Pakistani - Taliban Collusion?

by Anna Mahjar-Barducci

The apparent capitulation of the Pakistani authorities to the demands of the Taliban is actually a part of a long-standing alliance between them. The Pakistani military - that actually created and trained the Taliban in the 1990s - has long been using this movement to control Afghanistan and as a tool in its confrontation with the West. The Taliban, for its part, uses the support and protection of Pakistan to consolidate its strength and gain control over increasingly large areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It has long been alleged that some within ISI, the Pakistani intelligence, have retained links to the Taliban. Last year, the head of the CIA flew to Islamabad to present evidence that showed that ISI elements were involved in a deadly bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul. Officials in Washington now say that, according to human intelligence and electronic intercepts, the ISI, through its "S Wing," which officials say directs intelligence operations outside Pakistan, is involved in operations in Afghanistan by supporting more militant networks than was previously thought, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed for last year's attacks in Mumbai. According to some scholars, the reason why is the lack of will from the Army, that Pakistan does not manage to get rid of the Taliban.

However, during the past week criticism against the Taliban has intensified in the country, as beheadings, public executions and floggings are at the order of the day. VOA reports that the peace agreement has already lost support in Islamabad. Legal scholars have urged Zardari not to sign it, but he did, arguing it would harm Pakistan's legal system and further erode government authority in the region. Last week, actually, the public flogging of a 17-year-old girl in Pakistan's Swat Valley, that was recorded in a video (http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?&next_url=/watch%3Fv%3DQzlvdm5kRdE) sparked a wave of protests and prompted President Zardari to define such act as "shameful". But verbal condemnations are useless if not followed by action and for the moment no action is in sight.

Columnist Ejaz Haider of the Pakistani Daily Times describe what's going on in his country and accuses the role of the media: "The Urdu-language TV channels should be ashamed […] of supporting extremists in the name of jihad; for giving these thugs an aura of respectability and acceptability".

There is a lot of confusion in Pakistan on how to take on the Taliban. "While we all agree that we should fight terrorism, this is where the clarity ends. We are not sure who the enemy is and what we should be fighting against," says Nazish Brohi, a social worker.

http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2009/04/pakistani-taliban-collusion.html

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