Pakistan and Afghanistan / Turkey / Central Asia

[Red Dawn]

"Pakistan facing bankruptcy as world financial crisis deepens"

"By Vilani Peiris"
20 October 2008

"Wracked by political instability and hard hit by the global economic crisis, Pakistan is teetering on the brink of default. The country’s foreign reserves have dwindled to around $4.5 billion, equivalent to about six weeks of imports, foreign investors have fled the country in droves and the rupee has fallen sharply. The international credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, has downgraded Pakistan to a position superior only to the Seychelles, which has already defaulted."...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct20 ... -o20.shtml


"Frustrated US threatens to spread its war from Afghanistan into Pakistan"

"How has the US managed to recruit so many Pakistani tribal leaders? The answer lies in General Pervez Musharraf’s subservient policy, which is still pursued by his successors, of allowing the Americans a free hand in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Agency (FATA). In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, hundreds of Pakistanis living illegally in the US were also rounded up. They were given a stark choice: work for the CIA or FBI or rot in jail. The majority willingly collaborated. Today the CIA has hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Pakistanis on its payroll, earning $10,000 per month or more and operating in Pakistan. The same is true of tribal leaders bought for sacks full of dollars."

"The US has also deliberately sabotaged any peace deals between the Pakistan army and tribal leaders. One such deal with Nek Muhammad of South Waziristan in July 2005 was thwarted by the US when it killed him with a precision-guided missile fired from a US drone. There have been many other American attacks on tribal leaders who had agreed to work for peace in the region. There have also been attacks on madrassas; the one in Bajaur in October 2006 where 82 children were killed stands out particularly for the scale of its brutality."...

http://www.muslimedia.com/pak-usfrustwar.htm


"Democracy’s revenge: Zardari confirmed as president of Pakistan"

"Pakistan’s constitution is clear about the requirements a person must meet to be eligible to run for the post of president. Under Article 41(2), the president is required to be “qualified to be elected as a member of the National Assembly”. Article 62 elaborates that in order to qualify as a member of the National Assembly, and contest the presidential election, a person must be “of good character and is not commonly known as one who violates Islamic injunctions”; he must be “sagacious, righteous and non-profligate and honest and ameen.” Zardari’s Surrey Palace in England, the penthouse suite in Manhattan, the vast estates he controls in Pakistan, and the wealth he flaunts so openly, all testify to his profligacy and extravagant lifestyle."...

http://www.muslimedia.com/pak-zardaripres.htm

[Red Dawn]

"Birmingham Respect"

"Public Meeting: Pakistan in Crisis"

"Report by Abu Jamal and Adam Yosef"

"A public meeting entitled ‘Pakistan in Crisis’, held by Respect at the Birmingham Central Mosque in the Highgate area of the city on Saturday (18th Oct), was attended by over 250 people."

"Salma Yaqoob, city councillor for Sparkbrook, set the tone for the meeting by condemning the recent US military operations in Pakistan which have created numerous civilian casualties; and spoke of the hypocrisy of the British media for failing to report these attacks “on a sovereign nation”."

“We care about every single human being, whether they’re in Birmingham, Baghdad or Pakistan. We do not have the double standards of the British government and media,” she said."


"George Galloway, Respect’s MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, spoke at length on the recent history of Pakistan and Kashmir, and received a rousing reception upon declaring the “people of Kashmir have every right and dignity to fight for the freedom of their land.”"

"He briefly focused on “The Hangman” Zia-Ul-Haq (a reference to General Zia’s execution of former PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979), highlighting how Zia became America’s favourite in a line of ‘dictators’. Galloway went on to challenge the corrupt nature of General Pervez Musharraf and how his craven support for US policy in the region had not protected the Pakistani people but exploited them for financial gain."...

http://www.spiderednews.com/GeorgeGallo ... in-crisis/



21 October, 2008
"THE CRISIS IN PAKISTAN"
"Filed under: Birmingham, Respect, Pakistan — Andy Newman @ 8:23 am"

"250 people reflected the strong support for Salma Yaqoob as in the area."

"35% of the Audience were Muslim Women who are breaking from traditional patterns towards active involvement with local politics. There were a significant number of representatives from the local Somali community a small number of non muslim predominantly white male Labour Movement Activists."...

http://www.spiderednews.com/GeorgeGallo ... om/?p=2990

[Red Dawn]

"The NATO operation in Afghanistan is spilling over in to
Pakistan with devastating results. On Wednesday this week
a US air strike hit a Pakistani school in North
Waziristan, killing eleven. Unbelievably the response
from intelligence officials was that the school had links
with the Taliban. The attack appears to have been the
result of US frustration with the Pakistani government
strategy of dealing with extremism which the US believes
is too soft."

"The occupation of Afghanistan is increasingly brutal.
Reports of civilian deaths are mounting as air
bombardments become more intense. This week coalition
bombers hit an Afghan army checkpoint in Khost killing at
least nine soldiers."

"The occupation is in crisis, but the main reaction from
Whitehall and Washington seems to be to order an
escalation of the aggression. A week ago it was announced
the outspoken General Dannatt is resigning early as chief
of the General Staff and be replaced by the hawk Sir
David Richards who supports a surge in Afghanistan
including sending 5,000 extra British troops."

"In the US, Barack Obama's aides are outlining a foreign
policy centred around escalation in Central Asia."

"The Stop the War Coalition continues to call for all
foreign troops to leave the region immediately. We will
be supporting the anti NATO protests at Strasbourg next
April 3th-6th. For more information go to:"...

http://tinyurl.com/5ts438



"Stop the War Coalition"

"Protest Against NATO launched
Written by Chris Nineham"

Thursday, 09 October 2008


"Last weekend one hundred delegates from the anti war and peace movements from 16 countries met in Germany to plan protests at NATO's 60th conference from the 2nd to the 5th April 2009."

"The call for the protests is extremely timely. NATO has become the key vehicle for the US and its allies to pursue their wars"

"The push for NATO expansion was the main cause of the conflict in Georgia"

"NATO is taking the lead in the disastrous occupation of Afghanistan"

"The meeting pledged to bring together all the different strands of opposition to war and militarism in the biggest possible series of protests Events will include direct action, civil disobedience, a counter conference and a mass demonstration on Saturday 4th April."

"The Stop the War Coalition is backing the protests. We will be organising transport and mobilising as widely as possible."

"The conference produced the following call for the protests"

"We are asking all our supporters to distribute it and get as many organisations as possible to back it"

"Read the call for protests and its signatories here"...

http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php?opt ... 9&Itemid=1

[Red Dawn]

"Aerial bombing coninues relentlessly in Afghanistan"...

http://postmanpatel.blogspot.com/2008/1 ... ly-in.html

[Red Dawn]

"Afghanistan weapon bill tops £178m"

November 19 2008

"The Ministry of Defence spent £178m on missiles, shells, bombs and bullets for troops in Afghanistan last year, official figures revealed last night."...

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/new ... s_178m.php

[Red Dawn]

"OBAMA: I'D INVADE ALLY"

"STUNNING PLAN TO FIGHT QAEDA IN PAKISTAN"...

http://tinyurl.com/95lla6

[Editor]

"Afghanistan weapon bill tops £178m"

November 19 2008

"The Ministry of Defence spent £178m on missiles, shells, bombs and bullets for troops in Afghanistan last year, official figures revealed last night."...

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/new ... s_178m.php

That's quite a lot for a mission which the British Administration thought could be pulled off without a shot being fired. Where do we get these dillusional (or is it corrupt) politicians ?

[Red Dawn]

"Obama’s Neocon"

"The Curious Case of Richard Holbrooke"...

http://tinyurl.com/c6uawu

[Red Dawn]

February 1, 2009

"Afghanistan and Pakistan's "Salvador Option" "

"With a rightist insurgency raging on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border, the United States is resorting to a tried-and-true method to stem the rising fundamentalist tide: direct military intervention and massive violence."...

http://tinyurl.com/bvxodl

[Red Dawn]

17 February 2009

"Two US missile strikes in Pakistan in three days kill more than 60"...

http://tinyurl.com/bo5ykf