Obama should detail more thoroughly, who "Sadik" was. He indicates only that first name, and says that "Sadik" had overstayed his (visa) welcome in the U.S. in 1981 (meaning, he was an "illegal." He has also not provided more detail on what happened to the three weeks, minus four days, he spent in Pakistan. He mentions four days with a man named Soomro. This is none other than Mian Muhammadian Soomro, who was a banker of much influence, even in 1981. Soomro has sons, and it is possible that Soomro was the chaparone for the Jacobabad part of the trip (four days). There have been hints that Soomro was contacted by a party, possibly in South America, to watch over young Obama.
Obama has said that two of the figures in this trip are now living in the U.S. and are donators to his campaign. Why haven't more reporters sought them out and interviewed them. It's possible Young Barack, et al, were just smoking a lot of high grade hash over there.
Folks should understand the context of Pakistan, particularly, Jacobabad, Hyderabad (India and/or Pakistan), and Karachi in those years. They should also learn more about what Obama's mother did during this period. She worked for USAID, Ford Foundation & Women's Working Bank. Google those, and google Mian Muhammadian Soomro, and you will see that there may have later been an intersection between Women's Working Bank and Soomro's bank(s).
Even more startling is the knowledge that Soomro was part of the interim government after Benasir Bhutto was assassinated, and the new regime came in after Musharraf was defeated. The PML (Q) Party, which is Soomro's party, was instrumental in the 2002 elections which brought Musharraf to power. A former Inter-Services Intelligence Agency general has admitted to spiking that election so far as manipulating PML (Q) Party's influence in voting.
Soomro apparently doesn't want to speak about all of this (Pakistani news sources HAVE asked him about the relationship, which he says, is so current that he still calls Barack Baby). And, it is interesting how Pakistanis have taken his statement that he will actually bomb Pakistan if al-Qaeda targets are found solidly, and Pakistanis fail to do the bombing themselves. All of this, and more, knowing that Soomro has been a confidant of Musharraf. He was, in fact, the INTERIM Prime Minister of the INTERIM government when Zadari (Bhutto's husband), et al, beat Musharraf.
There are also some reports on the web that Obama gave support to a radical party in Kenya, when he was there recently. The itinerary of that trip hasn't been detailed thoroughly. There is even a report that Obama made TWO trips to Pakistan (still being clarified), one of which was a "hunting trip in Pakistan."
Obama ridiculed Senator Clinton for mingling with gun guys in PA. I guess he decided he couldn't disclose HE'D been hunting in those years ... it wouldv'e mocked his own credentials. The media has done a piss poor job of just asking for specifics.
After all: ISI, the C.I.A., and Saudi and Egyptian intelligence operatives were all working together, in 1981, to funnel money and arms to the "mujahadeen" fighting the Soviets ... including the "Arab Afghans." Those are the guys we've seen morph into al-Qaeda. Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, etc. It goes without saying that ISI, in those years, probably monitored any American coming to Pakistan who had Obama's background.
This was the period when Obama plainly suggests he was searching for his identity. That clearly included whether he saw himself as an African-American, or a dark-skinned American. Was he a Christian, an agnostic (as his mother appeared be be, albeit, with some form of spirituality which worked for her -- no problem there, I don't care if she was an atheist), but certainly, also, a Muslim? Those are critical questions to ask, because it would be important to know if the latter DID represent one aspect of the tour.
That's o.k. too. But face it: if he discloses more details, and any part of that trip (or trips) to Pakistan involved Islamists, madrassas, etc., then Obama is going to have to do more explaining. I have my own views on this, but I think Democrats and Independents leaning towards that Party, should demand that the DNC push Obama into providing more details on the trip/trips, to Pakistan, and Kenya. That way, if Obama IS the nominee, we all know what we're getting.
Why do this?
Did he REALLY sit in a church, with a racist minister, for 20 years, and NEVER HEAR him spew his anti-white racism from the pulpit? Did he have a relationship with Rev. Wright which was more than an acquaintance ship, or were they just minister/attender. It would appear to me that there are some twists and turns Obama has had to be forced into disclosing.
Finally, media should ask Obama: were you informed by the State Department, or FBI, that the people who intruded into your Passport Files were looking specifically for whether you'd ever been to Pakistan? And that his "self-innoculation" discussion on April 10, 2008, when he said he was more savvy on foreign affairs than McCain or Clinton, was a way of heading off the posse? I think we ought to know.
If we ask questions, like whether he used crack cocaine, or powder, will he take umbrage? Crack cocaine has devastated many African-American communities. The comment made by the Editor of JET, who alluded to that, was pilloried. But crack has been like the Grim Reaper in many African-American communites. Big difference between snorting the white stuff, and smoking it.
The public has a right to demand the DNC, and the media, in toto, dig deeper, and give us more info.
If it's innocuous, fine.
If not, we sure as hell ought to know before the convention & primaries are over.

Posted at May 29, 2008 4:10 PM in response to Obama Campaign Explains College Trip To Pakistan

No, this does not need suppressed.
The poster -- Texas Voice -- has presented some data on the context of Obama's recently disclosed admission that he visited Pakistan in 1981. The context of his visit "When you are young, you are trying to know who you are and you do different things to define your identity. For Obama it is even more profound as he is from mixed race with a muslim father and it is only natural to know who he is and purpose of his life.
"Let me set the stage for you. I want to explain to you what I know about Karachi (Pakistan) and Hyderabad (India) and why young muslim students used to visit these 2 cities in 70's & 80's.
Knowing Karachi (Pakistan) and Hyderabad (India), they are no tropical Islands or paradises. As most of you know Pakistan was in a turmoil during 70's & 80's because of dictatorship and afghanistan war. I know lot more about Hyderabad in India. It has a significant muslim population and there is lot of religious tension and unease in the same time period 70's & 80's.
Lot of young muslim students trying to define their identity often visited troubled areas in Pakistan (like Karachi) and muslim majority areas in India (like Hyderabad). Both these cities were a hot bed of religious strife and extremism.
"I want to be very clear. My intent is NOT to suggest any thing here that Obama did any thing bad in his visit of these 2 cities. I am curious as to why he visited these 2 strife ridden cities in 80's. I am surprised that media is not going after or checking out this visit to see what he did.
"I want to support him but I want to make sure that we know ALL about him and there are NO SURPRISES."
Obama had so far as I could discover, never disclosed this information before. He indicated that one of his roommates, who was only detailed as "Sadik," had been here past the end of his visa. In those days, that happened all the time (1980s). Obama does not provide a last name, or any other biographical information about "Sadik." Why not?
Obama indicated he had two friends who were at either Occidental College, or, Columbia University. He named them and both can be googled. The name "Soomro," should have raised another level of interest, since that name has been associated with a Sindh family which goes back to the Partition of Pakistan/India. The grandfather was, in fact, a confidant of Jinna, the President of Pakistan. Jinna was also a militant Islamists and would not compromise with Gandhi on the formation of a new, Muslim centered nation. The country of Pakistan was broken into East and West Pakistan, originally. The eastern of the two was reamed Bangladesh, and is adjacent to Burma (Myanmar).
Google Mian Mohammadian Soomro and you will see that he was born in 1950 v. 1961 for Obama. In 1981, Mohammadian Soomro was 31 and already in the banking business. He was apparently known as a torch bearer for the famous Soomro family in Sindh State. He became a governor of Sindh, and if you review his resume, he has been on the boards of directors, or, a key officer of several banks in Saudi Arabia.
One source who responded to me from India opined that perhaps Obama hadn't really visited Hyderabad, India, but Hyderabad, Pakistan. I don't know if that is the case, because other than his "self-innoculation" admission that he visited Pakistan, Obama hasn't laid out the trip's itinerary at all.
My source also suggested that in all likelihood, in that era (1981), Obama's Pakistani friends were well connected and upper class (with money). It is possible that Obama's entree to Mr. Soomro was arranged by a third party. Obama has used the disclosure in San Francisco to buttress his claim that he is more conversant with "foreign policy issues," than either Clinton or McCain.
I'd like to point out the duplicity involved with Senator Clinton's claim to having beenn in Kosovo when snipers were blazing away, and the absolute FIRE STORM of criticism she received for exaggeration, or, out right lying. How come nothing of the kind for Obama and his comments about Pakistan? He also has prided himself on understanding the environment of street Pakistanis, since he allegedly saw Kenya, Indonesia and Pakistan from the streets, and among "the people," who were humble, poor, disenfranchised, etc.
How hypocritical to have the trip arranged by a well-connected banker already known in Pakistan, (possibly Yemen and Indonesia) as well as Saudi Arabia. Recent comments made by now former Prime Minister Soomro indicated that he felt the relationship Pakistan & Iran has had was more workable than anything the Americans would like to see occur in Pakistan's new government.
Obama has been highly critical of General Musharraf. And yet, his old friend, Mr. Soomro (who says he telephones Obama at times), was a confidante of Musharraf. We don't know why, but it is very interesting in the least.
The complete itinerary of Obama has never been clarified. He allegedly only spent four days in Jacobabad. He is not clear about the other two cities. Were they the only three cities he visited? I believe his overall itinerary was: Indonesia, Pakistan, Kenya. Or, perhaps Kenya, Pakistan, Indonesia.
We have plenty of information that in 1981, the U.S. was working intimately with Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, in funneling money and weapons to the "mujahadeen" fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. There were also a cadre of such mujahadeen called "Arab Afghans," which meant: Arab Muslims from all over the Arabic World (sometimes referred to as 'The Hub Of Islam,' including: Ayman al Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden.
ISI absolutely REFUSED to allow the U.S. to have any direct dealings with these mujahadeen. They could not train them, nor could they know, entirely, who these folks were. For the very best description of these people, see Josepf Bodansky's "Obasam bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War On America." He has laid out in detail the many sides of Pakistani ISI. It is not a bit unheard of for such agencies, in such times, to have it's "ear to the ground," about foreign visitors. It would have been of interest to ISI to certainly know about visitors coming from Indonesia to Pakistan, or coming from Kenya, to Pakistan, and, to have a mother who was connected with the U.S. Government.
I'd suggest that people google "Stanley Ann Dunham," Obama's mother. She worked for: USAID; the Ford Foundation; Women's World Banking. At some point, Mohammadian Soomro's banking business including a woman's bank of Pakistan. It is also likely that he would have known about the activities of USAID's and The Ford Foundation's activities in Pakistan, since they were both agencies which funneled money into many, many projects in Pakistan in this time frame.
I would also suggest that people google: "USAID as C.I.A. Front agency," and "Ford Foundation as C.I.A. front agency."
None of this should be a surprise, because while I was not aware of it at the time, when I was in Vietnam as a combat soldier, USAID WAS a front company for the C.I.A. There is every reason to believe that the USAID officers in the Tehran Embassy at the time of it's over run, were C.I.A. front officers. One source suggested that the Ford Foundation was clearly well associated with C.I.A. front activities in India AND Pakistan. Same for Ford Foundation. I have no idea about Women's World Banking ... yet.
Just not googled it.
Mr. Soomro was, until recently, the interim government Prime Minister to General Pervez Musharraf. He was not neutral so far as Musharraf went. He was reported by some papers in Pakistan to have been a clear associate of Gen. Musharraf. The contextual details of the poster "Texas Voice" indicates that the environment of Karachi, Hyderabad, and Jacobabad, was active politically ... "As most of you know Pakistan was in a turmoil during 70's & 80's because of dictatorship and afghanistan war. I know lot more about Hyderabad in India. It has a significant muslim population and there is lot of religious tension and unease in the same time period 70's & 80's.
Lot of young muslim students trying to define their identity often visited troubled areas in Pakistan (like Karachi) and muslim majority areas in India (like Hyderabad). Both these cities were a hot bed of religious strife and extremism."
Please read that carefully. See references above to the interaction between C.I.A. and ISI. And the domination of I.S.I.'s ability to control American access to "mujahadeen." I totally agree with "Texas Voice'" suggestion that every know exactly what Obama is about.
In court, when someone introduces a line of reasoning, say, to buttress their character, they may suddenly open the entire area to cross-examination. Obama, not the Clintons, or the GOP, has done exactly that, with his admission of being in Pakistan. He has not provided more details.
Allegedly, there was an article in the Karachi Daily Times (English), which broke a story in March, about Obama's disclosure of visiting Pakistan. I haven't been able to verify that, yet. However, he was very specific about his views on Islam and a Muslim Conference, if he were President, and how, again, his street experience trumps the experiences of Clinton and McCain.
And yet, as with so much else in this campaign, it is whack hard on those two, especially Clinton.
There should be more American media interest in this, but so far, nada.
There are powerful reasons for the Democratic National Committee to have vetted the entire itinerary of Barack Obama in this time frame. Why? To counter any NEW bombs which might absolutely take Obama into a fire storm of criticism, if, for instance, ANY of the people he associated with in Pakistan, have since been identified, for instance, as operatives of ISI, or, al-Qaeda, or any other Islamist group. If he is clean, that's fine. If not, then the Democrats voting now should know that if there are now doubts about certain parts of THIS story, everyone should KNOW it.
Obama "self-innoculated" himself on the cocaine use. He then whined when someone said something about his coke use. African-American communities all across America have been devastated by crack cocaine use. There are big differences in marijuana and cocaine particularly, crack, so far as how African-Americans who have seen their communities sink under it's use, are concerned. Yet, when the owner of JET or EBONY made those claims, he was denounced as being unfair, and playing dirty politics.
Self-innoculation, so far as Obamistas are concerned, cannot mean any future negative discussion on same.
It is also possible that the Pakistan disclosure came because whoever peeked at his State Department Passport files blew the whistle on the Pakistan trip. Until then, unless I am greatly mistaken, Obama had never referred to it.
Taking the disclosure, and then running with it, as an example of his hubris (my view), or his supreme experience in foreign policy (his view), is a way to further say: hey, I'M the one who disclosed this. You can't USE THIS against me.
Remember this: the GOP attack machine took a bona fide combat veteran of Vietnam, with a Purple Heart and 2 Bronze Stars for valor, and turned him into a Presidential candidate who was a liar, a cheat, and someone who "self-inflicted" his wounds.
And, made it all come out so that he got 3 million votes less than a goof ball Texas Air National Guard pilot who refused an assignment in Vietnam. And, a Vice President with 5 deferments on his draft status.
I think it behoove the DNC to look deeper into this.
The connections multiply. Probably, nothing sinister.
Bu how come no one has bothered to ask some follow up questions of Senator Obama?

Posted at May 28, 2008 1:10 PM in response to Obama visited Pakistan as a young man. Why?