the Pakistani side.....they're being "played"... pawns of a much (sino / soviet / indian) larger struggle.
Posted on 09/06/2008 12:26:12 PM PDT by reaganaut1
For years, the villagers said, Suran Dara served as a safe haven for jihadist fighters — whether from Afghanistan or Pakistan or other countries — giving them aid and shelter and a place to stash their weapons. With the firefight under way, one of Suran Dara’s villagers dashed across the border into Afghanistan carrying a field radio with a long antenna (the villager called it “a Motorola”) to deliver to the Taliban fighters. He never made it. The man with the Motorola was hit by an American bomb. After the fight, wounded Taliban members were carried into Suran Dara for treatment. “Everyone supports the Taliban on both sides of the border,” one of the villagers we spoke with said.
Later, an American analyst briefed by officials in Washington confirmed the villagers’ account. “There have been dozens of incidents where there have been exchanges of fire,” he said.
That American and Pakistani soldiers are fighting one another along what was meant to be a border between allies highlights the extraordinarily chaotic situation unfolding inside the Pakistani tribal areas, where hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Taliban, along with Al Qaeda and other foreign fighters, enjoy freedom from American attacks.
But the incident also raises one of the more fundamental questions of the long war against Islamic militancy, and one that looms larger as the American position inside Afghanistan deteriorates: Whose side is Pakistan really on?
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Should read who's side is the nyt really on? I think we know the answer to that one.
Consider the source of this article!
I think it depends on what you mean by Pakistan. The Frontier Corps, composed mainly of relatives of the jihadis, are on the side of the jihadis. The Pakistani government might be on our side. The Punjabis and Sindhis in charge are certainly not in favor of having the Waziris (Pashtuns, mostly) who make up the Taliban take over Pakistan, which is what the Waziris appear to be trying to do.
The Waziris are the largest tribe on the frontier, but their state of civilization is very low. They are a race of robbers and murderers, and the Waziri name is execrated even by the neighbouring Mahommedan tribes.. Mahommedans from a settled district often regard Waziris as utter barbarians, and seem inclined to deny their title to belong to the faith. They have been described as being "free-born and murderous, hot - headed and light-hearted, self-respecting but vain." The poverty of their country and the effort required to gain a subsistence in it have made the Waziris a hardy and enduring race. Their physique is uncommonly good, and though on the average short of stature, some extremely tall and large men are to be found amongst them. They are generally deep-chested and compact of build, with a powerful muscular development common to the whole body, and not confined to the lower limbs as is the case with some hill tribes of the Himalayas. As mountaineers the Waziris would probably hold their own with any other Pathan tribe of the frontier.
Skirmishes between Paki and American fighters going at each other? Creating an “extraordinarily chaotic situation”
How about pakistan tries helping the fight against terrorism instead of proliferating nuclear weapons?
How about pakistan take actions against the taliban and al queda within their third world crap hole of a country?
How about pakistan helps us find and kill Osamma in laden?
F Pakistan.
Remarkable article that goes a long way in informing we the general public of the Afghan/Waziristan War. ISI collusion with the Taliban appears concrete now, and the Pakistani Army now seems to be siding explicitly with them too, giving them logistical support and succour.
I don’t have a clue about how one would deal with the rapidly worsening situation inside Pakistan. I only know that it needs to be done, for a radicalised Pakistan with nuclear weapons is a bit terrifying.
To anyone who hasn’t read the whole article, I urge you to do so. It isn’t anti-American, the opposite in fact. What it does is uncover a web of schemes and lies that the Pakistani’s, from the ground up, are perpetrating. What part of a man’s brain thinks that they are holy warriors, and that a few words in a book are the only laws worth following?
Great post, very informative reading indeed.
agree.
as i was reading it, i wondered how we could control these tribes when we can’t control gangs on our city streets.
the taliban’s like glue because they do provide some justice and assistance to the underdogs, creating fealty.
sure, albiet a feudal, barbaric kind of justice.
i fear its going to get worse before it gets better.
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