Raymond causes a break up?

UPDATE: Moon over Alabama notes that: "So while there was an uninterrupted campaign of drone strikes on Pakistani ground every three days for several month, taking Mr. Davis off the street seems to have stopped it."

Click through. Read the comments too.

^^^^^^^

We see some bubbles percolating up from Mexico and South America, and we see the "revolutions" spreading around in the Middle East, but we want to take a look at this Raymond David case.

Penny was right on it.

Raymond Davis killed two Pakistani's. He claims it was self-defense. I think it was something else.
Raymond Davis, supposedly has diplomatic immunity? I wonder, when it is that mercenaries have diplomatic immunity? Since when are mercenaries, diplomats? Why mention mercenaries at all?
Because, Raymond Davis is a mercenary. Yes, a mercenary. Hired Killer.

Great links. This Raymond Davis makes David Coleman Headley look like he was playing dress up.

The tight pattern of bullet holes in the windshield shows the precision of Davis's shots at his victims.

What seems clear at this point is that Davis, 36, is not what the US government is now claiming he is: a “technical advisor” to the consulate. That geeky description is belied by the eight or more perfect shots that he put, rapid-fire, into the two motorcyclists, shooting through the front windshield of his car. 
His record --10 years in US Special Forces, supposedly ending in 2003--and his shell “security” company in the US, with its faked addresses, suggest strongly that he is working for the US, either in some intelligence branch, or more likely as an employee of some mercenary-for-hire company like Xe (Blackwater). In fact, a former long-time Army Special Forces veteran familiar with black-ops, speculates that Davis may still be in the Special Forces. He says, "Consider the strong possibility of our man being active-duty military, not Agency, not contract. Military people from special units have more and more taken responsibility for covert ops, especially those that involve shooting."
This veteran adds, "Military folks are sometimes given an "official" cover, ie, a diplomatic
passport and some BS story about what they do (consular section, eg). This is a problem, because it violates agreements with the host nations about reporting how many military are in country, and covers some sensitive operations. Thus the panic of the Department of State et al right now."
What Davis was actually doing on his ill-fated drive into the commercial heart of Lahore when things went wrong is up for grabs.

He Hui Quan did an update on this story the other day. In particular, note all the the things found with Davis:

Pakistani media also have fanned speculation about the evidence discovered in Davis' car. Of which the police report state that items included an unlicensed Glock pistol, 75 bullets, a "survival kit," an infrared headlight, US and Pakistani currency, a digital camera, computer memory cards, a passport, a satellite cellphone, a box cutter and a portable telescope. On his person, Davis was found with Davis also carried multiple ATM and military ID cards and what was described as a facial disguise or makeup.

Well, this looks like one of those cases where we will see how the War on Terror is really constructed. Who the terrorists really are....

According to this article, found at There Are No Sunglasses, Islamabad has "concrete evidence" that Mr. Davis is linked to the Tehrik e Taliban e Pakistan (TTP), a group responsible for some of the terror attacks in Pakistan. Meaning, he's a, well, uh, he's reportedly an American Army Special Forces who works with the TTP, well shit what do you suppose that makes him?

The article is worth reading in full. It says, in brief, that:

• Mr. Davis appears to have fallen into a trap and "his situation is now fully compromised." 
• He killed the men knowing full well who they were, Pakistani spies who were following him. 
• Photos and details of all the equipment he had with him has been released to the media. 
• Pakistan is holding onto the juiciest details, and the US does not know what those are.
• The US is panicking that Pakistan will expose the US role in the War on Terror.
• The US is threatening Pakistan, but Pakistan has not flinched, but in fact increased the pressure on Davis by remanding him to prison for another 14 days of interrogation.
• Some reports indicate he is "singing like a bird."
• Hillary Clinton is pressuring Pakistan to grant Davis diplomatic immunity, but Davis is not a diplomat and this information has been "repeatedly discussed on all 80 TV channels with copies of his passports and visas prominently displayed for the audience," so that everyone in Pakistan knows he is not a diplomat.
• Even traditional US allies in Pakistan are condemning the murders.
• Pakistan authorities have informed the media that Davis had contact with the TTP (Taliban).

"There is conjecture that Mr. “Davis” walked into a trap laid out by the ISI. In fact his contacts were actually ISI agents. All that he said and did is in the hands of the Pakistanis. Mr. “Davis” thought that by shooting the two operatives, he would eliminate the evidence against him. In fact, it made matters worse. Other operatives who were in the vicinity had already taken the necessary precautions. The ISI has leaked information to the media that Mr. “Davis” had crossed a “red line”."

• Now the US is panicking.
• Davis is not an isolated incident but merely something that was BOUND TO HAPPEN sooner or later given how long this sort of treachery has been going on.
• Reportedly the US pushed about 500 of these "Davis" types through to Pakistan without security checks last year, despite Pakistan protests that they required in-depth security checks.
• Over 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan are relying on supplies through Pakistan for the "spring offensive." That could be a problem.

"While the CIA, the State Department and the White House think that this is a new discovery–the Pakistanis point to a long trail of evidence that directly points to the US consultants and their hirelings in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The ISI and the Army believe that at the right time, the details of what the Pakistanis know will be revealed to President Obama and the world."

Those "consultants" and "hirelings" would be people that work for Xe and DynCorp, for instance. And, honestly, this is not news.

See: what has two thumbs and looks really really bad?


The US now wants to get this guy Davis out of Pakistan the same way they rushed to get David Coleman Headley into protective FBI custody.

In Pakistanis plan a break with the US, we read more about the mood in Islamabad. Reportedly, Davis was not liked in Pakistan and had been asked to leave, but got back in when Mr. Hussain Haqqani helped get those 500 visas approved in one day:

He was in an area which was a “No-Go” area. Already declared a Persona Non Grata (PNG) in Khyber Pakhtukhawa, the co-owner of Hyperion Consulting was not liked in Pakistan. After the PNG status he was supposed to have left Pakistan–and he did. However US Ambassador to Pakistan (aka Pakistani Ambassador to USA) Mr. Hussain Haqqani was instrumental in getting 500 visas approved in one day without the proper background checks. Mr. Davis apparently slipped back into Pakistan. The pictures in his possession reveal that he was photographing sensitive Pakistani targets.

Recall that David Coleman Headley did recon for the Mumbai attacks. Sounds very siimilar.

The US Consulate’s role in this matter was very suspicious. Instead of assisting the local authorities, it engineered a fake story about the motor-cyclists being professional thieves. The fake robbery story did not fly with the government of Pakistan, because it knew the backgrounds of the agents who were following Mr. “Davis”. The intensity with which the US Consulate reacted, and the depth of the threats that emanated from Washington clearly informed the Pakistanis that something big was up–and this could not be ignored.

...The government will not be able to withstand tsunami in the aftermost [sic] of a clean release of Mr. “Raymond Davis”.

Therefore, the Pakistani government has a plan to weather the storm if the two countries "break up." Pakistan will reach out to other countries:

• Prime Minister Gilani will be visiting the Sate of Kuwait that is starting today (Monday). This would be followed by the visit of President Asif Ali Zardari.
• The Presidency and Foreign Office are actively busy finalizing the visit of President Zardari to Japan with special focus on securing more economic assistance.
• China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have already been contacted about the situation.
• Much to American chagrin, Iran is a untapped resource for Pakistan and Tehran would gladly step into the vacuum.

Oh that will be no problem.