CONFIRMED: ‘Shamsi is a FARCE’

A little truth confirming what I have been saying is creeping out (but of course not from our military or civilian leadership):

‘Shamsi base is nice, but not crucial for drone attacks’

WASHINGTON: US drone raids targeting militants in Pakistan will not be jeopardized if Islamabad does indeed expel Americans from a key air base, officials and a former intelligence officer said Monday.

Angered over a Nato air attack on Saturday that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead, Islamabad has shut off supply routes to US-led forces in Afghanistan and ordered Americans out of the Shamsi air base used by the CIA’s fleet of unmanned aircraft.

Even if the Pakistanis make good on their threat over Shamsi, US officials and analysts say the move would be largely symbolic as Washington could fly Predator and Reaper drones out of air fields in neighboring Afghanistan.

[Here is the little lie/spin in this. Having admitted the threat over Shamsi is largely symbolic, they say Washington “COULD” fly drones out of Afghanistan. Remember “COULD” doesn’t mean “WOULD”. Remember, as previously shown, drones already DO NOT fly from Shamsi any more (hence described as ‘symbolic’) but from OTHER AIRBASES/AIRSTRIPS IN PAKISTAN and they “WOULD” CONTINUE as I stated earlier.]

“Shamsi is a nice thing to have, but it’s not critical to drone operations. They can be carried out from bases in Afghanistan,” said Bruce Reidel, a former CIA officer and fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank.

The remote Shamsi air base in the country’s southwest is particularly useful for flights hampered by poor weather conditions, he said.

[Again, read this carefully. Hidden here is the admission that MOSTLY DO NOT FLY FROM SHAMSI! Keep in mind another fact mentioned in my earlier post: Shamsi is over 500 miles away from North/South Waziristan where all of the drone strikes are taking place and to think they are flying all that way from Shamsi is plain ridiculous!]

A senior US official said the facility was not a make-or-break link for the robotic planes that have proved an effective weapon against Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists.

“The real issue isn’t Shamsi, it’s air space,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

[And NO ONE IS TALKING TAKING AWAY AIRSPACE (or the other real drone bases):]

So far there was no sign that Islamabad would bar the US aircraft from flying over Pakistan, and its announcement on Shamsi appeared designed to placate a domestic audience in Pakistan, officials said.

The Shamsi base reflects the contradictions in the uneasy partnership between the two countries, with Islamabad reluctant to publicly acknowledge its tacit cooperation with US counter-terror efforts, which many Pakistanis see as a violation of their country’s sovereignty.

[ALL Pakistanis (and foreigners) see it as violation of their country’s sovereignty (except our military and civilian leadership; in fact THEY KNOW IT TOO, THAT IS WHY ALL THE LIES!) for IT IS THAT WITHOUT QUESTION]

“You have to have jet fuel delivered to Shamsi,” Reidel said. “The Pakistani public has the impression of a base that operates extraterritorially but in reality it operates because the Pakistani army helps it to operate.”

Shortly after Saturday’s air attack on the border by Nato forces, Pakistan’s cabinet ministers and military chiefs demanded the United States clear out of the Shamsi air field within 15 days.

Pakistan previously called for the Americans to leave the air base in June but later backed off.

Although President Barack Obama’s administration was working on a response to a number of demands from Pakistan, there were no plans to pull back on the drone raids, which intelligence officials have credited with weakening the Al-Qaeda network.

“Pakistan remains a critical counter-terrorism partner, and we do not anticipate significant changes in that relationship,” another US official said.

A more serious problem for the United States and Nato allies is Pakistan’s decision to close its border to convoys ferrying fuel and supplies to coalition troops in landlocked Afghanistan.

[Oh but you can be DAMN SURE that “closure” is ONLY TEMPORARY]

Nearly half of all cargo bound for Nato-led forces runs through Pakistan. Roughly 140,000 foreign troops, including about 97,000 Americans, rely on supplies from outside Afghanistan for the ten-year-old war effort.

Pakistan has shut off the border over previous incidents, partly to allay popular outrage, and US officials said they expected the latest closure would be temporary….

[Ah, so the US  agrees…. ]

Q.E.D.!

RELATED:

• Kiyani’s Endless Lies Continue Following NATO Attack
• Enemy Within: An Open Letter to Roedad Khan
• More NATO Attack Facts…

‘BHAIGHAIRAT/BAYSHARAM FAUJ’ MUST SEE:

• ISPR-wood….Updated

ISPR Spokesperson: "Drones? What Drones? Those Paki officers must have been photoshopped in!"

More NATO Attack Facts…

…and the Army’s stand-down orders?

[I had this as a note (as Side Note 1 here) in another of the posts but feel the point is important enough that it deserves more attention]

Side Note 1: Here is another news item that puts a new light on the NATO strike. According to this story, i.e. NATO’s explanation, “aircraft which had been called into the area to provide “close air support” to troops on the ground was responsible for causing casualties among the Pakistani soldiers.” This only means one thing: Not only NATO violated the airspace, but also crossed into Pakistan territory on foot. (Shouldn’t they accept NATO’s explanation for it makes them look a little better? At least it shows that — for a change — their men acted the way they were supposed to and tried to stop the intrusion? But expecting that is expecting a bit much…they refuse to accept this excuse by NATO and the damn fools are instead pushing the “We pleaded” story:

The NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers lasted almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army claimed Monday in charges that could further inflame anger in Pakistan.

Point to note is that this EXPOSES THEM FURTHER (besides the “pleading” bit). Note that here is the admission that the ATTACK LASTED ALMOST TWO HOURS and these bozos on the ground did not get any support from their bozos in the air…One can be certain that those commanders were also in contact with their own commanders elsewhere but those commanders (including Kayani, for I am sure he was informed of what was going on) DID NOTHING (in fact they probably issued a stand-down order and let their fellow soldiers burn).

UPDATE: It is now being confirmed that NO ACTION was taken following the attack for a FULL FOUR HOURS AT LEAST (Maybe they were too busy putting finishing touches on this news release about this movie directed by Kayani’s son. That they would choose such a time for that is beyond disgusting).

ISPR-wood….Updated

"Glorious Resolve received the Jury's Special award from the President of the Italian Senate," says ISPR

At a time when the army were busy burying their dead, I was surprised to find ISPR found it an appropriate time to create a plug for their……MOVIE!

ISPR documentary bags first prize at International Film Festival

Funny thing is they are calling it a “documentary” though it is no such thing. That it is “based on a true story” gives away the fact that it is a complete work of fiction, confirmed yet again when they describe it as “emotionally powerful dramatization of the story of the courageous soldiers under fire in a dire combat situation.” And when they talk “International Award”, they really are not talking Oscars but some third-rate “International Film [PROPAGANDA] Festival” named “Eserciti-e-Popoli” (Army and People)  specifically put together to hawk trash like this in Italy.

One other thing I can not comprehend is that though the story states “‘Glorious Resolve’ received first prize“, the ISPR release states it received a “Jury’s Special award” (so that “first prize” is bullshit; and we can well imagine how that Jury’s Special Award was acquired 😉

Anyways, here is the “official” synopsis:

Glorious Resolve is based on a true story about the infantry soldiers “who fought against all odds when 1500 miscreants raided one of the section level outpost of an Infantry Battalion in South Waziristan Agency on the night of 29 May 2009.”

The documentary highlights “not only the sacrifices and achievements of the Pakistan Army in War against Terrorism but also its glorious resolve to uproot the menace of terrorism from Pakistan.”

Glorious Resolve recreates the sacrifice of 43 soldiers of the Punjab Regiment who laid their lives during the attack.

Barf at all the clichés! And  “1500 miscreants” vs 43 soldiers? Right! The “miscreants” always attack in such huge numbers since they are doing gorilla warfare (I won’t be surprised if the numbers have been switched in this “true story” moviementary…)

UPDATE: Now this supposed raid by “1500 miscreants” that killed “43 soldiers” has been bugging me. If there was such a raid in which 43 soldiers were killed, I am sure it would have made the papers (ISPR would not stay silent over this achievement, as this moviementary proves). But checking the papers for May 30, 2009 and May 31, 2009 (in case this happened late at night and did not make it on May 30), I can find NOT A SINGLE story about this raid. Oh yes, there are plenty of stories but they are of army raids killing “militants” but not the other way around (remember too that it was Swat that was hot those days and not South Waziristan), e.g.: May 30, 2009: Forces Secure Peuchar, Bahrain in Swat Valley Killing 28 insurgents ‘Operation against militants in Swat to continue’ ‘Bajaur, Mohmand IDPs not to forget government’s apathy and discriminatory behaviour ’ Stolen US arms being used in Swat ISPR  Bounty for Fazlullah raised to Rs50m  May 31, 2009 Troops regain control of Mingora, Swat Taliban behead three ‘spies’ in Pacha Killay Military operation likely Residents of Charbagh asked to leave area  Eight militants killed in Kohat Frontier Region  See what I mean? That “May 29, 2009 raid by 1500 miscreants” is itself A COMPLETE FABRICATION! So much for “based on a true story!”

Here is another interesting thing: Visiting “Eserciti-e-Popoli” you see that it is almost a dead site. Most of the links don’t work and those that do have useless info that it is there is like:

An International Competition of Documentaries about the contemporary military produced by participating nations and by institutions in some way connected with the world of Defense.

It mentions no films except an Italian one form 2002 festival (I checked all pages, including the italian ones). It mentions no other festival that was held so of course it gives no calendar or a list of winners.

Sorry folks, but this post is NOT “based on a true story”. It is a TRUE STORY of just another of ISPR’s lies.

BTW: I could write a book about the moviementary’s byline “Death before Disgrace” but I wont. Let me just mention:

1948, 1965, 1971, Kargil, Balochistan, FATA, PATA, Raymond Davis, DHAs, Musharraf, Zia, Yahya, Ayub, GHQ attack, Mehran Base attack, Abbotabad, NATO attacks, DAILY drones, NRO,…,…,…(and I don’t know how much more I am missing)

P.S. Seeing the comments on the Tribune site where this story comes from, one states:

Its directed by Sarosh Kiyani who is the son of Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani

And checking the ISPR release confirms it:

Glorious Resolve was the joint venture of ISPR and Mind[DOESN’T]works Media.Brigadier Syed Azmat Ali was the Executive Producer whereas Brig Syed Mujtaba Tirmizi was the Executive Director of the film. Lieutenant Colonel Irfan Aziz was the project director and the writer of this film which was amicably directed by Sarosh Kayani. Dr Hassan Waqas Rana of Mind[DOESN’T]works Media was the producer whereas Bilal Lashari was the Director of Photography.

Well, besides confirming what our generals are really busy at, this confirmed the director was indeed one named “Sarosh Kayani” but not knowing Ashfaq Kayani’s family, I had to check (the name “Sarosh” did sound Indian to me). And lo and behold, imagine my surprise when this story confirmed the fact that Sarosh is indeed Ashfaq Kayani’s son….

Now I knew Kayani was bad, but that he was this pathetic, I couldn’t have imagined!

Side Note 1: Here is another news item that puts a new light on the NATO strike. According to this story, i.e. NATO’s explanation, “aircraft which had been called into the area to provide “close air support” to troops on the ground was responsible for causing casualties among the Pakistani soldiers.” This only means one thing: Not only NATO violated the airspace, but also crossed into Pakistan territory on foot. (Shouldn’t they accept NATO’s explanation for it makes them look a little better? At least it shows that — for a change — their men acted the way they were supposed to and tried to stop the intrusion? But expecting that is expecting a bit much…they refuse to accept this excuse by NATO and the damn fools are instead pushing the “We pleaded” story:

The NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers lasted almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army claimed Monday in charges that could further inflame anger in Pakistan.

Point to note is that this EXPOSES THEM FURTHER (besides the “pleading” bit). Note that here is the admission that the ATTACK LASTED ALMOST TWO HOURS and these bozos on the ground did not get any support from their bozos in the air…One can be certain that those commanders were also in contact with their own commanders elsewhere but those commanders (including Kayani, for I am sure he was informed of what was going on) DID NOTHING (in fact they probably issued a stand-down order and let their fellow soldiers burn).

UPDATE: It is now being confirmed that NO ACTION was taken following the attack for a FULL FOUR HOURS AT LEAST (Maybe they were too busy putting finishing touches on this news release).

Side Note 2: I don’t have a clue what CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry means by this:

• ‘Terrorists behind Swat unrest to face justice’

Why The Fake Photo?

If this Jang story is true, why accompany it with such a fake photo?

Every thing about this appears fake. The wall certainly has been (terribly) photoshoped clean, the FC guy is certainly posing, the body of the “terrorist” certainly has been placed there as has been the gun on the body.

P.S. Would a guy under attack be sitting so high — I mean, come on, a ditch is right there — and “aiming” his automatic weapon like that?

Is FC taking lessons from ISPR? 😛

Update: The Nation has the same story. Their description too leaves no doubt the story is a complete fabrication  — described as a typical fake-encounter:

In another incident, unidentified people hurled a hand grenade and opened indiscriminate firing on the patrolling vehicle of Frontier Corps (FC) at Brewery Road that exploded and wounded four personnel of security forces.

The security forces also returned fire, killing a suspected attacker on the spot, however, other attackers managed to escape from the site.

The attacker was identified Abdul Majeed Langav.

The sources said that security forces also raided a house and recovered rocket launchers, hand grenades and explosive materials.

Police shifted the body to hospital for autopsy and started further investigations.

I am yet to figure out when these “terrorists” go for an attack — which they probably will not survive — they leave most of their more lethal and more effective weaponry at home? I mean, if you are going to attack FC, WHY would you leave your rocker launcher at home???

A Quickie: The Latest Death By Drones Spin

As if ‘1-in-3’ justifies it, today’s papers were filled offering as fact the claim by the New American Foundation report:
One in three killed by US drones in Pakistan is a civilian

One in three? Maybe Dawn ought to look at it’s own report by the same reporter only 20 days ago which states ‘For each Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist killed by US drones, 140 innocent Pakistanis also had to die”; Or it’s own Blog! For additional comparison, let’s see some previous news reports from different sources:

60 drone hits kill 14 al-Qaeda men, 687 civilians
Well that does equal 1 in 3!

Unlawful US drone war kills 140 innocent civilians for 1 CIA-alleged terrorist
Well that does equal 1 in 3!

“For each Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist killed by US drones, 140 innocent Pakistanis also had to die,” the newspaper reports. “Over 90 per cent of those killed in the deadly missile strikes were civilians, claim authorities.”
Well that does equal 1 in 3!

NYT: 700 people had been killed in those attacks and 98 per cent of them were civilians, which is 50 civilians for each militant eliminated.
Well that does equal 1 in 3!

Of course the only people who would agree to these numbers are ISPR (according to which not a single civilian has ever been killed by the mercenary forces aka Pakistan Army), the baboos and those in Government, like the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi. The only thing he felt wrong about all this was:
‘Irresponsible reporting on drone attacks humiliating country’

(Am glad they shot this bastard! I only wish they’d get this one in the head)

Proof ISPR Best At Telling Tall Tales

LiesRUsWood

ISPR documentary wins first prize in film festival

Friday, November 20, 2009

Rawalpindi

‘Life of a Siachin Soldier’ an ISPR documentary has won the first prize in the international film festival ‘Eserciti-e-popoli’ (armies and people) held at Bracciano, Rome (Italy), says an ISPR press release issued here Thursday.

The armed forces representatives from 20 countries participated in the contest where 150 documentaries were screened in different categories. Maintaining the tradition, Pakistan Army’s documentary ‘Life of a Siachin Soldier’ has won the first prize in the category of training and was awarded Chief of Army Staff trophy.

…It may be pertinent to mention here that Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) is winning positions in the festival since 1994.

Ah, so they have been getting good at it since 1994. But they really are not that good with Photoshop yet… 😛

Fake ISPR Photo of Kiyani Visiting Swat