The SSG was set up at the suggestion of the Americans as a force that would operate against the Russians if they overran West Pakistan. Cherat was chosen as the highly restricted site where the commandos were to be trained and based. The trainers were mostly Americans from the CIA, who came with their families, setting up a little America with all its gadgetry and attendant luxuries. Mitha’s sole instruction to his handpicked Pakistani officers was: “Be proud of your poverty.” He remained head of the SSG for six years and it was an SSG detachment that buried him with fullhonours, sounding the last post as it lowered this soldier’s soldier in his grave four years ago. Gen Mitha was retired when he was just over 48 years old because Gen Gul Hasan added his name to a list of officers whose retirements were announced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in his first speech as president on December 20, 1971. It was a most treacherous blow as Mitha was too good a soldier and too reverent of tradition and rules to have had any Bonapartist ambitions. He had no hand in the officers’ “revolt” at Gujranwala and the hooting down of Gen Hamid at a GHQ meeting, events that, ironically, pushed out Yahya. In fact, it was Gul Hasan himself who was Bonapartist, something Bhutto always knew. He only used Gul Hasan. According to Gen Mitha, it was Gul Hasan who saved Brig Zia-ul-Haq, as he then was, from being sacked. Zia was in Jordan. The year was 1971. Gen Yahya received a signal from Maj Gen Nawazish, the head of the Pakistan military mission in Amman, asking that Zia be court-martialled for disobeying GHQ orders by commanding a Jordanian armour division against the Palestinians in which thousands were slaughtered. That ignominious event is known as Operation Black September. It was Gul Hasan who interceded for Zia and had Yahya let him off. Mitha was treated very badly. His Hilal-i-Jurat was withdrawn in February 1972, something that also appears to have been Gul Hasan’s handiwork. He remained under surveillance through the Bhutto years. All doors of employment were closed on him and had it not been for the generosity of a friend living abroad, who asked Mitha to manage his farm for him, he would have been on the street. After he died, one of his friends wrote to his wife, “At the end of a tumultuous life, all he wanted was a room to sleep in, one to write and eat in – a space to walk, reflect and gaze across the fields to the distant hills.” That is not a bad epitaph for a soldier. References :
General Mitha -- khalid hasan - A soldier’s life by Khalid Hasan http://baithak.blogspot.com/2005/11/general-mitha-khalid-hasan.html Unlikely Beginnings: A Soldier's Life by Aboobaker Osman Mitha The forgotten hero August 02, 2009 https://www.dawn.com/news/826674
Meet Mr Pervez Musharraf and Mr Amjad Shoaib
NOW, something a little different — or not entirely so, perhaps. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was in Washington last week. In an interview with The Washington Post and Newsweek, he was asked for a comment on reports that President Bush had told him that Israel should pull out of Palestinian-controlled areas that it had re-taken following the assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister. Mr Peres replied: “I said we don’t intend to remain there. The president modified the State Department declaration to pull out ‘immediately’, and said (pull out) as soon as possible. I told him we understand your strategy. As a good Jewish boy, I would have never dreamed that I would pray for the safety of (Gen Pervez) Musharraf, the president of Pakistan. That is a most unexpected experience. But we understand and don’t want to have an agenda of our own.” Reference: Fears of a more combative society: WASHINGTON NOTEBOOK By Tahir Mirza DAWN - Opinion; November 1, 2001 https://www.dawn.com/news/1062232
Rosen’s connections are by no means limited to the Western Hemisphere. He is a close friend, for example, of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, whom he convinced to give a first-ever address to a Jewish organization in a speech before the American Jewish Congress in New York, in 2005. Israeli Foreign Ministry sources say that Rosen was the instigator and go-between for a series of clandestine meetings held that same year in Turkey, between then Foreign Ministry director general Ron Prosor, now Ambassador to the UN, and his Pakistani counterpart, which in turn led to a truly historic public meeting in Istanbul between the two countries’ foreign ministers. Reference: Jack Rosen: Turning U.S. Presidents From Friends in Need to Friends Indeed Jack Rosen, New York real estate millionaire, likes to help politicians when they most need it. Now he moves among presidents, princes and tyrants. by Chemi Shalev Oct 18, 2012 https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-the-most-influential-jew-you-never-heard-of-1.5193535 Soon after Khan took office in 2018, the rumours of a Pakistan-Israel thaw resurfaced. Jack Rosen, an American Jewish personality who had previously hosted Musharraf, broke years of silence on Pakistani affairs by writing an article praising Imran Khan and arguing why Pakistan deserved US support.
Rosen’s critics immediately listed the numerous anti-Semitic and pro-Jihad statements by Khan and other officials of his party Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) and wondered aloud why Rosen was lobbying for the new Pakistani prime minister.
In the subsequent back and forth, Khan’s previous marriage to Jemima Goldsmith was cited as evidence of his tolerance of Jews. Ironically, Jemima has always insisted that she is a Catholic even though her father Sir James Goldsmith was Jewish by birth. Jemima has herself faced allegations of anti-Semitism, which she strongly denies.
In October last year, the editor of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz’s English edition, Ami Scharf, fuelled gossip when he tweeted about a private jet possibly carrying Israeli officials to Islamabad from Tel Aviv. That claim was based on following the plane on one of the several flight path tracking sites and was strongly denied by the Pakistan government as well as Pakistan’s aviation regulators.
Soon after, retired military officers close to Musharraf revived the arguments on Pakistani television channels in favour of recognising Israel as a means of depriving India of exclusive Israeli friendship. A PTI legislator advanced the case in a speech in parliament. But the government officially denied the likelihood of normalisation of ties with Israel vehemently. Reference : Imran Khan will continue Pakistan’s ‘one step forward, one step back’ approach to Israel by HUSAIN HAQQANI 6 February, 2019 https://theprint.in/opinion/imran-khan-will-continue-pakistans-one-step-forward-one-step-back-approach-to-israel/187684/
The WikiLeaks documents reveal that Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was concerned for former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s well-being and wanted him to remain in power in 2007. The revelation was made in a secret cable message originating from the American embassy in Tel Aviv.
It records a meeting between Mossad chief and US Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns under the Bush administration. Mr Burns met Mossad chief Meir Dagan on Aug 17, 2007, to give his assessment of the Middle East region, Pakistan and Turkey. The Israeli spy chief said he was concerned about how long President Musharraf would survive. “He is facing a serious problem with the militants. Pakistan’s nuclear capability could end up in the hands of an Islamic regime.” Dagan observed that Musharraf appeared to be losing control and his coalition partners could threaten him in the future. He linked Musharraf’s retaining control over Pakistan to his dual president and commander-in-chief role. The cable says that if Musharraf cannot retain his army role, he will have problems. The Mossad chief referred to attempts on Musharaf’s life and wondered whether he could survive the coming years. Reference: Israelis wanted Musharraf to stay, says WikiLeaks November 29, 2010 https://www.dawn.com/news/587328
Mr Amjad Shoaib on the Unity of Muslim Ummah and Islamic Terrorists
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow Air India to use its airspace in flights to and from Israel in what could indicate a warming of ties. But Air India said on Tuesday that while it had issued such a request, the regulator had yet to give it a positive answer. The new Israel-India route was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Israel in July. In his January reciprocal visit to India, Netanyahu implied the route could pass over Saudi Arabia, which beyond significantly shortening flight time would be a public indication of a warming of ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia and Israel have no official diplomatic ties, like much of the Arab world. Riyadh has consistently kept mum on Israeli hints of covert ties with the kingdom. Reference: Netanyahu says Saudi to open airspace to India-Israel flights March 06, 2018 https://www.dawn.com/news/1393542 The government has issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) regarding appointment of former army chief retired Gen Raheel Sharif as head of a Saudi Arabia-led military alliance comprising personnel from 41 Muslim countries. The NOC has been issued in view of an approval that was granted by the federal cabinet during its meeting held on Jan 10, according to a source. Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Friday confirmed that the NOC had indeed been issued after approval by the federal cabinet. “The issue was not on the normal agenda of the federal cabinet’s meeting but it was approved through circulation,” the minister said while talking to Dawn. Reference: NOC granted to Raheel for heading Saudi-led military coalition January 19, 2019 https://www.dawn.com/news/1458413 As you know, terrorists of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al Almi carried out the attack at Police training center in Quetta. Now this banned outfit has origins in South Punjab and interior Sindh. In South Punjab, areas like Jhang, Muzaffar Garh, DG Khan and Bahawalpur are hotbeds of LeJ terrorists while the same banned outfit has also facilitators and supporters in interior Sindh where many terrorist attacks have been conducted. However, Punjab’s chief minister has been refusing to allow Rangers to carry out operations in South Punjab while Sindh chief minister is reluctant to permit Rangers operation in interior Sindh. On the other hand, the international community blames Pakistan for terrorism but they never care how we are targeted by terrorist organisations. Our foreign ministry and civilian leadership have failed in presenting out case to the world. Reference: “Our leaders have failed us” – An interview with Lt. Gen (R) Amjad Shoaib BY MIAN ABRAR , (LAST UPDATED OCTOBER 30, 2016) https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/10/30/our-leaders-have-failed-us-an-interview-with-lt-gen-r-amjad-shoaib/ Israel's military chief of staff said in an interview on Thursday that his country was prepared to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to face Iran's plans “to control the Middle East". “We are ready to exchange experience with the moderate Arab countries and exchange intelligence information to face Iran,” Lieutenant General Gadi Eisenkot said in an interview with Elaph, a Saudi-run news site. Asked whether information was shared with Saudi Arabia recently, he said “we are ready to share information if necessary. There are many common interests between us and them.” Israel's army confirmed the contents of the interview. Israel and Saudi Arabia have no official diplomatic ties. Reference : Israel ready to share intelligence about Iran with Saudi Arabia, says military chief November 16, 2017 https://www.dawn.com/news/1370908
Mr Amjad Shoaib pleads the case of Israel
The crisis may bring into play the élite unit, operating under Pentagon control with C.I.A. assistance, whose mission it is to destroy nuclear facilities, past and present government officials told me. "They're good," one American said. "If they screw up, they die. They've had good success in proving the negative"—that is, in determining that suspected facilities were not nuclear-related. The American team is apparently getting help from Israel's most successful special-operations unit, the storied Sayeret Matkal, also known as Unit 262, a deep-penetration unit that has been involved in assassinations, the theft of foreign signals-intelligence materials, and the theft and destruction of foreign nuclear weaponry. Sayeret Matkal's most memorable operation took place in June, 1976, when Lieutenant Colonel Jonathon Netanyahu, brother of the future Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, led a team that stormed a hijacked Air France airliner that was forced down by Palestinian terrorists at Entebbe International Airport, in Uganda, after taking off from Tel Aviv with two hundred and fifty-seven passengers. Jonathon Netanyahu was killed in the raid, along with two of the hostages, but the operation is still considered one of the most successful and audacious in modern history. Members of the Israeli unit arrived in the United States a few days after September 11th, an informed source said, and as of last week were training with American special-forces units at undisclosed locations. In recent weeks, the Administration has been reviewing and "refreshing" its contingency plans. Such operations depend on intelligence, however, and there is disagreement within the Administration about the quality of the C.I.A.'s data. The American intelligence community cannot be sure, for example, that it knows the precise whereabouts of every Pakistani warhead—or whether all the warheads that it has found are real. "They've got some dummy locations," an official told me. "You only get one chance, and then you've tried and failed. The cat is out of the bag." Some senior officials say they remain confident that the intelligence community can do its job, despite the efforts of the Pakistani Army to mask its nuclear arsenal. "We'd be challenged to manage the problem, but there is contingency planning for that possibility," one Bush military adviser told me last week. "We can't exclude the possibility that the Pakistanis could make it harder for us to act on what we know, but that's an operational detail. We're going to have to work harder to get to it quickly. We still have some good access." A senior military officer, after confirming that intense planning for the possible "exfiltration" of Pakistani warheads was under way, said that he had been concerned not about a military coup but about a localized insurrection by a clique of I.S.I. officers in the field who had access to a nuclear storage facility. Reference: Watching the Warheads The risks to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. By Seymour M. Hersh November 5, 2001 Issue Annals of National Security https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/11/05/watching-the-warheads
"The Pakistanis have just as much of a vested interest as we do in making sure that that stuff is looked after, because if they"—I.S.I. dissidents—"throw one at India, they're all cooked meat." He was referring to the certainty of Indian nuclear retaliation: India's nuclear warheads are more numerous, more sophisticated, and more powerful than Pakistan's; its Army is twice as large; and its population is more than seven times as large. The skeptics among intelligence and military officials, however, worry that there may not be enough reliable information about the location of all elements of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal. The C.I.A., they note, provided effective information on the warheads in the late nineteen-eighties and early nineties, when it worked closely with the Pakistani military in Afghanistan. At that time, the United States was a major supplier of arms and military technology to Pakistan. The agency recruited informants inside the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Security Agency found a way to intercept the back-channel communications of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the German-educated metallurgist who had run Pakistan's nuclear laboratories since the nineteen-seventies and is known as the father of the Pakistani bomb. But those assets no longer exist. "We lost our interest in that area, and we do not have the same level of contact or knowledge that we once did," a former high-level C.I.A. officer said. "Today, there is a whole set of information that, when it comes down to it, we don't have. We can't count warheads. We never had the capacity to count. What we did have was a capacity to produce unusual material"—on the general state of the Pakistani arsenal. "The idea that you know where the warheads are at any given moment is not right," he said. "As the operation approaches and the question 'How certain are you?' is asked, it becomes more difficult. The fact is, we usually know hours later. We never could do it in real time." Other officials expressed concern about what any team sent to Pakistan could really accomplish without risking significant casualties. "How are you going to conduct a covert commando operation in the middle of the country?" the former high-level State Department official said. "We don't know where this stuff is, and it would take far more than a commando operation to get at it." Reference: Watching the Warheads The risks to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. By Seymour M. Hersh November 5, 2001 Issue Annals of National Security https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/11/05/watching-the-warheads
Why Mr Imran Khan Opposes Israel
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Monday warned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cannot escape November 2 show, because evidences of Panama Leaks have surfaced to ground him. Talking to media here, he said the government will not be able to stem November 2 tsunami, and called upon PM Sharif to resign or face accountability. Lashing out at the controversial news report, he said, “Nawaz Sharif gave a message to Indo-Israel lobby to support and secure him and his corruption.” On this occasion, the PTI chairman termed the controversial report as an attempt to defame Pakistan Army. He underscored Line of Control firing and shelling kick-start when a movement begins to get off the ground against corruption of his government. The PTI called upon Pakistan Army to grapple with Motu Gang after it had done away with Chhotu Gang. He also alleged that ministers from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are threatening and blackmailing him in order to protect their corruption, adding instead of launching a thorough probe into Panama Leaks, the PML-N ministers are waging a defamation campaign against Shaukat Khanum Hospital. Imran Khan also claimed the government will not be able to contain masses pouring into the federal capital on November 2 and challenged that PM Sharif will not find a place to hide himself. Reference: Nawaz Sharif seeks help from India, Israel: Imran Khan October 24, 2016 Samaa Digital https://www.samaa.tv/news/2016/10/nawaz-sharif-seeks-help-from-india-israel-says-imran-khan/ Zac Goldsmith's relationship with 'Taliban apologist' Imran Khan raises big problems for the would-be Mayor 11-Apr-2016 https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/zac-goldsmiths-relationship-with-taliban-apologist-imran-khan-raises-big-problems-for-the-would-be-a6978781.html
Imran Khan's Party and Israel
Kasuri defends Israel contacts: Move to create diplomatic space September 13, 2005
https://www.dawn.com/news/156471 Kasuri ‘to meet Israeli minister’ September 01, 2005 https://www.dawn.com/news/154828 2005: When Pakistan and Israel explored closer bilateral ties October 30, 2018 https://www.dawn.com/news/1442182 Former Foreign Minister Kasuri, others join PTI December 20, 2011 https://www.dawn.com/news/681931
India will buy nearly $2 billion worth of weapons technology from Israel in what's being described as the “largest defence contract” ever signed by the military exporting giant. The deal will see state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries provide India with an advanced defence system of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology, the company said in a statement Thursday. The “mega” missile agreement is “considered to be the largest defense contract in Israel's defense industries' history”, the company said. The Israeli firm will also supply a naval defence system including long-range surface-to-air missiles for India's first aircraft carrier, which is still under construction. Comment was not immediately available from India's defence ministry. Israel Aerospace Industries said some components will be assembled in India, in line with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to reduce reliance on costly imports. Modi's government has raised the limit on foreign investment in the defence sector and encouraged tie-ups between foreign and local companies under a 'Make in India' campaign. Reference: India, Israel ink nearly $2bn weapons deal April 07, 2017 https://www.dawn.com/news/1325487
Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, India, Isreal and Imran Khan
Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, India, Isreal and Imran Khan
Declaring that Pakistan and the United States have entered a new “strategic partnership” for economic gains and peaceful settlement of the 18-year-old Afghan conflict, leading US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said that he will request President Donald Trump to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan soon to cement the bilateral relations further. The senior senator made the announcement while addressing a press conference at the US embassy shortly after meeting PM Khan on Sunday. Mr Graham also claimed that the prime minister had endorsed the Trump administration’s plans that the US should keep its presence in Afghanistan and continue the reconciliation process. “After meeting Prime Minister Imran Khan, I would urge President Donald Trump to meet Mr Khan as soon as practical. I would also urge him (the president) to meet the prime minister sooner or later and push a joint agenda for peaceful resolution of Afghan conflict,” he added. Reference : US senator wants Trump to meet PM Khan (Dawn January 21, 2019) https://www.dawn.com/news/1458800
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