Many world leaders now feel that Pakistan is the hub of most of the world's most dangerous terrorism. Look at the views below:
1. The United States State Department has said that Pakistan in the "epicentre of terrorism" and called upon the world to take action against terror from Pakistani soil.
2. Former CIA director Michael Hayden has warned that every major terrorist threat confronting the world has ties to Pakistan. He says that in Pakistan Al Qaeda had established safe haven and was training a “bench of skilled operatives.”
4. According to Time Magazine, which reported of a new parallel state called Talibanistan which has sprung up in Pakistan and Afghanistan: "the tribal region of Pakistan, a rugged no-man's-land that forms the country's border with Afghanistan--and that is rapidly becoming home base for a new generation of potential terrorists. Fueled by zealotry and hardened by war, young religious extremists have overrun scores of towns and villages in the border areas, with the intention of imposing their strict interpretation of Islam on a population unable to fight back. Like the Taliban in the late 1990s in Afghanistan, the jihadists are believed to be providing leaders of al-Qaeda with the protection they need to regroup and train new operatives. U.S. intelligence officials think that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, may have found refuge in these environs."
5. Referring to more than 50 terror outfits are active in Pakistan, US President Barack Obama said Islamist extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan posed a grave threat that his new administration would tackle as a single problem under a wider strategy.
6. A spokesman for India’s ruling Congress party on Saturday called on the international community to consider declaring Pakistan a terrorist state in the wake of the release of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's nuclear scientist who leaked nuclear secrets to rogue countries like Iran. He is still a free man even though he helped export nuclear weapons to terrorists.
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7. The Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan has links with the terrorist oufits based in the country, and the US is making an allout effort to ensure that these links are cut-off completely, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher has said. Boucher said that it is evident that the terror groups involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attack were operating from the Pakistani soil, and his country wanted to eliminate this menace.
8. According to Der Speigel: For years a kind of death industry has been taking hold in Pakistan's tribal areas. There are hundreds of Koranic schools which could better be described as cadet schools for Islamists. Boys as young as five are sent here by their impoverished parents. The idea is to condition or brainwash them. The goal is jihad. As young men these warriors are given military training which underscores their so-called spiritual training.
9. According to Wikepedia: Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, has often been accused of playing a role in major terrorist attacks across the world including the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States,[16][17][18] terrorism in Kashmir,[19][20][21] Mumbai Train Bombings,[22] London Bombings,[23] Indian Parliament Attack,[24] Varnasi bombings,[25] Hyderabad bombings[26][27] The ISI is also accused of supporting Taliban forces[28] and recruiting and training mujahideen[28][29] to fight in Afghanistan[30][31] and Kashmir[31]
10. Wikipedia continues: Pakistan is also said to be a haven for terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda,[32] Lashkar-e-Omar, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Sipah-e-Sahaba. Pakistan is accused of sheltering and training the Taliban in operations "which include soliciting funding for the Taliban, bankrolling Taliban operations, providing diplomatic support as the Taliban's virtual emissaries abroad, arranging training for Taliban fighters, recruiting skilled and unskilled manpower to serve in Taliban armies, planning and directing offensives, providing and facilitating shipments of ammunition and fuel, and on several occasions apparently directly providing combat support," as quoted by the Human Rights Watch.[33]
Showing posts with label Jehad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jehad. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Jehadi group’s trademark gets stolen Abdullah Khan
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s trademark has been stolen, and the irony is that the stolen trademark is now being used against Lashkar’s own support base. The recent attack on the Manawan Police Training School Lahore, after the previous attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the same city, is the latest example of this peculiar development. India has been facing such attacks, usually referred to as ‘fidayeen attacks’, since 1999.
This terminology was also used by the Indian media in their news coverage immediately after the Mumbai attacks with headlines such as, ‘Mumbai under Fidayeen attack’. Although Lashkar-e-Taiba had denied involvement in these attacks, yet Indian, British, and Pakistani intelligence still hold this group, which is active in Kashmir against Indian occupation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, responsible for the Mumbai events in the light of their own investigations. Pakistan has taken more than half a dozen Lashkar commanders into custody, including Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, who is one of the four leaders on whom the United Nations had enforced sanctions on December 10, 2008, and had frozen their assets. Lashkar-e-Taiba had introduced the tactic of fidayeen attacks back in 1999 when the then prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, had announced the withdrawal of Pakistani forces and Kashmiri fighters from the mountains of Kargil in his Washington Declaration, which they captured in the winter of that year, and where a fierce and bloody battle had been fought in the months of May and June. During this battle, Pakistani forces had shot down two Indian war planes and had even captured the pilot of one of the aircrafts. The Indian army had faced such huge loss of life in this battle that it had had to hand out contracts to private firms for the mass manufacture of coffins for transportation of its dead soldiers from the frontlines. Corruption is rife to such an extent in India’s armed forces and its Ministry of Defense that kickbacks and commissions of millions of rupees were paid and received for the manufacture of these coffins. An inquiry was also initiated later regarding this sordid affair, but that is not what I am writing about today, although I do intend to write in detail about the widespread corruption in the Indian armed forces at some later date.
Lashkar-e-Taiba’s leadership had warned the then prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, through a press statement that ‘the second round of jihad had now begun’, which had meant that India should now expect fidayeen attacks on Indian forces in Kashmir. In the fidayeen style of attack anywhere from two to ten, or sometimes even more heavily armed fighters make a commando-style entry into the target facility and try their best to inflict heavy losses. If they achieve their desired goal, they try to escape from the location; otherwise they fight until death instead of surrendering. According to a report of the Indian Express which was published after the Mumbai events, the first fidayeen attack occurred at the Battalion Headquarters of the Indian BSF (Border Security Force) in Bandipora, in which three attackers had caused havoc at the BSF Headquarters.
Activities and operations of Indian forces deployed in the Kashmir valley are controlled from the headquarters of the 15 Corps which is located in the Badami Bagh area of Srinagar. But although this location is considered to be the safest place in terms of security for the Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir, yet three fidayeen of Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked this secure headquarters site on November 3, 1999, dressed in the uniforms of Indian troops and were able to infiltrate and mix with other soldiers by taking advantage of the pandemonium and confusion. These fidayeen were so daring and bold that they made their way to the office of the spokesman of the Indian forces, Maj. Parshotam, in the commotion and killed him, and then audaciously used his telephone to call the British news organization, the BBC, to accept responsibility for the attack. Moreover, two of the attackers were able to escape the premises in an Indian forces vehicle, while only one of them was killed. The success of this type of daring attacks raised the morale of this group tremendously with the result that in the year 2000, some attackers of this group left Kashmir and not only attacked the Red Fort based Indian army barracks in the heart of the Indian capital, New Delhi, but also defiantly accepted responsibility for the said attack. A Pakistani citizen, Muhammad Ashfaq, faces the death sentence in India for his involvement in this attack and his case is pending hearing in the Indian Supreme Court. Fidayeen attacks were therefore considered to be a hallmark of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the subcontinent, while other militant groups in the area also began copying Palestinian and Tamil militants and used suicide attacks as a tactic quite successfully in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lashkar, however, instead of moving towards suicide attacks, maintained its distinctive style of fidayeen attacks and with time, tried to perfect this technique further. Even though India blames the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on Lashkar, yet if one accepts this as truth, even then it would be a rare incident in Lashkar’s history of resistance.
American intelligence officials and experts on militancy had expressed fears after the Mumbai attacks that other militant groups, including Al Qaeda, may try to mimic this style of attack and those misgivings have turned out to be entirely true. Yet ironically, instead of India or America becoming a victim of this style of attack, as had been expected, the Pakistani province of Punjab and its capital, Lahore; considered to be the nexus of Lashkar sympathizers, has itself fallen prey to this particular style of attacks. The leadership of this group therefore, which had announced numerous times in the past that it will never carry out any militant activities on Pakistani soil, is deeply embarrassed and completely flabbergasted, to say the least, at this bizarre development, because after every attack which uses the Lashkar trademark style, the finger is immediately pointed toward this group due to its previous use of this style outside Pakistani soil. This group, which has enjoyed popular public support in Punjab, is extremely worried, understandably, under these circumstances, that if such attacks continue and its name keeps getting mentioned, it could turn out to be fatal for its popularity among the Pakistani populace.
What is interesting is that this group can neither register a case against the theft of its trademark in any court of law, nor can it have a notice issued to the stealers of its trademark under the Copyright Act.
—The writer is an expert on regional security issues and Indo-Pakistan relations.
This terminology was also used by the Indian media in their news coverage immediately after the Mumbai attacks with headlines such as, ‘Mumbai under Fidayeen attack’. Although Lashkar-e-Taiba had denied involvement in these attacks, yet Indian, British, and Pakistani intelligence still hold this group, which is active in Kashmir against Indian occupation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, responsible for the Mumbai events in the light of their own investigations. Pakistan has taken more than half a dozen Lashkar commanders into custody, including Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, who is one of the four leaders on whom the United Nations had enforced sanctions on December 10, 2008, and had frozen their assets. Lashkar-e-Taiba had introduced the tactic of fidayeen attacks back in 1999 when the then prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, had announced the withdrawal of Pakistani forces and Kashmiri fighters from the mountains of Kargil in his Washington Declaration, which they captured in the winter of that year, and where a fierce and bloody battle had been fought in the months of May and June. During this battle, Pakistani forces had shot down two Indian war planes and had even captured the pilot of one of the aircrafts. The Indian army had faced such huge loss of life in this battle that it had had to hand out contracts to private firms for the mass manufacture of coffins for transportation of its dead soldiers from the frontlines. Corruption is rife to such an extent in India’s armed forces and its Ministry of Defense that kickbacks and commissions of millions of rupees were paid and received for the manufacture of these coffins. An inquiry was also initiated later regarding this sordid affair, but that is not what I am writing about today, although I do intend to write in detail about the widespread corruption in the Indian armed forces at some later date.
Lashkar-e-Taiba’s leadership had warned the then prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, through a press statement that ‘the second round of jihad had now begun’, which had meant that India should now expect fidayeen attacks on Indian forces in Kashmir. In the fidayeen style of attack anywhere from two to ten, or sometimes even more heavily armed fighters make a commando-style entry into the target facility and try their best to inflict heavy losses. If they achieve their desired goal, they try to escape from the location; otherwise they fight until death instead of surrendering. According to a report of the Indian Express which was published after the Mumbai events, the first fidayeen attack occurred at the Battalion Headquarters of the Indian BSF (Border Security Force) in Bandipora, in which three attackers had caused havoc at the BSF Headquarters.
Activities and operations of Indian forces deployed in the Kashmir valley are controlled from the headquarters of the 15 Corps which is located in the Badami Bagh area of Srinagar. But although this location is considered to be the safest place in terms of security for the Indian forces in Occupied Kashmir, yet three fidayeen of Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked this secure headquarters site on November 3, 1999, dressed in the uniforms of Indian troops and were able to infiltrate and mix with other soldiers by taking advantage of the pandemonium and confusion. These fidayeen were so daring and bold that they made their way to the office of the spokesman of the Indian forces, Maj. Parshotam, in the commotion and killed him, and then audaciously used his telephone to call the British news organization, the BBC, to accept responsibility for the attack. Moreover, two of the attackers were able to escape the premises in an Indian forces vehicle, while only one of them was killed. The success of this type of daring attacks raised the morale of this group tremendously with the result that in the year 2000, some attackers of this group left Kashmir and not only attacked the Red Fort based Indian army barracks in the heart of the Indian capital, New Delhi, but also defiantly accepted responsibility for the said attack. A Pakistani citizen, Muhammad Ashfaq, faces the death sentence in India for his involvement in this attack and his case is pending hearing in the Indian Supreme Court. Fidayeen attacks were therefore considered to be a hallmark of Lashkar-e-Taiba in the subcontinent, while other militant groups in the area also began copying Palestinian and Tamil militants and used suicide attacks as a tactic quite successfully in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lashkar, however, instead of moving towards suicide attacks, maintained its distinctive style of fidayeen attacks and with time, tried to perfect this technique further. Even though India blames the suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul on Lashkar, yet if one accepts this as truth, even then it would be a rare incident in Lashkar’s history of resistance.
American intelligence officials and experts on militancy had expressed fears after the Mumbai attacks that other militant groups, including Al Qaeda, may try to mimic this style of attack and those misgivings have turned out to be entirely true. Yet ironically, instead of India or America becoming a victim of this style of attack, as had been expected, the Pakistani province of Punjab and its capital, Lahore; considered to be the nexus of Lashkar sympathizers, has itself fallen prey to this particular style of attacks. The leadership of this group therefore, which had announced numerous times in the past that it will never carry out any militant activities on Pakistani soil, is deeply embarrassed and completely flabbergasted, to say the least, at this bizarre development, because after every attack which uses the Lashkar trademark style, the finger is immediately pointed toward this group due to its previous use of this style outside Pakistani soil. This group, which has enjoyed popular public support in Punjab, is extremely worried, understandably, under these circumstances, that if such attacks continue and its name keeps getting mentioned, it could turn out to be fatal for its popularity among the Pakistani populace.
What is interesting is that this group can neither register a case against the theft of its trademark in any court of law, nor can it have a notice issued to the stealers of its trademark under the Copyright Act.
—The writer is an expert on regional security issues and Indo-Pakistan relations.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Pak should shift focus from India to curbing terror inside: US
New York (PTI): Warning that terrorists operating in safe havens in Pakistan were preparing to attack that country and Afghanistan, a top US military commander has asked Islamabad to change focus from fighting India to combating militants within its own borders.
"The Taliban, in particular, are going both ways now," Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff, said.
"They are coming towards Islamabad and they are actually going towards Kabul. I am completely convinced that the vast majority of leaders in Pakistan understands the seriousness of the threat".
Mr. Mullen, who has worked extensively to build a relationship with Pakistani Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, noted that the Pakistan army had difficulties transforming from its military that recruited, trained, deployed and promoted its officers on performance along the eastern front with India to one that focussed instead on terrorists within its own border.
But, he admitted "that's not going to change overnight".
His remarks come as the US Defence Department unveiled a $ 3-billion plan to train and equip Pakistan's military over the next five years, New York Times reported.
The funds, the paper said, would pay for helicopters, night-vision goggles and other equipment and counter-insurgency training for Pakistan's special forces and paramilitary frontier corps.
"The Taliban, in particular, are going both ways now," Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff, said.
"They are coming towards Islamabad and they are actually going towards Kabul. I am completely convinced that the vast majority of leaders in Pakistan understands the seriousness of the threat".
Mr. Mullen, who has worked extensively to build a relationship with Pakistani Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, noted that the Pakistan army had difficulties transforming from its military that recruited, trained, deployed and promoted its officers on performance along the eastern front with India to one that focussed instead on terrorists within its own border.
But, he admitted "that's not going to change overnight".
His remarks come as the US Defence Department unveiled a $ 3-billion plan to train and equip Pakistan's military over the next five years, New York Times reported.
The funds, the paper said, would pay for helicopters, night-vision goggles and other equipment and counter-insurgency training for Pakistan's special forces and paramilitary frontier corps.
Flogging of a teenage girl by Taliban in Swat, Pak Govt unable to control fanatics, says Human Rights activist Asma Jahangir
Published: April 04, 2009
LAHORE - Chairperson Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Asma Jahangir, while denouncing the flogging of a teenage girl by Taliban in Swat, has announced to hold a protest rally organised by the Citizens of Lahore at 4:30pm, from GPO Chowk to the Punjab Assembly on Saturday. Addressing a news conference on Friday, Asma warned that the government’s writ on the extremist elements in the country appears as non-existent and it is yet not clear to what extent they will go.
Flanked by Iqbal Haider and others, she strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the training centre in Manawan terming it as an extremists’ assault on the whole of Pakistan.
Turning back to the flogging incident of the girl in Swat, she said Taliban are now occupying the whole area and they are doing whatever they want.
Expressing deep concern over the incident, she accused Taliban of forcing the women to marry them and subjecting those to harshest punishment who refuses to obey their orders. Asma said the matter is very serious which would not be resolved sitting at home but doing something practical to check advancement by Taliban.
She said Taliban has spread panic in Swat, Dir and other parts where no school and other pubic institutions are safe at their hand. They have created such a strong scare that even local parliamentarians are reluctant to go to their respective constituencies, she added.
It is an eye opener to everyone, she said adding, the terrorists have reached to our cities and time demands of every patriotic Pakistani to stand up to check their way.
Replying to a question, she said the HRCP did not accept at all US drone attacks on the tribal areas, but that could not be taken as a justification of the terrorist attacks. She said Swat accord has brought the citizens to a greater danger at the hand of Taliban.
She invited every citizen of the country to join them for protecting the country from internal threats of Taliban and other jihadi outfits that are responsible for alarming rise in militancy.
LAHORE - Chairperson Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Asma Jahangir, while denouncing the flogging of a teenage girl by Taliban in Swat, has announced to hold a protest rally organised by the Citizens of Lahore at 4:30pm, from GPO Chowk to the Punjab Assembly on Saturday. Addressing a news conference on Friday, Asma warned that the government’s writ on the extremist elements in the country appears as non-existent and it is yet not clear to what extent they will go.
Flanked by Iqbal Haider and others, she strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the training centre in Manawan terming it as an extremists’ assault on the whole of Pakistan.
Turning back to the flogging incident of the girl in Swat, she said Taliban are now occupying the whole area and they are doing whatever they want.
Expressing deep concern over the incident, she accused Taliban of forcing the women to marry them and subjecting those to harshest punishment who refuses to obey their orders. Asma said the matter is very serious which would not be resolved sitting at home but doing something practical to check advancement by Taliban.
She said Taliban has spread panic in Swat, Dir and other parts where no school and other pubic institutions are safe at their hand. They have created such a strong scare that even local parliamentarians are reluctant to go to their respective constituencies, she added.
It is an eye opener to everyone, she said adding, the terrorists have reached to our cities and time demands of every patriotic Pakistani to stand up to check their way.
Replying to a question, she said the HRCP did not accept at all US drone attacks on the tribal areas, but that could not be taken as a justification of the terrorist attacks. She said Swat accord has brought the citizens to a greater danger at the hand of Taliban.
She invited every citizen of the country to join them for protecting the country from internal threats of Taliban and other jihadi outfits that are responsible for alarming rise in militancy.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
U.S.-Pakistan Alliance in Trouble
June 26, 2008
Author:
Jayshree Bajoria
U.S.-Pakistan Alliance in Trouble
Pakistani tribal villagers rally after an alleged U.S. missile attack near the Afghanistan border on May 15, 2008. (AP/Mohammad Sajjad)
Increased military action by U.S. forces in Afghanistan to target suspected terrorists in Pakistan's tribal areas is putting a strain on Washington's already tense relationship with Islamabad. A June 10 U.S. air strike (IHT) in which Pakistan's army says eleven of its soldiers died was followed, just weeks later, by NATO forces firing into Pakistan (LAT) after being struck by rockets launched from Pakistani territory. The U.S. and Afghan governments consistently blame militants ensconced in safe havens in Pakistan's tribal areas for violence in Afghanistan, even though the Pakistani government says it's doing all it can to prevent such attacks. But now, patience on both sides has frayed. Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week threatened to send troops (Guardian) inside Pakistan to hunt down the militants. On June 25, Afghan officials publicly accused Pakistan’s intelligence service of plotting to assassinate (NYT) Karzai in April, further escalating tensions between the countries. Pakistan called the allegations baseless (AFP).
U.S. and NATO officials have expressed concern about the Pakistani's strategy toward militants in the tribal areas. Specifically, they warn that ongoing peace talks between Pakistan's newly elected government and tribal leaders in the border region may be leading to increased violence in Afghanistan. NATO spokesman Mark Laity cautioned (Dawn) against the peace deals, saying that such accords have fueled the Afghan insurgency in the past. Amid the ongoing peace talks, militants executed a twenty-two-member peace committee of tribal elders (al-Jazeera). Even so, polls continue to show a majority in Pakistan favor talks with the militants over military action. For instance, a May poll by Terror Free Tomorrow (PDF), a group that includes Sen. John McCain and 9/11 Commission co-chairs Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean on its advisory board, found that 58 percent of Pakistanis surveyed favored negotiations, while only 19 percent favored U.S. military action against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Meanwhile, serious political differences exist within Pakistan's ruling coalition on issues relating to constitutional amendments, proposals to impeach President Pervez Musharraf, and the reinstatement of judges deposed during a November 2007 state of emergency. Lisa Curtis, South Asia expert at the Heritage Foundation, believes the political maneuvering in Islamabad is distracting the Pakistani government from dealing with growing militancy in the tribal areas. Experts say the unclear power dynamic between the newly elected civilian leaders and the army, arguably the country's dominant institution, raises questions about the long-term viability of the partnership. A new report by RAND Corporation's Seth G. Jones goes further, charging that some individuals in the Pakistani government continue to support (PDF) militant groups inside Pakistan.
But experts caution against taking Pakistani political rhetoric, often aimed at a domestic audience, at face value. Newsweek's Michael Hirsh reports that Pakistan has been quietly discussing counterinsurgency plans in the tribal areas with Gen. David Petraeus, the next commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), under which the Afghan conflict falls. At the same time, many worry that unilateral military action by the United States would be counterproductive. Ashley J. Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace writes in The Washington Quarterly that the Pakistan polity, army, and intelligence services "are still deeply suspicious of long-term U.S. intentions in the region" (PDF). Xenia Dormandy of Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs argues: "If America wants to succeed in the War on Terror, it needs the support of Pakistan. Refocusing the problem to address Pakistan’s needs is the only way of doing this."
Author:
Jayshree Bajoria
U.S.-Pakistan Alliance in Trouble
Pakistani tribal villagers rally after an alleged U.S. missile attack near the Afghanistan border on May 15, 2008. (AP/Mohammad Sajjad)
Increased military action by U.S. forces in Afghanistan to target suspected terrorists in Pakistan's tribal areas is putting a strain on Washington's already tense relationship with Islamabad. A June 10 U.S. air strike (IHT) in which Pakistan's army says eleven of its soldiers died was followed, just weeks later, by NATO forces firing into Pakistan (LAT) after being struck by rockets launched from Pakistani territory. The U.S. and Afghan governments consistently blame militants ensconced in safe havens in Pakistan's tribal areas for violence in Afghanistan, even though the Pakistani government says it's doing all it can to prevent such attacks. But now, patience on both sides has frayed. Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week threatened to send troops (Guardian) inside Pakistan to hunt down the militants. On June 25, Afghan officials publicly accused Pakistan’s intelligence service of plotting to assassinate (NYT) Karzai in April, further escalating tensions between the countries. Pakistan called the allegations baseless (AFP).
U.S. and NATO officials have expressed concern about the Pakistani's strategy toward militants in the tribal areas. Specifically, they warn that ongoing peace talks between Pakistan's newly elected government and tribal leaders in the border region may be leading to increased violence in Afghanistan. NATO spokesman Mark Laity cautioned (Dawn) against the peace deals, saying that such accords have fueled the Afghan insurgency in the past. Amid the ongoing peace talks, militants executed a twenty-two-member peace committee of tribal elders (al-Jazeera). Even so, polls continue to show a majority in Pakistan favor talks with the militants over military action. For instance, a May poll by Terror Free Tomorrow (PDF), a group that includes Sen. John McCain and 9/11 Commission co-chairs Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean on its advisory board, found that 58 percent of Pakistanis surveyed favored negotiations, while only 19 percent favored U.S. military action against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Meanwhile, serious political differences exist within Pakistan's ruling coalition on issues relating to constitutional amendments, proposals to impeach President Pervez Musharraf, and the reinstatement of judges deposed during a November 2007 state of emergency. Lisa Curtis, South Asia expert at the Heritage Foundation, believes the political maneuvering in Islamabad is distracting the Pakistani government from dealing with growing militancy in the tribal areas. Experts say the unclear power dynamic between the newly elected civilian leaders and the army, arguably the country's dominant institution, raises questions about the long-term viability of the partnership. A new report by RAND Corporation's Seth G. Jones goes further, charging that some individuals in the Pakistani government continue to support (PDF) militant groups inside Pakistan.
But experts caution against taking Pakistani political rhetoric, often aimed at a domestic audience, at face value. Newsweek's Michael Hirsh reports that Pakistan has been quietly discussing counterinsurgency plans in the tribal areas with Gen. David Petraeus, the next commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), under which the Afghan conflict falls. At the same time, many worry that unilateral military action by the United States would be counterproductive. Ashley J. Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace writes in The Washington Quarterly that the Pakistan polity, army, and intelligence services "are still deeply suspicious of long-term U.S. intentions in the region" (PDF). Xenia Dormandy of Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs argues: "If America wants to succeed in the War on Terror, it needs the support of Pakistan. Refocusing the problem to address Pakistan’s needs is the only way of doing this."
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