Self-Defense or Spy Mission Went awry
Abdul-Majid Jaffry
Soon after Pakistan appeared on the world map as a sovereign country, it was placed in the United States sphere of influence. From signing of the Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement with the United States in 1954 to Musharraf's blind subservience to USA, the incompetent Pakistani rulers have effectively turned Pakistan and US relation into the relationship between the vassal and suzerain state; with Pakistani rulers' abject submissiveness , Pakistan's sovereignty has been very much reduced to flag waving and singing the national anthem.
General Musharraf during ten years his of rule pushed Pakistan to a new low in subservience to U.S.A. In his constant bid to prove his unwavering loyalty, Musharraf, in his docile act of obedience, sold Pakistani and foreign citizens to the U.S. for a bounty of $5,000 to 5 million per head. These people were kidnapped and hunted in flagrant contravention of Pakistani and international laws, handed over to the U.S. without any charge, concrete evidence and due judicial process, and then they were thrown in the torture pit of Guantanamo Bay. Musharraf, without feeling a single iota of guilt, says in his memoir, " We have captured 689 and handed over 369 to the United States. We have earned bounties totaling millions of dollars. Those who habitually accuse us of "not doing enough' in the war on terror should simply ask the CIA how much prize money it has paid to the government of Pakistan. Here, I will tell the stories of just a few of the most significant man- hunts -- This is perhaps the first in the civilized history that a head of state abducted and sold his own people for prize money and be proud of it and unabashedly mention in his memoirs..
Among the many ills that Musharraf inflicted on Pakistan, he allowed the personnel of the U.S. intelligence agencies and mercenaries from American private military companies (Blackwater, Halliburton, DynCorp, etc) to operate all over Pakistan in search of Al Qaeda leaders. Today, it is well known, that hundreds of U.S. armed operatives freely roam on the streets of Pakistani cities. Whether as mistake or unintentional utterance, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in an interview admitted Blackwater's presence in Pakistan. Not only the Musharraf regime allowed American mercenaries presence in the country but also waived the visa requirement for them; they come and go as they please, without the visa or travelling document. Often, they are escorted off the plane into a waiting car on the tarmac.
Pakistan's newspaper Nawa-e Waqt in its editorial writes, "The Blackwater operatives, who committed heinous and inhuman crimes in Iraq, come wherever they please in Pakistan without visa or travel document. They keep on roaming around in vehicles with fake number plates with dangerous weapons. These U.S. officials point guns at the security people if asked to reveal their identity. During a few minutes debate, there is a series of phone calls from the high officials, and they, who consider Pakistan as their playground, are allowed to go with honor (How Much Dignity is Left?", Nawa-e Waqt, January 18, 2010, translated from Urdu). It is also claimed by many and cannot be dismissed easily that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was abducted independently by Americans mercenaries from Karachi and then transferred to Afghanistan.
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