Everybody loves Raymond, the double slayer

The Pakistani Government ‘loves’ him to the extent that they are willing to bend the rules to grant him diplomatic immunity from prosecution for the twin killings that he committed in Lahore. They ‘love’ him for the large one-time dose of Manna, over and above the routine dosage, that is likely to fly into their coffers from the Grand Masters for the deal.

The US of A ‘loves’ him to the extent that no less than the President of United States wants him released, and pronto too. The lesser minions of America, of course, blow hot and cold threatening to cut off all aid and bring to an abrupt halt the so called ‘strategic alliance’ that the two countries have. They ‘love’ him so much in fact that all drone attacks in FATA have been ceased lest a single hair on Raymond’s well-fed body is harmed in retaliation.

The Punjab Government, in whose domain the crimes took place and who now hold Raymond, ‘loves’ him because he gives them a handle with which to embarrass deeply, and irreparably if it so chooses, the central government –their political opponent. They want the country’s ‘law’ to take its course and the criminal duly prosecuted.

The religious parties ‘love’ him because they have at last found a cause with which to rally the naive masses around. They will now beat their chests in sympathy with the heirs of the victims, organize mass protests, foam at their mouths at the spinelessness that the Pakistani Government shows in every confrontation with the ‘Great Satan’, invoke Islam at every mass gathering and remind people that their version of Islam is the only solution to all evils plaguing the country.

The sacked Foreign Minister of Pakistan, a Makhdoom whose principle vocation is to sell charms and amulets to simple villagers, ‘loves’ Raymond because it was due to him that the Makhdoom has overnight turned into a hero. He has supposedly withstood the pressure of the great US of A by not agreeing to a diplomatic immunity for Raymond, getting fired from his job instead.

All the opposition political parties ‘love’ him because Raymond gives a lease of life to their flagging existence. They can now create further chaos in a nation already deeply splintered along ethnic, sectarian and political fault lines. They see a chance of quietly slipping into corridors of power in the ensuing bedlam. They ‘love’ him for giving them a case that has the rare potential of solidifying the Pakistani nation into a single, unified front against ‘brazen American recklessness’.

The gullible Pakistanis ‘love’ Raymond not only because they have been told to do so but also because his issue all of a sudden reminds them of their ‘love’ for the rule of law. They ‘love’ him to the extent that they are willing to forget and rally around the same leaders who have historically held the rule of law in Pakistan in utmost contempt. It makes them conveniently overlook that the very Pakistani leaders calling Americans to respect Pakistan’s laws are the same people who organized mob attacks on the Supreme Court and even had the Chief Justice of Pakistan manhandled by lowly police constables.

And that bunch of lovelies, the Pakistani Taliban, ‘love’ him for a very simple and straightforward reason. They want him released into their custody so that they could do another Daniel Pearl on him. Call it love for love’s sake.

While all this love wingding goes on, let us have a quick look at the controversy itself.

America’s stand point is simple: one of its diplomats in one of the ‘most dangerous’ countries in the world was threatened by two men with guns, and the diplomat shot and killed them in self-defense. He sits in jail, “illegally detained,” because he enjoys diplomatic immunity.

Their Pakistani counterparts, however, tell an entirely different story.

They say that not only Raymond Davis does not enjoy diplomatic immunity, the matter is far murkier than what meets the eye. Talking with ABC News on the condition of anonymity, four Pakistani officials have claimed that the two men who Raymond Davis killed in Lahore last month were working for Pakistan’s premiere intelligence service, the ISI. They were following Davis because he was spying. According to these officials, the ISI believed he had crossed “a red line” and needed to be followed.

Between these two diametrically opposing views, journalists, bloggers, media pundits and Charlie’s aunt continue to paint theories with varying shades. While some saner elements want to wait for the smoke to clear away before taking a stance on the issue, most have already announced America’s grand alliance with the Pakistani Taliban/Al-Qaeda with the sole aim of destabilizing the country. They don’t, of course, explain why the US would continue to pump billions of dollars into the country’s treasury on the one hand while conspiring to sink her on the other.

Be that as it may, while everyone else’s sudden rush of love for Raymond is understandable, America’s feverish urgency in their demands for the release of their new found love, a low level operative really, is not.

It is not understandable why seasoned American diplomats would suddenly drop all decorum of hushed and enduring diplomacy. Why would normally dignified US officials suddenly become bulls in a china shop, all muscles, horns and hind quarters, threatening to bring down the whole painstakingly erected edifice if their man is not released. Pray, what sensitivities are involved that have forced the weathered US envoys to replace tact and discretion with threat and bombast? And even if Raymond had diplomatic immunity, why can’t it be waived for the sake of 60 years old partnership? The Americans are, after all, convinced that their man is innocent. No one knows at this point.

So yes, everybody loves Raymond. But the mother of everybody in Pakistan, the Pakistan Army, watches the fracas quietly from the sidelines. For now at least.

The American Progressive Movement Working With Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Organization!

The Biggest News Story Ever Missed – Exactly How Long Has The American Progressive Movement Been Working With The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Organization?

January 31, 2011

Mainstream media have spent decades and countless dollars promoting the myth that they are the 4th estate, keeping a watchful eye on our government.

For all their crowing about intelligence and editorial controls, they have probably missed the biggest story of this young century. That story is this:

The American and European Socialist (Progressive) movement has partnered with the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas, al Qaida, etc..) and have been organizing for change in the Middle East.

They have been working together for years, and now we are witnessing the fruits of their labors.

This raises a mixture of reactions. On one hand, it is hard to feel anything but joy at the destruction of a dictatorship. On the other hand, the Progressive movement is thoroughly Marxist and thoroughly immoral, in that there is no tactic they will not unleash on civilian populations if they feel it serves their ends.

The idea of Progressives working with terrorists to overthrow and Shariafy more of the Middle East should horrify every good American.

No matter how it shakes out, people who allegedly claim to be journalists covering American politics, European politics, or Middle East politics, are worthless except for providing uninformed observation.

Thus, the average consumer of news has no idea that the events they are witnessing are largely the product of American and European Socialists working with the very same groups that flew planes into buildings on 9/11.

How long has that relationship been operational? More than a decade? Less? These are but a couple of the questions that could be asked of Progressive leaders, if only there were a single journalist in the White House press corps who is not consumed by their interest in protecting their precious access to the Organizer-In-Chief.

One more question – Why in the hell does the Conservative movement cede community organizing to the Marxists? Can you imagine what the images out of Egypt would look like today if Conservatives had been organizing moderates, as opposed to Progressives organizing terrorists? Why should they be the ones to topple the world’s dictatorships?

If there is going to be a global movement to topple the status quo – a very worthy goal – should it be left to American Marxists and their Jihad partners, or should it be led by people with morals and an appreciation for Jeffersonian politics?

Prediction: The American Progressive movement will now begin the re-education of America. Keep your eyes open for “news” coverage of how moderate the Muslim Brotherhood is. Sure, they birthed Hamas and al Qaida, but they are better at compartmentalizing than President Clinton del Macanudo. They can blow up a bus load of Jews and/or fly planes into buildings, all while delivering humanitarian aid to the needy.

And Dr. ElBaradei argued that by upsetting the old relationship between Mr. Mubarak and the Brotherhood, the youth movement posed a new challenge to United States policy makers as well.

“For years,” he said, “the West has bought Mr. Mubarak’s demonization of the Muslim Brotherhood lock, stock and barrel, the idea that the only alternative here are these demons called the Muslim Brotherhood who are the equivalent of Al Qaeda.”

The Ugly American

Spearhead Analysis - 03.02.11

AY is a young banker. A few days ago he drove out of his bank to run an errand. He stopped at a busy intersection where traffic was being controlled by a traffic warden. Hearing a tap on his window he turned and looked into the muzzle of a pistol leveled at him from under a loose scarf that hid it from others. The motor cyclist who had another person sitting behind him with a similar scarf motioned him to lower his window. He did so and complied immediately with the demand to hand over his wallet, watch and phone. The whole episode took two minutes and the motorcyclists sped away leaving the young man to face the wrath of the traffic warden who was angrily urging him to move it. OS is a young businessman. Returning from work he felt a vehicle hitting his car from behind. He jumped out to investigate and was whisked away by two armed men leaving his driver shouting. It has been six weeks and ransom negotiations are slowly dragging on. These two true stories are a tiny sampling of the menace of street crime, kidnappings and even killings on the streets of Lahore as well as other urban areas. The victims are helpless because no one can help them and the criminals have established credibility by killing those who resisted—in every case they got away.

Against this backdrop consider the case of the ‘American’ Raymond Davis, except that he is not actually Raymond Davis (as indirectly admitted by the US spokesman Mr Crowley). What should have been a hold-up gone horribly wrong has turned into the kind of incident that neither Pakistan nor the US wanted. The ‘American’ obviously a highly trained operative shot two motor cycle riding young Pakistanis apparently (according to his version) in self defense. He then called for ‘back-up’ from his own people and a speeding car that responded ran over and killed another Pakistani and injured others as it violated all traffic laws to whisk the ‘American’ away. They failed—and in any case it was a fatally flawed decision. The ‘American’ is in police custody and the case is now sub-judice in the Lahore High Court. The US has demanded his immediate release claiming diplomatic immunity for him. There is now confusion over his identity, his status, his job description, the business that took him to one of the city’s most crowded areas alone and armed, the lone eye witness who has disappeared after a single TV appearance, the identity of the policemen who arrested him, the exact circumstances of the shooting , the number of rounds fired, the caliber of the weapon used, the ability of the ‘American’ to call up and summon his colleagues who attempted a ‘hijack’ instead of talking to the police on the spot (probably fearing a reaction from the crowd and further mayhem) and finally the identity of those who responded for the ‘rescue’. Each one of these ambiguities could and should have been cleared up within 24 hours if there was cooperation and transparency—that these remain unclear has led to speculation and media frenzy that is now taking many directions. The US demand, without a resolution of the incident, has put Pakistani law enforcement and the judicial system up against the wall. A more cooperative attitude would have left the door open and this gauntlet hastily thrown has created complications.

The street discussion (and in some cases the media) ranges over several scenarios. The ‘Blackwater’ controversy has been revived and the name this time is “Hyperion Protective Consultants”—obviously a cover for other work. There is the perception that trained operatives have gained access and run loose in urban areas embedded in a notoriously unsuspecting civil society to hire local agents, locate high value targets and perhaps collect the millions promised as ‘bounty’. There are suspicions that it’s all about nukes—to discover locations, plan access and prepare for ‘contingencies’. There is the extreme scenario that these loose cannons are guns for hire and are behind the violence and lawlessness in urban areas either to push the military into North Waziristan or failing that to destabilize the entire country for an implosion modulated by economic clout. Media is speculating on the presence of other such ‘Americans’ riding around in vehicles with false plates. There is the doubt whether the operatives are all ‘American’ sponsored or others are also involved.

All of this could have been avoided if there had been a sense of urgency in factual disclosures preempting media and public opinion—a lesson that is not being learnt and is especially important in Pakistan’s current charged environment. The most significant factor of course is transparency and that is possible only when there is nothing to hide. As if orchestrated there are other issues coming to the fore—a statement from the Deputy Military Commander in Afghanistan that ‘the war in Afghanistan is winnable without Pakistan’, the killing of a Pakistani soldier in an exchange of fire between Afghan and Pakistani forces on the border, the story of an increase in Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal (when it is no secret that stockpile augmentation and delivery system improvement continues unabated in both India and Pakistan), the displeasure over Pakistan’s stance on the FMCT (with India joining the chorus) and the IMF refusal to release the next tranche of the badly needed funds. There is speculation that much more will follow. There are voices calling for a nuclear energy pact and an economic bail-out for Pakistan but these are lost in the confusion that prevails.

The overriding requirement is for diplomacy and tact to take over and dominate the discourse. The first step has to be identification and determination of visa status—this will set the course for a decision on custody and legal procedure. This should not be difficult between strategic allies if they want the air to be cleared. Pakistan, of course, needs to address the entire law and order issue comprehensively and methodically to ensure human and material security.

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