Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

Former spymaster Faiz Hamid's brother sent to jail in corruption case

2024-03-19

[GEO.TV] A local court in Rawalpindi on Monday sent Naib Tehsildar Najaf Hamid, brother of former ISI chief retired Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid, to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on a 14-day judicial remand in a corruption case.

The development comes as the suspect moved the court of Senior Civil Judge Waqar Hussain Gondal seeking pre-arrest bail after a special anti-corruption court threw out his post-arrest bail plea.

Najaf is facing charges of accumulating assets beyond his known source of income, corruption and misconduct.
Corruption in PakiLand? Pshaw!
Former spymaster Faiz Hamids brother sent to jail in corruption case
In his order, the senior civil judge stated: "Investigation officer/case officer has requested to send the above accused to the judicial lockup."

"Record reflects that offences allegedly levelled against the accused are non-bailable in nature. Therefore, as per the request of I.O./C.O. accused person is sent to judicial lock up and be produced along with report [challan] under Section 173 Cr.P.C before the concerned court on April 1, 2024," read the order.

Earlier in the day, Najaf appeared before the court of anti-corruption judge Ali Nawaz Bhakar seeking an extension to his pre-arrest interim bail. The officials of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Rawalpindi circle taken him into custody as the court rejected his request.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard...
the suspect filed a post-arrest bail in the same court, which was also rejected by the judge.

On the other hand, the anti-corruption department Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
confirmed that Najaf was arrested after his interim bail was dismissed by the court.

The former spymaster’s brother was arrested after allegations against him were proved during the investigations, the officials said.

Link

India-Pakistan

Fazl's claims against Bajwa, Faiz 'not consistent with facts'

2024-02-17

[GEO.TV] The explosive claims made by Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...the political wing of the Pak Taliban...
(JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman

...Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty. Fazl seldom misses a meal and is now so large he has his own gravitational pull...
pertaining to Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) founder Imran Khan
...aka The Great Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality disorders...
’s ouster in 2022 via a no-confidence vote have triggered a debate and raised questions over the facts he shared in the interview.

During an interview with a private TV channel on Thursday, Fazl claimed that the no-trust move against the PTI government was tabled on the directives of ex-army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former spymaster Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid.

A multi-party alliance led by Fazlur Rehman — Pakistain Democratic Movement (PDM) — had tabled the no-confidence motion in March 2022 which was passed by the National Assembly the next month, paving the way for a coalition government headed by Shehhaz Sharif of Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Sources on Friday revealed that Fazl referred to the meeting with General Bajwa on March 26, 2022, and at that time, Hamid was neither serving in the Inter-Services Intelligence
...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir...
(ISI) nor was part of the meeting.

The sources also revealed that the JUI-F chief met with Gen Bajwa and ISI Director-General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum along with Pakistain Peoples' Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and other leaders.

The meeting was conducted at ISI Mess Margalla Road in Islamabad, said the sources, adding that Lt Gen (retd) Hamid was then posted as corps commander in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
.

The huddle also included Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
National Party (BNP) President Akhtar Mengal, Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) leader Shahzain Bugti, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
-Pakistain (MQM-P) leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

The sources revealed that Gen Bajwa had asked the opposition leaders to withdraw the no-confidence motion against the PTI founder. "An offer was made that if the no-trust motion is withdrawn, the then-prime minister will resign and announce elections," the sources added.

However,
some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them...
the sources said that during the meeting, Bilawal and Fazl opposed the proposal.

The then-PDM chief claimed in the interview that "I was personally against the no-confidence move [...] but if I had said no despite the insistence of other parties, then an impression would’ve been given that I ’saved’ the PTI founder".

Fazl also said: "While the PPP was running the movement for a no-confidence motion, Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hamid told me that I could do whatever I wanted, but within the system."

The JUI-F chief said Hamid told him that he could not "do anything outside the system" — meaning that every move should be made inside the parliament, not on the streets.

"But I rejected his directions," he said but noted that later on, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), MQM-P, and others left the PTI-led government.

"When they said that [the anti-PTI] is now in the majority, I had to agree with them otherwise it would’ve been said that I helped save Imran Khan," the JUI-F chief, who has rejected February 8 election results, said.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Death toll of the terrorist attack near a cemetery in Iran more than 200 people

2024-01-04

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Follow-up to this story from yesterday.

[Regnum] The number of victims of a terrorist attack near a cemetery in Iran where Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Qasem Soleimani is buried has risen to 211 people. The television and radio corporation IRIB reported this on January 3.

“The number of victims of the terrorist attack in Kerman has reached 211 people,” the report says.

Previously it was reported that 103 were killed and 142 were injured.

As Regnum reported, two explosions occurred in the Iranian city of Kerman during a mourning ceremony on the anniversary of the death of Soleimani.

Authorities called the incident a terrorist attack. The explosions were carried out remotely; the bombs were placed in bags that were lying near the mausoleum building.

Soleimani was killed on January 3, 2020, as a result of an airstrike by American forces near Baghdad airport. The Pentagon said the strike was carried out on the personal orders of then-US President Donald Trump.

Trump later noted that US authorities consider it acceptable to eliminate the country's opponents and that the CIA has organized many such killings in the past. Iran responded to the killing of Soleimani by attacking American military bases in Iraq.

Courtesy of Skidmark, the Daily Mail chimes in: Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vows 'harsh response' for 'evil and criminal enemies' after remotely detonated bombs killed nearly 100 and injured scores more during cemetery gathering to mark anniversary of spymaster Soleimani's assassination

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Author Interview: Israel’s (not-so) secret plan to prevent a nuclear Iran and create a new Middle East

2023-12-17

[IsraelTimes] For their new book ’Target Tehran,’ Ilan Evyatar and Yonah Jeremy Bob interview spymasters, prime ministers and US officials on the shadowy means used to stop an existential threat.

Q & A can be read at the link.

On the eve of January 31, 2018, a team of agents under the command of the Mossad broke into a secret warehouse on the outskirts of Tehran and extracted an archive containing tens of thousands of highly classified documents detailing the full record of Iran’s efforts to become a nuclear weapons power.

The revelation of the archive’s contents showed that "Iran
Iran

...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
had for years been lying to the international community about its nuclear program, falsely claiming that it was only for civilian use," write Ilan Evyatar and Yonah Jeremy Bob in "Target Tehran: How Israel is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination — and Secret Diplomacy — to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East." The book hit shelves in late September.

Evyatar and Bob claim Israel’s decision to go after Iran’s nuclear archives had been made two years earlier, in January 2016, by then newly appointed Mossad director Yossi Cohen and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the authors, Netanyahu and Cohen wanted evidence that would convince the Trump administration to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal signed by the B.O. regime in 2015.

Their book documents a decades-long Mossad-led effort — which has included sabotage and liquidations inside Iran — to prevent the Islamic Theocratic Republic from becoming a nuclear power.

As part of their research, both authors had extensive access to Cohen, who directed the Mossad until 2021 and who planned and directed many of the operations that are the focus of "Target Tehran," including much of the secret diplomacy that led to the Abraham Accords.

Bob and Evyatar also had access to former Mossad directors Meir Dagan and Tamir Pardo, several Israeli prime ministers, many other Israeli intelligence operatives past and present, and numerous American officials from the Trump and Biden administrations.

Bob was born and raised in the United States and now lives in Jerusalem. He is the senior military correspondent and literary editor of The Jerusalem Post.

Evyatar was born in Israel and raised in London. He currently lives in Jerusalem and has worked as a speechwriter, ghostwriter, translator and editor — most recently as editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Report.

The Times of Israel caught up with Evyatar and Bob in Jerusalem, via Zoom, to speak about their book. The conversation has been edited for clarity.

Link

India-Pakistan

PTI top brass meets JUI-F chief Fazl after Imran's approval

2023-10-27

[GEO.TV] In a twist of events, a delegation comprising Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
's (PTI) top leadership met Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...the political wing of the Pak Taliban...
(JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty. Fazl seldom misses a meal and is now so large he has his own gravitational pull
on Thursday, with the approval of party chairman Imran Khan
...aka The Great Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
For years now, Imran has targeted Fazl — and vice versa — and both are considered arch-foes. Fazl's party was also part of the coalition government and helped remove Imran from power last year.

Talking to journalists after the meeting in Islamabad, PTI's big shot Asad Qaiser said: "Everyone, including the PTI chairman, had approved of this meeting."

"Today, we came to offer our condolences [over the demise of Fazl's mother-in-law], this is our culture. We did not discuss politics in the meeting," said Qaiser who is a staunch supporter of Imran and a former speaker of the National Assembly.

But sources told Geo News that the country's political situation and other important matters also came under discussion during the meeting, which went on for an hour.

From PTI's side, Qaiser, Ali Muhammad Khan, Barrister Muhammad Ali Khan Saif, and Junair Akbar partook in the meeting.

The development comes days after, according to The News, Fazl had agreed to play a leading role in national reconciliation in a bid to bring political stability to the country.

According to sources privy to the development, Fazl, who also heads the multi-party alliance Pakistain Democratic Movement (PDM), has supported the idea of playing a role in political dialogue among key stakeholders at the suggestion of former senator Muhammad Ali Durrani.

When contacted, Durrani told The News that the PDM chief had agreed to play a leading role in national reconciliation. "Fazl is a national leader who can bring about national reconciliation," he said.

The politicking comes as Pakistain is gradually moving towards elections, expected to take place in January next year.

PTI chief Imran is currently behind bars and cannot contest the elections, while Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif
...served ~~two~~ three non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf, then by the courts...
has come back to the country and aims for a fourth stint as the prime minister — if he can get the court cases cleared.

Link

India-Pakistan

More deaths: 23 minors among 54 lives lost in Bajaur blast, ISIS-K claims it

2023-08-01

[Dawn] The so-called Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
-Khorasan (IS-K) group on Monday grabbed credit for the suicide kaboom at a JUI-F political gathering, as the toll from the tragedy rose to 54, including 23 minors.

According to Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Additional Inspector General Shaukat Abbas, at least 83 people were hurt in the attack, while Dr Naseeb Gul of Khar DHQ hospital feared that the toll might rise further, since some of the injured were still in very critical condition.

The AIG told Dawn: "We have collected the evidence, identified the group and we are waiting for the forensic report."

According to APP, AIG Abbas told news hounds the convention began at 2pm on Sunday and the earth-shattering kaboom occurred two hours later.

He said statements of the injured had been recorded while the process of geo-fencing at the site of the earth-shattering kaboom has been completed.

The CTD also registered an FIR against unidentified suspects over Sunday’s suicide kaboom, which includes charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder.

In a statement issued on Monday, District Police Officer (DPO) Nazeer Khan said that as per the investigation, up to 12kg of explosives was used in the attack.

Amaq, the propaganda arm of IS-K — which has also grabbed credit for earlier attacks on the JUI-F — said on Monday that a suicide kaboomer detonated his explosive jacket in the middle of a crowd in Khar.

Sources in the Khar DHQ hospital told Dawn that at least 16 children between the ages of 12 and 15, were among the dead and maimed.

At least 36 of those who perished on Sunday were laid to rest in their native villages after funeral prayers in the Nawagai, Mamond, Sadiqabad, Inayat Kallay, Khar, Shinkoot, Shandi and Alzai localities, which were attended by hundreds of people from all walks of life.

JUI-F’s Khar emir Ziaullah, his information secretary Mujahid Khan and his 22-year old son were among those laid to rest on Sunday night.

Among those buried on Monday was a pair of cousins aged 16 and 17.

Last year, IS-K said it was behind attacks against religious scholars affiliated with JUI-F, which has a network of mosques and schools. In June, it said they were behind the liquidation of a party official in the village of Inayat Killi, according to BBC News.

The group accuses the JUI-F of hypocrisy for being a religious party while supporting secular governments and the military.

Link

India-Pakistan

Ex-spymaster offered Senate chairmanship, says Fazlur Rehman

2023-07-10

[GEO.TV] In a startling revelation, Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one that was led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spent more time running his madrassah until his secretary rubbed him out in a jealous rage. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman

...Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty...
on Sunday claimed that former director-general (DG) of the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant-General (retd) Faiz Hameed had offered him to become chairman of the Senate.

Fazl, who is also the president of the ruling Pakistain Democratic Movement (PDM), made the revelation during an informal interaction with senior journalists in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
The JUI-F leader said that the former spymaster had called him for a meeting but he refused. Later, he himself met him, Fazl said without giving details about the venue and date.

"I want to see you a member of the Senate and then chairman [of the upper house of parliament]," the PDM head said quoting the former top spy.

In return, the former ISI chief had asked him that he has to bring change in the system which he refused, Fazl claimed.

Following his refusal, the opposition was divided in the country, Fazl accused the establishment.

Responding to a question, the PDM chief said that all the political parties agreed that the 2018 elections were rigged, adding that the then-opposition should not have taken oath when they termed the assembly as "fake".

The JUI-F was of the view that the opposition should have taken to the streets and forced the government to resign instead of joining the assemblies, he added.

Link

Science & Technology

This is Why The Cold M1903 Was The Pistol of Choice for the OSS

2023-05-28

[SANDBOX] The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the United States’ first major intelligence apparatus. During World War II, the OSS acted as spies, saboteurs, and intelligence gatherers and were the spymasters of their day. The OSS would go on to become the CIA. The OSS used a variety of weaponry for their operatives. Although it never had an official pistol, if it did, it would be the widely used M1903 Pocket Hammerless.

These days OSS-linked M1903 Pocket Hammerless pistols are quite the collector’s items. I don’t have a U.S. Property marked model with OSS provenance, but I was able to persuade a collector of fine old weapons to let me take his M1903 out to shoot. This hands-on experience gave me a connection with history and made it apparent why OSS operatives preferred the Colt M1903 Pocket Hammerless.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Winter is coming: Cold weather will help Putin, so Ukraine must act decisively now

2022-08-06

[NY Post OpEd] On paper, Ukraine’s David is running circles around Russia’s Goliath.

In the beginning of the war, Ukrainian defenders worshiped "St. Javelin," the US-supplied, shoulder-fired, tank-killing missile that turned hundreds of Russian tanks into smoldering hulks of roadside wreckage.

In the current phase of the war, it’s America’s HIMARS shoot-and-scoot precision rocket artillery system that’s helped Ukraine overcome Russia’s numerical advantage by taking out ammunition depots far behind the front lines, forcing Russian guns into hiding to avoid deadly accurate GPS-guided artillery fire.

In more than five months of brutal combat, the plucky Ukrainians repulsed the Russian attempt to capture the capital Kyiv and depose President Volodymyr Zelensky, inflicted morale-busting casualties on Russia’s largely conscription army, and fought the putative superpower to a virtual stalemate in the east, where Russian forces are paying heavily for every few meters they take.

The war is now at a critical inflection point, say outside experts, with only a few months of warm weather before the battle lines are frozen in place and pressure increases on Ukraine’s European allies who rely on Russian gas to keep their people from freezing.

"I don’t want to sound like a character from ’Game of Thrones’ but, yeah, winter is coming," said Britain’s top spymaster Richard Moore at the Aspen Security Forum last month.

To maintain the flow of military, economic, and political support, Zelensky needs a dramatic battlefield triumph to show the U.S. and the world the war is winnable.

"It’s important I think to the Ukrainians themselves that they demonstrate their ability to strike back, and I think that will be very important for their continuing high morale," said Moore. "I also think, to be honest, it will be an important reminder to the rest of Europe that this is a winnable campaign by the Ukrainians because we are about to go into a pretty tough winter."

Putin seems to be banking on a "winter strategy" that as European countries face higher prices to heat their homes, Western resolve will buckle, and Ukraine will be forced to cut a deal on Moscow’s terms.

But Russian losses have been staggering, with estimates of war dead ranging from 15,000 to 40,000."We continue to see Russia failing on the battlefield, paying a high price for very little gain, and suffering domestic failures at home," a senior military official told reporters at a Pentagon briefing. "When you look at the numbers of people that they have lost, it’s impossible to believe that they’re not having to figure out ways to replace them if they want to continue to go toe-to-toe with Ukrainians."

That said, the Russian president has a high pain threshold, especially because he’s not the one feeling the pain.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Italy investigating mystery owner of $700M superyacht rumored to be Putin's

2022-03-10

[NY Post] Italian police are investigating a mysterious $700 million superyacht moored there — amid ongoing rumors that it is owned by warmongering Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Scheherazade’s captain confirmed to the New York Times that Italian investigators boarded the 459-foot vessel in Marina di Carrara on Friday, demanding proof of ownership for what locals have long dubbed "Putin’s yacht."

"They are looking hard. They are looking at every aspect," Captain Guy Bennett-Pearce told the paper amid ongoing moves to seize Russian oligarchs’ yachts.

"This isn’t the local coppers coming down, these are men in dark suits," said the British national, using a UK term for police officers.

Bennett-Pearce refused to reveal the identity of the owner of the yacht, whose crew was at least 70 percent Russian, he said.

But he said he had "no choice" but to this week hand over documents revealing the owner’s identity to the investigating squad, which a source told the Times was led by Italian financial police.

One of the most expensive yachts in the world, Scheherazade has a swimming pool that converts to a dance floor, gold-plated fixtures, two helicopter decks and numerous satellite domes, the report said.

"Scheherazade" is the title of a symphonic work by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and each of the last two summers the yacht has sailed to Sochi, the Times said of the Russian city where Putin is rumored to own a personal "palace."

"Everybody calls it Putin’s yacht," one local, retired clerk Ernesto Rossi, told the Times. "It’s a rumor that’s been going around for months."
It's Putin's, though the paperwork owner is one of his pet oligarchs.

The lies, affairs and greed that made Putin the ’world’s richest man’
Now second richest. Elon Musk recently surpassed Putin and Putin's portfolio has taken a sudden dive.
[NYPost] Putin officially draws a salary of between $115,000 and $225,000 a year as Russia’s head of state. But, in reality, he has amassed incalculable wealth, ranging from $100 billion to $200 billion, making him one of the world’s richest leaders and possibly wealthier than Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates or Elon Musk. Bill Brody, an American financier who ran one of the biggest investment firms in Russia from 1996 to 2005, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2017 that Putin had "accumulated $200 billion of ill-gotten gains."

The fortune of the Russian spymaster is stashed away, however, in offshore tax havens, invested in luxury properties inside and outside Russia, and spread out among the accounts of his family members and trusted friends who hold millions and billions of dollars for their boss.

Link

Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

How Putin is using Biden to make Russia great again

2021-12-12

[NY Post] The two-hour video tete-a-tete on Tuesday between President Biden and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has predictably not borne fruit for America. Biden issued stern warnings about sanctions that were widely celebrated in the American press. But Putin was already well aware of these warnings. The session was, in fact, a hollow exercise in showmanship. And Putin stole the show.

Instead of being a moment for projecting US resolve, the meeting was just another step in Biden’s ongoing, unintentional plan to help Putin make Russia great again by allowing the Russian president to reassert his influence over the nations of the former Soviet Union.

The mere act of Putin having a one-on-one meeting with the US president is a win for Moscow’s spymaster, who craves being perceived as a top dog in global geopolitics. It makes Russia seem on a par with the United States, which it certainly is not.

The call was followed by a terrible blunder. Biden granted Moscow the guarantee that the US will not use force to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While using force against Russia is a bad idea with respect to Ukraine, which is not part of NATO or a critical US asset, Biden abandoned a valuable tool, the principle of strategic ambiguity. Biden could have kept Putin off balance and unsure of what we would do. But by stating that force was "not on the table," Biden may have guaranteed that Russia will proceed militarily into Ukraine.

Link

India-Pakistan

New ISI chief: Gen Bajwa showed Imran Khan who is the boss of Pakistan

2021-10-31

[OneIndia] The decision by Pakistain Prime Minister, Imran Khan

...aka The Great Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
to notify Lt. General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum as the next ISI chief is a clear sign that the army continues to be in complete control of the country.

The new spymaster will replace Lt. General Faiz Hameed next month. The notification by the Prime Minister's Office comes after nearly three weeks of a face-off between the military and the government.

On October 6, The Mighty Pak Army chief, General Qamar Bajwa had reshuffled the top military brass and while doing so, he transferred Lt. Gen Hameed to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
as the corps commander. He also appointed the Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
corps commander. Lt. General Anjum as the ISI chief.

However Imran Khan was reluctant to notify the appointment and this had strained the relations with the military. However Khan had to tow the line of the army chief. This has now led to strong speculation that General Bajwa may most likely continue to head the military beyond November 2022. He took over as the army chief on November 29 2016.

While the army chief had made his decision on the new ISI chief, Khan remained reluctant and said that he wanted the due process to be followed. He was trying to suggest that he did not want to replace Lt. General Hameed as the ISI chief. To be sure, General Bajwa had sent a list of names to be appointed as the next ISI chief so that the PM could interview them. However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach...
this was just a way to help Khan save face, but in reality the message was clear and the army wanted only Lt. General Anjum as the next ISI chief.

However on October 26th it became clear that the army had had its way. The PM's office said in a tweet Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI today. The meeting was part of the ongoing consultation process between the Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff about the timing of change of command in ISI and selection of the new DG ISI.

During this process a list of officers was received from ministry of Defence. Prime Minister interviewed all the nominees. A final round of consultation was held between the Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff today, the PM's office also tweeted.

After this detailed consultative process, name of Lt..Gen. Nadeem Anjum was approved as new DG ISI. The designate DG ISI shall assume charge on 20th November, 2021, another tweet read.

Link

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