Saturday, June 30, 2007

A 15-page warning from the Interior Ministry: A surprise to the Pakistani army?

It is very hard to believe that the Pakistani army has not been aware of the spreading strength of the Taliban. Indeed, from many reports, the Pakistan military have been funding and abetting the Taliban. Only recently it was openly stated that a general, Hamed Gul, has been providing funds for the Taliban in Quetta. That the Pakistani government was unaware of the growing Taliban threat just boggles belief.
What the letter being discussed may have been indicating is that the government cannot play this double game without risking an uncontrollable internal crisis. They of course already have one: The government has lost all credibility, if the demonstrations – peaceful – all over Pakistan by the middle class are to be taken at face value. The problem for the Pakistani army, who run the country, is that it still wants to justify its war in Kashmir as a Muslim country's claim to territory. So they have thought the Taliban – the troops, the little guys being socialized into becoming human bombs – could still useful. So terrified are the Pakistanis of another war with India. Indeed, they know they would again lose.
I wish I could see hope in this report: I fear we will only see more of the same: duplicity, half-hearted moves toward democracy, denial. The ancient wisdom is that "the unfaithful will be destroyed by their duplicity." [Prov11:3]
Click on the title for the whole article.

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