The ‘shoey’ Side of Politics

#419 zeemax: Those phrases you used (hellfire missiles etc.) were the one arjun uses to live out his pandit-insane fantasies, not hamidm. I dont think hamidm, despite his regrettable lota-tendencies, ever called for the killing of innocent people.

#417 dm: Sir jee depends who this "one" is that you are talking about. If you mean the conventional wisdom desi babus - they are always 30 years behind times anyway (that is why we still have people arguing about 1947 issues on chowk), so it is no surprise that they are thinking of conventional mass media.

But I think I did the right thing in taking a broader view of the media consistent with today's realities by bringing in the internet. Only by seeing things from this broader perspective will you understand why in fact the US is the world leader in freedom and human liberty. Despite anti-US propaganda from the same people who then rush to put their investments in US control and (as per the example of ICANN) trust the US to manage the internet rather than one another.

#415 Posted by tahmed32,

No, I meant hamidm2. I don't care much for cockroaches and monkeys. Read today's Khaleej Times re the Swedish's findings that they after drugging, raping, drowning and throttling the British teen, the bharti doctors performing the autopsy sold her kidneys and liver.

And I thought the selling of coffins of their war dead was bad.

#382 Posted by tahir
What is MQM brothers? Mohajir Quota Movement?
#383 Posted by IB
MQM = Muthida Qaumi Movement , defender of ahle-zuban.

Actually both are right.

MQM = Muhajir Qaumiat-e-ahl-e-zubaan (though in the licking sense and not the literary sense) Movement. The word Mutt-hida means hideous mutts in their zabaan, and their sole demand is preferential job quotas over the locals as if these ahl-e-zabaans descended from Heaven instead of Bihar.

tahmed#401:

Sirji, our discussion was about the US media and you have turned it into a debate on whether or not the Internet is controlled by the US. This is a good example of taking an argument to a logical absurdity and debate that absurdity. Regardless of the validity of your point (and I do not think that the Internet is or can be controlled by anyone, including the US), when one is talking of the US media, one generally thinks of the conventional mass media, such as TV networks and newspapers.

treetop#390:

Your answer is here: http://chowk.com/articles/13490

zeemax: i think you meant arjun, not hamidm. and this is terrible news for arjun. please break it to him gently..

In answering Jay-Pee's accusation I have THIS:

Dear Jay Pee,

You surely did not have Fauji Corn Flakes for breakfast, did you? Please quote where the Qur'an condemns killing a blasphemer?

The Bible does say in 24:16
And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.

Read the Qur'an to understand Islam, and stop wasting time on Wicked-Pedia...

The truth will liberate you.

Shanti.

Well?

Sorry hamidm2. No more hellfires and daisy cutters from your taxes but 'non-military aid'. Are you going to protest on the Hill?

US offers Pakistan government $7bn in non-military aid to fight terrorism

· Civilian cabinet told drone air strikes will be curbed · New strategy marks break with Musharraf and army

* Julian Borger in Islamabad
* The Guardian,
* Thursday April 17 2008

The US has promised to curb air strikes by drones against suspected militants in Pakistan, as part of a joint counter-terrorism strategy agreed with the new civilian government in Islamabad, the Guardian has learned.

That strategy will be supported by an aid package potentially worth more than $7bn (£3.55bn), which is due to go before Congress for approval in the next few months.

The package would triple the amount of American non-military aid to Pakistan, and is aimed at "redefining" the bilateral relationship, US officials say.

Pakistan will also be given a "democracy dividend" of up to $1bn, a reward for holding peaceful elections and forming a coalition government. Of that, $200m could be approved in the next few days.

The aid package, being put together by the Democratic senator Joseph Biden, will mark a decisive break in US policy on Pakistan, which for much of the past nine years focused on President Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistani military as Washington's primary partners in the "war on terror". Officials in Washington said yesterday that the shift had already been made.

"Senator Biden wants to show the relationship is much broader than a military one, and that we are willing to sustain it over time," one of the senator's senior aides said yesterday.

A US administration official said: "Each day Musharraf's influence becomes less and less. Civilians are in control. People aren't meeting with Musharraf any more ... we are very pleased with the new civilian government."

Pakistani officials say much of the new counter-terrorism aid will be spent on civilian law enforcement institutions, such as the interior ministry, the intelligence bureau and the federal investigation agency, rather than being channelled almost exclusively through the army and the military-run Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) organisation.

The new government says it has also won American support for its policy of opening a dialogue with Pashtun tribes along the Afghan border, led by an ethnic Pashtun group, the Awami National party, that is part of the government coalition.

The new understanding on air strikes by US Predator drones is seen in Islamabad as a critical benchmark for the new relationship.

In January senior US intelligence officials flew to Islamabad and struck an agreement with Musharraf to give the American military a freer hand in the use of Predators against targets in Pakistan's tribal areas, which have become havens for al-Qaida and other foreign jihadists as well as Taliban forces fighting Nato forces and the government in Afghanistan.

The subsequent increase in Predator strikes - estimates of the number range up to eight - caused outrage in Pakistan. Britain also broke with Washington over the reliance on air strikes often guided by uncertain intelligence.

Pakistani officials say they have been given assurances by Washington that there will be close consultation with the civilian government, not with Musharraf, before any future strikes.

However, the use of Predators is held as a closely guarded secret and US intelligence is reluctant to share information about targets, and there is some scepticism in Islamabad over whether the deal will stick.

"We'll have to take them at their word, won't we," said the new information minister, Sherry Rahman, in an interview in Islamabad. She added that Washington's previous emphasis on ties to Musharraf and the Pakistani military "hasn't provided the results that were supposed to happen on the ground".

The US has given Pakistan about $10bn in military aid during the past seven years, but it has not diminished the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, while Pakistani extremism is also on the rise. Some officials in Washington believe most of the money has been used to build up Pakistan's conventional forces for use in a possible future conflict with India, rather than spent on counter-insurgency.

Furthermore, much of the money being used for counter-terrorism is being misspent, both Pakistan and US government officials say. As an example they say that Musharraf distributed the $25m reward money for capturing or killing "high value" al-Qaida targets in the form of an "inverted pyramid".

"A few thousand would go to the police constable on the ground who actually spotted the guy, but the millions go to the generals up the chain," a Pakistani official said. No wonder, he added, that the tip-offs stopped coming in and the number of high-profile arrests dropped.

#411 damn!! foiled again!! :-(

Re: # 410 tahmed
thank you sir,but your kindness is not enough to lead me into your camp.

treetop to Ajeya #404 "Its not the lack of arguments its the fear that you will dig out some lenthy article from some where or write a monologue of twisted logic that iwill have to read unwillingly"

You are a wise man sir. It similar concerns that prompted me in #403 to wish Mr. Ajeya a happy 2009. :-)

Re: # 406
If someone can assure you of 72 virgins,dont you think its something to die for?

Re: # 405
I am not taking the bait...sorry.

Re: # 405
I am not taking the bait...sorry.

#403 tahmed32

tahmed,

Nobody is buying your egalitarian posturing. You have revealed too much of yourself over the years. You are a true Islamist.

There are no Houris or Ghilmans in your future, by the way. Also, Muhammad was lying about the winged creature. He just controlled stupid Arabs and did as he wanted, while he was alive. It's true, tahmed. It's true. There is NOTHING like that. Nothing. It's ALL made up. ALL of it. Sorry.

:-(