Pakistan’s links with terrorists groups remind us of the nuclear threat
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Pakistan’s links with terror groups remind us of the nuclear threat
Terrorist attacks could inadvertently provoke a crisis and rekindle the threat of a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan.
Zvi Bar'el
09:34
A writer made it clear in the Pakistani opposition paper The Nation. As a Pakistani citizen, he wrote, he has the right to know why, despite assurances that the government and army have “broken the backbone of terrorism,” these attacks continue. The story appeared the day after a shooting andbombing attack in Quetta, Balochistan, killed 93 people, most of them lawyers, with dozens more wounded.
This was a two-pronged attack. First, the head of the Balochistan Bar Association, Bilal Anwar Kasi, was assassinated. When his friends and colleagues came to the hospital to collect his body for the funeral procession, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowd. Two groups took responsibility, the Pakistani branch of the Islamic State and the Taliban.
ISIS bombing of Pakistani hospital leaves 63 dead
ISIS leader in Afghanistan, Pakistan killed, U.S. official confirms
Despite this, the authorities are blaming the usual suspects, with the interior minister rushing to blame the Indian intelligence services. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as usual, promised to bring the attackers to justice. He convened an urgent meeting, pledging another anti-terror plan. These declarations didn’t impress the terrorists; another device has exploded in Quetta, wounding 15 people.
Pakistani journalists and civil society activists place candles during a vigil to pay tribute to victims of August 8 suicide bombing at the Civil Hospital in Quetta on August 10, 2016.Banaras Khan, AFP
Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, can be misleading. It was once called Little Paris because of its beauty and famous fruit orchards. A million and a quarter people live there, stemming from half a dozen ethnic backgrounds and speaking many dialects. There’s even a McDonald’s there.
But Quetta is also home to radical Islamist groups. It has become the home of many Afghani exiles who came there after the September 11 attacks, when the United States invaded Afghanistan. The city now crawls with Islamic State militants who contend for power with the Taliban.
Balochistan blues
Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan’s four provinces but the most sparsely populated and poorest one. The state budget is drawn up based on population size, so Balochistan receives the smallest sum, leaving little for development, even though the province holds the country’s natural gas fields that see to most of Pakistan’s energy needs.
In recent years China has been investing billions of dollars in developing the port of Gwadar, an international hub and a major transit point for oil and other goods between the Middle East and China. These investments, which create many jobs, enrich mainly tycoons and landowners. Many of these are Punjabis who came over to invest and make hefty profits. Balochis do the manual labor, having been displaced from their land that was sold for a pittance.
Like every Pakistani province, Balochistan is run by a provincial government that in theory is subject to parliamentary oversight. The province has its own police and security forces. The main power rests with large, well-rooted families that belong to tribal groups.
Despite the presence of courts, tribal justice is preferred; it’s considered much more efficient and less corrupt than the official system, where bribery tips the scales. A good example of the ways things are run was provided by journalist Anatol Lieven in his book “Pakistan: A Hard Country.” The British author describes a meeting with the sports and culture minister.
Outside the minister’s office were four members of his team drinking tea, talking and reading newspapers. They weren’t doing very much. It’s not that they could. Neither they nor the minister had a computer or even a typewriter.
The minister complained to Lieven about the low number of employees the federal government allows him. He believed he was entitled to a staff commensurate with the size of the province, namely half of Pakistan’s civil service.
This isn’t the main concern of Balochistani leaders. They enjoy immense incomes, live in spacious villas and drive luxury cars. The previous provincial prime minister’s wealth came from the security company he owned.
A demonstrator holds a poster of Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan at a rally in Lahore, Pakistan, January 2003. AP
The Iranian angle
In this system, it’s best to build local power centers and “persuade” the local government head who should receive benefits, contracts and employment. This system applies to the whole of Pakistan.
The power centers are united by their wish to obtain independence. This wish often erupts into violence, with people protesting the presence of federal troops who come from other provinces, mainly Punjab. This desert province isn’t only a thorn in the side of the Pakistani government but threatens Iran as well, since Balochi tribes live on both sides of the border.
Iran blames Pakistan for not preventing cross-border movement, thus supporting Sunni terror by Balochis against Iran. Iran is worried that the Islamic State will start moving in through these areas, using Balochis to attack it.
Iran also worries that Saudi Arabia, which employs millions of Pakistanis, will turn Pakistan into its puppet, thus supporting terrorists. Iran reportedly decided to collaborate with Taliban groups in order to block the Islamic State. As in Syria and Iraq, U.S. interests converge with Iranian ones more than with local governments in fighting ISIS.
In recent days, the U.S. Congress decided not to release $300 million in military aid to Pakistan, based on claims by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter that Pakistan had not done enough to fight the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, which operates against U.S. targets in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Carter’s approval is required to release the last portion of the $1 billion that Washington promised Pakistan this year.
This is the first time the administration has unhesitatingly accused Pakistan of directly assisting an Islamist terror group. Interestingly, the Haqqani network helped the United States in the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s links with terror groups aren’t new and have often served American interests. The latent threat, however, lies in the nuclear weapons held by India and Pakistan. Terror attacks could inadvertently provoke a crisis and rekindle the threat of a nuclear confrontation between the two Asian powers.
Herein lies the U.S. dilemma regarding aiding Pakistan. Freezing aid will strengthen the hands of those opposing cooperation, whereas granting it provides money for the regime instead of for combating terror. So far Washington is ignoring the terrorist attacks, as long as they target Pakistanis.
Terrorist attacks could inadvertently provoke a crisis and rekindle the threat of a nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan.
Zvi Bar'el
09:34
A writer made it clear in the Pakistani opposition paper The Nation. As a Pakistani citizen, he wrote, he has the right to know why, despite assurances that the government and army have “broken the backbone of terrorism,” these attacks continue. The story appeared the day after a shooting andbombing attack in Quetta, Balochistan, killed 93 people, most of them lawyers, with dozens more wounded.
This was a two-pronged attack. First, the head of the Balochistan Bar Association, Bilal Anwar Kasi, was assassinated. When his friends and colleagues came to the hospital to collect his body for the funeral procession, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowd. Two groups took responsibility, the Pakistani branch of the Islamic State and the Taliban.
ISIS bombing of Pakistani hospital leaves 63 dead
ISIS leader in Afghanistan, Pakistan killed, U.S. official confirms
Despite this, the authorities are blaming the usual suspects, with the interior minister rushing to blame the Indian intelligence services. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as usual, promised to bring the attackers to justice. He convened an urgent meeting, pledging another anti-terror plan. These declarations didn’t impress the terrorists; another device has exploded in Quetta, wounding 15 people.
Pakistani journalists and civil society activists place candles during a vigil to pay tribute to victims of August 8 suicide bombing at the Civil Hospital in Quetta on August 10, 2016.Banaras Khan, AFP
Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, can be misleading. It was once called Little Paris because of its beauty and famous fruit orchards. A million and a quarter people live there, stemming from half a dozen ethnic backgrounds and speaking many dialects. There’s even a McDonald’s there.
But Quetta is also home to radical Islamist groups. It has become the home of many Afghani exiles who came there after the September 11 attacks, when the United States invaded Afghanistan. The city now crawls with Islamic State militants who contend for power with the Taliban.
Balochistan blues
Balochistan is the largest of Pakistan’s four provinces but the most sparsely populated and poorest one. The state budget is drawn up based on population size, so Balochistan receives the smallest sum, leaving little for development, even though the province holds the country’s natural gas fields that see to most of Pakistan’s energy needs.
In recent years China has been investing billions of dollars in developing the port of Gwadar, an international hub and a major transit point for oil and other goods between the Middle East and China. These investments, which create many jobs, enrich mainly tycoons and landowners. Many of these are Punjabis who came over to invest and make hefty profits. Balochis do the manual labor, having been displaced from their land that was sold for a pittance.
Like every Pakistani province, Balochistan is run by a provincial government that in theory is subject to parliamentary oversight. The province has its own police and security forces. The main power rests with large, well-rooted families that belong to tribal groups.
Despite the presence of courts, tribal justice is preferred; it’s considered much more efficient and less corrupt than the official system, where bribery tips the scales. A good example of the ways things are run was provided by journalist Anatol Lieven in his book “Pakistan: A Hard Country.” The British author describes a meeting with the sports and culture minister.
Outside the minister’s office were four members of his team drinking tea, talking and reading newspapers. They weren’t doing very much. It’s not that they could. Neither they nor the minister had a computer or even a typewriter.
The minister complained to Lieven about the low number of employees the federal government allows him. He believed he was entitled to a staff commensurate with the size of the province, namely half of Pakistan’s civil service.
This isn’t the main concern of Balochistani leaders. They enjoy immense incomes, live in spacious villas and drive luxury cars. The previous provincial prime minister’s wealth came from the security company he owned.
A demonstrator holds a poster of Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan at a rally in Lahore, Pakistan, January 2003. AP
The Iranian angle
In this system, it’s best to build local power centers and “persuade” the local government head who should receive benefits, contracts and employment. This system applies to the whole of Pakistan.
The power centers are united by their wish to obtain independence. This wish often erupts into violence, with people protesting the presence of federal troops who come from other provinces, mainly Punjab. This desert province isn’t only a thorn in the side of the Pakistani government but threatens Iran as well, since Balochi tribes live on both sides of the border.
Iran blames Pakistan for not preventing cross-border movement, thus supporting Sunni terror by Balochis against Iran. Iran is worried that the Islamic State will start moving in through these areas, using Balochis to attack it.
Iran also worries that Saudi Arabia, which employs millions of Pakistanis, will turn Pakistan into its puppet, thus supporting terrorists. Iran reportedly decided to collaborate with Taliban groups in order to block the Islamic State. As in Syria and Iraq, U.S. interests converge with Iranian ones more than with local governments in fighting ISIS.
In recent days, the U.S. Congress decided not to release $300 million in military aid to Pakistan, based on claims by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter that Pakistan had not done enough to fight the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, which operates against U.S. targets in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Carter’s approval is required to release the last portion of the $1 billion that Washington promised Pakistan this year.
This is the first time the administration has unhesitatingly accused Pakistan of directly assisting an Islamist terror group. Interestingly, the Haqqani network helped the United States in the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s links with terror groups aren’t new and have often served American interests. The latent threat, however, lies in the nuclear weapons held by India and Pakistan. Terror attacks could inadvertently provoke a crisis and rekindle the threat of a nuclear confrontation between the two Asian powers.
Herein lies the U.S. dilemma regarding aiding Pakistan. Freezing aid will strengthen the hands of those opposing cooperation, whereas granting it provides money for the regime instead of for combating terror. So far Washington is ignoring the terrorist attacks, as long as they target Pakistanis.
OrionHunter
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The only reason they are ignoring is becoming your government/military protects "good terrorists" , makes it impossible to cooperate . Their best card is to ignore till Pakistan submits to the US guideline on terrorism .And Pakistan ignores terrorists as long as they don't target Pakistan. Wheels within wheels. It's a mess!
Hamartia Antidote
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Well it will be interesting to see what happens when China gets their trade route established. My guess is they will simply pay the radicals off with cash to leave them alone. Unfortunately that cash will then be used to start trouble elsewhere.
As for the Nukes...well somebody doesn't have to belong to ISIS to be a dangerous nut.
salarsikander
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LOL Thats not even a remote possibility. However option samsun is quite much possibility
Jhon Smith
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How to win the ongoing unconventional war?? Is there military strategic experts to explain
THERE is war going on between India and Pak. The one of top brass from Pak has told the nation openly that we are in war. BUt it seems people from India on internet are not accepting that as Indian generals did not told them for on going war.
Its war between ISI and RAW , so far RAW winning it , score is almost 100:1 .
As RAW has killed many Pak people inside Pak by local handlers compare to ISI did kill in India through hindu handlers....
IT seems RAW has more money and trained educated officers compare to ISI officers. Raw succeed to buying local Pak people to do terrorism inside PAk . Until ISI has failed to buy local Indian hindu madrass students to do bomb blasts in Mumbai , Delhi and Bangalore
source
THERE is war going on between India and Pak. The one of top brass from Pak has told the nation openly that we are in war. BUt it seems people from India on internet are not accepting that as Indian generals did not told them for on going war.
Its war between ISI and RAW , so far RAW winning it , score is almost 100:1 .
As RAW has killed many Pak people inside Pak by local handlers compare to ISI did kill in India through hindu handlers....
IT seems RAW has more money and trained educated officers compare to ISI officers. Raw succeed to buying local Pak people to do terrorism inside PAk . Until ISI has failed to buy local Indian hindu madrass students to do bomb blasts in Mumbai , Delhi and Bangalore
source
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This is the US stating it not India , you can live in denial land all you want that doesn't change facts . A country without a stable government has no business with nukes , forget terrorism , your military could literally from a coop and retake your country tomorrow , they have successfully done it 4 times already . As your own ministers say , Pakistan is a country within a country . The last thing any of your neighbors wants is a military dictator with a hundred nukes , 1 Kim jon un is enough for earth .
Especially considering pak's military's influence over terrorist groups in the region.
LadyFinger
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You should thank your stars that someone has some influence on terrorists in this region. Otherwise all they care about is conquering the world through war.
Anyway no one has a lesser stake in this dirty game. Sponsoring terrorism in other countries is some favorite pastime of certain world powers too.
Anyway no one has a lesser stake in this dirty game. Sponsoring terrorism in other countries is some favorite pastime of certain world powers too.
ebrahym
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there were already sold people to CIA
they are now being recruited by RAW
and yes ISI is no where to be seen
interesting thing is how US gonna deal with PAk after that or already
they have clearly grown hostile towards us
...............
I so want to trust our brass right now
Hamartia Antidote
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Well If it brings prosperity to Pakistan then we are all for it. The better you become the less excuses the local radicals will have against the government. Hopefully some Hugo Chavez type doesn't ruin it.
Maybe because this is a text not a audio
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