On Declan Walsh’s latest scoop: ‘Raymond Davis is a CIA spy’
Related articles:
On the so called ISI-CIA rift on the Raymond Davis issue
Foreign journalists in Pakistan: Embedded in the narratives of military establishment
Yesterday, Declan Walsh published two stories in the Guardian (20 Feb 2011) revealing an explosive truth, i.e., Raymond Davis is a CIA spy. The aim of this brief post is to consider the sources behind the stories and the possible motives of such leakage at this crucial juncture of the Pakistan-USA relations.
First, some extracts from the two stories published in the Guardian:
American who sparked diplomatic crisis over Lahore shooting was CIA spy
• Raymond Davis employed by CIA ‘beyond shadow of doubt’
• Former soldier charged with murder over deaths of two men
• Davis accused of shooting one man twice in the back as he fledDeclan Walsh in Lahore and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 February 2011
The American who shot dead two men in Lahore, triggering a diplomatic crisis between Pakistan and the US, is a CIA agent who was on assignment at the time.
Based on interviews in the US and Pakistan, the Guardian can confirm that the 36-year-old former special forces soldier is employed by the CIA. “It’s beyond a shadow of a doubt,” said a senior Pakistani intelligence official. The revelation may complicate American efforts to free Davis, who insists he was acting in self-defence against a pair of suspected robbers, who were both carrying guns.
The Pakistani government is aware of Davis’s CIA status yet has kept quiet in the face of immense American pressure to free him under the Vienna convention. Last week President Barack Obama described Davis as “our diplomat” and dispatched his chief diplomatic troubleshooter, Senator John Kerry, to Islamabad. Kerry returned home empty-handed.
The US has accused Pakistan of illegally detaining him and riding roughshod over international treaties. Angry politicians have proposed slashing Islamabad’s $1.5bn (£900m) annual aid.
But Washington’s case is hobbled by its resounding silence on Davis’s role. He served in the US special forces for 10 years before leaving in 2003 to become a security contractor. A senior Pakistani official said he believed Davis had worked with Xe, the firm formerly known as Blackwater.
“This is not the work of a diplomat. He was doing espionage and surveillance activities,” said the Punjab law minister, Rana Sanaullah, adding he had “confirmation” that Davis was a CIA employee.
Some reports, quoting Pakistani intelligence officials, have suggested that the men Davis killed, Faizan Haider, 21, and Muhammad Faheem, 19, were agents of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency (ISI) and had orders to shadow Davis because he crossed a “red line”.
A senior police official confirmed US claims that the men were petty thieves – investigators found stolen mobiles, foreign currency and weapons on them – but did not rule out an intelligence link.
A senior ISI official denied the dead men worked for the spy agency but admitted the CIA relationship had been damaged. “We are a sovereign country and if they want to work with us, they need to develop a trusting relationship on the basis of equality. Being arrogant and demanding is not the way to do it,” he said.
Tensions between the spy agencies have been growing. The CIA Islamabad station chief was forced to leave in December after being named in a civil lawsuit. The ISI was angered when its chief, General Shuja Pasha, was named in a New York lawsuit related to the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Although the two spy services co-operate in the CIA’s drone campaign along the Afghan border, there has not been a drone strike since 23 January – the longest lull since June 2009. Experts are unsure whether both events are linked.
Davis awaits his fate in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. Pakistani officials say they have taken exceptional measures to ensure his safety, including ringing the prison with paramilitary Punjab Rangers. Press reports have speculated that the authorities worry the US could try to spring Davis in a “Hollywood-style sting”. “All measures for his security have been taken,” said the ISI official. “He’s as safe as can be.”
A CIA spy, a hail of bullets, three killed and a US-Pakistan diplomatic row
Barack Obama weighs in to Raymond Davis row as Pakistani anger grows over CIA agent blamed for civilian deaths in LahoreDeclan Walsh in Lahore
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 February 2011On 27 January, Raymond Davis, a bulky 36-year-old CIA agent with a shock of grey hair, was winding through the chaotic Lahore traffic when he stopped at a red light. A motorbike carrying two men, coming from the opposite direction, swerved in front of his Honda Civic. The pillion passenger was carrying a gun. Davis, a former special forces soldier, whipped out his 9mm semi-automatic Glock pistol and, still behind the wheel, opened fire. Five shots sliced through the windscreen. Muhammad Faheem, a 19-year-old street criminal, fell dead.
The Davis debacle is another disaster for the Pakistan government, whose handling has been characterised by bungling and division, and highlights the country’s pathological relationship with America.
How will it end? One solution is a hefty payment to the families of the dead, with the courts quietly dropping the case and Davis being expelled from Pakistan, although this would require an American admission of guilt.
But in a case where fact and fiction collide, nothing is certain.
Some critical reflections:
1. What are the motives of this intentional leakage? What purposes does the Pakistan military intend to achieve through this story, which was apparently fed from the ISI to Declan Walsh and is now being feverishly recycled and reported in Pakistan’s mostly right wing dominated Urdu media?
2. Based on the sources cited in Mr. Walsh’ story, the ISI seems to be behind this intentional leak to the Guardian. Why on earth is it only Mr. Walsh (along with a select few others) who is usually chosen to publish pro-state (i.e., pro-military establishment) but anti-government (i.e., anti-political government) stories?
3. If the above is true, why is Declan Walsh allowing the Guardian to be used as a convenient propaganda tool for the ISI?
4. Who are the writers and bloggers helping Declan Wlash in publicising and circulating this story? To what extent are ‘resourceful’ people such as Najam Sethi, Mosharraf Zaidi, Ejaz Haider, Cyril Almeida etc facilitating Declan Walsh’s contacts with the ISI? (This may help us in connecting the dots, tracking the whole racket.)
5. The only sources used in Declan Walsh’s story are: a senior ISI official, Punjab Police official, Punjab Law Minister. In other words, a net work of the military establishment and the right wing (Mullah-Military Alliance of Pakistan) appears to be behind Walsh’s story. You are in good company, Mr. Walsh!
6. While Mr. Walsh’s story has merely confirmed what many always suspected and the ISI always knew but it does not tell us much about what lines did Davis cross for such public expo in the media!
Update:
It is shockingly poor reporting when a paper like the Guardian did not even bother to get the veiwpoint from the PPP-lead Government. Did Declan Walsh bother to contact the Pakistani ambassador to the US, Mr. Husain Haqqani? Did he bother to contact anyone from the US side? Balance and objectivity are not so visible in this article.
Collusion between the FCS and Islamofascists
Timing of Declan Walsh’s article in the Guardian could not be better. No wonder he remains surrounded and appreciated by pro-establishment writers of Pakistani’s Fake Civil Society (FCS).
It is commonly known in Pakistan that many journalists (both from liberal writers in English media and right wing writers in Urdu media) take their lead from the ISI. Colonels and majors are usually the source, and such stories are usually published as a result of investigative reporting.
Why doesn’t Walsh tell which agency issued and reissued Davis’ visa in Pakistan? Why does not his article reflect on the CIA-ISI relationship in the current development?
It is a fact that while civilians (i.e., elected Pakistani government) are conveniently blamed by ‘free’ media, agreements for the agents and contractors all conducted under Musharraf and by Pakistani generals (i.e., Pakistani state).
Keep watching who recycles and feeds this “Raymond is a CIA spy” fable to the right wing thugs. This is a classic example of collusion between fake civil society (pseudo-liberal thugs) and the right wing (Islamofascist thugs), both proxies of the military establishment.
mosharrafzaidi Mosharraf Zaidi
holy cow. RT @declanwalsh: Raymond Davis, American ‘diplomat’ held for murder in Pakistan, is a CIA agent. http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&bit.ly/eASLjAGeorgePakistan
Bolshevik Urooj Zia
@declanwalsh Whom would one speak to if one were to try and tell The Guardian that hiring one is going to be awesome for them?mehreenkasana Mehreen Kasana
Check it out. RT @declanwalsh Guardian interactive guide to Lahore shootings involving CIA agent Raymond Davis: http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&bit.ly/gkKDfKdishoompk Dishoom
Now I know where the American consulate in Lahore is! RT @declanwalsh interactive guide 2 shootings involving CIA agent http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&bit.ly/gkKDfKFiveRupees Five Rupees
Raymond Davis confirmed by Guardian’s @declanwalsh to be CIA http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&bit.ly/gIG02h US media knows it too, silent due to US govt request.sabae sabae
@declanwalsh hi I’m an anchor with express 24/7, need some words with u over your recent article for the guardian on Davis, can we talk?
Laughing points
A senior Pakistani intelligence official feeds a story to Walsh who then publishes that Raymond Davis is a CIA spay. How convenient!
The Guardian can confirm that Raymond is CIA employee. “It’s beyond a shadow of a doubt,” said a senior Pakistani intelligence official. LOL
@declanwalsh fable: “All measures for [Raymond’s] security have been taken,” said the ISI official. [Thanks for candid revelation, Declan]
@declanwalsh fable: “there has not been a drone strike since 23 January.”
This myth was effectively busted today (20 Feb 2011). More power to drones! Drone pause was probably due to weather. #FCS & #JI dominated media didn’t bother to check drone patterns before saying it was because of Raymond Davis.
Drone attack in Azam Warsik, South Waziristan, killing six terrorists, fuck u #Raymond if you were a reason for a long pause.
Here is a possible explanation of why ISI might have fed the “Raymond is CIA spy” story to the Guardian:
Raymond Davis case: Men killed in Lahore were intelligence operatives, says official
By Kamran Yousaf
Published: February 5, 2011
ISLAMABAD: The government’s reluctance to free Raymond Davis is attributed to the fact that the two killed in the Lahore shooting were believed to be the intelligence operatives.
“Yes, they belonged to the security establishment….they found the activities of the American official detrimental to our national security,” disclosed a security official. He requested not to be identified since he was not authorised to speak to the media on record. The official confirmed that the president, the prime minister and the chief of army staff (COAS) had discussed the issue in a meeting last week. The three thought it was advisable to resist the US pressure on the Raymond Davis issue and believed the detained American national should not be released at this stage, he said.He said the government’s tough stance on the controversy was also its reaction to the attempts by certain elements in Washington to implicate the country’s top spy agency, the ISI, in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. “The government is very angry with the decision of an American court to summon top ISI officials in connections with the Mumbai attacks,” the official maintained. The military spokesman was not available for comments.
The officials in the Foreign Office also confirmed the government’s position on the Raymond Davis issue but said he would eventually be released once the firm assurance from the US that such incidents would not recur.
The government was also contemplating to ask the American government to waive off Raymond’s immunity and try him in the US courts, the officials added. A US Embassy official said his government had “no plans yet to agree on such a step”.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2011.
Obviously the ISI put pressure on the Express Tribune to retract the story:
Victims’ identity: Intelligence officials refute claim
Intelligence officials have contradicted a report published in The Express Tribune, which alleged that the two motorcyclists killed by Raymond Davis in Lahore were intelligence operatives.
The report had claimed that the death of the intelligence personnel was the reason behind the government’s reluctance to free Davis and that it was in retaliation to the summoning of a top ISI official by a US court.
The official regretted that such “speculative reporting”, appearing on the front page of a major newspaper on such a sensitive matter, which was sub judice and “detrimental to the security interests of Pakistan”, was published without any confirmation from the concerned quarters.
The official vehemently denied that there was any linkage whatsoever between the US court’s summon and the Lahore incident.
The intelligence agency reserves the right to initiate legal action against The Express Tribune, said the official.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2011.
However, no such pressure was available on the ABC News:
Did Ray Davis Shoot Two Pakistani Agents?
Pakistani Officials Claim American Killed Men Working for ISIBY NICK SCHIFRIN
Feb. 9, 2011The public narrative from the United States 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.
But the version of events told by multiple Pakistani officials — and adamantly denied by the U.S. State Department — is utterly different.
The four Pakistani officials who spoke to ABC News on the condition of anonymity say that the two men who Raymond Davis killed in Lahore last month were working for Pakistan’s premiere intelligence service, and they were following Davis because he was spying.
If true, their story dramatically changes the nature of an incident that is already severely straining the two countries’ already tumultuous relationship. Davis’s detention is fraying the U.S. alliance with Pakistan, one of the most delicate and important in the world. U.S. and Pakistani officials both admit the fate of Raymond Davis could threaten an alliance that is critical to the war in Afghanistan and the fight against al Qaeda.
According to the Pakistani officials, the two men had been sent to track Raymond Davis by the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, which believed that Davis had crossed “a red line” and needed to be followed.
In late January, those officials say, Davis was asked to leave an area of Lahore restricted by the military. His cell phone was tracked, said one government official, and some of his calls were made to the Waziristan tribal areas, where the Pakistani Taliban and a dozen other militant groups have a safe haven. Pakistani intelligence officials saw him as a threat who was “encroaching on their turf,” the official said.
U.S. officials dispute the story. Davis came to Pakistan on a diplomatic passport and is a “member of the technical and administrative staff” of the embassy in Islamabad. He therefore enjoys diplomatic immunity, which means he may not be tried for a crime in Pakistan. In public and in private, U.S. officials say they do not believe reports that the two men Davis shot and killed were working for the ISI. They say the men had robbed another person before they approached Davis’ car.
“We don’t find [the reports] credible,” P.J. Crowley, the State Department’s spokesman, said at his daily press briefing on Monday.
The U.S. says his detention is “illegal” and has put extreme pressure on Pakistan to release him.
Men Followed Davis For Two Hours, Says Official
Davis was traveling through a lower middle class part of Lahore on Thursday, Jan. 27, when the incident took place. The men he shot had been following him for at least two hours, one of the Pakistani officials claimed, and recorded some of his movements on their cell phone cameras. Davis has a U.S. Special Forces background and runs Hyperion Protective Consultants, LLC, a company that provides “loss and risk management professionals.”That the ISI sent the equivalent of two hired guns to trail Davis is a sign that the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agencies is at a low point, according to all four officials quoted in this article. In October, the ISI helped reveal the name of the CIA station chief — inadvertently, according to a separate, senior Pakistani official — forcing the station chief to leave the country.
The U.S. officials who deny that the men Davis shot were intelligence officials believe Davis is being held despite his diplomatic immunity because of fears that releasing him might cause domestic unrest. He is being held in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, where Zardari’s chief political opposition controls the provincial assembly. Some of the government’s political opponents — as well as some parts of the Pakistani media — benefit from stories that suggest U.S. contractors or spies operate throughout the country.
The Pakistani officials agreed with that, acknowledging that Davis’ release could at least temporarily weaken the federal government and spark protests in Lahore and perhaps across the country.
Good news: Goal achieved
If the purpose of the intentional leaking of the “Raymond is a CIA spy” news to Western media was to recycle and spread the same in Pakistan’s right wing dominated media, the aim has been in the main achieved. This will further enhance the USA phobia in Pakistani society and build further pressure on the democratic government. Here are two of several examples from two popular Pakistani newspapers Jang (Urdu) and The Nation.
ریمنڈڈیوس سی آئی اے کاایجنٹ ہے،برطانوی اخبارکاانکشافلندن(جنگ نیوز)برطانوی جریدے گارجین نے انکشاف کیاہے کہ لاہورمیں دوپاکستانیوں کے قتل میں ملوث امریکی سفارتخانے کامبینہ اہلکارریمنڈڈیوس امریکا کی خفیہ ایجنسی سی آئی اے کاایجنٹ ہے اور وقوعہ کے روز لاہور میں خفیہ مشن پرتھا۔امریکااورپاکستان میں کئے گئے انٹرویوزکی بنیادپراخبارنے اس امرکی تصدیق کی ہے کہ 36سالہ سابق خصوصی فوجی اہلکارسی آئی اے کاملازم ہے۔ پاکستان کے ایک انٹیلی جنس اہلکارنے اخبارکوبتایاکہ اس بات میں کوئی شک نہیں کہ ریمنڈسی آئی اے کیلئے کام کررہا تھا،ریمنڈکے جاسوس ہونے کے انکشاف کے بعد اس کی رہائی کی کوششیں متاثرہوسکتی ہیں کیوں کہ امریکامصرہے کہ ریمنڈنے دونوں پاکستانیوں کواپنے دفاع میں قتل کیاتھا۔ اخبار کے مطابق پاکستانی حکام اس بات سے آگاہ ہیں کہ ریمنڈڈیوس سی آئی اے کااہلکارہے تاہم شدیدامریکی دباوٴکے باعث پاکستان نے اس معاملے پرچپ سادھ رکھی ہے۔پاکستانی اہلکاروں کامانناہے کہ ریمنڈکی مددکو پہنچنے والی وہ گاڑی جس نے تیسرے پاکستانی کوکچل کرہلاک کردیا تھا ، اس میں سواردونوں افرادکاتعلق بھی سی آئی اے سے تھا مگر امریکا نے پاکستانی حکام کوان دوافراد سے تحقیقات کرنے کی اجازت نہیں دی۔ ایک پاکستانی انٹیلی جنس اہلکارکے مطابق مذکورہ دونوں افرادپاکستان سے امریکاپہنچ چکے ہیں۔اخبارکے مطابق امریکی میڈیا کو بھی ریمنڈکی سی آئی اے سے وابستگی کاعلم تھامگراوباما انتظامیہ کی درخواست پرمعاملے کوخفیہ رکھاگیا۔
Source: Daily Jang
Davis CIA’s acting chief in Pakistan
By: Jawad R Awan
Published: February 21, 2011LAHORE – Raymond Allen Davis, who killed two Pakistanis last month in the provincial capital, is second-in-comm-and to Jonathan Banks, the former station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Islamabad, The Nation has learnt. Well-placed sources said that the highly-trained operative of the CIA was the second important man of the CIA in Pakistan after ex-station chief Jonathan Banks who left Pakistan after his cover was blown. Banks left Islamabad when Karim Khan, a resident of North Waziristan, submitted an application at the Secretariat Police Station, Islamabad for a FIR against the CIA station chief for the killing of Karim’s brother and son in one of the drone attacks directed by the CIA boss in Pakistan.
The sources said that Davis could be called the deputy station chief of the CIA in Pakistan, or the acting station chief. They said that after Banks left the federal capital, Davis assumed the charge of his office by carrying out all the tasks previously under the domain of his boss, including gathering information for drone attacks. The sources said that one of the main tasks of Davis was to keep CIA network intact in the tribal agencies as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Establishing their point regarding Davis, the sources said that the detained killer of Pakistanis demanded ‘naswar’ in jail, which reflects he visited the KP frequently. He also speaks the local languages and has complete information about the cultures being practised in all the provinces.Source: Daily The Nation
Cyril Almeida, informal spokesman of the …. writes:
When the interior minister, the ex-foreign minister and the all-powerful spy chief met to decide the fate of Raymond Davis, two of those gents were of the opinion that Davis doesn’t enjoy ‘full immunity’.
One of those two has now been fired by Zardari. The other, well, if Zardari tried to fire him, the president might find himself out of a job first.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/18/the-myopia-continues.html
Putting Drone-Raymond-Walsh theory to rest:
21 February 2011 Last updated at 07:33
Drone attack in Pakistan kills four ‘militants’
At least four people have been killed in a US drone strike in north-west Pakistan, local officials say.
Missiles struck a compound in the Azam Warsak area of the tribal region of South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
Officials told the BBC that the dead included militants from Punjab province
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12521102
I’m afriad Declan has allowed himself to be taken for a ride by the agencies. Always ironic to see certain Western journos mouthing rightist-speak. 🙂
Wake up, Declan!
Come on! He clearly has mentioned ISI Officials as the source, its your own media which has twisted the news story in their own way to make a point and reported it as its revealed by Guardian
Point is that why only Declan Walsh is shared the information.
You PPP jialas are making strange statements, you people are more pious than the pope. If your PM has clearly stated that matter is subjudiced than, honorable courts.
And If ISI had feeded the story. It means they want to pressurise the Govt for not making deals or showing cowardice in this issue by not revealing Raymond Davis credentials. Atleast Govt can now say as your PM Said today, the matter will be settled in Courts. What’s your problem dudes!!
Good job Declan!
Suhail bin hammad : Don’t follow this logic- Issue is Subjudice don’t talk about it as YOUR PM said (not please he is PM of Pakistan, doesn’t matter if u voted for him or not, if you identify yourself as Pakistani, you accept its constitution, which allowed him to be PM by due process)
Issue is subjudice, fine but if ‘someone’ tells international media of this ‘information’ then this becomes worthy of dubunking. It won’t do that one side speaks and other is told to shup up because case is subjudice – its also important that this recycled material, that is then published by a respected publication which is accepted by Higher courts of Pakistan as evidence (see the full publication & quotation of Daily dawn in the NRO case)
IF this ‘news’ affects the judgement, as it no longer will – questions to its source must be investigated –
Y A. Tauqeer,
I think you spoke too soon. Now NYT is admitting that he is CIA and NYT did not publish this info on the Obama admin’s request.
I know this Ray drama has placed the PPP government in a difficult situation. My initial thought has been proven right that the PPP and its supporter should stay as far away as possible from this saga.
It has already taken its toll on the Party. The PPP should have been better off publicly dumping this issue in security agencies lap a long time ago.
Lets also remember that the ISI has been managing this from the day one and the PPP could have easily shown that in the media too. PPP is doing it privately with the US already.
@Hoss, the point is not the “explosive truth” that Raymond is CIA. That was fairly obvious earlier on. However, it is the manner in which this story has been broken. Declan seems to be relying on the ISI and has not even bothered, it seems, to contact Haqqani! And the ISI must have known for the last 3 years yet they choose the manner and timing of such “leaks”. In this regard, this story does not meet the minimum standards of reporting, in terms of objectivity and balance. The Guardian has now become the mouthpiece of the ISI and Rana Sanaullah!
@Lisa, you have no problems with the fact that it is the ISI that is dictating news?
While Raymond’s CIA credentials were a known fact, the fact was not leaked by the USA admin or CIA or USA media. Why was it leaked via Walsh?
“The Washington Post learned of Davis’s CIA affiliation after his arrest but agreed not to publish the information at the request of senior U.S. intelligence officials, who cited concern for Davis’s safety if his true employment status were disclosed.
Those officials withdrew the request Monday after other news organizations identified Davis as a CIA employee and after U.S. officials made a final attempt to prevail upon Pakistan’s government to release Davis or move him to a safer facility.”
U.S. officials: Raymond Davis, accused in Pakistan shootings, worked for CIA
By Greg Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 21, 2011;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/21/AR2011022102801.html
According to BBC Urdu, it is not the US media, it is the UK’s Guardian newspaper which first leaked ‘the truth’ that Raymond Davis is a CIA operative. Why Deklan Walsh? What role did Mosharraf Zaidi play in facilitating the contact between Deklan Walsh and the ISI?
۔ امریکہ کے کئی ذرائع ابلاغ کو کافی پہلے سے علم تھا کہ ڈیوس سی آئی اے کے لیے کام کرتے تھے لیکن ان کا کہنا تھا کہ انہیں اوباما انتظامیہ نے پاکستانی حراست میں ڈیوس کی زندگی کو لاحق خطرات کی وجہ سے یہ خبر دینے سے منع کر رکھا تھا۔
لیکن ان کے بارے میں یہ تفصیلات اس وقت سامنے آئیں جب ایک برطانوی اخبار گارڈین نے ان کے سی آئی اے سے تعلق کے بارے میں خبر دی
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2011/02/110221_raymond_cia_us.shtml
Haroon Rashid, a known ISI fan and promoter in Pakistani media, had this to say in Jang today while citing Declan Walsh’s article:
گارڈین میں شائع ہونے والی سنسنی خیز رپورٹ کے بعد، اب یہ بات تقریباً پوری طرح واضح ہو چکی کہ ریمنڈ ڈیوس سی آئی اے کے لئے کام کرتا تھا۔ دوسرے قرائن بھی اسی طرف اشارہ کرتے ہیں خاص طور پر صدر اوباما اور ہلیری کلنٹن کا اس درجہ اضطراب۔ کہ ریمنڈ اگر زیادہ عرصہ لاہور کی جیل میں رہا تو ممکن ہے وہ ٹوٹ جائے اور سب راز آشکار ہو جائیں۔ ایسے بھید کہ اگر کھل جائیں تو پاکستانی عوام کے غیظ و غضب کو ٹھندا کرنا ممکن نہ رہے گا۔ تحریک اٹھے گی اور پاکستان امریکہ تعلقات کی نوعیت تبدیل ہونے لگے گی۔ سوال اٹھے گا کہ امریکیوں کی سرپرستی میں افغان تجارت کے نام پر پاکستان کو سینکڑوں ارب روپے سالانہ ٹیکس خسارے کا سامنا کیوں ہے۔ بلوچستان میں چھاپہ مار کارروائیاں کرنے والے براہمداغ بگٹی کو افغانستان میں پناہ کیوں حاصل ہے، جبکہ امریکی اشیرباد کے بغیر یہ ممکن ہی نہیں۔ ریمنڈ ڈیوس کا معاملہ، اگر سب سے بڑا قومی ایشو بنا رہا تو یہ بھی پوچھا جائے کہ اس طرح کے کتنے لوگ پاکستان کے طول و عرض میں پھیلے ہیں اور کیا کارنامے انجام دے رہے ہیں۔ ایسے میں کیا امریکہ کو یہ سازگار نہیں کہ توجہ اصل موضوع سے ہٹ جائے۔
دال میں کالا… ناتمام…ہارون الرشید
http://search.jang.com.pk/details.asp?nid=507339
Breaking News:
Why did Express Tribune modify their website? Look at the URL:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/121602/raymond-davis-a-cia-agent-guardian/
The previous title of the story was: “Raymond Davis a CIA agent: Guardian”
The new title has been changed to “Davis is CIA contractor: US sources” and all references to Declan Walsh or Guardian have been taken off. This is despite the fact that even BBC Urdu acknowledged that the Guardian was the first one to leak the story.
Also read a comment in the ET news item:
Kashif Umar
22 hours ago
Reply
Wow, the report in Guardian is written by none other than the very predictable Declan Walsh who has been writing his reports based on sources ….
Intended aims of the leak achieved?
The Nation (editorial)
Drones again
Published: February 22, 2011
After the pause of more than three weeks, drones, the American killing machines, have returned to our skies and resumed their operation. As usual our air space is open to them to operate at will and return to bases safely. The latest attack in Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan killed six innocent civilians.
Following the arrest of CIA agent Raymond Davis who murdered two Pakistani citizens in cold blood, it was generally thought that drone attacks had come to an end since he used to provide target intelligence to operational headquarters. With their resumption, it appears his replacement has taken over the charge. It is worth mentioning here that the ISI had categorically told TheNation Saturday that it had never been instrumental in providing intelligence to Americans for drones and would never indulge in any activity that is detrimental to the national interest or lead to violation of country’s territorial sovereignty.
http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/22-Feb-2011/Drones-again
Pakistan’s radical mullahs reaction to the Davis is a CIA spy sotry. Jamaatud Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba organize anti-USA rallies.
Protest against ‘release’ of Davis
By Our Correspondent
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
LAHORE
DEMONSTRATIONS against the possible release of US national Raymond Davis continued on Monday as hundreds of people, led by Jamaatud Dawah leaders, marched from Chauburji to Qurtaba Chowk, demanding death to the alleged US spy and holding Washington accountable for the large scale killings in drone attacks and bomb blasts at public places.
The demonstrators, including students, lawyers, workers, political activists and local traders, raised slogans against Washington’s growing interference in Pakistan courtesy the agent rulers and top bureaucrats.
Addressing the protestors, the leaders announced observing a countrywide protest day on Friday, Feb 25 and vowed to continue the campaign in all corners of the country till execution of Davis, warning the rulers against succumbing to the US pressure to release him, especially after he was proved as heading the secret operations of the CIA in Pakistan.
JD central leader Maulana Ameer Hamza said that rulers had been acting as Washington’s agents since they were providing the US officials ample chances to strike some deal with the victims’ families for withdrawing of murder cases against Davis.
He asked why the rulers who had been distributing millions of rupees among the families of accident victims had never tried to go to the families of those killed by US spies to offer them any compensation.
Maulana Hasnain Siddiqi said the country’s intelligence agencies had testified that Raymond was running a network of subversive activities, including suicide attacks and blasts in the country, and the US must be held accountable for thousands of deaths in blasts and drone attacks in the country. Qari Yakoob Sheikh said after revelation of activities by US secret agents in the garb of diplomats, the US embassy should be closed down and all the US officials and diplomats should be expelled. He warned the rulers against spreading further confusion on Raymond issue and preferring US dollars to the country’s interests and honour, and demanded that all Blackwater agents working as US diplomatic staff should be thrown out of the country to protect innocent citizens.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=32316&Cat=5&dt=2/22/2011
Ansar Abbasi, known Taliban apologist and pro-establishment journalist, cites the British media to prove that Raymond Davis is CIA agent.
Gadgets recovered from Davis sent to ISI, IB for probe
By Ansar Abbasi
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Material recovered from the American double murderer Raymond Allen Davis has been sent to the federal government by Punjab for immediate analysis by intelligence agencies including ISI and IB and experts of FIA to determine as to what was the mission of the man now confirmed as a CIA agent by the British media.
Official sources confirm that three sealed parcels, containing the material, have been handed over to the interior ministry. The ministry spokesman, however, denied having received anything from the Punjab government.
The sources, however, said that the interior secretary was intimated by home department Punjab on February 11 that two sealed parcels are being sent to him through Muhammad Amjad, ASI Investigation, police station Lytton Road, Lahore.
One of the parcels, the r ministry was informed, contained GPS (Global Positioning System) tracker along with charger and wireless set with battery. The second parcel contained two mobile phones (Nokia-6300 and Nokia 1100), a memory card and an extra battery recovered from the accused.
On February 12, the interior ministry received another letter sent by the additional secretary home department Punjab, informing it of a third parcel being sent for analysis and examination. This contained nine photographs of sensitive places and installations recovered from the American killer. The third parcel was sent through Muhammad Saleem, an ASI of police station Lytton Road, Lahore.
The interior secretary has been requested by the home department Punjab to engage all the relevant intelligence agencies and the cyber wing of the Federal Investigation Agency to analyse Davis’s activities and to determine as to what task he was pursuing.
Initially, the Punjab government wanted to engage a joint investigations team to confirm whether Davis is a spy or works for Blackwater but later it decided to refer the material to the federal government, which has all the relevant agencies and expertise under its control. Surprisingly, the Rehman Malik-ledinterior ministry did not show any interest on its own to dig out the hidden aspects of Davis story.
Detailed investigation and analysis is now all the more important after he has been declared a CIA agent and proven by the Punjab police to have killed two Pakistanis in cold blood and not in self defence.
Davis’ activities, the ruthless and inhuman display of his mastery as a marksman and the kind of material that was recovered from him, has made him a suspect spy or a member of killer organisation like Blackwater.
Although Washington is adamant to prove him as a diplomat for the sake of invoking diplomatic immunity to get him released at the earliest, the kind of material that was recovered from this high profile killer does not go with his apparent job of “technical advisor”. He had a modern American pistol, five magazines, almost 80 bullets, a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, face mask, multiple cell phones, batteries, camera etc.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=4146&Cat=13&dt=2/22/2011
declanwalsh Declan Walsh
judging from this story
http://tribune.com.pk/story/122105/cia-agent-davis-had-ties-with-local-militants/
and blog
http://www.pakistankakhudahafiz.com/2011/02/22/davis-to-be-tried-on-espionage-terror-charges/
someone’s trying hard to make life more difficult for ray davis
both point towards davis also being charged for espionage.
GHQ’s latest move via Express Tribune:
‘CIA agent Davis had ties with local militants’
By Qaiser Butt
Published: February 22, 2011
“The Lahore killings were a blessing in disguise for our security agencies who suspected that Davis was masterminding terrorist activities in Lahore and other parts of Punjab,” a senior official in the Punjab police claimed.
“His close ties with the TTP were revealed during the investigations,” he added. “Davis was instrumental in recruiting young people from Punjab for the Taliban to fuel the bloody insurgency.” Call records of the cellphones recovered from Davis have established his links with 33 Pakistanis, including 27 militants from the TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi sectarian outfit, sources said.
Davis was also said to be working on a plan to give credence to the American notion that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not safe. For this purpose, he was setting up a group of the Taliban which would do his bidding.
The larger picture
Davis’s arrest and detention has pulled back the curtain on a web of covert American operations inside Pakistan.
The former military ruler Pervez Musharraf had cut a secret deal with the US in 2006, allowing clandestine CIA operations in his country. This was done to make the Americans believe that Islamabad was not secretly helping the Taliban insurgents.
Under the agreement, the CIA was allowed to acquire the services of private security firms, including Blackwater (Xe Worldwide) and DynCorp to conduct surveillance on the Taliban and al Qaeda.
According to The New York Times, even before his arrest, Davis’s CIA affiliation was known to Pakistani authorities. It added that his visa, presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late 2009, describes his job as a “regional affairs officer,” a common job description for officials working with the agency.
American officials said that with Pakistan’s government trying to clamp down on the increasing flow of CIA officers and contractors trying to gain entry to Pakistan, more of these operatives have been granted “cover” as embassy employees and given diplomatic passports.
However, “The government and security agencies were surprised to know that Davis and some of his colleagues were involved in activities that were not spelled out in the agreement,” a source told The Express Tribune.
“Davis’s job was to trail links of the Taliban and al Qaeda in different parts of Pakistan. But, instead, investigators found that he had developed close links with the TTP,” added the source.
Investigators had recovered 158 items from Davis, which include a 9mm Gloc Pistol, five 9mm magazines, 75 bullets, GPS device, an infrared torch, a wireless set, two mobile phones, a digital camera, a survival kit, five ATM cards, and Pakistani and US currency notes, sources said.
The camera had photographs of Pakistan’s defence installations.
Intelligence officials say that some of the items recovered from Davis are used by spies, not diplomats. This proves that he was involved in activities detrimental to Pakistan’s national interests.
The Punjab law minister has said that Davis could be tried for anti-state activities. “The spying gadgets and sophisticated weapons recovered are never used by diplomats,” Rana Sanaullah told The Express Tribune.
He said some of the items recovered from Davis have been sent for a detailed forensic analysis. “A fresh case might be registered against Davis under the [Official] Secrets Act once the forensics report was received,” he said.
Sanaullah said that Davis could also be tried under the Army Act. To substantiate his viewpoint, he said recently 11 persons who had gone missing from Rawalpindi’s Adiyala jail were booked under the Army Act.
However, a senior lawyer said that only the Army has the authority to register a case under the Army Act of 1952 against any person who is involved in activities detrimental to the army or its installations.
“Such an accused will also be tried by the military court,” Qazi Anwer, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said. He added that the civil authorities could register a case of espionage against any person.
But interestingly, despite all the evidence of Davis’s involvement in espionage, the federal government is unlikely to try him for spying.
“He will be prosecuted only on charges of killing of two men in Lahore,” highly-placed sources told The Express Tribune.
The Davis saga has strained relations between Pakistan and the United States, creating a dilemma for the PPP-led government.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/122105/cia-agent-davis-had-ties-with-local-militants/
PKKH, a pro-military establishment website:
Davis to be Tried on Espionage, Terror Charges
Submitted by Dan Qayyum on February 22, 2011 – 11:35 amOne Comment
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EXCLUSIVE | Dan Qayyum, PKKH.tv
Pakistan’s military is considering trying CIA operative Raymond Davis, arrested in Lahore last month after killing two Pakistani citizens, under the Army Act of 1952 for charges ranging from espionage to masterminding assassinations and terror attacks on Pakistani soil.
A senior intelligence official, speaking to PKKH on condition of anonymity, confirmed that there was ‘mountains of evidence’ of CIA support to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as well as plans to strike at Qudsia Mosque in Lahore in a bid to assasinate Jama’at-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.
‘Murder charges should be the least of his worries now. We have mountains of evidence of covert support to banned outfits including the TTP. Davis has been a vital link between the CIA and the TTP, but by no means the only link.
We believe there are many other CIA under-cover operatives in Pakistan at this point in time, including the three that escaped in the other vehicle after the shooting incident in Lahore’, the official added.
PKKH was the first news organisation to report that Raymond Davis’ hit-list included Jama’at-ud-Dawa – in a report published on February 11th. The New York Times confirmed on Monday that Davis ‘was part of a covert, CIA-led team of operatives’ conducting surveillance on militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba, the alleged militant wing of Jama’at-ud-Dawa, according to American government officials. PKKH also revealed on February 11th that among the pre-marked targets saved on Davis’ GPS device were the Qadsia Masjid in Lahore, JuD’s headquarters in Muridke, Sialkot Cantonment, as well as a number of other civilian and military locations in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This contradicts the US claim that Davis was a member of the ‘technical and administrative staff’ of its diplomatic mission in Pakistan.
CIA and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
Davis, a retired Special Forces soldier who had worked previously for Blackwater Worldwide (now known as Xe) was working out of a safehouse in Lahore rented by the US Consulate.
The New York Times had agreed to temporarily withhold information about Mr. Davis’s ties to the agency at the request of the Obama administration, which argued that disclosure of his specific job would put his life at risk. Several foreign news organizations have disclosed some aspects of Mr. Davis’s work with the CIA.
“The Lahore killings were a blessing in disguise for our security agencies who suspected that Davis was masterminding terrorist activities in Lahore and other parts of Punjab,” a senior official in the Punjab police claimed, as reported by the Pakistani daily ‘Express Tribune’.
“His close ties with the TTP were revealed during the investigations,” he added. “Davis was instrumental in recruiting young people from Punjab for the Taliban to fuel the bloody insurgency.” Call records of the cellphones recovered from Davis have established his links with 33 Pakistanis, including 27 militants from the TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi sectarian outfit, sources said.
Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons
Davis was also said to be working on a plan to give credence to the American notion that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not safe. For this purpose, he was setting up a group of the Taliban which would do his bidding.
The Punjab law minister has said that Davis could be tried for anti-state activities. “The spying gadgets and sophisticated weapons recovered are never used by diplomats,” Rana Sanaullah told The Express Tribune.
He said some of the items recovered from Davis have been sent for a detailed forensic analysis. “A fresh case might be registered against Davis under the [Official] Secrets Act once the forensics report was received,” he said.
Sanaullah confirmed that Davis could also be tried under the Army Act. To substantiate his viewpoint, he said recently 11 persons who had gone missing from Rawalpindi’s Adiyala jail were booked under the Army Act. However, a senior lawyer said that only the Army has the authority to register a case under the Army Act of 1952 against any person who is involved in activities detrimental to the army or its installations.
“Such an accused will also be tried by the military court,” Qazi Anwer, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said. He added that the civil authorities could register a case of espionage against any person.
Jama’at-ud-Dawa
PKKH was the first news organisation to report that Raymond Davis’ hit-list included Jama’at-ud-Dawa – in a report published on February 11th. The New York Times confirmed on Monday that Davis ‘was part of a covert, CIA-led team of operatives’ conducting surveillance on militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba, the alleged militant wing of Jama’at-ud-Dawa, according to American government officials. PKKH also revealed on February 11th that among the pre-marked targets saved on Davis’ GPS device were the Qadsia Masjid in Lahore, JuD’s headquarters in Muridke, Sialkot Cantonment, as well as a number of other civilian and military locations in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Jama’at-ud-Dawa, blamed by India for carrying out the Mumbai attacks in 2008, is accused by US officials to have close links with Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). It was registered as a charity in 1986 and has been at the forefront of relief activities following the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 as well as Pakistan’s massive floods last year. Additionally, JuD also runs hundreds of schools and higher education institutes in Pakistan providing modern scientific and religious education to children from poor families.
Despite western pressure, Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have failed to give much credence to Indian allegations linking Hafiz Saeed and Jama’at-ud-Dawa to the Mumbai attacks and have refused to take action against the outfit.
“Jama’at-ud-Dawa have worked very closely with the army in various relief operations in recent years and have never been found inolved in a single anti-state incident or terrorist activity on Pakistan soil, therefore there is absolutely no reason to go after them. The ISI holds them in high regard and has used their help in FATA and Swat to try and control the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the past. The TTP declared war against the JuD in 2008 when they called for assasinating Hafiz Saeed and other senior figures. They massaccred and kidnapped scores of Jama’at-ud-Dawa workers after a Jirga in Mohmand agency in July 2008. Its an interesting situation where the US and India have been pressurising Pakistan on Hafiz Saeed, and in the past the TTP has openly talked of assasinating Saeed. And now we have a US operative with links to the TTP, tasked by the CIA to assasinate Saeed. The cat is finally out of the bag”, added the intelligence official.
http://www.pakistankakhudahafiz.com/2011/02/22/davis-to-be-tried-on-espionage-terror-charges/
Raymond Davis case: Victims’ families being pressured by religious groups
By Rana Tanveer
Published: February 22, 2011
A video grab from Express News’ exclusive footage shows Raymond Davis refusing to answer queries and attempting to walk out during questioning by police. PHOTO: EXPRESS
LAHORE: The families of the two people allegedly murdered by Raymond Davis are coming under pressure from politicians and religious groups not to strike any deals that would allow for Davis’ release.
Waseem Shamshad, elder brother of Fahim, one of the young men killed, told The Express Tribune that the families are coming under conflicting pressures. He claimed that on one hand the government is pressuring the victims’ families to withdraw the case against Davis, while several religious and political groups were pressuring them not to accept any deal that would allow Davis to walk free.
When he was alone, Shamshad freely named the parties that were urging him to keep pursuing the murder charge against Davis.
“Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba, Tehrik-e-Insaf, Insaf Students Federation and Jamaatud Dawa,” he said, listing off the parties which had called him.
When he was joined by his lawyer, however, Shamshad retracted his earlier statement about the Jamaatud Dawa, saying that they were not pressuring the family at all. He also seemed to change his tone about his feelings towards the affair, making it sound like he wanted revenge for his brother’s death.
“We only want hanging of Davis at that very place where he killed our brothers,” he said.
Nevertheless, he also made it evident that the public anger against Davis’ alleged crimes would make it very difficult for the family to accept any compromise or deal, even if they wanted to.
Since his brother’s death, Shamshad’s house has been visited by many political leaders, including Imran Khan, head of the Tehrik-e-Insaaf, and Munawwar Hasan, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The Jamaatud Dawa held a rally that began at the family’s house and ended at Qurtaba Chowk, the place where Fahim was killed.
He said his mother, Haleema Bibi (55), was unable to believe that her son and daughter-in-law were dead.
“She often calls Fahim and Shumaila as if she sees them in front of her but finding them nowhere she starts weeping,” said Shamshad. “Being the youngest brother, Faizan was dearest to all of us – four brothers and two sisters.”
Shamshad claimed that US Senator John Kerry had wanted to visit the family, but that he had refused to meet the American legislator. He also denied allegations that the US government had attempted to bribe the family with money or the promise of visas to the United States.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2011.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/122104/raymond-davis-case-victims-families-being-pressured-by-religious-groups/
FEB 21, 2011 13:22 ET
The NYT’s journalistic obedience
BY GLENN GREENWALD
AP Photo/Hamza Ahmed, File
In this Jan. 28, 2011 file photo, Pakistani security officials escort Raymond Allen Davis, a U.S. consulate employee, center, to a local court in Lahore, Pakistan.
(updated below – Update II)
Earlier today, I wrote in detail about new developments in the case of Raymond Davis, the former Special Forces soldier who shot and killed two Pakistanis on January 27, sparking a diplomatic conflict between the U.S. (which is demanding that he be released on the ground of “diplomatic immunity”) and Pakistan (whose population is demanding justice and insisting that he was no “diplomat”). But I want to flag this new story separately because it’s really quite amazing and revealing.
Yesterday, as I noted earlier, The Guardian reported that Davis — despite Obama’s description of him as “our diplomat in Pakistan” — actually works for the CIA, and further noted that Pakistani officials believe he worked with Blackwater. When reporting that, The Guardian noted that many American media outlets had learned of this fact but deliberately concealed it — because the U.S. Government told them to: “A number of US media outlets learned about Davis’s CIA role but have kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration.”
Now it turns out that The New York Times — by its own shameless admission — was one of those self-censoring, obedient media outlets. Now that The Guardian published its story last night, the NYT just now published a lengthy article detailing Davis’ work — headlined: “American Held in Pakistan Shootings Worked With the C.I.A.” — and provides a few more details:
The American arrested in Pakistan after shooting two men at a crowded traffic stop was part of a covert, C.I.A.-led team of operatives conducting surveillance on militant groups deep inside the country, according to American government officials. . . . Mr. Davis has worked for years as a C.I.A. contractor, including time at Blackwater Worldwide, the controversial private security firm (now called Xe) that Pakistanis have long viewed as symbolizing a culture of American gun slinging overseas.
But what’s most significant is the paper’s explanation for why they’re sharing this information with their readers only now:
The New York Times had agreed to temporarily withhold information about Mr. Davis’s ties to the agency at the request of the Obama administration, which argued that disclosure of his specific job would put his life at risk. Several foreign news organizations have disclosed some aspects of Mr. Davis’s work with the C.I.A.. On Monday, American officials lifted their request to withhold publication, though George Little, a C.I.A. spokesman, declined any further comment.
In other words, the NYT knew about Davis’ work for the CIA (and Blackwater) but concealed it because the U.S. Government told it to. Now that The Guardian and other foreign papers reported it, the U.S. Government gave permission to the NYT to report this, so now that they have government license, they do so — only after it’s already been reported by other newspapers which don’t take orders from the U.S. Government.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/02/21/nyt/index.html
Why was the reference to Guardian edited out from the Express Tribune article? Why is the URL different from the content?
http://tribune.com.pk/story/121602/raymond-davis-a-cia-agent-guardian/
US gives fresh details of CIA agent who killed two men in Pakistan shootout
US reveals that CIA agent Raymond Davis worked for private security firm Xe, formerly known as Blackwater
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Ewen MacAskill and Declan Walsh
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 February 2011 21.48 GMT
Article history
Raymond Davis, held in Pakistan on double murder charges for a shooting in Lahore last month, is employed by the CIA as a contractor. Photograph: Reuters
US officials have provided fresh details about Raymond Davis, the CIA agent at the centre of a diplomatic stand-off in Pakistan, including confirmation that he had worked for the private security contractor Xe, formerly known as Blackwater. They also disclosed for the first time that he had been providing security for a CIA team tracking militants.
Davis was attached to the CIA’s Global Response Staff, whose duties include protecting case officers when they meet with sources. He was familiarising himself with a sensitive area of Lahore on the day he shot dead two Pakistanis.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press and other media outlets reported for the first time that Davis is a CIA employee. They said they had been aware of his status but kept it under wraps at the request of US officials who said they feared for his safety if involvement with the spy agency was to come out. The officials claimed that he is at risk in the prison in Lahore. The officials released them from their obligation after the Guardian on Sunday reported that Davis was a CIA agent.
Davis shot dead two Pakistanis in Lahore last month who he says had been trying to rob him. A third Pakistani man was killed by a car driven by Americans apparently on their way to rescue Davis.
Confirmation that he worked for Xe could prove even more problematic than working for the CIA, given the extent of hatred towards Blackwater, whose staff have gained a reputation in Pakistan as trigger-happy. For Pakistanis the word “Blackwater” has become a byword for covert American operations targeting the country’s nuclear capability. Newspaper reports have been filled with lurid reports of lawless operatives roaming the country.
US officials have reiterated their concern about Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail where Davis is being held, saying he had been moved to a separate section of the prison, that the guards’ guns had been taken away from for fear they might kill him, and that detainees had been previously killed by guards. They are also concerned about protesters storming the prison or that he might be poisoned, and that dogs were being used to taste or smell the food for poison.
However, the authorities in Pakistan stressed the stringent measures they have put in place to protect Davis in Kot Lakhpat following angry public rallies in which his effigy was burned and threats from extremist clerics.
PJ Crowley, the US state department spokesman, said: “Obviously, we are concerned about his safety. We have had multiple conversations with the government of Pakistan regarding his current surroundings. They have told us that he is in the safest possible location in Lahore. And clearly, we hold the government of Pakistan fully responsible for his safety.”
Surveillance cameras are trained on his cell in an isolation wing, and a ring of paramilitary troops are posted outside. About 25 jihadi prisoners have been transferred to other facilities.
The revelations about Davis will complicate further the impasse between the US and Pakistan. Washington says he has diplomatic immunity and should be released but the Pakistan government is in a bind, facing the danger of a public backlash if it complies.
Until Sunday, the US had said Davis was a diplomat, doing technical and administrative work at the embassy. It says that because he has diplomatic immunity, he should be released immediately.
The Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, told parliament on Monday he would safeguard the country’s “sovereignty and dignity” as it sought to resolve the diplomatic impasse with the US. “We are firmly resolved to adopt a course that accords with the dictates of justice and the rule of law. My government will not compromise on Pakistan’s sovereignty and dignity,” said Gilani.
The Obama administration is exerting fierce pressure on Pakistan to release Davis. But President Asif Ali Zardari’s government, faced with a wave of public outrage, has prevaricated on the issue, and says it cannot decide on immunity issue until 14 March. For many Pakistanis the case has come to represent their difficult relationship with the US, in which multibillion dollar aid packages are mingled with covert activities targeting Islamist extremists.
Davis is currently on Pakistan’s “exit control list”, meaning he cannot leave the country without permission. But the two men who came to his rescue in a jeep that knocked over and killed a motorcyclist are believed to have already fled the country. Davis claimed to be acting in self-defence, firing on a pair of suspected robbers. But eyebrows were raised when it emerged that he shot the men 10 times, one as he fled the scene.
Pakistani prosecutors say Davis used excessive force and have charged him with two counts of murder and one of illegal possession of a Glock 9mm pistol. There have also been claims that the dead men were working for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, with orders to follow Davis.
The military spy agency cooperates with the CIA in its tribal belt drone programme, but resents US intelligence collection elsewhere in the country.In spite of the lurid conspiracy tales in Pakistan about Blackwater, US officials say that in reality Blackwater has had two major contracts in Pakistan – loading missiles onto CIA drones at the secret Shamsi airbase in Balochistan, and supervising the construction of a police training facility in Peshawar. The Davis furore has not, however, stopped the controversial drone strike programme. News emerged of a fresh attack on a militant target in South Waziristan, the first in nearly one month. Pakistani intelligence officials told AP that foreigners were among the dead including three people from Turkmenistan and two Arabs.
Rocky relations
The CIA and Pakistan’s ISI have long had a rocky relationship. It started in the 1980s jihad, when the ISI funnelled billions of dollars in CIA-funded weapons to anti-Soviet rebels in Afghanistan.
But the two fell out in 2001 over CIA accusations that the ISI was playing a “double game” – attacking some Islamist militants while secretly supporting others.
In August 2008 the CIA deputy chief, Stephen Kappes, flew to Islamabad with evidence suggesting the ISI plotted the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 54 people. The ISI, in turn, complained that the US came with unrealistic expectations and an aggressive attitude.
Yet at the same time the agencies co-operated closely, mostly on the CIA drone campaign against al-Qaida militants along the Afghan border.
In 2009 the ISI praised the CIA for killing the Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. But recently things soured again. Last December the CIA station chief was forced to quit Pakistan after being publicly identified (US officials blamed an ISI leak); while Pakistani spies were angered that their chief, General Shuja Pasha, was named in a US lawsuit brought in a New York court by victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Declan Walsh
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/21/raymond-davis-pakistan-cia-blackwater
The Associated Press learned about Davis working for the CIA last month, immediately after the shootings, but withheld publication of the information because it could endanger his life while he was jailed overseas, with at least some protesters there calling for his execution as a spy.
The AP had intended to report Davis’ CIA employment after he was out of harm’s way, but the story was broken Sunday by The Guardian.
Disclosure that arrested US official worked for CIA will complicate diplomatic crisis
By Adam Goldman (CP) – 14 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jAO0MY3bUl2VXd__7mSirAeXf44Q?docId=6021622
The same “Guardian” also says this about Jang Group and most amazing is that Correspondent is Declan Walsh:)
Same Guardian on JANG GROUP/GEO TV/THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL’S SECTARIANISM: Ahmadi massacre silence is dispiriting – The virtual conspiracy of silence after the murder of 94 Ahmadis in Pakistan exposes the oppression suffered by the sect Declan Walsh guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 June 2010 14.59 BST http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/jun/07/ahmadi-massacre-silence-pakistan?showallcomments=true#end-of-comments
Candles were lit by members of a civil society for victims of the attack on the Ahmadiyya sect in Lahore. Photograph: KM Chaudary/AP – I often find myself defending Pakistan against the unbidden prejudices of the outside world. No, Islam is not the cause of terrorism. Yes, the Taliban is a complex phenomenon. No, Imran Khan is not a major political figure. This past week, though, I am silent. The massacre of 94 members of the minority Ahmadiyya community on May 28 has exposed something ugly at the heart of Pakistan – its laws, its rulers, its society. It’s not the violence that disturbs most, gut-churning as it was. During Friday prayers two teams of attackers stormed Ahmadiyya mosques in the eastern city of Lahore. They fired Kalashnikovs from minarets, chucked grenades into the crowds, exploded their suicide vests. As the massacre unfolded, a friend called – his father-in-law, a devout Ahmadi, was inside one of the besieged mosques. The family, glued to live television coverage, were sick with worry. Two hours later, my friend’s relative emerged alive. But many of his friends – old men, including a retired general and former judge – were dead. The killers were quickly identified as “Punjabi Taliban” – a loose collective of local extremists with ties to the tribal belt. This was unsurprising. More dispiriting, however, was the wider reaction. Human rights groups reacted with pre-programmed outrage; otherwise there was a virtual conspiracy of silence. A dribble of protesters attended street protests against the attack in Lahore and Karachi; eleven people showed up in Islamabad.
The normally vociferous media were unusually reticent. Commentators expressed dismay at the violence, but few dared voice support for the Ahmadiyya community itself. Politicians turned yellow. Few visited the bereaved; still today, the chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, has not visited the bullet-pocked mosques or offered compensation to the injured. In the national parliament, three brave female MPs crossed party lines to propose a resolution condemning the attacks, in the face of massive indifference. The motion passed, just. The reticence is rooted in law and history. Ahmadis believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a 19th century Punjabi cleric, was the messiah sent by God – a notion that deeply offends orthodox Muslims for whom Muhammad, who lived in 7th-century Arabia, is the final prophet.
The problem is that the state has taken sides in this religious argument. Since the 1970s, civilian and military governments have passed laws enshrining the discrimination against Ahmadis, today thought to number about 4 million in Pakistan. And so they live in the shadows of society. Under the law, Ahmadis may not call themselves Muslims and may not refer to their places of worship as “mosques”. Orthodox Muslims applying for a passport must sign a statement deriding Ahmad as an “imposter”. Any Ahmadi who defies these edicts can be sentenced to death; in 2009, 37 were charged under the blasphemy laws and 57 under Ahmadi-specific laws.
This state-directed discrimination has caused prejudice to soak into the bones of even well-educated Pakistanis. It is acceptable to denigrate Ahmadis as “agents of foreign powers” such as the CIA and Raw, India’s intelligence service. In 2008 a prominent preacher on Geo, the country’s largest channel, suggested that right-minded Muslims should kill Ahmadis. Within 48 hours two Ahmadis had been lynched. The television presenter has prospered. REFERENCE OF AHRC: A report from Asian Human Rights Commission on GEO TV: PAKISTAN: Two persons murdered after an anchor person proposed the widespread lynching of Ahmadi sect followers ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-203-2008 PAKISTAN: No action taken against Geo TV presenter who incited Muslims to murder members of Pakistan minority on air FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AHRC-STM-244-2008 September 18, 2008 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission – PAKISTAN: No action taken against Geo TV presenter who incited Muslims to murder members of Pakistan minority on air Last year a banner appeared outside the high court in Lahore, declaring “Jews, Christians and Ahmadis are enemies of Islam”. Few complained. The silence that followed the Ahmadi killings was broken last week by a tsunami of outrage at the Israeli commando raids on boats headed for Gaza. Commentators and politicians fulminated at the treatment of the Palestinians – a minority that suffers state-sanctioned, religiously driven discrimination. Nobody got the irony. It makes one realise how small the constituency of true liberals is in Pakistan – not Pervez Musharraf-style liberals, who drink whisky and attend fashion shows, but people who believe the state should cherish all citizens equally. That, after all, was the publicly expressed desire of Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, 63 years ago. Today it lies in tatters.
Pakistani mullahs tribute to the Guardian and Raymond Davis
American jailed in Pakistan a CIA staffer
Not in covert work: U.S
BY MARK HOSENBALL, REUTERS FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Raymond Davis, the American held in Pakistan on double murder charges for a shooting last month, is employed by the CIA as a contractor but was not involved in covert operations, U.S. sources closely following the case said on Monday.
Davis, who is being held in a Lahore jail amid a tense U.S.-Pakistan diplomatic dispute over whether he has diplomatic immunity, was working as a “protective officer,” the sources said.
Davis’s duties as a protective officer -essentially a bodyguard -were to provide physical security to U.S. Embassy and consular officers, as well as visiting American dignitaries, U.S. officials who declined to be identified told Reuters.
The officials strongly denied news reports alleging Davis was part of a covert CIA-led team of operatives conducting surveillance on militant groups in Pakistan. The officials insisted Davis was not part of any undercover operations team.
Two U.S. sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that Davis, a former member of the U.S. Special Forces, had previously worked on contract as a security officer for Xe Services, a controversial private contractor formerly known as Blackwater.
Confirmation of a connection between the jailed American and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency came as President Barack Obama’s administration insisted Davis has diplomatic immunity and should be freed by Pakistan.
The shooting has caused outrage in Pakistan, whose help Washington relies upon to quash Islamist militants attacking U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Davis has been jailed since last month on charges of murdering two men who Davis says were trying to rob him in Lahore.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/American+jailed+Pakistan+staffer/4324360/story.html#ixzz1ElmJGaNC
Raymond Davis not safe in Pakistan: US officials
The US officials believe that security being provided to Raymond Davis, the CIA contractor in Pakistani custody for shooting two men, is completely at stake.
For Full Story Visit
http://www.dunyanews.tv
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جونامہ بر رہے ہیں ڈر رہے ہیں …طلوع … ارشاد احمد عارف
امریکہ نے اب موقف نہیں پینترا بدلا ہے۔ برطانوی اخبار گارڈین اور امریکی جریدہ واشنگٹن پوسٹ واضح اور مستند شواہد کی بناء پر ریمنڈ ڈیوس کو جاسوس قرار دے چکے ہیں۔ سی آئی اے کا ایسا اہلکار جو پاکستان میں سنگین نوعیت کی مجرمانہ کارروائیوں میں ملوث ہے اور کچھ عجب نہیں کہ اس کے رابطے ہمارے دشمن ملک کی خفیہ ایجنسیوں سے ہوں یا موصوف کسی ایسی واردات پر ہوں جس کا تعلق ہماری قومی سلامتی سے ہے۔ عمومی سطح کے سفارتی اہلکار اور معمولی قسم کے جاسوس کے لئے صدر بارک حسین اوبامہ اور ہلیری کلنٹن کو پریشان ہونے اور وائٹ ہاؤس کے ترجمان پی جے کراولی کو کرلانے کی ضرورت نہیں تھی کہ اگر ڈیوس کو سفارتی استثنیٰ دینا ممکن نہیں تو اسے ناپسندیدہ شخصیت قرار دے کر ملک بدر کر دیا جائے۔
پاکستان میں مرعوب حکمرانوں اور مودب سرکاری اہلکاروں کی موجودگی میں کسی امریکی کو یہ پریشانی لاحق نہیں ہو سکتی کہ جیل میں کوئی اس سے برا سلوک کر سکتا ہے۔ یہاں امریکیوں سے زیادہ امریکیوں کے وفا دار سیاستدان ہیں، فارن فنڈڈ این جی اوز اور پرنٹ و الیکٹرانک میڈیا میں ہنگامہ برپا کرنے کے ماہر دانشور جو کبھی برداشت ہی نہیں کر سکتے کہ ان کے آقائے ولی نعمت کے کسی کارندے کو معمولی سی تکلیف پہنچے تبھی تو ریمنڈ کو جیل میں وہ سب کچھ میسر ہے جس کا پاکستان کے اے کلاس قیدی محض خواب ہی دیکھ سکتے ہیں۔
جن دنوں مخدوم یوسف رضا گیلانی اور مخدوم جاوید ہاشمی اڈیالہ جیل میں تھے تو میں نے ملک کے ان مایہ ناز سیاستدانوں کو حاصل سہولتوں کا مشاہدہ کیا ہے۔ عام حالات میں ان کے ذاتی ملازم بھی اس طرح کے ماحول میں رہنا پسند نہ کریں لیکن حالات کے جبر کے تحت انہیں سب کچھ سہنا پڑتا تھا جبکہ ریمنڈ ڈیوس کو شراب اور نسوار سب کچھ میسر ہے اور امریکی قونصلیٹ سے آنے والے برگر بھی۔ اس کے باوجود اگر امریکہ پریشان ہے تو اس کا مطلب یہ ہے کہ پاکستانیوں کے ہاتھ کوئی بڑی مچھلی لگ گئی ہے اور اوبامہ انتظامیہ کو خدشہ ہے کہ ان کا پیامی سب راز کھول ہی نہ دے۔ امریکی پریشان ہیں تو آسودہ ہمارے حکمران بھی نہیں۔ جنہیں مخدوم محمود قریشی جیسے گھر کے بھیدی نے ایک نئے موڑ پر لا کھڑا کیا ہے۔ نہ جائے ماندن نہ پائے رفتن۔
برادرم ہارون الرشید ذوالفقار مرزا کی گرم گفتاری کو بھی اس سلسلے کی کڑی قرار دیتے ہیں ایک نیا محاذ کھول کر ریمنڈ ڈیوس کے محاذ سے پسپائی کی حکمت عملی کہ ماضی میں حکمران عوام کی کمزور یادداشت کا فائدہ اٹھا کر ایسے کئی معرکے سر کر چکے ہیں لیکن ریمنڈ ڈیوس جیسی چھپکلی کو اگلنا اور نگلنا حکومت کے بس سے باہر ہے اور مشتعل مذہبی قوتوں، فعال میڈیا، پنجاب حکومت کی طرف سے اب تک کی گئی پیش رفت اور سب سے بڑھ کر عدالت عالیہ کے احکامات کی موجودگی میں چھپکلی کو کسی بہانے کوٹ لکھپت جیل سے غائب کرنا آسان نہیں۔ امریکہ نے 9/11 کے بعد پاکستان کو جس گرداب میں مبتلا کیا اور حالت یہ ہے کہ چالیس سال سے لیبیا میں برسراقتدار کرنل معمر القذافی بھی پاکستان اور افغانستان کے حالات پر طعنہ زنی کرنے لگے ہیں ان سے نکلنے میں بھی ریمنڈ ڈیوس کیس مددگار ثابت ہو سکتا ہے بلیک واٹر اور سی آئی اے کے نیٹ ورک اور دہشت گردوں کے ساتھ رابطوں کا پتہ چلا کر۔
http://search.jang.com.pk/details.asp?nid=508056
نازک ہے بہت کام…سویرے سویرے…نذیر ناجی
ملکوں کے باہمی تعلقات میں کچھ دائرے ایسے ہیں‘ جو صرف حکومتی اداروں کے انٹرایکشن تک محدود ہوتے ہیں۔ ان میں سرفہرست سلامتی کے امور ہیں۔ ان کا دائرہ بڑا وسیع ہوتا ہے۔ سب سے حساس امرخفیہ معلومات کا تبادلہ ہے۔ اس تبادلہ معلومات میں ہر ملک اپنی سلامتی کے حوالے سے معلومات حاصل کرنے کی جستجو میں رہتا ہے۔ بعض ملکوں کے باہمی تعلقات میں اعتماد اس حد تک بڑھ جاتا ہے کہ وہ ایک دوسرے کو اندرونی خطرات سے بھی آگاہ کرنے لگتے ہیں۔ دہشت گردی کے خلاف جنگ میں پاکستان نے امریکہ اور برطانیہ کی جو خفیہ مدد کی ہے‘ اس کی تفصیل نہ تو عام کی جا سکتی ہے اور نہ ہی مجھ تک پہنچی ہے۔ لیکن اس حوالے سے کچھ اشارے ضرور سامنے آ جاتے ہیں۔ جن سے حالات کا اندازہ کیا جا سکتا ہے۔ مثلاً پاکستان میں کئی ایسے خفیہ منصوبے پکڑے گئے جو امریکہ اور برطانیہ میں دہشت گردی کی غرض سے بنائے گئے تھے۔ ان دونوں ملکوں کو ان منصوبوں سے آگاہ کر دیا گیا۔ جن کا انہوں نے خوب فائدہ اٹھایا۔ مشکوک افراد کی نقل و حرکت کے بارے میں ایک دوسرے کو بروقت مطلع کرناتو عام بات ہے اور کئی بار تو یوں بھی ہوا کہ کسی ملک کے اندر حکومت کا تختہ الٹنے کی سازش ہو گئی اور متعلقہ حکومت کو اس کا علم تک نہ تھا۔ لیکن کسی دوست ملک کی طرف سے اس کے بارے میں بتا دیا گیا اور سازشی پکڑے گئے۔ اس طرح کی اطلاعیں امریکہ اور برطانیہ کی طرف سے مصر‘ سعودی عرب‘ اردن‘ مراکش اور کئی دوسرے ملکوں کو بارہا فراہم کی گئیں اور حکومتوں نے سازشیوں کو وقت سے پہلے دبوچ کر اپنا تحفظ کر لیا۔
اس کھیل میں ایک دوسرے کی جاسوسی کو بھی معیوب نہیں سمجھا جاتا۔ سب جانتے ہیں کہ ان کے ملک میں دوستوں اور دشمنوں کی طرف سے جاسوسی کسی نہ کسی طریقے سے ہوتی رہتی ہے۔ 1966ء کا واقعہ ہے کہ پاکستان میں فرانس کا ایک جاسوس پکڑا گیا۔ اس وقت بھی فرانس سے ہمارے اچھے دوستانہ تعلقات تھے۔ اس گرفتاری کو خفیہ رکھا گیا اور مقدمہ بھی خفیہ طور پر چلانے کا فیصلہ ہو گیا۔ فرانس کی طرف سے اپنے جاسوس کو وطن واپس بلانے کے لئے درپردہ کوششیں شروع ہوئیں اور ہوتے ہوتے معاملہ سربراہوں تک چلا گیا۔ ایوب خان اور اس وقت کے فرانسیسی صدر کے درمیان براہ راست رابطے ہوئے۔ کوئی نہیں جانتا آپس میں کیا طے پایا؟ ایک دن فرانسیسی حکومت کا ایک اعلیٰ نمائندہ پاکستان کے دورے پر پہنچا۔ ان کے وفد نے ہمارے لیڈروں سے مذاکرات کئے۔ معمول کی تقریبات ہوئیں اور واپس جاتے ہوئے وہ جاسوس فرانسیسی وفد کے ارکان میں گھل مل کر واپس وطن روانہ ہو گیا۔ ایسے واقعات اکثر ہوتے رہتے ہیں اور ہم نے امریکیوں کے خلاف ریمنڈ کی جاسوسی کا اتفاقیہ پتہ چلنے پر جو طوفان کھڑا کر رکھا ہے‘ یہ ریمنڈ ڈیوس کی غیر ذمہ داری اور حماقت کی وجہ سے ہوا۔ نہ وہ یوں بھری سڑک پر دو پاکستانی شہریوں کو قتل کرتا ‘نہ گرفتار ہوتا اور نہ میڈیا میں شور اٹھتا۔ وہ حسب سابق اپنا خفیہ کام جاری رکھتا۔ پاکستان اور امریکہ کے مابین سٹریٹجک تعلقات کی نوعیت کچھ ایسی ہے کہ امریکہ اور برطانیہ کو پاکستان کے اندر بھی ایسی خفیہ سرگرمیاں جاری رکھنا ہوتی ہیں‘ جن سے ایسے دہشت گردوں پر نظر رکھی جا سکے‘ جو یورپ اور امریکہ میں حملے کرنے کے پروگرام بناتے ہیں۔ افغانستان میں امریکی اور اتحادی فوجوں پر جو حملے ہوتے ہیں‘ ان میں حصہ لینے والے بعض عناصر پاکستان میں پائے جاتے ہیں اور وہ پورے ملک میں پھیلے ہوئے ہیں۔ اسی طرح القاعدہ کے مفرور بھی پاکستان بھر میں پھیلے ہوئے ہیں۔ اس کے دو بڑے لیڈر تو ہمارے گنجان آباد شہروں سے پکڑے جا چکے ہیں اور ان دونوں کا سراغ پاکستان میں امریکی جاسوسوں نے لگایا تھا۔ ان میں سے ایک کراچی میں پکڑا گیا تھا اور دوسرا راولپنڈی میں۔ سب کو معلوم تھا کہ انہیں امریکہ کی خفیہ اطلاعات پر پکڑا گیا۔ مگر اس وقت میڈیا کی عقابی نگاہیں بھی نہ دیکھ سکیں کہ ان دونوں گرفتاریوں کی وجہ پاکستان میں امریکہ کی طرف سے کی گئی جاسوسی تھی۔ ریمنڈ کے جاسوس ثابت ہونے پر اشتعال میں آنے کی ضرورت نہیں۔ عوامی غم و غصے کی اصل وجہ دو ایسے شہریوں کا قتل ہے‘ جنہیں بے گناہ سمجھا جا رہا ہے۔ عوامی ردعمل بھی اسی خون ناحق پر ہوا۔ ورنہ عام پاکستانیوں کو صرف ایک طرح کی جاسوسی کا پتہ ہے اور وہ اس کا انکشاف ہونے پر مشتعل بھی ہوتے ہیں اور یہ صرف بھارتی جاسوسی ہے۔ بھارت کی طرف سے پاکستان اور پاکستان کی طرف سے بھارت میں جاسوس بھیجنے یا بنانے کا سلسلہ جانا بوجھا ہے۔ ان دونوں ملکوں کے درمیان ایک دوسرے کے خلاف سازشوں کا ایک طویل ریکارڈ پایا جاتا ہے۔ یہ بھی حقیقت ہے کہ دونوں ملکوں کی حکومتیں ایک دوسرے کے ملکی مفادات کو زک پہنچانے کا موقع ہاتھ سے نہیں جانے دیتیں۔ اسی بنا پر دونوں ملکوں کے عوام ایک دوسرے کے جاسوسوں کو نفرت کی نظر سے دیکھتے ہیں۔
امریکہ اور پاکستان کے تعلقات میں دشمنی کا کوئی عنصر نہیں۔ دونوں کے درمیان مشترکہ دفاع کے معاہدے رہے ہیں۔ دونوں کے اقتصادی تعلقات دیرینہ اور گہرے ہیں اور بیشتر اوقات پلڑا پاکستان کے حق میں جھکا ہوتا ہے۔ اس وقت بھی کیری لوگر بل کے تحت پاکستان کو جو مالی امداد فراہم کی جا رہی ہے‘ اس کی ماضی میں مثال نہیں ملتی۔ مثلاً ڈیڑھ ارب ڈالر سالانہ کی امداد ترقیاتی منصوبوں کے لئے مخصوص کی گئی ہے۔ اسے صرف عوامی سہولیات میں اضافے کے لئے استعمال کیا جائے گا۔ اس سے پہلے ملنے والی امریکی امداد یا تو محض فوجی ہوتی تھی اور یا اس طرح غیرمشروط ہوتی تھی کہ اس میں سے حکومت جتنا چاہے فوجی اخراجات پر صرف کر دے اور چونکہ زیادہ امداد فوجی آمروں کے زمانوں میں آئی‘ اس لئے ساری کی ساری فوج کی طرف منتقل ہوتی رہی۔ لیکن کیری لوگر بل جمہوریت سے مشروط ہے اور اس کے تحت دی جانے والی امداد عام شہریوں کی فلاح و بہبود کے لئے دی جا رہی ہے۔ اس طرح کے اقتصادی تعلقات ایک دوسرے کے لئے باہمی خیرسگالی کے جذبات رکھنے والے ملکوں کے درمیان ہوتے ہیں۔ پاک امریکہ تعلقات کا مکمل جائزہ لینے کے بعد یہ بات واضح ہو جاتی ہے کہ امریکہ پاکستان کو نقصان پہنچانے کی خواہش نہیں رکھتا۔ ورنہ 1971ء میں اگر وہ پاکستان کو بچانے کیلئے سامنے نہ آتا‘ تو بھارت ہماری آدھی فوج کے ہتھیار پھینک دینے کے بعد‘ آسانی سے ساری فوج ‘ پاکستان کی سرحدوں کی طرف منتقل کر کے باقی ماندہ ملک پر قبضہ کرنے کا ارادہ ترک نہ کرتا۔ کم از کم جغرافیائی اعتبار سے حساس علاقوں پر قبضہ کر کے ہمیں توہین آمیز معاہدوں پر مجبور کرنے کی کوشش کرتا۔ پاکستان کی موجودہ ناقابل تسخیر دفاعی قوت میں امریکہ کا بہت حصہ ہے۔ بے شک باہمی تعلقات میں اتار چڑھاؤ آتے رہے ہیں‘ مگر یہ تعلقات معاندانہ کبھی نہیں ہوئے۔ ہمیں یہ بھی سوچنا چاہیے کہ امریکی حکومت کو دو پاکستانی شہریوں کوئی خطرہ نہیں تھا۔ انہیں ہلاک کر کے امریکی حکومت کو کیا ملتا؟ ان کا قتل ریمنڈ کا انفرادی فعل ہے۔ اسلئے جذبات سے مغلوب ہو کر ایک شخص کا گولیاں چلا دینا سانحہ ضرور ہے لیکن تینوں ہلاک شدگان امریکہ کے دشمن یا اس کا ہدف نہیں تھے۔ ایک مجرم کو سزا دینے کے بجائے‘ امریکہ مخالف مہم چلا دینا بہتر حکمت عملی نہیں۔ آخری بات یہ کہ دو ملکوں کے درمیان باہمی کشمکش‘ کسی بھی نوعیت کی ہو ہر قوم کو متحد اور یکجا ہو کر اپنی حکومت کا ساتھ دینا پڑتا ہے۔ عوام ایوب خان کی آمریت سے تنگ آئے ہوئے تھے۔ جب 65ء میں پاک بھارت جنگ ہوئی‘ اس وقت لوگوں نے ایوب خان کے خلاف اپنی نفرت کو پس پشت ڈال دیا تھا۔ ریمنڈ کے مسئلے پر عوام کو حکومت پر اعتماد کرنے کی ضرورت تھی۔ کوئی منتخب حکومت ملکی مفاد کا سودا نہیں کر سکتی۔ ملکی مفاد کے جتنے بھی سودے ہوئے ہمارے فوجی حکمرانوں نے کئے۔ یہی وجہ ہے کہ امریکہ کو جب بھی پاکستان سے غیرمشروط تعاون حاصل کرنے کی ضرورت پڑی‘ اس نے فوجی آمروں کیلئے اقتدار کا راستہ ہموار کیا۔ ہمیں ریمنڈ کے مسئلے پر متفقہ موقف اختیار کرنے کی ضرورت ہے۔ اس پر باہم دست وگریباں ہونا کسی طرح بھی پاکستان کے حق میں نہیں۔اس کے نتائج توقع سے زیادہ خطرناک بھی ہو سکتے ہیں۔
http://search.jang.com.pk/archive/details.asp?nid=507783
Haroon Rasheed right on target as per his brief. He cites Declan Walsh / Guardian in his provocative piece
گہرا تاریک راز …ناتمام…ہارون الرشید..
دریا کی لہروں کے خلاف کب کون تیر سکا ہے؟ تاریخ میں جب طوفان اٹھتے ہیں تو تنکے راہ نہیں روکتے۔
لاہور کا سانحہ اذیت ناک تو بہت ہے کہ شمائلہ سمیت چار زندگیاں چلی گئیں۔ ایسا لگتا ہے کہ اپنے انجام میں لیکن یہ محض ایک المیہ نہ رہے گا۔رنگ لائے گا لہو۔ پے در پے واقعات میں جن کا سان گمان تک نہ تھا، قدرت کے اشارے ہیں۔ کون کہہ سکتا تھا کہ ایک جواں سال خاتون، جس کے سامنے پوری زندگی پڑی تھی، اس طرح جان ہارے گی کہ باقی رہنے والی ایک حیران کن داستان وجود پائے گی۔ ہمیشہ یاد دلاتی رہے گی کہ اللہ کے نام پر وجود میں آنے والے ملک کی اشرافیہ کس قدر سفاک تھی۔ استعمار سے ایسا گٹھ جوڑ اس نے کر رکھا تھا کہ کتنا ہی سنگین سانحہ ہو، کسی کو انصاف کی امید نہ تھی۔ کون کہہ سکتا تھا کہ شاہ محمود قریشی ایسا آدمی، جس کے اجداد نے 1857ء میں ڈٹ کر انگریزوں کا ساتھ دیا اور احمد خان کھرل کے قتل میں شریک تھے، روٹھ کر وزارت ٹھکرا دے گا۔
استعمار اور اس کے پاکستانی کارندوں کے مقابل، سب سے زیادہ غیرمتوقع اعانت مغربی اخبارات سے ملی ہے۔ ملک میں تو ورنہ ایسے دانشور بھی کارفرما تھے جو حقیقت کو افسانہ اور افسانے کو حقیقت ثابت کرنے پر تلے تھے۔ ایسے شد و مد کے ساتھ کہ دانش دیکھتی اور حیران ہوتی تھی اور حیا منہ چھپاتی تھی۔ بقول جوش #
بدی کرتا ہے دشمن اور ہم شرمائے جاتے ہیں
لندن کے معتبر اخبار گارجین کے بعد، واشنگٹن پوسٹ نے تصدیق کر دی ہے کہ ریمنڈ ڈیوس سی آئی اے کا ایجنٹ ہے۔ وقائع نگار DECLAN WALSH کا جملہ یہ ہے
Based on interviews in the US and Pakistan, the Guardian can confirm the 36 years old former special force soldier is employed by CIA.
”پاکستان اور امریکہ میں( باخبر افراد سے ) ملاقاتوں کی بنا پر گارجین اس امر کی تصدیق کر سکتا ہے کہ سپیشل امریکی فورس کے 36 سالہ سابق ملازم کی خدمات اب سی آئی اے کو حاصل تھیں“۔ ممکن ہے کہ انکل سام کا کوئی پاکستانی کارندہ توجیہ کرنے کی کوشش کرے کہ محض ملاقاتوں سے نتیجہ اخذ نہ کرنا چاہئے۔ دو باتیں مگر بے حد اہم ہیں۔ اوّل کہ صرف ذاتی نہیں، اخبار نویس نے ادارے کی طرف سے ذمہ داری قبول کی ہے۔ ثانیاً جن اہم لوگوں سے وہ ملا، ان میں ممتاز امریکی شامل ہیں۔ واشنگٹن پوسٹ کے مطابق ”وہ لاہور میں سی آئی اے کی ٹیم کا حصہ تھا جو اس شہر میں محفوظ ٹھکانے سے اپنی سرگرمیاں انجام دے رہی تھی“۔ کیا یہ محفوظ ٹھکانہ لاہور کا قونصل خانہ ہے یا کوئی اور؟ وزیر قانون رانا ثناء اللہ کو وضاحت کرنی چاہئے۔ قومی تاریخ کے اس نازک موڑ پر رانا صاحب نے غیرمعمولی جرأت کے علاوہ ،جس کی امید کی جاتی ہے، حیران کن دانائی سے کام لیا، جس کی توقع نہ کی جاتی تھی۔ تجربات سے آدمی سیکھتے ہیں اور بحرانوں میں ان کے جوہر کھلتے ہیں۔ وزیر اعلیٰ شہباز شریف کے پختہ فیصلے کے بغیر تاہم یہ ممکن نہ ہوتا۔ ایک حکمران کی ستائش پر طعنے سننا پڑتے ہیں مگر کیا کیجئے، ستارے کو ستارہ اور بادل کو بادل ہی کہنا ہوتا ہے۔ اگر کبھی جناب رحمن ملک بھی ایسا کوئی موقع ارزاں فرمائیں؟
وزیر داخلہ اور ان کے سرپرست الجھ گئے ۔ایک تاریخی موقع انہوں نے گنوا دیا۔ یہ بات طے کرنے کے لئے کہ کیا ریمنڈ ڈیوس ایک سفارت کار ہے، زیادہ سے زیادہ ایک گھنٹہ درکار تھا۔ چار ہفتوں میں وہ فیصلہ نہ کر سکی۔ پنجابی محاورے کے مطابق سونے والے کو جگایا جا سکتا ہے مگر جاگتے کو کبھی نہیں۔ صدر زرداری اور ان کے ساتھیوں نے تہیہ کر رکھا ہے کہ امریکہ کے معاملے میں وہ سیاہ کو کبھی سیاہ نہ کہیں گے۔ وزیراعظم گیلانی نے ارشاد کیا کہ وہ لاہور کے سانحہ کی مذمت کرتے ہیں۔ مذمت تو وہ ڈرون حملوں کی بھی کیا کرتے ہیں لیکن ان کا اصل موقف کیا ہے؟ وکی لیکس کے طفیل سبھی جانتے ہیں۔
کتنا دباؤ ہے، کس قدر شدید امریکی دباؤ کہ وزارتِ خارجہ مہلت پہ مہلت مانگ رہی ہے۔ سچائی آ شکار ہے اور اتنی آشکار کہ شاہ محمود جیسا شخص بھی انحراف نہ کر سکا۔ ریمنڈ ڈیوس محض ایک قاتل اور جاسوس نہیں۔ معاملہ بہت پیچیدہ ہے، ورنہ ذوالفقار مرزا کے ذریعے فساد کھڑا کرنے کی کوشش نہ کی جاتی۔ مرزا کی بدن بولی (Body Language کا کیسا اچھا ترجمہ عرفان صدیقی نے کیا ہے) ان کے الفاظ سے ہم آہنگ نہ تھی۔ دس نکاتی مذاکرات سے ان کا کوئی تعلق نہ تھا ۔ جس مقام پر انہوں نے خطاب فرمایا، وہاں اس موضوع پر اظہار خیال ہی تعجب خیز ہے۔ دو دن قبل، وہ ایم کیو ایم کے سامنے سر جھکا کر آئے تھے۔ یہ دن سازگار نہ تھا کہ وہ شعلہ بیانی کرتے۔ اس کے باوجود انہوں نے خود کو داؤ پر لگا دیا۔
کچھ تو ہے، جس کی پردہ داری ہے۔ کچھ نہیں، بہت کچھ! افغانستان میں امریکی شہری آئے دن اغوا ہوتے ہیں اور دوسرے مضطرب ممالک میں بھی۔ امریکی قیادت حرکت میں ضرور آتی ہے لیکن اس قدر پریشان تو وہ کبھی نہ تھی۔ نہ صرف ہیلری آگ بگولہ ہوئیں بلکہ صدر اوباما نے بھی خود کو جھونک دیا۔ دلچسپ ترین یہ ہے کہ دونوں نے کوئی دلیل نہ دی، فقط شور مچایا۔ واشنگٹن میں پاکستانی سفارت خانہ بند کرنے اور امریکی امداد روک دینے کی افواہیں پھیلائی گئیں۔ بظاہر کیسے معتبر افراد اور اداروں کے ذریعے۔ آخر کیوں؟ کیا ریمنڈ ڈیوس کے پاس کوئی گہرا تاریک راز ہے، جس کے آشکار ہو جانے کا خوف امریکی انتظامیہ کے اعصاب پر سوار ہے۔ کوئی ایسا گورکھ دھندا جو پاکستانی عوام کے علم میں آ گیا تو تباہی آئے گی؟ ریمنڈ ڈیوس پولیس کے تفتیش کرنے والوں کے سوالات کا جواب دینے سے انکار کیوں کرتا رہا؟ ظاہر ہے کہ لاہور کی قونصل جنرل کے مشورے سے جو تین تین گھنٹے اس سے گفتگو کیا کرتیں۔ کس چیز کے بارے میں وہ اس سے بات کرتی تھیں؟ کیا وہ اس کا حوصلہ بندھانے جاتی تھیں یا کسی حکمت عملی کی جزئیات پر بحث کرنے؟ ایک ملزم کو وکیل کے مشورے کی ضرورت ہوتی ہے۔ سرپرست سفارتکار کو میدان میں بروئے کار آنا ہوتا ہے۔ وہ جیل کے اندر اتنا قیمتی وقت کیوں برباد کرتی رہیں؟ کیا انہیں اندیشہ تھا کہ وہ پاکستان میں زیر زمین پھیلے امریکی نیٹ ورک کی تفصیلات بتا دے گا یا کچھ اس سے بڑھ کر بھی؟ امریکیوں نے ریمنڈ ڈیوس کو مزنگ سے اٹھا کر لے جانے کے لئے اتنا بڑا خطرہ کیوں مول لیا۔ رائفلیں اٹھائے ان کے لوگ ٹریفک قوانین کی خلاف ورزی کرتے ہوئے، ایک معصوم جان کو کچلنے کے مرتکب ہوئے۔ پھر اس گاڑی کے سواروں کو ہر قیمت پر بچانے کی انہوں نے کوشش کی حتیٰ کہ ملک سے باہر بھیج دیا۔ مرکزی حکومت سوئی کیوں رہی۔ پنجاب حکومت کی طرف سے چھ عدد خطوط لکھے جانے کے باوجود کہ قونصل خانہ مجرموں کو پناہ دینے کا مرتکب ہے، وزارت داخلہ نے ان کے نام ای سی ایل میں کیوں شامل نہ کئے؟ ہوائی اڈوں پر نگرانی کیوں نہ ہوئی؟
ایک تاریک بھید ہے، ایک گہرا تاریک بھید۔ تاریخ مگر یہ بتاتی ہے کہ کوئی راز ہمیشہ راز نہیں رہتا۔ بات کھلے گی اور نتائج پیدا کرے گی۔ وجدان یہ کہتا ہے کہ پاک امریکہ تعلقات کی نوعیت تبدیل ہونے کا وقت آ پہنچا۔ سیاسی قیادت اگر نہ سمجھ پائی تو وہ عوامی طوفان کی نذر ہو سکتی ہے۔ دریا کی لہروں کے خلاف کب کون تیر سکا ہے؟ تاریخ میں جب طوفان اٹھتے ہیں تو تنکے راہ نہیں روکتے۔
http://search.jang.com.pk/archive/details.asp?nid=507785
Geo TV lies: Davis row rift between ISI & CIA http://www.geo.tv/2-24-2011/78683.htm
WRONG: ISI using Davis case to discredit the civilian govt; and to rebuild direct contacts with the US
THE PUBLIC EDITOR
An American in Pakistan
By ARTHUR S. BRISBANE
Published: February 26, 2011
“What is the purpose of this supposedly independent paper — to ask permission of the government before reporting what the government is doing?”
Earl Wilson/The New York Times
“The New York Times is now, quite obviously and by its own admission, in the business of concealment.”
Jessica Ostrower, San Clemente, Calif.
“Yet again the NYT has shown itself to be a willing pawn of the government’s propaganda ministry.”
A. Salzman, Fairfield, Vt.
•
The Times’s disclosure on Monday that it withheld information about Raymond Davis’s connection to the Central Intelligence Agency has kicked up a powerful response, some of it as bitterly critical as these readers’ comments.
Mr. Davis was charged with murder after shooting two Pakistani men in Lahore on Jan. 27. The Times jumped on the story, but on Feb. 8, the State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, contacted the executive editor, Bill Keller, with a request. “He was asking us not to speculate, or to recycle charges in the Pakistani press,” Mr. Keller said. “His concern was that the letters C-I-A in an article in the NYT, even as speculation, would be taken as authoritative and would be a red flag in Pakistan.”
Mr. Crowley told me the United States was concerned about Mr. Davis’s safety while in Pakistani custody. The American government hoped to avoid inflaming Pakistani opinion and to create “as constructive an atmosphere as possible” while working to resolve the diplomatic crisis.
The agreement with United States news organizations, which included The Associated Press and The Washington Post as well as The Times, held together until early last week. But on Sunday, the British newspaper The Guardian, quoting an unnamed “senior Pakistani intelligence official,” reported that Mr. Davis worked for the C.I.A. and that American news organizations knew that “but have kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration.”
Even then, the State Department had one more request — that The Times and others wait 24 hours while the United States worked to secure Pakistani authorities’ commitment to place Mr. Davis in the “safest possible location.” The Times delayed further, but on Monday afternoon published a story saying Mr. Davis was a private contractor providing security to a “covert, C.I.A.-led team collecting intelligence and conducting surveillance on militant groups.”
In that story, The Times noted its agreement to “withhold information about Mr. Davis’s ties to the agency at the request of the Obama administration.”
As profoundly unpalatable as it is, I think the Times did the only thing it could do. Agreeing to the State Department’s request was a decision bound to bring down an avalanche of criticism and, even worse, impose serious constraints on The Times’s journalism. The alternative, though, was to take the risk that reporting the C.I.A. connection would, as warned, lead to Mr. Davis’s death.
In military affairs, there is a calculus that balances the loss of life against the gain of an objective. In journalism, though, there is no equivalent. Editors don’t have the standing to make a judgment that a story — any story — is worth a life. I find it hard to second-guess the editors’ assessment that the State Department’s warning was credible and that Mr. Davis’s life was at risk in a country seething with anti-American feeling.
Bob Woodward, who wrote about secret operations in Pakistan in his recent book “Obama’s Wars,” described for me the competing priorities in play in this situation. On one hand, he said, the Davis affair is just the “tip of the iceberg” of intensive secret warfare the United States is waging in the region. “I think the aggressive nature of the way all that is covered is good because you are only seeing part of the activity, ” said Mr. Woodward, who also is associate editor of The Washington Post.
“But you just don’t want to get someone killed,” he added. “I learned a long time ago, humanitarian considerations first, journalism second.”
The constraint plays havoc with coverage, obviously. For nearly two weeks, The Times tried to report on the Davis affair while sealing off the C.I.A connection. In practice, this meant its stories contained material that, in the cold light of retrospect, seems very misleading. Here’s an example from an article on Feb. 11 that referred to a statement issued by the American government:
“The statement on Friday night said that Mr. Davis was assigned as an ‘administrative and technical’ member of the staff at the American Embassy in Islamabad. But his exact duties have not been explained, and the reason he was driving alone with a Glock handgun, a pocket telescope and GPS equipment has fueled speculation in the Pakistani news media.”
How can a news outlet stay credible when readers learn later that it has concealed what it knows?
Ted Gup, author of several books on intelligence-gathering, notes that important aspects of the Davis story made it especially hard for news organizations to operate under such constraints.
In other cases, news media might be asked not to compromise intelligence operations by exposing an identity (an obvious example, in my view, would be the WikiLeaks stories). But in the Davis case, there was a dramatic incident, a volatile aftermath and continuing coverage — and that’s very different.
“In this instance, his affiliation might help explain what transpired,” said Mr. Gup, who is chairman of the journalism department at Emerson College. “In other words, you may not be able to tell this story without identifying him as agency or agency support.”
But The Times was stuck with trying to do that. “Obviously, there are some things that were withheld from some of our stories,” said Dean Baquet, the Washington bureau chief. “I would argue that, given the restriction, we tried our best not to be misleading.”
Mr. Baquet said it was difficult to say exactly when The Times could have reported the C.I.A. connection. On Feb. 8, at the time of the agreement with the State Department, The Times “probably” could have reported “mounting evidence of a C.I.A. connection” and that Pakistanis believed this to be the case, he said. For a more definitive report, Mr. Baquet said, it was “sometime before the 20th” before the paper was ready to go with it.
He added: “We have reported a big chunk of the heart of the story: he shot and killed two people. I don’t regret the judgment not to identify further. These are hard calls.”
It was a brutally hard call that, for some, damaged The Times’s standing. But to have handled it otherwise would have been simply reckless. I’d call this a no-win situation, one that reflects the limits of responsible journalism in the theater of secret war.
E-mail: public@nytimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/opinion/27pubed.html
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امریکیوں کی چراگاہ…نقش خیال…عرفان صدیقی
اطلاعات کے مطابق آئی ایس آئی کے سربراہ لیفٹیننٹ جنرل احمد شجاع پاشا نے امریکی سی آئی اے چیف‘ لیون ای پینٹا سے ٹیلی فون پر گفتگو کرتے ہوئے دو ٹوک انداز میں کہا ہے کہ پاکستان میں موجود سی آئی اے کے ایجنٹوں‘ اہلکاروں اور کنٹریکٹ پر لئے گئے افراد کی مکمل فہرست فراہم کی جائے اور اُن کے فرائض کی نوعیت سے آگاہ کیا جائے۔ یقینی طورپر یہ مطالبہ محض ٹیلی فون تک محدود نہیں ہوگا۔ جنرل پاشا کی طرف سے مزید کہا گیا کہ ”ہمیں بے حد تشویش ہے کہ بہت سی کارروائیاں ہم سے بالا بالا‘ وارآن ٹیرر کے متعینہ دائرکار سے باہر ہورہی ہیں“۔ معروف امریکی اخبار نیویارک ٹائمز نے بھی اس رابطے کی تصدیق کی ہے اور لکھا ہے کہ ریمنڈ ڈیوس کے واقعہ کے بعد دونوں ایجنسیوں کے درمیان کشیدگی کی کیفیت پائی جاتی ہے۔
وہ جو دس برس سے کہا جارہا تھا کہ اس بے ننگ ونام جنگ نے ہمارے چاک گریباں کی بخیہ گری تو نہ کی البتہ ہمیں گوناگوں مسائل کی آماجگاہ ضرور بنادیا‘ وہ وقت کی کسوٹی پر سچ ثابت ہورہا ہے۔ ہر ڈکٹیٹر کی طرح مشرف کو امریکی سرپرستی کی ضرورت تھی۔ نائن الیون اُس کے لئے تکمیل آرزو کی صبح مراد کے طور پر آیا۔ اُس نے پاکستان کی تجوری کھولی اور سب کچھ جارج ڈبلیو بش کی جھولی میں ڈال دیا۔ جواب میں اُس نے صرف ایک چیز مانگی۔ ”میرے اقتدار کی کرُسی سلامت رہے“۔ امریکہ نے ”منظور ہے“ کہا۔ اگلے سات برس تک شہنشاہ عالم پناہ مشرف کی تمام تر سیاہ کاریوں کے باوجود اُس کے اقتدار کو استحکام بخشتا رہا اور جواباً پرویز مشرف‘ پاکستان کی بوٹیاں نوچ نوچ کر عالمی درندوں اور آس پاس منڈلاتے چیل کوؤں کو کھلاتا رہا۔ اگر پیپلزپارٹی کی حکومت این آر او کی زنجیر میں نہ بندھی ہوتی اور اگر جناب آصف زرداری کی صدارت‘ مشرف ہی کی طرح امریکی آشیرباد کے کھونٹےٴ سے نہ جڑی ہوتی تو آج نہ ریمنڈ ڈیوس کو یہ جسارت ہوتی کہ وہ لاہور میں دن دہاڑے بے گناہ پاکستانیوں کو بھون ڈالتا‘ نہ پاکستان سینکڑوں یا شاید ہزاروں امریکیوں کی چراگاہ بنا ہوتا ۔
جمہوری عمل کی بحالی کے باوجود کسی نے مشرف سے نہیں پوچھا کہ امریکہ کو دی گئی سہولتوں اور مراعات کی فہرست کہاں سے شروع ہو کر کہاں ختم ہوتی ہے؟ کیا کچھ کسی تحریری معاہدے یا مفاہمت کی یاد داشت کے طورپر موجود ہے اور کیا کچھ مشرف نے منہ زبانی بخش دیا؟ اس کے بعد کی ساری داستان بھی پراسراریت اور زرداری کے غلاف میں لپٹی ہوئی ہے۔ کسی کو کچھ خبر نہیں کہ امریکہ کو کس کس صورت میں کیسی کیسی رعایتیں دی جارہی ہیں اور ان رعایتوں کے بجرے میں سوار ہو کر پاکستان پہنچنے والے امریکی‘ از خود لامحدود رعایتیں حاصل کرکے یہاں کیا کیا کررہے ہیں؟ نام نہاد ”وارآن ٹیرر“ پر ارکان پارلیمنٹ کو دی جانے والی بریفنگز بھی ایسے حساس موضوعات سے بہت دور رہی ہیں۔ گاہے گاہے بین الاقوامی میڈیا پردہ کشائی کرتا رہتا ہے لیکن پاکستانی قوم کو کچھ پتہ نہیں کہ اس جنگ کی نوعیت کیا ہے؟ پاکستان کو اس سے کیا مل رہا ہے اور خود اُس کی جھولی میں کیا ثمرات آرہے ہیں۔ لوگ البتہ اتنا ضرور جانتے ہیں کہ پاکستان اب وہ پاکستان نہیں رہا جو نائن الیون سے پہلے تھا۔ تب نہ کوئی خودکش حملہ تھا‘ نہ ڈرون طیارے ہماری بستیوں کو ادھیڑ رہے تھے‘ نہ ہماری سپاہ مغربی محاذ پہ یوں الجھی ہوئی تھی‘ نہ ہمارے شہریوں اور فوجیوں کا لہو اتنا ارزاں تھا‘ نہ دہشت گردی کا عفریت یوں بے لگام تھا‘ نہ امریکیوں کو یوں سرعام گولیاں برسانے کا حوصلہ تھا‘ نہ وہ ہزاروں کی تعداد میں ہمارے شہروں میں دندنارہے تھے‘ نہ اُن کیلئے پاکستان خالہ جی کا گھر تھا کہ روز کے دورے معمول بن جاتے‘ نہ ہماری آزادی و خودمختاری جنس بے مایہ بنی ہوئی تھی‘ نہ ہم ستاون ارب ڈالر کے قرصوں میں جکڑے ہوئے تھے‘ نہ توانائی کے بحران کا یہ عالم تھا‘ نہ پاکستان کے کھیل کے میدان اتنے ویران تھے‘ نہ سبزپاکستانی پاسپورٹ اتنا بے توقیر تھا‘ نہ پاکستان کا بین الاقوامی شخص اس قدر مجروح تھا‘ نہ پاکستانی معیشت اتنی ناتواں تھی‘ نہ سیکورٹی کے نام پر جابجا پولیس ناکے لگے تھے‘ نہ کشمیر کاز اتنا بے نوا تھا‘ نہ بھارت اس قدر قوی تھا اور نہ قوم اتنی درماندہ تھی۔ اس جنگ کو اپنی جنگ کہنے والے کاش کسی ایک ثمر شیریں کا ذکر کردیں جو ہمارا نصیب ٹھہرا ہو۔
ستم یہ ہے کہ موجودہ حکومت نے بھی اس امر کی ضرورت محسوس نہیں کہ امریکہ سے تعاون کا کوئی واضح دائرہ کار طے کیاجائے۔ مشرف کی اپنی مجبوریاں تھیں کہ وہ ”سب سے پہلے اپنی ذات“ کے آشوب کا شکار تھا لیکن پیپلزپارٹی جیسی عوامی جماعت کو ‘ اپوزیشن کے اشتراک سے‘ ایک باوقار پالیسی بنانی چاہئے تھی۔ ایسا نہ ہوا کہ اس بندوبست کا آشیانہ بھی اُسی شاخ پہ ہے۔ اطلاعات یہ ہیں کہ گزشتہ تین سالہ جمہوری دور میں امریکی مداخلت اور خود سری پہلے سے کہیں زیادہ بڑھ گئی ہے اور سیکورٹی ایجنسیز کے اوباشوں کاتانتا بندھا ہے۔ کیری لوگربل سے منسلکہ بعض خفیہ شرائط کے تحت امریکیوں کو بغیر کسی تحقیق و تفتیش کے بے حد و حساب ویزے دینے کی کئی خبریں شائع ہوچکی ہیں۔ ابھی دو دن قبل قومی اسمبلی کو باضابطہ طور پر آگاہ کیا گیا کہ پاکستان بھرمیں مختلف ممالک کے سفارت خانوں سے منسلک 2570 افراد کو سفارتی استثنیٰ حاصل ہے جن میں 851 امریکی ہیں۔ جی ہاں! ایک تہائی کا تعلق صرف امریکہ سے ہے۔ چین ہمارا دیرینہ دوست ہے لیکن اس کے صرف 87 ڈپلومیٹ یہاں موجود ہیں۔ برطانیہ کے 170‘ بھارت کے 117‘روس کے 98‘ جرمنی کے 56‘ ایران کے 64 اور فرانس کے 60۔ مجھے یقین ہے کہ عالم اسلام کے ستاون اسلامی ممالک کے سفارت کاروں کی مجموعی تعداد 851 سے بہت کم ہوگی۔ شاید یہ کوئی نہ بتاسکے کہ سفارتی استثنیٰ رکھنے والے ان 851 امریکیوں کے علاوہ یہاں کتنے سو یا کتنے ہزار امریکی‘ کیا کچھ کررہے ہیں۔
ریمنڈ ڈیوس کے بعد پشاور سے ایک اور امریکی ایرون مارک گرفتار ہوا ہے جس کے ویزے کے میعاد تمام ہوچکی تھی۔ ایرون ایک کمپنی سے وابستہ ہے جو پشاور میں امریکیوں کو گھر کرائے پر لے کر دیتی ہے۔اُس کا دعویٰ ہے کہ میں مسلمان ہوچکا ہوں۔ اُس نے ایک پاکستانی لڑکی سے شادی بھی کررکھی ہے۔اس سے اندازہ لگایا جاسکتا ہے کہ امریکی پھیلاؤ اور مداخلت کا حجم کہاں تک پہنچ چکا ہے۔ بلیک واٹر یا زی سے وابستہ اور کنٹریکٹ پر بھرتی کئے گئے یہ افراد‘ سی آئی اے کے اہداف و مقاصد کے لئے اس آزادی کے ساتھ کام کررہے ہیں کہ حیرت ہوتی ہے۔ آئی ایس آئی نے بجا طور پر سی آئی اے سے کہا ہے کہ وہ اپنے اہلکاروں اور اُن کے ذمہ داروں کی تفصیل بتائے لیکن یہ کام حکومت کا ہے۔ جب تک وفاقی حکومت خود قومی سلامتی کے لئے شدید خطرہ بن جانے والے اس معاملے کی نزاکت کا احساس نہیں کرتی اور اس کے پیکر خاکی میں امریکہ سے مکالمہ کرنے کا حوصلہ پیدا نہیں ہوتا اس وقت تک یہ سلسلہ جاری رہے گا۔ سیاسی میدان میں بڑھکیں مارنے اور ”تخت لاہور“ پر عقابوں کی طرح جھپٹنے والوں کو اتنا حوصلہ بھی نہیں کہ ریمنڈ ڈیوس پر جاسوسی کا مقدمہ بنائیں۔ صوبائی حکومت اُنہیں خطوط لکھ رہی ہے کہ ڈیوس سے برآمد ہونے والی اشیاء اور معلومات سے پختہ تاثر ملتا ہے کہ وہ جاسوس ہے۔ چوں کہ جاسوسی کے الزام میں مقدمہ صرف وفاقی حکومت بناسکتی ہے اسلئے وہ ضروری اقدام کرے۔ لیکن ادھر خاموشی طاری ہے۔ اسلام آباد کو یہ جرأت بھی نہیں ہوئی کہ عبادالرحمن کے امریکی قاتلوں کو گرفت میں لاتا۔
آئی ایس آئی کی پیش رفت بجا لیکن جب تک وفاقی حکومت‘ قومی مفادات کے تحفظ کا عزم نہیں کرتی اور امریکی خوشنودی کو اپنے اقتدار کا جزو اعظم خیال کرتی رہتی ہے اس وقت تک پاکستان امریکیوں کی چراگاہ بنارہے گا۔
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ISI ki ghairat
آج ہی کے اخبار میں ایک خوشخبری یہ بھی پڑھنے کو ملی ہے کہ ہماری قابل فخر انٹیلی جنس ایجنسی آئی ایس آئی کے سربراہ نے سی آئی اے کے سربراہ کو وارننگ دے دی ہے کہ وہ پاکستان میں اپنی سرگرمیاں ختم کردے، اللہ کرے آئی ایس آئی کا پولٹیکل ونگ بھی ختم کردیا جائے کہ ہمارے اس عظیم الشان ادارے کے خوبصورت چہرے پر پولٹیکل ونگ کا جو”موکا“ ہے،وہ اس کی خوبصورتی کو ماند کرنے کا باعث بنتا ہے، بہرحال حال ہی میں ریمنڈ ڈیوس کے مسئلے پر ہمارے میڈیا ،ہماری عدلیہ، پنجاب حکومت اور فارن آفس کے علاوہ ہماری ایجنسیوں نے جو اسٹینڈ لیا ہے وہ قوم کو اپنی خود مختاری کے حوالے سے ایک نیا اتحاد بخشنے کا باعث بنا ہے۔ اللہ کرے ہم ریمنڈ ڈیوس اور ان جیسے دوسرے سی آئی اے کے ایجنٹوں کو ان کے انجام تک پہنچانے میں ثابت قدم رہیں۔ امریکہ ہمیں دھمکیاں دے رہا ہے کہیں ایسا نہ ہو کہ ہمارے قدم لڑکھڑا جائیں اور ہم اپنی قومی غیرت اور حمیت کا سودا کربیٹھیں ۔ایک ظالم بادشاہ مجرموں کو مختلف نوعیت کی سزائیں سنارہا تھا، اس کی آنکھیں نکال دو، اس کی ٹانگیں کاٹ دو، اس کے بازو کاٹ دو، فلاں کو یہ کردو اور فلاں کو یہ کردو اور پھر اس نے ایک شخص کی طرف اشارہ کرکے کہا”اس کو مادرزاد ننگا کرکے سارے شہر میں پھراؤ اور پھر اس کی ننگی پیٹھ پر دس بار تھوکو“یہ سن کر وہ شخص بپھرے ہوئے لہجے میں چلایا”میں اپنی آنکھیں نکلوا سکتا ہوں، ٹانگیں اور بازو کٹوا سکتا ہوں،لیکن سوال ہی پیدا نہیں ہوتا کہ یہ بے غیرتی اور بے حمیتی برداشت کروں“ مگر جلاد نے اس کی سنی ان سنی کرتے ہوئے بادشاہ کے حکم کی تعمیل شروع کردی، اس نے ایک کی آنکھیں نکالیں، ایک کے بازو کاٹے اور جب وہ تیسرے شخص کی جانب جارہا تھا ،یہ غیرت مند شخص جلاد کی طرف بڑھا اور کہا ”یہ میرے چہرے پر تم زخم کا ایک نشان دیکھ رہے ہو، یہ نشان یاد رکھنا تم نے مجھے شہر میں ننگا پھرانا ہے اور میری ننگی پیٹھ پر دس بار تھوکنا ہے کہیں غلطی سے میری ٹانگیں نہ کاٹ دینا“اللہ نہ کرے کہ ہم بھی خوفزدہ ہو کر اپنی غیرت اور حمیت بھول جائیں اور امریکہ سے کہیں”جناب ہماری یہ نشانی یاد رکھیں
ایوب خاں سے ریمنڈ ڈیوس تک!…روزن دیوار سے …عطاء الحق قاسمی
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Davis Spy Crisis: Top U.S., Pakistan Spooks in Talks
By Omar Waraich Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011
The CIA has opened direct negotiations with its Pakistani counterpart, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in an effort to secure the release of one its contractors who is standing trial in Pakistan for double murder. Officials familiar with the discussions told TIME that the negotiations began on Wednesday when Lieut. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the director-general of the ISI, received a call from CIA Director Leon Panetta. Panetta’s call came just a day after the U.S. and Pakistani military leaderships met for a prescheduled meeting in the Gulf emirate of Oman, where the case of the CIA contractor was also discussed. Leading up to the meeting, Admiral Mike Mullen, head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, had spoken with Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at least three times about the contractor.
The case of Raymond Davis, a former special operations soldier who had been working with the CIA as a contractor in Pakistan, has sent relations between the two countries to a dangerous low. Davis is standing trial in the eastern city of Lahore, accused of killing two Pakistanis who had been pursuing him last month. The controversy has caused an uproar in Pakistan, particularly after Washington insisted that Davis should be released under diplomatic immunity because he was acting in self-defense, holds a diplomatic passport and a valid visa. In Pakistan, few are persuaded. A fierce wave of anti-Americanism has arisen, with many Pakistanis disputing whether diplomatic immunity applies. For the powerful Pakistani military and its spies, there are also concerns about the activities of Davis and other contractors operating in the country.
(See why Pakistan is in no mood to back down in the showdown over Raymond Davis.)
For the ISI, the Davis affair has offered a rare opportunity to exercise leverage over the CIA and even the civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari. “It’s the first time that the CIA has been caught with its pants down,” says a Pakistani official. The ISI had faced a series of embarrassing allegations in recent years. “This is an unequal relationship,” adds the official. “The Americans bully because Pakistan is in the weaker position. And Pakistanis retaliate in an effort to increase their leverage. It is somehow built into an unequal relationship with a junior partner not being comfortable playing the role a junior partner.”
(Why is Raymond Davis a threat to Zardari’s government?
Davis, according to Pakistani officials, had been spying on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an outlawed militant group that has been involved in the anti-Indian Kashmir insurgency, and other “Punjabi jihadi groups.” LeT is also believed to be responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai massacre. Pakistan has so far refused to hand-over the group’s leaders. The LeT’s chief, Hafiz Saeed, is supposed to be under house arrest but still manages to appear occasionally to lead public rallies.
The CIA and the ISI appear to be at odds over the nature of LeT’s activities. “The CIA had told the ISI that it believes that LeT is working with al-Qaeda,” said a senior Pakistani official familiar with the discussions. In response, the ISI is said to have denied this was the case. According to the official, the CIA subsequently enlisted the services of contractors, like Davis, to independently establish whether the link existed.
The CIA, however, had not secured authorization from the ISI for the contractors to operate in Pakistan, Pakistani officials said. However, there were no established rules, either. “The ISI never said that the CIA or the Department of Defense couldn’t have contractors,” said a senior Pakistani official. “They weren’t there with Pakistan’s authorization, but they were there with Pakistan’s knowledge. The ISI knows who these people are, but they want to control them, they want to know what their assignment is.”
The ISI has said publicly that it had no knowledge of the contractors, and has alleged that the pro-U.S. government of President Zardari secretly slipped them into the country. Officials close to Zardari deny the charge. Davis, said a senior Pakistani official, was issued his first visa in October 2009, for a period of three months. Subsequently, he was granted two extensions in Islamabad. “When visas are processed in Islamabad, they are vetted by the Foreign Office, the ISI, and the Ministry of Interior,” says a senior official. “Of course they knew who he was.”
The current negotiations over Davis’s fate, says a senior Pakistani official familiar with the discussions, are trying to hammer out an agreement whereby there would be some “face-saving” for the Pakistanis in exchange for the American’s release. Initially, the ISI had floated the suggestion that Washington relax its demands that Davis be released under diplomatic immunity and offer compensation to the victims’ families. Under Pakistani law, “blood money” is recognized as a means of settling a case of murder. “The two sides are trying to put it back into the box,” says the senior official.
At the heart of the dispute is an enduring history of mistrust. The CIA, said a Pakistani official, does not trust the Pakistanis enough to take them at their word. The problem, the official said, is that even if the U.S. were to agree to withdraw all contractors, the ISI would not allow CIA case agents to investigate the activities of groups like LeT. “Pakistanis have to figure out whether we want to look upon the U.S. as an ally or an adversary,” said a senior Pakistani official, lamenting the tumultuous nature of the relationship with the U.S.
And, in the background is the future fate of Afghanistan. The army and the ISI, Pakistani officials said, were frustrated with the lack of progress over negotiations toward an endgame settlement there. Pakistan covets a role as the principal interlocutor with militant groups like the Afghan Taliban. Last year, General Kayani hand-delivered a 14-page document outlining Pakistan’s view. “The U.S. has said that it understands their concerns,” says a western diplomat. “But that’s not the same as agreeing with those concerns.” By applying pressure over Davis, the Pakistan military hopes to increase its bargaining power.
Toward that end, Zardari aides allege, the ISI is also looking to cut the civilian government down to size and control the relationship with the U.S. The president’s aides accuse the ISI of being behind an orchestrated campaign of leaks to the local and international press that have whipped up anti-Americanism and painted the Zardari government as being too weak-kneed before U.S. demands. “They’re also sending a message to the U.S.,” said a Zardari aide. “They are saying, ‘Deal with us, not the civilians.'” Since assuming power, Zardari has been forced to cede ground repeatedly to the powerful generals.
(Comment on this story.)
Some officials and analysts believe, however, that the army is in danger of overplaying its hand on this occasion. “This issue, with this [U.S.] Congress, could become really more problematic than anything we’ve had,” says Christine Fair, assistant professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. “The Pakistanis have been very ungracious about American support. We’ve been the biggest donors in terms of flood relief. And yet, the Saudis and the Chinese who’ve donated a fraction of that get all the genuflection.”
“There are people in this town,” adds Washington-based Fair, “who are simply saying, ‘F— this, let’s just call Pakistan the enemy.’ They are saying Pakistan is supporting the killing of our troops in Afghanistan, they’re supporting the LeT, they call [the rogue Pakistani nuclear scientist] AQ Khan a national hero. The fact that the CIA is coming to this conclusion should be very worrisome for Pakistan. For years, the CIA was the only organization in this town that would defend the Pakistanis.”
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2055690,00.html#ixzz1FEscUdNO
Why the Guardian went against CIA/MI5 advice to withhold the Raymond Davis-CIA link
Open door: Dangerous decisions
The readers’ editor on… the ethics of publishing stories that may endanger a life
Chris Elliott
The Guardian, Monday 28 February 2011
Until the Guardian named Raymond Davis as a CIA employee last Monday, 21 February, newspapers and news agencies in the US were reluctant to do so.
They say that they knew that Davis, now in a Lahore prison after he allegedly shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore, worked for the CIA but had been asked by the agency and government to keep it under wraps because his life might be at risk if his job was divulged.
It is one of the most powerful ethical questions a newspaper has to face: whether to publish information that may endanger a life.
Such decisions are not as rare as readers may think and are not confined to events of high drama on an international stage. It is not unknown for journalists at court to be told by a distressed relative of the person in the dock that publication of the case will lead to the death of the defendant, either at their own hands or at the hands of others. It is not an idle remark.
The different approach of the Guardian in naming Davis – who had been described as a diplomat by President Obama, and who is now at the centre of a diplomatic tug of war after the killings on 27 January – to other newspapers puzzled a few readers. So why did we decide to name him as a CIA agent, and were we right to do it?
The Guardian’s correspondent in Islamabad, an experienced journalist, investigated and wrote the story. He said:
“We took the CIA’s suggestion that Davis would be at risk if we ran the story very seriously. I interviewed the Punjab law minister, Rana Sanaullah, who described the conditions of Davis’s incarceration. He said there were teams of dedicated guards and Punjab rangers deployed outside the prison, and visits from embassy personnel. I also interviewed a senior intelligence official who said ‘all possible measures’ were being taken to ensure his safety, including moving 25 jihadi prisoners to other facilities.”
Our correspondent also spoke to human rights groups about the conditions in the prison and what was happening in there.
But the deciding factor was that Davis’s CIA link wasn’t actually a very big secret in Pakistan. For days newspapers had been describing him as a spy; by Sunday morning, 20 February, the headline in one of Pakistan’s national newspapers, The Nation, was “Raymond Davis linked to CIA”.
“Those who might wish to harm Davis – inside the prison, or outside – had already made up their minds about who he was or what he represented. They don’t need our story to motivate them,” our correspondent said.
A CIA spokesman made strenuous efforts over the weekend to persuade Ian Katz, the Guardian’s deputy editor in charge of news, that identifying Davis as a CIA agent would be wrong. The agency’s case broadly was that attempts to release Davis were delicate and tying him to the CIA would only “fan the flames”. MI5 also called the Guardian to ask them not to specifically link Davis to the CIA. Katz discussed the issue with Alan Rusbridger, the editor in chief. He said:
“We came to the view that his CIA-ness was a critical part of the story, bound to be a factor in his trial or in attempts to have him released. The reasons we were given for not naming him were, firstly, that it may complicate his release – that is not our job. If he was held hostage other factors would kick in but he is in the judicial process. The other reason given by the CIA was that he would come to harm in prison.”
Katz said the story was about how the CIA behaved abroad and that all the Guardian’s investigative work suggested that the Pakistanis were taking exceptional care to keep the agent safe. It’s completely clear that the assumption in Pakistan is that he is CIA so the question was, what’s the marginal risk created by confirming his role?
The correspondent believes the Pakistanis have good reason to ensure Davis’s safety above and beyond the levels required by international agreements regarding the health and safety of prisoners awaiting trial.
“The realpolitik is that Davis has become a bargaining chip in an acrimonious spy-v-spy game between the ISI [Pakistan’s military agency] and the CIA. He is of little worth to the Pakistanis dead, and they know that if he comes to any harm they will be instantly blamed, no matter the circumstances – something that would do massive damage to a relationship that, despite the hot rhetoric at the moment, is key to both countries.”
Having said that, the reporter knows that no one can be certain that the prisoner will remain safe or that if harm does come to him the newspaper will or will not share responsibility.
There is also a faint echo here of the Wallis Simpson story. When the US divorcee began a relationship with Prince Edward, scandalising the world, you could read all about it everywhere except in England, where the press colluded with the establishment to keep it from the people.
Would the Guardian have taken a different decision had the agent been an MI6 operative? Rusbridger and Katz wouldn’t speculate, nor would they respond to the question of what happens if Davis is harmed.
Rusbridger said: “We were asked by the British government not to run the Yemeni cables during the WikiLeaks investigation because it would undermine the fight against Islamists. We refused. Two months later that looks like the right decision.”
It is impossible for newspapers to operate in any effective way without sometimes having to make decisions that could lead to physical harm or reputational damage. The role of newspapers is not to duck them but to apply a set of ethical tests against as much information as they can find – which I think happened in this case – and then bear the consequences.
AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
It’s entertaining to see how foreign journalists have suddenly started recycling what LUBP has been stating on Ryamond Davis from day one.
AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@OmarWaraich writes: For the ISI, Davis affair has offered a rare opportunity to exercise leverage over CIA & even Zardari government
1 hour ago Favorite Reply Delete
AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
NYT writes: the Davis case as a bargaining chip to get the withdrawal of civil lawsuit filed in Brooklyn that implicates ISI chief Gen Pasha
1 hour ago
AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Newsweek writes: the ISI’s statements on Davis can be seen as the latest move to play tough cop to the U.S. in order to please the public
1 hour ago
»
AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
LUBP archive on Raymond Davis: First post on 30 Jan, all posts point toward the unholy military-mullah-media alliance http://tiny.cc/8av2x
1 hour ago
How Propaganda Gets Into Foreign Media
February 22nd, 2011
Proper investigative journalism is severely lacking and this is effecting not only our own media but international reporting on Pakistan as well. As reporting on Pakistan becomes more and more dangerous for foreign journalists, often accused of being ‘spies’ by certain right-wing elements, the international press becomes reliant on our own journalists to feed them information. In turn, they are fed propaganda, not actual reporting, which is then added in their own reporting. Once this happens, Pakistani media refers to the international press as a way of legitimising their own inventions, even though it is their own words that have been repeated.
An example of this problem was made clear in The News of yesterday. A front page article titled, ‘Raymond Davis was CIA spy: UK paper’, is actually a re-published article from the UK newspaper The Guardian. The article, by Declan Walsh and Ewen MacAskill, was originally published over the week end. The News re-published the article on Monday without changing a single word or giving proper attribution.
The article concludes with by citing ‘press reports’ about a rather peculiar speculation: “that the authorities worry the US could try to spring Davis in a “Hollywood-style sting”. If that phrase is not familiar to you, let me explain its origin. The threat of a ‘Hollywood-style sting operation’ is an invention of one Ansar Abbasi who works for The News. He introduced the phrase in an 11 February article titled, ‘Multiple security layers erected for Raymond Davis’, a piece that also threatens ‘some subversive act from India to get the double-murderer to embarrass Pakistan’. As always, the sources for Ansar Abbasi’s supposed conspiracies by American and Indian forces are unknown.
Ansar Abbasi may have invented from thin air these conspiracy theories, or they may have been fed to him by intelligence agencies. But the trick has worked because The Guardian has now repeated the claim on their respected pages, only attributing the claim to ‘press reports’ and not mentioning the name of Ansar Abbasi which would have alerted readers to the questionable origin of the claim. These conspiracies can now be repeated by our own media manipulators as reports of a preeminent UK newspaper, no need to mention their birthplace in the work of Ansar Abbasi.
Media reports on Raymond Davis are already filled with confusing and contradictory articles in Pakistan. Now our own propaganda has made its way into the international press. Whether this is by chance or by design is not known. What is known is that in a case as sensitive as Raymond Davis, the media has a responsibility to provide neutral reporting of facts and not to play the sensationalism card. That may be too much to ask of certain quarters in our own media, but we hope that the international press will not be so easily manipulated.
Unfortunately, as foreign journalists are threatened and labeled as ‘spies’ by certain elements that do not want the truth to come out, these foreign journalists rely on Pakistani journalists to provide them with research and analysis. When that research and analysis is filled with planted conspiracies and misinformation, it only serves to hide the truth. We pride ourselves on our free media, but can the media be truly free when it is so easily and so often manipulated for political ends?
http://pakistanmediawatch.com/2011/02/22/how-propaganda-gets-into-foreign-media/
February 28, 2011
KEEPING QUIET ABOUT DAVIS
Posted by Amy Davidson
The column by the Times’s Public Editor, Arthur Brisbane, on the case of Raymond Davis—the man who reportedly had some connection to the C.I.A. and is now in Pakistani custody after killing two men who, he has said, he thought were thieves—is genuinely puzzling. The Times reported last week that it had kept silent about Davis’s C.I.A. connection. Brisbane attempted to explain why. Here are the key passages:
The Times jumped on the story, but on Feb. 8, the State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, contacted the executive editor, Bill Keller, with a request. “He was asking us not to speculate, or to recycle charges in the Pakistani press,” Mr. Keller said. “His concern was that the letters C-I-A in an article in the NYT, even as speculation, would be taken as authoritative and would be a red flag in Pakistan.”
Mr. Crowley told me the United States was concerned about Mr. Davis’s safety while in Pakistani custody. The American government hoped to avoid inflaming Pakistani opinion and to create “as constructive an atmosphere as possible” while working to resolve the diplomatic crisis.
The Times acceded to the Obama Administration’s wishes, as did the Washington Post and the A.P. Brisbane concludes that “the Times did the only thing it could do,” even though “in practice, this meant its stories contained material that, in the cold light of retrospect, seems very misleading.” So the “only thing” the Times could do was be “misleading”? That question contains a lot of sub-questions. Here are some:
1. What was the risk to Davis, exactly? He is in the custody of Pakistan, one of our allies. It is not like he’s being held hostage in a cave somewhere, or on the run. One suggestion, laid out in the Post, is that a prison guard might have killed him out of anger; the Post mentions that other prisoners had, in fact, been killed by guards in the facility he was held in. Were those prisoners also working for the C.I.A.? (Or whatever agency Davis was affiliated with, as an “operative” or a contractor—his exact status is still not clear.) There was rage, maybe even life-threatening rage, at Davis in Pakistan even when the U.S. was pretending he was an ordinary diplomat—pulling out a Beretta on the streets of Lahore and shooting two people, then claiming immunity, will do that. He was burned in effigy before the Times used “the letters C-I-A.” One could just as easily argue that news that the American media covered up for Davis would make the Pakistani public even madder, and less willing to trust American justice and intentions, encouraging vigilantes.
(In any event, after the Guardian went with the story, the Administration told the Times that it needed twenty-four hours to get the Pakistanis to put him in a safer facility; if it took the Guardian story to persuade the Pakistanis, could one in the Times have facilitated a move weeks earlier?)
Or is the idea that the attacker wouldn’t be a rogue guard, but an Pakistani government operative sent to take him out, or maybe torture him for intelligence? There are a couple of problems with that: (a) the Pakistani government, if not the public, seems to have known who Davis was without American newspapers telling it; and (b) if we think that Pakistani security services torture or kill people because they are C.I.A. operatives, then why are we giving them so much taxpayer money?
Or would the story endanger his safety because it would undermine a claim to diplomatic immunity, exposing him to years in a Pakistani prison (not so good for one’s health) or even capital punishment? If so, does that count as a good reason? I am not sure of the points of international law here, and have read conflicting assertions about what Davis’s standing was, and exactly what sort of immunity he might have been eligible for. I also am not sure of the penalty for double murder in Pakistan. But if Davis isn’t entitled to diplomatic immunity then he isn’t entitled to diplomatic immunity. Do we believe that it’s the role of newspapers to pretend that he is, if he isn’t—to help the government make legally and factually false claims? (Is the press asked to suppress damaging details in cases of Americans charged with murders abroad who aren’t C.I.A. operatives?) And wouldn’t doing so endanger actual diplomats whose claims would, in the future, be treated with greater skepticism?
Maybe the danger was not to Davis but to the C.I.A.’s ability to operate with impunity within Pakistan. But that’s not the argument Brisbane presents, and has its own problems. (Is it the job of newspapers to create “as constructive an atmosphere as possible” for anything the government wants to do?) Anyway, the damage had been done by the incident itself; it was really a matter of making sense of the wreckage. And Davis was not arrested for spying but for killing people recklessly; the widow of one, an eighteen-year old, killed herself. Do journalists need, at the cost of their credibility, to deny these people’s survivors a day in court?
Maybe the Administration had good answers, and a better explanation of the danger to Davis; but those answers weren’t in the Times.
2. Who was the intended audience, or, rather, non-audience, for the silence? Put differently, who was this supposed to be kidding? Crowley, according to the Times, was not asking the paper to suppress something that hadn’t been reported but, as Keller put it, “not to speculate or recycle charges in the Pakistani press.” So news outlets were asked not to tell Americans, among others, what Pakistanis were already reading? (It is also interesting that this involved elevating the “authoritative” Times and disparaging the Pakistani press—which was actually ahead on the story.) Was the government, beyond its protestations about Davis’s safety, concerned about how this might affect American views of our wars, or cause people here to question elements of our involvement in Pakistan or our use of private contractors? (Davis had worked until some point for Blackwater, the company now known as Xe.) This relates to the next question:
3. How did agreeing to the Administration’s request affect not only what the Times, the Post, and the A.P. revealed, but how they reported the story? When Crowley asked the Times “not to speculate or recycle charges,” did he say the charges were false, or did he confirm them—was the problem that the speculation was unsubstantiated, or that it was true? Is “recycle” in this case a synonym for “follow up on,” “investigate,” or “pursue”? (The Times doesn’t exactly say what the paper knew when, although it quotes Washington editor Dean Baquet as saying that it had the information it needed “sometime before” the Guardian ran its piece.) Does feigning ignorance encourage actual ignorance—if nothing else as a way to avoid being “misleading” about what you do and don’t know? One would like to hear much more about how these news outlets, even just internally, interrogated the official story.
The restrictions may have hindered the paper in conveying just why Pakistanis were so angry. That is something that Americans—the families of our soldiers on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and really everyone—deserve, and even need, to know. Brisbane did not accomplish that here, either. How is it that, in an eleven-hundred-word column that includes a quote from Bob Woodward about how “I learned a long time ago, humanitarian considerations first, journalism second,” there wasn’t room to mention that the death toll in the incident was not two, but three? After shooting the two men, Davis called our embassy for help, and a four-wheel-drive vehicle slammed its way through Lahore to get to him, driving recklessly, going up streets the wrong way, breaking traffic laws. Because this is real life and not an action movie, the car hit and killed a bystander. (I live in New York, a city in which, for years, the easiest way for the tabloids to excite rage was to point to diplomats who used their immunity to get out of parking tickets; how would that kind of driving go over here?)
Brisbane called this “a brutally hard call.” And, again, the Obama Administration may have told the Times things that the paper still hasn’t told its readers, which would make all of this seem a little more sensible than it does now. But that’s not what we’re left with. What we get, instead, is Brisbane’s credo: “Editors don’t have the standing to make a judgment that a story—any story—is worth a life.” It’s not so simple. Unless you are only covering the Oscars, you get into areas in which lives can be changed by your reporting, or your failure to report. You can’t simply abdicate. For one thing, doing so may cost more lives: reporting, say, that bad training or poor command judgment caused soldiers to kill civilians may make people angry at American soldiers, but it might lead to changes that keep more civilians from being killed, and stave off a subsequent cycle of anger and retribution. Our best defense when our government does something wrong is that we hold it accountable—that an eighteen-year-old widow can trust that we care, a little, about her abandonment. That is the nature of our system, and what prevents rage at an American operative from becoming rage broadly directed at “Americans.”
Also: governments are lazy, and politicians confuse risks to their careers with risks to their countries. If they can prevent the publication of embarrassing stories simply by repeating the word “danger,” then they will misuse and overuse that tactic. The press can’t let that happen. It’s a matter of responsibility.
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2011/02/keeping-quiet-about-davis.html#ixzz1FKW3lPc0
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On Declan Walsh’s latest scoop: ‘Raymond Davis is a CIA spy’
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