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Nawaz Sharif: The Man With No Gumption

MastanKhan

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Hi,

Often I have commented on Nawaz and his behaviour and today the pakistani newspaper 'DAWN' has a report from one of Bill Clinton's advisor on how Nawaz behaved when he came to washington and how he was treated and how he bowed out or cowed down to Clinton's demands..

The truth is that he was only after the protection of his chair and nothing else. Pakistan, pakistan's integrity, kashmir and pakistan army were least of his problems. This man Nawaz sold pakistan and pakistan's army on the door steps of white house, and the worse thing is that we were sold out for nothing in return.

They say that there was fear of india opening new fronts----hech they were----there main strike forces were bogged down in Kargil----they had run out of the 155 mm howitzer shells---one of their major ammo dumps had been blown away----the morale of the indian army was in shambles and on the other hand pakistan had not even started full fledged support at the kargil front.

When Bill Clinton came for an interview on cnn after Naweaz Sharif's visit, what he was talking about the demeanor of Nawaz was like, Sharif was on his knees begging to be absolved.

The second part of the article states that when Nawaz sent his brother Shahbaz, americans were expecting talks on kashmir, but Shahbaz was only concerned about keeping his brother Nawaz in power.



October 23, 2006 Monday Ramazan 29, 1427
Clinton adviser: confusion gripped Islamabad during Kargil crisis

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22: There was confusion in Islamabad during the Kargil crisis and it was not clear who was calling the shots, says Bruce Riedel, President Clinton’s special assistant for South Asian affairs who played a key role in the US-Pakistan talks on the issue.

Mr Riedel, who was the only person to attend the Sharif-Clinton talks in Washington on July 4, 1999, said in a paper on ‘America diplomacy and 1999 Kargil summit’ that the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif ‘seemed genuinely interested in pursuing the Lahore process’.

Mr Sharif had argued eloquently with a series of American guests, including Washington’s UN Ambassador Bill Richardson, that he wanted an end to the 50-year old quarrel with India, Mr Riedel said.

“His military chief, General Pervez Musharraf, seemed to be in a different mould … he was said to be a hardliner on Kashmir, a man some feared was determined to humble India once and for all.”

Commenting on the current controversy between Gen. Musharraf and Mr Sharif, he said: “We will probably never know for sure the exact calculus of decision making in Islamabad. Each of the players has his own reasons for selling a particular version of the process. Gen Musharraf and Mr Sharif have already put out different versions of who said what to whom.

“What is clear is that the civil-military dynamic between Sharif in Islamabad and Musharraf in Rawalpindi was confused and tense.”

Explaining what worried the Americans most, Mr Riedel said: “The danger was that the Indians would grow weary of attacking uphill (actually up-mountain) into well-dug Pakistani positions. The casualties the Indian forces were taking were mounting. New Delhi could easily decide to open another front elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC) to ease its burden and force the Pakistanis to fight on territory favourable to India.”

Mr Riedel’s version shows the former prime minister as getting ‘increasingly desperate’ to end the crisis. He says: “(Mr)

Sharif became increasingly desperate as he saw how isolated Pakistan was in the world. He urgently requested American intervention to stop the Indian counterattack. Washington was clear the solution required a Pakistani withdrawal behind the LoC, nothing else would do.”

According to Mr Riedel, by end of June 1999, Mr Sharif began to ask to see President Clinton directly to plead his case. “The president also consulted with (the then) Indian Prime Minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee on the phone. The Indians were adamant: withdrawal to the LOC was essential. (Mr) Vajpayee would not negotiate under the threat of aggression.” President Clinton “sought to reassure Mr Vajpayee that we would not countenance Pakistani aggression, not reward them for violating the LoC and that we stood by our commitment to the Lahore process, i.e. direct talks between India and Pakistan were the only solution to Kashmir, not third party intervention.”

Mr Riedel then explains how before meeting Mr Sharif, President Clinton had asked his advisers to prepare two statements about the results of the meeting.

“The first was a draft statement the President would issue if (Mr) Sharif agreed to pull back his forces to the LoC, the second a statement which would be used if (Mr) Sharif refused. The latter would make clear that the blame for the crisis in South Asia lay solely with Pakistan.”

Mr Riedel says that US officials also noted that Mr Sharif brought his wife and children with him to Washington. “(Mr) Sharif’s intentions also became clearer. He was bringing his wife and children with him to Washington, a possible indication that he was afraid he might not be able to go home if the summit failed or that the military was telling him to leave. At a minimum, (Mr) Sharif seemed to be hedging his bet on whether this would be a round trip.”

He then explains how the Clinton administration took the highly unusual decision of not sending a US official to the airport to receive Mr Sharif.

Mr Sharif would be met at Dulles Airport, where his commercial PIA flight was being diverted from JFK, by the Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan. The Saudi prince had a long history of helping assist key American diplomatic initiatives and also had worked with Pakistan extensively in the past during the Afghan war against the Soviets.

Prince Bandar asked for a briefing on what President Clinton needed from Mr Sharif. “I met with him in his McLean home and gave him our sense of the crisis. Bandar promised to weigh in forcefully with (Mr) Sharif on the ride from Dulles to Blair House, and he secured Crown Prince Abdallah’s support for our position.”

British Prime Minister (Tony) Blair also contacted Mr Sharif to weigh in as well on the need for withdrawal.

Contrary to the reports published in some Pakistani newspapers which said that the US faked the nuclear threat to force Mr Sharif to withdraw troops, Mr Riedel says that the Americans were genuinely worried the crisis could lead to a nuclear conflict.

“There was more disturbing information about Pakistan preparing its nuclear arsenal for possible use. I recommended that he (President Clinton) use this only when (Mr) Sharif was without his aides, particularly not when the Foreign Secretary, Shamshad Ahmad, who was known to be very close to Pakistani military intelligence (ISI) was in earshot.”

Soon after Mr Sharif arrived, Prince Bandar called Mr Riedel and told that the Pakistani PM was “distraught, deeply worried about the direction the crisis was going toward disaster, but equally worried about his own hold on power and the threat from his military chiefs who were pressing for a tough stand. In the meeting, President Clinton asked for “a full and complete withdrawal without pre-conditions” from Kargil and also warned him that “there could be no quid pro quo, no hint that America was rewarding Pakistan for its aggression, nor for threatening its nuclear arsenal at India.”

President Clinton told Mr Sharif that he “must act today.” Mr Sharif handed President Clinton a document which he said was a non-paper provided to him early in the crisis by Mr Vajpayee in which the two would agree to restore the sanctity of the LoC and resume the Lahore process. Mr Sharif said at first India had agreed to this non-paper but then changed its mind. Mr Sharif then asked that the meeting continue just with the two leaders.

“Everyone left the room except Sharif, Clinton and I. The President insisted he wanted a record of the event. Sharif asked again to be left alone, the President refused. The prime minister then briefed the president on his frantic efforts in the last month to engage Vajpayee and get a deal that would allow Pakistan to withdraw with some saving of face.

“(President) Clinton asked (Mr) Sharif if he knew how advanced the threat of nuclear war really was? Did (Mr) Sharif know his military was preparing their nuclear tipped missiles?

“(Mr) Sharif asked again to have me leave the room. The president dismissed this with a wave of his hand and then told Sharif that he warned him on the second (July 2) not to come to Washington unless he was ready to withdraw without any precondition or quid pro quo. (Mr) Sharif had been warned by others as well. The president said he had a draft statement ready to issue that would pin all the blame for the Kargil crisis on Pakistan tonight.

“The president was getting angry. He told (Mr) Sharif that he had asked repeatedly for Pakistani help to bring Osama bin Ladin to justice from Afghanistan. (Mr) Sharif had promised often to do so but had done nothing. Instead the ISI worked with (Osama) bin Ladin and the Taliban to foment terrorism.

“His draft statement would also mention Pakistan’s role in supporting terrorists in Afghanistan and India. Was that what (Mr) Sharif wanted, Clinton asked? Did (Mr) Sharif order the Pakistani nuclear missile force to prepare for action? Did he realise how crazy that was? You’ve put me in the middle today, set the US up to fail and I won’t let it happen. Pakistan is messing with nuclear war.

“(Mr) Sharif was getting exhausted. He denied that he had ordered the preparation of their missile force, said he was against that but he was worried for his life now back in Pakistan. The president suggested a break to allow each leader to meet with his team and consider next steps. He would also call Prime Minister Vajpayee to brief him on the discussions. After 90 minutes of intense discussion the meeting broke up.

“The president put through a short call to New Delhi just to tell Vajpayee that he was holding firm on demanding the withdrawal to the LoC. (Mr) Vajpayee had little to say, even asking the president “what do you want me to say?” There was no give in New Delhi and none was asked for.” Mr Riedel then says that after agreeing to withdraw Pakistani troops without any conditions, Mr Sharif asked Mr Clinton to play a role in resolving the Kashmir dispute. Mr Clinton asked him to send an emissary to Washington once the Kargil crisis was over.

“Finally in September (Mr) Sharif sent his brother … to Washington for the long-awaited discussions. Rick Inderfurth and I met with him for hours in his suite at the Willard Hotel.

“We tried to get a feel for how the prime minister wanted to pursue the Kashmir issue. Instead, Shahbaz Sharif only wanted to discuss what the US could do to help his brother stay in power. He all but said that they knew a military coup was coming.

“On October 12, 1999 it came. Ironically, it was (Mr) Nawaz who provoked the coup’s timing by trying to exile (Mr) Musharraf when he was on an official visit to Sri Lanka.”

Mr Riedel said that when Mr Sharif was jailed, President Clinton instructed the US National Security Council to “do all we could to convince the new Pakistani leadership not to execute (Mr) Sharif as General Zia had executed Prime Minister (Z.A.) Bhutto in 1978. That outcome would have been a horrible one for all Pakistanis and would have considerably setback the country’s already slim hope of a better future.

“The president urged Musharraf to let (Mr) Sharif free. With our encouragement the Saudis pressed hard for (Mr) Sharif’s freedom. Finally, in December 2000 Sharif was exiled to the Saudi Arabia.”






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© DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2006
 
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I have only one saying for Mr Sharif, 'dhobi ka kutta, na ghar ka, na ghaat ka'.
 
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See the blame for the Kargil debacle should lie at the feet of mr Musharraf. (the real chamcha);) ....He was the one along with this joker pakistani military which came up with that 'brilliant plan" to liberate Kashmir, and capture Kargil and blah blah.......When they realised after 2 weeks of fighting that they have bitten on more than they could chew.....Then as usual this Pakistani army for the cowards they are rushed off this Sharif to Washington to secure some kind of a face saver........Clinton refused to accomodate him (cosmetically), because of pakistan's pathetic image because of Taliban/ Wahabbi jahalat and all that Buddha blowing in bamiyan and Saudi type despicable behaviour, as an excuse......real reason ofcourse being Pakistan having become redundant after the Soviet withdrawl from the region, and the already significant U.S. tilt toward India as a strategic move toward China.

Its easy for Mr musharraf to lay the blame on this disgraced Nawaz Sharif, for his own and GHQ's failure at kargil, which would quite frankly go down as the greatest debacle in Pakistani army's history after East Pakistan. And to add insult to injury he mnentions in his joker book that at that time Pakistan didn't even have a single deliverable warhead that it could literally drop on India.

Its easy for the uninformed to say kay jee we could have done this and we could have done that.......Fact is that PAF's 40 or so obsolete MirageIII/V's were sitting in Frannce for a third world makeover, along with some Naval assets plus a couple of those older Agosta's. A substantial chunk of the beleagured and obsolete PAF F-16A's were not operational due to a decade of sanctions. The IAF outnumbered the PAF more than 3:1 in terms of 4th Gen. aircraft. It would have been a one sided pounding to the last day, and India was tempted to invade and finish off these fools off once and for good.

This is not the first time this GHQ under these uninvited Generals has blundered into something, only to get a reality check after a few days, when they have been left alone to deal with a large adversary which they cannot militarily handle. The disparity between the PAF and IAF in that time was so bad that these PAF guys dared not even take off for the first few weeks and head towards Kargil to prevent the daily bombing and rocketing runs of the IAF. They practically stayed grounded throughout the entire duration of kargil.

I am glad Gunja blew the whistle on this Musharraf when the real casualty figures of the NLI and regulars were revealed. What a shame......
 
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An Indian writer on Kargil



A GENERAL impression regarding the Kargil conflict is that it was a failure for Pakistan. This impression has been created by our own intelligentsia, the politicians and the weekly column writers. The unfavourable portrait of the outcome stems from a desire not to praise the army, as it was not a part of their manifesto. Therefore, I am grateful to the Indian writer Kuldip Nayar that as his latest gift to Pakistan, he has exposed some of the crises that the Indian army had to face sequal to the occupation of Kargil heights by Pakistani troops. Those who condemn the Kargil action as a failure should read Kuldip Nayar’s article (Oct 14)

The article has confirmed that the Indian air force had no coordination with the Indian army throughout the period of the Kargil crisis. The former was annoyed to have been ignored by their army. The air force refused to give helicopters to the Indian army due to which, it is said, the army failed miserably to evict the ‘intruders’ from the Kargil area. “There was no coordination and equation between the army and the air force”. The army was left at its own and could not deliver goods in the Kargil Operation.

Putney, the head of Western Air Command, has been quoted: “When national security is at stake, it is important for us to admit our mistakes. The air force has done it”. There were complaints against the much publicised “Subramaniam Committee” which went into the acts of omission and commission in Kargil. It failed to bring out the contradictions and lack of coordination. Also, it did not represent all the services of the armed forces. The Indian army did not want to inform the ministry of defence, until very late, etc., etc.

It is not only Kuldip Nayar who has penned some of the “blues” about India’s setbacks. There are other sources where the Indian army has been exposed as a complete failure as a fighting machine in the mountains; where the nation was betrayed by their forces and where the greatest democracy and the fourth biggest army of the world had sought the help of the US to ask Pakistan to vacate the heights. We must correct the bearing of our perception about the great impact of Kargil as a brilliant military manoeuvre in the region.:army:
 
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An Indian writer on Kargil



A GENERAL impression regarding the Kargil conflict is that it was a failure for Pakistan. This impression has been created by our own intelligentsia, the politicians and the weekly column writers. The unfavourable portrait of the outcome stems from a desire not to praise the army, as it was not a part of their manifesto. Therefore, I am grateful to the Indian writer Kuldip Nayar that as his latest gift to Pakistan, he has exposed some of the crises that the Indian army had to face sequal to the occupation of Kargil heights by Pakistani troops. Those who condemn the Kargil action as a failure should read Kuldip Nayar’s article (Oct 14)

The article has confirmed that the Indian air force had no coordination with the Indian army throughout the period of the Kargil crisis. The former was annoyed to have been ignored by their army. The air force refused to give helicopters to the Indian army due to which, it is said, the army failed miserably to evict the ‘intruders’ from the Kargil area. “There was no coordination and equation between the army and the air force”. The army was left at its own and could not deliver goods in the Kargil Operation.

Putney, the head of Western Air Command, has been quoted: “When national security is at stake, it is important for us to admit our mistakes. The air force has done it”. There were complaints against the much publicised “Subramaniam Committee” which went into the acts of omission and commission in Kargil. It failed to bring out the contradictions and lack of coordination. Also, it did not represent all the services of the armed forces. The Indian army did not want to inform the ministry of defence, until very late, etc., etc.

It is not only Kuldip Nayar who has penned some of the “blues” about India’s setbacks. There are other sources where the Indian army has been exposed as a complete failure as a fighting machine in the mountains; where the nation was betrayed by their forces and where the greatest democracy and the fourth biggest army of the world had sought the help of the US to ask Pakistan to vacate the heights. We must correct the bearing of our perception about the great impact of Kargil as a brilliant military manoeuvre in the region.:army:

Cheetah Yaar what brilliant manouver??? occupying 20 heights in a 30 sq km area, and then betraying your own soldiers, who fought till they died with lack of supplies, had no air support. These bastards in islamabad didn't have the courage nor the gherat to admit that these are their boys....and when 500 of them died, with hundreds more injured (pakistan admits 289 dead), you ask them to withdraw because 'Unkal sam' our khuda does not like us anymore? and flatly turned us down.

Somehow these paindoo in pindi think that by starting something in kashmir, and somehow ( in their low IQ brains) they strongly feel that the gund that they start in kashmir will somehow and miraculously stay localised, and India wont and cannot do anything else on our 1500 mile long border:lol:

I think this was the final lesson for this pakistani army on why its important to not take pungay....and start fights when they can't handle it (let alone finish it).....because no one will help them.

Truth is had a full fledged war actually started and knowing what a pathetic disparity existed between the two countries in terms of equipment, not to mention Pakistan's bankrupt economy of those days......

In all honesty.......India jo hae in key dhujjian urra deta uss waqt!;)
 
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Lull, 289 dead it is. You can't hide those who are KIA, there families might notice.
 
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Lull, 289 dead it is. You can't hide those who are KIA, there families might notice.

Please yaar you say it like the numbers matter to these CIA agents in pindi??:rolleyes: Chalo lets say 289 died....okay....For what? anyway you think 289 is a small number, considering the outcome of that battle?

In Waziristan and Balochistan together more than 1000 have died (musharraf sahb admits to 500 dead in Waziristan and more than 100 FC men in various areas of balochistan) Not to emntion hundreds more injured.......Since when have dead soldiers mattered to these guys, who take their orders from Washington?
 
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Please yaar you say it like the numbers matter to these CIA agents in pindi??:rolleyes: Chalo lets say 289 died....okay....For what? anyway you think 289 is a small number, considering the outcome of that battle?

In Waziristan and Balochistan together more than 1000 have died (musharraf sahb admits to 500 dead in Waziristan and more than 100 FC men in various areas of balochistan) Not to emntion hundreds more injured.......Since when have dead soldiers mattered to these guys, who take their orders from Washington?

Lets be rational rather than emotional here. No one's taking orders from Washington. You seem to be towing the MMA line? Do tell me what they would do if in power? Declare war on the US? I didn't think so either.

Realpolitik doesn't work by being naive enough to label certain policy directions as 'orders from Washington'.
 
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I feel a lot of Pakistanis live in this illusion that PA can start and win a war with India, capture large portions of land and suffer minimum casualties. Many still feel Pakistan won Kargil.

My friends you are all mistaken
 
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Nawaz Sharif, family evicted from Saudi palace

Lahore, Oct 25: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and members of his family have been evicted from the Sarwar Palace in Jeddah by the Saudi Arabian Government for violating the terms and conditions of their decade-long exile brokered with President Pervez Musharraf.

The evacuation has led to the loss of jobs of 20 servants who were working for the Sharif family.

Sharif, according to The News, has been living in Saudi Arabia for the last seven years.

Sharif had applied for a British visa so that he could travel to the UK to facilitate his son Hasan Nawaz's treatment.

Nawaz Sharif left for London nine months ago on the condition that he would not take part in any politics and would soon return to Saudi Arabia.

However, in defiance of the condition, he got an extension on his UK visa and is also participating in politics - a move that has irked Riyadh.

Sharif's mother and other family members now live with Nawaz's brother Abbas Sharif at his house in Medina.
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?...&sid=SAS&ssid=
 
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I feel a lot of Pakistanis live in this illusion that PA can start and win a war with India, capture large portions of land and suffer minimum casualties. Many still feel Pakistan won Kargil.

My friends you are all mistaken

paa jee any army can start a war how it will finish is not 1 side decision.not any pakistani here belive that we can start a war and finish it at the same tim without casulities its kind of wet dream just like lots of pakistanies here.
cough cough cough..lahori paa jee.cough cough thinks gunja ****** will be back.now thats the isllusion .nay be u wanna read the article written by Indian writer Kuldip Nayar.who won and who lost the kargil.but off course that would prove some thing u dont wanna accept.:toast:
 
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Cheeta,

Watch your language and avoid cursing!
Thanks!
 
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I feel a lot of Pakistanis live in this illusion that PA can start and win a war with India, capture large portions of land and suffer minimum casualties. Many still feel Pakistan won Kargil.

My friends you are all mistaken



Yes but we certainly wouldn't lose and they wouldn't win...As for Kargil it played at well militarily until the withdrawal but the diplomatic front was in shambles.
 
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