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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO OIIP OPRC PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT:  PAKISTAN MEDIA REACTION: NOVEMBER 19, 2008 
 
SUMMARY: All newspapers ran as their lead story reports on 
"Operation Lionheart" launched by the U.S. military "in coordination 
with Pakistani forces to put pressure on insurgents on both sides of 
Afghan border."  Newspapers also widely covered the Center for 
American Progress calling for a "dramatic strategic shift in the 
U.S. policy towards Pakistan."  The honoring of the deposed Chief 
Justice Chaudhry by the New York City Bar Association "in 
recognition of his efforts to uphold the rule of law" also received 
prominent front page coverage in all newspapers. 
 
Most major English language dailies ran editorials on the 
recently-concluded Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting in Abu 
Dhabi while the Urdu language dailies chose to comment on the 
elections in Indian-held Kashmir.  The center-right Urdu daily 
"Pakistan" noted that "what could be the credibility of an election 
where voters were forced to vote and popular leadership was 
detained?"  Another liberal Urdu daily, "Express" observed that "it 
is very strange that some major powers, especially the U.S., Europe 
and human rights NGOs, are always ready to monitor elections in 
Pakistan and other developing countries yet all remained silent on 
the Indian forces treatment of the Kashmiris on election day."  The 
centrist English daily, "The News," in its editorial on the Friends 
of Pakistan meeting noted that "rather than hoping that the Obama 
administration will deliver financial assistance, Pakistan's 
managers must devise strategy to conserve and better manage their 
own resources."  Another English daily, "Dawn," wrote:  "Pakistan 
will remain dependent on external inflows, which means it must pay 
attention to the reasons its friends and allies are so reluctant to 
pour money into the country."  End Summary 
 
----------------- 
News Stories 
----------------- 
 
¶1. "U.S. Commander Says Pakistan Backed Raid" "Dawn" (11/19) 
 
"The U.S. military has launched a coordinated operation with 
Pakistani forces to put pressure on insurgents on both sides of 
Afghanistan's wild eastern frontier, a U.S. military commander said 
on Tuesday.  Dubbed "Operation Lionheart," the operation takes 
cooperation between U.S., Afghan and Pakistani forces to "the next 
level" in terms of intelligence sharing and coordination, said 
Colonel John Spiszer." 
 
¶2. "Obama Urged To Build Partnership with Pakistan" "Dawn" (11/19) 
 
"The incoming Obama administration has been advised to bring a 
"dramatic strategic shift" in U.S. policy towards Pakistan, moving 
away from knee-jerk reactions to security threats to building a 
'partnership for progress' with the South Asian nation.  The new 
approach, proposed by a think-tank headed by Barack Obama's chief 
adviser, also seeks greater U.S. involvement in resolving regional 
disputes." 
 
¶3. "NY Bar Confers Its Highest Honor on Deposed CJP ""The Post" 
(11/19) 
 
"One of the world's largest bar associations has conferred its 
honorary membership on Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary the deposed chief 
justice of the Supreme Court, at a solemn ceremony in the United 
States." 
 
¶4. "Pak for End to Predators' Attacks" "The Nation" (11/19) 
 
"The U.S. repudiation to transfer predator aircraft technology to 
Pakistan has driven the PPP-led coalition government to take steps 
in balancing out the role of the Tripartite Commission to bring an 
end to the predators' attacks in Pakistan's territory. 
Well-informed sources told "The Nation" on Tuesday that the 
government was striving to seek remedial measures through Tripartite 
Commission that includes ISAF, Pakistan and Afghanistan to help stop 
predators attacks in Pakistani territory." 
 
¶5. "ISAF, ISPR Come Up With Differing Versions" "Dawn" (11/19) 
 
"International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Pakistan's 
military have come up with differing versions of an incident which 
took place on Sunday following an attack on ISAF post by insurgents. 
 A day after a press statement was issued by ISAF, a spokesman of 
Pakistan's military said the ISAF had engaged the fleeing militants 
 
on the Afghan side of the border and informed a Pakistani post on 
the Pakistan-Afghan border." 
 
¶6. "Three Kidnapped Tribal Elders Escape" "Dawn" (11/19) 
 
"Three tribal elders, who had been kidnapped on Monday, escaped from 
a militants' hideout in Damadola on Tuesday." 
 
¶7. "15 Militants, Soldier Killed In Swat" "The News" (11/19) 
 
"Fifteen militants were killed and several others sustained injuries 
in the ongoing military operation in the restive Swat Valley on 
Tuesday.   Gunship helicopters shelled alleged hideouts of militants 
in Akhund and Zora Kellay in Kabal Tehsil, leaving seven militants 
dead and several others, including civilians, injured." 
 
¶8. "NWFP Govt asks Taliban to lay down arms for talks" "Daily Times" 
(11/19) 
 
"The NWFP government on Tuesday set lying down of weapons as the 
foremost condition for peace talks with the Swat-based Taliban, 
official sources told Daily Times.   The condition was presented 
before members of a Kanjoo Peace Jirga, who met members of the NWFP 
Assembly from Swat district at the Frontier House to discuss a 
possible truce in the valley." 
 
¶9. "Taliban Leadership Divided Over Attacks Inside Pakistan" "The 
News" (11/19) 
 
"Differences in the leadership of the Taliban militants operating in 
the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the NWFP have 
deepened, one of the commanders of local Taliban told The News on 
Tuesday.  "There are many reasons of differences in the Taliban 
leadership," said the commander, who wished not to be identified. 
"The most serious difference between the Baitullah Mehsud and Maulvi 
Nazir groups of local Taliban is over suicide bombings in Pakistan," 
he added." 
 
¶10. "Five Militants Killed In Shabqadar" "The News" (11/19) 
 
"Five militants were killed, while nine persons, including five 
militants, sustained injuries during a gun battle in Mian Kellay of 
Shabqadar Tehsil on Tuesday." 
 
¶11. "Attacks Halt WFP Wheat Supply to Afghanistan" "The News" 
(11/19) 
 
"The World Food Program (WFP) has suspended the supply of wheat to 
Afghanistan due to security situation and looting of trucks carrying 
food items to the war torn country. Two ships anchored at the 
Karachi port are in the process of unloading about 50,000 tons of 
wheat. Two to three thousand tons of wheat reaches Afghanistan 
through Pakistan by trucks daily through Khyber agency in the NWFP 
and Chaman in Balochistan." 
 
¶12.    "Varsity student among would be suicide bomber?" "The News" 
(11/19) 
 
"One in three would be suicide bomber tasked to hit their targets in 
Peshawar is believed to be a final year student at University of 
Peshawar, a senior police official disclosed to 'The News' that they 
had received a tip from intelligence agencies that three suicide 
bomber are tasked to hit their targets especially police 
establishment in the provincial capital. Two of them are said to be 
from Mohmmand agency while the third one hails from Karachi." 
 
¶13. "COAS Leaves For Brussels" "The Post" (11/19) 
 
"Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, and 
Tuesday left for Brussels on a three-day official visit.   General 
Kayani would participate in the meeting of Chiefs of Defense (CHODs) 
for discussion on prevailing security situation in the region" 
 
¶14. "Iran seeks changes in IPI pipeline pact" "The Post" (11/19) 
 
"In a new twist to negotiations on the much-delayed 
Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline project, Tehran wants legal 
immunity in case of armed conflict disrupting natural gas supplies 
through the proposed line." 
 
¶15. "IHC Disposes Of Plea for Taking Aafia Case to ICJ" "Daily 
Times" (11/19) 
 
"The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday disposed of a writ 
petition seeking its direction to the government to take the issue 
of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's detention by the U.S. authorities to the 
International Court of Justice (ICJ).  A single member bench of the 
IHC, consisting of Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam, in its short 
order observed that a case for the repatriation of Dr. Aafia was 
already pending before the court so there was no need to file a 
fresh petition on the same issue." 
 
--------------------- 
Editorials/Op-eds 
--------------------- 
 
¶16. "Election Farce in Occupied Kashmir" an editorial in the 
center-right Urdu daily "Pakistan" (cir. 10,000) (11/19) 
 
"The election farce was reenacted in the Indian-held Kashmir once 
again with the entire valley appeared to be under curfew.  Majority 
of the people kept a distance from the drama. What could be the 
credibility of an election where voters were forced to vote and 
popular leadership was detained?  India should recognize that 
Kashmiris want freedom instead of elections." 
 
¶17. "Failure of Election Farce in Occupied Kashmir" an editorial in 
the liberal Urdu daily "Express" (cir. 25,000) (11/19) 
 
"The first phase of the Indian government's election farce in the 
Occupied Kashmir has failed as the Kashmiris rejected the polls. It 
is very strange that some major powers, especially the U.S., Europe 
and human rights NGOs which always remain vigilant to monitor 
elections in Pakistan and other developing countries, remained 
silent on the Indian forces' treatment of the Kashmiris on Election 
Day." 
 
¶18. "Another Farce Election In Indian-Held Kashmir," an editorial in 
the Karachi-based, pro Taliban Jihadi Urdu daily "Islam" (cir. 
15,000) (11/19) 
 
"India wants to send a message to the international community 
through the sham elections in the Indian-held Kashmir that it has 
granted all democratic rights to the Kashmiri people, and that 
situation in the troubled-state has come to normalcy.  India is also 
seeking to normalize ties with Pakistan through boosting bilateral 
trade and commerce.  Now it is Pakistan's job to thwart the 
nefarious Indian designs on Kashmir, and support the freedom 
movement there and force India to resolve this issue without delay." 
 
 
¶19. "Friendly Advice," an editorial in the centrist national English 
daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) (11/19) 
 
"... Given the humiliating situation we face now, Pakistan's 
priorities must be to put its own house in order, so that it can 
extract maximum benefit from the attempts that will be made by 
members of the Friends forum to encourage investment within it. 
Rather than hoping that the Obama administration will deliver 
financial assistance, Pakistan's managers must devise strategy to 
conserve and better manage their own resources...." 
 
¶20. "Not So Friendly," an editorial in the Karachi-based center-left 
independent national English daily "Dawn" (cir. 55,000) (11/19) 
 
"Expectations were low before the Friends of Democratic Pakistan 
Group met in Abu Dhabi and the meeting has done nothing to raise 
them.  Pakistan will remain dependent on external inflows, which 
means it must pay attention to the reasons its friends and allies 
are so reluctant to pour money into the country." 
 
¶21. "Friends in Need,"  "an editorial in the Lahore-based liberal 
English daily "The Post" (cir. 5,000) (11/19) 
 
"The lukewarm fashion with which the group of countries, dubbed as 
Friends of Pakistan, took up the cause of providing economic shelter 
to Islamabad at its much awaited first meeting in Abu Dhabi on 
Monday, must have taken much wind out of the hype created by the PPP 
government about a comprehensive package of financial assistance to 
be delivered to us promptly, and which would bring an immediate 
 
relief to people braving horrible inflationary conditions. The cool 
manner in which the meeting was held amply explains our almost 
crumpled foreign policy and lack of confidence in the new faces in 
power which seem to have put the country low on priority even by 
what are considered as our closest friends who, strangely insisted 
Islamabad to first bow down to IMF's harsh conditions before looking 
at them for financial assistance...." 
 
¶22. "Disappointing Friends of Pakistan," an editorial in the 
Islamabad-based rightist English daily "Pakistan Observer" (cir. 
5,000) (11/19) 
 
"The much-awaited and much-talked-about first formal meeting of the 
newly created forum of "Friends of Pakistan", held in Abu Dhabi, has 
turned out to be an utter disappointment.  Pakistani officials, who 
attended the meeting are trying to convey an impression that it was 
highly successful, from their point of view, but the fact remains 
that the meeting proved to be a non-event, as it produced nothing 
tangible for the country except vague expressions of support in four 
critical areas of development, security, energy and institution 
building." 
 
¶23. "Critical to U.S. Security?," an editorial in the center-right 
national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) (11/19) 
 
"While American President-elect Barack Obama's statement, that he 
would order a quick drawdown of troops from Iraq as soon as he 
formally occupies the White House on January 20, makes good sense, 
his view that Osama bin Laden is "critical" to U.S. security is open 
to question, to say the least. Mr. Bin Laden, if still alive, is, as 
any strategist would have realized by now, barely a titular head of 
Al-Qaeda and his removal from the scene would hardly make a 
difference.  Not only that, Al-Qaeda has become more or less a 
mythical concept, with so many disparate militant outfits, led by 
their own commanders, carrying out its mission whose immediate focus 
is the vacation of Muslim lands by foreign forces. They are all 
conveniently termed as Al-Qaeda or, in the case of Afghanistan, the 
Taliban. That also puts into question the second part of Mr. Obama's 
plan of combating terrorism, injecting more troops into the Afghan 
arena." 
 
¶24. "Obama, Usama and America's Moral Identity" an editorial in the 
Lahore-based populist center-right Urdu daily "Khabrain" (cir. 
50,000) (11/19) 
 
"The current global economic crisis started from the U.S. and spread 
throughout the world. The possibility of Al Qaeda attacks would be 
minimized if upon assuming power, Mr. Obama works on his first 
priority - improving the economy and thus ending the global crisis - 
rather than withdrawing troops from Iraq and sending them to 
Afghanistan.  Therefore if Mr. Obama actually wants to revive 
America's moral identity, he needs to pay attention to improving the 
economy and give up such activities [as increasing troops in 
Afghanistan and vowing to crush Usama bin Laden]." 
 
¶25. "Vow to Crush Al Qaeda: Obama Walks in Bush Footsteps," an 
editorial in the second-largest, center-right nationalist Urdu daily 
"Nawa-i-Waqt" (cir. 125,000) (11/19) 
 
"President-elect Barack Obama's post election statements hinted at 
worldwide peace being his priority.  However, his reiteration to 
crush Al Qaeda surprised those who hoped to see the world turning 
into a cradle of peace after his election as the President.  His 
announcements for the closure of Guantanamo Bay torture camp and 
withdrawal of American troops from Iraq are good, but sticking with 
Bush policy on Afghanistan is a cause of concern for the world, 
especially Pakistan." 
 
¶26. "How to End the Conflict in FATA," " an op-ed by Dr. A.Q. Khan 
in the centrist national English daily "The News" (cir. 55,000) 
(11/19) 
 
"... Whatever action the government has taken so far in the tribal 
areas has proved counter-productive. It has sown the seeds of hatred 
and could very well lead to the country's disintegration. Creating 
division between tribes by bribing some corrupt leaders is 
tantamount to following a foreign agenda...." 
 
¶27. "An Open Letter to Obama," an op-ed by Irfan Asghar in the 
center-right national English daily "The Nation" (cir. 20,000) 
 
(11/19) 
 
"... The U.S. accuses Pakistan of terrorism and fundamentalism but 
Mr. President, it was your country that fed the fires of Islamic 
fundamentalism to defeat the Communism. If you really want to take 
on terrorism, you will have to eschew the policies of political and 
economic exploitation of the Muslim societies because this 
exploitation gives rise to deprivations which, in turn, fan the 
flames of hatred against your country and make the people 
trigger-happy. You will have to stop the support of corrupt, 
authoritarian and unpopular regimes in Muslim societies which your 
country is doing at the expense of the populace and pull out your 
forces out of the Muslim lands which the U.S. has entered to occupy 
their resources." 
 
¶28. "Karzai's Offer to the Taliban," an editorial in the country's 
premier business newspaper, "Business Recorder" (cir. 25,000) 
(11/19) 
 
"... Now that the Democrats have won the American presidency, there 
is the widely held belief that despite President-elect Obama's 
campaign pledges to beef up U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, 
his administration would like to revisit President Bush's Afghan 
policy.  Consequently, the new administration is likely to come 
under increasing pressure with a thrust on exploring the chances of 
a political solution to the conflict.... Whatever the motive behind 
Karzai's offer of peace talks to Mullah Omar, taking it on its face 
value it should be welcomed...." 
 
¶29. "Radicalization of Youth in Pakistan," An Editorial in the 
Lahore-Based Liberal English Language Daily "Daily Times" (Cir. 
10,000) (11/19) 
 
"The fact is that Muslim youth is radicalized by religion all over 
the Islamic world. And poverty and inequality of opportunity are not 
specific to Pakistan. Interestingly, though, most of the diagnoses 
offered for this by Muslims call it "reactive" and blame the U.S. 
for triggering it. Radicalism in the West sought a forward movement 
of society at greater speed than society could realistically absorb. 
But radicalism in the Islamic world seeks a movement back into the 
pure sharia of the classical period of Islam at a speed that 
threatens to cut Muslim society off from the modern world and 
actually causes it to become hostile to it. Blaming the U.S. brings 
to mind American action in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan where people 
stricken by "collateral damage" are daily radicalized by the passion 
for revenge..." 
 
¶30. "Recovery of Abducted Diplomats - a Challenge," an editorial in 
the Peshawar-based Urdu-language daily "Mashriq" (cir. 55,000) 
(11/19) 
 
"The ongoing military operation in Shabqadar (a suburb of Peshawar) 
is an indication of the onset of militants at the door of the 
provincial capital.  Likewise the reports of possibility of shutting 
down of foreign missions including U.S., Iranian, and Afghan 
consulates in Peshawar are also alarming.  It is not as much as 
necessary to term the abductions of the foreign diplomats as a plot 
to vilify Pakistan; in fact the Government will have to deal with 
this situation to recover the abducted foreign envoys and to secure 
the foreign facilities in the province to dispel sense of insecurity 
in NWFP." 
 
 
Patterson