Who Actually Recorded Musharraf-Benazir Calls?
“The Way of The World” by Ron Suskind has given new dimensions to the political talks in Pakistan. Ron Suskind, well-known and award winning author, has provided the “details” of intensively discussed “Deal” between Musharraf and Late Ms. Benazir Bhutto.
Content of the book has added more fuel to debates that are being conducted on coalition’s decision of Musharraf impeachment. Taped politically heated conversation between Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto seem 
to make people to reconsider their political sympathies with them. It is notable that truth about the deal that was designed and supervised by America has been made public at a very crucial time. It can effect the on going impeachment process and political happenings in Pakistan in one way or another.
In politics, the principle of give and take and concept of deal are not forbidden trees. From autocracy to democracy, politicians have always been found indulged in preparing ground for their own political interests. Our concern, for time being, is not the deal between Musharraf and Benazir but our grave concern is how their telephone calls were first taped and then recorded material was safely and quietly handed over to concerned authorities in America.
Ron Suskind has dedicated a large part of his book to the information gathered from these taped calls. A big question arises here that how these calls were recorded in Pakistan? Given that, only Intelligence Agencies were then allowed to keep an eye on telephonic conversation of any individual of the country. (Now home ministry can tape your voice calls too).
It is ridiculous to think that ISI got these calls taped and then handed it over to America. It is not possible even if we get proof that there is an anti-Musharraf or anti-Benazir element exists within ISI.
If not ISI, then this job was done with the cooperation of the any cellular company of Pakistan. Earlier this year, we had news in Telecom sector that a Cellular company was found guilty of sending these voice tapes of President Musharraf and other mainstream leaders to CIA. Assuming that it was not ISI, then this particular cellular company should be held answer able.
If some one comes with the proof that ISI recorded those calls, may be on the advice of Musharraf to use these calls afterwords to keep Ms. Benazir Bhutto on track , it is acceptable but if it is not the case then?
External forces have always influenced internal matters of Pakistan. It is a truth that needs not to be revealed in a book. Some external forces exercise their direct influence and some go for indirect way.
My question here is, who is going to charge that cellular company? or the any other entity that gave these recorded calls to CIA? Government of Pakistan? PTA? lol damn
Furthermore, USA must be ashamed of the double standards that it has maintained. One one side they talk of the human rights of their citizen, and on other hands they are invading the privacy of our rulers?
May Allah help us all…!
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Tags: benazir, book, cellulra, Disputes, Government, law, musharrf, privacy, ron suskind
Category: Disputes, Featured, Government, PTA, World, cellular, news
Valentine @ August 11th, 2008 7:31 am
oh
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Valentine @ August 11th, 2008 7:36 am
but its not only in Pakistan
musharaf is good.
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Aamir Attaa @ August 11th, 2008 7:38 am
Valentine, we are not responsible for other countries. We want this not to happen this in Pakistan…!
About Musharraf… yea he is good : -)
Regards,
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Valentine @ August 11th, 2008 8:09 am
thanks Allah only ppl who have brain understands can understand that Musharaf is good.
it showed me that you are having knowledge
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Aamir Attaa @ August 11th, 2008 10:16 pm
testing
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Aamir Attaa @ August 11th, 2008 10:20 pm
testing this a comment in this box
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Tauseef Zahid @ August 11th, 2008 10:24 pm
In US NSA/DIA/CIA etc cannot function with impunity there are laws who stops them from eavesdropping on US nationals.
I won’t be surprised if they are actively tapping Musharraf and his cohort. The simple reason and solution is in the following:
Pakistan has not developed superior encryption technologies and the reliance on hardware and software imported from US/EU has put our sensitive establishment at the mercy of foreign intelligence services.
E.G. head of CISCO sits in Advisory board of NSA. Why? This is because when CISCO makes a router it tells NSA first how you can tap it etc.
Unless Pakistan should move to write everything on paper and stop communicating digitally there is a big risk of sensitive information being eavesdropped?
When you see a US war ship even if they are on relief missions e.g. 2005 earthquake they are loaded with reconnaissance hardware and they decrypt security infrastructure of a given country e.g. what war frequency particular radar is operating etc.
OK now writing everything on paper is no longer viable in the modern world so the solution is in industrialising Pakistan and developing key hardware yourself. Invest in state of the art signal processing schools. Both China and Russia have independent hardware/routers/switches.
Remember few years MI5 tapped Pak High commission in London.
Now having said all of the above our military is not so bad and I am sure they have developed a counter - probably less sophisticated(using paper *joke) but there is always a danger of other type of surveillance being carried out e.g. bribes, operatives on the ground etc.
and in nutshell PK need to do away with US. Industrialise PK and create technologically advance economy- but then that’s a separate discussion. on How?
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Tauseef Zahid @ August 12th, 2008 7:31 am
No need to be surprised. US do not need ISI to handover telephone data. NSA is capable of taping virtually anything in Pakistan and even Army signal processing is at least 30-50 years behind US intelligence gathering and intelligence protection capability.
There are number of ways phones can be tapped including using satellites, sea lines and not to forget that old telephone poll.
Coming back to the above article these calls may have been recorded using bribes to people within ISI(in the last 8 years under Musharraf rule ISI/FBI nurtured many contacts), bribes PTCL, pressure applied to mobile phone companies in their headquarters in Cairo (Mobilink), Osolo (Telenor)etc. If all this fails then NSA/CIA places their own operatives on the ground to go and physically tap off the telephone poll, dig underground wires etc given the importance US place on Pakistan this is a strong possibility.
if people are wondering what can we(Pakistan) do .. Ask me
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Aamir Attaa @ August 12th, 2008 9:03 am
Touseef, i agree with you on the fact that how capable CIA and other intelligence entities in US are…!
I know tapping a call of a general person like me won’t be a big deal for any one, but i wonder how the calls of our President got tapped? If our ISI or Signals Unit of Army (which is responsible for ensuring and securing communication between Army and other departments, i guess including president) is not able to keep the voice traffic of our president secure?
Yea i am interested in knowing what we (Pakistanis) can do…!
Regards
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d0ct0r @ August 13th, 2008 9:27 am
“A big question arises here that how these calls were recorded in Pakistan?”
and why do u think that those tapes were recorded in Pakistan, BB was in London/Dubai/Newyork when deal was being brokered by USA,so i presume it was all recorded from Benazir’s side not Musharraf side who was sitting in Pakistan
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Aamir Attaa @ August 13th, 2008 9:30 am
hmm Doctor, you can be true too… but the writer of the book pointed those phone calls when BB was in Pakistan, specifically after October 18 blast, when Musharraf Called her in Balawal House…!
Regards
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