Pakistan: Neither unwilling nor unable in Tirah Valley

By Zoon Ahmad Khan
SPEARHEAD RESEARCH

Tirah is a belt of valleys providing a convenient passage into Afghanistan, with a population of 1.5 million. Fertile for what Afghanis do best: opium, poppy fields have flourished in the region and the government has been for years trying to curb the epidemic. But the Tirah Valley people are slippery under the quivering thumb of the establishment since colonial times. It was in 2003 that the Pakistan Army entered the valley, that too after 9/11 and escalating Talibanization of the northern region when it was believed that Osama bin Laden could be hiding in one of these self governing regions.

For a month now, since March 2013, Tirah Valley has been making headlines. As over 300 militants have been eliminated and more than 30 army personnel have achieved martyrdom in less than thirty days. Due to fierce resistance, the military operation has gained momentum. Like the Swat operation, where Taliban had allied themselves with the local government promising better law enforcement and good riddance from the sloppy civil courts, in Tirah the emergence of TTP has also been gradual. Owing to poor infrastructure and isolation of the region (a tribal area that avoids foreign interference), news of the hundreds killed while resisting TTPs advancement in to the region, never reached mainstream media sources.

Three militant outfits are operating in the region presently: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), and Ansar ul Islam (AI) . The AI and LI have been battling with each other in the region for more than seven years over sectarian differences. When the LI joined hands with the TTP, AI reached out to the Pakistan army to protect its position against its adversary. It is noteworthy that the AI, a militant organization, has previously been banned for protecting the area from foreign influence (i.e. the government). How this support for the AI is any different from that of the Taliban back in the 1980s is not clear. For Pakistan, at the moment, fighting the Taliban is more crucial. What demons this war gives birth to can be dealt with later perhaps.

The TTP has not taken over the valley overnight, nor without assistance. Since last June, one step at a time the Tirah tribes have been coming under their fold. Even today, as the army marches against the Taliban with bursting force, launching aerial assaults to drive the Taliban out, few know the gravity of the situation. Few realize the dire consequences of this belt coming under full control of anti-state outfits. Thousands of the valley’s inhabitants have migrated out of their homes towards Peshawar. What will become of them and their families knowing the situation of IDPs amidst a fragile economy is another burden we are temporarily ignoring for a false peace of mind.

With three vital entry points: into Peshawar, Orakzai and the Khyber Pass (the main passageway for NATO supplies) the valley is an important stronghold for the TTP. With no road access, the army was initially only relying on aerial assaults. So far with scanty news, all we get a few days later is a death count of militants versus soldiers. Nothing about civilian casualties. Turns out we have an alternative for the drone strikes that have caused much discord between us and the United States. But the problems with an operation where only Pakistani blood is being spilt are manifold.

These quandaries can take the shape of a thought process. Firstly, Tirah was not above the regular drone drill. Rather the area has been a frequent target. Yet the LI joined hands with the Taliban, killed hundreds of civilians while fighting the local AI, took over the entire region over the course of a year. All of this while drone strikes were happening with unhampered discretion. Should this not make us question the effectiveness of drone strikes? The AI , temporary partner of the Government of Pakistan in this operation, is not our friend either. It is these temporary alliances with local militant outfits, and keeping our enemies ‘closer’ that has strengthened them to begin with. Before the Taliban took over completely, Ansar-ul-Islam were adamant that they could handle the situation. But with stiff resistance from TTP backed LI. Eventually the Pakistan army was forced to step in and save the region. The main question that arises from such situations is: why should we trust the security of such volatile and strategically important regions with militias who are not completely supportive of the government?

Initially when the wave of conflict erupted last month, media and ISPR reported that two militant groups were at war with each other and the death toll from both sides was being reported as “militant death toll”. TTP extended full support to LI, and AI was almost driven out of the region and increased TTP influence in the region was becoming evident. It was at this point when civilian casualties escalated and mass migration from the Tirah Valley started that the army stepped in. With General Elections only days away, it would have been catastrophic if hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of the valley had become IDPs. Additionally with Peshawar well within the range of rocket launchers the threat of TTP advancement in to the developed regions of the country had become too real. The AI-Army alliance is strategic and passing. Whether the army death toll includes the AI, or they aren’t dying at all is not certain. It is possible that the militant death include the AI, TTP, and LI, which would quite literally be true.

The new tagline for justifying drone strikes is ‘Unwilling and Unable’. The US claims that Pakistan is both, unwilling and unable to get rid of terrorists, and hence drones, are a final resort to secure their own national interest is justified. How they come up with new justifications for overstepping the boundaries and disrespecting sovereignty is fascinating. But after delegating the responsibility of keeping the terrorists out to anti-state elements, who haven’t pledged any loyalties to the region, what can we say about Pakistan’s sovereignty? Some argue that more than delegating authority the military and political establishments’ apparent absence was more about respecting the existing status quo that has been for centuries.

The expanding terrorism in the Northern areas can be solved not by drone attacks or killing the terrorists alone, rather by better law enforcement and presence of state sponsored security. The operation that Pakistan army troops are sacrificing their lives for concerns the US’ national security as well. After the drone method has proven ineffective and immoral both countries should look into alternatives. The US needs to decide: in or out? If out then they should completely rely on what the Pakistan army executes. But if they believe we are unwilling and unable then they must join in any battle against the Taliban, even if some blood will be spilt. But this would mean allowing US troops into our territory, and that is another breach of our sovereignty. And hence the dearth of solutions. As the army continues to sacrifice lives, while we acknowledge the courage it takes to execute such an operation, we must realize these lives and those of the civilians can be saved if preventive measures are taken. The upcoming government must get all local and foreign stakeholders on board and strategize better governance in the northern areas of Pakistan. The gun is only a temporary solution.

The Damp Squib

By Ghalib Sultan
ZoneAsia-Pk

It wasn’t just the weather that was wet in Islamabad on January, 17th. The revolution promised by Dr Tahir ul Qadri turned out to be a damp squib after all. TV viewers and the protesters gaped in surprise as a visibly relieved but trying to be jubilant Dr Qadri reveled in touchie-feelie bon homie with those whom he had termed corrupt exploiters just hours earlier and whose immediate expulsion was his stated aim. The government coalition’s carefully selected committee had timed their parleys with the rain pelting Dr Qadri’s crowd knowing that something had to give. And it did. The agreement that ended the rally was that the elected assemblies would be dissolved by March 16th, that elections would be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assemblies, that a caretaker prime minister would be chosen after consultations between Dr Qadri and the government and the matter of the election commission reformulation would be discussed further on the 27th by the coalition committee and Dr Qadri at his headquarters in Lahore. Hardly earthshaking and certainly not a revolution thwarting formulation but to everyone’s relief it worked and the crowd dispersed.

A day earlier person no less than the President had personally telephoned a TV anchor to tell him that force would not be used to disperse the crowd in Islamabad. This message proudly announced by the anchor indicated that the President was in charge and that he knew exactly what was to be done to resolve the situation. Full marks then must be given to the President for a masterly handling of a situation that had been recklessly created and that could have had tragic consequences. This, of course, is not the first time that the President has sprung a surprise. Perceptive analysts may also have noted the distinction that Dr Qadri carefully drew between his reformist effort through the Minhaj ul Quran and the his political parleys through his Pakistan Awami Tehreek.

Time now to take stock of where this leaves us. The PML(N) has united the opposition into what comes naturally to it—a right of center grouping with an ambiguous outlook on radical extremism. The Coalition with a badly tarnished MQM included and with Dr Qadri now hanging by their coat-tails, emerges as a left of center grouping with a stated agenda of opposing militants and terrorists. Imran Khan stands in splendid isolation somewhere in the middle having kept out of the melee surrounding Dr Qadri’s venture. Not to be outdone the TTP carried out a high profile assassination in Karachi announcing that this was the start of their campaign against the MQM. To most it looked as if Karachi was to be turned into a battleground between the Pashtuns and the MQM with the Sind nationalists waiting in the wings just as the Hazara-Pashtun confrontation and Baluch nationalist violence in Baluchistan destroys the environment there.

Another damp squib was the courts “arrest the PM order” that came at the height of Dr Qadris fulminations but is no longer mentioned by him. The dramatic death of the officer investigating the case does muddy the waters. The furor created over the LOC incidents seems to be subsiding too as sanity prevails with the realization that there is no option but to keep improving relations—this issue, however, was anything but a damp squib because valuable lives were lost. The focus returns to the looming elections under an election commissioner who has the respect and confidence of the nation. The speculations about the ‘establishment’ and the ‘deep state’ and the US-UK combine having launched Dr Qadri have also ended and perhaps the realization is dawning on everyone that for once the dynamics of the political situation are playing out without intervention and that barring a catastrophe no one in his right mind would want to intervene.

THE PUZZLE

  The Pieces of the Puzzle

#1—Renewed interest by Scotland Yard in the Imran Farooq murder in London

#2—The unconditional and abject apology by the MQM before the Supreme Court of Pakistan

#3—The Qadri intervention

#4—MQM’s prompt and total support of the Qadri intervention.

#5—Surge in US Drone attacks with TTP being targeted.

#5—Pakistan military’s changed threat perception with the internal threat identified as the main threat and a public announcement of this realization.

#6—US/UK/NATO compulsion to exit Afghanistan in an orderly manner and the need to protect Afghanistan from external inroads in the vulnerable post exit period

#7—Pakistan’s centrality in the entire exit strategy including safe passage for logistic movement.

#8—The political situation in Pakistan and the US/UK desire for status quo so that their exit strategy continues to get support.

 

The Mosaic

The US and UK decide that an electoral change in Pakistan that could have unpredictable results is not in their interest at this stage. They need the present political and military set up in Pakistan in 2013-2014 to get out of Afghanistan, push the peace process in Afghanistan forward and not face the ignominy of a post exit chaos in Afghanistan. Pakistan must therefore be accorded a central role and given an assurance of continuity of the status quo.

The US/UK does not favor an internal upheaval in Pakistan and want ‘democracy’ to continue. They sense that the people want change and reform to give them a better future and not more of the same that the elections seem to promise. The US and UK do not want a change that triggers a change in policies that may change the relationship with the US.

Enter Qadri with limitless funds and superb organizational ability. He promises reform and elections under a competent and impartial interim government. The implication being that the interim government will have to be given time for the reforms. The MQM ‘decides’ to join Qadri and clears itself with the Supreme Court—surprising many on both counts. To ward off criticism The MQM leader threatens a political Drone strike—obviously a disclosure of some sort.

The military readies itself to face the new threat and an expected disruption in the already serious internal security situation. Increased Drone strikes ratchet up the pressure on insurgents who may be expected to retaliate in Pakistan’s urban areas heightening the internal threat.

The major power players react as expected. The PPP (government) soft pedals the MQM turnabout and goes along with the evolving situation as status quo suits it. The military and the judiciary are satisfied that the Constitutional provisions are being respected. The PML(N) and the PTI are lost in the fog and likely to remain lost.

The interim government is given access to IMF and World Bank funds and acts to reform not just the electoral process but takes long overdue steps to establish the rule of law, to provide services and security to the people through effective governance, tackles the internal threat and puts the country on the road to economic recovery. The people heave a sigh of relief.

A Paranoid Nuclear Nation

By Fatima Rizvi
ZoneAsia-Pk

Pakistan should be one, not both; and its people should choose between paranoia and power before it’s too late

For Pakistan, the writing on the wall is clear: Since 2001, we sided with the US in its War on Terror, which was actually a War OF Terror. After 2004, Pakistan became a frontline state in this war, instead of being the passive participant it had been in the three years before. It was not long before Pakistan became embroiled in a multi-front war: one with the US because of divergent goals in the region and mutual mistrust, one with regional adversaries like India and Karzai-led Afghanistan, one with terror proxies like Al-Qaeda, the TTP, Jundullah, HuJI, JeM, SSP, LeT, BLA, BLUF, BRA, IMU and other groups. This last battlespace is an unconventional war where non-state actors are being trained, financed, motivated and deployed by powerful external powers to undermine the military and intelligence organizations from within for the final external assault; this has become possible after softening up civil targets and demoralizing as well as scaring the Pakistani public over the last few years. But our civil and military leadership continues to be oblivious to these increasingly overt signals. Such insensitivity only contributes to the paranoia of the Pakistani people, who are wondering which of their assets are going to be used against them now.

Read Complete Article: http://www.zoneasia-pk.com/ZoneAsia-Pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4706:a-paranoid-nuclear-nation&catid=70:free-talk&Itemid=84

After America kills Osama, Taliban strike Pakistan in revenge

Bloody revenge

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for a pair of suicide bombings on a Frontier Constabulary training center in Charsadda that left at least 80 dead in what the militant group said was in revenge for the “Abbottabad incident,” referring to the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (Reuters, AFP, AP, Dawn, NYT, Guardian, WSJ, Post). Pakistani police officials, however, were skeptical that the attack, the deadliest in Pakistan since November, was the work of the TTP, and suggested it may have been orchestrated by Omar Khalid’s group, which is currently fighting the Pakistani Army in Mohmand. At least 140 were wounded (BBC, CNN). Yesterday in Karachi, Pakistani police said they arrested four TTP militants who were also affiliated with a Punjabi Taliban group (DT, AFP). And a suspected U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan has just killed at least three (AP, AFP).

Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is briefing the Pakistani parliament later today on bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad and the May 2 U.S. raid that killed him, and some who have met with Kayani recently say he is unlikely to respond to U.S. demands to go after other militant leaders in Pakistan (Dawn, NYT, Reuters). Pakistan said it is launching an inter-agency review to “clearly define the parameters of our cooperation with the U.S. in counterterrorism,” as Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani suggested, for the first time in public, that he is open to the possibility of U.S. drone strikes in the tribal areas, given more Pakistani control of the program (AFP, AFP, Time). Declan Walsh has today’s must-read, asking, “Whose side is Pakistan’s ISI [intelligence service] really on?” (Guardian).

Details continue to trickle out about the Abbottabad raid and bin Laden’s life in the compound: U.S. officials say there is no indication bin Laden had a ready escape plan, suggesting he may have become “complacent” (CNN); each of the 25 Navy SEALs who carried out the raid recorded it with a tiny helmet cam (CBS); Frontier Corps officials tell Geo that two U.S. helicopters landed in Swat before heading to Abbottabad, which the government of Khyber-Puktunkhwa said it knew nothing about (Geo); and intelligence analysts continue to dig through the more than 200 million pages recovered from the compound (Tel, Times, Independent). U.S. intelligence has reportedly been able to interview the three bin Laden widows, who were said to be “hostile,” and one of whom may be the daughter of an Afghan Taliban commander (CNN, AP). There have been conflicting reports about the nationalities and identities of the women living in bin Laden’s compound.

The AP recounts bin Laden’s trail from September 11, 2001 to early 2003, revising several Western conventional wisdoms about bin Laden’s movements, and Reuters investigates U.S. attempts to hunt the al-Qaeda leader over the years (AP, Reuters). And the NYT assesses that jihadi reactions to bin Laden’s death indicate a void in the group’s leadership (NYT).

Deepening partnerships

As expected, yesterday Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh pledged an additional $500 million in aid to Afghanistan, bringing India’s total investment in the country to some $2 billion, in a move that “is likely to fuel Pakistani suspicions of Indian meddling in what Islamabad sees as its own backyard” (NYT, Tolo, WSJ, AJE). Singh also said India is “not like the U.S.” when asked by a reporter if India would launch a raid similar to the U.S.’s in Abbottabad (ET).

Five people were reportedly killed in a cross-border clash between Pakistani tribesmen and Afghan security forces yesterday (Dawn). NATO has apologized for the death of a 12 year old Afghan girl, who was killed along with her uncle in a night raid outside of the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad (NYT). A man wearing an Afghan police uniform has killed an American soldier in Helmand (Pajhwok).

Virtual battleground

Video game developers have already released several games in which users can reenact bin Laden’s last stand, and in one version, players can choose whether to defend bin Laden or play as the Navy SEALs who carried out the raid (AFP, Kokatu, Toronto Star, NYDN, Wired). One of the games has already been downloaded at least 9,000 times (BBC).

We will avenge Osama killing: TTP

KARACHI: Banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has confirmed the killing of Osama Bin Laden and issued a threat that TTP will take its revenge, Geo News reported Monday.

TTP’s spokesman in an audio message released hours after the killing of Osama Bin Laden, said ‘Pakistan will be the prime target’.

He said the US had been on a man-hunt for Osama and ‘now Pakistani rulers are on our hit-list’.

“We had also killed Benazir Bhutto, we killed her in a suicide attack,” the TTP spokesman said, adding, US would be their second target.

Malik says NY suspect probably didn’t act alone

* TTP links seen as ‘entirely plausible’

KARACHI/BEIJING: Pakistan said on Thursday it was unlikely a Pakistani-American arrested over a failed plot to bomb New York’s Times Square had acted alone.

“According to the available information, Faisal Shahzad says it was his individual act,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Reuters in an interview in Beijing. “I would not tend to believe that.”

Malik also said that Pakistan had not yet received a formal request for help from the US, but was ready to give them “every help, full support”. Pakistani security officials said Shahzad, who is suspected of driving an explosives-laden SUV into Times Square, was close to Jaish-e-Muhammad. “The people who have been picked up do have links to Jaish and have also been in touch with Shahzad during his visits here,” a Pakistani security official in Karachi told Reuters.

The official was referring to Muhammad Rehan, a friend of Shahzad, who was detained on Tuesday after leaving a mosque in Karachi. Other associates, including Shahzad’s father-in-law, have also been detained in Karachi, according to CNN. The mosque is said to have links to Jaish, and locals tell of visits by its leaders.

US investigators are also taking a “hard look” at possible ties between Shahzad and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), said a US official on Wednesday. “It is a known fact that the mosque [in Karachi] has been a recruiting ground for Jaish, and several people have been sent to the Tribal Areas for training,” another Pakistani security official told Reuters.

The official said several men recruited through the mosque had fought against the military during recent offensives against the TTP. “It may not be a surprise if the people associated with the mosque, or those who come here for recruitment, are linked with the TTP,” he said. The US official agreed: “The TTP is entirely plausible, but we’re not ruling out other groups,” he said.

What ‘Punjabi’ Taliban?

By Ahmed Quraishi

South Waziristan is an Indian outpost on Pakistani soil with a religious version of Mukti Bahini in place, the terror militia created by India in 1969 before its full-fledged and unprovoked invasion of East Pakistan two years later. The similarity is in using proxies. This is not an outlandish theory but an emerging fact anchored in hundreds of pieces of information and intelligence that Pakistani security forces have gathered from the western strip of Pakistan stretching from Balochistan and all the way to the tribal agencies in the north.

To simplify this, let’s start with the series of attacks on Lahore in the past fifteen months. Attacking Pakistan’s military and attacking Lahore has been an old Indian obsession. The link was first made by Indian analysts associated with Indian military and intelligence. They theorized that since Pakistan’s military is mostly drawn from Punjab province, it only makes sense that the best way to punish it for involvement in occupied Kashmir is to attack that part of Pakistan where the families of Pakistani military officers live. Indian propagandists have long been promoting this flawed line of thinking. Explaining Pakistan in lingo-ethnic terms is something New Delhi turned into an art form after 1971. That’s when it successfully exploited this lingo-ethnic card to invade East Pakistan. Our Indian friends later took the same idea to Soviet Moscow to encourage them to meddle in Balochistan and NWFP using Afghan soil.

But after 9/11, this flawed theory was taken by the Indians to a new place: Washington, along with the ideas of independent Balochistan, Pashtunistan and the alleged ‘lingo-ethnic’ divide in Pakistan. Some US powerbrokers took fancy to this theory. To cut a long story short, that’s how US media’s anti-Pakistan bias in the past five years was heavily tinged with this Indian theory on Pakistan. It is also one way of explaining why Afghanistan gradually turned into an anti-Pakistan territory and India was empowered at Pakistan’s expense despite being celebrated by US officials as a ‘major non-NATO ally.’

It is interesting to see an overlap between this Indian security mindset and the TTP. This so-called Pakistani Taliban group attacks the same targets today that New Delhi’s security establishment has been focused on for decades: the army and Lahore.

‘Punjabi Taliban’ is another misnomer that serves the same agenda of forcing Pakistanis to see one another through lingo-ethnic glasses. There is no such thing in Pakistan. Those Pakistanis who volunteered with the Afghan Taliban or with Kashmiri freedom groups during the 1990s came from all linguistic backgrounds [Punjabi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Pashtun, Urdu-speaking, and Balochs]. To lump all of them together in one ‘Punjabi’ Taliban is wrong and malicious.

It is also part of the indirect desire to attack the geographic position of the Punjab province, where much of Pakistan’s strategic installations and military units are based. It would also mean taking the war to the heart of Pakistani military’s base as defined by the Indians who see it as Punjab-focused.

Pakistan’s political and military leaders should tell their friends in Washington that freezing the expansion in India’s role in Afghanistan is not enough. It should be accompanied by a cleansing within US policymaking circles to remove the poisonous Indian theories on Pakistan that so many within the US academia and media have embraced. Washington should understand that strategies such as inserting pro-US elements into power in Islamabad to contain Pakistan from within won’t work. A better course of action is to genuinely understand and respect Pakistani strategic concerns and interests and work with them, not covertly undermine them when the time is right and grudgingly accept them when the tides are rough.

Pakistanis will also have to understand that they will pay a heavy price for insisting on securing their own interests in the region. And it’s not hard to identify the culprits. India won’t just roll over with punches. And there are lobbies in Washington that won’t simply let go of Afghanistan after experiencing the sweet taste of regional imperialism.

All terror in Pakistan is linked to South Waziristan, where Pakistanis are recruited, brainwashed and then used to kill other Pakistanis. South Waziristan has been turned into Pakistan’s Tibet or Xinjiang. Our strategists understand this. It is time for our public opinion to see this reality without the distortions created by the multimillion dollar media campaigns by foreign governments that want us to see our problems through their eyes.

The writer works for Geo television. Email: aq@ahmedquraishi.com

Rehabilitation of the Taliban

Gulmina Bilal Ahmad

Young children were kidnapped by the Taliban and then made to serve as suicide bombers. These young men, and in the latter part of the battle young women, became cannon fodder for the Taliban’s heinous designs. They did not have the freedom to choose their path

At least 13 people dead in the Lahore blast. On the day that marked the hundredth anniversary of the International Women’s Day, many women lost their loved ones. If they were lucky, they were injured but condemned to a life of the disabled and health complications. The Punjabi Taliban, as they are now known, claimed responsibility. Or did they? For with responsibility comes freedom. Thus the question to ask is, are the Pakistani Taliban really free? Who joins the Taliban groups and network? Or is there an option to join? Is there a place where you sign up to become a Taliban and a place where you sign out?

It is difficult to profile a Taliban. The word of course means a student and has come to mean a student of a religious seminary. However, as the wave of terror spread, we came to know that the Taliban were also recruiting at breakneck speed. The recruits hailed from everywhere: Western-educated young men, who later rose to become spokespersons for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP); poorest of the poor young boys, whose families were given compensation so that their sons could become suicide bombers. Then there were young men whose families were coerced into joining the Taliban. In Swat, it is a matter of record that the Pakistani Taliban went around to all the houses, asking them to “volunteer” a young man each. Failure to do so would have the household confronted with adverse consequences. Young children were also kidnapped by the Taliban and then made to serve as suicide bombers. These young men, and in the latter part of the battle young women, became cannon fodder for the Taliban’s heinous designs. They did not have the freedom to choose their path. In other words, by no stretch of the imagination can they be called ideological Taliban. They are in one way victims of terror themselves. The ones who are dead have it easy. The ones who are alive still have to go through life facing the consequences of their actions. Such young men and women who have been arrested by the security agencies need to be debriefed and rehabilitated so that they become responsible citizens of society.

This indeed is a controversial, rather a radical idea to propagate. One can well imagine the reaction of a mother who has lost her child because of the terror attack perpetuated by these Taliban. If poverty was a major consideration for joining the Taliban, critics would rightly argue that this is not reason enough. For then all the world’s poor would become Taliban or resort to crime by using poverty as an excuse. There is value in this and one realises that reality is more complex than looking at the world from an intellectual’s armchair. Having said this, one cannot but think of the excellent work that is being done by the military in running a rehabilitation centre for children captured from the Taliban in Swat. This rehabilitation centre systematically debriefs these children and introduces to them ideas of a peaceful Islam as well as modern education. Philosophically and educationally, these children are been given a chance to redefine their lives, renounce violence and become responsible citizens. Alternatively, these children might have been held in lockups, had in-camera trials and been locked up for major parts of their lives. Rehabilitation is clearly a better option and one that should be explored more seriously for other detainees.

During the recent London conference on Afghanistan, Holbrooke advocated rehabilitation of the Afghani Taliban. Rehabilitation needs to be differentiated from reconciliation with the Taliban, which in my opinion, should not be done. Reconciliation is a process of re-establishing relations. Pakistan was one of the three states to recognise the Taliban regime in Afghanistan but this mistake should never be repeated. To re-establish relations with the Taliban would be to recognise their worldview – a worldview based on militancy, intolerance and extremism. It also means restoring mutual respect between different parties. This is another reason why we should never reconcile with the Taliban as a relationship of respect signifies acceptance of the other’s values. Respect is also based on trust, which certainly is not the case in the relationship between the Taliban and Pakistani citizens. It is due to the Taliban that Pakistan was declared the suicide capital of the world in 2009, having had more suicide attacks than Iraq. Thus acceptance of the Taliban’s ideological leaders and their methods of militancy and self-serving ‘jihad’ can never find a place in the Pakistani people’s hearts. However, the children who were kidnapped or coerced through violent threats or poverty to work for the Taliban are certainly not ideologically linked to the Taliban. They can be rehabilitated and agencies should look into how that can be done. According to media reports, immediately after the Swat operation it was reported by the army itself that “more than 300-400 children” recruited by the Taliban were captured. These young children ranging from five to 16 years of age have their lives before them. They were lured by promises of better tomorrows for themselves and better todays for their families. These children are not the Taliban. As stated earlier, they are victims themselves. However, if they are not rehabilitated, if the Taliban-injected rot in their minds is not cleared, they will be walking-talking future threats to peace for all their lives. Thus, it is important to have large scale rehabilitation efforts targeting such people.

We have to differentiate between the branch and the root of the problem. The ideological thinkers and the leaders of the Taliban responsible for creating havoc in our lives are the roots. The roots need to be pulled out of society. For they wilfully make the decision to bomb the innocent. They are responsible for their actions of waging war against the state and the people of Pakistan. No mercy should be shown to them for they had the freedom to make the choice. Thus they should be held responsible. However, for those who did not have the freedom to choose, rehabilitation must be explored as an option for them.

PLANTING DOUBTS

By GHALIB SULTAN

STRATFOR seems to have departed from its policy of objective and unbiased reports. In its January 11 report on the Khost bombing the author (probably an Indian origin Canadian judging from his coordinates at the end of the report) has tried to link the Pakistani intelligence agency-the ISI-to the Khost attack that killed 7 US intelligence operatives at their forward base in Afghanistan.

In a cleverly worded report the author quotes ‘widespread reports’ and ‘speculation is rife’ as a basis for ISI or state involvement in the attack. Having planted this seed he cunningly adds disarming statements like ‘no reason for ISI or Pakistan’ to launch such an attack. Unbelievably he states that ‘analysis of explosive residue suggesting military grade equipment points to ISI involvement’. Again he cleverly adds that such explosives have been used in other attacks as if to absolve him of any bias. If the ISI is to be credited with such capacity then give it the sense to not use anything as incriminating as ‘military grade equipment’!

The report goes on to hint at jihadists within the lower ranks of the ISI—the tired old mantra of rogue elements operating on their own. He then comes to his real aim when he states that even if none of this is true the very idea is enough to damage US-Pakistan relations. This is the seed that was to be planted-the rest is hogwash. A superficial analysis, no sources quoted and a fantasy built up to conjure a scenario come on STRATFOR you don’t need this guy!

Fortunately an earlier STRATFOR report on the same incident was much more objective and clearly gave out that Al-Balawi was a Jordanian and a CIA double agent and that he was launched to penetrate the TTP (Tehrik Taliban Pakistan) and that he turned on his masters. These are irrefutable facts. Al Balawi did not need the ISI or the TTP to get into the base in Afghanistan. The TTP has gained in stature and has demonstrated its capacity through a spectacular incident—thanks to those who used and launched Al Balawi.