Experts on Terrorism Say Time Square Suspect's Radicalization Gradual

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Experts on Terrorism Say Time Square Suspect's Radicalization Gradual

[IMG]http://media.voanews.com/images/480*278/shahzad480.jpg[/IMG]

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American man accused of attempting to bomb Times Square, is providing useful information to investigators, and authorities are pursuing new leads in the case. Holder said Thursday in Washington that although the car bomb failed to detonate, it provided a reminder that terrorists are still plotting to kill Americans.

As Faisal Shahzad tells his story to investigators, questions arise about why someone like him would become a terrorist. He once seemed to be living the American dream - an immigrant who had gained U.S. citizenship, after earning two university degrees and getting a job as a financial analyst.

But Shuja Nawaz at the Atlantic Council points out that even some of the terrorists who attacked the United States in September 2001 came from affluent families. "These are not the uneducated suicide bombers who are being used and hired locally. These are the people who feel they can do something spectacular," he said.

Jerrold Post, the author of "Mind of the Terrorist," points out that American newspapers quote officials close to the investigation as saying Shahzad told them he was inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S. born Muslim cleric hiding in Yemen. Awlaki has used his sermons on the Internet to try to recruit American Muslims and turn them against Americans. "It's not you. You are not the problem. The reason you are not finding satisfaction and accomplishment in life is, them. They are taking it away from you," he said.

Post explains how Awlaki tries to convince his audience that Islam is in danger. "One, the Muslim as a victim. Two, the necessity for defensive jihad - the West is out to destroy Islam and we have to defend it. And three, the person who martyrs himself for the cause has higher stature and will be rewarded in paradise. That is a powerful series of messages," he said.

Both analysts say Shahzad's transition was gradual, and came about from a combination of religion and anger.

Post points to the numerous trips Shahzad made to Pakistan since 1998 when he first came to the United States, and the fact that his hometown is close to the Pakistani region where the militants are now being targeted by U.S. drone attacks. "There is intense anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. This has been magnified by some of the drone killings, targeted assassination basically, of Taliban leaders in which, unfortunately, there is always some collateral damage. This has been magnified by al-Qaida and Taliban as action of America killing Muslims," he said.

The analysts note that American Muslims are part of mainstream society, and for the most part do not face discrimination like they do in some European coutries. But Nawaz says that's not enough - there should be more moderate Muslim voices to provide an alternative to the Awlaki's provocative messages. "Which I think has been a failing not only of the countries like Pakistan where some of the terrorists or suspected terrorists come from, but also on the part of the U.S. Public Diplomacy. They need to focus on bringing those leaders of the Muslim community from India, Pakistan and Indonesia who can relate Islam to modern times," he said.

The analysts say the core issue is how personal frustrations among young Muslims can turn into political causes that drive them to kill. And this can be averted if the message of clerics like Awlaki can be countered by moderate Muslim voices.

Experts on Terrorism Say Time Square Suspect's Radicalization Gradual | USA | English

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Pakistan investigates NY bomb plot Taliban link

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan is investigating whether a Pakistani-American arrested over a botched plot to bomb New York's Times Square met Pakistani Taliban leaders in their stronghold in the northwest, a minister said on Saturday.

Pakistani investigators were trying to verify information provided by the United States that the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, 30, had visited South Waziristan, a militant bastion near the Afghan border where the Pakistani military launched an offensive late last year, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said.

"Today we received a formal request from them in which they have given the details of the charges according to which Shahzad has been visiting South Waziristan and meeting Qari Hussain and Hakimullah Mehsud," Rehman told reporters, referring to two Pakistani Taliban commanders.

"But it all needs confirmation."

The Pakistani Taliban last Sunday claimed responsibility for the attempted car bomb attack the previous day, but a spokesman for the militants on Thursday denied links with Shahzad.

Mehsud is the head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, while Hussain is referred to as the mentor of the Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers.

If confirmed that the Taliban in Pakistan sponsored the attempted bombing in New York, it would be the group's first involvement in an attack on U.S. soil.

That would also put Pakistan under renewed U.S. pressure to intensify its crackdown on the militants.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in comments released by the U.S. CBS network on Friday, said U.S. ally Pakistan had been cooperating on the investigation.

But she also said the United States had warned Pakistan of "severe consequences" if a successful attack in America was traced back to Pakistan.

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Mehsud was widely believed to have been killed in a missile strike by a pilotless CIA drone aircraft in January but he appeared in a video posted on the internet last week in which he threatened revenge suicide strikes in U.S. cities.

Hussain also appeared in a separate tape posted on the same day taking responsibility for the attack in the United States "with pride and valor," apparently referring to the Times Square incident.

The New York police at the time said there was no evidence to support Taliban claim.

Malik said on Thursday he thought it unlikely that Shahzad acted alone.

Pakistani security officials say Shahzad, who is suspected of driving an explosives-laden SUV into Times Square, was close to Jaish-e-Mohammad, a group fighting Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region.

The group also has ties to al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistani security agencies have arrested at least one Jaish activist, Mohammad Rehan, as he left a mosque linked to the group in the southern city of Karachi on Tuesday.

Other associates, including Shahzad's father-in-law, have also been detained in Karachi, according to media reports.

The United States has asked to interview Shahzad's parents, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

But Malik ruled that out.

"The government of Pakistan will not allow any outside investigators to investigate our people," he said.

Pakistan investigates NY bomb plot Taliban link - Yahoo! News

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Pakistan's Militants: Who May Have Helped Shahzad?

U.S. and Pakistani authorities are investigating who in Pakistan may have had contact with Times Square bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad, and the support they may have given him.

Shahzad has told investigators he received explosives training in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan, a haven for a wide variety of Islamist militant groups. The case highlights the tangle of militant groups operating in Pakistan and how they could have cooperated with a would-be bomber 10,000 miles away.

Among the possible suspects is Tehrik-e-Taliban, or TTP — the Pakistan Taliban. The organization is different from the Afghan Taliban, but its members have deep empathy with their Pashtun militant brethren seeking to expel U.S. and other foreign forces in Afghanistan.

"They all started off inside Afghanistan, first during the jihad against the Soviets and then the Taliban regime that was fighting the Northern Alliance. So their genesis lies in Afghanistan," says Imtiaz Gul, author of the forthcoming book The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's Lawless Frontier.

The Pakistan Taliban's base is now in Pakistan's ungoverned tribal territories, including Waziristan, along the border with Afghanistan. Gul says it wasn't long before the Pakistan Taliban became the handmaidens of al-Qaida there.

"Because al-Qaida had been on the run and once they descended on Waziristan then all of these people found a common ground. And the common ground was the jihad, their so-called jihad against the United States," he says.

The Pakistan Taliban opened their sanctuary to Islamist extremists of all stripes who were inspired by al-Qaida, Gul says.

"They acted also as facilitators. So whoever was interested in coming to Waziristan for training, for inspiration, they received them with open arms. And most of these people basically have been against Pakistan because of its cooperation with the United States," he says.

Stepped-up military offensives by the Pakistani army and intensified missile attacks by U.S. drones have degraded the Pakistan Taliban, analysts say.

But the group's public relations machinery remains intact.

In a video apparently recorded in April and released last weekend, the group's leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, declared that he survived a drone strike that was widely reported to have killed him. He also threatened attacks on the United States.

"The time is very near," Mehsud said on the tape, "when our fighters will attack the American states in their major cities."

Khalid Aziz, the former chief secretary for security in Pakistan's North West Frontier province, says Mehsud is known for his bravado. But Aziz also cautions that Pakistani and U.S. officials should not underestimate the group's ability to manipulate impressionable young people like Shahzad, the Times Square bombing suspect, who may have become disillusioned by life in the West.

Aziz says young, disaffected people with the urge to take action as a Muslim can fall prey to the influence. "Then if there is someone who really wishes to put him around, he can convince him — that OK, this is the path toward the achievement of your goals. If you can send a youth who cannot determine right from wrong and strap a bomb on him, is this difficult to convince Shahzad to do otherwise? Not at all," Aziz says.

The Pakistan Taliban's potency may have been diminished inside Pakistan, but Gul says the loose alliances that the group has formed with other extremist factions give it a new more dangerous capability.

"What we see right now is an increasing fusion of interest, an increasing alliance between various militant groups, whether in Afghanistan, or Pakistan or elsewhere. They keep facilitating one another. They keep recruiting people and passing them on for the hardcore training and indoctrination in Sudan or Afghanistan or in Pakistan," Gul says.

Aziz agrees that cooperation among extremists has reached a new level.

"There is a full market which is in operation. I've heard of cases where groups buy and sell suicide bombers," he says.

In the mix are group such as Jaish-e-Mohammad (The Army of Mohammad) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Righteous) — groups that were originally sponsored by the Pakistani military to fight with India over control of the territory of Kashmir. Both groups are known to have ties with the Pakistan Taliban.

"They are not very big in numbers, but they are very disciplined. So I think they have fashioned themselves on the lines of regular armies," Gul says.

A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Taiba said Friday that no one from any security agency has contacted the group in connection with the investigation into Shahzad or the Times Square bombing attempt.

The mystery remains, says Kamran Bohkari, South Asia director for the global intelligence firm Stratfor: "Which part of this murky landscape did he plug into?"

Pakistan's Militants: Who May Have Helped Shahzad? : NPR

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Pakistan: Times Sq. bomb suspect didn't act alone

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's interior minister said Friday he believed the Times Square bombing suspect did not act alone, but he had seen no evidence suggesting the Pakistan Taliban were involved.

Authorities in Pakistan and the U.S. are trying to trace the movements of 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad during his recent five-month stay in Pakistan. They are seeking to establish whether he connected with any of the myriad Islamic terrorist groups operating in the country and if he received instructions, funding or training.

"All those leads, suggesting it was his own action, I will not accept that. I'd like to see details," Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in Beijing, where he is on an official visit.

"Obviously, he had bought a vehicle filled with explosives. It looks a bit difficult (to say) that he's (working) alone," he added.

The Pakistani Taliban — which has hitherto not attacked the American homeland — initially claimed responsibility for the failed car bombing last Saturday but has since said they had no role in it.

The reasons for backpedaling were unclear. It's possible a faction of the group had links with Shahzad, or it is seeking to avoid a possible military offensive in its stronghold in North Waziristan by distancing itself from the act. Previous campaigns have driven the militants from other redoubts in the country's northwest.

Referring to the Taliban's earlier claim, Malik said the militants "were liars," and if Shahzad had hooked up with the group then evidence "would be available."

Pakistan security officials have said they detained and are questioning four alleged members of an al-Qaida-linked militant group for possible connections to Shahzad, who is a Pakistani-American. He grew up in the South Asian country, and left for the U.S. at the age of 18.

Shahzad faces terrorism and weapons charges in New York after authorities said he admitted rigging a sport utility vehicle with a crude bomb of firecrackers, propane and gasoline based on explosives training he received in Pakistan. U.S. authorities said they have yet to establish a firm link between Shahzad and an extremist group.

Pakistan: Times Sq. bomb suspect didn't act alone - Yahoo! News

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Paths of terrorism lead but to Pakistan

By Ardeshir Cowasjee
Sunday, 09 May, 2010

"Can some bright psychologist work out why Faisal Shahzad, a college graduate, son of a Pakistani air force officer, married with two children, was prompted to do what he did on May Day?" - Photo by AP. The adoption of terrorism tactics can no longer be merely attributed to ignorance, poverty, deprivation or hardship.

Many of our neo-terrorists are schooled and brainwashed beings, with a grudge, or several grudges, imbued with bravado, intent on disrupting what is left of civilised life, with nary a care as to how many complete strangers they either blow to smithereens or maim, or how much they destroy.

Pakistan of course has its daily dose of terrorism, in one form or another. Schools are blown up with regularity in the newly-named K-P province, bodies of men executed by the local Taliban are found, men have their hands chopped off, women are ‘dishonoured’ and our main cities are under siege, bunkered and concreted, awaiting the suicide bomber from up north or from down south in Punjab where they are said to be heavily congregated (for one, Ajmal Kasab).

Unless one of those strange and much despised creatures known as VIPs or often VVIPs are targeted, suicide and other bombings no longer earn headlines in the media. They are now taken as a matter of course.

But apart from terrorism connections within Pakistan, we have those outside Pakistan, the paths of which lead straight into our heartland. The latest New York Times Square failed car bomber is but one of a string of notable Pakistanis who have garnered academic degrees and are not materially down and out in any way. What is it about Pakistan that it manages to produce so many young men who are violence prone, caring neither for their own or other people’s lives? We seriously need to ask ourselves this question.

It was asked and partially answered in the Wall Street Journal of May 3 by Sadanand Dhume under the heading ‘Why Pakistan Produces Jihadists’. He firstly asks: “Why do Pakistan and the Pakistani diaspora churn out such a high proportion of the world’s terrorists?” He cites Mir Aimal Kasi, the CIA shooter, Ramzi Yousef, the 1993 World Trade Centre bomber, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed of 9/11 fame, Omar Saeed Sheikh, the Daniel Pearl kidnapper, and three of the four July 2005 London train bombers as being ‘made in Pakistan’.

He goes on to list a few “whose passage to jihadism passes through” Pakistan — Osama bin Laden himself, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mohamed Atta, Richard Reid and his shoe, and John Walker Lindh of the so-called American Taliban. These are not lists to be proud of. Something is radically wrong and heaven alone knows how long it will take to even start to put it right. With the governments and leadership we have suffered and still suffer it is not likely that in the foreseeable future our production line will decrease, let alone cease.

Dhume puts much of it down to the distant past, to the formation of the country when he claims it “was touched by the messianic zeal of pan-Islamism”, with men such as Muhammad Asad (an early ambassador to the UN), Said Ramadan who collaborated with Abul Ala Maududi and with the 1949 establishment by Pakistan of the world’s first transnational Islamic organisation, the World Muslim Congress.

All this possibly may have set the trend — with massive help from Liaquat Ali Khan’s 1949 Objectives Resolution — but it was not until Ziaul Haq, army general and devout worshipper at the altar of his own dangerous brand of Islam, that bigotry and the inevitable violence that must accompany it truly set in. Even the mighty army was tainted, to a certain extent brainwashed by the joys of jihad.

The seal on the full conversion of the Pakistani mind towards militancy was stamped by the support given by Zia to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and then by the adoption of the Taliban by Benazir Bhutto’s second government.

No one, not even the most nationalistic Pakistani, can deny that the country is used as a training ground for terrorists or jihadists or whatever.

It is open knowledge that both the ignorant poor and deprived and the university-educated youth, and even adult men, can come to Pakistan and learn how to make bombs to blow up themselves, if they so wish, and as many others that they can either take with them or leave dead and maimed while they flee.

Can some bright psychologist work out why Faisal Shahzad, a college graduate, son of a Pakistani air force officer, married with two children, was prompted to do what he did on May Day?

Friend I.A. Rehman has written an excellent column, finely tuned and finely balanced, published in this newspaper on May 6 on the subject of anarchy in Pakistan. It sets out many of the acts of government in recent days which come under the heading of anarchy. It should be widely disseminated so that people realise just what their lives are all about under this present dispensation which is at as much a loss with itself as it is with the governance of this unruly country. It is a sad commentary on the seemingly deliberate acts of commission and omission which so relentlessly beset us.

Strangely, the sole anarchic activity he has missed out on is the terrorism and jihad factor. Perhaps he, like so many, is hardened to the fact that it exists, that it has become a way of life and that it seemingly cannot be dealt with by the civilian government we have lurking on the ground, or will not be dealt with, for reasons we can but guess at, by the army that is the de facto ruler of this country for which the world at large has no love lost.

DAWN.COM | Columnists | Paths of terrorism lead but to Pakistan

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Faisal Shahzad’s anti-Americanism

By Pervez Hoodbhoy
Saturday, 08 May, 2010

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi implicitly justifies the Times Square bombing as retaliation but this does not bear up. — Photo by Reuters Pakistan

Pakistan - A nursery of modern jihad? Pakistan - A nursery of modern jihad? The man who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square was a Pakistani. Why is this unsurprising? Because when you hold a burning match to a gasoline tank, the laws of chemistry demand combustion.

As anti-US lava spews from the fiery volcanoes of Pakistan’s private television channels and newspapers, a collective psychosis grips the country’s youth. Murderous intent follows with the conviction that the US is responsible for all ills, both in Pakistan and the world of Islam.

Faisal Shahzad, with designer sunglasses and an MBA degree from the University of Bridgeport, acquired that murderous intent. Living his formative years in Pakistan, he typifies the young Pakistani who grew up in the shadow of Ziaul Haq’s hate-based education curriculum. The son of a retired air vice-marshal, life was easy as was getting US citizenship subsequently. But at some point the toxic schooling and media tutoring must have kicked in.

There was guilt as he saw pictures of Gaza’s dead children and related them to US support for Israel. Internet browsing or, perhaps, the local mosque steered him towards the idea of an Islamic caliphate. This solution to the world’s problems would require, of course, the US to be destroyed. Hence Shahzad’s self-confessed trip to Waziristan.

Ideas considered extreme a decade ago are now mainstream. A private survey carried out by a European embassy based in Islamabad found that only four per cent of Pakistanis polled speak well of America; 96 per cent against.

Although Pakistan and the US are formal allies, in the public perception the US has ousted India as Pakistan’s number one enemy. Remarkably, anti-US sentiment rises in proportion to aid received. Say a good word about the US, and you are labelled as its agent. From what TV anchors had to say about it, Kerry-Lugar’s $7.5bn may well have been money that the US wants to steal from Pakistan rather than give to it.

Pakistan is not the only country where America is unpopular. In pursuit of its self-interest, the US has waged illegal wars, bribed, bullied and overthrown governments, supported tyrants and undermined movements for progressive change. Paradoxically America is disliked more in Pakistan than in countries which have born the direct brunt of its attacks — Cuba, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Why?

Drone strikes are a common but false explanation. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi implicitly justifies the Times Square bombing as retaliation but this does not bear up. Drone attacks have killed some innocents but they have devastated militant operations in Waziristan while causing far less collateral damage than Pakistan Army operations.

On the other hand, the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong were carpet-bombed by B-52 bombers and Vietnam’s jungles were defoliated with Agent Orange. Yet, Vietnam never developed visceral feelings like those in Pakistan.

Finding truer reasons requires deeper digging. In part, Pakistan displays the resentment of a client state for its paymaster. US-Pakistan relations are transactional today but the master-client relationship is older. Indeed, Pakistan chose this path because confronting India over Kashmir demanded big defence budgets. In the 1960s, Pakistan entered into the Seato and Cento military pacts, and was proud to be called ‘America’s most allied ally’. The Pakistan Army became the most powerful, well-equipped and well-organised institution in the country. This also put Pakistan on the external dole.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, even as it brought in profits, deepened the dependence. Paid by the US to create the anti-Soviet jihadist apparatus, Pakistan is now being paid again to fight that war’s blowback. Pakistan then entered George W. Bush’s war on terror to enhance America’s security — a fact that further hurt its self-esteem. It is a separate matter that Pakistan fights that very war for its own survival and must call upon its army to protect the population from throat-slitting fanatics.

Passing the buck is equally fundamental to Pakistan’s anti-Americanism. It is in human nature to blame others for one’s own failures. Pakistan has long teetered between being a failed state and a failing state. The rich won’t pay taxes? Little electricity? Contaminated drinking water? Kashmir unsolved? Blame it on the Americans. This phenomenon exists elsewhere too. For example, one saw Hamid Karzai threatening to join the Taliban and lashing out against Americans because they (probably correctly) suggested he committed electoral fraud.

Tragically for Pakistan, anti-Americanism plays squarely into the hands of Islamic militants. They vigorously promote the notion of an Islam-West war when, in fact, they actually wage armed struggle to remake society. They will keep fighting this war even if America were to miraculously evaporate. Created by poverty, a war culture and the macabre manipulations of Pakistan’s intelligence services, they seek a total transformation of society. This means eliminating music, art, entertainment and all manifestations of modernity. Side goals include chasing away the few surviving native Christians, Sikhs and Hindus.

At a time when the country needs clarity of thought to successfully fight extremism, simple bipolar explanations are inadequate. The moralistic question ‘Is America good or bad?’ is futile.

There is little doubt that the US has committed acts of aggression, as in Iraq, and maintains the world’s largest military machine. We know that it will make a deal with the Taliban if perceived to be in its self-interest — even if that means abandoning the Afghans to bloodthirsty fanatics. Yet, it would be wrong to scorn the humanitarian impulse behind US assistance in times of desperation. Shall we write off massive US assistance to Pakistan at the time of the earthquake of 2005? Or to tsunami-affected countries in 2004?

In truth, the US is no more selfish or altruistic than any other country. And it treats its Muslim citizens infinitely better than we treat non-Muslims in Pakistan.

Instead of pronouncing moral judgments on everything and anything, we Pakistanis need to reaffirm what is truly important for our people: peace, economic justice, good governance, rule of law, accountability of rulers, women’s rights and rationality in human affairs. Washington must be resisted, but only when it seeks to drag Pakistan away from these goals. More frenzied anti-Americanism will produce more Faisal Shahzads.

DAWN.COM | Editorial | Faisal Shahzad

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Faisal Shahzad’s radicalisation

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

The Islamic organisations on American campuses are even more hardcore than what we have heard of the cancer of IJT, which is plaguing Pakistani campuses

Faisal Shahzad’s arrest has brought renewed focus on our already much maligned country. Commentators with only a rudimentary knowledge of Pakistan and its history have been speculating that perhaps Pakistan’s status as a nation founded on Islam is the root cause, conveniently forgetting that Pakistan was never founded on any Pan-Islamic ideals or theocratic millennialism (as in the case of Israel) but was a result of a breakdown on constitution-making between two representative parties in British India. It is also forgotten that the founding father of Pakistan, Mr Jinnah, was a secular-minded lawyer who had explicitly ruled out Pan-Islamism or Islamism of any kind as the basis of Pakistan. But let us not inconvenience geniuses like Mr Dhume of the Wall Street Journal with boring and inconvenient historical facts.

A much more plausible explanation has to do with the transformation during General Zia’s rule in Pakistan in the 1980s when Pakistan was the most allied ally of the US in the war against the Soviets. He not only Islamised the state in a very fundamental way but also helped arm illiterate and uneducated tribes in the northwest. In this it may well be said that Pakistan’s FATA regions have become hotbeds of militant activity, not necessarily always ideological mind you. This is a problem that Pakistan must urgently deal with as well as undoing the Islamisation put into process by the US’s favourite General Zia for his own sinister objectives.

Yet while this may explain how Faisal Shahzad, the son of a top-ranking PAF official, got access to bomb-making knowhow, it cannot I am afraid explain how he got radicalised. The argument that Zia Islamised the education system is no doubt a strong one but one that falls short in this case because Shahzad presumably did not go to a state school or a madrassa. He was most probably educated in a westernised institution and took his British O Level and A Level examinations before proceeding abroad. Unlike the murderer Kasab, he never was associated with a lashkar or a militant organisation. So, where was he radicalised?

The answer is one that no one in the Obama administration is willing to consider. However, those Pakistanis — especially of Mr Shahzad’s age — who went to the US in the late 1990s for an education know the answer very well. Mr Shahzad was probably indoctrinated not in a madrassa in Pakistan or by the TTP in 2009 suddenly but rather on campus in the US. As a 30-year old Pakistani who went to college around the same time, I know this from personal experience.

When I started college at Rutgers University in New Jersey 12 years ago, I was approached by a group of young bearded American Muslim men wearing rocket jeans — the roar back in the day — who invited me in their American accent to attend the on-campus meeting of the Islamic Society at Rutgers University. When I attended what I believed would be the college Muslim mixer, more than a few surprises awaited me. At the meeting I was informed that now that I was in the US, I should be wary of the “kuffaar” (all non-Muslims especially those “white devils”), that all “non-hijabi women were sluts” and that “anyone who eats from the dining hall is automatically out of the circle of Islam because pork is cooked there”. Boy, I thought to myself, I am from the conservative Muslim country, not they. Then when the Pakistani Students Association tried to organise a fashion show, a concert and a dance to showcase our beautiful culture, the Islamic Society disrupted our efforts because it considered itself the guardian of all ‘Muslim’ organisations on campus. This touched off a rather serious feud between the FOBs (Fresh Off the Boats) and ABCDs (American Born Confused Desis). Ironically, it was us FOBs from the backward Pakistan who wanted to present a liberal image of Pakistan and the ABCDs wanted to limit us to segregated iftar dinners and fundraising for Palestine and Kashmir. Ultimately, the university administration bowed to Islamist pressure and refused us the permission to hold such an event on campus. All this was widely reported in the college press.

It was during their time in the US that many FOBs — in a bid to fit in with the Muslim brothers — got radicalised and grew French cut beards. I suspect Faisal Shahzad was a similar case. The Islamic organisations on American campuses are even more hardcore than what we have heard of the cancer of Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT), which is plaguing Pakistani campuses. The kind of terror that these groups create for individual Muslims on American campuses is at least as bad as the IJT creates for Pakistanis in the Punjab University or Karachi University though they are in no position to affect the overall environment of campuses there because Muslims as a whole are a minority.

Anyway, there are enough such nutcases on American campuses with access to Chomsky and Said, who they proceed to twist and spin to their own liking, to create a very real anti-American feeling. If you listen carefully, there is even talk of blowing up “idols” of Mount Rushmore. These naïve Islamic soldiers against perceived American injustices then head to Pakistan to make their way to FATA. This is what happened with those five American Muslims who await trial in Sargodha. No one is denying that Pakistan has a real problem with Islamism, which has its roots in the Afghan War. It needs to be sorted out and Pakistan and the US are doing what they can. I would also like Pakistan to move decisively towards undoing General Zia’s legacy more decisively than it has done.

What, however, is out of line is Secretary Clinton’s warning of “severe consequences” for Pakistan if something like the Times Square attempt succeeds. Clearly, if the Times Square attempt had succeeded, the roots of it lie closer to the American heartland than in Waziristan, which may or may not have served as logistical support. Waziristan no doubt needs to be dismantled but the extremist ideology that inspired the Times Square attempt is germane to American Muslim organisations operating on American campuses. Instead of threatening Pakistan, perhaps the US administration should take a long hard look at Islamic organisations, centres and mosques operating right under its nose.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

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Timing of Times Square - “The Hidden Connections”

Tuesday May 11, 2010

On May 10, 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while talking to CBS TV Channel stated that there are elements in Pakistan’s administration that were more informed about al-Qaeda and Taliban. She also warned Pakistan of “stern action” in case it didn’t act. Obama Administration meanwhile for the first time accused Taliban of being behind the botched Times Square bombing attempt on May 1, 2010. However Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied the same. Pakistani nation and officials condemned Hillary Clinton statement in connection with “Times Square Incident”. In all the blah blah that follows such unfortunate events, what is not being talked about is the timing of the incident, an aspect which ultimately points to the hidden connections between RAW, Mossad and CIA.

The current episode reveals that RAW and Mossad’s backed agents of CIA successfully launched the episode for following ulterior motives: (one) maligning sole nuclear Islamic state for terrorism, (two), leveling grounds for launching major operation in Pakistani areas by US, (three) defending drone attacks policy in FATA,(four) justifying Indian and Israeli future adventures against Pakistan and Iran,(five) creating rifts between Washington and Islamabad, (six) sabotaging successful strategic dialogues of two ally’s of war on terror,(seven) validating Indian malicious propaganda against Pakistan,(eight) undermining Pakistan security forces success against militancy.

Indian lobby present in Obama administration in collaboration with Mossad and CIA keeps on building pressure on Islamabad while planning and staging various types of intrigues against Pakistan. The fore mentioned intelligence agencies are using Indian and Jewish media as instrument in their interests for shaping opinion of Western and American think tanks. In this connection the succession of events of last five months i.e. from January - May 2010, Brussels and London Conference, US-Pak Strategic dialogues, international nuclear summit and Thimpu SAARC Summit clearly indicate the success of Pakistan’s justified stance and validate its image as a responsible state.

4th round of Pakistan – U.S page turning strategic dialogue was concluded on March 25, 2010. The key issues spanning economy, power generation, agriculture, social sector and defence/security were deliberated by the leadership of both sides. Unlike past experience American policy makers were found to be more responsive on the Pakistani concerns over security imperatives and also made tangible commitment for addressing our key concerns. A joint sectarial group was established to start dialogue process in the fields of defense, security stability and non proliferation, law enforcement, health, counter terrorism, science and technology, education agriculture, communication and water. However, the core issue of the dialogues remained global war on terror and Afghanistan.

Prior to Times Square saga, India has staged two precursors i.e. arrest of Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta and announcement of verdict against Ajmal Kasab in the case of 26/11 Mumbai Drama. The connections of these events clearly reflect the underlying Indian designs to malign Pakistan. It is also added here that Afghan President Karzai is on visit to America from 10-14 May, 2010. He has also carried out the visit of India before the start of SAARC Summit. The current wave of maligning Pakistan is by purpose since another conference on Afghan issue will be held in Kabul in July 2010. Indian government and her lobby present in Obama’s government are very much aware of it that Pakistan has shown her security concern over increasing Indian ingress in Afghanistan. The water crises, Sir Creek and Kashmir issues are the major bone of contentions between two neighboours. Pakistan cannot ignore her eastern frontiers due to her past bitter experience with India. Obama should play his role in resolving Pakistan and Indian problems so that Islamabad should be able to pay more attention in elimination of militancy. It should also be remembered that Pakistan has time and and again, mentioned Indian hand in Balochistan crises and militancy.

The plot of “Times Square” has raised many questions worth pondering. For example, why the bomb did not explode? Why was Faisal shown changing shirt in front of camera? Why he kept the keys of his apartments in his car? Why the incident occurred prior to Karzai visit? Why he was very casual and careless while performing a very serious task? The answer can be traced back to Mumabai Drama, Kabul & London Blasts, arrest of Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta. All these seemingly exclusive events are very well connected and the glaring examples of unholy connivance of “Triple III Agencies (India-Israel-Intelligence Agencies)”. Faisal Shahzad has surely been tempted, lured in and blackmailed for staging the drama of car bombing. There is a need for thrashing out the case with a view to find out the actual culprits behind the scene, instead of maligning and blaming innocent American Muslims.

The unfortunate part of the campaign against Pakistan is that the Western and American lobbies do forget the sacrifices of Pakistani security Forces in war against terror and are playing in the hand of Indian and Israeli manipulators. if Obama is serious in resolving the issue of terrorism then he has to look for the black sheep in the shape of Indian and Israeli agents in his administration. He must also remember fictitious CIA reports about Weapon of mass destruction.

Pakistan News Service - PakTribune

[Neo]

Shahzad was a ‘lone wolf’, says Gen Petraeus

May 8, 2010

NY suspect is a ‘lone wolf’, says Gen Petraeus

WASHINGTON: US General David Petraeus, who oversees wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, says the Times Square bombing suspect is a “lone wolf” who did not work with others. Gen Petraeus said the alleged bomber, Faisal Shahzad, was inspired by terrorists in Pakistan, but did not have direct contact with them. Authorities say Shahzad told investigators he went to a terror training camp in Pakistan, but they have yet to confirm that. Shahzad is a US citizen, accused of an attempted terror attack nearly a week ago in New York’s Times Square. He was caught on Monday night trying to leave the country. ap

http://pakistanledger.com/2010/05/08...-gen-petraeus/