Ansar Abbasi rejoices that the US “is receiving dead bodies of its troops in Afghanistan more than before” and praises Taliban militants by saying “over a hundred thousands of US-led Nato troops, equipped with the modern weapons, have been reduced like rats by merely thousands of Islamic warriors within Afghanistan”. Again, passing over for a moment the shamefulness of rejoicing in death of anyone, we should consider just who are these “Islamic warriors” that receive Abbasi’s praise.

The Afghan Taliban has shocked independent human rights groups by using children as suicide bombers to attack NATO forces.

A tactic pioneered by al-Qaida but almost unheard of in Afghanistan until 2005, suicide bombing is becoming more popular with insurgents attempting to meet the massively intensified Nato campaign with their own surge of violence.

In one recent case a 12-year-old boy in Barmal district in Pakitika province, which borders Pakistan, killed four civilians and wounded many more when he detonated a vest full of explosives in a bazaar.

“They are relying more and more on children,” said Nader Nadery, from the country’s Independent Human Rights Commission, who thought the Taliban were struggling to recruit enough adults. “When somebody runs out of one tool they go to use the second one.”

Children are not the only ones killed and mutilated by Taliban. Women, too, are treated worse than farm animals. When 18-year-old Aisha tried to escape the abuse of her husband and his family, she was captured by Taliban and her face butchered to set an example to other women not to dare try to live with an ounce of dignity.

When Malim Abdul Habib became headmaster of Shaikh Mata Baba High School that educated girls, the Taliban took more than just his nose and ears.

“Four armed Taliban came to my uncle’s house at 1am,” said his nephew Abdullah Hakim, 25. “They told him he had to go with them. When he refused they stabbed him in the stomach in the yard and then cut off his head.”

Taliban militants forced Habib’s wife and children to stand and watch as they butchered him in front of their eyes.

These are the “Islamic Warriors” that Ansar Abbasi prays will defeat the US-led NATO forces. But what Islam is this that butchers women and children in cold blood? What Islam is this that forces a man’s wife and children to watch in horror as he is beheaded before their very eyes?

This question must not only be asked of Ansar Abbasi who is entitled to be a Taliban sympathiser if this is his belief, but it must also be asked of Jang Group which chooses to pay Ansar Abbasi to write columns that term the killers of women and children as “Islamic warriors” and then publishes them for the masses to read. Editors and publishers of The News may think that adding the disclaimer of “Viewpoint” is enough to absolve them of any responsibility, but their Ansar Abbasi is not merely an individual offering his ‘viewpoint’ rather he is paid by Jang Group to write these pieces. With freedom comes media responsibility and accountability. If Jang Group does not support this position, why are they paying for it?

It should also be noted that this is not the first time that The Nation has corrected an error after it was brought to their attention. On 16th August we noticed an incorrect photo being attached to an article on the website, and it was quickly corrected after the mistake was brought to their attention. As we said at the time, “mistakes happen”. This is understandable. Unfortunately, we are also living in a time when some groups will use illegal methods such as hacking websites in order to spread propaganda. As is clarified in the response from The Nation, this was the case with the articles by Zabihullah Mehsud which were not approved by The Nation and they are taking action to correct this.

No media group is 100 per cent perfect or accurate all the time. The most trustworthy ones, though, are the ones that are willing to admit and learn from their mistakes. By not only correcting the issue, but honestly and transparently investigating and offering a public clarification, The Nation deserves to be commended for setting an excellent example to all media groups.

Dear Pak Media Watch

Thank you and Mr Rumi and Ms Isfahani [Editors Note: Raza Rumi and Farahnaz Ispahani are not members of the PMW team, but we thank them for helping bring this matter to attention.] for bringing this post to my attention. I have gone through this PMW comment, as well as the previous one mentioned in the introduction, which I was not aware of at the time that it was published, roughly a year ago. Having looked into the matter, I am in a position to reply and address the concerns raised.

To begin, there are most certainly items posted with the byline “Zabihullah Mehsud” on our website. The last one is dated 28 August, 2011. Having carefully gone through all three (KHI, ISB and LHE) editions of The Nation’s print edition on the 27th, 28th and 29th of August, 2011 neither that news nor that byline has been published on our pages, nor would we normally have carried it in the manner it was displayed on the website. After checking the source of the news uploaded, it is with regret that we confirm that our website has been hacked and due to the gaps in our security this post and others like it, carrying the “Zabihullah Mehsud” byline, have not been identified or caught by our anti-hacking software. We apologise for this unfortunate incident and for the matter displayed and the inconvenience caused to our readers. The process of upgrading our site has begun; an emergency session was called at the head office of The Nation with our website managers and an advanced security system for nation.com.pk is being put into development immediately. The news items linked in the PMW post along with all others archived with the same byline are being removed as I write this.

As you said in your post of September 2010, “…it would not be unusual for a reporter to quote a Taliban spokesman,…” as is the practice in The Nation, Reuters, Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and AFP, among others – all of whom regularly reference the Taliban spokesman (Zabihullah Mehsud) in their reports. The parts added directly from the Taliban website, which do not appear in our print edition, are also extensions of the hacking problem, that this PMW post has helped identify.

In response to your question regarding The Nation’s thoughts on “…the suicide bombing outside a Quetta mosque that killed at least 11 people on Wednesday…” please refer to our editorial, to be published tomorrow (3 September, 2011), which I hope will satisfy your curiosity. It may interest you to know that regarding the hacking of our site, we will also be carrying an editorial in The Nation to be published on the 4th of September, 2011.

Sincerely,
Rameeza Majid Nizami

It should be asked if The Nation believes that the suicide bombing outside a Quetta mosque that killed at least 11 people on Wednesday was also ‘martyrdom attack’.

When we first reported this practice by The Nation of acting as a Taliban mouthpiece, we wrote the following:

Reporting about important issues such as militancy, terrorism, war and security is a key role of the media. Doing this without direction from the government so that the reports are objective and unbiased is vital to a free media. But turning over use of media resources to the official spokespeople for any organization – especially a terrorist organization banned by the United Nations – is not free, objective, or unbiased. It is the opposite, which is called simply propaganda. We encourage The Nation to end this practice immediately.

Today, one year later, we repeat this call for The Nation to publish objective reporting of facts, not Taliban propaganda.

اگر غور کریں تو پتا چلتا ھے کہ صارفین سے ایک نھیں بلکے کئی جھوٹ بولے جارھے ھیں۔ سب سے پھلی کوتاھی ھے بنا تصدیق یہ خبر چھاپنا کہ جاںبحق ھونے والے امریکی سیل امریکی اسپیشل فورسز کا وھی دستہ تھا جو کہ ایبٹ آباد ریڈ میں ملوث تھا۔

جنگ گروپ کھانیاں گھڑنے میں اس حد تک مہارت رکھتا ھے کہ اس نے اس سراغ رساں کتے اور اسکے ٹرینر تک کو خالق حقیقی سے جا ملوایا جو کہ اسامہ بن لادن آپریشن میں موجود تھے۔

اس کے علاوہ عوام کے ساتھ کھلم کھلا جھوٹ بولنا اور ان کے دینی جزبات کے ساتھ کھیلنا  بھی جنگ گروپ کے لئے کوئی بڑی اور نئی بات نھیں۔

اس خبر میں جنگ اخبار رپورٹ کرتا ھے کے امریکی ہیلی کاپٹر گرنے کے فورن بعد نیٹو نے طیارے بلوائے اور آٹھ بے گناہ لوگ جاں بحق ھو گئے۔ جنگ اخبار اس حد تک جھوٹی رپورٹنگ کرتا ھے کے ان من گھڑت جاں بحق ھونے والوں کی نشان دھی بھی کئیے دیتا ھے۔ ان میں سے ایک آدمی کو مسجد کا امام بنا دئیا۔ایک کو اس کی بیگم اور باقی چھ انکے من گھڑت بچے۔

یہ تمام باتیں جھوٹ اور من گھڑت ھیں اور اصلیت نیو یارک ٹائمز اخبار میں چھپ چکی ھے۔ لیکن جنگ اخبار اپنی عادت سے مجبور ھے اور جھوٹی رپورٹنگ کی روایت کو برقرار رکھے ھوئے ھے۔

اب یہ سرخی جو کہ اسی دن کے اخبار میں چھپی ھے نیچے ملاحضہ فرمائیے

پاکستان میڈیا واچ نے چونکہ یہ بات پھلے واضح کر دی ھے ھم اس موضوع پر صرف یہگزارش کریں گے کہ طالبان نے اس حادثے کی ذمہ داری لی ھے۔ اس میں کوئی شک والی بات نھیں اور اسے ایک کانسپرسی تھیوری بنا کر عوام کی نظر میں پیش کرنا تاکہ وہ گمراہ ھوں ایک بڑی ھی نیچی اور گری ھوئی بات ھے۔

ان سب باتوں اور اس کے علاوہ جنگ گروپ کی روزمرہ کی رپورٹنگ سے اس بات کا اندازہ ھوتا ھے کہ جنگ گروپ نے عوام کو دھوکے پر دھوکہ دیتے چلے جانے کی حامی بھری ھوئی ھے۔ شاید جنگ گروپ کو یہ نھیں پتا کہ عوام پاگل نھیں ھے اور اس کو دو جمع دو کرنا آتا ھے۔ شاباش۔ لگے رھو جنگ بھائی۔

]]> http://pakistanmediawatch.com/2011/08/08/%d8%ac%d9%86%da%af-%da%af%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%be-%da%a9%db%8c-%d8%ac%da%be%d9%88%d9%b9%db%8c-%d8%a7%d9%88%d8%b1-%d9%85%d9%86-%da%af%da%be%da%91%d8%aa-%d8%b1%d9%be%d9%88%d8%b1%d9%b9%d9%86%da%af/feed/ 0 http://pakistanmediawatch.com/2011/05/25/jang-group-promotes-sensational-pns-mehran-conspiracy-theory/ http://pakistanmediawatch.com/2011/05/25/jang-group-promotes-sensational-pns-mehran-conspiracy-theory/#comments Wed, 25 May 2011 15:22:57 +0000 admin http://pakistanmediawatch.com/?p=2230 A front page article in The News by Mayed Ali that claims to report on the assault on PNS Mehran on Sunday night, but after listing details about the combat radius and onboard radar of the destroyed Orion aircraft the reporter ventures into the land of Hollywood movie-style conspiracy plots.

However, it is believed, the exact info on the details of the complex, which is not visible otherwise, the hangar and the aircraft suggests the plan just cannot be a work of amateur terrorists. The way the entire mission was executed, the sources in Pakistan Navy believe, it seems some specialists must have worked on the plan quite extensively. Moreover, the ex-Navy officials were of the view it was an inside job, implying that someone from within had provided vital information to saboteurs for the mission. And, if the investigation zeroes in on the possibility of sabotage from outside, the RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), Mossad (Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) or even the CIA (Central Investigation Agency) could be a suspect. Interestingly, in such a scenario, the US technicians, working on the new Orions, might have to be interrogated.

Notice that this conspiracy is pure speculation, which the reporter reveals through the careful use of conditional words such as “if” and “could be”. Actually, the initial claim of this conspiracy is not even attributed to an “official source”, rather the reporter simply claims that “it is believed…” Believed by who? We do not know.

The conspiracy blaming the PNS Mehran attack on CIA is particularly weak when one considers that premises that it is based on: Americans were on the base and knew the maintenance-cycle of the Orions. As Mayed Ali reports, there were seven Americans on the base. But there were eleven Chinese also, and as as the reporter also notes, “the attackers did not touch any other aircraft (Fokker) or helicopter (Chinese ZA-6) parked in the same vicinity”. Based on this information, one could just as easily speculate that the operation was carried out by Chinese intelligence to drive a wedge between America and Pakistan. Of course, if you believe this alternative conspiracy theory you would be just as foolish, for there is no evidence for this either.

Unfortunately, this is not the only article from Jang Group that promotes this baseless conspiracy theory. On page 2 of The News reporter Shakeel Anjum goes beyond his colleague’s pure speculation and quotes unnamed “senior intelligence sources” as saying that the attack was “accomplished by RAW certainly with the consent of CIA and a group of al-Qaeda”. Furthermore, according to this anonymous source, “a group of al-Qaeda and Taliban got training in a base camp of RAW in Afghanistan”.

Shakeel Anjum admits that the evidence is “circumstantial”, but even this requires readers to believe that any evidence exists at all. Obviously, none of this evidence is actually presented for readers to judge for themselves. Rather, they must accept the word of an unnamed “intelligence source” – not even an intelligence official.

But most important to consider is that believing this conspiracy theory requires that one believe the following statement: US, India, Taliban, and al Qaeda are all working together. In order for Jang‘s conspiracy theory to be true, you have to believe that extremist fundamentalist Islamists are conspiring with Hindu nationalists. You also have to believe that Taliban and al Qaeda are both fighting and killing American soldiers and also working with American soldiers.

Dawn reports that an officer-in-charge at the base who spoke with the militants described the attackers as speaking clear Urdu with a local accent. The same report details that the militants tried to kill the Americans on the base who were saved only by bullet proof vehicles. So now Jang Group‘s conspiracy requires us to believe that RAW trained al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan and taught them to speak clear Urdu with a Karachi accent. Then RAW and CIA sent these al Qaeda and Taliban militants to PNS Mehran with permission to kill Americans along with Pakistanis.

And while Jang Group published in its English language newspaper a front page story with a slightly more speculative tone and put the more sensational conspiracy on the second page, its Urdu newspaper Jang boldy proclaims the wild conspiracy theory as fact from the front page headlines.

Following the past weeks attacks on the nation’s security forces, people are looking for answers. Government officials and military leaders are holding hearings and announcing investigations into security lapses. Rather than play its role as watch dog and ensuring that the hearings and investigations are carried out openly and honestly, media is spoon feeding the people sensational conspiracy theories that would embarrass a C-grade bollywood screenwriter.

Lage raho media bhai…

Ata Rabbani writes in The Nation that Raymond Davis was part of a secret plot to destroy Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. In the first sentence of his column, Ata declares that Raymond Davis is not a diplomat. He later undermines his claim when he says, “Not being a legalist, I would refrain from referring to the Vienna Convention”. If Ata Rabbani admits he is not a legalist and would refrain from referring to the Vienna Convention, how can he make declarations about diplomatic immunity which is defined by the very treaty that he says he is not qualified to discuss?

Ata Rabbani later incorrectly claims that Raymond Davis “annual remuneration is three times more than the other hired American secret undercover agents”. According to research conducted by The News, the median income of security contractors in Iraq was $445,000. According to documents released by the FO, Raymond Davis salary was $200,000, which would mean that rather than three times more, it is actually only half the median salary for similar jobs.

Knowing that Raymond Davis salary was less than half the median salary for similar jobs, the claim of Ata Rabbani that “it is because he is entrusted with a special and exceedingly sensitive job” becomes impossible. Furthermore, it renders completely ridiculous his further suggestion that the facts “all point to the Americans being after their life-long objective in Pakistan: our nuclear capability.”

What should also be examined is why reporters continue to refer to the salary of Raymond Davis as “$0.2 Million” instead of $200,000 which is not even a quarter of a million dollars? Could it be that this is intended to leave readers with the impression that Raymond Davis is a millionaire when in fact his salary is less than the typical pay for these security contractors?

Then there is the column by Sultan M Hali which perpetuates the ‘transparently silly’ conspiracy theory that Raymond Davis was delivering nuclear weapons to al Qaeda.

Under the garb of diplomats, the US government managed to place intelligence, security and guerrilla warfare experts in its embassies and consulates in Pakistan. These estimated over 3000 operatives have been conducting an internecine warfare within Pakistan. They have managed to infiltrate the Taliban and Al-Qaeda network and create their own Tehrik-e-Taliban (Pakistan) force, which has been recruited, trained and equipped by these CIA operatives to target Pakistan Army personnel, Armed Forces installations, markets, hospitals, schools and public places to destabilize Pakistan. The Soviet Intelligence Agency SVR has disclosed that RAD and his network have provided Al-Qaeda operatives with chemical, nuclear and biological weapons so that installations in the US may be targeted and Pakistan is blamed and pressed to do more of the US’ dirty work like conducting operations in North Waziristan.

Not only does this article promote a conspiracy theory that is simply ridiculous on its face, but also the author cannot get the basic facts correct. He claims that “over 3,000 operatives” have been in Pakistan. This would mean that every single American granted a visa was a spy!

But that is not the only bit of misinformation. The author’s claim that the CIA created TTP is laughable. American drone strikes killed the leader Baitullah Mehsud in 2009, and these supposed CIA terrorists attack the CIA itself.

The author goes on to ask why no high level targets are killed by drones, ignoring the fact that it was a CIA drone strike that killed Baitullah Mehsud himself. He also ignores statements by Pakistani officials that CIA drone strikes have passed up opportunities to kill high level targets in order to protect the lives of innocent civilians.

Perhaps all of this misinformation should not be such a surprise. You will recall that the author S.M. Hali is connected to the ‘virtual Think Tank’ O.M. Center for Policy Studies that we exposed last week as a possible propaganda ring. Putting his name to articles that are filled with such obvious misinformation, it is not unreasonable to wonder if he is honestly mistaken or if he is bald faced lying. One cannot help but ask what is his true agenda, and why Pakistan Observer is willing to print such poor commentary.

The first conspiracy theory registered states that, despite the Taliban claiming responsibility for the killing, it was really a CIA operation. This was stated by chief of Jamaat-i-Islami Sindh chapter Asadullah Bhutto and duly reported by Express Tribune.

It must be asked why Express Tribune believed it was important to publish such a statement, especially in an otherwise factual report. Often the excuse for reporting such conspiracy theories is that sensationalism sells, and this is only feeding the demands of the public. But there is increasing evidence that the answer could be that a significant number of journalists actually believe these conspiracy theories.

In an email discussion immediately after the assassination on Wednesday, several prominent journalists including a Bureau Chief wrote the following:

Zahir Shah Sherazi, Bureau Chief Dawn News wrote in an email:

A question always come to my mind, Do you all believe its always the militants and extremists elements who are doing it OR there may be another hand involved to cash in on such controversies, we have to keep in mind that also
regards
zahir

Mian Najib Ur Rehman, Publisher/Editor Daily Lahore Post wrote the following:

Yes! if Raymond Davis is being investigated for having links with terrorist networks . then this issue automatically links itself with Raymond Davis i am sure he must be knowing that people are coming for gun down the minister today . i must say again it is a very sad day again for Pakistan after the assassination of Sal-man Ta seer .. today once again the voices gunned down – -

lord save us . our country. and its people ..

Ameen

Journalist Khalil Ahmed writes,

May be another Raymond Davis killed the Minority Minister to further pressurize Pakistan. Its too early to comment who is behind this assassination. Thanks.

Journalist Yasir Zahoor writes,

Yeap Khalid ahmed I m agree with u ……….before some days American CIA was already warned to Pakistani intelligence agency (as foreign media reported) that they would take revenge of Raymond Davis issue ……… should also mention this ……. except blasphemy law …

Conspiracy theories have already reduced much of Pakistani media to a mockery on the world stage. It has become a regular feature in international headlines that ‘transparently silly’ conspiracy theories are the bread and butter of our mainstream journalism.

Often journalists and editors are given the benefit of the doubt and it is accepted that this is more cynicism than incompetence on the part of the journalists. But if we have entered a phase in which news reports are being filed and edited by journalists who cannot tell the difference between fact and fantasy and who readily accept wild conspiracies over obvious truths, then we are in serious trouble indeed.

On 27 September, Nawa-i-Waqt published the article titled, “Afia’s sentence is a challenge to Muslim Ummah’s honor” which appears to be little more than Taliban PR. The story by correspondent Haji Pariz Gul quotes the spokesman of Taliban Azam Tariq who termed the sentence of Dr Aafia Siddiqui in a US court as an insult to Muslim Ummah’s honor and lamented the government for being a puppet of the US. Taliban spokesperson Azam Tariq then urged the government to join the Taliban.

Strangely, Haji Pariz Gul is supposed to be a news correspondent but he did not ask investigative questions or provide any comments from government or military officals. Rather, it appears that he had called up the Taliban spokesman to have him give a statement to be printed in the newspaper.

In fact, much of what is stated is stated without attribution, blurring the line between what is being said by the Taliban and what is being said by Nawa-i-Waqt. It is as if Nawa-i-Waqt has become a Taliban newspaper in this article.

Original article is here:

In total, The Nation‘s website is hosting at least 160 individual articles with by lines attributed to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. The publishing of official Taliban PR appears to have begun in May of this year.

While it would not be unusual for a reporter to quote a Taliban spokesman, what makes this situation unique is that the by line for the articles is attributed to Zabihullah Mujahid. There is no context or analysis provided by an objective reporter. Rather, The Nation appears to have either for pay or for free given space on its website to promote Taliban PR.

That the articles on The Nation website include a by line for Zabihullah Mujahid and refers to the source as “Taliban website” demonstrates that The Nation is knowingly using their website to publish official Taliban PR.

This situation raises serious questions about whether some elements at The Nation are operating as a legitimate news source, or as a covert operatives for militant jihadi organizations. While criticism of the US and the war in Afghanistan is certainly within the bounds of responsible journalism, there is a difference between criticism and propaganda.

Furthermore, the question must be asked if The Nation is now at risk of having its financial assets and economic resources frozen under UN Resolution 1904 which states that

…all States shall…Freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of these individuals, groups, undertakings and entities, including funds derived from property owned or controlled directly or indirectly, by them or by persons acting on their behalf or at their direction, and ensure that neither these nor any other funds, financial assets or economic resources are made available, directly or indirectly for such persons’ benefit, by their nationals or by persons within their territory…including but not limited to those used for the provision of Internet hosting or related services, used for the support of Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden, or the Taliban and other individuals, groups, undertakings, or entities associated with them…

Reporting about important issues such as militancy, terrorism, war and security is a key role of the media. Doing this without direction from the government so that the reports are objective and unbiased is vital to a free media. But turning over use of media resources to the official spokespeople for any organization – especially a terrorist organization banned by the United Nations – is not free, objective, or unbiased. It is the opposite, which is called simply propaganda. We encourage The Nation to end this practice immediately.

We were unable to find any instances of this practice on the websites of Dawn, The News (Jang), Daily Times, or Express Tribune.

Drone attacks are the targeted killings of suspected militants using what are known as Unmanned Arial Vehichles (UAV) or drones. These aircraft are flown remotely and the weapons aboard them are fired remotely are controlled by Americans working with Pakistani military.

The Nation, as well as many other media voices, are quite opposed to drone attacks due to their habit of killing not just the one person who was targeted, but some innocent people who might be standing next to the target. Now, some will ask how an innocent person finds themself standing next to someone like Hakimullah Mehsud – but, again, that is for someone else to argue about.

The Nation gives a fairly common argument:

…one of the major causes of post-9/11 terrorism in Pakistan has been the US policies in this region – which are increasingly revealing their anti-Muslim character. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, these policies have been and continue to be directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Muslims – through military actions including the drone attacks.

My curiousity had to do with how bad these drone attacks actually are. So, I did a little bit of research and found this excellent web page that has a map of drone attacks from 2004 to 2010 examines the actual number of casualties.

Our study shows that the 135 reported drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, including 39 in 2010, from 2004 to the present have killed approximately between 944 and 1,398 individuals, of whom around 654 to 1,011 were described as militants in reliable press accounts. Thus, the true non-militant fatality rate since 2004 according to our analysis is approximately 30 percent.

This is an interesting statistic. In the past six years, 70% of those killed by drone attacks were reliably reported as militants by the press. 

I also did some research to find out how many Pakistanis have been killed by militants. The results were a bit surprising. First, I had a hard time finding anything quite as comprehensive as the map of drone attacks and the research on militants killed by drones. There does not seem to be – at least as far as I can find – anyone who wants to create a map that tracks civilians killed by Taliban.

But I did find some interesting research. According to a report by Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, in one year alone – 2009 – 3,021 innocent Pakistanis were killed and 7,334 were injured by terrorist attacks. According to the South Asia Intelligence Review, there have been over 7,500 civilians and 2,876 Pakistani troops killed by militants.

About 300 deaths by drone attacks have been innocents. In the same time period, over 10,000 innocents have been killed by terrorists.

Headlines from the past week have told that militant attacks killed 90 Ahmadis who were praying, 5-12 hospital workers in Lahore, and 3 or more people when Taliban blew up another girls school and health centre. Was this in response to drone attacks also?

Drone attacks are controversial, and this blog is not here to defend the practise. Not only The Nation, but officials with the UN have called for an end to the programme. But it is important to consider all the facts when discussing an issue as important as root causes of terrorism. The Nation asks a very important question:

“The question, though, for us is why in all instances, Pakistani citizens are vulnerable to being recruited as terrorists?”

This is a vital question, I agree completely. But to find the answer, we will have to look a little bit deeper than only drone attacks and American policies. That these practices are used by terrorist recruiters is no question. But The Nation is telling the same thing as terrorist recruiters – if drone attacks stop and Americans go away, terrorism will stop. I tell you, I wish it was so easy. 

The simple fact is, as bad as drone attacks might be, 300 deaths does not explain the 10,000 and more people who are being killed by terrorists in our nation. Ahmadis are not launching drone attacks. Drones are not being kept in girls schools. 

The Nation is asking the right questions, but it is avoiding the difficult truths.