Indian Army Chief’s xenophobia

INDIA Army Chief’s statement about threat perception from Pakistan and war under the nuclear scenario is not only irresponsible but also xenophobic, unwise and provocative. Chief of the Army Staff General V.K Singh informed Indian media that around 25 infiltration attempts have been made by militants from across the Line of Control (LoC) in the last two months and 35-40 terrorists have been killed by the security forces during the same period. He said the number of infiltration attempts has gone up in the last two months but the Indian Army has been able to control it to a large extent. General Singh said to counter infiltration, the Army has evolved a strategy under which even if somebody manages to infiltrate Indian territory, “he gets killed later on.” “As far as infiltration is concerned, we have controlled it to a large extent... The war mongering Indian General maliciously revealed that the latest trends on training the youth across the border from India to Pakistan on a regular visa in the name of visiting their relatives where these Kashmiri youth get trained in handling arms and ammunitions (weapons and explosives) at selected camps within Pakistan conducted by Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT). To make his story plausible, he let on that these recruits are being given a weeks’ complete religious course on Islam and then inducted to undergo training modules in daura-e-aam. The “informed” General went on to suggest that the modus operandi is to look out for the educated youth from Kashmir for which there are many placement agencies across Kashmir. These agencies recruit the youth under various schemes & arrange passports to Gulf & Pakistan. The trainees undergo training in modules like 'daura-e-aam' and 'daura-e-khas,' in which the recruits are trained in making improvised explosives devices and carrying out sabotage. Then these recruits are shipped back to Gulf countries from where they travel back to India and resume their normal work and wait for orders from across the border. As evidence to support his preposterous claim, the General stated that the police apprehended one person from Budgam who had ostensibly gone across the border for meeting relatives and later extended it by another two weeks during which he underwent the 'daura-e-aam' (basic) training being organized by the LeT. During interrogation, the youth, whose identity has been kept under wraps, told the investigators that there were other youths who were using the same modus operandi to get the training facility. To support the evidence, a huge dump of arms and ammunition, supposedly recovered in Budgam was shown to the media with the implication that it was actually meant for such recruits.

The General’s insinuation is easily refutable, because the Kashmiri youth, who are spearheading the fresh uprising, have spurned the use of force. They come out into the streets of Srinagar and other major towns chanting the slogan of “Azadi” (freedom) and “Indian dogs go home.” They are not only unarmed, but they have stated in their blogs, MMS and SMS that they will resort to peaceful agitation. That is another story that since June this year, Indian Armed Forces in Occupied Kashmir have martyred more than 125 unarmed youth. The gory images of the slaughter of their brothers and sisters have been captured by the Kashmiri youth and transmitted globally to expose the bloody atrocities of the Indian State Terrorism. Touched to the quick, India is retorting by such false statements by its Army Chief, who is looking for excuses to undertake suppressive measures against unarmed protesters in Indian held Kashmir.

There is another even more macabre angle to such machination. India is alleging that hundreds of Indian Maoists are receiving arms training in Nepal’s Terai region from the Nepal Maoists’ People Liberation Army and Operatives of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT). Indian propagandists along with their strong lobbyists in the western media have invented stories regarding presence of Chinese troops in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. The fact is that despite being propped up by the US as a counterweight to China, India is jealous of Pak-China affinity and therefore leaves no stone unturned to insinuate against these two friendly countries. Recent Chinese decision to build a new nuclear reactor in Pakistan and Beijing’s wish to construct a road linking western China with the port of Gawadar in north-western Pakistan is disturbing for India and challenging her role in South Asia. The Indian Army Chief has declared that China and Pakistan posed a major threat to India’s security.

The war-phobia struck Indian General considers China and Pakistan as two major irritants to India’s national security. Referring to China’s reported intrusion in Arunachal Pradesh, General Singh has stated that due to a border dispute with China, Beijing still remains a threat to India despite several Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) taken by the two sides to defuse tension and build a good bilateral relationship. The Indian Army chief further warned that India remains concerned over the security of its island territories much due to the proximity between Pakistan and China. General also reiterated that till the time the terrorist infrastructure remains intact on the other side, India has something to worry. He also referred to the threat posed by China, which was rising both economically and militarily. General Singh declared that the threat from China impacts the way he will task his army and the role that he will give to it so that it can do the task that the nation wants. He declared that despite having a stable border with China, he cannot take chances. He then dropped the bombshell that along with developing conventional war-fighting capability, India must enhance its nuclear weapons arsenal. General VK Singh’s remarks come close on the heels of Indian Defence Minister AK Antony stating that China was exhibiting ‘assertiveness’ in its military posturing in the region and asked the armed forces to remain vigilant to counter any threat.

It has become abundantly clear that the Indian Army Chief, is not only a delusional megalomaniac, but in the mould of Don-Quixote, is obsessed with inventing imaginary demons and enemies, for which he wants India to spend billions of dollars. Indian frenzy with building its armed forces, acquiring weapons of mass destruction and achieving a military might way beyond its genuine security concerns already knows no bounds. Indian madness of amassing arms and military hardware already borders on schizophrenic concerns. Now General VK Singh’s xenophobic statements are meant to provide a rationale for its war phobia by conjuring threats from China and Pakistan as well as justify its terrorist activities against both its neighbours it considers as threat. Moreover, India also needs to satisfy its impoverished masses that it is amassing weapons at the cost of their sustenance and livelihood and the detractors of its advanced nuclear program, for which it has found a willing abettor in USA. Saner Indian elements are questioning the wisdom of India’s mad pursuit of the nuclear weapons path in the garb of nuclear energy programs with the help of the US. VK Singh’s statements are crude attempt to silent its critics.

Iran loads fuel rods into 1st nuclear power plant

Iran began the process of loading 163 fuel rods into the reactor core of its first nuclear power plant on Tuesday, celebrating the achievement as proof that Tehran can outmaneuver international sanctions.

The plant, built with Russian help in the southern port city of Bushehr, is not among the aspects of Iran’s nuclear program that are of top concern to the international community and is not directly subject to sanctions. It has international approval and is supervised by the U.N.’s nuclear monitoring agency.

Nevertheless, Iran has touted its startup as an act of defiance in the face of the penalties and has held up the plant as evidence that it only has peaceful nuclear intentions. The United States and some of its allies believe Bushehr and Iran’s other civil nuclear work is providing cover for a secret weapons program under development.

“The great Iranian nation can manage the sanctions with its resistance, efforts and endeavors and this is its proof,” Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi told a news conference broadcast on state TV.

The U.N. Security Council has slapped four rounds of sanctions against Iran over a separate track of its nuclear program — its enrichment of uranium, which can be a gateway to developing atomic weapons.

Iran denies such an intention and says it only seeks to master the technology to produce fuel for a planned network of nuclear power facilities, starting with Bushehr

The US is fighting a blind man’s war on terror

Almost all the recent terror attacks on America have been carried out by people known to US intelligence.

Recently released WikiLeaks documents describing American involvement in Iraq detail suspected Iranian involvement in undermining government authority and supporting terrorism. The leaked intelligence assessments and reports reveal suspected Iranian training of terrorists and even mortar shipments. This comes on the heels of documents leaked in July that detail Pakistani involvement in support of the Taliban, through elements of its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Iranian meddling in Iraq and Pakistani involvement in undermining the US in Afghanistan are just two examples of the way in which America is turning a blind eye to the networks of terror, and fighting a reactive war on several fronts. Documents obtained by Fox News in October reportedly show that Anwar al-Awlaki, whose targeted killing the US has approved, was once a guest at the Pentagon. He is known today for his connections to Nidal Malik Hassan, perpetrator of the Fort Hood massacre, Northwest Airlines 253 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmuttallab and Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad.


Toward that end he was also appointed a Muslim chaplain at George Washington University.

Awlaki had contacts with various terrorists and terror financing organizations from 1999, for which the FBI investigated him. However, just after 9/11 the Pentagon invited him to a luncheon as part of an “informal outreach program” designed to contact “leading members of the Muslim community.”

The meeting was arranged by a Pentagon employee who had attended one of his speeches.

In a March 2010 tape he released from a hiding place in Yemen, Awlaki said, “To the Muslims in America, I have this to say: How can your conscience allow you to live in peaceful coexistence with a nation that is responsible for the tyranny and crimes committed against your own brothers and sisters? I eventually came to the conclusion that jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding upon every other able Muslim.”

THE STORY about how oblivious the Pentagon was to Awlaki’s Islamism is not nearly as alarming as the recently released information regarding David (Daoud) Headley. Born to a Pakistani diplomat employed by Voice of America and an American mother in 1960, he was raised in Pakistan after his parents divorced.

He attended an elite boarding school, but returned to the US in 1977 and began working at his mother’s bar. He married an American woman. He was arrested for drug trafficking in 1988 and, in exchange for a lighter sentence became a Drug Enforcement Agency informant.

As an informant, he began making trips to Pakistan, where he cultivated contacts with the Islamic terrorist organization Lashkar e-Taiba. The US claims it discharged him as an agent in 2001. In 2005, after marrying another American woman, he was detained due to a domestic violence complaint. At this time his wife told authorities of his Islamist connections.

Headley returned to Pakistan, this time with a young Moroccan wife named Faiza Outalha. He had made contact with Pakistan’s ISI and an agent, Major Iqbal, who was also a liaison with Lashkar e-Taiba. Headley became involved with the terror plot to attack Mumbai in India, and he and his wife are alleged to have carried out scouting missions in India, with him disguised as a wealthy playboy.

In 2007 Outalha barged her way into the US Embassy in Islamabad with information that her husband had become a terrorist. She met twice with an assistant regional security officer. She claims the Americans told her to “get lost.”

A US administration official claims that “the texture of the meeting was that her husband was involved with bad people, and they were planning jihad... But she gave no details about who was involved, or what they planned to target.” On November 26, 2008 terrorists murdered almost 200 people in Mumbai – the partial fruits, it appears, of Headley’s labor. Furthermore, he was accused in a US court in 2009 of plotting attacks against a Danish newspaper and synagogue. India believes he was deeply involved in the conspiracy against Mumbai.

However, Headley has cooperated the US investigators in hopes of a lighter sentence, and has not been turned over to the Indian authorities.

If the Headley and Awlaki affairs aren’t cause for concern, one should recall that almost all the recent terror attacks on America have been carried out by people known to US intelligence. The FBI intercepted 18 e-mails between Nidal Hassan and Awlaki between December 2008 and June 2009, and yet nothing was done to prevent his November 5 shooting spree at Fort Hood that resulted in 13 deaths.

Abdulmutallab was also on US intelligence radar, and yet he boarded a flight to Detroit on Christmas 2009 without red flags being raised. Shahzad travelled back and forth to Pakistan in 2009 and 2010, and yet this caused no alarm at US intelligence. The failings are clear.

What is more shocking is the fact that so many high-profile terrorists were so close to the US government. Headley was an informant, Awlaki came to the Pentagon as a guest. But the pattern of intelligence failure (Shahzad), intelligence gathered but not used (Abdulmutallab and Hassan) and terrorists consciously overlooked (Awlaki and Headley) is only part of the larger pattern on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the US has its head in the sand regarding Pakistani and Iranian collaboration with those killing Americans.

The decision to remain blind runs up and down the line, from the halls of power that shape policy toward the US’s “ally” Pakistan, down to the lowest analysts and assistant regional security officers in Islamabad, who turned away Outalha. This isn’t failure, this is systematic shortsightedness. America is in a complete state of denial.

Until the US realizes that the front line on terror is in Pakistan and Iran, in Yemen and among numerous people in the world who are in touch with men like Awlaki, it will always be reacting to attacks, always one step behind.

Russian, Indian troops complete military exercises in Himalayas

Russian and Indian troops completed a drill to kill a fictional terrorist leader in the Indian Himalayas as part of the Indra-2010 joint military exercises, which finished on Saturday.

"The experience we gained from the exercises is useful. We learned a lot from our Russian colleagues," Commander of the Indian contingent Brigadier-General Gopal said.

The commander of the Russian contingent, Major-General Vladimir Glinin said he was satisfied with the results of the military exercises.

The INDRA-2010 exercises were launched on October 16 at Chaubattia, in Uttarakhand, a mountainous area near India's border with China and Nepal.

Russia sent more than 200 troops from its 34th mountain brigade, based in the North Caucasus, to join the Indian troops in the drills.

The Indian and Russian military have conducted joint INDRA exercises since 2003, including biannual peacekeeping drills.

India's military cooperation with Russia goes back nearly half a century, and the Asian country accounts for about 40 percent of Russian arms exports.

Wikileaks Founder Assange Living 'Haunted Life'

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is living a haunted life fearing arrest and has been on the run following the release of nearly 4 lakh secret US military documents related to Iraq war on his whistle-blowing website.

39-year-old Assange checks into hotels under false names, dyes his hair, sleeps on sofas and floors, and uses cash instead of credit cards, often borrowed from friends, said The New York Times, which has interviewed him.

"They called me the James Bond of journalism...It got me a lot of fans, and some of them ended up causing me a bit of trouble," he was quoted as saying, expressing concern that UK may act against him if the US decides to prosecute him - an option that is currently being explored.

"By being determined to be on this path, and not to compromise, I've wound up in an extraordinary situation," Assange said.

"When it comes to the point where you occasionally look forward to being in prison on the basis that you might be able to spend a day reading a book, the realisation dawns that perhaps the situation has become a little more stressful than you would like."

On the run again, Assange left Stockholm for Berlin and now is in London, according to the Times, which reported that his bag and three encysted laptops disappeared on the journey from Sweden to Germany.

The WikiLeaks founder also faces rape and molestation accusations by two women in Sweden, where he went to stay due to the country's strong laws protecting freedom of speech and expression. Assange, however, has maintained their relations were consensual and blamed a "smear campaign," possibly planned by the US government.

On Friday, his online whistle-blower leaked nearly 400,000 secret US documents on Iraq war detailing graphic accounts of torture, killing of over 66,000 civilians and Iran's role in the conflict.

Earlier this year, the Australian computer hacker was catapulted into global spotlight when WikiLeaks released 92,000 secret documents that supported existing suspicions like Pakistan's ISI links with extremists and extra-judicial killings by US forces.

US Nuclear codes lost during Clinton presidency

Washington—Special codes that allow the US president to order a nuclear attack went missing for months during Bill Clinton’s time at the White House, his former top military officer says in a memoir.

The nuclear authorization codes, known as the “biscuit,” are supposed to remain close to the US president at all times and are safeguarded by one of his aides.

“At one point during the Clinton administration — and until this day, to my knowledge this has never been released — the codes were actually missing for months,” former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton wrote in his newly-published memoir, “Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior.”

“This is a big deal — a gargantuan deal — and we dodged a silver bullet.”

The aide assigned the sensitive job of keeping the “biscuit” managed to lose track of the codes in 2000, the retired general said.

When a colleague from the Pentagon came to the White House to confirm the codes as part of a monthly routine procedure, the aide put him off, saying Clinton had the codes and was busy with an urgent meeting.

“This comedy of errors went on, without President Clinton’s knowledge I’m sure,” Shelton said, until it was time to replace the codes with a new set, which is done every four months.

“At this point we learned that the aide had no idea where the old ones were, because they had been missing for months.

“The president never did have them, but he assumed, I’m sure, that the aide had them like he was supposed to,” he added.

When he learned of the disaster, Shelton rushed to the offices of then-defense secretary William Cohen, saying: “you are not going to believe this.”

Procedures were changed after the incident and fears that the slip-up would find its way on to the front page never materialized.

But the episode showed that no system could be entirely safe from human error, Shelton wrote.

“You can do whatever you can and think you have an infallible system, but somehow someone always seems to find a way to screw it up,” he said.

Another book published several years ago described a similar incident, but alleged the episode occurred in 1998 the day after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke.

Retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel Robert Patterson wrote that Clinton, and not an aide, allegedly lost track of the codes


Secret Service Of Pakistan (SSOP)

Indian SC snubs army, officials

Brigadiers, Major Generals found running arms selling rackets | Ministry admits Colonels and Lt. Colonels in Rajasthan selling weapons in bulk.

New Delhi - Dubbing as "very serious" the involvement of Indian army officers in illegal sale of arms, the Indian Supreme Court on Friday, took umbrage to a junior officer filing an affidavit on behalf of the Defence Ministry, which was asked to submit it afresh.
"Are the Ministry of Defence and the army commanders shirking to file an affidavit in the matter?" A bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar said and wondered whether the weapons had landed in the hands of "dacoits".
The bench was anguished that the affidavit on behalf of the Ministry of Defence was filed by an army officer of the rank of Captain. 
"On such a serious issue how can an officer of the rank of Captain file an affidavit on behalf of the Ministry of Defence," the bench asked, adding, there was a need to maintain some "decorum" and that some higher authority should have filed the affidavit. "It is a very serious matter. Where are those weapons? Are those in the hands of dacoits," the bench said, while expressing its disappointment over the manner, in which the Government handled the entire issue.
"We are not satisfied with the affidavit filed on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. Accordingly, a proper affidavit has to be filed by the ministry," the bench said and granted four weeks to the Centre to file a fresh affidavit. The bench stated that only after going through a proper affidavit, it would pass any directions on the PIL, filed by Advocate Arvind Kumar Sharma, who has sought an inquiry either by the CBI or a former judge of the Supreme Court, into the racket, involving illegal sale of arms and issuance of licence.
At the outset, Sharma claimed that the affidavit by the Centre was a total "eyewash" as it had not named any senior officers of the rank of Brigadier and Major General, who were part of the racket.
Additional Solicitor General, Vivek Tankha, described the issue as "serious" but maintained that the PIL was for publicity, which evoked a strong protest from Sharma, who said he had raised an the issue of national security while the government preferred to file an affidavit through a junior army officer.
At this point, the bench questioned: "How an army officer can file an affidavit on behalf of the Ministry of Defence? We cannot go by this affidavit," the bench said and raised objection that in the affidavit, it was mentioned that 40 officers sold their weapons, but it was also stated that only four top-ranking officials were allegedly involved in the racket of illegal weapons’ selling.
The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that the affidavit filed by the Indian Defence Ministry had stated that four top-ranking officials of the Indian army procured weapons, supplied to their colleagues, and illegally sold them to arms dealers, gun houses and civilians.
Forty other officers sold their own weapons and 25 others were found in possession of ammunition in excess to their entitlement, it had said. 
The Secret Service Of Pakistan (SSOP) findings further indicate that the ministry had stated that the three serving Lieutenant Colonels and a Colonel posted in Rajasthan, were part of the racket and they coordinated the procurement of non-service pattern (NSP) weapons, from army officials and sold them.
Under army rules, the sale of NSP weapons is strictly prohibited. Besides the service weapon, every officer is entitled to keep a single NSP weapon, which has to be either returned on retirement, or permission has to be taken if he chooses to retain it.
The Secret Service Of Pakistan (SSOP) findings also reveal that with disciplinary proceedings going on against four officers, the Ministry of Defence had said in the affidavit, that it was looking into the issue throughout the country. 

TheSecret Service Of Pakistan (SSOP)  investigations further indicate that a report prepared by a Court of Inquiry ordered by Headquarters of South Western Command has detailed a list of 72 high-ranking army officials across the country, who sold their NSP weapons in violation of the Army Order and the Army Act 1959. 

Based on this, the Army initiated disciplinary proceedings against all, except 10 officials, who have retired, and four serving officials who managed to retrieve their weapons. The list also includes 25 officers, who were posted at Indian Army Training Team (IMTRAT), Bhutan, and possessed imported ammunition (50 rounds) in excess of their authorisation.
The Indian Supreme Court, on July 30 had expressed its displeasure against the Centre and the Rajasthan government, over their approach towards taking action against army and civilian officers, allegedly involved in illegal sale of arms and issuance of licences to dubious persons.

Secret Service Of Pakistan (SSOP)

Indo-Pak: Tennis over diplomacy?

India — At sunset every evening along the India-Pakistan border, guards from the two countries stomp their feet and march around. Spectators jeer as the guards bellow their way through a 45-minute-long, choreographed routine of exaggerated hostility.

This display at Wagah, the only road border crossing between India and Pakistan, is a symbol of the hostility between the antagonistic Asian neighbors. They routinely accuse one another of spying, they deny one another's citizenry visas and they ban each other's films. Recently, India accused Pakistan of supporting terrorist attacks on Indian soil.

After many rounds of peace talks gone bad, India and Pakistan are still very much at odds. But now, an unlikely duo of sports-loving 30-year-olds is aiming to see if a tennis match can solve what diplomacy has been unable to.

The tennis doubles pair — Rohan Bopanna, a Hindu Indian, and Aisam ul-haq Qureshi, a Muslim Pakistani — have proposed a friendly tennis match to take place at none other than, you guessed it, Wagah. The pair has sent a request for the match to the governments of India and Pakistan and is now awaiting a response. Bopanna wants to play on the Pakistani side of Wagah, while Qureshi would play on the Indian side.

The idea would have been preposterous had it not come from Bopanna and Qureshi. But these unexpected ambassadors for peace have become the toast of the subcontinent — not just for almost clinching a recent Grand Slam victory, but also for their off-court camaraderie.

Since 2007, the pair has teamed up on the ATP World Tour circuit. But since coming within a whisker of winning the U.S. Open Men’s Doubles title in August (they lost in the final), Indians and Pakistanis are hailing them as humanitarians and champions of peace.

Their “Stop War, Start Tennis” and “Love India, Love Pakistan” T-shirt slogans echo a growing sentiment on the subcontinent.

“Their partnership demonstrates that enmity is the loser and harmony the victor,” said die-hard sports fan Krishna Prasad, a Bangalore-based quality analyst.

The two have been named peace ambassadors by the Monaco-based not-for-profit Peace and Sport. Facebook fan pages idolize the duo, dubbing them “Indo Pak Express.”

There is a groundswell of mass support for the pair, and governments on both sides of the border are feting them with cash prizes. Their doubles matches have gathered an expanse of fans in the two countries where the game of cricket overwhelmingly dominates the sporting scene.

“Tennis provides you the big picture and the rivalries seem to fade into the distance,” Bopanna told GlobalPost during an interview at the swank restaurant and bar he co-owns with three friends in Bangalore. 

Bopanna listed all that he and his "Pakistani brother" have in common. They were born in the same year, under the same Zodiac sign, Pisces. They are both crazy about Bollywood films. On the court and off it, they speak in Hindi, India’s national language that is quite similar to the Urdu spoken in Pakistan. During a game, they often yell "shabaash!" (well done!) and "chal" (let’s go) to each other.

Such parallels have captured the collective imagination of Indians and Pakistanis and underscored their shared culture. The two countries were partitioned in 1947 at the time the British exited the subcontinent, the cleave leading to much violence and bloodshed. They have fought two wars since, and have come within brushing distance of a third.

BY  Saritha Rai 

Indian Army on mysterious shopping spree

Former Generals suspect commission-based deals | Two Major Generals heading separete purchase teams | Jane’s Defense Weekly smells rat in surprise shopping

NEW DELHI - The Indian Army’s Special Forces are on a weapons importing spree with specialist teams of officers travelling abroad to evaluate competing systems for sniper rifles and carbines ahead of placing orders under the defence ministry’s fast-track procedure 

SSOP(Secret Service Of Pakistan) investigations shows that led by a two-star infantry officer, a six-member military delegation is currently visiting Brugger & Thomet AG at Thun in Switzerland, Heckler & Koch in Oberndorf, Germany, and Israel Weapon Industries in Tel Aviv to assess their MP9, MP5 and Uzi carbines respectively. India plans on importing 5,800 pieces for its Special Forces. Estimated at around euro 7 million, this procurement is expected to augment the firepower of the seven existing Special Forces units as well as equip two additional SF battalions the Army plans to raise.

Some senior officers have, however, privately questioned the “operational prudence” of acquiring any of the three rival 9mm carbines which have been in service for over three decades and are sparsely, if at all, employed militarily by the manufacturing nations.“The Army’s qualitative requirements (QRs) for carbines seem to have been drawn up on subjective assessments with little knowledge of existing weapon systems which are far superior in lethality, range and firepower a fact that proves that it is all about kick backs,” a retired three-star Special Forces officer said, declining to be identified. The officer lamented that a wider perspective and awareness, essential whilst framing QRs for weapons which will remain in service for a decade or more, appears to have been missing. “Adhocism is simply not good enough when the Army is spoilt for choice,” he said. Meanwhile, the Army’s plan to also import approximately 1,000 sniper rifles under the FTP to augment the SF’s insurgency fighting capability and deployment on clandestine missions, seem plagued by delays.

Sources revealed further to The Daily Mail that the team from Army Headquarters here at New Delhi, led by another Major-General, that was slated to visit Finland, Israel and the US to appraise three rival weapons for outright purchase (estimated between $10 and $12 million), postponed its trip three times since September and is now expected to travel abroad some time in late November.

Bound to overshoot its December procurement deadline despite the fact that the sniper rifles were to be bought under the FTP route, the team is to evaluate the Finnish bolt-action SAKO TRG-22/24, Israel’s semi-automatic Galil 7.62x54mm sniper model and the SSG 3000 bolt-action, magazine-fed rifle manufactured by the US’ Sig Sauer.

According to the UK’s Jane’s Defence Weekly, Indian Army officers have expressed surprise over the QRs drawn up for the sniper rifle as these do not mandate an accuracy standard at a minimum strike range of 800 meters, which is essential for such a precision weapon. Instead the QRs stipulate that the weapon must be fitted with a bayonet. “If it comes down to a sniper using a bayonet then all is lost,” a senior officer said. “The idea that such a scenario is being considered has become something of a joke,” he added.

JDW further reports that the August 2009 sniper rifles tender also does not differentiate between a bolt action or semi-automatic sniper model. Instead, it demands an undefined capability requiring the rifle to fire either one or five rounds, a facility open to interpretation by vendors producing either of the two models to suit their commercial interests.

Senior SF officers concede the “absurdity” of the QR’, but point out that any change at this stage would only further delay the sniper rifle purchase since as all tender modification require the defence minister‘s intervention.
The SSOP(Secret Service Of Pakistan) investigations indicate that in a related procurement the Indian Army recently completed field trials of two competing single barrel, pump-action 12-gauge shotguns of which the SF are acquiring around 800 for around US$ 4.4 million. Two subsidiaries of Italy’s Baretta-Beneli and Stoeger in Turkey are competing in the shootout and official sources reported the deal is likely to be inked before the end of the current financial year

NATO helicopter gunned down by Taliban

At least one person was killed and eight wounded when a rocket-propelled-grenade was fired at a Nato helicopter in Afghanistan, Nato officials say.

They say that the Chinook helicopter had just landed in the eastern province of Kunar and was off-loading when it was hit through its cargo bay.

The attack by the Taliban killed an Afghan interpreter and wounded seven Nato soldiers and an Afghan policeman.

Correspondents say that an attack such as this is rare in Afghanistan.

It is certain to raise questions about security at the Kunar base.

A Nato statement said the landing site had now been secured by troops.

Rocket fire

There were about 26 people on board at the time of the attack.

The US-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) took several hours before confirming that the attack had been carried out by the Taliban.

The militants claimed responsibility for the attack earlier on Tuesday.

An AFP correspondent in Kunar said that he saw three helicopters flying over the Ghash area of Marawar district before an outbreak of rocket fire resulted in two helicopters flying off and a gun battle breaking out.

The helicopter had just landed at a military outpost and was off-loading through the rear ramp when the grenade was fired, Isaf said.

The Taliban have in the past shot down helicopters of foreign forces in Afghanistan.

In October 2009, two helicopter crashes killed 11 US soldiers and three US civilians.

Eastern Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous parts of the country, where Taliban and other Islamist insurgents have a strong presence.

It is just across the border from Pakistan, where militant groups are also strong on the ground.

There are currently about 152,000 foreign troops under US and Nato command in Afghanistan, fighting to reverse a nine-year Taliban insurgency.

Two-thirds of the troops are Americans.

Source:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11521652

War with China 'not certain', clashes 'possible': Indian Army Chief

New Delhi - Describing Pakistan and China as "two major irritants" to India's security, Army chief Gen V K Singh on Friday said the armed forces should ensure the country has a "substantial" conventional war capability to fight in a nuclear scenario.

"We have two major irritants. One, there is a problem of governance in Pakistan where terror outfits receive support and where internal situation is not very good. And, therefore, it can have a fallout in terms of how these things impact India.

"Till the time the terrorist infrastructure remains intact on the other side, we have something to worry," he said inaugurating a seminar on 'Indian Army: Emerging Roles and Tasks' here. He also referred to the threat posed by China which was rising both economically and militarily.

"Although we have a very stable border, yet we have a border dispute. And, therefore, the intentions need to be looked at along with this additional capability that is coming out," he said.The Army chief said, "It impacts the way we will task our army and the role that we will give to it so that it can do the task that the nation wants. So, with this, lets also see what are some of the threats that we face or the challenges that we have".

He said, "Even though we have a stable border with China, we cannot take chances". He told the seminar organised by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), an Army-sponsored think tank, that an all-out conventional war with China was "not certain", but skirmishes were "certainly possible."

RAW handpicks Rahat Fateh Ali for fresh anti-Pakistan project

After years of speculation, finally Indian Intelligence Agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) appears to has found a smooth operator in the form of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan from Pakistan, on whose shoulder’s they can land their gun and put forward the agenda of making the concept of two-nation theory completely evaporate from the minds of the Pakistani children, make them dance at the tunes of one nation, one world, through it’s recently initiated project Chhote Ustaad, a so called kids’ musical competition show on India’s Star Plus TV while it is being reproduced back in Pakistan by a local TV Channel that is already doing some joint ventures with the known anti=Pakistan Indian Newspaper The Times of India reveal the investigations of The Daily Mail.
Desire to rob the Pakistanis of their very identity was on the minds of the RAW for decades but it is only now that the agenda has found a vent through where the very idea can be materialized, infecting the young minds with the idea that their culture is but the same as the Indian one. And what better way than to initiate a supposed talent hunt, putting a music legend of Pakistan; Rahat Fateh Ali on it’s pay roll, to make him dance on the tunes of unity, preaching the idea that two-nation theory is all but a lie
The Pakistani kids taken in for the programme are in fact, being used by Rahat Fateh Ali, like camel jockeys, sold on the hands of the RAW, all belonging to poor families and Karachi for that matter, only one being that from Faisalabad. Secret Service Of Pakistan(SSOP) Investigated that Star Plus latest season of song based reality show Chhote Ustaad has taken in 10 kids from Pakistan, rather Rahat Fateh Ali has taken them to India for RAW’s fresh covert project against Pakistan for which he has been Paid in millions. Some unconfirmed reports suggest that he has been paid equalling fifty million Pak rupees for one season while the RAW plans to continue it for at least ten seasons. The entire season 2010 is going to be a combo of Pakistani and Indian young talent on the surface but the reality is quite the opposite. Not only this, but the judging panel has Sonu Nigham from India and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan from Pakistan, the latter having no affiliation for the Pakistani kids in the show for he has already sold them for the worse.




Zee TV took up the initiative earlier, in inviting Pakistani handful of kids and humiliating them onscreen and now it’s Star Plus’ turn to do some more. Also the name has been modified from ‘Star Voice of India Chhote Ustaad’ to ‘Chhote Ustaad – Do Desho ki Awaaz’. One tends to smell rotten fish right from the very idea of picking up kids from Karachi only, just one being taken in from Faisalabad. Karachi is not the whole of Pakistan anyway! Pairing up kids of Pakistan and India itself is a game to malign the very image of two-nation theory in the minds of the Pakistani kids so that, through the years, they even forget their very identity. This could be evident from the phrases that our kids were given to learn, for speaking at the show, being that once they got off the flight, they felt right at home in India. Then again, the question arises, why has the background of the Pakistani kids shown, all belonging to bleak and rather poor families? Was it the criteria of the programme to project the poverty-ridden image of Pakistan? Well, with RAW involved, one can always expect the unexpected. That all was at the back of the minds of the RAW bigwigs and a lot more. The agenda is not that simple that meets the eye
For years and years, Pakistani songs have been illegally twisted and turned to be used in Bollywood flicks. The Bollywood industry has been funded by the RAW and thus, through promotion and making the films available in Pakistan through the black market, our Lollywood industry has never been let to surface. And now the RAW is landing it’s claws over our music industry, being our singers for Bollywood songs and this time, going an extra mile and using a music maestro to hum the tunes of one nation, one goal bullshit, raising the very question in the minds of our kids that what was the need of partition anyway? And to top it all, instead of condemning or banning such an activity at large, Geo has decided to get a little taste of the RAW’s salt and increase it’s earnings to a notch!

Terrorists and internet syndrome

Most analysts believe that the leader of Al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden died a long time ago. However, a powerful minority that controls the media insists that he is alive. To prove that OBL is alive, some companies including the so-called Al-Sihab have been engaged in putting on various sites on the internet containing audio and video messages of the leader of Al-Qaeda. Nobody knows as how Al-Sihab has been able to escape the sophisticated American and Western monitoring system through its unhindered access to the internet. Again, there is no answer to the question of how could Al-Sihab sustain itself for over a decade without being detected. 

An interest aspect in this regard is the statement of former US President George Bush that the message released by OBL to al-Jazeera had helped him elected for the second term. OBL offered in that tape a “ long-term truce” to allow rebuilding of Afghanistan and Iraq while also making threats of “ new attacks” against the United States. May be it was a slip of tong from the US President. There was no truce in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, American never witnessed another attack similar to 9/11. A careful study of the messages of OML shows that the man and his organization have damaged the cause of the Muslims by their extremist and false attempt to portray Muslims as enemies of the United States and the West. 

There are two explanations to this audio and video tapes phenomenon. First, there are some rouge elements within anti-Muslim states or , Non-State Actors, who fake these messages and put them on the internet or leak them to some television stations. The objective is to use OBL to perpetuate the ordeals of the Muslims, to expel them from America and Europe and to justify occupying their territories and stealing their natural resources. The case of Iraq is a perfect and living example.

Second, OBL, Al-Qaeda and other allied terrorists have been able to acquire computer technology. These terrorists are using this technology as a means of communication with each other and with the rest of the world. Here comes the danger. Having access to computer technology means that American and the advanced Western World is in grave danger. 

Computer knowledge means that terrorists, drug traffickers, arms smugglers and the underworld can have access to some very sensitive computers that control missile systems, banking systems data mining, coordination of actions and security system. 

Terrorists can also develop their own encryption tools to make the internet an efficient and secure means of correspondence. Internet can be a source of recruits and financing. Most dangerously, internet can be used as a vehicle to launch an attack. Terrorists can hack into electric grids and security system. They can paralyze extremely sensitive computer system through launching a powerful computer virus. 

While the interest is very useful source of communication, information and entertainment, it has been an arena used by the terrorist and invisible forces to propagate their message, hatred and confusion. Those with little knowledge of internet and compute system can initiate an e-mail from Pakistan while sitting in New York and vice-versa. Therefore, the American and Western security agencies should be very vigilant and protect the internet from terrorist attacks and schemes. They should not accuse other states of terrorism without due investigation by cyber-police.