NOVANEWS

Marines in Afghanistan are engulfed in dust researchers say could contain harmful particles.

By Kelly Kennedy

U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait have inhaled microscopic dust particles laden with toxic metals, bacteria and fungi — a toxic stew that may explain everything from the undiagnosed Gulf War Syndrome symptoms lingering from the 1991 war against Iraq to high rates of respiratory, neurological and heart ailments encountered in the current wars, scientists say.

“From my research and that of others, I really think this may be the smoking gun,” says Navy Capt. Mark Lyles, chair of medical sciences and biotechnology at the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. “It fits everything — symptoms, timing, everything.”

Lyles and other researchers found that dust particles — up to 1,000 of which can sit on the head of a pin — gathered in Iraq and Kuwait contain 37 metals, including aluminum, lead, manganese, strontium and tin. The metals have been linked to neurological disorders, cancer, respiratory ailments, depression and heart disease, according to theEnvironmental Protection Agency. Researchers believe the metals occur both naturally and as a byproduct of pollution.

Researchers in and out of the military say the particles are smaller and easier to inhale than most dust particles, and that recent droughts in the region have killed desert shrubs that helped keep down that dust. The military’s heavy vehicles have pounded the desert’s protective crust into a layer of fine silt, Lyles says. Servicemembers breathe the dust — and all it carries — deeply into their lungs.

The dust contains 147 different kinds of bacteria, as well as fungi that could spread disease, Lyles found. Since the wars began in Iraq in 2003 and in Afghanistan in 2001, the military has seen a 251% increase in the rate of neurological disorders per 10,000 active-duty servicemembers, a 47% rise in the rate of respiratory issues and a 34% increase in the rate of cardiovascular disease, according to a USA TODAY analysis of military morbidity records from 2001 to 2010. Those increases have researchers seeking possible causes.

Read Full Article at Usatoday.com

Dennis Biancuzzo

ONE WEEK THREE MILLION STRONG MARCHING ON WASHINGTON D.C.

May 6 – 12, 2012

The US requires massive and lengthy protests, similar to the 2004 Orange Revolution in Kiev, Ukraine, to have any chance at repudiating the death grip that international financial and petrochemical military industrial complexes have on US domestic and foreign policy agendas.

The scale of the protests in Kiev was unprecedented. With a population of roughly 45 million, the protests lasted nearly a week. By many estimates, protesters numbered well over 500,000, and on some days drew up to one million to the streets, in freezing weather. A great number of the protesters even camped out in tents for the entire duration.

Protests in the US would have to be over 3 million people strong and last a week to equal the intensity of the 2004 Orange Revolution protests and wrest power from the corrupt financial and petrochemical military industrial complex backed oligarchs that have ruled the US for over half a century.

Please use the following web link to the Week Long Three Million Strong Facebook Page to make any suggestions or comments on how and when to organize a congregation of three million people to peacefully protest and request the US government correct its wrongdoings.

Afganistan: The war in Afghanistan is just as unnecessary and wrong as that in Iraq. The reason given for the invasion of Afghanistan was that they were harboring Osama bin Laden who (they said) was behind 9/11. But the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan offered to give us Osama bin Laden for trial if we had evidence against him. Attempts to occupy Afghanistan have always resulted in the defeat of the occupier and the collapse of his entire empire. It happened to Britain. It happened to the Soviet Union. And now it will happen to us – unless we cut our losses and get out NOW.

Campaign Finance & Electoral Reform: strongly favor campaign finance reform. Corporations are not people, and money is not speech. There is no first amendment right for special interests to buy elections and politicians.

Constitutional Government: The debate should not be about how big government should be, but whom it should serve. One of the legitimate functions given the federal government by the Constitution is to provide for the common defense

Corporate Personhood: Corporations are not people, and money is not speech. The fictions to the contrary are responsible for giant corporations having the “right” to buy legislators, elections, and wars by donating to candidates, political action committees (PACs), political parties, issue groups, and legislators. Real campaign finance reform is impossible so long as corporations are seen to have these “rights.”

“Defense Of Marriage” Amendments: vehemently oppose amending the Constitution of the United States (or of the individual states) to enshrine discrimination by prohibiting gay marriage. The recently proposed federal amendment would have not only banned gay marriage, but also banned any arrangement resulting in gay couples having any of the rights and privileges of marriage.

Defense Spending: support a military strong enough to protect the people of this country. But  oppose using the military to protect the financial interests of multinational corporations and banks. After 64 years, there is no reason for us to still be occupying Germany and Japan . Bring home our troops. This change in mission and deployment would allow the defense budget to be reduced substantially. We now have a trillion dollars in new weapons on the books for future procurement — useless nukes and unneeded cold war weapons.

Education: good schools are the result of financially secure, involved parents. So the way to improve education is not to throw money at schools, but to throw money at families. Let’s face it. For now, we need public schools, adequately financed and locally controlled. Higher education should be free in exchange for service to the community or nation. One of the fundamental requirements for good schools is discipline. Without it, nothing else matters. Private schools spend less money by far than public schools. Their teachers are often less experienced. But they have discipline, and that is why they tend to be better. We MUST find a way to help public school teachers maintain discipline in the classroom and provide a real learning environment to their students. The federal government must stop issuing unfunded mandates like “No Child Left Behind.” The role of the federal government should be to supply money with no strings attached so that less affluent school districts can provide quality education. Standardized tests like Florida ’s FCAT have a place as diagnostic tools, but they must not be used to punish schools and teachers.

Energy: Our goal should not just be freedom from foreign oil. It should be freedom from fossil fuels altogether. Petroleum is an essential ingredient for many industrial applications – plastics, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and others. It is ridiculous to be burning up our limited supply of petroleum in automobiles. We must pursue alternative fuels like hydrogen and ethanol from prairie grass (but NOT from corn or other food). In the meantime, it is essential that we drastically increase CAFÉ mileage standards for automobiles, and apply them as well to SUVs and light trucks.

Environment: take seriously our responsibility for preserving the environment which supports all life. We believe that protecting what God has created and given to us is a divine trust.  leaving behind a livable planet for future generations.

Federal Reserve System: Federal Reserve System: The “Federal Reserve” is not federal, and it has no reserve. It is a group of private bankers controlling the money supply and making hundreds of billions in interest on money they print for the government. Congress should consider buying back the Fed and printing its own money, as the Constitution directs.

Foreign Policy: Foreign policy must be conducted in the interest of the American people and (when not in conflict with this) the interest of the people of the world. It must NOT be conducted in the interest of transnational organizations and their owners. The world’s billionaires must no longer be allowed to dictate policies through the IMF, the World Bank, the G-8, the WTO, and their hired hands in the Republican and Democratic parties. They must NOT be able to use our sons and daughters as hired killers for the multinational corporations and banks.

Gay Rights: I support human rights; and the last time I checked, homosexuals were human beings. So by definition I support homosexual rights. They should have the same rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as anyone else, and that includes the right to be free from discrimination and harassment. From a moral and societal point of view, we should all oppose promiscuity, whether gay or straight. We tell our straight teenagers to “Save it for marriage.” But what do we tell our gay teenagers to save it for? Now, many people are uptight about the word “marriage.” They want it used exclusively for the union of a man and a woman. OK. So let’s call a monogamous commitment between gays or lesbians “pairage.” But for goodness sakes, we must encourage it, whatever it is called. We can no longer doom homosexuals to a lifetime of celibacy, closeted deceit, or promiscuity. We must hold out the hope of being able to live in a lifelong relationship, and to have that relationship recognized by society and given all the legal rights, responsibilities, and privileges that accrue to married heterosexual couples.

Health Care: The Republicans ignore the health care crisis. The Democrats argue about who has the better band-aid for the system. But what the system needs is radical surgery. The insurance companies take about half of every healthcare dollar. That money never gets to the doctors and nurses who take care of us. We must kick the insurance companies out of the healthcare business completely, and break the stranglehold of the HMOs and for-profit hospital conglomerates. We must finally join the rest of the civilized world with a doctor-run single-payer national health system.

This can be achieved through a gradual improvement and expansion of Medicare until all Americans are covered for all healthcare expenses. Elective cosmetic procedures would be excluded and available on a fee-for-service basis

Immigration: Immigration is a complex issue which cuts across party lines. Those in favor of “amnesty” or a “guest worker program” include pro-corporate Republicans, elements of the Roman Catholic Church seeking new congregants to replace millions of alienated and excommunicated parishioners, a few Union leaders hoping for new dues-paying members, and liberal Democrats driven by compassion for poor undocumented workers seeking a better life. Those opposing the “guest worker program” include a few racist Republicans and a lot of disgruntled taxpayers who don’t want to subsidize social services for undocumented workers. None of the above groups sees the critical problem with undocumented workers (or indeed with uncontrolled legal immigration).

Internet Regulation: oppose government control or taxation of the Internet except where necessary to prevent monopoly control by corporate interests. The Internet is one of the last remaining means of mass communication available to the people. Almost all radio, TV, and newspaper media are dominated by a handful of giant corporations, some of them foreign-owned and all of them driven by the profit motive. The government sold out the people and gave away our public ownership of the airwaves. We must not let it do the same to the Internet.

Iraq: Saddam Hussein, as bad as he was, had nothing to do with Al Qaeda or 9/11. His secular Ba’athist state was hated by fundamentalist Muslims. By kicking him out under the pretext of his “weapons of mass destruction,” we have empowered Shi’ite Muslim fanatics who want to make Iraq an Islamic state, and greatly worsened the terrorist threat to the United States and its citizens. If we allow our military occupation to continue, we will be doomed to the same kind of defeat in Iraq that we suffered in Vietnam. Most Iraqis want us to leave. Al Qaeda and Iran want us to stay, because the war is depleting our military and destroying its morale. Our troops deserve better than that. They should be brought home and replaced by peacekeepers from the UN and Iraq ’s neighbors. To make that happen, our government will have to make three commitments: (1) to give up all rights to Iraqi oil, (2) to give up control of the rebuilding projects (let Halliburton bid like anybody else, and let them hire Iraqis for a change), and (3) to give up the 14 permanent military bases we are building in Iraq. You can’t “win” an occupation.  End it now!

Jobs And Paychecks: stop government subsidies for exporting American jobs. Every American should have the opportunity to work for a living wage. There are no jobs Americans won’t do – only jobs Americans won’t do for the paltry wages. Every job should provide a living wage.

Moral Issues: Let’s get one thing straight. Morality has very little to do with sex and a great deal to do with money and power. There are indeed huge moral issues facing us today. Waging wars of aggression is a moral issue. Poverty in the midst of wealth is a moral issue. The treatment of widows and orphans is a moral issue.  Health care is a moral issue. Let the churches worry about who is sleeping with whom if they choose. The government has bigger fish to fry. Government should concern itself with morality in the board room and the war room, not the bedroom.

Race Relations: First, we should stop using this phrase. Call it Ethnic Relations or something. All of us — black, brown, white, yellow, red — are part of the Human Race. To suggest that blacks belong to a different race is to open the door to the belief that they are somehow inferior. There is still discrimination against people of color, and it results in them having less opportunity, less education, lower income, poorer health, mistreatment in our courts, shorter lives, heartbreak, resentment, and anger. When working people are shortchanged by the big money interests, people of color suffer the most. The struggle for real equality is far from over. We belong with the oppressed minorities in the front lines.

Social Security: There’s a very easy way to make the Social Security system solvent forever — do away with the cap on earnings subject to the FICA tax. Right now, this is by far our most regressive tax. It is a heavy burden on workers and small businesses; but it is a free ride for the wealthy. Tax all income at the same rate. Make FICA a flat tax. That will bring in so much money the government won’t know what to do with it. The current ceiling could be replaced with a floor. Nobody would have to pay FICA tax on the first $40,000 per year, but they would get credit as if they had. All income above that would be taxed at the current rate. Benefits could be raised, and there would still be more than enough to handle the baby boomers.

Stem Cell Research: strongly support stem cell research. In conducting this research, scientists should be respectful of life. To conduct abortions in order to acquire fetal tissue would be wrong. But it makes sense to utilize existing fetal stem cells for life-enhancing research instead of discarding them. The current restrictions on stem-cell lines is too constraining and should be lifted.  In spite of the propaganda put out by opponents of embryonic stem cell research, the potential of adult stem cells is not as great. The life of a paralyzed father or mother must be put ahead of the life in a blastocyst (group of cells which has the potential to develop into an embryo).

Tax Policy: Corporations “tax” workers 45 times as much as the government does. The average worker creates well over $100 worth of new wealth each hour. But his take home pay is only $8. The government takes $2 in taxes, and the corporation takes $90 for overhead and profit, including obscene CEO salaries. This is the “tax” we need to reduce. Even failed CEOs are given hundreds of millions of dollars when they are fired. We should limit the corporate tax deduction for executive compensation to 20 times the salary of their lowest paid worker. We must also close the loopholes that allow the multinationals to avoid taxation altogether. We could probably eliminate income taxes for workers and small businesses making less than $50,000 per year if we made sure the multinationals who use foreign suppliers, foreign slave labor, and offshore bank accounts are told, “If you want to sell your stuff in this country, you’re going to pay your fair share of taxes.”

The Center for American Progress has put forth some modest proposals for improving our tax system. They would end preferential treatment for income from capital over income from work by setting capital gains and dividend tax rates equal to those on ordinary income. They would eliminate the employee side of the FICA tax and remove the cap (currently $90,000/yr) on income subject to corporate FICA contributions. They would return the top tax rate to 39.6% for those earning more than $120,000 per year. They would eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). They would replace the regressive retirement savings deduction with a flat 25% refundable credit for retirement savings. They would eliminate loopholes and retain a reformed estate tax on estates above $2.5 million (or $5 million for a couple).

Trade Issues:support trade; but it should be fair trade, not free trade. oppose NAFTA, CAFTA, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). They are not really about free trade, but free investment. Everything about them favors the billionaire investors. NAFTA created 20 new billionaires in Mexico (and a bunch in the US). But it decreased the standard of living for workers on BOTH sides of the Rio Grande. Rather than raise the standard of living in the third world to match ours, these agreements are decreasing our standards to match those in poor countries. The newly created transnational organizations (like the WTO) are run by and for the giant multinationals and banks, with no public accountability, no minutes of their meetings, no reasons for their decisions, no input from workers or their elected representatives, and no loyalty to any nation. They overrule our laws, ignore our courts, and force our workers to compete with Chinese slave labor. They destroy the quality of life everywhere except Wall Street. Now we have CAFTA, too. Enough is enough. There should be no trade agreements without protection for workers and the environment.

Women’s Issues: There are lots of issues in this category – The overriding theme is the dignity and equality of women. Saying women should be equal with men is not to deny their obvious superiority in many ways. Indeed, if women ruled the world, there would undoubtedly be more caring, more compassion, more understanding, and a lot less greed. In particular, we insist on equal pay for equal work and on equal opportunity for women in the workplace for those who choose to have a career outside the home. At the same time, we proclaim that this should be a matter of choice and not of necessity. Single mothers are particularly downtrodden in our society. We must work toward a society in which women have real choices, and in which their contributions are properly valued. Those who choose to work outside the home should be provided reliable and affordable child care and a living wage.

threemillionstrong.yolasite.com

The BLITZ is a Progressive movement of concerned citizens who seek legislative, economic, environmental, social, and military reform NOW through a groundswell of grassroots activism against the current governmental corruption and corporate stranglehold that has devastated the economic, social, and environmental well being of the people of the United States of America. As Progressives, we are dedicated to advancing an agenda whereby ALL persons are deemed important and necessary.

NOVANEWS

by Asif Haroon Raja
 


 

Hardly a week has lapsed since the shattering news of helicopter assault by US SEALs leading to Osama bin Laden’s death and already several branches have sprouted from the trunk of the original story.
Too many doubts are being expressed about the authenticity of the claims made by rejoicing US leaders. As the clouds of skepticism are getting thicker, euphoria of US leadership is correspondingly getting deflated.

The big question which troubles ones mind is as to why the US decided to keep Pakistan outside the loop and went for a solo action. Why did it not want to share victory with Pakistan?

Pakistan Coat of Arms

Did it not contemplate the negative fallout effect of its unilateralism? Did it not chew over the possibility that Pakistan might dissociate itself from war on terror at this critical stage and gains made over Osama might get jeopardized?

If so, why was it so sure that Pakistan would ignore it as it had ignored drone attacks? Kayani, Pasha and Rao Qamar couldn’t have possibly given the guarantee since the axe fell upon them.

Were it the Zardari-Gilani-Malik-Haqqani combine who stood as guarantors that Pakistan will play down the act of violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and let it pass? Could it be that Zardari and Gilani prevailed upon Kayani and Pasha that one-time action may be allowed to save the relationship with USA from sinking?

Prime Minister Gilani

Or that Pakistan after learning about Osama’s location considered it too risky to catch him because of militant’s backlash and passed on the baby to USA? Or Pakistan ceded to US request to enable it to justify its early withdrawal from Afghanistan on a winning note?

Is it that the US was cash strapped and couldn’t afford payment of head money in case of a joint action with Pakistan which had provided the initial breakthrough? Or was the US political and military leadership too starved for some sort of victory having an element of glory that it wanted to stand alone on the victory stand?

General Pasha and Leon Panetta

Or was it personal vendetta of Leon Panetta against Shuja Pasha and he wanted to teach him a lesson and satiate his hurt ego? Or the US wanted to embarrass Pakistan by putting it in a tight corner so that it was in no position to disobey its dictates or show defiance in future?

Or the US wanted to fire a testing round to test Pakistan’s early warning and air defence capabilities and judge its response action?

Or it was a hoax to cash upon the ghost of Osama? Or was it to stir up uprising in Pakistan similar to the ones in Arab countries and then make it a pretext to take actions as in case of Libya?

Or it wanted to provoke Pakistan to react and then make it a pretext to go to war and seize Pakistan’s nukes?

Pakistan Nukes

Knowing the psychology of American troops who resort to the option of boots on ground as a last resort only, they make doubly sure that there is not even 1% risk of casualties before undertaking any adventure.

Operation ‘Get Geronimo’ in military garrison of Abbottabad and that too noisy was like landing plum in the middle of dense minefield with too many risks.

Did it not amount to a suicide attack with 60-40% success rate? Besides the casualty factor, in case of an aborted mission, it would have had crippling effects on the political future of Obama and the Democrats.

Joint action with Pakistan would have nullified the negative prospects to quite an extent and major blame would have come on Pakistan.

Even if we blindly accept the one-sided US story, how come Osama being a trained fighter with no dearth of chivalry chose to live in a house which had no protection? Like the minefield being of no value unless covered with fire, high walls of the house are of no consequence without inner protective shield.

Going by the lifestyle of Osama, he was not the man to get caught and killed so easily. Why didn’t Osama convert his house into a mini fortress to give a last battle and dig a secret tunnel to hide or to escape? No heavy weapons, explosives, hand grenades, ammunition belts, suicide jackets were found.

Since the house was devoid of arsenal and he had not put up token resistance even with his personal weapon, it means Osama had given up militancy and was leading a quiet and peaceful life with his family. Was it fair to kill an unarmed man?

Burial at Sea

Pretext of his burial at sea is unconvincing since the Afghans are not inclined to the idea of shrines.

Osama was wanted since 2001 dead or alive. How come, when the golden trophy was seized, it was disposed off in indecent haste rather than displaying it in all the 50 states of USA?

All these are troubling conjectures mainly because of jumbled responses of our leaders. The fact that our top leadership remained mum for one week speaks volumes about its possible complicity. President has yet to utter a word on this tragic incident.

Exposure made by Wikileaks about our leaders on the issue of drones is still fresh in our minds. It disgusted the people to find our leaders busy making new political alliances to preserve their hold on power at a time when country’s sovereignty lay in tatters.

Prime Minister Galani at Parliament

Suspicions of the public were further reinforced when the PM in his belated speech in the National Assembly on 9 May failed to chastise USA for stabbing Pakistan in the back. He was expected to denunciate the US intrusion in a firm tone.

There was an element of bellicosity and rhetoric but his speech lacked the desired punch. He didn’t deem it fit to say that the US act constituted a breach of country’s sovereignty and was violation of international laws, and that not only the matter will be referred to the UN but any future adventure of this sort will be retaliated with full force.

U.S. Drones

How could Gilani jump to the conclusion that it was an intelligence failure when no inquiry had been conducted? He could say that it was failure of political leadership since till then it had remained in a state of limbo.

While delivering his insipid speech, he neither looked ashamed or indignant. He performed the ritual to stave off mounting pressure and to buy time and not to assuage the hurt feelings of the people.

Instead of removing the clouds of despair and hopelessness, he further disheartened the nation. Why he couldn’t behave like Fidel Castro, Ahmedanijad, Chavez or Qaddafi in these testing times to cheer up the people suffering from wounded pride and sense of extreme insecurity?

Overlaping and Conflicting Interests

The nation would have felt heartened if he had boldly confessed that it was his mistake to liberalize the visa policy which enabled 7000 undesirable elements from USA to sneak into Pakistan and enabled CIA to establish a full-fledged network with resources far greater than ISI.

He should have candidly admitted that it was because of policy of appeasement of his government and that of Musharraf’s government that enabled the US to micro manage Pakistan’s domestic affairs and encouraged it to first target FATA with drones and then carryout this brazen attack deep inside Pakistan.

He should have sacked the two US pawns Malik and Haqqani and then tendered his own resignation. Nothing of the sort happened. Despite being stabbed in the back, our leaders do not want to free Pakistan from the suffocating embrace of USA since it is still breathing.

About the writer: Asif Haroon is a defence analyst. Email: asifhroon7751@yahoo.com

The US has yet to furnish proofs that Osama was killed. No photograph of his dead body within the Abbottabad house or before and during his burial at sea has been displayed.

NOVANEWS

What really happened?

By Raqib Shah

We need to look at the facts, use common sense and everything becomes crystal clear.  For example, to prove that Osama bin Laden was killed at the compound in Abbottabad,the easiest way is to take the DNA test of the blood on the floor of the compound.  What we all know

(VIDEO – US EMBASSY AND CONSULATES IN PAKISTAN CLOSED)

YouTube – Veterans Today –

• August 2010: Pakistan shares with US some details about the compound in Abbottabad.US gathers intelligence that the compound is occupied by Osama’s children.

• Jan 27: Raymond Davis, the CIA Station Chief in Pakistan gets an audio file and some pictures of Pak military installations at Tarbela from an informer in Lahore. On the wayback he is pursued by two ISI contractors. He realizes that he is being followed and shotsboth followers in the back. He is arrested by Pakistani police.

• March 16: Raymond Davis is released and he shares the information he had gathered with the CIA.

• March 17: General Kayani starts criticizing drone attacks in public statements

• First Week of April: News started circling that General Petraeus is being transferred toCIA.

  

• April 5: Obama Administration submits a report to the Congress that Pakistan government has no clear strategy to triumph over militants. This is followed by a concerted international media campaign which puts enormous pressure on Pakistani Military and ISI.

• April 7: Bruce Riedel, former CIA officer and White House advisor writes a report arguing that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not only a deterrent to India but also to USA.

• April 8: General Kayani meets with Centcom Chief Gen James Mattis.

• April 18: On Pakistan’s Geo TV, Adm. Michael Mullen said Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence “has a longstanding relationship with the Haqqani Network. That doesn’t mean everybody in the ISI, but it’s there.”

• April 20: Adm. Mike Mullen meets with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Khalid Shameem Wynne and General Kayani.

• April 22: News appears that Pakistan has taken back Shamsi Airbase back from CIA, US forces.

• April 26: Washington critically attacks Pakistan Army’s counter-terrorism efforts.April 26: General Petraeus met with General Kayani.

• April 26: Meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) is held at Rawalpindi,one week ahead of schedule at the Joint Staff Headquarters

• April 27: Wall Street Journal reports that Pakistan is trying to wean Afghanistan away from the United States and draw it into China’s orbit.

• April 28: Obama signs General Petraeus’ transfer to CIA.

• April 29: Obama signs the orders to attack the Abbottabad compounds.

• April 30: General Kayani gave a veiled threat in his Youm-e-Shuhada address:“Pakistan is a peace-loving country and wants friendly relations with other countries and our every step should move towards prosperity of the people. But we will notcompromise our dignity and honour for it”.

• May 1: Four US choppers flew from Afghanistan. Reaching Abbottabad they attacked a secure compound which housed some important Al Qaeda members. A gun battle soon ensued. Within minutes a Pakistani military helicopters flew from Tarbela, reaching the compound in Abbottabad few minutes later. In the meanwhile US forces had torched one of their own choppers. The four choppers (three US and one Pak) took off from the compound and flew to Afghanistan. Incidentally, this time none of them followed a low altitude flight. They were quite visible on Pakistani radars.

What we all should know

In August 2010 after Pakistani authorities shared intelligence with US about the compound in Abbottabad. US after its own intelligence gathering ascertains that the compound is occupied by Osama’s children. Compound surveillance continues through the next year in anticipation of capturing Osama bin Laden. In January 2011 the young CIA contractor who is give the charge of Pakistan Station Chief works “extra hard” to gather clandestine information related to ISI and Al Qaeda relationship.

The contractor,now infamous as Raymond Davis the “American Rambo” receives a call from one of his assets, early morning on January 27 about a high value target. But the asset refuses to lay out details on phone or to leave the Lahore city, where he had gone underground.Raymond Davis hires a rent a car and drives to Lahore, while his security detail followshim in a bullet proof Land Cruiser.

Raymond Davis is able to loose his Islamabad’s ISI“detail” by leaving in unmarked rent a car. The ISI agents falling for his trap follow the embassy’s Land Cruiser. Raymond Davis arrives at Lahore one hour earlier than his detail and meets with the asset. The asset gives him some pictures of an intelligence building at Tarbela and recording of a phone call. Listening the phone call Raymond Davis realizes the gold mine he had struck and immediately calls his security detail which had also reached Lahore, knowing if ISI reaches him first, he would not leave Lahore alive.

Next hour when the security car catches up with Raymond Davis, the ISI bosses realizes that Raymond Davis had give them a slip earlier in the morning and in the couple of hours he had in Lahore, he might have got some important information. Resultantly,they put two contractors on his tail. Raymond Davis seeing a tail fears the worse and shoots them both in the back, at a traffic stop, without logically realizing that there was no way ISI could have know what he was holding.

His security detail which was close behind rushed to his “rescue” however, by the police had chased and arrested him, while the security Land Cruiser running over pedestrians escapes towards US embassy compound in Islamabad. ISI officers quickly reach the scene and confiscating the memory sticks realize Raymond Davis has unearthed a deep secret which even their immediate bosses didn’t know about.

The sensitivity of information rattles the entire echelons of the ISI and even its own officers are sent under house arrest while the relevant cell steps forward. At that time even some of the top intelligence officers of the secretive ISI outside the relevant cell did not know that Osama bin Laden had died and his body was kept frozen at Tarbela. Young Raymond Davis had unearthed the biggest secret of the century, somehow. But now the Pandora’s Box had been opened. Pak top brass knew it had only a few days or weeks at best to capitalize Raymond Davis’ arrest before US get the intel.

In the next six weeks Pakistan plugs all leaks related to Osama’s death and makes sure that maximum gains are made for Raymond’s release. However,when Raymond Davis is released on March 16, his debriefing results in a tsunami of US policy, personal agendas and fueling of political rivalries. Everyone in the US chain of command now wanted to use the information to further personal goals from General

Petreaus to President Obama. On March 17, knowing that Pakistan had lost its trump card General Pervaiz Kayani releases a press statement in which he critically criticize drone attacks, first from him. From then on Pak Military raised its stance against drone attacks, fearing that US now might target its nuclear assets. While in USA politics was at its full swing. General Petreaus wanted to get the buckle for Osama bin Laden’s death on his belt for his future political ambitions, while President Obama wanted the credit to help is sliding popularity. While the tussle continued, the other issue still pending was how to confirm Osama’s death.

In the next one month, nearly every week a top US official visited Pakistan, everyone meeting with General Kayani trying to convince him to hand over Osama’s body. While the stance from Pakistan remained, “Osama, Who?” It was a first in the history that so many US top officials had visited and met with a military chief of a foreign country in such a short time. Seeing nothing getting through the top military brass of Pakistan, US started a political and media campaign on the sides to put extra pressure on Pak Military.

Politics within Obama Administration was also at its full swing. Petraeus was pulling all the strings to take the credit, while trying to lay out a plan to get Osama bin Laden’s body out of Pakistan. President Obama on the other hand in one smooth move decided to “promote” Petraeus to the head of the CIA. The news got out in the first week of April that Petraeus was being transferred to the CIA. While at the main front, Obama continued to pressurize General Kayani and General Pasha and one April 5, Obama Administration submitted a report to the Congress that Pakistan government had no clear strategy to triumph over militants. Alongside the report the media campaign against Pak Military and the ISI continued.

The second week of April began with a bang for top Pak Military brass. On April 7, Bruce Riedel, former CIA officer and White House advisor wrote a report arguing that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not only a deterrent to India but also to USA. The obvious had now become clear that Obama Administration has indirectly sent a clear threat to Pakistan’s nuclear assets. The timing of the report was perfect with Centcom Chief Gen James Mattis meeting with General Kayani next day. In the meeting General Mattis asked about Pakistan’s cooperation in capturing Osama bin Laden.

This was ironically one of typical Hollywood thriller scene. Pakistan knew that US knew that Pakistan knows that US knows that Osama is dead. But Pakistan continued the naive game of “Osama Who?” while US continued to play the game that “Osama must be captured”. General Mattis leaves with veiled threats and stresses that Pakistan must do more to against the Al Qaeda and Taliban, or indirectly saying that Osama bin Laden must be handed over.

For the ten days US waits and sees how Pakistan responds to the threats, but Pakistan acts by burying its head in the sand – see no evil, hear no evil. Obama Administration ups the ante and on April 18 on Pakistan’s Geo TV, Adm. Michael Mullen said Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence “has a longstanding relationship with the Haqqani Network.That doesn’t mean everybody in the ISI, but it’s there.” Again, international media had its field day against Pakistan’s ISI and its links with Taliban and the ISI.

After putting pressure on General Kayani, Adm. Mike Mullen meets with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Khalid Shameem Wynne and General Kayani on April 20.Admiral Mullen again demands indirectly that Pakistan needs to help USA in locating Osama bin Laden. Pakistan’s response was again, “Osama, Who?” Admiral Mullen however, left with another threat that if they came to know about Osama bin Laden’s location they would go ahead and take unilateral action. This is the same message which President Obama repeated in his announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death, when he said, “We will take actions in Pakistan, if we knew where he was.”

In response to continued threats from USA Pakistan starts taking back its air bases from US in an attempt to avoid launching of any operation from its own soil. As a result on April 22 the news appears that Pakistan had taken back Shamsi Airbase back from CIA,US forces. While Obama Administration was piling pressure on Pakistan, General Petraeus visited Pakistan on April 26 and met with General Kayani openly asking him to hand over Osama bin Laden, otherwise get ready to face the consequences. Same day Washington also critically attacked Pakistan Army’s counter-terrorism efforts. General Petraeus left with a clear message that unless Pakistan hands over Osama, US forces would be forces to take action over Pakistani soil. Pakistani Military knowing that US knew that Osama bin Laden was dead couldn’t understand Obama Administration’s continued stance on capturing Osama bin Laden. General Petraeus left with the ultimatum that either Pakistan handed over Osama or US would get him.

Same day meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) is held at Rawalpindi,one week ahead of schedule at the Joint Staff Headquarters. The top brass discusses the Osama issue and decision is reached to work out the Obama’s strategy leading to continuous threats for capturing Osama bin Laden alive, even after knowing that he was dead. While in Pakistan intelligence community starts using all of its sources to reach to the bottom of US’ demand of capturing Osama bin Laden. On April 28 President Obama signs General Petraeus’ transfer to CIA and next day signs the orders to attack the Abbottabad compounds. Thus Osama bin Laden’s credit is assured to President Obama.

On 29 April after President Obama signed the orders to “bring back” Osama bin Laden,Pakistani security agencies get a report that another order had been signed which had authorized US forces to neutralize Pakistan’s nuclear assets, if needed. The report was nothing short of seeing a death angel for the top Pak Military brass.

Seeing the imminent threat, General Kayani tried his last shot when on 30 April 2011 he clearly stated in his Youm-e-Shuhada address: “Pakistan is a peace-loving country and wants friendly relations with other countries and our every step should move towards prosperity of the people. But we will not compromise our dignity and honour for it”.However, it didn’t stop what was about to come 24 hours later.

As night fell on Sunday, 1 May four choppers from a US Afghan base at a low altitude towards its destination in Abbottabad, to the same compound where Osama’s children were in the hiding. Without any detection courtesy of their latest stealth technology and Pakistan’s outdated technology the choppers continued over the Pakistani territory.Ironically, ten years ago a Pak Air force air commodore had raised concern about the outdated radar technology citing that US or worse India could fly helicopters into the country and take out nuclear installations and in reply he was shown the boot while no upgrades to the systems were made.

Anyway, the four choppers made it to the compound in Abbottabad. It is then that PakArmy was notified that they have a choice. Either face an entire barrage of US choppers attacking Pak nuclear assets or hand over Osama’s body. In the meanwhile the small

gun battle at the Abbottabad compound continued and to give the drama some authenticity the US forces torched one of their own choppers.  Pressed for time a Pakistani helicopter flew from Tarbela carrying dead body of Osama bin Laden which was stored in a cold storage there. While at Abbottabad Pak Army soldiers encircle the entire area around the compound within five minutes of the start of fire fight. The firefight continued for 35 more minutes, waiting for the Pakistani helicopter. Once the Pakistani helicopter reached the compound the three US choppers and the Pakistani helicopter flew towards the Afghan border, this time without the need to fly below the radar detection altitude.

Next day, the world woke up to the news that Osama bin Laden was dead and President Obama had delivered wheat President Bush and Dick Cheney couldn’t. But the Pak Military brass did not wake up, because they never slept the night before. Last night they had woken to the realization that US could fly under the radar and take out Pakistan’s nuclear assets. The problem here is that US has the complete inventory of Pakistan’s nuclear assets along with exact locations. It would be a matter of minutes in a country wide operation to dismantle Pakistan’s nuclear assets.