Pakistan Army mulls legal action over BBC report

[dead0man]

link

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[dead0man]

BBC report at YouTube
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(I've just started watching it)

[patrick1]

Thanks for the links.  The ISI are playing both/all sides of the table really.  There are so many different factions in the border regions, and while our (the US) depth of knowledge of the region has improved, it still severely lacking.

[Sbane]

Excellent documentary. Thanks for letting us know.

So what sort of legal actions would they be taking? I wonder if any sort of charges can be brought on them for lying.

[The Mikado]

I'd love to see the Pakistani military sue the BBC.  Truth is a defense against libel in the UK, right?

[Sbane]

I'd love to see the Pakistani military sue the BBC.  Truth is a defense against libel in the UK, right?

And could the BBC then countersue the Pakistan military for lying? Anyways, the Pakistani military isn't going to do anything. They just have an image to keep up, thus the statement to some random TV station.

[phk]

 I think the US should stop sending aid to Pakistan (it should stop sending aid, period), that Pakistan has proven to be a duplicitous ally in the Afghan war and that America overestimates Pakistan's importance in the Afghan war.

The aid only strengthens the Pakistani army's stranglehold on Pakistan. Also, the army can't and won't let Pakistan's economy improve because it's inept and brainwashed and because letting our economy improve would undermine its role in Pakistani politics.

[GMantis]

Generally, it's not a good idea to sue to libel someone who is saying the truth.

[Sbane]

Here's the second week of the documentary.
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[Torie]

Excellent documentary. Thanks for letting us know.

So what sort of legal actions would they be taking? I wonder if any sort of charges can be brought on them for lying.

I don't  think governments have standing to sue for defamation, and under the Sullivan test for "public figures," even if they did, this suit would be frivolous. But bring it on. We might get more facts out that way.

[Sbane]

Excellent documentary. Thanks for letting us know.

So what sort of legal actions would they be taking? I wonder if any sort of charges can be brought on them for lying.

I don't  think governments have standing to sue for defamation, and under the Sullivan test for "public figures," even if they did, this suit would be frivolous. But bring it on. We might get more facts out that way.

Well, most facts are already known it seems like. Though not to us civilians perhaps. Still, it's stunning how naive the US and the west was in the early stages of the war. Karzai warned them that Pakistan was supporting the Taliban, but he was not listened to. Considering Pakistan's actions since the 1980's, this was not something that should have surprised anyone.

Also, another thing I found out from the second part, which I linked above, is that Pakistan is now actively stopping peace talks between the US and the Taliban. Things don't look so good.

[Torie]

Excellent documentary. Thanks for letting us know.

So what sort of legal actions would they be taking? I wonder if any sort of charges can be brought on them for lying.

I don't  think governments have standing to sue for defamation, and under the Sullivan test for "public figures," even if they did, this suit would be frivolous. But bring it on. We might get more facts out that way.

Well, most facts are already known it seems like. Though not to us civilians perhaps. Still, it's stunning how naive the US and the west was in the early stages of the war. Karzai warned them that Pakistan was supporting the Taliban, but he was not listened to. Considering Pakistan's actions since the 1980's, this was not something that should have surprised anyone.

Also, another thing I found out from the second part, which I linked above, is that Pakistan is now actively stopping peace talks between the US and the Taliban. Things don't look so good.

Yes, we are going to have to bail from the region, and leave it to its own devices, and just use high technology and so forth to kill any perps the place harbors, sort of like we are doing now. Pakistan is a bit worried that it will be left friendless however. The country may blow up.  It's a mess, and ruled by a feudal aristocracy that has not been very interested in furthering the national interest in Pakistan. 

[Sbane]

Excellent documentary. Thanks for letting us know.

So what sort of legal actions would they be taking? I wonder if any sort of charges can be brought on them for lying.

I don't  think governments have standing to sue for defamation, and under the Sullivan test for "public figures," even if they did, this suit would be frivolous. But bring it on. We might get more facts out that way.

Well, most facts are already known it seems like. Though not to us civilians perhaps. Still, it's stunning how naive the US and the west was in the early stages of the war. Karzai warned them that Pakistan was supporting the Taliban, but he was not listened to. Considering Pakistan's actions since the 1980's, this was not something that should have surprised anyone.

Also, another thing I found out from the second part, which I linked above, is that Pakistan is now actively stopping peace talks between the US and the Taliban. Things don't look so good.

Yes, we are going to have to bail from the region, and leave it to its own devices, and just use high technology and so forth to kill any perps the place harbors, sort of like we are doing now. Pakistan is a bit worried that it will be left friendless however. The country may blow up.  It's a mess, and ruled by a feudal aristocracy that has not been very interested in furthering the national interest in Pakistan. 

I don't think the country will blow up. I don't necessarily think the life of the average Pakistani will get better, but I don't think the Army will lose control of the country. From afar, we seem to conflate all the terrorism that comes out of Pakistan into Afghanistan, and the elements that actually fought Pakistan. What is becoming clearer is that whenever these elements go rogue (Pakistani Army basically funds all terrorism it seems like), the Pakistani Army is able to squash it pretty easily. The alarming headlines that the Pakistani Taliban was within 60 miles of the capital went nowhere. They are totally crushed. But terrorists continue to operate across the border into Afghanistan. This is not a sign the Pakistani Army is incompetent, rather it is probably the opposite. Pakistan is complicit in all of this. So even though I am not optimistic about the chances of peace in Afghanistan, I doubt the state of Pakistan will fall apart. Though the chances they allow some fissile material into the hands of terrorists, or give a bomb to Iran goes up if our relationship with them goes south. That's probably the biggest threat now, but even in that case the Pakistani Army will be in charge of what happens in that country. They will just lie and pretend they had no idea, but I think the costs of doing something like that would be high.

[Torie]

In my crystal ball, Pakistan's future is bleak. The country is a disaster really. Good luck India in dealing with it.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

This is a hardly groundbreaking report, I thought it was common knowledge that Pakistan was a huge backer of the Taliban after Hekmeytar's fiasco in the assault of Kabul? Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are largely responsible for the Taliban's victory, while Iran was a major contributor to the Hazaran militias fighting against the Taliban (from what I've read India aided the "Northern Alliance" as a whole as well).

[dead0man]

In my crystal ball, Pakistan's future is bleak. The country is a disaster really. Good luck India in dealing with it.

Keep in mind that they are getting more and more chummy with the PRC.