Pakistan: Now or Never?

Perspectives on Pakistan

A group of academics, journalists and NGO workers have published an open letter to President Barack Obama appealing to him to support direct negotiations with the Taliban leadership.

The letter argues that the situation on the ground on Afghanistan is much worse than a year ago. “With Pakistan’s active support for the Taliban, it is not realistic to bet on a military solution,” it says.

“Like it or not, the Taliban are a long-term part of the Afghan political landscape, and we need to try and negotiate with them in order to reach a diplomatic settlement. The Taliban’s leadership has indicated its willingness to negotiate, and it is in our interests to talk to them. In fact, the Taliban are primarily concerned about the future of Afghanistan and not – contrary to what some may think — a broader global Islamic jihad. Their links with Al-Qaeda – which is not, in any case, in Afghanistan any more — are weak. We need to at least try to seriously explore the possibility of a political settlement in which the Taliban are part of the Afghan political system.”

“The current contacts between the Karzai government and the Taliban are not enough. The United States must take the initiative to start negotiations with the insurgents and frame the discussion in such a way that American security interests are taken into account. In addition, from the point of view of Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations – women and ethnic minorities, for instance – as well as with respect to the limited but real gains made since 2001, it is better to negotiate now rather than later, since the Taliban will likely be stronger next year.”

“This is why we ask you to sanction and support a direct dialogue and negotiation with the Afghan Taliban leadership residing in Pakistan. A ceasefire and the return of the insurgency leadership in Afghanistan could be part of a de-escalation process leading to a coalition government. ”

The United States, which is due to release a review of strategy in Afghanistan next week, has so far shown little inclination to engage in serious negotiations with the Taliban leadership, although it has accepted that ultimately there will have to a political solution to a war that cannot be won militarily. There is also little sign it is about to change its stance of ramping up military operations — Defense Secretary Robert Gates just returned from a trip to Afghanistan where he said the U.S. strategy was working.

The letter, however, is still worth reading and particular scrolling through the list of names of those who signed up to it. If nothing else, it serves as a useful marker from regional experts that they believe the Taliban are willing to negotiate.

Among the signatories are Antonio Giustozzi, author of Decoding the New Taliban, Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Descent into Chaos, Gilles Dorronsoro, at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Kandahar-based writers Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn who co-edited the memoirs of former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, along with many others.

Al Qaeda has created a momentum that is going to be difficult to stop. It might disappear into thin air. But it has sowed the seeds of Jihad and militant Islam across the globe.

This is a cancer that is spreading across the free world. These guys simply do not want to stop with defeating “others.” They want to convert them as well. Things have begun to nucleate in many parts of the free world, inspired by Al Qaeda. It will grow with time. There is no way Americans or other Western nations can conclude that all will be well once they reach a settlement in Afghanistan. The Islamists are seeing it as a great victory to themselves. And there are enough arrogant people in their midst who would want to take it to the next level.

what is true is that all this hullaboo about Islam will lead to making life of muslims a literal hell in Europe. During II WW it were Jews and now it will be muslims. So much for goodies after death that one makes his life hell. Actions of few will result in repercussions for thousands. That’s why I always say no faith is much better than, blind faith and hence becoming a pawn in hands of whoever….

Peace is no longer an absolute term. It is only relative. When the India was bearing the brunt of Islamic terrorism sponsored by Pak military, the Western world was in peace. Cold war ended and they were enjoying the new world order. When Kashmir burned, and Taliban ruled Pakistan was at peace. After 9/11, peace has disappeared in many parts of the world. Now peace has become like the rain cloud in an arid land. It seems to appear in the horizon only to disappear soon. So the peace world is looking for is a relative one where his country (either Afghanistan or Pakistan or both) will be at peace while others burn. This is the only peace these people can think of. They want no absolute peace. For them to be at peace at home, they need conflicts elsewhere. Their brothers are out to do it.

I saw on CNN yesterday about a group in New York that is calling for Jihad openly on the streets. The guy in the group says that in Quran it is said that Muslims should threaten non-believers. Their website has been closed because it inspired many youth in the US, including Shahzad.

Bin Laden has become an icon for warped minds in the Islamic world and this inspiration is sprouting new Jihad volunteers in many parts of the world. Bin Laden has done his job. Him being alive or dead does not matter anymore. What matters is his influence on future generations which will hurt the world more. Religion is the most dangerous weapon.

“Pre sept. 11, there were muslim as well as non muslim volunteers, politicaly and to some extent materialy backed up by the UK and the USA, who came to assist the Afghan Resistnce against the Soviets.”
***What a crap! What non-Muslim volunteers? It was “Jihad” mediated by Mujahideen of different shades from a number of countries, mediated by Pakistan, sponsored by US. If there is any Non-Muslim that is Israel who militarily helped.

The seeds of Jihad and militant Islam were sown in Afghanistan during the 1980s by CIA Directors William Casey, later Robert Gates, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan approved funds for Afghan rebels, Saudi GID-General Intelligence Department came in with cash influx, weapons were shipped to Karachi by containers and trucked in to Afghan-Pak border region by ISI-CIA. CIA donated pick up trucks, Charlie Wilson got the Congressional approval to throw in more lethal and sophisticated weapons such as the Stinger Surface to air missiles. Pakistani officers trained in Fort Brag North Carolina, went back and set up training camps to train Afghan rebels in guirella warfare. From Egypt, to Jordan and Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Arab volunteers set up camps in Peshawar. They brought in their ideology, resources, money and weapons/contacts. Every one was in it together, the ISI, the CIA, the US govt. they were engaged in a Jihad against Godless communists, the goal was one, the enemy was common.

Out of that chaos, Al-Qaeda was born. Just sit tight and have patience. All stakeholders and players know their past mistakes, and the big mess they are in. It would take time to sort things out. All you need to do is to get the facts straight.

The rise of radical Islam in Europe and US is a new phenomenon. If this is not nipped in the bud, one can expect to see retaliation from conservative Europeans. Though most of their countries have standards of ethics, equality, rights etc protected, when push comes to shove, all that will be forgotten. I was in Canada when 9/11 happened and I heard and read about the reaction in the US towards Muslims or anyone who resembled what they perceived as Muslims. One Sikh citizen of the US was gunned down by an angered young man at a gas station.

European cultures are violent in nature as well. If they get emotional, they do not care much for values. There are neo-Nazi groups spread across Europe and North America. These are as radicalized in their mindsets as the Islamic youth who are dreaming of waging global Jihad. The clash of the two can be deadly.

In Australia, Indians are being attacked. It can shift against innocent Muslims if the Jihadist youth start launching their offensives based on their inspiration from Bin Laden. I pray sincerely that our morons do not start anything against Muslim citizens in India if these Jihadists manage to hurt non-Muslims. This thing has to be nipped in the bud. Otherwise it has the potential to get out of control. As it is there is frustration in the air due to economic strains in Europe and US. These are difficult times.

The “survival of the fittest” andthe “balance of power” remain the principles to guide the destiny of Nations in the next millaniam!

The nomenClature of AQ or Taliban are nothing more than name calling no different than yakees, gringos and so on. Most amusing is that certain groups carrying out various acts, criminal or otherwise are naming themselves or being named by others as AQ or talibans. Sarha Pelin has even gone bonkers and has recently named julian Assange as BL.

The truth is also that Anglo saxons have been the greatest human rights violators during and at the end of the WW2! Who is not aware that what the allied force did to the German and Japanese people and their countries? The non-stop bombing of the Dresden city, it took more than half a century for prince charles to apologise for what the Brits did. The USA has of this fate not apologised to the Japanese people fot the two atomic drops on their cities!
The truth is also that USA does not recognise the UNO criminal court, and is ccused of being the human rights violator, with its concentration camps around the world.

State terrorism is the order of the day and not only african countries such as Sudan or Zimbabwi, but countries like India, Pakistan, Siri lanka, Phillipines would not be able to get a clean bill. It is nothing but a diversion to talk about India and Pakistan covert actions against each other and relatively petty and amateur enterprises.

There are more powerful and criminal forces in action and are beavering away their sinister schemes without any hinderence and within the limits of law. How come, the media is simply selecting the diplomat cables mostly involving the muslim countries?

Let us not kid ourselve, the europeans did their crusade agaist the muslim Nations before and lost constantinople and have experience the occupation of Spain, most of France, Buda and Pest and the Balkans. today the have neither the resource nor any morals to use force aginst the people, most of whom are ordinary folks who believe in one god and do not have any ambitions to dominate christians or jewish people. The few nuts around the world living in the biblical times are no different than their counterpart christian and jews.

The so called AQ operators and talibans are long gone from Afghanistan and Pakistan. It would appear that What we observe today are the same leaders who once called themselves Mujahideen and had the support of the western world. My assessment is that 2011 is the last year for the foreiogners to operate in Pashtoon territory, 2012 would be the start of Pashtoons campaiogn outside their territory and there is no evidence if Pakistan and Indian military would be in a position to stop their advance.

Thats the trouble with ALL religions that they are spelled out in natural languages which by nature are ambiguous in themselves. So any religious text can be interpreted in more than one way. So a very simple way to determine whether the interpretation is right or wrong is to know whether the interpretation leads to peace or violence. If violence it is definitely wrong. If peace then it is considerable. The text that you mentioned above can also be interpreted as fight against evil as in MORAL fight (eg: Sufism in India) and not gun fight. Moreover so many centuries have passed since the original version that we hardly know that knowledge coming to us have been carried correctly to us by our forefathers. What if the holy books have been deliberately tempered with in some point of time to achieve certain political goals?? So it is left to one’s own intelligence to find out the meanings. But yes of late warped interpretations have become order of the day.