Sometimes I see hope

My four readers know that I tend to concentrate on Pakistan in most of my writings in doing this I tend to read a lot of South West Asian news. Doing so often times leads me to articles and editorials that give me hope that there maybe a way to turn around the terrorism that is the primary product of these areas.

Today an editorial appears in Dawn.com a Pakistani news site. In it the author calls for the Pakistani government and with it the ISI to get its act together in regards to domestic terrorism. It also calls on the government to stop playing regional power broker when the fabric of Pakistani society is being destroyed from within.

Then again I read something like this which is a propaganda attempt by the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or in the states (TeT). That says the group will give $20 million in aid to the Pakistani flood victims but it has to be distributed by the group and not through the gov't of Pakistan oh and the jihad against the United States will continue. Let us not forget that 10 in foreign aid workers were just killed in Afghanistan by the HIG which is a "good" Taliban group. The aid workers belong to an organization that has been helping the Afghan people since the 1960s.

After awhile depression sets in. This is from the Asia Times. Part of counter insurgency is to get those that will lay down their weapons to do so and frankly to kill the rest. In this case however Taliban had laid down their arms and were going to try and become peaceful citizens. This goes with the poor governance coming from Kabul as these guys should have been held up as shining examples of what happens when you lay down your guns. Now they are back to fighting against the government. Admittedly though they probably made more money helping to run opium and heroin and being bandits than they could as private citizens. Here is the money quote Siawash, a political analyst in Herat province, said he "believed that most of those who joined the peace process were simply armed criminals, rather than part of the opposition. Once they realized they were no longer able to make a living out of crime, he said, they came to the government and claimed to be militants willing to surrender. Then they would turn back to crime again." What most people realize is that a good portion of the "Taliban" are nothing but criminals and drug smugglers albeit heavily armed ones hiding behind religion.

I think I need to go read something on Onion as I am disgusted.

Ambush

You probably have not heard much about the Lebanese Army attacking an Israeli unit this week. What you have heard from the media is probably wrong leave it to UN to actually defend Israel for once. UNIFIL the unit that is sort of overseeing the cease fire between the IDF and Hezbollah acknowledged that the Israelis were on their side of the border. Also a sniper shot that takes out the CO then followed by a volley of RPG fire. This was a perfect set up. There are lots of links to the incident I suggest that you follow them.

Brennen

Mr. Brennen is the administrations top anti-terrorism guy however smart he thinks he is about jihad he is just not getting it. I have mentioned in the past that yes I do understand that trying to seperate mainstream Muslims from the terrorists view of Islam is a good thing. However with the revival of Islam there seems to be disagrement in the Muslim world of the role of jihad. What CAIR and other Muslim groups want us to believe is that jihad is just an internal struggle however there is too much other information out there saying that jihad is to expand Islam. The latest from MEMRI says something very different. Hafiz Saeed, a scholar of Islam, has said that the purpose of Jihad is to carry out a sustained struggle for the dominance of Islam in the entire world and to eliminate the evil forces and the ignorant. He considers India, Israel and US to be his prime enemies and has threatened to launch Fidayeen (suicide squad) attacks on American interests too. More on Saeed who is the leader of the LeT his favorite verse of the Koran is
Wajahidu Fee Sabilallah: Wage a holy war in the name of God Almighty. His worldview is straight and simple: ’God has ordained every Muslim to fight until His rule is established.

Itjihad - which is a reinterpretation of the Koran has not been done in hundreds of years unlike Christian faith. For those that do not know the violent verses of the Koran abrogate the earlier more tolerant ones.

Conflicting Stories Coming from Afghanistan

Say it is not so.

Also a tale of two articles on from the Asia Times concerning civilian fears in Marjah which to some extent can be attributed to Taliban propaganda and some to legitimate security concerns. Please note the quote from the Taliban spokesman as it says that the locals are helping them. This ties in very well to a report from the Long War Journal about the closing of a local bazaar in the same area in Now Zad. Bazaars in Afghanistan while used to sell goods and services are also a large revenue source for the government as they are taxed. It also seems that the Taliban get their "help from the barrel of the AKs" I would not exactly call this winning the hearts and minds but when it is either your whole family being killed or giving up food and a son what choice do these people really have. It seems the Taliban were also running a bazaar to generate income and to move their opium. It would not be a far stretch to say that the same group of Taliban are stirring up trouble in both areas.

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=60068

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=60068

Really?

The Tehreek-e-Taliban of Pakistan or TTP the umbrella group for the Taliban fighting against the Pakistan and Afghan government has declared jihad against the Awami National Party (ANP). This Pashtun (remember the Talib are primarily Pashtun) political party who ask for "the promotion of democracy and freedom, the eradication of poverty, the protection of human rights, the combating of extremism in all its forms and the creation of equal opportunities for all citizens. It firmly believes in peace and non-violence as the best way to resolve all issues. It is committed to securing for all the federating units of Pakistan their full political, social and economic rights as equal partners in the federation and their fair share in national progress and prosperity (from the ANP Manifesto)." One of the leaders of the group son was killed last week and this week a suicide bomber struck outside of the grieving families home. Pakistan Daily News reports the TTP released this statement regarding the ANP The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said on Tuesday that it was the duty of the mujahideen to annihilate the Awami National Party (ANP), as it was “not only the enemy of the Taliban, but Islam as well”. Talking to reporters over telephone from an undisclosed location about the recent attacks on the ANP, TTP spokesman Azam Tariq said Pakhtuns could not tolerate the existence of the ANP in the region, as the party was an enemy of Islam. The spokesman added that it was the need of the hour to exterminate the ANP and the Taliban would continue jihad against the party. Do no get me wrong the ANP are no saints as several members were recently arrested for an attack on a rival political party.

This is where it gets really interesting the ANP is a Pashtun (Pakhtun) political party that is also Muslim. Also remember the TTP swears it does not attack civilians and has actually blamed Blackwater for these attacks in the past. This is a blatent attack on civilians, fellow Pashtuns, and co-religionists. The only reason I can think of for these attacks is that the TTP feels threatened by a Pashtun group that actually wants to join in the state of Pakistan instead of being administered as part of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The TTP has learned well Clauswitz's axiom of "war is a continuation of Politics by another means." By keeping opponents off balance, weak, and more worried about their personal security than getting out and promoting their message the TTP can keep the status quo in the NWFP and FATA. The status quo being virtually no governance in these areas which plays into the TTP and other Taliban and al-Qaeda related groups hands. No governance makes it easier to attack into Afghanistan, Pakistan and also train terrorists for regional and possible global attacks. Also the promotion of peace and tolerance is not one that these cowards want to hear. Bringing the NWFP and the Tribal areas under more central government control will eat into the Talib's opium profits and they really do not want to lose their source of income derived from that.

So far from being the lions of Islam the TTP are showing their true colors as they kill more and more Pakistani civilians. The problem is that the offensives carried out by the Pakistani military chased the TTP into the parts of the NWFP and the FATA that are controlled by the "good" Taliban and the military is very reluctant to take actions against these groups or the land they control.

Something the sits wrong with me

I losing the resolve to not speak out very vocally about the state sponsorship of terrorism as it involves two supposed allies of the United States in combating religiously inspired terrorism. I know that I do not have a degree in international relations and that bilateral communication between nations is always a good thing. In saying this however two of our closest allies are also state sponsors of terrorism in not in deed then word and monetarily. The Koran commands that if someone cannot bears arms in the jihad then one must support it with their money and for caring for the families of the soldiers.

While one country may support the jihad for nationalistic reasons that does not stop the groups they are supporting from biting the hand that feeds it and by also striking out against U.S. targets as well as our allies. The other country is all about spreading the salafist ideology through their wallet. Look at who sponsors most of the mosque building, sponsors Muslim schools, and contributes to the Middle Eastern Studies colleges at a great many Universities in the U.S.