Robin Raphel, lobbyist - Revision history

Pdewan at 18:19, 8 December 2014

2014-12-08T18:19:47Z

Pdewan: /* …the US establishment bent rules to ensure she didn’t */

2014-12-08T17:36:22Z

‎…the US establishment bent rules to ensure she didn’t

Pdewan: /* …the US establishment bent rules to ensure she didn’t */

2014-12-08T17:34:15Z

‎…the US establishment bent rules to ensure she didn’t

Pdewan: /* …for actually she never left */

2014-12-08T17:32:55Z

‎…for actually she never left

Pdewan: /* Created the Hurriyat Conference? */

2014-12-08T17:31:39Z

‎Created the Hurriyat Conference?

Pdewan: /* Created the Hurriyat Conference? */

2014-12-08T17:28:48Z

‎Created the Hurriyat Conference?

Pdewan: /* Created the Hurriyat Conference? */

2014-12-08T17:27:43Z

‎Created the Hurriyat Conference?

Pdewan: /* Protecting Pakistani state-sponsored terrorism */

2014-11-09T00:12:13Z

‎Protecting Pakistani state-sponsored terrorism

Pdewan at 00:09, 9 November 2014

2014-11-09T00:09:09Z

Pdewan: /* …for actually she never left */

2014-11-08T23:34:44Z

‎…for actually she never left

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 |}
 [[Category:India |R ]]
 [[Category:USA |R ]]
 [[Category:Crime |R ]]

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 ‘Few also took notice that Raphel was in Delhi in 2012 at the invitation of then US envoy to Nancy Powell. The former US ambassador, who herself made an unceremonious exit from Delhi this year, introduced Raphel as a personal friend of hers to the some of the officials in Delhi. In fact Powell had fixed meetings of Raphel in Delhi, an official well versed with the developments informed [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/veteran-us-diplomat-robin-l-raphel-encouraged-creation-of-hurriyat-conference-in-kashmir/articleshow/45076517.cms The Economic Times]’
-==…the US establishment bent rules to ensure she didn’t==
+==…the USA bent rules to ensure she didn’t==
 [http://www.niticentral.com/2014/11/08/robin-raphels-illicit-links-taliban-pakistan-lobbyists-244110.html NitiCentral] <>
 Pranab Dhal Samanta, ''US bends rules, India-baiter Raphel named for Pak aid job,'' Thu Nov 12 2009, [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/us-bends-rules-indiabaiter-raphel-named-for-pak-aid-job/540506/0  Indian Express]

@@ Line 259: / Line 259: @@
 An [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/us-bends-rules-indiabaiter-raphel-named-for-pak-aid-job/540506/0  Indian Express] report published in November 2009 report said-
-“The US decision to appoint Robin Raphel as coordinator for non-military aid to Pakistan has run into controversy over conflict of interest with latest disclosures from a lobbying firm where she worked earlier clearly stating that she had been an active lobbyist for Pakistan until a few days before her appointment.” [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/us-bends-rules-indiabaiter-raphel-named-for-pak-aid-job/540506/0  Indian Express]
+“The US decision to appoint Robin Raphel as coordinator for non-military aid to Pakistan has run into controversy over conflict of interest with latest disclosures from a lobbying firm where she worked earlier clearly stating that she had been an active lobbyist for Pakistan until a few days before her appointment.”
 Robin Raphel once referred to Pakistan as a '' “model, modern, moderate Muslim State.” '' The report further quotes an official of Cassidy saying that the firm had been hired by the Pakistan Embassy for $700,000 a year plus expenses which can run into thousands of dollars, as seen in the past.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:32, 8 December 2014
Line 254:		Line 254:

	‘Few also took notice that Raphel was in Delhi in 2012 at the invitation of then US envoy to Nancy Powell. The former US ambassador, who herself made an unceremonious exit from Delhi this year, introduced Raphel as a personal friend of hers to the some of the officials in Delhi. In fact Powell had fixed meetings of Raphel in Delhi, an official well versed with the developments informed [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/veteran-us-diplomat-robin-l-raphel-encouraged-creation-of-hurriyat-conference-in-kashmir/articleshow/45076517.cms The Economic Times]’		‘Few also took notice that Raphel was in Delhi in 2012 at the invitation of then US envoy to Nancy Powell. The former US ambassador, who herself made an unceremonious exit from Delhi this year, introduced Raphel as a personal friend of hers to the some of the officials in Delhi. In fact Powell had fixed meetings of Raphel in Delhi, an official well versed with the developments informed [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/veteran-us-diplomat-robin-l-raphel-encouraged-creation-of-hurriyat-conference-in-kashmir/articleshow/45076517.cms The Economic Times]’
		+	==…the US establishment bent rules to ensure she didn’t==
		+	[http://www.niticentral.com/2014/11/08/robin-raphels-illicit-links-taliban-pakistan-lobbyists-244110.html NitiCentral] <>
		+	Pranab Dhal Samanta, ''US bends rules, India-baiter Raphel named for Pak aid job,'' Thu Nov 12 2009, [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/us-bends-rules-indiabaiter-raphel-named-for-pak-aid-job/540506/0 Indian Express]
		+
		+	An [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/us-bends-rules-indiabaiter-raphel-named-for-pak-aid-job/540506/0 Indian Express] report published in November 2009 report said-
		+	“The US decision to appoint Robin Raphel as coordinator for non-military aid to Pakistan has run into controversy over conflict of interest with latest disclosures from a lobbying firm where she worked earlier clearly stating that she had been an active lobbyist for Pakistan until a few days before her appointment.” [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/us-bends-rules-indiabaiter-raphel-named-for-pak-aid-job/540506/0 Indian Express]
		+
		+	Robin Raphel once referred to Pakistan as a '' “model, modern, moderate Muslim State.” '' The report further quotes an official of Cassidy saying that the firm had been hired by the Pakistan Embassy for $700,000 a year plus expenses which can run into thousands of dollars, as seen in the past.

	=Officially: a lobbyist for Pakistan=		=Officially: a lobbyist for Pakistan=

@@ Line 83: / Line 83: @@
 =Created the Hurriyat Conference?=
 '''`She backed Malik, Mirwaiz; Hurriyat was her brainchild' ''' [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=She-backed-Malik-Mirwaiz-Hurriyat-was-her-brainchild-09112014012036 Saleem Pandit The Times of India ] Nov 09 2014
 Raphel was clearly no diplomat. She reportedly welded the many disparate secessionist Kashmiri groups together into the All- Parties Hurriyat Conference, and united them in their conflict with the Indian establishment. And within the Hurriyat Conference she played favourites, supporting those with a wider mass appeal.

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 =Created the Hurriyat Conference?=
-Eminent strategic analyst B.Raman wrote, ‘During her posting in the US Embassy in New Delhi, she was actively interacting with the various anti-India groups in Jammu & Kashmir and it was reportedly on her advice that the Hurriyat, as an umbrella organization of these groups, became very active.’ [http://ramanstrategicanalysis.blogspot.in/2009/08/robin-raphel-old-anti-india-hand-to.html B.Raman’s strategic analysis]  (Till then each Kashmiri militant group was acting on its own. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference brought them all together.)
+'''`She backed Malik, Mirwaiz; Hurriyat was her brainchild' '''
 [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/veteran-us-diplomat-robin-l-raphel-encouraged-creation-of-hurriyat-conference-in-kashmir/articleshow/45076517.cms The Economic Times] adds that ‘Robin L Raphel encouraged creation of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir in 1993, thereby making them stakeholders even as India has always maintained that it was bilateral issue between Delhi and Islamabad.

@@ Line 122: / Line 122: @@
 “Eventually, we have been vindicated by this investigation,” said an official who preferred not to be named, speaking about the just-announced U.S. federal probe against Ms. Raphel, “We repeatedly told the U.S. that Ms. Raphel’s position was anti-India, but it was also not in the U.S.’s interests.” As a diplomat Ms. Raphel was responsible for two other controversial policies: that of suggesting support for the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in 1996, as a means of securing the U.S. company Unocal consortium’s pipeline plan in the region, as well as advocating dropping parts of the U.S.’s Pressler amendment that put strict oversight over aid to Pakistan. After she retired, Ms. Raphel joined consultancy group Cassidy & Associates and landed a massive $1.2 million contract from the Pakistan government under President Musharraf, to “improve Pakistan’s image” in the U.S. in 2007.
-=Protecting Pakistani state-sponsored terrorism=
+=1993: Protecting Pakistani state-sponsored terrorism=
 Raphel’s remarks outraged New Delhi, but it got worse when she was seen as brazenly working to protect Pakistan from being declared a state sponsor of terrorism following the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 1993 -in the face of evidence provided by India, including '''detonators used in the serial blasts that mysteriously disappeared when they were sent to Washington for forensic evaluation. '''
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 The mild-mannered Rao himself took up the matter with visiting US Senators Thad Cochran, Larry Pressler and Hank Brown, telling them that Raphel's statements did not help the promotion of Indo-US relations. These were among the reasons why she was sent on a 4-day tour of India in 1994.
 =1994: Raphel’s visit to India=
 By 1994 Raphel was easily the woman India hated the most. At the time India’s international clout was not what it would later become on the strength of several years of continued economic success. Yet, the USA realised that things had gone too far from their side.

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 [http://www.nndb.com/people/904/000128520/ NNDB.com]
 =Personal details =
 Robin Lynn Raphel
@@ Line 58: / Line 59: @@
 -72: Taught history at Damavand College for women, Teheran, Iran
-- 2003: Senior Vice President at the National Defense University, Washington
+- 2003: Senior Vice President at the National Defense University, Washington.
 =Languages spoken=
 English, French, Urdu.
@@ Line 81: / Line 82: @@
 =Created the Hurriyat Conference?=
-[http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/veteran-us-diplomat-robin-l-raphel-encouraged-creation-of-hurriyat-conference-in-kashmir/articleshow/45076517.cms The Economic Times] writes that ‘Robin L Raphel encouraged creation of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir in 1993, thereby making them stakeholders even as India has always maintained that it was bilateral issue between Delhi and Islamabad.
+Eminent strategic analyst B.Raman wrote, ‘During her posting in the US Embassy in New Delhi, she was actively interacting with the various anti-India groups in Jammu & Kashmir and it was reportedly on her advice that the Hurriyat, as an umbrella organization of these groups, became very active.’ [http://ramanstrategicanalysis.blogspot.in/2009/08/robin-raphel-old-anti-india-hand-to.html B.Raman’s strategic analysis]  (Till then each Kashmiri militant group was acting on its own. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference brought them all together.)
 ‘She had stated that insurgency in the state was self sustaining.
@@ Line 106: / Line 109: @@
 She was also dismissive of the Shimla Agreement saying it was ineffective and outdated. Each of this positions validated Pakistan's viewpoint.
-==Her controversial press conference==
+==1993: Her controversial press conference==
-Raphel's exact words at the press conference in Washington, when she questioned Jammu & Kashmir's accession to the Indian Union, were, "We view the entire former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir as disputed territory. In our view, India and Pakistan need to get together and have serious negotiations on how to resolve this dispute and other problems between them. We have said that it is important, of course, and a practical necessity that the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir be taken into account in this process. That has constantly been our position; it hasn't changed."
+Raphel's exact words during a non-attributable discussion with some Indian journalists in Washington DC, towards the end of 1993, when she questioned Jammu & Kashmir's accession to the Indian Union, were, "We view the entire former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir as disputed territory. In our view, India and Pakistan need to get together and have serious negotiations on how to resolve this dispute and other problems between them. We have said that it is important, of course, and a practical necessity that the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir be taken into account in this process. That has constantly been our position; it hasn't changed."
 =The ‘obstacle’ in India-U.S. ties=
 The Hindu adds: When she made her controversial comments on the Kashmir dispute and the suggestion of a referendum, the Indian government saw her as a formidable, antagonistic voice to contend with. “The U.S. was seen as pro-Pakistan at the time,” describes diplomat Satinder Lambah, who was India’s High Commissioner in Islamabad then, “And Ms. Raphel was a real obstacle in bettering ties between the US and India. They improved dramatically, later, but it was in spite of her.”
@@ Line 119: / Line 123: @@
 =Protecting Pakistani state-sponsored terrorism=
 Raphel’s remarks outraged New Delhi, but it got worse when she was seen as brazenly working to protect Pakistan from being declared a state sponsor of terrorism following the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 1993 -in the face of evidence provided by India, including '''detonators used in the serial blasts that mysteriously disappeared when they were sent to Washington for forensic evaluation. '''
 The late Indian spymaster Bahukutumbi Raman referred in his memoirs to this “ack-thoo“ moment in US-India relations, saying, “I felt like vomiting and spitting at the state department officials. I might have done so had they been there.“ The principal subject of his ire was Raphel, who had enraged him by threatening to put both Pakistan and India on the same terrorism list.
@@ Line 209: / Line 215: @@
 ‘Raphel is not an ordinary run-of-the-mill American diplomat in the South Asian circuit; she is one of the handful who might have actually met Mullah Omar in the fastness of Kandahar in the hazy 1990s.’
 =1997: Good riddance...=
 ==...but only on paper==
@@ Line 214: / Line 222: @@
 ==…for actually she never left==
 [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/veteran-us-diplomat-robin-l-raphel-encouraged-creation-of-hurriyat-conference-in-kashmir/articleshow/45076517.cms The Economic Times] wrote that Raphel, remained Americas advisor on Pakistan, even after she left US State Department's South Asia Department in June 1997 and also [after] her retirement [in 2005].
 What is surprising is that Raphel still walked in and out of the corridors of the state department and continued to have her say in the US’ regional policies — until very recently, in fact. She figured in late Richard Holbrooke’s team and in that capacity even visited Pakistan. ([http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/11/07/fbi-swoops-down-on-an-american-robin/ M K Bhadrakumar])

@@ Line 215: / Line 215: @@
 [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/veteran-us-diplomat-robin-l-raphel-encouraged-creation-of-hurriyat-conference-in-kashmir/articleshow/45076517.cms The Economic Times] wrote that Raphel, remained Americas advisor on Pakistan, even after she left US State Department's South Asia Department in June 1997 and also [after] her retirement [in 2005].
-What is surprising is that Raphel still walked in and out of the corridors of the state department and continued to have her say in the US’ regional policies — until very recently, in fact. She figured in late Richard Holbrooke’s team and in that capacity even visited Pakistan. [http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/11/07/fbi-swoops-down-on-an-american-robin/ M K Bhadrakumar]
+What is surprising is that Raphel still walked in and out of the corridors of the state department and continued to have her say in the US’ regional policies — until very recently, in fact. She figured in late Richard Holbrooke’s team and in that capacity even visited Pakistan. ([http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/11/07/fbi-swoops-down-on-an-american-robin/ M K Bhadrakumar])
-In fact, Raphel's presence in the Special Representative's office on Af-Pak [SRAP] only heightened Indian suspicions. India never did take kindly to Richard Holbrooke either, who was the highest profile SRAP thus far. On at least two occasions, New Delhi denied him a visa to visit India, believing he was using his position to get into the India-Pakistan bilateral game. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/When-former-US-diplomat-acted-as-a-courier-for-Pakistan/articleshow/45083900.cms The Times of India ]
+In fact, Raphel's presence in the Special Representative's office on Af-Pak [SRAP] only heightened Indian suspicions. India never did take kindly to Richard Holbrooke either, who was the highest profile SRAP thus far. On at least two occasions, New Delhi denied him a visa to visit India, believing he was using his position to get into the India-Pakistan bilateral game. ([http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/When-former-US-diplomat-acted-as-a-courier-for-Pakistan/articleshow/45083900.cms The Times of India])
 ‘She remained one of the most senior advisors of State Department on South Asia and Pakistan and was working with the State Department on renewable contracts,' [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/veteran-us-diplomat-robin-l-raphel-encouraged-creation-of-hurriyat-conference-in-kashmir/articleshow/45076517.cms The Economic Times] added.