So they found and killed bin Laden in Abbottabad hiding in plain sight!! I must say I’d thought of the idea, but my suggestion that hiding out in New York selling ‘Made in China’ September 2001 ‘memorabilia’ would have been safer for him. After all who would ever think he would be so brazen?

 

Well, he’s dead now anyway. Not that I mourn him in any way. He’s got a huge amount of blood on his hands, and his warped ideas have proved to be catastrophic for far too many. For all the trouble he’s caused he deserves what he’s going to get, and I sincerely doubt it’s where he thought he’d end up. I guess he knows that now, but it’s too late. (So therein lies the lesson: learn your lessons now and do something about it rather than wish you’d done so when it’s too late).

 

I can’t say I agree with him being killed though. Despite apparently not putting up much of a fight (less than his wife supposedly did if we can believe whatever version of events the Americans are peddling now – they’ve had about ten years to get their story straight, and yet we still have multiple competing versions that are only fuelling the conspiracy theories of the hard of thinking), I don’t think he should have been killed. I think perhaps more should have been done to capture him. He should have been captured and tried. The practice of extrajudicial executions is basically the law of the jungle. Aren’t the Americans supposed to be the ‘good guys’? They’re supposed to believe in justice, due process, and all the rest of it. What’s gone ‘wrong’ with them?  They’ve turned bin Laden into a martyr, unarmed and gunned down in the presence of his family, instead of some deranged evil fool who would die in prison, or via lethal injection. On the flip side of course the SEALs would have had to assume that the guy who sent a lot of impressionable people to kill themselves in suicide attacks would do the same. So they shot him outright. Perhaps we shouldn’t pontificate too much therefore, but I’ll never shake the feeling that it was better to try him in a proper court of law.

 

I don’t know what the fallout from that will be, but I guess we’ll find out. This insanity will not end with his death though, that’s for certain.

 

What do we say about Pakistan though? How utterly embarrassing was this!!!!? I’ve been to Abbottabad. I would never have thought he’d be hiding there. I saw a lot of security about the place. It’s a garrison town after all. That was probably one of the factors that made it the best place to be honest. Even though terrorists have been caught there in the past, who would think bin Laden himself would be there? Also, it was relatively close to the Tribal Areas, it had a major regional trunk road running through it, and it had a large transitory population. It was easy enough to hide in plain sight there; except it shouldn’t have been.

 

Kakul was but a stone’s throw away, and there were multiple other military facilities and such all over the place. Security should have been tight and intelligence keeping an eye on everything and everyone. You’d be forgiven therefore for thinking he was being hidden by the intelligence services. What else are you supposed to think? It sounds the most logical explanation; that is except for the fact that the ISI and in fact all the intelligence agencies here have a pretty dismal track record of failure. Some of them are truly spectacular, and the worst one was (in my mind at least), being caught day dreaming whilst uber-traitor/spiv A Q Khan, Pakistan’s favourite metallurgist, was flogging centrifuge technology left right and centre. There’s actually a whole catalogue of failures that people overlook when they describe the ISI as some fearsome organisation so powerful it has a hand in everything and could probably change the rotation of the earth. Sure it has its successes, and some have been notable, but don’t discount its abject failures. It’s an equally likely explanation, (if not being more so) and there are some serious questions that need answers.

 

Coupled to that is the astonishingly lacklustre, but not altogether unexpected, feckless response by the government. More due to this indifferent incompetence than anything else, Pakistan now ranks alongside North Korea in the credibility and trustworthy stakes. What else would anyone expect considering the Prime Minister disappeared to France to no doubt see if he could increase the size of his bank balance, rather than practice a modicum of crisis management?

 

So perhaps we shouldn’t put down to complicity what we can explain by incompetence.

 

(Incidentally if anyone believed that crap about the house being worth a US$1 million they need their head examining, because if that house is worth a million there are a million houses in Pakistan worth a billion. It’s not even a PKR.500,000 house, it’s not exactly special, and is basically the type of house you would expect a Pathan gold merchant to live in).

Just when you think this wretched nation that calls itself Pakistan couldn’t sink any lower, it surprises you; even when you know you should stop being surprised. If there was any justice in this damned place, fourteen rapists would have been hanged for the crimes they committed, but there is no justice; especially not for women. For a start eight rapists were simply let go, and that left the six who even Blind Freddy could have convicted in what in most countries, (or any country where they had a half decent sense of right and wrong plus a semi-functional judicial system), would have been an open and shut case. Not here though. Not in Pakistan.

 

The freeing of five of Mukhtaran Mai’s attackers, (bar one, the ring leader Abdul Khaliq who also sodomised her younger brother – but has seen his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment despite rape being a capital offence probably on no more grounds than he is a feudal landlord), sets a new, but not unexpected low for Pakistan. The victims were illiterate peasants, the perpetrators powerful feudal landlords. In a nation where the party that currently forms the government was formed to protect the interests of the feudal landowning ‘elite’, we shouldn’t have expected anything else. In a country where the police (who didn’t even record Mukhtaran’s statement properly) are corrupt, poorly trained, poorly equipped, unprofessional, politicised and a reflection of a warped society, we shouldn’t expect anything else. In a nation where the judiciary and legal service are corrupt, unprofessional, politicised, unfeasibly inept, and due to this a danger to the stability and security of the country (as can be seen in the appeal of the Taliban dispensing ‘justice’ – because they at least give you a result before you die of old age without having to be bribed), we shouldn’t expect anything else. In a nation of ignorant and illiterate savages who are warped enough to believe a victim should commit suicide to erase the ‘shame’ brought by the crime, we shouldn’t expect anything else. In Pakistan the powerful are not only above the law, they’ve elevated themselves above God Himself. There can be no justice here under these circumstances. So we shouldn’t expect anything else.

 

You can already see some news and media outlets claiming the judiciary has bowed to Islamic extremists. That definitely is true in the case of Asia Bibi, but in this case they’re bowing to pressure from the feudal ‘elite’. The pseudo-religious nutcases in this damned place are responsible for a legion of crimes, but this isn’t one of them. That’s not to say they’re not displaying their usual hypocrisy. Had Mukhtaran Mai been assaulted in a non-Muslim country, say America for example (the country they love to hate – even though Pakistanis will gladly take US Dollars in aid), these clowns would have been leaping about all over the place in their usual fashion running riot, razing the place to the ground, and accompanied by burning the relevant flags (who sells them these flags in the first place – they must be rich). However, seeing as it happened in Pakistan…not a peep. Not that I’m saying they should be razing the place to the ground of course, but they could at least come on the record and condemn it and voice support for Mai. They won’t do that of course. Not even if you consider the Sharia law they always harp on about would have seen all fourteen of Mai’s attackers executed years ago.

 

So Islam isn’t to blame here. In fact, having lived here for a number of years, these people are some of the least religious people I’ve ever met. You see mosques everywhere, you see the ‘trappings’ of faith, but that’s all superficial. The mosques are mainly empty because the majority of these people can’t even be bothered to pray once at home let alone five times in a mosque, and they’re some of the most fundamentally untrustworthy and dishonest people you’ll ever meet anywhere. Why else would the place be in such a state? If the leadership of a country is a reflection of society, then society must be a reflection of the leadership. So you get a good idea about just how low these people are. They think nothing of trying to rob or cheat you. In fact they think it’s their ‘right’ to do so. Their crimes, seemingly regardless of how serious they are, are all somewhat ‘casual’ to them. They have become ‘normal’ and are committed without a second thought. They commit them as if on autopilot, just like the nation’s politicians. That’s why Pakistanis keep voting in the same set of incompetent and venal thieves, because they’re voting for people who are like themselves, but have the added hypocrisy to complain about it afterwards. They don’t accept this though. They don’t lie looking in a mirror and seeing who they really are, and when they look at the likes of Zardari/Gardari, or Nodding Ass Gillani, or Mr Potatohead/Nawaz Sharif, or rabble rousing philandering bum Imran Khan, or that odious toad Altaf Hussein, or any of the others, they don’t like what they see, because it’s themselves they really see. They are sick, and they are twisted. I don’t know what it would take for Pakistanis to mend their ways. In recent years there has been a massive earthquake, a flood of biblical proportions, death and destruction on an almost daily basis by brainwashed pseudo-religious nutcases, but they’re obviously waiting for a fireball from heaven to burn the place to a cinder before they even contemplate changing. Even then, I doubt they’d change.

 

For outsiders who have experience of living in another country, especially somewhere like the UK or the US, Pakistan has become a repulsive caricature. You get the sense of hopelessness here. Anybody who can leave is leaving. There’s a considerable brain drain because talented and honest people don’t see a future for themselves here even without the government hell bent on killing off the Higher Education Commission for questioning fake degrees held by politicians. There’s no justice (as Mai has learnt to her cost and she may yet pay for it with her life, as may her family), the economy has tanked, a self inflicted energy crisis is sapping the life out of the country, the law and order situation worsening by the minute, and above it all the lunatics are running the asylum. There’s no hope left.

 

When it comes to Pakistan, like Mai, you can only put your faith in God, because to put your faith in Pakistanis is futile.

Pakistan's next generation submarine programme has been dragging on for years. At IDEAS2008 I was told (and I wasn't the only one by any means) that Pakistan was mere months from signing a deal for the Type-214 with HDW. The deal was expected to be signed in early 2009. Then I was told it was going to be signed in the summer of 2009 and then ratified by the new government in September of the same year. However, that never came to anything. Then in December 2009 we started hearing about a Chinese option, with the "Type-039" mentioned, but this probably referred to the Type-039A/Type-041 Yuan class. Since then, nothing has eventuated, and time is dragging on.

To even get to the stage where it looked like the Type-214 was about to be purchased took years longer than expected, and the only benefit to come of this period was that the Marlin (or as it is now, the submarine formerly known as Marlin and now a part of the "Scorpene family"), an overpriced and overrated French paper option (aren't they all - overpriced and overrated), was rejected. So the programme is dragging on a bit. Had everything gone to plan we would have had a submarine undergoing construction in Karachi by now for sure, even perhaps not far off being launched.

The problem is, is that these things take time, and the longer things drag on the more likelihood that the technology on the Type-214 will start to date. I don't mean the submarine itself. I think the basic design will be with us for very many years yet. I mean the subsystems, like the sensors and combat management system and such. This is fairly obvious. As things date they are replaced with more advanced systems, and these newer systems take time to evaluate and develop, and drive up costs further, not to mention drag things out even longer. It's a vicious circle. So there has to come a point where things simply have to start moving physically or there will be a ‘submarine gap'. By that I mean the period where the submarines already in service will be ready, or even overdue, for retirement and there is no new submarine in sight. That either means old submarines have to serve longer than should really be operationally desirable, or they are retired and there is numbers a crunch/shortfall that hits operational effectiveness. The upgrading of Pakistan's older Agosta-70s with the indigenous Marine Systems Limited Slim Line Towed Array Sonar, and French SUBTICS combat management system (as fitted to the Khalid class) will perhaps help in keeping these older submarines in service and reasonably effective, but there may still be a problem in maintaining numbers. (Just look at the Indian submarine programme if you need a good idea of what I'm on about). This is especially so considering Pakistan wants to increase the size of its submarine flotilla.

Now, cash, (or lack of), is obviously a factor, and one of the reasons I have been told that a deal has not been signed with HDW for the Type-214, is that it is a little expensive for what Pakistan feels it is able to afford. If you want quality though, you have to pay for it, and the Type-214 is the best conventional submarine commercially available to Pakistan at this present moment in time. It has the added benefit of allowing Pakistan to increase its defence co-operation with Turkey as well, as I've mentioned previously.

If Pakistan can't afford to straight out opt for the Type-214 at this moment in time, what options does it have if it wants to avoid an availability shortfall, but still opt for a western design? On the face of it there doesn't seem to be an option. Not since last year's flooding has set the country back and emptied the state coffers (though not politicians pockets obviously) for some time to come. However, if Pakistan is determined to explore submarine co-operation with Turkey, (and it should be), and if there is a determination to increase the number of submarines Pakistan operates, there is an option. Pakistan could lease or buy a couple of older Type-209 submarines from Turkey.

The Turkish navy was hoping to upgrade some of its initial batch of Type-209 submarines, the Type-209/1200 Atilay class. The upgrade was supposed to give them an AIP unit and such, and I guess in that respect it was similar to the Greek navy's Neptune-II upgrade programme for their Poseidon class submarines. It sounds a little crazy, but I think it's perfectly feasible. It's definitely a cheaper option, and will allow the PN to increase the size and availability of its submarine flotilla until a more permanent and long term option can be found, (namely an economic recovery allowing for the purchase of the Type-214). PN crews would be able to get to grips with German submarine technology, the harbour and support facilities can be adapted for the same, and Pakistan would be gaining what is still a brilliant submarine. The upgrade work is probably best undertaken in Turkey to be honest. It can be done in Pakistan, but that would be unnecessary and defeat the whole purpose of exercising the option, to get something in service relatively quickly to maintain/boost numbers. The Turks are more likely to be able to deliver the finished submarines in the timeframe required as well. That is if Pakistan wants them in the water and if not operational, at least approaching becoming operational, within three years from the decision being made.

Turkey is the largest operator of the Type-209, and German-designed submarines in general. It has a total of 14 Type-209s of three variants ‘on the books', so it's hardly an idle boast. Its shipyards have considerable experience in building and upgrading the design. It would be best that the work be carried out in Turkey therefore, and Pakistani engineers work alongside them to gain experience in German submarine technology, which can be later used on building the Type-214 in Pakistan. Just two additional submarines of the Type-209 class would make a considerable difference for Pakistan. They are quite compact, very quiet (more so with AIP), have excellent endurance/range, have very good diving characteristics, and are still more than capable of delivering results even if they are not the most modern submarines around. You only need look at what the South Africans have achieved with their Heroine class Type-209/1400s to see this. Some people may dismiss the idea even now purely due to their age. However, even if the Type-209/1200s are of a similar vintage to the Agosta-70s Pakistan already has, they were better than the French submarines when they were built in the 70s, and still better now. This is especially so if they're upgraded, because for a start no one is talking about retrofitting an AIP system to the Agosta-70s. Upgraded Type-209s from Turkey isn't a crazy idea.

Perhaps Turkey can even help finance the first batch of Pakistani Type-214s if this deal is thrashed out? It is something that should be explored if Pakistan is so short of cash at present that there is a possibility of a numbers crunch. All possibilities should be examined. Turkey is not a charity organisation though, and nor should a strongly fraternal country and steadfast ally be treated like one. So there has to be something in return for Turkey besides Type-209 upgrade work for their shipyards. The only real option here would be a guarantee of selecting the Type-214 and co-producing it with Turkey as the Turks have expressly stated they would like to see happen. They want to undertake joint submarine production with Pakistan, and it is something that would benefit both countries. If this potential co-operation therefore starts with the joint modification of a couple of Type-209s in Turkey, that would be a good deal for both parties. Both Pakistan and Turkey stand to gain. It isn't a one way street.

That the Indians operate a larger variant of the Type-209, the Type-209/1500 Shishumar class may worry some, but why should it? Greece and Turkey were at each other's throats, (or at least threatening to be until quite recently), and they both operated the Type-209 with no problems. There is no operational reason why Pakistan should reject a couple of modified Type-209/1200 submarines to see out the rest of the decade, whilst it manages to get itself together and agree to a Type-214 deal, arrange for the finances, construct/expand/modify its yards, and starts the construction process. How long do people think that will take? Realistically speaking we are talking a good few years; perhaps too long. Modified Type-209/1200 submarines are a very good stop-gap option because there are no Agosta-90Bs to be had, and definitely no Agosta-70s that Pakistan would want. If Pakistan needs some good, proven submarines as a stop gap, and needs them cheaply and relatively quickly, then there isn't really another option to be honest. It does start to make sense once you start to think about it, so if the Turks agree, it's an option that should be exercised.

Where does this leave the alternative Chinese option? That's a little difficult, but as much as people may think. Sino-Pakistani defence co-operation is at a level which may not be possible elsewhere and with any other nation where Pakistan is concerned. It isn't a two way street by any means (though it doesn't mean Pakistan has been letting China have a look at F-16s like one infamous rumour claims because that never happened), but the Chinese have proven themselves to be ‘all weather friends', and that will remain the case. How else would the JF-17 Thunder, a Pakistani specific programme that was only possible because of the Chinese, come about? There is actually along list of defence projects where Pakistan has taken an existing Chinese project, and upgraded it, or asked for modifications, in order to meet Pakistani specifications. The most obvious is the Al-Khalid, but you can see the same in F-7PG, the Karakorum Eagle AEW&C aircraft, FC-20 and such. There's a long list there. Something similar could no doubt be done in the field of submarines.

The Chinese actually offered Pakistan a submarine design back in the 1990s, but at the time the technological advancement of their submarine technology wasn't at the required level for Pakistan's requirements. Things have changed a great deal since then, and Chinese submarine technology and designs have the west seriously worried. I still don't think they're on a level with the leading exporters yet, but I don't think they're that far behind anymore. The Type-039A/Type-041 Yuan is by all accounts a fine submarine that appears to blend the best of the Type-039 Song class with some characteristics of the Russian Kilo series (advanced examples of which the Chinese operate or at least have ‘on the books'). However, the speed of Chinese submarine advancement may in itself be a problem. The alternative options Pakistan has are proven designs. The state of Chinese submarine design is moving so fast that their only real proven design is the Type-039 Song class submarine, which isn't something Pakistan would necessarily want. It's too old now. The Chinese are yet to get to grips with operating the Yuan class themselves. In fact when it comes to operating conventional submarines in general, I think Pakistan is in a position to show China a thing or two. Pakistani conventional submarine crews on average definitely have more experience than their Chinese counterparts. One of the reasons China is massively ramping up advanced submarine numbers is perhaps arguably to rapidly gain operational experience. So even if we're talking about the Yuan class, we're talking about Pakistan taking a gamble. That's even more the case if you take into account the fact in September the Chinese unveiled a new submarine design that shares design characteristics of Russia's Amur/Lada class, the follow on from the Kilo design. So if Pakistan exercises a Chinese option, it can obtain a Chinese design specifically tailored to its own requirements, but where exactly does it step onboard the Chinese submarine design train, considering things are moving so fast?

My personal opinion therefore is to step back a little, but not negate the Chinese option as such; only to delay it a little. It may surprise many if not most people as to just what Pakistani scientists can conjure up with regards technology that can be applied to submarines. These people are really underestimated, even though there is plenty of evidence to suggest they shouldn't be. I think the best option is to go for the Type-214, but take a more long term approach with the Chinese, so a design is ready for when the Agosta-70s are retired by the end of the decade (or before).

I say this with a specific threat in mind, INS Arihant, India's SSBN. Currently, both India and Pakistan keep their nuclear warheads in a disassembled state. They are not mated to ballistic missiles, and are stored separately. It is a confidence building measure to ensure nothing gets out of hand by mistake. Indian and Pakistan are not operating their deterrents on a hair trigger like the opponents did during the Cold War. Arihant will change that, because the whole idea, the whole purpose of the SSBN, is to carry a nuclear deterrent that is ready to strike as soon as the order is given. They sail on a permanent war patrol. That is the whole point of its existence. The entire strategic balance of South Asia will be completely unbalanced therefore.

Herein lies the scope for Sino-Pakistani submarine co-operation. It is well within Pakistani industrial capability to produce a nuclear reactor compact enough to provide a trickle/hotel feed of power to a conventional submarine's batteries. So instead of having an AIP unit on a hybrid submarine, there would be a nuclear power production ‘plug' in its place. Normal nuclear powered submarines have a nuclear reactor powering a steam turbine, or some other such propulsion system. Exercising the nuclear/electric option (probably with diesel engines still included), would result in a submarine which may not have the sustained high speed of a normal nuclear powered submarine, but it would have its endurance. Exercising a longer term Chinese option in this guise therefore gives Pakistan the choice of really tailor making a submarine to its specific requirements, namely one which would carry its deterrent.

It's definitely more realistic and affordable than going for a full scale SSBN, and Pakistan only wants to deter India. There is therefore scope and reason for Pakistan to explore both options when it comes to its next generation submarine, and have a highly potent two-tier submarine force in the numbers it requires, with the quality it needs, and the hitting power it can't survive without.

Muslims are supposed to physically try and stop something bad if they see it happening. If they can't do that for whatever reason they're supposed to speak out against it. Least of all if they can't physically stop it or speak out against it for whatever reason, they're supposed to condemn it in their hearts.

Well, I'm going to speak out against something. Pakistan isn't really a place where you have a ‘quiet' week in comparison to other countries, but last week was pretty eventful. I don't have much in common with the former governor of the Punjab, Salman Taseer, who met his demise last Tuesday. Not if we want to concentrate on his fathering illegitimate children and such anyway. I do however agree with him when it comes to this so-called blasphemy law, (ironically that also puts me in agreement with Sherry Rehman - absurd as that sounds), which is causing a lot of problems of late.

I say of late because it is only recently that it has really come to the attention of the international media. It would be hard for it not to considering a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, (who is probably innocent), has been condemned to death. It is good old fashioned anti-Muslim incendiary tabloid material, which will set the pages of the Daily Fascist (Daily Mail - a British deranged rightwing tabloid) aflame, and no doubt it probably already has done (I try not to associate myself with such gutter ‘journalism' so we'll take it for granted they're true to form). I do know that the case has shone an unwelcome (though I personally welcome it if it leads to positive change) spotlight on a Pakistani law that is a useful tool for anyone in Pakistan engaged in a dispute (no matter how trivial - property and even gambling debts have been triggers in the past) with a non-Muslim. All it takes is one false accusation and that person is as good as dead. Having a woman (ie not a man - as is usual) accused and tried for ‘blasphemy' however is a new one, and far more incendiary, hence the furore (I never saw anyone making a big deal before this - to which I can obviously be included, but this is not usually my field).

However, I haven't even come across what she is supposed to have actually said. What exactly is it that she is supposed to have said that has resulted in this episode? What we do know from what has been reported is that whatever it is she is supposed to have said was so incendiary it took someone who wasn't even present when the supposed incident took place, some time well after the event (we're talking days) to report it to the police (surely if it was so incendiary the people present during the dispute would have gone to the police themselves). Anyway, as the furore grew, the police initially took her into custody to save her life from the inevitable mob of over emotional ignorant and illiterate savages, after which a complaint was made, a ‘case' registered, and they charged her with the stated ‘offence'. There seems to have been little in the way of police investigation to get to the bottom of things from what has been reported in the media. What we do know is that she claims a dispute broke out because some self-described Muslim women she was working with in the fields (they were harvesting something I suspect) refused to drink water that had been brought to them by a Christian, or drink from a cup that had been used by a Christian, (which is frankly more plausible an explanation than the alternative version of events). So things snowballed from there. As I've said, we still don't know what it is exactly she is supposed to have said. I haven't seen any of her accusers in front of the media. Did the police even question all the women who were supposedly present at the time of the alleged incident separately to see if everyone's version of events matched? There seems to be no indication that this basic step (which would have resolved the issue in about an hour and half) took place. Her ‘trial', (and I use the term very loosely), took about 13 months, whereas it could haven been sorted out in a few minutes (dismissed), or at least should not have taken more than a week at the very latest. It was a simple case of people saying someone has said something, and the defendant claiming she didn't. Anyway, she was found ‘guilty'.

Again I don't know what it is she is supposed to have said. Was it even ‘blasphemy', because as a Christian had she said that she didn't think the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W - the transliteration of initials the Arabic for ‘peace be upon him' sometimes abbreviated as ‘PBUH') was a prophet, then that's obviously not ‘blasphemy' in any way because she's a Christian. Obviously she doesn't believe that because she's not a Muslim, and she has a right under Islamic law and tradition to practice and freely believe in her faith. If someone claiming to be a Muslim said it on the other hand that would be blasphemy.

Now, one of the stunning ironies of this entire episode is that people seem to have put aside the fact that the police in Pakistan are generally pretty inept when it comes to investigating crimes. In fact they're not impartial to dabbling in the past time themselves, (which is a separate issue in some respects). They do have to be commended in initially acting to save her from a mob, but the atmosphere would probably have been so charged at the time that they were later only too glad to get rid of her any way they could to stop a riot from breaking out. There would have been no incentive for the police to make things difficult for themselves in trying to carry out a full and proper investigation knowing they could get lynched by an irate mob. So they effectively passed it on to someone else to sort out. Especially in contentious cases, buck passing is entirely normal in the Pakistani legal system. A Pakistani lawyer, speaking from experience once clearly admitted to me without blushing at all, in lower courts the best a lawyer can hope for is for their client's case to be appealed and passed on to a higher court. This is entirely normal. When you add to that the fact that a lawyer defending a person who is falsely accused of ‘blasphemy' is in real danger of being murdered (I understand it has happened), and that a judge in a lower court who acquits a person brought before the court on a false accusation of ‘blasphemy' is in real danger of being murdered (and I understand that has happened), then there is pressure to pass the case up the system to a court that basically has the guts to throw the case out and acquit the defendant if they are innocent. Even then that may not be enough because the defendant is in danger of being murdered regardless of whether they are innocent or not.

So taking the above into account do we think Asia Bibi was given a fair trial?

Now there are moves to get her pardoned by the President. I don't think Asif Ali ‘Gardari' is going to do that for fear of having the whole country set ablaze by ‘Neanderthals'. To be honest, they'd only add to the long and distinguished list of people who wouldn't even shed crocodile tears if he croaked, but granting Asia Bibi a presidential pardon would probably result in anarchy and neither he nor this non-government have the guts to resolutely take on religious extremists over this issue. I don't want her pardoned either. I want her given a fair trial. All Muslims should be concerned with the fair and proper, correct, or what ever way you want to describe it, dispensing of justice. So I don't want Asia Bibi pardoned. I want her given a fair trial, so she can have a proper day in court and be exonerated of what, on the evidence available, is a baseless accusation. Then, sadly, she's going to have to be given asylum in a foreign country (hopefully the British government will step up and do the decent thing for a change now we're on a roll by ending the detention of children of failed asylum seekers), because the fact is, even if acquitted, she is in danger of being murdered. That's just the plain truth bluntly expressed. It's a damning indictment on Pakistan and its society, but it is a fact. She is in danger of being murdered and thanks to the media everyone knows what she looks like even though she has appeared shrouded in a shawl in some appearances. As for her accusers, well, under Islamic law a person bringing a false accusation is liable to suffer the punishment reserved for a person found guilty of that crime. So if they have accused her falsely, then they have to pay. I can't see why they'd complain about it myself considering they were all worked up about someone supposedly ‘insulting' Islam and were quite happy to ultimately see a person hang. If they are so strong in their faith, they'd have to respect the law.

It does bring us back to the question of the law itself. I doubt it will be scrapped entirely. Just look at what happened to Taseer. Pakistan's politicians will line their nests with gusto and invest their ill gotten wealth overseas, but this is a bit too much to ask from them. It's not going to happen. I suspect the non-government is hoping the Supreme Court will sort out this mess surrounding Asia Bibi, and they can heave a sigh of relief without getting their hands ‘dirty' trying to do something about a law that has already got a member of the government killed.

It has to happen though. It has been said long and hard that the law needs reforming so the onus is on the accuser to prove their accusation. That I believe is the key to all of this. That way it would remove the law from the hands of those who want to use it as a tool to falsely accuse any of Pakistan's religious minorities of ‘blasphemy'. It would remove it as a tool of oppression. To reform it in such a way would be entirely in accordance with Islamic law, which is an aspect most commentators have not touched upon, and which hardly any foreign commentators (none to my knowledge) have touched upon (especially not in the likes of the Daily Fascist because they never let the facts get in the way of a good story anyway let alone a story such as this). However, despite the need to bring this law into line with Islamic legal principles, I doubt very much any ‘civilian' government at least will touch the issue with a bargepole. It's plainly too much to ask. Even the mention of it would incite the ignorant and illiterate to burn the place to the ground. You have to look at who made blasphemy a capital offence, it was none other than Mr Potatohead Nawaz Sharif, trying to curry favour with religious extremists. The law itself had been introduced by Zia ul Haq, (that well known ‘defender' of Islam) when he was trying to do the same, and the foundations for this were laid by Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto (the very same philandering drunken thug) who was himself trying to curry favour with religious extremists. So this is what happens when you try to curry favour with these people, the end result is an ungovernable country with perhaps the majority of people stuck in between warring factions and at their mercy. As Pakistanis refuse to stand up to extremists and sort out their own country however, I think this situation will carry on as it is.

I have to say the ultimate irony in all of this is that if the blasphemy law were applied properly, many of these ignorant and illiterate savages dancing about and making blood curdling threats would be hoist by their own petard. What is commonly overlooked is that numerically most people arrested for ‘blasphemy' are nominally at least Muslims. Anyone who is familiar with the myriad of sects and ‘alternative' beliefs here in Pakistan amongst people claiming to be Muslims would know some of them not only pretty ‘far out', but clearly beyond the pale. Islam in Pakistan is not a monolithic block by any means. It is one of the most fragmented to be found anywhere. In this vast variation of ‘belief' (all of which are claimed to be ‘the one true belief' by the respective adherents), what ‘version' of Sharia or Islam would be used by the law? Nominally that's easy to answer, the law would rely on the Quran and Hadith, but which ‘interpretation' of the Quran, and which Hadith, because people here differ wildly on what they believe and practice, and are quite happy to kill each other over these beliefs and practices. If you haven't picked up a newspaper or watched the news ever at any time in your life, it happens very often here to the point of it being some how ‘normal' and expected.

I can guarantee you therefore that should the law be applied properly a lot of people currently making a lot of noise would find themselves on the wrong side of it. Then what? Would they be so eager then?

You always hear stories about how Pakistan through the ISI is pulling some massive deception with regards the military adventure in Afghanistan.

For example, last year Harvard University researcher, Matt Waldman, wrote a report for the London School of Economics, in which he concluded that there is "a strong case that the ISI orchestrates, sustains and shapes the overall insurgent campaign".

I really find this hard to believe myself. Waldman said there was a "strong case" for his view; he did not say it 'was' the case. Also, what were Waldman's sources for coming to such a conclusion? It's no use just saying he is from Harvard. So what if he is?

One problem is that Afghan 'sources' used by western analysts and journalists, are probably the same old motley collection of Paki-bashers be they former Northern Alliance or so-called Pushtun/Pathan nationalists. The latter in particular make me laugh the most. Are the other ethnic minorities in Afghanistan going to welcome millions more Pushtuns/Pathans into the country to upset the ethnic balance? Pathans/Pushtuns are already nearly about 40-50 percent of the population. Do they want to be completely swamped with millions more therefore? Also, what makes anyone think the millions of Pathans/Pushtuns that live perfectly well in Pakistan want to suddenly become citizens of some fratricidal basket case like Afghanistan?

Anyway, military officers are posted to ISI for two years and then posted out. It's supposed to ensure they don't get too comfortable in dabbling with untoward things as a way of life. Pakistan can't be responsible for what retired officers get up to, because the west wouldn't hold itself up to that standard, so why should Pakistan?

In saying the ISI "orchestrates, sustains and shapes the overall insurgent campaign", (as it says in Waldman's report), what they're getting is that Pakistan is acting against the Pakistani Taliban, and leaving the 'Haqqani Network', the so-called Afghan Taliban, alone. Pakistan acts against the 'Pakistani Taliban' because the Pakistani Taliban is the main insurgent threat to Pakistan. They are the ones taking over parts of the country. They are the ones setting off bombs here, there, and everywhere. They are the ones launching attacks against any target they can manage to attack. So why should they be left alone? They are killing hundreds of people at every opportunity. They slit the throats of any Pakistani soldier they can capture alive, and post films of themselves doing so all over the web. Why should Pakistan leave these people alone?

Why does Pakistan have to abandon its own immediate domestic security interests which result in hundreds of civilians and soldiers dying just because NATO has screwed up its intervention in Afghanistan? This is despite Pakistan giving it a point by point guidebook on 'How to Military Intervene in Afghanistan - Lessons for a Foreign Military Power' right from September 2001 before any western soldiers set foot in the accursed place. (I should clarify that you cannot blame many of the western soldiers - definitely not the British or American ones really - but it is the fault of their respective governments).

In the same breath Pakistan gets castigated for allowing ground cleared of the Taliban to be reoccupied because it lacks the resources to take and hold ground. That is the view of the White House. Especially after the floods, if the Pakistan Army was to move into North Waziristan the Taliban would just walk right back into South Waziristan. In recognition of that the US has just put together a US$2 billion 'Security Assistance Package' to equip Pakistan to do just that, take and keep ground. So there is a lot of selective use of sources and events being used when people blame Pakistan for the mess in Afghanistan.

If Western analysts want to find someone playing a double game in Afghanistan they should look closer to home. The west said it was in Afghanistan until the job was done. It assured Pakistan that it would not turn its back and walk away like it had done in 1988/89. Pick up any paper you like and there are any number of analysts saying the west needs to do just that. The overwhelming public opinion is for just that. It is not Pakistan's fault that some European states with military forces in Afghanistan are too cowardly to actually fight the Taliban and are busy hiding behind the nearest wall of British and American dead bodies (again). Some of them actually pay the Taliban what amounts to ‘protection money' to be left alone. They themselves are funding the Taliban. Others end up dishing out money to Afghan ‘security' firms that periodically launch attacks themselves to ‘remind' their employers that it's a dangerous neighbourhood so need to be kept in employment.

Back to the 'Afghan' Taliban in Pakistan though, admittedly the Army cannot act against some of them because they are 'enjoying the protection' of some of the tribes in North Waziristan. To do so with an under equipped and under funded army would only lead to a full scale insurrection along the Frontier. Who picks up the pieces then? It would be worse for everybody. The west is falling over itself to get the hell out of Afghanistan. Realistically, they could not give a damn about Pakistan beyond hoping its nuclear arsenal does not fall into the wrong hands. If they woke up tomorrow and Pakistan had become part of India overnight, they would heave a sigh of relief. That is just cold hard politics.

At the same time, the west now wants to have some kind of negotiated settlement so it can withdraw. Who the hell do they want to talk to? They want to talk to the same people they want Pakistan to kill. How does that work? Pakistan knows that the Taliban, in one guise or another are a fact of Afghanistan's framework that cannot be bombed away. They are overwhelmingly Pushtuns/Pathans, and because that ethnic group has been marginalised by the rise and grip on power of some former Northern Alliance warlords under an ineffectual kleptomaniac who also wants to talk to the Taliban (Karzai), they are going to want a say in what goes on in their country.

Also, what makes anyone think that stopping some of the Taliban from running across the border into Pakistan would end the insurgency in Afghanistan itself? Just how much control of Afghanistan does the NATO Coalition have? Why don't any of these western analysts and journalists blaming Pakistan look at a map of Afghanistan where the NATO Coalition has no control whatsoever? How would they explain the controlling presence of the Taliban (and NATO's total lack of control) in places that are nowhere near the Afghan-Pakistan border? Musharraf offered to fence and mine the entire border, it was the NATO Coalition and the Afghan government that refused. Why? Who is playing the double game here? Why does a wall built in Palestine (that cements a blatant land grab for more Israeli colonies) get the green light for stopping suicide bombers killing Israelis, but a fence intended to stop western soldiers getting killed get a red one?

As for tactics, the Taliban are using the same tactics that the Afghan Mujahideen used in the 1980s, or ones that were refined in Iraq like the IED. They do not need Pakistan to tell them how to do it because they have their own experience in doing so. The place is awash with weaponry, they do not need any from Pakistan. They do not even need recruits from Pakistan because there is an army of willing volunteers sick to the back teeth of the corruption, grinding poverty, and oppression that is the hallmark of the inept and ineffectual Afghan government. The Afghan Taliban is basically a self sustaining enterprise now. Under the circumstances they could probably carry on forever. Even areas under the full control of the NATO Coalition and Afghan government are not exactly anything to crow about, because investment is actually being ploughed into areas that are being contested by the Taliban to win the population over. Under those circumstances it is actually worth the while of Afghans to sign up with the Taliban. It means people pay attention.

Western analysts always lose sight of the fact that Pakistan needs a stable Afghanistan because it wants access to Central Asia. It wants Central Asian gas pipelines to route through Afghanistan and into Pakistan. It wants Central Asian states to use the Pakistani port of Gwadar as their main point of import/export. That project alone has lost Pakistan billions because of the instability in Afghanistan (plus poor project management it has to be said). In that respect the only beneficiary has been Iran, because Iran has been able to try and get the gas pipelines and import/export routes running through its own territory with Indian help. What does Pakistan have to gain from continued instability in Afghanistan therefore? Pakistan is actually losing, economically, politically, and in security terms. Are western analysts implying that the ISI cannot see this?

How many countries have their fingers in the Afghan pie? Under those circumstances how is the ISI, with far less resources, able to dance around them all and supposedly play such a double game? If the ISI was half as capable as it was made out to be, would Pakistan be in such a misruled state? If the ISI can supposedly destabilise a whole country and take the west for a ride at the same time, why can it not permanently sort out kleptomaniac and treacherous scum like Nawaz Sharif and Zardari?

If the ISI is half as good and capable as it is made out to be, if it is a law unto itself, the wretched domestic situation clearly shows it is massively underperforming.