Taliban

I have just been forwarded this widely circulated resignation letter of Matthew P . Hoh, Senior Civilian Representative, Zabul Province, US Embassy in Afghanistan. I read the letter and found it to give a very good insight into the actual ground reality instead of what has been reported by the Western media. The Western media has successfully painted a different picture of the Afghan problem, a picture which only helps certain lobbies in the United States. Read the letter and give us your feedback.

September 10, 2009

Ambassador Nancy J. Powell
Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Ambassador Powell,

It is with great regret and disappointment I submit my resignation from my appointment as a Political Officer in the Foreign Service and my post as the Senior Civilian Representative for the US Government in Zabul Province. I have served six of the previous ten years in service to our country overseas, to include deployment as a US Marine office and Department of Defense civilian in the Euphrates and Tigris River Valleys of Iraq in 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. I did not enter into this position lightly or with any undue expectations nor did I believe my assignment would be without sacrifice, hardship or difficulty. However, in the course of my five months of service in Afghanistan, in both Regional Commands East and South, I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States’ presence in Afghanistan. I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end. To put simply: I fail to see the value or the worth in continued US casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year old civil war. [click to continue...]

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Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan issues “Sanad-e-Shahadat” or certificate of Shahadat to their “Mujahids” (or terrorists?). The certificate reads that Mujahid xyz was associated with TTP and that he embraced shahadah while making jihad for glory of Islam and defending Muslims. WELL, DOES SHAHADAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE CERTIFIED? Would a person killing innocent people be a shaheed? Probably they need to check the definition again. I read in “Badaya wa Nahaya (Tareekh ibne Kaseer)” that any body killed innocent would be taking his head in his hand on the day of judgment and would ask Allah (swt) to ask the killer that why was he killed? What would the suicide bomber would have to say on that day?

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There is a growing realization that apart from our decades of abuse of religion for politics that resulted in the rise of militant religious and linguistic groups in the country at the cost of real political parties, systematic denial of fundamental rights and legalization of criminal activity through laws such as the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) has also led to FATA becoming a safe haven for the mercenaries of all descriptions and hues. The FCR dates back to the times of the British Empire and was promulgated in its present shape in 1901.  The said regulation advocates collective punishment and children as little as two years have been convicted under the draconian FCR that contravenes all principles of human rights[i].

The act has been condemned by senior judges including noted Pakistani Supreme court judge Justice A.R Cornelius as “obnoxious to all recognized modern principles governing the dispensation of justice” in the case of Sumunder vs State (PLD 1954 FC 228). The British devised the FCR as an instrument of subjugation. It was meant to discipline the Pakhtoon population and to establish the writ of the colonial authority. In drafting the regulation, the British relied upon some customs and traditions prevailing in the tribal belt, but these traditions were distorted to suit the government’s plan of securing convictions at will.[ii]

Article 247 of the Pakistani Constitution denies all fundamental rights to the residents of these areas by providing that no Act of Parliament applies to FATA, unless the president so desires.

It is in this context that the International Crisis Group’s latest report entitled, “Pakistan: Countering Militancy in FATA” that came out on 21^st of October 2009 advocates comprehensive economic and political reforms for FATA to rehabilitate the life of its people and to eradicate militancy.

“The military operation in South Waziristan is unlikely to succeed in curbing the spread of religious militancy in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), unless the Pakistan government implements political reforms in that part of the country.” says the ICG media release.

The report examines the Talibanisation in FATA, and argues that only reforms that encourage political diversity, enhance economic opportunity, and guarantee civil and political rights will address the problem. Pakistani Taliban groups have gained significant power in the tribal agencies, seven administrative districts bordering on Afghanistan. While state institutions in FATA are increasingly dysfunctional, the militants have dismantled or assumed control of an already fragile tribal structure. This encroaching Talibanisation is not the product of tribal traditions or resistance. It is the result of short-sighted military policies and a colonial-era body of law that isolates the region from the rest of the country, giving it an ambiguous constitutional status and denying political freedoms and economic opportunity to the population. While the militants’ hold over FATA can be broken, the longer the state delays implementing political, administrative, judicial and economic reforms, the more difficult it will be to stabilise the region.

The fundamental thesis of the report is that military action alone cannot ensure a long-term change and eradication of militancy and terrorism that is sending shock-waves throughout the country.

The report makes the following important recommendations to the Government of Pakistan for a long term strategy to stem the rising tide of militancy.

1. Repealing the 1901 (FCR) Frontier Crimes Regulation and entirely replacing it with Pakistan’s  Criminal Procedure Code, in accordance with Article 8 of the constitution and internationally accepted human rights standards, including prohibition of collective punishment. [click to continue...]

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‘So it begins’ operation Rah-i-Nijat in South Waziristan against foreign backed terrorists ‘ Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’ TTP. So lets get down to the business and give you the overview of this new battle against evil and show you how both the parties stack against each other. Besides we will daily update this post for any news, so it would be better if you would bookmark this page and check on the progress of Pakistan Army.

Army Troops :

Approximately 30,000 soldiers were taking part in the operation, which is a combination of ground offensive and aerial strikes. Aerial strikes include fighter jets, gunship helicopters and aerial surveillance vehicles. While the foot soldiers are supported by heavy Armour and artillery.

Tehreek-e-Taliban (South Waziristan):

The estimated number of hardcore religious extremists and militants in South Waziristan was 10,000. The number includes 1,000 to 1500 foreign militants, most of them Uzbek. Besides, border with Afghanistan allows them reinforcements (Afghans, Uzbeks, and in some cases Gurkhas) and not to mention arms and ammunition from all the anti-Pakistan sources.Terrorists main weapons would be ambushes, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), road-side and bombings.

Day 1 - 17th October 2009-  Report:

Army Casualties: 2 Soldiers (martyred)

Terrorists Eliminated: 11-15 (unconfirmed number as the Jets pounded their bases and numbers could not be confirmed).

Day 2 - 18th October 2009-  Report:

Security forces claimed taking control on Spankai and Ghazai areas of South Waziristan Agency (SWA) while PAF’s fighter jets pounded militants’ positions, killing 12 terrorists and demolishing several hideouts during the ongoing military operation late on Saturday.

During last 24 hours, 60 terrorists have been killed in operation Rah-e-Nijat while 5 security men lost their lives and 11 were wounded, said ISPR in a news release here Sunday

Day 3 - 19th October 2009-  Report:

During last 24 hours, 18 terrorists have been killed in operation Rah-e-Nijat.

4th November 2009 - Report:

Since the operation started here are the casualties on both sides

Terrorists Killed: 370

Pak Soldiers Martyred: 45

The above stats are provided by ISPR as there is very little pressence of Media reporters.

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On the news of the IDPs return home to the Swat Valley, I had mixed feelings, both elation and concern. The joy of people finally returning to their houses was overwhelming. However, increasing fears of backlash overshadowed enthusiasm and questions about the rehabilitation of these people along with the need to continue aid indefinitely were frequently debated. It would have been naive to assume that all would be well and good from here. We can only imagine walking into ruins of shattered houses, burned streets, and luscious valleys reeking of gunpowder.

And then came the bodies. Well after the army had wrestled control of the area and declared it a safe haven for civilians, the people of Swat witnessed the?dumping bodies on their already destroyed streets.

Soon after the incidents, news reports regarding possible human right violations started pouring in. Numerous allegations were made against the military, with human rights groups claiming that the military carried out extrajudicial killing during the Rah-i-Rast offensive in the valley. Meanwhile, locals and politicians dismissed the deaths as incidents of score settling by the local people against the Taliban. The Taliban had been ruthless, kidnapping, killing, and even decapitating many civilians. The locals of the war-ravaged valley had been first-hand victims of the Taliban atrocities, so it was not inconceivable that they would try to take revenge. With no reporters being allowed in the area for security reasons, eyewitness accounts and suppositions were all that the rest of the country had to go on. Indeed, there had not been any concrete evidence that could back the claims regarding violence by either military personnel or the residents of Swat.

[click to continue...]

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I cannot tell whether the Taliban have been destroyed or dispersed as a result of this operation until I go myself, But one thing that is quite obvious is that security forces regained Swat and Buner from the Taliban, which itself is very significant.” - AP, said Holbrooke, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This is Holbrooke’s fifth visit to Pakistan since his appointment in January’09. The first after the reported death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, in a US missile attack earlier this month. An event considered to be the most significant blow to the Taliban regime till date.

Mr Holbrooke’s top priority for the trip is peace during the Afghan polls. The US diplomat is expected to visit Kabul before the elections. He is expected to urge an increased security on the Pak-Afghan border to ensure safety during elections.

But the concerns of the people of Pakistan regarding Holbrooke’s visit are quite different. Talks of launching a full fledge operation doesn’t seem to be appropriate, especially while the idp crisis is in its recovery phase. The swat crisis displaced over 3 million people who seem to be slowly recovering and making their way back home. Although most seem happy to be able to go back to their homes, but returning to normalcy seems a long way ahead. Just two months back Holbrooke made his first visit to the IDP camps in Swabi. The highest ranking US official to visit the camps of the displaced in swat. [click to continue...]

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Few months back the government of Pakistan and US both got exposed by the media when they released the pictures of US Drones parked in Shamsi airbase in Baluchistan. The controversy became an embarassment for both Musharraf and the present democratic government as no one could deny the reality. The detail article about the US drones parked in Pakistan can be found here.  Google Earth was credited for that discovery since its free service helped some curious users to discover the truth.

Google Earth has since been used to locate on map all places whose names are mentioned in media. Recently, when the death of Baitullah Mehsud was announced on the media, few people started finding the locations. The good news is that they were successful in locating the areas where Baitullah Mehsud is claimed to be killed and also the area where he had been buried. Thanks to Stefan Geens of Ogle Earth, the locations have now been tagged on Google Earth.

Since we all know and read that Baithullah Mehsud was hit by drones in Zangrai Algad (its Algada in reality which means a river or stream in Pashtu), Stefan was able to locate it.  According to Stefan,

Ladha was easily found via a default search in Google Earth (and the returned placemark comes courtesy of an entry in Google Earth Community); it is indeed in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, and is the location of an old British fort. Then it was a matter of finding Zanghara. Here Geonames.org once again proved to be an invaluable resource. A fuzzy search for “Zangarha” in Pakistan returned one clear answer exactly 15km northeast of Ladha: Zangarai Algad, where “algad” denotes that the feature name is a stream or shallow valley. This valley extends northeast-southwest for a few kilometers, and I think it is likely this is the place referred to by the article.

You can further explore the area. Do note the terrain and anyone with slight idea of military will be in a better position to comment on it. As per my knowledge, the terrain is very difficult to access for any foot soldiers and hence drones are the best weapons to hit targets in such terrain.

Now lets see the second place where the Baitullah Mehsud is said to have been buried as per his will. The possible location has been shared in few media outlets as Nargosey. The place was also discovered by Stefan and that is what he says about it:

Browsing with Geonames.org in the immediate vicinity of the Zangarai placemark, it only took seconds to chance upon “Nargosa” village, one of the very few inhabited places in the remote and hilly area. Such successful triangulation of place names makes it quite likely in my mind that this is the place referred to

Thanks to the Google Earth, even individuals can now use their own free satellite to track things and make discoveries. Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch rightly says:

It is becoming increasingly more difficult to hide from Google Earth, which makes us all Big Brother in a sense. That’s a good thing (better us than a single government or corporation).

Unfortunately, Google Earth is only retrospective. You can’t see what is happening across the globe right now. Maybe one dayit will be closer to real time.

Let’s hope that the information provided by Google Earth is used for positive purposes since such vast information freely available can always be used for criminal and terrorist activities as well. So let’s hope the negative side of this technology is not much explored.

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War brings with it a tinging uncertainty, which is almost impossible to overlook. The fact that war will bring peace sounds quite hypocritical.Yet there are many situations that appear to have no other solution. On a personal level, I am against war, or any sort of violence for whatever given reason. War is something I wouldn’t want to justify. Just last months I was in the same state of mind when I wrote about the incessant war. The fact that  the war in swat  is a long term affair. Its not only about killing the militancy but wiping the ideology that seeps in our society at many levels. Without dismantling the mindset we will only gain a temporary victory. This wasn’t my attempt to boycott the army offensive in swat, but to point out a lot more that should be done alongside.

Although it may seem like a  vague idea but certainly not something we can afford to ignore.  Its quite interesting that Saudia Arabia offers a Jihad Rehab to those involved in extremist activities.

Jihad Rehab

In Saudi Arabia the government’s employing a radical approach to win back the hearts and minds of those who’ve committed atrocities on behalf of organizations like Al Qaeda. Turning young men away from extremism, Saudi style.

This is not what you would imagine when you think of a typical Saudi jail.
Inside, prisoners enjoy access to wide-ranging recreational facilities including their own swimming pools, video games and table tennis.
In return for the more relaxed environment, prisoners have to attend religious education classes where Islamic scholars challenge their views.
The thinking behind the new initiative is to fight al-Qaeda’s ideology by convincing militant Islamists they have a distorted view of Islam.

“You cannot defeat an ideology by force. You have to fight ideas with ideas,” says Abdul-Rahman Hadlaq, ISU director.”( ideology security unit)

[click to continue...]

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