Myths versus realities —Sheikh Asad Rahman

The Abbottabad Osama incident where a foreign power has been able to ingress deep into a military cantonment area has thrown up many questions of the competence of our various military and civilian intelligence agencies. Conspiracy theories abound

Some years ago I wrote, “In the early formative years Pakistan needed the military for defending its borders but now the military needs the country for its own existence.” I have surprised myself with this prophetic analysis because the military is proving my contention as an irrefutable reality. The other day I heard Air Marshal (retd) Asghar Khan’s talk at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI). He proved without doubt that India never attacked Pakistan, as we have been given to believe; instead it was Pakistan that always initiated all four wars. According to him the Maharaja had not acceded to India till after Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan sent the tribal lashkars into Kashmir to force him to accede to Pakistan in 1948. The Maharaja had made representation to the Liaquat Ali government under the Indian states protocol but was not entertained due to the preoccupation and deteriorating health of Jinnah. In the environs of Srinagar the lashkars began a spree of rape, looting and returning to their respective areas with truckloads of loot. The Maharaja escaped to Jammu and signed the accession papers with India. That was the time the Indian army was flown into Kashmir.

In 1965 Ayub Khan first tested our military capability in the Rann of Kutch, a short limited skirmish over the Sir Creek unmarked border even today. According to Asghar Khan, he retired from the Air Force in August 1965 and was appointed Chairman PIA. On reading in the newspaper that our tanks had entered the Chamb-Jaurian area of Jammu he immediately went to Ayub and asked him if Pakistan was going to war over Kashmir and did he realise that the Indians would react and attack in Punjab? Ayub replied that the foreign ministry (Zulfikar Bhutto) had assured him that the Indians would not. On September 3, Asghar Khan visited the Ops room at Air Headquarters and found officers running this way and that and knew that the war was about to start across the Punjab border. I personally remember that the Indian advance recon jeeps turned back from the Engineering University, Lahore, thinking that the lack of resistance was a trap on the morning of September 6. Little did they realise that the Pakistan Army was not even deployed as a defensive measure but sleeping in their barracks! The only resistance they faced was from a Rangers company deployed along the BRB canal, which held up the Indian attack till the army woke up and came to its rescue.

The 1971 war was also instigated by Pakistan when the military establishment in power at the time did not hand over power to the Awami League of Sheikh Mujib, while attacking the people of East Pakistan on their agitation against this injustice. It is alleged that three million people were killed, thousands of women raped and even babies brutally murdered. The Indian army was invited by the Awami League to save them from the genocide being perpetrated by the Pakistan Army. Instead of learning some basic political and strategic lessons from the infamous defeat and surrender of 90,000 Pakistani troops, the Pakistani military strategists seem to have only hardened their India enemy mindset. In the Kargil episode after suffering another defeat, bodies of the Light Infantry Regiment based in Gilgit were not acknowledged as Pakistani COAS (Musharraf) claimed that these were Kashmiri guerrilla fighters and not Pakistani soldiers. More soldiers sacrificed at the altar of the top brass’s political ambitions.

The 1948, 58, 62-68, 73-77 and the ongoing wars, extrajudicial murders in Balochistan can only be described as colonial repression by military conquest. Comparisons continue to be made between the East Pakistan (Bangladesh) conflict and the 63-year-old conflict in Balochistan. The genocide in East Pakistan was a concentrated campaign as it was against high concentrations of population centres and geographically confined, while in Balochistan the population is small and scattered over a vast barren, mountainous and desert area, thereby dictating different tactics to achieve the same ends, a gradual genocide of the Baloch.

One always thought that the military academies who receive recruits with basic intermediate qualifications impart graduate education, a BA degree on graduation, meaning all the BA subjects, military history, political, social sciences, economics, languages, geography and other relevant subjects for professional soldiers. The recently appointed commandant at the Kakul Academy has changed the syllabus in a very interesting manner. He has in his wisdom stopped the teaching of political and social sciences and introduced Management Sciences for BBA and MBA to develop the future military officers into professional managers. Good idea, as the rapidly expanding military industrial and commercial empire will need managers and what better than to have them from their own ranks instead of hiring civilians.

The Abbottabad Osama incident where a foreign power has been able to ingress deep into a military cantonment area has thrown up many questions of the competence of our various military and civilian intelligence agencies. Conspiracy theories abound. The most plausible and somewhat verified from sources and residents close to the incident area seems to confirm the collusion theory. It is reported that an incident took place in Haripur some five to six years ago where ostensibly an Egyptian family of three women, a number of children and one or two men were involved in an altercation with police officials including shots being fired. An FIR was registered against them under section 302, etc, but within a few days was changed to some minor offences. The case was quickly decided with some financial penalties. The family was then moved to Abbottabad.

Neighbouring residents report that the Kakul Academy office lights were on till very late that night. When the choppers arrived and shooting started, many of them climbed their roofs and observed everything. The Pakistan Army arrived within three to five minutes and started pushing people into their homes. The choppers dropped the hit squads and flew to the Baloch Regiment grounds, waiting there to be called. It was in the attempt to pick up the squads that one of them malfunctioned and crashed. As soon as a relief chopper arrived to pick up the squad, which had remained behind to demolish the crashed chopper, and left, the Pakistan Army contingent moved in and secured the compound.

In the light of the tragic death of Saleem Shahzad for revealing infiltration of terrorists into the ranks of naval and military institutions, the story of Abbottabad makes more sense. The US was confident that Osama was there and put pressure on GHQ to cooperate or else face the consequences. GHQ, fearing a backlash from the TTP and al Qaeda, decided to collude but made it clear that they would deny knowledge. Again they miscalculated as the backlash came in the shape of the Mehran base, FC cadets and other attacks. Myths and reality do not mix.

The writer is Director Programmes Sungi Development Foundation. He can be reached at asad.rahman@sungi.org

Credit -
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C06%5C14%5Cstory_14-6-2011_pg3_2

Dawood Emerges As a Global Terrorist

Dawood Ibrahim has evolved from a Mumbai bomber to a full-blown global terrorist. Intelligence agencies in New Delhi believe in the complete radicalization of the D-company boss , as he finds ways to further his terror network, aided by the ISI, and emerge truly as a global threat.

Dawood's relations with ISI date back to 1993 when he executed the blasts in Mumbai but until a few years ago he was viewed as a logistics man for ISI by Indian agencies. LeT, the other arm of ISI, played the role of the main aggressor. The first Mumbai attack appeared to be one-off terrorist crime by a man focused on his smuggling and extortion operations.

'' In the past he was looked upon mainly as a mercenary. LeT was more ideology driven but Dawood and his gang now seem to have merged into LeT,'' said an official, adding that Dawood now presents as much a danger to India as to the US or any other target country of the jihadis.

The transformation has happened because of his dependence on ISI for his own security as well as his desire for respectability as a jehadi as a protection mechanism. Initially ISI is said to have used him for pumping fake currency into India but as his links with LeT grew, he helped LeT find new recruits in India, mainly in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

His well-documented links with LeT have taken on a menacing proportion because of the growing collaboration between LeT and al-Qaida . LeT, so far focused on J&K and India , has grown in ambition and reach, with evidence piling of its attempts to attack targets in the West.

It was his growing link with al-Qaida which led finally , in 2003, to the US Treasury Department declaring him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGP). As late as January 2010, a US Congressional report warned that Dawood and his gang posed a direct threat to US interests in South Asia.

Post-Osama bin Laden's killing, al-Qaida's dependence on LeT may increase, leading Dawood to use his vast network stretching from South Asia to Middle East to Africa for terror activities. '' That is something the Americans need to factor in,'' said an intel officer.

While calling him a global terrorist, the US said in a press release that Dawood's smuggling routes from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa are shared with bin Laden and his terrorist network.

'' Successful routes established over recent years by (Dawood) Ibrahim's syndicate have been subsequently utilised by bin Laden. A financial arrangement was brokered to facilitate the latter's usage of these routes. In the late 1990s, Ibrahim travelled in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban,'' it said.

Dawood's international infamy grew further in 2010 when it was reported by Germany's 'Der Spiegel' magazine that he had helped efforts to smuggle a group of terrorists linked to al-Qaida into Europe for Mumbai-sytle attacks in Germany. The report said al-Qaida and associated groups were planning to attack Germany's Parliament, Reichstag.

An intelligence source recalls a report from a UN official a few years ago sent to Indian agencies saying that it was Dawood who helped al-Qaida make a huge amount of money through diamond trade. Dawood as a key player in narcotitcs smuggling can also be an asset for the terrorist groups like Taliban who have used the proceeds of opium cultivation to finance their operations.

It is well known that after the US froze al-Qaida related bank accounts in 1999, the terror group bought up diamonds in Africa and used them to launder terror funds. The UN official informed Indian agencies that many of these diamonds were sent to Dawood who got them polished before sending them back to al-Qaida operatives. Experts don't deny that some of the money generated through this trade could have been used to finance 9/11.

Dawood's gang was caught taking arms to Mombasa at the behest of ISI. In India, apart from LeT, Dawood is also said to have financed terror group SIMI. In 2008, it was revealed by government agencies that Dawood had been routing funds to SIMI through an aeronautical engineer, CAM Basheer, from Kerala.

While Dawood is not a named accused in 26/11, the fact that the explosives used during the Mumbai attacks were similar to that of 1993 blasts did not go unnoticed among investigating agencies. Some of the SIM cards seized from the perpetrators were also said to have been traced to the posh Karachi locality where he is said to have lived for many years.

Dawood has shown unflinching loyalty for Pakistan since he escaped to that country in 1993. So much so that many believe he helped finance Pakistan's nuclear programme by working closely with scientist A Q Khan. It is believed by Indian agencies that he helped Pakistan in the procurement of military nuclear material abroad and its passage to Pakistan. He is also said to have set up a factory in Malaysia for manufacturing centrifuges needed for uranium enrichment.

The US needs to seriously rethink its approach to the war on terror given the growing evidence of links between Dawood and global terror outfits. The US attitude in practice has been to focus on groups like the al-Qaida while going soft on those more focused on India. This is a seriously flawed position. The fight against terror must encompass all terror groups. Notions like '' my terrorist'' and '' your terrorist'' are misplaced. Terror is today globalized. And there is enough evidence to show deep links between criminals like Dawood and terror groups like al-Qaida . The US must also give up the belief that it alone has a right to strike against terrorists on foreign soil and stop counselling India against such an option. India may choose for good reasons not to exercise that option, but the US has no right to suggest that it should not have the option.

Purulia Exposé: India's best kept secret

Times Now | Apr 28, 2011,

In the wee hours of December 18 1995 a mysterious weapon consignment was dropped from the sky over Joupur Jhalda area under Purulia district of West Bengal. The consignment was discovered the next morning. Until now nobody knew what really happened. Today Kim Davy the seventh man and the leader of the operation reveals everything to TIMES NOW.

My first question to you Niels Christian Nielsen, alias Kim Davy, Why are you choosing to speak out now?

Davy: I am under the danger of being extradited to India as a terrorist, I don't feel I am a terrorist; I have not done anything to harm anyone. On the contrary I have done things to protect people from Communist terror, state sponsored terror and I kept my silence in all those years, 15 years. But now political forces in India are coming out to reach me again as they did 15 years ago and I feel its time to set the record straight.

I will call you Kim Davy because you are known as Kim Davy across the country. Tell me who were these arms meant for and for what purpose, who commissioned this armsdrop?

Davy: The arms were meant for self-protection. It is my complete conviction that if I was tried in a court of law about the legality of dropping arms to protect people against state sponsored Communist terror, I would clear my name because it was legal defence against decades of murder, torture, rape by the CPI(M) in West Bengal. I have seen friends being butchered in front of my eyes for so many years and all I did was to work for the betterment of the rural people of West Bengal. For 15 years, I worked to better the circumstances of the poorest of the poor in West Bengal, but the atrocities committed by the Communist simply became too much when too many friends were tortured to death so we had to defend ourselves against these attacks and that was the whole background of the Purulia arms drop.

Well I don't know if everyone is going to buy that argument but tell me who sent you? My question to you was who commissioned this arms drop and were there any Indians involved?

Davy: Of course there were Indians involved. There were political forces at the centre. There have been for years MPs who had seen the atrocities committed against the people of Purulia district and 24 MPs had signed the petition to the President to intervene to try to protect these people, nothing happened. And finally central government saw and approved the plans to arm the defence of these innocent people.

Name the people, can you name the people?

Davy: I can tell you as much as RAW was informed by external forces and approved of the arms drop months in advance of the arms drop.

Which external forces?

Davy: The communication was between the British intelligence MI5 and RAW. There was a British ex-intelligence officer on board the plane. The Indian authorities knew the flight plan, the people on board, the cargo, the drop zone -- everything was known well in advance and approved well in advance.

You are saying that the Indian government knew and authorised these arms drop over Indian territory by you?

Davy: I am saying that there were political forces in the centre in Delhi who saw it as an opportune way to further their political agenda. You must remember that we are talking ancient history here, but in 1988 centre introduced Presidential rule in Tripura after engaging in supplying arms to different rebel groups there. The same strategy was announced publicly in the beginning of the 90's that there was a decision to introduce Presidential rule in West Bengal and therefore it was seen as a furthering of this agenda that arms were procured to protect local people.

What was your role? You were working with the British and American intelligence officials, were there American intelligence officials also involved or only British?

Davy: To my knowledge there were no Americans involved.

So these were British MI5 which was involved in this and you are saying they told the India's external intelligence agency RAW about it?

Davy: No I am not telling that. This is a well published fact -- go to their webpage and you will see the exact date when MI5 conferred this whole matter to RAW. It is a matter of public knowledge that this coordination was taking place.

This is the reason you are saying that you were able to slip in that night, in 1995? You flew into Indian territory, you are saying you were allowed to fly in, the movement was facilitated and you are saying the Indian government was told about it?

Davy: Well look at the zest of this. It is a matter of public record that RAW was informed on three defined dates by MI5 about the arms drop, the people on board the plane, the drop zone everything was informed. This is a matter of public record. I don't know who in their right mind would fly a plane from the arch enemy of Pakistan into Indian airspace with a load of clandestine weapons without having it cleared by with the Indian authorities. It is unthinkable to do that.

So tell me what happened after that? If you managed to come in, tell me about that flight, where you took it from, how you got the clearances, what assurances you had if you are saying you had some assurances from the Indian side? Who were those assurances coming from?

Davy: That was a lot of questions, can we take them one at a time

Sure, where were the assurances coming from?

Davy: You were saying how did the flight happen, how did I get away afterwards, what did you ask?

No tell me about the first part on how the flight happened, who gave you the assurances that you would be allowed to come in?

Davy: Well, I was in direct contact with an MP who told me that he was in further contact with the Prime Minister's office and on the 16th of December I was called in Karachi by these people who told me that I had to finish the job within 48 hours otherwise the window that they had opened for me would be closed down again. So it was very clear that the communication was on time and clearly it was also defined. It was proven in the court case that the radar station concerned, the Military radar that could have detected this was turned off, was switched off and the order for this came from RAW. So don't take my word for it is what I am saying

Can you name the Member of Parliament. Please?

Davy: We will do that live

Why should we not believe that this is a tall claim?

Davy: Well, I can only repeat that, please verify the facts that I am putting forward for you. Please verify that these contacts between MI5 and RAW did take place, please verify the fact that the radar was turned off, please verify all these external facts and you will see that what I am saying is the only logical explanation of what happened that time

Neils, you just said that you had been called in by some people in Karachi and set about finishing this job in 48 hours. Who are these people? When you mention these people, who are these people?

Davy: Well I can only say to you that immediately after the arms drop went wrong and crew and Peter Bleach was caught, there was an investigation going into a Bihari political connection into the arms drop. And that line of investigation was curiously enough, closed down very shortly afterwards and throughout these 15 years that has passed since, three Parliamentary Commissions in India have been commissioned. Nobody has ever seen the result of those. Though it is a matter of public record outside India that there was this communication between MI5 and RAW it has never been discussed in the Indian public, so everytime that the real story has tried to sneak its way forward in this, it has been clamped down and stopped. For obvious reasons because in the Central government in India it is only to turn a couple of pages and one will know who was behind and why, it is a matter of knowledge, it is not a matter of guesswork.


What about you leaving? In what circumstances did you leave the country? There have been different reports about that, can you elaborate a little bit on that please?

Davy: Well, first I was helped out of the airport in Mumbai and after that I was smuggled out of India to Nepal on the backseat of an MP's car. I can give you the full details and the latest dates when we talk again but it was very clear that those forces that had approved the arms drop did not want me to be interrogated by the CBI or anybody because the story that I can tell, would not have been convenient. Obviously today there must be political forces in India who see it as an opportune time for me to tell the full story and that's why I think the extradition is now on the table.

Neils...in this period when you were, before you disappeared, you vanished from Mumbai airport from what we know, in this period when you were held, were you in touch with the people , like you mentioned the Member of Parliament, were you in touch with those people in this period?

Davy: Before leaving the country you mean?

Yes

Davy: Yes, I was in their care

Where

Davy: First in Delhi, Mumbai, Delhi and then over the border, land border to Nepal

And you were taken in an MP's car into Nepal through the land route

Davy- Right

And there were officials with you?

Davy: I don't know what officials they were. But there was a car in front, a car behind with AK-47 holding guard, the whole way. I obviously did not ask people's name and what there duty was but it was obvious to me that I was being whisked out of the country by people who had the power and the ability to do it


What is your link with the Anandmarg?

Davy- Well, you see for 15 years I worked with development work in Africa, in Central America and especially in India. I worked with the Catholic Church, I worked with Anandmarg. I worked with Greenpeace, with different organizations through these 15 years. The project in Purulia was reference project for all NGO's around the world that I worked with. Everybody referred to the development project of Purulia as the light and the way to do things. To develop grassroots up with local resources with local people. So this project caught the imagination of not only me, but thousands around the world and when we continuously got these reports of people, even an Australian women who was almost killed by the Communist goondas, her name was Patricia. When we saw our volunteers ending up like you see in these pictures here, butchered by the Communists. This made an enormous impression, you must remember that I as a young 19 year old came to Kolkata for the first time, coming from one of the most affluent corners of the world and I saw the suffering in Kolkata and it moved my heart to do something. I had to work tirelessly for 15 years.

What Do You Learn at Terrorist Training Camp?

Some marksmanship, maybe bomb-making, and a whole lot of indoctrination.

Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the failed plot to bomb New York City's Times Square, has told U.S. investigators that he received bomb-making training at a camp in Pakistan's Waziristan region. Given the botched, even amateurish nature of Shahzad's attempt -- he forgot to take the keys to his getaway car, for instance -- many observers are now asking: What exactly does one learn at a terrorist training camp?

First of all, today's terrorist training camps are not what they used to be. Sprawling al Qaeda camps complete with such amenities as firing ranges, like Tarnak Farms near Kandahar, Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to have plotted the 9/11 attacks, are largely a thing of the past.

Today, al Qaeda outsources most of its training to Pakistani outfits like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), the group believed to be behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The camps these groups run are often small, just one or two buildings, and temporary -- such groups stay on the move to avoid detection by satellite or intelligence agents. These groups are believed to be increasingly sharing resources when it comes to training. According to some estimates, there are about 40 militant training camps around Pakistan.

Enrolling in a militant training program is not easy, particularly for foreigners. Groups like the TTP, whose leadership has been decimated by U.S. drone strikes in recent months, are extremely wary of outsiders, believing that anyone who turns up looking for training could be a spy.

Five young American men learned this the hard way last December when they were picked up by Pakistani authorities after being rejected by several militant groups. However, wannabe jihadists of Pakistani descent, like Shahzad, can improve their odds of enrolling by having a relative or friend vouch for them. Insurgent groups with Western connections, like the so-called "German Taliban," are also believed to vet potential recruits from abroad.

Assuming you meet the entrance requirements -- Pakistani security officials say camps train only about 20 recruits at a time -- the curriculum can vary.

A typical day will begin with morning prayers, followed by a sermon on the significance of jihad. Physical drills and operational training take place during the day. Instructors are typically veteran jihadists, although in groups like LET or the Kashmiri nationalist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed, former members of Pakistan's intelligence services are also believed to have been on the faculty.

Evenings are for indoctrination. It might seem strange that students enrolled in militant training would need further convincing, but local recruits are reportedly often cajoled or forced into attending by their families or madrasas. Recruits are shown hours upon hours of video depicting Western atrocities against Muslims to dispel any doubts about the cause of jihad.

Typically recruits are given lessons on how to handle small arms such as AK-47s and PK machine guns as well as rocket-propelled grenades, tactics for attacking military convoys, and instructions for planting mines. Pre-2001 al Qaeda camps also trained their recruits on sniper rifles and mortars, but this is rarer today. Students found to be quicker learners are given more specialized training in skills such as bomb-making or operational security.

Relatively few foreigners have gone through the camps, and groups like the TTP rarely attack targets outside Pakistan or Afghanistan, so it's difficult to know what kind of specialized training Shahzad might have received or why he seemed so unprepared for his mission. One theory has it that Shahzad was trying to prove his loyalty in order to gain access to the movement and receive more advanced operational training.

In any evident, despite ample evidence of its involvement, the TTP doesn't seem too anxious to claim the would-be bomber as one of its alumni.