Reclaiming Pakistan's Frontier!

[RabzonKhan]

[URL='http://www.dawn.com/news/1091137/one-step-forward-two-steps-back']One step forward, two steps back[/url]

Dawn
Zahid Hussain
March 05 2014

IT’S back to the negotiating table, predictably, after a burst of punishing air strikes that are said to have rattled the Taliban. It is, however, not the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who blinked first. The ceasefire announcement seems to have come only after the government gave the assurance of keeping its guns silent. Surely the armistice has taken the banned group off the hook, allowing them to regain the initiative. The Sharif government seems to have rather wittingly got itself into a trap yet again, with no stomach to take the militant challenge head-on.

There has been no repentance on the beheading of the FC soldiers or for the latest attack on the polio team; never mind — instead, hail the Taliban’s magnanimity in returning to the “peace talks”. Bow before the TTP chief, Mullah Fazlullah, the butcher of Swat who not long ago claimed responsibility for killing a senior Pakistan army general. Forget about that gruesome video of militants playing football with the severed heads of soldiers. Bygones are bygones; let’s move ahead, we are told. But have the mass murderers suddenly turned peaceniks? Quite the contrary.

Hours after the truce announcement, gunmen struck the Islamabad court compound. Not surprisingly, the TTP denied any involvement. But the reports suggest that an affiliated faction was responsible for the audacious attack right in the heart of the nation’s capital. The nexus between the various militant groups cannot be refuted. But does this really matter to the administration so eager to placate them?

It’s a typical case of plausible deniability that we have experienced many times in the past. For sure, the most vociferous defence of the Taliban’s “innocence” comes from the ministers and members of the government’s negotiating team. It is a conspiracy to sabotage the talks, they shout after each attack. But who is that villain? The fingers are invariably pointed towards some invisible foreign hand.

In fact, the talks were never off the table, they only went off the media glare amid the thunder of the assault launched by fighter jets on militant sanctuaries in North Waziristan. Apparently, back-channel contacts had not broken down even when the jet fighters were pounding terrorist sanctuaries. A ceasefire agreement is now in place. But there is certainly no apparent reason for optimism. This vainglory is not expected to last long.

Now the tough task ahead: what are the two sides going to talk about? How long will this truce hold with dozens of TTP factions having their own agendas? It’s anybody’s guess. The Islamabad court attack clearly demonstrates how easy it is for the TTP to hide behind other militant groups. There has not been any cessation in terrorist attacks while the security forces have been ordered to step back.

This lowering of the guard has placed the TTP back in the driving seat after the precision military strikes are said to have crippled its operational nerve centre in North Waziristan and its capacity to carry out major terrorist attacks. The biggest success of the brief military campaign was the killing of some senior militant commanders that brought the TTP under immense pressure. There was a tangible decline in terrorist attacks over that short period. But all that seems to have been in vain. There is a danger that the few gains made in the latest military strikes could be lost on the negotiating table, revitalising the terror network.

It is a shrewd tactical move by the TTP leadership to agree to a ceasefire for one month, throwing the ball once again in the government’s court. For them the truce has served the major purpose of getting army action stopped during the winter when the mobility of its fighters is restricted by harsh weather.

With the advent of spring, they can scatter in the mountains — making it more difficult for the security forces to fight this asymmetric battle. While the TTP seems to have a clear strategy, the government remains completely confused, with no clear thinking about what it really wants to achieve in the talks.

It is quite obvious that the TTP’s main interest is to secure the release of some of its key commanders and get the army to pull back from parts of Waziristan. The longer the negotiations drag on, more things go in the Taliban’s favour. They can continue to play the game of deception, taking advantage of the prevalent confusion in government and its lack of will to fight. And what menu can the government put on the negotiating table? No one knows.

One thing, however, seems to be clear: the talks have legitimised the banned terrorist outfit, though there is no indication of it agreeing to abide by the law of the land. It is illegal to form armed militias and by engaging in talks with the proscribed armed group, the government could itself be held to have violated the Constitution. This will set a dangerous precedent, further weakening an already eroding state authority.

For the Taliban the talks are just a ploy to gain time and space. By entering into an unconditional negotiation with a terrorist group, the government has undermined the very security of the nation. The earlier the government gets out of this self-perpetuated deception, the better it would be for the country’s stability. This policy of one step forward, two steps back cannot bring peace, only more death and destruction.

The writer is an author and journalist.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Mullahs, mullahs everywhere

The Friday Times
Raza Rumi
Mar 07 2014

It is a test for the state and the political parties of Pakistan as to how they can deal with a narrative that is fast capturing political space as well as prime time on TV.

Last week on a television show I had a chance to interact with Maulana Sami ul Haq while he was in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This was the day when the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had announced a month-long ceasefire (March 1). Maulana was ecstatic about the news and offered a bagful of platitudes on how important was the so-called ‘peace process’ and negotiating with the terrorists. When I asked him that despite the peace talks, outfits close to TTP had carried out dozens of attacks killing soldiers and civilians the Maulana’s mood changed. In a fit of anger he accused me of ‘sabotaging’ the process and before he could take the argument forward by calling me an agent of Hanood-Yahood, my guest – another Maulana – Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi intervened and rescued me from a live declaration of being an enemy of the peace.

The false and utterly bizarre packaging of accepting terrorists within our fold as ‘peace-agents’ has assumed a life of its own. Appeasement or terrorist outfits is turning into a mainstream political ideology. The right wing parties – bearded and non-bearded – are busy selling the merchandise that Pakistani state had earlier branded as means to bolster ‘national security’. Militant groups aiming to liberate Kashmir are legitimate, those planning to fight the imperial US and NATO are ‘good’ and the foreigners operating from Pakistani soil are ‘guests’ of proud Pakhtuns, we are told. Any divergence from these labels is akin to being unpatriotic, parroting the United States and feeding on dollars as the charismatic Imran Khan has said time and again.
Immediately after the spurious ceasefire, sections of media which peddle the extremist narratives have been back in action. Mullah Fazlullah, once a Shariah loving Pakistani, is now a stooge of the Afghan intelligence.

The ‘peace talks’ will be successful even when the TTP has demonstrated its lack of control over all the groups that are part of the umbrella network. The ghastly attack in Islamabad courts on March 3 and the attack on security personnel the same day in Landi Kotal are attempts to ‘sabotage’ the peace process, we have been told. On March 5, when these lines were being written, six more security personnel were martyred in Hangu. Once again, sabotage by Pakistan’s enemies is the simple answer that can befool a baffled public opinion. Such obfuscation has become the norm and a grand narrative which informs the public mind, absolves state of its wilful negligence and reinforces the villainy of outside world. Each terror incident feeds this narrative and in a perverse way keeps everyone happy.

Take the Islamabad attack which killed 11 people including a judge and lawyers. Instead of focusing on the more-than-obvious Lal Mosque connection, the debates have focused on how the Afghan intelligence would not let our dialogue with the TTP succeed. Since the peace talks started, the Lal Mosque cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz has time and again referred on national TV on how our Constitution and legal system was unIslamic. In one of the TV discussions he even referred to Islamabad courts where he could not find holy scriptures or their reference in the legal proceedings.

It is not just a polemic. Lal Mosque affiliate Ghazi force has been around for some time. The Force, led by Niaz Rahim, was formed in 2007. It later transformed into a militant cell with the aim of avenging the deaths of the Lal Masjid ‘victims’ (in effect suicide-friendly insurgents). The group was later reorganised to target former Gen Musharraf, who had authorised the operation against Lal Mosque ‘miscreants’. In the past, Ghazi Force has been working under the umbrella of militant networks operating in Swat and FATA and in 2013, Lal Mosque clerics admitted that Ghazi Force had training camps.

Similarly, after the Islamabad incident, there has been little debate on why hundreds of madrassas are operating in Islamabad with thousands of students. The capital city over the years has been encircled by these outfits some of which are linked to Al Qaeda and TTP. When the world raises concerns about the security of the diplomatic community we immediately respond with a hypernationalist zeal and weave another conspiracy.

Ahrarul Hind, an off shoot of Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for killing the judge and lawyers in Islamabad. This is a group that opposes talking to the upholders or beneficiaries ‘infidel’ constitution. Who will testify that it has broken its ties with the TTP?

The self-anointed identity of ‘Ahrarul Hind’ is quite symbolic. The historical Ahrar movement opposed the creation of Pakistan and found Mr Jinnah not a Muslim enough to lead an ‘Islamic’ nation. Later, it also spurred the violent anti-Ahmadiyya riots in 1950s which resulted in the first ever imposition of Martial Law in the country. While the Khaksars – affiliates of Ahrar – accepted the creation of Pakistan, the ‘ideal’ of a borderless Ummah and its Caliphate is what binds the past and the present. Pakistan’s existence as a modern nation state is at variance with the Islamists’ imagination of Pakistan as a subsidiary of world Caliphate. It is therefore a test for the state and the political parties of Pakistan as to how can they deal with a narrative that is fast capturing political space as well as prime time on TV.

The future of peace talks now hangs in the balance. There are contradictory signals from the government side. Khwaja Asif, the defence minister, has said that the current timing as opportune for a decisive military operation while other ministers of the government seem to be favouring continued negotiations.

 

[RabzonKhan]

[URL='http://tribune.com.pk/story/681523/pakistans-changing-ideological-profile/']Pakistan’s changing ideological profile[/url]
The current leadership is unaware that when it shows weakness, it sleepwalks the country into dangerous situations.

The Express Tribune
By Talat Masood
March 11, 2014

The writer is a retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army and served as chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board

Pakistan’s current leadership is, perhaps, unaware that when it shows camaraderie and weakness towards dealing with militants, it is sleepwalking the country into a dangerous ideological and political metamorphosis that could tear it apart. This is not a false alarm. It is getting clearer by the day that the Taliban, with the support of radical mullahs, a few naive politicians and a ratings-addicted media are successfully manipulating the state’s ideological and territorial contours. If the government continues to pander to them, it will alter the very nature of the state and undermine the genesis of its creation.

It is not merely a choice between the government opting for negotiations versus a military operation. It is much more. Maulana Aziz of Lal Masjid fame and his Taliban mentors consider the Constitution inadequate. Democracy, for them, is a Western concept and Pakistani laws are Anglo-Saxon laws and un-Islamic. Democracy is too liberal a concept for them. They want the replacement of Pakistan’s constitutional structure, (if necessary by force) with Sharia. Their ideological mentor is Mullah Omar and they draw inspiration from the Afghan Taliban and would like to replicate their model in Pakistan. While no one can claim monopoly over religion, when it comes to the Taliban, you have to fall in line with their interpretation of religion, or else! Declaring democracy to be incompatible with Islam, they want to revert Pakistan back to a theocratic dictatorship of sorts about which they themselves are not clear as to how it will function. Their approach is no different from that of al Qaeda, when its leaders challenged their governments to be un-Islamic.

They ignore the reality that the largest Muslim states — Indonesia, Turkey and Malaysia — have all institutionalised democracy and Pakistan, too, has been successful in strengthening its democratic form. If we go back a little, Pakistan itself was created through a democratic movement, but the Taliban and its allies threaten to reverse the process and take us towards a theocracy. It is not their love of Islam, but their desire to capture power that is driving them, even if it means converting Pakistan into a land of suicide bombers and zealot mullahs.

It is an ironic twist of history that while the present military is fully supporting the democratic process and allowing the civilian leadership to regain its constitutional authority, the government, instead of purposefully curbing militancy, is succumbing to the dictates of radical elements. Through a well-conceived plan, the Taliban assassinated Benazir Bhutto, followed it by murdering ANP leaders and several others, including from the MQM, to suppress the voice of moderate parties. Notwithstanding its inherent weaknesses, the PPP stands reduced to the status of a provincial party. The ANP has been pushed into the background and the MQM remains constantly under threat. The TTP is now throwing rings round the PML-N leadership and through a brilliant manoeuvre, succeeded in embarrassing Imran Khan by nominating him as their representative on the negotiating committee.

On the contrary, our political leadership appears devoid of national will and purpose in dealing with this hydra-headed monster. It has, at every stage, yielded to the militants — giving them legitimacy and respectability. The interior minister has been indiscreet, making casual and irresponsible remarks — that the Taliban be ‘invited to play cricket’ and ‘not all Taliban are against Pakistan’— and repeatedly insisting that they engage in dialogue even when they continue slaughtering our soldiers, murdering innocent civilians and spreading their network of sleeper cells. For many politicians, years of Pakistan’s involvement in exporting jihad in Kashmir and empathising with the Afghan Taliban has numbed their political sensitivities and they are not even conscious of their extreme drift to the right. This, perhaps, explains their attitude of going to any length to accommodate the militants.

A wave of Talibanisation has swept Fata, large parts of K-P and is spreading across the country. Nawaz Sharif is hoping to prevent the Taliban’s influence from spreading into Punjab. Insisting on negotiations despite repeated terrorist attacks seems to be a part of this approach. But this could be a forerunner to splitting the federation because Sindh and Balochistan will not accept Talibanisation. And as Ayaz Amir and others have warned, it will accentuate the cultural and political divide across the Indus and lead to the fragmentation of the country.

Sadly, the fact that is not being recognised is that it is the innocent people of Pakistan who are the victims of Taliban and a vacillating government. At the international level, there is not much sympathy with Pakistanis because people fail to understand what is going on and how trapped we are between ruthless militants and a weak national leadership. Many assume Pakistanis sympathise with the Taliban and fail to appreciate the courage of Malala who is standing up to them. Mosques should not be used against any sect or minorities for spreading hatred and venom in society. Surely, the clergy should make their contribution in reforming societies, but not use the pulpit to propagate politics and spread Talibanisation.

Incitement to hatred at any level has to be discouraged and punished by the state to send a clear message that virulent attacks on sectarian, religious and ethnic basis will not be tolerated — they are an attack on everyone. When those who spread hatred and sponsor suicide attacks are jailed as child exploiters and murderers, then perhaps, the writ of the state will be established. When we ask our Muslim brother countries to stop funding sectarian violence in Pakistan, perhaps then only we will be able to tackle terrorism at its roots.

The challenge the government faces is enormous. It will have to muster the courage to fight terrorism at its source, if Pakistan has to survive… how many judges, innocent civilians and military personnel need to die before that will happen is the question all Pakistanis are asking.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Fazlullah to revamp TTP, reactivate its spy unit

The News
Amir Mir
March 29, 2014

ISLAMABAD: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah has decided to revamp the organisational structure of the TTP by reactivating Khurasan, the intelligence wing of the TTP, besides establishing another branch with the name of “Darul Qaza” which will consist of the Qazis (judges) who will dispense speedy justice.

According to well-informed sources in Taliban circles, Fazlullah has decided to revamp the TTP with a view to further tightening his hold over the organisational matters of the Taliban, especially at a time when they are holding talks with the Pakistan government. The most significant step is the reactivation of Khurasan, the intelligence wing of the Taliban, which was raised by Hakeemullah Mehsud with the sole aim of hunting down the informers of the security forces and intelligence agencies among the locals and then eliminating them physically to set an example for others. Made up mostly of Arabs and Uzbeks, the Khurasan was named after a province of the old Islamic empire of Persia. Hakeemullah had formed it soon after Baitullah Mehsud’s killing in a US drone attack in August 2009, after rumours that the information about his precise location had been provided by some insiders.

The suspects taken into custody at that time by the Khurasan unit of the TTP included Baitullah Mehsud’s father-in-law, Maulana Ikramuddin, his son Ziauddin and brother Saadullah. The spy unit of the Taliban concluded that a paid agent, possibly a relative of Baitullah, had helped signal his whereabouts to the Pakistani agencies which passed on the information to the American CIA that took him out through a drone attack. As per the Khurasan findings, Saadullah, the brother of Ikramuddin, a paramedic who lived nearby, was called to treat Baitullah for stomach problem the day he was hit by a drone. The missile targeted the house shortly after Saadullah had left, raising doubt that he had passed on the information.

Baitullah’s relatives were subsequently killed.Hakeemullah had picked the most ruthless Taliban to form the Khurasan intelligence unit, amid rising number of drone attacks in the Waziristan region, most of which used to hit their targets because of the accurate intelligence information being provided by the informers.

Therefore, the Khurasan was tasked to track down the informers and kill them. Whenever someone was found guilty, the Khurasan made sure everyone knows about it. Once an informer was arrested, the Khurasan squad used to make him confess in public that he was spying for the agencies. Afterwards, the informer was blindfolded, wrapped with explosives and taken to an open place where he was finally blown up.

The entire episode, filed by the Khurasan, was usually videotaped and distributed in the street markets as a warning for others.

But the Khurasan unit had to be discarded by the TTP leadership under pressure from Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who rules the roost in North Waziristan. He had complained to the TTP leadership that the Khurasan unit has gone rogue and was misusing its authority not only to settle personal scores but also to extort money from the local population. The Khurasan unit was further accused of setting up its secret jails where those kidnapped for ransom were held. Those people whose relatives failed to pay ransom money were killed and their bodies thrown on the roadsides with a piece of paper carrying warning to follow the ‘Khurasani’ instructions in toto. Therefore, Hakeemullah had to disband the Kahurasan unit, which Mullah Fazlullah has decided to reactivate in a bid to reinforce his authority.

Fazlullah has also appointed four Shuras or councils to assist him in decision-making process. The first one is called the Aala Shura (supreme council led by Khalid Sheikh Haqqani), the second is Ijrai Shura (mechanism council), the third is Siasi Shura (political council) while the fourth is called Darul Qaza (Islamic courts). All these councils are answerable to Mullah Fazlullah and his second-in-command, Khalid Sheikh Haqqani. It is the political council of TTP led by Qari Shkaeel, which is holding peace talks with the Pakistan government. Before the launching of the 2009 military operation in Swat, which forced Fazlullah to flee to Afghanistan, he had compelled the ANP-led government of the KPK to give a commitment in February 2009 for setting up Darul Qaza in the Malakand division by invoking Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009.

However, the move had to be retracted after Mullah Fazlullah and his father-in-law Maulana Sufi Mohammad declared that the Supreme Court and the High Courts were simply un-Islamic institutions and it was illegal to appear before them to seek justice. The duo had further asked the government to abolish regular courts, sack judges, and appoint Qazis at all the Shariah courts [by April 23 2009] throughout the Malakand division. Addressing a public meeting at the Grassy Ground in Swat, Sufi Mohammad said: “We are the real custodians of Pakistan and its Constitution, while the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts and the ruling political elite were their enemies”.

“Therefore, we warn the government to wind up its judicial system within four days and replace it with the Shariah courts”. Fazlullah is hoping against hopes that once the talks with the government succeed, he would be able to stage a comeback to Pakistan to materialise his unfulfilled dream of setting up the Shariah courts in his area of influence.

However, the ruling political elite which is holding dialogue with Taliban led by Fazlullah must not forget that the same elements and the same leader had struck a peace deal with the KPK government in 2009 and then violated it just a couple of months later by dispatching suicide bombers to Swat in a bid to erode the state authority and take over the valley. This prompted the Pakistan Army to launch a decisive military operation against the jehadi mafia in May 2009, which had forced Mullah Fazlullah and his private militia to abandon the valley and flee to Afghanistan.

 

[RabzonKhan]

[URL='http://www.dawn.com/news/1098178/talibans-narrative']Taliban’s narrative[/URL]

Dawn
Editorial
April 07 2014

A BASIC, though major, error the government has made in the process of dialogue with the outlawed TTP so far is to entirely ignore the narrative war. As far as the government is concerned anything that reduces the level of violence in the short and medium term is an idea worth pursuing, regardless of other — less tangible, though no less important — consequences for state and society. Consider the ideological war that is being fought through propaganda and intimidation by the TTP. The latest audacious move on that front was creating and putting online a website run by the TTP’s media wing, Umar Media. The website was accessible for part of yesterday before apparently being taken down, but thus far there is little clarity whether the blackout was ordered by authorities here or whether the website has been taken offline for violating the terms of use of a foreign website-hosting company. Either way, the very fact that the TTP decided to publicly announce the creation of an official website indicates that the propaganda war is being taken to the next level by the group.

Why do narratives matter to begin with? Consider how the country has once again arrived at the stage where a government finds it easier to negotiate with than to take on the TTP. Even though it had long become clear that the TTP’s ideology is an intolerant and murderous one, the religious and political right continued to hawk the line that the Taliban were simply conservative patriots who resented Pakistan’s assistance in the war on terror — and that once the state’s allegedly misguided policy was reversed, the militants would lay down their arms. Because that narrative was not effectively or forcefully challenged, it eventually became the starting point for dialogue at all costs — regardless of what the TTP itself said about its goals and intentions.

Now, with violence and intimidation of the media having silenced the most vocal critics of the TTP and the government’s policy of appeasement, there is little left by way of a counter-narrative in the public domain. Whether it is via ideological allies in mainstream politics and the media or directly executed by the TTP itself, the Taliban worldview is the one being aggressively hawked — and the only one that is aggressively competing for the hearts and minds of the public. That one-sided battle can have tremendously dangerous effects because it brings more and more concessions to the TTP into the realm of the acceptable as far as public opinion is concerned. What Pakistanis really need to hear, what the government truly ought to be reinforcing is that Pakistan is a democratic, constitutional polity in which individual rights and freedoms are sacrosanct. The alternative is the Taliban worldview — and, again, it’s practically the only one being projected at the moment.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Taliban Khan and his hard-core supporters are at it again, never missing an opportunity to undermine the war on terror.




A self-defeating advice
The News
Amir Zia
June 02, 2014

PTI chairman Imran Khan has again advised the military leadership to review its decision of an operation against Al-Qaeda-linked foreign and local militants in the troubled tribal areas. Ironically, his latest appeal was made the same day Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif was visiting troops in South Waziristan on May 27 with a message that the nation has rejected the “misplaced ideology of the terrorists.”
While the army chief’s statement reflected the clarity of thought of a soldier, Imran Khan’s views were of a sceptic and betrayed a defeatist mindset. The politician dubbed the restrained military action against the terrorists’ hideouts as the “use of naked force” and alleged that it was creating “an East-Pakistan like situation” in the tribal areas.

This very parallel between the tribal areas and former East Pakistan is enough to show Imran Khan’s limited and flawed grasp of history, geography and politics. It is like comparing oranges with apples. The entire nature, scope and dynamics of the two conflicts are poles apart, but perhaps this is the discussion for some other time.

The important point is army chief’s mission statement that called for getting rid of the ‘menace of terrorism’. This, indeed, remains the most vital precondition if any government wants to revive the country’s economy and take it forward. General Sharif, while reiterating the mission statement, hit the bull’s eye when he told his troops and the people that the “terrorists… have clearly lost their cause” and are being “marginalised”.

However, Imran Khan, who lives in his make-believe bubble, passionately pleaded that the government should stick to the controversial peace process with the local Taliban that remains stalled since end-March.
Imran Khan is not the only politician opposed to the military operation against militants. He has his ideological allies within Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government – which is a reluctant partner in the fight against extremism and terrorism – as well as in rightwing and religious parties that fail to see the gravity of this internal challenge for the country.

The stark divergence of views between the key political stakeholders and military leaders on how to tackle the violent non-state actors – responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent civilians and security personnel – has emerged as the basic contradiction, hampering even the formulation of a holistic counterterrorism policy.

Rather than galvanising the nation behind the armed forces and taking the ownership of this more conflict, many of leading politicians are attempting to confuse the issue by calling it an ‘American war.’ By doing this, they are advertently or inadvertently supporting the terrorists and extremists, who want to bring down the state and see the military as their enemy number one as it is the only organised force that has the ability to foil their designs.

After being a victim of the organised bloodletting and ceaseless terror campaign unleashed since 2002, what could be more unfortunate for a country that its key politicians are unable to see the internal enemy holed in North Waziristan – the last remaining terror sanctuary on the Pakistani soil?

The pertinent question is: what do the local Taliban and their foreign allies aim to achieve through the talks? And, more importantly, whether the state is ready to concede to the Taliban demands?

To begin with, the local Taliban want a ‘peace-zone’ in South Waziristan, which has been cleared hill-by-hill by the security forces at the cost of huge sacrifices. The creation of such a zone will leave the local population again at the mercy of the Taliban and their savage ways. It will threaten the lives of those locals who sided with the armed forces. It will allow the Taliban to expand the base of their operations, run a state within the state and use the Pakistani soil to foment terrorism both within the country and abroad. No sane mind can accept this demand. The military leadership is 100 percent right in vetoing such a concession.

In international politics, peace zones are established by a third party, such as the United Nations. The creation of such zones underlines the erosion or collapse of the state. Do the advocates of peace talks realise the ramifications for the country if any such demand gets accepted?

The second sticking point is the Taliban demand for the release of hardened terrorists. Again, the military leadership’s refusal to accept this demand makes sense as these hard-core terrorists – responsible for killing countless of Pakistani soldiers and civilians – will again join the terror network.

Hundreds of such terrorists are locked up at the 11 centres. The trials of these terrorists are moving at a proverbial snail’s pace due to absence of proper anti-terror laws and courts – issues the government and parliament have failed to address so far.

The Taliban leadership are effectively using talks as a ploy to regroup and reorganise themselves when pressed hard by the armed forces. In return, they offer symbolic relief from terror attacks, but maintain their potential to fight another day. This makes perfect sense for non-state actors wanting to prolong the conflict. But for a state, protracted conflicts are always a bad omen.

Those politicians advocating talks and pleading with security forces not to react in the wake of terror assaults should try to go into the details of the Taliban set of demands, which aims to protect their terror sanctuaries. Should the state concede?

In Fata alone, more than 4,000 soldiers have embraced martyrdom since the start of the conflict, while more than 13,500 have been wounded. The civilian death toll exceeds 8,200 with more than 24,000 wounded. Yet, we hardly see Imran and his likes ever speaking for these victims and their families in as passionate a manner as they speak for militants. Instead, they attempt to demoralise the nation, try to insert doubts in the minds of our soldiers and belittle their sacrifices by calling the retaliatory strikes by the armed forces as use of naked force.

Let there be no confusion that it was the Al-Qaeda and its allies who brought this war to Pakistan. The conflict started when militants refused to demolish their terror network in the tribal areas despite repeated pleas by the former military-led government, forcing our troops to move in to establish the writ of the state and meet Pakistan’s international obligations.

Instead of backing our soldiers fighting this internal enemy, many timid politicians – for their narrow vested interests and safety – are preaching to the military to review its policy without realising its domestic and international implications. They choose to ignore what happened to past peace accords during the previous era. Each and every deal was broken by militants.

For any state, a protracted conflict is the worst choice to be made. No state allows the existence of a potential disruptive force that challenges its writ and makes the security forces vulnerable within its own territory.

Some rightwing analysts and politicians are celebrating the fact that the talks resulted in the decline in incidents of terrorism and created a wedge between Taliban factions. However, they forget that infighting among bands of non-state actors also undermines the state and in no way means that the potential threat has gone. Our history shows that playing one set of militants against the other is not smart statesmanship. Within its territorial boundaries, the state alone should have the sole prerogative of resorting to violence. It cannot be given to any outlawed or legal group.

The tactics of an on-off operation and retaliatory attacks itself is questionable. It demonstrates lack of a cohesive strategy. Pakistan must smash the terror network, re-establishing the writ of the state and show zero tolerance for foreign militants on our soil. North Waziristan remains the last safe haven for terrorists and it can be reclaimed by the Pakistan Army within weeks, provided it is allowed to do its job by the government and the Imran Khans of this world. But our politicians live on a totally different plane.

 

[RabzonKhan]

I’ve been running this thread for over five years now.

At last, der aaye par durust aaye (better late than never).

Today is one of the happiest days of my life.

Victory is ours!

Pakistan Armed Forces Zindabad.

Pakistan Paindabad.

 

[RabzonKhan]

United we stand!

Pakistan Today
BY MIAN ABRAR
June 19 2014

The civilian and military leaderships of the country Thursday said that they were on the same page vis-à-vis anti-terrorist operation in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) by Pakistan Army, asserting that no one should have doubts over the subject.

As senior government and military officials huddled at the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) office, the editors and publishers of the print industry were made aware of aspects of NWA operation.

During a joint briefing which was also attended by ISPR Director General Major General Asim Bajwa, State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch and federal secretaries of information and SAFRON ministries, Information Minister Senator Pervez Rashid made it clear that there were no differences between the army and civilian leadership and rumours in this regard were unfounded.

“The army and the civilian leadership are on the same page over the national agenda and there is no truth in the fabricated stories of civil-military discord. Let me make it clear that no institution is dictating the other institution,” he said.

The senator said that the national security institutions presented their views in shape of different options whenever consulted by the civilian leadership while it was the government which took the decision. “Let me assure you that the army is subservient to the constitution,” he maintained.

SUPPORT YOUR ARMY:

ISPR DG Maj Gen Bajwa was of the view that the media should cooperate with the government in this critical phase as the country was facing a war against terrorists.

“A message should go to the nation that the army and civilian leadership are on the same page. Rather, let’s put it this way: the message should be that not only the government, the entire nation stands by its armed forces in this fight against the insurgents,” he said.

CAPTURE, REHABILITATE, HANDOVER:

Briefing the media on the army’s strategy during the operation, Gen Bajwa said that the army had a mission to restore the writ of the state in NWA. He said that it would be made sure that the NWA was the last bastion for the militants.

“We will clear the NWA of terrorists and hold the area. Then we will construct it and later handover to the civilian leadership,” he said, adding that the experiences of Swat operation were useful in this regard.

AVOIDING COLLATERAL DAMAGE:

Asked about the collateral damage during the airstrikes against the militants, Gen Bajwa said that the army was working hard to avoid any sort of collateral damage or human rights violations during the operation.

The ISPR DG said that the collateral damage was unavoidable if the terrorists use humans as shields and where it is impossible for the forces to differentiate between the civilians and the terrorists. However, he added that all measures were being employed to avoid collateral damage.

RESTRICTING TALIBAN TO NWA:

Gen Bajwa said that a well-thought-out plan was being followed to make sure that the terrorists fleeing NWA could not get refuge in any of the other areas of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

“In past, we witnessed that whenever an operation was launched, terrorists fled the area and took refuge in neighbouring agencies. But now, we are working on a concerted plan and a better coordination has been made with the Afghan National Force as well as with the ISAF forces to make sure that militants do not slip into Afghanistan,” he said, adding that neighbouring agencies and areas like Tirah were also being monitored to make sure that the fleeing terrorists do not find a place to hide.

“We will make sure that the on-the-run terrorists do not get regrouped after fleeing the NWA.”

DRONES DO NOT HELP OUR CAUSE:

Asked about drone strikes, the ISPR DG said that drone attacks did not help the cause and there was no complicity with the US or ISAF in this regard.

“Rather drones are making our job more complicated. Drone strikes only target five to six terrorists at a time. But our strikes by fighter jets are much more effective, specific and targeted. Moreover, there are lesser chances of collateral damage in our strikes due to greater human intelligence and surveillance,” he asserted.

Gen Bajwa, however, admitted that the Pakistan Army was coordinating with the ISAF and Afghan National Army during the operation as without this coordination, the air strikes might not be much successful.

The ISPR DG said that the army and its intelligence agencies were also working to block and counter any blow-back operation by the insurgents like the Karachi Airport attack. He said that the intelligence apparatus was vigilant and a proper forward security plan was in place to counter any blow-back operation by the Taliban.

BALOCH HIGHLIGHTS IDPS’ WOES:

Furthermore, addressing the briefing, SAFRON Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch said that 68,700 people had migrated from the NWA during the past few days but most of them had preferred to live with their relatives as living in tent villages established by the government was “against their traditions and culture”.

Baloch said that out of the families which migrated on Wednesday, only one family had got itself registered with the government’s established tent village. He said it reflected that the tribal people did not like to live in the tent villages.

The SAFRON minister said that the government was providing each migrating family Rs 7,000 while Rs 5,000 were being given as starter. He said that they were also being provided smart cards to avoid any manipulation in funds by the bureaucracy.

The minister said that most of the migrants had their own vehicles and there was no truth in some projected stories that the people were being charged high prices by the transporters. He added that there might be some isolated incidents of overcharging by a transporter but mostly the people were migrating on their personal vehicles.

 

[Usama78]

These militants know they cannot win, yet they take on the PA and die.
Is it courage? Bravery? Or sheer stupidity.

I believe stupidity, which they commit thinking maybe their funding hands will asist them.... Maybe... who knows?