WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s trust deficit with India might have gotten just a little wider again, going by the fervent defense of terrorism aka 'freedom struggle' by Pakistan’s military ruler Pervez Musharraf, and his unrepentant, thigh-slapping account of the Kargil invasion, in his memoir In the Line of Fire .' 

Notwithstanding the universal condemnation of Pakistan as a breeding ground for terrorism, Musharraf argues in his book that ''the West rejects militant struggles for freedom too broadly.'' The United States and Europe, he complains, ''too often equate all militancy with terrorism; in particular, they equate the struggle for freedom in ‘Indian-held Kashmir’ with terrorism.'' 

The observations are contained in a chapter titled ''Reflections,'' in which Musharraf suggests he is not impressed by the current world sentiment that there is no cause in the world that can justify terrorism. ''Pakistan has always rejected this broad-brush treatment,'' he says. 

According to the Musharraf terrorism doctrine outlined in the book, ''it is not just that one man’s terrorist can be another man’s freedom fighter; sometimes a man can be a legitimate freedom fighter in one context and a terrorist when he does something else.'' 

Pakistan’s military supremo also differentiates between ''killing civilians as collateral damage in an attack on a military target on the one hand and targeting civilians intentionally on the other.'' 

But it is the chest-thumping account of the Kargil War that will leave India breathless, as Musharraf the master tactician unveils his fertile imagination that challenges the account of military historians. 

According to Musharraf, India almost invited a broader war by moving too much of its forces to Kashmir and leaving the rest of the front weaker. 

By moving in artillery and infantry formations ''even at the cost of significantly depleting its offensive capability elsewhere along the international border (India) had created a strategic imbalance of in its system of forces,'' writes Musharraf. ''It had bottled up major formations inside Kashmir, leaving itself no capability to attack us elsewhere, and most seriously, had left the field open for a counter-offensive with which we could choke the Kashmir Valley.'' 

So why didn't Pakistan attack? Because ''we had no offensive designs on the international border, as were reassured that India’s offensive capability was restricted to Kashmir,'' says the architect of the Kargil invasion. 

While even Pakistanis have in recent days sneered at their army saying it's only victory in history is killing an 80-year old rebel (referring to the Bugti murder), Musharraf presents Kargil as brilliant military success, ''a tactical marvel of military professionalism.'' 

Musharraf also obliquely invokes the old turkey about one Pakistani being equal to many Indian soldiers. ''Brigade-size attacks were launched to secure outposts held by as few as eight to ten of our men,'' he boasts. ''These attacks gained little ground until the middle of June. Nonetheless, the Indian media hyped their success.'' 

A little later, he concedes that ''by July 4 (the day Pakistan virtually surrendered) they achieved some success, which I would call insignificant.'' He however claims ''Our troops were fully prepared to hold our dominating positions,'' and blames ''international pressure'' for demoralizing Nawaz Sharief and forcing him to seek a truce. 

''On our side, I am ashamed to say, our political leadership insinuated that the achievements of our troops amounted to a ‘debacle. Some people even called the Pakistan Army a 'rogue army,''' he complains. 

''The bravery, steadfastness, and ultimate sacrifice of our men...against massive Indian forces will be written in golden letters,'' writes the man who according to the Indian Army refused to accept the bodies of his dead soldiers leading to a virtual revolt in the Northern Areas (most of the soldiers were from the Northern Light Infantry). 
 

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf claims India’s uranium enrichment programme could have its roots in disgraced metallurgist Abdul Qadeer Khan's nuclear
blackmarket. In his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire,” General Musharraf says, “Ironically (Dr Khan’s) network based in Dubai had employed several Indians, some of whom have since vanished.”
“There is a strong probability that the Indian uranium enrichment programme may also have its roots in the Dubai-based network and could be a copy of the Pakistani centrifuge design,” he adds.
The Pakistani President provides no other evidence of the alleged Indian involvement in the rogue scientist’s nuclear blackmarket.
In his memoir he notes that one of his most embarrassing moments came in 2003 when the Director of the CIA approached him with evidence of proliferation of nuclear secrets from Pakistan.
General Musharraf says when he met US President George W. Bush at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September of 2003, Mr Bush drew him aside and asked him to meet George Tenet, then Director of the CIA, the next morning.
“It is extremely serious and very important from your point of view,” Mr Bush told General Musharraf.
Mr Tenet placed some papers in front of General Musharraf. “I immediately recognised them as detailed drawings of Pakistan’s P-1 centrifuge, a version that we were no longer using but had been developed in the early stages of our program under A.Q. Khan,” General Musharraf writes. “The papers amounted to a blueprint, with part numbers, dates, signatures, etc. I did not know what to say. I have seldom found myself at a loss for words, but this time I was.”
Noting his anger towards Dr Khan, General Musharraf says, “There could be no doubt that it was he (A.Q. Khan) who had been peddling our technologies, even though Tenet did not say so and the papers did not include his name.”
General Musharraf took the documents from Mr Tenet and promised to look into the matter.
A Pakistani investigation revealed that Dr Khan had started his activities as far back as 1987, primarily with Iran. In 1999, General Musharraf received a report suggesting that some North Korean nuclear experts, under the guise of missile engineers, had arrived at Dr Khan’s lab and were being given secret briefings on centrifuges, including some visits to the plant. He called in the metallurgist for questioning. Dr Khan immediately denied the charge.
Dr Khan was “such a self-centered and a brasive man that he could not be a team player,” General Musharraf says. “A.Q. Khan was not, in fact, the sole scientist in charge of the entire effort, yet he had a great talent for self-promotion and publicity and led the public to believe that he was building the bomb almost single-handedly.”
After he was fired, General Khan started working more vigorously through the Dubai branch of his network. Meanwhile, General Musharraf says he denied Western allegations about proliferation “again and again in good faith.”
He also denied the Pakistan army or any of the past governments of Pakistan was ever involved or had any knowledge of Dr Khan's proliferation activities.
According to General Musharraf, besides proliferating to Iran, Dr Khan transferred nearly two dozen P-1 and P-II centrifuges to North Korea. He also provided North Korea with a flow meter, some special oils for centrifuges, and coaching on centrifuge technology, including visits to top-secret centrifuge plants.
General Musharraf notes, “A majority of Pakistanis do oppose our cooperation with the West in the war on terror. They opposed punishments aimed at Dr A.Q. Khan. I believe my positions on all these issues are in our interest, and morally strong. But there are times when the behaviour of our westerns allies undercuts our alliances.”

The Army today said the claims made by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf that only five battalions (more than 5,000) of regular Pakistani troops were deployed in Kargil incursions in 1999 were false and that facts actually belied this.
Documents like identity cards, pay books and other identification papers revealed that as many as seven Northern Light Infantry battalions (more than 7,000 troops) of Pakistan had been involved in Kargil operations”, Army officials here said while adding that they were also supported by Pakistani auxiliary troops.“These included 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 11th and 12th battalions of the Northern Light infantry”, they said.
Arms recovered by Indian troops during the battle included four anti-aircraft guns, a stinger missile unit, 46 heavy machine guns, 12 high calibre mortars 19 rocket launchers, 3 light howitzers and 19 rocket launchers, which was an arsenal normally deployed by division-plus (more than 15,000) strength of troops, the officials said.
“The Indian Army had recovered 249 bodies of which only five were accepted by Pakistan and the total Pakistani casualties of 725 killed included 45 officers and 68 Special Service Group personnel”, the officials said.
They said only two mountain divisions and two independent brigade strength troops had been used to dislodge Pakistani forces from the Kargil heights.

WASHINGTON: Pervez Musharraf may be a commando by training, but he still might not want to run into former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, a Vietnam vet (three combat tours) who is rumoured to bench press 400 lbs, in a dark alley. 

Already in the Washington doghouse for his role in leaking the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, Armitage is all steamed up about the exaggerated and distorted account of his purported threat to bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age if it did not back the US in its war on terror. 

Armitage admits he used muscular language, but says Pakistan intelligence chief Mahmoud Ahmed either used "inflammatory" translation while relaying the message to Musharraf or the Pakistani dictator has exaggerated the message to sell his memoir. 

"It will be noted that President Musharraf made this comment while he is beginning a book tour," Armitage said on the sidelines of a US-South Korea Security Forum in Seoul. "I think you have ample reason to see why he might want to use this language. I think it probably sells books." 

Meanwhile, according to the Pakistani media, Mahmoud Ahmed spoke to Musharraf on phone from the Pakistan Embassy in Washington after his meeting with Armitage the message he broadly conveyed in Urdu was "wo hamari eent se eent baja dey gain". Roughly translated, it means, they will take us apart brick by brick. 

Evidently, it was a just a short step back from brick to stone for Musharraf. Critics, including many Pakistanis, have found it ghastly that Pakistani ruler may have resorted to hyperbole and diminished Pakistan in an effort to peddle his memoirs. 

"President Musharraf's sojourn in the US is really a publicity tour for his book. Its very strange that a sitting president has written a memoir and is plugging it openly. Most presidents write after they retire. President Musharraf should not use Pakistan to gain wealth," lamented one letter writer in the Pakistani daily Dawn. 

Opposition leaders in Pakistan have said Musharraf will get "a pat on the back while they are twisting his arm," while the more colourful bloggers suggest other parts of the anatomy may be involved. On Sunday, Musharraf dismissed as nonsense reports of a coup in Pakistan. Rumours of the coup spread after a nationwide power breakdown in Pakistan.