More good news from Pakistan
Feb 18th 2010, 16:01 by M.S.
IT IS still pretty difficult to interpret what the Pakistani intelligence service's arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar means, just as it's rather difficult to interpret the overall Pakistani attitude towards the Taliban. But the Pakistani arrests of two more senior Taliban officials in recent days, reported by Dexter Filkins in today's New York Times, suggest a bit less scepticism may be in order. The officials were each Taliban "shadow governors" of Afghan provinces. Meanwhile, nine al-Qaeda militants have been arrested in Karachi, the AP reports, while on a road trip to buy bombs.
Maybe the Pakistanis really have shifted to embracing the American perspective that the Taliban needs to be forced into a negotiated settlement with the Afghan government.
(probably the right answer to why pakistan has changed its tactic)
If true, that may be related to the redoubling of coalition military efforts in Afghanistan, including the ongoing offensive by 12,000 mainly American and Afghan soldiers in Marjah. Descriptions of that offensive have the frustrating vagueness of all counterinsurgency reporting: coalition forces are uncovering lots of IEDs, or maybe not; Taliban forces are firing potshots, then melting away into the crowd. Villagers in areas returned from Taliban to government control aren't particular happy to see the government back:
"The Taliban didn't create any problems for people. Every Thursday there was a court session, and if someone had a problem, he would go in front of the Taliban mullah who was the judge," said Samad Khan, a 55-year-old poppy farmer in the village of Saipo on the outskirts of Marjah. The Islamist militant group levied a 10 percent yearly tax on his poppy crop, and let him be.
Then again, other villagers are happy to see the back of the Taliban, who they say turned their village into a giant booby trap and tried to stop them from watching TV. So, once again, if you want to be optimistic about AfPak, the evidence supports your position, and if you want to be pessimistic, the evidence supports that position too.
Pakistan arrests more Taliban: More good news from Pakistan | The Economist