Raymond Davis and Aimal Kansi

[BATMAN]

On a cold January morning nearly forty years ago, when I was a PoW, I found myself pushed into an Indian interrogation cell for some softening up. Forced to strip and subjected to incessant baton blows, I soon ended up in a corner and on the ground, shivering with cold. When my humiliation was complete, I experienced a feeling which can be best expressed by what Mao Zedong once said: Strongest is the man who has nothing more to lose.

I got straight up and shouted some full-throated invectives at my tormentor. Soon the burly man backed off, noticing that his baton wasn’t inflicting the same physical pain any longer. My shouting at least got me back my clothes, even though my dignity wasn’t restored; not in terms of my mistreatment, that is.

The relatives of the two men shot dead by Raymond Davis in Lahore may have received some compensation for the loss of their loved ones. But for the rest of us Pakistanis, getting their self-esteem and dignity back will take much longer, if we get it at all. The fact that the government, the opposition, the military establishment and the judiciary, all have contributed to the release of Raymond Davis is the biggest disappointment.

Davis’s release was in sharp contrast to what happened to Mir Aimal Kasi, who was accused of shooting down two CIA men outside their Langley Headquarters in Virginia in 1993. Davis and Kasi were accused of the same crime: murder. In the American’s case sham legalities and fake diplomatic immunity came into play to win him freedom. If there were such a thing as justice in the world, Davis would have met the same fate which Kasi did. Either both would have been executed, or both freed. But Davis went scot-free, by paying for his release and flown out of the country in which he had committed the crime. Kasi – betrayed by the rulers, some even receiving head money-was abducted from his own country back to the United States to be executed.

While Davis may still have been in neighbouring Afghanistan, our “strategic partners” in their endless “war on terror” killed another 41 Pakistanis in a jirga in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in a drone attack on Thursday. Such gatherings have been subjected to suicide bombings in the past, but now lives are in constant danger from drone attacks as well. These people are not safe at any given time and anywhere in their own country today, and that is a sobering thought. How are they expected to react, or what they should logically be doing in such a situation, is a question the think tanks in Washington need to address with some urgency.

The routine, non-serious messages of sympathy from the Presidency and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in Islamabad should cease, especially since the attitudes of the occupants of these two high offices towards drone attack victims are now well known, attitudes which can only make Pakistanis hang their heads in shame. The real message from ordinary Pakistanis to the occupants of these exalted offices should be that if you cannot protect your own citizens as your first duty, at least please refrain from rubbing salt into their wounds.

The drone attack was criticised in strong words by the chief of the army staff, but this should have been done when the first drone attack took place under his watch. Those who died in the latest raids were as innocent as most of those 1,700 Pakistanis who have perished in these attacks so far. The ISPR release was therefore too little, too late. Coming in the wake of the release of Raymond Davis, in which the military establishment reportedly played an important role, this condemnation rang with the same hollowness as the words from the Presidency and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

In April 2010, the chief of the PAF visited the Combined Air and Space Centre of the US Air Force in Southwest Asia. His host, Lt Gen Mike Hostage, later called it an opportunity for the chief of the air staff to meet the “terrific” US airmen, some of whom obviously used their childhood skills in video games to good effect on Predators and Reapers now raining hell on defenceless Pakistanis.

These “terrific” airmen have the blood of innocent Pakistanis on their hands, and shaking their hands can only mean condoning their crimes. If the guardians of our airspace cannot protect their fellow Pakistanis from drone attacks, the least they can do in dignified protest is to keep away from visiting such Command Centres.

One’s heart goes out to the people of Khyber-Pakhtukhwa, who are routinely battered by suicide bombers on the ground and by drones from the air. They cannot even assemble to resolve their disputes in accordance with their age-old customs and traditions, as were the unfortunate participants of Thursday’s jirga. The legality of these attacks has been questioned by UN human rights investigators. But beyond questioning the legality, the United Nations has done little to stop this carnage.

It is said that during World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill were looking for a name for the newly formed world body to replace the League of Nations. After hitting upon the present name for the world body early one morning, FDR, paralysed by polio from the waist down, excitedly wheeled to Churchill’s room and knocked. He pushed the door open when there was no response.

There he found Britain’s prime minister drying himself after a shower, without a stitch on. Roosevelt announced the words “United Nations” and Churchill reportedly responded, “That is it.” The United Nations was born that moment, but ever since then it remains a paralysed organisation helpless in the face of naked injustices.

Karim Khan, the Islamabad-based journalist from Machikhel village in North Waziristan, has started the initiative of filing a class action suit in a US court against Defence Secretary Robert Gates, CIA director Leon Panetta and the CIA’s former Islamabad station chief, Jonathan Banks. The action has already forced Mr Banks to leave Pakistan. It is believed that more families want to follow Mr Karim’s example, not so much in the hope of winning lawsuits but to gain international publicity for this illegal employment of the CIA by the US administration to kill innocents in other countries.

Karim Khan and others need to be helped to appeal to the sensitivities of the American people whose conscience hopefully is not as dead as their government’s. Our rulers have disappointed us completely and there is hopelessness all around. Organisers of civil society protests on Constitutional Avenue in Islamabad should seriously consider collaboration with Karim Khan and others for action in US courts.

As for my grilling four decades ago, after I was back from the interrogation centre that evening I entered in my small diary a sentence which I had read in Leonid Brezhnev’s biography. Then a colonel in the Soviet Red Army and holed up in his bunker which was pounded relentlessly by German artillery, he vowed that if ever he got a chance to plan the defences of his fatherland, he would never let this happen again. Brezhnev went on to become president of the USSR and the Soviet Union’s defences were at their peak during his rule. Of course, I cannot follow through on what was said in those borrowed lines.

But others can. From now on, we Pakistanis should seriously start thinking in terms of exercising our options – through actions, not merely through protests.

The writer is a retired vice admiral. Email: tajkhattak@ymail.com

 

[BATMAN]

Beware of diplomats, they have license to kill we are told

Raymond Davis is not an uncommon name in countries where English is spoken by the majority. The name got some notoriety courtesy of the man who shot two Pakistani men in the back on January 29, 2011. That Raymond Davis, is a confirmed CIA operative who operated in Pakistan with the vaguest of links with the US Embassy in that country and certainly nothing that warranted the description ‘diplomat’.

Those for whom the names ‘Raymond’ and ‘Davis’ sound familiar are unlikely to know of any Faizan or Faheem, the names of the two young men Davis shot to death. Neither would they know of an Ibadur-Rehman, the name of a biker who was crushed to death by an employee of the US Embassy who had raced along the wrong side of the road in a land cruiser, in an attempt to rescue the murderer.

The families of the two murdered men have been forced to take ‘Blood Money,’ which according to Sharia Law includes ‘forgiving murderer’ and therefore acquittal. Ibadur-Rehman has since been forgotten. This ‘diplomat’ is to be tried in US courts, but that’s no consolation to the murdered or their subsequently arm-twisted families. One notes, also, that the US criminal justice system is notorious for its racism and summary acquittal of officers charged with racism and murder. Those who are interested could google ‘Amadou Diallo’ or ‘Rodney King’, two of the more prominent cases which were too in-your-face for the mainstream media to ignore or fudge, as it has in the case of the January 29 shooting.

Undiplomatic material
While books can be written about the Raymond Davis case, I thought it would be good to talk about the ‘diplomatic’ element.

Barack Obama, a man who has given the green light to torture and cover-up in cases involving detainees in Guantanamo Bay and other off-shore torture chambers run by the US military (including those in Iraq and Afghanistan) and has chosen to fudge the human rights issues pertaining to the incarceration of Bradley Manning (including humiliation, absence of due process), calls this murderer, Raymond Davis, ‘our diplomat’.

The US Government left no stone unturned to get their ‘diplomat’ released, even threatening Pakistan with ‘dire consequences’ if they did not accede to this ‘request’. This ‘diplomat’ was, let me repeat, a CIA operative and it has been discovered that he was in possession of a lot of undiplomatic material. He carried a gun. He claims he shot in self-defence. It is strange that the victims, who according to him were about to shoot him, had their backs turned to the murderer. It is strange that ‘diplomats’ have to carry guns. It is strange that ‘private security officers’ are called ‘diplomats’. Next we will hear, I suppose, that janitors in embassies are also ‘diplomats’ and have the same right to kill and get away with it as Davis apparently has.

Raymond Davis method

What all this means is that diplomats have double-o privileges, ie ‘the license of kill’ a la James Bond. It means that every Tom, Dick, Harry, Jane, Patricia and Kathy in every embassy in every country, from ambassador to his/her toe-nail clipping maid has the right to carry arms and shoot anyone and put it all down to ‘self-defense’. The relevant paragraphs pertaining to diplomatic immunity will be quoted, the murderer acquitted and duly sent to ‘trial’ back home, branded ‘hero’ (most likely) and packed to another embassy in another country. This might be called the Raymond Davis method of getting away with murder.

We are living in a world where James Bond gadgets are available in the real arms market and are regularly used by real-life secret agents. Here’s some information from the Internet:

‘True-life secret agents usually favour small-calibre handguns because they are easy to conceal. However, in situations where greater firepower, range or accuracy is needed, special rifles or machine guns can be made to fold down or disassemble into smaller components that are easy to hide. During World War II, the British Sten submachine gun was provided to French resistance operatives and other Allied spies - it could be collapsed into three pieces for hiding. Spies have used very Bond -like concealed, single-shot weapons disguised as common objects. A tiny pistol that can fit into a belt buckle, a cigarette that could fire a single 22 calibre round when the operative pulled a string with his teeth, a single-shot pen gun and a wrist-holster that could fire with a single arm movement were all actually used. Guns were also concealed in flashlights, gloves, pipes, pencils, tubes of toothpaste and rolled up newspaper.

Double-standards
Obama’s ‘Our Diplomat’ has created a precedent. One can safely assume that all US diplomats carry guns and engage in spying. One can assume that they are willing and able to shoot to kill. We know that the US is right at the top when it comes to manufacturing and using sophisticated, deadly and concealable weaponry. We know that the Uncle Sam is the mother of double-standards. We know that what’s sauce for the any goose is not sauce for the US gander. We would not be faulted for saying that everyone who comes within firing range of any US diplomat is a potential dead-duck, for these are trigger-happy two-tongued terrorists, nothing less. That’s Obama speaking, friends.

No one will check Patricia Butenis’ handbag or her make-up case when she attends some function. Who knows, her right incisor might be a gun which can be activated with flick of tongue and shot when she speaks the words ‘human rights’.

The victim would not know what hit him/her and if anyone noticed or somehow it was found that she was the murderer, all she needs to do is call one of her security-guard-diplomats to rush to her aid, killing half a dozen people and make enough ‘news’ so that Barack Obama will scream the words ‘diplomatic immunity’ and threaten Sri Lanka with ‘dire consequences’.

Not saying it would happen, but it might. Better safe than sorry, they say. I would be wary of attending any function where anyone working for any embassy is present, especially those working for the US mission and those of Uncle Sam’s allies. Thank you, no.

 

[American Eagle]

Your opinions are just that, opinions, not fact whatsoever.

DAWN had a lead article last week, which some on this site attacked as racially prejudiced involving Punjabi vs. Pakhtun ethnic differences. The lady who wrote the article noted that at the least the two who failed in their stick up attempt against Mr. Davis, who was the victum, had prior criminal records. In fact earlier the same day of their encounter and failed hold up of Davis, the two did rob two Pakistani businessmen there in Lahore... nearby where they then ran into Davis...the two robbers stole the Paksitani gentlemen's cell phones and cash...which stolen cell phones and cash were recovered by the Lahore Police when investigating the failed robbery attempt against Mr. Davisfrom the two then deceased robbers.

Two other facts you dispute. The factual Police reports say that the two robbers were per Pakistani media reports of initial Police findings... were that one robber was shot in front, as well as both were apparently shot in their sides/backs. Point a gun at a man in a setting of daily terrorist and bandit robbery and violence, and if able the person put upon will return fire. Mr. Davis job for the US Embassy out of Islamabad required him to be armed. This is all public record, but of course many who wish to create animosity would say otherwise and nothing can be done about idyl trouble making in that regard.

The fact of Diplomatic Immunity is testified to by the fact that Mr. Davis held a US Diplomatic Passport with a valid, current, did not expire until June 2012 Paksitani VISA issued in Islamabad. Subsequent diplomatic paperwork was not timely processed by the Pakistani Foreign Office, as the FO ultimately admitted. The President of the United States, the US Secretary of State, and the US Ambassador to Pakistan vouched for Mr. Davis having Diplomatic Immunity but the then head of the Pakistan Foreign Office who has elective political asspirations and made a mockery of his cabinet job by failing to admit the of record diplomatic immunity of Mr. Davis of record in his department.

Since settlements directly with the families of the two young men, one of whom was wearing a gun belt when found per Police report are a subject that to me, as a Westerner, who knows nothing about such things, is done and over, then such family settlements are according to Pakistani media reports extra judicial and therefore not subject to further judicial review or further attempts at propaganda or ill will intended smears.

The loss of two lives due to the armed robbery actions of a failed stick up by known to the Police thieves is regrettable, as all human life is valuable. However, in the middle of a downright hot war there in Pakistan with the terrorists, and with some terrorists now taking refuge in cities to include Lahore, a lot of folks legally or otherwise find it necessary to be armed to protect themselves in these violent times inside Pakistan.

Who is to say or not say that the two bandits were or were not fund raising for the terrorists now resident in Lahore?

Still, the loss of life of Faizan and Faheem is regrettable but was brought on by their attempted robbery actions, ie, they caused it to happen to themselves.

The separate death and not proven to be related one way or the other of another Pakistani being run over by a vehicle whose driver intially was "reported" to be a Pakistani national employed at a foreign consulate in Lahore, the death of Ibadur-Rehman is likewise regrettable. But the third loss of life is under any worldwide known standard of law unrelated to Mr. Davis's specific victumization.

Still the third life mentioned is a regrettable loss, as are all traffic accident lives lost daily in Lahore and other cities across Pakistan with daily traffic congestion to deal with.

Now please tell me the names of those blown up, numbering over 80, with 134 more wounded, at the minority sect Muslim Shrine in Lahore, which happpened there in the same time frame as the Davis failed stick up, as well as the name of the suicide bomber, a Pakistani murdering numerous other Pakistanis. Tell me the countless names of victums of terrorist suicide bomb attacks over the recent years in all parts of Pakistan. Of the 18-34 killed and scores more wounded just this past week in Karachi, all due to terrorist attacks, Muslims against Muslims, what are and were their names? I could go on many pages in length on this theme but will stop here.

You attempted to imply racism in your remarks. If you mean Pakistanis ganging up on one caucasian American, Mr. Davis, I do not agree. My first hand experiences inside Pakistan, while dated from the 1960s, found us of all colors and hues getting along very well on equal footing, both there in Paksitan and at the same time back in the USA. We in the USA have a Black President, which you simply ignore. It took a lot of non-Black voters to elect Mr. Obama President.

There is no analogy between the failed robbery attempt on an innocent victum, Mr. Davis, and your allegations to years ago street crime events in the US. I found my freckled face and red hair were not ever held against me when I lived and worked inside Pakistan. I would hope the same remains true now, post the so called Davis-event.

The families have reconciled themselves and life moves on. It was their affair and they chose to forgive. That ended it and really none of us, including me , has any standing to be unkind to these families by continuing to bring this unpleasant topic up over and over. They have gotten over it and should be left alone once and for all. They did not ask for anyone to prolonge what has obviously been for them a very unhappy and stressful time.

 

[duago]

 

[ebrahym]

Your opinions are just that, opinions, not fact whatsoever.

DAWN had a lead article last week, which some on this site attacked as racially prejudiced involving Punjabi vs. Pakhtun ethnic differences. The lady who wrote the article noted that at the least the two who failed in their stick up attempt against Mr. Davis, who was the victum, had prior criminal records. In fact earlier the same day of their encounter and failed hold up of Davis, the two did rob two Pakistani businessmen there in Lahore... nearby where they then ran into Davis...the two robbers stole the Paksitani gentlemen's cell phones and cash...which stolen cell phones and cash were recovered by the Lahore Police when investigating the failed robbery attempt against Mr. Davisfrom the two then deceased robbers.

Two other facts you dispute. The factual Police reports say that the two robbers were per Pakistani media reports of initial Police findings... were that one robber was shot in front, as well as both were apparently shot in their sides/backs. Point a gun at a man in a setting of daily terrorist and bandit robbery and violence, and if able the person put upon will return fire. Mr. Davis job for the US Embassy out of Islamabad required him to be armed. This is all public record, but of course many who wish to create animosity would say otherwise and nothing can be done about idyl trouble making in that regard.

The fact of Diplomatic Immunity is testified to by the fact that Mr. Davis held a US Diplomatic Passport with a valid, current, did not expire until June 2012 Paksitani VISA issued in Islamabad. Subsequent diplomatic paperwork was not timely processed by the Pakistani Foreign Office, as the FO ultimately admitted. The President of the United States, the US Secretary of State, and the US Ambassador to Pakistan vouched for Mr. Davis having Diplomatic Immunity but the then head of the Pakistan Foreign Office who has elective political asspirations and made a mockery of his cabinet job by failing to admit the of record diplomatic immunity of Mr. Davis of record in his department.

Since settlements directly with the families of the two young men, one of whom was wearing a gun belt when found per Police report are a subject that to me, as a Westerner, who knows nothing about such things, is done and over, then such family settlements are according to Pakistani media reports extra judicial and therefore not subject to further judicial review or further attempts at propaganda or ill will intended smears.

The loss of two lives due to the armed robbery actions of a failed stick up by known to the Police thieves is regrettable, as all human life is valuable. However, in the middle of a downright hot war there in Pakistan with the terrorists, and with some terrorists now taking refuge in cities to include Lahore, a lot of folks legally or otherwise find it necessary to be armed to protect themselves in these violent times inside Pakistan.

Who is to say or not say that the two bandits were or were not fund raising for the terrorists now resident in Lahore?

Still, the loss of life of Faizan and Faheem is regrettable but was brought on by their attempted robbery actions, ie, they caused it to happen to themselves.

The separate death and not proven to be related one way or the other of another Pakistani being run over by a vehicle whose driver intially was "reported" to be a Pakistani national employed at a foreign consulate in Lahore, the death of Ibadur-Rehman is likewise regrettable. But the third loss of life is under any worldwide known standard of law unrelated to Mr. Davis's specific victumization.

Still the third life mentioned is a regrettable loss, as are all traffic accident lives lost daily in Lahore and other cities across Pakistan with daily traffic congestion to deal with.

Now please tell me the names of those blown up, numbering over 80, with 134 more wounded, at the minority sect Muslim Shrine in Lahore, which happpened there in the same time frame as the Davis failed stick up, as well as the name of the suicide bomber, a Pakistani murdering numerous other Pakistanis. Tell me the countless names of victums of terrorist suicide bomb attacks over the recent years in all parts of Pakistan. Of the 18-34 killed and scores more wounded just this past week in Karachi, all due to terrorist attacks, Muslims against Muslims, what are and were their names? I could go on many pages in length on this theme but will stop here.

You attempted to imply racism in your remarks. If you mean Pakistanis ganging up on one caucasian American, Mr. Davis, I do not agree. My first hand experiences inside Pakistan, while dated from the 1960s, found us of all colors and hues getting along very well on equal footing, both there in Paksitan and at the same time back in the USA. We in the USA have a Black President, which you simply ignore. It took a lot of non-Black voters to elect Mr. Obama President.

There is no analogy between the failed robbery attempt on an innocent victum, Mr. Davis, and your allegations to years ago street crime events in the US. I found my freckled face and red hair were not ever held against me when I lived and worked inside Pakistan. I would hope the same remains true now, post the so called Davis-event.

The families have reconciled themselves and life moves on. It was their affair and they chose to forgive. That ended it and really none of us, including me , has any standing to be unkind to these families by continuing to bring this unpleasant topic up over and over. They have gotten over it and should be left alone once and for all. They did not ask for anyone to prolonge what has obviously been for them a very unhappy and stressful time.

its Pakistan mate
remember
when a prestigious Pakistani media channel found the family of Ajmal kasab and later wiki leaks( who have never lost a lawsuit) claimed UK and US bluffed Indian evidence?????

you can produce anything through media in Pakistan it is not as mature as it is in US(well judging from CNN reporting right now, it might be)
the same news channel you are quoting was responsible for journalism scandal we call in Pakistan dawn leaks which was proved to be a political propaganda to systematically hamper Pakistani establishment.....
the problem my friend has not been brought up by us but by the actual criminal himself by publishing his book to support his declining bank balance ..... look him on google and realize his financial standing right now .... he would've had my pity if his hands were not coloured by my countrymen's blood but then again a lot of People have those color on their hands

 

[Azadkashmir]

well you know now what to do carry a loaded gun and when this happens again take the person out before corrupt police or politician gets them.

 

[khanasifm]

Per tv host this book is now available free of cost as a PDF??? Not sure where

 

[khanasifm]

Nation that depends on us aid cannot and should not expect to be independent of influence since 1950 pak is dependent on us and imf aid , start paying taxes, recover all black money put big crooks not little thieves in jail and be independent otherwise stop acting surprised like hell / sky is falling

 

[tarrar]

Raymond Davis got his freedom ticket from Ganja league & gadari party. Ganja had given all instruction on what needed to be done to help Raymond & at the same time to protect himself the whole family had fled Pakistan. It is a well known fact that ganjas leave Pakistan whenever they see themselves in trouble or when trouble is coming. Gadari & party on the other hand are so badly cursed by the people that they don't even care what people say against them & continue with their treachery & corruption.

 

[Itaalvi]

Raymond Davis real job is to locate factories which supplies / manufacture parts for missiles especially Babur Cruise missile and the two person he shot dead are hired civilians working for intelligence agencies, they succeeded to uncover his activities and to save his @ss he chased and kill these two persons.