This Spy Should Have Stayed in the Cold....

It all began with the kidnapping of terror suspect known as Abu Omar, a Egyptian radical mullah who was lifted off the streets of Milan (Italy) on 17 February 2003, in what was termed as an ‘extraordinary rendition’ and transported by special aircraft to Egypt, where the local ‘mukhabarat’ (secret police) tortured him for almost 7 months for information.

Abu Omar was suspected to have been a recruiter of jihadists for Abu Musab al- Zarqawi (the father of the ISIS / Islamic State) who was then operating in Northern Iraq.

The operation included 18 U.S ‘contractors’ on-the-ground who believed that the Italian Secret Service (SISMI) had approved of their operation and would not interfere. 

But, either out of arrogance or sheer incompetence, they had not consulted with the police or the courts in Italy.  Not only they carried out the operation in full view of witnesses, but when Abu Omar got out of jail in Egypt and called his wife (who was still in Italy, and whose phone was being monitored by SISMI) the details of the operation were revealed by the victim himself, and these could not be ignored since the wiretap details were being submitted to the local Courts as evidence against potential terror activities.

To add to the evidence; the kidnappers had left a trail of phone calls, hotel reservations, and vehicles rented on official credit cards; allowing the Italian investigators to put together a highly detailed picture of the activities of the CIA before, during and after the operation.  The persons who were identified through this investigation were the military pilots who handled the flight out of Italy to Germany and on-wards to Egypt, the then CIA Station Chief Jeffrey Castelli, senior CIA agent Robert Seldon and of course the accused spy Sabrina De Sousa (the focus of this story).

Born in Mumbai (Bombay – India) of Goan heritage, Sabrina married a serving U.S. diplomat and became a naturalized American citizen. Due to her fluency in multiple European languages and her connection to the diplomatic community, she ended up working for the CIA and at the time of this fiasco was posted to the U.S. Embassy in Rome. She holds dual nationality of Portugal and USA and has relatives in Portugal as well as in India. The Italian courts have determined from evidence available to them that De Sousa was the planner of the kidnap operation and that she actively monitored the kidnap from planning to delivery of the victim to Egyptian authorities.  

De Sousa, as can be expected, denies the criminal charges against her.

So, where did she screw up? 

Firstly, De Sousa (assuming that she was actually the CIA case officer for this operation) came to Italy on a diplomatic passport and was attached as a Consular officer. This would have brought her straight under the EU / Italian surveillance microscope, where her activities in public would have been monitored routinely.

Secondly, she put together a team that was shoddy in their operational procedures and left behind a trail that the prosecutors could easily follow.

Thirdly, she wrongly assumed that diplomatic cover for an operative at the consulate, even those carrying diplomatic passports; is not a guarantee of diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

Had she gone to Italy as an ‘dark operator’, isolated herself from the U.S. Gov and its various services and most importantly; used third-party contractors paid in cash to catch her ‘fish’ and have it transported to Egypt using a tramp cargo vessel ; she would have achieved her objective without anybody being the wiser and with full deniability.

De Sousa claims that she was following orders which were issued at the highest level of the U.S. Government (which basically means the President). But, executing these orders on-the-ground is the responsibility of the operatives and here she and her team (as also her bosses in Europe) failed miserably.

Today, De Sousa is legally detained in Portugal under a EU arrest warrant in her name and would be produced in an Italian court-room in the next few days. While she has been convicted in absentia by the Italian Courts earlier (and given a four year prison sentence); it’s possible that she can demand and get a re-trial. 

A re-trial would be nightmare coming alive to the CIA and the Italian intelligence agency, since many old operational records would have to be made public as evidence, both by the prosecution and the defense legal teams; and this might lead to further and potentially damaging information of parallel spy operations of those days.

Currently, Sabrina De Sousa is the only person who is poised to go to jail for the kidnap. Her old bosses Castelli and Seldon were pardoned by Italy’s President Matarella in 2015; and gave a tactic understanding to the CIA that Italy would not push for the extradition of any of the U.S operatives who were involved in the kidnap.

De Sousa tempted fate by travelling to Portugal, while being fully aware of the EU arrest warrant against her and has approached U.S President Trump to intervene in her case. The world over, spies are waiting to observe the fate of De Sousa; which would definitely impact operational procedures drastically.

Author: ‘Sardar’ Sanjay Matkar

25 February 2017

Twitter: @sanjaymatkar

www.matkar.net

Information for this article sourced from public sources.

UPDATE: LISBON, March 9 (Reuters) - 

A former U.S. spy, newly pardoned by Italy in connection with the CIA kidnap of a terrorism suspect in Milan, has credited President Donald Trump's administration with saving her from an Italian jail. https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/03/09/ex-cia-spy-credits-trump-for-saving-her-from-italian-jail/21877653/

This article was originally published in www.newnviews.online I thank them for the opportunity.

Operation “Vanquish Pakistan” ……

“Vande Mataram”.

Operation “Vanquish Pakistan” ……

 

 

The State of Pakistan has long been accused of being both; a terrorist sponsor as well as a terrorist State.

Based on the suspicion that the then Maharajah of Kashmir (Hari Singh) was planning to accede to the Republic of India, it was on 25 August 1947 that the Muslim Conference wrote to the Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan warning him that "if, God forbid, the Pakistan Government or the Muslim League do not act, Kashmir might be lost to them" - 

This set the first ball rolling and Pakistan initiated an economic blockade of Kashmir, which at that time was an independent kingdom. At the same time, Sardar Ibrahim, leader of the Muslim Conference in Poonch, established the first known militant base in Muree (now in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir). He was joined in his efforts by Major General Mohammed Akbar Khan who later became the in-charge of the Pakistani Army Forces during the first India-Pakistan war of 1947. His principal role was in arranging guns and devising strategies for war and revolt by Sardar Ibrahim's branch of the Muslim Conference against Hari Singh with the help of the Pakistan Army. This was one front organized by Pakistan against the Kashmir government of Hari Singh. The second front was the transportation by Pakistan forces of the Lashkar Tribals (Pathans and Mashuds) in an attempt to capture Srinagar.

This action in 1947 can be considered as the first act of sponsored terrorism by the State of Pakistan. It rapidly made progress in this unique industry and in 1993 the United States included it in its list of countries that ‘repeatedly provides support for acts of International Terrorism”. Of course the same USA would become the bosom buddy of Pakistan when the then Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Pakistan became the launch-pad and support structure provider to the U.S. in their bid to aid, arm and train the Islamic Mujahidin to fight against USSR. When the “War against Terror” was announced in 2001 by the then USA President George W. Bush; Pakistan got a higher ‘status’ in their relationship with the USA; from bosom buddy to bed-partner.

Throughout its miserable existence since 1947, successive governments of Pakistan have indulged in acts of terrorism against its own people (Baluchistan and NEFA), against India (repeated terror attacks), against the world (remember Pakistan was the first country to recognize the terrorist Taliban) and against itself. (Inter-services-Agency [ISI] sponsored terrorists went out of their control and have been consistently attacking military and civilian targets inside Pakistan). Successive Pakistani regimes have committed and in many instances surpassed almost every crime that was committed by the Nazis in Europe during the World War II period (for which the USA / UK had conducted their infamous Nuremberg trials); and yet the same USA and UK remain particularly blind in the present about Pakistan’s activities; because of whatever political considerations they deem important.

Today, Pakistan is still being supported in its terror industry by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China and USA. 

India, while being the major and first victim of Pakistan’s terror activities, still chooses to play a passive and docile role in accepting the slaughter of our own Brave-hearts of the Army and Para-military forces. The current BJP Govt. keeps talking of the retaliatory cross-border raids that our heroes successfully undertook (and are still undertaking as needed) to damage the Pakistani assets; but overlooks a very important fact of conflict.

Pakistan is at War with India with a specific goal to capture and conquer Kashmir; while the Indian Govt. officials (including our 56” chest sized Prime Minister) is reacting with pin-pricks of random raids that are not in any way diminishing the attack capability of Pakistan.

Add to this the psychological issue; that since our Armed Forces personnel are not given a long-term, clear-cut goal or objective to achieve, they are fighting with one arm tied-behind their back. (Defense of our mother-land is a generic viewpoint and not a mission goal or objective).

It is upon us, the people of Hindustan to secure our Nation, our culture and our happy way-of-life. Submitting to terrorist Islam or any of its variations was never an acceptable choice, and now it’s a danger that has to be destroyed from its roots. Pakistan and Saudi sponsored terrorist Islam has already taken root in India; with Kashmir, West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh being affected, leading to a complete lack of law-and-order, where radical Islamists are committing crimes with impunity and have announced a clear agenda that they are working to conquer and subjugate India. 

The Govt. of Shri. Narendra Modi listens quietly, and does nothing. It does not even try to enforce simple law and order per Constitutional Law, just keeps silent.

When our Brave-hearts sacrifice their lives for our country, to keep us safe; the Government reacts with statements of “heartfelt regret” and offers monetary compensation to the heroes families. (As if the Heroes fought for money. No, they fought for our country). While sundry ministers make a bee-line to bow before the coffins of our dead, the Home Minister makes his regular and repetitive speech, whereby he will make a “vituperative” statement against the latest attack. Interestingly, he now has upgraded the contents his statements against terrorist attacks from being only vituperative to being extra-vituperative. (निंदा से घोर निंदा तक).

We have to take action to defend ourselves. 

The first part is to force the Govt. of India to take a strong, fighting stance against Pakistan. It should be the declared policy of the Indian Govt., that within a specified period of time, Hindustan will take away POK from Pakistan and bring the entire State of Kashmir under the laws of the “Constitution of India”. Effectively, the Govt. has to announce an expiry date for Article 370 with respect to Kashmir as well as a battle schedule to remove all Pakistani government assets and their control from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), and surrounding areas.

The second part is for the majority of Indians to isolate Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on other fronts. No sports interactions, no peace dialogues, no commerce or trade and no cultural interactions. The People must protest against such activities if undertaken by the Govt. and prevent them from taking place. If every self-respecting Hindustani takes this one crucial decision, the Govt. will have no choice, but to accept the people’s verdict.

What about the actual invasion of Pakistan? The details are best left to our country’s military planners; but the social and political foresight and vision has to be clear. Indian armed forces will put boots-on-the-ground; initially to liberate and repossess the territory of POK and surrounding areas, destroy all Pakistani military assets and sponsored terrorist camps in the area and capture enemy troops if they are wearing the official military uniforms of Pakistani forces (as per the Geneva convention). The rules of this convention will not apply to non-state enemy and they will be considered as ‘terrorists with deadly intentions’, unless proven otherwise. 

Essentially, the Hindustani armed forces will have clear instructions and official mandate to use deadly force against non-uniformed persons bearing military arms and munitions; and they can be killed without prior warning or any emotions of mercy. This procedure has already been adopted by USA using Drone warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq / Syria on a daily and regular basis to attack and kill terrorists. Russia has also adopted this strategy in Syria to target those whom are considered terrorists. Once POK is liberated from Pakistani control, the Hindustani forces will work towards the breakup of the current territory that comprises the nation of Pakistan and divide it into independent Nations like Baluchistan, Sindh, NEFA / Pakhtun, et al. While this process of break-up will lead to violence, de-stability and localized violent conflict, it will keep the Islamic forces fighting among themselves while the rest of the world can rest back and watch. The Govt. of Indian will definitely have to be proactive and work at high speed to secure all the nuclear assets of Pakistan and ensure its safe custody at the first instance.

If, and this is a very big IF; the Shri. Narendra Modi Govt. actually does find the courage to take this step; Hindustan would be in the fore-front to not only stop terrorism in an effective and comprehensive manner; but would actually enhance its image as a country committed to global peace and world harmony. We must remember that before Lord Shriram started his Rajya (reign) that brought happiness and prosperity to his citizens; he had to fight a bloody and ruthless war against Lanka’s King Ravan and defeat him. Of course, it’s incorrect to compare Pakistan with Ravan since the former is a State built on deceit and a fanatic, cruel ideology; while the latter was a scholar who preached the secrets of effective public governance to Shri Laxman (brother of Lord Shriram) as he lay dying on the battlefield.

In a nutshell, we – the Country of Hindustan, has to take military action to defeat those who are currently in control of Pakistan and are using a regressive, negative and inhuman ideology in their attempt towards the regional conquest of the Indian continent; and to ensure the full and complete defeat of the Islamic forces of evil – in order to ensure the survival of our Indic values, our glorious culture that spans back thousands of years and our spiritual and emotional values of humanity towards all.

Jai Hind.

Author: ‘Sardar’ Sanjay Matkar

Dated: 18 February 2017

Twitter: @sanjaymatkar

www.matkar.net

Resources used in this article via Google.

This article was first published in www.newsnviews.online. I thank them for the opportunity.

Challenges and Obstacles to Innovative Startups – An Overview..

‘Make–In–India’, is a revolutionary idea that has been initiated by the Government of Mr. Narendra Modi, the Hon. Prime Minister. Launched in September 2014 as part of an overall plan of nation building, it is devised to transform India into a global design, innovation, startups and manufacturing hub.

Two and half years later, while the Government is working hard to ensure ‘ease of doing business’ by restructuring labor laws and other disadvantages that have constricted business in the past, the ground reality is still a long way from the dream that is envisaged under this initiative.

Huge portions of the required  infrastructure are still under development, with major and industrial roads not being up-to the required international standards. The choke points of highway toll-booths, Octroi toll-booths and other sundry policing points by various government departments prevent the smooth flow of traffic of raw materials and manufactured goods, adding to the cost of raw materials as well as sale pricing. Add to this the still defunct logistics facilities, lack of adequate warehousing of global standards and the use of a trucking fleet made-up of old and inefficient cargo carriers; and the obstacles are of huge proportions.

While the campaign has attracted over Indian Rupees 2000 crore worth of investment proposals from foreign countries, only a fraction of this has been translated into real money-in-the-bank commitment by the investors. Labor reforms and policy reforms have still not trickled down to the grass root levels. The bureaucracy is still sluggish and uninspiring, and prefers to do its work as it is used to under previous governments.

While software technology development companies have started up operations on India using the immediate benefits of this campaign, they still prefer their hardware to be manufactured in China and Taiwan.

The biggest pothole in the road to Make–In–India is the complete lack of discipline among the citizens of our country. The notion or idea of Pride, National interest, Quality of production is unknown and uninteresting to the majority of our populace. As a society, we do not believe in social obligations or civic discipline. This mostly leads to an uninspired and non-motivated gray-collar to white-collar work force that is unaware of global standards and also untrained the same due to lack of knowledge on this issue.

Laws are broken with impunity because law–enforcement is weak and prosecution is a horribly long drawn process. 

A Nation is defined by its character. Character is not hard to define. 

“Character is doing what’s right, when nobody is looking.” Pride, Duty, Honor and Tradition! These are the four pillars that make up a strong character.

Pride – is the manner in which we live our life, with full commitment to our abilities and capabilities. Pride in our work leads to dignity in our personality and strength towards our society.

Duty – is much more than an obligation. It is a responsibility, combined with our right to live a happy and contented life. Not for ourselves alone are we born, said the philosopher Cicero.

Honor – when we do our duty with honesty and pride, it leads to honor. Honor is the respect that we gain from others in our society as an appreciation of our accomplishments.

Tradition – is the act of honoring our ancestral and cultural roots. It is a guide path that leads us to do our duty with pride and gain honor. Old traditions are replaced by new ones and change with time, since traditions are always a guide and never a jailer.

Add to this the singular most important element called Discipline.

Discipline is the key factor for any success and that is the one factor that we are completely ignoring in our quest to be the best of Nations. Discipline ensures that the work that needs to be done; is done at the time it needs to be done, when most people really don’t want to do it. The one factor that transforms an idea into accomplishment is – Discipline.

Unless entrepreneurs at every level, from start-up to those who are already established enforce the concepts of civil discipline and social responsibilities and ensure the voluntary spirit of Discipline, Duty, Pride and Honor are practiced among all the share-holders of the effort towards long-term entrepreneur(s) success, majority of the startups will remain dreams on paper or crash to an early demise.

Author:

‘Sardar’ Sanjay Matkar

Mumbai – 20 December 2016

This article was published earlier in www.newsnviews.online. My thanks to them for the opportunity.