Where the Jihad Lives Now

What a contradictory article - what a lame effort by the author.

Shakeel

one of da most biased and exaggerated pieces of writing i have ever come across!! so many points are baseless opinions of the author.

firstly, the author needs to correct his facts. musharraf won a referendum the very next he came into power and that gave him the power to stay. had he been "autocratic" not only woul dhe have skipped the referendum, he would not have conducted the local elections either.

secondly, benazir bhutto went down to rest a few minutes before the bomb blast. she did NOT "ducked in to her armoured truck." thirdly, if pakistan's intelligence bureau is "shadowy", what would you call USA's FBI and any comments on the illegally detained prisoners at Gauntanamo bay?!

moreover, the author needs to show respect to the founders of any nation in the world.. the next time he calls anyone "whisky-swilling", i'd suggest he consider his dictionary of manners. throughout the article he has passed such generalzied statements that if they were true not only pakistani but american govt would hav taken notice of it! (where he is talking abt free roaming of talibans in pakistan). operations conducted by the pakistani govt in waziristan and FATA areas signify the committment of musharraf's govt. afterall it is not easy to take military action against certain forces within a country.

it is true tha BB has the support of US. because otherwise the track record she has, she would not hav dared to come back to pakistan. usa and uk are exploiting the situation.

the whole article is full of weak and unverifiable claims! pakistan has a lot of modern-thinking, educated population as well! it is a shame that newsweek published such a shallow article. you can not generalize a situation based on just one event!

by: Samar Farooqui
Pakistan

A shocking, distasteful, immature not to mention factually incorrect cover slogan, based more on a biased personal perception then anything else. Something I would have never expected from an esteemed publication like Newsweek. The story seems like propaganda fresh off FOX News. Mature publications like Newsweek need to reflect reality and not perceptions. Majority of people in Pakistan are not angry and fanatic as suggested by your story and visual. Pakistan and Iraq are poles apart and bearing nothing in common other then the fact that they are both Muslim countries. Oh! that's it now I can make sense of the whole story. Appaling piece of journalism

I would say that Pakistan has been heaven for the extremism and terrorism for a long time. ISI has been hiring people for Jihad in Afghanistan and Indian Kashmir. They have provided all the training facilities to Lashker-e-Tayyaba in their centres like Muridke, near Lahore. Lashker-e- Tayyaba is operating with new name Jamat Ul Dawa, with the same people and leadership and with same posters and signs. The backing of agencies has given big heart to the jihadis, and they are ruling the country.
The other factor is that key figures in the ruling party are pro-jihadi and extremists. If you follow the statements of Chief Minister Punjab and Sindh, regarding the "rule of Women", they regard it is a curse. so how can we say that this regeim is a moderate or liberal regeim. Chief Minister of Sindh has said that "the suicide bombers dont do this for money, they do it for cause. If they do it for money, I would have given them the money". Enlightened moderation is just a theory and practise is extremism. Gen. Musharraf has not accepted the negotiation with Ms. Bhutto, because he has a different agenda. It is evident that all the key ministers of the cabinet are propogating against Bhutto. They are alleging her that she has returned to fulfill the American agenda. They are persuading the bombers to go after her. It is confusing that the regeim is sincere with the war against terror. The ruling party PML (Q) and MMA both were brought into power with rigged polls in 2002. This will be tried again. Because the true agenda of Musharraf is extremism not liberism.
The Jihadis are operating in Pakistan openly with new names. For example, Lashkar-e- Tayabba is operating with a new name,Jamat-ul-Dawa with same people and leadership. They have been working as unconventional weapons of ISI for terrorism in Kashmir and Afghanistan. This should be called unholy alliance of extremists under the cover of enlightened moderation. The approach of the key figures of the ruling party is clear when Cheif Ministers of Punjab and Sindh say, that "rule of women" is a curse. Such people claim them to the partners of war against terror. They are the supporters of extremism and terror.
Abid Shakeel

Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world because it is being ruled by a person, who is playing a double game. All the important people in the Govt. are opposing Benazir Bhutto on the basis that she is coming on American Agenda. Sh. Rasheed, Federal Minister for Railways said that, whosoever lifts the American flag, will be welcomed by the suicide bombers. The Chief Minister of Sindh Arbab Raheem said that the suicide bombers dont take money for attacks. If they have taken money, I would have given them money. Similar statements are coming from the Chief Minister of Punjab.
Gen. Musharraf says that he is enlightened moderate but the president of the ruling party, Ch. Shujaat Hussain has said that MMA is a ideological alley of the ruling party. This is a great confusion. Musharraf says something different on the media, but the policies are being implemented by others. In the present regeim, Pakistan has become a dangerous most place. All the Jihadi organizations have close links with ISI. They are operating in Pakistan, openly and collecting funds on roads. The real policies of Musharraf are the words of Ch. Shujaat. They have been great supporters of Jihad and terrorism. Abid Shakeel, Pakistan

Comment: I think a reputated magazine like newsweek should check its facts before printing such articles. This just makes newsweek look like a propaganda machine for the US government.

Neither Pakistan nor Iran has any record of "rogue state" behaviour. The USA displays these properties on a regular basis.- from the carnage in Nagasaki and Hiroshima (against innocent civilians) to the attack on a prosperous wealthy nation like Iraq and reducing it to a basket case all based on lies about weapons of Mass destruction. Now we are heading for another fiasco- Iran.

There are many factual mistakes in this article eg names of the DG ISI etc. The writer should have done some research before publishing it. looks like he was given some agenda.

There are many factual mistakes in this article eg names of the DG ISI etc. The writer should have done some research before publishing it. looks like he was given some agenda.

musharraf is hardly a puppet. he is one of the most genuinly driven to work for pakistan's betterment and one of the strongest leaders we have ever had. he has made mistakes, yes, mistakes like giving power to incompetent politicians, but atleast he has sincere intentions and is doing what is necessary to be done in such times. running a country like pakistan is a dirty job, and he is getting himself dirty, but his heart is in the right place and we need someone like him. had it been for benazir or nawaz sharif, we would have never survived after 9/11, they would've sold the country and run off to europe. give credit where its due.

I think a reputated magazine like newsweek should check its facts before printing such articles. This just makes newsweek look like a propaganda machine for the US government.

Again neither Pakistan nor Iran has any record of "rogue state" behaviour. The USA displays these properties on a regular basis.- from the carnage in Nagasaki and Hirshima (against innocent civilains) to the attack on a prosperous wealthy nation like Iraq and turning it into a basket case all based on lies about weapons of Mass destruction. Now we are heading for another fiasco- Iran.

Firstly I want to clarify that I am not an "islamist" as they like to say in the west. In fact I am quite concerned about the growing extremism in the tribal areas of our country. The reason for this of course is that these are the most underdeveloped areas of our nation with very limited opportunities.

I do however do wish to make one point. The USA is accusing countries like Iran of being "future" terrorists despite the fact that it has no evidence to support these accusations. Now apparently Pakistan is the greatest threat to world peace. All I ask of all you sensible fairm minded people is that at times like this we also brush up on a little history; the ONLY nation in the world that has actually ever used nuclear weapons against a helpless innocent civiian population is the USA (when it attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki causing terrible destruction). Even more shockingly this was done just to make a point; the Japanese were already willing to surrender.
So we have, what by any moral definition is the world's biggest rogue state preaching to the rest of us from its moral highground. The premise for attacking Iraq was WMDs, none were found. The real motivation ofcourse was lucrative oil contracts for US firms which has already now happened.
Now we have Iran being portrayed as saturn himself. How are we so sure that the Iranians are developing nuclear weapons and further that they plan to use them to attack western targets (as opposed to simply using them as a deterrent).
What right does the USA have to decide who gets to have WMDs and who does not. Given its track record, the USA should not have any WMDs because, as a nation it behaves like a callous out of control school yard bully.
Obviously attacks such as those of September 11 and any other attacks on civilian populations should be condemned unconditionally. But ask yourself this; were the attacks on nagasaki and Hiroshima not the biggest terrorist attacks in the history of the world. Or is it the opinion of the USA government that Japanese and other nationals do not count as human beings?

Firstly I want to clarify that I am not an "islamist" as they like to say in the west. In fact I am quite concerned about the growing extremism in the tribal areas of our country. The reason for this of course is that these are the most underdeveloped areas of our nation with very limited opportunities.

I do however do wish to make one point. The USA is accusing countries like Iran of being "future" terrorists despite the fact that it has no evidence to support these accusations. Now apparently Pakistan is the greatest threat to world peace. All I ask of all you sensible fairm minded people is that at times like this we also brush up on a little history; the ONLY nation in the world that has actually ever used nuclear weapons against a helpless innocent civiian population is the USA (when it attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki causing terrible destruction). Even more shockingly this was done just to make a point; the Japanese were already willing to surrender.
So we have, what by any moral definition is the world's biggest rogue state preaching to the rest of us from its moral highground. The premise for attacking Iraq was WMDs, none were found. The real motivation ofcourse was lucrative oil contracts for US firms which has already now happened.
Now we have Iran being portrayed as saturn himself. How are we so sure that the Iranians are developing nuclear weapons and further that they plan to use them to attack western targets (as opposed to simply using them as a deterrent).
What right does the USA have to decide who gets to have WMDs and who does not. Given its track record, the USA should not have any WMDs because, as a nation it behaves like a callous out of control school yard bully.
Obviously attacks such as those of September 11 and any other attacks on civilian populations should be condemned unconditionally. But ask yourself this; were the attacks on nagasaki and Hiroshima not the biggest terrorist attacks in the history of the world. Or is it the opinion of the USA government that Japanese and other nationals do not count as human beings?

hdfh

Benazir Bhutto is plunder of poor Pakistani's wealth. She can not be trusted in govt, what ever USA think about it. Extremisim can not be finnished with our so called secular leaders or military, rather by true pakistani representstives with fear of Allah(God).