Pakistan to Al-Qaida: Have fun.
By John Evans Posted in Archived — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Pakistan has apparently told the United States in no uncertain terms that they are not interested in trying to stop cross-border attacks by militants into Afghanistan.
"Instead, Pakistani officials are trying to restore calm to their country, which was rattled by a record number of suicide attacks last year. Within days, they are expected to strike a peace accord with Pakistan’s own militants that makes no mention of stopping the infiltrations. In fact, Pakistani counterinsurgency operations have stopped during the new government’s negotiations with the militants."
Pakistan is looking out for number one first, which I can't say is wrong. I can also understand why they are trying to negotiate with militants in the tribal regions. Past military offensives didn't end up so well as kidnappings and beheadings of government forces took a toll on the military's morale. It also doesn't help that the Pakistan's ISI intelligence service is in the tank for Al-Qaeda, and has been ever since we used it to funnel money to the Mujahideen fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.
That said, history has taught us that "peace treaties" with terrorists often don't work, and that, as in Pakistan, there is always someone dumb enough to sign one with them.
In this case, it gives Al-Qaeda and Co. a safe haven from which to attack our soldiers in Afghanistan, and maybe the Pakistanis later once they've gotten more recruits. Of course, Pakistan cares not.
The governor of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province tellingly said, "Pakistan is a sovereign state. NATO is in Afghanistan; it's time they did some soldiering."
Cause he sure won't.
Why don't we just eat all their goats, sheep and mules as we're doing so? Eventually, they're going to have to realize that you can't get enough nutrition from rocks and weeds and will have to start eating the terrorists in their midst.
But, seriously, I'm about as fed up with Pakistan's duplicity in dealing with the Islamist terrorists in their midst as you are. If we ever get hit again, I can see us going in and doing what you suggest. By the time we leave, we should make sure that every cave and valley is filled in and no one can hide if we want to find them.
"Straight Talk Express"? My bum feet! -- Me, on Senator McCain and other "moderates"
Q. How did Pakistan become a hotbed of al Qaeda terrorism? A. Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism and the Spread of Sunni Theofascism
Mideast Monitor, June/July 2007During the 1970s ... The Saudis financed a large-scale program of assistance to the Afghan mujahideen, in coordination with the Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence agency (ISI) and the CIA, while funding radicalized madrassas to disseminate neo-Wahhabi ideology and literature in the sprawling Afghan refugee camps of Pakistan. They also dispatched thousands of volunteer jihadis from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to fight alongside the mujahideen.
These so-called "Arab Afghans" dispersed to far-flung areas of the world after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988. They pursued further victories against "unbelievers" in the name of Islam, and they were accompanied by militant Wahhabi preachers. These elements would form the backbone of al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda was initially headquartered in Sudan, but returned to Afghanistan in 1996, following the seizure of Kabul by the Taliban. This was a new Afghan force, recruited in Wahhabi madrassas and, trained by the Pakistanis. Its goal was the establishment of a model Wahhabi state in Afghanistan.
The Saudi royal family revoked bin Laden's Saudi citizenship (in response to heavy American pressure), but did little to interfere with Wahhabi "charities" in the Kingdom and abroad. These entities raised money for al-Qaeda, while the religious onslaught of Wahhabism continued to receive government sponsorship and funding. Osama bin Laden is widely believed to have reached an agreement with Prince Turki al-Faisal, then-chief of Saudi National Security and Intelligence in the mid 1990s, whereby al-Qaeda would not target the Kingdom, and the Kingdom would not interfere with al-Qaeda's fundraising or seek bin Laden's extradition. In fact, Al-Qaeda abstained completely from attacks on Saudi targets within the Kingdom prior to 9/11.
Global terrorism — The Pakistan-Saudi Arabia nexus
G. Parthasarathy, The Hindu Business Line, August 10, 2005Robert Baer has reported that the US has known of extensive nuclear cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia since 1994. The Saudi Defence Minister, Prince Sultan, was given unprecedented access to Pakistan's nuclear facilities in Kahuta in May 1999.
Dr A. Q. Khan visited Saudi Arabia shortly thereafter. According the Pakistani writer Amir Mir, Gen Musharraf's visit to Saudi Arabia on June 25-26 was primarily to discuss how to deny the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to information about the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia nuclear nexus. Saudi Arabia is said to be resisting pressures to adhere to the IAEA's Additional Protocol, which Iran has been compelled to accept.
Saudi Arabia has been a consistent supporter in the Organisation of Islamic Conference of Pakistan's protégés in the Hurriyat Conference in Jammu and Kashmir. It is going to take a long time for members of the Saudi Royal Family to stop funding extremist Islamic causes that destabilise pluralistic societies across the world. One sincerely hopes King Abdullah will avoid going down the path chosen by Gen Musharraf. No country can insulate itself from the inevitable consequences of sponsoring jehad and extremism abroad, while piously proclaiming its abhorrence of such causes. Words necessarily have to be matched by deeds.
(The author is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan.)
"Austere, intolerant, well-armed, and blood-thirsty, in their own regions the Wahhabis are a distinct factor which must be taken into account" - Winston Churchill, 1921
This is just one reason why we should've jettisoned the OPEC oil back in the 1970s. It might've been painful for us over the short term, but at least the Arabs would've been unable to buy all their ammunition and I wouldn't feel that greived about their falling into the sphere of Soviet Russia (maybe the two would've ended up killing each other off).
"Straight Talk Express"? My bum feet! -- Me, on Senator McCain and other "moderates"
If they can't deal with their border militants, then we should take care of it. To Hades with "national sovereignty", if they're not dealing with the militants, then they've already surrendered that land. Bomb those mountains flat.
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