General Musharraf and Taliban
After President Asif Ali Zardari said on CBS News that “Pakistani forces are fighting the Taliban for the survival of Pakistan”, General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf kind of “gilded the lily” by stating in Islamabad that “support for the Taliban and Al Qaeda is increasing in Pakistan”. President Zardari conceded that the Taliban were “present on huge amounts of land” in Pakistan because of the past “policy of denial”. As a result, he said, “Our forces weren’t increased. We have weaknesses and they are taking advantage of those weaknesses”.
It is easy to say that the support for the Taliban has increased in Pakistan and presume that people will not connect it with the policies followed by Mr Musharraf when he was the sole operator of Pakistan’s military strategy. The Taliban are difficult to fight today because of the strategic choices made by him after 9/11. Far from preparing the Pakistan army to face up to the possible new challenges arising from the volte face performed by him in the doctrine of “strategic depth”, he allowed the Taliban to roam free in the Tribal Areas and establish outreach in the rest of the country through their madrassa networks. Most writers on the conflict in Afghanistan have come to the conclusion that he allowed “deniable” sanctuaries inside Pakistan after 2001 and then let the jihadis — originally meant for Kashmir — join up with the affiliates of Al Qaeda.
Support to the Taliban increased only after they were able to establish their power in parts of Pakistan then still being ruled by General Musharraf. After the warlords had made their appearance in Waziristan, he was unable to cope with them. In fact it was on his watch that a large number of military personnel were taken prisoner by Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan. It is only after the new chief of the army staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani adopted a new strategy after taking over from General Musharraf that the people stopped despairing about ever facing up to the challenge of terrorism. (Daily Times)
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Showing posts with label Double-cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Double-cross. Show all posts
Monday, 16 February 2009
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Will the "Swati Taliban" capture Islamabad or Will Islamabad capture them? An outcome of Musharraf's double-cross policies in the war on terror...
Monday, 27 October 2008
Time to purge ISI from the pro-Taliban and pro-Sipah-e-Sahaba goons...
Spanish report ties ISI to Taliban
* Claims agency funded training camps and weapons acquisition
* Pakistan army chief vehemently denies Madrid claim
Daily Times Monitor
MADRID: A confidential Spanish Defence Ministry report has alleged Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency helped arm the Taliban in 2005 for assassination plots against the Afghan government.
The confidential report, obtained by Cadena Ser radio and posted on the station's website on Wednesday, also alleges ISI helped the Taliban procure roadside bombs.
“The Taliban, with the help of Al Qaeda and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), received explosives that were to be activated at long distance,” according to the report.
“The plan was that the Taliban used these devices against vehicles to assassinate ... even though it did not specify against what type of targets,” according to the report.
Training camps: CIFAS, Spain’s military intelligence body, also noted the “possible existence of training camps for the production of improvised explosives devices (IEDs) in Pakistani territory, where Taliban received training, support and information from the Pakistani secret service.”
The report says ISI planned to have the Taliban use the explosives “to assassinate high-ranking officials.”
The August 2005 document does not describe its sources and Cadena Ser did not say how it obtained the report.
Denial: Chief Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said on Wednesday the Spanish report was “baseless, unfounded and part of a malicious, well-orchestrated propaganda campaign to malign the ISI.”
“ISI is the first line of defence of Pakistan and certain quarters are attempting to weaken our national intelligence system," Abbas said, without elaborating.
In Spain, the Defence Ministry and prime minister's office said they had no comment.
Western intelligence agencies have long suspected elements of Pakistan's spy service have aided the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
But this report appears to be the first leaked to the media that spells out such a connection in writing.
Fernando Reinares, a terrorism analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid and former chief counter terrorism adviser at Spain's Interior Ministry, said the document appeared to be an internal report intended for high-level officials.
Spain has about 800 soldiers deployed in northwest Afghanistan.
Reinares said the report on the alleged ISI-Taliban link is in keeping with information from other Western spy agencies.
“The intelligence services have done nothing more then confirm a reality which has also been reported by other Western agencies,” he told The Associated Press.
Reinares said Spain has developed a strong military and police intelligence operation in Pakistan, particularly since the deadly terrorist attacks of March 11, 2004 on commuter trains in Madrid.
A 2006 report by a British Defence Ministry think-tank discussed an ISI-Taliban link and said the Pakistani spy agency was supporting terrorism in Afghanistan, but the opinions expressed in the document did not constitute official government policy.
Despite Wednesday's strong denial though, one Pakistani government spokeswoman acknowledged in August that the government needs to root out Taliban sympathisers from its intelligence service.
Some analysts say elements in the spy agency may want to retain the Taliban as a bulwark against long-time rival India, believing Pakistan's strategic interests are best served if Afghanistan remains a weak state. (Daily Times, 4 October 2008)
Read more...
* Claims agency funded training camps and weapons acquisition
* Pakistan army chief vehemently denies Madrid claim
Daily Times Monitor
MADRID: A confidential Spanish Defence Ministry report has alleged Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency helped arm the Taliban in 2005 for assassination plots against the Afghan government.
The confidential report, obtained by Cadena Ser radio and posted on the station's website on Wednesday, also alleges ISI helped the Taliban procure roadside bombs.
“The Taliban, with the help of Al Qaeda and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), received explosives that were to be activated at long distance,” according to the report.
“The plan was that the Taliban used these devices against vehicles to assassinate ... even though it did not specify against what type of targets,” according to the report.
Training camps: CIFAS, Spain’s military intelligence body, also noted the “possible existence of training camps for the production of improvised explosives devices (IEDs) in Pakistani territory, where Taliban received training, support and information from the Pakistani secret service.”
The report says ISI planned to have the Taliban use the explosives “to assassinate high-ranking officials.”
The August 2005 document does not describe its sources and Cadena Ser did not say how it obtained the report.
Denial: Chief Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said on Wednesday the Spanish report was “baseless, unfounded and part of a malicious, well-orchestrated propaganda campaign to malign the ISI.”
“ISI is the first line of defence of Pakistan and certain quarters are attempting to weaken our national intelligence system," Abbas said, without elaborating.
In Spain, the Defence Ministry and prime minister's office said they had no comment.
Western intelligence agencies have long suspected elements of Pakistan's spy service have aided the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
But this report appears to be the first leaked to the media that spells out such a connection in writing.
Fernando Reinares, a terrorism analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid and former chief counter terrorism adviser at Spain's Interior Ministry, said the document appeared to be an internal report intended for high-level officials.
Spain has about 800 soldiers deployed in northwest Afghanistan.
Reinares said the report on the alleged ISI-Taliban link is in keeping with information from other Western spy agencies.
“The intelligence services have done nothing more then confirm a reality which has also been reported by other Western agencies,” he told The Associated Press.
Reinares said Spain has developed a strong military and police intelligence operation in Pakistan, particularly since the deadly terrorist attacks of March 11, 2004 on commuter trains in Madrid.
A 2006 report by a British Defence Ministry think-tank discussed an ISI-Taliban link and said the Pakistani spy agency was supporting terrorism in Afghanistan, but the opinions expressed in the document did not constitute official government policy.
Despite Wednesday's strong denial though, one Pakistani government spokeswoman acknowledged in August that the government needs to root out Taliban sympathisers from its intelligence service.
Some analysts say elements in the spy agency may want to retain the Taliban as a bulwark against long-time rival India, believing Pakistan's strategic interests are best served if Afghanistan remains a weak state. (Daily Times, 4 October 2008)
Read more...
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Once upon a time, there was a benevolent leader namely George W. Bush who was very lenient on ISI's role in sponsoring terrorism...
Amir Ahmed Khan notes that Pakistani politicians, army and intelligence agencies need to adopt a concerted, robust strategy on the war on terrorism. Also, they need to develop confidence building measures with the regional and international players namely USA, China and NATO.
Read the three reasons because of which the USA officials are currently upset with the Pakistan Government, particularly its intelligence agencies.
For example: “American Officials told AZ that whenever they informed Pakistan army about the high level target , the target would escape”.
Amir Ahmed Khan reports that the American officials have warned Pakistan that if it did not address the three major concerns, then the day may not be too far, when Pakistan (its Government, people, media, and politicians) might say that:
Once upon a time, there was a benevolent American leader namely George W. Bush who was very lenient on ISI's role in sponsoring terrorism...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/10/081022_parliament_resolution_aak.shtml
Read more...
Read the three reasons because of which the USA officials are currently upset with the Pakistan Government, particularly its intelligence agencies.
For example: “American Officials told AZ that whenever they informed Pakistan army about the high level target , the target would escape”.
Amir Ahmed Khan reports that the American officials have warned Pakistan that if it did not address the three major concerns, then the day may not be too far, when Pakistan (its Government, people, media, and politicians) might say that:
Once upon a time, there was a benevolent American leader namely George W. Bush who was very lenient on ISI's role in sponsoring terrorism...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2008/10/081022_parliament_resolution_aak.shtml
Read more...
Monday, 13 October 2008
Evidence of ISI's support for the Taliban and Sipah-e-Sahaba....Taliban leader killed by SAS was Pakistan officer, report by Christina Lamb
From The Sunday Times
October 12, 2008
Taliban leader killed by SAS was Pakistan officer
Christina Lamb in Kabul
British officials covered up evidence that a Taliban commander killed by special forces in Helmand last year was in fact a Pakistani military officer, according to highly placed Afghan officials.
The commander, targeted in a compound in the Sangin valley, was one of six killed in the past year by SAS and SBS forces. When the British soldiers entered the compound they discovered a Pakistani military ID on the body.
It was the first physical evidence of covert Pakistani military operations against British forces in Afghanistan even though Islamabad insists it is a close ally in the war against terror.
Britain’s refusal to make the incident public led to a row with the Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who has long accused London of viewing Afghanistan through the eyes of Pakistani military intelligence, which is widely believed to have been helping the Taliban.
“He feels he has been telling everyone about Pakistan for the past six years and here was the evidence, yet London refused to release it, because they care more about their relations with Islamabad than Kabul,” said a source close to the president. “He knows Britain is worried about inflaming its large Pakistani population, but that is no excuse.”
So furious was Karzai that he threatened to expel British diplomats. When some months later he was informed by the governor of Helmand that British officials were secretly negotiating with the Taliban, he expelled two men and accused Britain of wanting to set up a training camp for former Taliban fighters.
Karzai will visit London next month for talks with Gordon Brown in an attempt to repair the strained relations between the two countries.
British officials in Kabul refused to comment on the allegation that they had covered up the discovery of a Pakistani soldier. They insisted Karzai’s government had been informed of the negotiations with the Taliban, adding that “the camp was just a place for them to be reintegrated, learn about hygiene and things”.
During the war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, officers from Pakistani military intelligence regularly accompanied Afghan mujaheddin inside Afghanistan and directed operations.
The Afghan claims of Pakistani involvement in Helmand were backed by a senior United Nations official who said he had been told by his superiors to keep quiet after Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN apparently threatened to stop contributing forces to peacekeeping missions. Pakistan is the UN’s biggest supplier of peacekeeping troops.
The coalition’s refusal to confront Pakistan changed after the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul last July, when 41 people were killed. According to both British and US intelligence, phone intercepts led directly back to an Afghan cell of Pakistan’s military intelligence.
The past month has seen US forces carry out bombings and a ground raid on Pakistani territory. Claims of Pakistan’s involvement were rejected by Asif Durrani, the country’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul. “Afghanistan wants to blame someone else for its problems and Pakistan is just the whipping boy,” he said.
However, repeated accusations from Karzai about Pakistan’s active support for the Taliban have been backed by a senior US marine officer.
Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Nash, who commanded an embedded training team in eastern Afghanistan from June 2007 to March this year, told the Army Times that Pakistani forces flew repeated helicopter missions into Afghanistan to resupply a Taliban base camp during a fierce battle in June last year. Nash said: “We were on the receiving end of Pakistani military D-30 [a howitzer]. On numerous occasions Afghan border police checkpoints and observation posts were attacked by Pakistani military forces.”
Comments by Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith in The Sunday Times last week that a decisive military victory against the Taliban was not possible and negotiations should be opened have received widespread backing.
General Jean-Louis Georgelin, France’s military chief, said: “There is no military solution to the Afghan crisis and I totally share this feeling.”
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, who initially dismissed the brigadier’s comments as “defeatist”, said on Friday that the US was now prepared to back talks with the Taliban.
Read more...
October 12, 2008
Taliban leader killed by SAS was Pakistan officer
Christina Lamb in Kabul
British officials covered up evidence that a Taliban commander killed by special forces in Helmand last year was in fact a Pakistani military officer, according to highly placed Afghan officials.
The commander, targeted in a compound in the Sangin valley, was one of six killed in the past year by SAS and SBS forces. When the British soldiers entered the compound they discovered a Pakistani military ID on the body.
It was the first physical evidence of covert Pakistani military operations against British forces in Afghanistan even though Islamabad insists it is a close ally in the war against terror.
Britain’s refusal to make the incident public led to a row with the Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who has long accused London of viewing Afghanistan through the eyes of Pakistani military intelligence, which is widely believed to have been helping the Taliban.
“He feels he has been telling everyone about Pakistan for the past six years and here was the evidence, yet London refused to release it, because they care more about their relations with Islamabad than Kabul,” said a source close to the president. “He knows Britain is worried about inflaming its large Pakistani population, but that is no excuse.”
So furious was Karzai that he threatened to expel British diplomats. When some months later he was informed by the governor of Helmand that British officials were secretly negotiating with the Taliban, he expelled two men and accused Britain of wanting to set up a training camp for former Taliban fighters.
Karzai will visit London next month for talks with Gordon Brown in an attempt to repair the strained relations between the two countries.
British officials in Kabul refused to comment on the allegation that they had covered up the discovery of a Pakistani soldier. They insisted Karzai’s government had been informed of the negotiations with the Taliban, adding that “the camp was just a place for them to be reintegrated, learn about hygiene and things”.
During the war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s, officers from Pakistani military intelligence regularly accompanied Afghan mujaheddin inside Afghanistan and directed operations.
The Afghan claims of Pakistani involvement in Helmand were backed by a senior United Nations official who said he had been told by his superiors to keep quiet after Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN apparently threatened to stop contributing forces to peacekeeping missions. Pakistan is the UN’s biggest supplier of peacekeeping troops.
The coalition’s refusal to confront Pakistan changed after the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul last July, when 41 people were killed. According to both British and US intelligence, phone intercepts led directly back to an Afghan cell of Pakistan’s military intelligence.
The past month has seen US forces carry out bombings and a ground raid on Pakistani territory. Claims of Pakistan’s involvement were rejected by Asif Durrani, the country’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul. “Afghanistan wants to blame someone else for its problems and Pakistan is just the whipping boy,” he said.
However, repeated accusations from Karzai about Pakistan’s active support for the Taliban have been backed by a senior US marine officer.
Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Nash, who commanded an embedded training team in eastern Afghanistan from June 2007 to March this year, told the Army Times that Pakistani forces flew repeated helicopter missions into Afghanistan to resupply a Taliban base camp during a fierce battle in June last year. Nash said: “We were on the receiving end of Pakistani military D-30 [a howitzer]. On numerous occasions Afghan border police checkpoints and observation posts were attacked by Pakistani military forces.”
Comments by Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith in The Sunday Times last week that a decisive military victory against the Taliban was not possible and negotiations should be opened have received widespread backing.
General Jean-Louis Georgelin, France’s military chief, said: “There is no military solution to the Afghan crisis and I totally share this feeling.”
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, who initially dismissed the brigadier’s comments as “defeatist”, said on Friday that the US was now prepared to back talks with the Taliban.
Read more...
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Musharraf's dubious role in the war on terror: ISI under Musharraf's command was an extension of Zia's policies in Afghanistan - Nazir Naji
![[col8.gif]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQRbp_g660iK9hmvMM6c5rkgYagbR4v5vnjTXjEhyhH6GjHbvSVovk2Ce5XnLfSznfRub7ukR-e0NUdPQ2dpxRgkywhz1RojB13g5MvLxW6OEcTy4Jfx33m6rN1-NXCA9oeIpK7Dk2a5Q/s1600/col8.gif)
Pakistan Army and ISI protecting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists in FATA
This TV report suggests that instead of hunting down and killing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan's tribal areas, Pakistan Army (directed by Pakistan's notorious intelligence agency ISI) is busy in hitting the collateral (i.e. innocent civilians) while successfully avoiding the areas in which terrorists have full control.
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Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Is the USA doublecrossing Pakistan in FATA
Bajaur: the crucial test
Reports are that terrorists known as Taliban are crossing the border from the Kunar province in Afghanistan to fight against the Pakistani forces in Bajaur and other areas. Pakistan has informed the US about this because the NATO-ISAF forces have, strangely enough, not challenged the cross-border movement on this section of the Pak-Afghan frontier. Unless vigilance is mounted on the Afghan side, Pakistan’s operations inside Bajaur, in cooperation with lashkars of the local tribesmen, will not be as effective as needed. For the first time the army is winning the war for the hearts and minds there.
Bajaur is the smallest tribal agency in terms of area and largest in terms of population and qualifies to be integrated with the rest of Pakistan because of the high level of the consciousness of its people. It has 70 percent TV coverage which is comparable to Kurram Agency which too qualifies for integration before other agencies. The enemy clearly knows this and wants to make Bajaur the test of its ability to resist Pakistan. Kunar is where the Arab warriors congregated when they came for jihad because of the presence there of a Wahhabi warlord named Sayyaf. Now things have changed and the US must take a close look at the Kunar-Bajaur border and prevent Al Qaeda from receiving fresh instalments of warriors in Bajaur. This is a battlefront where Pakistan cannot afford to lose. (Daily Times)
Read more...
Reports are that terrorists known as Taliban are crossing the border from the Kunar province in Afghanistan to fight against the Pakistani forces in Bajaur and other areas. Pakistan has informed the US about this because the NATO-ISAF forces have, strangely enough, not challenged the cross-border movement on this section of the Pak-Afghan frontier. Unless vigilance is mounted on the Afghan side, Pakistan’s operations inside Bajaur, in cooperation with lashkars of the local tribesmen, will not be as effective as needed. For the first time the army is winning the war for the hearts and minds there.
Bajaur is the smallest tribal agency in terms of area and largest in terms of population and qualifies to be integrated with the rest of Pakistan because of the high level of the consciousness of its people. It has 70 percent TV coverage which is comparable to Kurram Agency which too qualifies for integration before other agencies. The enemy clearly knows this and wants to make Bajaur the test of its ability to resist Pakistan. Kunar is where the Arab warriors congregated when they came for jihad because of the presence there of a Wahhabi warlord named Sayyaf. Now things have changed and the US must take a close look at the Kunar-Bajaur border and prevent Al Qaeda from receiving fresh instalments of warriors in Bajaur. This is a battlefront where Pakistan cannot afford to lose. (Daily Times)
Read more...
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Doublecross: Musharraf and Pakistan Army's ambiguous stance toward Al-Qaeda and Taliban-
According to the US-based Pew Research Centre’s Global Attitudes Project, the number of Muslims globally supporting suicide attacks and Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has fallen sharply in the past six years. But the think tank still has its red signal on about “significant Muslim minorities in eight countries continuing to endorse suicide bombings and the Al Qaeda chief”.
Significantly, the number of Lebanese Muslims justifying suicide attacks has come down from 74 percent in 2004 to 32 percent today. In Pakistan, this support for suicide-bombing has come down from 33 percent in 2002 to 5 percent today. In Jordan, the support remains high at 25 percent although it has fallen recently. Only 10 percent of Indonesians now support suicide bombing, in contrast to Nigeria where 33 percent of Muslims still justify it, despite a fall from over 70 percent in 2002.
Popular support for Osama bin Laden has fallen steeply from a peak in 2002 but still remains dangerously high. In Pakistan one-third of those asked still think he is a good guy. Unlike Jordan, where support for him has fallen dramatically to 19 percent, in Pakistan it is steady around one-third. Understandably, secular Turkey has scored low on both counts.
It is important to view Pakistan a little differently from the rest of the Islamic world. This is where Osama bin Laden feels close to home. Also, he is probably located inside Pakistan. His organisation Al Qaeda is palpable here and doesn’t need “sleeper cells”. It has around 8,000 “foreigners” in Pakistan ready to lay down their lives as combatants or suicide-bombers because they are “uprooted” and ready to abandon life. It has its foot soldiers among two types of Taliban, the Afghan ones and those in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA); and among Pakistanis from the rest of the country who are members of once state-supported jihadi militias.
The Pew survey was carefully modelled to test the opinion of a cross-section of the population in Pakistan. But in many ways this methodology is irrelevant to the “devolution of power” in a state that is fast losing its internal sovereignty. In fact, our state has been leeched of its “monopoly of violence” by the madrassa with a stranglehold on the people no matter what opinion they hold about Al Qaeda and suicide-bombing. For instance, it would be useless to poll the citizens in Islamabad when 80 madrassas hold power over them and scores more have sprung up since the state’s face-off with Lal Masjid last year.
Another distortion that sets Pakistan apart is the “lost territory” in FATA and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA). Populations living under Al Qaeda here were first unsure about who they supported but after the failure of the state to protect them they have generally swung in favour of Al Qaeda. Whereas in the Tribal Areas there is no difference between Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, in the rest of the country bin Laden is set apart as the symbol of Islam’s struggle against the US.
Al Qaeda was “facilitated” on the basis of the agreed military “doctrine” pronounced by General Pervez Musharraf in his address to the nation on September 20, 2001, after he had decided to join America’s global “war against terror”. His speech was lynch-pinned to this reference to India: “What do the Indians want? They do not have common borders with Afghanistan anywhere. It is totally isolated from Afghanistan. In my view it is so surprising that the Indians want to ensure that if and when the government in Afghanistan changes, it shall be an anti-Pakistan government...I would like to tell India: lay off.”
This “foundational” speech is the basis of the national security establishment’s policy on the war against terrorism. It committed Pakistan to retain the “proxy” of the Taliban acquired during Pakistan’s pursuit of “strategic depth” in Afghanistan against India. Al Qaeda clutched at it, and was tolerated, as a part of the bargain. After the 2002 election, the MMA was brought to power to underpin this policy. It is during the MMA’s tenure in Balochistan and the NWFP that Al Qaeda became entrenched in Pakistan. The madrassas all over Pakistan, which became the backbone of Al Qaeda and its foot soldiers, were not — or could not be — purged.
Today Al Qaeda sees itself pitted against the security forces of Pakistan because it knows that its final battle for the possession of the nuclear-powered state will be with the Pakistan Army. Therefore, it is incumbent on the politicians and media today to support the Pakistan Army in its war against Al Qaeda and its followers and not be swayed by what the influential clergy advocates in its pro-Al Qaeda rhetoric. (Daily Times).
.........
COMMENTS:
Jamshed Khan:
What sadden me to death is that most of our educated class lacks the ground realities in Pakistan.
First of all Talibans are FIGS, barbarians, headless, basters, and they have no religion or humanity.
The very existence of FATA (Federally Administrated Tribal Areas which includes Khyber, Mohmand, Bajaur, Orakzai,N-Waziristan, S-Waziristan & Kurram Agencies) is a conspiracy, and this should have been merged in NWFP as settled districts long time ago. They are the same pathans like the one lives 5 miles away in Peshawar or Malakand Division. They are no different than other pathans, then why should they enjoy the special status. And what FATA achieved of this special status. Nothing. Why were they kept in dark ages in the pretext that they are semi-independent was because the corrupt establishment reminded Pakistanis that our prophet MA Jinnah the great promised them this special status. All bullshit.
The corrupt establishment and ISI kept these areas in dark ages for the sole purpose of using them against Afghanistan. The magna Carta of Paki Army is that 1- keep Afghanistan busy with Talibans type people. and 2- India is our enemy # 1. On this ground Paki Generals sucks 90% of Pakistani Budget and has educated Urban Punjab with this KALAMA, who are the only Pakstanis. Any minority who sopke for their rights are traitors. Only Punjabis are patriots.
Now ISI and Paki Army was successful till 60 years, but now those Talibans created and trained by ISI have turned against Pakistan because Afghanistan border is closed by NATO. Now those masked barbers who belongs to Hell and call itself Taliban want to create Islamic State, and in this process has killed 1000s of innocent people.They are systemically killing the elder, elite and educated class of Pathans. This is a grave conspiracy. All those who justifies Talibans even 1% are Stupid and I wihs Allah bless their family with Talibans so they can have a taste of it too.
lance_naik:
The brutality of the Taliban during their rule in Afghanistan is well-documented fact. Any Afghan will testify to it. 99% of Afghans despise the Taliban. Over the years, I have found an alarmingly number of Pakistanis who try to defend them. Now that they are here, doing the same to us, this people seem to still be in denial. I’m not a fan of the army and certainly not the thugs of the bush administration. However, to blame all of this on the US & the army is just plain irrational. Things in the world are never black & white. There are ciminals hiding in our tribal areas who not only commit these heinous acts but have the audacity to use Islam as a pretext. Unless and until the majority of the people of our country acknowledge this fact, this problem will not go away. This is a mess created by the army and the US back in the 80’s and this is a mess that they will have to fix. We on our end will need to be honest about it. Conspiracy theories are an act of paranoia. And paranoia is a symptom of schizophrenia.
We need to stop acting insane.
MalangBaba:
USA has for sure crushed the Al-Qaida and Talban in Afghanistan and that poor country is progressing much faster than any time in past 40 years. The problem is that Musharaf played double game and let Talban establish them in FATA in the form of multiple war lords who provide fee-for-service suicide bombers to India, russia, drug lords etc to do actionsinside Afghanistan or Pakistan. There is is huge foreign money and drug mafia involved. We need to crush these savages for the sake of Pakistan or else they will make a Somalia out of this poor nation.
How to crush them is quite easy. Fund and Equip Tribes to fight with these groups wwith air and ground support from Army. Most tribes wants militants out because they are destroying their own life. This tactic is a success in Afghanistan and for sure will be a success in FATA.
“So it would be of help if you could stop blaming this or that since you have no evidence against Hamid Mir or anyone else.”
Media must stop portraying these militants as ‘innocent’ and ‘hero’. They are evil villians who will destroy the basic social fabric of Pakistan for ever. We have to choose between Talban and Pakistan and we want Pakistan.
Read more...
Significantly, the number of Lebanese Muslims justifying suicide attacks has come down from 74 percent in 2004 to 32 percent today. In Pakistan, this support for suicide-bombing has come down from 33 percent in 2002 to 5 percent today. In Jordan, the support remains high at 25 percent although it has fallen recently. Only 10 percent of Indonesians now support suicide bombing, in contrast to Nigeria where 33 percent of Muslims still justify it, despite a fall from over 70 percent in 2002.
Popular support for Osama bin Laden has fallen steeply from a peak in 2002 but still remains dangerously high. In Pakistan one-third of those asked still think he is a good guy. Unlike Jordan, where support for him has fallen dramatically to 19 percent, in Pakistan it is steady around one-third. Understandably, secular Turkey has scored low on both counts.
It is important to view Pakistan a little differently from the rest of the Islamic world. This is where Osama bin Laden feels close to home. Also, he is probably located inside Pakistan. His organisation Al Qaeda is palpable here and doesn’t need “sleeper cells”. It has around 8,000 “foreigners” in Pakistan ready to lay down their lives as combatants or suicide-bombers because they are “uprooted” and ready to abandon life. It has its foot soldiers among two types of Taliban, the Afghan ones and those in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA); and among Pakistanis from the rest of the country who are members of once state-supported jihadi militias.
The Pew survey was carefully modelled to test the opinion of a cross-section of the population in Pakistan. But in many ways this methodology is irrelevant to the “devolution of power” in a state that is fast losing its internal sovereignty. In fact, our state has been leeched of its “monopoly of violence” by the madrassa with a stranglehold on the people no matter what opinion they hold about Al Qaeda and suicide-bombing. For instance, it would be useless to poll the citizens in Islamabad when 80 madrassas hold power over them and scores more have sprung up since the state’s face-off with Lal Masjid last year.
Another distortion that sets Pakistan apart is the “lost territory” in FATA and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA). Populations living under Al Qaeda here were first unsure about who they supported but after the failure of the state to protect them they have generally swung in favour of Al Qaeda. Whereas in the Tribal Areas there is no difference between Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, in the rest of the country bin Laden is set apart as the symbol of Islam’s struggle against the US.
Al Qaeda was “facilitated” on the basis of the agreed military “doctrine” pronounced by General Pervez Musharraf in his address to the nation on September 20, 2001, after he had decided to join America’s global “war against terror”. His speech was lynch-pinned to this reference to India: “What do the Indians want? They do not have common borders with Afghanistan anywhere. It is totally isolated from Afghanistan. In my view it is so surprising that the Indians want to ensure that if and when the government in Afghanistan changes, it shall be an anti-Pakistan government...I would like to tell India: lay off.”
This “foundational” speech is the basis of the national security establishment’s policy on the war against terrorism. It committed Pakistan to retain the “proxy” of the Taliban acquired during Pakistan’s pursuit of “strategic depth” in Afghanistan against India. Al Qaeda clutched at it, and was tolerated, as a part of the bargain. After the 2002 election, the MMA was brought to power to underpin this policy. It is during the MMA’s tenure in Balochistan and the NWFP that Al Qaeda became entrenched in Pakistan. The madrassas all over Pakistan, which became the backbone of Al Qaeda and its foot soldiers, were not — or could not be — purged.
Today Al Qaeda sees itself pitted against the security forces of Pakistan because it knows that its final battle for the possession of the nuclear-powered state will be with the Pakistan Army. Therefore, it is incumbent on the politicians and media today to support the Pakistan Army in its war against Al Qaeda and its followers and not be swayed by what the influential clergy advocates in its pro-Al Qaeda rhetoric. (Daily Times).
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COMMENTS:
Jamshed Khan:
What sadden me to death is that most of our educated class lacks the ground realities in Pakistan.
First of all Talibans are FIGS, barbarians, headless, basters, and they have no religion or humanity.
The very existence of FATA (Federally Administrated Tribal Areas which includes Khyber, Mohmand, Bajaur, Orakzai,N-Waziristan, S-Waziristan & Kurram Agencies) is a conspiracy, and this should have been merged in NWFP as settled districts long time ago. They are the same pathans like the one lives 5 miles away in Peshawar or Malakand Division. They are no different than other pathans, then why should they enjoy the special status. And what FATA achieved of this special status. Nothing. Why were they kept in dark ages in the pretext that they are semi-independent was because the corrupt establishment reminded Pakistanis that our prophet MA Jinnah the great promised them this special status. All bullshit.
The corrupt establishment and ISI kept these areas in dark ages for the sole purpose of using them against Afghanistan. The magna Carta of Paki Army is that 1- keep Afghanistan busy with Talibans type people. and 2- India is our enemy # 1. On this ground Paki Generals sucks 90% of Pakistani Budget and has educated Urban Punjab with this KALAMA, who are the only Pakstanis. Any minority who sopke for their rights are traitors. Only Punjabis are patriots.
Now ISI and Paki Army was successful till 60 years, but now those Talibans created and trained by ISI have turned against Pakistan because Afghanistan border is closed by NATO. Now those masked barbers who belongs to Hell and call itself Taliban want to create Islamic State, and in this process has killed 1000s of innocent people.They are systemically killing the elder, elite and educated class of Pathans. This is a grave conspiracy. All those who justifies Talibans even 1% are Stupid and I wihs Allah bless their family with Talibans so they can have a taste of it too.
lance_naik:
The brutality of the Taliban during their rule in Afghanistan is well-documented fact. Any Afghan will testify to it. 99% of Afghans despise the Taliban. Over the years, I have found an alarmingly number of Pakistanis who try to defend them. Now that they are here, doing the same to us, this people seem to still be in denial. I’m not a fan of the army and certainly not the thugs of the bush administration. However, to blame all of this on the US & the army is just plain irrational. Things in the world are never black & white. There are ciminals hiding in our tribal areas who not only commit these heinous acts but have the audacity to use Islam as a pretext. Unless and until the majority of the people of our country acknowledge this fact, this problem will not go away. This is a mess created by the army and the US back in the 80’s and this is a mess that they will have to fix. We on our end will need to be honest about it. Conspiracy theories are an act of paranoia. And paranoia is a symptom of schizophrenia.
We need to stop acting insane.
MalangBaba:
USA has for sure crushed the Al-Qaida and Talban in Afghanistan and that poor country is progressing much faster than any time in past 40 years. The problem is that Musharaf played double game and let Talban establish them in FATA in the form of multiple war lords who provide fee-for-service suicide bombers to India, russia, drug lords etc to do actionsinside Afghanistan or Pakistan. There is is huge foreign money and drug mafia involved. We need to crush these savages for the sake of Pakistan or else they will make a Somalia out of this poor nation.
How to crush them is quite easy. Fund and Equip Tribes to fight with these groups wwith air and ground support from Army. Most tribes wants militants out because they are destroying their own life. This tactic is a success in Afghanistan and for sure will be a success in FATA.
“So it would be of help if you could stop blaming this or that since you have no evidence against Hamid Mir or anyone else.”
Media must stop portraying these militants as ‘innocent’ and ‘hero’. They are evil villians who will destroy the basic social fabric of Pakistan for ever. We have to choose between Talban and Pakistan and we want Pakistan.
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