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India-Pakistan
Taliban using flood misery to enlist 50,000 men
2010-08-31
Taliban guerrillas are taking advantage of the large-scale misery caused by the devastating floods in Pakistan by attempting to enlist 50,000 new fighters -- in return for food and medicine.
Where else would aid come from? They kill the government and NGO aid workers.
The Taliban is eyeing the floods as an opportunity to begin their biggest recruiting drive in a decade, officials told The Sun.

Thousands of guerrillas are heading out to flood-ravaged areas to 'help' starving victims.

Their agenda is clear. For providing food and medicine, they demand that men pledge to take up their cause. This could lead to a significant upswing in Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and in adjoining Afghanistan.
But not necessarily enthusiastic ones. Not to mention ones easily persuaded to tattle on their new friends. These are the built-in problems when an ideological organization goes for raw numbers of new recruits.
The media report pointed out that activists of the Al Qaeda supported Al Rehmat Trust and Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) were behind the campaign to recruit new fighters. Experts have described it as 'the Talibanisation of the flood'.

A Pakistan intelligence official said there were reports that the Taliban had set a target to recruit 50,000 new guerrillas.
Ambitious. But even half that number half-trained could cause the government problems.
Spies of all sorts, get ready to infiltrate. Take your mark, get set, go!
A team from the daily Monday visited the Swat Valley in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

'The Taliban are bringing us rice. We are hungry. People here have simple lives and are easily influenced,' Abdul Jabbar, 50, whose home was destroyed in Mingora town, was quoted as saying.

'They have short memories and don't remember the blood spilled when the Taliban were more active here,' he noted.
I'm sure the Taliban will remind them in no time...
I'm sure they do, actually. But needs must, when the Devil's at the door.
Posted by:Free Radical

#1  So much for winning the hearts and minds...
Posted by: JohnQC   2010-08-31 08:16  

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