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Pakistan 'in fight for survival'
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| Magnetonium |
Pakistan is in a bit of a pickle. NATO intervention in Afghanistan has been gradually strengthening Taliban support in Pakistan. Are more American troops to Afghanistan going to bring peace to the region?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7890985.stm?lss
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Pakistan's president says his country is fighting for its survival against the Taleban, whose influence he said has spread deep into the country.
In an interview with US TV channel CBS, President Asif Zardari said the Taleban had established a presence across "huge parts" of Pakistan.
The country had failed to increase its forces in response, he said.
On Saturday, officials said at least 27 militants were killed in a suspected US missile strike on a Taleban hide-out.
The missile hit a house in north-west Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan, where the US has carried out more than 20 air strikes from drones in recent months.
Islamabad has long argued that the strikes complicate its fight against insurgents, and violate its sovereignty.
Pakistani leaders had said they hoped US President Barack Obama's new administration would halt them.
But earlier this week Mr Obama said there was no doubt militants were operating in safe havens in Pakistan's tribal belt and that the US would make sure Pakistan was a strong ally in fighting that threat.
'In denial'
In his interview with CBS, which is due to be broadcast on Sunday, Mr Zardari rejected any notion that Pakistan was battling the Taleban on behalf of the US.
Our forces weren't increased… we have weaknesses and [the Taleban] are taking advantage of that weakness
Pakistan President Asif Zardari
"We're not doing anybody a favour," he said.
"We are aware of the fact [the Taleban are] trying to take over the state of Pakistan," he said.
"So, we're fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We're not fighting for the survival of anybody else."
He also said the Taleban had extended its presence from the tribal areas to Pakistan's larger cities.
"[The Taleban] do have a presence in huge amounts of land in our side," he said, according to excerpts of the the interview.
"It's been happening over time and it's happened out of denial. Everybody was in denial."
He said that many people had thought of the Taleban: "They're weak and they won't be able to take over… they won't be able to give us a challenge.
"And our forces weren't increased… we have weaknesses and they are taking advantage of that weakness."
'Way of life'
Mr Zardari was elected months after his wife, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated at an election campaign.
Pakistan cannot allow a repeat of the December 2007 attack, he said.
"I lost my wife to it. My children's mother.
"It's important to stop them and make sure that it doesn't happen again and they don't take over our way of life," he said.
"That's what they want to do."
Witnesses of Saturday morning's missile strike in South Waziristan said it targeted a house frequented by militants from Pakistani Taleban leader Baitullah Mehsud's organisation.
Mehsud is believed to be responsible for a number of atrocities, including Ms Bhutto's assassination.
The missile strike took place during a visit to the region by US President Barack Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, who is assessing strategic options for the future. |
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| Magnetonium |
Caption: The Pakistani Taleban dispense their form of justice in much of the Swat region
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7851790.stm
Taleban's stranglehold brings fear to Swat
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Swat Continental hotel in the town of Mingora in north-west Pakistan opened in the mid-1990s when tourism in the region was at its peak.
A decade later, it is the only hotel in town which still receives guests, mainly television crews that come to cover the conflict.
For two years, the region once known for its river valleys and wooded mountains has been in the grip of a bloody insurgency by Islamic militants.
Pakistan has deployed a large number of army and paramilitary troops to try to contain them. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting.
The past few weeks have been the worst.
Climate of fear
Amid reports that the government plans to renew talks with the militants, there has been a sudden escalation in the conflict.
First, it was the appearance of beheaded bodies in various public places in Mingora, terrorising the local population.
According to reports, more than 30 bodies were found in the town during a two-week period in December and January.
Then came the Taleban's edict banning education for girls.
Although the edict came at a time when government schools had closed for the winter holidays, some privately-owned schools still holding classes closed down after that.
At the same time, suspected militants blew up several schools in Mingora, including some boys' ones, saying the buildings were being used as camps by the army.
Various circles in Mingora believe the army has responded to this by killing militants it has been holding in its custody.
The army denies this.
Troops have also moved into several school buildings in Mingora - as well as the city's oldest college, the Post-Graduate Jehanzeb College for men - apparently to prevent the militants from blowing them up.
For the people of Mingora, all this has the makings of a timebomb that is ticking away and may blow up on or around 1 March when schools are scheduled to reopen.
This has had a visible effect on the morale of the city.
'Cleansing'
Since the insurgency began the civilian population has increasingly become a target of both sides.
The militants are "cleansing" individuals suspected of holding "liberal" views.
Swat has been a stronghold of two secular parties - the Pakistan People's Party and the Awami National Party. The militants are now bent upon weeding out their supporters.
As a result, many families have suffered attacks and beheadings by the militants.
The army, given its lack of local knowledge, has been rounding up people at random to blunt the effectiveness of the militants, often with adverse results.
Besides, it has mostly occupied public buildings in civilian areas, which have subsequently become targets for suicide bombers, with devastating repercussions for locals.
A year ago, an attack on a public library in the heart of Mingora, which the army had occupied, not only led to dozens of civilian casualties but also destroyed Swat Museum, which was located opposite the library.
The Japanese government had spent 46m yen ($500,000) in the late 1990s to renovate the museum, which contained relics from Swat's Buddhist past.
Today, it is closed to the public and most of the relics are said to have been irreparably damaged.
Few guests
In November 2007, when I last visited Mingora, the place still bustled with activity and the streets in the centre were choked with traffic. Not any more.
"The very rich and the very poor have already left Swat. The rich can afford to live in other cities of the country, and the poor would rather do the labour where it is safer," says one resident.
The middle-income segment, with business stakes or government jobs, are stuck here because their means do not allow them to have the same lifestyle elsewhere, he says.
Traffic, therefore, has thinned out and businesses face hard times.
An estate agent told me that a shop in central Mingora - which would have fetched 10m rupees (about $127,000) until six months ago - is now available at 3.5m, but there are no buyers.
And there are few officials in the government offices due to fear of attacks.
Back in 2007, Swat Continental had more than half its rooms occupied, and a staff of more than 70 people.
They are now down to six. And I am their second guest in a week - the others are a four-member television crew.
What's more, there are no TVs in the rooms.
"We cleared the TVs from the rooms because there are hardly any guests, but we'll give you one," says the only room service member staff on duty.
But when the TV comes on, I discover that there are only two channels available - both local news channels.
When I ask the reason, the man gives me a sheepish smile. "This is all we have."
I know that they have a satellite dish on the roof top and can receive more channels. But at the same time I realise that the writ of the Taleban, who have banned satellite TV, runs deep inside Mingora.
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| Q5echo |
is it me, or is this pic mildly arousing?
you can tell that guy in the purple pj's has a -eatin-grin on his face |
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| Magnetonium |
Heck, even United States aren't feeling safe about Pakistani nuclear arsenal. Is the situation in that country really that bad? Looking back at the Afghan War of the 80s - was it a good idea for CIA and friends to start up the they got the region into today?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8032898.stm
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US seeks Pakistan nuclear pledge
The US national security adviser has told the BBC that Washington needs guarantees from Pakistan that its nuclear arsenal is safe from militants.
General James Jones said Pakistan's army had repeatedly told him the stockpile was "under control", but "this is very much an ongoing topic".
The Pakistani government is fighting to stop Taleban militants expanding their power in the north-west of the country.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is due to meet Barack Obama this week.
Taleban threat
In an interview with the BBC's North America editor, Justin Webb, Gen Jones said that "things are moving in a more positive direction" in Pakistan, but that more assurances were needed about the safety of the country's nuclear weapons.
"If Pakistan doesn't continue in the direction that it presently is and we're not successful there then, obviously, the nuclear question comes into view."
"We have received many assurances from the military that this is something they have under control but this is very much an ongoing topic," he added.
"The world would like to know that on this question, that there's absolute security and transparency."
The safety of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal has become more of a concern to the US government since Taleban fighters began expanding their influence in northern Pakistan beyond the Swat valley, which they already largely control.
The Pakistani military has been engaged in an offensive to remove Taleban insurgents from the Lower Dir and Buner regions, parts of which are just 100km (60 miles) from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taleban would be "the very very worst case scenario," said Gen Jones.
"We're going to do anything we can within the construct of our bilateral relations and multilateral relations to make sure that doesn't happen."
On the subject of Iran, Gen Jones warned that the US would not "wait forever" for Iran to respond positively to President Obama's attempt to improve US relations with the country.
"We're interested in getting this new relationship established, to the extent that there is going to be one, but it takes two - and we're still waiting for the appropriate response from the Iranians," he said. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
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Islam: religion of piece of your ass. |
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| Q5echo |
Islam means, submit...your tightly clenched butt-cheeks |
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| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
Islam: religion of piece of your ass. |
Haha....
So does the koran say it's cool to get a blow job from a dude as long as your also laying down some harsh sharia law on his ass? |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
Islam means, submit...your tightly clenched butt-cheeks |
:haha: :haha: |
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| pmoisse |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
Islam means, submit...your tightly clenched butt-cheeks |
It looks more like a college hazing / teabagging event than sharia justice lol |
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| yukii |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
Islam means, submit...your tightly clenched butt-cheeks |
:stongue: :stongue: |
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| Krypton |
| Democracy in Afghanistan...:haha: |
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| Magnetonium |
| quote: | Originally posted by Q5echo
Islam means, submit...your tightly clenched butt-cheeks |
Q5 wins! :haha: :haha: :haha: |
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