What has been a common knowledge in the bazaars of Pakistan all along, has now officially been recognized by the government of General Pervez Musharraf - the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of North Western Pakistan is a Taliban country and the jihadis are an irrefutable fact of Pakistan life. Taliban and Pakistan reached a peace deal on Sept 5, 2006 under which the Taliban leaders agreed to stop attacks in the country and across the border in Afghanistan in return for a halt in government’s operations in the region.   The deal endorsed the view that Pakistan never intended to destroy or restrain the organ of global jihad operating from the nuclear Islamic state. It had only advised it to lie low and wait for the appropriate moment to resurface. And that moment has arrived. The U.S., in Pakistan’s view, has its hands full; opposition to the U.S. administration’s war policies within the U.S. is gaining ground; the insurgency in Iraq is moving strength to strength, the sectarian rivalries have gained so much momentum that the whole country finds itself engulfed in a full blown civil war, Hezbollah’s perceived victory in its war against Israel has emboldened the Islamist fascists everywhere and Iran’s defiance on its nuclear program has further underlined the inherent divisions in the post cold-war world, therefore Washington’s resolve on the issue can be tested.   Pakistan’s decision to enter into a peace deal with Taliban is significant in many ways. Although the deal will be seen as a victory for the jihadi forces in the region emboldening the insurgency in Afghanistan, Pakistan went ahead with its plan to demonstrate that it does not agree with the broader goal of the war on Islamist terrorism as far as its immediate neighborhood is concerned. It is obvious that the deal will create a safe haven for Taliban and will allow Osama bin Laden and the other Al-Qaeda leaders to continue attacking the coalition forces in Afghanistan but it did not bother Islamabad. Pakistan, it seems, does not feel obliged to play hide and seek on the issue of its own territorial ambitions any more.   Experts believe that Pakistan believes that the recent events in Baluchestan province in Pakistan were instigated by India, and Afghanistan somehow facilitated it. By signing the deal with the Taliban, Pakistan has tried to send a signal to the Karzai government that Islamabad does not approve of its policies and that from now on it should consider itself under check. With the changing conditions in Pak-Afghan relations, Islamabad doesn’t find it in its national interest to weaken a force that is its own creation in the first place and which has roots on both sides of the Durand line that separates the two countries. Islamabad has already made it clear that fighting the Taliban meant alienating a very sensitive and strategically situated segment of its population.   The Taliban are not only supported by an alliance of the major religious and political parties, Mutahidda Majlise Amal (MMA) that run the governments in this part of Pakistan, but also have committed backers in the Pakistan military. MMA and the military jointly helped in the creation of the Taliban as part of their long term strategy of establishing an Islamic theocracy in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And there is no doubt in any mind that the Taliban, if allowed to grow and expand, will one day deliver the region to the Wahhabi theocrats. MMA’s power and clout is well known. It not only has vast financial resources at its disposal in the country but countries like Saudi Arabia are also counting on its success. Most of the Sunni Arab countries need Wahhabi religious parties in Pakistan to keep the nuclear Islamic nation out of Iran’s sphere of influence.   Pakistan has many reasons to keep on empowering the Taliban. Since a Taliban can pass as an Afghan, Pakistan can use them to extend its influence over Kabul without being blamed for meddling in a neighbor’s affairs. President General Pervez Musharraf’s recent statement that Taliban insurgents were a more dangerous force than al Qaeda because of the broad support they have in Afghanistan was an obvious effort to establish the premise. General Musharraf said, “The centre of gravity of terrorism has shifted from al Qaeda to the Taliban.” In order to underline the Afghan character of the Taliban, he stressed, “This is a new element, a more dangerous element, because it (the Taliban) has its roots in the people. Al Qaeda didn't have roots in the people,” he said.   Pakistan also needs the Taliban to keep the pressure on India in Kashmir. In an environment of tension with India and an Islamist Afghanistan that is an extension of Islamabad is the need of Pakistan military to remain relevant. The military establishment in Pakistan needs radical Islam to keep Pushtoon tribes on its side as they are fiercely religious and consider Taliban as their own.   Experts who are aware of the tribal customs and the code of honor - Pushtoon Wali - say that no government can ever succeed in finishing the Taliban as the local tribes will protect them with their lives. The Pushtoon speaking tribes that live on both sides of the border share in Taliban’s anger against the Karzai government in Kabul as it is mainly composed of Northern warlords who are non-Pushtoon and are traditionally supported by India.   According to the foreign minister of Pakistan, Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, Pakistan’s truce with Taliban in its Waziristan region is aimed at winning back the alienated local population. But the experts are unanimous in their view that it will be at the expense of the U.S. Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah who has been quoted in the media as saying that he tried to convince the Pakistani Taliban that American troops and their allies be targeted instead of Pakistani troops. “My argument was that we should fight the US, UK and armies of other Western countries,” he said.   Pakistan’s recognition of the Taliban’s control over the strategic north western region of the country has also confirmed that Pakistan’s goals in the war on terrorism are not the same as that of the U.S. Whereas the U.S. is fighting to eradicate Islamist fascism, Pakistan is using the war to keep an unnatural country together by helping the radical Islamists consolidate their hold on the masses. Pakistan understood a long time ago that its various nationalities with conflicting interests – Sindhis, Baluchis, Urdu Speaking, Pushtoons and the Punjabis – do not have anything in common but religion. And only a religious totalitarian system of governance can keep the farce of nationhood from busting.    Pakistan’s military establishment that has ruled the country all throughout its life is well aware that democracy has no room for any kind of dictatorship. Consequently, it has always worked with the religious establishment in keeping the institution of jihad alive. That’s why it cannot now cooperate with the U.S. mission in eradicating the scourge of Islamism without sacrificing its own power base in the country.   This also explains why after five years of the war, the coalition forces are still unable to establish peace, security and stability in Afghanistan; that there has been no headway in arresting the key players of Global jihad – Osama bin Laden, Aiman al Zawahiri and others despite the fact that Pakistan had four times as many troops in the region than the U.S. has in Afghanistan; that the number of attacks on the Afghan government and coalition forces have increased instead of decreased; that the Federal Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan remain the safest sanctuary for the Al-Qaeda; that after having dislodged and dispersed from their bases and being on the run constantly, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces still have enough strength and resources to stage cross border raids into Afghanistan inflicting significant losses on the coalition forces.   Pakistan has made its mission clear, now it is up to the U.S. to reject it or accept it.
 

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Source: FamilySecurityMatters.org