It must be quite idiotic of the Obama administration to even believe that F-16 fighter planes that the Pak government is demanding will be used against some Taliban militants in the Af-Pak border.  Though i respect the fact that Pakistan is a sovereign nation and that its right to have military deals with any country shouldn’t be complained against as long as they don’t breach the international laws.  The same right for India to play the carrot and stick policy with the seller (USA) should be complained against either.

While Pakistan may have pitched hard with the US for early transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft and other sophisticated     military equipment, a concerned India is learnt to have raised the stakes by indicating to the US that such a     transfer may not go down well at a time when two US companies are bidding for the 126 multi-role combat aircraft tender floated by India.

This $10 billion-plus tender is considered one of the biggest international military contracts in the world now. At     present, six companies are in the fray: F-16 from Lockheed Martin (US), Boeing’s F-18 SH (US), Eurofighter from a     European consortium, the Rafale from France, the Swedish Gripen, and Russian Mig-35.

Most trials are over with the IAF planning to shortlist contenders on the basis of their performance in the next few     months.

Pakistan has been in negotiations with the US on obtaining 18 F-16s for the past few years. However, this has been     riddled by fears of it being used only to strengthen its military capabilities against India and not justifiably     needed in the war against terror.

Full article here

Above pictures courtesy:  Air Attack & Schema Root

+++

The Agni 3 test, which took place from the Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast, has made the missile ready for induction, the Defence Ministry announced on Sunday. “The launch is part of the pre-induction trial. The Indian Army (the user) has carried out the total launch operations guided by the Defence Reseach and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists. Now the Missile system will be fully inducted into the Armed Forces,” a statement by the Defence Ministry said.

While the formal induction will take at least two more years and a few more tests, the missile is strategically vital in India’s nuclear deterrence plans that rely on the second strike theory. India’s stated policy has been of no first use, which makes it vital to have long range missiles to strike back in the event of a nuclear attack.

Full article here

Pictures courtesy: Rediff & Mensa-Barbie

+++

“The Indian Premier League is becoming a big mafia that wants to control world cricket; it is not only endangering the existence of the International Cricket Council, but also the rest of the cricketing nations.

“It is my message to all cricket boards around the world that the IPL is the biggest danger for their future; if it is not controlled timely it will engulf all boards.

“India is trying to control the world of cricket through the IPL and wants to become a super power; India is trying it and India is doing it,” the Pakistan cricket icon told rediff.com in an exclusive interview, shortly after the players’ auction for the third edition of the IPL in Mumbai on Tuesday.

His reasoning is that “a number of players have refused to play for their own countries because they can earn more money overnight than they could throughout their careers”.

Saying the players are receiving money more than they are worth, he urged the ICC to form rules to curb the League’s expansion.

Mafia? err…ummm… Isnt your son married to the biggest mafia leader’s daughter Mr Miandad?

Full article here

+++

The seventh dossier was passed to Pakistan a few days ago.  Am sure it went into the dustbin as usual.  In spite of all evidence passed, Pakistan refuses to admit its complicity in the attacks.  Even if it does, there is nothing much to do about it.

The Pakistani army and its rogue intelligence agency, ISI have the official policy of using terrorism as an instrument of strategy against its neighbours. Too bad, it has finally spiralled out of control and Pak itself is under constant bombardments from the monster it created.

Not to mention, the Afghan – Pak border has become such a hotspot for the terrorists that the Americans are regularly using drones to bomb the hell out of the place.   To take out one terrorist, the US drones kill 100.  Pathetic ratio, no doubt.   It only makes it easy for the jehadis to indoctrinate the suffering people.   More terrorists are born, the cycle continues.

Till the US comes to its senses and crushes the evil nexus of the Pak army, ISI and the jehadi factory, they are in for a long haul in Afghanistan and there is not going to be any peace in the neighbourhood.

Previous entries on the Bombay attack – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Above picture source: IBNLive

The fire that Pakistan so used to burn India has finally engulfed its own house.  Sad, but there is not much being learnt by Pakistan even when every city of it is being bombed by the monsters they helped create to spread terror in India and Afghanistan.

Has Pakistan learnt anything from this horrific events in the past 10 odd days when close to 300 people have been killed in a wave of violence?  Nothing much seems to have change according to this article.

Times might be tough for the ordinary people of Pakistan, but business has never been better for the traders of Gun Alley. Here, less than 50 miles from British forces in Afghanistan, across lawless terrain deep inside Pakistan’s border, all that an Islamic militant could ever want for jihad is freely available.

In the weapons section of Smuggler’s Bazaar – a medieval market where heroin, fake identities and killers for hire can be found for less than the price of a second-hand car – guns, bombs and suicide belts are also in ready supply.

At this market on the outskirts of the frontier town of Peshawar – a dusty, violent place of narrow alleys and murderous intrigue, within 90 minutes’ drive of the capital Islamabad – the discerning Holy Warrior can choose from AK-47s, mortars, anti-tank missiles and assorted explosives for suicide bombs.

Every item of hardware on sale in these mud-walled shops is in perfect working order. If you want proof, the traders will willingly give you a demonstration of their firepower.

And that’s not all. Terrorists can buy military secrets here, extracted from laptops looted during ambushes on Nato convoys travelling through the treacherous Khyber Pass. Many outline Nato operations against Taliban targets in terrifying detail.

Replicas of Nato military uniforms are also on sale. Over cups of sweet tea, Islamic militants arrive here from all over Pakistan and Afghanistan to buy the means to achieve their barbaric aims.

Pictures source: Boston Globe.  More pictures at the website.

+++

Is it just co-incidence or is there too much that is not being read into it?  With Pakistan fast spiralling into a deep abyss, are India and US practising for the time when the threat of the Pakistani govt being run over by the Taliban comes true?

Is the close co-operation a signal that the governments of both sides accept the fact that Pakistan is fast losing its fight against the Taliban and the ISI propped up terrorists.  Maybe the governments know something that people in general dont know. Maybe its an exercise to practise how to decamp with Pakistani nuclear weapons in case of a runover of the Pakistani government by terrorists.

Finally the monster created, nurtured and propped up by successive Pakistani governments against India is coming back to bite the master itself.

Like the saying, “the one who digs a hole for the other falls into it himself first”. How true.  Not a good sign for India to see its neighbour descend into chaos, but there is nothing much India can do other than exasperate at the happenings in the neighbourhood.  The chickens have come home to roost.

How long the Pakistani government and its army will bury its head in the sand like an Ostrich before they understand that the monster they created is finally too big for them to control and is hell bent on destroying their own country.

It was Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who declared that Pakistan will eat grass, but will make a nuclear bomb.  Looks like the time to eat grass has come.  Finally.

All pictures source:  LiveFist Visit that website for lots of pictures, videos of the Indo-US exercises.

+++

For a country whose Presidents were known to keep slaves while in office till Abraham Lincoln abolished this practise, its indeed a great day.  Let’s keep our prejudices apart and hail the man who with his sheer determination has come where he has today.

Its not going to be an easy ride for Obama. And he has repeatedly indicated the same in all his speeches.  At least we can be happy that a warmonger is not in power in the US.  Hope Obama over the next 4 years of his tenure will repair the image of US that has been battered courtesy George Bush.  Hope he will crack down on rogue nations (Pakistan) who like to use terrorism as a tool to destabilise the neighbourhood.

Obama has promised to close down Guantanmo Bay, but not indicated what he will do with all the prisoners there.  There are already indications that the prisoners will be moved into some other facilities.  A 16 month target to get out of Iraq is also in place.  Hopefully he will flood Afghanistan with more troops so that Pakistan and its rogue army that is in the forefront of supporting terror in the world and the Taliban will be put in place.

Fixing the economy is a priority for the Obama administration.  Hopefully the trillions that they are planning to flood the markets will kickstart the economy and  push the world forward.

My only wish: To see an Indian Prime Minister or a President with a 6 pack ab someday.  Meanwhile we seem to have a 81 year old (LK Advani) dying waiting to replace a 78 year old (Manmohan Singh) as the Prime Minister.  Did anyone say that we have the world’s largest pool of young people?

Above cartoon source: Twenty22

+++

There has been no official announcement, no victory parades or televised addresses by the victorious party, no cheering crowds welcoming the liberators – but Swat, to all intents and purposes, has fallen to the Taliban. It is the announcement that all girls education in the valley will cease from January 15 that is the tipping point. All schools that teach girls have been ordered by the Taliban to close by that date or face the inevitable consequences – being blown up being the most usual of these. They have already blown up well over a hundred girls schools, principally those operated by the government, but have moved in recent weeks to blowing up private institutions as well. Female education has virtually ceased anyway, and the Taliban announcement merely puts the seal on what is a manifest reality – the government has lost the battle for Swat and the Taliban have won. They operate at will, go where they like, issue orders and proclamations that a terrified public are unable to ignore and broadcast their message of obscurantism on the radio for all to hear – and obey.

Could the government – either of Musharraf or the present rudderless, drifting Marie Celeste – have done anything to stop this? Yes, and in all likelihood they decided not to. The notion that somehow the militants are our ‘allies’ runs as a strong and deep current through elements of the army and intelligence services, the bureaucracy and the politicians themselves. There are powerful forces that provide tacit if not overt support to them, forces which would like to see the Taliban triumphant in the rest of Pakistan and not just Swat. The caliphate of Swat is becoming a reality before our eyes. Where next?

Read the full article here

Above picture source: Heartkins’ Flickr

+++

All pictures collated by Twenty-22

+++

+++