Is Pakistan falling to Taliban?

[Vinod2070]

2 attacks per week: Pak Taliban


Islamabad: A senior Pakistan Taliban commander on Sunday issued a warning that the group will carry out two suicide attacks per week in Pakistan similar to the one in Islamabad on Saturday that killed eight paramilitary person.
Hakimullah Mehsud also claimed responsibility for the attack that targetted security forces near the United Nations office in Islamabad.
Mehsud, a deputy to Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, warned last week that his group would attack Islamabad in retaliation for US drone missile strikes against militants in Pakistan near the Afghan border.The Pakistani Taliban deputy spoke to the news agency over phone on Sunday.
This warning comes a jsut week after Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud had threatened more attacks in retaliation to US drone strikes. Mehsud too had threatened to carry out more strikes unless Islamabad withdrew troops from tribal areas and drone attacks ceased in the troubled NWFP.
During the Bush administration the US military started using unmanned drones to attack bases on the Pakistani side of the Afghanistan border believed to be used by Taliban fighters. The drone attacks on Pakistani territory have continued since Barack Obama became president in January. AGENCIES

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defa...eLabel=11&EntityId=Ar01101&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

 

[Vinod2070]

^^ This would be hilarious, were it not so sad.

Advanced count of the number of attacks per week by the monsters created by Pakistan itself.

 

[Vinod2070]

Taliban enforce Islamic law in Bajaur

Militia Says No Efforts Would Be Spared To Implement Shariah; Consolidate Hold On Buner


Islamabad: The Pakistani Taliban have begun enforcing Islamic law in the Bajaur tribal region even as scores of militants consolidated their hold on Buner district, located just 100 km from the federal capital.
Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, the militant commander in Bajaur Agency and a deputy of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, announced the decision to enforce Shariah in the region during a broadcast on his illegal FM radio station late on Friday.
Mohammad also barred women from stepping out of their homes without male relatives, banned shaving of beards and warned people against availing assistance from the Benazir Income Support Programme, a government project to provide financial aid to women. During a 40-minute speech on radio, Mohammad said he and his fighters would spare no effort to strictly implement Islamic laws in the region.
The Taliban have formed an “action group” to ensure the enforcement of Shariah and to punish people who violate their edicts.
Mohammad said that shaving of beards and men not wearing skull caps are “practices of Jews and their followers” which the Taliban would not allow in Bajaur. People who listened to his radio broadcast described Mohammad’s tone as “aggressive”. The militant commander also said people supporting the Benazir Income Support Programme and NGOs would be produced before Shariah courts.
Meanwhile, scores of Taliban fighters from Swat who entered Buner district, located just 100 km from Islamabad, have begun consolidating their hold on the region and taking control of more areas, including the shrine of Sufi saint Pir Baba. Earlier, following peace talks with a tribal jirga, the militants had announced that they would pull out of Buner. Security forces offered no resistance as the militants took over more areas, the Dawn newspaper reported.
“They have taken control of vast areas in Buner. They are freely moving around while police and other law enforcement personnel remain confined to their posts,” said a man who lives near the shrine of Pir Baba.
He said the militants had earlier announced that they would leave after holding a march in the area. Local residents said the militants had occupied the homes of influential people organising an anti-Taliban lashkar or militia and were patrolling the road leading to Daggar, the headquarters of Buner district. The militants also delivered sermons in village mosques. “We have been asked by our seniors not to interfere with the Taliban,” an officer of the Pir Baba police station told Dawn.
He said the Taliban had advanced weapons, some of which he had “never seen before”. The officer said the militants had not harmed anyone so far. “Their prime targets have already fled,” he added. A militant spokesman announced that people who had fled the area should return to their homes. He warned that those who had taken up arms against the Tailban would not be spared. PTI

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defa...eLabel=12&EntityId=Ar01200&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

 

[Vinod2070]

So the "mighty" PA has conceded defeat in Bajaur and handed over Bajaur to the "Indian agent" Baitullah Mehsud? That after months and months of so called fighting which involved destroying all the homes of the tribals leaving in Bajaur!

I guess we are seeing history getting unravelled in front of us.

The countdown to the 6 months deadline has begun: 5 months 2 weeks left.

 

[Vinod2070]

THE SIEGE WITHIN

There is nothing called the ‘moderate Taliban’

M J AKBAR



If necessity is the mother of invention then politics is often the father. Barack Obama has invented a phrase that did not exist on January 20, the day he became president. Anxious to win a war through the treasury rather than the Pentagon, he has discovered something called the ‘‘moderate Taliban’’ in Afghanistan. Joe Biden, his vice president, has found the mathematical coordinates of this oxymoron: only 5% of the Taliban are ‘‘extremists’’.
Welcome to Obama’s first big mistake.
The war in Afghanistan and Pakistan is not simply against some bearded men and beardless boys who have been turned into suicide missionaries. The critical conflict is against the ideology of a chauvinistic theocracy that seeks to remould the Muslim world into a regressive region from which it can assault every aspect of modernity, whether that be in political space or the social sphere.
Washington has a single dimension definition of ‘‘moderate’’: anyone who stops an active, immediate war against the US is a ‘‘moderate’’. Let me introduce him to a couple of ‘‘moderate Taliban’’. They are now world famous, having been on every national and international news channel these past few days, stars of a video clip from Swat. Two of them had pinned down a 17-year-old girl called Chand Bibi, while a third, his face shrouded, lashed her with a whip 37 times on suspicion of being seen with a man who was not her father or brother.
Obama should record the screams of Chand Bibi and play them to his daughters as the ‘‘moderate’’ music to which he wants to dance in his Afghan war.
These Taliban are ‘‘moderate’’ by the norms of the Obama Doctrine: they have come to a deal with America through Islamabad. Pakistani troops are not engaged in their medieval haven, nor are American Drones bombing their homes. All that remains, one presumes, is that they are placed on the Pentagon payroll as insurance of their ceasefire.
Perhaps, in their desperate search for moderation, Obama and Islamabad will promote the denial being manipulated into public discourse. The unbearable Swat-lashing video is now described as fake. It would be nice to know the names of the actors who played such a convincing part in the filming of this ‘fake’. Chand Bibi has ‘‘denied’’ any such incident. Sure: but was any doctor sent to check the scars?
Such compromise with ‘moderation’ has also taken place next door, in Afghanistan, under the watchful eye of American ally Hamid Karzai. He has just signed a family law bill which compels Afghan women to take permission from their husbands before going to a doctor, seeking education, or getting a job. The husband has become complete master of the bedroom. Custody of children can only go to fathers or grandfathers; women have no rights. A member of Afghanistan’s upper house, Senator Humaira Namati, has called this law ‘‘worse than during the Taliban (government). Anyone who spoke out was accused of being against Islam’’. It makes no difference to the Taliban, of course, that the Quran expressly forbids Muslim men from forcing decisions on their wives ‘‘against their will’’. Karzai’s justification is the usual one: politics. He wanted the support of theocrats in the election scheduled for August this year. Under pressure, there is talk of a review but no one is sure what that means.
If it’s democracy, it must be ‘‘moderate’’, right?
One can understand a post-Iraq America’s reluctance towards wars that seem straight out of Kipling. But we in the region have to live with the political consequences of superpower intervention, and the casual legitimacy that Obama is offering to a destructive ideology will create blowback that spreads far beyond the geography of ‘‘Afpak’’.
Benazir Bhutto and the ISI did not create the Taliban in the winter of 1994 for war against America. Its purpose was to defeat fractious Afghan warlords, and establish a totalitarian regime that would equate Afghanistan’s strategic interests to Pakistan’s. The ISI conceived an ‘‘Afpak’’ long before the idea reached the outer rim of Washington’s thinking. Pakistan worked assiduously to widen the Taliban’s legitimacy and would have drawn America into the fold through the oil-pipeline siren song if Osama bin Laden had not blown every plan apart. In some essentials, things have not changed. Pakistan’s interests still lie in a pro-Islamabad Taliban regime in Kabul. The ‘‘moderation’’ theory is a ploy to provide war-weary America with an exit point. India’s anxieties will be offered a smile in public and a shrug in private.
History is uncomfortable with neat closures. Neither the Taliban nor Pakistan are what they were in 1994: the former is much stronger, the latter substantially weaker. The fall of Kabul to the Taliban this time could be a curtain raiser to the siege of Islamabad.
There is nothing called a moderate lash, or backlash, President Obama.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Defa...eLabel=11&EntityId=Ar01103&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

 

[Vinod2070]

Sikh families leave Orakzai after Taliban demand jizia
By Abdul Saboor Khan

HANGU: Sikh families living in Orakzai Agency have left the agency after the Taliban demanded Rs 50 million as jizia (tax) from them, official sources and locals said on Tuesday.

Residents of Ferozekhel area in Lower Orakzai Agency told Daily Times on Tuesday that around 10 Sikh families left the agency after the demand by the Taliban, who said they were a minority and liable to pay the tax for living in the area in accordance with sharia.

Locals said the Taliban had notified the Sikh families about the ‘tax’ around a week ago. They said of the 15 Sikh families in Ferozekhel, 10 had shifted while the remaining were preparing to do so.

The locals said the families were impoverished and had left the area to avoid any Taliban action.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\04\15\story_15-4-2009_pg7_5

Great work. They are exposing the real stuff that makes this Taliban menace and what the Islamic rule looks like and has always looked like.

Bloody bigots.

 

[nitesh]

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index....iew&id=36939&sectionid=4&issueid=101&Itemid=1

We'll have Shariah in all of Pak: Muslim Khan
Headlines Today
New Delhi, April 15, 2009

They won't stop until every square-inch of Pakistan bows to Shariah law. And they have all available means to achieve it. The alarming intentions of the Taliban in Pakistan are no longer ambiguous. This is no longer about a chaotic Islamist outfit spilling over from Afghanistan and looking for cover. This is about taking over an entire nation.

In his first exclusive interview to an Indian television network, Tehreek-e-Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan spoke to Headlines Today in Pakistan's Swat. He opened by declaring in no uncertain terms that the Taliban intended to annex Pakistan in its entirety, and convert it into a "true Islamic state".

Referring to the hundreds of Pakistanis who have died in the area and the atrocities that continue, Khan said, "That is their fate. It is our duty to show the world what Islam really is. It is Allah's will that Pakistan be under Shariah in its true form. We have promised Allah that we will not rest until all of Pakistan is under Shariah."

When asked what the Tehreek-e-Taliban would do if it faced opposition from the Pakistani forces, he didn't lose a moment to declare that his outfit would use all means and all force available to overcome any opposition to their cause. He made it clear that the Taliban-controlled Swat, Malakand and more recently the Buner District of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, will be used as templates that the marauding Taliban will replicate in every piece of territory they take over. The recent authentication of the Swat peace deal through Pakistan's Parliament has reportedly emboldened the group into looking towards more territory - including South East into Pakistani Punjab.

With unconfirmed reports of Taliban infiltrations into the Valley still doing the rounds, the Taliban spokesman had a warning that speaks for itself: "What the Pakistan security forces could not achieve in Kashmir, the jihadis and the mujahideen will."{So get ready guys one more type of thugs (if there was any difference at all) is coming they will meet the same fate}

Khan went on to critise the "Hindu government" of J&K. "The Hindu government in Kashmir is committing atrocities on Muslims. Security forces have been incapable of doing anything on that front. It can be achieved only by the way of Jihad. The security forces have been unable to liberate Kashmir in the last 60 years because they don't fight on the basis on religion," he said.

Then, disturbingly, "Jihad does not stop in Pakistan. It does not stop for anything or anyone."

 

[Vinod2070]

^^ I think it's time for India now to reverse the direction of invasion and show these barbarians how cowardly they really are.

I want to see B-52s dropping the 2000 pounders over them. An occasional MOAB (mother of all bombs) or Daisy cutter won't be bad either.

 

[nitesh]

^^ I think it's time for India now to reverse the direction of invasion and show these barbarians how cowardly they really are.

I want to see B-52s dropping the 2000 pounders over them. An occasional MOAB (mother of all bombs) or Daisy cutter won't be bad either.

hmm so you are talking about a global alliance to take them out I am also waiting for that

 

[Vinod2070]

Yes, they are a global menace and need to be taken out by a global alliance.

This is the only prediction by the clown Zaid Hamid that I want to see come true. He mentioned that USA will use B-52s to drop bombs on the Taliban.

I think the day is not far.

 

[johnee]

btw, a small doubt. when PA doesnt fight taliban, they excuse themselves by saying that soldiers of PA dont want to fight their own ppl. but talibani soldiers seem to have no such problem in fighting PA. how and why?

this is an important question in my view. since, this would give us an insight into the thought pattern of two important sections in pakistan: PA and taliban.

my guess is that, while talibani soldiers consider their 'job' justified and even have 'just' rewards for doing it, the PA soldiers are demoralised. at some level, they may be believing that taliban is actually justified in its fight, and they are standing on the wrong side. so, a PA soldier cant depend on his family, clan or religion for motivation. also, he may be aware that some of the top leadership is pro-talibani, hence he is not convinced that this is going to be an all out 'war'.

finally, my prediction is we are not going to see any 'civil war' between the so-called moderate muslims of pakistan and the talibani variety. we will simply see a change of guard, which is going to be pro-talibani. sharia will be implemented in pak with 'official stamp'. so the flogging, beheading.......etc will be legal.
taliban is invincible as long as the world depends on PA to fight them and defeat them.

 

[rock45]

I don't follow politics per say but this message needs to get push into the American media because most Americans don't understand the situation in Pakistan. I can't say it any clearer then that.

Americans have no idea what India has been through or goes through everyday in there struggles against terrorism. Overall very little of India's history of dealing terrorism is known.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Rock there two facts both covered in the media that are contradictory and make no sense.

1) Pakistani army has SURRENDERED to the Taliban,

2)Aid to Pakistan has tripled while pakistan role will be none in the WOT.

 

[nitesh]

btw, a small doubt. when PA doesnt fight taliban, they excuse themselves by saying that soldiers of PA dont want to fight their own ppl. but talibani soldiers seem to have no such problem in fighting PA. how and why?

this is an important question in my view. since, this would give us an insight into the thought pattern of two important sections in pakistan: PA and taliban.

my guess is that, while talibani soldiers consider their 'job' justified and even have 'just' rewards for doing it, the PA soldiers are demoralised. at some level, they may be believing that taliban is actually justified in its fight, and they are standing on the wrong side. so, a PA soldier cant depend on his family, clan or religion for motivation. also, he may be aware that some of the top leadership is pro-talibani, hence he is not convinced that this is going to be an all out 'war'.

finally, my prediction is we are not going to see any 'civil war' between the so-called moderate muslims of pakistan and the talibani variety. we will simply see a change of guard, which is going to be pro-talibani. sharia will be implemented in pak with 'official stamp'. so the flogging, beheading.......etc will be legal.
taliban is invincible as long as the world depends on PA to fight them and defeat them.

The problem here is the PA is only inclined to fight towards "Hindu" India they are not willing to fight the fellow "muslim" until this mentality goes out others have to do the job

 

[Flint]

The problem here is the PA is only inclined to fight towards "Hindu" India they are not willing to fight the fellow "muslim" until this mentality goes out others have to do the job

Very true. The result of religious indoctrination. You are reluctant to brand people who claim to fight on behalf of your own religion as the enemy.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

History books will point to this cause as the reason for the US defeat in afghanistan.

 

[johnee]

The problem here is the PA is only inclined to fight towards "Hindu" India they are not willing to fight the fellow "muslim" until this mentality goes out others have to do the job

true. and this mentality is not limited to PA. till the time pakistanis in general accept that muslims and islam can pose problems to them, they cant get out of this rut. the fundamental basis of their world view is us(muslims) and them(kufr).
they just blame all their problems on the kufr and refuse to believe that one muslim can have trouble from the other muslim.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

true. and this mentality is not limited to PA. till the time pakistanis in general accept that muslims and islam can pose problems to them, they cant get out of this rut. the fundamental basis of their world view is us(muslims) and them(kufr).
they just blame all their problems on the kufr and refuse to believe that one muslim can have trouble from the other muslim.

then isn't it hypocritical of them to take money from American kufr to kill their muslim brothers? and carry on the charade for this long?

 

[johnee]

then isn't it hypocritical of them to take money from American kufr to kill their muslim brothers? and carry on the charade for this long?

it maybe hypocritical but it is not unislamic. and that is all that matters to them.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

it maybe hypocritical but it is not unislamic. and that is all that matters to them.

it is unislamic for muslims to kill other muslims