Send More US Troops Into Afghanistan?

Imran Anwar (IMRAN.TV / http://www.imran.com/media/blog/ ) raises very serious questions about the current situation in Afghanistan. Are more US troops the answer? If not, what is? Listen for the answer.


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The Good News About The Bad News In Pakistan

An old adage is that bad news sells. But there comes a stage in societies and countries, as well as the minds of news-readers and TV-viewers, when they just get sick of bad news.

I think it is no exaggeration to say that Pakistanis in general have gotten used to bad news, negative publicity, adverse editorial opinion and just general anti-Pakistan sentiment every day, everywhere, from New Delhi to New York.

That is why it was such a happy occasion to see the current Administration of Pakistan, opposition leaders, the military as well as the Chief Justice of Pakistan doing their part to literally bring Pakistan back from the brink of total chaos.

The reinstatement of the Chief Justice, as well as other political institutions and Punjab government, were also much awaited good news for Pakistanis. You could feel and hear the actual sense both of pride and hope in the eyes and voices of Pakistanis of all walks of life, from Karachi to California.

Obviously this was not detracting critics of Pakistan, as well as Indians and their lobbyists, in addition to Pakistan-bashers in general from continuing their attacks on Pakistan.

It even seems that American Administration officials, in particular the military men responsible for Afghanistan and Pakistan, also have a vested interest in giving the impression of an unstable Pakistan almost on the verge of total collapse.

I don't know if that would be to give them the excuses to continue with their missile strikes or for some other nefarious purpose. Or just to make themselves look like heroes when things get better in 6-12 months.

One can understand their fear, that nuclear-armed Pakistan, with internal strife, daily terror attacks, especially with a perceived internal support for the Taliban among certain government agencies, could become a nuclear nightmare for the United States. But, their own pronouncements have the risk of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.

However, their pseudo-intellectual analysis of Pakistan being on the verge of collapsing as a country within six months is hardly the way to go about expecting positive change in Pakistan, or Pakistanis attitudes towards America and its representatives here. Nor is it helping bring about economic prosperity, or at least stability, when that is most needed to ensure a prosperous future for Pakistan and Pakistanis.

Keep in mind that any criticism of Pakistan also has a multiplication factor of actions by the Taliban as well as Al Qaeda, which seems to have made parts of Pakistan their head office. Throw in the general fear, mistrust and perhaps even sheer hatred for the concept of militant Islam and Muslims, and you can see why Pakistan gets perceived even worse by Western media, politicians and the public in general.

Sadly, it is supposedly our fellow "Muslims", whether they are brainwashed or willing hell-bound murderers, who take away the brief moments of joy and good news that Pakistanis begin to enjoy.

To make matters worse they kill and maim innocent people, destroy families and malign, damage and even insult Islam by carrying out the most despicable, dastardly and disgusting acts of horror. They blow themselves up in mosques, even in funeral processions, where the only thoughts most people have in their mind at that time are of God and of the day when we all have to return to Him.

I believe that the word suicide bomber is totally insufficient to describe these forces of Evil, these representatives of Satan, these worshippers of Lucifer, these children of Shaitan.

I believe we Pakistanis, and Muslims, as well as the media have to start calling them by their real name. they are not "jihadis". They are not suicide bombers. They should be referred to as "jahanummi qaatil kuffar" - because that is what they are – hell-bound murderer infidels.

And, we need scholars of Islam, religious leaders and decent Imams and Ulema to give fatwas against every jahanummi qaatil kuffar who carries out such attacks.

Let the ones following them know that they will not go to heaven with 72 virgins waiting for them. Let them hear they will go to hell, with the entire Ummah spitting on their names and dead bodies with 7200 curses lashing their souls for eternity.

The recent events and terror attacks in the last few days have left no doubt in my mind that these are the worst enemies of Islam and Pakistan. And the sooner Muslims and Pakistanis unite t exterminate these vermin, the better off Islam, Muslims, Pakistan and the world will be.

From their actions aiming to kill worshippers in a house of God, to the shameless, spineless, disgusting torture and whipping or public flogging of a young woman (regardless of whether the video was made recently or months ago), they show themselves to be the animals that they are.

They are even worse than the pagan Arabs that our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) made it his mission in life to try to first show the light of true Islam and later to defeat in battle. Fighting these true enemies of Islam is true Jihad.

How shameful that these people, whom even the Quresh tribe of pagan Arabia would spit upon, are the ones claiming to do what they do in the name of God, religion and Islam.

But like many Pakistanis, and many Americans, who believe that the future is always going to be bright, I refuse to give in and give up hope. Even in these terrible, and dark, days I see good news.

I felt proud to be part of the Pakistani media, both through the pages of the magazine and newspaper chain that carry my outspoken opinions, to my own blog and new media, as well as the TV channels that I also appear on. Each one of them went above and beyond to expose the evil, dastardly, cowardly, woman-flogging Taliban for the vile scum that they are.

I am proud of my fellow Pakistanis, here in Pakistan or living abroad, doing their bit to spread the word of this heinous crime - using every tool available to them, from e-mail to Twitter, FaceBook, etc.

I felt pride in the Chief Justice of Pakistan taking notice of this grave injustice and jumping into action. I am even appreciative of usually spineless, two-faced, politicians who spoke up against this cruelty.

In all these things I feel Pakistan and Pakistanis have turned yet another positive corner. I see this as yet another positive sign. I see even more light at the end of the tunnel than before.

I see a nation not falling apart in six months. I see a newly rejuvenated nation. I see Pakistan coming together closer, more united, with greater faith and higher discipline than ever before.

I see a new willingness in the psyche of formerly apathetic Pakistanis finally starting to speak up. Much that I would like to take credit for having written the article asking people not to be silent anymore, in reality my recent article was written knowing in my heart of hearts how great a future we all want for Pakistan.

I know in my heart, mind, body and soul exactly what greatness lies within the hearts, minds and souls of my fellow Muslims and Pakistani people.

Pakistanis taking a stand, and speaking against the evil-doers and the bad news, is the good news, even the best news, we have heard all year.

==
Imran Anwar is a New York and Miami based Pakistani-American entrepreneur, Internet pioneer, inventor, writer and TV personality. He can be reached through his web site http://imran.com and imran@imran.com . You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/imrananwar

IMRAN.TV: Should India Attack Pakistan Over Mumbai?

There is a lot of discussion going on about the possibility of India attacking Pakistan over the Mumbai events. Even in the best of times two countries considering war as an option is usually a lose lose lose situation for them and the world.

For them to be two nuclear armed countries simply means an even bigger disaster for the whole world. For India to be a predominantly Hindu country, with Hindu extremists tried to come into power, and for Pakistan to be a dominantly Muslim country, with Muslim fanatics trying to take over power, the plot thickens. The possibility of a mushroom cloud rising over many cities in South Asia becomes even greater.

India was attacked, possibly by people from Pakistan. Pakistan denies it, but may also be in denial in itself. Kashmir is the most likely root cause. Should India attack Pakistan over the Mumbai events? Let's view the video.

Should India Attack Pakistan Over Mumbai?Imran Anwar http://imran.TV / http://imran.com/media/blog/ comments on India and Indians wanting to attack Pakistan for Mumbai attacks.

Use Tweets Instead Of Bullets To Win Your Wars

The last two weeks have been a blur of activity all over the world. Ranging from the good to the bad and the ugly, everyday we learn not only how flat our world is but how interconnected everything is.

The attacks that took place in the Indian city of Mumbai were just the kind of excitement that we did not need this holiday season. I can understand Kashmiri freedom fighters and their supporters wanting to lash out at India, and its economic centre, saw the Indian occupation of Kashmir and the treatment of the Kashmiri people. I can even understand their frustration that61 years have gone by but the rest of the world does not seem to care about United Nations resolutions calling for the Kashmiri people's right to self-determination.

In the meantime more and more American, and European, investment continues to pour into India. From Bombay to Bangalore one can see India becoming a magnet for international investment as well as outsourcing of jobs from countries like America. Even the Indian film industry, which used to be entertaining, to say the least, has now become a force and is beginning to make its mark felt even in Hollywood and the West.

Perhaps it is for this reason that the Mumbai attackers decided to target tourists and visiting businessmen, whose Dollars and Euros are strengthening India and enabling its to continue its policy of occupation and terrorizing of the Kashmiri people.

However, there is no excuse for the indiscriminate murder of innocent Indian citizens going about their daily lives. I cannot understand how this attack on Mumbai in any way made the Kashmiri issue more important to the rest of the world. Or, how it made the world in any way more sympathetic to Kashmir.

Even if calling attention to the Kashmir issue was their primary goal, one would at least expect some communication from the masterminds or strategic leaders of this kind of attack. One would request them to at least explain their version of a rationale for such mayhem. Even the PLO, when it was successfully hijacking airliners in the 1970s, was communicating to the rest of the world that it was trying to call attention to the plight of the Palestinian people. Of course, as we can see that did not lead to the independence of the Palestinian people from Zionist Israel.

At the same time, carrying out an attack like this when it would obviously lead to severe Indian reaction against Pakistan shows that these terrorist killers were no friends of Pakistan. It would be foolish of us to argue that they did not come from, or have some support in, Pakistan - as my fellow Pakistanis tend to do. At the same time the jingoistic and "let's use this as an excuse to bash Pakistan" tone and tenor of India's words on the issue is not the smartest response either.

One hopes that saner heads prevail on both sides. Not that I am in any way advocating war, but India would be well advised to remember that Pakistan is its nuclear armed, capable and militarily strong neighbor.

Pakistan may not be able to "defeat" India in a conventional war, but any war that takes place because of the circumstances can easily spiral out of control and turn into a nuclear conflagration. In that, neither India nor Pakistan would win. They, and the whole world, would be defeated.

It is for this reason that it is essential for Pakistan and the Kashmiri people to immediately start using more effective tools of communications to call world attention to these issues. We are living in a connected age. Almost everybody has access to the global network, either through computers connected to the Internet or even through SMS on their cell phone.

Services like Twitter, which enable millions of people to have a real time conversation with short messages of 140 characters (called Tweets), are where the current and future battles for hearts and minds of the global audience take place.

In places like these Muslims in general, and Pakistanis in particular, are few and far between. People from, and supporters of, India and Israel are always active in general. They become even more hyperactive when Muslims, or Pakistanis, or Palestinians, carry out these types of murderous attacks we saw in Mumbai, which backfired on all of us.

If you have not already done so, and have Internet connectivity, I invite you to join up Twitter. Follow the conversation and respond to it. The easiest way to start is to go to http://twitter.com/imrananwar ,sign up and use the Follow button. This way you can see what I am saying in response to the attacks on Pakistan.

Then simply by clicking Reply you can join the conversation. In this case not only would your response come tome, but it would go on the "global public timeline" which means it is there for the whole world to see.

As you say interesting and useful things, or have interesting points and counterpoints, more and more people will begin to follow you. That enables you to build relationships as well as open doors of communication with people from all over the world.

Remember, just because you are not in the same room as the person you are responding to, don't lose your sense of decorum no matter how angry they try to make you.

Being abusive, narrow minded, or just plain offensive only ensures that your words reflect poorly on the very country or cause that you are trying to support. Or it will mean more and more people blocking your messages AND opposing whatever you were supporting!

Remember, a conversation is most effective when you are open minded and balanced. Even people with opposing, or somewhat negative opinions of your country or cause, can become more aware of your point of view, or even become supporters. Be opinionated, but be courteous. Be firm, but be open-minded.

That is the most effective way to communicate your point of view, as well as helping educate the rest of the world on what the root cause of the Pakistan and India problem is. In one word, it's Kashmir.

The only way to win that battle of hearts and minds in a global, interconnected, world is through using tweets instead of bullets to win your war. Get online, follow and tweet me!

Three Blind Mice Or One Boring Politician?

A FaceBook friend of mine, Amanda Bateman, posted a comment on her profile page with an interesting premise - that the three leading anchors on regular TV, Katie Couric, Brian Williams and Charles Gibson (plus, one assumes, their networks) are biased against poor Senator John McCain.

Her brief posting, cutely titled, "Three Blind Mice", simply stated, "And the biased media continues...should we be surprised? Probably not."

That was followed by the following three URLs.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2008/07/17/network-anchors-join-obama-world-tour-little-coverage-mccain-travel

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/07/if_a_network_anchor_falls_in_t.html

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/entertainment&id=6274320


Not that the media does NOT have a bias. Of course it does. It always appears biased in favor of whoever you oppose! But I was amused to read the first link. So, I posted a follow up note to Ms. Bateman'sc comment.

I acknowledged that she did make a valid point. But I went on to say that it was amusing to read the first link and have a real pro-Republican blogger quote the... (gulp)... New York Times for an objective comment. :-)

I did not check that blog's previous postings to see what they may have to say about some opinions that Fox News Channel simply is a Republican Party propaganda machine.

This is not to defend the anchors Amanda criticized above, or their myopic lemming-like networks. But, let's not forget that, media bias not withstanding, the media reports things based on interestingness from the public's perspective.

So, Britney Spears' sister having a baby gets on the cover of People magazine but not, say, the Sudanese leader possibly being charged with genocide.

Is that particular choice a show of "bias" against black politicians or world leaders? Of course not - though I am sure some will want to think so. No. We have to look at other possible angles also.

Even my Republican friends, and objective conservative media professionals all admit, McCain has just not been a very interesting candidate or politician in a very long while. He is NOT good at thinking on his feet when an unfamiliar question is posed to him.

(See this video online of him totally lost and clueless http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/mccain_respect_contraception/ ).

He seems uncomfortable with his position. All he can do is appear "resolute" in sticking to the failed policy of the war in Iraq.

People immediately "accuse" me that I must be some extreme liberal, or Democrat, if I dare criticize anything about Republicans. But, in fact, I am a thorough independent.

Ironically, I had been a loud supporter of John McCain for President in 2000 and fully believe we would have been far better off as a nation having him, despite his somewhat loose-cannon personality, as President than the joke of the millennium George W. Bush that fate, and the Supreme Court, foisted on us.

(2004's re-election of George Bush is something Republicans and his voters have to take the blame for and know that history will judge their actions as the most destructive single influence starting America's decline in the world at a time it should have been getting far more loved, respected and emulated worldwide).

So, much that I supported McCain over Bush in 2000, and much that I respected him for being a war hero (as opposed to a war Zero like Bush), I cannot bring myself to support him for President of the United States in 2008. He has served his country ably, well, sincerely, and should be commended and respected for that. That alone is not reason to elect him President.

Does that mean, somehow, that Obama is the perfect candidate. Surely not. Obama can make mistakes, Hillary can still cause trouble enough for the Democracks -- sorry - Democrats to lose the election.

That means McCain can obviously not give up. But, just being a candidate does not a campaign make. He needs to smarten up. He has no momentum at present. He has no great ideas. He is sticking to bad ideas on Iraq. He is not exciting to the populace. Even worse, especially from the media perspective, he is just not interesting anymore.

That is what his campaign in disarray has to focus on. Try to make him be more exciting, interesting, and, yes, more creative and original than he is at present. Can it be done?

What do you think?

Can (they) handle the truth? Re: "logical plan" supposedly from Robin Williams

God Bless America for being a free country that allows anyone to spout any kind of "logic".... even such selectively bigoted stuff as the purported "Robin Williams proposal" I see recirculated every few months.

I am told Robin Williams is NOT the source of this list, but someone is obviously trying to make SOME point, and my response applies to the person(s) who wrote it and those who so gladly forward it to their mailing lists. Can they handle the truth?

The writer is correct on many counts, but we should not be selective in applying this "logic". Here is how it actually looks when you read the reality. So, shall we apply this "perfect plan" or are we having second thoughts?

Imran
http://imran.TV

====
> You gotta love Robin Williams...... Even if he's nuts! Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan What we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message.
>
> Robin Williams' plan....(Hard to argue with this logic!)
>
> I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan."
>
> 1..) "The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those 'good ole boys,' We will never "interfere" again.

Hitler was allowed to run amok with the US looking the other way. American companies continued to do business with Nazi Germany. Jews were being killed off but the US did nothing (see NY Times {I think August 6, 2005} piece for a historical timeline of what the US did and when) until Japan attacked US.

Stalin was allowed to rape Eastern Europe, the US also sold out Poland to the Soviets. Noriega was a CIA paid killer friends with Bush Sr. Saddam Hussein was a US supported killer (I love those pics of Donald Dumbsfeld hugging Hussein while he was carrying out gas attacks on Iranians). I do not even have time to go into the list of Latin American dictators we kept in power to brutalize their populations.

> 2..) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea, the Middle East, and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.

I fully agree. There are too many Hispanic vote seeking politicians who are selling out the US. Heck, I am all for the vigilante patrols on the Mexican border. If a Mexican drug dealer and gang member can crawl in, how difficult will it be for AlQaeda to hop on over too? Shoot anyone coming over illegally.

> 3..) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.

90 days? Why? 30 oughta do it. And, if politicians and "activists" cry out to support illegals, have each one house at least 6 of them in their own homes and pay their bills (and TAXES).

> 4..) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!!!!!!!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in.

I assume that includes terrorist nations like Israel (with an indicted war criminal Premier) that occupy civilian populations, use OUR tax-payer financed "defense" F-16s to drop 1000 lb. bombs in civilian neighborhoods killing 27 innocent people, while missing the ONE suspected terrorist they wanted to get. Oh, sorry, saying anything against Israel is so politically incorrect lest one be declared an anti-Semite for that. I am amazed that we Americans are made afraid to criticize Israel because we will be called anti-Semitic. That is baloney. I say, if someone us caught spying, as 3 American Jews were just charged, shoot them the same way as a Russian, Chinese or Saudi would and should be. Does saying that make me anti-Semitic? No, it makes me a loyal, patriotic American.

> If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.

Nor do we need any more people whose alliances are with the state of Israel or any other country instead of the United States. We should also ship off any people who are hyphenated Americans. Be an American, nor NOT an American. If you are "African-American" but do not speak an African language, were not born in African, do not have family in Africa, do not have property in Africa, heck, have not even visited Africa, then wake up, you are an American. If you do not like that, take the next ship to whatever country in Africa will take you. Now, for those pure racist readers smiling at my words, this applies to you. If you are Italian-American, Irish-American, Israeli-American, Indian-American, Pakistani-American or whatever hyphen you belong to, go ahead, take pride in your parents' heritage, but be a proud American or take the next flight/ship to your country of hyphen.

At the same time, if immigrants from Nigeria, Korea, Pakistan, Phillipines, India, Poland and other places are willing to come here and work in nail salons, newspaper kiosks, 7-11s, cabs, nurses, caregivers, or other jobs that do not require a rocket science degree but are not done by hyphenated-Americans, then welcome the immigrants and stop giving welfare to such hyphenated-Americans. For example, If a Korean can apply nail polish on a woman's hands, a person getting fat on welfare ought to be able to do the job.

> 5..) No foreign "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.

Ironically, if it was not for foreign students, many engineering schools would actually shut down as local American kids focus on courses that will make them burger flippers. The luckier ones may become B-grade movie actors or comics. Mr. Williams should know.

> 6..) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.

But, the Bush family, with decades of brotherhood with the evil corrupt Saudi regime, (I love the pics of Bush kissing the Saudi King ..... eeeewww and holding hands with him) stands to gain.

Did anyone notice the latest energy bill passed while diverting our attention to the "abortion" debate? Exxon-Mobil types, that made $25 BILLION in Profits last year, get BILLIONS more in tax-breaks. The caribou can rest easy knowing the ass in the White House is an oil industry stooge. So, with oil industry agents in the White House, the bigoted whiner who wrote the list will have to cope for a while.

> 7..) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel! for their oil. If they don't like it, we go some place else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)

Hahahaha. I love Robin Williams; witty, often brilliant. The above logic more likely came from someone with the wisdom of an 11 year old redneck. But this is funny. We are the ones sending Cheney and Co. over to suck up to the Saudis to please keep their oil lines open for us, instead of selling it to China and India, the next two countries who will swallow our lunch ---- and our oil.

> 8..) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or

Ah, could we get any more bigoted and Muslim-bashing than this. Allah is the Muslim word for ONE GOD, the same one Christians and Jews believe in. Interestingly, most US AID goes to Christian nations in Africa etc. and also to Muslim and non-Muslim countries. But Jewish/Zionist ISRAEL sucks most US resources, even without a catastrophe, WHILE it SPIES on the US. But, of course, Mr. Williams is Jewish and I do not expect him (or the writer claiming to be Mr Williams) to remember that.

> whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.

VERY true --- because it is the US that keeps evil dictators in power in most countries around the world. Noriega, Hussain, Zia etc. in the past, Saudis, Musharaff, Mobarak, and many more, today.....

> 9..) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island some place. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.

It could also make a good place to arrest and detain so-called Americans who spy on America because their alliances lie with another state. I would also throw in people who are getting fat on welfare, redneck militia members, drug dealers, organized crime family members, latin gang members, and other assorted scum. Let's unite them and then gas the building.

> 10.) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH.....learn it...or LEAVE.....

I agree with that....... unfortunately, considering the poor state of English (and education in general) we would probably lose half our own native-born American population in that case.

> Now, isn't that a winner of a plan?

Yes, when you fill in the blanks, I think we have a more fair and equitable plan. That is just In My Humble Opinion ( http://imrananwar.blogspot.com - comments welcome)

Regards

Imran
http://imran.TV

Posted August 10, 2005

Imran interview in Beijing Review, China

This is an interview in the latest edition of Beijing Review, discussing the "war on terror" and many other issues. Please read. Comments welcome.

http://imran.com/IMRAN/MediaCoverage/BeijingReview_WarOnTerror.html