TOI Correspondent from Washington: In an age where perception management is very much part of the information war that underlines kinetic action, Pakistan has added another feather to its terrorist cap by wheeling out its equivalent of "Baghdad Bob," the propagandist who claimed Iraq was on the verge of victory even as it was being decimated by US.
Small problem though for the smooth-talking Pakistani military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry as he plies the familiar discredited trope of "Pakistan is a frontline state in the war on terror/Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism": his father was a close buddy of Osama bin Laden, and he came under scrutiny of global terrorist watchdogs in the weeks after 9/11.
Chaudhry, a three-star Lieutenant General in the Pakistan Army, is currently serving as the 22nd Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and he's the face of Pakistan's official messaging in its spat with India. He has a difficult task on his hands. The global perception of Pakistan is that of a failed state that exports terror across the world, particularly to India, under a nuclear umbrella. It is an economic basket case that produces little of consequence, and its hair-trigger posture of waving its nuclear "bum" has only enhanced its reputation as an irresponsible entity. In recent days, the international community has also been reminded of how almost every major terrorist attack in the world -- from 9/11 to the London train bombings to the Mumbai 26/11 attacks -- has Pakistani fingerprints on it, embarrassing Islamabad no end. It is a reminder that Pakistan is a frontline state -- in fostering terrorism.
Now add to that Chaudhry's Osama bin Laden connection. His father Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood was a Pakistani nuclear scientist who began his career at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in the 1960s, working under Munir Ahmad Khan, one of the many fathers of Pakistan's nuclear "bum." (AQ Khan got all the headlines because he was a publicity hog; he was just a glorified thief because he stole enrichment designs). Anyway, Mahmood went on to become a key figure in the Kahuta Enrichment Plant (Khan Research Laboratories), and later served as project director for the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant and the Khushab Nuclear Complex.
Mahmood retired in 1999 and went on to found an organisation called Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN). Apparently, he was done with formal science, and his post-retirement work centered on, as someone put it felicitously, how to produce electricity from djinns after capturing them in the country founded by Djinnah.
He wrote books about this, and at some point trekked up to Afghanistan to meet Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri shortly before 9/11.
US intelligence, which tracked bin Laden's meetings after the 9/11 attacks, freaked out when they saw bin Laden had met with a prominent Pakistani nuclear scientist. Mahmoud was hauled in for interrogation by the CIA and FBI, of course, with the help of ISI. Mahmoud claimed that he had only discussed humanitarian issues like food, health, and education with bin Laden. He was eventually released, although he was put on an exit control list by Pakistan (as it did with AQ KHan) because the Pindi boys, of whom his son is now one, were afraid he would be heisted by western intelligence and would spill the beans.
Small problem though for the smooth-talking Pakistani military spokesman Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry as he plies the familiar discredited trope of "Pakistan is a frontline state in the war on terror/Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism": his father was a close buddy of Osama bin Laden, and he came under scrutiny of global terrorist watchdogs in the weeks after 9/11.
Chaudhry, a three-star Lieutenant General in the Pakistan Army, is currently serving as the 22nd Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) and he's the face of Pakistan's official messaging in its spat with India. He has a difficult task on his hands. The global perception of Pakistan is that of a failed state that exports terror across the world, particularly to India, under a nuclear umbrella. It is an economic basket case that produces little of consequence, and its hair-trigger posture of waving its nuclear "bum" has only enhanced its reputation as an irresponsible entity. In recent days, the international community has also been reminded of how almost every major terrorist attack in the world -- from 9/11 to the London train bombings to the Mumbai 26/11 attacks -- has Pakistani fingerprints on it, embarrassing Islamabad no end. It is a reminder that Pakistan is a frontline state -- in fostering terrorism.
Now add to that Chaudhry's Osama bin Laden connection. His father Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood was a Pakistani nuclear scientist who began his career at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in the 1960s, working under Munir Ahmad Khan, one of the many fathers of Pakistan's nuclear "bum." (AQ Khan got all the headlines because he was a publicity hog; he was just a glorified thief because he stole enrichment designs). Anyway, Mahmood went on to become a key figure in the Kahuta Enrichment Plant (Khan Research Laboratories), and later served as project director for the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant and the Khushab Nuclear Complex.
Mahmood retired in 1999 and went on to found an organisation called Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN). Apparently, he was done with formal science, and his post-retirement work centered on, as someone put it felicitously, how to produce electricity from djinns after capturing them in the country founded by Djinnah.
He wrote books about this, and at some point trekked up to Afghanistan to meet Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri shortly before 9/11.
US intelligence, which tracked bin Laden's meetings after the 9/11 attacks, freaked out when they saw bin Laden had met with a prominent Pakistani nuclear scientist. Mahmoud was hauled in for interrogation by the CIA and FBI, of course, with the help of ISI. Mahmoud claimed that he had only discussed humanitarian issues like food, health, and education with bin Laden. He was eventually released, although he was put on an exit control list by Pakistan (as it did with AQ KHan) because the Pindi boys, of whom his son is now one, were afraid he would be heisted by western intelligence and would spill the beans.
You may also like
'Video of EAM Jaishankar apologising fake': PIB exposes false propaganda
Turkish Kamikaze drone recovered from J&K's Naushera
Last One Laughing star 'had to choose' between alcohol and her career amid addiction troubles
British Airways plane catches fire as pilot confuses left and right during Gatwick take-off
Iceland announces stores closing in June and July as customers left gutted
