With the death of Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud being confirmed, it is hoped that the wave of terror gripping the country will lose strength. While Pakistani government officials are yet to give an official reaction to Mehsud’s death, the White House has said that Pakistan will be a safer place now that the country’s number one enemy is gone.
How will Mehsud’s death change the tactics in the offensive against militants in the tribal areas?
Will the ‘successful’ drone attack affect Pak-US relations in fight against the Taliban?
Will it really make Pakistan a safer place or will a new, more dangerous TTP leader emerge as Mehsud’s successor?
The views expressed in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Masood Haider Says:
August 8th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
The clueless political commentators and large segments of public who rile against the ‘drone attacks’ should think again. These attacks are directed against the most vicious enemies of the state of Pakistan and should be supported rather than vilified.
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I think you should now arrive at a consensus to have all the countries not just the US conduct drone attacks all over Pakistan. This will give Pakistan a new lease of life
Hurray!
Would this stop the conspiracy theorists from perpetuating their dellusions about Baituallah and his ilk being American fabrications. I am afraid not. Hope Pakistanis will begin to understand that the only way we get ourselves of our misery is by first acknowleding that we are threatened from within. The hate-propagating Mullahs, the corrupt politiatians, and inept leaders are all home grown—not exported by the west.
Congratulations to our people and armed forces who for days have been sacrificing their lives for us to fight these militants. Baitullah Mehsud is in no way justified for the killings of all the innocent people so his death is a victory for Pakistan. May Allah protect our land and people.
Another good news for Pakistanis…Hakimullah and (most likely) Waliur-Rahman DEAD as well. They were considered to be well groomed by thier master Mehsud…
Looks like a storm is waiting to start!
There could be an increase in suicide bombing in Pakistan, and perhaps increased caualities among the military if it were to go to Waziristan to prevent insurgents from the south, the east and the north of Waziristan from joining up with the Afghanistan Talibans on the west.
This would mean walking into the valley of death. The Pakistan army would be surrounded by the insurgents on all sides, movement on the rough ground would be full of problems, and the fighter there are experienced and must be familiar with the lay of the land.
Will the Pakistani army move into this trap? It most likely that it will.
The US has already warned that it is going to get worse before it gets better.
Whoever that was funding Mehsud will devise an alternative. The country that stands to lose most is China. What still intrigues me is that only the 2 Chinese engineers ever managed to come out alive after being “abducted”; surely, Beijing has a lot of hidden influence.
This is OK, but how you can deal with whole nation. Pakistan need to fix the main problem of food, and water. Just corruption is every where in the society.
Extremist Talibans/Suicide Bombers/Al-Qaida is an ideology … and an ideology can only be fought with a better ideology. Open Schools, teach them true Islam, teach them to love, give them respect, and bring them to the other side. We all need to read the Quran in a language that we understand also. It’s funny that we can read books upon books … but we do not read the translation of the Quran … to better understand it.
The entire nation of Pakistan deserves to be congratulated on the death of Baitullah Mehsud. He is perhaps the only case of me being happy at someone’s demise. Baituallah was more than just a strong warloard. He had become a symbol of Taliban’s challenge to the Pakistani state and people. Besides, Baitullah was a brilliant strategist in guerrila warefare who has taken with him his expertise. He will potentially be succeeded by other talented individuals such as Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman. Hakimullah is widely reported to be very agressive and anti-Pakistan in terms of his animosity towards the state authorities and our populations’ lifestyle.
With Baitullah gone, the key is to not let our foot off the pedal. We have got to employ more resources of our own (and those of US) in order to eliminate all potential successors. Efforts must now be concentrated on eliminating Hakimullah and other potentials commanders along with spokespersons such as Muslim Khan. Simultaneously we must convince the Afghan taliban (via incentives such as brokering talks with US) to completely distance itself from TTP. Once the first two levels of their leadership are eliminated, the Pakistan Taliban will lose all order that seems to have made them a force to be reckoned. Make no mistake about this, the Taliban will try and react strongly to try and win back the initiative they have now lost. Our law-enforcement agencies will have to be vigiliant round the clock.
However, his death does not help eliminate the perception that the US is playing a double game by arming as well as killing the Taliban. So the anti-american sentiment remains to be very strong (for good reason) and the US must take-out more big names in order to win the Pakistani people who still feel that their interest is in our nuclear weapons.
Is he really dead? What evidence do we have?
Lets establish that first, before we start any discussion.
This is good news. However, militancy in Pakistan is a result of centuries of ignoring the unIslamic traditions creepinging into Islam. This wont stop until we shed intalerance, bigotry and hatered which has become part and parcel of our “Islamic values” (ex – intolerance against minorities, Hudood Ordinance, Blasphemy Law, etc).
To the Question Baitullah is dead what next — the natural answer would be how about Hakeemullah and Fazlullah — but the good news is that Hakeemullah died in a leadership SHOOT OUT with the other contender for Baitullah’s blood soaked legacy.
Thank you the United States of America for getting rid of the Monster Baitullah — for Pakistan.
Thanks Pakistan Army for taking these Islamist killer BULLS by their horns one by one and bringing them down to ultimate justice for their spree of murder and mayhem.
Ultimately it is US drone which killed this menace.I am wondering how is it the F16s or helicopter gun ships of Pakistani airforce could not do this?
Does this mean CIA has better target info from the region?
Mehsood’s death (if true) is not the end of terrorism, but it will start a new wave of terrorism in the country. We all should be prepared for it. Mehsood’s death is, no doubt, a big blow to the Taliban but it will not end the terrorism in Pakistan. Terrorism will only end when our government stop following American policy.We need to learn without American dictation and its aid,which has become Aids for us.
It is easy to paint baitullah mehsud as the sole cause of problems in Pakistan. The problem is the militant culture in pakistan as a whole. Why the double standards between mehsud and hafeez saeed? Was it proven in court of law that mehsud really killed Bhutto? The difference is one went against the US. This selective government support for a militant culture is the fundamental problem.
It is just one apparent victory if we talk about war, however this war is about ignorance and extremism, weapons can not win that.Long term success depends on development in those neglected areas, and law and order at all times.Which requires
political stability and very focused on development leadership. Then may be we can avoid having a new breed of these fighters.
His death won’t make a big impact on Talibans. A new leader will take over. But what we need is to distroy the Taliban mentality and it cannot be only done by physically distroying their movement. We have to change their mind.
Kill the next taliban leader if he acts same as previous leader Mehsud. Pakistan will be better off and much safer without these killers.
Raja M. Ahmed
USA
One baitulla wont make any difference, unless it is a war against terrorism, of all kinds and all sorts. Wish Pakistan well in its endeavours and peace to its people.Mubarak but sustain the fight and the vigil. I strongly feel that unless Pakistani rulers wage a war against poverty, illiteracy and deprivation, its fight against terror wont be complete. Anyway best of luck
I dont know what to express..who had heard of him a year back…hate mongering and a sense of misplaced superiority, denial of history and disrespect for other religions will lead to pakistan’s destruction…Jinnah must be turning in his grave
Pakistan is saved from grip of mehsud for time being for sure, lets see who is next.
The audience got bored with the soap. The director called it a shot. Finally, the bad man was killed. But the game will continue. The financers will find a new actor to fit-in his role. The writer will write a new script. The director will assign the new face a new task to play and create a havoc!
Mubarak to Pakistani nation for this blessed news. Pakistan Zindabaad. Mubarak again to all. and whats next. End of fundamentalism in our region and a new era of peace and prosperity.
The clueless political commentators and large segments of public who rile against the ‘drone attacks’ should think again. These attacks are directed against the most vicious enemies of the state of Pakistan and should be supported rather than vilified.
Who should be the next target? It’s very easy for governments to put the blame on unknown figures and do what ever they like. Sixty years of misery is not due to Taliban but due to the corrupt rulers and this pro-elite and oppressive setup.