DEPICTING acute dichotomy, The United States has announced that it will enhance military aid to Pakistan but will cut off aid to several Pakistani army units believed to have killed civilians and unarmed prisoners, according to reports. The New York Times and Guardian newspapers have reported that some US-backed Pakistani army and special operations troops, who have been in action against Taliban fighters in Swat Valley and South Waziristan along the border region with Afghanistan, will be affected by the decision. Simultaneously.The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. has asked Pakistan to allow more CIA officers and special operations military trainers into the country to participate in Washington’s efforts step up pressure on militants. The move to cut off some funding would be in line with a law known as the Leahy Amendment, which requires the US to stop aid to foreign military units found to have committed gross human rights violations. Last month, Washington asked Pakistan for information about a video purporting to show Pakistani troops shooting bound and blindfolded young men. Units from Indonesia and Colombia have been affected by the amendment in the past, but this would be the first time it would hit a country of such strategic importance as Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, has already instituted an inquiry into the report. The video alleging Pakistan Army personnel’s compliance in the torture and killing of Taliban is rather grainy and could well be a fake to malign the custodians of law and order in the Swat Valley. The big doubt regarding the authenticity of the video is that if the Pakistan Army was actually engaged in the human rights abuse, why would it permit someone to film the gory scene? The bigger question mark is that the perpetrator of human rights abuse in Abu-Ghraib, Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan, where thousands of Muslims were tortured, humiliated and massacred, is now trying to impose sanctions on its ally on the basis of a shadowy video, which could well be a fake. Conspiracy theorists are quick to point out that this could be another ploy to blackmail and arm twist Pakistan into submission for commencing the North Waziristan operations. Of course the cat is now out of the bag with the Wall Street Journal revelation of Washington’s wish list of wanting to expand its secret Central Intelligence Agency operation in Pakistan designed to eliminate Islamic militants’ havens near the Afghan border.
The report says Islamabad has refused the requests for additional personnel because it remains “extremely wary” of a larger U.S. ground presence in Pakistan. The newspaper reports the number of CIA personnel in Pakistan is “highly classified,” but says it “has grown substantially” in recent years. The Wall Street Journal says Washington wants Islamabad to take “more aggressive action” against groups allied with al-Qaida. As if on a cue, following a well choreographed dance sequence, a U.S.-born spokesman for al-Qaida’s video message urging Muslims living in the United States and Europe to attacks their countries is posted on militant websites; the same is quoted and carried by US mainstream media. Adam Gadahn asked Muslims living in the “miserable suburbs of Paris, London and Detroit” to carry out the attacks as their religious duty and obligation. Gadahn, who grew up in California where he converted to Islam, has been wanted since 2004 by the FBI, which has offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to his arrest.
The FBI says he moved to Pakistan in the late 1990s, and several years later attended an al-Qaida training camp. He later served as a translator and consultant for the terrorist network. The 31-year-old American is known by various aliases, including Yahya Majadin Adams and Azzam al-Amriki. Referring to US Army’s Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer’s book, “Operation Dark Heart: Spycraft and Special Ops on the Frontlines of Afghanistan—and the Path to Victory,” one must view the developments in relation to his exposé that the US intelligence agencies have been training “Muslim” mercenaries to infiltrate “Islamic terror organizations” and set them up. He reveals that Muhammad Atta of 9/11 fame was also such a protégé. The Pentagon censored and redacted his book heavily yet the message is loud and clear. The Daily Mail urges its readers to decide for themselves what kind of game is cooking Dailymailnews
