Hi there, !
Today Fri 11/15/2013 Thu 11/14/2013 Wed 11/13/2013 Tue 11/12/2013 Mon 11/11/2013 Sun 11/10/2013 Sat 11/09/2013 Archives
Rantburg
531698 articles and 1855974 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 44 articles and 98 comments as of 13:50.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
Gunmen gun down 'chief financier' of Haqqani network in Islamabad
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
1 17:57 Shipman [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 []
4 15:07 Glenmore []
0 []
0 []
0 []
4 20:27 mossomo [2]
0 []
3 06:43 Spereting Tingle4064 []
2 10:30 lord garth [1]
1 06:14 Ulusoth Shereter7931 []
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [1]
1 08:43 M. Murcek [2]
2 07:54 Frank G []
0 []
0 []
0 []
10 20:40 JosephMendiola [1]
0 []
0 []
1 14:42 Pappy []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
1 07:56 Frank G []
0 []
0 []
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 []
9 17:52 Shipman []
4 10:29 AlanC []
0 []
0 []
3 06:56 Spereting Tingle4064 []
0 []
8 11:28 swksvolFF []
Page 6: Politix
11 22:05 Pappy [2]
10 20:30 Uncle Phester []
12 21:29 tu3031 []
8 19:54 illeagle []
3 09:36 airandee []
India-Pakistan
EDITORIAL : Sympathy for the Devil
[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain's two main rightwing religious parties Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
(JI) and Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
Fazl (JUI-F) have come under fire after their leaders issued controversial statements in praise of the Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) leader Hakeemullah Mehsud who was killed by a US drone strike. Although PTI and PML-N also lean towards the right in Pakistain's political spectrum, they have been more circumspect as they strongly condemned the US for disrupting the dialogue process that was allegedly about to take place between the Pak government and the TTP, but were cautious not to glorify the dear departed TTP leader. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur-Rehman's statement started a row in religious circles and amongst the populace in general when he passed a ludicrous statement in which he mockingly said that he would consider even a dog to be a martyr if it was killed by the US. This statement was not received well as it not only denigrated the revered concept of martyrdom, but also showed Maulana's sympathy for Hakeemullah Mehsud and his banned outfit. This statement had not been fully digested when JI chief Munawar Hasan dropped an even bigger bombshell when he termed Hakeemullah Mehsud a martyr and went as far as to say that the young Pak soldiers who died fighting the TTP were not worthy of being granted the status of martyrdom as they were supporters of the US. This statement received condemnation from all corners as it undermines the sacrifices rendered by the brave soldiers who laid down their lives in protecting the Pak state against terrorists, a service that is worthy of the highest honour. The Pakistain military, which normally abstains from voicing its opinion on political matters, was so enraged by this statement that the ISPR issued a statement calling for an unconditional apology from Munawar Hasan. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
instead of showing remorse, the JI has rallied around its leader and has advised the army to refrain from passing political statements. The response from religious circles, voiced by the Sunni Ittehad Council and the Sunni Tehrik
...formed in Karachi in 1992 under by Muhammad Saleem Qadri. It quickly fell to trading fisticuffs and assassinations with the MQM and the Sipah-e-Sahaba, with at least a half dozen of its major leaders rubbed out. Sunni Tehreek arose to become the primary opposition to the Deobandi Binori Mosque, headed by Nizamuddin Shamzai, who was eventually bumped off by person or persons unknown. ST's current leadership has heavily criticized the Deobandi Jihadi leaders, accusing them of being sponsored by Indian Intelligence agencies as well as involvement in terrorist activities...
, has also been unanimous in condemning the statements passed by the leaders of the two religious parties and in stating that Hakeemullah Mehsud was responsible for the murder of a multitude of innocent civilians and is in no way worthy of the exalted position of a martyr.

As inappropriate as these statements were, in essence they are a manifestation of the anti-US sentiment amongst Pakistain's religious parties. It is ironic that these very religious parties greatly supported the US for decades after Pakistain's inception right uptil the downfall of the USSR. Back then the communists were portrayed as the greatest threat and the religious parties had no qualms in receiving aid from the US and lending their support in the struggle against communism. The end of the cold war saw a change in alignments and the religious parties found a new enemy in the form of their former benefactor, the US. There is no doubt that Pak society is divided about whether to support a faction of the Taliban, who were used as a proxy force against the Soviets, that went rogue and is now engaged in efforts to enforce its brand of Shariah in Pakistain, the TTP being a prime example. It seems as if the religious parties are fully trying to exploit this divide and their track record shows that they sympathize with these banned terrorist organizations that are not only a threat to Pakistain but also to the world on the lam. There are numerous examples of bully boyz being captured in the residences of prominent JI leaders, such as the infamous Waheed brothers. This whole ruckus over whether Hakeemullah Mehsud is a martyr or not has rendered the service of exposing the JI and JUI-F. Their sympathy with enemies of the state is preposterous and highly unpatriotic. Moreover, it shows their retrogressive mindset. There can be no greater cause than to defend one's country from internal and external threats so that the lives of millions of innocent peace loving citizens can be protected. If any entity has a soft corner for terrorists, who are self-righteous delusional criminals who think they have an obligation to force their version of Shariah on others and to undermine the writ of the state in the process, then it is acting against the interests of the state. The need of the hour is to unite against the TTP and to back Pakistain's brave soldiers and their families who have rendered incalculable sacrifices to protect this country.
Posted by: Fred || 11/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Yeah well, there were no comments you see.


Posted by: Shipman || 11/12/2013 17:57 Comments || Top||


Talking to the TTP from a position of strength -- Babar Ayaz
[Pak Daily Times] Unabashedly, the apologists of the Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) are coming out of the cupboard. On television screens, they are screaming and wailing on the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud. They are more vociferous in condemning his death than they ever were when thousands of civilians and military personnel were butchered by the Mehsud-led TTP.

Let us analyse the major arguments given by the political supporters of the TTP briefly. First, the claim that the US had droned Mehsud just when the government was about to start negotiations with the Taliban, and thus it was to destabilise Pakistain and sabotage the talks. What we tend to overlook conveniently or because our leaders lack courage is that the TTP strategy after the offer of talks was not to cease terrorist activities. Instead, they moved the ante up to boost their bargaining power by killing senior military officials, FC soldiers and stepping up terrorist attacks on civilians, for which they used their offshoots. That was always expected, as in all armed conflicts, along with talks each side tries to show its muscle.

On the other hand, the government looked weak and begging for peace without any show of power. In this background, if the US has bumped off the TTP leader, who had claimed the killings of many people in the videos released by the TTP and al Qaeda propaganda, the government should have used it as an opportunity to send the message that the TTP has to behave or else both Pakistain and the US power will take them on. On the contrary, the government is being forced into a corner by the contorted arguments of an emotional Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer...
. Instead of leading courageously, the government is following the right-wing leaders who have the audacity of honouring Hakeemullah Mehsud as a martyr.

Second, the TTP's political wing says that the US had done it in its own interest. Of course, only a fool would believe that in realpolitik, countries do something for altruistic reasons. They are also supported by some anti-American liberal and left activists. Here, they tend to forget the basics. The TTP and other al Qaeda franchisees have killed more people and armymen in Pakistain than we lost in many military adventures in the last 66 years. As General Pervez Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
rightly said in May this year, the gunnies are the biggest threat to the country. In such a case, there is a convergence of interests of the people of Pakistain and the US because both are endangered by the terrorist organizations. In politics, when it comes to dealing with any issue it is always important to mark who your possible allies and adversaries are. On a number of issues related to the economic model or US designs against China and Iran, the US can be our adversary. But the immediate existential threat is from the people who follow the al Qaeda ideology, which wants to take us back to the medieval period and dreams of bringing an Islamic revolution across the globe starting from the Moslem majority countries.

Time and again, Pakistain has protested that the drone attacks in the tribal areas are against international law and violate our illusory sovereignty. Here the question is: who are we joking with? The whole country knows that Pakistain has no control along the Durand Line. So the area where we do not have our writ and have failed to establish it in the last three decades is not under our sovereign rule. In reality it is a no man's land. At the same time, we know that the Taliban cross from the tribal areas to Afghanistan to carry out terrorist activities. If we cannot stop these insurgencies from Pakistain and abolish safe havens, how do we expect the world to sympathise with us when we cry that our illusory sovereignty is being violated? The other side has the right to hot pursuit. Let us first respect the illusory sovereignty of our neighbours by reigning in the jihadists and then demand that our land should not be violated.

Third, there is a bizzare debate whether Mehsud's death was an extrajudicial killing or not. Are we kidding? This is a civil war situation, my dears, in which the other side slits the throats of the people captured by them, supports the sectarian killings actively and proudly puts it on YouTube. What do you expect that the police or a few Rangers can walk in and arrest the likes of Mehsud and read them their legal rights? Nobody can even enter North Wazoo, and in such a situation you get a terrorist anyway you can.

Fourth, Imran Khan believes that the drone attacks have made people of the tribal areas gunnies and 'throat-slitting animals'. This is in complete disregard of the history of terrorism in Pakistain and also shows little understanding of the ideology of these groups. These groups are closely associated with the Afghan Taliban movement and are ideologically close to al Qaeda, which is the reason the latter's propaganda machinery releases the TTP material also. The seeds of creating Islamic jihadis were sown by General Zia ul Haq
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
and nurtured by the US administration. The new generation has revolted against both because the late Osama bin Laden
... who was laid out deader than a mackerel, right next to the mackerel...
's message was that all the rulers of Moslem majority countries were US lackeys, and westernisation and democracy was against the tenets of Islam.

Lastly, another dimension has been added by the establishment, which perhaps privately considers Mehsud's killing as good riddance. Two developments give strength to this argument: one that of late people close to the establishment have started saying that the TTP was working for the Afghan and Indian intelligence and two, a few days before Mehsud was killed, the Ministry of Defence told the National Assembly that the actual collateral civilian loss of life via drone attacks was very small as compared to the killing of terrorists.

Now the question for the conspiracy theorist is: if the TTP were working for the Indians and Afghans, then how is it that they were the enemies of the US? According to conspiracy theorists, both the US and India want to destabilise Pakistain, then why did they kill the TTP chief who was doing this job effectively? And why our Interior Minister, whose job is to fix up foreign agents, was so upset? The more one thinks about these conspiracy theories, the more holes are spotted and the situation becomes murkier.

Tailpiece: If the US would ask for the head money we had on the number of gunnies killed by them, I am afraid our coalition support fund's bottom line may go in the red.
Posted by: Fred || 11/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Living with the Taliban -- Adnan Adil
[Pak Daily Times] The mourning of religio-political and most mainstream parties at the killing of Tehrik-e-Taliban Taliban (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack by the US should not be surprising as these parties have been quite consistent for a long time in expressing their soft corner, if not outright support, for the Taliban movement.

The Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
chief, Munawar Hasan, who hit the headlines by declaring Mehsud a martyr, is on record as condemning the military operation against the TTP in South Wazoo in 2010. Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
never spoke a word of sympathy for the common people or army officers killed by the Taliban. Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
has been quite hypocritical in his stance about the bad boys, with no clear policy on terrorism.

Except for the Pakistain People's Party, the Awami National Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
and Shia and Barelvi holy mans, no other party or religious outfit has ever opposed the Taliban. Liberal intellectuals and non-governmental organizations are also on the side of the anti-Taliban formation.

The country stands sharply divided over the issue of dealing with the Taliban with pro-Taliban groups in a dominant majority. Even the Pak media, especially the Urdu press, is rife with the supporters of the Taliban though some of them may be a little diplomatic in their posturing. The debate in the print and electronic media over Malala Yousufzai's book and drone attacks is a manifestation of the penetration of the Taliban mindset into the educated middle class.

The Taliban movement has very deep, wide roots in Pak society and it fulfills certain requirements of a majority of our people. One major factor behind the Taliban's acceptability is their anti-US role as these people rightly or wrongly consider the US to be an enemy of Moslems and Islam.

Until the Taliban are fighting the US forces in Afghanistan and the Pakistain establishment is seen as a US ally, the Taliban will remain popular. Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
has articulated this sentiment by saying that he would declare even a dog to be a martyr if it is killed by the US.

A large section of Pak society may be categorised as 'moderate Taliban', people who share the Taliban's interpretation of Islam and its enforcement but do not like their violent tactics such as suicide kabooms, murders and beheadings. For example, unlike the Taliban who banned all kinds of female education, the moderate Taliban want female education but with the observing of purdah (veil).

The moderate Taliban could be averse to the use of violence in the enforcement of their brand of Sharia at home, but not so while fighting a foreign force like the US-led forces in Afghanistan or Indian forces in Kashmire. The Taliban movement combines a puritan interpretation of religion with elements of anti-westernism, fascism
...a political system developed in Italy symbolized by the Roman fasces -- thin reeds, each flimsy in itself but unbreakable when bound into a bundle. The word is nowadays thrown around by all sorts of people who have no idea what they're talking about...
and the trappings of populist rhetoric.

The Taliban movement is not a monolithic organization led by Hakeemullah Mehsud as a Taliban front man himself explained in a recent interview. It is a conglomerate of different groups and dozens of other affiliated sub-groups operating all over the country. It gains strength from the fact that except for organizations belonging to the Shia and Barelvi sects, all religious organizations are in support of the Taliban movement.

The rank and file of religio-political organizations, such as the Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl and Sami groups), Tableeghi Jamaat, different organizations of the Ahle-e-Hadith sect and the Jamaat-e-Islami, has an emotional and ideological attachment with the Taliban movement. The workers and leaders of these organizations have linkages with each other and provide boarding and logistical support to bad boys.

The Barelvi sect, which was in majority a few decades ago, has been shrinking in recent times, giving way to expansion of Deobandi and Wahabi sects. Spread of literacy, urbanisation and busy modern lifestyle have led to decline in the appeal of the ritualistic Barelvi sect. The urban, semi-educated people are more attracted to a rituals-free, puritan interpretation of the religion.

The Taliban's bad boy infrastructure may be concentrated in the northwestern tribal belt, Waziristan, etc, but Mumbai, Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
and Lahore are the ideological centres of the movement. The seminaries and holy mans based in these cities provide ideological direction and literature motivating the activists.

It is not without reason the Taliban honoured and positively responded to the recent appeal made by Deobandi holy mans (Learned Elders of Islam) of these cities to cease violence and start talks with the government. A Taliban leader was quoted as saying in the media that the edict (fatwa) of these holy mans for negotiations with the government has the status of an order for them. Had they not respected the edict, they risked losing support among the followers of these Learned Elders of Islam.

Following Karachi, the Taliban movement has now spawned in the interior Sindh as well, which hitherto has been a hub of Sufi (mystic) Islam. South Punjab is already a bastion of the Punjab Taliban, a nomenclature that is used as a variant for anti-Shia and Jihadi sectarian outfits known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ...
, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, etc. There are hundreds of Taliban-affiliated seminaries in the entire region.

In central Punjab, Jihadi organizations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
, now working as Jamat-ud-Dawa and with other names like Anjuman Falah-e-Insaniat, etc, are closely allied with the Taliban. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
, Deobandis constitute a very large majority of the population. The seminaries of Akora Khattak and Punj Sher (Swabi) have been the nurseries of the Taliban. The students and Learned Elders of Islam of these religious schools have played a key role in fostering the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and later in Swat.

What gives impetus to the Taliban movement is the fact that people across the country, in general, are fed up with the corrupt and inefficient state. A majority of people want resolution of their basic issues like unemployment, price hike and inefficient judicial system, whosoever provides these. They are more concerned with their survival issues than the ideas of freedoms and civil liberties.

Our ruling elite is so dishonest, callous in treating the poor and incompetent in governance and service delivery that a large number of people have lost hope in them. In this situation, certain sections of society are looking towards the Taliban as the messiah. The Taliban movement has an appeal for the poor, lower middle class and religious-minded people.

Unless the issues of governance, administration of justice, public education and fair distribution of wealth are addressed, the Taliban movement will keep gaining strength. An intensive military operation against the TTP in North Waziristan and other parts of the northwestern tribal areas may only provide a temporary respite. The Taliban phenomenon has much more to it than militancy. It is going to stay with us and cannot be wished away. We will have to find ways to live with it.
Posted by: Fred || 11/12/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan



Who's in the News
25[untagged]
8Govt of Pakistan
2TTP
2Govt of Syria
2Jamaat-e-Islami
1Islamic State of Iraq
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Govt of Iran
1Taliban

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2013-11-12
  Gunmen gun down 'chief financier' of Haqqani network in Islamabad
Mon 2013-11-11
  Syria army retakes key base near Aleppo: State TV
Sun 2013-11-10
  Imambargah attacks leave three dead, spark outrage
Sat 2013-11-09
  Zawahiri Disbands Main Qaida Faction in Syria
Fri 2013-11-08
  'Mullah Radio' takes overTTP, terms talks 'waste of time'
Thu 2013-11-07
  Nigeria president seeks state of emergency extension
Wed 2013-11-06
  Mortar round hits Vatican embassy in Damascus
Tue 2013-11-05
  152 soldiers sentenced to die for mutiny in Bangladesh
Mon 2013-11-04
  Blast inside Quetta seminary leaves two injured
Sun 2013-11-03
  Gunmen kill 30 in suspected Islamist attack on Nigerian wedding convoy
Sat 2013-11-02
  Egypt army arrests head of Sinai radical militant group, dozens others
Fri 2013-11-01
  Pakistani Taliban chief killed in drone strike: sources
Thu 2013-10-31
  Israeli warplanes strike shipment of Russian missiles at Syrian port: officials
Wed 2013-10-30
  Suicide blast in Tunisian resort of Sousse
Tue 2013-10-29
  Somalia's al-Shabab commanders 'killed' in strike

Better than the average link...



Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
44.200.196.38
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (10)    WoT Background (18)    Non-WoT (8)    (0)    Politix (5)