PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: NOVEMBER 19, 2008

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 003640


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: NOVEMBER 19, 2008

SUMMARY: All newspapers ran as their lead story reports on
"Operation Lionheart" launched by the U.S. military "in coordination
with Pakistani forces to put pressure on insurgents on both sides of
Afghan border." Newspapers also widely covered the Center for
American Progress calling for a "dramatic strategic shift in the
U.S. policy towards Pakistan." The honoring of the deposed Chief
Justice Chaudhry by the New York City Bar Association "in
recognition of his efforts to uphold the rule of law" also received
prominent front page coverage in all newspapers.

Most major English language dailies ran editorials on the
recently-concluded Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting in Abu
Dhabi while the Urdu language dailies chose to comment on the
elections in Indian-held Kashmir. The center-right Urdu daily
"Pakistan" noted that "what could be the credibility of an election
where voters were forced to vote and popular leadership was
detained?" Another liberal Urdu daily, "Express" observed that "it
is very strange that some major powers, especially the U.S., Europe
and human rights NGOs, are always ready to monitor elections in
Pakistan and other developing countries yet all remained silent on
the Indian forces treatment of the Kashmiris on election day." The
centrist English daily, "The News," in its editorial on the Friends
of Pakistan meeting noted that "rather than hoping that the Obama
administration will deliver financial assistance, Pakistan's
managers must devise strategy to conserve and better manage their
own resources." Another English daily, "Dawn," wrote: "Pakistan
will remain dependent on external inflows, which means it must pay
attention to the reasons its friends and allies are so reluctant to
pour money into the country." End Summary

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News Stories
--------------


1. "U.S. Commander Says Pakistan Backed Raid" "Dawn" (11/19)

"The U.S. military has launched a coordinated operation with
Pakistani forces to put pressure on insurgents on both sides of
Afghanistan's wild eastern frontier, a U.S. military commander said
on Tuesday. Dubbed "Operation Lionheart," the operation takes
cooperation between U.S., Afghan and Pakistani forces to "the next
level" in terms of intelligence sharing and coordination, said
Colonel John Spiszer."


2. "Obama Urged To Build Partnership with Pakistan" "Dawn" (11/19)

"The incoming Obama administration has been advised to bring a
"dramatic strategic shift" in U.S. policy towards Pakistan, moving
away from knee-jerk reactions to security threats to building a
'partnership for progress' with the South Asian nation. The new
approach, proposed by a think-tank headed by Barack Obama's chief
adviser, also seeks greater U.S. involvement in resolving regional
disputes."


3. "NY Bar Confers Its Highest Honor on Deposed CJP ""The Post"
(11/19)

"One of the world's largest bar associations has conferred its
honorary membership on Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary the deposed chief
justice of the Supreme Court, at a solemn ceremony in the United
States."


4. "Pak for End to Predators' Attacks" "The Nation" (11/19)

"The U.S. repudiation to transfer predator aircraft technology to
Pakistan has driven the PPP-led coalition government to take steps
in balancing out the role of the Tripartite Commission to bring an
end to the predators' attacks in Pakistan's territory.
Well-informed sources told "The Nation" on Tuesday that the
government was striving to seek remedial measures through Tripartite
Commission that includes ISAF, Pakistan and Afghanistan to help stop
predators attacks in Pakistani territory."


5. "ISAF, ISPR Come Up With Differing Versions" "Dawn" (11/19)

"International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Pakistan's
military have come up with differing versions of an incident which
took place on Sunday following an attack on ISAF post by insurgents.
A day after a press statement was issued by ISAF, a spokesman of
Pakistan's military said the ISAF had engaged the fleeing militants

on the Afghan side of the border and informed a Pakistani post on
the Pakistan-Afghan border."


6. "Three Kidnapped Tribal Elders Escape" "Dawn" (11/19)

"Three tribal elders, who had been kidnapped on Monday, escaped from
a militants' hideout in Damadola on Tuesday."


7. "15 Militants, Soldier Killed In Swat" "The News" (11/19)

"Fifteen militants were killed and several others sustained injuries
in the ongoing military operation in the restive Swat Valley on
Tuesday. Gunship helicopters shelled alleged hideouts of militants
in Akhund and Zora Kellay in Kabal Tehsil, leaving seven militants
dead and several others, including civilians, injured."


8. "NWFP Govt asks Taliban to lay down arms for talks" "Daily Times"
(11/19)

"The NWFP government on Tuesday set lying down of weapons as the
foremost condition for peace talks with the Swat-based Taliban,
official sources told Daily Times. The condition was presented
before members of a Kanjoo Peace Jirga, who met members of the NWFP
Assembly from Swat district at the Frontier House to discuss a
possible truce in the valley."


9. "Taliban Leadership Divided Over Attacks Inside Pakistan" "The
News" (11/19)

"Differences in the leadership of the Taliban militants operating in
the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the NWFP have
deepened, one of the commanders of local Taliban told The News on
Tuesday. "There are many reasons of differences in the Taliban
leadership," said the commander, who wished not to be identified.
"The most serious difference between the Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi
Nazir groups of local Taliban is over suicide bombings in Pakistan,"
he added."


10. "Five Militants Killed In Shabqadar" "The News" (11/19)

"Five militants were killed, while nine persons, including five
militants, sustained injuries during a gun battle in Mian Kellay of
Shabqadar Tehsil on Tuesday."


11. "Attacks Halt WFP Wheat Supply to Afghanistan" "The News"
(11/19)

"The World Food Program (WFP) has suspended the supply of wheat to
Afghanistan due to security situation and looting of trucks carrying
food items to the war torn country. Two ships anchored at the
Karachi port are in the process of unloading about 50,000 tons of
wheat. Two to three thousand tons of wheat reaches Afghanistan
through Pakistan by trucks daily through Khyber agency in the NWFP
and Chaman in Balochistan."


12. "Varsity student among would be suicide bomber?" "The News"
(11/19)

"One in three would be suicide bomber tasked to hit their targets in
Peshawar is believed to be a final year student at University of
Peshawar, a senior police official disclosed to 'The News' that they
had received a tip from intelligence agencies that three suicide
bomber are tasked to hit their targets especially police
establishment in the provincial capital. Two of them are said to be
from Mohmmand agency while the third one hails from Karachi."


13. "COAS Leaves For Brussels" "The Post" (11/19)

"Chief of Army Staff (COAS),General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, and
Tuesday left for Brussels on a three-day official visit. General
Kayani would participate in the meeting of Chiefs of Defense (CHODs)
for discussion on prevailing security situation in the region"


14. "Iran seeks changes in IPI pipeline pact" "The Post" (11/19)

"In a new twist to negotiations on the much-delayed
Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline project, Tehran wants legal
immunity in case of armed conflict disrupting natural gas supplies
through the proposed line."


15. "IHC Disposes Of Plea for Taking Aafia Case to ICJ" "Daily
Times" (11/19)

"The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday disposed of a writ
petition seeking its direction to the government to take the issue
of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's detention by the U.S. authorities to the
International Court of Justice (ICJ). A single member bench of the
IHC, consisting of Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam, in its short
order observed that a case for the repatriation of Dr. Aafia was
already pending before the court so there was no need to file a
fresh petition on the same issue."

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Editorials/Op-eds
--------------


16. "Election Farce in Occupied Kashmir" an editorial in the
center-right Urdu daily "Pakistan" (cir. 10,000) (11/19)

"The election farce was reenacted in the Indian-held Kashmir once
again with the entire valley appeared to be under curfew. Majority
of the people kept a distance from the drama. What could be the
credibility of an election where voters were forced to vote and
popular leadership was detained? India should recognize that
Kashmiris want freedom instead of elections."


17. "Failure of Election Farce in Occupied Kashmir" an editorial in
the liberal Urdu daily "Express" (cir. 25,000) (11/19)

"The first phase of the Indian government's election farce in the
Occupied Kashmir has failed as the Kashmiris rejected the polls. It
is very strange that some major powers, especially the U.S., Europe
and human rights NGOs which always remain vigilant to monitor
elections in Pakistan and other developing countries, remained
silent on the Indian forces' treatment of the Kashmiris on Election
Day."


18. "Another Farce Election In Indian-Held Kashmir," an editorial in
the Karachi-based, pro Taliban Jihadi Urdu daily "Islam" (cir.
15,000) (11/19)

"India wants to send a message to the international community
through the sham elections in the Indian-held Kashmir that it has
granted all democratic rights to the Kashmiri people, and that
situation in the troubled-state has come to normalcy. India is also
seeking to normalize ties with Pakistan through boosting bilateral
trade and commerce. Now it is Pakistan's job to thwart the
nefarious Indian designs on Kashmir, and support the freedom
movement there and force India to resolve this issue without delay."



19. "Friendly Advice," an editorial in the centrist national English
daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (11/19)

"... Given the humiliating situation we face now, Pakistan's
priorities must be to put its own house in order, so that it can
extract maximum benefit from the attempts that will be made by
members of the Friends forum to encourage investment within it.
Rather than hoping that the Obama administration will deliver
financial assistance, Pakistan's managers must devise strategy to
conserve and better manage their own resources...."


20. "Not So Friendly," an editorial in the Karachi-based center-left
independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000) (11/19)

"Expectations were low before the Friends of Democratic Pakistan
Group met in Abu Dhabi and the meeting has done nothing to raise
them. Pakistan will remain dependent on external inflows, which
means it must pay attention to the reasons its friends and allies
are so reluctant to pour money into the country."


21. "Friends in Need," "an editorial in the Lahore-based liberal
English daily "The Post" (cir. 5,000) (11/19)

"The lukewarm fashion with which the group of countries, dubbed as
Friends of Pakistan, took up the cause of providing economic shelter
to Islamabad at its much awaited first meeting in Abu Dhabi on
Monday, must have taken much wind out of the hype created by the PPP
government about a comprehensive package of financial assistance to
be delivered to us promptly, and which would bring an immediate

relief to people braving horrible inflationary conditions. The cool
manner in which the meeting was held amply explains our almost
crumpled foreign policy and lack of confidence in the new faces in
power which seem to have put the country low on priority even by
what are considered as our closest friends who, strangely insisted
Islamabad to first bow down to IMF's harsh conditions before looking
at them for financial assistance...."


22. "Disappointing Friends of Pakistan," an editorial in the
Islamabad-based rightist English daily "Pakistan Observer" (cir.
5,000) (11/19)

"The much-awaited and much-talked-about first formal meeting of the
newly created forum of "Friends of Pakistan", held in Abu Dhabi, has
turned out to be an utter disappointment. Pakistani officials, who
attended the meeting are trying to convey an impression that it was
highly successful, from their point of view, but the fact remains
that the meeting proved to be a non-event, as it produced nothing
tangible for the country except vague expressions of support in four
critical areas of development, security, energy and institution
building."


23. "Critical to U.S. Security?," an editorial in the center-right
national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (11/19)

"While American President-elect Barack Obama's statement, that he
would order a quick drawdown of troops from Iraq as soon as he
formally occupies the White House on January 20, makes good sense,
his view that Osama bin Laden is "critical" to U.S. security is open
to question, to say the least. Mr. Bin Laden, if still alive, is, as
any strategist would have realized by now, barely a titular head of
Al-Qaeda and his removal from the scene would hardly make a
difference. Not only that, Al-Qaeda has become more or less a
mythical concept, with so many disparate militant outfits, led by
their own commanders, carrying out its mission whose immediate focus
is the vacation of Muslim lands by foreign forces. They are all
conveniently termed as Al-Qaeda or, in the case of Afghanistan, the
Taliban. That also puts into question the second part of Mr. Obama's
plan of combating terrorism, injecting more troops into the Afghan
arena."


24. "Obama, Usama and America's Moral Identity" an editorial in the
Lahore-based populist center-right Urdu daily "Khabrain" (cir.
50,000) (11/19)

"The current global economic crisis started from the U.S. and spread
throughout the world. The possibility of Al Qaeda attacks would be
minimized if upon assuming power, Mr. Obama works on his first
priority - improving the economy and thus ending the global crisis -
rather than withdrawing troops from Iraq and sending them to
Afghanistan. Therefore if Mr. Obama actually wants to revive
America's moral identity, he needs to pay attention to improving the
economy and give up such activities [as increasing troops in
Afghanistan and vowing to crush Usama bin Laden]."


25. "Vow to Crush Al Qaeda: Obama Walks in Bush Footsteps," an
editorial in the second-largest, center-right nationalist Urdu daily
"Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 125,000) (11/19)

"President-elect Barack Obama's post election statements hinted at
worldwide peace being his priority. However, his reiteration to
crush Al Qaeda surprised those who hoped to see the world turning
into a cradle of peace after his election as the President. His
announcements for the closure of Guantanamo Bay torture camp and
withdrawal of American troops from Iraq are good, but sticking with
Bush policy on Afghanistan is a cause of concern for the world,
especially Pakistan."


26. "How to End the Conflict in FATA," " an op-ed by Dr. A.Q. Khan
in the centrist national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000)
(11/19)

"... Whatever action the government has taken so far in the tribal
areas has proved counter-productive. It has sown the seeds of hatred
and could very well lead to the country's disintegration. Creating
division between tribes by bribing some corrupt leaders is
tantamount to following a foreign agenda...."


27. "An Open Letter to Obama," an op-ed by Irfan Asghar in the
center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000)

(11/19)

"... The U.S. accuses Pakistan of terrorism and fundamentalism but
Mr. President, it was your country that fed the fires of Islamic
fundamentalism to defeat the Communism. If you really want to take
on terrorism, you will have to eschew the policies of political and
economic exploitation of the Muslim societies because this
exploitation gives rise to deprivations which, in turn, fan the
flames of hatred against your country and make the people
trigger-happy. You will have to stop the support of corrupt,
authoritarian and unpopular regimes in Muslim societies which your
country is doing at the expense of the populace and pull out your
forces out of the Muslim lands which the U.S. has entered to occupy
their resources."


28. "Karzai's Offer to the Taliban," an editorial in the country's
premier business newspaper, "Business Recorder" (cir. 25,000)
(11/19)

"... Now that the Democrats have won the American presidency, there
is the widely held belief that despite President-elect Obama's
campaign pledges to beef up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan,
his administration would like to revisit President Bush's Afghan
policy. Consequently, the new administration is likely to come
under increasing pressure with a thrust on exploring the chances of
a political solution to the conflict.... Whatever the motive behind
Karzai's offer of peace talks to Mullah Omar, taking it on its face
value it should be welcomed...."


29. "Radicalization of Youth in Pakistan," An Editorial in the
Lahore-Based Liberal English Language Daily "Daily Times" (Cir.
10,000) (11/19)

"The fact is that Muslim youth is radicalized by religion all over
the Islamic world. And poverty and inequality of opportunity are not
specific to Pakistan. Interestingly, though, most of the diagnoses
offered for this by Muslims call it "reactive" and blame the U.S.
for triggering it. Radicalism in the West sought a forward movement
of society at greater speed than society could realistically absorb.
But radicalism in the Islamic world seeks a movement back into the
pure sharia of the classical period of Islam at a speed that
threatens to cut Muslim society off from the modern world and
actually causes it to become hostile to it. Blaming the U.S. brings
to mind American action in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan where people
stricken by "collateral damage" are daily radicalized by the passion
for revenge..."


30. "Recovery of Abducted Diplomats - a Challenge," an editorial in
the Peshawar-based Urdu-language daily "Mashriq" (cir. 55,000)
(11/19)

"The ongoing military operation in Shabqadar (a suburb of Peshawar)
is an indication of the onset of militants at the door of the
provincial capital. Likewise the reports of possibility of shutting
down of foreign missions including U.S., Iranian, and Afghan
consulates in Peshawar are also alarming. It is not as much as
necessary to term the abductions of the foreign diplomats as a plot
to vilify Pakistan; in fact the Government will have to deal with
this situation to recover the abducted foreign envoys and to secure
the foreign facilities in the province to dispel sense of insecurity
in NWFP."


Patterson