Shahzad linked to Yemeni cleric: Report

NEW YORK – Faisal Shahzad, the failed Times Square bombing suspect, told investigators that he drew inspiration from Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American cleric whose militant online lectures have been a catalyst for several recent attacks and plots, according to a leading American newspaper.
The 30-year Shahzad, a US citizen of Pakistani origin, was inspired by Awlaki, The New York Times said, citing an unnamed official, who would speak of the investigation only on condition of anonymity.
“He listened to him, and he did it,” the official said, referring to Saturday’s attempted bombing on a busy street in Times Square.
Friends of Shahzad have said he became more religious and somber in the last year or so, and asked his father’s permission in 2009 to join the fight in Afghanistan against American and NATO forces. Investigators believe he was trained by the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group that previously focused mainly on Pakistani government targets.
A senior military official said Thursday that Shahzad has told interrogators that he met with Pakistani Taliban operatives in North Waziristan in December and January. Later he received explosives training from the same operatives, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
Counterterrorism officials want to know how Shahzad, who had earned an M.B.A., married and had children and worked in several corporate jobs, came to embrace violence……

Read More

China to provide $180 mln aid to Pakistan: Malik

ISLAMABAD: China will grant US$180 million aid to Pakistan for enhancing the capacity of its law enforcement agency.

Interior Minister Rehman A. Malik Friday held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Meng Chiang in Chinese capital, said a message from Beijing.

The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere in which matters of mutual interest came under discussion.

In addition, Beijing also offered training facilities for Pakistani LEAs personnel and RMB (Chinese currency) 2 million for police equipments…..

Read More

Why Would Anyone Want to Blow Up Times Square?

When news comes of Muslims engaging in violence, the triad of politicians, law enforcement, and media invariably presumes that the perpetrator suffers from some mental or emotional incapacity. (For a quick listing of examples, see my collection at “Sudden Jihad or ‘Inordinate Stress’ at Ft. Hood?”). Read more

Security at Places of Worship: More Than a Matter of Faith

By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton

In recent months, several high-profile incidents have raised awareness of the threat posed by individuals and small groups operating under the principles of leaderless resistance. These incidents have included lone wolf attacks against a doctor who performed abortions in Kansas, an armed forces recruitment center in Arkansas and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Additionally, a grassroots jihadist cell was arrested for attempting to bomb Jewish targets in the Bronx and planning to shoot down a military aircraft at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y.

In addition to pointing out the threat posed by grassroots cells and lone wolf operatives, another common factor in all of these incidents is the threat of violence to houses of worship. The cell arrested in New York left what they thought to be active improvised explosive devices outside the Riverdale Temple and the Riverdale Jewish Community Center. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed in the lobby of the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita. Although Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad conducted his attacks against a Little Rock recruiting center, he had conducted preoperational surveillance and research on targets that included Jewish organizations and a Baptist church in places as far away as Atlanta and Philadelphia. And while James von Brunn attacked the Holocaust Museum, he had a list of other potential targets in his vehicle that included the National Cathedral. Read more

Fawning Media will Ignore Obama’s Pakistan Disaster

The Obama Administration continues to say all the “correct” things about Pakistan and its fight against the Taliban.  Yet, knowledgeable observers in South Asia give the country no more than twelve months to stave off the terror group’s inevitable takeover of that nuclear Islamic Republic.  In a New York Times piece in early April, David Kilcullen, former adviser to United States military commander General David Petraeus, predicted Pakistan’s fall to the Taliban “within six months.” Shortly afterwards, his former boss agreed that the current Taliban “insurgency” could “take down” Pakistan.  Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted later that month, “I think that the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists.”

Yet, the Administration continues to push its program of propping up the ineffective Pakistani government courtesy of US taxpayers.

The US should have two priorities for Pakistan:  secure Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal; and lead an international effort to protect the country’s remaining minority populations on both sides of the Indo-Pak border, as they have been fleeing Taliban persecution in droves at least since February.  The administration seems committed to doing neither.  Thus, when Pakistan, along with its nukes and remaining minorities, falls to the Taliban; we can expect it to say that it tried everything it could, but that things were too far gone given the policies of its predecessor.  And when it does, expect the media to fall behind it lock step, even though the same reporters gleefully blamed President George W. Bush for 9/11 and refused even to entertain the notion that the policies of the previous, Clinton, administration were the primary cause. Read more

The Strategic Debate Over Afghanistan

By George Friedman

After U.S. airstrikes killed scores of civilians in western Afghanistan this past week, White House National Security Adviser Gen. James L. Jones said the United States would continue with the airstrikes and would not tie the hands of U.S. generals fighting in Afghanistan. At the same time, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus has cautioned against using tactics that undermine strategic U.S. goals in Afghanistan — raising the question of what exactly are the U.S. strategic goals in Afghanistan. A debate inside the U.S. camp has emerged over this very question, the outcome of which is likely to determine the future of the region.

On one side are President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and a substantial amount of the U.S. Army leadership. On the other side are Petraeus — the architect of U.S. strategy in Iraq after 2006 — and his staff and supporters. An Army general — even one with four stars — is unlikely to overcome a president and a defense secretary; even the five-star Gen. Douglas MacArthur couldn’t pull that off. But the Afghan debate is important, and it provides us with a sense of future U.S. strategy in the region. Read more

Pakistan: Nuclear Security and the U.S. Strategy for Southwest Asia

Analysis

As the Pakistani Taliban spread their insurgency beyond the northwestern Pashtun areas and into the country’s core — the government is trying to contain them in an area some 100 miles from Islamabad — concerns are being raised about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. These concerns are not unfounded. Although security forces are beginning to wage a more concerted campaign against the insurgents, the Pakistani state continues to be weakened by mounting political, economic and security issues. Indeed, it is unclear to what extent the government can effectively counter the Taliban’s advance. Read more

New Government’s Iran dilemma

General Elections in India are in last leg and next week people’s verdict will be wide open. In wake of an anticipated fractured verdict the deadlock for the formation of new government could extend for few weeks but it seems quite clear that it would be either Congress led government or BJP led government at the centre. South Asia forum has specific information that two national parties has  agreed upon to this point that regional satraps would not be allowed to lead the coalition and they will be forced to support either of one in national parties. Read more

Pak could collapse within six months: Report

New York: Pakistan could collapse within six months in the face of snowballing insurgency, according to a top expert on guerrilla warfare.

Such dire prediction was given by David Kilcullen, a former adviser to top US military commander General David H. Petraeus.

Petraeus also echoed the same thought when he told a Congressional testimony last week that insurgency was one which could “take down” Pakistan, which is home to nuclear arms and al Qaeda.

Kilcullen’s comments come as Pakistan is witnessing an unprecedented upswing in terrorists strikes and now some analysts in Pakistan and Washington are putting forward apocalyptic timetables for the country.

In an analysis piece, the New York Times cast doubts about the success of President Barack Obama’s strategy offering Pakistan a partnership to defeat insurgency, but the Pakistanis still consider India enemy number one.

Officially, Pakistan’s Government welcomed Obama’s strategy, with its hefty infusions of American money, hailing it as a “positive change”, the paper said.
Read More…

US needs Pak-Afghan help to identify moderate Taliban

WASHINGTON: Pakistan and Afghanistan can help the United States in approaching those Taliban activists who may have moderate views and are willing to lay down their arms, says US National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones.

In a rare, exclusive interview to Dawn, Gen. Jones also stressed the need for a greater cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the fight against terrorists and said that President Barack Obama’s new strategy offers new hopes for peace and security in the South Asian region.

‘Surely the Pakistani people and Afghan people know more than we do,’ said Gen. Jones when asked how the US would approach the moderates among the Taliban that President Obama says could be included in the peace process.

‘And they can certainly help us in identifying those who are moderate in their views and wish to be participating in the political process,’ said the US national security adviser when asked whether Washington would directly approach the moderate Taliban or would include Pakistan and Afghanistan in this effort.

Explaining who he believed were the moderates, Gen. Jones said those who were willing to participate in the political process ‘without violence and without terror and without causing breaches in the security of either country.

‘And so I think that as we work towards identifying those people who wish to enter into a peaceful dialogue, political dialogue, there’s certainly room on the table for them.’

Asked what’s new in President Obama’s new strategy for the people of Pakistan, especially when drone attacks have continued unabated, Gen. Jones said: ‘What’s new is a regional focus. There has been a tendency in the past to deal with Pakistan and Afghanistan as separate issues. By appointing Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as a regional representative, the US is signaling a more comprehensive strategy.’

The US official pointed out that trouble in the border areas were of concern to both countries and should be dealt with accordingly.

In the new strategy, he said, President Obama also has indicated that the US would like to be helpful to its Pakistani friends and wanted to do whatever it could to be supportive of the government’s efforts.

The new strategy, he said, focuses on the real threat, al-Qaeda. ‘Al-Qaeda, whether it is in the border regions, in Pakistan or in Afghanistan, is the real enemy here. It is an enemy to the Pakistani people, it is an enemy to the Afghan people and to people here in the US and people all over the world.’

Gen. Jones said that when President Obama announced a direct aid package of $1.5 billion a year for five years, this was meant to reassure the Pakistani people that the US was committed to bringing peace and security to their country.

Read More…

Next Page »