linkinpark
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I think this is pure Psy-ops to pressurize Pakistan.
Report: India may attack Pakistan
- Thread starter Black Stone
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RabzonKhan
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Trapped in hysteria
By I.A. Rehman
December 25, 2008
THE escalating tension between India and Pakistan exposes the efforts powerful elements in both countries are making to change the Mumbai raiders failure into a success for a clash between the two major South Asian states was obviously one of their prime objectives.
There were many matters of serious concern to the people that one wished to take up today but these have to be passed over because almost the entire population of the subcontinent has been trapped in conflict hysteria. Little attention is being paid to the colossal loss the two countries are inflicting on themselves by diverting all their energies into pursuing a course mature people might loathe to adopt.
As was feared, in both countries professional warmongers are choreographing a waltz of insanity and politicians in authority are afraid of falling out of step. Hawks in the opposition parties see in the situation opportunities to further their electoral prospects. This will harm both countries, Pakistan to a greater extent than India.
A ball-by-ball coverage of petty happenings is inflicting nerve-racking strain on the ordinary people. For instance, a delay in a flights scheduled departure is interpreted as cancellation dictated by an ominous turn in the security climate and distressful rumours sweep the land at supersonic speed. The flight is rescheduled barely 15 minutes later but corrective information travels at a snails pace and many are no longer listening or are in no mood to revise their first reaction.
A TV channel announces the Indian claim that a letter from Ajmal Kasab has been delivered to the Pakistan High Commission. The next moment the news strip says the High Commission has not received any letter and the insinuation introduced in the line by dropping as yet is clear. Only a few minutes later comes another the High Commission has received the letter. This kind of phurti (indecent haste) reminds one of a half-baked cricket commentator who begins a sentence by praising the batsman for a brilliant shot and closes it on his offering a dolly catch. What is the harm in allowing a situation to crystallise before rushing to spread consternation?
The race to be the first to cause a scare does not allow quite a few to wait for a turn of events that they can pounce on as an omen of doom. Anyone who counsels restraint must be denounced as a coward lacking the mettle of patriotism. A search is made for people who can condemn a Pakistani cultural troupe for visiting India at the present juncture. Has anyone assumed the power and the right to change geography? Whatever may happen in the short run, India and Pakistan have to live side by side as permanent neighbours and prudence demands the avoidance of actions and words that either country, or both, may eventually find impossible to live down.
It is not clear whether an overheated media has tricked the government spokesmen into talking more than they should or whether it is the other way round. The need to advise the Pakistani gladiators (the Indians have their own counsel) to eschew banal cliches and reduce their contribution to gloom is manifest.
For instance, statements such as we do not want war but will resist with full force if a conflict is imposed on us amounts to stretching the obvious. Of course, in the event of conflict, however unwelcome, the people will do their duty but the real issue is how will their resistance be organised? That the defence forces are prepared to meet any eventuality is reassuring. But only up to a point, for no countrys security can be guaranteed by the defence forces alone. An equally crucial role belongs to the people.
However, the citizens can play their part best only if they know what they are defending or fighting for. The slogan my country right or wrong is a throwback to the days when the people used to be their rulers galley-slaves. Todays Pakistanis will fight for their country with the requisite fire in their hearts if they know exactly what is what and are convinced of the justness of their cause.
Unfortunately, the official spokespersons do not appear inclined to take the people into confidence. For instance, we are told that Pakistan is not isolated. The authorities should have in their possession facts and information on which this claim is based. Withholding such facts and information from the people causes confusion, to put it mildly. Why cant we be told about the nations siding with us?
Are our supporters China and the US or Canada, Germany, the UK or Saudi Arabia or Egypt or Nigeria? If a country is with us only in private and not in public, it should be deleted from the list of friends that can be depended upon. Is Islamabad alive to the risk of a repetition of 1971 when soldiers and citizens both were fed false tales about powerful friends intervention on Pakistans side?
Things will be better managed if the government admitted to the people that it is not up against India alone. The stark reality is that over the past 30 years the authoritarian rulers (and the elected ones who were unable to defy their legacy) have destroyed Pakistans credibility in the councils of the world and the present government will compound its problems by not disowning this inheritance. The Foreign Office is being taken to task for not taking a stand in the Security Council while it ruled against some organisations and individuals although the critics know very well the limits of vacuous rhetoric.
The impression one gets is that the government is banking to a great extent on American keenness to ensure that Pakistan is not forced to withdraw its troops from the western front. This is much too rickety a bridge to promise safe passage. The danger in assuming the situation on the western border to remain unchanged should be obvious. Is it impossible to admit the possibility of a shift in the US strategy about Afghanistan and the Taliban? Where will Pakistan in such a situation find itself?
Much good will accrue by admitting that Pakistan has been pushed by the enemies within into a marsh from which it cannot extricate itself by bluff and bluster. Rootless confidence and simulated panic are two sides of the same coin that no one should rely upon. Pakistan most of all needs today to break out of the make-believe world of armchair warriors and concentrate on winning the international communitys diplomatic support. Instead of looking all the time for ways of diverting India and the US from whatever they might be suspected of Pakistan must look for support in the rest of the wide world.
For this it will not be enough to find brilliant counsel. More important is the need to check Pakistans brief. It will win the day for this country only if it is based on truth and a verifiable commitment to justice at home and abroad. Any other course will be an invitation to disaster.
By I.A. Rehman
December 25, 2008
THE escalating tension between India and Pakistan exposes the efforts powerful elements in both countries are making to change the Mumbai raiders failure into a success for a clash between the two major South Asian states was obviously one of their prime objectives.
There were many matters of serious concern to the people that one wished to take up today but these have to be passed over because almost the entire population of the subcontinent has been trapped in conflict hysteria. Little attention is being paid to the colossal loss the two countries are inflicting on themselves by diverting all their energies into pursuing a course mature people might loathe to adopt.
As was feared, in both countries professional warmongers are choreographing a waltz of insanity and politicians in authority are afraid of falling out of step. Hawks in the opposition parties see in the situation opportunities to further their electoral prospects. This will harm both countries, Pakistan to a greater extent than India.
A ball-by-ball coverage of petty happenings is inflicting nerve-racking strain on the ordinary people. For instance, a delay in a flights scheduled departure is interpreted as cancellation dictated by an ominous turn in the security climate and distressful rumours sweep the land at supersonic speed. The flight is rescheduled barely 15 minutes later but corrective information travels at a snails pace and many are no longer listening or are in no mood to revise their first reaction.
A TV channel announces the Indian claim that a letter from Ajmal Kasab has been delivered to the Pakistan High Commission. The next moment the news strip says the High Commission has not received any letter and the insinuation introduced in the line by dropping as yet is clear. Only a few minutes later comes another the High Commission has received the letter. This kind of phurti (indecent haste) reminds one of a half-baked cricket commentator who begins a sentence by praising the batsman for a brilliant shot and closes it on his offering a dolly catch. What is the harm in allowing a situation to crystallise before rushing to spread consternation?
The race to be the first to cause a scare does not allow quite a few to wait for a turn of events that they can pounce on as an omen of doom. Anyone who counsels restraint must be denounced as a coward lacking the mettle of patriotism. A search is made for people who can condemn a Pakistani cultural troupe for visiting India at the present juncture. Has anyone assumed the power and the right to change geography? Whatever may happen in the short run, India and Pakistan have to live side by side as permanent neighbours and prudence demands the avoidance of actions and words that either country, or both, may eventually find impossible to live down.
It is not clear whether an overheated media has tricked the government spokesmen into talking more than they should or whether it is the other way round. The need to advise the Pakistani gladiators (the Indians have their own counsel) to eschew banal cliches and reduce their contribution to gloom is manifest.
For instance, statements such as we do not want war but will resist with full force if a conflict is imposed on us amounts to stretching the obvious. Of course, in the event of conflict, however unwelcome, the people will do their duty but the real issue is how will their resistance be organised? That the defence forces are prepared to meet any eventuality is reassuring. But only up to a point, for no countrys security can be guaranteed by the defence forces alone. An equally crucial role belongs to the people.
However, the citizens can play their part best only if they know what they are defending or fighting for. The slogan my country right or wrong is a throwback to the days when the people used to be their rulers galley-slaves. Todays Pakistanis will fight for their country with the requisite fire in their hearts if they know exactly what is what and are convinced of the justness of their cause.
Unfortunately, the official spokespersons do not appear inclined to take the people into confidence. For instance, we are told that Pakistan is not isolated. The authorities should have in their possession facts and information on which this claim is based. Withholding such facts and information from the people causes confusion, to put it mildly. Why cant we be told about the nations siding with us?
Are our supporters China and the US or Canada, Germany, the UK or Saudi Arabia or Egypt or Nigeria? If a country is with us only in private and not in public, it should be deleted from the list of friends that can be depended upon. Is Islamabad alive to the risk of a repetition of 1971 when soldiers and citizens both were fed false tales about powerful friends intervention on Pakistans side?
Things will be better managed if the government admitted to the people that it is not up against India alone. The stark reality is that over the past 30 years the authoritarian rulers (and the elected ones who were unable to defy their legacy) have destroyed Pakistans credibility in the councils of the world and the present government will compound its problems by not disowning this inheritance. The Foreign Office is being taken to task for not taking a stand in the Security Council while it ruled against some organisations and individuals although the critics know very well the limits of vacuous rhetoric.
The impression one gets is that the government is banking to a great extent on American keenness to ensure that Pakistan is not forced to withdraw its troops from the western front. This is much too rickety a bridge to promise safe passage. The danger in assuming the situation on the western border to remain unchanged should be obvious. Is it impossible to admit the possibility of a shift in the US strategy about Afghanistan and the Taliban? Where will Pakistan in such a situation find itself?
Much good will accrue by admitting that Pakistan has been pushed by the enemies within into a marsh from which it cannot extricate itself by bluff and bluster. Rootless confidence and simulated panic are two sides of the same coin that no one should rely upon. Pakistan most of all needs today to break out of the make-believe world of armchair warriors and concentrate on winning the international communitys diplomatic support. Instead of looking all the time for ways of diverting India and the US from whatever they might be suspected of Pakistan must look for support in the rest of the wide world.
For this it will not be enough to find brilliant counsel. More important is the need to check Pakistans brief. It will win the day for this country only if it is based on truth and a verifiable commitment to justice at home and abroad. Any other course will be an invitation to disaster.
linkinpark
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IAF conducts precision bombing practice runs
Wednesday, 24 December , 2008, 22:16
New Delhi: With the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) flying sorties over two important cities in the wake of heightened sub-continental tensions after the Mumbai carnage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been carrying out precision bombing practice runs to prepare itself for any eventuality, sources said on Wednesday.
With the option of carrying out precision bombings of terrorist camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir doing the rounds, IAF sources said that its fighter jets have been carrying out practice sorties at firing ranges in the Rajasthan sector and elsewhere.
Precision bombings are being carried out at various air-to-ground ranges like Pokhran, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Gwalior and Halwara, an IAF source said.
However, an IAF spokesman said: It is a routine exercise. We carry out such practices on a regular basis.
The sources also added that there would be no deployment of IAF fighter jets at forward air bases.
With the coming of air-to-air refuellers, India does not need to deploy fighters at the forward bases. The aircraft can cover any distance, perform their mission and return to their respective bases, the sources said.
Pakistan does not have air-to-air refuellers.
Tension between the two neighbours heightened after the Mumbai terror attacks, with India asking Pakistan to crack down on the terrorist camps functioning from its soil.
On Tuesday, India cautioned against creating war hysteria and asked Islamabad to address the real issue of dismantling the terror machine in that country.
Taking a long-range view, New Delhi also indicated its preference for diplomatic options by asking the international community to intensify pressure on Islamabad to comply with the UN resolutions against terrorism.
India cautions Pak against creating war hysteria
In a carefully calibrated message, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday underscored India's growing impatience with diversionary tactics adopted by Islamabad as he appealed to the international community to pressure Pakistan to honour its anti-terror commitments.
The issue is not war, the issue is terror and territory in Pakistan being used to promote, aid and abet this terror, Manmohan Singh told reporters outside parliament. "Nobody wants war," he stressed.
PAF jets flew a series of sorties over Lahore and Rawalpindi on Monday as part of its increased "vigilance", officials said.
Wednesday, 24 December , 2008, 22:16
New Delhi: With the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) flying sorties over two important cities in the wake of heightened sub-continental tensions after the Mumbai carnage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been carrying out precision bombing practice runs to prepare itself for any eventuality, sources said on Wednesday.
With the option of carrying out precision bombings of terrorist camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir doing the rounds, IAF sources said that its fighter jets have been carrying out practice sorties at firing ranges in the Rajasthan sector and elsewhere.
Precision bombings are being carried out at various air-to-ground ranges like Pokhran, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Gwalior and Halwara, an IAF source said.
However, an IAF spokesman said: It is a routine exercise. We carry out such practices on a regular basis.
The sources also added that there would be no deployment of IAF fighter jets at forward air bases.
With the coming of air-to-air refuellers, India does not need to deploy fighters at the forward bases. The aircraft can cover any distance, perform their mission and return to their respective bases, the sources said.
Pakistan does not have air-to-air refuellers.
Tension between the two neighbours heightened after the Mumbai terror attacks, with India asking Pakistan to crack down on the terrorist camps functioning from its soil.
On Tuesday, India cautioned against creating war hysteria and asked Islamabad to address the real issue of dismantling the terror machine in that country.
Taking a long-range view, New Delhi also indicated its preference for diplomatic options by asking the international community to intensify pressure on Islamabad to comply with the UN resolutions against terrorism.
India cautions Pak against creating war hysteria
In a carefully calibrated message, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday underscored India's growing impatience with diversionary tactics adopted by Islamabad as he appealed to the international community to pressure Pakistan to honour its anti-terror commitments.
The issue is not war, the issue is terror and territory in Pakistan being used to promote, aid and abet this terror, Manmohan Singh told reporters outside parliament. "Nobody wants war," he stressed.
PAF jets flew a series of sorties over Lahore and Rawalpindi on Monday as part of its increased "vigilance", officials said.
Goodperson
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i came across such a thread 2 days ago claiming IAF will strike within 24 hours,but thankfully< war is not desired > nothing happened.
think this is the continuation of the indian media going hysteric than anything else.
seems that more than the indian people and the establishment its the indian media which wants a war as they will get of coverage and revenue out of it.
think this is the continuation of the indian media going hysteric than anything else.
seems that more than the indian people and the establishment its the indian media which wants a war as they will get of coverage and revenue out of it.
maximus
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Pakistan ought to get their army out of the tribal areas and fully dedicate the resources towards preparation. The people of Pakistan are all united against one common enemy. The threats and aggression shouldn't be taken lightly at any cost. The Indians are getting more aggressive by the day.
Lockheed F-16
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They will never do the mistake and attack Pakistan. We have the worst leaders but the best Jazba!!! 
if india decides to attack then it'll bring 2-3 countries along with it to attack. that is what india is doing at the moment. given the domestic pressure and the political backing, it would have attacked pakistan long ago. but it didn't and instead it went to the world community. smells like a "coalition in the making" to me. that's what i would have done.
Evil Flare
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Situation is much Better than 2002 Stand OFF
India didnot do anything that time
You still belive India have Balls ?
India didnot do anything that time
You still belive India have Balls ?
Pk_Thunder
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India deploys army at Sindh border
Updated at: 1820 PST, Thursday, December 25, 2008
UMARKOT: India has deployed its army on the border along with Sindh.
As per sources, the Indian process of crating an atmosphere of war continues as it has already stopped its exports to Pakistan via the route of Wahga-Lahore.
In the reaction of the Indian step, Pakistan has also stopped its trading.
* Say Wests support for New Delhi mere words and sympathy
* Former foreign secretary believes India has lost diplomatic initiative
* Says international community will not help India achieve its diplomatic goals
* Former foreign secretary believes India has lost diplomatic initiative
* Says international community will not help India achieve its diplomatic goals
NEW DELHI: Indian experts believe that the international community was unlikely to support Indias campaign against Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.
In international relations, unless you have something to give you dont get anything. If you have your hat in your hand the only thing you will get is sympathy. If you have your hands in your pocket, you may expect something substantial, said former national security adviser (NSA) Brajesh Mishra.
Sympathy: He said the foreign dignitaries arriving in India had limited themselves to expressing mere sympathy.
These are just words and nothing more is attached to it, he added. The former NSA stated that the US and the United Kingdom were not doing enough to reign in the Pakistan Army, questioning if they were going to cut off finances to the instrument (the army).
He, however, agreed that the US agenda in Afghanistan could not succeed unless Pakistan agreed to support it wholeheartedly.
Mishra rejected claims that India had few options left.
Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal also believed Indias diplomatic steps were insufficient.
Initiative: I believe India has lost the diplomatic initiative. It is allowing outsiders to decide what we should do. The strings of Western dignitaries visiting India are limiting our options, he maintained.
He said Indias options regarding Pakistan were limited because of both sides possessing nuclear weapons, adding India could not deny the China factor, which was an all-weather friend of Pakistan.
As you have noticed in North Korea, the China factor is important for the western powers to negotiate. The same is true vis-a-vis Pakistan. The Afghanistan issue has made us realise that Indias options are limited, the former foreign secretary said.
Goals:Sibal said Indias reliance on the international community would not solve its problems.
I dont think the international community will help us achieve our diplomatic goals, he said, adding India should take some unilateral steps like suspension of the composite dialogue process, stopping the dialogue with Pakistan on Kashmir, dismantling the joint terror mechanism and rolling back some confidence-building measures.
Former cabinet secretary and ambassador Naresh Chandra, however, cautioned against alienating the people of Pakistan through a diplomatic or a military campaign.
We have to be careful when we speak on this side of the border. I dont think that Pakistanis, in general, are interested in bombing the Taj hotel and railway stations, he said.
Our ultimate goal should be to strengthen people-to-people relations while taking the strongest possible action to confront and defeat the bad elements spreading terror all over the region, he said.
asaad-ul-islam
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a source of mine enlightened us on the matter a short while ago. India will not attack, they put too many of their eggs into the american basket. they were expecting the americans to pressure us into doing everything. obviously, that plan hasn't gone well. troop movement and air patrol missions are just sabre-rattling on both sides.
Al-zakir
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December 24th, 2008
There is a strange dichotomy in Delhi at the moment. If you read the headlines or watch the news on television, India and Pakistan appear headed for confrontation - what form, what shape is obviously hard to tell but the rhetoric is getting more and more menacing each day.
Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani promised a matching response within minutes were the Indians to carry out precision strikes against camps of militants inside Pakistan, whom it blames for the Mumbai attacks.
And as if they were doing a dress rehearsal, Pakistan Air Force jets have been flying over Islamabad and Lahore for the past two days, prompting one blogger to report that some people had called up media outlets asking if the Indian Air Force was on its way.
Indian army chief General Deepak Kapoor meanwhile went up to the freezing heights of Siachen, the worlds highest battlefield, to test operational preparedness.
And yet off the front pages, and on the street and in living rooms, it doesnt seem like a nation preparing for war. Instead Delhi is in the full swing of the marriage season when the astrological stars are right and thousands upon thousands of young couples trailed by a veritable army of friends, families and neighbours get betrothed.
There are also the Christmas/New Year festivities where the conversation is not about the possibility of war but the economic meltdown that has spoiled everyones party, including Indias. To be sure, there is rage each time Mumbai is mentioned, and there are many who say they will have to pay for this. But war? No, that isnt at the top of peoples minds yet.
So whats really going on? Is the threat of a fourth India-Pakistan war real, not counting 1999 when India and Pakistan fought over the heights above Kargil on the Line of Control? Are the two countries inexorably moving toward conflict without their people realising it?
Or is this the Cold Start doctrine that strategists speak of, in which you dont really mobilise troops and armour for weeks on a vast scale and then go to war like in ancient times, but instead go quickly into action from forward bases both in the air and on the ground for a short and sharp thrust ?
Your guess is as good as mine, but in another two days it will be a month since the Mumbai attackers struck. As far as India is concerned, that is time enough for Pakistan to have acted against the men and groups that it says are involved in attacks on India. Is there a clock ticking somewhere?
Pakistan: Now or Never? Blog Archive War clouds over South Asia | Blogs |
There is a strange dichotomy in Delhi at the moment. If you read the headlines or watch the news on television, India and Pakistan appear headed for confrontation - what form, what shape is obviously hard to tell but the rhetoric is getting more and more menacing each day.
Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani promised a matching response within minutes were the Indians to carry out precision strikes against camps of militants inside Pakistan, whom it blames for the Mumbai attacks.
And as if they were doing a dress rehearsal, Pakistan Air Force jets have been flying over Islamabad and Lahore for the past two days, prompting one blogger to report that some people had called up media outlets asking if the Indian Air Force was on its way.
Indian army chief General Deepak Kapoor meanwhile went up to the freezing heights of Siachen, the worlds highest battlefield, to test operational preparedness.
And yet off the front pages, and on the street and in living rooms, it doesnt seem like a nation preparing for war. Instead Delhi is in the full swing of the marriage season when the astrological stars are right and thousands upon thousands of young couples trailed by a veritable army of friends, families and neighbours get betrothed.
There are also the Christmas/New Year festivities where the conversation is not about the possibility of war but the economic meltdown that has spoiled everyones party, including Indias. To be sure, there is rage each time Mumbai is mentioned, and there are many who say they will have to pay for this. But war? No, that isnt at the top of peoples minds yet.
So whats really going on? Is the threat of a fourth India-Pakistan war real, not counting 1999 when India and Pakistan fought over the heights above Kargil on the Line of Control? Are the two countries inexorably moving toward conflict without their people realising it?
Or is this the Cold Start doctrine that strategists speak of, in which you dont really mobilise troops and armour for weeks on a vast scale and then go to war like in ancient times, but instead go quickly into action from forward bases both in the air and on the ground for a short and sharp thrust ?
Your guess is as good as mine, but in another two days it will be a month since the Mumbai attackers struck. As far as India is concerned, that is time enough for Pakistan to have acted against the men and groups that it says are involved in attacks on India. Is there a clock ticking somewhere?
Pakistan: Now or Never? Blog Archive War clouds over South Asia | Blogs |
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