Posts Tagged ‘Gilani’
A blunt warning to Pakistan
We sit down to talk, the smile goes away!
Daylife/Getty Images used by permission
Islamabad — An unusually powerful American delegation arrived here on Thursday to deliver the starkest warning yet to Pakistan, according to a senior American official: that the United States would act unilaterally if necessary to attack extremist groups that use the country as a haven to kill Americans…
“This is a time for clarity,” Mrs. Clinton declared in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she met President Hamid Karzai before leaving for Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. “No one should be in any way mistaken about allowing this to continue without paying a very big price.”
“There’s no place to go any longer,” Mrs. Clinton added, referring to Pakistan’s leaders, whom the administration has accused of equivocating by supporting the Afghan insurgency…
Before the meeting, which took place at the residence of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a senior administration official said that the delegation would make it clear that if the Pakistanis did not act against insurgents like the Haqqani network, then the United States would have to.
The Haqqani network uses Pakistan’s tribal areas as a base and has become the most potent part of the insurgency in Afghanistan. Before stepping down last month, Adm. Mike Mullen, General Dempsey’s predecessor, called the Haqqanis “a veritable arm” of Pakistan’s intelligence service…
Pakistan’s response remains to be seen…
RTFA. I understand they are between a rock and a hard place. It is – to a certain extent – a problem of their own making. The habit of funneling virtually all foreign aid through Pakistan’s military who dole it out to their bandit buddies as freely as they do to political hacks – ain’t any way to build and maintain democratic and progressive leadership of a nation still climbing out of the Stone Age they agreed to with the departure of the Brits at the end of colonial days.
If they don’t try, if they fail to take a stand for the advancement of the whole of Pakistan’s population while rejecting the sectarian bandits from fear of confrontation – US largesse and tribute must be cut off. Simple enough. Easy enough. Lose the Cold War mentality.
“I appeal to the world to help us!”
PAKISTAN — Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said that the flood had caused losses worth billions of rupees and it was not possible to estimate the exact damages caused by the floodwaters at this time.
The premier, who was in Sukkar to review the flood situation, said that the government’s first priority was to save the lives of flood-hit victims. We have to combine our efforts in the relief and rehabilitation process, he added.
“Millions of people have suffered and still there is more rain and further losses are feared. I appeal to the world to help us, we are doing what we can,” Gilani told reporters, as he urged those threatened by the “unprecedented” floods to move to safer spots…
While talking to the media in Sukkar, Gilani said that the damages caused by the floods exceeded the destruction caused by the earthquake that hit Pakistan in 2005.
14 million people are dislocated. The official death toll has reached 1700 and hundreds more are missing and possibly dead. Whatever charity you may support that provides aid to South Asia – this is the time to give.
Pakistan Muslim League backs anti-Taliban assault
Refugees from Mingora
UPI Photo/Sajjad Ali Qureshi
The Pakistan Muslim League and its leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif, signaled support for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his ongoing security operations against the Taliban in the Malakand region Tuesday during the All Parties Conference in Islamabad, Pakistan’s English-language newspaper Dawn reported.
Sharif’s closest lieutenant, Raja Zafarul Haq, declared that the party fully backs the anti-Taliban assault, telling the newspaper that the PML-N also wouldn’t hesitate to support a similar operation in Waziristan, part of the country’s ungoverned tribal areas and home to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
The All Parties Conference was called by Gilani to forge a political consensus among Pakistan’s parliamentary groups around the military campaign to fight Taliban militants in Swat and surrounding areas of the Malakand region. Dawn said that despite reservations expressed by relatively small parties, the conference produced a declaration of support for the government’s actions.
None of this is easy. Never ever easy.
Distanced by miles and time, I have wondered as many have if President Zardari and his political associates have the experience and strength of position to bring together a consensus – against the Taliban threat. Confronting the Islamist minority who would distort history and religion and even the just anti-imperialist sentiments of the region to goals of their sectarian agenda.
It appears they are capable and the people of Pakistan are willing. Pretty good combination.
