blueoval79
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Just found this news item........and thought of posting here to find out the truth .....
Some refugees say offensive a joke - UPI.com
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Some Pakistanis escaping the military's offensive in South Waziristan say they think the campaign is only a "drama" to please the United States.
Public support for the offensive remains in question because people are afraid of the Taliban, having lived under Taliban control for years, and fearful of retaliation once the fighting ends, The Washington Post reported.
Many who had escaped the fighting and are living in camps were not keen to discuss the Taliban and described the offensive only as a "drama," the Post said.
"The operation is a joke just to please the foreign masters," Saidalam Mehsud, a 59-year-old driver, told the newspaper. "Whenever the dollars are floating into Pakistan, such operations are carried out."
Other refugees said they had seen little evidence of the ground operation, which the Pakistani military says has killed about 200 militants. While confirming shelling and bombing, no refugee said he had seen soldiers in the area, the report said.
Some refugees said they had seen masked and armed militants moving about freely and digging trenches. The military claims the security forces are moving cautiously to avoid civilian casualties.
"They will only rise against the Taliban when they are convinced the government means business," the director of a research center studying Pakistan's tribal areas told the Post. "But they have never been convinced."
Some refugees say offensive a joke - UPI.com
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Some Pakistanis escaping the military's offensive in South Waziristan say they think the campaign is only a "drama" to please the United States.
Public support for the offensive remains in question because people are afraid of the Taliban, having lived under Taliban control for years, and fearful of retaliation once the fighting ends, The Washington Post reported.
Many who had escaped the fighting and are living in camps were not keen to discuss the Taliban and described the offensive only as a "drama," the Post said.
"The operation is a joke just to please the foreign masters," Saidalam Mehsud, a 59-year-old driver, told the newspaper. "Whenever the dollars are floating into Pakistan, such operations are carried out."
Other refugees said they had seen little evidence of the ground operation, which the Pakistani military says has killed about 200 militants. While confirming shelling and bombing, no refugee said he had seen soldiers in the area, the report said.
Some refugees said they had seen masked and armed militants moving about freely and digging trenches. The military claims the security forces are moving cautiously to avoid civilian casualties.
"They will only rise against the Taliban when they are convinced the government means business," the director of a research center studying Pakistan's tribal areas told the Post. "But they have never been convinced."
