Pakistan, Taliban and Frankenstiens
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
The Pakistan government announced and the American government confirmed that Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of the Taliban in Pakistan, was killed in a US drone attack on August 5. The Pakistan Taliban has since contested the news and said that Baitullah is still alive. No side has yet produced any conclusive proof in defence of their claims. Pakistan's interior minister, Rehman Malik, said in the national assembly of Pakistan on Monday that his government would carry out a DNA test to prove that Baitullah is dead. The problem is that South Waziristan, where Baitullah is said to have been killed and buried, is practically out of bounds to Pakistan authorities, including the military. How will the Pakistan authorities get hold of the body which, they say, is of Baituallh's? And according to security analysts, keeping the controversy centring Baituallah's death alive serves the interest of the Taliban best, as this may take the heat out of the crackdown on them. The security analysts point out that al-Qaida and Taliban have in the past played escape tricks by announcing their death. So, even if the Taliban confirms Baitullah's death, it may not mean much. Or, for that matter, Baitullah may have been actually dead, while the Taliban continues to deny that fact. There is no way of ascertaining the truth about Baitullah's reported death -- at least for the present.
Whether Baitullah is dead or alive, the news or rumour of his death has served a big strategic interest of America. America has extended the theatre of its Afghan war into Pakistan and the use of the nomenclature, AF-Pak war, has become fashionable. In the past, American military operation on Pakistan soil used to be opposed by the people of Pakistan and criticised even by the government and the military of Pakistan. However, the government of Pakistan, under President Asif Zardari, and the military of the country, under General Kayani, have in the recent past reached some sort of understanding with America on bilateral military cooperation. America has intensified drone attacks in Paksitan. There have already been 28 drone attacks this year as against 34 attacks during the whole of the last year. The latest drone attack, on August 5, which is said to have killed Baitullah, has not evoked any protest or criticism from Pakistan. While the government of Pakistan gloated over the reported killing of Baitullah, who was declared as its 'enemy No. 1', the opposition in the Pakistan national assembly refrained from criticising America for carrying out the drone attack. The Baitullah episode has, thus, strengthened America's AF-Pak war strategy.
There is an important lesson to learn from the career of Baitullah and his handling by America and Pakistan. The New York Times has aptly observed: "Baitullah Mehsud is perhaps the most prominent example of a tribal Taliban fighter who at first fought in Afghanistan and cooperated with the Pakistani Army, but then turned against his own country, unleashing a vicious campaign of violence in the name of spreading the rule of Islam." The NYT has, however, suppressed one vital fact -- that Taliban of Afghanistan, like the al-Qaida, was originally a tool of America and Pakistan. Even a cursory study of the Islamist outfits, who vow to spread 'the rule of Islam' through violence in the region, will show that they have their origin in the al-Qaida and Taliban of Afghanistan. Baitullah is a Frankenstein as are the all Islamist forces of the region.
Whether Baitullah is dead or alive, the news or rumour of his death has served a big strategic interest of America. America has extended the theatre of its Afghan war into Pakistan and the use of the nomenclature, AF-Pak war, has become fashionable. In the past, American military operation on Pakistan soil used to be opposed by the people of Pakistan and criticised even by the government and the military of Pakistan. However, the government of Pakistan, under President Asif Zardari, and the military of the country, under General Kayani, have in the recent past reached some sort of understanding with America on bilateral military cooperation. America has intensified drone attacks in Paksitan. There have already been 28 drone attacks this year as against 34 attacks during the whole of the last year. The latest drone attack, on August 5, which is said to have killed Baitullah, has not evoked any protest or criticism from Pakistan. While the government of Pakistan gloated over the reported killing of Baitullah, who was declared as its 'enemy No. 1', the opposition in the Pakistan national assembly refrained from criticising America for carrying out the drone attack. The Baitullah episode has, thus, strengthened America's AF-Pak war strategy.
There is an important lesson to learn from the career of Baitullah and his handling by America and Pakistan. The New York Times has aptly observed: "Baitullah Mehsud is perhaps the most prominent example of a tribal Taliban fighter who at first fought in Afghanistan and cooperated with the Pakistani Army, but then turned against his own country, unleashing a vicious campaign of violence in the name of spreading the rule of Islam." The NYT has, however, suppressed one vital fact -- that Taliban of Afghanistan, like the al-Qaida, was originally a tool of America and Pakistan. Even a cursory study of the Islamist outfits, who vow to spread 'the rule of Islam' through violence in the region, will show that they have their origin in the al-Qaida and Taliban of Afghanistan. Baitullah is a Frankenstein as are the all Islamist forces of the region.