FROM a tree-like canopy to secret spots reachable only by crawling, children are exercising their imaginations in an adventureland made entirely out of cardboard.
ArtPlay Cardboard Play Spaces, designed and built by a team of 75 first-year Monash University architecture students, are intended to encourage children to engage with their creative sides.
Architecture lecturer and Fitzroy resident Ross Brewin said students had to cater to children’s tastes.
The playground is divided into four spaces, each designed with a different function in mind - reading, resting, listening and crafting.
“Hopefully it facilitates a certain level of learning for kids who play there,” he said.
Students were not allowed to use glue, so the cardboard is attached with 600 cabinet connectors and 150 cable ties. Mr Brewin said the project taught students that they could make extraordinary things out of ordinary materials.
ArtPlay Cardboard Play Spaces will be at ArtPlay, Birrarung Marr, until July 7. Details: melbourne.
2011年6月8日 星期三
Accused 'watched Crown witness kill'
Murder accused Karl Nuku cried as he described seeing a drug-crazed and paranoid woman hitting Dean Browne over the head with a hammer.
"I woke up to a banging noise, yeah. I looked up and saw [Witness 29] standing beside the couch and she had a hammer in her hands. She hit him three times with a hammer," Nuku told the High Court in New Plymouth yesterday.
The fatally injured man fell off the left side of the pull-out couch, his face covered in blood, Nuku said, breaking down in tears.
"I jumped up and grabbed her arm and pulled it [the hammer] out of her hands and asked her `What the f... are you doing, you're killing him'.
"She started ranting that he had raped her."
She was wearing pink rubber gloves, Nuku said.
Nuku, 19, Mikhail Pandey-Johnson, 23, and Rhys (Tex) Fournier, 22, deny murdering Dean Browne, 38, at a Wellington flat on January 21 last year.
Nuku told the court that before the attack, Witness 29 was paranoid that Browne, who he called "Matty", would attack her because he knew that she had tried to drug him two days before.
She had earlier wanted to deliver him to an Auckland drug dealer in return for methamphetamine and money, Nuku said. "She was quite a heavy meth user and would inject morphine as well," Nuku said.
After the attack, she told him that she was giving him morphine because he was making too much noise and she didn't want her flatmates disturbed.
"She was trying to cover her own arse."
Fournier said they needed to call an ambulance but Witness 29 said they could not do that because they would all go to jail as a party to what had happened.
She took charge, checking his pulse and told them he was dead. She put the pink gloves back on, went to her drawers and got cable ties and duct tape and told them how to wrap him up.
"I wanted the situation to go away so I did what she told me to do."
She picked up Pandey-Johnson in central Wellington to help move the body. She told him she got up to go to the toilet and he grabbed her leg and told her to get into bed with him.
He told her she "wasn't complaining the other night they had sex". She told Pandey-Johnson she had never had consensual sex with him, Nuku said.
"She said she got back in bed. She was real angry. She said she waited for Matty to fall asleep then got her hammer out. He was shocked and disgusted. He couldn't believe she'd done something like that."
They put Browne's body in the back of Nuku's car and he and Pandey-Johnson arrived at the New Plymouth home of Pandey-Johnson's cousin Claire Davies about 3am the next day. She was still awake watching TV. She let them in, and they together discussed what they should do, Nuku said.
The next day Joseph Banks, Claire Davies' partner, offered to get rid of the body for them. He would leave it on a beach and make an anonymous call to police.
"But he said we would need to pay him because it was quite a big favour."
Banks asked for $2000 to be put in another person's bank account so it could not be traced. "We agreed straight away."
Banks helped them put the body in the shed and they padlocked it, leaving for Wellington.
To questioning from Crown solicitor Cherie Clarke, Nuku denied he was very loyal to Pandey-Johnson, as the head of the Killer Clown Fiends, who was his role model, and would do anything for him.
"In 2010, Mr Pandey-Johnson was in the throes of a meth habit. You were his right hand man, his protege."
Nuku said they loved each other and were like family.
Nuku said he did not use heavy drugs, because he saw what it did to people, and never saw Pandey-Johnson use methamphetamine.
Ms Clarke said to Nuku that he had killed Mr Browne on Pandey-Johnson's instructions and had received his KCF patch for doing it.
"You killed to get your patch," she said.
"No, it was [Witness 29]," Nuku replied.
The Killer Clown Fiends were not a gang, Nuku said. Their clothes were a "fashion statement".
In a letter to Nuku, Pandey-Johnson wrote from prison that Nuku was "a literal walking proof of the Killer Clown dream", Ms Clarke said.
Ms Clarke said Pandey-Johnson's pride in Nuku was because Nuku was the one who hit Mr Browne over the head with a hammer.
"No, I did not," Nuku said.
The trial, now in its fifth week, continues today.
"I woke up to a banging noise, yeah. I looked up and saw [Witness 29] standing beside the couch and she had a hammer in her hands. She hit him three times with a hammer," Nuku told the High Court in New Plymouth yesterday.
The fatally injured man fell off the left side of the pull-out couch, his face covered in blood, Nuku said, breaking down in tears.
"I jumped up and grabbed her arm and pulled it [the hammer] out of her hands and asked her `What the f... are you doing, you're killing him'.
"She started ranting that he had raped her."
She was wearing pink rubber gloves, Nuku said.
Nuku, 19, Mikhail Pandey-Johnson, 23, and Rhys (Tex) Fournier, 22, deny murdering Dean Browne, 38, at a Wellington flat on January 21 last year.
Nuku told the court that before the attack, Witness 29 was paranoid that Browne, who he called "Matty", would attack her because he knew that she had tried to drug him two days before.
She had earlier wanted to deliver him to an Auckland drug dealer in return for methamphetamine and money, Nuku said. "She was quite a heavy meth user and would inject morphine as well," Nuku said.
After the attack, she told him that she was giving him morphine because he was making too much noise and she didn't want her flatmates disturbed.
"She was trying to cover her own arse."
Fournier said they needed to call an ambulance but Witness 29 said they could not do that because they would all go to jail as a party to what had happened.
She took charge, checking his pulse and told them he was dead. She put the pink gloves back on, went to her drawers and got cable ties and duct tape and told them how to wrap him up.
"I wanted the situation to go away so I did what she told me to do."
She picked up Pandey-Johnson in central Wellington to help move the body. She told him she got up to go to the toilet and he grabbed her leg and told her to get into bed with him.
He told her she "wasn't complaining the other night they had sex". She told Pandey-Johnson she had never had consensual sex with him, Nuku said.
"She said she got back in bed. She was real angry. She said she waited for Matty to fall asleep then got her hammer out. He was shocked and disgusted. He couldn't believe she'd done something like that."
They put Browne's body in the back of Nuku's car and he and Pandey-Johnson arrived at the New Plymouth home of Pandey-Johnson's cousin Claire Davies about 3am the next day. She was still awake watching TV. She let them in, and they together discussed what they should do, Nuku said.
The next day Joseph Banks, Claire Davies' partner, offered to get rid of the body for them. He would leave it on a beach and make an anonymous call to police.
"But he said we would need to pay him because it was quite a big favour."
Banks asked for $2000 to be put in another person's bank account so it could not be traced. "We agreed straight away."
Banks helped them put the body in the shed and they padlocked it, leaving for Wellington.
To questioning from Crown solicitor Cherie Clarke, Nuku denied he was very loyal to Pandey-Johnson, as the head of the Killer Clown Fiends, who was his role model, and would do anything for him.
"In 2010, Mr Pandey-Johnson was in the throes of a meth habit. You were his right hand man, his protege."
Nuku said they loved each other and were like family.
Nuku said he did not use heavy drugs, because he saw what it did to people, and never saw Pandey-Johnson use methamphetamine.
Ms Clarke said to Nuku that he had killed Mr Browne on Pandey-Johnson's instructions and had received his KCF patch for doing it.
"You killed to get your patch," she said.
"No, it was [Witness 29]," Nuku replied.
The Killer Clown Fiends were not a gang, Nuku said. Their clothes were a "fashion statement".
In a letter to Nuku, Pandey-Johnson wrote from prison that Nuku was "a literal walking proof of the Killer Clown dream", Ms Clarke said.
Ms Clarke said Pandey-Johnson's pride in Nuku was because Nuku was the one who hit Mr Browne over the head with a hammer.
"No, I did not," Nuku said.
The trial, now in its fifth week, continues today.
2011年6月6日 星期一
Teens arrested after alleged plot to kidnap Stratford H.S. student
The Goose Creek Police Department has arrested three teenagers accused of conspiring to kidnap a Stratford High School student and scare him by shooting off an assault rifle.
Authorities have charged 17-year-old Patrick Joseph Coxe, a 16-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, stalking and conspiracy.
On May 31, Goose Creek police were contacted by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office in regards to an incident at Stratford High School. Deputies say they located Coxe and another juvenile inside a Ford Mustang around 5 p.m. They located a white trash bag nearby that contained military clothing and equipment.
Among the items authorities found and listed in the police report were cable ties used to form hand restrains, several 30-round AR-15 magazines with blank rounds. A pipe used for smoking narcotics was also found inside the vehicle, according to the police report.
During the investigation, deputies found out that some of the items were to be used in a plot to kidnap and scare a 17-year-old Stratford High student. The investigation also revealed that the three suspects had also committed acts that amounted to stalking of the student.
Investigators believe that one of the suspects planned to kidnap the victim and hold him inside one of the school's bathroom while the suspect fired off blank rounds to scare him.
On Friday, the Goose Creek Police Department and Berkeley County Sheriff's Office investigators located all three suspects and took them into custody.
The two juveniles were charged as adults and received $100,000 surety bonds. The two were transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice. Patrick Coxe received a $50,000 bond and was locked up at the Hill Finklea Detention Center.
Authorities have charged 17-year-old Patrick Joseph Coxe, a 16-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, stalking and conspiracy.
On May 31, Goose Creek police were contacted by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office in regards to an incident at Stratford High School. Deputies say they located Coxe and another juvenile inside a Ford Mustang around 5 p.m. They located a white trash bag nearby that contained military clothing and equipment.
Among the items authorities found and listed in the police report were cable ties used to form hand restrains, several 30-round AR-15 magazines with blank rounds. A pipe used for smoking narcotics was also found inside the vehicle, according to the police report.
During the investigation, deputies found out that some of the items were to be used in a plot to kidnap and scare a 17-year-old Stratford High student. The investigation also revealed that the three suspects had also committed acts that amounted to stalking of the student.
Investigators believe that one of the suspects planned to kidnap the victim and hold him inside one of the school's bathroom while the suspect fired off blank rounds to scare him.
On Friday, the Goose Creek Police Department and Berkeley County Sheriff's Office investigators located all three suspects and took them into custody.
The two juveniles were charged as adults and received $100,000 surety bonds. The two were transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice. Patrick Coxe received a $50,000 bond and was locked up at the Hill Finklea Detention Center.
EchoStar unveils Aria for smaller cable operators
EchoStar plans to deepen its cable ties with the introduction of Aria, a technology ecosystem that is designed exclusively for mid-size and independent cable operators.
Aria will run in concert with new EchoStar SD, HD or SlingLoaded set-top boxes and will allow operators to offer services over multiple platforms and for out-of-home viewing that can brand the "experience" of the local operator.
"Our engineers have designed an economical technology platform that will allow smaller cable operators to deliver the premium television features and services in demand by consumers, without investments in new facilities, servers, data centers and additional engineering staff," said Mark Jackson, president of EchoStar Technologies.
Aria is a hybrid IP/QAM solution that uses existing cable plant and features cloud-based VOD, TV Everywhere and an interactive HD program guide Click here!. It will also provide system maintenance and software upgrades.
Though not a breakthrough technology (Avail-TVN is doing a similar "white box" OTT service, and the Comcast Media Center has its VOD in a Box), Aria is expected to help smaller operators better compete.
"Major cable operators are busy building over-the-top video and moving to bring Internet connection to their own infrastructures. That's great for Comcast and other large MSOs, but smaller operators can't do that. That's where Aria fits. We think EchoStar is in a great spot to accommodate second- and third-tier operators," maintains Gerry Kaufhold, principal analyst for the research firm In-Stat.
For years, smaller operators have depended on the reuse of consumer premises equipment developed for larger operators. That has changed, however, as larger operators develop their own private clouds.
"The trend is toward large pay-TV services having their own over-the-top machines. Basically, it's now OTT in a box instead of VOD in a box," Kaufhold said.
Aria will run in concert with new EchoStar SD, HD or SlingLoaded set-top boxes and will allow operators to offer services over multiple platforms and for out-of-home viewing that can brand the "experience" of the local operator.
"Our engineers have designed an economical technology platform that will allow smaller cable operators to deliver the premium television features and services in demand by consumers, without investments in new facilities, servers, data centers and additional engineering staff," said Mark Jackson, president of EchoStar Technologies.
Aria is a hybrid IP/QAM solution that uses existing cable plant and features cloud-based VOD, TV Everywhere and an interactive HD program guide Click here!. It will also provide system maintenance and software upgrades.
Though not a breakthrough technology (Avail-TVN is doing a similar "white box" OTT service, and the Comcast Media Center has its VOD in a Box), Aria is expected to help smaller operators better compete.
"Major cable operators are busy building over-the-top video and moving to bring Internet connection to their own infrastructures. That's great for Comcast and other large MSOs, but smaller operators can't do that. That's where Aria fits. We think EchoStar is in a great spot to accommodate second- and third-tier operators," maintains Gerry Kaufhold, principal analyst for the research firm In-Stat.
For years, smaller operators have depended on the reuse of consumer premises equipment developed for larger operators. That has changed, however, as larger operators develop their own private clouds.
"The trend is toward large pay-TV services having their own over-the-top machines. Basically, it's now OTT in a box instead of VOD in a box," Kaufhold said.
2011年6月1日 星期三
As Netflix Leapfrogs Comcast, Here's What the East Bay is Watching
On a rainy Wednesday in the East Bay, Concord was in the mood for some Pokémon with the feature film Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life. Pleasant Hill was watching an indie drama called Snow Cake. Walnut Creek, meanwhile, was absorbed with the courtroom drama TV show Canterbury’s Law.
The “local favorites” section on the Netflix website provides insight into the top video rentals in each city. But the growth in subscriptions to this online streaming and by-mail movie service proves an even deeper trend.
If you are considering killing your pay TV in favor of Netflix, Hulu or YouTube, then you are not alone.
Cable, satellite and digital pay television are losing customers in a big way. Meanwhile, online video streaming companies like Netflix and Hulu are expanding. In the first quarter of the year, Netflix earned more subscribers than any network television providers, including Comcast, DirecTV, DISH Network and Time Warner. According to Business Insider, Netflix jumped ahead to 22.8 million subscribers, beating Comcast for the first time. Netflix also hit a record high on Wall Street with its stock more than doubling in the past year. Around 7 percent of all Americans now subscribe to Netflix.
The population most inclined to cut the cord from traditional television is “Generation Y,” according to a recent study. Research indicates that these 18- to 29-year-olds may be less attached to their pay TV boxes, more enticed by smaller monthly fees and highly attracted to on-demand viewing. The report, titled “Must Choose TV: What Gen Y Thinks About Pay-TV and Cord-Cutting,” suggests that 60 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are considering cutting the cord to traditional television.
So what would a world without pay TV look like? For a start, it could be much cheaper. Netflix and Hulu Plus subscriptions cost $7.99 a month for a streaming-only account, compared to around $64.99 for Comcast’s “Digital Starter” service in the East Bay. Even the cheapest packages from DirecTV and Dish Network — at around $30 — can’t compete with the low prices of online video providers.
But online services will struggle to compete with pay TV’s coverage of live news, sports and events. The quality of the picture, too, is only as good as your Internet allows with online streaming, while cable, satellite and digital TV boast HD channels and “crystal-clear” viewing.
If Internet video watching continues to gain popularity, it could mean the decline of the ultimate American tradition — the television itself. According to Nielsen, the number of homes in the U.S. with TV sets is falling for the first time in 20 years. For now, most people are expanding platforms, rather than replacing one for another. But Nielsen notes that “a small subset of younger, urban consumers are going without paid TV subscriptions.”
“Long-term effects of this are unclear,” concluded the Nielsen press release. This younger subset could turn to television as they get older and acquire more financial means, or it could mean “the beginning of a larger shift to viewing online and on mobile devices.”
The “local favorites” section on the Netflix website provides insight into the top video rentals in each city. But the growth in subscriptions to this online streaming and by-mail movie service proves an even deeper trend.
If you are considering killing your pay TV in favor of Netflix, Hulu or YouTube, then you are not alone.
Cable, satellite and digital pay television are losing customers in a big way. Meanwhile, online video streaming companies like Netflix and Hulu are expanding. In the first quarter of the year, Netflix earned more subscribers than any network television providers, including Comcast, DirecTV, DISH Network and Time Warner. According to Business Insider, Netflix jumped ahead to 22.8 million subscribers, beating Comcast for the first time. Netflix also hit a record high on Wall Street with its stock more than doubling in the past year. Around 7 percent of all Americans now subscribe to Netflix.
The population most inclined to cut the cord from traditional television is “Generation Y,” according to a recent study. Research indicates that these 18- to 29-year-olds may be less attached to their pay TV boxes, more enticed by smaller monthly fees and highly attracted to on-demand viewing. The report, titled “Must Choose TV: What Gen Y Thinks About Pay-TV and Cord-Cutting,” suggests that 60 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are considering cutting the cord to traditional television.
So what would a world without pay TV look like? For a start, it could be much cheaper. Netflix and Hulu Plus subscriptions cost $7.99 a month for a streaming-only account, compared to around $64.99 for Comcast’s “Digital Starter” service in the East Bay. Even the cheapest packages from DirecTV and Dish Network — at around $30 — can’t compete with the low prices of online video providers.
But online services will struggle to compete with pay TV’s coverage of live news, sports and events. The quality of the picture, too, is only as good as your Internet allows with online streaming, while cable, satellite and digital TV boast HD channels and “crystal-clear” viewing.
If Internet video watching continues to gain popularity, it could mean the decline of the ultimate American tradition — the television itself. According to Nielsen, the number of homes in the U.S. with TV sets is falling for the first time in 20 years. For now, most people are expanding platforms, rather than replacing one for another. But Nielsen notes that “a small subset of younger, urban consumers are going without paid TV subscriptions.”
“Long-term effects of this are unclear,” concluded the Nielsen press release. This younger subset could turn to television as they get older and acquire more financial means, or it could mean “the beginning of a larger shift to viewing online and on mobile devices.”
Loaded gun and chainsaw found in blood stained car boot
A sawn-off shotgun found in an abandoned car in New Plymouth after the discovery of the body of Dean Browne in a garage was ready to fire, the High Court in New Plymouth was told.
Karl Nuku, 19, along with Mikhail Pandey-Johnson, 23, and Rhys Fournier, 22, have denied the murder of Mr Browne, 38, of Auckland, at an Oriental Bay, Wellington, flat on January 21 last year.
Detective Janine Lee said she was put in charge of the Toyota Corolla abandoned in a driveway in Robe St during the armed offenders squad manhunt for the murder accused two days after Mr Browne's body was found.
In a backpack next to the car was a sawn-off shotgun. In it was a live round of 12-gauge buckshot. It ejected as the gun was opened, Ms Lee said.
On later examination of the car, then at Western Autos, she noticed what appeared to be blood underneath the tow bar and other small bloodstain marks.
Scientists confirmed yesterday that the blood was from Mr Browne.
Among the large number of items in the boot, including clothing, was an orange chainsaw and two petrol containers, several pairs of rubber gloves, some of which were marked "super heavy duty".
There were digital scales, and small plastic bags containing white crystals and fine white powder.
A pair of Dr Martens boots were decorated with a Killer Clown Fiends patch, and green and purple material.
In the front footwell were traces of cannabis leaf, Zig-Zag cigarette papers and an iPod. A red text book was under one of the seats.
In the glove box was an expired passport for Karl Nuku and a cancelled passport in the name of Mikhail Pandey- Johnson, a Westpac bank card and a four-digit number on a piece of paper.
Detective Glen Bosson said he was put in charge of Mr Browne's body lying in the Drake St garage.
Mr Browne had clear plastic tape wrapped many times around his face and head. There was a lot of blood on his face, some coming from his nose and some from a small hole on the left side of his face.
Mr Bosson took several black cable- ties from Mr Browne's wrists and ankles and black tape from around his ankles. His body was taken to the Taranaki Base Hospital mortuary and then by hearse to Wellington for a post mortem examination.
Yesterday, forensic experts from Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland told of analysing samples from the Oriental Pde bedroom, Drake St garage and the Toyota Corolla.
Environmental Science and Research scientist Janina Savage, of Porirua, said she could not exclude Fournier's Jackie Chan shoes as having made an impression on the heavily blood-stained blue satin sheets wrapped around Mr Browne.
Karl Nuku, 19, along with Mikhail Pandey-Johnson, 23, and Rhys Fournier, 22, have denied the murder of Mr Browne, 38, of Auckland, at an Oriental Bay, Wellington, flat on January 21 last year.
Detective Janine Lee said she was put in charge of the Toyota Corolla abandoned in a driveway in Robe St during the armed offenders squad manhunt for the murder accused two days after Mr Browne's body was found.
In a backpack next to the car was a sawn-off shotgun. In it was a live round of 12-gauge buckshot. It ejected as the gun was opened, Ms Lee said.
On later examination of the car, then at Western Autos, she noticed what appeared to be blood underneath the tow bar and other small bloodstain marks.
Scientists confirmed yesterday that the blood was from Mr Browne.
Among the large number of items in the boot, including clothing, was an orange chainsaw and two petrol containers, several pairs of rubber gloves, some of which were marked "super heavy duty".
There were digital scales, and small plastic bags containing white crystals and fine white powder.
A pair of Dr Martens boots were decorated with a Killer Clown Fiends patch, and green and purple material.
In the front footwell were traces of cannabis leaf, Zig-Zag cigarette papers and an iPod. A red text book was under one of the seats.
In the glove box was an expired passport for Karl Nuku and a cancelled passport in the name of Mikhail Pandey- Johnson, a Westpac bank card and a four-digit number on a piece of paper.
Detective Glen Bosson said he was put in charge of Mr Browne's body lying in the Drake St garage.
Mr Browne had clear plastic tape wrapped many times around his face and head. There was a lot of blood on his face, some coming from his nose and some from a small hole on the left side of his face.
Mr Bosson took several black cable- ties from Mr Browne's wrists and ankles and black tape from around his ankles. His body was taken to the Taranaki Base Hospital mortuary and then by hearse to Wellington for a post mortem examination.
Yesterday, forensic experts from Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland told of analysing samples from the Oriental Pde bedroom, Drake St garage and the Toyota Corolla.
Environmental Science and Research scientist Janina Savage, of Porirua, said she could not exclude Fournier's Jackie Chan shoes as having made an impression on the heavily blood-stained blue satin sheets wrapped around Mr Browne.
2011年5月29日 星期日
feed anti-Americanism throughout the military
The sale by the United States of F-16 military aircraft to Pakistan, announced in 2005, was celebrated as a sign of deepening strategic ties between Islamabad and the Bush administration in Washington. Described by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as an attempt to “break out of the notion that [India and Pakistan are in] a hyphenated relationship,” the decision was met with anguish in New Delhi. But leaked U.S. diplomatic cables suggest that the sale was used only to further America's broad strategic interests, with Pakistan standing to gain little from the deal.
The despatches, from the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, indicated that the deal was, among other things, meant to assuage Pakistan's fears of an “existential threat it perceived from India.” The diplomatic cables, accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks, suggested that the purpose of the sale was to divert Pakistan's attention from “the nuclear option,” and give it “time and space to employ a conventional reaction” in the event of a conflict with India ( 151227: confidential). Privately, however, the U.S. acknowledged the “reality” that the F-16 programme would not change India's “overwhelming air superiority over Pakistan.” In fact, the cables bluntly assert that the F-16s would be “no match for India's proposed purchase of F-18 or equivalent aircraft.”
Given India's “substantial military advantage,” one cable ( 197576: confidential) even surmised that the F-16s would at the most offer “a few days” for the U.S. to “mediate and prevent nuclear conflict.”
Fully aware of such limitations, the U.S. continued to press ahead with the deal, and cables document hectic parleys to bring it to fruition. Before the agreement was signed in September 2006, the U.S. played hardball to make Pakistan sign the Letter of Acceptance (LoA). Islamabad had threatened to delay it further, raising additional demands. The U.S. Ambassador to Islamabad, Ryan Crocker, suggested that Washington “convene” the Pakistani Ambassador, Ali Durrani, to remind him that “missing the deadline [to sign the LoA] would have serious ramifications.”
“Do not think there is a better deal out there if this one expires,” was one of Ambassador Crocker's suggested bargain lines for Washington to use ( 77877: confidential/noforn). The agreement was inked two weeks after the cable was sent.
At the time of signing the LoA, Major General Tariq Malik, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Production, had expressed reservations about the payment schedule as an “immense strain on Pakistan's fiscal and foreign exchange reserves…, jeopardising growth.” But Mr. Malik's memo was dismissed by Mr. Crocker as “separate from the valid, legal contract” ( 80337: confidential/noforn).
But when “a cash-strapped” Pakistan government approached the U.S. two years later for Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to perform mid-life updates for the existing F-16 fleet, the succeeding Ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, was concerned that Washington would be “rewarding economic mismanagement.” The annual disbursement of FMF had “produced a culture of entitlement within the Pakistani military,” according to the diplomat ( 151227: confidential).
Why, then, did the U.S. push hard to realise the agreement, apart from the stated objective of “additional business for U.S. defense companies”?
If, according to American diplomats, the threat from India was the primary consideration for the Pakistan military, the F-16 sales would not tilt the strategic balance by their own admission. However, the cables suggested that the U.S. was confident that Pakistan would “still fully invest in its territorial defense, despite current economic challenges.” On the other hand, “our [U.S.] cancelling the sale would emphasize that we favor maintaining Indian superiority at Pakistan's expense and feed anti-Americanism throughout the military” ( 197576: confidential).
Another reason to sell F-16s, according to the same cable, was to “exorcise the bitter legacy of the Pressler Amendment” in the 1990s, when the U.S. refused to deliver F-16s that Pakistan had paid with “national money.” Pakistan was even made to undertake costs for storing the fighters in Arizona. For the Pakistan military, the new deal would be tangible proof of the “post-9/11 bilateral relationship.”
The despatches, from the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, indicated that the deal was, among other things, meant to assuage Pakistan's fears of an “existential threat it perceived from India.” The diplomatic cables, accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks, suggested that the purpose of the sale was to divert Pakistan's attention from “the nuclear option,” and give it “time and space to employ a conventional reaction” in the event of a conflict with India ( 151227: confidential). Privately, however, the U.S. acknowledged the “reality” that the F-16 programme would not change India's “overwhelming air superiority over Pakistan.” In fact, the cables bluntly assert that the F-16s would be “no match for India's proposed purchase of F-18 or equivalent aircraft.”
Given India's “substantial military advantage,” one cable ( 197576: confidential) even surmised that the F-16s would at the most offer “a few days” for the U.S. to “mediate and prevent nuclear conflict.”
Fully aware of such limitations, the U.S. continued to press ahead with the deal, and cables document hectic parleys to bring it to fruition. Before the agreement was signed in September 2006, the U.S. played hardball to make Pakistan sign the Letter of Acceptance (LoA). Islamabad had threatened to delay it further, raising additional demands. The U.S. Ambassador to Islamabad, Ryan Crocker, suggested that Washington “convene” the Pakistani Ambassador, Ali Durrani, to remind him that “missing the deadline [to sign the LoA] would have serious ramifications.”
“Do not think there is a better deal out there if this one expires,” was one of Ambassador Crocker's suggested bargain lines for Washington to use ( 77877: confidential/noforn). The agreement was inked two weeks after the cable was sent.
At the time of signing the LoA, Major General Tariq Malik, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Production, had expressed reservations about the payment schedule as an “immense strain on Pakistan's fiscal and foreign exchange reserves…, jeopardising growth.” But Mr. Malik's memo was dismissed by Mr. Crocker as “separate from the valid, legal contract” ( 80337: confidential/noforn).
But when “a cash-strapped” Pakistan government approached the U.S. two years later for Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to perform mid-life updates for the existing F-16 fleet, the succeeding Ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, was concerned that Washington would be “rewarding economic mismanagement.” The annual disbursement of FMF had “produced a culture of entitlement within the Pakistani military,” according to the diplomat ( 151227: confidential).
Why, then, did the U.S. push hard to realise the agreement, apart from the stated objective of “additional business for U.S. defense companies”?
If, according to American diplomats, the threat from India was the primary consideration for the Pakistan military, the F-16 sales would not tilt the strategic balance by their own admission. However, the cables suggested that the U.S. was confident that Pakistan would “still fully invest in its territorial defense, despite current economic challenges.” On the other hand, “our [U.S.] cancelling the sale would emphasize that we favor maintaining Indian superiority at Pakistan's expense and feed anti-Americanism throughout the military” ( 197576: confidential).
Another reason to sell F-16s, according to the same cable, was to “exorcise the bitter legacy of the Pressler Amendment” in the 1990s, when the U.S. refused to deliver F-16s that Pakistan had paid with “national money.” Pakistan was even made to undertake costs for storing the fighters in Arizona. For the Pakistan military, the new deal would be tangible proof of the “post-9/11 bilateral relationship.”
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