Dawn.com invites its readers to debate current affairs in this forum.
On Tuesday, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for the attack on the Manawan police academy and threatened more such assaults in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the US. He stated that President Asif Zardari was ‘following US policies and allowing drone attacks’ and vowed that the Taliban would continue to commits act of terror until missile attacks are halted. He also claimed that the Taliban have the ability to attack Washington and threatened to target the White House. Attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan were also on Mehsud’s list.
A few days before the Manawan attack, on March 25, the US State Department put Baitullah Mehsud on its most wanted list and announced a $5 million bounty for capturing him or providing information that could help convict him.
Do you think the US State Department’s announcement of a bounty for Mehsud provoke the Manawan attack? If the drone attacks were to seize, would Mehsud call off future terrorist attacks? Is Mehsud’s real target the US and its affiliate NATO forces? What exactly provokes Baitullah Mehsud?
The real question should be: “Who empowers Baitullah Mehsud?”
And the answer is: The Pakistani military
It’s a well known fact that for decades, people like Mehsood and outfits like the Taliban have been empowered & encouraged by our military so that they can be our “Strategic allies” against a threat from India, which did not & does not exist.
The truth is that even today some official quarters consider the ‘non-existent threat’ from India, to be much greater than that of the radicalism & terrorism, which has spread like cancer & is killing the country.
They still consider people like Mehood & Haqqani, to be ‘Strategic Assets’
It’s time that we, the people of Pakistan, demand from our military that they disband this lethal & ideology & save Pakistan by seriously fighting these ‘Strategic Assets’ & destroying them.
Lets have another long march!
Who cares what provokes him and what doesn’t? Pakistanis’ sufferings were ahead of the announcement with respect to $5 mil, gratuitous, bounty, and remain the same beyond the needless US attempt.
What COULD provoke anyone to build an army without a future and convince them to strap and bomb to their chest and blow themselves up in a public place, kill innocent people who US doesn’t care about, and expect to be greeted by angels in heaven?
What could provoke him to send his army-without-a-future into an academy full of ambitious individuals – the future executors of law and order in the country, and just snatch their futures away?
Only rationale I can impel my mind to muster is INSANITY
Also, the whole idea of scraping an irritant that might have caused the heinous Manawan incident seems rather superfluous.
Simply put, Mehsud is a sociopath with no conscience, and his insanity is only going to hurt our country, the way Talibans hurt Afghanistan. Because, if White House really is on his agenda, I fail to muster a reason why he’s not on it this very minute.
Comments like those made by Ghazala Khan are exactly what the problem is. Who blowing up schools? Who is killing people? blowing up music shops and trampling women?
We are again assigning these events to conspiracy theories and secret meetings. Is it wrong if Americans say that these guys are also a threat to Pakistan?
Get real guys or you would only be left with tears when these taliban would enter your home and slaughter your loved ones.
Bait Ullah’s is back from the dead, his latest statement about attacking Washington is only going to provide America with a pretext to send its troops in Pakistan.
It’s strange that he is complaining about drone attacks but all his attacks are within Pakistan and his operatives are mostly Afghans.
His brother Abdullah Mehsud was released by Americans from Guantanamo bay after three years of rehabilitation, he lost a leg while fighting against General Dostum and was captured and the American fixed a prosthetic leg and released him along with thirty other high profiled Talibans who later reorganized TTP.
Americans are working on the age old formula, first create a problem and then step in to solve it.
I have said it time and again these Taliban thugs are not fighting a religious war they are just mercenaries who sell their services to the highest bidder.
There is no clear policy of our Government, they cannot confront Americans because they want American Aid, they cannot launch an all out attack against Taliban because the army is against it as it will start an all out war in northern regions of Pakistan and our enemies will take advantage of it.This is what America and other powers in the region want, they will only come in on the pretext to help Pakistan as there is a huge difference between Americans launching a direct war against Pakistan and coming in on the pretext of helping Pak Army.
Pak Army is left with no option but to carry out an all out war against the Talibans, an all-out offensive should be launched against the tribes who are causing problems and the role of Afghanistan and America should be exposed through a media campaign.
Behtullah Masud belief/act of belief in this corrupted view of Islam is natural. he has has no exposure to the best Islam has to offer – rather, he has seen what the lack of Islamic principles does. Consequently, he twisted every aspect of the beautiful religion thinking it was ‘what Allah wants’.
What I find more confusing is why this man isn’t simply being exterminated?
He is playing his role against pakistan to destabilize and disintegrate it into pieces. Morover, he is creating excuses for the US, Britian and India to attack Pakistan…Shame on U.
Mehsud is important today because we allowed him to be. Let us be honest it is not just the Army but our politicians and Media are equally guilty…by calling it America’s war. Our public is guilty because of its conception of islam, muslim brother hood and rank stupididty.
now the chicken has come home to roost. ENJOY!!!
It seems that Baitullah Mehsud himself is an agent of foreign secret agency(s).
One wonders from where he gets so much money and advanced communication equipment and how he has evaded the drones when even more experienced Al Qaeda leaders have failed to escape Predator attacks.
While we’re at it, I request media to ask Qazi Hussien and Fazl ur Rehman to make a clear cut stand on the terrorism by extremists in this country.
Funny. Drones are always killing lower ranks of Talibans & Al Qaida but can’t locate Bait Ullah or Osama. America needs to
go back to blackboard & reinvent drones.
Wrong question. Masud is not “provoked”. He is an opportunist and a bully who sees a weakened Pakistani state as a way to carve out a bit of Pakistan for himself. And the only way to face someone who seeks to impose his will by force is to fight back. Not seek to appease him. I am sorry to say this, but too many Pakistanis are acting like the “battered wives” who keep wondering why they are “provoking” their husband to hit them again and again. They are instead taking the cowardly way out by blaming the US drone attacks. The Pakistani state and people have betrayed the people of Swat by replacing their elected representatives with those who spoke the language of the bullet. I am disappointed to see even otherwise well-meaning Pakistanis like Imran Khan and others who rightly supported the call for the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan apply double standards when the law breakers wear the mask of “Islam”. How long will Pakistanis be fooled by this mask of “Islam”? How long will Pakistanis take the easy way out and paint the US as the enemy (while, like hypocrites, seeking to send their children to US colleges, seeking migration to the US!!) while saying that the ones who slap their face every few days with bomb blasts, attacks on Pakistani police, and so forth are merely being “provoked”!!
If Americans worry so much about Baitullah Mehsud, then why did they set him free from Guantanamo. There are prisoners which are never been released, and giving him open route back to home is a question?
Now he is targeting Pakistani soil with his terrorist better equipped shows that he is well supported by some big fishes. But all these things are to destabilize Pakistan and strong nations are behind this master plan. But our politicians are not gutsy enough to come up and point out them.
I can’t comprehend what sort of ISLAM he is following? Killing one innocent is killing like whole of humanity & how many have been put to death coz of his mental illusion of ISLAM?
I guess he needs to look at the pictures of the heirs of deceased what wrong they have done to him or ISLAM.
May ALLAH bless him and all of us and help us learn, understand and practice the best religion (ISLAM) in true spirit.
He is a product of Pakistan’s rhetoric and wrong direction of leadership. Pakistan concentrated too much on fighting India and did very little for Pakistan itself. Pakistan invited foreign powers and military aid. What is needed is to correct the psychology of the Nation and build it with self respect and dignity.
Pakistani military is one of the best in the world. If properly directed Pakisatan will prosper. If not Pakistan will continue to have leaders who are merely demagogues and leaches eating up the country. Pakistanis deserve better!
This joker Mehsud has become a prominent person because of the weakness in the leadership of our security agencies. How can a rag tag group of bandits defeat a million man army. After the Lahore attack the heads of military and civillian intelligence agencies and army should resign. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been wasted in feeding the security apparatus of Pakistan which has again failed to protect it sovereignty. This money could have developed Pakistan into one of the most developed countries in the world
As we are blogging here and are too hung up bashing ‘certain elements’, drone has yet again killed a dozen or so people in the run up to these comments.
This is a catch 22 situation and lets quit fooling ourselves that it is one small group. Effectively, the whole population in that region is pretty much a victim and behind the people who want to liberate their motherland from the ‘outer forces’ and our security forces who have launched an unprecedented war on their own people which has no paralel in the history and is all the more damaging
WE NEED TO END THIS VICIOUS CIRCLE AND STOP KILLING OR ‘ALLOWING TO KILL’ OUR PEOPLE YOU WILL SEE ALL THESE ACTS OF TERRORISM WILL END IN A HEARTBEAT, They never existed and these same people from tribal areas rather protected Pakistan and fought for it. We need to stop being traped by outsiders for their sake and focus on our security
I believe there is an urgent need for a full scale war against those people who impose their own definition of islamic views on others. Lets stop humiliation from those people once for ever.
But then again our politicians, intelectuals, journalists and the whole crowd (not nation) will be screaming and calling our loyal security agencies evils, cruels and killers.
Can we please understand the seriousness of the case.
Mr Mehsud is doing what he has been ordered.
He is giving the world a valid excuse to attack Pakistan.
When he says he plans to attack White House. does he know what he is talking about. Asking Americans to attack our soil.Basically inviting them to do so. Whats the difference what he is saying and what Mullah Umer used to say, when America attacked Afghanistan. so same drama is on agenda but with different characters.
Which Islam says to burn the schools for girls, and attack the saviours of the nation. How does he dare to attack the training policemen.Mr Mehsud’s life is not important than those young lads killed in Manawan.
And what our Politicians are doing? giving their best shot to impress America taht they will be ready to serve them once AMERICA lands into our land?
No one is speaking, all are waiting for the bosses to land.
Pakistan has to deal with terrorist without blaming India or Isreal. Its been a result of weak leader for decades which always kept a people elected leader away from the throne.
I wounder why AMERICAN Drones are un-successfull killing Baitullah while as per USA other drone attacks are very successfull.
Question is that, those who fight against American occupation on Afghanistan are killed but those who kill Pakistanies/Pak Army being protected from Drone attacks???
We as Media should show his ( Mehsud ) real face and promote that he is not supposed to be Islami and pakistani as Islam doesnt teach to kill innocent people, he will be XXX or dont know who but not Muslim at all … please promot him as culprit not as hero .. ?
I condemn the killing of our Police as well as killing of our brothers in Northern Tribal Areas. Both are muslims and our brothers.
Pakistan Government should stop supporting AMERICA’s so called War on Terrorism (or War on Islam)
Hi every body,
I would suggest you all not to waste any more time on this useless topic. All this game is in the hands of our agencies and those who have seen these people in swat will believe on what I have said. Even in the swat operation only civilians were killed by the Taliban as well as Pak Army. Bieng a Pakistani we should step up for a revolution to change this system otherwise there is no way to get out of this situation. It is for sure our present political forces can’t bring that change. We will have to find out some body else… whome it be.. time will show
In Pakistan these attacks started after there was growing puplic opinion that why we are fighting a war for US? To show this is Pakistan war also, these attacks started at the very base of our society, like cricket, police!!!
I would like to ask media to ask all Ulemas who support taliban, to deliver a Ftawa, whether B.Mehsud should be considered a Muslim or not, after killing innocent people including Muslims, who were some body’s father or son.
remember the saying of Hazrat Umar about human life, dear ulemas , and be afraid of Allah, not B.Mehsud
Our Govt should openly support and increase drone attacks on the hide out of these terrorist.These terrorist know only the language of force. We havent seen any negotiation in the past succeed.Even after having agreement in SAWAT these terrorist taliban are killing at will and distroying houses of there opponents. Where is the GOVT writ. In fact NWFP GOVt has helped to establish a safe heaven in Sawat for Taliban from where it will spread to the whole country.
Where is the so called Civil Society and the Lawyers Moment.Dont they see if there is any law in Swat or for that matter any part of NWFP. Taliban killers and terrorists who were caught after a lot of sacrifices by our Armed forces are being freed daily to re group and kill again. Killing is there profession and they cant go with out it.I belong to the area and know very well the nature of these terrorits.
No Civil Society or Lawyers moment is raising the voice. All the population of NWFP is terrorised. No one is safe.I can not go to my village for fear of my life.
God save us all from these terrorists.