Pakistan will impose Islamic Law

[MrMarcus1914]

Islamic law to be imposed in parts of Pakistan

By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press Writer Riaz Khan, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 22 mins ago

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – The government agreed to impose Islamic law and suspend a military offensive across much of northwest Pakistan on Monday in concessions aimed at pacifying the Taliban insurgency spreading from the border region to the country's interior.

The announcement came as three missiles believed fired from a U.S. drone aircraft destroyed a house used by a local Taliban commander elsewhere in the northwest, killing 30 people, witnesses said.

The cease-fire, in Pakistan's Swat Valley hundreds of miles from the missile strike in Kurram, will likely concern the United States, which has warned Pakistan that such peace agreements allow al-Qaida and Taliban militants operating near the Afghan border time to rearm and regroup.

The truce announcement came after talks with local Islamists, including one closely linked to the Taliban.

Speaking in India, U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said the unrest in Swat was a reminder that the United States, Pakistan and India face an "an enemy which poses direct threats to our leadership, our capitals and our people."

Amir Haider Khan Hoti, the chief minister for the North West Frontier Province, said authorities would impose Islamic law in Malakand region, which includes the Swat Valley. Swat is a one-time tourist haven in the northwest where extremists have gained sway through brutal tactics including beheading residents, burning girls schools and attacking security forces.

He said the laws would only be implemented when the valley was peaceful.

The Swat Taliban said Sunday they would observe a 10-day cease-fire in support of the peace process. They welcomed Monday's announcement, which did not mention any need for the militants to give up arms.

"Our whole struggle is for the enforcement of Shariah (Islamic) law," Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said. "If this really brings us the implementation of Shariah, we will fully cooperate with it."

Hoti gave few details, but said the main changes were included in existing laws stipulating Islamic justice that have never been enforced. They allow for Muslim clerics to advise judges when hearing cases, but do not ban female education or mention other strict interpretations of Shariah espoused by the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"This was the people's demand ... for speedy justice." he said. "There was a (legal) vacuum and we will be filling that vacuum in the near future," he told a news conference.

Hoti also said that troops in Swat, which had been conducting an offensive there against the militants, would now go on "reactive mode" and retaliate only if attacked.

Pakistani military officials were not immediately available for comment.

The missile attack Monday was the first known such strike in Kurram. Most of the strikes have occurred in South and North Waziristan, other tribal regions considered major Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds.

Rehman Ullah, a resident of the targeted village of Baggan, said drones were seen in the sky before the attack and that he saw 30 bodies dug up. An intelligence official said field informants reported that militants showed up at the village bazaar and ordered 30 caskets. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

The U.S. has stepped up missile strikes in the border region since August, killing some suspected top militants. Pakistan routinely protest the strikes, saying it undercuts its fight against terror.

Regaining the Swat Valley from militants is a major test for the Pakistani government. Unlike the semiautonomous tribal regions where al-Qaida and Taliban have long thrived, the former tourist haven is supposed to be under full government control and lies less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the provincial capital, Islamabad.

Among those Islamists taking part in talks with the government in the provincial capital Peshawar was Sufi Muhammad, who Pakistan freed last year after he agreed to renounce violence. Muhammad is father-in-law to Maulana Fazlullah, leader of the Taliban in Swat.

Hoti said Muhammad had agreed to travel to Swat and urge the militants to give up their arms.

"Seeing the trend we can hope peace will soon be restored in Swat," he said.

President Asif Ali Zardari has been indirectly involved in the dialogue after growing increasingly concerned about civilian casualties in Swat, said an official in the president's office who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Overall security is deteriorating in Pakistan, and several foreigners have been attacked or abducted in recent months.

Also Monday, a spokesman for kidnappers holding American John Solecki captive in Pakistan said the deadline to negotiate for his release was extended for a "few days" after appeals from "some international organizations." On Friday, the captors said they would kill Solecki, a United Nations official, in 72 hours if their demands were not met.

Solecki was abducted on Feb. 2 in Quetta, a major city in the southwest near the Afghan border. On Friday, his kidnappers threatened to kill him within 72 hours and issued a 20-second video of the blindfolded hostage.

Shahak Baluch, who claims to speak for the little-known Baluch United Liberation Front, announced the extended deadline in a call to the Quetta Press Club.

The group's name indicates a link to separatists rather than Islamic extremists. Its demands include the release of 141 women allegedly held by Pakistani authorities, but Pakistan has denied it is holding the women. The U.N. has been trying to establish contact with the kidnappers, officials said.

Asif Ali Zardari was talking nonesense last night. Along the main road the Taliban has lost power, but in the rural areas they are bombing girl schools, and beheading people for nonesense.

[FanboyOf91]

Damn, it's that bad?

[ACW]

Lovely

hokie, your thoughts?

[81artmonk]

chew on this. We might be facing a sitution where Pakistan is taken over by the taliban. Thus a terrorist organization would have control of a country with LOTS of nukes.

That with a president who likes to talk things out rather than act. Or so he has stated.

[FanboyOf91]

chew on this. We might be facing a sitution where Pakistan is taken over by the taliban. Thus a terrorist organization would have control of a country with LOTS of nukes.

That with a president who likes to talk things out rather than act. Or so he has stated.

Obviously, we need to invade Pakistan.

[Special K]

Well, that's just great. Let's concede to the terrorist bullies.

I have a feeling this is going to end up being a big problem for our troops in Afghanistan as we shift focus back to that country.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Lets be mindful of what is going on here

Places like Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore will not have Shari'a. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Too many people kinda enjoy life in those cities

As for the tribal areas, those areas have always been psuedo autonomous.

Why? Because as I have said many times, they are the most ignorant people on earth. Why even deal with them? Just let them govern themselves as long as they leave everyone else alone and they can have their 8th century utopia

Is there hope? I guess we can keep nailing gangs of 25 with our predator drones? Other then that I am not sure what else can be done except "you leave us alone we leave you alone"

[SnyderShrugged]

chew on this. We might be facing a sitution where Pakistan is taken over by the taliban. Thus a terrorist organization would have control of a country with LOTS of nukes.

That with a president who likes to talk things out rather than act. Or so he has stated.

based on our historical lack of success with relying on Pakistan to grab Bin laden and other terrorists as well as on this news that they are capitulating, I'd say there is a really good chance they have already taken control.

It's been a collassal mistake to put our trust in the dictator Musharriff (IMHO)

[SkinsHokieFan]

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=20356

Why the US bugged Pakistan Army generals

Monday, February 16, 2009

Book claims drone attacks began after ISI-Taliban coordination confirmed

By Rauf Klasra

ISLAMABAD: A new book by a New York Times journalist has levelled serious allegations against Pakistan and its Army claiming the telephones of all senior officers, including the COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani were bugged by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA), the main eavesdropping US agencies around the world.

The book written by David E Sanger, which has hit the stands a few days back, claims that the American intelligence agencies were intercepting telephonic conversations of Army officers and the decision to attack Pakistan through drones was taken after one such high level conversation was intercepted claiming the Taliban as a “strategic asset” for Pakistan.

The book, titled “The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the challenges to American power” claims the decision to invade Pakistani territories was taken after the CIA reached a conclusion that the ISI was absolutely in complete coordination with the Taliban.

The NSA intercepted messages indicating that ISI officers were helping the Taliban in planning a big bombing attack in Afghanistan although the target was unclear. After some days, the Kandahar Jail was attacked by the Taliban and hundreds of Taliban were freed, it says.

General Kayani would be the second army chief of Pakistan whose conversations have been bugged by the Americans, if the allegations in the book are true. Earlier the FBI had intercepted the telephone conversation between President Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto when Musharraf had threatened her that her safety within Pakistan depended upon her nature of relationship with him (Musharraf). The Indians had also recorded a telephone conversation between General Musharraf and General Aziz when Musharraf was in Beijing during the Kargil war days.

The author who seemed to have been given direct access to the secret record of several meetings held at the White House before George Bush left the presidency on January 20, has made several revelations in his book.

The book has also disclosed that NSA was already picking up interceptions, as the units of Pakistan army were getting ready to hit a school in the tribal areas. Someone was giving advance warning of what was coming. The book said they must have dialed 1-800-HAQQANI, said one person who was familiar with the intercepted conversation.

According to another para, the account of the warning sent to the school was almost comical. “It was something like that “Hey, we are going to hit your place in a few days, so if anyone important is there, you might want to tell them to scream”.

The book also establishes that the Americans were in full knowledge of the facts on the ground and they started attacking territories inside Pakistan as they thought the Pakistan army and intelligence agencies were no more interested in fighting the Taliban.

In chapter 8 of the book on Pakistan “Crossing the Line”, the author has also revealed that how an angry two star army officer of Pakistan army had actually unfolded the whole secret plan of Pakistan army deliberately before a US spy master McConell.

The book said, the US intelligence agencies knew very well that Musharraf was playing a double game with them as on the one hand he was assuring the Americans that only he could fight against the Taliban and on the other, he was backing the militancy and the militants. “Musharraf’s record of duplicity was well known.

The author has written this chapter on Pakistan on basis of some secret trips of America’s twwo top spy chiefs-McConnel an Haden-nicknamed as “two Mikes” who had held several meetings with the top military army officers including General Pervez Musharraf.

The author records that in late May 2008, McConnel made a secret trip to Pakistan, his fourth or fifth since becoming the director of national intelligence, trips that seemed to blur together in his head.

But this one was dramatically different from the rest- and ended up driving the push in the last days of the Bush administration to greatly step up covert action across the border into Pakistan.

The book says, packing quickly through his usual rounds of meetings with Musharraf and a raft of intelligence officials in Islamabad, McConnel and his small entourage found themselves in a conference room with several military officers, including a two star Pakistan general.

No officer was talking to other participants in the meeting as if the American intelligence chief, the visiting dignitary for the day, wasn’t in the room. Not surprisingly, he was being pressed about Pakistan strategy in the tribal areas, and he was “reluctant to start” one of the participants in the conversation recalled.

“But once he got into it, he could not contain himself”. The two-star general began making the case that the real problem was the tribal areas and in Afghanistan was not al-Qaeda or the Taliban, or even the militants who were trying to topple the Pakistani government. The real problem was Pakistan’s rival of more than sixty years which he said was secretly manipulating events in an effort to crush Pakistan and undo the 1947 partition that sought to separate the Islamic and Hindu states.

“The overwhelming enemy is India”, the Pakistani officer told the General. “We have to watch them at every moment. We have had wars with India, he said as everyone in the room needed reminding.”

The Pakistani two-star general described President Karzai’s cozy relationship with India, seeking investment and aid. With alarm, he talked about how the Indians were opening consulates around the country and building roads. What the rest of the world saw as a desperately needed nation-building programme, Pakistan saw as a threat. He was not alone in that view, conspiracy theories about Indian activities in Afghanistan are a daily staple in the Pakistani media.

As the officer talked, he became more and more animated. The Indians will surround us and annihilate us, he said, knowing McConnel was hearing every word. “And the Indians in their surrounding strategy, have gone to Afghanistan.” Those newly built roads were future invasion routes, he seemed to suggest, without quite saying so.

The consulates were dens of Indian spies. The real purpose of the humanitarian aid to Afghanistan was to run “operations out of Afghanistan to target Pakistan”.

The conspiracy theory deepened. “In the long run, America will not have the stomach to bear the burden of staying in Afghanistan,” the officer continued, still seeming to ignore the presence of the American intelligence chief. “And when the Americans pull out, India will reign. Therefore, the Pakistanis will have to sustain the contacts with the opposition to the Afghanistan government meaning the Taliban so when the Americans pull out, it’s a friendly government to Pakistan. “Therefore,” the officer concluded with a flourish, “we must support the Taliban”, two-star general announced in the meeting in the presence of US spymaster.

The last statement of the two star general stunned McConnel. For six years, the Americans had paid upward $10 billion to the Pakistan army to support its operations against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Bush and his aides knew — though they never admitted that much of the money had been diverted to buying equipment for the Pakistan military to bulk up against the Indian. Now a Pakistani officer in his fury and frustration, was openly admitting that the Pakistani government had officially denied that it was playing both sides of the war—-the Americans side and Taliban side.

In return for the Americans billions, Pakistani forces or intelligence agencies operatives occasionally picked off a few al-Qaeda leaders (though even that had slowed to a trickle). But they were actively supporting the Taliban and even some militants in the tribal region. It was almost as if the American taxpayers were making monthly deposits in the Taliban bank accounts. Some in the Pentagon objected but were overruled.

None of this was really a surprise-except to the American people who were regularly told by President Bush that Pakistan and its leadership were a strong ally against terror. Even some of the Bush aides cringed when he uttered those words “it was like hearing him say, victory in Iraq”, one told me after leaving the muddled complexity of it all was some kind of admission of defeat.

Even some inside the While House, admitted to me (author) that “reimbursements” to the Pakistani military were just this side of fraud. They had been paid out when Musharraf had announced he was pulling back from tribal areas because of a “truce” with the tribal leaders. When Congress threatened to link the reimbursement to the Pakistan military performance, one American general summarized this reaction this way: “It’s about goddamn time”.

Bush knew the truth. Intelligence reports written over the past five years have all documented the ISI support for Taliban-something Bush had admitted to me (author) and other reporters. He knew of course that even Musharraf had little interest in sending his army into tribal areas. Every military professional who returned from Islamabad came back with the same report. Seven years after 9/11, 80 per cent of Pakistan military was arrayed against India.

McConnel himself returning from one of his trips noted that there is only one army that has more artillery tubes per unit, everything from old cannons to rocket launchers and mortars. It’s North Koreas’, he said. It was a telling statistic. Artillery tubes weigh tonnes and are useful only in holding back Indian hordes as they come across the plains. They are useless against terrorists enclaves.

Overhearing the two-star’s rant about India was not the only rude surprise McConnel experienced on this trip. He had brought with him the chart he used in the White House situation room tracking the number of attacks inside Pakistan over the past two and a half years.

One of the charts showed that about 13,000 Pakistanis had been killed in 2007 chiefly by suicide bombers, about double the numbers in 2006.

He told Musharraf and General Kayani, the former DG ISI, that the casualty numbers on the track to double again in 2008. Then he described the interviews that Osama Bin laden and his deputies had given, declaring their intention to topple the Pakistan government.

“You are aware of these casualty numbers and what Osama said of course”, McConnel asked. He got blank stares. They told him they had heard about Bin Laden statements.

“It was news”, McConnel reported to his colleagues later. “I talked to the highest level of the Pakistani government and it was news. They just were not tracking it”. It astounded him that the officials in Washington and at the American embassy in Islamabad might be keeping more careful tabs on the rising number of attacks than were Musahrraf or Pakistani crop of democratically elected leaders. Were they ignoring the obvious or were they just denying they knew about it, part of the deception within the deceptions as they supported both sides in the terror fight.

When McConnel returned to Washington in late 2008, he ordered up a full assessment so that he could match what he had heard from the single angry officer with the intelligence that had poured in over the years. His question was a basic one. Is there what McConnel called an officially sanctioned “dual policy” in Pakistan?” That was a polite way of asking whether the leadership of the country including Musahrraf had been playing both sides of the war all along.

It did not take long for McConnel’s staff to produce the answer. McConnel took the formal assessment to the White House, concluding that the Pakistani government regularly gave the Taliban and some of the militant groups “weapons and supporters to go into Afghanistan to attack Afghan and coalition forces”.

This was not news to many in the administration but McConnel wanted to have it down on paper. The assessment was circulated to the entire national security leadership and to Bush who was still giving public speeches praising Musharraf as a great ally.

“It was news to him,” said one of the officials who briefed Bush and watched his reaction to McConnel’s assessment. “And he always says the same thing, so what do you do about it?

By the summer, Bush answered his own question. For the first time in a presidency filled with secret unilateral actions, he authorized the American military to invade an ally-Pakistan.

Editor’s Note: The ISPR has been requested for a detailed response and whenever available it would be given equal and similar space.

[GoSkins561]

Obviously, we need to invade Pakistan.

They seem pretty reasonable, maybe we should start negotiations.

[GoSkins561]

Is there hope? I guess we can keep nailing gangs of 25 with our predator drones? Other then that I am not sure what else can be done except "you leave us alone we leave you alone"

I am pretty sure I am not reading this correctly. Are you saying we should leave them alone so they can bomb girls schools and kill innocent people while providing a safe haven for enemy?

[Mad Mike]

Lets be mindful of what is going on here

Places like Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore will not have Shari'a. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Too many people kinda enjoy life in those cities

As for the tribal areas, those areas have always been psuedo autonomous.

Why? Because as I have said many times, they are the most ignorant people on earth. Why even deal with them? Just let them govern themselves as long as they leave everyone else alone and they can have their 8th century utopia

Is there hope? I guess we can keep nailing gangs of 25 with our predator drones? Other then that I am not sure what else can be done except "you leave us alone we leave you alone"

Unfortunately Al Qaeda is not going to leave us alone.

[Mad Mike]

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=20356

When I read that, I just want to drop a nuke on the tribal regions and be done with it.

[SkinsHokieFan]

When I read that, I just want to drop a nuke on the tribal regions and be done with it.

That was my dad's words last night after watching the "60 Minutes" segment on Pakistan

[Special K]

Interesting article SHF...although it doesn't come as a complete surprise to me. I've always been suspicious about the Pakistani government's "inability" to effectively address the problems in the tribal regions.

I really haven't seen Pakistan as our ally for the past couple years now; they are opportunists and they want to be in good standing with the extremists when the U.S. drastically scales down operations over there in the future.

More than any other nation, Pakistan scares me, evern more than Iran. Iran has declared its evil intent, but Pakistan is more of a sleeper threat as they pretend they want to help the U.S. but are secretly aiding the enemy under the table.

[88Comrade2000]

Just nuke it baby. Remember, Obama is ready to bomb, bomb Pakistan.

[CounterTrey]

Glad everyone relizes that one cannot trust the gov't of Pakistan because they will always stab you in the back when your not looking. I can't belief they have siphoned so much money from us in the name of battling terrorism when all they are doing is buying weapons in a fight with India.

Its time we teach Pakistan a lesson because we've been fooled by them for a long long time.

[Mad Mike]

I contacted Michael Moran about this article a while back. I asked him to clarify his position about the supposed CIA links to bin Laden which were in contradiction with Peter Bergen's position that such links were "hogwash". Here's what he told me....

In fact, American money never went directly to anyone in

Afghanistan. The best source on this, I think, is Steve Coll's book,"Ghost Wars."

The arrangement with Saudi Arabia which funded much of the insurgency required all funds to be funneled through a sub-department of the Pakistani ISI. Pakistanis, by and large, were the ones in the country training the rebels, and it's through this conduit that I understand the precursor to Al

Qaeda got its training.

Worth noting, too, is that the headline you cite merely refers to the fact that the massive transfer of arms to impoverished Afghanistan, through corrupt and venal Pakistani sources, had caused a good deal of trouble. Pakistan's role in post-Soviet Afghanistan is reprehensible, and Bin Laden's hosts were directly dependent on our Pakistani allies for their keep.

I hope that helps. I never said Bin Laden received American money. I wrote that he was the beneficiary of an American policy which hitched its wagons to zealots who's long-term interests were demonstrable anti-American.

MM

Interesting in light of the current conversation eh?

[Mr. S]

as I've always thought, I don't think the US ever really considered Pakistan an "ally" post 9/11. They just wanted it to look that way to show they are trying to crack down on Afghanistan and the Taliban. It worked and achieved it's purpose. Now it's just reverting it appears. Hopefully Afghanistan can remain free from Al Qaeda and the Taliban. It does seem that, like Iraq, people on the whole are thankful for removing the Taliban.

However, the masses being thankful isn't enough when certain leaders, religious or not, keep fueling anti-US sentiments. Now is as good a time as any to make sure India has the US' back, as we sure as hell could use the help of a country who's been fighting with Pakistan for 60+ years. It's been a powder keg since independence and partition, may as well make sure that you have the backing of one.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Interesting in light of the current conversation eh?

Ghost Wars is the best book written about the events in the region from 1979-2004. Nothing else compares

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Ghost Wars is the best book written about the events in the region from 1979-2004. Nothing else compares

Lol, I bought like a year ago when you first recommended it. I've skimmed it but I'm desperate to really read it. It seems awesome. But school is a *****. Ugh.

[SnyderShrugged]

Ghost Wars is the best book written about the events in the region from 1979-2004. Nothing else compares

Imperial Hubris is a great one to pick up where Ghost wars leaves off too.:2cents:

[Thiebear]

If you offer peace and its not accepted.

Allow them to continue the 1200ad sanctuary.

--------------------------------------------

But, don't get all mad if we wipe out a section when its found to be a training ground.

[Smoot Point Really]

I don't think it is just a coincidence that this news breaks just days after Senator Diane Feinstein (chair of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence) talks about us launching Predator attacks from a base inside Pakistan. Whether it is true or not, that news was aired all over Pakistan and embarrassed the Government of Pakistan. Really... She should have her clearance and access revoked.

[SkinsHokieFan]

I don't think it is just a coincidence that this news breaks just days after Senator Diane Feinstein (chair of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence) talks about us launching Predator attacks from a base inside Pakistan. Whether it is true or not, that news was aired all over Pakistan and embarrassed the Government of Pakistan. Really... She should have her clearance and access revoked.

Yup, that was completely stupid. What the hell was she thinking?