October 04, 2008
The Long Road to Chaos in Pakistan
Dexter Filkins in the New York Times:
The chaos that is engulfing Pakistan appears to represent an especially frightening case of strategic blowback, one that has now begun to seriously undermine the American effort in Afghanistan. Tensions over Washington’s demands that the militants be brought under control have been rising, and last week an exchange of fire erupted between American and Pakistani troops along the Afghan border. So it seems a good moment to take a look back at how the chaos has developed.
It was more than a decade ago that Pakistan’s leaders began nurturing the Taliban and their brethren to help advance the country’s regional interests. Now they are finding that their home-schooled militants have grown too strong to control. No longer content to just cross into Afghanistan to kill American soldiers, the militants have begun to challenge the government itself. “The Pakistanis are truly concerned about their whole country unraveling,” said a Western military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is sensitive.
That is a horrifying prospect, especially for Pakistan’s fledgling civilian government, its first since 1999. The country has a substantial arsenal of nuclear weapons. The tribal areas, which harbor thousands of Taliban militants, are also believed to contain Al Qaeda’s senior leaders, including Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
More here.
Posted by Abbas Raza at 04:56 AM | Permalink
Comments
This is an excellent review of the situation in Pakistan and how the country got to this sad and dangerous state of affairs. Two things I would like to add to this commentary.
First the role Saudi Arabia has played in promoting the Taliban and the fundamentalist tendencies in Pakistan. It is the Wahabbi school of 'puritanical' Islam which is at the root of this fundamentalism. For decades, Saudi oil money has been used to finance the mosques and other Islamic institutions in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden himself subscribes to the same interpretation of Islam. So many Imams in Pakistani mosques have been trained in this view that they have transformed the more moderate Pakistani version which was practiced for several centuries. Saudi Arabia has to be a part of any attempts at restoring the old ways. The flow of their money and influence has to stop and America with its vast influence on Saudi government must do what it can to stop the export from Saudi Arabia of this version of Islam.
Secondly, as it seems now, Pakistan is heading towards civil war, if they are serious in getting rid of the Pakistani Taliban. The scary thing is that many Pakistanis themselves, both inside and outside the military are now sympathetic towards the Taliban style governance. And it is possible that the Taliban may actually win, which is the most scary outcome and completely unacceptable to the civilized world. America can not accept Taliban ruling Pakistan with its arsenal of 50-100 nuclear bombs, and may have to resort to direct military action in yet another country in the Middle East/South Asia region. A very scary thought indeed, and a grave prospect for the next president of the United States.
So far as we can see, Pakistan's own civilian government is utterly incapable of tackling the situation, and of course India and Afghanistan are not going to standby and let the situation get to such a point.
So the future for Pakistan is bleak, unless the military and the civilian government can come together and resolve to address the situation head-on, ridding the society of the Taliban and its influence on the ISI.
Posted by: Tasnim | Oct 4, 2008 10:11:22 AM
The tragedy of Pakistan lies in Jinnah's inability to distiguish the unique cultural heritage of Indian Muslims and Islam.Cut adrift from the liberal roots of Indo-Islamic culture which produced some of the best architecture,poetry,music and cuisine the world has known it inevitably descended into a dark quest for an Islamic identity that the liberal Pakistanis have little understanding of or the fortitude to control.
Posted by: sumant | Oct 10, 2008 8:04:48 PM
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