Internet Anthropologist Think Tank: Loss in Info WAR may loose Pakti

Excerpted: full articles at "Source" links.

Musharraf deployed units of the paramilitary Rangers throughout the capital on Saturday just prior to declaring the state of emergency. The constitution was suspended and replaced by a Provisional Constitutional Order. In an attempt to control the flow of information***, communications inside Islamabad were shut down--telephone service was interrupted, cable stations, and news organizations were ordered off the air***.

Musharraf then moved against Pakistan's Supreme Court, his primary political enemy over the past year. The Supreme Court building in Islamabad was quickly surrounded. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and seven other justices declared the state of emergency "illegal and unconstitutional" and pleaded with the powerful army corps commanders, the military and civilian leadership, to reject the oath of Musharraf's new constitution.

Chaudhry, along with hundreds of political opposition leaders, lawyers, and members of the media have since been arrested. Aitzaz Ahsan, the president of Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association and an influential member of Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's party, was also arrested along with Hamid Gul, the formerleader of Pakistan's infamous Inter Services Intelligence agency and architect of the Taliban movement.

Upon hearing the news of the imposition of the state of emergency, Benazir Bhutto boarded a plane in the United Arab Emirates and landed in Karachi. Bhutto was met at the airport by police and was escorted to her home, which remains surrounded by government forces.

In his address to the nation, Musharraf cited the rise in terrorist attacks, the creeping power of Pakistan's Supreme Court, and an economic downturn as the reasons for taking such drastic action. "( NUCLEAR ) Pakistan is on the verge of destabilization," Musharraf declared. But the reasoning behind Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency is more likely due to his weakening political situation, not the rise of Islamist militancy in the country.

( here we see it differently, if his political situation weakens he can't fight the Militancy of Islamists )

And to is unclear what effect, if any, the state of emergency will have on the sagging morale of the Pakistani military and police, which have performed poorly in the tribal areas of Waziristan and the settled district of Swat. Soldiers have been captured by the hundreds and surrendered or deserted by the dozens***. The Taliban has beheaded well over a dozen soldiers and policemen. The Pakistani military also boasts an inordinately high number of Pashtuns in its security forces, many whom are sympathetic to the Islamists***. Other Pakistani soldiers resent the thought of fighting what they perceive as an American war against their own citizens***.

Musharraf's control over the security forces will be tested over the coming months. It has been widely speculated that significant numbers of junior and senior military officers, as well as enlisted men, are covertly supporting the Taliban, and much of the Inter Services Intelligence agency is thought to covertly support the Taliban***.

In the tribal agencies and settled district of the Northwest Frontier Province, the government's writ is likely to diminish, not expand, as Musharraf attempts to consolidate his political control in Islamabad. Unless Musharraf opts to leverage the full weight of the military into the hinterlands of the Northwest Frontier Province, unenforced peace accords are likely to be the order of the day.

The court's decisions were prominently noted in Musharraf's speech to the nation. The court has ordered the release of over 60 al Qaeda suspects being held without charge. The court also ordered the release of all those detained in the assault on the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad, save Abdul Aziz, one of the two pro-Taliban leaders of the mosque.

Excerpted from: Bill Roggio edits the Long War Journal and is a contributor to THE WORLDWIDE STANDARD.

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On November 3, Pakistan's President Musharraf declared a state of emergency and martial law in Pakistan, suspending the Pakistan constitution, stating that Pakistan's ( NUCLEAR) sovereignty was at stake. This emergency declaration was made as the continuing growth of power and influence*** of the Taliban has turned the area of Swat into a mini-state within M Pakistan, as Pakistan army and police are surrendering to Taliban, and as the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. (NWFP) government has publicly offered to meet the demands of the Taliban to enforce Shariah throughout the Swat area.

....reports of growth of Pakistan Taliban armaments and tolerance of Taliban in major cities*** within Pakistan. This emergency declaration also comes less than a week after a suicide bomber attack near the heavily-fortified Pakistani Army HQ in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, which houses President Musharraf's office. Pakistan's internal security has been challenged in the past several months with a continuing series of suicide bombings and attacks, including one on Benazir Bhutto's convoy last month that killed 145 people.

....he put Pakistan under martial law based in part on "visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings, IED explosions, rocket firing and bomb explosions and the banding together of some militant groups have taken such activities to an unprecedented level of violent intensity posing a grave threat to the life and property of the citizens of Pakistan." In the declaration, Musharraf also stated that "some members of the judiciary are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism" and that "the police force has been completely demoralized*** and is fast losing its efficacy to fight terrorism and Intelligence Agencies have been thwarted in their activities and prevented from pursuing terrorists". Moreover, Musharraf stated that "some hard core militants, extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers, who were arrested and being investigated were ordered to be released" and "[t]he persons so released have subsequently been involved in heinous terrorist activities, resulting in loss of human life an property."

...In addition to this issue, the Musharraf government had differences with the Pakistan Supreme Court on "concessions" given to Lal Masjid (aka "Red Mosque") Islamist clerics. On October 2, the Pakistan Supreme Court ordered the government to re-open the pro-Taliban Lal Masjid mosque. On October 10, the Musharraf government filed a petition of review with the Pakistan Supreme Court "asking that the concessions given to the former clerics of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa be withdrawn". On October 18, the pro-Jihadist, Islamist political organization Jamaat-e-Islami petitioned the Pakistan Supreme Court to move "against the deployment of the armed forces in the tribal areas".

While some view Musharraf's declaration of emergency to be a ploy to retain power, there remains a very real battle for the identity of Pakistan between Islamists and moderates, a battle in which the Islamists are gaining ground and influence in this nuclear nation. The Pakistan Taliban's goal of enforcing Islamist Shariah throughout Pakistan is one that a majority of Pakistanis would agree with based on recent public opinion polls.

The Pakistan Army has faced a series of humiliating defeats in recent days, with 48 soldiers surrendering to the Taliban on November 2, and 120 policemen and paramilitary soldiers surrendering to the Taliban on November 3. The surrendering Pakistanis were released after being paraded and announcing their surrender to the "mujahedeen". Moreover, the surrendering military have stated publicly that "[w]e did not want to fight these Muslim brothers who are striving for the enforcement of Islamic sharia"***.

Indian intelligence has reported mass casualties, desertions, suicides, discharge applications*** in the Pakistani military, which have been echoed in other reports of serious problems in the Pakistan Army by media sources Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, and Newsweek, among others.

The September 2006 peace pact between Pakistan and the Taliban has allowed both the Taliban and Al Qaeda to regroup in Waziristan and carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In August 2007, while President Musharraf was holding meetings with Taliban representatives, encouraging the Taliban to become a mainsteam political organization, the Taliban has continued to solidify a base in the North-West Frontier (NWFP) Province of Pakistan.

This NWFP base of the Taliban is centered in the Swat area, where the Taliban and Al Qaeda have created a mini-state within Pakistan, where pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah uses FM radio*** to broadcast the Islamist ideology of the Taliban to the public. Pakistan Daily Times reports that Milt Bearden, a former CIA station chief in Pakistan, states that "losing Swat is shocking... the Pakistanis, and by extension the United States, have almost no control of events... I don't think anyone in Washington really gets it." The influx of 2,500 troops into the Swat area has not deterred the efforts of the Taliban. Pakistan Daily Times reports that Jihadist Abdul Samad states that he traveled in recent weeks to North Waziristan and recruited scores of militants to reinforce Fazlullah's followers in Swat. Samad says "It's not just in Swat or in Waziristan or in Bajaur. We are getting stronger everywhere in the area."***

On November 2, Pakistan Federal Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani stated that some Pakistani politicians were directly supporting terrorists, and that such individuals would be exposed. Durrani also stated that the government and the media needed to unite against the Taliban.***

However, the October 22 Christian Science Monitor reports, "the Taliban are viewed differently here than they are in the West***, not least because they are Pakistani. While the West sees an Islamist war against its liberties, many here see a US-led war against Islam itself. Voicing an opinion commonly heard on Pakistani streets, Mr. Gul says: 'This is a false war. People are not convinced that 9/11 was done by Al Qaeda.'"***

....On Friday, a bomb blast destroyed 14 shops in Peshawar market selling selling CDs, TV sets and music albums. Bombing of non-Islamist businesses and threatening the lives of non-Muslims if they do not cover to Islam is becoming a relatively routine occurrence in Swat and other parts of the NWFP in Pakistan.

By Jeffrey Imm Link

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The armed forces have in the past enjoyed the trust of the nation to an extent unimagined in many countries. It was once a common sight to read slogans like ‘Salute to Pak army’ inscribed on the back of private trucks and buses. There is need by the military’s higher command to undertake soul searching as to why it no longer enjoys the previous admiration and prestige***....

According to a newspaper comment, After a brief two-day lull, fighting in Swat has resumed. A further 20 people have died, and bodies have been exchanged between warring militants and paramilitary forces. The grotesque mutilations inflicted on some of the bodies underscore, in their own words, the intention of the extremists to send out a ‘clear-cut’ message. No immediate solution to the crisis is Swat appears to be in sight. Terrorised people, including women and children, have been seen fleeing the worst affected areas on foot. Others report being trapped in their homes for hours or even days. Whereas the much heard talk of dialogue and negotiation is probably well intentioned, it is worth noting that, in the past, similar talks have resulted only in clumsy efforts to appease the militants. This has happened both in Waziristan and at the Lal Masjid. Indeed, concessions made to Lal Masjid clerics early on in the sordid affair, granting them permission to reconstruct mosques, acted only to encourage them, accelerating the crisis and contributing to the bloody outcome which came several months later.

the the situation in Swat should have been tackled much earlier. The antics of Maulana Fazlullah, who astride his white steed, was known for setting out on missions to collect ‘donations’ in cash and jewellery from people, and preaching a fiery brand of extremist Islam which included opposition to education for girls, should never have been tolerated***. Yet, instead of addressing the issue head-on, the former MMA government, with administrative control over the Provincially Administered Tribal Area (PATA) opted for a flawed policy of accord. In exchange for permitting the polio vaccination drive in the areas of Malakand that he effectively controlled, Fazlullah was allowed to continue to operate the illegal FM ***radio station that he used to propagate his retrogressive, and indeed unlawful, message. In addition, as authorities turned a blind eye, he was also able to amass a considerable arsenal of arms, as the present fighting has shown, and raise an organised private militia of some four or five thousand men.

Permitting the coercive hold of Fazlullah to continue much longer could only have aggravated the situation, and worsened the plight of Swat’s people — who over the last decade have helplessly seen a major source of income — tourism — stolen away from them by the extremists. But armed action alone*** cannot, on a long-term basis, solve the problems of Swat. This can happen only when people everywhere in the country, especially in large urban centres that form the hub of decision-making and influence, take up the battle against militancy as their own. Till now, there has been a silent indifference to events in various parts of the country — and while this persists, there can be little hope of winning a battle that so far has pitched extremists against the state, with citizens remaining largely detached and somewhat disinterested***. For the violence in places like Swat to be resolved, this indifference must end before it is too late to win the ongoing war.

Muhammad Khurshid

November 2, 2007

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*** = These all indicate the failure to initiate an Information WAR.
Again the terrorist are controlling the Information Paradigm.
Controlling the HEARTS AND MINDS.
What Pashtoon language Inatives Has the USA initated? USA is not feeding the truth to these minds.
And force alone will not win.
Talbi are lying to the Pashtoons, and they control the communications Paradigm, winning by default.

Gerald
anthropologist

Info WAR Grist:

( FOR IRAQ THERE IS THE GOOGLE TRANSLATION ENGINE, THE CIVILIAN FORCES

CAN PUT OUT INFO IN ARABIC....THERE IS NO PASHTOON TRANSLATION ENGINE,

AND THAT IS WHERE THE INFO WAR IS BEING LOST.)

VOA in Pakti, TV ???

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UPDATE: 05.20.09

Al Qaeda, Taliban have out-communicated the US: Hillary - Zee News

Our post was from 2007. G

Labels: info, pakistan, war

Internet Anthropologist Think Tank

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Loss in Info WAR may loose Pakti

By Jeffrey Imm Link

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al Qaeda propaganda for Americans:

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