The Political Conundrum!

I’ve been one of the select few who have stood in the rubble at Ground Zero amid the aftermath of 9/11 and stood and fought in Taliban controlled territory in southeastern Afghanistan.  Having been in these positions I’ve been able to deeply reflect on these situations.  Shortly after 9/11, our country had the support from most of the world as we went into Afghanistan and did what we had to do.  Upon doing so we made a lot of promises to the Afghan people, however as you all know, our country’s military focus soon shifted to Iraq.

The Afghan people are the most patient group of people I have ever met.  By the time I got into Afghanistan in 2006, the average Afghan was beginning to wonder when they should start to see all of these promises we had made to them over the previous 5 years.  Most of these promises at the ground level were just your basic quality of living improvements and jobs.  While interrogating some of the few Taliban fighters we had caught alive and actually admitted to being Taliban, there was one who made me pause one day.  Surprised that he had admitted to being Taliban, I asked him why he would want to be a member of such a group.  He responded with “I didn’t want to initially but after a while I finally gave up on the American’s promise of jobs.  I have a family of a wife and three kids.  The Taliban offered me money and I need to support my family.  I don’t hate Americans but they don’t do anything for me so why shouldn’t I join them.”  With this statement I understood where he was coming from and why he felt he needed to join the Taliban.  I’m not saying I liked it but I understood it.

The article below discusses in further detail how the numbers of the Taliban are growing and it doesn’t surprise me at all, unfortunately.  Whatever strategy for Afghanistan President Obama chooses in the upcoming days, the struggle ahead will continue to be a struggle.  In my opinion, its a struggle that needs to continue but do I dare ask how long can we keep this up as a country before we are financially broken? 

 http://www.military.com/news/article/taliban-strength-nears-military-proportion.html?ESRC=eb.nl

 

Live Free or Die Trying!

One group absent from the concoction of Punjabi groups joining the Pashtun Taliban rebellion is Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Although it recruits from the same general area, the other groups are Deobandi (Pakistan’s homegrown Islamic extremists) whereas LeT is Dar Ahl Hadith, which is basically the Pakistani-offshoot of the Saudi Wahabis. The theological divisions are not enormous and there are links. But LeT appears to be more careful and disciplined in its strategic thinking. It has not been involved in significant violence within Pakistan and has not taken on the Pakistani government. It also appears to have independent funding sources (initial stake money was apparently from Saudi Arabia, but it has since developed its own fund-raising networks.) While there are far fewer Ahl Hadith adherents in Pakistan then Deobandis (or Barelvis or Shia), LeT itself is one of the larger groups – the ISI reports they have 150,000 members. LeT runs schools, hospitals, and other social services along with an extensive print media empire. In short, it is a Hezbollah-like organization with multiple facets, the ability to innovate tactically, and choose its operations strategically (like the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai.)

Saeed Stands Alone
This is important background to the recent Pakistani court decision to dismiss incitement charges against LeT leader Hafiz Mohammed Saeed. B. Raman has a fine analysis here. A few additional points are in order. Westerners love the independent Pakistani judiciary when it is “democratic” but not when it is actually doing its job under the law. The real issue is the way in which Saeed was prosecuted. The charges were incitement – these are loser charges that only make Saeed more popular. Incitement against India is in theory illegal – but is also admired by many in Pakistan.

Read the full post here.

The aftermath of the attack on the Pakistani military’s GHQ earlier this week has brought attention to the complex stew of jihadi groups running around the Punjab. Imtiaz Gul provides an overview at Foreign Policy while the venerable B. Raman provides another at Outlook India. The story starts with the Saudis supporting anti-Shia groups in Pakistan to counter Iranian-backed Shia militancy. This was exacerbated by local animosities in regions were Pakistan’s Shia minority were wealthy landowners. The main anti-Shia group was Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). Reportedly it received substantial state support under General Zia who wanted to counter his political rivals. SSP became involved in politics and spun-off violent groups, most notably Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) in 1996. Supposedly there is no connection between the political SSP and the terrorist LeJ. This is an organizational maneuver that has been repeated endlessly in the Pakistani jihadi milieu. Supposedly, both of these groups have been banned – but banned groups in Pakistan never seem to disappear, they just change their names.

Read the full post here.

The Colorado Army National Guard joined rescue efforts yesterday for a 6-year-old boy believed adrift in a homemade hot air balloon.

The Army made critical mistakes in tests of a new body armor design, according to congressional investigators who recommend an independent review of the trials before the gear is issued to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Defense Department officials say an outside look isn't needed.

Four more American troops died in a bombing in southern Afghanista as a U.N.-backed panel completed most of its investigation into whether the level of fraud in the August presidential election would require a runoff.

Sharp shooters from around the world have converged on Fort Benning for the Ninth Annual U.S. Army International Sniper Competition.

Obama visited Eglin Air Force Base to acknowledge the Air Force's celebration of 2009 as its "Year of the Family. The first lady pledged the Obama administration's support for military pay raises and the expansion of the Military Family Leave Act.

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a new document from the designated terrorist organization known as the “Islamic Jihad Union” (IJU), offering a message from the “German Taliban Mujahideen.” The statement encourages German ISAF soldiers serving in Afghanistan to abandon their posts, or else face grave punishment: “Just as the terrorist crusaders were surprised and shocked, so will also be the unjust German crusaders surprised and shocked.” The statement goes on: ”We observe that your soldiers are being carved up by our Martyrs Brigades, and that your troops in Afghanistan are being wiped out. We promise you that the German troops, who are the protectors of the Zionist Christian Union, will return individually in coffins from the occupied territories.”

An English translation of Abu Ishaq's statement on behalf of the "German Taliban Mujahideen" can be accessed via the NEFA Foundation website.

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a copy of an April 2001 bulletin from the Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba unraveling the early history of the organization -- and featuring the founding role of "Abu Waleed" (a.k.a. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi), who has been named by the Indian and Pakistani governments as the alleged mastermind behind the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. According to the document, at the height of the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s, "a young man fired with the zeal of Jihad, who quenched his thirst for knowledge at Jamia Salfia Mamoon Kanjan and Jamia Muhammadia Gujranwala, met a commander of Jihadic forces. This meeting resulted into his entry into the field of Jihad. The name of this young man was Abu Waleed Zaki-ur-Rahman. Soon he was entrusted with the responsibility of Jihad. Mujahideen engaged in Jihad under his leadership at different Jihadic centers, for instance Markaz Makkah, Markaz Madina. There he had full co-operation of Arab Mujahideen who taught him the intricacies of Jihad and Qital [combat]. From August,1987 to January 1990, he continued his Jihadic activities at the battlefront of Kabul. He also stayed in touch with Noori and Arab Mujahideen fighting in Noorastan... Young Abu Waleed and some other Pakistani Ulema (Hafiz Seed etc) laid the foundation of Ma’skar-e-Taiba in Kunhar, at Tango on February 22, 1990. Soon the Mujahideen who received training from this centre were fighting at different fronts."

The document can be downloaded from the NEFA Foundation website.