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Weekly Data Sheet – November 09-15, 2012

Obama’s hard fought victory and message for Pakistan

As a result of intensely hard fought and deeply divisive election campaign in recent US history, US President Barack Obama has won four more years to lead the mightiest nation and military on earth. During his well calibrated victory speech at his campaign office soon after the confirmation of his victory, he thanked everybody âˆ©Ã‡Â¡ from young campaign organisers and political aides to rival Mitt Romney. ¿Our long campaign is now over and whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I learned from you,– Obama said to the cheering enthusiastic supporters after handing him a thumping victory. He also promised ¿reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to work together to move this country forward and fix issues–. It was Barack Obama at his best: speaking as a re-energised president of ¿a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this world has ever known–. Despite the fact of some of the rhetoric on the strength of the American military and the riches of the nation notwithstanding, Obama entire speech was remarkably nation-focused. He talked about the issues that interest the common American such as employment, schooling and better governmental and fiscal governance. Conspicuous by its absence from the victory speech was the foreign policy, and more so Afghanistan and the war against terrorism ´ that so far has gobbled up close to a trillion dollars in over a decade or so. This also reinforced the commonly-held perception that, primarily, domestic politics determine the US presidential electoral process, while foreign policy takes the centre stage only after the president assumes or resumes charge. And this happens through an elaborate consultative process involving the administration as well as the security establishment i.e. the guardians of America geo-political interests. Strangely, American image abroad, particularly in the Middle Eastern Muslim countries as well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan...

Obama's hard fought victory and message for Pakistan

As a result of intensely hard fought and deeply divisive election campaign in recent US history, US President Barack Obama has won four more years to lead the mightiest nation and military on earth. During his well calibrated victory speech at his campaign office soon after the confirmation of his victory, he thanked everybody âˆ©Ã‡Â¡ from young campaign organisers and political aides to rival Mitt Romney. ¿Our long campaign is now over and whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I learned from you,– Obama said to the cheering enthusiastic supporters after handing him a thumping victory. He also promised ¿reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to work together to move this country forward and fix issues–. It was Barack Obama at his best: speaking as a re-energised president of ¿a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this world has ever known–. Despite the fact of some of the rhetoric on the strength of the American military and the riches of the nation notwithstanding, Obama entire speech was remarkably nation-focused. He talked about the issues that interest the common American such as employment, schooling and better governmental and fiscal governance. Conspicuous by its absence from the victory speech was the foreign policy, and more so Afghanistan and the war against terrorism ´ that so far has gobbled up close to a trillion dollars in over a decade or so. This also reinforced the commonly-held perception that, primarily, domestic politics determine the US presidential electoral process, while foreign policy takes the centre stage only after the president assumes or resumes charge. And this happens through an elaborate consultative process involving the administration as well as the security establishment i.e. the guardians of America geo-political interests. Strangely, American image abroad, particularly in the Middle Eastern Muslim countries as well as in Pakistan and Afghanistan...

Weekly Data Sheet – November 02-08, 2012

Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report – November 02-08, 2012

The overall level of violence surged drastically across Pakistan during the current week. The unrelenting wave of Ethno-political violence in the largest metropolis, Karachi, also surged substantially during the week, wherein almost 36 persons were shot dead. Meanwhile, the wave of bomb blasts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA, armed clashes between militants and the security forces in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies continued to mount death toll. The data collected throughten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 127 persons lost their lives as a result of 58 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 111 people injured. During the current week, yet again, civilians were the prime target of violent actors, as they accounted for 75 percent of the total fatalities across Pakistan. Numerically speaking 96 civilians lost their lives and 89 others were wounded in violent clashes of various kinds across the country. The second highest number of casualties were ofmilitants, wherein 24 militants perished in violent clashes. Furthermore, like the preceding week, no CIA operated drone strikewas recorded in any part of the country this week as well. No significant sabotage attack was reported in any part of the country; however militants blew up five government schools in Swat (KP), Mohmand and Kurram Agency (FATA) areas. Casualties due to sectarian violence rose sharply during the week, as six sectarian attacksleft thirteen men dead, two Bohra, seven Shia and four Sunni, in different areas of Sindh and Balochistan. Meanwhile, death toll due to target killings surged by three percent, (41 percent of the total dead against last week 38 percent) during the current week. Overall, 64 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature.The trend also suggests that target killing insistently remains the...

Pakistan Conflict Tracker Monthly Report – October 2012

The overall level of violence marginally escalated during October across Pakistan. Ethno-political violence in Karachi, religio-terrorism in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and nationalist-separatist violence in Balochistan continued to pile up misery and death toll. The deadly wave of target killing in Karachi, started in the last week of March, continued to rip apart the security in the largest metropolis and economic hub of Pakistan. The deadly wave left almost 140 persons dead during the current month. In total 189 persons perished in Karachi during October in different circumstances. Also, the militancy-ridden areas of FATA and KP continued to seethe under violence, wherein a whopping - 270 persons lost their lives during the month under review as a result of different violent clashes. The data collected throughten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, suggests that some 534 people lost their lives in 268 incidents of violence across the country (for details see data sheet). The violent clashes also left 355 people injured in October. A concise look into the casualty figures underlines that the civilians remained the major target of violent actors, with the civilians accounting for 3/5 of the total deaths as a result of various acts of violence and terror in Pakistan. As noted in pie chart I below, civilians were almost 61 percent of the total dead in October. The share of the civilian deaths is slightly higher than the previous month, wherein 59 percent of the dead were innocent civilians. As a whole, 324 civilians were killed in different circumstances during the month. Moreover, the data suggests that the militants fighting against the state remained the second major target i.e. 30 percent (162) of the total dead. Clashes also left 47 security forces– personnel (nine percent of total deaths) dead and these were mostly recorded in insurgency infested areas of FATA, Karachi and Balochistan. Furthermore, during...

Pakistan Conflict Tracker Weekly Report – October 26 – November 01, 2012

The violence across Pakistan and the consequent fatalities subsided considerably during the current week. Ethno-political violence in the largest metropolis, Karachi, also dropped substantially during the week, wherein almost 25 persons (40 were dead in the last week) were shot dead. Meanwhile, the wave of bomb blasts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and FATA, armed clashes between militants and the security forces in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the recovery of mutilated dead bodies-continued to pile misery on the people. The data collected throughten newspapers that CRSS uses as the source, indicates that as many as 70 persons lost their lives as a result of 32 violent incidents across the country during the reported week (for detailssee data sheet).The violent incidents also left 54 people injured. Yet again civilians paid the major cost of the ongoing spate of violence across the country as civilians accounted for 63 percent of the total fatalities this week. Numerically speaking 44 civilians lost their lives and 46 others were wounded in violent clashes of various kinds across Pakistan. The second highest number of casualties was ofmilitants, wherein 19 militants perished in violent clashes. Furthermore, no CIA operated drone strikewas recorded in any part of the country this week. Also no significant sabotage attack was reported in any part of the country. Moreover, a sectarian attack left five activists of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat (ASWJ) dead in F.B area of Karachi city (Sindh) during the course of the week. Meanwhile, death toll due to target killings dropped by 10 percent, (38 percent of the total dead against last week 48 percent) during the current week. Overall, 62 percent of the total violent attacks wereoftarget killingin nature.The trend also suggests that target killing persistently remains the weapon of choice in the hands of violent actors to inflict violence (seethe pie chart below). Furthermore, data underlines that of the total 20...

Weekly Data Sheet – October 26 – November 01, 2012

Laws and outlaws

President Asif Ali Zardari recently underscored the "need for consensus" to achieve "the desired results in the war against terror". The president warned against the use of force against a mindset which is widespread in cross segments of the society. This mindset, he argued, dictated evolution of a broad consensus, similar to the one created before the May 2009 operation in Swat. The president was dot-on as far as the urgency for national consensus is concerned. No disagreement at all. Nor have socio-political cross-sections ever expressed support for the murderous gangs operating in the name or cover Taliban. But what he omitted was whether his government has walked such a lofty talk since early 2008, and whether the parliament has dispensed its primary duty ie legislation to counter the vicious cycle of terrorism. As of now, the answer to these questions is an emphatic no. Pre-occupied with self-preservation in the standoff with the judiciary, the ruling coalition did, however, introduce in the National Assembly a draft legislation titled the Investigation for Fair Trial Bill 2012, which will likely formally pave the way for the government to tap phones and use e-mails and text messages as proof in trials. The proposed law will allow government agencies to access "data, information or material in any documented form... through audio visual devices, CCTV, still photography, bugging, observation or any mode of modern devices or techniques obtained under the Act ... documents, papers, pamphlets, booklets for surveillance," to proceed against terror or crime suspects. Personal "emails, SMS, internet protocol detail record, call detail record and any form of computer based or cell phone based communication, as well as "any means of communication using wired/wireless/internet protocol-based media/gadgetry," will also be open to government surveillance for certain crimes. Even arrest warrants would be permissible against persons or groups believed to be involved in...