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Hello everyone!

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I just finished watching a very powerful movie called Nothing But The Truth. I am not usually one that recommends movies or books, but this one was really good.

This is the story of Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale), a young reporter on the national desk of the Capitol Sun-Times, a major Washington, D.C. daily. Rachel writes an explosive story that reveals the identity of covert CIA agent Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) that, once published, causes all hell to break loose and the government to demand the identity of Rachel’s source.

With the support of her editor, Bonnie (Angela Bassett), her paper’s in-house attorney (Noah Wyle) and her husband, Ray (David Schwimmer), Rebecca defies the charismatic, career-minded special prosecutor, Patton Dubois (Matt Dillon). When Rachel also declines to reveal her source to U.S. District Court Judge Hall (Floyd Abrams), he cites her with contempt of court and throws her in jail, pointing out that Rachel alone holds the keys to her cell and that time in the D.C. Detention Center may help her come to realize this.

The story follows the hardships Rachel experiences behind bars as well as the legal struggle played out by her attorney, Albert Burnside (Alan Alda), as he pleads her case on First Amendment grounds — a case he argues all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court. Everyone is rabid to know: Who is the source and why is Rebecca so committed to sacrificing so much to protect it?

Rachel Armstrong fights to protect her source, her integrity and her career. And after being exposed as a covert CIA operative, Erica Van Doren fights to protect her reputation within the agency and the sanctity of her other life as a caring suburban mother.

Pay close attention to Alan Alda’s speech before the Supreme Court as he explains what happens when accountability is controlled by governments.

In 1972, in Branzburg v. Hayes, this court ruled against the right of reporters to withhold the names of their sources before a grand jury and it gave the power to the government to imprison those reporters that did. It was a 5-4 decision. Close. In his dissent, in Branzburg, Justice Stewart said “as the years pass, the powers of government become more and more pervasive. Those in power, he said, whatever their politics, want only to perpetuate it and the people are the victims. Well, the years have passed and that power is pervasive.

Ms. Armstrong could have buckled to the demands of the government. She could abandoned her promise of confidentiality. She could have simply gone home to her family. But to do so, would mean that no source would ever speak to her again and no source would ever speak to her newspaper again. And then tomorrow, when we lock up journalists from other newspapers, we’ll make those publications irrelevant as well. And thus, will make the first amendment irrelevant.

And how will we know if a President is covering up crimes or if an Army officer has condoned torture? We, as a nation, will not longer be able to hold those in power accountable to those whom they have power over. What then is the nature of government? When it has no fear of accountability? We should shudder at the thought. Imprisoning journalists. Thats for other countries. That’s for countries who fear their citizens, not countries that cherish and protect them.

Some time ago, I began to feel the personal.. human pressure on Rachel Armstrong and I told her that I was as there to represent her and not a principle. And it was not until I met her that I realized that with great people there’s no difference between principle and the person.

This is the level of journalism that made it the 4th pillar of democracy. Hopefully, here in Pakistan, we will be able to find and keep the fortitude to uncover the truth.

I am a regular reader of The Palestine Chronicle for information and analysis of the ongoing situation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. I stumbled on these cartoons on their website and had to share because they speak volumes.

Before sharing the cartoons, I wanted to point out a couple of articles that are must reads: 

Israel’s Belligerence and The Art of War

The savage brutality of the Israeli war machine (not the entirety of the Israeli population, certainly there are peace-loving human beings there) is mind-boggling. Israel often claims it has one of the world’s best and most “skilled” armies and air force. This propagandistic nonsense has been disproved most recently when Hezbollah humiliated their forces out of the South of Lebanon (with no air force and a fraction of the modern technology Israel enjoys).

It is a fundamental derangement of the Israeli mind that it relies on bombing unarmed, defenseless civilians to establish its military might and any sort of credibility in any “fight” it may have. Though herein is their biggest error, and what I hypothesize will cause a stinging military defeat of the “mighty” IDF by these unarmed civilians. Namely, they have violated one of the most fundamental tenets of the “Art of War” by Sun Tzu:

“When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”

The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, is still required reading in military academies. It is timeless.

The above principle carries truth for if you completely surround an army, or a people, where they truly feel there is no way out, they will fight stronger, and harder, and to the death. It is in these situations that vastly smaller, or large but poorly equipped, armies can inflict incomprehensible damage on a foe. Many times, they can completely defeat that foe. Israel is violating one of Sun Tzu’s most fundamental tenets, you never surround a people, subjugate them, and leave no outlet. At some point, this entire population in Gaza will be willing to give their lives.

And all they have to do is walk. Read the rest of this entry »

While watching GEO around 12:30 today, they were discussing the reasons why Zardari’s comments about Sarah Palin were creating an international scandal, when the GEO transmission went blank. When it returned, the screen said “Scrambled” …. this is to follow the story that was posted on some blogs yesterday that the media was going to change its coverage of the War on Extremism in Pakistan.

Did anyone else lose their GEO transmission around then?

Vali Nasr, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, presented a view of how the US could “help” Pakistan wipe out its jihadi problem in the Christian Science Monitor. He is also the author if “The Shia Revival: How Conflicts with Islam Will Shape the Future.” I always find it funny when the United States tells other countries how to solve their problems when they are unable to solve their own problems of a President that has no public support, a military fighting a war that has no public support and a people that have seen the rights granted to them by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights stripped in the name of Patriotism… maybe the American media should spend more time talking about their problems, rather than offering solutions for ours.

The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released this week paints a bleak picture of Al Qaeda’s renewed strength and determination to attack America. And a major part of the blame, US officials charge, lies with someone President Bush has described as a critical ally in the war on terror: Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf.

Since 9/11, Washington has looked to President Musharraf to uproot Islamic extremism in South Asia. Nearly six years later, however, Pakistan is still a nuclear-armed crucible of jihadi culture, exporting terrorists and destabilizing its neighbors.

For too long, Washington has coddled the Pakistani general, turned a blind eye to his crushing of democracy, and read too much into his pro-West rhetoric. The US must change course. And there are signs it’s about to. “There’s no doubt that more aggressive steps need to be taken,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

After almost a decade under Musharraf’s rule, Pakistan hasn’t changed much. He has initiated reforms and revamped the economy. But where he was expected to do most, fighting Islamic extremism, Pakistan’s record is most disappointing.

Al Qaeda and the Taliban use Pakistani soil as a haven and training ground. Recent deals between the government and Pashtun tribes have in effect ceded the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. A big reason Al Qaeda’s influence is growing, according to the NIE, is the operational capability it enjoys in Pakistan.

Musharraf speaks of “enlightened moderation,” but he has done more to pulverize secular democratic parties than contain Islamist ones. It was his electoral rules that helped Islamist parties win their largest parliamentary representation ever in 2002, marginalizing the larger secular parties that threatened him. Read the rest of this entry »