Mumbai Mystery: American Designs on Pakistan and India
Tariq Saeedi with Sergi Pyatakov in Moscow and Mark Davidson in Washington Legwork by SM Kasi in Quetta, GN Brohi in Dalbandin, and Qasim Jan in Kandahar Mumbai episode is the latest in a long and nefarious ...
Part 1
Mumbai episode is the latest in a long and nefarious story that started unfolding some 16 months ago in the barren hills of Balochistan, a sparsely populated province in western Pakistan.
After more than 22000 kilometers of road and rail travel, endless legwork chasing small and seemingly unrelated clues, hundreds of interviews and many dozens of field trips, all we have been able to do is just remove the lid on the American designs on Pakistan and India. Equally disturbing is the reality that Central Asia, China and Russia are also in the crosshairs of the United States. What we have found is sheer in scope, mind-boggling and frightening.
The USA seems to have decided to:
- Bifurcate Pakistan using all possible means, including the religious elements that can be bought, coerced or tricked;
- Pull the plug on the Indian and Pakistani economies by creating a situation of perpetual confrontation;
- Prevent India from becoming an economic rival of the United States in foreseeable future by denying it the energy resources of Central Asia and Iran, and draining its precious human and material assets in dead-end pursuits;
- Promote drug addiction in South and Central Asia so that all the opium produced in Afghanistan is consumed in the region and little or none is left for export to the American markets;
- Block the economic growth and expanding regional influence of China and Russia;
- Acquire logistics facilities and infrastructure network for military action against Iran;
The Bumper Crop of Spies
We started working on this story in July 2007 on a vague tip that some foreign spies had been caught in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. We traveled to Balochistan and started talking to people who had many interesting things to tell.
"They caught a spy transmitting from the backroom of a pharmacy in Dalbandin," said a local shopkeeper."Yes, it was about eleven in the night. They caught him without any trouble." said his friend.The capture of another spy was rather hilarious."He was dressed like a Baloch, and he looked like a Baloch," said a shepherd.
"But we knew immediately that he was not a Baloch and we tipped a militia patrol," he added."How did you know he was not a Baloch," we asked.His brief explanation: "He was not walking like a Baloch."It is easy to understand the shepherd if you have ever seen a real Baloch in motion. The lilt and majesty of Baloch gait is inimitable.
Another spy was pretending to be a bush."The spy was concealed in a small bush on -------- [name of the mountain omitted deliberately] ," told a farmer in a settlement opposite Ahmedwal town."Why did you think it was not just a bush like any other bush," we asked."There was no bush there the day before," was his simple reply.
Because of the keen observation and vigilance of the locals, five spies were caught in less than two months. There were at least three others, who were detected but managed to escape. It is difficult to say as to how many more operated unnoticed, completed their work and went back to wherever they came from.
What was significant was that the locals said that four of the five captured spies were Amreeki (Americans). This sudden surge in American spies was inexplicable. We decided to consult Sasha and Misha, two retired KGB colonels, living in a quieter district of Moscow.
Back to Sasha and Misha
Sasha and Misha (not their real names), are retired KGB colonels and top-notch experts on Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were among the architects of the original BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) during the Russo-Afghan war. They know Balochistan better than anyone else we ever met.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are their first love and like faithful lovers they always keep tab on what is happening in that part of the world. And, they are in touch with many of their old contacts.
"There can be many reasons for increased espionage. It usually indicates some major shift in policy or preparation for a big operation. Looking at other developments, I would say that it is the both. The Americans are going for a major shift in their policy toward Pakistan and they may also be putting together some big operations," said Sasha.
"Go look for something unorthodox," added MishaThe trouble with Misha is that he speaks Cryptese. With his inherent fondness for crosswords, anagrams and puzzles, Misha is almost always difficult to decipher."Unorthodox what," we asked in exasperation." Such as Yankee-Jihadi marriage," said Misha with a naughty twinkle in his eyes that suddenly made him look much younger.It was clear that we were not going to get anything more from the duo before doing some spadework.
Part 2
Yankee-Jihadi Marriage
We turned our attention back to Balochistan and patched into the local grapevine.Misha' s phrase 'Yankee-Jihadi Marriage' was the key we were trying on every lock.Something seemed to click after a while.
There was buzz that a representative of a jihadi outfit recently had a meeting with an American in the Sadabahar area at the edge of Quetta. This was the beginning of August 2007 and the meeting was unusual. Americans of all descriptions travel frequently between Afghanistan and Pakistan but they were not known, till then, to seek clandestine meetings with jihadi elements.
According to our source, the representative of the jihadi outfit was a burly man in mid thirties with medium-length, thick beard. In Sadabahar, where the compound walls are typically high, he met an American who was dressed like a Pushtun. The meeting lasted more than three hours and the jihadi left with a canvas bag full of cash.
We could not identify the American but we managed to trace the jihadi to a splinter group of LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) . As is known, LeT is not a single entity; it is more like a brand name, used by many groups with diverse objectives and split loyalties.
The jihadi went to Karachi and met a colleague in Shah Faisal Colony and apparently gave him some of the cash he received from the American in Quetta. This assumption is based on the fact that the jihadi's colleague in Shah Faisal Colony purchased a flashy SUV a few days later.We returned to Sasha and Misha.
Money Explodes
"It cannot be an isolated phenomenon. There must be something before and after it. Look for patterns, always look for patterns," said Sasha.Misha said, "This money will explode. It will explode in many places." It was early September 2007, and Misha's black prediction was not long in coming true.
BB [Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan] returned to Pakistan on 18 October 2007 after nearly eight years of self-imposed exile, and her huge convoy was hit by suicide bombers en-route to the mausoleum of the father of the nation. Hundreds were killed and wounded but BB escaped unharmed.
Was there any connection between the suicide attack on BB's convoy and the American funding of a jihadi outfit?Instead of jumping to conclusions, we went back to Sasha and Misha.
Look at the whole picture
"Look at the whole picture. Never get distracted; look at the whole picture," said Sasha."That is what we are here for – show us the whole picture, or at least as much of the picture as you can," we said.Sasha looked Misha in the eyes for a few seconds. It is disconcerting, the way they can communicate with each other silently and make you feel dumb.
There seemed to be some kind of accord."OK, let's a bit of picture for you," said Sasha.He started, "BB has hired the lobbying firm BKSH & Associates in a six-month contract for US $ 250000. It is the same firm that is working for Hillary Clinton. "Burson-Marsteller is the parent company of BKSH and pollster Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates is its affiliate. Mark Penn is the president of Penn Schoen and CEO of Burson-Marsteller and he is also the chief advisor of Clinton in her presidential campaign.
"Now that Republicans are sure they cannot win the elections, they are betting on Hilary. She is a Republican among Democrats and by looking at her policy stance as senator, I can say confidently that if she wins the elections or finds her way into the new administration, she would continue with the Republican foreign policy. She is the last hope of Neocons."It is no coincidence that BB decided at this very time to return to Pakistan and hired BKSH to lobby for her in Washington."
"She has been chosen as pillion rider to a wayward Musharraf," interjected Misha."Yes," continued Sasha, "she is the chosen pillion rider but there are likely other plans, several of them in fact; a dead BB would be more useful for Washington."
Complicating the picture
"It is a rather confusing picture you are painting. First we find that Americans are funding a splinter group of LeT, then you predict that the money given to that jihadi outfit will lead to 'explosions' and now you are saying that BB was chosen as pillion rider to Musharraf but a dead BB will be more useful to Washington. Are you suggesting that Washington sent BB to Pakistan just to get her killed by LeT or some other jihadi lunatics?"
"Listen to the end," said Sasha rather sternly."Sorry," we said, afraid that he might clam up."First, let's clarify the question of funding by Americans. Financing, arming and training of enemy elements is nothing new in the American policy. The whole Russo-Afghan was fought on funding and training the kind of people who would never be welcome in Washington. However, their being loathsome was not a barrier against their being funded and trained to fight the Russians because, as the Americans are fond of saying, the end justifies the means.
"If BB is removed from the scene, it would bring several benefits to Washington, the topmost being swift departure of Musharraf, replaced by a weak government that would be heavily dependent on Americans for its very survival"
Misha started speaking when Sasha broke the conversation. "We are not saying that LeT did or did not engineer the suicide bombing in the BB procession on 18 Oct."What we are underlining is that a dead BB would be very useful for the region-wide American objectives, and the contract to bump her off may have been outsourced to more than one contractors."
Look for patterns
It was even more confusing."Sorry, but we cannot make head or tail of all this," we said."Look for patterns," said Sasha like a teacher whose patience was wearing thin. "The pattern here is," explained Sasha, "that CIA and other American agencies are funding, training and arming MeK [Mujahideen- e-Khalq] in Iraq and Iran to use them against Iran, they are funding and supporting Jundullah in Pakistan and Iran to create trouble in Iran, and now they have co-opted some factions of LeT, possibly some other jihadi outfits also, to do their dirty work in Pakistan.""Go chase Vickers," said Misha with the finality that indicated the end of our session with the spymasters.
Chasing Vickers
Chasing Vickers is easier said than done.Michael Vickers is the assistant secretary of defence responsible for special operations and low intensity warfare. A former Green Beret, he was confirmed as assistant secretary for defence on 23 July 2007.Vickers was the principle strategist for covert CIA operation in Afghanistan that resulted in the defeat, and subsequent break-up, of the Soviet Union.
At the height of Afghan operation, he was giving strategic and operational direction to 300 unit commanders, 150000 full time and 500000 part time fighters. He coordinated the efforts of ten countries and oversaw an annual budget of more than US $ 2 billion.In other words, Vickers was the direct challenger of Sasha and Misha in Afghanistan.
Special Operations Command (Socom), a part of the portfolio of Vickers, is based in Tampa, Florida. Its annual budget is US $ 8 billion. More than 60000 covert and overt personnel are on its payroll.Vickers has offices on the third floor of Pentagon in the 'C' ring.
X is for eXpert
Washington is not an easy place for us; the people are reluctant to talk. Everyone who knows us is wary of us, and those who don't know us, don't care to talk to us.However, there are three experts with deep knowledge and insight, who sometimes cooperate with us. For this story, we have given them a composite name 'X' – X for expert."Vickers is not a bureaucrat. He is a fighter, first and last," said X.
He elucidated, "Vickers has four qualities that put him head and shoulders above the crowd: 1. His multi-track mind that can process several scenarios simultaneously; 2. His ability to co-opt enemy to fight the enemy; 3. His talent to add or remove the essential elements, as the situation demands; and 4. His uncanny sense of timing; where to strike, when and how."He would think a thousand times before setting a goal, but once he has decided where he wants to go, he would use endless, flexible tactics to get there."
"We are impressed already," we said, "but what is the connection between American funding of some Pakistani jihadi outfits, the return of BB to Pakistan, and suicide attack on her convoy?"
"BB is the daughter of her father. Popularity goes to her head and she tends to become stubborn, even arrogant."Remember? Her father, ZAB [Zulfikar Ali Bhutto], made an extremely fine impression on JFK in their first meeting. JFK said that if you were an American, you would be in my cabinet. ZAB replied, 'Watch your words Mr. President. If I were an American, you would be in my cabinet.' She is no different.
"Although she has been sent as co-pilot for Musharraf, she might change her mind any time and that would be quite inconvenient for her American handlers. However, if she is bumped off, preferably with traceable links to some jihadi outfit, it would fit nicely with American plans for Pakistan and the entire region," said X.
"And, what could those plans be," we asked.X said, "There is general agreement among all the 16 intelligence agencies of the United States that Pakistan is 'on the edge,' the situation is 'very bad, very bleak.' The latest National Intelligence Estimate describes Pakistan as 'no money, no energy, no government.'"
He was of the opinion that not only the entire intelligence community but the mainstream Democrats and Republicans, and the Pentagon leadership, had come to the conclusion that nothing was going to go forward without dealing directly with Pakistan.
"Vickers is in the forefront. He was one of the authors of the QDR-2006-2025 [Pentagon's Quadrennial Defence Review for the next twenty years]. QDR defines terrorism as the immediate threat and China, Russia and India as long-term threats," said X.
Expanding on the theme, X said, "There is the concept of 'Total Force.' This includes active and reserve components, DoD civilians and contractors. DoD, specifically its special operations wing, has been tasked to enable 'other actors' to perform key tasks, roles and missions.
"There is also the concept of 'freedom of action' which means that indirect approach, stealth, flexible basing and strategic reach, outsourcing of missions, co-opting enemies, and conducting covert operations in countries that are not at war with the USA, are all fully permissible.
"There is the stress to 'shift the cost balance' to the adversaries. It means that military and civilian activities are to be conducted across the spectrum to establish and maintain desired order in countries and regions, and in doing so, one enemy should be used to cause damage to the other enemy.
"In addition to QDR, there is the special hit list of Socom. Vickers has short-listed 20 'high priority' countries. Pakistan is at the top of the list and India is not very far behind. These are the countries where Socom will conduct all kinds of clandestine operations. External actors will be playing, wittingly or unwittingly, the script written by Vickers.
"You should never forget that Vickers is on first-name basis with lot many of the original jihadis of the Afghan war – he was their paymaster and handler – and these are the people running or guiding most of the present jihadi outfits."Some of it was already going over our heads. The information was piling up like a shapeless lump, eluding any handle. The best thing was to take a break for brainstorming.
Brainstorming
We tried to put together what we had uncovered so far in our investigations and match it with the information we obtained from X, Sasha and Misha.Only some parts of the overall picture were visible, and it looked like this:
- American espionage activity has intensified in Pakistan, indicating some major shift in policy and possible preparation for big action.
- Americans are funding some jihadi outfits and militant elements in Pakistan, including at least a splinter faction of LeT. This is part of the known pattern of American tactics to finance enemy to fight the enemy. Other examples are US funding, training and arming of MeK and Jundullah.
- BB has returned to Pakistan after reaching some kind of understanding with the current and future power players in Washington but the actual scriptwriters would like her dead because that would accelerate their regional ambitions.
- Michael Vickers, assistant secretary of defence for special operations and low intensity warfare since July 2007, is a CIA veteran and chief strategist of jihadi war against USSR. He has big budget and huge manpower at his disposal for conducting clandestine and covert operations anywhere in the world. He has successful track record of co-opting enemy to fight the enemy. Pakistan is at the top of the list of his target countries and India is not far behind.
- American establishment is unanimous in its opinion that a radical solution is needed for 'Pakistan problem.'
- There are region-wide American ambitions, although we don't know much about them, but whatever those ambitions are, they cannot be advanced without severe damage to, possibly bifurcation of, Pakistan.
Where do we go from here? There were no fresh leads. We were also aware that we don't know the right questions to ask.We were still in a state of indecision. And, BB got assassinated.
Benazir Assassinated
BB (Benazir Bhutto) got assassinated on 27 December 2007, when she was leaving Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi after addressing a huge rally. It was absolutely shocking news and our first reaction was to kick ourselves in the butt for not going public with our story in November 2007. Would she still be alive had we released the story in November? It is a question that would always keep haunting us.
We went to Sasha and Misha with a blurry video clip, showing a clean-shaven young man pointing and shooting a hand gun at BB.It didn't take Sasha and Misha long to identify the weapon."It is a 0.22 high velocity pistol," said Sasha."Standard personal weapon of Mossad agents," added Misha."What does it mean?" we asked."It points to the source of training. If you are trained to use a knife, you will use a knife when required. If you are trained to use a 0.22 pistol, you will use that when the time comes," said Sasha.
"There are all kinds of speculations, even claims, that BB was assassinated by a jihadi organization," we mentioned."If Americans can fund a jihadi faction, what is wrong with Israelis training them?" countered Sasha.
He added, "You keep forgetting what I tell you. Look for patterns. There is certain CIA-Mossad signature that you cannot fail to miss if you are trained to look for it. The nerve gas used to paralyze the pilots of the C-130 carrying Ziaul Haq was made in Israel, but Israelis didn't put the little box in the mango crate, they used the local people. The poisoning of Shahnawaz [younger brother of BB, who died of poisoning in mid 1980s in Cannes] can be connected to CIA-Mossad if someone cares to open the case again, but it was just the maid of Shahnawaz who did the dirty work, not the Israelis or CIA. There is unmistakable similarity in the riots and endless public processions that led to the ouster of Salvadore Allande in Chile and ZAB and Musharraf in Pakistan; in none of these cases you saw CIA or Mossad officers leading the processions and riots. Look for patterns."
Wasted time, weak leads
From January to November 2008, we were held back by weak leads and drying up sources.Only two things of any significance came to light but hardly a story to go public.X said in Washington, "Vickers and Gates [US secretary of defence] are close friends. My assessment is that they might like to do something really big before Bush leaves the White House so that the next man should not be able to deviate much from the Neocon agenda."Misha said in Moscow, "The opium production in Afghanistan for the last three years is nearly twice the worldwide demand of opium-based narcotics. Have you ever wondered where all the surplus opium is going?"
Mumbai mystery and Vickers
It was the fateful last week of November 2008, when terror struck Mumbai, the economic and financial heart of India. A group of probably ten persons, split into small teams, wreaked havoc in several public places for more than 60 hours, causing death and destruction at large scale, and bringing India and Pakistan to the brink of yet another war.
We returned to X in Washington and Sasha and Misha in Moscow, determined that we will go public with our story now, even if our findings cannot be backed by definite and demonstrable proof. "Vickers is written all over it," said Misha."Looks quite like Vickers," agreed X.X in Washington and Sasha and Misha in Moscow pointed to a number of features of the Mumbai mystery that they consider hallmark of Vickers.
Here is the gist of our several conversations with X, Sasha and Misha:
Choice of the sea route to Mumbai is the first thing that should ring alarm bells. If it was a homegrown jihadi outfit, they would have chosen the Bhuj route in Rajasthan with which they are familiar and which is not as risky as the sea route.
The likely departure point was some small settlement left of Hyderi and not the main port of Karachi as is widely reported and believed. If a fishing boat starts from any point left of Hyderi and moves along, hugging the coast, it has very little risk of being challenged. This was the route followed by India to send back trained Al-Zulfikar and other militants to Pakistan. This is also the route favoured by the Shah group and other drug smugglers known to cooperate with the Americans.
In addition to the route, there is the matter of drug use by the terrorists during the siege. Being in the midst of a shooting match with the security forces was enough of a stimulant to generate necessary quantities of adrenaline to keep them awake. However, if they felt the need to use narcotics, they would not go for LSD, which is basically a fad of the American youth, not much popular in South Asia.
The use of Google Earth maps is a classic Vickers touch. None of the sites targeted by the terrorists was a military installation; they are all shown in every tourist map. Even if one doesn't care to buy a tourist map, it is easy to get there merely by asking directions. Vickers, who is very fond of killing several birds with one stone, added Google Earth to the paraphernalia of terrorists because he is known to oppose this service; he considers it a security risk, probably rightly so, and wants it to be unavailable to the general public.
And, the terrorists conveniently kept quiet about the most important part of their mission: The message they wanted to convey, the goals they wanted to achieve. This gives free hand to Vickers and co. to fill in the blanks, to attach any motive to the terrorists they like.
Then, there is the little matter of the American officials 'who preferred to remain anonymous', contending even before the Indians that Pakistan was involved in the incident. Even when the operation against terrorists was still in progress, Americans started saying repeatedly that they suspect Pakistani involvement. Among the other peculiarities mentioned here, it is this slip that removes the mask from the face of Vickers.
The conclusions drawn by X, Sasha and Misha are logically correct. Taken together with our earlier findings, these are strong arguments to suspect that Vickers engineered the Mumbai incident. However, the question is: Was it an end in itself? What was the objective?As Sasha said in one of his conversations, "It cannot be an isolated phenomenon. There must be something before and after it."
Nearly complete jigsaw puzzle
In order to get as complete a picture as possible we picked the brains of X in Washington and Sasha and Misha in Moscow in numerous lengthy, intensive sessions.
Information came thick and fast; with the hindsight of nearly 16 months of legwork we knew the right questions to ask. For the sake of readability and coherence, we have paraphrased the gist of our conversations with X, Sasha and Misha. Input from our contributors in New Delhi, Tehran and Kandahar is also blended into this write up:
American Dilemma:
The US military is burning nearly 600000 gallons of fuel per day. More than 80% of this comes from Pakistan, through 700 or so road tankers that are vulnerable to all kinds of attacks on their long journey from facilities in Pakistan to American bases in Afghanistan. The reserves in Afghanistan will suffice for only two weeks if the supply line is disrupted.
Aware of this, the Americans have been trying to create an alternate route through Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Even if the alternate route is opened fully, it is very long and inefficient and there are risks that Americans are not in a position to counter at present.There is need to abandon the Pakistan route but there is nothing to replace it.
Bifurcating Pakistan: The solution that is agreed to nearly unanimously by the American policymakers is that Pakistan must be split into two parts: the Americans would like Balochistan province to become an independent country and they don't care where the rest of Pakistan goes.
In fact, it is a goal the Neocons have been pursuing for a long time. A few years ago, they pumped Baloch insurgency but it proved an exercise in futility.Vickers, in one position or the other, has never been far away from the process of decision-making. He sees many advantages in splitting Pakistan into two parts.
Benefits of bifurcating Pakistan: From American point of view, there are many benefits in creating an independent Balochistan:
- An independent Balochistan will be an ideal territory to keep supply lines open to the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
- Independent Balochistan will provide Americans with excellent locations for putting up their military and naval bases to police the Persian Gulf and make sure that no other naval power including India, China and Russia ever gets upper hand in the Indian Ocean.
- An independent Balochistan will be the place from where Americans can maintain permanent pressure on Iran, even in the remote possibility that they may have to eventually leave Iraq.
- China and Russia will be denied any access to the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.
- The Gulf countries will remain dependent on the USA for export routes of their hydrocarbon products.
- Full control of the entrance to the Gulf will enable USA to allow or deny oil flow by tankers to any country in the world.
- Central Asia is a land-locked region and the whole region would be on the mercy of the United States.
- If Balochistan is detached from Pakistan, the rest of Pakistan is likely to exist as a perpetually unstable entity, creating a permanent source of trouble for India. This fits nicely with other American plans because India has come very close to becoming an economic rival of the United States.
Why Mumbai incident: One doesn't need to be an exceptionally brilliant person to understand immediately that Pakistan had nothing to gain and everything to lose from Mumbai incident. If we assume that it was done by a jihadi outfit on its own, it would be the most foolish thing to do because of the consequences that should have been discernible at the time of planning.
However, if we agree to the assertion that Vickers planned it, through proxy forces, for advancement of American objectives in the region, everything suddenly makes sense.
Here are some pointers:
- One logical consequence is that India and Pakistan would probably go to war or at least move their forces to the borders in a position of war readiness. Every expert knows that keeping forces ready for war is nearly seven to eight times more expensive than keeping them in the barracks. This is an excellent way to make sure that Indian and Pakistani economies would be crippled for a long time to come.
- India and Pakistan are negotiating for two gas pipelines, one from Iran and the other from Turkmenistan. There are also plans to put oil pipelines from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to South Asia. USA would use every method to deny India the energy resources of Central Asia and IranIndia is not what USA has in mind. The tide has reversed already and it is not to the liking of the Americans. Students from the United States are now coming to India, Indian businessmen are giving tough time to American corporations worldwide, and India has entered some of the export markets that were traditionally dominated by the west. In short, a weak India will be acceptable as a friend but a strong India will be a pain in the neck for Americans. because an economically strong
- The global financial and economic crisis was triggered by the follies and dishonest practices of the American corporations; the American economy is still in free fall and the end is nowhere in sight. On the other hand, the Indian economy has not suffered a proportionately comparative loss. The steep fall on one side and the lesser fall on the other means that the real gap between the American and Indian economies has somewhat narrowed down because of the twin financial and economic crises. Mumbai incident is an attempt to remedy the situation in favour of the United States.
- In a way, Mumbai incident is similar in concept to Bin Laden tapes. With dependable regularity, Bin Laden tapes appeared whenever Bush was going through difficult times. The Mumbai incident magically appeared when Americans needed to remove Pakistani forces from the Afghan border so that American forces could operate freely in the Frontier province of Pakistan, and push for bifurcation of Pakistan to solve their supply problems permanently.
Reaction in India: As far as we have been able to confirm through our sources, Indian leadership is trying to handle the situation in a calm and measured manner. However there are two kinds of pressures on the Congress government: From one side they are being pressed by BJP and other parties through public protest, and on the other side they are being pressured by the Americans to act fast and hard against Pakistan.
For instance, we know for sure that the name of Hamid Gul was included in the list of people wanted by India on the insistence of Americans. India never wanted to put Gul on the list. Americans forced them to include his name because it is an impossible demand; refusal by Pakistan to hand over Gul would give opportunity to Americans to push India for war.
India-Pakistan confrontation: As mentioned, Americans have maneuvered India to place impossible demands on Pakistan. The next logical step would be to encourage India to deploy its forces along the Pakistan border, forcing Pakistan to do the same on its side of the border. By any degree of confrontation, both the countries would be net losers; the only winner would be the United States.
Bonus hit on China and Russia:
Mumbai incident has indirectly affected Chinese and Russian interests in the region.Two more successful moves on the chessboard and the Americans would be in a position to block RussiaChina in the greater Central Asian region. and If Balochistan is detached from Pakistan, it would contribute to American ambitions to put a full-stop to expansion of Russian and Chinese economic and political influence in the entire region.
Iran: Whatever the Americans are doing, they have an eye on Iran. Encirclement of Iran is central to their plans. In addition to whatever is being done through MeK and Jundullah, the Americans are spending more than US $ 80 million annually to create internal dissent in Iran.
Our sources in Iran tell that Iranian authorities are aware of American machinations and they feel adequately prepared to counter whatever is sent in their direction.
Central Asia, the traditional playground:
Nothing has changed for Central Asia. What was true in the nineteenth century is true in the twenty-first century.Central Asia is still the playground of the big powers.There is increased pressure to acquire airports and military bases in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
Colour revolutions, on the pattern of Ukraine and Georgia are being prepared in all the Central Asian countries. Money is flowing generously to anyone who shows a spark. In their desperation and hurry, Americans are sometimes using crude and obvious methods.
Disposal of surplus Opium: Afghanistan produced 6000 tons of opium in 2006, 8200 tons in 2007 and 7700 tons in 2008. On average, the world demand of opium-based narcotics, including heroin, is only half of this production. Where is the rest of opium going?
We have reports from Afghanistan that the American forces – this includes all kinds of Americans such regular forces, CIA, Socom and contractors – have been buying and storing all the surplus opium.
This report gets credence from the fact that about 70% of all opium production in Afghanistan comes from Helmand province, an area under the direct control of the Americans.What would the Americans do with all this opium?
Experts are of the view that this opium, in raw or refined form, would be spread in the neighbouring countries (Pakistan, India, Iran, Central Asia and China). Some of it would go to Russia also.
This would bring several advantages to the Americans: 1. By increasing drug addiction in target countries, Americans would sap the economies of these countries and produce the generations of junkies that would be long-term liabilities for their countries; 2. If the opium is mostly consumed in the neighbourhood, less of it would be left for export to the American markets; 3. Narcotics are a traditional source of additional revenues for the American forces, especially the CIA.
The suspicion that the American want to spread drug addiction in the neighbouring countries is also supported by the fact that even though the 'farm-gate' price of opium has remained stable at nearly US $ 70 per kilo, it is becoming available in the neighbouring countries at around US $ 40 per kilo. Clearly, the Americans are subsidizing the export.
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