No U-turns please!| despardes.com


NOV 19, 2005
No U-turns please! NOV 19: Pakistan has succeeded in gaining pledges of $5.9 billion from international donors and lenders, more than it was seeking, to rebuild cities, schools and rehabilitate people devastated by Oct 8 earthquake. BBC says there are two chief reasons why donors have been so generous: Representatives of most of the donor countries visited quake-hit areas before the donor conference held in Islamabad Nov 19; and Pakistan provided firm guarantees of transparency in the utilization of the funds. Musharraf has been asking for $5.2 billion in quake recovery aid and longer-term reconstruction help and in order to make that happen, Gen Musharraf has seemingly connected the anti-terror war and his Kashmir issue's "now or never" with the quake quite successfully. Musharraf also announced a couple of weeks earlier, of course with the tacit approval of his army, his decision to "postpone" buying eighty F-16 fighter planes from the USA, so the money could be utilized for quake reconstruction. An F-16 can cost up to about $40 million, depending on the model and the configuration. That translates to an immediate savings of approximately $3.2 billion for Pakistan. This money could then be diverted towards the post-quake efforts. While reconstruction and rehabilitation is a major concern for the government of Musharraf, the announcement of postponing the F-16s purchase was also aimed at placating possible criticism within the country, analysts said. "This is probably to get political mileage," Ayesha Siddiqua Aga, a security analyst who is based in Islamabad, said to The Taipei Times, adding that there is already criticism over a recent US$1 billion deal to buy Swedish Erie Eye SAAB airborne. Related story: Pakistan to acquire 'Swedish' AWACS "If you buy major weapon programs, you can not attract foreign aid for relief and reconstruction," Aga said. Hasan Askari Rizvi, a defense and military analyst based in Lahore, agreed, reports The Taipei Times. "I think this is a middle road that President Musharraf has adopted. He can keep the military happy because of no defense cut while deflect criticism," Rizvi said. Interesting historical note: Pakistan's F-16s logged plenty of air combat during the Soviet war in neighboring Afghanistan during the 1980s. Soviet aircraft would often follow Afghan mujahedeen fighters fleeing over the border into Pakistan, and the Pakistanis would defend their airspace. Pakistani F-16s claimed about a dozen kills. But..."Musharraf need only look at his country's history to know what could happen should he do something to anger America. In the early 1990s, Pakistan inked a deal for 28 additional planes. But then the Pakistanis engaged in some ill-advised saber-rattling and detonated a nuclear device. In May 1998, President Clinton signed an executive directive issuing sanctions against Pakistan; stop orders were put in place faster than you could say, "Armageddon.", wrote Jill "J.R." Labbe who is deputy editorial page editor of the Star-Telegram. President Musharraf also says quake aid from the US is directly related to strengthening Pakistan's resolve to fight global war against terrorism. He said it (US' quake aid) would spread the message among his countrymen that his decisions during his six-year rule, including that of standing by the US and supporting its global war on terror, were correct. The US aid would lend credibility and strength to his decision of standing by the US in the past, Musharraf said in a TV program on NBC Television. Replying to a question whether an increased aid from the US would help Pakistan combat terrorism, he said: "Yes it will.......it will lend more credibility and strength to our decision that we took of backing the United States and being with the US. The people would understand that joining the coalition, fighting against terrorism, joining, supporting the US against terrorism, were all correct decisions." "The US has given Pakistan, a key ally in its 'war on terror', 156 million dollars for the relief effort, and some 975 US military personnel are now taking part in relief operations there. He said these Chinook helicopters have become a household name, and everyone knows that the United States has provided this aid," The News quoted Musharraf as saying while hailing US' aid. Musharraf has also said that a solution to the Kashmir issue looked `more possible' in the aftermath of the October 8 earthquake but added a rider that it would be possible only if India saw an opportunity in it. "What appears is that Musharraf has been advised by his spin doctors to make a potpourri of all the issues available on his plate - the quake, anti-terrorism war and of course Kashmir", says one keen Pakistani observer. But whether the world will buy that or not is any body's guess, he adds. But there are pro-Musharraf supporters out there, specially among the Pakistani-Americans who support his moves, his motives. Having succeeded in galvanizing a nation beset with sectarian and jihadi mindset, Musharraf has been able to make a business-like case out of the quake disaster. That's a good omen for Pakistan, says Syeda, a Pakistani born 21-year old young woman who migrated to USA in 2001, just before September 11 event. "Looks like the world has listened to Musharraf's appeal. They are on his side in this issue also. They want to win (the terrorism war) in the long run and they are putting heavy bets on him and his efforts. This time, looks like, there won't be a U-turn....they (the West) have everything to lose if Musharraf is let down. And if they do let down Musharraf, it would be worse than the post-Afghan war scenario, mark my words", says Rauf Siddiqui, a Pakistani-American, New Jersey based engineering professional. Whether the present international pledge of $5.9 billion can be cashed or not, is another question. It will depend largely on Musharraf government's proactive ness and world community's seriousness towards Pakistan in general. "If they treat Pakistan as Afghanistan's backyard, forget it then," comments Imtiaz Sheikh, another Pakistani-American, who is self-employed and has a leather retail store in Maryland, USA. Related story: $5.9 Billion Pledges!

US forces 'used chemical weapons' in Fallujah NOV 15: Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns that are the signature of this weapon. Ever since the assault, which went unreported by any Western journalists, rumors have swirled that the Americans used chemical weapons on the city. On 10 November last year, the Islam Online website wrote: "US troops are reportedly using chemical weapons and poisonous gas in its large-scale offensive on the Iraqi resistance bastion of Fallujah, a grim reminder of Saddam Hussein's alleged gassing of the Kurds in 1988." The website quoted insurgent sources as saying: "The US occupation troops are gassing resistance fighters and confronting them with internationally banned chemical weapons." Related story reported in March 2005 by despardes.com: 'U.S. used banned weapons in Fallujah' In December the US government formally denied the reports, describing them as "widespread myths". "Some news accounts have claimed that US forces have used 'outlawed' phosphorus shells in Fallujah," the USinfo website said. "Phosphorus shells are not outlawed. US forces have used them very sparingly in Fallujah, for illumination purposes. "They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters." But now new information has surfaced, including hideous photographs and videos and interviews with American soldiers who took part in the Fallujah attack, which provides graphic proof that phosphorus shells were widely deployed in the city as a weapon. In a documentary to be broadcast by RAI, the Italian state broadcaster, this morning, a former American soldier who fought at Fallujah says: "I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorus on Fallujah. In military jargon it's known as Willy Pete. "Phosphorus burns bodies, in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone ... I saw the burned bodies of women and children. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150 metres is done for." Photographs on the website of RaiTG24, the broadcaster's 24-hours news channel, www.rainews24.it, show exactly what the former soldier means. Provided by the Studies Centre of Human Rights in Fallujah, dozens of high-quality, colour close-ups show bodies of Fallujah residents, some still in their beds, whose clothes remain largely intact but whose skin has been dissolved or caramelised or turned the consistency of leather by the shells. A biologist in Fallujah, Mohamad Tareq, interviewed for the film, says: "A rain of fire fell on the city, the people struck by this multi-coloured substance started to burn, we found people dead with strange wounds, the bodies burned but the clothes intact." The documentary, entitled Fallujah: the Hidden Massacre, also provides what it claims is clinching evidence that incendiary bombs known as Mark 77, a new, improved form of napalm, was used in the attack on Fallujah, in breach of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons of 1980, which only allows its use against military targets. Meanwhile, five US soldiers from the elite 75th Ranger Regiment have been charged with kicking and punching detainees in Iraq. The news came as a suicide car bomber killed four American soldiers at a checkpoint south of Baghdad yesterday. (The Independent, UK)

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