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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

CIA gave birth to TTP at "Penny Lane" near Guantanamo Bay Prison - Report

(Left) This satellite image provided by TerraServer.com and DigitalGlobe shows an image of Guantanamo Bay captured on Sept. 2, 2010 with “Penny Lane” marked in red. (Right) Abdullah Mehsud in Pakistan (comic)
On November 25, The Associated Press released a news report which strengthens the beliefs held by many security analyts, that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or ‘TTP’ for short, a terrorist organization which repeatedly claims ties to the Afghan Taliban, is a fake group bred by the American intelligence community.

According to the report, the CIA had a secret facility (until 2006) near the main Guantanamo Bay prison, dubbed “Penny Lane“, where captured jihadists and fighters from Afghanistan were turned into double agents. This fundamentally required that those who agreed in being American spies would guarantee full cooperation in “killing terrorists” (or, in other words, targeting elements who are eyesore for the US).

Captives who signed up to be double agents were offered millions of dollars from the CIA’s (read American taxpayers’ money) secret account (Codename ‘Pledge’), along with safety for their families.

But that’s not all. According to a report in the Voice of Russia compiled from various established sources, a few of these prospective double agents who were apparently lured by opportunities to be filthy rich and yet retain their iconic ‘warlord’ status, would sometimes request for porn material. It is said that Penny Lane was quite comfortable, in comparison to Guantanamo Bay prison, as it had beds, private kitchens and also a small patio.

The militants who decided once and for all to end fighting American forces signed formal agreements to work for the CIA. One prisoner though, was reportedly forced into agreeing because the CIA threatened of harming his children.

The CIA + Abdullah Mehsud = TTP is born
Abdullah Mehsud can be described as one of the key founders of the TTP, an organization whose country-wide attacks in Pakistan have resulted in 15,681 armed forces casualties. Similarly, approximately 5,152 civilians have been killed and 5,678 injured in bomb blasts and suicide attacks since 2008. These statistics were presented by legal counsels for Pakistan’s intelligence agencies at the Supreme Court on 26 March 2013.

Abdullah Mehsud had lost a leg in a landmine explosion in 1996 and was captured sometime later by Uzbek-origin Afghan commander Abdul Rashid Dostum while fighting the Northern Alliance. He was imprisoned at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay for two years and later, to much surprise and shock, released in March 2004. What’s even more astounding is that he was also gifted a prosthetic limb by his captors, according to a statement by Brigadier General Jay Hood who was then running the camp.

A document titled JTF-GTMO Information on Detainees mentions that Abdullah Mehsud was released because he “claimed to be an office clerk and driver for the Taliban from 1996 to 1998 or 1999. He consistently denied having any affiliation with al Qaida. He also claimed to have received no weapons or military training due to his handicap (an amputation resulting from when he stepped on a land mine 10 years ago). He claimed that after September 11, 2001 he was forcibly conscripted by the Taliban military“.

This same Abdullah was later named as the commander of Al Qaeda-affiliated militants who ordered his band of subordinate fighters to kidnap two Chinese engineers (one was killed during a rescue attempt gone bad).

The Afghan Taliban were displeased with the incident and reportedly booted Abdullah Mehsud out. They were also suspicious of his activities since he was mysteriously released by the US military “crusaders” from Guantanamo.

While in Afghanistan, Abdullah Mehsud had created his own parallel “Taliban” militia and proudly claimed while giving media interviews in Afghanistan, that he was behind a series of attacks on Pakistani security forces (unlike the Afghan Taliban who were focused on fighting ISAF-NATO). Upon his return through Zhob in Balochistan province of Pakistan, security forces were aware of his presence and raided the house of Sheikh Ayub Mandokhel to capture him on 24 July 2007. Sheikh Mandokhel was a leader affiliated with the Islamist JUI-F of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. However, before he could be arrested, Abdullah blew himself up.

It is worth noting that before Abdullah Mehsud was released from Guantanamo and dropped in Afghanistan, there were no attacks taking place against Pakistani security forces. This is where a large information vacuum exists and which must be explored further. Had Abdullah Mehsud created a new “Taliban” that would be America’s own brand of Islamists?

In an article for The New Tork Times dated 22 October 2009, journalist Scott Shane quoted an unnamed Afghan Taliban official as saying that for the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), “there will not be any support from us”. He added the Afghan Taliban “don’t have interest in fighting against other countries”.

Furthermore, the Afghan Taliban commander said their mission is to get occupation forces out (of Afghanistan) and “not get into a fight with a Muslim army”.

Many journalists and security officials in Western states have been alleging since long that the Afghan Taliban are aided by the Pakistani intelligence agencies. Had that been the case, their so-called assets would have prevented Colonel (retd) Sultan Amir Tarar alias “Colonel Imam”, their former teacher from the Afghan war era, from being killed at the hands of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the recently-killed TTP chief.

There are also many other incidents such as this which suggest that had the Afghan Taliban indeed been proxies of the Pakistani agencies, as is routinely alleged, they would have instructed the TTP to stop attacks on Pakistani forces. But this never happened. Instead, as reported earlier, more than 15,000 soldiers and high-ranking armed forces personnel from Pakistan lost their lives.
But then, the question arises, who are these Pakistani Taliban fighting a Muslim army (of Pakistan) which the Afghan Taliban do not wish to fight? Are they a band of militants who were recruited by Abdullah Mehsud and later on joined hands with Baitullah Mehsud?

The ominous release of Abdullah Mehsud, when reviewed today in context of the new disclosures published by the Associated Press, lay bare historical facts and confirm the fact that he (Abdullah) had been set free because he must have agreed on becoming a double agent for the CIA, hence the safe haven in Afghanistan and US forces not capturing him there again. This also explains why his ideological descendants who later on coalesced to form the TTP are hell-bent on destroying Pakistan.

This also explains why both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban have been working on different lines, although appearing the same on the outset (basically we have the identical nomenclature to blame for mass confusion).

Felix Kuehn, renowned researcher on terrorism and author of “An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban/al-Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan 1970-2010″, said at an event organized by the Afghanistan Study Group and the Center for International Policy, that although the (Afghan) Taliban and Al Qaeda have some ties, “they are separate and distinct groups with different constituencies and different goals”. Kuehn had studied the Taliban and Al Qaeda closely while staying at Kandahar despite extreme risks to his life.

From a report by Bob Dreyfuss in The Nation:
For at least three years, Kuehn and Alex Strick van Linschoten have lived and worked in Kandahar, where they’ve studied the two organizations, lived with Kandahar citizens, and met people of all political persuasions there, including Taliban commanders.
Kuehn points out that the Taliban and Al Qaeda adhere to different strains of Islamic thought, the Taliban associated with Saudi-influenced, Wahhabi-style Hanafi beliefs, and Al Qaeda associated with the more radical, more rigid Hanbali school. The Taliban, of course, are Afghans, and Al Qaeda mostly Arab and almost entirely non-Afghan. Generationally, they are different, too, with most Al Qaeda leaders older than the young commanders of the Taliban, and whereas many Al Qaeda people are professionals and well educated, the Taliban are rural, unschooled, and grew up in places like Kandahar where newspapers were nonexistent and even radios were in the hands of only a privileged few.
When Al Qaeda arrived in Afghanistan from Sudan around 1996, says Kuehn, its membership was not more than 30. Al Qaeda fighters, and the growing number of recruits who came to Afghanistan from elsewhere, kept apart from Taliban fighters, who resented Al Qaeda, and there was a great deal of animosity between the two. Osama bin Laden insisted that international actions against the United States and other countries was crucial to his strategy, while Mullah Omar opposed such actions, says Kuehn.
“Osama bin Laden’s death will have zero impact on the Afghan Taliban,” says Kuehn. In part, that’s because they “didn’t have much a relationship to begin with.” Still, he says, it’s foolish to expect the Taliban to denounce Al Qaeda or to formally break with the organization, in part because bin Laden and Al Qaeda were Mullah Omar’s bridge to the Arab world. Yet when bin Laden was killed, the Taliban’s reaction was muted, and its statement—released via the Taliban’s semi-official web site—was mild and restrained. (If you haven’t spent time reading the Taliban in its own words, its web site is the place to start.)
Yet, we saw that Hakeemullah Mehsud and his groups under the umbrella of the TTP were openly supportive of, and aligned with, the global Al Qaeda. The attack on a CIA base by Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal Al-Balawi, who was seen in a video statement released by the Umar Media of TTP to be sitting next to Hakeemullah Mehsud, was most possibly a false attack which the CIA itself ordered as a stunt to prove it has no ties with the TTP.
Later, we saw Baitullah Mehsud, then Hakeemullah Mehsud (who lived in a luxurious $120,000 mansion), continue the legacy of this fake brand of Taliban. Or putting it more precisely, the CIA brand of Taliban. A group which has caused more damage to Pakistan than any other through brainwashed suicide-attack blasts, IED explosions, urban warfare, destruction of strategic defence equipment in use by the Pakistan Army, Air Force and Navy, bombing of ISI offices, murder of thousands of innocent civilians, beheading of hundreds of Pakistan Army troops, and what not.
It is most likely that the birth of these murderers’ ideology took place at the once-secret Penny Lane facility.
And when the controllers of these cheap hirelings and ignorant “holy warriors” of the Pakistani Taliban, who liaise between Langley and FATA/Afghanistan are no longer needed, they are simply disposed by being “droned” to death, just like Baitullah and Hakeemullah were. That is the destiny awaiting every worthless CIA asset.
Many sectors of the Pakistani society were well-aware of these facts but these mainstream revelations (still not complete though) are ample proof that the US has played a major role in destabilizing Pakistan, as it wants to avenge its own strategic blunders which it committed by unnecessarily invading Afghanistan.
The US needs it’s own Taliban to keep Pakistan engaged in internal house-cleaning and meanwhile give free space to India to attain what is has always desired: a large strategic stake in Afghanistan.
(Written for VeteransToday by Zaki Khalid)
Pakistan Cyber Force

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Military Intelligence blasts SC over Fraudulent "Missing Persons" cases

ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: The Military Intelligence (MI), one of the premier intelligence agencies of the country, reiterated its stand before the Supreme Court on Tuesday in the Tasif Ali missing person case that the military personnel involved in any offence should be tried under the Pakistan Army Act, 1952.

The MI Directorate had pleaded before the court on June 11 that an army official and a subject of the Army Act should not be investigated or inquired into by police or even by the Supreme Court.

The stand taken by the MI came before a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman that had taken up an application of Abida Malik, wife of Tasif Ali alias Danish.

Her application accuses a serving MI officer, Maj Ali Ahsan, earlier known as Maj Haider, for allegedly being behind the enforced disappearance of her husband whose immediate production before the court has been sought.

Tasif Ali is believed to be a Hizbul Mujahideen activist who went missing on Nov 23 last year, and was allegedly picked up by Maj Ahsan. His last phone conversation was with Maj Ahsan who was then a captain posted at the MI-918, Mangla Cantonment.

The matter was reported to the Sadiqabad Police Station on Dec 5 and was heard by the Lahore High Court on March 19, but the case was dismissed.

In her complaint, Ms Malik alleged that harsh words had been exchanged between her husband and the caller, believed to be Maj Haider, during a conversation at about 4pm on Nov 22 last year. The next day her husband went to offer Juma prayers and had since been missing.

Tasif Ali had started a furniture business before his disappearance. The Supreme Court had already ordered Defence Secretary retired Lt Gen Asif Yasin to cooperate with the police in their investigation to find the whereabouts of the missing man as well as the military officer who had allegedly abducted him.

Advocate Mohammad Ibrahim Satti, representing the intelligence agency, informed the bench that the MI Directorate had written a letter to the Supreme Court in which it had again denied that Tasif Ali had been apprehended or held in custody.

Advocate Satti told Dawn that the letter would be filed before the court in a day or two. He said the directorate was of the view that since an FIR had been registered against a serving military officer, evidence should be provided to the authorities concerned so that the case could be initiated against him under the Army Act.

The letter denied that Maj Haider had ever served in the MI set-up in Mirpur as claimed by the wife of the missing man. The letter was sent by the MI Directorate to the Defence Ministry Legal Director’s Office in Rawalpindi.

The proceedings were postponed because Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar was in Lahore to appear in another missing person case before a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

A day earlier, retired Col Inamur Raheem, representing Abida Malik, had moved a contempt of court application before the Supreme Court against the top defence hierarchy for allegedly impeding police investigation to shield and protect accused Maj Ahsan.

The counsel had named the defence secretary, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Rashid Mehmood and General Headquarters Military Secretary Lt Gen Mazhar Jameel as respondents.

On Nov 8, the apex court had turned down a government request to constitute a new joint investigation team (JIT) comprising intelligence agencies’ representatives to solve the mystery of the missing person.
(dawn.com)
Pakistan Cyber Force

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Chinese Submarine Fires 2 Nuclear JL-2 Missiles off American Coastline near Oregon

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is reporting today that the Vityaz early-warning radar system deployed along the entire Russian border has confirmed the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) launching from their Type 092 Xia-class nuclear ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) of two atomic JL-2 missiles off the Northeast American coastline near the State of Oregon on Wednesday 30 October and Wednesday 20 November.

According to this report, these two latest sub-launched nuclear ballistic tests by China off the west coast of the United States were preceded by a similar test conducted on Monday 10 November 2010 when a Chinese Navy Jin class ballistic missile nuclear submarine, deployed secretly from its underground home base on the south coast of Hainan island, launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from international waters off the southern California coast in full view of Los Angeles.


As the Pentagon and their US mainstream media sycophants covered up the 10 November 2010 China missile launch, this MoD report continues, they have likewise labeled the 30 October missile launch as a fireball-meteor and the 20 November one as ‘maybe’ another fireball-meteor or contrail.

Important to note, Russian intelligence analysts in this report say, was that China cryptically warned the US about its planned 30 October launch test when on Sunday 27 October the world was given a rare glimpse into China's nuclear-powered submarine fleet, with State-owned media carrying extensive coverage of the previously mysterious strategic deterrence force.

Chinese Nuclear Submarine that fired the nuclear ballistic Missiles off American Coastline near Oregon
The unprecedented revealing of the underwater fleet was a demonstration of China's confidence in its sea-based nuclear strike capability and serves as a deterrent to any attempted provocation amid the changing geopolitical situation, said military observers.

Starting on Sunday 27 October, China Central Television carried serial coverage two days in a row on the submarine force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's Beihai fleet in its flagship news program Xinwen Lianbo.

The People's Daily, the PLA Daily and the China Youth Daily on Monday all carried front-page stories, features and commentaries on the submarine force, applauding its achievements since the launch of China's first nuclear-powered submarine in December 1970.

To the most chilling warning to the Obama regime from China regarding these missile tests the Washington Times News Service further reports:
“Chinese calculations for nuclear attacks on the U.S. are chillingly macabre.“Because the Midwest states of the U.S. are sparsely populated, in order to increase the lethality, [our] nuclear attacks should mainly target the key cities on the West Coast of the United States, such as Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego,” the Global Times said.“The 12 JL-2 nuclear warheads carried by one single Type 094 SSBN can kill and wound 5 million to 12 million Americans,” the Global Times reported.China also has developed land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles — notably the DF-31A, which has a range of 7,000 to 7,500 miles.“If we launch our DF 31A ICBMs over the North Pole, we can easily destroy a whole list of metropolises on the East Coast and the New England region of the U.S., including Annapolis, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Portland, Baltimore and Norfolk, whose population accounts for about one-eighth of America’s total residents.”All the state-run press reports stressed the point that the PLA’s missile submarines are now on routine strategic patrol, “which means that China for the first time has acquired the strategic deterrence and second strike capability against the United States.”
Though the American people themselves have been kept in near total ignorance of the coming war between them and China, the same cannot be said of the rest of the world, including Doug Saunders of The Globe and Mail, Canada's leading newspaper, who reported in its 15 July edition that the United States and China have been preparing for an all-out war and which we, in part, quote from The Nation News Service:
“Both the Pentagon and the People's Liberation Army are building up their military strategies. It appears that a global war is in the making.Saunders wrote that the Pentagon is proceeding with war preparations without oversight from the White House or Congress. This gives the impression that the Pentagon is operating as an independent state within the state. The Pentagon is relying on the AirSea Battle strategy, in which the US Army and Air Force will stand ready to support 320,000 military personnel in a simultaneous land and air attack against China in the event of a spillover war in the South China Sea or surrounding areas.President Obama has spoken of a pivot to Asia, followed by the US Defence Department's plan to move most of the US naval capability to the Asia Pacific to counter the rise of China. We can feel that the US military, in spite of the turmoil in Syria, Egypt and the Middle East, is re-asserting its influence in the Asia-Pacific. The US and China are now engaging in a full-scale currency war. A physical war could be the inevitable course. A rise of China threatens the US dollar as the world's reserve currency and the US supremacy.On China's side, we can assume that the Chinese leadership has ordered a full preparation for a war with the United States. China has secretly built up its military capability, with modern weapons and sophisticated technology. China said it is ready to develop an anti-AirSea Battle strategy. China's President has urged the military to prepare for the war and to fight to win.”


To how soon open warfare between China and the US will break out this report doesn’t say.  However, it does note that China’s “bombshell move” against the US Dollar this week makes its likelihood much sooner than later. In further reporting on China’s move against the US Dollar the dissident American website InfoWars.com states:
“China just dropped an absolute bombshell, but it was almost entirely ignored by the mainstream media in the United States.  The central bank of China has decided that it is “no longer in China’s favor to accumulate foreign-exchange reserves”.  During the third quarter of 2013, China’s foreign-exchange reserves were valued at approximately $3.66 trillion.
For years, China has been systematically propping up the value of the U.S. dollar and keeping the value of the yuan artificially low.  This has resulted in a massive flood of super cheap products from across the Pacific that U.S. consumers have been eagerly gobbling up.And now China has apparently decided that there is not much gutting of our economy left to do and that it is time to let the dollar collapse.”
(WhatDoesItMean.com)
(Mildly edited by Pakistan Cyber Force Web Desk)
Pakistan Cyber Force

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Geo Insider: "Halakat vs Shahadat" in Jirga was Designed by Mir Shakeel ur Rehman

Mir Shakeel ur Rehman. Owner of Jang Group/Geo TV
It was an early winter night. The small intimate gathering at the rooftop of a private bungalow was a calm affair but a tête-à-tête with a well-known senior media person from Geo Network was red hot! The topic of conversation was the man behind Jang and Geo Group, Mir Shakil ur Rahman, who has transitioned from being a man behind a media empire of various famous anchors and journalist to the man accused of media-tyranny, corruption, disloyalty and treason to Pakistani nation and its solidarity. Usually hiding and firing his shells using the shoulders of his army of opinion makers in Pakistani media, Mir Shakeel has apparently felt the glare of the spotlight he has to face unwillingly.

Known for being the mastermind behind the media policies formed by Jang and Geo yet not coming forward in the limelight, Mir Shakeel ur Rahman, has now become the target of resentment by Pakistani nation and lost his media empires credibility at least in the matters of army and Intelligence. The major game changer in this regard was the announcement of a new media channel BOL that really shook Mir’s 60-year-old media empire in an unprecedented manner. BOL unveiled the anti-army sentiment of Mir Shakeel and with its bold and upfront claim of bringing about a media revolution, it has so far stirred up a storm in the media industry and at the same time making the Mir nervous. With a single full-page Job ad and a heavy online advertising campaign directed targeting  nationalistic sentiment with slogans like “I am BOL- I am Pakistan,” BOL has certainly helped in building the much needed positive sentiments for the country and armed forces. Next in line was the ARY group with its stalwart Mubasher Lucman who didn’t take much time to realize the need to further the dents that arrival of BOL caused in the foundations of the Jang/Geo media empire. Apparently fed up from the anti-Pakistan stance of the Jang/Geo group, Lucman went all out as a one-man army against Mir. In the process he also benefitted from a renewed fame and highest ever ratings.

“Mir Shakeel wants to just get the Wardi Walas off his trail!” said the media personality well known for his gift of gab while taking a sip of tea, “The direction we have received is simple: ‘get me out of focus… change Mir vs Army to something else vs army’. We initially went positive and aired 3 hours of pro-Armed forces programming on 27 October Kashmir Day this year when last year we barely aired a 2 minute piece in off-primetime”

“But the ongoing Lucman attacks were not heading off the heat from Mir Shakeel in spite of Kashmir stunt – only then Gen. Musharraf’s bail was approved! We were again debriefed to keep Military perspective in the forefront but with the change of direction..” he smirked and said adjusting his hair and specs , “Mir Sahab entrusts such things within his inner circle of reliable friends only, which obviously includes me.. This time instructing again to create a distraction (for Army) by pitching them right against Judiciary and Media! The air time we gave to Musharraf was unbelievable… His bail is no longer a story… People are not interested in him but we still aired his story 100 times in a day amid persistent pressure from Mir sahab. He wanted to fight with army but not on his own personal issues of treason and corruption. He wanted to fight on some other issue where his personal self is not involved and Musharraf was surely a safe bet.”

“Then came the Jirga on Geo! Did you see how Safi’s questions to Munawar Hasan were on the “Halaqat vs Shahadat”? How they brought ghost from the past, Major Sanaullah, in discussion about Taliban? This was all staged by Mir Shakeel ur Rahman to create a smokescreen for himself!” When I smiled at this comment, he sweared vehemently upon the Holy Book, saying,”Giving so much hype and airtime to Munawar Hasan’s comment about Hakimullah Mehsood’s ‘shahdat’ – all part of our strategy! All primetime anchors were assigned to cover this and this story ONLY!“ “(I heard) clear instructions “Shaheedon ko ragarr do!” from Mir (Shakeel ur Rahman)!” Smiling and shaking his head in a astonished manner he said, “You have to give due credit to Mir Sahab’s scheming mind – no wonder he has stayed in shadows for so long despite owning the leading media corporation in Pakistan.”

He added, “ISPR’s response to Jamat-e-Islami’s comment was an unexpected cherry-on-top for Mir Sahab too. He could only wish that a pro-establishment party’s rift with Army will create a distraction of this magnitude to take the limelight away from Mir Shakeel ur Rahman and the revelations made by Lucman.  In short, Munawar Hasan became a scapegoat for Mir Shakeel ur Rahman and us Geo people!”

“Mir Sahab didn’t stop there and once this “shahadat” issue tends to fade, he immediately directed Ansaar Abbasi to write a main story for his newspapers regarding how FIA is afraid to question the army leadership in Musharraf’s treason case. We again covered this as our lead story in GEO throughout the day… How intelligent of Mir sahab!! Reminding people of Musharraf and the present army’s role as his savior will certainly help in mudding that positive sentiment being created for army and the negative one for him….Cheez to buhut oonchi hein wo !!”

With topics transitioning from media to politics to religion, his ramble dragged on and on but my mind pondered on something else: That how accountable is a person like Mir Shakeel Ur Rahman for putting personal gains and security over journalism ethics and more importantly, national security? Is there any limit to his agenda of manipulation ranging from India to U.S and from Army to Judiciary? Will people like him keep relying on distractions and goldfish memory of our public and lurk in the shadows? With these thoughts, the tweet from Mubashar Lucman popped up on my smartphone screen, which resonated what I thought:
Pakistan Cyber Force

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

British Petroleum Harassing Critics on Facebook after Pre-Planned Oil Spill

Nature destroyed by British Petroleum's deliberate Oil Leak

BP is embroiled in a new controversy after accusations that the British corporation hired a public relations firm to harass and intimidate Facebook users who condemned the company for its handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The largest environmental disaster in US history began on April 20, 2010 with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig located near the Mississippi River Delta. Eleven workers were killed in the blast, and an oil gusher on the ocean floor spent 87 days pumping at least 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. The spill has resulted in a massive $7.8 billion deal to settle damage claims.

In an attempt to heal its image in the face of public outrage and persistent attacks via social media, the company formerly known as British Petroleum hired the international PR company Oglivy and Mather to run the BP America Facebook page.

Accusations have surfaced that Facebook users who posted critical comments on the page have become the subject of attacks, threats, and ongoing harassment. One user, known as “Marie,” told Al Jazeera she feels the need to remain anonymous because of a “fear for my personal safety should the BP trolls find out that I am the whistleblower in this case.”

Troll is defined in the internet lexicon as an anonymous online bully who may post comments or send messages intended to upset the recipient. Physical threats are not uncommon in such online communities. Marie said she recorded examples of such attacks and has turned over boxes of material to the Government Accountability Project (GAP).

We’d been hearing this kind of harassment by BP when we were working on our health project [in the Gulf of Mexico], so it sparked our interest,” said GAP investigator Shanna Devine. “We saw Marie’s documentation of more serious threats made on the BP page, and decided to investigate. We’ve seen all this documentation and that’s why we thought it was worth bringing to the ombudsman’s office of BP, and we told them we thought some of it even warranted calling the police about.”

In one instance, Marie said, someone edited an image of the bird used in BP’s logo so that the cartoon was staring down the sight of an automatic weapon. She said the cyber-attacks followed her onto her personal page and were lobbed from a whole list of Facebook users.

The harassment communications are not something that BP and their people are not aware of,” Steve Lockman, legal investigator with Levine, Papantino, Thomas, Mitchell, Rafferty & Proctor, told Al Jazeera. “It’s not a secret that the personal attacks, broadcast abuse, and type-written harassment were happening and continue to go on…We have thousands of documents regarding communications posted through various Facebook websites.”

Marie and the other accusers say BP, through trolls, sought their personal information and then used that against them by contacting their employers, family members, and making their IP addresses publicly available. The company has yet to respond to any allegations, but a former Ogilvy associate said in 2012 the firm handled all of BP’s social media during the crisis.

Chris Paulos, one of the lawyers investigating the case, told Al Jazeera the incident is yet another example of “subversive attempts by corporations to put forward their ideology of what we should think about them, and doing it in a way that is not decipherable to the average person.”
Related: Gulf Ecosystem Collapsing due to Pre-Planned BP Oil Spill - Heartbreaking

Pakistan Cyber Force

Monday, November 18, 2013

Russia unveils unique 'Direct Kill' Air Defense Complex

TOR-M2 missile system (RIA Novosti / Andrei Aleksandrov)
Tests of a new missile for the advanced version of the Russian air defense system Tor-M2 proved it is capable of shooting down challenging targets with amazing precision, hitting moving missiles head-on, Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey revealed.

In an attempt to push the limits of modern missile defense systems, Russian military design bureaus Almaz-Antey and Vympel NPO (now part of Tactical Missiles Corporation) have jointly developed the new 9M338 surface-to-air missile.

Tested with the latest Tor-M2 missile system, the new weapon displayed remarkable precision. It destroyed three of its moving targets head-on.

“We fired five missiles at very difficult targets [highly maneuverable target drones Saman], and three of the targets were shot down by direct missile-against-missile hits, that is, head-on. This is an excellent result, an amazing precision,” Sergey Druzin, head of research and development at Almaz-Antey, told RIA Novosti.

A Tor M-2 displayed in Russia. Source: Vitaly V. Kuzmin
Druzin called the result “unique,” adding that the other two targets were destroyed by shrapnel from exploding warheads. Shooting down air targets this way is how most modern defense systems work. Scoring guaranteed direct hits at maneuverable missiles has eluded even the most advanced military technologies.

The outstanding 9M338 is thus “a result of a very hard and long work,” Druzin said.

Another advantage of the new missile is its small size, which has allowed the increase of Tor-M2 ammunition from 8 to 16 rounds.

“We can say now that a unique air defense system in its class with an astounding precision and range has been created. Its performance surpasses all planned parameters,” Druzin concluded.

According to the official, the improved Tor-M2 system with 9M338 missiles has been approved by a state commission for mass production for the Russian Army. The advanced version of the system was unveiled by Almaz-Antey on Thursday, and also features an extended firing range.

But according to Druzin, the system could be improved even further – by eliminating the launcher’s stop time when it’s ready to fire a missile.

TOR-M2 missile system (RIA Novosti / Andrei Aleksandrov)
“The mobile launcher currently stops for two or three seconds to launch a missile, but it could be done on a move, without stopping,” the official explained.

The Tor system is a low- to medium-altitude, short-range surface-to-air missile system designed to intercept aircraft, cruise missiles, precision-guided munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles, and ballistic targets.

Tor-M1 and Tor-M2U models, armed with 9M331 missiles, are currently in service with the Russian army.
(RT)
Pakistan Cyber Force

WikiLeaks: "Free Trade" means "World's Schoolyard Bullying by US"

A protester wearing a monkey mask raises his fist during a rally against Japan participating in rule-making negotiations for the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in front of the parliament in Tokyo (Reuters / Issei Kato)
In a leaked negotiation document about going trade negotiations, it becomes clear that the United States is still asserting its role as the world’s master of self-entitlement.

On Wednesday, a document leaked from an ongoing trade negotiation was published by WikiLeaks. It concerns the monopolies and exclusive rights we know as copyrights, patents, trademarks, and so on. While the contents of the proposed trade agreement are certainly interesting, not to say very alarming, it's even more interesting to see how the United States keeps asserting its industry interests over the world under the false flag of “free trade.”

This process started with Japanese cars in the 1970s. As people in the United States started shunning Detroit's cars in favor of Toyota, policymakers in the US realized that the country's age of industrial competitiveness had effectively come to an end, and sought new ways to keep the United States at the top of the food chain, competitive or not. The result was as audacious, daring, and provocative as it was successful: redefine "value,” "industry,” and "production" in a series of lopsided interstate contracts masqueraded as "free trade" deals that would make sure the United States kept being paid by the rest of the world.

The first of these "free trade" deals - more accurately described as Industrial Protectionism (IP) - was the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which stands at the heart of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Its champion had been then-CEO of Pfizer, Edmund Pratt, who wanted to prohibit people in the third world from using their own raw materials and pharmaceutical knowledge in their own laboratories and plants to cure and treat their own people's diseases. He wanted to force them to buy from Pfizer or die trying. Millions died as a result of the success of the TRIPS "free trade" agreement and the WTO.

There is no word for this type of behavior short of "evil.”

As the TRIPS agreement on Industrial Protectionism (IP) was being negotiated, every industry interest in the United States chimed in and wanted their piece of the pie. Hollywood's movie industry, the record industry, everybody. This new leaked trade agreement - that has absolutely nothing to do with free trade, but with the upholding of exclusive rights and monopolies that limit free trade - builds on the previous TRIPS agreement; it harshens it and deepens it. It is named TPP, the "Trans-Pacific Partnership.”

The divide between the United States and other countries on the unfairness of the aggressively pushed "United States uber alles" agenda is very clear. It's almost enough to read the introduction, where the vast majority of participating countries have proposed this language, to safeguard our common cultural and scientific legacy: 
"The objectives of this chapter are... to maintain a balance between the rights of intellectual property holders and the legitimate interests of users and the community in subject matter protected by intellectual property; protect the ability of Parties to identify, promote access to and preserve the public domain; ensure that measures and procedures to enforce intellectual property rights do not themselves become barriers to legitimate trade."
The United States blanketly opposes all of it. There shall be no balance, there shall be no promotion of monopoly-less trade (which, ironically, is anybody's normal definition of free trade). There shall only be exclusive rights, which are typically held by the United States.

Also, the legal language is deliberately convoluted - the United States wants to give Hollywood the right to shut people off from the internet (and therefore most of their citizens' rights) without due process, but this is hidden deep down in legal jumbo. How many would recognize the terms "injunctive relief" or "liability conditions" as depriving citizens of their freedoms of speech, press, and assembly? I fear many people would be shocked once they realized what the legal language means - but at that point, it will be much harder to stop this idiocy.

This agreement is not about free trade. Copyright and patent monopolies, by definition, are the opposite of free trade; they are exclusive rights preventing free trade. This agreement is about asserting trade monopolies held by the United States and forcing everybody else to pay protection money or go to jail for disrespecting the powers that be.

This is not free trade. This is racketeering. And it is disgusting.
(RT)
Pakistan Cyber Force

US Drone Fires Missile at US Navy Ship, Several Wounded

While hardly as dramatic as last week’s revelation that Syrian Al-CIA-Da cannibals apologized after chopping off the head of one of their CIA-funded “rebels” by mistake, the news that a US drone struck a US missile cruiser during training off Southern California, causing two injuries (there is a big chance of under-reporting of facts) is maybe even more embarrassing. After all, with Al-CIA-Da one can at least make a legitimate case of a friendly fire, er, beheading incident. When it comes to the coast off SoCal, it will be difficult to suggest the Chinese (or Russian) navies were running sorties next to the surfers off Point Mugu.
From AP:
The Navy says an aerial target drone malfunctioned and struck a guided missile cruiser during training off Southern California, causing two minor injuries.
Lt. Lenaya (luh-NEY-yah) Rotklein of the U.S. Third Fleet said the accident on the USS Chancellorsville happened Saturday afternoon while the ship was testing its combat weapons system off Point Mugu.
She said two sailors were treated for minor burns after the ship was struck. She said the ship was heading back to Naval Base San Diego so that officials can assess the damage.

Syrian “hackers” to be blamed shortly (just like in the case of healthcare.gov), as the time for Obama’s internet kill swtich “put option” is long overue.
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(Mildly edited by Pakistan Cyber Force Web Desk)
Pakistan Cyber Force

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

مولوی فضل اللہ (ملّا ریڈیو) کی واپسی ۔ سیّد طلعت حُسین

سیّد طلعت حسین
مولوی فضل اللہ کا تحریک طالبان پاکستان کی باگ ڈور سنبھالنا حکیم اللہ محسود کے مار ے جانے سے کہیں زیادہ اہم خبر ہے۔ اس تبدیلی کے نتائج صرف فاٹا کی ایک ایجنسی تک محدود نہیں رہیں گے بلکہ نام نہاد امن مذاکرات، تحریک طالبان کی کارروائیوں کے اہداف، سوات میں امن، پاکستان افغانستان تعلقات کے علاوہ پاکستان اور امریکا کے درمیان فوجی سطح پر مذاکرات اور بات چیت بھی ان سے متاثر ہو سکتی ہے۔

مولوی فضل اللہ ان عسکریت پسندوں میں سے ایک ہے جو پاکستان کی ریاست سے ہر طرح کی ٹکر لینے کے لیے اُس وقت سے کمربستہ ہے جب سے وہ پراسرار طور پر سوات کے گرد پاکستان آرمی کے تنگ گھیر ے میں سے مکھن کے بال کی طرح نکل کر سرحد کے اُس پار کنڑ صوبے میں جا پہنچا۔ اِس معاملے پر اُن دنوں میری پشاور میں موجود عسکری حکام سے طویل بحث ہوا کرتی تھی۔ میں دوسر ے صحافیوں کی طرح یہ جاننے کے لیے بیتاب تھا کہ اتنے کامیاب آپریشن کے باوجود مالا کنڈ ڈویژن اور اردگرد کے اضلاع میں ریاست کے خلاف شورش برپا کرنے کے پلان کا سرغنہ پکڑ ا کیو ں نہ جا سکا؟ مولوی فضل اللہ جو اس وقت بعض خبروں کے مطابق زخمی حالت میں تھا، کبھی بھی ان پھرتیلے لڑاکوں کے طور پر نہیں مانا جاتا تھا جو گھائو کھانے کے باوجود بڑی مہارت سے اپنی جگہ تبدیل کر لیتے تھے۔

لحیم شحیم، فربہ جسم کا مالک مولوی فضل اللہ مشکل راستوں پر چلنے کا عادی نہیں تھا۔ اُس کا کام ریڈیو کے ذریعے واعظ کرنا اور اپنے کمانڈرز کو احکامات جاری کرنا تھا۔ مجھے اپنے سوال کا جواب کبھی نہیں ملا۔ جب بھی مولوی فضل اللہ کا قصہ اٹھایا جاتا تو یا خاموشی اور یا پھر عدم دلچسپی کا اظہار بطور ردعمل سامنے آتا۔ اُس وقت ایک انتہائی قابل اور ابھی بھی حاضر سروس عسکری لیڈر اکثر صحافیوں کے فضل اللہ سے متعلق سوالوں کو ’’غیر ضروری‘‘ یا ’’غیر اہم‘‘ قرار دیتے تھے۔ اُن کا کہنا تھا کہ مولوی فضل اللہ جیسے لوگوں کے پیچھے جانا وسائل کے غلط استعمال کے زمر ے میں آتا ہے۔ وہ سمجھتے تھے کہ مالا کنڈ ڈویژن میں عسکریت پسندوں کی شکست بھرپور تھی۔ مولوی فضل اللہ بطور خطرہ مکمل طور پر ٹھکانے لگ چکا تھا لہذا اس پر توجہ دینے کی ضرورت نہیں تھی۔

پاکستان کے فیصلہ ساز اداروں میں اس قسم کی سوچ اُس وقت بھی تبدیل نہیں ہوئی جب فضل اللہ نے صحت یاب ہونے کے بعد کنڑ کے گورنر کی سربراہی میں ایک بڑا لشکر تشکیل دیا۔ جس کو نہ پیسے کی کمی تھی نہ سرحد پار جنگ کے سامان کی۔ باجوڑ میں فضل اللہ کی طرف سے بڑھتی ہوئی کارروائیوں اور مسلسل جھڑپوں پر ہماری طرف سے احتجاج تو کیا گیا مگر کبھی بھی تسلسل کے ساتھ یہ مطالبہ نہیں کیا گیا کہ ہمار ے ملک میں اس دراندازی کو روکا جائے اور فضل اللہ کو ہمار ے حوالے کیا جائے۔ اس کے برعکس حکومتوں نے یہ جانتے ہوئے کہ صدر حامد کرزئی اور غیر ملکی انٹیلی جنس کے ادارے فضل اللہ کو پاکستان کے خلاف ایک زمینی ڈرون کی طرح استعمال کر رہے ہیں۔ کابل کے ساتھ تعلقات بہتر بنانے کی خواہش کو ترک نہیں کیا۔ اب یہی فضل اللہ افغانستان میں سے اس تنظیم کی باگ ڈور سنبھالے ہوئے ہے جسے حکیم اللہ محسود اور اس سے پہلے بیت اللہ محسود نے وزیرستان میں رہتے ہوئے ملک اور قوم پر حملوں کے لیے استعمال کیا۔ دوسرے الفاظ میں مولوی فضل اللہ کی صورت میں تحریک طالبان پاکستان اب تحریک طالبان پاکستان افغانستان بن گئی ہے۔

افغانستان، انڈین اور امریکی انٹیلی جنس ایجنسیز کے لیے اس سے اچھی خبر شاید اور کوئی نہ ہو۔ یہ تمام ممالک پچھلے کئی سال سے یہی الزام لگاتے چلے آ رہے ہیں کہ حقانی نیٹ ورک اور ملا عمر پاکستان میں رہتے ہوئے نیٹو اور آئی سیف کے خلاف جنگ میں مصروف ہیں۔ پچھلے دنوں امریکا کے خصوصی ایلچی برائے افغانستان پاکستان جیمز ڈوبن نے پاکستان کی وزرات خارجہ کو چند صفحات پر مبنی ایک دستاویز دی۔ جس میں امریکا کی طرف سے حقانی نیٹ ورک کی بڑی بڑی کارروائیوں کو پاکستان کے کھاتے میں دکھایا گیا ہے۔ یوں لگ رہا ہے کہ مولوی فضل اللہ کو اب پاکستان کے ساتھ حقانی نیٹ ورک کے معاملے پر پیشرفت کرنے کے لیے استعمال کیا جائے گا۔

مگر اس سلسلے میں  اس دبائو کو بھی نظر انداز نہیں کیا جا سکتا جو مولوی فضل اللہ کا تحریک طالبان کی کمانڈ سنبھالنے کے بعد اوباما انتظامیہ پر پڑ سکتا ہے چونکہ حکیم اللہ محسود کو مارنے پر واشنگٹن نے یہ نقطہ نظر اپنایا ہے کہ اس کے قتل سے انھوں نے پاکستان کی تحریک طالبان کے خلاف کارروائیوں میں حصہ ڈالا ہے جو ان کی طرف سے اچھی دوستی کا ثبوت ہے نہ کہ مذاکرات کو ناکام بنانے کی کوئی سازش۔ لہذا امریکا کو منطقی طور پر یہی فارمولا مولوی فضل اللہ سے متعلق بھی اپنانا ہو گا۔ بالخصوص ان حالات میں کہ جب تحریک طالبان کا یہ قائد افغانستان میں موجود ہے جس کی ہر طرح کی نقل و حرکت امریکا کے جدید ترین ریڈارز پر  چوبیس گھنٹے تصویروں کے ساتھ نظر آتی رہتی ہے۔ اگر پاکستان کی طرف سے مولوی ٖفضل اللہ کے خلاف امریکی مدد کا مطالبہ کیا جائے مگر مسترد ہو جائے تو واضح ہو جائے گا کہ اب تحریک طالبان کس کا اثاثہ بن گئی ہے۔ مگر مولوی فضل اللہ کو پکڑنے کا مطالبہ کرے گا کون؟ میاں محمد نواز شریف کی حکومت نے تحریک طالبان کو عملًا اپنا منہ بولا بھائی بنا لیا ہے۔ پاکستان تحریک انصاف پہلے سے ہی اس نظریاتی رشتے میں بندھی ہوئی ہے لہذا اس ماحول میں افغانستان کا تحریک طالبان کا اڈہ بنایا جانا موجودہ حکومت ہضم کرنے کی کو شش کرے گی۔

بہر حال اس کے باجود طالبان کے ساتھ بات چیت کے عمل کو آگے بڑھانے کی راہ میں موجود نئے مسائل سے دامن چھڑ انا ممکن نہیں ہو گا۔ ریاست کے عہدیداران کے مطابق مولوی فضل اللہ قانون کے تحت مطلوب اور ایک خطرناک مجرم ہے جو ایک غیر ملک میں بیٹھ کر وہاں کی انٹیلی جنس ایجنسیز کی مدد سے پاکستان کی سرزمین پر قتل و غارت گری کا مرتکب ہو رہا ہے۔ اگر ریاست پاکستان کا یہ موقف برقرار رہتا ہے تو فضل اللہ کی قیادت میں چلنے والی تنظیم سے ’’بھائی بندی‘‘ والی بات چیت آگے کیسے بڑھے گی؟ اس کا جواب وزیر اعظم نواز شریف اور عمران خان کو دینا ہو گا۔ اس دوران سوات کے اندر اضطراب اور خوف کی جس نئی لہر نے جنم لے لیا ہے اس پر توجہ دینے کی ضرورت ہے۔ مولوی فضل اللہ ایک ’’غیر اہم مفر ور‘‘ کے مقا م سے اٹھ کر تحریک طالبان کے قائد کی مسند پر جا بیٹھا ہے۔ وہ اس وقت وہ تمام بدلے چکا سکتا ہے جو اس سرزمین سے نکلتے وقت اس نے اپنے ذہن پر نقش کیے تھے۔

وہ بدلے کیسے ہوں گے، یہ سمجھنے کے لیے آپ کو اسلام آباد کی پرامن فضا اور لاہور کے باغات اور رونقوں سے باہر نکل کر سوات جانا ہو گا۔ یہاں کے باسی اِس سو چ میں پڑ ے ہوئے ہیں کہ اگر میاں نواز شریف، عمران خان اور مولوی فضل اللہ نے ایک ہی تصویر کے تین رخ بن جانا تھا تو ان کو نواز لیگ اور تحریک انصاف کے بجائے، تحریک نفاذ شریعت محمدی کو ہی اپنا سیاسی والی مان کر منتخب کر لینا چاہیے تھا۔ ایک خاتون یہ سوچ کر پریشان ہو رہی تھیں کہ ان کے خاندان نے خواہ مخواہ سواتی طالبان سے جھگڑا مول لیا اور اب حضرت مولانا فضل اللہ کابل، اسلام آباد، لاہور اور پشاور میں حاکم سیاسی قوتوں کے منظور نظر ہو کر مینگورہ کے بیچ اپنا پرانا دفتر دوبارہ کھولے گا تو کیا ہو گا؟ میں نے ان کا غم غلط کرنے کے لیے کوئی تجویز نہیں دی۔ نہ ہی تسلی کہ ایسا نہیں ہو گا۔ نواز لیگ اور تحریک انصاف کے حلقوں میں آجکل طالبان کی محبت عروج پر ہے۔ محبت میں سب کچھ کیا جا سکتا ہے۔

متعلقہ پوسٹ: مُلّا ریڈیو اور تحریکِ طالبان پاکستان کی انٹرنیشنل فنڈنگ آخر کون کر رہا ہے؟

Pakistan Cyber Force