Mumbai mystery: American designs on Pakistan and India

[opinion]

By: Tariq Saeedi, with Sergi Pyatakov in Moscow and Mark Davidson in Washington


Read full explosive article at: http://presidentmusharraf.wordpress...stery-american-designs-on-pakistan-and-india/


Mumbai episode is the latest in a long and nefarious story that started unfolding some 16 months ago in the barren hills of Baluchistan, a sparsely populated province in western Pakistan.

After more than 22000 kilometers of road and rail travel, endless legwork chasing small and seemingly unrelated clues, hundreds of interviews and many dozens of field trips, all we have been able to do is just remove the lid on the American designs on Pakistan and India. Equally disturbing is the reality that Central Asia, China and Russia are also in the crosshairs of the United States. What we have found is sheer in scope, mind-boggling and frightening.

The USA seems to have decided to:

1- Bifurcate Pakistan using all possible means, including the religious elements that can be bought, coerced or tricked;

2- Pull the plug on the Indian and Pakistani economies by creating a situation of perpetual confrontation;

3- Prevent India from becoming an economic rival of the United States in foreseeable future by denying it the energy resources of Central Asia and Iran, and draining its precious human and material assets in dead-end pursuits;

4- Promote drug addiction in South and Central Asia so that all the opium produced in Afghanistan is consumed in the region and little or none is left for export to the American markets;

5- Block the economic growth and expanding regional influence of China and Russia;

6- Acquire logistics facilities and infrastructure network for military action against Iran;

 

[opinion]

The Bumper Crop of Spies



We started working on this story in July 2007 on a vague tip that some foreign spies had been caught in the Pakistani province of Balochistan. We traveled to Balochistan and started talking to people who had many interesting things to tell.

“They caught a spy transmitting from the backroom of a pharmacy in Dalbandin,” said a local shopkeeper.

“Yes, it was about eleven in the night. They caught him without any trouble.” said his friend.

The capture of another spy was rather hilarious.

“He was dressed like a Baloch, and he looked like a Baloch,” said a shepherd.

”But we knew immediately that he was not a Baloch and we tipped a militia patrol,” he added.

“How did you know he was not a Baloch,” we asked.

His brief explanation: “He was not walking like a Baloch.”

It is easy to understand the shepherd if you have ever seen a real Baloch in motion. The lilt and majesty of Baloch gait is inimitable.

Another spy was pretending to be a bush.

“The spy was concealed in a small bush on ——– [name of the mountain omitted deliberately],” told a farmer in a settlement opposite Ahmedwal town.

“Why did you think it was not just a bush like any other bush,” we asked.

“There was no bush there the day before,” was his simple reply.

Because of the keen observation and vigilance of the locals, five spies were caught in less than two months. There were at least three others, who were detected but managed to escape. It is difficult to say as to how many more operated unnoticed, completed their work and went back to wherever they came from.

What was significant was that the locals said that four of the five captured spies were Amreeki (Americans).

This sudden surge in American spies was inexplicable.

We decided to consult Sasha and Misha, two retired KGB colonels, living in a quieter district of Moscow.

 

[opinion]

Back to Sasha and Misha

Sasha and Misha (not their real names), are retired KGB colonels and top-notch experts on Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were among the architects of the original BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army) during the Russo-Afghan war. They know Balochistan better than anyone else we ever met.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are their first love and like faithful lovers they always keep tab on what is happening in that part of the world. And, they are in touch with many of their old contacts.

 

[opinion]

”There can be many reasons for increased espionage. It usually indicates some major shift in policy or preparation for a big operation. Looking at other developments, I would say that it is the both. The Americans are going for a major shift in their policy toward Pakistan and they may also be putting together some big operations,” said Sasha.

”Go look for something unorthodox,” added Misha.

 

[opinion]

The trouble with Misha is that he speaks Cryptese. With his inherent fondness for crosswords, anagrams and puzzles, Misha is almost always difficult to decipher.

”Unorthodox what,” we asked in exasperation.

”Such as Yankee-Jihadi marriage,” said Misha with a naughty twinkle in his eyes that suddenly made him look much younger.

It was clear that we were not going to get anything more from the duo before doing some spadework.

 

[opinion]

Yankee-Jihadi Marriage


We turned our attention back to Balochistan and patched into the local grapevine.

Misha’s phrase ‘Yankee-Jihadi Marriage’ was the key we were trying on every lock.

Something seemed to click after a while.

There was buzz that a representative of a jihadi outfit recently had a meeting with an American in the Sadabahar area at the edge of Quetta. This was the beginning of August 2007 and the meeting was unusual. Americans of all descriptions travel frequently between Afghanistan and Pakistan but they were not known, till then, to seek clandestine meetings with jihadi elements.

 

[opinion]

According to our source, the representative of the jihadi outfit was a burly man in mid thirties with medium-length, thick beard. In Sadabahar, where the compound walls are typically high, he met an American who was dressed like a Pushtun. The meeting lasted more than three hours and the jihadi left with a canvas bag full of cash.

We could not identify the American but we managed to trace the jihadi to a splinter group of LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba).

As is known, LeT is not a single entity; it is more like a brand name, used by many groups with diverse objectives and split loyalties

 

[opinion]

The jihadi went to Karachi and met a colleague in Shah Faisal Colony and apparently gave him some of the cash he received from the American in Quetta. This assumption is based on the fact that the jihadi’s colleague in Shah Faisal Colony purchased a flashy SUV a few days later.

We returned to Sasha and Misha.

 

[opinion]

Money Explodes

“It cannot be an isolated phenomenon. There must be something before and after it. Look for patterns, always look for patterns,” said Sasha.

Misha said, “This money will explode. It will explode in many places.”

It was early September 2007, and Misha’s black prediction was not long in coming true.

BB [Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan] returned to Pakistan on 18 October 2007 after nearly eight years of self-imposed exile, and her huge convoy was hit by suicide bombers en-route to the mausoleum of the father of the nation. Hundreds were killed and wounded but BB escaped unharmed.

 

[opinion]

Was there any connection between the suicide attack on BB’s convoy and the American funding of a jihadi outfit?

Instead of jumping to conclusions, we went back to Sasha and Misha.


Look at the whole picture

“Look at the whole picture. Never get distracted; look at the whole picture,” said Sasha.

“That is what we are here for - show us the whole picture, or at least as much of the picture as you can,” we said.

Sasha looked Misha in the eyes for a few seconds. It is disconcerting, the way they can communicate with each other silently and make you feel dumb.

 

[opinion]

OK, let’s a bit of picture for you,” said Sasha.

He started, “BB has hired the lobbying firm BKSH & Associates in a six-month contract for US $ 250000. It is the same firm that is working for Hillary Clinton.

“Burson-Marsteller is the parent company of BKSH and pollster Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates is its affiliate. Mark Penn is the president of Penn Schoen and CEO of Burson-Marsteller and he is also the chief advisor of Clinton in her presidential campaign.

“Now that Republicans are sure they cannot win the elections, they are betting on Hilary. She is a Republican among Democrats and by looking at her policy stance as senator, I can say confidently that if she wins the elections or finds her way into the new administration, she would continue with the Republican foreign policy. She is the last hope of Neocons.

“It is no coincidence that BB decided at this very time to return to Pakistan and hired BKSH to lobby for her in Washington.”

“She has been chosen as pillion rider to a wayward Musharraf,” interjected Misha.

“Yes,” continued Sasha, “she is the chosen pillion rider but there are likely other plans, several of them in fact; a dead BB would be more useful for Washington.”

 

[opinion]

Complicating the picture

“It is a rather confusing picture you are painting. First we find that Americans are funding a splinter group of LeT, then you predict that the money given to that jihadi outfit will lead to ‘explosions’ and now you are saying that BB was chosen as pillion rider to Musharraf but a dead BB will be more useful to Washington. Are you suggesting that Washington sent BB to Pakistan just to get her killed by LeT or some other jihadi lunatics?”

“Listen to the end,” said Sasha rather sternly.

“Sorry,” we said, afraid that he might clam up.

 

[opinion]

First, let’s clarify the question of funding by Americans. Financing, arming and training of enemy elements is nothing new in the American policy. The whole Russo-Afghan was fought on funding and training the kind of people who would never be welcome in Washington. However, their being loathsome was not a barrier against their being funded and trained to fight the Russians because, as the Americans are fond of saying, the end justifies the means.

“If BB is removed from the scene, it would bring several benefits to Washington, the topmost being swift departure of Musharraf, replaced by a weak government that would be heavily dependent on Americans for its very survival”

 

[opinion]

Misha started speaking when Sasha broke the conversation. “We are not saying that LeT did or did not engineer the suicide bombing in the BB procession on 18 Oct.

“What we are underlining is that a dead BB would be very useful for the region-wide American objectives, and the contract to bump her off may have been outsourced to more than one contractors.”

 

[opinion]

Look for patterns

It was even more confusing.

“Sorry, but we cannot make head or tail of all this,” we said.

“Look for patterns,” said Sasha like a teacher whose patience was wearing thin.

”The pattern here is,” explained Sasha, “that CIA and other American agencies are funding, training and arming MeK [Mujahideen-e-Khalq] in Iraq and Iran to use them against Iran, they are funding and supporting Jundullah in Pakistan and Iran to create trouble in Iran, and now they have co-opted some factions of LeT, possibly some other jihadi outfits also, to do their dirty work in Pakistan.”

“Go chase Vickers,” said Misha with the finality that indicated the end of our session with the spymasters.

 

[opinion]

Chasing Vickers

Chasing Vickers is easier said than done.

Michael Vickers is the assistant secretary of defence responsible for special operations and low intensity warfare. A former Green Beret, he was confirmed as assistant secretary for defence on 23 July 2007.

Vickers was the principle strategist for covert CIA operation in Afghanistan that resulted in the defeat, and subsequent break-up, of the Soviet Union.

 

[opinion]

At the height of Afghan operation, he was giving strategic and operational direction to 300 unit commanders, 150000 full time and 500000 part time fighters. He coordinated the efforts of ten countries and oversaw an annual budget of more than US $ 2 billion.

In other words, Vickers was the direct challenger of Sasha and Misha in Afghanistan.

Special Operations Command (Socom), a part of the portfolio of Vickers, is based in Tampa, Florida. Its annual budget is US $ 8 billion. More than 60000 covert and overt personnel are on its payroll.

Vickers has offices on the third floor of Pentagon in the ‘C’ ring.

 

[opinion]

Read the full explosive article at: Mumbai Mystery: American Designs on Pakistan and India « Our leader - Musharraf