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India-Pakistan

Operation is a triumph: Aziz

2007-07-11

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Tuesday the killing of Lal Masjid deputy cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi was a triumph for the government.

I'd hardly call it a "triumph" when you first let a situation grow, then get out of hand because you're too timid to act. It wasn't a triumph when the beturbaned storm troopers were escorting the veiled harridans of Islam through the streets to kidnap, thump, and threaten their fellow citizens. It wasn't a triumph when the arrogant brats set off an international incident with the Chinese. And it certainly wasn't a triumph when the army had to be called in to dynamite the place and shoot it out with gunnies both domestic and imported in the heart of the nation's capital. As long as they're shooting people, they should shoot Shaukat, too.

Addressing the federal cabinet and later the PML Policy Planning Group, he expressed satisfaction over the successful operation and said any attempt to use madrassas to promote militancy and extremism was intolerable.

In that case, why did you tolerate it until you needed artillery?

The two cleric brothers always challenged the writ of the state due to which a grand operation against them was inevitable.

Posted by:Fred

#5 LH,
Not that it concerns me a whole lot, but we don't know that they got more than a few women and children out of the mosque unharmed. It could be worse than Beslan and we wouldn't know, becuase one thing Pak authorities did do professionally was manage media access. So far.

Posted by: Glenmore 2007-07-11 20:27

#4 But I think the main point holds - it was a very professional op (Im talking Islamabad now) in which they killed or captured plenty of baddies, took few casualties, managed to get the women and kiddies out alive, and managed to substantially keep the building in tact (smirk if you must, but thats a hearts and minds benefit)

I presume this was an "elite" commando unit that went in. For a change a 3rd world "elite" unit actually acted kind of elite. So from a purely MILITARY POV, this was a triumph.

Was it a strategic triumph for Perv? Well thats a bigger question. I think we should not forget the range of constraints Perv is acting under, including probably at least some continued sympathy from some quarters of the military for the ISI, the presence of Hamid Gul as a shadow President should an alliance of the MMA and the anti-Western factions of the military (much more likely than a pure MMA-Taliban win) ever take power, the relatively modest numbers and internal division of the secularist, educated elite in Pakistan, etc, etc.

You can say that shows how wacky Pakistan is. Very well. But that wacky country is the one that Perv rules, not Britain or New Zealand or even Tunisia or Indonesia. To paraphrase a certain ex-cabinet member, you rule the country you've got.

Posted by: Liberalhawk 2007-07-11 13:05

#3 I agree with Steve.

One quibble though - It wasnt only Clinton - I dont seem to recall anyone in the US doing anything about the Taliban in that forgotten period between January 2001, and September 10th. 2001.

Posted by: Liberalhawk 2007-07-11 12:57

#2 LH, you and Fred are in violent agreement.

We'd all prefer to stop terrorism early, and the Clinton administration should have seen the signs regarding Binnie and the Taliban. Alas, they missed (as did most of the rest of us), and so we had to use artillery (and B-52s). It was still a triumph, but we all wish it had been done on 9/10.

Ditto the Red Mosque: Fred's right; should have been handled long before artillery was required. At the same time, Ghazi's now cavorting with Himmler, so it's a triumph.

Just not a smart one.

Posted by: Steve White 2007-07-11 11:20

#1 "I'd hardly call it a "triumph" when you first let a situation grow, then get out of hand because you're too timid to act."

So our victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan was not a triumph? Hmmm? A triumph is a triumph, even if it comes later than it should have.

Posted by: Liberalhawk 2007-07-11 10:54

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