Zardari Rev 2 zeemax #: .....gilani is about the best that the feudal-pir system has to offer......he is a dignified man.....trust me...i have only been mentioning three people (imran khan, aitezaz ahsan and gilani), because or of the people i have had some direct or indirect access to, (through friends and family etc.) i have found these three to be the best......

as for sherry rehman......that was accidental.....

regarding his piri/fiqiri.....he is the gaddi nashin of a big pir gharana......he is related to pir pagaro and to a long list of major feudal/pir.....i believe his son is about to marry pir pagaro's granddaughter.....however, he gave up the gaddi a long time ago.....he passed it onto a relative....that itself takes some courage......he moved to lahore, and lived a normal life, raising his children as professionals.........

...as for jail time......anyone who understands pakistani politics will know that spending time in jail is the ultimate qualificaiton for leadership in pakistani politics......pakistani politics has still not matured beyond the days of the british.......this is, probably, why he got the nod over fahim.......

he was subjected to all kinds of humiliations by musharraf over five years.....he is one of the only politicians, who refused to move to the hospital during jail time......he was offered chairman senate etc. by musharraf, to switch parties.....he refused.....yet you will never see any bitterness in him........

him and javed hashmi are the two ultimate anti-establishment figures, at the moment......nawaz sharif ran away to saudi arabia, benazir was in dubai, zardari was in a hospital.....while these two were in jail without any credible case....naveed qamar of ppp is another who was in jail for two years......and i think ppp will give him the second most important post of finance minister, due to his jail time......

jail time is a ph.d. in pakistani politics, and is what makes leaders popular amongst voters......they respect defiance......moreso than even good governance.....at least that is what i have seen.....

for those who like liberalism, he is quite a liberal guy, who has broken away from traditional piri/faqiri....and a very balanced, patient man, who knows his limitations........and is very respected across the political spectrum.......

good choice; at least as far as i m concerned.......and this is coming from someone who is totally against piri/feudal system of pakistan.......

as for doing something for multan.....i don't know what he has or has not done for multan......but in that sense, no one has done much for any place in pakistan....pakistani politics is still stuck in the institution building stage.....doing something is stage 2.....and is quite easy......he can hire plenty of people like you and me to do things.......

Zardari Rev 2 ..i have been saying, for the past two years that three good choices for the position of PM would be imran khan, aitezaz ashan or yusuf raza gilani.......

yusuf raza - a name hitherto unmentioned on this site, by anyone other than me - ends up becoming the pm......

he is good choice......and will do well......he was jailed by musharraf for 4 1/2 years, without being convicted.....

anyways, when you spread the news about him being appointed as pm, do mention that you heard it first, two years ago, on radio b-u-l-l-e-y-a.....

The Irreverent Hero Islam Forgot ....if i remember correctly, amir hamza is actually pre-islamic......the religion hamza refers to in his journeys, is din-e-ibrahimi......the abrahamic faith.......not islam.....

people tend to equate amir hamza with muhammad's uncle.......however, that cannot be the case.....amir hamza's colleagues and journeys are into magical kingdoms covering superstitions and wars and what not....

....the stories start with three individuals - hamza, his friend umro ayyar and a third person - when they are children.......and it goes on till they build an army of partners from all over the world......

i believe the person from india was lindhor......who carries the world's biggest gurz (?) on his shoulders, and is undefeatable in battle, until hamza defeats him......after which lindhor joins hamza's army.....

malika bihar is a very power magician, who seduces everyone around her, through the use of magical flowers....

anyways, things that i remember from around 30 years ago......

The Irreverent Hero Islam Forgot ...the adventures of amir hamza is a classic......i had read it by the time i was eight.....i recently purchased the english translation.....

amir hamza, umro ayyar, lindhor, aadi pehelvan, hamza's two son's (one who appears in the 9th volume).......i haven't even started reading the english version, but can remember the names from almost 30 years ago....

and of course, the second series, with all the magicians....afrasiyaab, and malika bihar......

brings back memories.....

New US Strategy Needed in Afghanistan and Pakistan zeemax #: ...my opinion of arabs has changed, now that i am in the region......these gcc guys are quite smart......gcc is already a player in the world due to oil, and is becoming one outside of oil also.....

......abu dhabi produces roughly 2.5 - 3 million barrells of oil per day....that's $300 million dollars a day........its population is around 1.6 million people...it has so much money, it doesn't know what to do with it......

these guys will rush to pakistan, if these bombings stop....they have to spend their money, somewhere.....they are already rushing....they have invested quite a bit in telecom and real estate......these guys are businessmen, but all said and done, they are muslim......and there are only two large retail markets of muslims - pakistan and indonesia.....if you follow islamic banking, they are all dying to get into pakistan...

kuwait has de-pegged from the dollar to a basket of currencies.....and its currency has gone up......uae dirham will appreciate 20% or more, if it depegs......

interesting news below:

"The Iranian Oil Bourse establishing Euro-based pricing of oil is set to open on February 17th 2008 and could have devastating effects on the US dollar.

Currently all three major oil markets (WTI, NYMEX, IPE) trade barrels of oil in US dollars. Consequently any country buying oil needs dollars to pay for it. This enables the US Federal Reserve to issue huge volumes of dollars to meet increasing demand for oil. In return oil producing nations invest dollar proceeds in US treasury bills, allowing for the current US budget deficit.

But this balance may become unsettled after a fourth major oil market opens this month, trading in Euros: the Iranian Oil Bourse (IOB)...."

New US Strategy Needed in Afghanistan and Pakistan hamidm mian #: "....... the people of pakistan, including tahmed's beloved unwaashed masses, are getting sick and tired of al-lah's warriors who are blowing up innocent bystanders.."

this part is true, but the solution they see is for pakistan to get out of gwot......not to get in it further.....

pre-9/11 --- no suicide bombers in pakistan
post-9/11-gwot --- one a week

do the math......

US 80 billion --- amount of money spent per year by USA in its loss in iraq

US 4 billion --- total budget of pakistan military

do the math again ---

New US Strategy Needed in Afghanistan and Pakistan Ferozek #: "The United States' and NATO's strategy has changed. There will be an increased level of operations along the Pak-Afghan border.."

...the first two lines of your post, make the rest of it irrelevant......

.....the term, "United States," and, "Strategy" cannot be used in the same sentence.....they are oxymorons...the US has some of the worst strategists in the world, when it comes to fighting modern day wars......

...the usa has lost in iraq, is losing in afghanistan......is thinking of attacking a much tougher opponent in iran.....if on top of it, it wants to go into the tribal areas......then all i can say, is thank God, i am not the us military.....americans have stopped joining the military and the national gaurds.....it is out of soldiers.....which is why it desparately needs the 70k pakistani soldiers on the afghan border......

its a recipe for disaster......the usa military is going to get its clock cleaned in afgahnistan and tribal areas.....

i said this five years ago about iraq, when 70% of americans were supporting the iraq war.......

military power cannot fight such uncoventional battles......one would think it would be clear to everyone now.......

pakistan has to do nothing, but stay out of gwot....let the americans fight it out with the taliban - in afghanistan and in tribal areas -.....

pakistan's only concern should be to ensure that it does everything to create a situation where it does not get involved in any battle....there are arabs loaded in cash, who are willing to invest in pakistan....the usa gave $500 million a year......these guys will invest this much in a month.......

Pakistan: The War of Drones nawaz sharif seems to be, openly, coming out against usa's interference in pakistan.......good job!

Pakistan: The War of Drones HP #: "1) safe passage abroad with his mother Zarin, wife Sehba, daughter Ayla and son-in-law Asif Raza Mir (the former TV star who acted in Fatima Surraya Bajia's famous drama serial Tanhaiyan) to live with his Boston-based son Bilal Musharraf where he serves as an actuary accountant;"

....this is the only safe exit for him.....even if he is let off the hook, and has to live in Pakistan, he will be killed by al-qaeda or mehsud etc., without the layers of security he currently has as president.....

......by the way, his son-in-law is not asif raza mir, and his son, i believe, has now, gone to stanford and works for a famous vc firm, which is headed by a pakistani expat.....

Pakistan: The War of Drones hamidm mian #: "do you really believe that if we left the taliban, al-qaeda and the other riff raff alone that they will stop their murder and mayhem?..."

....depends on how you define, "we"......if you define we to be americans and the usa, then you are correct, they will not leave you alone.....they hate you too much, and feel you have killed far too many of their innocents.....

on the other hand, if by, "we" you mean pakistanis and pakistan, then they will leave pakistan alone.....uptil 9/11, they had nothing against pakistan, and now, they do....once pakistan backs out of gwot, it will be back to status quo......

...i still long for the days, when the biggest fear in pakistan consisted of burning cd's, headshaving football teams in shorts, smuggling cars to bara and beyond, and raiding of massage parlors......

that was a lot better than bombs going off in super market and model town.......

so, please feel free to fight them wherever you want....just not in pakistan........my suggestion would be for them to fight it out in michigan, or for you to fight it out with them, by joining the us army, in afghanistan......

personally speaking, i don't the usa military, nato or the pakistan military has any stamina or desire left to fight them anywhere......it's impossible to fight a bomb dropped from 10,000 feet or a suicide bomber.......

Pakistan: The War of Drones hamidm mian #: "do you really believe that if we left the taliban, al-qaeda and the other riff raff alone that they will stop their murder and mayhem?..."

....depends on how you define, "we"......if you define we to be americans and the usa, then you are correct, they will not leave you alone.....they hate you too much, and feel you have killed far too many of their innocents.....

on the other hand, if by, "we" you mean pakistanis and pakistan, then they will leave pakistan alone.....uptil 9/11, they had nothing against pakistan, and now, they do....once pakistan backs out of gwot, it will be back to status quo......

...i still long for the days, when the biggest fear in pakistan consisted of burning cd's, headshaving football teams in shorts, smuggling cars to bara and beyond, and raiding of massage parlors......

that was a lot better than bombs going off in super market and model town.......

so, please feel free to fight them wherever you want....just not in pakistan........my suggestion would be for them to fight it out in michigan, or for you to fight it out with them, by joining the us army, in afghanistan......

personally speaking, i don't the usa military, nato or the pakistan military has any stamina or desire left to fight them anywhere......it's impossible to fight a bomb dropped from 10,000 feet or a suicide bomber.......

Pakistan: The War of Drones ...i have been around the world a couple of times now......i have yet to find any country whose citizens are so gung-ho in fighting other peoples' wars......afghanistan, gwot, taliban, etc.......the only war, traditionally that pakistanis have (as their own) is with our friendly neighbors to the east......which, ironically, is the quietest area now.....

where did the rest of the wars come from........why are explosions taking place in pakistan, if americans are fighting arabs......strange.......

a % of pakistanis are hell-bent on fighting arab wars......another % are hell-bent on fighting afghanis' wars.......another % are hell-bent on fighting american wars.......and another % on fighting global wars and gwots.....

doesn't matter which side wins, pakistanis lose and die......

here is an idea......get out of every war.....simple.....withdraw......anyone who says this will not reduce violence is either an idiot (or an expat - who tend to have equally idiotic views when it comes to pakistan/usa relations).....

how in the world can withdrawing from wars not reduce violence......obviously it will reduce it......it may not reduce it 100%, but there is bound to be some % decrease.......

1. withdraw from tribal areas
2. withdraw from lal masjids
3. withdraw from palestines
4. withdraw from afghanistans
5. withdraw from gwots
6. withdraw from iraqs........

and if you don't want to withdraw, then, first, go participate in those wars yourselves........then encourage others to do so......

Pakistan: The War of Drones SR: "of the man who had an untreatable headache that no medicine could cure. Finally a surgeon figuered out that his balls pushed up so hard that it gave him a headache. Castration was suggested as a treatment. The man considered his options and reluctantly agreed because the headache was constant and unbearable.

A few months after the operation his clothes got tight as feminization of his emasculated body began and he gained fat around the hips. Somebody recommended him to a world famous tailor who could make flattering clothes for the ugliest figuers.

When the tailor saw the design of his underwear, he said to the man, "Oh, please never wear these kind of underwear. They'll push your balls up so hard that you'll get a severe headache."

...was this man an expat pakistani consultant living in michigan, by any chance........

Pakistan: The War of Drones hamidm mian #: ".... these people won't go away even if the americans leave afghanistan and musharraf leaves for istanbul ..... their ultimate goal is to gain political power (and control the nukes) so that they can spread islam across the world ......"

i think it is people like you who keep encouraging this cycle of violence.......it's quite pathetic.....

how in the world do you know these people will not quit if pakistan disengages from gwot and/or america pulls out......

the number of suicide bombings in nwfp is 39 alone.....how many were there before pakistan joined gwot.......try to put two and two together.....this recent one, in lahore, was next to a children's school.....

.....i hope there is a special place reserved in some corner for you and bush......

The Nawaiwaqt Generation and the Power of No! HP #: "Not so fast!"

..i think, in present day terms, the civility of a country is described by how it treats its own citizens and what kind of justice and human development it provides to them.....

.....it doesn't get calculated by how much violence it commits against other countries......this should be included, but it isn't......

invariably, the countries that have the strongest and most fair domestic systems, will become the most powerful......and will, more than likely, excercise that power against others, to ensure their own high domestic living standards.....

.....the usa is a country that everyone wants to migrate to......it is a great place to live....yet it is one of the biggest killing machines in the world; if not the biggest.......the number of people it has killed grealy outnumbers the people killed by any group of terrorist organizations.....in fact, the usa has killed more civilians than all the terorrist organizations, of the past century combined.....

the only difference is that the usa has been able to set up a successful and generally fair domestic system.......while the terrorist organizations have not been able to achieve that.......hence one is recognized as civil; the other as uncivil......

if pakistan can set up a civilan govt. successfully after these elections, all of a sudden, it will be considered a more civil country than before.......even if it changes nothing else......

Pakistan: The War of Drones this is going to spiral into a big problem....two steps need to be taken:

1. get out of gwot!......follow spain's example....pakistan is quickly falling into the category, "fight them there so we don't have to fight them here." ......with pakistan being the, "there".....

the australians have been pushing pakistan towards fighting in gwot, as if it is a great cause.....yet are unwilling to send their own cricket team into the country....

i doubt too many americans are shedding a tear when a bomb explodes in pakistan and people die......however, they all jump up and down, when they think pakistan is not doing enough...

2. a social change has to take place......there needs to be reconstruction of the economic system and educational system......

i think the recent elections have gone a long way in letting people release their frustration....

p.s one cannot differentiate between predator bombs and suicide bombs, killing civilians.....both are acts of terrorism, and should be condemned equally.....both have a politcal target and blow it up with total disregard for any other damage....in both cases, pakistanis are on the receiving end.....