Obama Afgh-Pak Policy Already Unraveling

Delhi, India. United States President Barack Hussein Obama unveiled his much awaited South Asian strategy in a globally televised speech last night (Indian time). Today many Indians told me, as one put it, that Obama “lived up to his middle name by showing the face of a pro-Pakistan US policy,” a critical component of which that policy is to find “moderate Taliban” with whom the United States and its allies can negotiate a peace. Imagine if in 1942, Franklin Roosevelt said the US was going to look for moderate Nazis who could negotiate peace. Americans would have been outraged then, and history would show the policy to have been a calamitous mistake. Fortunately, we do not have to wait for the passage of history since those moderate Taliban have already provided evidence that the policy is terribly flawed. Read more

Bangladesh Militant’s Taliban Connection

Bangladesh government, for the first time, officially endorsed a fact that, a hidden link between the local militants and Taliban terrorists were established since past several years. Government also said that a large number of militants were recruited in country’s law enforcing agencies and armed forces during the past BNP-Islamist Coalition government. Earlier, Commerce Minister, retired Lieutenant Colonel Faruk Khan told reporters that militants penetrated into country’s border security forces, who were liable for February Massacre that took place at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Riffles [BDR] killing large number of army officers, rape and physical abuse of several people. The minister claimed, Islamist militancy group JMB had hands behind the entire conspiracy centering February Massacre. But, Law Minister, Barrister Shafiq Ahmed rejected the comments of the Commerce Minister saying, “It will not be proper to accuse anybody until a full investigation report is available. On conclusion of the investigation, the names of persons involved will be made public.” Read more

Clinton Puts US Head in Pakistani Sand

Rudrapur, India. If Americans (or anyone else) needed proof that our government is hopelessly lost in South Asia, this morning’s Indian papers provide all the confirmation they need. The article in question featured a beaming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praising the Pakistanis for “themselves resolving [their] difficulties.” Now, to be sure, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and his political rival Nawaz Sharif did resolve their internecine spat, but only because the military “convinced” Zardari that it would be in his best interests to give into to Sharif and re-appoint sacked judges loyal to the latter. Some accomplishment.

But Clinton’s belief that this deal can “stabilize civilian democracy and the rule of law” in Pakistan would be laughable were it not so tragic. Before their falling out, Zardari and Sharif appeared to be allies in the wake of last year’s Pakistani elections that ended the one-man rule of former president and military strongman Pervez Musharraf. The coalition of the hopeful hailed that election as a new democratic era in Pakistan. This recent events showed us first that the military is still in charge in Pakistan and second, that the Obama administration along with the European Union are willing to sacrifice the freedom and very lives of others so they can claim victory for their misguided South Asian policies. Read more

Finding “Moderate Radicals”, Barack Obama style

The words we use are important, and each has its own specific meaning. So when the Obama Administration says that it is open to dealing with “moderate Taliban,” people should ask what in the world it means. The Taliban is by definition a radical organization that is not about to give on its maximalist demand of imposing Sharia law wherever it attains power. It is in its very essence contrary to everything we believe in as Americans. When the US President, who considers himself a master of words, speaks about moderate radicals, he needs to be asked, “Are you crazy?”

President Obama is copying the policy of the Pakistani government whereby it has identified elements of the Taliban that it believes are moderate; that is, amenable to negotiation. This, of course, is criminally naïve. Our history with Islamist radicals is that the only time they negotiate is when they believe themselves too weak for a military win and consider themselves bound to any “negotiated peace” only until they are strong enough for total victory. Read more

Taliban network developing in Karachi

KARACHI: The banned organisation Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has established a strong network in Karachi, in association with local jihadi outfits and other groups, it has been learnt. This network is involved in major illegal activities and sending funds worth millions of rupees to the militants in Tribal Areas. Well-placed sources in the police department have disclosed that banned sectarian outfits are active in various parts of Karachi and are closely connected to the Baitullah Mehsud-led TTP. The six associates of Baitullah Mehsud who were recently arrested in Manghopir have told intelligence agencies that jihadis are present in large numbers in the city and have a close coordination with each other. Groups involved in crimes such as drug smuggling, car lifting etc are also in contact with the Taliban. Through this network in which even some political and ethnic parties are involved, large sums of money are being sent to aid the Taliban in the Tribal Areas. The CID and Special Investigation Branch have also apprehended dozens of people affiliated to the Taliban bringing drugs and arms to Karachi travelling in passenger coaches. aaj kal report
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Intercept Alerted Us to Pakistan Deceit

Catherine Philp

THE US sent special forces into Pakistan last northern summer after intercepting a call by the Pakistani army chief referring to a notorious Taliban leader as a “strategic asset”, a new book has claimed.

Washington ordered the intercept to confirm suspicions that the Pakistani military was still actively supporting the Taliban while taking millions of dollars in US military aid to fight them, according to The Inheritance, by New York Times correspondent David Sanger.

In a transcript passed to director of national intelligence Mike McConnell in May last year, General Ashfaq Kayani, the military chief who replaced Pervez Musharraf, was overheard referring to Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani as “a strategic asset”.

The remark was the first real evidence of the double game that Washington had long suspected Mr Musharraf was playing as he continued receiving US military aid while aiding the Taliban.

Haqqani, a veteran of the anti-Soviet mujaheddin wars of the 1990s, commands a hardline Taliban group based in Waziristan and is credited with introducing suicide bombing into the militants’ arsenal.

Washington later intercepted calls from Pakistani military units to Haqqani, warning him of an impending military operation designed to prove to the US that Islamabad was tackling the militant threat.

“They must have dialled 1-800-HAQQANI” a source told Sanger. “It was something like: ‘Hey, we’re going to hit your place in a few days, so if anyone important is there, you might want to tell them to scram.”‘

The intercept was the clue that led the CIA to uncover evidence of collusion between the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency and Haqqani in a plot to carry out a spectacular bombing in Afghanistan. Two weeks later, India’s embassy in Kabul was bombed, killing 54 people and prompting a CIA mission to Islamabad to challenge the Government with its evidence.

The first cross-border strike took place in early September without Islamabad’s knowledge after Washington concluded that no one could be trusted with the information.

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Danish soldiers negotiating with Afghan Taliban: report

Copenhagen (AFP)
Danish soldiers in Afghanistan have begun negotiating with the Taliban to try to break the deadlock there, a newspaper reported Monday, as a poll suggested most Danes considered the war unwinnable.
Troops had holding talks with the Taliban as wiping out the insurgency was proving so difficult, a Danish officer told the Jyllands-Posten daily.

“We have already held several meetings with local chiefs where the Taliban were represented,” Lieutenant Colonel Bjarne Hoejgaard told the paper after a six-month mission in Afghanistan.

“We cannot get around it. We must intensify the dialogue and the negotiations with the Taliban if we want to have peace in Afghanistan, because we cannot eliminate the enemy,” he added.

Hoejgaard insisted the meetings were not about negotiating a truce with the most extreme elements, but were aimed at creating more security for Danish soldiers by entering into dialogue with more moderate, local Taliban.

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Amnesty says govt handing over Swat people to Taliban

PESHAWAR: Reacting to the official announcement about enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand Division and Kohistan district, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director Sam Zarifi has said the government was reneging on its duty to protect the basic human rights of Swat valley by “ handing them over to Taliban insurgents.”

In an emailed statement, the AI director said the Pakistani government must ensure protection of the human rights of nearly two million people in Swat valley and neighbouring Malakand district.

“This follows the announcement that the government entered a truce with insurgents, known as the Pakistani Taliban, in Swat valley, that could legitimise the human rights abuses that have been taking place in the region as the Taliban influence has increased,” he said.

Previously, he said, the government launched indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against the Taliban that mostly harmed civilians. “Now the human rights of these civilians will be in jeopardy if they live under Taliban laws,” he maintained.

“The influence of the Pakistani Taliban has already been felt by the people of Swat valley, with the unlawful killing of scores of government workers, as well as those whom they view as violating their edicts,” he further said.

The statement said the Taliban had also publicly whipped men for shaving their beards, destroyed shops for selling music and forcibly prohibited women from leaving their houses unless escorted by a male relative.

“Girls and women have been systematically targeted by Taliban for gender-based violence and discrimination. Their rights to freedom of movement, work and education have been severely curtailed. The Pakistani government cannot just abandon these people and sign away their rights,” he said.

Zarifi added that since 2007, when a previous peace deal fell apart, between 250,000 – 500,000 people had been forced to flee their homes in the Swat valley. “The AI has previously warned about the situation for civilians in the Swat valley,” he concluded.

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Anti-terror fight cannot be won with guns, bombs: Zardari

BEIJING: President Asif Ali Zardari has said the government is pursuing a three-pronged strategy to counter terrorism.He expressed these views in an interview given to Chinese journalists on Monday at the President House in Islamabad that was published here on Tuesday.

Zardari said the fight against terrorism could not be won with guns and bombs only and it must be multi-faceted. The government was pursuing a three-pronged strategy to counter terrorism and Pakistan was taking political, economic and military measures to find the short- and long-term solution to the problem, he said. The president said the war on terror was becoming difficult because of the limited resources of Pakistan.

He said terrorism was a challenge to the society, the way of life and the state of Pakistan, adding that it was a situation Pakistan had to face. Referring to the situation in the northwestern and tribal regions, Zardari said: “The life of the people is not normal. So, the first responsibility of the government is peace.”

He said the first challenge was to provide the people security and Pakistan was “coming up with the special package” to enhance its capability. “In the past, the capability has not been properly enhanced on the civil side to take on this challenge,” he said, adding that Pakistan needed civilian forces and police forces to be strong enough. He said Pakistan was upgrading its resources and forces in the fight against terrorism. “We intend to make sure that all such challenges are minimised at the earliest,” he said.
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Militants swapped for Chinese engineer?

PESHAWAR: The government has released over a dozen Taliban prisoners, several of them from Waziristan, for securing the release of the Chinese telecommunications engineer, Long Xiaowei, official and militant sources said on Sunday.

Long Xiaowei was freed on Saturday after 170-day captivity and shifted to Chinese Embassy in Islamabad. Militants loyal to Maulana Fazlullah had kidnapped him along with his colleague Zhuang Guo from Khal town of Lower Dir district on August 29. Both the captives attempted to escape on October 17, 2007, in which Zhuang succeeded to get away but Long got his leg fractured in the move.

The government functionaries have been tight-lipped about the deal between the militants and the government for the release of the engineer but The News has learnt that the government swapped Long Xiaowei for more than a dozen Taliban prisoners.

“Yes, a number of militants were freed to secure the release of the Chinese engineer,” an official, who has full knowledge of the deal, told The News. He, however, refused to give the exact figure of the prisoners released in exchange for the engineer.

“Efforts were intensified to secure his release before the president’s (Asif Ali Zardari) upcoming visit to China. It’s a gift to the people of China on the occasion of his visit and it is also expected that the president will take him (Long) along to China,” the source added.

However, another official ruled out the release of any Taliban by the government in exchange for the Chinese hostage. He said the government exercised pressure and made the Taliban to free the Chinese.

The government was under immense pressure for the release of the Chinese engineer after the beheading of a Polish geologist, Piotr Stanczak, by Darra Adamkhel Taliban militants. The already beleaguered government of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was further troubled when the Polish government termed the video of his beheading authentic.

Also, pressure mounted on President Zardari when UN chief Ban Ki-moon asked him the day Long was released to take measures for the early and safe release of American UN official, John Solecki, kidnapped from Quetta. His captors have also threatened to kill him within 72 hours of his recently released video, if the government did not meet their demands.

The official source insisted that some prisoners were freed on Saturday, paving the way for Long’s release the same day. Earlier, militants were denying any deal for freeing the captive engineer and insisted the move was made as a “goodwill gesture”. However, when told about the release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for the foreign engineer, spokesman for Swat militants, Muslim Khan, reluctantly confirmed to had got released the Taliban prisoners for letting Long Xiaowei go.

“Over the last one week, the government freed several Taliban prisoners, but most of them were ordinary fighters. Actually, majority of the prisoners released hailed from Waziristan,” he claimed, refusing to divulge their exact number and identities.

“If they were key the Taliban prisoners, they would have included my own brother,” Muslim said, replying to a question. The security forces have arrested his brother and son-in-law months ago from Makanbagh area of Mingora city of Swat valley.

Another source close to Maulana Fazlullah and his militants told The News that 16 important Swat Taliban commanders were released on Saturday in exchange for the kidnapped Chinese national. However, from Muslim Khan’s conversation, it seemed that the number of released Taliban was higher than that

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