couple were taken into custody just 24 hours after the Organization of American States voted to lift a decades-old suspension of CubaÕs membership in that group, AP reported.
Though the US ultimately supported the OAS vote Wednesday, the administration of President Barack Obama initially wanted to see more democratic reforms on the communist island before Cuba was readmitted.
Castro called the OAS vote Òa defeat for United States diplomacy.Ó Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn, were arrested Thursday in Washington after a three-year investigation that began before MyersÕ retirement from the State Department in 2007. The US government says they had been spying for Havana for 30 years, recruited by Cuba after a 1978 trip there. Myers received his orders by Morse code, and he and his wife usually hand-delivered intelligence, sometimes by exchanging carts in a grocery store, according to court documents.
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S. Korea Prepared for North Threats
South Korea has outlined a plan to counter a possible missile attack by North Korea, including airstrikes on a missile base, SeoulÕs Yonhap News reported on Sunday citing military sources.
A scenario by the SouthÕs Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted to President Lee Myung-bak on Saturday included a plan to counter-attack in case North Korea fires a missile targeting the SouthÕs battleships in the contested waters off the west coast, Reuters quoted Yonhap as saying.
The response under the contingency plan would be joint attacks from surface, air and sea against the NorthÕs missile base, it said.
In late May, South Korea and the United States raised the military alert level for the peninsula after the communist North ramped up tensions by war threats, missile launches and a nuclear test.
The SouthÕs navy earlier in June also deployed a guided-missile vessel near the sea border off the west coast. The Yellow Sea has been the site of two deadly clashes between the two rival Koreas in the past 10 years.
South Korean president Lee said on Saturday that his government would not back down to the NorthÕs threats, saying the South has a strong defense.
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Mugabe Cautions Against Africa Strife
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as the new chair of AfricaÕs largest trade bloc Sunday called on its members to act against the ÒcancerÓ of conflict on the continent.
ÒYou certainly agree with me that conflict is a serious cancer in our region and indeed many parts of Africa,Ó Mugabe said at a two-day summit of the 19 member Common Market for Eastern Southern Africa (COMESA), AFP reported.
ÒStrife has made us lose valuable manpower through death and displacement of people,Ó said Mugabe to an audience that included SudanÕs President Omar Al-Bashir who faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes in Darfur.
ÒIt has also adversely affected our economies in regard to productivity and prosperity,Ó he said.
The 85-year-old called for action against ongoing conflicts after taking over the COMESA chair as his own country seeks to emerge from economic meltdown, and political turmoil stemming from disputed elections.
ÒLet us seriously get down and adopt effective strategies to ameliorate them. Let us make Africa a continent of opportunity for all its people by eliminating conflict,Ó he said.
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9 Police Killed in Peru Violence
President Alan Garcia labored Saturday to contain PeruÕs worst political violence in years, as nine more police officers were killed in a bloody standoff with Amazon Indians fighting his efforts to exploit oil, gas and other resources on their native lands.
According to AP, the new deaths brought to 22 the number of police killed--seven with spears--since security forces moved early Friday to break up a roadblock manned by 5,000 protesters.
Protest leaders said at least 30 Indians, including three children, died in the clashes. Authorities said they could confirm only nine civilian deaths, but cabinet chief Yehude Simon told reporters that 155 people had been injured, about a third of them with bullet wounds.
He announced a 3 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew, which took effect immediately in this sweltering jungle region where Simon said authorities had made 72 arrests.
In a statement issued Saturday, Garcia defended the crackdown as an attack on Òsubversive anti-democratic aggressionÓ that had blocked the flow of oil and gas from the Amazon and prevented food, medicine and gasoline from getting in.
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EU Fears ExtremistsÕ Gaining in Polls
Most EU nations went to the polls Sunday on the final day of European Parliament elections, amid fears of record low turnouts and gains for extremists as the economic recession blights the continent.
EuropeÕs Super Sunday will see electors from 19 nations including heavyweights France, Germany, Italy and Spain cast their ballots, as governments in Britain and Ireland reel from local elections held at the same time as their EU polls, AFP reported.
Opinion polls suggest poor turnout could favor extreme left-and right-wing formations, although not enough to upset the balance in the new 736-seat assembly, which is slowly gaining power in EU decision-making.
The European assembly is the only EU institution elected by universal suffrage, and the conservative European PeopleÕs Party, expected to be returned as the biggest bloc, has gradually gained power there over the years.
The election in the Netherlands Thursday was a controversial example of how the worst fears of pro-Europeans and experts might have been realized.
In its first-ever EU polls, Dutch far-right and anti-Islamic lawmaker Geert WildersÕ Party for Freedom came second with 17 percent of the vote, winning four seats in the assembly, according to near-complete results.
Prime Minister Jan Peter BalkenendeÕs Christian Democrats finished with less than 20 percent of the vote.
Release of the Dutch results broke rules banning their publication before the close of polls across the 27-nation bloc at 2000 GMT Sunday, leaving the European Commission mulling possible action.
The low turnout many feared was also evident, with just 36.5 percent of voters in the Netherlands -- one of the six founding EU member states -- taking part.
Turnout has fallen with each EU election since the first in 1979--and this time could beat the 45.5 percent record from 2004, pre-vote polls suggested.
The lack of voter interest could provide fertile ground for anti-EU parties capitalizing on immigration fears as jobless totals rise and amid a growing indifference, or worse, to the European project.
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AustraliaÕs Indians Outraged
Scores of Indian students marched through central Sydney Sunday to protest recent attacks that have generated outrage on the subcontinent and become a diplomatic headache for Australia.
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Labor Falling Apart
By Mohammad Nouri
The political barometer predicts storm on the calm island of Europe. Gordon Brown of 10 Downing Street is in deep in trouble. Almost everyday a new report on the spending scandal visiting his teetering government leaks to the media to the utter embarrassment of the London elite who for ages had had the habit of preaching responsibility and the virtues of good governance to others who would listen.
Resignation of five key ministers and the Labour PartyÕs humiliating defeat in the local elections are the latest minuses in the country under BrownÕs tutelage. Informed minds in London insist the embattled premier is largely responsible for the huge electoral setbacks of the ruling party unseen in the past 40 years. The undisputed reality is that Brown is well placed on a steep and slippery slope and is in a much worse situation than his compatriots in the 27-nation European Union.
Until two months ago there was little concern regarding his declining popularity. Today pundits across the political spectrum say now it is a matter of when, not if, he will be forced to quit.
Born in Glasgow Brown has been characterized as a successful architect of the economy but a defeated leader when it comes to navigating the treacherous political waters. European observers say constituencies that traditionally voted Labour this time decided to support the rival Tories and also the little known Liberal Democrats.
Labour suffered a humiliating local election defeat after losing control of its last county councils and headed for third place behind the Liberal Democrats. The result of the elections was a huge blow to Brown who is long struggling for his political life. Overall Labour lost 250 of the 445 council seats it was defending. Tories got 217.
Defiant Still
Tory Leader David Cameron the apparent Ôfluke winnerÕ said LabourÕs fall, among other things, shows the depth of the disappointment and frustration of the Brits with its economic policies and the return of trust in the Tories. At any rate and despite all the mess that he has created so far, Brown remains defiant and unwilling to step down. Today Labour apparatchiks have reached the consensus that with his political fortunes fast fading Brown will also drag the party into a big black hole. Not surprisingly, Brown was oblivious to the spate of warnings given him after the resignation of five key ministers and the defeat in local elections. It seems he is still hopeful that he can regain the trust of his people in the party and hence has fallen into the habit of making promises to learn from past for a better future.
Needless to say ÔGreat BritainÕ too is grappling with the deepening global financial crises, the rise in the prices of fuel and food and the highly controversial issue of reforming the tax regime. It also seems that BrownÕs leadership paradigm is more troubling to the Brits than the economic crises. From what is known, Brown has been showing increasing signs of a desperate and despotic leader. Some analysts opine that his awkward, dry and stubborn ways do nothing to win public trust.
Brown obviously does not have much time to drag Labour out of the quagmire and his opponents want him out sooner rather than later. LabourÕs defeat in the local elections has eventually sounded the alarm and the structure of its leadership is fast running out of patience. It is highly unlikely that the Labour bigwigs will wait for the 2010 parliamentary elections before embarking on a major overhaul of the party and its affairs. Latest data show Labour currently has the support of barely 23 percent of the population, which is the lowest since the party was born in 1943. The Tories too are hanging around the same figure despite the grave misfortune visiting their rivals and the fact that many impartial observers say LabourÕs days are numbered come what may. In the latest opinion poll conducted in Britain, some 85 percent of those surveyed said that that they are disappointed with Brown and his performance as prime minister. Close to 44 percent of those surveyed said Brown has become a liability and should resign. Now the question is whether Labour rulers will soon start looking for a replacement for Brown or the likes of Foreign Secretary David Miliband will step into his shoes in a frantic bid at crises control and save the party further disgrace.
The coming days will make the troubled British political landscape more transparent, but until then things will only get worse for the Brown enclave before they get better.
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