US Accuses Pakistan of Altering Missiles - NYT

[Awesome]

How exactly is it better for Pakistan to keep the US in a threatening posture?

 

[muse]

Asim. the threat is not without substance - but it is not a threat that can do Pakistan damage, it's employment will damage the US much more than it will Pakistan. Remember in the case of Pakistan, you cannot lose what you do not have. The American's threat is that the Aid he promises will disappear, and so Pakistan will lose what? A promise? future $$?


You will have noted that the subject was brought up diplomatically and it was due to the response they got at the meeting that they think it is now time to ratchet up the psyops pressure.

There is a piece I posted about comparative strategic culture: the case of Pakistan - American friends are invited to review the article, it was first published in the magaine of the Naval Post graduate school .

American friends have suggested that Pakistan's energies be redirected, perhaps they may practice what they preach - fat chance both ways.

 

[Awesome]

The only problem I see is that the American puppets that rule the country would use this "threat" to relent more ground to the Americans.

Already they agreed to US inspections on the harpoons (if the news article is credible to begin with since no one REAL was actually quoted). They cleverly mention the aid since they keep our leaders on a leash with it. They know who would be pocketing the aid.

 

[muse]

Actuallly it can be a pretty smart move - I mean, what would the beef be now ? All the Harpoons are there and it show that the Pakistanis are willing to address US "suspicions" - It kinda forces the US hand, if that's what the US wants.

Read a post I have on the Why US is hated thread on the world affairs board -- really the source of the problem is that "structural problem" and not all the good people, good intentioned people can effect the issue until that structural problem, so many decades in the making, is dealt with -- or not - either suits me.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Another thread on the same topic
http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-defence/32679-amriki-mirch-masala-unknown.html

We'll leave this thread here for now since that sub-section has posting rights limited to a few professional members.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

A senior Pakistani official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity because the interchanges with Washington have been both delicate and highly classified, said the American accusation was “incorrect.” The official said that the missile tested was developed by Pakistan, just as it had modified North Korean designs to build a range of land-based missiles that could strike India. He said that Pakistan had taken the unusual step of agreeing to allow American officials to inspect the country’s Harpoon inventory to prove that it had not violated the law, a step that administration officials praised.

Some experts are also skeptical of the American claims. Robert Hewson, editor of Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, a yearbook and Web-based data service, said the Harpoon missile did not have the necessary range for a land-attack missile, which would lend credibility to Pakistani claims that they are developing their own new missile. Moreover, he said, Pakistan already has more modern land-attack missiles that it developed itself or acquired from China.

“They’re beyond the need to reverse-engineer old U.S. kit,” Mr. Hewson said in a telephone interview. “They’re more sophisticated than that.” Mr. Hewson said the ship-to-shore missile that Pakistan was testing was part of a concerted effort to develop an array of conventional missiles that could be fired from the air, land or sea to address India’s much more formidable conventional missile arsenal.

This part of the post is far more specific, and essentially debunks the 'alleged' US allegation - yet it is interesting that the NYT still carried the article with that particular headline.

It is also interesting that in the past few days there have been reports suggesting that the PA does not feel that it is in a position to go into South Waziristan with the kind wear and tear its equipment, especially the Cobra's and other Heli's. have taken.

These authors and this paper in particular have acted admirably as the mouthpiece for the US administration when it comes to dishing out propaganda to manipulate domestic opinion and push a particular agenda in US foreign policy.

One has to keep in mind how papers such as the NYT were in the forefront of acting as the US administration's megaphone, through the ubiquitous 'anonymous sources', on pushing the lies that led to the Iraq war as well.

 

[muse]

notice the US govt. felt no need for such a statement.


Haqqani urges U.S. media to halt hurling blames on Pakistan

Updated at: 0920 PST, Sunday, August 30, 2009
WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Ambassador in U.S., Hussain Haqqani has termed a U.S newspaper report, alleging Pakistani engineers have upgraded the range of U.S.- made Harpoon missile earlier given to Pakistan and test fired, baseless and incorrect.

Talking to Geo News Hussain Haqqani said that such news reports were designed to target and scuttle the U.S. Congress lawmaking process underway for sanctioning aid to Pakistan.

He urged upon the U.S. media to halt hurling blames on Pakistan and help it in war against terror. He said that the frequent campaign of labeling blames on Pakistan in U.S. media only meant for disgracing Pakistan, but despite all the conspiracies Pakistan would continue aligning with the U.S. in war against terrorism.

 

[DaRk WaVe]

Haqqani urges U.S. media to halt hurling blames on Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s Ambassador in U.S., Hussain Haqqani has termed a U.S newspaper report, alleging Pakistani engineers have upgraded the range of U.S.- made Harpoon missile earlier given to Pakistan and test fired, baseless and incorrect.

Talking to Geo News Hussain Haqqani said that such news reports were designed to target and scuttle the U.S. Congress lawmaking process underway for sanctioning aid to Pakistan.

He urged upon the U.S. media to halt hurling blames on Pakistan and help it in war against terror. He said that the frequent campaign of labeling blames on Pakistan in U.S. media only meant for disgracing Pakistan, but despite all the conspiracies Pakistan would continue aligning with the U.S. in war against terrorism.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=86062

 

[mshoaib61]

Pakistan’s Ambassador in U.S., Hussain Haqqani has termed a U.S newspaper report, alleging Pakistani engineers have upgraded the range of U.S.- made Harpoon missile earlier given to Pakistan and test fired, baseless and incorrect. Talking to a private TV Hussain Haqqani said that such news reports were designed to target and scuttle the U.S. Congress lawmaking process underway for sanctioning aid to Pakistan. He urged upon the U.S. media to halt hurling blames on Pakistan and help it in war against terror. He said that the frequent campaign of labeling blames on Pakistan in U.S. media only meant for disgracing Pakistan, but despite all the conspiracies Pakistan would continue aligning with the U.S. in war against terrorism

Source: Haqqani urges US media to halt hurling blames on Pak | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online

 

[DaRk WaVe]

topic under discussion

http://www.defence.pk/forums/wmd-mi...akistan-altering-missiles-nyt.html#post464344

 

[XYON]

A laughable article indeed! The purpose for it seems to be the timing of the approval of US Aid to Pakistan. Been there, done that!

Our missile program remains quite advanced by local standards without having the need to do any plastic surgery on the old Harpoon's. However, we may have gathered some vital tech intel on Harpoon's sea-skimming/ ship-launch ability to incorporate it into our own developed extension of the Raad Cruise Missile. Since this sea-version of Raad is to primarily neutralize the threat of the Brahmos therefore it does not take an Einstein to calculate who is brains/ funding behind the article above in the NYT.

The article above is proverbial POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK!

 

[Zulfiqar]

the new harpoons(block 2) that we have do have a land attack capability so why all this fuss by NYT regarding us modifying our harpoons.

Boeing: Integrated Defense Systems - Harpoon Home

 

[khattakfaisal]

WASHINGTON — The United States has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying American-made missiles to expand its capability to strike land targets, a potential threat to India, according to senior administration and Congressional officials.
The charge, which set off a new outbreak of tensions between the United States and Pakistan, was made in an unpublicized diplomatic protest in late June to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials.
The accusation comes at a particularly delicate time, when the administration is asking Congress to approve $7.5 billion in aid to Pakistan over the next five years, and when Washington is pressing a reluctant Pakistani military to focus its attentions on fighting the Taliban, rather than expanding its nuclear and conventional forces aimed at India.
Pakistan Altered Missiles Sold for Defence: US Indo-Pak Defence Forum

 

[jawadqamar]

Pakistan rejects US charge of modifying US-made missiles
The Obama administration has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying U.S.-made missiles to expand its ability to hit land-based targets, a charge promptly rejected by Pakistani Ambassador in Washington. Citing senior administration and Congressional officials, The New York Times made the accusation in a dispatch that also said the altered missiles posed a potential threat to India. The Times said the charge came in late June through an unpublicized diplomatic protest to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials.


"The accusations are incorrect and based on wrong intelligence," Ambassador Husain Haqqani," while commenting on the Times' dispatch. "We will make sure that the US understands the correct picture and we will fight back periodic efforts to falsely blame Pakistan which remains a critical US ally in fighting terrorism," Ambassador Haqqani said, urging the American media to help Pakistan in its vitally important anti-terrorism efforts and desist from making false accusations.


"Instead of false accusations, US media should help Pakistan secure the help it needs to fight our common enemy viz; terrorism," he added. The accusation, made amid growing concerns about Pakistan's increasingly rapid conventional and nuclear weapons development, triggered a new round of U.S.-Pakistani tensions, the report added. "There's a concerted effort to get these guys to slow down," the newspaper quoted a senior administration official as saying.


"Their energies are misdirected," the official added. The accusation comes at a particularly delicate time, when the administration is asking Congress to approve $7.5 billion in aid to Pakistan over the next five years, the dispatch said. Washington, it added, is also pressing Pakistani military to focus its attentions on fighting the Taliban, rather than expanding its nuclear and conventional forces aimed at India.


A senior Pakistani official, who spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity, also rejected the accusation, saying that the missile tested was developed by Pakistan, just as it had modified North Korean designs to build a range of land-based missiles that could strike India, according to the Times. He said that Pakistan had taken the unusual step of agreeing to allow American officials to inspect the country’s Harpoon inventory to prove that it had not violated the law, a step that administration officials praised. U.S. officials said the disputed weapon is a conventional one based on the Harpoon anti-ship missiles that were sold to Pakistan during the Reagan administration as a defensive weapon, the newspaper reported.


The accusation stems from U.S. intelligence agencies' detection of a "suspicious" missile test on April 23 which was never announced by the Pakistanis and which appeared to give it a new offensive weapon, the Times said. U.S. military and intelligence officials suspect Pakistan of modifying the Harpoon sold to them in the 1980s, which would violate the Arms Control Export Act.


"The focus of our concern is that this is a potential unauthorized modification of a maritime antiship defensive capability to an offensive land-attack missile," another senior administration official told the Times, speaking on condition of anonymity about classified information. "When we have concerns, we act aggressively," the official added. Pakistan denied the charge and said it developed the missile, the Times said. The Times said some experts were also skeptical of the American claims. Robert Hewson, editor of Jane’s Air-Launched Weapons, a yearbook and Web-based data service, said the Harpoon missile did not have the necessary range for a land-attack missile, which would lend credibility to Pakistani claims that they are developing their own new missile.

Moreover, he said, Pakistan already has more modern land-attack missiles that it developed itself or acquired from China. “They’re beyond the need to reverse-engineer old U.S. kit,” Hewson said in a telephone interview. “They’re more sophisticated than that.” Hewson said the ship-to-shore missile that Pakistan was testing was part of a concerted effort to develop an array of conventional missiles that could be fired from the air, land or sea to address India’s much more formidable conventional missile arsenal.

 

[M_Saint]

the new harpoons(block 2) that we have do have a land attack capability so why all this fuss by NYT regarding us modifying our harpoons.

Boeing: Integrated Defense Systems - Harpoon Home

Delivery dates of F-Sola (block-52s) without DFRM and AESA are approaching. A lot of AIM-120s would give some shivers in INDO-ISRAELI pimp's spines, thus making some noise ahead of time to halt them. (Ring! Ring !!)