News Editorial: Taliban takeover of Swat was supported by establishment insiders

[Gin ka Pakistan]

But first step is to militarily defeat all the terrorist groups like TTP, BLA and MQM.

To MQM every one in Pakistan except them is a extremist and a terrorist so how come you are calling them the same?????

 

[waraich66]

To MQM every one in Pakistan except them is a extremist and a terrorist so how come you are calling them the same?????

MQM is peace full party , joke of day

What your leader is doing in UK?

 

[waraich66]

It's a little too late for prevention now. It may have worked if people like you were not following hand and hand in the footsteps of Zia-ul-Haq in creating these groups in the first place.

Now it's time to drain the swamp and kill the mosquitoes like BM one by one. It will take time, but no one said that it's only a military solution, since there is a civil and political component involved as well. But first step is to militarily defeat all the terrorist groups like TTP, BLA and MQM.

What do you mean by " if people like you" ?


We need to first eliminate the breeding grounds of terrorism, darkness has no existance it is due to absence of light.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Regarding the ANP Request

Unfortunately, I don't have access to government paperwork. However, as I mentioned before, several people in the PPP circle who are known to me have confirmed the account. You may choose to disregard that as you don't know me.

More importantly, I'm sure you'd agree that not all interaction between civilian and military entities takes place in a formalized manner with letters flying back and forth. It could've been a case of the political leadership paying an informal visit to a military general's house to have dinner or discuss the matter over a cup of tea.

Why the provincial government did'nt want to publicize the matter is probably due to their desire to stay on good terms with the military establishment. Given a lack of options, they foolishy decided to strike a Faustian deal with the thugs in Swat.

Its not a matter of knowing you or not knowing you - if someone in the provincial or federal government is making a claim as serious as the one you suggest - of the Provincial and(or) Federal government calling for the military to act and the military refusing, then there should be some sort of documentation or evidence to validate it.

This is a serious matter, a decision that would essentially set all of Swat on fire by requesting that the Army initiate offensive operations. Such a request would automatically end all negotiations, peace deals and ceasefires, all of which the ANP was publicly committed to until the Nizam-e-Adl peace deal collapsed. It is unthinkable that a decision/order with such repercussions would be made in back rooms, 'under the table' and over a cup of tea or dinner without public oversight and accountability for those making the decision.

"It could've been a case of the political leadership paying an informal visit to a military general's house to have dinner or discuss the matter over a cup of tea."

If the above really was the case, you know what that suggests to me? It suggests to me that the politicians were setting up the Army as a scapegoat - they realized that their methods might not be working, and they wanted the Army to step in militarily, but they were unwilling to take responsibility for the decision and the inevitable repercussions. They were unwilling to take a decision against the tide of opinion in Pakistan that was decidedly against military operations. If the Army had fallen for this 'unofficial request to initiate military operations over tea and dinner', they would have been vilified from here to Kingdom Come as usurpers of authority, slaves of Amreeka, and the institution that destroyed the provincial government's attempts to use dialog and negotiation to resolve the issue.

The Army would have been blamed for all the subsequent violence and for deliberately breaking the peace deal.

If the provincial and federal government were really sincere in tackling the insurgent threat by using military force as a major tool, then why was this alleged request for the military to initiate offensive operations not made officially and publicly through the proper channels? Why was it not done when you and others allege, but the President, Prime Minister and Chief Minister NWFP all hold press conferences and make televised speeches bringing to the nations attention an issue that is a huge threat to Pakistan and in the pursuit of whose resolution the military is being asked to deploy and conduct operations, when Operation Rah-e-Rast is launched?

Regarding General Kiyani and his subordinates

Firstly, the military is not a monolithic entity. It is reasonable to assume that, not unlike the political domain, there are various lobbies entrenched in the military setup. I have no doubt about General Kiyani's leadership and good intentions.

The military does not work like the political domain and it is not a democracy - you either follow the chain of command or you don't, and Xeric and various others can explain to you how that works.

It is simply inconceivable that commanders in Swat would refuse a direct order from the Army high command - you would have court martials and/or dismissals.

In addition, the Army had already been conducting operations, relatively successfully, in Swat leading up to the 2008 elections, so why would all of a sudden the Swat commanders develop this sort of extreme indiscipline and downright mutinous behavior.

Your argument makes no sense here. The reasons for the Army not acting, if indeed such an 'unofficial request' was made, was that Gen. Kiyani was too smart to fall into the trap and allow the Army to become a scapegoat for politicians to cowardly to publicly stand up for what they knew needed to be done.