“Never Have I Know Such People”

By Richard McDermott
August 11, 2007

I listened to the compassion and admiration in his voice. He was telling us all about the Pakistani people fighting the Taliban. He was in awe of the tribesmen of the Tribal Areas; particularly the one, it seemed to me: Muhammad Khurshid.

John E. Carey, founder and first president of International Defense Consultants, former U.S. Navy officer, and a brilliant writer, was struggling for words.

We had never seen him struggle for words before.

At a breakfast meeting today, John told us how he had gotten to know Muhammad. And how now he believes they are “Blood Brothers.”

“I was reminded yesterday by Robert Kall, director of the very good news website OpEdNews.com, that he introduced me to Muhammad about a year ago I think,” said John Carey.

“Muhammad wrote for Peace and Freedom a few opinion pieces from the Tribal Areas. But as we exchanged messages we began to really work toward the same one goal: freedom for the tribesmen of the Tribal Areas in Pakistan.”

“This has meant that Muhammad and I have exchanged communications five or six times a week. For about a year. The few times that we have been out of contact more than say, two or three days, the other was left worried and wondering,” said Carey to a room of about 20 of us this morning.

“I have been able to intervene in small ways on behalf of the tribesmen in the Tribal Areas, but it is Muhammad that is in harms way. It is Muhammad that lives in the tough country and does the tough jobs. And it is Muhammad who has had to bury friends lost in the conflict [with the Taliban and al-Qaeda],” Carey said.

“This is really the terror war. This isn’t reality TV — this is reality. After one of Muhammad’s friends was killed he emailed me a photo of the man’s children. I wept.”

We asked him about what he calls “the love letters from Muhammad.”

“Muhammad and I are both emotional. He sends me messages of gratitude and thanks. Sometimes he is overly emotional but he is always a genuine man.”

“Just this morning,” Carey said, “we had a message of thanks from Muhammad at Peace and Freedom.”

“I sent back, ‘God is with you and blesses you good sir. I am as nothing. Just a leaf blowing in the wind. But it is you, si,r who are as the wind. Moving mountains in the Tribal Areas,” said Carey.

He closed with, “I have never known such a people as these.”

Official: Pakistan Remains Strong U.S. “War Against Terror” Ally; But Doubts Persist

By John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom
With U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in Afghanistan to discuss the war against terror with U.S., NATO and Afghan leaders, Pakistan launched a raid against suspected terrorist groups in its tribal areas.

Seven helicopters attacked a complex in South Waziristan (Pakistan) where local and foreign extremists had been training, according to Pakistani Major General Shaukat Sultan.

“I can’t give you the exact number of casualties but most of them were believed killed,” said General Shaukat.

The questions that logically arise are: why now? And is this more a show by Pakistan or is this a real effort to destroy what many intelligence experts consider a key refuge for Al Qaeda?

The “tribal areas” of Pakistan are a kind of “wild west; where even the Army of Pakistan fears to tread,” a senior U.S. diplomat with expensive experience in Pakistan told us.

The senior U.S. diplomat told us, on condition of anonymity, that “Of course, Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in the war against terror.”

We put the questions to the diplomat, who has represented the U.S. in Islamabad during his tenure with the State Department, after an official U.S. government report to Congress made an unusually harsh criticism of Pakistan last week.

In his annual “threat assessment” to Congress Thursday, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte pointedly said “the Taliban and Al-Qaeda maintain critical sanctuaries” in Pakistan.

“Pakistan is our partner in the war on terror and captured several Al-Qaeda leaders. However, it is also a major source of Islamic extremism,” he said.

“Eliminating the safe haven that the Taliban and other extremists have found in Pakistan’s tribal areas is not sufficient to end the insurgency in Afghanistan but it is necessary,” Negroponte said.

The government of Pakistan bristled at Negroponte’s remarks. The foreign ministry in Islamabad described them as “questionable criticism” and urged Negroponte to acknowledge the country’s role in breaking the back of Al-Qaeda, responsible for the September 11 attacks in 2001.

The ministry said Pakistan had done more than any other country to fight terrorism.

A day after Negroponte’s remarks, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Friday that Al Qaeda leaders had “secure hideouts” in Pakistan.

The government of Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf signed a controversial peace deal with tribal elders in early September, under which Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters would be expelled from the area, but cross-border attacks have reportedly increased markedly since then.

Just in the last few weeks, Pakistan said it was mining the border between the tribal areas and Afghanistan in an effort to stop cross-border incursion by terrorists, but our man on the ground Muhammad said the people being killed by the mines were “mostly herders and innocent travelers.”

Peter Brookes at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC has said President Musharraf’s policy in the tribal areas “is failing.” Brookes is a former deputy US assistant secretary of defense.

“I think that Musharraf is with us on Al-Qaeda but I am afraid that Al-Qaeda and other jihadists are also finding sanctuary in that part of the country,” he said.

“There is a very strong belief that Osama bin laden and (his deputy) Al-Zawahiri are both in Hindu Kush of Pakistan. They are not in Afghanistan,” Brookes said.

Frederic Grare, a French scholar with the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “Absolutely, there is growing American unease and I would certainly enlarge that to say there is a growing international unease with Pakistan” over the battle against terrorism.

Grare is leading a project to assess US and European policies toward Pakistan.

He said the “traditional assumption” was that Pakistan harbored militant groups, such as the Taliban, to safeguard its regional interest and would “hand over those linked to global terror groups who were a liability.”

“Now the question is: ‘Are the Pakistanis really protecting those guys? Are they keeping them as a sort of ‘exchange asset’ or whatever?’”

Although many have question whether Pakistan’s efforts against Al Qaeda have been genuine and robust, President Bush and his administration have gone out of their way to praise President Musharraf as a strong ally in the war against terror.

Last September 10, Vice President Dick Cheney, in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” made an impassioned address praising the government of Pakistan. But Mr. Cheney also pointed out that any sign of U.S. abandoning its mission in Iraq sends a definite sign of weakness that is troubling in Kabul and Islamabad.

We intentionally quote a rather long part of the Cheney discussion because the passion of his words seemed beyond the normally diplomatic choice of words that the Vice President is usually known for:

“President Musharraf has been a great ally. There was, prior to 9/11, a close relationship between the Pakistan intelligence services and the Taliban. Pakistan was one of only three nations that recognized, diplomatically recognized the government of Afghanistan at that particular time. But the fact is Musharraf has put his neck on the line in order to be effective in going after the extremist elements including al-Qaeda and including the Taliban in Pakistan. There have been three attempts on his life, two of those by al-Qaeda over the course of the last three years. This is a man who has demonstrated great courage under very difficult political circumstances and has been a great ally for the United States”.

“So there’s no question in that area along the Afghan/Pakistan border is something of a no man’s land, it has been for centuries. It’s extraordinarily rough territory. People there who move back and forth across the border, they were smuggling goods before there was concern about, about terrorism. But we need to continue to work the problem. Musharraf just visited Karzai in, in Kabul this past week, they’re both going to be here during the course of the U.N. General Assembly meetings over the course of the next few weeks. We worked that area very hard, and the Paks have been great allies in that effort.”

“Pakistan, we’ve gone in and worked closely with Musharraf to take down al-Qaeda. Saudi Arabia, same thing. In all of those cases, it’s been a matter of getting the locals into the fight to prevail over al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-related tyrants.”

“Think of Musharraf who puts his neck on the line every day he goes to work, when there’ve been attempts on his life because of his support for our position. And they look over here and they see the United States that’s made a commitment to the Iraqis, that’s gone in and taken down the old regime, worked to set up a democracy, worked to set up security forces, and all of a sudden we say it’s too tough, we’re going home. What’s Karzai going to think up in Kabul? Is he going to have any confidence at all that he can trust the United States, that in fact we’re there to get the job done? What about Musharraf? Or is Musharraf and those people you’re talking about who are on the fence in Afghanistan and elsewhere going to say, ‘My gosh, the United States hasn’t got the stomach for the fight. Bin Laden’s right, al-Qaeda’s right, the United States has lost its will and will not complete the mission,’ and it will damage our capabilities and all of those other war fronts, if you will, in the global war on terror.”

Visit our Flagship at:
http://peace-and-freedom.blogspot.com/

Our Christmas Greeting Plus Asian Culture and Christmas

By John E. Carey

December 23, 2006

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone one who has touched us so deeply this year. To every friend, relative, email contact, business associate and meeting goer we wish you all the very most Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. From Cha Chuc in Honduras to Muhammad Khurshid, Khar, Bajaur Agency, Tribal Areas Pakistan; we value you and appreciate all your inputs, comments and inspiration. We especially welcome home and thank the family of Mrs. Cuc Foshee for their fellowship and joy shared this last you. To Saint Peter we tip our cap to you sir! We especially want to thank our editors at The Washington Times: Mary Lou Forbes and Greg Pierce and Ashley and the other editors and producers of “Page Three” at The Washington Post.

Of course we can never say enough about the love and support we get from Our Family and extended family. We are especially indebted to Ba, Mai, Lemy and Cha John Vuong for a magical and lovely wedding. There are too many others to mention and reflect our admiration but we wanted to thank especially Don, Cha Minh, and Bac Thu. And we wish our Ahn Chi continued recovery and good health.

People and events like cricket with Prem in India, Boaz and his many good causes in Israel, Kamala and all her good work at Peace Journalism.com, Robert at OpEdNews.com, our favorite Russian Alex Sirotin, Mike Benge, Medal of Honor Winner Bud Day, Ben Allen and his beautiful family, BG Blair Hansen (USAF), Carl Thayer in Australia, Annie from Georgetown, John Eldridge, Hieu Dang in London and a merry chat with Sumit Ganguly between Singapore and Bombay made the year worth living and the work worth doing. Again for another year!

John Carey and Honglien Do
Peace and Freedom
and
International Defense Consultants, Inc.
 

Constitutional Status of FATA

246.

In the Constitution,

(a) "Tribal Areas" means the areas in Pakistan which, immediately before the commencing day, were Tribal Areas, and includes

(i) the Tribal Areas of Baluchistan and the North- West Frontier Province; and

(ii) the former States of Amb, Chitral, Dir and Swat;

(b) "Provincially Administered Tribal Areas" means

(i) The districts of Chitral, Dir and Swat (which includes Kalam), the Tribal Area in Kohistan district, Malakand Protected Area, the Tribal Area adjoining Mansehra district and the former State of Amb; and

(ii) Zhob district, Loralai district (excluding Duki Tehsil), Dalbandis Tehsil of Chagai District and Marri and Bugti tribal territories of Sibi district; and

(c) Federally Administered Tribal Areas includes

(i) Tribal Areas adjoining Peshawar district;

(ii) Tribal Areas adjoining Kohat district;

(iii) Tribal Areas adjoining Bannu district;

(iv) Tribal Areas adjoining Dera Ismail Khan district;

(v) Bajaur Agency,

(va) Orakzai Agency,

(vi) Mohmand Agency,

(vii) Khyber Agency;

(viii) Kurram Agency;

(ix) North Waziristan Agency, and

(x) South Waziristan Agency.

247.

(1) Subject to the Constitution, the executive authority of the Federation shall extend to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the executive authority of a Province shall extend to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas therein.

(2) The President may, from time to time, give such directions to the Governor of a Province relating to the whole or any part of a Tribal Area within the Province as he may deem necessary, and the Governor shall, in the exercise of his functions under this Article, comply with such directions.

(3) No Act of Majlis- e- Shoora (Parliament) shall apply to any Federally Administered Tribal Area or to any part thereof, unless the President so directs, and no Act of Majlis- e- Shoora (Parliament) or a Provincial Assembly shall apply to a Provincially Administered Tribal Area, or to any part thereof, unless the Governor of the Province in which the Tribal Area is situate, with the approval of the President, so directs; and in giving such a direction with respect to any law, the President or, as the case may be, the Governor, may direct that the law shall, in its application to a Tribal Area, or to a specified part thereof, have effect subject to such exceptions and modifications as may be specified in the direction.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution, the President may, with respect to any matter within the legislative competence of Majlis- e- Shoora (Parliament), and the Governor of a Province, with the prior approval of the President, may, with respect to any matter within the legislative competence of the Provincial Assembly make regulations for the peace and good government of a Provincially Administered Tribal Area or any part thereof, situated in the Province.

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution, the President may, with respect to any matter, make regulations for the peace and good Government of a Federally Administered Tribal Area or any part thereof.

(6) The President may, at any time, by Order, direct that the whole or any part of a Tribal Area shall cease to be Tribal Area, and such Order may contain such incidental and consequential provisions as appear to the President to be necessary and proper:Provided that before making any Order under this clause, the President shall ascertain, in such manner as he considers appropriate, the views of the people of the Tribal Area concerned, as represented in tribal jirga.

(7) Neither the Supreme Court nor a High Court shall exercise any jurisdiction under the Constitution in relation to a Tribal Area, unless Majlis- e- Shoora (Parliament) by law otherwise provides: Provided that nothing in this clause shall affect the jurisdiction which the Supreme Court or a High Court exercised in relation to a Tribal Area immediately before the commencing day.

Peace is the need of everyone

The Voice For Peace originated from Bajaur Agency has been working for peace in tribal areas. The main purpose of the VFP is elimination of terrorism. According to it, terrorism has been posing great threat to the very existance of the world and humanity. Now the people of tribal areas are ready to abandon terrorism and work for peace.

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