To learn why a resurgent Taliban is fighting American and NATO troops to a military draw in Afghanistan, you have to go to the frontier region on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Our colleague, Carlotta Gall, did just that last month and what she learned led to a physical assault on her by Pakistani intelligence officials and five hours in custody for her photographer, Akhtar Soomro. The Pakistani agents broke into her hotel room and copied her notes and computer files. They then tracked down and questioned everyone she had interviewed in Quetta, a border city.
We now know why. Ms. Galls reporting has determined that Quetta is an important rear base for the Taliban, and that Pakistani authorities are encouraging and perhaps sponsoring the cross-border insurgency. That is a role that Pakistans president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, denies. But residents of the border area, opposition figures and Western diplomats point to specific cases of Pakistani involvement. Americans need to know more about this collusion and to demand better answers from General Musharraf.
There are many reasons that things are now going badly for the American-backed Afghan government. America shortchanged Afghanistans security in its rush to invade Iraq. European allies have inexcusably failed to provide NATO with enough soldiers to carry out the expanded Afghan security mission it took on last year and have imposed hobbling restrictions on the activities of those they did send. The government of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, is rife with corruption, and the regional warlord allies it depends on to control outlying areas are even more thieving as well as shockingly brutal.
These problems all need to be addressed. But the positive results will be limited as long as Afghanistans much more populous and powerful neighbor, Pakistan, provides rear support and sanctuary for the Taliban insurgency.
It is simply impossible to believe that this support takes place without the approval of the Pakistani military, the countrys dominant institution for a half-century.
Pakistan is now the third-largest recipient of American foreign aid. Yet more than five years after 9/11, the Bush administration has still not been able to secure Pakistans active and consistent support against the Taliban. The very least Washington should be demanding of President Musharraf is that he enforce an immediate halt on Pakistani military support for the Taliban insurgents who are crossing the border and killing American troops.
Posted by: john ||
01/23/2007 06:27 ||
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Islamabad delenda est.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/23/2007 7:21 Comments ||
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So much for the rogue elements within ISI.This is Government policy with Perv in charge of It!!!
The NWFP government cannot change the name of the province to Pakhtunistan without amending to the Constitution, Federal Minister for Political Affairs Salim Saifullah Khan said on Monday. Commenting on a statement by NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, Saifullah said only the federal government could change a provinces name. The province is currently referred to in the Constitution as the NWFP. If the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) wants to change it, it has to amend the Constitution with a two-thirds majority, he said. This is not possible under the prevailing circumstances.
He said the issue was an old one and various names had been proposed for the province, but there has never been a consensus on any one of them. The MMA was losing popularity, he said, and was trying to exploit peoples emotions. Its just another political stunt, as the general elections are just around the corner, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Can we pick the new name?
I'll take Fuckedupistan.
The Foreign Office has rejected reports that Taliban leader Mulla Omar is in Pakistan and said he is probably leading the Taliban resurgence from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, Reuters reported.
A Taliban spokesman captured in Afghanistan last week claimed that Omar was living in Pakistan under the protection of Pakistani intelligence. Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam rejected the claim and said Omar was most probably in Kandahar. We have very regular meetings, intelligence sharing with the US, to some extent with Afghans. Nobody has any information about the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, she told a weekly news conference in Islamabad. But, generally, the likely scenario is that he is in Kandahar where hes marshalling his fighters.
Staff Report adds: She said Afghan allegations that Pakistan was supporting the was an attempt to shift the blame for failures inside Afghanistan. She said over 1.2 million movements take place monthly across the 2,560-kilometre Pakistan-Afghanistan border. She pointed out that despite all its resources, the United States had failed to stop movement on its border with Mexico, and it would be naive to expect Pakistan to fully control the movement of so many people across such a porous border. She said Pakistan had taken a number of measures, such as the introduction of a bio-metric system at the Chaman border check post, to control illegal movements.
Aslam also said terrorist activities were originating in Afghan refugee camps near the border and asked the international community to help relocate them inside Afghanistan. We have 3 million Afghan refugees and we also suspect that the refugees camps which are close to the border, three or four, are the hub of these activities, undesirable activities, she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2007 00:00 ||
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The FO can FO. After we lose a city, Pakistan will be Pakwastan.
#4
The whole bunch of Muslim nations are engaged in the proxy wars since those stupid never asked what was good for them. The whole world knew that that USA will retaliate with massive power in Afghanistan after 9-11 bombings in USA. Unfortunately, USA never did so. Well what could I say, If you are stupid, you are a stupid.
Pakistan is a democratic country and there is no room for a theocracy here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi told the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) during a debate in the Senate on Monday over the demolition of two mosques in Islamabad.
MMA members shouted slogans and called Afgan a lota, or a turncoat, while Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Ghauri led the treasury members in shouting slogans demanding the MMA resign.
Amir Hamza Mosque on Murree Road and a mosque built by police on Islamabad Highway were recently demolished. Quaid-e-Azam categorically stated in a party meeting in Bombay in 1940 that he would never struggle for a theocratic state, said Afgan.
Afgan said the government would not allow theocracy to take root in Pakistan or mullahs to politicise Islam. Instead of making speeches in parliament, mullahs should resign, go to mosques and preach, he said. Responding to the issues raised by the MMA on points of order, Afgan said clerics should tell people that the demolished mosques were built on encroached land.
MMA members shouted slogans and called Afgan a lota, or a turncoat, while Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Ghauri led the treasury members in shouting slogans demanding the MMA resign.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Security forces rounded up around 80 suspected terrorists in Sibi district and continued their search operation in parts of Balochistan. Sources said the suspects were arrested carrying weapons from the Babar Kuch area of Sibi district. The detained persons have been taken into custody in an unidentified location for further investigation. This search operation was a small part of the recent hunt for suspected Baloch insurgents. The members of the Marri tribe are accusing the security forces of starting an operation against the innocent civilians which has killed around 20 people over the past ten days. These claims could not be substantiated through independent or official sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Interesting. Pakis have no problem finding Balochi nationalists. However, when it comes to Taliban...
Equality and protection of rights are not possible in Pakistan without real democracy, National Assembly member Tehmina Doltana said at a ceremony to launch Emanuel Zafars book Concise History of Pakistani Christians at the Lahore Press Club on Monday. She said the world was a global village in which diverse people coexistence. Why, then, is everyone not treated equally? she asked. She said Muslims and minorities of Pakistan were a bunch of flowers and the bouquet would lose its beauty if any one of them was removed.
All religions teach love, peace, harmony and friendship and to there was a dire need for democracy in Pakistan to promote these values. Real democracy means everyone, regardless of religion, cast and creed, has the right to seek his rights. Being citizens of Pakistan, everyone was responsible to implement the principles for which Pakistan was founded, she said.
Educationist and human rights activist Dr Mehdi Hassan said there was no concept of minorities in Pakistan until 1974. He said the founder of the country had said in his speeches that Pakistan was not founded only for Muslims, but was a country where everyones rights would be guaranteed without discrimination.
People belonging to minorities felt the need to highlight their contribution in the Pakistan Movement because they do not feel secure and are denied their rights. The country, he said, had made them second-class citizens and it was obvious from the law that only a Muslim could be the head of the state.
Democracy did not mean elections, he said, but required the rule of law, transparency and accountability. He said people belonging to religions other than Islam do not need to be defensive or highlight their contributions to Pakistan because they were the citizens of this country and had the right to full liberty.
Emanuel Zafar said his book was about the Christian communitys contribution to the Pakistan Movement and their efforts for peace and religious harmony in the country. Former provincial law minister Syed Afzal Hayder said the book was the first of its kind and could be used as a reference book by historians and researchers. Arch Bishop Lawrence John Suldana was also present on the occasion.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Can also add GOVERNMENT = SOCIALISM needs a dynamic PRIVATE SECTOR. Fixed/Static levels of Revenue = DOWNWARD-MOVING,Fixed/Static levels of DEVELOPMENT.
NATO-led coalition forces in Afghanistan fired on a Pakistani check-post near the Afghan border on Monday, killing a paramilitary soldier and wounding two others, a military spokesman said. Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan told Daily Times that Islamabad had lodged a strong protest with the coalition authorities for mistakenly firing on the Pakistani check-post near Shawal in North Waziristan. The Pakistani check-post was attacked at 2:55pm and the coalition forces told the Pakistani military establishment that the incident was the result of similar fire from the direction of the check-post, the army spokesman said. A strong protest has been lodged with coalition authorities about the incident asking them to investigate the matter and take necessary steps to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future, a military statement read. Coalition forces have violated the international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the past, but this was the first time a soldier was killed. Official sources in Miranshah told Daily Times that three rockets were fired at the Frontier Corps-manned Zoe Narai post overlooking Afghanistans Paktika province where Taliban militants are fighting the coalition forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2007 00:00 ||
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A suicide car bomber attacked an army convoy on its way from Bannu to Miranshah in North Waziristan on Monday, killing four soldiers. The attack comes seven days after a military strike against suspected militant hideouts in Zamazola, South Waziristan. Pro-Taliban militant leader Baitullah Mehsud had vowed to avenge the attack on Zamazola with a suicide attack.
Today at about 1030 hours an administrative convoy moving from Bannu to Miranshah (the main town in North Waziristan) was attacked by a suicide bomber with an explosive-laden car near Khajuri (check-post). Four security forces personnel embraced shahadat while a few were injured including one who is in critical condition, an ISPR statement said.
Military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan held enemies of peace responsible for the suicide attack, the first such incident since the government struck a peace deal with pro-Taliban tribal militants on September 5 last year. Those who do not support the peace deal are likely to be behind the attack, he told Daily Times.
A student of Government Elementary College, which is a few metres from the site of Mondays suicide attack, said the vehicle used in the attack and the army vehicle that was hit by the bomber were completely destroyed.
We were playing volleyball inside the college when we heard a big bang and when we came out we saw human flesh all over the road, Nisar Dawar told Daily Times by phone from Mir Ali town.
Abdullah Farhad, a spokesman for militants, distanced North Waziristan-based militant groups from the attack, saying in calls to newspaper offices: We still stand by the September 5 accord.
The college student said a woman travelling in a passenger van was injured in the attack by flying shrapnel. However, no official confirmation was available. Khajuri check-post is an entry point into North Waziristan and the government removed all check-posts following the September 5 peace deal with pro-Taliban militants.
A tribal source in Miranshah said that a 15-member peace committee was holding talks with senior Taliban leaders in Miranshah to convey NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzais concerns about the threat to the peace accord when the army convoy was attacked. Orakzai had warned the committee on Saturday that any damage to the peace agreement would be disastrous for the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/23/2007 00:00 ||
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NEW DELHI - Indias foreign minister has asked for neighbouring Myanmars help in cracking down on separatist rebels from Indias troubled northeast who are seeking refuge across the border, a government spokesman said on Monday.
Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjees visit to Myanmar this weekend came after reports from Indian security officials that around 200 rebels from Assam state have run away fled to Myanmar since India launched a military campaign against the insurgents earlier this month.
The rebels from the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) are blamed for the killing of over 70 migrant labourers from other parts of India in recent weeks. Rebels from some of the several other separatist groups in Indias northeast are also thought to use Myanmar as a refuge.
In general, anti-Indian groups are trying to take shelter across the border, a foreign ministry spokesman said. This makes continued cooperation between neighbours essential.
India welcomed Myanmars commitment not to allow its territory to be used for activities inimical to India, a statement from Indias embassy in Myanmar said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/23/2007 00:00 ||
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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.
Pakistan is a democratic country and there is no room for a theocracy here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi told the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) during a debate in the Senate on Monday over the demolition of two mosques in Islamabad. 
