We are in a very, very serious hour. The sun is setting on this world, and as we approach the darkness of the hour, we have to be much more prayerful and much more mindful of what we think, what we say, and what we do.
সোমবার, ২৯ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১৪
শনিবার, ৩ জুলাই, ২০১০
Obama immigration speech more of the same
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-07-02/obama-immigration-speech-same.html
Published 02 July, 2010, 03:46
Edited 02 July, 2010, 17:30
The US immigration system is broken, that everyone can agree on. US President Barack Obama spoke on the issue today from American University in Washington, DC.
Obama’s speech showed that immigration is still on his radar and you have to give credit to Obama for taking the time to reignite the discussion on immigration, argued Juan Jose Gutierrez, the director of Vamos Unidos USA.However, while Gutierrez is glad the issue is gaining much needed attention, he was disappointed in what he heard.
“Today he didn’t say how we get from where we are today to, which his essential point zero, there is not yet a package on immigration reform on the Senate side,” said Gutierrez
Gutierrez argued that Obama said nothing new; he merely reiterated the same old promises he made in the past that he has yet to act on. Obama previously promised during his campaign to address immigration reform during his first year as president, he failed to do so.
While some US Senators had been working towards an immigration reform package, there has been little change or movement on the issue.
Gutierrez recognizes that Obama has achieved progress on a number of other important projects, including the Iraq and Afghan wars, healthcare, energy reform, unemployment and the economic crisis.
“We are keenly aware that he’s been dealing with a very very challenging situation; however he did dedicate half an hour to an issue that for all intents and purposes we dead or almost dead and so to his credit this issue is back on the radar, more to the point it’s back on the table. Now the question is how are we going to move forward from here?" said Gutierrez.
Gutierrez is concerned that Obama’s speech was merely a call to arms to those who already support immigration reform, pushing to inject enthusiasm in those seeking reform to pressure congress. He also expressed concern over Obama’s direct blame of Republicans for hindering immigration reform efforts.
Gutierrez however was glad to hear Obama speak favorably of the DREAM Act, which would allow immigrant children to seek citizenship through education and military service.
“We are asking for just humane immigration reform; let’s legalize the millions of hard working men and women that add so much to the wealth and well being of this country. It’s the fair thing to do in a country of immigrants and we are still waiting, but we will not be held back,” said Gutierrez.
Courtesy : RT Russian English TV Channel
সোমবার, ১৪ জুন, ২০১০
Document - Bangladesh: Transparency needed over hasty executions and safety of family members must be ensured
Document - Bangladesh: Transparency needed over hasty executions and safety of family members must be ensured
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
1 February 2010
AI Index: ASA 13/003/2010
Bangladesh: Transparency needed over hasty executions and safety of family members must be ensured
Amnesty International condemns last week’s execution in Bangladesh of five men found guilty of killing the country’s founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Six other men sentenced to death in their absence in the same case are living outside Bangladesh, and the government is seeking their extradition. The execution of these five men will make their extradition highly unlikely. There is a high risk that they, too, might be executed.
Family members of the convicts also live in fear of being attacked by political activists of the ruling Awami League party. According to a United News of Bangladesh (UNB) report, Awami League activists led by a local Awami League leader attacked the house of Aziz Pasha, one of 12 men sentenced to death for killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, in Tetra village in Harirampur Upazila in Manikganj on 31 January. Witnesses have told UNB reporters that the attackers looted the valuables and set the house on fire. Aziz Pasha who was sentenced in his absence reportedly died outside Bangladesh but his brother lives in his house. Amnesty International calls on the Government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to establish an impartial and independent investigation into this attack. The government should publicly condemn any such attacks and bring anyone involved to justice,
The five who were executed on 28 January were found guilty of the murder by the Supreme Court on 27 January and according to media reports in Bangladesh they were executed shortly after midnight on 28 January 2010, less than twenty four hours after their conviction.
Amnesty International opposes the execution of these five men, which should never have taken place. The haste in which they were carried out raises serious questions about the timing and procedures for these executions. Amnesty International calls on the government of Bangladesh to ensure transparency about its handling of this case.
In Bangladesh it is standard practice for mercy petitions calling for the commutation of death sentences to be considered by the President after all judicial remedies have been exhausted.
However, the President dismissed the mercy petitions of three of the men, before the Supreme Court’s final review of their sentences.
The mercy petition of one of the condemned men was considered after the Supreme Court’s final decision was announced on 27 January, but it was dismissed within hours of it being sent to the President. Lawyers for the man say the speed with which a decision was given for a mercy petition is unprecedented in a death penalty case in the history of Bangladesh.
The fifth man did not submit a mercy petition to the President.
The Supreme Court upheld the death sentences against the five men on 27 January. No other judicial remedy was available to the five former army officers convicted of carrying out the killing. Their lawyers say the men’s execution so close to the final judicial review of their sentences is unprecedented in Bangladesh.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were killed when a group of military officers entered his house and opened fire on them in an attempted coup on August 15th
1975.
Acting President Kondaker Mushtaq Ahmed, who took office following the death of Sheik Mujobur Rahman as well as his successor, President Ziaur Rahman, had granted the accused officers immunity from prosecution. The immunity was lifted by Sheikh Hasina when she became Prime Minister in 1996.
The killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members were grave human rights abuses, and those who committed them should be brought to justice. However, bringing people to justice must not in itself violate the human rights of the accused.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner.The death penalty violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org
Bangladesh: Junior Partner in the U.S. “War on Terror”?
by Brian Palmer
May 28, 2010
I spent part of January and most of February in Dhaka developing a powerful addiction to the ubiquitous cha, strong tea with a dollop of condensed milk. The rest of the time I was plodding from appointment to appointment with Bangladeshi analysts and a handful of Americans to discuss U.S.-Bangladesh relations, perpetually astounded (and usually enraged) by the glacial and messy flow of vehicles and people.
I had previously visited Bangladesh in 2002 and 2008, and had made friends in Dhaka’s community of photographers and journalists. One of them suggested I look into the increasingly heavy foot traffic of U.S. officials, principally military folk, from Washington to Dhaka. A consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, particularly our habit of military intervention in far-flung places, she suspected that Washington was grooming the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to be a full-fledged, albeit junior, partner in the global war on terror – or whatever President Barack Obama calls his extension of Bush-Cheney hard-power initiatives.
After trolling the Internet and ringing up U.S.-based South Asia analysts and officers at the State Department and U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), I had the distinct impression that Bangladesh was indeed getting more attention from the U.S. military than the usual port calls and disaster relief consultations.
Bangladesh and the U.S. have had reasonably strong ties for years, but the relationship had been a low priority for us – until September 11th, after which Washington asked for, and Dhaka granted, use of its airspace, ports, and refueling facilities for military operations in Afghanistan.
Bangladesh area map, from the CIA World Factbook. Click to Enlarge.
In the years following 9/11, the Bush administration voiced concern that Bangladesh might become a base for wandering militants, even al Qaeda, because of its proximity to Pakistan as well as its porous borders with India, abysmal governance, and corrupt – and scandalously underfunded – law enforcement agencies. The government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia denied that the threat was as serious as Washington made it out to be, an understandable response from a leader who courted – and later allied with – extremist parties such as Jamaat-i-Islami (Bangladesh). That said, many in both capitals worried that the robust trade in illegal weapons around the southeastern port of Cox’s Bazar, still a problem, might fuel homegrown militancy.
The Bush administration expanded ties with two previous regimes – the first one elected, the other installed by the military – and the Obama administration has recently given strong backing to the current elected and secular government of Sheikh Hasina.
Admiral Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command dropped by in November 2007 to discuss disaster relief assistance after
Cyclone Sidr devastated the country’s southern coast. In October 2008, the Oregon National Guard formed a partnership with the Bangladeshi military to boost airport and maritime port security as part of a global U.S. State Department–National Guard Bureau initiative. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense James Clad visited the following month “to discuss a range of bilateral and multilateral security issues as well as future opportunities for cooperation between U.S. and Bangladesh armed forces,” according to an embassy press release. Several other U.S. officials passed through that year, but the visits really started picking up in 2009. In February, a three-star general from U.S. Special Operations Command and a one-star from PACOM visited Dhaka. Nine months later, the commanding general of U.S. Army–Pacific, the commander of the Seventh Fleet, PACOM’s director of strategic planning, and the commanding general of U.S. Special Operations Command–Pacific stopped by, presumably to do more than just say hi.
Just this past March, the Navy’s Fleet Survey Team charted the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong, Bangladesh’s major port. China is nudging its way in Chittagong as well – in 2008 it helped Dhaka set up a missile launch pad near the port city.
More tip-of-the-spear-type activities have been added to the existing U.S.-Bangladesh training agenda of peacekeeping, civic actions, and humanitarian relief. The first “Tiger Shark,” part of the classified Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) program, was conducted last November. U.S. Navy special operators trained with sailors from the Bangladeshi Navy Special Warfare and Diving Salvage, which according to U.S. Ambassador James F. Moriarty, “is well on its way to becoming Bangladesh’s premier maritime counterterrorism unit.” Tiger Shark 2 kicked off in April 2010. Two more Tiger Sharks are scheduled for later in the year.
And if you follow the money, a pattern emerges. In fiscal year 2009, the U.S. provided a meager $590,000 to Bangladesh in military financing. State asked for $2.5 million for 2010. In 2009, the U.S. gave Dhaka $3 million in Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, and Demining funding. The 2010 estimate is $4.2 million. Total U.S. funding provided to Bangladesh in 2009, which includes the above plus money for everything else – child survival, good governance, economic support, etc. – was just shy of $117 million. The 2010 estimate is $168.5 million. These amounts are small, but they add up in a country with a per capita income of $621.
There was a near-consensus across the political spectrum among Bangladeshi analysts I spoke with about the country’s pressing, and in many cases dire, strategic concerns: poor and corrupt governance and a sclerotic political system; deep, widespread poverty; poor market access for its main export, garments; rising sea levels caused by global warming; access to water from rivers that flow through India, and which Delhi has plans to dam; and India, India, India, the regional colossus. Most believe that the U.S. can and should play a role in helping Bangladesh address these problems – provided they do so in democratic and transparent ways that take into account local needs and sensibilities.
There was, however, tremendous disagreement over the threat of Islamic militancy and terrorism. “Bangladesh is unfortunately the battleground in a proxy war between India and Pakistan,” says Ali Riaz, a South Asia analyst at Illinois State University. In August 2005, 500 simultaneous small bombs were detonated in 63 of the country’s 64 districts. Three people – and some estimates say as many as 30 – were killed and many more injured. Members of the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, an Islamist extremist organization banned by the government in 2006, were convicted of the bombing and hanged.
Prior to 2005, there had been no suicide bombings in Bangladesh. In November and December of that year, there were multiple suicide bombings in Gazipur, Chittagong, and Netrokona, executed by Islamist militants. More than four years later, violent extremist groups – both far right and far left – are still active.
“Islamic militancy is not the number one problem. Maybe fifth or sixth,” a journalist who covers the terrorism beat for a major Bangladeshi newspaper told me.
“It is a problem created by the United States,” I was told by prominent left intellectual and NGO head Farhad Mazhar. He recalls the Bush administration’s friendship with the coalition government of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which fought with the West Pakistanis in the genocidal 1971 war of independence that grew out of the electoral victory of a popular politician in what was then East Pakistan and is now Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his Awami League, the current ruling party, won all but two seats in Pakistan’s National Assembly, tilting the national balance of power away from the formerly dominant West. Military dictator General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, whose power base was West Pakistan, predominantly Punjabi, prevented the assembly from meeting and arrested Sheikh Mujib, as he was – and is – known. East Pakistanis, largely Bengali, hit the streets in protest. So Yahya sent in the Pakistani Army to slaughter them. They killed between one and three million people. Millions of refugees from East Pakistan streamed across the border into India. (Remember the Concert for Bangladesh?)
Publicly, Washington condemned Yahya’s moves. Secretly, the Nixon administration backed the general and provided fighter jets via Jordan, 18,000 rounds of ammunition, and other lethal hardware.
India also provided safe haven for the East Pakistani resistance movement and backed it with troops and materiel, beginning a paternalistic relationship in which Bangladesh now chafes.
Most of the analysts I spoke to see Pakistan’s influence over Bangladesh as nominal, though all are concerned about Pakistan’s
Bangladesh map, from the CIA World Factbook. Click to enlarge.
instability.
Mazhar and others believe the U.S. has subcontracted out its entire South Asia policy to India. “Essentially, what Bangladeshis are afraid of is that India is using the USA to turn Bangladesh into its backfield” in its fight against leftist militants on India’s northeastern border.
For their part, U.S. officials say American policy is balanced between military and counterterrorism initiatives and governance, aid, and trade programs. The U.S. is “overwhelmingly focused on a positive agenda,” a senior Western diplomat told me, “not looking for a terrorist behind every tree,” citing robust trade, cooperation on disaster response, aquaculture, and capacity building, among others.
Many Bangladeshi analysts, and not just lefties, disagree. The American strategic posture, says retired Brig. Gen. Shahedul Anam Khan of the Bangladeshi Army, “is predicated mainly on fighting terrorism, and terrorism has become the be-all of American foreign policy. So whatever issue one talks about, the issue of terrorism creeps in automatically.” That said, Anam, now defense and strategic affairs editor for the country’s largest English-language newspaper, The Daily Star, advocates Bangladeshi-U.S. cooperation in counterterrorism efforts. Most on the left, however, feel that Washington’s preoccupation with counterterrorism will militarize the bilateral agenda and strengthen the Bangladeshi military at the expense of civil institutions.
Whether left or right, all of the Bangladeshi analysts I spoke with say there is a role for the U.S. to play in some areas. Those closer to the right see cooperation, along with a healthy and equitable relationship with India, as Bangladesh’s best hope for prosperity and security.
“I’ve been a strong advocate for the need for Bangladesh to work closely with India, to work closely with the United States, with a whole range of partners, in terms of capacity building, in terms of training, in terms of generally gearing ourselves up to dealing with this [terrorism] threat,” says Farooq Sobhan, head of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute and a ex-diplomat with a muscular résumé – former Foreign Secretary, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, and Ambassador to China.
Those on left, however, are dubious about the U.S.’s ability to cooperate rather than dominate as they believe it has by supporting a series of corrupt governments and a fat and happy elite. “By nature, Bangladeshi people are soft, very amenable, reasonable too,” Nurul Kabir, editor of a left-of-center English-language newspaper, told me. “But when it comes to national dignity, some people of the upper class will compromise. The rest of the people, not.”
Copyright © 2010 by Brian Palmer
মঙ্গলবার, ৪ মে, ২০১০
KSM + military tribunal = 9/11 cover-up?
http://rt.com/Politics/2010-04-15/ksm-military-tribunal-911.html
KSM + military tribunal = 9/11 cover-up?
Published 15 April, 2010, 18:32
Edited 19 April, 2010, 18:49
US Republicans, in an effort to avoid a public civilian trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind, are turning up the heat on Attorney General Eric Holder. Why?
First, for those who need a primer on their “War on Terror” ancient history, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is “the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks,” according to the 9/11 Commission Report sanctioned by the Bush administration.
Mohammed, accused of orchestrating a number of high-profile attacks, including the grisly decapitation murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, was charged in February 2008 with war crimes by a US military tribunal and will be summarily executed if found guilty. But there is just one problem with all of this: not even the CIA is unanimous in the belief that KSM is their man.
Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer assigned to the Middle East, and the author of “See No Evil”, told Time magazine back in 2007 that “the Administration [of George W. Bush] is trying to blame KSM for Al-Qaeda terrorism, leading us to believe we've caught the master terrorist and that Al-Qaeda, and especially the ever-elusive bin Laden, is no longer a threat to the US.”
Baer went on to say that “there is a major flaw in that marketing strategy.”
“On the face of it, KSM – as he is known inside the government – comes across as boasting, at times mentally unstable. It's also clear he is making things up. I'm told by people involved in the investigation that KSM was present during Wall Street Journal correspondent Danny Pearl's execution but was in fact not the person who killed him,” Baer writes.
The former CIA officer concludes his article by saying: “Until we hear more, the mystery of who KSM is and what he was responsible for is still a mystery.”
Well, the public has not heard more, except what has been leaked out of various CIA “black sites” and Guantanamo Bay in the form of confessions obtained via torture, which is perhaps the worst way to get reliable information.
Considering that KSM was reportedly “water-boarded” by his captors no less than 183 times in March 2003 alone makes any sort of confession taken in such a manner highly suspect [Water-boarding is a novel torture technique in which a detainee is bound and immersed in water with a cloth over his head, which gives the terrifying sensation of drowning].
Despite all this, the US Republicans are experiencing a group conniption fit at the thought of holding a public trial for KSM in Manhattan, New York, the site of the deadliest crime scene in US history.
First, let us step back and attempt to look at this somewhat rationally: Yes, KSM is being charged for the mother of all terror acts, and he certainly kept some bad company, but he is not the first terrorist to set foot on American soil for a trial without the sky falling.
The White House press secretary Bill Burton, making reference to Richard “Shoe-bomber” Reid, said it best back in January, around the time that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was going wobbly in the knees over having to host such a dirty trial on his clean streets.
“Let me start by saying that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a murderous thug who has admitted to some of the most heinous crimes ever committed against our country,” Burton said. “The president is committed to seeing that he is brought to justice. He agrees with the attorney general's opinion in November that he and others can be litigated successfully and securing in the United States of America, just like others have – like Richard Reid. Currently our federal jails hold hundreds of convicted terrorists and the president's opinion has not changed on that.”
What’s really bothering Cheney and the Republicans?
It would be very difficult to name a former vice president who has spent more of his “retirement” lashing out at the new White House administration than Dick Cheney. Indeed, he seems to get more airtime than the current Vice President, Joe Biden. And the main reason for his ubiquitous presence is to play spokesperson for the War on Terror, together with the Bush toolbox for “dealing with terrorists.”
In just one of many outbursts since leaving office, Cheney had these words for the Obama administration following the failed Christmas day bombing attack of last year.
“As I’ve watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war,” the former vice president said. “He seems to think if he has a low key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people we won’t be at war.”
Cheney then cited the administration’s decision to try the five alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in a civilian rather than a military court, and to close the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, two things he is fiercely opposed to.
First, nobody would suggest that terrorism is a subject to take lightly. And it is safe to say that Barack Obama and Joe Biden, especially after eight long years of Bush fear-mongering, will never underestimate the threats that terrorists pose to people everywhere. But how do we explain the Republicans almost obsessive desire to keep the War on Terror detainees locked up forever on Guantanamo Bay, or at best to leave them at the mercy of a partial military court? In other words, shouldn’t Mr. Cheney spend more time on the golf course and let Obama do the job he was elected to do?
But for some reason, the Republicans just can’t relax. And this seems far stranger than President Obama wanting to put KSM on trial in the bright lights of a democratic-style New York City trial, as opposed to yet another medieval military tribunal where the verdict is already chisled in a tombstone. Moreover, a military tribunal for KSM will only fuel the impression that the United States remains trapped in its Bush fear-and-loathing mindset – the exact thing that Obama is desperately trying to avoid.
Finally, a transparent court case for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, which will give the man the chance to finally speak after months of swallowing water, would serve to add some legitimacy to the official version of events of 9/11, which an increasing number of people are beginning to question [presently, 1,177 architects and engineering professionals have signed a petition demanding that Congress open up a truly independent investigation of 9/11].
Yet the Republicans expect the American public to swallow the idea that the United States is unqualified to usher terrorists to a civilian trial on American soil. Think about that: The Bush administration, which was found guilty of whisking terrorists around the globe – and into the neighborhoods of some our most-trusted European allies – in their “extraordinary rendition” program suddenly lacks the organizational skills to host a half dozen, clearly worn-down criminals in a civilian court of law.
What happened to all of the guts and glory that caused the United States to pursue the militants in the first place? Will we get squeamish now that we are holding them as prisoners, albeit in a dark corner of Cuba?
Holder in the hot seat
On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder was on the defensive in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which leveled criticism over the planned shutdown of Gitmo detention center and the question of where the inmates should be sent for trial.
In a political nutshell, the Obama administration is arguing that its policies are more effective in fighting terrorism than those of the Bush administration. Republicans are countering that the Democrats are treating terrorists lightly by “reading them their Miranda rights” and lobbying for them to be tried in civilian, as opposed to military, courts.
The arguments being presented by the Republicans, especially when it is remembered that Richard Reid had his rights read to him by officials of the Bush administration, appear highly tenuous. For the record, Reid is currently serving a life sentence without parole in a super maximum security prison in the United States. Is Reid any more of a threat than KSM, as the Republicans, for whatever reason, want us to believe? No, he is not, but the reason for not wanting to bring him to the US for his trial is completely different.
“We are basically a nation without a viable jail,” argues Senator Lindsey Graham, who is the Republican point man in the bipartisan negotiations. “So, at the end of the day I think the decision to prosecute KSM in a civilian court was a mistake.”
Let’s rewind that comment. America is “a nation without a viable jail.” Is Graham joking? The United States, with a prison population that exceeds two million, housed in some of the most inescapable, impenetrable “super max” complexes the free world has ever devised, is suddenly “a nation without a viable jail”?
Graham continues with his groundless fear-mongering: “So to my colleagues who think that we can close Guantanamo Bay and send them to Afghanistan and the Afghan government becomes the American jailer, I think you are making a serious mistake in the War on Terror. Do you agree with that?”
“I think we have to come up with options,” Holder responded somewhat more sheepishly than the moment demanded. “I think we need to work with Congress to try to develop what those options might be.”
“This is music to my ears because I think we do also,” replied Graham.
It is truly amazing how the Republicans manhandle the Democrats even when they are the minority party.
“Civilian trials for terrorist combatants are not required by law, policy, history, treaty or plain justice,” added Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican from Alabama. “Yet this policy it appears still remains in effect or at least unsettled.”
“No final decision has been made about the forum in which Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and his co-defendants will be tried,” Holder countered. “As I said from the outset, this is a very close call. It should be clear to everyone by now there are many legal, national security and practical factors that have to be considered here.”
Democratic Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin was unsuccessful when he tried to pry an exact date from Holder on when Gitmo would be closed – something that Obama promised would happen in January of last year.
Holder said that depends in part on Congress to provide money to build another facility; an alternative prison complex is currently planned for Illinois.
“We have to have an option, and that will require congressional support [for the new prison],” he said.
Republicans were relentless in their attacks against Holder over concerns he is risking US security by placing some suspects in the federal criminal court system. This begs the question: what party is in power in the United States? Why should the Democrats cave in once again to the Republicans when they are the ones holding a comfortable majority in Congress?
At the very least, the American people desperately need some closure on the events surrounding 9/11, and it will never get it if the trial for KSM is a closed military trial. Why not let the people hear the evidence presented against this man; and let the people hear for themselves his defense. The American people, who suffered the worst from the attacks of 9/11, deserve to hear this testimony, not read about it after-the-fact. Otherwise, we will simply be entertaining a kangaroo court, better qualified for a Third World country, but certainly not for a country that prides itself on its democratic principles.
Do the right thing, President Obama: give the American people – and even Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, terrible as he may be – the court a great democracy deserves: a civilian court.
Courtesy: Russian Television RT
=======
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?read=100966
Terror Mastermind KSM is an Imposter - The Confession is Fake *PIC*
Posted By: ChristopherBollynThe person who is said to be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) clearly does not appear to be the person who masterminded the attacks of 911. It does not appear that he has ever masterminded anything.
He seems to be an imposter, a feeble-minded "fall guy," who has been tortured and whose mind has been manipulated in order to make these incredible claims.
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF AN IMPOSTER
It was reported on March 1, 2003, that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had been captured during a raid on an apartment in Rawalpindi, the sister city of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
"According to the local media, Khalid was seized while in the house of one Ahmed Abdul Qudoos, who, it turns out, is a mentally feeble person - he is also being held in custody as an al-Qaeda member - and as such receives a regular stipend from a United Nations organization," Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad reported in early March 2003.
This was reported in the Pakistani and Indian press, which carried photos of the feeble-minded Ahmed Abdul Qudoos. It is reported at the bottom of the following page with a photo of the arrested feeble-minded Qudoos:
See: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030309/world.htm
Note the heavy-set frame, the nearly closed eyes, and the grey sideburn in front of Qudoos right ear.
This is the caption to the photo of Qudoos: Ahmed Abdul Qadus (centre) is brought to an anti-terrorist court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Saturday. Qadus, an activist of the Jamat-e-Islami, was arrested earlier this month with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the USA. — AP/PTI
Now compare that person's face with that of the alleged terror mastermind, KSM:
http://www.nrc.nl/multimedia/archive/00158/Khalid_Sheikh_Moham_158759a.jpg
Again you will see that the suspect called KSM has the grey sideburns, heavy frame, and lazy eyes of Qudoos. So. The confessed terror mastermind is actually Ahmed Abdul Qadus. The real KSM was killed on September 11, 2002, as was reported in the Pakistani press at the time.
AN IMPOSTER?
The first indication that this is not the real KSM, and that we are talking about two different people is the fact that the person making the confession in the secret military tribunal in Cuba can barely speak English. The real KSM, on the other hand, was educated in the United States and had obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from an American university in 1986.
The really poor English found in the recent confession does not fit with a U.S.-educated engineer.
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/15_03_07_mohammed_transcript.pdf
The real KSM attended Chowan College, a small Baptist school in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, for at least one semester in 1983, according to Sarah Ward, spokesperson for the college.
KSM then transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and completed a degree in mechanical engineering in 1986. This was confirmed by Nettie Rowland of the university office.
The real KSM was a person who had traveled and worked across Asia and had lived in many foreign countries, from the United States to the Philippines to Bosnia. The real KSM would have simply had to have had a much greater command of the English language than what we see in the 26-page transcript of the recent confession.
WAS KSM KILLED IN 2002?
Syed Saleem Shahzad, a senior political correspondent with the Dawn Group of newspapers in Karachi, Pakistan, reported in October 2002 that "Khalid Shaikh Mohammed" had been killed in a raid carried out by the FBI and ISI in Karachi on September 11, 2002.
"Now it has emerged that Kuwaiti national Khalid Shaikh Mohammed did indeed perish in the raid, but his wife and child were taken from the apartment and handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in whose hands they remain," Shahzad reported on 30 October 2002.
.....
On March 6, 2003, Shahzad wrote again about the mystery surrounding whether KSM was alive or dead in an article entitled "Khalid: A test for US credibility."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EC06Df04.html
.......
Is Ahmed Abdul Qudoos being used as the imposter for the dead KSM? Is this all a big deception to use a feeble-minded person as the scapegoat for all of the false flag terror attacks of the past 14 years? If it is, and it certainly appears to be, it is about as low as a government can possibly go.
Unless the person who is claiming to be the terror mastermind of 911 is brought to the United States and put on trial in which all the evidence is presented, there is nothing to convince us that there is any truth in these incredible claims coming from a super-secret tribunal held behind the closed doors of Camp Delta in Quantanamo, Cuba.
9/11 RELATIVES REACT
William Doyle, who lost his son on 9/11, heads a relatives' group called the Coalition of 9/11 Families. Asked about the recent confession to the super-secret military tribunal in Cuba, Doyle said it was "sickening."
"This is a complete new low," Doyle said. "The administration is using him as a fall guy for the continuing cover-up of the U.S. government."
"He should be brought to the United States to face trial," Doyle said. "He is not the only one involved."
"Who financed him?" Doyle asked. Doyle noted that the government has classified 28 pages from the bi-partisan investigation into 9/11 from 2002.
"The administration has information about where he got the money," Doyle said. "Our government knows. Why aren't these people being questioned?"
"At least there was a trial in Germany where all the evidence was presented," he said, referring to the Hamburg trial of terror suspect Mounir el Motassadeq.
Photo from March 2003 with caption: Ahmed Abdul Qadus (centre) is brought to an anti-terrorist court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Saturday. Qadus, an activist of the Jamat-e-Islami, was arrested earlier this month with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the USA. — AP/PTI
Compare this man's face with that of the alleged KSM:
http://www.nrc.nl/multimedia/archive/00158/Khalid_Sheikh_Moham_158759a.jpg
This Ahmed Abdul Qadus is the person who is being presented to the world as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. This is an imposter and the confession is a fraud - and the military and government know it.
বুধবার, ২৫ নভেম্বর, ২০০৯
In law we trust ! -by Sohail Choudhury
...Whatever might be written on books but it’s true that Law is not at all equal for all! ...Some people love to break law. Breaking law is a kind of fun to them. But some cannot afford it as they do not have enough of power.... OR may be breaking law is what powerful people enjoy doing [?]....
Weekly Blitz
VOLUME - 4, ISSUE - 48, DHAKA, NOVEMBER 25, 2009http://www.weeklyblitz.net/
In law we trust!
Sohail Choudhury
Just a few days ago, it was at around 11 PM, I was returning home from downtown in a friend’s/colleague’s bike who is associated with Weekly Blitz. Within Uttara Model Town, we were stopped by the members of ‘Elite Force’ Rapid Action Battalion [RAB]. Members of RAB asked some questions and on being convinced that we are not ‘bad people’; let us go. Appreciable! RAB members are doing ROUTINE PATROL/CHECKS to maintain law and order of the city and let the citizen sleep in peace.
Recently, another person has been arrested in connection to Great Leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman murder case. She is Mehnaz Rashid. Mehnaz is no one other than the daughter of Colonel Rashid Khandaker. A man known to be one of the KEY Players in plotting assassination of the Great Leader and carrying out the operation himself along with others. But, when Mehnaz’s father took part in assassinating great leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Mehnaz was hardly a girl of 3/4 years. So, if she had escaped the country with her ‘killer father’ it wasn’t something she did by choice. But, later colonel Rashid came back to the country and formed a political party named FREEDOM PARTY. Mehnaz not only did join FREEDOM party but contested in parliament election from the party. Whenever Great Leader’s daughter Sheikh Hasina was in power; Colonel Rashid didn’t feel safe to be in the country. He left the country for unknown destination. Some say, he is in Libya under the protection of Colonel Ghaddafi. After assassination of Sheikh Mujibur, Rashid and his family was in Thailand for some time. In the interrogation Mehnaz confessed that Late President Ziaur Rahman was sending money for Rashid’s family in Thailand.
Since arrest of Mehnaz, news media has been catering interesting information not only related to the murder of Sheikh Mujibur, but her personal life.
A man who once used to be the second man of RAB, Brigadier General Fazlul Bari Chowdhury, forced Mehnaz to marry him while Mr. Chowdhury was in job.
Mehnaz Rashid gave birth to a child just a few months ago. The baby was not fathered by General Chowdhury but Mehnaz’s second husband. According to Mehnaz, Brigadier General Chowdhury is a man of very dirty nature. His grubby character compelled Mehnaz to divorce him. Should we believe Mehnaz? Its better not to, because she is the daughter of Colonel Rashid. But, even before Mehnaz was arrested, Chowdhury Bari got into controversy because of his role during the 1/11 [interim] government. Many political figures have hard feelings about General Chowdhury. He is believed to be one of the key-players in causing sufferings to the political leaders during the period of 1/11 government.
Brigadier General Fazlul Bari could face a court martial if he returns home. At this moment, he is in Washington after his leave was rejected and he gave up charge at the embassy. It may be mentioned that Brigadier General Chowdhury was sent to the United States with a diplomatic job as a reward for his contribution during the 1/11 government. Now, he has the support of his in-laws who are American citizens, according to news paper reports.
Fazlul Bari also was the Number two man in the Directorate General of Field Intelligence [DGFI], the military intelligence organization that is known to be used by successive governments for keeping surveillance over political opponents.
The former state minister for Home Affairs during BNP government, Lutfozzzaman Babar was once again interrogated in connection to the Grenade Attack on present Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 21, 2004. In remand, the former minister confessed that he arranged protection of those who carried out the attack under instruction from his superiors and suggestion from his colleagues. Who are the colleagues and who are the superiors? May be soon we shall come to know who are they? So what! Does it really matter that we come to know who they are? Can they be brought to justice? Will they ever be brought to justice? Because, it is presumable that Lutfozzaman’s seniors are not just anyone! It is already proven that some people cannot be held back. They are very dear to people! People love them; love them a lot! Enormous Love of people gave them license to do what ever they feel like.
Although Awami-League, the party in power was very much against of extra judicial killings, especially by the members of RAB during BNP government and the interim government, but now when they are in power, extra-judicial killing hasn’t stopped. Are the members of RAB absolutely out of control? Do they kill whom they kill on their personal will and wish? OR there is some one instructing them? As there is a government in the country, so, it is natural that RAB is no ‘out of control’ force. It means extra-judicial killing was and is needed.
After arrest of Mehnaz Rashid, we learnt that Late President Ziaur Rahman was sending money for the family of colonel Rashid, that time living in Thailand. In other words, he was patronizing a murderer.
People haven’t forgotten killing of General Manzoor! It is widely believed that one Police Officer Golam Quddus alias OC Quddus under instruction from General Ershad killed that General. Many will say that killing Manzoor was a demand of time. And of course, killing of the Great Leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and General Manzoor can not be measured in the same scale. But it was a murder anyway! What we know, after General Ershad assumed power; he hugely rewarded that Police Officer. Now, Mr. Golam Quddus is one of the richest men in the country: Lucky Man!
Whatever might be written on books but it’s true that Law is not at all equal for all! It is a common scene on Dhaka roads that whenever a minister passes in his FLAG CAR, traffic police stops other vehicles and makes a way for the minister to pass which creates worse congestion in Dhaka roads which is already over burdened with the loads of traffic. A few days ago, a law is passed that if any minister even tries to break traffic law, he will be fined with Taka 1000. There is a famous Bengali joke. One man was traveling long distance in train with his personal assistant. As it was a long journey, so the man was getting bored. He asked his personal assistant pointing at the CHAIN what is it? The servant replied, Sir, It is Chain, by pulling of which the train shall stop. Pull it, asked the master. The servant warned that this will cause penalty for the master. The master was adamant, he said PULL! As the servant pulled the chain, train stopped. But Railway guard came and asked ‘who pulled the chain?” The man replied, Sir, I did it! The guard said, pay 50 taka as fine. The gentleman asked his assistant to give away 500 taka to the guard. He wants to keep doing the same fun again and again!
Some people love to break law. Breaking law is a kind of fun to them. But some cannot afford it as they do not have enough of power. If they had power, probably every body would enjoy breaking law. OR may be breaking law is what powerful people enjoy doing [?]
Just thinking hypothetically, If Godzilla was in Dhaka walking along the streets of Dhaka, breaking all buildings with the scratch of his nails, would Police, RAB or any other law enforcing agency try to stop him? I can bet, NO! They are to safeguard law but cannot be stupid to combat such huge power! Only thing they would be praying for is that the Godzilla do not harm them or their families. One might say Godzilla is a beast he is ignorant of Law. Will someone be forgiven because he is ignorant of law? No! That’s no excuse!
O’ yes! A few days back the bike I talked about in the beginning was stolen. It was a Honda Hunk. Robbers broke the Padlock and entered the place where the motor-bike was parked. I along with my friend went to the Police Station early in the morning to lodge an FIR. Just to lodge the FIR they took more than 3 hours. Interestingly, we got the FIR copy not the same day, but the next. Why? We cannot even guess! We knew it is almost impossible to get back the bike. Because, we learnt from the police sources that robbers break down the bike into pieces, it is impossible to identify even for the owner that those small pieces belongs to him. If Police had any intention of attempting to catch the robber, they should have taken an initiative, make a move in no-time! I am not saying Police gave enough of time to the miscreants to digest the bike. So, is there a hidden link between the thugs and the ----------? God knows best!
We know if there was no law, there would be no civilization. But, sometimes some matters that we experience really put us in puzzlement!
রবিবার, ২২ মার্চ, ২০০৯
RULING PARTY COMPLICITY IN BDR MASSACRE
VOLUME - 4, ISSUE -13, DHAKA, Bangladesh Time: 9:08:39 AM (Mon)
Blitz Online update 23 March 2009 on BDR Massacre
EXCERPTS
Rulers turning Bangladesh into a land of panic
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
... There are several indications and even certain degree of evidences that a number of front-ranking politicians, mostly belonging to the ruling party were directly or indirectly involved behind the BDR Carnage. The government is under tremendous pressure from such powerful perpetrators in silently killing the investigation thus bringing out a ‘cooked-up imaginary story’ to the nation and the global community regarding the carnage. As part of such efforts and pressures, important figures in the government are continuing to give senseless statements regarding the bloody massacre. .....
... Dhaka’s front-ranking weekly newspaper, Holiday, raised several questions related to the BDR carnage of February 25-26. It said, “Why did the government not let the army follow its basic military manual and move in soon after the mutiny broke out?
“Who is the beneficiary of this decision? Why did the government allow more than 24 hours to let the rebels flee with arms and ammunitions and the properties they looted from the army officer's quarters? These are tough questions, and they will continue to beg answers for God knows how many light years. But the immediate job of the coordinator is to see that the investigators don't spend too much time on it.
“The fourth and the fifth aim of the coordination is perhaps most interesting. The fourth is to see if the entire incident could be exploited to catch some political rivals with charges of their involvement in the carnage.”
.... Meanwhile, panic generated by the ruling party and its allies in the government has put the very image of Bangladesh into deep crisis. International investments will not only decline for such panic spreading strategy, but many of the investors may even withdraw from this country. There will be severe adverse affect on country’s manpower export sector. Moreover, such propaganda will paint Bangladesh as a country under acute threat crisis from the militants. Do the members in the ruling party at least think about such negative impacts? Or, they are ready to turn Bangladesh into a land, where foreign forces will need to come for ‘combating militancy’? And, the ruling party is in this dangerous game, just for the sake of salvaging their own partymen, who plotted, conspired and collaborated the killers in February. Shame on such unpatriotic people!...
.... Sheikh Hasina’s government, instead of ensuring peace and prosperity for the people, has very successfully turned the country into a land of panic.
Everywhere is a kind of insecurity and panic. The country is under the blanket of unknown risk of terror attack. Extra security measures are already taken within the Presidential Palace, Prime Minister’s office and residence as well as National Parliament House, in fear of Islamist militant attack. Such tension and panic is increasing with the statements of the members of the government as well as some intellectuals and officials.
Newly appointed commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police invited Principals of all the English medium and missionary educational institutions in the Capital to alert them about possible terror attack. Subsequently, members of law enforcement agencies are deployed in most of the educational institutions, thus creating a kind of panic in the minds of the students and guardians.
“This is a terrible situation, where we have to send children to educational institutions under extreme risk”, said a concerned guardian.
Bangladeshis are already passing through very difficult time. Terrific load-shedding, water crisis, economic crisis, increase in various forms of crimes including theft, robbery, hijacking, extortion etc are making lives very complicated. ....
Although people are pushed into increased sufferings, ruling government is continuing its own-styled propaganda to convince the local and international community that, there was hands of Islamist militants behind the February 25-26 Massacre inside Bangladesh Rifles [BDR] headquarters in Dhaka, which killed more than 70 army officers.
... Home Minister, Sahara Khatun categorically told reporters on March 20, 2009 that country’s law and order situation was in the worst ever form.
Faruk Khan is the chief coordinator of the three investigation committees formed to find out facts behind the brutal massacre inside BDR headquarters. It may be mentioned here that, Bangladesh Army, government and Criminal Investigation Department [CID] are conducting separate investigations into the matter. Although Faruk Khan categorically blamed the Islamist militants and saw foreign connection behind the bloody massacre, none of the investigation committees ever endorsed such statement. Even CID, an investigation agency under Ministry of Home Affairs, categorically said that, they were yet to trace any militant connection to this massacre.
Investigators have so far arrested several mutineer BDR soldiers including a city leader of the ruling party for their involvement behind the massacre. Although nothing related to the interrogation of the arrested Awami League leader is reported to the press, some newspapers in Bangladesh are continuing to publish scoop on the investigation quoting ‘anonymous’ sources within intelligence agencies.
There is also serious confusion about the modus of trial of the killers of February 25-26 massacre ....
Agencies quoted the minister, "We have decided to try the mutineers under court martial, as the BDR is commanded and managed by the army regulations," Shafique Ahmed, minister for Law, Justice and parliamentary affairs.
Rejecting the news in local and international media, quoting his own statement, Minister Shafiq Ahmed on March 20, 2009 said, government has not taken any decision on the modus of trial into the BDR Massacre.
He said such decision can only be taken on receipt of the investigation report. Meanwhile, chief coordinator of the investigation teams as well as Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said, investigation into the BDR Massacre issue will take much longer time.
Retired Lt. Col. Faruk Khan is continuing to give his assumptive statements on the possible figures behind the BDR Carnage. Experts opine that the probe committees are still halfway through their investigations into the February carnage. And any individual with minimum element of sanity will agree that the findings must be shrouded in confidentiality until they are finished.
Khan even told reporters that, Islamist militants have penetrated inside Bangladeshi law enforcing and disciplined forces. He repeated his assertion a week later and, to make it juicier from his party's standpoint, said proofs of some civilians with links to JMB had also been found. Most political analysts perceive it as an oblique caveat, an attempt to fudge an honest and truthful investigation, and, if one may, to let the real culprits off the hook. Even his colleagues in the government, as well as the chief investigator, have publicly distanced themselves from Col Faruk's views. Both the LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam and Law Minister Barrister Shafiq Ahmed have said it would be premature to point finger at anyone until the probes are complete. Chief Investigator Abdul Quahhar Akhond said nothing could be assumed on who was or were behind the carnage until the last piece of evidence was examined. In an enquiry like this, implications and ramifications may emerge at the last moment.
There is also question to the need to have any coordinator at all and that too in the person of a highly partisan politician like Faruk Khan. As many as five independent agencies conducted investigation into Mumbai massacre on 27 November 2008. But there was no coordinator, not to speak at all of a political coordinator.
Three agencies worked separately to get to the bottom of the World Trade Center attack issue in New York on 11 September, 2001. But there was no coordinator, not to speak of a political coordinator. Neither was any politician involved in any of those investigations. The tasks were left entirely to the specialists. Why then do you need a coordinator unless the intention is to prejudice the investigation?
Dhaka’s front-ranking weekly newspaper, Holiday, raised several questions related to the BDR carnage of February 25-26. It said, “Why did the government not let the army follow its basic military manual and move in soon after the mutiny broke out?
“Who is the beneficiary of this decision? Why did the government allow more than 24 hours to let the rebels flee with arms and ammunitions and the properties they looted from the army officer's quarters? These are tough questions, and they will continue to beg answers for God knows how many light years. But the immediate job of the coordinator is to see that the investigators don't spend too much time on it.
“The fourth and the fifth aim of the coordination is perhaps most interesting. The fourth is to see if the entire incident could be exploited to catch some political rivals with charges of their involvement in the carnage.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI team, which arrived in Bangladesh to investigate the February Massacre case, said the carnage at BDR headquarters last month was a conspiracy.
The FBI agents made the observation after comparing the BDR incident with mutinies staged by military and paramilitary forces in other countries, said officials of Criminal Investigation Department [CID] after a meeting with the team.
There are several indications and even certain degree of evidences that a number of front-ranking politicians, mostly belonging to the ruling party were directly or indirectly involved behind the BDR Carnage. The government is under tremendous pressure from such powerful perpetrators in silently killing the investigation thus bringing out a ‘cooked-up imaginary story’ to the nation and the global community regarding the carnage. As part of such efforts and pressures, important figures in the government are continuing to give senseless statements regarding the bloody massacre.
Meanwhile, panic generated by the ruling party and its allies in the government has put the very image of Bangladesh into deep crisis. International investments will not only decline for such panic spreading strategy, but many of the investors may even withdraw from this country. There will be severe adverse affect on country’s manpower export sector. Moreover, such propaganda will paint Bangladesh as a country under acute threat crisis from the militants. Do the members in the ruling party at least think about such negative impacts? Or, they are ready to turn Bangladesh into a land, where foreign forces will need to come for ‘combating militancy’? And, the ruling party is in this dangerous game, just for the sake of salvaging their own partymen, who plotted, conspired and collaborated the killers in February. Shame on such unpatriotic people!
Militancy link
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
...Commerce Minister, retired Lieutenant Colonel Faruk Khan told reporters that militants penetrated into country’s border security forces, who were liable for February Massacre that took place at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Riffles [BDR] killing large number of army officers, rape and physical abuse of several people. The minister claimed, Islamist militancy group JMB had hands behind the entire conspiracy centering February Massacre. But, Law Minister, Barrister Shafiq Ahmed rejected the comments of the Commerce Minister saying, “It will not be proper to accuse anybody until a full investigation report is available. On conclusion of the investigation, the names of persons involved will be made public.” ....
Retired Lt. Col. Faruk Khan on Monday reaffirmed his previous comment of militant connection with the February Massacre inside BDR headquarters, who once again claimed that militants have penetrated inside law enforcing and other disciplined forces in the country. .....
It is believed that, recent statements of Bangladeshi ministers on militant penetration in law enforcing agencies as well as disciplined forces may greatly hamper participation of Bangladeshi army and police in the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces [UNPKF]. . .....
Meanwhile, according to an information some vested interest groups are already active cashing the statements of the Bangladeshi minister in creating problems for Bangladeshi Forces in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force.
UN asked to return Bangladeshi forces
Blitz Exclusive
United Nations [UN] has been asked to send back members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and police from the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces [UNPKF].
According to information, one Susan Ramgopalan sent letters to the Secretary General and other officials of United Nations on March 15, 2009 titled ‘Islamist inside UN Peace Keeping Force’, where she referring to the recent statement by Bangladeshi Commerce Minister, Lt. Col. [Retired] Faruk Khan, requested the UN Secretary General to send back all the participating members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police in the UNPKF for possible militancy connections.
In the letter, Susan Ramgopalan said, “It has come to my attention that one of the front ranking leaders in Bangladesh’s ruling party, Awami League, member of the Cabinet and Member of Parliament, Lt. Col. Faruk Khan recently told reporters that Islamist militants like Jamiatul Mujuhidin (JMB) has penetrated into country’s border security forces.
”It is noteworthy that officers of border security forces are deputed from country’s armed forces. Under such authoritative statement from a senior member of the Bangladesh government, it is greatly assumed that there are unknown number of Islamist militants even within the other disciplined forces, including army and police.
”United Nations had been welcoming members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police for quite some time. But, after the latest statement from the government side, the question of security of continuing services of such elements with militancy ties would not only jeopardize the safety and security of the countries of their activities, but it may even give the militancy linked members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police in staging various forms of sabotaging activities in the foreign countries.
”Under such situation, further recruitment of Bangladeshi forces both from army and police should be stopped while an immediate scrutiny should begin to identify the militancy linked members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police inside United Nations Peace Keeping Forces and be immediately expelled from such sensitive task.”
It is also learnt that, anti-Bangladesh quarters are actively trying to press forward the issue of militant connection of Bangladesh Armed Forces, Police and other disciplined forces, with the motive of tarnishing the image of the country. They [vested quarters] get specific prove in favor of their allegation, as the Commerce Minister in Bangladesh has repeatedly told this matter to the media as well as some other ministers are also echoing the same information.
“This is a dangerous trend, which will project Bangladesh as a Taliban state to the international community”, said a counter-terrorism experts commenting on the statement of the commerce minister and other members of the present government.
Blitz Online update 23 March 2009 on BDR Massacre
EXCERPTS
Rulers turning Bangladesh into a land of panic
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
... There are several indications and even certain degree of evidences that a number of front-ranking politicians, mostly belonging to the ruling party were directly or indirectly involved behind the BDR Carnage. The government is under tremendous pressure from such powerful perpetrators in silently killing the investigation thus bringing out a ‘cooked-up imaginary story’ to the nation and the global community regarding the carnage. As part of such efforts and pressures, important figures in the government are continuing to give senseless statements regarding the bloody massacre. .....
... Dhaka’s front-ranking weekly newspaper, Holiday, raised several questions related to the BDR carnage of February 25-26. It said, “Why did the government not let the army follow its basic military manual and move in soon after the mutiny broke out?
“Who is the beneficiary of this decision? Why did the government allow more than 24 hours to let the rebels flee with arms and ammunitions and the properties they looted from the army officer's quarters? These are tough questions, and they will continue to beg answers for God knows how many light years. But the immediate job of the coordinator is to see that the investigators don't spend too much time on it.
“The fourth and the fifth aim of the coordination is perhaps most interesting. The fourth is to see if the entire incident could be exploited to catch some political rivals with charges of their involvement in the carnage.”
.... Meanwhile, panic generated by the ruling party and its allies in the government has put the very image of Bangladesh into deep crisis. International investments will not only decline for such panic spreading strategy, but many of the investors may even withdraw from this country. There will be severe adverse affect on country’s manpower export sector. Moreover, such propaganda will paint Bangladesh as a country under acute threat crisis from the militants. Do the members in the ruling party at least think about such negative impacts? Or, they are ready to turn Bangladesh into a land, where foreign forces will need to come for ‘combating militancy’? And, the ruling party is in this dangerous game, just for the sake of salvaging their own partymen, who plotted, conspired and collaborated the killers in February. Shame on such unpatriotic people!...
.... Sheikh Hasina’s government, instead of ensuring peace and prosperity for the people, has very successfully turned the country into a land of panic.
Everywhere is a kind of insecurity and panic. The country is under the blanket of unknown risk of terror attack. Extra security measures are already taken within the Presidential Palace, Prime Minister’s office and residence as well as National Parliament House, in fear of Islamist militant attack. Such tension and panic is increasing with the statements of the members of the government as well as some intellectuals and officials.
Newly appointed commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police invited Principals of all the English medium and missionary educational institutions in the Capital to alert them about possible terror attack. Subsequently, members of law enforcement agencies are deployed in most of the educational institutions, thus creating a kind of panic in the minds of the students and guardians.
“This is a terrible situation, where we have to send children to educational institutions under extreme risk”, said a concerned guardian.
Bangladeshis are already passing through very difficult time. Terrific load-shedding, water crisis, economic crisis, increase in various forms of crimes including theft, robbery, hijacking, extortion etc are making lives very complicated. ....
Although people are pushed into increased sufferings, ruling government is continuing its own-styled propaganda to convince the local and international community that, there was hands of Islamist militants behind the February 25-26 Massacre inside Bangladesh Rifles [BDR] headquarters in Dhaka, which killed more than 70 army officers.
... Home Minister, Sahara Khatun categorically told reporters on March 20, 2009 that country’s law and order situation was in the worst ever form.
Faruk Khan is the chief coordinator of the three investigation committees formed to find out facts behind the brutal massacre inside BDR headquarters. It may be mentioned here that, Bangladesh Army, government and Criminal Investigation Department [CID] are conducting separate investigations into the matter. Although Faruk Khan categorically blamed the Islamist militants and saw foreign connection behind the bloody massacre, none of the investigation committees ever endorsed such statement. Even CID, an investigation agency under Ministry of Home Affairs, categorically said that, they were yet to trace any militant connection to this massacre.
Investigators have so far arrested several mutineer BDR soldiers including a city leader of the ruling party for their involvement behind the massacre. Although nothing related to the interrogation of the arrested Awami League leader is reported to the press, some newspapers in Bangladesh are continuing to publish scoop on the investigation quoting ‘anonymous’ sources within intelligence agencies.
There is also serious confusion about the modus of trial of the killers of February 25-26 massacre ....
Agencies quoted the minister, "We have decided to try the mutineers under court martial, as the BDR is commanded and managed by the army regulations," Shafique Ahmed, minister for Law, Justice and parliamentary affairs.
Rejecting the news in local and international media, quoting his own statement, Minister Shafiq Ahmed on March 20, 2009 said, government has not taken any decision on the modus of trial into the BDR Massacre.
He said such decision can only be taken on receipt of the investigation report. Meanwhile, chief coordinator of the investigation teams as well as Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said, investigation into the BDR Massacre issue will take much longer time.
Retired Lt. Col. Faruk Khan is continuing to give his assumptive statements on the possible figures behind the BDR Carnage. Experts opine that the probe committees are still halfway through their investigations into the February carnage. And any individual with minimum element of sanity will agree that the findings must be shrouded in confidentiality until they are finished.
Khan even told reporters that, Islamist militants have penetrated inside Bangladeshi law enforcing and disciplined forces. He repeated his assertion a week later and, to make it juicier from his party's standpoint, said proofs of some civilians with links to JMB had also been found. Most political analysts perceive it as an oblique caveat, an attempt to fudge an honest and truthful investigation, and, if one may, to let the real culprits off the hook. Even his colleagues in the government, as well as the chief investigator, have publicly distanced themselves from Col Faruk's views. Both the LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam and Law Minister Barrister Shafiq Ahmed have said it would be premature to point finger at anyone until the probes are complete. Chief Investigator Abdul Quahhar Akhond said nothing could be assumed on who was or were behind the carnage until the last piece of evidence was examined. In an enquiry like this, implications and ramifications may emerge at the last moment.
There is also question to the need to have any coordinator at all and that too in the person of a highly partisan politician like Faruk Khan. As many as five independent agencies conducted investigation into Mumbai massacre on 27 November 2008. But there was no coordinator, not to speak at all of a political coordinator.
Three agencies worked separately to get to the bottom of the World Trade Center attack issue in New York on 11 September, 2001. But there was no coordinator, not to speak of a political coordinator. Neither was any politician involved in any of those investigations. The tasks were left entirely to the specialists. Why then do you need a coordinator unless the intention is to prejudice the investigation?
Dhaka’s front-ranking weekly newspaper, Holiday, raised several questions related to the BDR carnage of February 25-26. It said, “Why did the government not let the army follow its basic military manual and move in soon after the mutiny broke out?
“Who is the beneficiary of this decision? Why did the government allow more than 24 hours to let the rebels flee with arms and ammunitions and the properties they looted from the army officer's quarters? These are tough questions, and they will continue to beg answers for God knows how many light years. But the immediate job of the coordinator is to see that the investigators don't spend too much time on it.
“The fourth and the fifth aim of the coordination is perhaps most interesting. The fourth is to see if the entire incident could be exploited to catch some political rivals with charges of their involvement in the carnage.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI team, which arrived in Bangladesh to investigate the February Massacre case, said the carnage at BDR headquarters last month was a conspiracy.
The FBI agents made the observation after comparing the BDR incident with mutinies staged by military and paramilitary forces in other countries, said officials of Criminal Investigation Department [CID] after a meeting with the team.
There are several indications and even certain degree of evidences that a number of front-ranking politicians, mostly belonging to the ruling party were directly or indirectly involved behind the BDR Carnage. The government is under tremendous pressure from such powerful perpetrators in silently killing the investigation thus bringing out a ‘cooked-up imaginary story’ to the nation and the global community regarding the carnage. As part of such efforts and pressures, important figures in the government are continuing to give senseless statements regarding the bloody massacre.
Meanwhile, panic generated by the ruling party and its allies in the government has put the very image of Bangladesh into deep crisis. International investments will not only decline for such panic spreading strategy, but many of the investors may even withdraw from this country. There will be severe adverse affect on country’s manpower export sector. Moreover, such propaganda will paint Bangladesh as a country under acute threat crisis from the militants. Do the members in the ruling party at least think about such negative impacts? Or, they are ready to turn Bangladesh into a land, where foreign forces will need to come for ‘combating militancy’? And, the ruling party is in this dangerous game, just for the sake of salvaging their own partymen, who plotted, conspired and collaborated the killers in February. Shame on such unpatriotic people!
Militancy link
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
...Commerce Minister, retired Lieutenant Colonel Faruk Khan told reporters that militants penetrated into country’s border security forces, who were liable for February Massacre that took place at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Riffles [BDR] killing large number of army officers, rape and physical abuse of several people. The minister claimed, Islamist militancy group JMB had hands behind the entire conspiracy centering February Massacre. But, Law Minister, Barrister Shafiq Ahmed rejected the comments of the Commerce Minister saying, “It will not be proper to accuse anybody until a full investigation report is available. On conclusion of the investigation, the names of persons involved will be made public.” ....
Retired Lt. Col. Faruk Khan on Monday reaffirmed his previous comment of militant connection with the February Massacre inside BDR headquarters, who once again claimed that militants have penetrated inside law enforcing and other disciplined forces in the country. .....
It is believed that, recent statements of Bangladeshi ministers on militant penetration in law enforcing agencies as well as disciplined forces may greatly hamper participation of Bangladeshi army and police in the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces [UNPKF]. . .....
Meanwhile, according to an information some vested interest groups are already active cashing the statements of the Bangladeshi minister in creating problems for Bangladeshi Forces in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force.
UN asked to return Bangladeshi forces
Blitz Exclusive
United Nations [UN] has been asked to send back members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and police from the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces [UNPKF].
According to information, one Susan Ramgopalan sent letters to the Secretary General and other officials of United Nations on March 15, 2009 titled ‘Islamist inside UN Peace Keeping Force’, where she referring to the recent statement by Bangladeshi Commerce Minister, Lt. Col. [Retired] Faruk Khan, requested the UN Secretary General to send back all the participating members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police in the UNPKF for possible militancy connections.
In the letter, Susan Ramgopalan said, “It has come to my attention that one of the front ranking leaders in Bangladesh’s ruling party, Awami League, member of the Cabinet and Member of Parliament, Lt. Col. Faruk Khan recently told reporters that Islamist militants like Jamiatul Mujuhidin (JMB) has penetrated into country’s border security forces.
”It is noteworthy that officers of border security forces are deputed from country’s armed forces. Under such authoritative statement from a senior member of the Bangladesh government, it is greatly assumed that there are unknown number of Islamist militants even within the other disciplined forces, including army and police.
”United Nations had been welcoming members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police for quite some time. But, after the latest statement from the government side, the question of security of continuing services of such elements with militancy ties would not only jeopardize the safety and security of the countries of their activities, but it may even give the militancy linked members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police in staging various forms of sabotaging activities in the foreign countries.
”Under such situation, further recruitment of Bangladeshi forces both from army and police should be stopped while an immediate scrutiny should begin to identify the militancy linked members of Bangladesh Armed Forces and Police inside United Nations Peace Keeping Forces and be immediately expelled from such sensitive task.”
It is also learnt that, anti-Bangladesh quarters are actively trying to press forward the issue of militant connection of Bangladesh Armed Forces, Police and other disciplined forces, with the motive of tarnishing the image of the country. They [vested quarters] get specific prove in favor of their allegation, as the Commerce Minister in Bangladesh has repeatedly told this matter to the media as well as some other ministers are also echoing the same information.
“This is a dangerous trend, which will project Bangladesh as a Taliban state to the international community”, said a counter-terrorism experts commenting on the statement of the commerce minister and other members of the present government.
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পোস্টগুলি (Atom)