The debate about Taliban appeasement is over. We have wasted too much time and energy fighting about whether or not there is a difference between Afghan Taliban and Pakistani Taliban. We have argued with each other about whether or not we should be fighting Pakistani Taliban and working out deals with Afghani Taliban. Now we know certainly that there is no difference. Whether fighting in Afghanistan or bombing schools in Pakistan, Taliban are the same group. And this group is our enemy.
The News yesterday makes plain the reason – events over the past few days have proved for all that Taliban and Afghanistan and Pakistan are one group of militant butchers.
There are significant and far-reaching shifts in the way in which the ruling establishment perceives and interacts with the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan Taliban. Until very recently they were seen as discrete entities, separate but having complementarities and some shared interests. Today, there is a recognition – somewhat belated but no less welcome for all of that – that both the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Quetta Shura Taliban (QST) are essentially one and the same; jihadi organisations which have the overthrow of the state of Pakistan as well as Afghanistan as their core objective. Over the last eight weeks we have seen nine of the eighteen key members of the Quetta Shura detained by our security forces in several parts of the country. Whilst it is not possible to second-guess what will come next, it may be reasonable to assume that other detentions will follow, and if so, this will weaken the QS and by extension the TTP – which is a very long way from the position long-held wherein a benign linkage was maintained with both groups as a hedge against the future withdrawal of coalition troops in Afghanistan.
When viewed together the TTP and the QS are a large, flexible, adaptive, resourceful and well-equipped single entity that has the capacity to inflict death and destruction to a wide range of targets. Together, they are now seen to represent an institutional threat to our country. They have the ability to terrorise and destabilise large parts of our sovereign territory, and to threaten our infant democracy. That we today recognise this is not just because the Americans have demanded it, but because we have recognised that it is no longer in our best interests to maintain this dubious dark alliance. Other regional players, closer friends than Uncle Sam, have had a role in our rethinking of the concept of strategic depth. It is alleged that the Saudis have played a part, and if true we may have much to thank them for in the future. Now is the time to move away from old and increasingly irrelevant doctrinal positions towards positions that reflect new and emerging realities. Understanding that the TTP and the QS are conjoined is a step in the right direction for both us and Afghanistan, and can only strengthen our hand in fighting militancy and terrorism.
It is no surprise that some of us have held the American with suspicion. They have not always been honest, and they have not always been looking out for anything but their own interests. Even now, America is probably looking out for its own interest, yes. But what has changed has been that this fight is in PAKISTAN’S INTEREST. This is a fight for OUR nation, a fight for OUR culture, a fight for OUR independence.
The people who are attacking and killing our innocents are foreigners from many countries including even those of our Muslim brothers in Egypt, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia. But these killers are not fighting for us, they are killing us. They are butchering our people so that they can invade our country and change our nation into a backwards country ruled by crazed butchers. We will not stand for it.
TTP and QST are two names for the same thing – enemy of Pakistan. The debate is over. Now you must decide for yourself – WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON???
The military to military relations between the US and Pakistan seems to be gradually improving. There is a greater level of mutual confidence and less talk of ‘do more’. This has been achieved by enhanced cooperation at operational and intelligence level and is benefiting both sides. It seems sharing is taking place even at the planning stage to ensure greater synergy and to make sure that the operations undertaken by the US on the Afghan side do not have a negative fallout on Pakistan or vice-versa. The importance the US attaches to Pakistan is demonstrated by the frequency of visits by the US military leaders as well. General McChrystal, Commander of the US and ISAF forces, must have visited his counterpart no less than three to four times in one month alone. In addition, General Petraeus and Admiral Mullen, too, are keeping close contacts with General Kayani and other military and civilian leaders. This has resulted in expanded cooperation on a broad front. There is cooperation in training on new equipment and sharing of counter-insurgency doctrines and practices. Our army, although professionally capable, is constrained by the past and it is only through extensive training that we can prepare for the conflict that we are currently facing. This is even more relevant to the training of Frontier Corps whose role in counter-insurgency operations is expanding. Supply of weapons and equipment from the US has somewhat improved, but still there are shortages in critical areas like helicopters, surveillance equipment and specialised vehicles.
