Posted by
Cary Wesberry on Saturday, July 05, 2008 7:45:07 PM
Written by Shaheen Buneri
Published Thursday, July 03, 2008
[Peshawar, Pakistan] The ever-increasing influence of pro-Al-Qa’ida Taliban groups is forcing Pakistan authorities to re-think its policy of reconciliation and devise a more comprehensive mechanism to deal with the militancy that is now threatening Pakistan’s settled districts after sweeping the tribal belt along the Pakistani-Afghan border.
Reports say that Taliban activity is not restricted to the lawless tribal belt, and the government's conciliatory approach has emboldened them to strengthen their support bases in the large cities of the violence-prone south Asian country.
The strong wave of Talibanization that has spread from the South Waziristan Tribal Agency has gradually engulfed the adjoining tribal agencies and has reached the Swat, Charsada, Mardan and Nowshera districts in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
Starting with a social reform agenda by settling civil disputes and providing speedy justice through their Shari’a courts, Taliban groups have now begun targeting political leaders, civil society workers and rival religious groups, and have established parallel governments in the border areas.
Political analysts believe that government complacency and lack of political will at the center is responsible for the rising tide of militancy.
"We thought that [Taliban] operations were restricted to the tribal region; now they are knocking on our doors," Brigadier Mehmod Shah, former Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) security chief observes.
Official sources say the newly elected government that formed in March, after a coalition of political parties defeated the pro-Musharraf party and a politico-religious alliance in NWFP, is now seriously thinking of reversing the much touted peace process and is planning a more comprehensive and realistic strategy to deal with militancy.
Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Monday that the government would ensure its control in tribal areas at all costs.
Gilani said the provincial government had struck a peace deal with tribal chieftains three months ago, but the latter violated the agreement by resorting to hanging people publicly, kidnapping minority citizens and setting ablaze girls’ schools.
"No government can afford a parallel government and we will never compromise the country's sovereignty, dignity and self-respect," he added.
Critics argue that the lack of a unified and consistent policy at the center, links of certain officials with armed groups, demoralized law enforcement agencies, the United States’ presence in neighboring Afghanistan, unemployment and poor health and educational facilities in the tribal belt are the main reasons behind the escalating tide of extremism.
“It will take a lot of time, focus and energy to curb militancy in Pakistan,” says Syed Irfan Ashraf, a Peshawar-based analyst. “Earlier, the Taliban were divided into small groups; now they have a well-organized and coherent structure. Their ideological bond makes them stronger as compared to Pakistan’s embattled security forces.”
U.S. authorities and NATO generals in Afghanistan have expressed their concern over growing violence in Afghanistan and say that Pakistan’s tribal areas have become safe havens for pro-Al-Qa’ida Taliban groups.
NATO spokesman Mark Laity told a regular news conference in Kabul on Sunday that, "We know that as long as the insurgents operate safely on the Pakistan side of the border, there cannot be security in Afghanistan."
Since 2001, when U.S.-led forces dismantled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Taliban groups developed strong relationships with insurgent groups across the border.
Continue reading the report at the link above. The reconciliation policy of Pakistan's government was a failure from the start, even I knew that. Pakistan shows no real will to shut down the Taliban on their side of the border with Afghanistan. Sure they make token strikes now and again, but nothing even remotely compared to what Pakistan needs to do in order to stop the Taliban and gain some sort of control over their own country.
Taliban forces, along with al-Qaeda, are getting stronger in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I blame this mostly on rules of engagement shackling our soldiers from doing their jobs and killing the enemy. If Pakistan will not take initiative then our military must. The war in Afghanistan will go on forever as along as we are not allowed to make significant strikes into regions on Pakistan's side of the border. This should be obvious to just about anyone who takes even a cursory glance at the situation. It does not take long to realize what's happening... or not happening depending on how you look at it.
Iraq is a blazing success compared to Afghanistan, then again Iraq is a blazing success compared to itself. The point is that since General Petraeus taking charge and implementing the Surge tactic, our enemies in Iraq have been defeated and on the run. There is virtually no safe haven in Iraq for al-Qaeda or assorted insurgents. Something like the Surge needs to take place in Afghanistan so that American soldiers can take charge of the country and stabilize it. This is common sense! Or at least it should be.