Suicide attacks break the myth of ‘Good Taliban’

[Bond]

Good Taliban are an oxymoron, as has been underscored by two incidents on Saturday last. In Afghanistan’s Logar province, women and children queuing up for maternity healthcare were attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 38 of them, including doctors and infants. The same day in north-west Pakistan, an Uzbek ‘married couple’ was used to attack a police station near South Waziristan in which 10 policemen were killed. The Taliban have claimed that they have several such couples to carry out similar attacks. However, the worst-ever tactic employed by the Taliban was to trick an eight-year-old girl to carry a concealed bomb and detonate it near a police vehicle in Afghanistan’s Charchino district.
These incidents show the brutal, sadistic and cowardly levels to which the Taliban can go to wreak vengeance for the killing of Osama bin Laden. They confirm that most of their suicide bombers are either mercenaries like the Uzbek couple or innocents like the girl. Neither of them conforms Taliban’s propagated myth that their warriors are volunteers who fight for a higher cause and are motivated only by the commands of their creator. Most terror attacks in the world have been carried out by those lured into terrorism by the devious propaganda about martyrdom or by lure of money.
In Pakistan, 4,480 people have been killed in four years of bombing, mostly by the Taliban. But at no time had a Taliban or, for that matter, al-Qaeda leader volunteered to carry out a suicide mission. Yet, the Taliban have succeeded in misleading some to believe that there are ‘good Taliban’ and ‘bad Taliban’. Alas, it is this belief that has motivated the UN Security Council to split the international sanctions regime for the Taliban and al-Qaeda to encourage the former to join the reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan. The suicide attacks show that the only word that can describe the Taliban is ‘evil’ and there is a strong case for tightening the sanctions against them.

---------- Post added at 07:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 AM ----------

Suicide attacks break the myth of

 

[Bond]

this might be hard to digest for Some of the supporters of 'Good Taliban"...

Good Taliban are an oxymoron, as has been underscored by two incidents on Saturday last. In Afghanistan’s Logar province, women and children queuing up for maternity healthcare were attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 38 of them, including doctors and infants. The same day in north-west Pakistan, an Uzbek ‘married couple’ was used to attack a police station near South Waziristan in which 10 policemen were killed. The Taliban have claimed that they have several such couples to carry out similar attacks. However, the worst-ever tactic employed by the Taliban was to trick an eight-year-old girl to carry a concealed bomb and detonate it near a police vehicle in Afghanistan’s Charchino district.
These incidents show the brutal, sadistic and cowardly levels to which the Taliban can go to wreak vengeance for the killing of Osama bin Laden. They confirm that most of their suicide bombers are either mercenaries like the Uzbek couple or innocents like the girl. Neither of them conforms Taliban’s propagated myth that their warriors are volunteers who fight for a higher cause and are motivated only by the commands of their creator. Most terror attacks in the world have been carried out by those lured into terrorism by the devious propaganda about martyrdom or by lure of money.
In Pakistan, 4,480 people have been killed in four years of bombing, mostly by the Taliban. But at no time had a Taliban or, for that matter, al-Qaeda leader volunteered to carry out a suicide mission. Yet, the Taliban have succeeded in misleading some to believe that there are ‘good Taliban’ and ‘bad Taliban’. Alas, it is this belief that has motivated the UN Security Council to split the international sanctions regime for the Taliban and al-Qaeda to encourage the former to join the reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan. The suicide attacks show that the only word that can describe the Taliban is ‘evil’ and there is a strong case for tightening the sanctions against them.

---------- Post added at 07:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 AM ----------

Suicide attacks break the myth of

 

[53fd]

Of course you're right: there is no good Taliban. However, an astute man once remarked: "keep your friends close, & your enemies closer".

 

[Bond]

I am sure these Talibans do not fit in to 'Traditional Enemy' category to put closer to self.

If you keep these people closer they will blow away themselves along with you.

Of course you're right: there is no good Taliban. However, an astute man once remarked: "keep your friends close, & your enemies closer".

 

[Awesome]

This distinction of Good and Bad Taliban is only a western phenomenon. Pakistan has only distinguished between the ones fighting us and the ones not. There has been no argument that the ones not attacking us are somehow good people.

Today the US has redefined Richard Holbroke's replacement, Marc Grossman's job description into seeking out Mullah Omar and talking reconciliation with him. In US circles he's called Marc Reconciliation Grossman, given the amount of energy he's spending and recent news was hes even found Mullah Omar and peace deals are underway with him. Are we somehow to think the US now thinks Mullah Omar is good Taliban?

Practically speaking you have to seek out those that may turn in your favor somehow since killing them all is not possible especially since the problem is of ideology. Osama Bin Laden got killed and still there is no lull in terrorism, so that tells you how much you can achieve through even killing leaders. In Pakistan's case we need to do three things

1) Retake FATA and prevent their recruitment into Taliban
2) Make Haqqani group leave Pakistan and let Afghanistan worry about them (Chances are Afghanistan wants to offer them South Afghanistan)
3) Then fight the remaining nutjobs that specifically want to fight Pakistan.

Right now we're bombing FATA relentlessly, increasing TTP's support, giving sanctuary to Haqqani, making the US bomb FATA and increasing TTP's support. It will never end this way. 10 years on, both the US and Pakistan have only increased terrorism, not diminished it. Everyone is still stuck on the George Bush formula of beating a solution out of a mess. Or when thing go wrong, do the wrong thing more and somehow expect success.