Swat Operation II

[Anwar2]

Dear S-2: Come on, these guys are just Ham operators and practicing their skills as members of the Radio Relay League.

 

[S-2]

"Come on, these guys are just Ham operators and practicing their skills as members of the Radio Relay League."

Really? And their audiences are actually just killin' time while waiting for the cricket results on the radio?

In Wisconsin when I was a kid, we'd wake up in the morning to the radio downstairs. Sometimes you'd hear school closings for snow and you'd lie in bed listening and praying that your district would close for the day.

They have snow in SWAT. Lots of it. So much that the kids get months off in the winter. When they close schools there, though, it's not because the school bus can't come around.

Better stay tuned in and listen up if you know what's good for the round thing riding on your shoulders.

Yup. Who said radio was dying? Only dying going on are those who aren't listeners.

 

[RabzonKhan]

No doubt Khan Lala is a great man, I salute him!


Minister, MPAs make morale-boosting trip to Swat

Sunday, January 25, 2009
Khalid Kheshgi

PESHAWAR: In the face of growing criticism against elected representatives from Swat for leaving their electorate at lurch, a provincial minister and two MPAs visited the violence-plagued valley almost after seven months to convey a message to the people that they were there to ‘live and die’ with them.

As a sign of solidarity with the central leader of ANP and former federal minister Muhammad Afzal Khan, who has stayed put in his hometown Drushkhela in militant-infested Matta and bravely faced the growing attacks of the militants, NWFP Minister for Science and Technology Ayub Khan Ashari, MPAs Syed Jafar Shah and Sher Shah visited him and discussed the situation in the valley.

The ANP lawmakers besides holding a press conference in Mingora, Swat, also had whirlwind visit of some parts of Kabal and Matta tehsils as well.

“The morale of Afzal Khan Lala was quite high, who vowed to defend his people and soil to last drop of his blood,” Jafar Shah MPA told The News while recalling their meeting with Afzal Khan, commonly known as Khan Lala, at his hometown Drushkhela the other day.

He said that Khan Lala told them that he would never leave his birthplace for the fear of a handful of extremists who were bent on destroying lives, values and property of the Pakhtuns in the area.

The ANP delegation also conveyed the message of Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti and informed him about the new strategy being carved out by the federal government in collaboration with the NWFP government to combat militancy and restore peace in the valley.

“Khan Lala has no particular demand from the government, but wished concrete and comprehensive steps on the part of security forces against the militants,” the ANP MPA recalled and added that under the new strategy the public representatives along with high-ups of the provincial government would visit Swat on weekly basis in order to boost up the people morale and supervise and coordinate drive against militants in Swat.

Jafar Shah, who defeated PML-Q provincial chief Amir Muqam on PF-85 Swat in 2008 general elections, claimed that the local Taliban had lost the confidence of the local people, but the fear and uncertainty still reign supreme in the crisis-hit environ of Swat.

“Those who had once donated precious belongings to the Taliban movement, are now fed up of their acts and policies, particularly regarding the ban on female education, destruction of schools and slaughtering of innocent people,” he added. However, the local people had complaints about the suffering of innocent both at the hands of Taliban and security forces, he said and added that the prolonged curfew in Swat had also multiplied the worries of common people.

The MPA also asked for more relief facilities and proper mechanism to treat and compensate the victims of military operation in the area.

He said that a unit of regular army had been deployed in Afzal Khan’s village where they defied a raid of the militants some two days back and killed about 18 militants in a fierce clash.

He said the ANP as well as NWFP government wanted the implementation of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation at the earliest in Malakand division while the party was still stand for its peace talks with the Taliban in case they lay down their arms.

 

[RescueRanger]

Dear RescueRanger:
If insurgencies were dependent on terrain cover alone, there would have been no war in Vietnam. Please look at the topography of Mekong delta, which is mostly about 30 ft AMSL.
Whenever national Army is used against its own citizens there is a cascading effect. Garrisons or cantonments do not help, nor the number of boots on ground. A professional Army should never be used to conquer its own people or territory.

The only solution is to restore the writ of the State of Pakistan in Islamabad. Restore the dignity of Pakistan Armed Forces. They should not be misused as surrogates.

Correction, you are offering the Vietcong as a comparative case study for the Taliban, sorry to say but these are two different animals all together. And actually terrain is a very strong contributing factor when warfare is concerned.

If you feel our generals are not professional enough despite decades of training and field experience please feel free to walk into GHQ and present your side of the story.

 

[ejaz007]

‘Army getting jammers for Taliban radio’

LAHORE: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas on Monday said the military was acquiring the latest technology to jam the illegal radio transmissions of the Swat Taliban, a private TV channel reported. The ISPR spokesman told the channel that the Taliban’s FM radio transmitters were mobile and could not be destroyed immediately. However, Abbas said, the acquisition of the technology would help block the illegal transmissions. General Abbas said the Taliban were trying to create an atmosphere of fear in Swat and wanted to extend their presence to other parts of the country, the channel reported. He told the channel that the Taliban were trying to project themselves as a parallel government in the valley, but the military would control the situation soon. daily times monitor

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[waraich66]

Talaban majority belong to very poor family who send their children for study in madresa but madrasa mulvi convert them and use them for terrorism .

The solution of this problem is very simple close all madarasa who are involved in jehadi activities, during kashmir jehad they are collecting money from public now they getting money from foriegn countries also .

We have ignored this evil in our society and now these jehadi mullahs are active in distruction of whole society and nation.

We should give first priority to our relegious madrasah and monitor them closely ,only registered madrasah should be allowed for operation and chanda culture should be stoped now.

 

[binzaman]

Talaban majority belong to very poor family who send their children for study in madresa but madrasa mulvi convert them and use them for terrorism .

The solution of this problem is very simple close all madarasa who are involved in jehadi activities, during kashmir jehad they are collecting money from public now they getting money from foriegn countries also .

We have ignored this evil in our society and now these jehadi mullahs are active in distruction of whole society and nation.

We should give first priority to our relegious madrasah and monitor them closely ,only registered madrasah should be allowed for operation and chanda culture should be stoped now.

Bro! most of the taaliban joined TTP not due to mudressa culture but due to Moulvi Fazllullah's preaching, and they geared up after Lal masjid operation.

 

[waraich66]

Bro! most of the taaliban joined TTP not due to mudressa culture but due to Moulvi Fazllullah's preaching, and they geared up after Lal masjid operation.

Dear,

This is bigest delima of our society that we ignored very large part of society which captured and used by these mudrasah molvis who made islam their business.

If we really want to get rid of this problem ,we should concentrate on this problem seriously ,these mullahs now converted to TTP movement are rejected or ignored part of our soiety dont have any honor in society no one honorable citizen want to send his children in these madrasah except very poor citizens because they dont have any other choice.

LAL mosque molvi shaban also from very poor family of Dera Ghazi khan ,started first work as imam then got chance to collect money through chanda of general public and then converted to jehadi mullah haveing lot of arms and money.

We have to educate our society and government to close down these madrasahs working on basis of chanda or donation.

 

[binzaman]

Dear,

This is bigest delima of our society that we ignored very large part of society which captured and used by these mudrasah molvis who made islam their business.

If we really want to get rid of this problem ,we should concentrate on this problem seriously ,these mullahs now converted to TTP movement are rejected or ignored part of our soiety dont have any honor in society no one honorable citizen want to send his children in these madrasah except very poor citizens because they dont have any other choice.

LAL mosque molvi shaban also from very poor family of Dera Ghazi khan ,started first work as imam then got chance to collect money through chanda of general public and then converted to jehadi mullah haveing lot of arms and money.

We have to educate our society and government to close down these madrasahs working on basis of chanda or donation.

Bro! no offense but who made ghazi brothers? Also Mudrassa's are not the problem at all, its the circumstances which made them mess for us.

First we utilized these madrassa as nursery for Soviet-Afghan war, we called them "Mujahids".
then after that we utilized them for Civil war in Afghanistan. We called them "Talibaan"
then we suddenly took u-turn,during LAL masjid operation we get to know they were "terrorist".

Bro! the problem resides within us.... think upon it

 

[waraich66]

Bro! no offense but who made ghazi brothers? Also Mudrassa's are not the problem at all, its the circumstances which made them mess for us.

First we utilized these madrassa as nursery for Soviet-Afghan war, we called them "Mujahids".
then after that we utilized them for Civil war in Afghanistan. We called them "Talibaan"
then we suddenly took u-turn,during LAL masjid operation we get to know they were "terrorist".

Bro! the problem resides within us.... think upon it

Yes we have identified that it is social evil but no body is giving any remedy to get rid of this evil.

Only solution is to educate general public stop support of these madrasahs based on chanda, provide better alternative and free education for children of lower middle class closely monitor their activities through mosque commetties ,these imam should be selected through process and should be under control of government and local administration .

 

[JK!]

Waraich I gather you want a return to a more noble form of Islamic government and jurispudence but does that include the system of justice and edicts of these Taliban?

From what i have gathered their views are anathema to the teachings of Islam.

 

[binzaman]

This is not social evil, its purely political in nature. We should have to take steps by our own (no dictations from US etc). We have to think upon (on both sides, ARMY and Terrorist Taalibans) that we are killing our own people.
Army is fighting "War on Terror" to make US happy
Terrorist Taliban are fighting to make their Donner happy

Also we can't eradicate this problem

1- untill unless we bridge the gap between our Liberal Army and Religious Mullas.

2- untill unless our own solid policy and clear long term vision on this issue (no U-turns). I bet, if today US pullback from Afghanistan we will start supporting Talibaan again.

 

[Anwar2]

Dear S-2: Wisconsin has some of the friendliest people. The people of Swat too have the same simple honest hospitable demeanor. The people of Swat too have a big heart, just like the people of Oshkosh. The sights, sounds and scenery too is similar; except that Swat is more vertical than flat.
Unlike Wisconsin the people of Swat see rolling Army tanks on their narrow roads and small terraced fields. Rather than the happy chirping of birds they hear the roaring thunder of artillery and the raucous of machine guns. Yes, the winters are long, dark and solitary. Most little hamlets almost perpetually mourn the death of their young and old.
To break the nerve wreaking boredom while waiting for the next round of bombing, some of the Johnnies have become hardcore Ham fans! Their so-called “vicious” broadcasts provide a bit of entertainment.

 

[Nitish_V]

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

ANP admits govt has lost its writ in Swat

ISLAMABAD: The NWFP government has lost its writ in the volatile Swat valley, the ruling ANP admitted in the Senate on Monday. ANP senators Haji Adeel and Ilyas Bilour said the insurgency was spilling over to the rest of the country and would “reach Islamabad sooner than Lahore”. Bilour said Taliban had demolished more than 300 schools in the region once considered liberal. Senator Razina Alam said more than 80,000 children could not go to school and 8,000 teachers had lost their jobs. Jamat-e-Islami Senator Prof Muhammad Ibrahim criticised the military saying it too had lost its writ in Swat. “How can Taliban demolish schools and behead civilians during curfew?” he asked. Senators criticised the absence of Interior Adviser Rehman Malik. muhammad bilal

 

[Anwar2]

Dear RescueRanger:
You are right. Taliban have to make best use of terrain masking as they do not have the logistics pipeline available to Vietcong from USSR and China. Yet, regardless of terrain or logistics, insurgencies thrive on the support by population. There is a general sense of disenchantment amongst majority of Pakistanis, specifically amongst the people of FATA and NWFP.

Yes I do feel that our Generals are not competent or qualified enough to face the challenges of today. There are several aspects:
1. Too many Generals 150 2-stars and above. Probably about 400+ one-stars.
2. None of them has any true boot combat experience; the last war was in 1971. Precious few of them have had exposure to Afghan campaign, and still fewer at Siachin.
3. Most have the 2-year degree from PMA, complimented by myriad of “staff college qualifications” of various denominations. Only a few from EME or Aviation background have the skill sets and exposure to modern Systems and C4 architectures.
4. An inordinate focus on plots and lucrative assignments has ruined professionalism further.

This has given rise to a mindset of Goal substitution. In simple words since India or external threats are too hard to face, lets create an insurgency in Pakistan and earn all the kudos. Overwhelming firepower will ensures a low risk approach to career progression.

Yes dear, someday as a Pakistani taxpayer I may get the right to walk into GHQ and ask these questions. For the time being I will avoid being labeled a “Terrorist” and bundled to Bagram for having contrarian views.