Whose War? U Decide!

[niaz]

This high lights the heart of the problem. A lot of Pakistan's polity dosenot think that Taliban are doing any thing wrong.

No wonder Pakisatn's security apparatus has not been able to stop suicide bombers. These people have substantial support of the influential politicians. What it boils down to is that many political leaders would like to handover the country to the Taliban.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Lets not single out politicians, for almost nine years our country was ruled by a military dictator and it was under his watch that the Taliban and AQ had reorganized themselves and taken over many parts of FATA and Swat and were rapidly expanding into the settled areas of the Frontier Province.

Let’s not for get that PPP, ANP and MQM are standing against the terrorists, so please give credit were credit is due.

 

[muse]

Wait a minute rabzon -- Musharraf did not force Fazullah or JUI to adopt any particular ideology -- the ideology is JUI's and Fazullah is a Taliban supporter, and he was one before Musharraf.

And Nawaz is deeply sympathetic to the talib and obscuritanists in general, he even wanted to ammend the constitution to be name Amir Ul Momineen.

Please lets be sober and not suggest that those responsible should be given a "get out of jail" card. These should have their feet held to the fire and be made to account.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Wait a minute rabzon -- Musharraf did not force Fazullah or JUI to adopt any particular ideology -- the ideology is JUI's and Fazullah is a Taliban supporter, and he was one before Musharraf.

Correct, but let’s not for get under Musharraf’s watch Fazlullah took over Swat and 2002 elections were rigged in favor of JUI.

And Nawaz is deeply sympathetic to the talib and obscuritanists in general, he even wanted to ammend the constitution to be name Amir Ul Momineen.

I wholeheartedly agree with you on this.

Please lets be sober and not suggest that those responsible should be given a "get out of jail" card. These should have their feet held to the fire and be made to account.

Remember, who gave them "get out of jail" cards?

Anyhow, my point was that everyone has played a role in dragging us in the mess we find ourselves today, so why single out politicians only.

 

[muse]

Look musharraf is gone and neither fazullah nor nawaz is "gone" - however; since not only are they around but are lobbying for talib, they should be held accountable - poor pakistanis, when ever they go to solve a problem they want to trace to to it's roots, and find they do not have the fortitude to do what must be done, suggest the entire enterprise was not worthwhile.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Look musharraf is gone and neither fazullah nor nawaz is "gone" - however; since not only are they around but are lobbying for talib, they should be held accountable - poor pakistanis, when ever they go to solve a problem they want to trace to to it's roots, and find they do not have the fortitude to do what must be done, suggest the entire enterprise was not worthwhile.

It has been less than two months since the Dictator resigned, the civilian government does not have a magic stick to resolve the mess in two months the dictator has left our country in.

Of course Nawaz should be held accountable, but all politicians should not be condemned for his conduct.

So far the government has done a good job.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Lets not single out politicians, for almost nine years our country was ruled by a military dictator and it was under his watch that the Taliban and AQ had reorganized themselves and taken over many parts of FATA and Swat and were rapidly expanding into the settled areas of the Frontier Province.

Let’s not for get that PPP, ANP and MQM are standing against the terrorists, so please give credit were credit is due.

Editorial: The ‘image’ and the ‘reality’

November 13, 2008

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the exit gate of a packed Qayyum Stadium in Peshawar on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding 13. The occasion was the conclusion of the Third Inter-Provincial Games at which speakers were congratulating the NWFP government for staging the event and “improving” Pakistan’s image as a “normal” state where people took part in sports and were opposed to terrorism.

The Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in Darra Adam Khel have claimed responsibility for the attack and explained that the target was the senior NWFP minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour. (Mr Bilour was on his way out but had not yet reached the exit gate when the explosion occurred.) The suicide-bomber was about 20 years old and could be from any one of the vast array of terrorist organisations that were once a part of Pakistan’s jihad assembly line. Recently, a large number of TTP militants, including foreigners, were arrested from the Darra.

Far from projecting an image of “normality” the games have once again presented Pakistan as a dangerous place where normal social activity like playing and investing money is not routinely done. The world cannot miss the contrast with India where a hugely popular cricket test series has been won by India and a popular night cricket tournament called the ICL is in progress with a Pakistani team that could well make its way to the finals. For those of us who point to bombings in India and also protest discrimination on the part of the countries which send their teams to India and not to Pakistan, the Peshawar blast must come as a heart-breaking event.

The ruling ANP in the NWFP is being targeted by the terrorists to achieve political ends through fear. In Pakistan everybody contests the textbook definition of terrorism but what the TTP is doing comes pat on it: “The deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change”. The ANP leader Mr Asfandyar Wali earlier narrowly escaped death at the hands of a suicide-bomber at his residence. Understandably, the ANP leaders at the Qayyum Stadium were visibly shaken by the Tuesday bombing.

The idea behind the bombing campaign is to make the ANP resign office. The TTP feels better facing a clerical alliance in power in Peshawar than politicians who represent the essence of Pakhtun culture. If allowed to complete their tenure, the ANP intends to revive the legacy of the Pakhtun pride inhumanly crushed by the beheading activities of the TTP and its patron Al Qaeda. But the TTP wants particular political change. It wants the PPP to disappear from the centre and the ANP from the NWFP. It wants to change the public opinion that tilts in favour of these two parties and was responsible for their success in the 2008 elections.

The consolidation of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the Tribal Areas took place when the clerical alliance, the MMA, was in power in the NWFP and Balochistan following the 2002 elections. Analysts now say that President Pervez Musharraf and the MMA reached a covert agreement under which the former ensured his legitimacy through the 17th Amendment and the MMA got to deploy its policy of converting the province into a region of extreme religious identity as envisaged by the Taliban. Unfortunately, the politics of alliances has placed the ANP and the clerical JUIF in the same coalition in Islamabad.

Recent developments foreshadow a face-off between the ANP and the JUIF. The JUIF blames the ANP for the making public of a land scam that reveals a little more of the details in the Musharraf-MMA covert relationship. Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his deputies have gone on the warpath and are accusing the ANP of secretly advancing the separatist cause of Pakhtunistan by scheming to lump all the Pakhtun regions of the country together and declare them a separate political entity outside Pakistan. The intensity of this squabble does nothing to alleviate the danger of the trouble the NWFP is facing from the Taliban. In fact, it makes it more intense.

Pakistan’s image is mud; its favourite sport, cricket, has practically receded from the domestic scene. But that is far less important than what might happen in Islamabad if things get out of hand. The ANP, feeling extremely hurt, might put pressure on the ruling PPP to decide between them and the JUIF. Unable to arbitrate between them, the PPP might run the risk of being accused of non-seriousness in its alliance with the ANP. (For instance, the ANP might mount pressure for a change of governor and become further alienated if Islamabad doesn’t oblige because it is subject to all kinds of structural pressures.)

The PPP can’t survive by merely repeating the mantra that “we are not slaves of America”. The wave against it — buoyed by a media-mujahideen campaign applying such pressures on the government as demanding the withdrawal of the army from FATA, taking on the Americans, rebuffing the IMF, rebuilding the nuclear charisma of Dr AQ Khan, etc — is relentless. The TTP is hoping to add its muscle to this media campaign to improve its chances of a takeover of FATA. The road to hell is truly paved with the best of intentions. *

 

[RescueRanger]

IN reality it has always been our war, we need to wake up and smell the coffee!

 

[Neo]

US should let Pakistan tackle militancy on own soil, says ex NATO commander​

* Gen Wesley Clark urges more anti-terrorism support for Pakistan​

WASHINGTON: The United States (US) should let Pakistan act against Taliban on its soil, former NATO commander General (r) Wesley Clark said on Wednesday.

"I think it is a dangerous thing for stability in the region to be too heavily overtly involved there. But, on the other hand, Pakistan needs support and assistance. And its government and military are in a very tough fight," he said.

Advising caution against US overt attacks on targets on the Pakistani side of the

Afghan border, the former top military commander and supporter of president-elect Barack Obama urged anti-terrorism help for Pakistan as well as a broader approach to regional security that should take into account tensions over Kashmir.

Clark was speaking in a CNN appearance on suggestions that the US should fire upon 'irreconcilable' terror operatives that may be hiding on the Pakistani side of the border.

"I think the more we can help Pakistan to do this work themselves, the better off we are. The more we can be in a supporting role, instead of a leading role, the more we can take - let Pakistanis' legitimate governmental institutions take the responsibility for the inevitable mistakes that occur when force is applied, the better off we are,” he said.

He said any such move must take into consideration a whole lot of aspects including the risk of collateral damage, the real value of target and the impact of firing.

On achieving success in Afghanistan, Clark said the US has to be careful on defining success in that country and advocated a regional approach that should seek to address Pakistan-India tensions over the longstanding Kashmir dispute.

He said, "I think that you have got to look at ways to see the bigger picture. The bigger picture is tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, then issues in Pakistan, and then the spill over across the border, and then the results of 30 years of ceaseless conflict in Afghanistan. So, we have got to provide economic hope in the region. We have got to provide a modicum of security.”

“We can't impose our standards on peoples there that have their own ideas. We have got to respect them, probably decentralise a little bit in Afghanistan,” he added. app

 

[eva syed]

it's the war only for war........