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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Asia Times says purging of Pak Army is underway |
| 2004-12-22 |
| The silent tug of war being fought between the Pakistani army's Islamists and its liberal army leadership appears to have reached a boiling point, with well-placed sources telling Asia Times Online that the army, for the first time in its history, has taken on a different - and much more harsh - strategy to deal with its internal struggles, one that includes the death penalty. In the 1980s, for the sake of maintaining its "strategic depth" against India, the Pakistani army modified the structure of its jihadi outfits, with the aim of boosting its leverage in Central Asia and Afghanistan before forging a strategic alliance to establish Pakistan's political hegemony on South Asia. Since September 11, 2001, however, under immense US pressure, Pakistan was forced to take a U-turn and undo this policy, which resulted in many internal divisions within the army - the only organized institution in the country. Musharraf reacted to the situation in a number of ways, including by court-martialing the renegade officials and sending officials who were not ready to go along with government's U-turn policy into early retirement. But this was not enough. Well-placed sources maintain that cases of indiscipline and defiance were so rampant after the South Waziristan operation on the Afghanistan border this year that the government decided to deal with the situation with an iron fist, and has adopted a new modus operandi to deal with problem. Under the new strategy, all those who were officially assigned to government-sponsored military training camps in the past, in Afghanistan and Pakistani Azad (Free) Kashmir, are now viewed as a threat to the government, and the process of "cleansing" them from the army has already begun. This includes both commissioned and non-commissioned army officials. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #11 Must have been a philosophy major. Probably frustrated he can't get the Big Guy to make it rain for 40 days and nights over Pakistan. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-12-22 3:27:43 PM |
| #10 toldyouso, thanks for the vocabulary lesson: chiliastic adj : relating to or believing in the millennium of peace and happiness [syn: millenarian] from chil·i·asm  (kl-zm) n. Christianity. The doctrine stating that Jesus will reign on earth for 1,000 years Must have been a philosophy major. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-12-22 3:20:55 PM |
| #9 2b: it's hard to tell anything from this article because, despite the ominous title, the meat of it is just that one soldier was given the death sentence for abetting a mutiny against Musharraf I don't think we're going to see Communist- or Nazi-style purges, simply because Musharraf's cult of personality isn't as well-developed as Stalin's, Mao's or Hitler's. Musharraf doesn't have that kind of hold among his troops or his people - he is merely the leader of an oligarchy as opposed to the absolute dictator of Pakistan. Would Musharraf carry out that kind of purge if he had the ability to? For sure - it would certainly make his position much safer. Note that Saddam has never had to pretend to relinquish some of his powers to other institutions, whereas Musharraf has. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-12-22 10:14:19 AM |
| #8 funny how propaganda can so easily derange the dupes. They have now stooped to arguing about "GWB's chiliastic democraticisation crusade". Apparently they miss the good old days of Sadaam's rape rooms and genocide. Ah, the evils of democracy for the little brown folk. Apparently only the superior Euro beings can can handle it. |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-12-22 9:42:06 AM |
| #7 I THINK caps locks would help THE ABOVE argument. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-12-22 9:29:17 AM |
| #6 Paul Moloney: What a hypocrite! You have been a slavish supporter of GWB's jihad subsidy, in the name of his insane crusade to democraticize Islam. The last PEW poll recorded only 8% Paki support for their US benefactor. The war on Islamofascism cannot be defeated until a US intention to liquidate that enemy, by any necessary means, is declared and implemented. If it was in my power, I would impose starvation sieges on every hot Iraqi city, and demand bagged jihadis in exchange for food. As for Pakistan, I would impose a blocade on that terror entity, until they liquidate the entire leadership of the MMA. Don't pretend to detach yourself from GWB's chiliastic democraticisation crusade. As I write, over half of Americans believe GWB's money burning campaign in Iraq, was a mistake. Muslim savages aren't worthy of smart-bombs. Nuke 'em. |
| Posted by: toldyouso 2004-12-22 9:05:34 AM |
| #5 well, it's a start |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-22 8:18:48 AM |
| #4 it's hard to tell anything from this article because, despite the ominous title, the meat of it is just that one soldier was given the death sentence for abetting a mutiny against Musharraf" ;receiving terrorism training with Jaish-e- Mohammed; attempting to seduce a person in the military forces of Pakistan from his allegiance to the government of Pakistan; departing from Pakistan without a passport at the Pak-Afghan border; and maintaining associations with a tanzeem (organization) of Pakistan air-force personnel that was advancing a plot to eliminate Musharraf He was caught in South Waziristan, where he refused to fight against the insurgent tribes. Sources say Siddiqi is a model case, with several other soldiers said to have secretly faced identical trials, who in many cases were also issued the death sentence. "several other soldiers"? That's not exactly the brutal purge this article promises. |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-12-22 7:34:43 AM |
| #3 Thanks, Paul. I guess it should've occurred to me that they could easily be bought off, but then that raises the problem of being "recalcitrant" (obnoxious and rabble-rousing - within limits so you're not a bona-fide threat) for profit. No end to it, is there? I presumed it was more of a true political difference - and they wouldn't be predisposed to changing - even for money. Silly me. Principles, even the looneytoon or militant variety, don't go very far these days, it seems. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-22 6:13:36 AM |
| #2 Typically the Islamist Generals are given enormous rewards once the retire in order to keep quiet. For example the last head of the ISI, General Mahmud Ahmed, who lead the group of Pak turbans to Mullah Omar right before the Afghanistan war with the mission of convincing him to give up Osama, only to tell him to do the opposite; well General Ahmed was put in charge of the Fauji Foundation when he retired, a corporation that runs all sorts of businesses and makes a half billion a year (US dollars). Lt. General Aziz, the Chariman of the Joint Chiefs and the man most in charge of the whole Jihad infrastructure has been touted as a future Prime Minister of Pakistan controlled Kashmir. All the significant officer ranks are given something when they leave the Army, with Generals doing particularly well, the lower ranks aren't seen as being able to pose any significant threat to the ruling elite. I posted an article on the perks the Army get a while ago |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-12-22 5:34:48 AM |
| #1 On first and second blushes, this appears to be an impossible task. Unless they summarily executed the entire lot of "renegades" and even those who sympathize with the "renegades". Anything less is just a trained malcontent pushed to the outside, with connections inside for arms and intel... In essence a growing insurrection with every man dismissed - and all of his friends, military, ex-military, and otherwise. It would seem to grow exponentially - more or less - against whomever is running the cleansing operation. Am I missing something here or is it simply a non-starter to do anything except attempt to woo (use carrots) instead of cleanse (use sticks) with a military that is not solidly behind the leadership, military and civilian? |
| Posted by: .com 2004-12-22 3:00:05 AM |