Pakistan: Inside The Nuclear Closet

Thanks, Tahmed.
I will certainly check the information and links you provided.
I will also ask around and do some own homework in this regard.

kas #53 I can tell you of three organizations right off:

1. DIL website: http://www.4dil.org/DIL/
I have attended a couple of their fund raisers in the east coast of the US, and it was attended by well educated professional types. One of their office bearer`s is a Pakistani doctor`s wife in California who I know is very dedicated since I recall her father in Islamabad telling me when I was there how she left by car to visit the various DIL schools the day after she landed in Pakistan. You can sponsor individual students, or entire schools (and they will let you take ``ownership`` of the school by naming it). THey are quite large and well organized.

2. MMBMT: I know the founder (a retired Colonel who lives in Islamabad), and he has dedicated himself to this despite his age. He is always eager to take Pakistani-Americans to visit his girls school, and has lots of stories to tell.

3. SOS Villages: This is the oldest organization I think (it is actually an international organization based in Europe), and I have known them since the late 1970`s. They specialize in orphanages.

4. Blindness: I forget the name (if you are interested I can find it), but this is a large organization focussed on blindness among the poor. They were started using inheritance left behind by a British gentleman (Costain, partner in the construction firm MLC) who had worked in Pakistan.

Yes, I have contributed to the above, and attended their functions and/or known the founders, as have my other brothers and sisters and most Pakistanis I know in our area. And there are many more in Pakistan (including the one started by the white American I mentioned in my previous post).

I fully agree with you on the need to see for yourself what work is being done. You will find the visit to be not only assuring, but also uplifting: I remember my visit to an SOS village near Rawalpindi, and was pleasantly surprised at how well organized and well maintained it was - with women acting as mothers for 7-8 orphans each. You will find such a visit to be very rewarding, I can assure you.

kas #53 and one more thing - dont go by the news. Only ``newsworthy`` items make it to the news (``dog wags tail`` is not news, ``man bites dog for wagging tail`` is news). Visit Pakistan (or any other place on earth) for yourself and your faith in humanity is restored. When in Pakistan, visit various places, do volunteer work if you can (my nephew volunteered for the ILO last year, and spent an entire summer visiting various ``sweatshops`` and convincing the business owners to finance part time schooling for teenagers working for them - and found that much more rewarding than doing compulsory one year duty with the German military which was his other option). You wont be sorry, and you will have a completely different picture of Pakistan than if you watched cnn or read Dawn online.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

pardaisi #51
I donot have to be in Zia`s govt to provide quotes of Zia, I just have to read Benazir Bhutto interviewed by rediff.com. If you have a problem, take it up with BB, not me. I personally think she is falsely painting herself as opposing Zia`s `legacy` policies, instead of admitting that she too supported them while she was in office.

RE: #49 by tahmed32

You sound like my Dad, Tahmed. I agree with you and I was just expressing my frustrations. I was very young when I left Karachi, Pakistan, where I was born. But I have visited there from time to time. I still do on business. The visits were not always memorable but I enjoyed my outings with relatives and family friends.
I realize that I should be proud of Pakistan but what I see and hear in the news is opppsite to what you are saying. Everyday there are jihadi events happening which is giving our country a bad name. This is why I am sometimes ashamed to be called a Paki.
Also, can you give me the website for DIL, MBBMT and those organization that should be supported. I never heard of them before. I hear you, sir, but I am afraid that they are either madrassas in disguise or are run by people who just want to pocket the money for personal gain. I would rather visit these groups on my next vist to Pakistan and see for my self what is happenin there.
I know I have not been truly patriotic but these might be good organization to support. btw, do you support any of these organizations? Have you seen their work. I do not want to support courupt organizations or people.
I also need to get out of my current profession. I am torn by the pros and cons of it. Although I do enjoy the perks, it is not something to be proud of. My Mom woild just about die if she knew what I did for a living. But it brings me good money.

About the sword, I do know a bit about them. My uncle has two swords that he brought back from Pakistan. He says they are from the Mogul Period and were owned by some general (some Jahangir guy). Anyway he oils them lightly for storage purposes. He said that they are like guns and need frequent oilings.

the largest ARSENEL of Nuclear Weapon is In USA..

GW Bush`s Family has been and IS involved in OIL and Milatary Hardware trade..


USA is the Only Country who has actually Used these Nuclear WMD on human beings


I Fail to Understad....why isn`t IAEA allowed to Inspect their nuclear Programs

or for that matter Israel`s Or British.

yet create a Lot of HOOO HAA on the nuclear capabilities of Other Countries.


............I am not arguing Nuclear capability is Good Or Bad.... just this double standard

is beyond my comprehension.

#48 by tahmed32

Actually, Jay is on experimental drugs not lithium...because lithium is for bipolars, he is manic depressive with obsessive compulsive behaviour towards Pakistan (one of a kind tripolar, is the term exist).

#45 by sadna

Sadna ho(please do not read between the lines...... I mean to say dont be sad Sadna), what position you held in Pakistan govt. when Zia was in power ?

re: tahmed32

I also hope that it is not a flash in the pan.

I realize that political reality in Pakistan is deeply flawed and we have a system of government, which is far from perfect. I realize that there is a sense of disagreement on the course we have embarked upon for ourselves and I know there are voices, who are highly critical of what has happened in Pakistan in name of democracy and parliamentary goverance.

Despite all the faults of the present political system in Pakistan; despite the fact that it can be considered as the handmaiden of the military and despite the fact, that its creation was a disappointment to all those who have yearned for freedom of a democracy in Pakistan, I hope that it will live to see the fulfillment of its term of office. Right now, in Pakistan, the question is not to debate the worth of a military involved in politics or to decry the corrupt nature of the politicans, but to determine that elections will be held, once again, in 2007. No matter how ill advised this system/parliament is, it should be allowed to run its course and if takes a series of compromises with the devil to keep this parliament in office, then each such Faustian bargain must be made.

Democracy thrives when it is not engineered and democracy is the evolution of a political process and not imposition of a political ideal. This time in Pakistan, democracy must be allowed to evolve and as I have said in the past; democracy is the right to make the wrong choice, but having the choice to correct a past wrong. Even if this parliament does nothing for Pakistan and is thought of as a waste, it should not be disbanded. Pakistan needs the process of democracy to evolve naturally and this evolution must be according to the needs of Pakistan itself and not according to the whim of pre-set notions of democracy - domestic or foreign. Westminister system of parliamentary democracy or the presidential system of democracy is not as important as establishing a process of democracy in Pakistan, which ensures a peaceful transition of power in Pakistani politics. Peaceful transfers of power, and not elections, are bedrock of democracy.

Ciao

P.S.: Thanks for the concern, and I return the question to you, hoping for a similar answer.

kas #41 While not an expert on swords, I am an expert on chopping vegetables with a kitchen knife. And I would rather have a sharp knife than an oily one. :-)

Incidentally, I agree with your post #37. You will be surprised at how eager people are for educating their children even in the remotest regions of Pakistan. While I agree that having been born (?) and certainly raised in the US, you should identify yourself as an American first - this being based on the principle that one should first identify with the community one lives in first. However, I hope you will never forget the less fortunate millions in Pakistan. One important way in which you can contribute is to institutions like Development in Literacy (DIL) that run village schools for the poor in Pakistan. While madrassahs are much in the news, the fact is that there are far more schools for the poor that are run by dedicated people in Pakistan. In addition to DIL, there is MBBMT which has opened over 60 schools for girls only in the remotest parts of Mianwali. There are also a large number of schools run in the northern areas, one of them by an (Anglo-Saxon) American gentleman which has been reported upon twice in the US on Parade magazine. An old lady in the US was so touched by that article that on her deathbed she left all her estate (several hundred thousand dollars) for that NGO along with a message for the ``dear girls, study hard and make something of yourself``.

So, Pakistan is by the Grace of God in good hands, and it has no shortage of well-wishers around the world. Do not lose heart because of the mess created by the military and maulvis, and be proud of the fine people of Pakistan and the great heritage that you bring with you to the US. And do what you can to help the poor people of Pakistan join the ranks of the prosperous people of the world.

jay #47 This is your pyschiatrist. It is time to get a refill on your lithium. If you do not re-start taking your medicine, we will be forced to send men in white coats after you.

why the fuss,

The world is so excited about khan and the islamic bomb. One khan selling the secrets is only a symptom of a deeper reality of pakistan as a failed state. The ISI is running their own operations. The feudal lords have their own armies, their own prisons and their own justice. The NWFP is beyond the reach of islamabad. The tahmeds assert that the tribal kill their women and no one can stop it.
Pakistan was a failed state, now it is an unviable state

Interview with benazir,

There is an interview with benazir where she asserts that it was the grand plan of zia to make the islamic bomb and give it to all the muslim countries to defeat america and bring about the glory of islam through a kalifayet.
So the khans actions are part of the creation of pakistan to defeat the other for once and for all so that TNT is no more valid, there is no other nation.

sadna #17
``professedly the grandiose national vision``

OK, apparently the vision was even more grandiose :

http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/mar/08inter.htm

`` What is now known is that after defeating the Soviet Union, Zia wanted to defeat America. Everyone in Pakistan used to say, `Amrika nay ek kutta pala, Zia-ul Haq uska nala.` They used to say this and what people don`t realise is that in Pakistan at the mass level Zia was so abused that it was all for the nuclear programme, this was because he was an American dog. They used to call him `Amrika ka kutta`, they never called him by his actual name.

He tried to tell everybody that he was not doing it for America, but for Islam and after defeating the Soviet Union he was going to defeat America and make Islam the greatest power in the world.

So somewhere after 1987, according to press reports, he offered this to Iran...``

Naqshbandi, 14

re: shias stabbing sunnis in back:

When Mongols were running amok in Persia, Sunnis didn`t lift a finger to help Shias. Short time later, Sunnis were dealt mortal blow by same hordes. So it works both ways. Grow up, and learn from history.

Also keep in mind, we Sunnis have control over all oil even though a lot of oil is in lands that are majority Shia.

I personally would sooner `convert` and become a Shia (an unusual one, mind you, who respects all Companions) than side with outsiders against them. Perhaps Ayatollah has something up his sleve, perhaps Shias in general understand that there is EASY way to get what they want rather than tackle US head-on. We sunnis have failed miserably, and if Shias can prosper where we fail, it`s best to make up with them and help.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts