The
making of a
suicide bomber?
Columnist
Gp Capt (Retd) SM HALI provides insight
into the
indoctrination of suicide bombers.
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On Sunday May 18, 2008,
I had the opportunity to accompany a team
of national/international media persons,
who were flown into the remote former
Baitullah Mehsud territory of Spinkai
Raghzai (South Waziristan) by ISPR. We
witnessed a human tragedy of epic proportions.
The village was devoid of any human life
apart from army soldiers patrolling to
keep the miscreants at bay. The houses
in Spinkai Raghzai village indicated that
their occupants had left in extreme urgency,
not even bothering to take their valuables
with them. Earlier at Dera Ismail Khan,
the GOC 14 Div. Major General Tariq had
briefed us that not a single civilian
casualty had occurred because leaflets
were dropped asking the civilians to vacate
or face the wrath of the Army. Those who
stayed behind were killed or forced to
retreat. 200,000 internally displaced
persons (IDP) were provided refuge in
different camps..........more
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“Maritime
Strategy and
Nation Building Technology”
Columnist
M. NAIM SHAIKH makes a case for adoption
of dual purpose marine technologies to
help naval build up and also contribute
to nation-building.
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The Pakistan Navy (PN) is at the crossroads of history
both in terms of the armed forces of Pakistan
and the Indian Navy (IN). It has the smallest
budgetary allocation as well as personnel
in Pakistan’s three military services.
It can not match IN either man to man
or boat for boat. Neither can PN squeeze
a larger budgetary allocation as compared
to the Pakistan Army (PA) or the Pakistan
Air Force (PAF). Yet, its mandate of defending
the sea frontiers is larger than either
the country’s air corridor or its
borders with four neighbouring countries.
In fact, the sea is the limit! Add to
all this is the adage that, as Admiral
Mahan would have said, all great nations
are indebted to their command of seas
for their great power status.1Pakistan
is more concerned with the security of
its sea dependent commerce, a whopping
97% of its total trade, than dreaming
any great power status. However, PN is
mindful of India’s quest to make
the Indian Ocean its own lake as a successor
to the British Empire. Any discussion
on PN must discuss the challenge posed
by IN. India, on the other hand is also
mindful of its own maritime history and
how it was dominated for almost two hundred
years by a tiny seafaring nation –
Britain.........more
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NPT Preparatory Conference -2008
Columnist FAZAL HABIB CURMALLY explains
why the US finds itself in a mess in Iraq
and Afghanistan, among other things.
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“Congress
has lost its ability to defend its own
role in governance, and over time has
demeaned its constitutional mandate
by transferring powers inherent to the
legislative branch to an executive branch
which has assumed the role of caretaker
of the military. By vesting absolute
power in the hands of the executive,
Congress has all but assured that America
has become a nation no longer governed
by the rule of law, but rather the rule
of man.” Scott Ritter The Pentagon
vs. the U.S.: “How Americans Have
Become Targets of Their Own Military.”
Scott Ritter-in Truthdig. Posted on
May 7, 2008 and published in Alternet
of May 8, 2008.............more
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