Friday, April 7, 2017
Only ‘SUNNI SOLDIERS’ - BY ASKING FOR ‘SUNNI SOLDIERS’ SAUDI ARABIA IS TRYING TO DIVIDE PAKISTAN ARMY
By: Khalid Muhammad
If I were to tell you that Saudi Arabia wants the Pakistan Army, but only the Sunni soldiers and officers, what would your reaction be?
If I were to tell you that the training contingent that is in Saudi right now is only Sunni soldiers and officers, would you still believe that the Yemen war is justified?
I understand that you want to believe that the conflict in Yemen is justified and that our holy sites are threatened by the Houthi rebels, but that is simply not the case. This is not a battle for the integrity of Saudi Arabia, but an expansionist power grab by them to re-instate their chosen leader.
When you have spent the past 2 weeks telling the world that you want the Pakistan Army involved in the conflict, or as the media has reported it “the Pakistan Army wants to be involved,” only to turn and demand that only Sunni officers and soldiers are sent to fight, you have to start to wonder what the greater game is here.
Let’s rewind and understand what the KSA has asked for. During the first few days of the conflict, the mantra was that Pakistan wanted to be involved. This mantra then morphed, as the world watched Pakistan stand neutral, to a position that the Saudis wanted a 3-4 year deployment of a full corps of the Army under their command. The recent meeting between the “dignitaries” of the Government of Pakistan and the Saudi monarchy determined that Pakistan’s involvement would only be to protect the integrity of Saudi Arabia and the holy sites. The problem is that when you put our soldiers under the command of the Saudi monarchy as requested, our commanders are no longer the command unit for them. They take their orders from Riyadh, not Rawalpindi. If they are ordered to storm Yemen, they must follow the orders.
But the game here is much larger and we need to understand the context.
In the past few months, the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and SSG Commandos have made great advances against the TTP and their affiliated organizations around the country. The GOP has been pushed to take action against the extremist madrasahs that are funded illegally by foreign countries, many of which are these same countries asking for our assistance now. When we are nearing the day where we can honestly say that the terrorist threat in Pakistan has been broken permanently, the Saudis have launched a campaign against the Houthis even though this conflict has been building for over 6 months.
The army and the population of Pakistan are united for the first time in many years to eliminate the scourge of terrorism and extremism, the Saudi are now trying to not only divide the population, but divide our army as well. When a soldier puts on a uniform, he fights for the country that he calls home, not the religious beliefs that they carry individually. For a request/order to be made that the only acceptable soldiers for the Yemen conflict are Sunni and no Shia needs to be sent, it is clear that this is an attempt to divide our armed forces along religious grounds.
The Pakistan Army is roughly 70% Sunni and to deny deployment to the other 30% smacks of discrimination and favoritism. Do they believe that a professional military like Pakistan’s can’t see beyond their individual religious beliefs to fight for a unified, justified cause? If that is the case, then why ask Pakistan to send its armed forces?
Unless of course your objective is to cause division within our military command and fighting soldiers.
When we talk about force impact analyses, things like this have a dramatic effect on the morale and motivation of each soldier. I’m not talking in the context of the fight in Yemen, but the fight here in Pakistan. When we dare to say that one religious faith isn’t as committed as another, we are walking a fine line towards eroding the unity of our armed forces, which is a death sentence to a professional force like the Pakistan Army.
April 6th is a massive day for the country. The President has summoned a joint session of the Parliament to debate the involvement of the Pakistan military in Saudi Arabia. I believe that this will not be a debate, but a convincing of why the military must be involved. As we have seen on our media, the “gifts of the Saudis” are being paraded before the nation, as evidence of their support of Pakistan and the people.
Let’s look at where the country stands. The liberal political party, the Pakistan People’s Party, has thrown their support behind the war along with the conservative Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. The religious political parties are quiet in where we should stand. The media is spending their time making the case that the military must be sent, even though none of the holy sites are threatened. Their biased reporting has split the country and seeded confusion in the general population, making this decision much harder.
But please don’t be fooled!
Pakistan has paid with 80,000 innocent lives. These same countries that we are considering to protect today funded the killers. But when the media makes this case, ask yourself these questions:
- When we started our fight against terrorists, which one of these countries offered equipment, materials or financial support to our armed forces?
- Which one stopped funding the extremist madrasahs and the groups that they currently fund?
- While we are locked in a battle for our existence, why are we being asked to provide soldiers for a fight that has nothing to do with us, but has the potential of causing massive bloodshed within our borders if we chosen one side over the other? And why is no one talking about that potential?
And the biggest question you need to ask and demand an answer for is:
- When did the Pakistan Army become a mercenary force for hire to the highest bidder? Ready to fight in any country of the world for the right price.
Remember Lal Masjid, where the media and the population all wanted the Pakistan Army to take action against the terrorists in the middle of Islamabad. When the Army finally took action, the majority of the country shifted their position to calling the Lal Masjid brigade victims, forgetting what they were saying only hours before.
Now, put think about what the reaction of these same people will be if an innocent person is killed because of a Pakistan Army soldier’s bullet or a bomb being dropped from a Pakistan Air Force fighter plane.
Why do you want to stand in support of this for our soldiers, our brothers, our fathers?
Stand with Pakistan today. Stand with the Pakistan military today.
Stop believing the media spin and remember what they did during Lal Masjid. They beat the war drums demanding action and then they called the public media trials to convince the army and our soldiers of killing innocents.
Are you ready to do this again?
http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/27977-by-asking-for-sunni-soldiers-saudi-arabia-is-trying-to-divide-pakistan-army
Pakistan: Second Ahmadi Muslim murdered in Lahore in 10 day
"This is 2nd brazen attack in less than 10 days where Ahmadi's are targeted openly while govt makes tall claims & tries to white wash truth," said Jama'at Ahmadiyya Pakistan.
For the second time in last two weeks an Ahmadi is murdered due to his faith in Punjab, Pakistan.
A 68 year old Ahmadi veterinary doctor Ashfaq Ahmad is gunned down today when a gunmen shot him at point blank range in Sabzazar Colony, Multan Road.
Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad was on his way to offer prayers with his grandson and another person when he was targeted by gunman riding a motorcycle.
The grandson and other person accompanying Dr Ashfaq were unharmed though they remain in shock after this horrific attack.
"This is 2nd brazen attack in less than 10 days where Ahmadi's are targeted openly while govt makes tall claims & tries to white wash truth," said Jama'at Ahmadiyya Pakistan through its spokesperson.
Reportedly, Dr Ashfaq was a retired professor from University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences and also held Ph.D in food and nutrition science.
Read original post here: Pakistan: Second Ahmadi murdered in Lahore in 10 day
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Times of Ahmad. Times of Ahmad is not an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites.
http://timesofahmad.blogspot.com/2017/04/pakistan-second-ahmadi-murdered-in.html
For the second time in last two weeks an Ahmadi is murdered due to his faith in Punjab, Pakistan.
A 68 year old Ahmadi veterinary doctor Ashfaq Ahmad is gunned down today when a gunmen shot him at point blank range in Sabzazar Colony, Multan Road.
Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad was on his way to offer prayers with his grandson and another person when he was targeted by gunman riding a motorcycle.
The grandson and other person accompanying Dr Ashfaq were unharmed though they remain in shock after this horrific attack.
"This is 2nd brazen attack in less than 10 days where Ahmadi's are targeted openly while govt makes tall claims & tries to white wash truth," said Jama'at Ahmadiyya Pakistan through its spokesperson.
Reportedly, Dr Ashfaq was a retired professor from University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences and also held Ph.D in food and nutrition science.
Read original post here: Pakistan: Second Ahmadi murdered in Lahore in 10 day
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Times of Ahmad. Times of Ahmad is not an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites.
http://timesofahmad.blogspot.com/2017/04/pakistan-second-ahmadi-murdered-in.html
Pakistan - Another Ahmadi Muslim killed – Excommunicating an entire community hasn't satisfied our lust for blood
Yet another man has lost his life in the Land of the Pure because of his faith. Yet another family has been forced to go through the trauma no family deserves to experience. This man’s crime was that he was an Ahmadi.
We conveniently blame General Zia for bringing in religious extremism in our country. And while that is something he really is to be held accountable for, given his significant contributions to the blasphemy law, he cannot be entirely blamed for our treatment of religious minorities in present day. Bhutto, the champion of liberal values is also the man behind the conditions of the Ahmaddiya community at present for it was during his time that this community, which was already being persecuted at the time, was excommunicated from Islam according to the Constitution of Pakistan.
Pakistan is the only country that has declared Ahmadis as non-Muslims – something that was done in a very over-nightly manner. Members of the Ahmaddiya community were legally required to stop ‘behaving’ as Muslims. Their places of worship could no longer be called mosques. Acts such as reading the Quran became punishable offences for Ahmadis. Within no time, an entire community was shunned. These people became strangers in their own homeland, a minority where they were once part of the majority. It is ironic that Pakistan, having been created to protect a religious minority, became hell for another religious minority.
As if the excommunication wasn’t enough, the Ahmaddiya community has continued to be persecuted at every point in time. Their people have been killed, their places of worship destroyed. Sad as it is, members of this community aren’t even safe in death for their graves get desecrated.
We have labelled them as non-Muslims, our passports require us to declare that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was an impostor and his followers are non-Muslims. What more do we want? Haven’t we won? Why this continued bloodshed? Why this lack of empathy?
We are brutal, intolerant people who can raise our voices against things happening thousands of miles away in the West, but we dare not raise a voice about things happening at home. We will go to great lengths to criticize Islamophobia in the West but will never address our own treatment of religious minorities. No cleric will raise his voice against the killing of human beings. Wasn’t Islam the religion of peace? Where is the peace?
The truth is, in order to emphasize on the superiority of our beliefs over everyone else’s, we have become a nation of monsters who will go to any length to prove ourselves superior. We, as a nation, do not understand that God does not require all this killing and dying in its name. In the name of God, we simply continue fueling our egos by feeding them the blood of innocent people.
Malala to become youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is to become the youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace, the organisation´s chief said on Friday.
Yousafzai, 19, will be appointed on Monday by U.N.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and will help promote girl´s education around the world as part of her new role.
The Pakistani education activist came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012 as punishment for campaigning for girls to go to school which defied the militant group's ban on female education.
Yousafzai has since continued campaigning on the world stage and in 2014 became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.
"Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people," Guterres said in statement.
"Her courageous activism for girls´ education has already energised so many people around the world. Now as our youngest-ever U.N. Messenger of Peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world.
"Yousafzai, who received medical treatment in Britain where she has since studied, has also set up the Malala Fund to support girls´ education projects in developing countries.
A regular speaker on the global stage, Yousafzai visited refugee camps in Rwanda and Kenya last July to highlight the plight of refugee girls from Burundi and Somalia.
China - US airstrike on Syrian base a show of force
The US launched dozens of cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria controlled by President Bashar al-Assad on Friday morning Beijing time in response to an earlier chemical weapon attack.
This is the first direct US assault on an Assad target in six years of Syrian civil war. In 2013, the Syrian government was accused of using chemical weapons and the Obama administration was mulling an airstrike. But the crisis was eventually resolved with Russian diplomatic efforts.
This crisis however was triggered by a chemical weapon attack in Syria on Tuesday that reportedly caused over 200 civilian casualties, including children. Countries including the US, the UK and France immediately announced that Assad's forces were behind the attack, though the latter denied the accusation. Russia once again sided with the Syrian government. When the incident came before the UN Security Council, great divergence in opinion emerged between the Western camp and Russian and Chinese representatives.
The US military attack on Friday took place despite no definitive results from the investigation by an international organization, and was carried out in the absence of a UN Security Council resolution. The Trump administration wasted little time in striking its targets, marking a stark contrast with its predecessor.
The US' decision to attack the Assad government is a show of force from the US president. He wants to prove that he dares to do what Obama dared not. He wants to prove to the world that he is no "businessman president" and that he will use US military force without hesitation when he considers it necessary.
US military action opens the door for other direct foreign military attacks on the Assad government, a signal that outside interference in Syria is rapidly escalating. Before US airstrike, Assad's forces had gained an obvious advantage in the civil war, but foreign military interference could change the situation.
The US military strikes could lead to a "falling out" between the US and Russia. Conflict between the two countries will once again emerge.
Not too long ago, Trump said that simultaneously attacking the Islamic State and the Syrian government would be foolish. But now he has ordered an attack despite affording himself only a narrow window in which to make his decision. This is Trump's first major move in international affairs, and it leaves an impression that the decision was made in haste and is not without contradictions.
Neither Russia nor Iran will remain silent on the attack nor sit idly by and accept the fallout. The Syrian civil war is entering a new phase. More refugees will flee the region and Europe may have to pay the price.
Four-Star General Slams Trump’s Reckless Rush To War As A Political Stunt
By
McCaffrey said it would be a "mistake" to conduct "limited political signaling" in response to Bashar al-Assad's chemical attack on his own people.
Four-star Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey took aim at Donald Trump’s Syrian response on Thursday, claiming it would be a mistake for the commander-in-chief to rush the military into action without thinking it through.
McCaffrey said it would be a “mistake” to conduct “limited political signaling” in response to Bashar al-Assad’s chemical attack on his own people.
When MSNBC’s Chris Matthew’s asked McCaffrey what the rationale is behind Trump’s probable military intervention in Syria, besides political, the four-star general said:
I don’t think there is an argument. I think it would be a mistake to conduct limited political signaling using naval airpower or F-16s flying out of some place in the region … Military power invited unknown consequences when you carry it out. The question might be why don’t we consider significant humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees and border regions of Turkey and Jordan and Iraq in lieu of ineffectual military strikes.
As the general said, it’s obvious that the only real justification for engaging militarily so soon after Assad’s chemical attack is pure politics. There is never a good reason to recklessly jump to war, especially after the U.S. has essentially been engaged in endless military conflict for over 15 years.
But Trump has spent nearly three months in office racking up nothing but losses on issue after issue. In recent days, in particular, his administration has been drowning in scandal and incompetence, both with respect to Russia and the president’s paranoid claims about President Obama wiretapping Trump Tower.
Rushing to war will likely provide no positive, lasting impact on Syria, but it will change the subject and play into Trump’s phony strongman schtick.
But like McCaffrey noted, the U.S. should be emphasizing its humanitarian role in all of this, like, say, helping the refugees or funding humanitarian aid, not rushing to engage our military.
Not only would this be a sensible response to this international crisis, but it would be much more effective than dropping bombs in order to score some political points.
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/04/06/four-star-general-slams-trumps-reckless-rush-war-political-stunt.html?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=im
Mere Coincidence? Trump Strikes Syrian Arab Army While Xi Jinping Visits US
The US missile attack on an airfield in Syria during the Sino-US summit in Florida was an allegedly pre-planned action. It gives signal to China that the US is ready to play the role of a global policeman, be more active on the Korean Peninsula and in the South China Sea region. That is according to Russian experts who interviewed with Sputnik.
The Russian experts’ community also believes that the US made a wrong decision by striking Syria against the background of the meeting in Florida, as China will not succumb to pressure from the US.
“It is a sign for Xi Jinping — look, we used force in Syria and we can use it elsewhere. For example, be more active in the South China Sea. I think that such logic accompanies these two events — the bombing and the summit,” Russian military expert Vladimir Evseev said.
He further said that the US has sent a signal showing its readiness to use armed forces, if necessary, in order to protect American national interests.
“The strike is a provocation. It is very similar to a pre-prepared special operation, which, of course, was aimed for the Chinese leader. Most likely, this was the main goal and chemical weapons are just an excuse,” Evseev said.
On April 6, Donald Trump confirmed that he gave an order to strike a Syrian Air Force airfield, allegedly from where, he said, an attack was carried out using chemical weapons against civilians several days ago.
The coincidence of the US attack on the Syrian Air Force with the summit in Florida, according to an expert at the Institute of the Far East, Alexander Lomanov, looks like a Chinese saying: “kill a chicken to frighten a monkey.”
“Trump is now trying to revive the authority of the US by saying that he is not afraid of anything, he is ready to strike everywhere. Despite the fact that the blow occurred in Syria, after all, the main problem for the United States is the DPRK,” Lomanov said.
The expert said that all of this looks like a very flat and very intrusive demonstration of Trump's determination to apply the same method of action in North Korea.
It may be aimed at putting pressure on President Xi Jinping so that he in turn tries to prevent an escalation of tensions in the Korean Peninsula by liquidating the regime in Pyongyang.
“I believe that Trump had such logic. But I'm afraid that none of this in reality will happen. The demonstration of force in Syria will not stir the Chinese leadership to surrender over North Korea, as Trump had hoped for,” the analyst said.
The analyst said that in general Trump is a very good businessman, but, in extreme cases, he can also be a policeman.
According to a military expert, Vasiliy Kashin, “The consequences of this step gradually will clarify Trump's policy towards Bashar al-Assad. In addition to excluding him as a player in solving the Syrian problem, the United States also tried to demonstrate to Russia and the international community its determination, independence and dominance in resolving the Syrian crisis.”
In this matter Washington claims to have some cooperation and dialogue with Russia on combating terrorism, but now it is clear that although the Trump administration might still be looking forward to the development of cooperation with Russia it claims to have a dominant role in this cooperation.
“Against this background, I think it will be difficult for Bashar al-Assad to play his role in the Syrian settlement,” Kashin concluded.
Syrian opposition claimed Tuesday forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had used a chemical gas on people in the northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and injuring 200. Assad argued his government has no chemical weapons after agreeing to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used chemicals against his own people.
The opponents of President Bashar al-Assad have claimed that the Syrian Arab Army had used chemical weapons against civilians intentionally, something Syrian authorities strongly deny. No evidence has been provided to support the claims.
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