[Dhaka Tribune] Over the last five years, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), one of the two major political forces in Bangladesh, got a number of golden opportunities, which, if the party managed to count on properly, could have been enough to build a strong movement that might have led to the toppling of the government.
Apart from the inner strength of those issues, including the eviction of party Chief the loathesome Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... from her cantonment residence, share market scam, and the Padma Bridge graft allegations, the party had huge public support in favour of its cause as well.
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[DAWN] THURSDAY'S blast at Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. 's Tableeghi Markaz throws up a number of questions. The atrocity is particularly puzzling not because of what happened, but because of where it happened. There is nothing new about terrorist bombings targeting mosques, imambargahs, other houses of worship or public places as Pakistain has been witnessing such events for over a decade. Instead, it is surprising that the snuffies would choose to strike a target that represents conservative religious thought. Perhaps this, yet again, shows that in the hard boys' holy war, nothing is sacred. Tableeghi centres have been bombed in the past, most notably in Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... last January. While the TTP has been quick to distance itself from the Peshawar blast, we should remember that the Pak Taliban are not a homogenous group, as numerous outfits are functioning under the hard boys' umbrella. So while the 'official' TTP front man may have denied responsibility, there is a distinct possibility that hardliners within the hard boys' ranks carried out the bombing.
But why target the Tableeghi Jamaat, an apolitical, largely peaceful group that concentrates on preaching? After all, the group and many in the hard boy movement are ideologically linked, pledging allegiance to the Deobandi school of thought, even though the Tableeghis stress peaceful preaching, while the snuffies wish to spread faith by fire and the sword. There are a number of possibilities; some observers feel the snuffies are not happy with the movement, criticising the Tableeghis for emphasising preaching over jihad. Some Al Qaeda-linked Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... groups have actually issued fatwas against the Tableeghi Jamaat. So the bombing possibly was carried out to 'teach' the Tableeghis a 'lesson'. Sectarian snuffies may also be responsible, while the role of foreign elements cannot be ruled out.
Of course, only a scientific investigation can help identify the perpetrators. But conducting such a probe will be difficult as, according to reports, volunteers washed the scene of the crime soon after the attack, while police and the media were initially barred from accessing the site. If such tragedies are to be prevented in future, organisers of religious events and administrators of mosques and other places of worship where large numbers of people gather need to cooperate with the authorities. Hundreds of people were in the mosque and fatalities could have been much higher had bomb disposal unit officials not defused a number of similar devices in the building after the bombing. When such large gatherings are taking place, it is essential that the participants are thoroughly checked, especially in cities like Peshawar which have seen a high level of terrorist violence. Meanwhile, ...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake... elements within the state and political parties who are eager to talk to the snuffies must consider that if the Taliban are not willing to spare those who are ideologically close to them, what they can be expected to do to ideological 'opponents'.
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[DAWN] THE interior minister says efforts aimed at negotiating peace with the Taliban have been restarted and that his counterterrorism strategy is nearly ready. On both these counts, we'll have to take Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan's word as whatever is happening here is happening behind closed doors.
Let's look at what is in the public domain: an unchecked existential threat to the country which has claimed thousands of lives so far. Also, while the counterterrorism strategy is nearing its final shape, or so we are told, a series of moves by the 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... government has filled one with disdain.
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[DAWN] More than a dozen incidents of murder have taken place in the last one and a half month alone in small villages a few miles away from Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. in the south and southwestern suburbs of the city. A few patterns are clear when one observes the nature, frequency and modus operandi of what can only be termed as an unabated series of assassinations in the suburbs of Peshawar over the past several months.
First, most of those who have died in these attacks belonged to the local cadres of political parties other than 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... (JI), Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) and the Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl. Their numbers have also included those who were prominent in anti-Taliban jirgas.
Several interviews with local people suggest that the frequency of assassinations has increased since the government announced tentative dates for the local government polls. This seems to indicate that the bad boy network plans to repeat its strategy of the May 2013 general elections in which it successfully marginalised the ANP and PPP. In the scenario of local elections, local political workers will be the victims.
Second, it is important to note that most incidents of assassinations happen in areas where the TTP and LI are engaged in extortion and kidnapping for ransom. These crimes have been traditionally major sources of resource generation and have strengthened the bad boys' control by perpetuating fear.
As the local cadre of political parties and anti-Taliban jirgas are the only force that can hamper the bad boys' goal of amassing resources and sustaining their control, they are targeted with full vigour. This hypothesis gains credence when one looks at the retreat of state institutions after the unceasing assassinations of prominent coppers in KP, especially in Peshawar, Swabi and Malakand.
This pattern can also be interpreted in terms of the strategy by bully boyz to widen the space for extortion and kidnapping for ransom. If this is the case, then it can be understood that the bully boyz are in for a long war with the state.
Third, these assassinations are carried out with consummate precision and decisiveness. This pattern shows the presence of a well-entrenched network of bully boyz around the lovely provincial capital. The bad boy network seems to consist of an alliance of the TTP and LI as fighters of both banned outfits have been seen roaming around in the area on different occasions.
Fourth, civil society organizations, especially development and welfare organizations, with the exception of those associated with religious outfits, are warned to take a lesson from the assassinations of political workers and anti-Taliban jirga members. The inability of these organizations to move around has not only given rise to immense fear among ordinary folk but has also started isolating local communities from the rest of the country and the world. This pattern indicates the strengthened social control of the bad boy network.
Ordinary people in KP perceive that the state of Pakistain has abdicated all responsibility for their security and wellbeing. They hold the provincial government and central leadership of the PTI responsible for such insecurity and its attendant hardships. The alienation of these people has increased tremendously especially after statements by members of the federal cabinet pertaining to water and electricity, the Kalabagh dam and the reversal of the 18th Amendment on certain issues such as education.
Interviews with ordinary residents also suggest that frustration with the PTI leadership on issues of governance and terrorism has resulted in anger and depression. In the wake of the vacuum deliberately created by the bad boy network whose terrifying and bloody tactics have marginalised the ANP, PPP and the PML-N, disappointment with the PTI and JI might result in the strengthening of certain forces. That is perhaps what the bad boy network hopes to see.
It would appear that the time has come for a comprehensive, compact and consistent counterterrorism strategy.
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Amid reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry is applying mounting pressure on Israel to make significant concessions to the Palestinians, there is an increasingly common refrain that has seeped into our political dialogue which needs to be exposed for the fallacy that it is.
Israel, we are told by various pundits and politicians, has no choice but to go along with American demands.
After all, our relationship with Washington is our greatest strategic asset and we cannot allow anything to get in its way. Hence, whatever America wants, the Jewish state must more or less accept.
Needless to say, such an approach is not only short-sighted and misguided it is oblivious to history and perilous to our destiny. And the sooner we expose it for the misleading oversimplification that it is, the better off we will all be.
#2
...imho, the pursuit of national interests sometimes requires that you lie down with the those not sharing your views in-toto (think Venn Diagrams, right?). The Israelis will have to evaluate the advantages of the unions created by the value-weighted sets cobbled together and presented by the O admin. I doubt there will be much more than a sow's ear there...
...Academics are good at theory, not just the theory of riding a bicycle as opposed to the physical act of riding one, but of inhabiting a universe entirely based on that theory. An academic can create a theory in which bicycles cannot be ridden or in which cars have no mass and exist indefinitely in that world. If his theory is trendy enough, if he recruits enough students who become faculty who recruit more students into his peculiar world, the theory will spill over into the real world and begin to affect it.
Some insane obsessions that can exist only in academia stay there. The taxpayers finance them, but they rarely have to hear about them except when a tabloid looking for a few inches of column outrage reveals how many millions are being spent on studies on why lesbians drink too much or a professor who has spent his entire career writing papers on the gay subtext of Sears catalogs from the 1950s. Others don't stay there. Our modern obsession with racial subtext is largely the work of academics. Sociology has done more damage to American society than crack cocaine, economists who make a living telling government officials that money can be printed infinitely are a political disease and anything to do with the climate has been so thoroughly contaminated with bad motives and bad science that it might as well involve JFK assassination or moon landing conspiracy theories.
Americans got used to the idea that academia was an eccentric place full of wacky professors who occasionally came up with brilliant ideas. This was a convenient myth to cultivate because it obscured the more problematic fact that outside the sciences, the professors were rarely brilliant and their eccentricity wasn't an individual habit, but a collective political reality distortion field. And I wouldn't excempt the sciences nowadays
#1
[O]utside the sciences, the professors were rarely brilliant and their eccentricity wasn't an individual habit, but a collective political reality distortion field
Pretty much what one thinks when one reads The American Interest.
#2
This was a convenient myth to cultivate because it obscured the more problematic fact that outside the sciences, the professors were rarely brilliant and their eccentricity wasn't an individual habit, but a collective political reality distortion field.
A "Collective Political Reality Distortion".... and "convenient myth" which will be cultivated in a similar venue tomorrow.
#3
Any system which is self selecting runs the danger of inbreeding that actually shuts out creativity and awareness.
It's just not academics - see DoD, Air Force fighter mafia and Army Heavy Divisions types didn't actually prep their services for the real war 2001-present - and see how much they want to scramble back to the 'good old days'.
#4
The insane are leading the blind off a cliff that the blind can't see and that the insane insist isn't there. That sounds like what is currently going on in Washington. History is fairly bleak in regards to academics leading this country. Woodrow Wilson comes to mind as to what happens when Americans leave their common sense and elect a progressive.
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.
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.
Nawaz Sharif
