Posts Tagged ‘cnn pakistan’
January 11, 2010
Both DAWN news and CNN have good reports on Pakistani artist Imran Mudassar. The following video briefly takes us into some of his recent works that depict deteriorating security, and amplified militarism that torments his country.
VIDEO : CNN talks to Pakistan Artist Imran Mudassir – January 2010
I found his first work in the video of particular interest: the wall piece brought from Kabul that was peppered with shrapnel holes. Mudassir traces an outline of a man’s torso onto the destroyed wall and highlights each hole with color to accentuate a very poignant notion that these aren’t just holes, they’re wounds. He specifically mentions he can’t stop thinking about those holes after having seen them, and quite effectively after seeing his work, one might feel the same. Minimal use of color and the small scale work set into a simple frame brings us in contact with a wrenching reality that mainstream news reporting of terrorism just can’t offer.
Seeing the actual holes that sharpnel makes on an individual human torso is far different than just hearing that another suicide bomber struck in the Af-Pak region.
The holes in this work leave us feeling empty as we peer into the darkness and depth of these wounds. Kudos once again CNN for reporting on one of the many persevering stories out of Pakistan during these testing times.
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December 7, 2009
As President Obama announced a troop surge in the Af-Pak war, former leader of Pakistan General Musharraff weighed in with specifics a solution would require.
In the Wall Street Journal this week, he explained “quitting is not an option”, and “time limits” should not drive our exit strategy. Rather, in tandem with additional troops, a “political” surge is key. With firsthand military and political experience in the Af-Pak region and War on Terror, Musharraf gives us substance with which to understand the situation. He explains that when the United States “liberated Afghanistan from the tyranny of Al Qaeda and Taliban, they had unequivocal support of the majority of Afghans.” What we didn’t do though, is establish a “truly representative national government” giving proportional representation to Pashtun’s who are the ethnic majority. He says:
The political instability and ethnic imbalance in Afghanistan after 9/11 marginalized the majority Pashtuns and pushed them into the Taliban fold, even though they were not ideological supporters of the Taliban.
As a result, despite Pakistani efforts during Musharraf’s tenure where “600 Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leaders, some of them of very high value” were captured in tandem with the establishment of “1000 border check posts”, the Afghan government never gained legitimacy, and ultimately, sufficient authority. He further attributes insufficient NATO forces and the distraction of invading Iraq as leading causes to the Taliban’s capacity to gain ground, and reassert its center of gravity toward northern Pakistan.
With a grand strategy to destabilize the whole region, the Taliban and al Qaeda established links with extremists in Pakistani society on the one hand and with Muslim fundamentalists in India on the other.
It’s a complex situation, but Musharraff’s recommendations are rooted in a wealth of experience and offer details on a practical solution.
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Posted in Current Affairs, International Affairs, International Relations, Pakistan, US Pakistan relations | Tagged af-pak obama surge, af-pak obama troop, af-pak obama troops, af-pak pakistan, af-pak region, af-pak strategy, af-pak taliban, af-pak terrorism, af-pak troop surge, af-pak troops, af-pak war, af-pak war pakistan, afghan pak region, afghanistan pakistan war, america and pakistan war on terror, balochistan raw, cnn interview of musharraf, cnn pakistan, counterterrorism pakistan, development in pakistan, economic development pakistan, fareed zakaria gps pakistan, fareed zakaria pakistan, fareed zakaria show general musharraf, fareed zakaria war on terror pakistan, General Musharraf, general musharraf cnn, general musharraf politics, india and pakistan, india and pakistan policies, india and pakistan politics, india and pakistan terrorism, India Pakistan, india pakistan politics, India Pakistan relations, international affairs in pakistan, International Affairs Pakistan, international politics pakistan, international relations pakistan, isi india, isi pakistan, islamabad bombings islamabad attacks, military offensive pakistan, musharraf gps, musharraf interview cnn, musharraf interview fareed zakaria, musharraf on cnn, musharraf on fareed zakaria, musharraf on fareed zakaria cnn, musharraf on fareed zakaria show, musharraf on india, musharraf on intelligene, musharraf on the war on terror, musharraf on war on terror, musharraf war on terror, obama troop surge, obama troops afghanistan, obama troops in afghanistan, obama troops pakistan, obamas troop surge, pakistan affairs., pakistan army, pakistan army india, pakistan army war on terror, pakistan civil war, pakistan general musharraf politics, pakistan india political rivalry, pakistan isi, pakistan isi baluchistan, pakistan political affairs, pakistan politics, pakistan terrorism india, Pakistan war on terror, pakistan war on terror cnn, pakistan war on terror fareed zakaria, pakistan waziristan, pakistan waziristan war, pakistani military, pakistani policies, pakistani politics, pakistsan afghanistan war on terror, pervez musharraf india, pervez musharraf politics, political rivalry india pakistan, politics in pakistan, zainab jeewanjee, zainab politics, zainyjee | 1 Comment »
November 9, 2009
Pervez Musharraf was on Fareed Zakaria GPS this morning discussing the Af-Pak situation in two segments. The second segment focused on Pakistan where Zakaria prefaced Q&A by reminding viewers that General Musharraf is an “authentic representation of Pakistan’s military” and that his comments will reveal that the situation in Afghanistan is rooted in a “60 year geopolitical rivalry that we just walked in to, and its between between India and Pakistan“. Sounded like grand stuff.
And Zakaria jumped right in. He began with questions on whether the Pakistan military is as committed to eliminating terrorists in the north who launch cross border attacks as they are to obliterating terrorists in the South who are responsible for domestic assaults. He said the military “never seems to get around to attacking North Waziristan who attacks India or Afghanistan because they were supported in the past”. Musharraff made clear that during his tenure, he insisted on drone technology needed to obliterate terrorists from both regions, especially given Baitullah Mehsud who assassinated Bhutto and that terrorists were never supported by the military or any government policy. He mentioned that ISI “ingress” in terrorist groups is standard procedure practiced by all Intelligence operations, clarifying that “ingress” is not be equated to “support”, rather it’s standard maintenance of contacts with such groups for the states advantage.
When questioned about the widespread notion that Al Qaeda leader Mullah Umar is in Pakistan, Musharraf said it’s “200% wrong” explaining Umar would have no interest in leaving a safe haven in the northern areas where Taliban has de-facto control for Quetta where US and Pakistani intelligence/ military roam rampant. It was a reasonable response and Zakaria’s questions sounded increasingly implicative.
Zakaria probed the notion saying that the “Afghanistan government and intelligence say he’s in Pakistan” to which Musharraff firmly explained “don’t talk about the Afghan government and intelligence. By design, they mislead the world, they talk against Pakistan because they are entirely under the influence of Indian intelligence”.
Wow, he just said it. It’s often documented in Pakistani media that Indian intelligence is widely responsible for insurgencies in northern areas of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan by way of material support, but rarely is that view expressed in mainstream U.S. media. Former Foreign Minister Sharifuddin Pirzada recently explained to me that warming of relations between Delhi and Kabul come at a direct expense of Pakistan because of such subversive, Indian led dealings with Afghanistan. Similarly, Musharraf explained he has provided “documented evidence” of this activity in the past.
From the first question on Pakistan’s commitment to uprooting cross border terrorism, to the question on Mullah Umar, Zakaria elicited Musharraf into discussion of a supposed “geopolitical rivalry” between India and Pakistan wherein Afghanistan is used as a “client state” by either nation as a buffer against, if not to subvert one another. And although I can’t say that is entirely untrue, Zakaria approached today’s interview with this preconceived notion, and overstepped neutrality by implicating Pakistan in the process.
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Posted in Current Affairs, Foreign Policy, India Pakistan, International Affairs, International Relations, Pakistan, South Asia | Tagged af-pak region, af-pak strategy, af-pak taliban, af-pak terrorism, af-pak war, afghan pak region, afghanistan pakistan war, america and pakistan war on terror, balochistan raw, cnn interview of musharraf, cnn pakistan, counterterrorism pakistan, development in pakistan, economic development pakistan, fareed zakaria gps pakistan, fareed zakaria pakistan, fareed zakaria show general musharraf, fareed zakaria war on terror pakistan, General Musharraf, general musharraf cnn, general musharraf politics, india and pakistan, india and pakistan policies, india and pakistan politics, india and pakistan terrorism, india baluchistan, india in baluchistan, India Pakistan, india pakistan affairs, india pakistan army, india pakistan balochistan, india pakistan baluchistan, india pakistan geo politics, india pakistan geopolitics, india pakistan politics, India Pakistan relations, international affairs in pakistan, International Affairs Pakistan, international politics pakistan, international relations pakistan, isi india, isi pakistan, islamabad bombings islamabad attacks, military offensive pakistan, musharraf gps, musharraf interview cnn, musharraf interview fareed zakaria, musharraf on cnn, musharraf on fareed zakaria, musharraf on fareed zakaria cnn, musharraf on fareed zakaria show, musharraf on india, musharraf on intelligene, musharraf on the war on terror, musharraf on war on terror, musharraf war on terror, pakistan affairs., pakistan army, pakistan army india, pakistan army war on terror, pakistan civil war, pakistan general musharraf politics, pakistan india political rivalry, pakistan isi, pakistan isi baluchistan, pakistan political affairs, pakistan politics, pakistan terrorism india, Pakistan war on terror, pakistan war on terror cnn, pakistan war on terror fareed zakaria, pakistan waziristan, pakistan waziristan war, pakistani military, pakistani policies, pakistani politics, pakistsan afghanistan war on terror, pervez musharraf india, pervez musharraf politics, political rivalry india pakistan, politics in pakistan, politics of india pakistan, politics of pakistan, raw baluchistan, raw in baluchistan, raw india, raw india balochistan, raw india baluchistan, raw india pakistan, rivalry politics india pakistan, terrorism afghanistan pakistan, terrorism in india pakistan, terrorism musharraf, terrorism of pakistan, terrorism pakistani, war india and pakistan, war on terror in pakistan, war on terror india and pakistan, war on terror musharraf, war on terror united states pakistan, zainab jeewanjee, zainab jeewanjee international affairs, Zainab jeewanjee politics, zainab politics, zakaria interview musharraf, zakaria interviews musharraf, zakaria pakistan cnn | 1 Comment »
September 16, 2009
CNN refreshingly shifts the context of current discourse on Pakistan by reporting on female recruitment to the Pakistani Air Force. A story published this week highlights Ms. Ambreen Gul’s experience with the Pakistani air force as “one of seven women trained to fly Pakistan’s F-7 supersonic fighter jets”. Gul describes her experience as both positive and productive. Air Force cadet Ms. Sharista Beg also explains:
“To tell you the truth I’ve been given equal opportunity or I suppose more than men have been given,”
I refer to the story as refreshing because given that news is largely focused on macro level, security issues dealing with the war in Afghanistan and how it relates and spills over into Pakistan, the image we have of Pakistan is imprecisely bleak.
Of course macro level security issues in which our troops are directly engaged rightfully take priority over other news stories on Pakistan, but the unintended consequences of viewing this country as such and simply in terms of the “War on Terror”, “Taliban”, “fundamentalism” or “militancy” is a reduced understanding of what we are dealing with in our engagement there.
So I applaud CNN for balancing information with their story on Fighter Pilot Gul. Hopefully news outlets will continue to publish reports that allow a more accurate picture of what is a largely moderate Pakistan. Because a more accurate picture can only help us understand our situation there. In fact, the article concludes well, citing specifics of how the Pakistani air force works in line with our objectives:
“They’re training in counterinsurgency, collecting aerial intelligence and targeting militant strongholds in the treacherous mountains of Pakistan’s tribal region along the Afghan border”
The nebulous Afghan-Pakistan border has become the front lines in our War on Terror making it easy to forget that Pakistan, just like us fights diligently against fundamentalism and militancy with their resources, troops and morale. We want to uproot terror to bring our troops home and secure interests in the long run, likewise Pakistan shares this long term goal and in addition, has an immediate interest in obliterating militancy for actual day-to-day security. The CNN article does a fine job of reporting in this instance and prompts us to realize that cooperation is key.
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Zainab B. Jeewanjee
Zainab Jeewanjee 