Operation Geronimo: Who gave Osama Bin Laden Away?

By: Yasmeen Ali

Book Review

Operation Geronimo: the betrayal and execution of Osama bin Laden and its aftermath –Brig. Shaukat Qadir® : Published by H.A  Publications, Lahore, 2012. 278 pages

A gatehouse inside Osama’s compound. The Al-Qaeda Chief lived on the top floor with his youngest and favorite wife Amal.

Osama Bin Laden, was purportedly killed by US Navy Seals on 2^nd May 2011 in Abbottabad. This book is an attempt to put together the jigsaw puzzle that eventually led to his death. The narration is an organized attempt to put the facts together with intellectual honesty. Where the jigsaw puzzle does not fit in, there are shrewd deductions to connect the missing dots. The picture slowly but gradually emerges, from the mist of confusion of how Osama Bin Laden trekked to Islamabad and how his lair was uncovered-leading to the fateful day when he met his Maker.

The book is racy, spell binding and reads like a thriller and impossible to put down once started. You may or may not concur with the final analysis that it was the wife No 1 jealous of the youngest wife whom Osama was bedding that gave him away but one cannot deny the clarity of facts involved within, discussed by the author.

The book does mention the role played by Dr Shakil Afridi in running a phony polio drive campaign to collect DNA samples for the CIA to pinpoint Osama’s stowaway. US have consistently called for the release of Dr Afridi, who is believed to have helped the CIA in pinpointing Osama bin Laden’s hideout in the garrison town of Abbottabad. The US Senate went so far as allowing  a proposed bill to be placed on its calendar for hearing which subjects payment of millions of dollars in counterinsurgency funds for Pakistan to the release of Dr Afridi among other conditions. Qadir recounts that Afridi was a Medical Superintendent at the Khyber Agency, later sacked for inefficiency and recruited by CIA. He writes, “He was initially told to run a fake campaign for testing people’s blood to find out who was suffering from Hepatitis. He was told to start this campaign in February/March 2011 (at about the same time that Khairee, OBL’s eldest wife, arrived in Abbottabad) and was told to focus on Bilal Town and Nawan Shehr area.”

A lot of missing dots are connected here by Brig. Shaukat Qadir, that makes an absorbing read. The mention of Al-Libi for instance. By 2004 Al-Libi was a high priority target for the ISI since he was suspected of masterminding the attacks on Gen Musharaf in December 2003, then COAS-President and how, he fits into the Osama bin Laden’s saga. Many other characters are introduced, the knowledge of whom was hitherto unknown to the general public.

Questioning how a big house of Osama and the residents within, escaped the attention of the locals and the authorities alike for a fairly long period of time, Qadir writes,” No one was familiar with Abu Ahmed Al-Kuwaiti’s real name, nor the other identity, Arshad Khan, that he had acquired; most certainly not as Ibrahim, his real name. Furthermore, he changed his appearance; got rid of his neck-length hair, his flowing moustache, and trimmed his beard. He looked nothing like the photograph of AlKuwaiti that was available with the ISI or the CIA.

“When he purchased the land in Bilal Town, Abbottabad and started construction, the MI/ISI detachments conducted a routine inquiry and there seemed nothing suspicious. A routine purchase of land by a Pashtun who liked privacy, was sufficiently wealthy to afford a large(ish) house with high boundary walls, living with his brother and some members of his family. Everything was routine, on the face of things and, while a weather eye was kept open for any unusual occurrence; by mid-2006, everybody had settled into and accepted the routine.”

Qadir painstakingly traces the moving of Osama bin Laden to Islamabad, details of the house, the raid and the connections. He opines that CIA probably started following the track in Abbottabad only in 2010/11 after a lead was provided by the ISI. He writes, “However, according to CIA’s own version, all they were certain of, even as the raid was launched, was that there was “a high value target housed in the compound, possibly OBL”!”

Interestingly, when the house was searched- later, after the raid, there were no medicines for any kidney problems. Osama bin Laden was widely believed to have been undergoing dialysis, for a medical situation moving towards kidney failure.

The book details the layout of the rooms, who was residing where, the details of how the raid by the SEALS was conducted in the minutest detail-yet manages to keep the narrative gripping readers’ attention.

He is completely honest in stating where facts are not available and where his opinions are based on conjecture deducing, very shrewdly, if I may add, from the picture emerging.

However, the book does not end here. Qadir moves from this milestone towards commenting most succinctly on its implications on Pak-US relations. He connects the dots again, patiently and with a clear eye on ground realities; from Operation Geronimo to Memogate to US Congressional Committee having announced its conclusion that, “the US should support the Baloch in their movement for independence”. The US is insistent on hammering the point in: target: Pakistan!

He states damningly, “It’s a country of 180 million people, it has a huge standing army (which means a huge store of munitions of war) and, it has a strategic location, because of which, its destabilization will reverberate, not only in South Asia, but all the way north to Central Asia and Iran to the Middle East. That is precisely the reason why Pakistan must be destabilized or balkanized; as proposed by the Congressional Committee; its location. A poisoned chalice!”

The sequence of events is admirable. The narration worthy of the finest novelist. The factual layout logical and reveals a sharp mind. In a nutshell, the book without question; adds to a better understanding of Operation Geronimo and its cascading effect on the now bitterer relationship between Pakistan & US.

The writer is teaches in a University. She is a lawyer & author of  “A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan.”

 

Justice For Shahzeb Khan

Baahir-e-Zaman

“Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain which grows flowers, not thunder.” – Jalal uddin Rumi

25th day of December, celebrated around the world as a day of joy and happiness, a day marking the arrival of the great Messiah. In Pakistan, the day takes another meaning, the day of the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam, a man of principles, who set in the very foundation of Pakistan, peace, coexistence, equality, freedom and liberty.

The day, however, was not so jolly for the Khans, residents of Karachi, Pakistan, who were busy burying the only son of the family, a 19 year old, Shahzeb Khan, whose crime was standing up against harassment his sister faced by a servant of the “powerful”. The news spread and took over the entire nation like wildfire. Within a couple of days of the incident, “In Memory of Shahzeb Khan” had more than 50,000 subscribers. The express tribune covered the story in detail and the same was published onDecember 27, 2012. The friends and family of the deceased announced a protest to be held on December 30, 2012, simultaneously in Karachiand Lahore. Social Media was taken over and #JusticeForShahzebKhan (initially) and #Justice4ShahzebKhan at a later stage, seemed to be the only thing the nation had to talk about.

Soon enough, various political parties joined the cause. During a visit by PTI leadership at the Khans residence, Aurangzeb, Shahzeb’s Father, appreciated the solidarity shown and requested to not turn it into a political row. Rather, he wished for people to join in the name of humanity and justice, vowing to not letting this happen to another Shahzeb. Amidst all this, on 29th day of December, it was reported by Tribune that the suspects have been able to evade police at Dadu and were not captured. Surely the evasion may well be questioned. Were they actually that clever and quick or was a clean passage given since even registering an FIR had proven to be challenging against the alleged powerful murderers.

On December 30th, 2012, in Karachi, scores showed up at the Press Club, expressing sorrow and demanding justice. However, it was disturbing to note that a cause purely humanitarian called for by the loved ones of the deceased had turned into political rallies. While the involvement of the parties and support may be greatly appreciated, Aurangzeb’s request of not carrying party flags was completely ignored. It was difficult to ascertain whether a protest was being attended or a political rally.

Subsequently, the closed ones and the not so closed ones who were there for support decided to move away and carried on towards Sea View near the Khan residence. It was heartwarming to note that the number of fellow humans were much larger in that group. This group largely included family, friends, neighbors and people not known but this incident had brought them close like family.

The protestors gathered some ways away and started walking slowly towards the residence. The crowd seemed to have grown to hundreds. Sea View, Karachi was echoing chants of “We want justice”, “Aurangzeb, we are with you” and so forth. Pain and anger could be felt in each and every single voice as it got louder and louder. Soon, the entire street was jam packed with those who turned up for the cause, against the rampant mockery of justice by the elite and powerful who seem to think they are above the law.

The protest ended as Aurangzeb spoke and addressed the crowd thanking and asking each to do this, not only for his son but for every son. Since majority present were young, the need to raise the voice against this and other injustices was emphasized upon and the protest ended with a prayer and a call to not be at rest till the culprits are put to task.

Only if we all could join in, leaving politics aside, surely would have been a great gesture. But then again, what better event for point-scoring, than death of a 19 year old which has left the entire nation in grief, sorrow and anger.

Here is looking forward to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of this incident and ensuring that impartial inquiry is conducted and adequate action is taken. People need to feel democracy in their daily lives. However, as long as we have individuals assuming to be above the law and being successful, all we can do is call it a democracy.
Views contained herein are personal, as a neighbor, a participant and an observer and by no means reflect opinion of the family.

This is a cross post from http://baahirezaman.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/justice-for-shahzeb-khan/

The writer,Ali Rehman is a banker by profession & based in Karachi.

Mazari disallowed to name company as arms control body

By Mariana Baabar

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) refused to allow Dr Shireen Mazari to register a company under the name of “Arms Control & Disarmament Center (private) Limited”.

 

Responding to Mazari’s application the SECP additional registrar in a letter, said under “Section 37, of the Companies Ordinance, 1984, the proposed name is inappropriate as Arms Control and Disarmament is the responsibility of the government. Moreover the objectives of the proposed company i.e. providing training/courses are also not allowed by the Ministry of Interior to a private entity”.

 

Another suggestion that the additional registrar made was to name the company Institute of Strategic Studies. An institute of that name, however, already exists in Islamabad.

 

The objective for setting up the company was to establish a dedicated academic and research institution for the purpose of carrying out research, training and conducting specific diploma courses – with the aim to expanding existing insufficient pool of experts in specialised fields, international relations beginning with arms control and disarmament as well as related issues pertaining to strategic security.

 

The company also proposed to build the academic and research capacity through especially designed activities of universities, institutions and organisations (governmental and non-governmental dealing with vital issues of national security) focusing international relations and specifically in the area of arms control and disarmament.

The news appeared in The News. The image of letter received by her was posted on the Site of Imaan Mazari. Link: http://imaanmazari.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/secps-letter/

Asghar Khan to Tahirul Qadri

A Pakpotpourri Exclusive

General Mirza Aslam Beg

Former COAS Pakistan

The other day I saw on the  television , Tahirul Qadri’s hysteric declaration of his agenda to reform “the rotten lot of politicians” within three weeks, otherwise, he would lead a four million march to Islamabad, to demolish ‘Zardari’s citadel’, and like Mohammad Morsi of Egypt, will rise to capture reigns of the government and establish “his rule of law”. He hopes, that the Pakistan Army would be too wiling to offer support to his movement as it did, when Nawaz Sharif threatened to march towards Islamabad and the game was over before the ‘Long marchers’ could cross the Ravi Bridge. Tahirul Qadri is mistaken as he has lived long enough outside Pakistan than to correctly fathom the deep desire of the people of Pakistan, for change through the democratic process. The change is in the offing, as the care-taker government takes its place, in two months time. People have no stomach for any kind of undemocratic intervention as Tahirul Qadri, so vividly suggests – postponement of elections for the reforms to be carried out and to hold elections at an appropriate time. In fact, he is suggesting a Bangladesh model, and no doubt some of our political parties are ready to buy into the charade, he is conducting.

 

Having heard Tahirul Qadri’s agenda, I was reminded of Asghar Khan’s role in 1977, which paved the way for the military take-over. It is very interesting to read the contents of Asghar Khan’s letter to Ziaul Haq and the reasons put forward by him, which sound so very similar, though not so scholarly as the ‘Sheikhul Islam Tahirul Qadri has put forward. Asghar Khan’s letter reads:

 

Air Marshal (Retd) Asghar Khan’s

MESSAGE

TO THE OFFICERS OF THE DEFENCE SERVICES OF PAKISTAN

 

I am addressing this message to the Chiefs of Staff and the Officers of the Defence Services of Pakistan.

 

It is your duty to defend the territorial integrity of Pakistan and to obey all lawful commands of superior officers placed over you. To differentiate between ‘lawful’ and an ‘unlawful’ command is the duty of every officer. Every one of you must ask yourself whether what the army is doing today is ‘lawful’ activity and if your conscience tells you that it is not and you still carry it out, you would appear to lack moral fibre and would be guilty of a grave crime against your country and your people.

 

You should by now have realized that military action in East Pakistan was a conspiracy in which the present Prime Minister played a Machiavellian role. You know the circumstances in which military action in Baluchistan was engineered and how completely unnecessary this action has been. You are also probably aware of the utterly unnecessary military action taken last year in DIR in the North West Frontier Province. If you have any interest in national affairs, you must also be aware that during the election campaign the nation expressed its powerful disapproval of the present regime. Following the people’s rejection of the Government, you should have been surprised at the election results in which the ‘Pakistan National Alliance’ which could muster such overwhelming popular support, could only get 8 out of 116 seats in the Punjab. You must surely know that many people were not even allowed to file their nomination papers. Was it not too much of a co-incidence that no papers could be filed against the Prime Minister and all the Chief Ministers of the four provinces? That those who dared to try, ended up in spending a few nights in Police custody? One of them has still not been traced.

 

Those of you who were even remotely connected with duties in connection with 7^th March election would also know of the blatant manner in which rigging took place; Of the hundreds of thousands of ballot papers of PNA candidates that had been taken out of ballot boxes and were found in the streets and fields of Pakistan following the election on 7^th March. You would also have seen the deserted polling stations on 10^th March, the day of the Provincial polls, following the call for boycott of Provincial elections by the PNA. Nevertheless Government media announced that an unprecedented number of votes had also been polled at the provincial election and the percentage was said to be more than sixty. Then surely you must have followed the movement which called for Bhutto’s resignation and re-elections in the country.

 

The coming out of women in thousands on the streets in every city and town with babies in their arms was a scene that no one will forget. These were the women who Bhutto claimed had voted for him. The movement proved within a few days that he and his government had been completely rejected by the people. The death of hundreds of our youth and the beating of our mothers and sisters was a scene that may well have stirred you to shame and sorrow. Have you ever thought why the people put themselves to so much trouble?

 

Why must mothers come out to face bullets with babies in their arms? Why do parents allow their children to face police lathis and bullets? Surely it is only because they feel that they have been wronged – that they have been cheated. That their basic right to ‘HIRE and FIRE’ their rulers has been denied them. They understood, when we told them the truth that the Constitution which you as officers of the Defence Services are sworn to defend had been violated. Article 218(3) of the Constitution of the ‘Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ says: “It shall be the duty of the Election Commission constituted in relation to an election to organize and conduct the election and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against”.

 

This, my friend, was not a just and fair election. Bhutto has violated the Constitution and is guilty of a grave crime against the people. It is not your duty to support his illegal regime nor can you be called upon to kill your own people so that he can continue a little longer in office. Let it not be said that the Pakistan armed forces are a degenerate Police Force fit only for killing unarmed civilians. How else can you explain the shooting of a spirited lad whose only fault was to show the ‘V’ sign to the army in Lahore the other day. The spirit of adventure; of defiance rather than servility needs to be encouraged in our youth and this unfortunate incident is a blot on the name of the army which would be difficult to wipe out. Similarly, shooting by the army in Karachi on an unarmed crowd is unpardonable. Didn’t you realize that the poor and hungry people of Pakistan, throughout the 30 troubled years of our history, had shown only love and affection for our armed forces? That they wept when you laid down arms in East Pakistan; that they have always prayed for your glory and have literally starved themselves and their children so that you all well fed and our Generals and Senior Officers can live a life that even their British and American counter-parts would not dream of. It pains me to say that, that love is now gone. Pray do not let it turn to hate. For should that happen, a tragedy would have occurred in the history of this nation which we in our life-time may not be able to undo.

 

As men of honour it is your responsibility to do your duty and the call of duty in these trying circumstances is not the blind obedience of unlawful commands. There comes a time in the lives of nations when each man has to ask himself whether he is doing the right thing. For you that time has come. Answer his call honestly and save Pakistan. God be with you.

 

Signed/xxxxx

M. ASGHAR KHAN

(Air-Marshal-Rtd)

 

Asghar Khan rejoiced, when Bhutto was hanged, and made a “horrible example for others.” Whose head Tahirul Qadri is now demanding? Make a guess.

 

Tahirul Qadri seems to be at the wrong end of history, in his demand to “save the country and not politics”. Pakistan came into being as a result of the political movement launched by Quaid-e-Azam. In 1971, Pakistan used the military power of the state to correct the political split, but failed. Now there is no other option, than to follow the path, the nation has set for itself i.e., fair and free elections, on schedule, so that the new democratic order takes its corrective course to remove the scars of the present order.

Moving ahead with polio vaccination in Pakistan!

This is a Pakpotpourri Exclusive

By: Yasmeen Ali

Nine anti-polio workers have been killed in a wave of assault that spread across Pakistan in December 2012. A crippling disease, polio increased to a 15 year record high of 198 in 2011. As a result of the recent attacks on polio teams, 3.5 million children are left unvaccinated.

About 75 percent of Pakistan’s polio cases can be traced back to certain areas, primarily FATA, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Quetta, in Baluchistan, is also difficult to enter, says Pakistan’s point person for polio, Shahnaz Wazir Ali(npr:’How Taliban are Thwarting the War on Polio’ by Jackie Northam on October 17^th 2012).

Using Shakeel Afridi to gather information on the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden has obviously had huge negative fallout. Dr Shakil Afridi was accused of running a phony vaccination campaign, in which he collected DNA samples, that helped the American spy agency hunt down Bin Laden in May last year.

The people are afraid. They do not know who the people employed by WHO are. Are they genuinely trying to help eradicate polio? Are they fake; snooping and gathering information on them? After the expose on Shakil Afridi, the rumor of the vaccine having AIDS virus, resulting in making the children sterile and the vaccine administrators really being CIA agents has again reared its ugly head.

The current lawlessness does not help. Who knows what the cold box supposed to be containing vaccines really contains.  A gun? Can I let anyone unknown in my house with the same ease as I could a few years ago? I remember, probably an odd 5 years or so ago, three members of anti-polio vaccination team had visited my house in Lahore. Though not having children the age to be administered the vaccine, I had gladly allowed them the use of my lawns for offering prayers. Tea and refreshments were served before they could go on with their duty.  Can I be so open-hearted today?

Whereas I feel sorry for the fear of the uneducated, poor and deprived sections of the society, I cannot but be deeply grieved for the loss of lives of those who go house to house, looking for children and delivering extra doses of the polio vaccines. More often than not, there is filth, squalor and no sense of sanitation.

UNICEF and WHO suspended their anti-polio operations in Pakistan, recalling their staff owing to security threats reported The News of 20^th December 2012 after the killing of two more of their people in Charsadda district.

Those who died had worked selflessly for eradication of this disease, going from house to house, talking to groups of people and individual parents to convince them to vaccinate their children.

According to Reuters on 20^th December 2012, the Pakistani Clerics called for protests against polio workers killings. The report states that Tahir Ashrafi, who heads the moderate Pakistan Ulema Council, said that 24,000 mosques associated with his organization would preach against the killings of health workers during Friday prayers.

But is condemnation enough?

How do we go about the job of vaccination while protecting the lives of anti-polio workers? Will going house to house be safe for them? Can so many be provided personal security on one-to-one basis spread all over the country? Probably not.

Does this mean we shelve the anti-polio scheme? Leave our children to be crippled? Or is there a way whereby both the continuation of the anti-polio drive and the security of the workers can be ensured? Maybe there is!

Instead of going door to door, thus making security arrangements for the workers next to impossible- camps should be set up in local mosques. Each locality has one. Announcements for the camp being set up in the courtyard of the mosque can be made five times a day at least from two days prior to setting up the camps.

This will serve both objectives. First, with the strength of the mosque supporting the camps for anti-polio drive, confidence of the people; mostly uneducated will stand restored and second; with the workers going to and staying in one specified place, their security will be relatively easy.

An argument may be put forth here that by merely housing the camp in a mosque may not be enough to restore the confidence of the people in the anti-polio drive workers. The lack of confidence may persevere. WHO may like to enlist support of local pharmacies, doctors, hakeems and medicine men by providing exact prescribed dosage to them. This may be purchased or procured free of cost by the parents and administered to the children themselves.

In unstructured societies like Pakistan, the fallout of ill thought out schemes like using of Shakil Afridi, the costs can be high! In this case, 9 dead bodies and 3.5 million children unvaccinated!

But it is time to look objectively at the question posed-and move ahead!

The writer is author of,”A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan.” She is an established writer having written in many national & international publications. This is her first article since her book came out in October 2012.

Illuminati

By:  Naveed Tajammal

If you take the term, Illuminati’ from the Arabic point of view, it better interprets, its meaning, illum’ means light / knowledge, and ’i’ of the, and ‘nati’ denotes, Satan, ‘Iblis’ and his associates, which would mean, knowledge of Lucifer and his associates. It is a human failing to go in the riddles of unknown, and more they be twisted, the better liked.

The west is ever obsessed to own all past knowledge, hence takes credit for all, and everything eventually has to be linked with Latin or Greek language and its related literature and mythology. Such is the case here too, hence ‘Illuminati’ is declared to be the plural of Latin word, ‘illuminatus’ or enlightened. To keep the Greeks happy, the birth of Illuminati is attributed to ‘Pythagoras’ the Greek [570 BC] born on the Greek island of ‘Samos’, but it is stated that he was taught to perform the miracles, by a Greek mystic,’Pherecydes’, who technically introduced Pythagoras, to the Doctrines of the Illuminati, meaning thereby, that, it had existed in some form before too.

Pherecydes, introduced Pythagoras to the high priests of Egypt, and after pherecydes died, the pupil sailed off to Egypt, and were he met, the inner circle who taught, him, the mysteries, and advanced mathematics, Which were the high priests of ‘Heliopolis [city of Sun or Ain Shamsi, one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt],and ‘Memphis,[south of Cairo] and Thebes [Waset / the city of the scepter],the pupil was, also taught Astronomy by the Chaldean’s, The Geometry by the Phoenicians, and the Occult knowledge by the Persian ‘Magi’. Here in Persia, Pythagoras also met ,’Zarathustra’ the prophet of the Zoroastrians.

To make Pythagoras, the part of Latin world it is attributed that, he moved with his disciples and knowledge to ‘Croton’ in south Italy, and Illuminati is re-born, here, and Pythagoras became the First Grand-master. And he would address the public from behind a screen / curtain, only those who had graduated in the levels of mystery had access to him, and were so called the ”Mathematikoi” or the Mathematicians, those who were ;listeners only were termed as,’akousmatikoi’. A secret language, and numerical codes, symbolic messages, initiation rites, special handshakes, compasses & set squares, tools of mathematics were the symbols-as seen in the Masonic lodges.

The downfall of this order was swift and Pythagoras was hounded / hunted and put to death.

It is now being propagated that the movie serial ‘Matrix’ the latest visual propaganda adopted by this, lot, denotes or explains the world as envisaged by Pythagoras, which is a array of numbers and symbols, machine codes, cascading down the computer screen.

All this is being done to create the element of doubt in the young minds, that, the mystery religion, of Illuminati, is about the actual truth, the ultimate transformation, and which if, followed opens the third inner eye.

The ninth edition of the encyclopedia Britannica, volume xii pages 706-707,on the subject of origin of Illuminati, has this to state.

”Illuminati or the enlightened, is a tittle, which at different times, has been assumed by various sects or orders of mystics, on the ground of superior knowledge of God, and of divine things which they claimed. A mention is made, of the Spanish ‘Alumbrados’ who arose in 1520,and lasted a 100 years, yet another sect under the same Illuminati emerged, in south of France in Picardy,1623 AD, and goes underground and re-surfaces, in 1722 in France and continues till 1794.In Germany it emerges in 1776,with Adam Weishaupt, but he called his order as the ‘Perfectibilists’,they were free-thinkers. This order followed a strict system of secret confessions, and monthly reports counter-checked by mutual espionage, in the enlistment  special focus was to induct young-men of wealth, rank and social standing. As they grew they joined the Masonic lodges of Munich and Freising. They were divided in three classes, novices [ minervals],second class were the masonic members and last the mystery class, who were further divided in two grades of priests and regents and of ‘Magus’ and kings. Each member was assigned a classical name, and all official correspondence done in cypher, to increase the ‘Mystification’.

Though the numbers never exceeded 2000[two thousand] yet they were spread from Italy to Denmark and from Warsaw to Paris. Even people like Von Goethe [1749-1832] ,approved of this order as is seen, in portions of his work ‘Wilhelm Meister’, as they were in accordance with the taste of the time period. The order died and went underground after a rapture irrupted ,1784 ,between two leaders of the masonic lodge, i.e Weishaupt and Adolph Freiherr Knigge [1752-1796] a German writer and a free mason.as things came out in open, the Bavarian Government was forced to pass a edict, banning the activities of this order, and most were imprisoned, and Weishaupt was Banished.

The lodges now shifted their orbit to France and we, find emergence of a Martinez Pasqualis, and in Russia, led by professor Johann Georg Schwarz [1751-1854],they both continued their Cabalist rituals.

It seems that ,the present terrorist, found dead in, the Peshawar terrorist attack, with skull and horns of Iblis, tattooed on his back, & with a Russian background is a disciple of this order. After all the new world order, needs to establish its writ by terror alone. while, the grand masters, of the masonic lodges, behind the curtains, preach the mysteries of unknown.

The writer has 29 years of experience in historical investigative research.

This is a cross post from Opinion Maker: http://www.opinion-maker.org/2012/12/illuminati/

Iranian Bomb Graph Appears Adapted from One on Internet

By Gareth Porter

The suspect graph of a nuclear explosion reportedly provided to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as evidence of Iranian computer modeling of nuclear weapons yields appears to have been adapted from a very similar graph in a scholarly journal article published in January 2009 and available on the internet.

Graph published by the scholarly journal Nuclear Engineering and Design, Volume 239, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 80–86.

The graph, published in a Nov. 27 Associated Press story but immediately found to have a mathematical error of four orders of magnitude, closely resembles a graph accompanying a scholarly articlemodeling a nuclear explosion. It provides a plausible explanation for the origins of the graph leaked to AP, according to two nuclear physicists following the issue closely.

The graph in the scholarly journal article was well known to the IAEA at the time of its publication, according to a knowledgeable source.

That means that the IAEA should have been able to make the connection between the set of graphs alleged to have been used by Iran to calculate yields from nuclear explosions that the agency obtained in 2011 and the very similar graph available on the internet.

The IAEA did not identify the member countries that provided the intelligence about the alleged Iran studies. However, Israel provided most of the intelligence cited by the IAEA in its 2011 report, and Israeli intelligence has been the source of a number of leaks to the AP reporter in Vienna, George Jahn.

Graph published by the Associated Press on Nov. 27, 2012, reportedly as evidence of Iranian computer modeling of nuclear weapons yields.

The graph accompanying an article in the January 2009 issue of the journal Nuclear Engineering and Design by retired Swiss nuclear engineer Walter Seifritz displayed a curve representing power in a nuclear explosion over fractions of a second that is very close to the one shown in the graph published by AP and attributed by the officials leaking it to an Iranian scientist.

Both graphs depict a nuclear explosion as an asymmetrical bell curve in which the right side of the curve is more elongated than the left side. Although both graphs are too crudely drawn to allow precise measurement, it appears that the difference between the two sides of the curve on the two graphs is very close to the same in both graphs.

The AP graph appears to show a total energy production of 50 kilotonnes taking place over about 0.3 microseconds, whereas the Seifritz graph shows a total of roughly 18 kilotonnes produced over about 0.1 microseconds.

The resemblance is so dramatic that two nuclear specialists who compared the graphs at the request of IPS consider it very plausible that the graph leaked to AP as part of an Iranian secret nuclear weapons research programme may well have been derived from the one in the journal article.

Scott Kemp, an assistant professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told IPS he suspects the graph leaked to AP was “adapted from the open literature”. He said he believes the authors of that graph “were told they ought to look into the literature and found that paper, copied (the graph) and made their own plot from it.”

Yousaf Butt, a nuclear scientist at the Monterey Institute, who had spotted the enormous error in the graph published by AP, along with his colleague Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress, said in an interview with IPS that a relationship between the two graphs is quite plausible, particularly given the fact they both have similar asymmetries in the power curve.

“Someone may just have taken the Seifritz graph and crudely adapted it to a 50-kilotonne yield instead of the 18 kilotonnes in the paper,” Butt said.

He added that “it’s not even necessary that an actual computer model was even run in the production of the AP graph.”

Apparently anticipating that the Seifriz graph would soon be discovered, the source of the graph given to AP is quoted in a Dec. 1 story as acknowledging that “similar graphs can be found in textbooks, the internet and other public sources.”

Butt said that he doesn’t know whether the AP graph is genuine or not, but that it could well be a forgery.

“If one wanted to plant a forgery,” he wrote, “it would make sense to manufacture something that looked like the output from the many unclassified ‘toy-models’ available on-line or in academic journals, rather than leak something from an actual high-fidelity classified study.”

The Seifritz graph came to the attention of the IAEA secretariat soon after it was published and was referred to the staff specialist on nuclear weapons research, according to a source familiar with the IAEA’s handling of such issues.

The source, who refused to be identified, told IPS the reaction of the official was that the graph represented fairly crude work on basic theory and was therefore not of concern to the agency.

The agency was given the alleged Iranian graph in 2011, and a “senior diplomat” from a different country from the source of the graph said IAEA investigators realised the diagramme was flawed shortly after they received it, according to the Dec. 1 AP story.

The IAEA’s familiarity with the Seifritz graph, two years before it was given graphs that bore a close resemblance to it and which the agency knew contained a huge mathematical error, raise new questions about how the IAEA could have regarded the Israeli intelligence as credible evidence of Iranian work on nuclear weapons.

Yukiya Amano, the director-general of the IAEA, refused to confirm or deny in an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington Dec. 6 that the graph published by AP was part of the evidence of Iranian “activities” related to nuclear weapons cited by the agency in its November 2011 report. .

Amano responded to a question on the graph, “I can’t discuss this specific information.”

In its November 2011 report, the IAEA said it had “information” from two member states that Iran had conducted “modeling studies” aimed at determining the “nuclear explosive yield” associated with components of nuclear weapon. It said the “information” had identified “models said to have been used in those studies and the results of these calculations, which the Agency has seen”.

The “senior diplomat” quoted by AP said the IAEA also had a spreadsheet containing the data needed to produce the same yield as shown on the graph – 50 kilotonnes – suggesting that the spreadsheet is closely related to the graph.

Butt observed, however, that the existence of the spreadsheet with data showing the yield related to a 50 kilotonne explosion does not make the graph any more credible, because the spreadsheet could have been created by simply plugging the data used to produce the graph.

Kemp of MIT agreed with Butt’s assessment. “If it’s simply data points plotted in the graph, it means nothing,” he told IPS.

After Butt and Dalnoki-Veress identified the fundamental error in the graph AP had published as evidence of Iranian work on a 50-kilotonne bomb, the Israeli source of the graph and an unidentified “senior diplomat” argued that the error must have been intentionally made by the Iranian scientist who they alleged had produced the graph.

A “senior diplomat” told AP the IAEA believed the scientist had changed the units of energy used by orders of magnitude, because “Nobody would have understood the original….”

That explanation was embraced by David Albright, who has served as unofficial IAEA spokesman in Washington on several occasions. But neither Albright nor the unidentified officials quoted by Jahn offered any explanation as to why an accurate graph would have been more difficult for Iranian officials to understand than one with such a huge mathematical error.

Further undermining the credibility of the explanation, Jahn’s sources suggested that the Iranian scientist whom they suspected of having devised the graph was Dr. Majid Shahriari, the nuclear scientist assassinated by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in 2010.

No evidence has been produced to indicate that Shahriari, who had a long record of publications relating to nuclear power plants and basic nuclear physics, had anything to do with nuclear weapons research.

This is a cross post from http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/12/iranian-bomb-graph-appears-adapted-from-one-on-internet/

*Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy, received the UK-based Gellhorn Prize for journalism for 2011 for articles on the U.S. war in Afghanistan.

Finally: A Book on Media & Media Laws in Pakistan!

This is a cross post from Media Point: http://www.mediapoint.pk/a-comparative-analysis-of-media-media-laws-in-pakistan/

A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan

The book titled ,’A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan’ written by Yasmeen Aftab Ali and published by Sang-e-Meel Publishers was launched in Pakistan on 17th October 2012. 

‘In my 8 years of teaching Media Laws, at the Beaconhouse National University, I did not come across a book that addressed the course as well as provide a guideline to media practitioners. This book plugs in that gap’,says Ali.

The book clarifies concepts from Freedom of Expression & Speech to how media is a tool in psychological warfare. The theories, limitations, cases laws from around the world as a comparative, present a bigger canvas.All aspects of Media have been discussed from Defamation to Cyber Laws.Contempt of Court,Electronic Media & where & why it has failed to play its rightful role in knitting together the Pakistani Society, to Social Responsibility of Media.

This book is a beautiful balance of the concepts and the practical working of the Media. The 312 pages contain 573 references- a detailed research book unchangeable in its concepts & details written purely on nationalistic basis, keeping Pakistan’s interest in mind.

This volume is a Must for everywhere the subject is taught. It clears the cobwebs deliberately knitted by vested interest groups to help readers understand the subject.

Review of the Book were carried by :  Express Tribune in it’s magazine section by Brig. Farooq Hameed Khan, in Opinion Maker by Ms Shireen Mazari & in The Nation by Brig. Imran Malik. Some Excerpts are shared below:

 

“A mirror for the Media” : Brig. Farooq Hameed Khan(Express Tribune Magazine Nov 25-Dec 1 2012)

“Should an Anchorperson be an expert in diverse subjects ranging from politics, to law to economics?If not, would he or she be able to ask pertinent and precise questions?What should be the ultimate goal of the media be: building a well-informed public opinion or making it a financially viable business?”

 

“In Pakistan,the author argues, a media organization’s Editorial Policy is decided by the media owner, which very often gets over-ridden by concerns of increased ratings amid cut-throat competition.”

 

“A Comparative Analysis of Media & Media Laws in Pakistan” : Shireen Mazari (Opinion Maker 14 Nov 2012)

“On the notion of freedom of expression, various viewpoints are cited, as well as existing case laws from other countries, to show the debate that still surrounds the issues of freedom of expression versus limits to that freedom. The author has also made a valuable distinction between the overall notion of freedom of expression and the idea of freedom of speech which the author places as being one part of the larger freedom of expression notion. The debate on this larger notion is extremely important given the controversies over blasphemous cartoons, the holocaust and other sensitive issues impacting whole communities in multiethnic, multi-religious states. Yasmeen also discusses laws in some European countries that have sought to curb the right of Muslim women to wear the veil, and how that could actually imply a denial of the right of expression to these women.”

 

“Coming to Pakistan, the author has helped clarify the state of the laws relating to the media as well as the Constitutional positions on freedom of expression plus limitations to it in the discussions on Article 19 and Article 204which include the controversial notions of contempt, defamation and libel. The holistic approach of the author is also reflected in her discussion on Article 19A of the Constitution dealing with Access to Information – brought in to accommodate the UN’s Convention on Human Rights – as well as her mentioning of the debate on dual nationality, especially in terms of the US Oath of Allegiance and the demands of Article 5 of the Constitution.”

 

“The author has done a remarkable critical review of the electronic media in Pakistan including its coverage of sensitive operations like the Lal Masjid coverage; and has raised some crucial questions as well. In fact, one of the most positive aspects of the book is that while each chapter has a conclusion, the author not only leaves the reader to draw his/her own conclusions but also excites the reader into puzzling over questions like when does the media shift from being the provider of news, exposer of wrongdoings to becoming the political agenda-setter? Is this a proper role for the media? Many such questions were raised in my mind as I read the book, especially when I came to the concluding chapter on Social Responsibility of the Media.”

“A Guide Book on Media-related Issues” : Brig. Imran Malik (The Nation 6 Dec 2012) 

“The book is very contemporary and relevant to the current political and social milieus of Pakistan. It explores in depth and with great dexterity the various facets of our media. It covers it in all its manifestations – print, electronic, informational and social – and deals with them and the laws/moral-ethical values that govern them very critically. In particular, it seeks to highlight its new found freedom and stature, its newly acquired powers and the need for it to use them professionally, fairly and for genuine public good.”

 

“It puts a lot of responsibility on the media. It could literally make or break the country. The media has acquired enormous clout and freedom in the past few years and has grown exponentially. Unfortunately its sense of responsibility has not kept pace with its power. It has in fact become captive to personal preferences, monopolies of certain media houses and susceptible to foreign inducements and pressures. Domestic political agendas generate their own peculiar dynamics as well. It is also struggling to evolve into a formidable, responsible, trustworthy and reliable entity. However, it suffers from manifold weaknesses – primarily a lack of professionally trained, experienced and qualified manpower,  a plethora of business minded media moguls, and indifferent and insufficient regulation – self or imposed. It debates these issues in great depth and brings out these dichotomies and contradictions with great clarity and forthrightness. The Comparative Analysis stimulates further inquiry into these facets of the media and media laws. “

 

Though all three have mentioned certain topics,if added would have enhanced the scope of discussion, yet all three admit to the understanding, research and relevancy of the book for Today’s Pakistan.