© 2007-2008. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium
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U.S. Embassy: No 'Invasion' Of Pakistan

A AhmedQuraishi.com REPORT
Saturday, 19 July 2008.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan-The U.S. embassy in Islamabad has contested a story posted at AhmedQuraishi.com that linked the closure of the consulate section at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar to a possible U.S. military action on the Pak-Afghan border.

In a telephone conversation with Mr. Ahmed Quraishi, Ms. Kay Webb Mayfield, the spokeswoman for the embassy in Islamabad, said that a warden message released by the U.S. embassy on July 17 did not say the consular section in Peshawar is closing down or that the move had anything to do with a U.S. "invasion of Pakistan." The Peshawar consulate will simply "limit services" for a little over two months starting July 25.

In an email statement, Ms. Mayfield said:

"The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad issued a Warden Notice to American citizens in Pakistan on July 17, 2008, advising that "the Consular Section at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar will limit services to the public to emergency cases only from July 25 to October 15, 2008," and also advising that these services will be available during that period at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.

"The consular officer at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar who normally handles American citizen services will depart Pakistan on a normal rotation in the near future, and there will be a gap of several weeks before that officer's successor arrives. For that reason, consular services in Peshawar will be limited for the stated period. All other operations and staffing at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar continue on a normal basis."  

Kay Webb Mayfield
Counselor for Public Affairs
U.S. Embassy Islamabad

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The original story:

U.S. Attack Nears, U.S. Embassy Closes Peshawar Consulate

A AhmedQuraishi.com REPORT
Thursday, 17 July 2008.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan-The embassy of the United States in Pakistan has decided to shut down its consulate in Peshawar between 25 July and October 15, 2008, and advised U.S. nationals in Peshawar to exercise caution.

No reason was give for this move, which coincides with mounting reports in the U.S. media of an impending military attack on Pakistan's western region.

The Pakistani military has dismissed eyewitness reports of unusual U.S. and Afghan military deployment near Pakistan's borders across the tribal region.

The U.S. embassy announced the decision on its Web site.

In a 'Warden Notice 11/2008', dated 17 July, the embassy said:

"This Warden Message is to alert American citizens that the Consular Section at the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar will limit services to the public to emergency cases only from July 25 to October 15, 2008.  Americans who require routine services such as applying for passports may contact Embassy Islamabad during this period for assistance at (92-51) 208-0000. As per our long-standing guidance, we would like to remind the American citizen community of the need to stay alert, to be aware of your surroundings, to reduce travel to a minimum, and to act self-defensively at all times. American citizens should vary their routes and times, avoid areas where Westerners are known to congregate, and maintain a low profile. Threats, protests, and demonstrations may occur throughout Pakistan without prior notice or warning and on occasion have turned violent, or have been the target of violence. We therefore recommend that American citizens always avoid all demonstrations, protests, and large gatherings."

It is a standard practice for all U.S. embassies to issue such alerts to U.S. citizens. However, the alert is always linked to anticipated events. The only anticipated event in Peshawar and its surroundings is a U.S.-led invasion of Pakistani territories. The declared purpose is to neutralize support for attacks by the Afghan resistance groups on U.S. occupation forces in their country and against the puppet regime of Hamid Karzai.

The Afghans and their Indian intelligence trainers and advisers in Kabul are also hoping this attack, if it happens, would give them a golden opportunity to intensify their game plan: The eventual breaking up of the NWFP and the northern areas from Pakistan in the name of ethnicity and in retaliation for atrocities suffered by the Pashtun tribes in the war on terror. The blame for this suffering has also being laid at the door of Pakistan through a carefully planned propaganda campaign using military psy-ops techniques. Pakistan will end up alienating our brave Pashtun Pakistanis despite the enormous killings committed by U.S. and Karzai soldiers against mostly Pashtun Afghans in the past six years in Afghanistan.

Our American friends are not innocent bystanders either. The chaos will provide more ammunition to U.S. 'concerns' that Pakistani nukes could fall into the wrong hands. The mess will also weaken Islamabad's hold on Balochistan, where terrorists are actively armed, financed and guided by those who control today's Afghanistan.

The silence of the Pakistani government is mind boggling. It only means that Washington has conveyed to this government that any operation will be limited and 'surgical' and will not lead to trouble.

Unfortunately, even within our intelligentsia, we have a large number of people who are good intentioned but definitely with small hearts and defeatist mindsets. They are still not ready to understand that this is the time for Pakistan to show some toughness and renegotiate with the U.S. government. Instead of getting defensive, Islamabad needs to demand a quid pro quo in Afghanistan, where India has much more advantage and almost all the senior Afghan security officials are Indian trained. Pakistan can ask the United States for changing the rules of the game in Afghanistan and stopping the conspiracies that target Gwadar, Balochistan, NWFP and China from the Afghan territories.

It is amazing that when the U.S. is on the retreat diplomatically and militarily in the entire region, we are still unable to handle U.S. bully tactics. Washington has just proposed sending U.S. diplomats to Iran in a major concession to Tehran. Israel had to grudgingly negotiate with Hezbollah State-to-State and release its prisoners, and U.S. army in Afghanistan withdrew from an area where the Afghan resistance killed 9 U.S. soldiers last week. Does this look like a bully to you?

Why is it that the U.S. is retreating on all these fronts but is bullying Pakistan endlessly without even a whimper from Islamabad?

© 2007-2008. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium
without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

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