More Trouble In Swat
The Pakistani government attempted a cease-fire with the Taliban in Swat. The government gave in to the Taliban's demands to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley. The policy has been a disaster for women's rights. The Taliban has burned girl schools and beheaded people. Residents have fled to camps in Peshawar.
The Swat Valley Taliban's leader is Maulana Fazlullah. He started a pirate radio station in 2006. Fazlullah forbids Swat citizens from dancing and music. This was the message Fazlullah delivered to music centers.
"Close within three days – or you will be blown away".
Fazlullah forbid Swat residents from getting polo vaccinations. 160,000 children did not get vaccinations because Fazlullah claimed the vaccine causes impotency. Fazlullah's radio station started the rumor that the vaccine contained oestrogen. This was proven to be false.
"To cure a disease before its on set is not in accordance with Shariah’s laws," said Fazlullah. "I have never opposed Polio vaccination, but I say if the people are unwilling for it, they should not be forced. Keeping in mind if I say “No” to Polio Vaccination, you would not find a single child to drink a drop of it anywhere in Swat."
If Fazlullah didn't oppose polio vaccinations then why did he tell his listeners health care workers were part of "a conspiracy of the Jews and Christians to stunt the population growth of Muslims"? World Health Organisation were repeatedly assaulted and Fazlullah never once complained about their treatment. The reason is many of the attackers are part of Fazlullah militia.
In March, the Pakistani government agreed to another cease-fire with Fazlullah and his followers. Once again the cease-fire was broken. The Pakistani government continues to be in denial. Hillary Clinton said the Pakistani government was "basically abdicating to the Taliban." This is madness. The Taliban have militia elements in Buner. That places Taliban forces closer to Islamabad.
The move by Taliban-backed militants into the Buner district of northwestern Pakistan, closer than ever to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, have prompted concerns both within the country and abroad that the nuclear-armed nation of 165 million is on the verge of inexorable collapse.
On Wednesday a local Taliban militia crossed from the Swat Valley - where a February cease-fire allowed the implementation of strict Islamic, or Shari'a, law - into the neighboring Buner district, which is just a few hours drive from Islamabad (65 miles, separated by a mountain range, as the crow flies). ((See pictures on the frontlines in the battle against the Taliban.)
Residents streaming from Buner, home to nearly a million people, told local newspapers that armed militants are patrolling the streets. Pakistani television stations aired footage of Taliban soldiers looting government offices and capturing vehicles belonging to aid organizations and development projects. The police, say residents, are nowhere to be seen. The shrine of a local Muslim saint, venerated across the country, was closed. The Taliban, which adheres to a stricter version of Islam than is practiced in most of Pakistan, hold that worship at such shrines goes against the teachings of Islam.
The Obama administration needs to figure out what to do about Pakistan's nuclear weapons. South Korea or Iran isn't the big threat. Pakistan's government is going to fall. It is only a matter of when. The idea of nukes in Fazlullah's pocession is terrifying.
Update: Lara Logan has a story on the current crisis.
Labels: buner, hillary clinton, lara logan, maulana fazalullah, pakistan, swat, taliban, world health organization
posted by Michael Hussey @ 4:58 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I'll preface this with I haven't been keeping full tabs on the Pakistan situation, reading summaries and such.. I was afraid of reading stories like this when the Musharraf government fell, though.
A year and a half ago, American University professor Akbar Ahmed had this to say about the balance between Musharraf's government and the Islamists/Taliban. These comments are based off an interview Ahmed had with Musharraf.
Now having said this, this is where Musharraf is. And he said this to [me when I interviewed him]. [Musharraf] said, “I’m being put under so much pressure. My American friends — he said, “I’m an ally, I completely believe in this alliance. They tell me go into the tribal areas, send your troops, kill your people, produce Osama bin Laden.” I just can’t send troops into areas where no troops have been sent for centuries. It just doesn’t work like this. And the reaction will be that I and my regime will face collapse.” He was caught between this terrible position, the pressures from Washington, sometimes not understanding the predicament he’s under, and the demands of his people.Reading between the lines here, we see that the Islamist presence in Pakistan has more strength than we can cull for counting troops on the ground. If Pakistan's army launches large scale attacks on its own citizens, chances are that a lot of the populace will side with the Islamists. What then?
The problem (as problems always do!) gets worse. Ahmed continues:
America cannot lose Pakistan. If America loses Pakistan now with what’s happening in Iraq and the situation building up in Afghanistan, the Taliban resurgent along the borders, that eastern frontier will collapse in 24 hours if America loses Pakistan. That’s how important Pakistan is. [...]
And I believe now we’ve reached that tipping point in Pakistani politics. It’s now almost crisis time … I hope people in Washington — I hope — I know there’s not been a very good record of this, but I hope they’re planning for the future, thinking of the future and saying what next, because a crisis is hurtling towards us from Pakistan. And when that happens, forget Iraq; Iraq will seem like a picnic to you. Just think of 165 million people simmering now at this moment. I think anti-Americanism is at a height. [...]
So the feelings are bubbling and we really need to bring the temperature down and start creating friends now. It’s not today, tomorrow; it’s now. Otherwise we will have a major problem if we are to continue having a presence on the global stage.Ahhh, if America only listened to academics more often.
I didn't like Musharraf; and I spoke out against him often. But I understood what his role was. Now that the military dictator who knew how to balance appeasement of the West and Islamists is out of office, look what's happening...
I'm trying to think of a real out of the box situation: starting a war that will attract Islamist fighters to it, hence out of Pakistan. But that probably creates more, and larger, fires elsewhere.
Appeasement will not work on Fazlullah. The cease-fires have failed.
If Pakistan's army launches large scale attacks on its own citizens, chances are that a lot of the populace will side with the Islamists. What then?The population in Swat has left and are refugees. This is an international crisis. The military morale is down because the Pakistani government refuses to take action. My take is the government plans on fleeing the country.
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