Mobilizing the Nation Against War on Terror
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Our country is fighting a war on terror. There is a military operation going on in Swat and Malakand. Over thirty million people have become homeless. Army is chasing/encircling Taliban in North and South Waziristan. Drone attacks are taking place in Waziristan. Owing to a massive military operation by Americans in Helmund province, Army is being redeployed along Afghan border in the South to prevent fleeing Taliban entering Pakistan. Terrorists are being killed in dozens per day. Army, too, is losing its soldiers on daily basis.
With all above happening in our country, the life goes on as usual except for a few statements from the political leaders and regular programs of discussion on TV channels. Has the government or anyone else seriously thought of mobilizing the nation? Even the electronic media has not been able to produce one good national song reflecting the current situation. There is a need for the government to find ways and means to mobilize the nation and implement the same as a well thought out policy.
With all above happening in our country, the life goes on as usual except for a few statements from the political leaders and regular programs of discussion on TV channels. Has the government or anyone else seriously thought of mobilizing the nation? Even the electronic media has not been able to produce one good national song reflecting the current situation. There is a need for the government to find ways and means to mobilize the nation and implement the same as a well thought out policy.
Labels: Media War, Mobilizing the Nation, War on Terror
posted @ 11:27 AM,
,
Selling the war
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The News International, Thursday, June 25, 2009
While the showing of photographs of 54 dead militants by the ISPR director-general is a welcome step in that it helps remove some of the questions that are increasingly cropping up surrounding the death toll inflicted by the military operation on the militants in Malakand and Swat, it would be fair to say that an information and credibility gap has opened up on this very sensitive matter. If the general public is to continue supporting this war of ours then they need to know a lot more about it than the currently is the case. There is no independent verification of the death toll or even of the injuries inflicted upon the Taliban and in the context of the recent and not-too-recent past where official claims were often found to be otherwise, leaving the general public rightly sceptical, it would be in the fitness of things for more such information to be passed on to the public and the media. Also, and one needs to say this, slightly paradoxically, people in the UK may be better informed about out war than we are, courtesy of a recent investigative programme on the BBC's flagship Panorama show. The BBC team were given access that out own media personnel have yet to get, and were able to spend time on an active frontline. Their report makes compelling viewing and raises questions which are just beginning to be addressed by those who brief our media every day. We wonder why the same access is not being offered to local news and media organizations.
More
While the showing of photographs of 54 dead militants by the ISPR director-general is a welcome step in that it helps remove some of the questions that are increasingly cropping up surrounding the death toll inflicted by the military operation on the militants in Malakand and Swat, it would be fair to say that an information and credibility gap has opened up on this very sensitive matter. If the general public is to continue supporting this war of ours then they need to know a lot more about it than the currently is the case. There is no independent verification of the death toll or even of the injuries inflicted upon the Taliban and in the context of the recent and not-too-recent past where official claims were often found to be otherwise, leaving the general public rightly sceptical, it would be in the fitness of things for more such information to be passed on to the public and the media. Also, and one needs to say this, slightly paradoxically, people in the UK may be better informed about out war than we are, courtesy of a recent investigative programme on the BBC's flagship Panorama show. The BBC team were given access that out own media personnel have yet to get, and were able to spend time on an active frontline. Their report makes compelling viewing and raises questions which are just beginning to be addressed by those who brief our media every day. We wonder why the same access is not being offered to local news and media organizations.
More
Labels: ISPR, Media War, Military Operation, Swat Operation, Taliban, War on Terror
posted @ 3:39 PM,
,
Pakistan army spokesman fights media war
Saturday, May 30, 2009
By Dan Rivers
CNN
CNN
May 29, 2009
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- The office of Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas has a bank of six flat-screen televisions covering most of one wall, showing all the main international English-language news channels, and several local ones besides.
This is one of the rooms where Pakistan's media war is being fought, and Abbas, the Pakistan army's main spokesman, is a key part of the battle.
I kid with him that CNN isn't among the channels on his screens, and he seems slightly hurt, insisting it is.
He's right and I'm wrong -- CNN was on a commercial break.
In fact, I rather get the impression Abbas, who has become the face of the army's operation against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, watches our coverage closely. One of his subordinates complains about one of our reports -- not the accuracy, but something in the general tone. Perhaps CNN has been just a little too questioning of the army's daily press releases, which claim hundreds of enemy fighters killed, and tightly controlled media trips.
Whatever Abbas thinks of CNN, he is more than willing to explain how the Pakistan army sees the broad picture as it fights in the Swat Valley.
The current conflict there is intricately linked to the situation in Afghanistan, in his view.
He sees Swat as a political problem, which can only be partially solved by military intervention.
He claims many of the Taliban's arms are coming across the border from Afghanistan. I ask if that includes NATO weapons, as suggested in recent reports, and he agrees.
He says Washington is too focused on the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
The United States should "stop worrying about the nukes and start worrying about the weapons lost in Afghanistan," he says.
A U.S. government report last month warned that the Pentagon did not have "complete records" for about one-third of the 242,000 weapons the United States had provided to the Afghan army, or for a further 135,000 weapons other countries sent.
The Afghan army "cannot fully safeguard and account for weapons," the Government Accountability Office found.
I ask how well armed the Taliban are, and he says they are "very well equipped from the border area."
He also conspiratorially suggests they also are getting weapons and support from "foreign intelligence agencies."
When I ask what that means, he smiles and says he can't elaborate -- declining to repeat the speculation in the press here that India, Pakistan's traditional rival, may be somehow involved in stirring up trouble on Pakistan's northwestern border.
India denies that.
But the very suggestion plays to a military strategist's nightmare scenario -- the Pakistan army bogged down in the northwest, unable to focus on the disputed province of Kashmir, a key element of its conflict with India.
The military wants to get done in Swat as soon as possible, but the general acknowledges its troops will be there for some time.
He estimates that 10 to 15 percent of the Taliban there are foreign fighters: "Well-trained Arabs, Afghans, with a sprinkling of central Asians and North Africans."
He also says there are Yemenis, Saudis and Uzbeks fighting, as Pakistan has become the destination du jour of the international jihadist, with Arabs in commanding positions and the other foreign fighters bringing in expertise.
He thinks that perhaps Mingora, the main town at the gateway to the Swat Valley, may be secured in 48 hours, but it may be much, much longer before the area is totally pacified.
"First you have to disarm the Taliban and then re-establish the writ of government," he says.
He admits that Swat and neighboring Bajur Districts "were lost to the state" and that now "we are paying in blood for areas we had already occupied." Now, he says, the army is set for a long fight. "We are prepared for that -- we are mentally prepared."
But they are also prepared for the conflict to be taken to other parts of Pakistan. A building belonging to the country's powerful intelligence agency, the ISI, was bombed in Lahore this week. The Taliban claimed they carried out the attack and Abbas says the security services expect more attacks.
Just hours after I left him, his fears were confirmed, as details came in of more bombings in Peshawar.
And then there is also the risk of the Taliban using the mass exodus of civilians from the Swat Valley as cover to penetrate other towns and cities. Already almost 3 million people have flooded out of what was once a tranquil tourist destination, and the military fears that among the mass movement of humanity there will be those plotting to strike at the heart of Pakistan's cities.
"It's a very big issue -- a serious concern," Abbas says.
He describes the conflict in Swat as "an existential threat" -- a fight for the very existence of Pakistan in its current form. And he seems acutely aware that the portrayal of that conflict to the West will be critical.
Source
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) -- The office of Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas has a bank of six flat-screen televisions covering most of one wall, showing all the main international English-language news channels, and several local ones besides.
This is one of the rooms where Pakistan's media war is being fought, and Abbas, the Pakistan army's main spokesman, is a key part of the battle.
I kid with him that CNN isn't among the channels on his screens, and he seems slightly hurt, insisting it is.
He's right and I'm wrong -- CNN was on a commercial break.
In fact, I rather get the impression Abbas, who has become the face of the army's operation against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, watches our coverage closely. One of his subordinates complains about one of our reports -- not the accuracy, but something in the general tone. Perhaps CNN has been just a little too questioning of the army's daily press releases, which claim hundreds of enemy fighters killed, and tightly controlled media trips.
Whatever Abbas thinks of CNN, he is more than willing to explain how the Pakistan army sees the broad picture as it fights in the Swat Valley.
The current conflict there is intricately linked to the situation in Afghanistan, in his view.
He sees Swat as a political problem, which can only be partially solved by military intervention.
He claims many of the Taliban's arms are coming across the border from Afghanistan. I ask if that includes NATO weapons, as suggested in recent reports, and he agrees.
He says Washington is too focused on the safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
The United States should "stop worrying about the nukes and start worrying about the weapons lost in Afghanistan," he says.
A U.S. government report last month warned that the Pentagon did not have "complete records" for about one-third of the 242,000 weapons the United States had provided to the Afghan army, or for a further 135,000 weapons other countries sent.
The Afghan army "cannot fully safeguard and account for weapons," the Government Accountability Office found.
I ask how well armed the Taliban are, and he says they are "very well equipped from the border area."
He also conspiratorially suggests they also are getting weapons and support from "foreign intelligence agencies."
When I ask what that means, he smiles and says he can't elaborate -- declining to repeat the speculation in the press here that India, Pakistan's traditional rival, may be somehow involved in stirring up trouble on Pakistan's northwestern border.
India denies that.
But the very suggestion plays to a military strategist's nightmare scenario -- the Pakistan army bogged down in the northwest, unable to focus on the disputed province of Kashmir, a key element of its conflict with India.
The military wants to get done in Swat as soon as possible, but the general acknowledges its troops will be there for some time.
He estimates that 10 to 15 percent of the Taliban there are foreign fighters: "Well-trained Arabs, Afghans, with a sprinkling of central Asians and North Africans."
He also says there are Yemenis, Saudis and Uzbeks fighting, as Pakistan has become the destination du jour of the international jihadist, with Arabs in commanding positions and the other foreign fighters bringing in expertise.
He thinks that perhaps Mingora, the main town at the gateway to the Swat Valley, may be secured in 48 hours, but it may be much, much longer before the area is totally pacified.
"First you have to disarm the Taliban and then re-establish the writ of government," he says.
He admits that Swat and neighboring Bajur Districts "were lost to the state" and that now "we are paying in blood for areas we had already occupied." Now, he says, the army is set for a long fight. "We are prepared for that -- we are mentally prepared."
But they are also prepared for the conflict to be taken to other parts of Pakistan. A building belonging to the country's powerful intelligence agency, the ISI, was bombed in Lahore this week. The Taliban claimed they carried out the attack and Abbas says the security services expect more attacks.
Just hours after I left him, his fears were confirmed, as details came in of more bombings in Peshawar.
And then there is also the risk of the Taliban using the mass exodus of civilians from the Swat Valley as cover to penetrate other towns and cities. Already almost 3 million people have flooded out of what was once a tranquil tourist destination, and the military fears that among the mass movement of humanity there will be those plotting to strike at the heart of Pakistan's cities.
"It's a very big issue -- a serious concern," Abbas says.
He describes the conflict in Swat as "an existential threat" -- a fight for the very existence of Pakistan in its current form. And he seems acutely aware that the portrayal of that conflict to the West will be critical.
Source
Labels: Media, Media War, Military Operation, Swat Operation
posted @ 9:20 AM,
,
Clinton Says US Losing Media War in Afghanistan, Pakistan
Friday, May 22, 2009
By VOA News
20 May 2009
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. is losing the media war in Afghanistan and Pakistan - something she said must be reversed.
She told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday that militants broadcasting from radio equipment on the backs of pickup trucks are threatening and intimidating people.
She says while they are spreading what she called the "worst kind of disinformation" they have been more effective than the U.S. when it comes to strategic communications.
Secretary Clinton says as a result, the Obama administration is revamping its communications strategy - looking at new ways to directly reach people in areas where militants are active - including on their cell phones.
Clinton says the U.S. must not lose the "information war" in the region, and much do a better job at communicating its values and ideals to Afghans and Pakistanis.
She is seeking $48.6 billion in State Department funding for 2010, a seven percent increase over 2009 funding levels. Clinton also says the State Department will work side-by-side with the Defense Department to promote U.S. interests and security in the region.
Source
20 May 2009
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. is losing the media war in Afghanistan and Pakistan - something she said must be reversed.
She told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday that militants broadcasting from radio equipment on the backs of pickup trucks are threatening and intimidating people.
She says while they are spreading what she called the "worst kind of disinformation" they have been more effective than the U.S. when it comes to strategic communications.
Secretary Clinton says as a result, the Obama administration is revamping its communications strategy - looking at new ways to directly reach people in areas where militants are active - including on their cell phones.
Clinton says the U.S. must not lose the "information war" in the region, and much do a better job at communicating its values and ideals to Afghans and Pakistanis.
She is seeking $48.6 billion in State Department funding for 2010, a seven percent increase over 2009 funding levels. Clinton also says the State Department will work side-by-side with the Defense Department to promote U.S. interests and security in the region.
Source
Labels: Afghanistan, America, Information War, Media War, Militants, Pakistan
posted @ 12:12 PM,
,
