Combatting Terrorism Center "Sentinel" On-Line

[S-2]

CTC SENTINEL West Point

The Combatting Terrorism Center has been located at the Dept. of Social Sciences, U.S.M.A. for about two years now. Privately funded, these guys may be America's foremost collection of academics and practicioners on the subject of terrorism. Recently, CTC has began publishing an on-line, open source magazine just FULL of fascinating reads.

The above link will take you to the magazine's second issue. In particular, I'd draw your attention to the first article, A Profile of Tehrik-I-Taliban Pakistan.

Thanks.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

S2

Thanks.

It does clarify what I was trying to understand about the Talibans.

On Terrorism, there is some news on BBC about a plot in Barcelona, Spain where 9 Pakistanis and 2 Indians have been detained!

I could not understand the Spanish but that bloke said in the background mentioned something like Taliban.

The Taliban and AQ and its difference I still do not fathom.

Any input?

 

[S-2]

Brigadier,

Abbas says-

"TNSM, another banned terrorist outfit, is led by Maulana Fazlullah and had re-emerged in 2006. The group made headlines for taking control of large areas in the Swat Valley of the NWFP... The TTP’s demand for halting government military action in Swat appealed to TNSM members and will predictably lead to more collaboration between the two groups in terms of manpower, logistics and intelligence. TNSM leader Fazlullah is known for the mobile FM radio stations that he managed until recently, on which he would broadcast his radical ideology. A TTP radio broadcast in the future would be one potential sign of more cooperation between the two terrorist groups."

There is a mish-mash of formal agreements of subordination, cooperative alliances, declared/undeclared sympathies, etc. I don't think anybody knows the nature of these still-forming entities, including themselves. Certainly, expediency and convenience are factors but, more interestingly, is the challenge these politically-oriented and information-savvy newcomers present to the traditional tribal hierarchy.

This is still a new magazine. There's much that interests me. Abbas' comment about Mehsud's renunciation of his treaty stemming from US operations in Pakistan is interesting- the assertion, Abbas' endorsement, and CTC's editorial staff are either asleep at the wheel or themselves in concurrence. If so, this point deserved more support. Instead absent attribution, I view this as a conveniently contrived deflection. Abbas, without revealing sources, could have correlated these assertions with purported U.S. "direct military operations" by time-line. That was a plausible remedy and would have been helpful.

"...since 2006 he has virtually established an independent zone in parts of South Waziristan Agency, which is widely believed to be a sanctuary for al-Qa`ida and the Taliban. In private discussions, Pakistani officials also blame the United States for direct military operations in FATA, leading to the collapse of some deals."

In sum, Abbas provided a synopsis that better allows me to follow the FATAland discussions elsewhere here. I thought it was a worthy read as is the entire magazine.