When Strategic Interests Conflict

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Posted by Liju Philip | Posted in china, India, isi, paki, pakis, pakistan, Uncategorized | Posted on 23-05-2011

The chickens have finally come home to roost.  After decades of national policy of fomenting terrorism in the neighborhood, the snake fed and protected by successive Pakistani governments, Army and their masters, the rogue intelligence agency, ISI have finally started to bite them.

The terrorists born and bred under the patronage of the Pakistani military which was pursued as a strategic interest has now attacked the PNS Mehran naval base and destroyed 2 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft (bought from the US as strategic interest against India).  Ironical how one strategic interest is conflicting with the other.

After being kicked in the butt by the US who unilaterally took action to kill Bin Laden in Abbotabad, now Pakistan has run to its other “all-weather” friend China.  What is funny is how Pakistan has no qualms prostrating itself in front of anyone who can give it alms.  There is no shame or determination to take the country on the path of economic development or spine demonstrated by successive governments.

The begging is what takes the cake.  After leeching off almost $15 billion from a naive American government post 9/11 in the guise of “war on terror”, they have run to their other friend, China who has over the decades not even given $500 million in aid.   In an effort to pitch one superpower against the other, Pakistan is now trying to threaten US that if it doesnt stop the attacks on its soil, it will run into the willing arms of its rival, China.

Pakistan is like the country who keeps a gun to its own head and threatens everyone else.  Its high time the US government calls its bluff and cuts off all aid.  Then see how long Pakistan can sustain itself.  You will soon see the Pakistanis grovelling on all fours and coming back apologising.

One is confused if one should sympathise with the thousands of innocents being killed in Pakistan by suicide bombers and other terrorist acts.  The Indian government’s constant harping that a peaceful and stable Pakistan is in our own interest is nothing but hogwash.  A stable and peaceful Pakistan is nothing but a bigger headache for India than one that is broken up into a few pieces and let all the pieces either live in peace of fight amongst themselves.

The earlier the Indian government realises the folly of engaging the Pakistani government or its masters (their Army & ISI), the better it is for them.  I rather the Indian government put their energies in building better relations with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar & Sri Lanka.

For starters, how about throwing open our economy to the above mentioned 5 countries for free trade.  Its time we stopped behaving like a big brother in the neighborhood and display our large heartedness to these countries who are more worthy of our time, money and friendship.

Above pictures courtesy: NDTV

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We Are The Champions

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Posted by Liju Philip | Posted in cricket, cricket world cup, India, paki, pakis, pakistan, sri lanka, world cup | Posted on 03-04-2011

The final was well worth staying awake upto 2:30 in the morning.  Not to mention the hilarious tweets.  What a time for Dhoni to play the innings of his lifetime.  The stabilising innings from Gambhir & Virat meant that India didn’t feel the repercussions of losing Tendulkar & Sehwag cheaply.

The only silverware missing from Sachin’s trophy cabinet has been won.  6 attempts and what a way to sign off with a victory.  An end to another magnificent career of Murali.  Too much was made of the controversy at the toss.  Our conspiracy theorist media lapped it up.

It would not have been a well deserved win if India had won the cup the easy way.  To beat Australia, Pakistan and finally Sri Lanka en route to win the cup is probably the best written script.

Also that should settle the claim around Dhoni that he is plain lucky.  Luck only takes you so far.  Like it or not, he is a masterclass captain.  A T20 world cup win and now the 50 over World Cup and not to mention the numerous series wins both at home and abroad, Dhoni has proved to be the best ever player to have captained India.

The biggest party in the world is happening out there.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  For the next 4 years, We Are The Champions.

Above pictures courtesy: Cricinfo

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Its India vs Lanka – Cricket World Cup 2011

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Posted by Liju Philip | Posted in cricket, cricket world cup, India, paki, pakis, pakistan, Sports, sri lanka | Posted on 31-03-2011

To win the cup, you have to beat the best.  Maybe Pakistan wasnt at their best during the semi finals against India at Mohali yesterday.  But you cant ignore the fact that they were the best in their group.  Dropped catches, misfielding, pathetic bowling by Umar Gul and the crawled batting all contributed their part to ensure that India increased its record to 5-0 in the World Cup matches against Pakistan.

So, it will be Sri Lanka vs India at Mumbai on the 2nd of April 2011. Two legends (Sachin & Murali) are playing the last World Cups of their lives.  Both are special players who have not only enriched the game but also bought happiness to millions of followers.  Both the teams would want to gift the respective players the gift of victory.  There is still lots to play.

Again, may the best team win :D

Above picture courtesy: Cricinfo

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The Scums in Our Neighborhood

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Posted by Liju Philip | Posted in america, armed forces, army, India, jihad, militancy, military, pakis, pakistan, pakistani terrorism, pakistani terrorist, Politics, porkistan, taliban, terrorism, terrorist attack, terrorists, USA | Posted on 03-08-2010

We can choose our friends, but not our neighbours.  This statement was famously made by our previous Prime Minister, AB Vajpayee. How true.  Given a chance we would like to pack Pakistan and dump them into the sea for being such a pest.  Why not?  Afterall, a country which has terrorism as its national policy against its neighbours, a country that drills hatred into its citizens brains 24×7, a country that doesnt mind soiling the plate that hold its food, Pakistan is nothing but a big pain in the butt for the world community now.

After the leak of more than 90,000 secret documents on the Wikileaks website, more and more sordid exposure of the Pakistani leadership are coming to light.  It was always known that the rogue intelligence agency of Pakistan, the ISI, was hand in glove with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Lashkar-e-Toiba and many other terrorist organisations fomenting teror in India.

But what takes the cake is the ignorant America feeding the Paki army so that it can fund the terrorists which in turn stab the American and other NATO troops currently in Afghanistan in the back.  The same money that the Americans provided the Pakistani government is now being fed by the ISI and Pakistani Army back to the Al Qaeda backed terrorists who are in turn killing the American soldiers.

I wonder how the American citizens are tolerating their government feeding the same scums who are killing their soldiers. Any civilized government would have re-looked at the horrors of the backstabbing that Pakistan has been doing to their soldiers…but not the US government.  The game of strategic reach that the US likes to play so much has stretched its resources so badly that the US economy is on the verge of a collapse.  Still, it refuses to learn from its mistakes.

Inspite of the evidence put forth by the intelligence, that the biggest snake in the hole is nothing but the Pakistani Army/ISI, the Americans seem to have no qualms sharing the same bed with them.  Pakistan has mastered the art of holding a gun to its own head and threatening to kill itself.  Its time the Americans call their bluff.

If the Americans want to withdraw from Afghanistan in 3-4 years as they predict, its best for them to rein in the Pakistani Army/ISI and strengthen the Afghan govt’s hands in developing a strong defence against not only the local insurgents but also the Army/ISI.

As for India, the best thing for it to happen would be the breakup of Pakistan.  I have always believed that a strong and economically stable Pakistan is a bigger headache for India than one which is broken up into pieces.  I love Manmohan Singh and really appreciate the hard work he is putting in trying to find a peaceful solution with Pakistan.  But he doesnt realise that he is barking up the wrong tree and that Pakistan is like the dog whose tail will always be curled.  No matter what we cant straighten it.  Its not a civilized society and probably we need to wall off the borders between the two countries and cut all strategic, business and people to people ties.

According to Canada’s former ambassador to Afghanistan, Chris Alexander

Gen. Kayani is saying he wants to call the shots in Kabul. To do so, he is prepared to support the principal outfit launching suicide attacks in Afghanistan’s cities. He is backing the Islamic Emirate’s effort to wreck an Afghan-led nation-building process.

The Pakistan army under Gen. Kayani is sponsoring a large-scale, covert guerrilla war through Afghan proxies – whose strongholds in Baluchistan and Waziristan are flourishing. Their mission in Afghanistan is to keep Pashtun nationalism down, India out and Mr. Karzai weak.

It has nothing to do with Islam, whose principles they trample; indeed, the flower of Afghanistan’s ulema (religious leaders) have been among their victims. Gen. Kayani and others will deny complicity. But as the WikiLeaks material demonstrates, their heavy-handed involvement is now obvious at all levels.

To understand the context of this fraught relationship, read a report called The Sun and the Sky: The Relationship of Pakistan’s ISI to Afghan Insurgents, by Matt Waldman, a former Oxfam policy adviser now at Harvard. It is a chilling tale. When the scale of this complicity is fully exposed, it will rank high on the list of modern scandals.

The USA seems to have no qualms cutting off all funding to Iran, North Korea and any other country that doesnt toe its line.  But when it comes to Pakistan, it strangely behaves like an Ostrich who buries its face in the sand.

Tunku Varadarajan hits the nail on the head when he says…

We are now at a crossroads with Pakistan, a point at which we need to pull out old words from the Bush playbook. It is time to state to them—to state, in particular, to Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, the Pakistan army’s chief of staff—that Pakistan is either with us, or against us. There can be no caveats, no exit clauses, no fine print, no weasely handwringing about Pakistan’s need to retain “strategic balance” in Afghanistan.

Some more articles on the leaked documents

On WikiLeaks, Pakistan and Afghanistan; the tip of an old iceberg

Above pictures courtesy: Pakistanisforpeace & omjiyadav

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The Pakistan Political Cirucs continues…

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Posted by Liju Philip | Posted in Business, emergency, India, islamabad, karachi, musharraf, pakis, pakistan, Politics, World | Posted on 04-11-2007

Faced with certain censure and with the prospect of the Supreme Court of Pakistan asking him to step down, Pervez Musharraf behaved just like any other true blue dictator would. Impose emergency on the country.

pervez musharraf

I have always believed that there is no scope for democracy in Pakistan. No matter Nawaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto or for that matter any Tom, Dick or Harry wins elections in Pakistan and takes power, the Army will never sit silent.

The Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the spy agency of Pakistan is a rouge organisation. Its as culpable for terrorism in the whole of South Asia and formenting trouble in Kashmir and the rest of India as Saudi Arabia is in the rest of the world. The officers of ISI run clandestine support and funding of the Taliban and other terrorist organisations in the North West Frontier of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir etc.

pakistan emergency

A democratic government is a sure impediment in their plans of having an iron grip hold on the Pakistani society and its economy. Its no secret that the years that Musharraf has been in power, it has been consolidation time for the Pakistani Army and ISI in general. Today, there is no aspect of Pakistani economy that is not under the stranglehold of the ISI and army. Telecom, ports, real estate, infrastructure, banks, finance etc are all headed by retired army servicemen. A measure of Musharraf wanting to keep the various power centres in the army happy with plush postings.
To shift public attention away from the muck raising at home, the ISI would try to forment trouble on the India – Pak border. Pakistan, like China is a country that can never be trusted. The only thing India can do is to be on guard.

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