More killings in Pakistan
A Haqqani Network leader reported killed
A report by Bill Roggio, based on a Pakistani newspaper story:
Quote:
An al Qaeda military commander and a Haqqani Network leader are among 17 jihadists who are reported to have been killed in a US drone strike that took place earlier this week.
Link:http://www.longwarjournal.org/archiv...ilitary_co.php
Note the Haqqani group appears in many threads and one point of reference, originally a RFI, has been moved to this area. It may contain points of reference:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=10387
Why is the Pakistani anti-terrorist narrative so confused?
I have a rather longish post up about this topic and welcome comments.
http://www.brownpundits.com/2013/09/...-consequences/
excerpt: I believe this is so because of three concentric circles of confusion that have come together uniquely in Pakistan. The first is the worldwide struggle of mainstream Islamic sects to find a way to harmonize medieval notions of the nature and role of Islam with the realities and challenges of the modern world. This problem is not unique to Pakistan, but it is especially potent in Pakistan because it is reinforced by the next two circles of coflict and confusion. The second layer of confusion arises from the myths promoted by the state as the foundational myths of Pakistan. Those myths are insufficiently based on the actual ethnic and cultural makeup of Pakistan and make it harder to resist Islamist forces in Pakistan, over and above what exists in all Muslim countries. Finally, a third layer of difficulties arises from very specific policy options initiated by the Pakistani state itself in the last 30 years. Taken together, these three layers of confusion have made it impossible for the Pakistani state to create a coherent narrative against terrorism; terrorism that is so vile and indiscriminate that ANY state would find it child’s play to convince people of the necessity to fight against it. Let us take a closer look at all three..
Malala Yusufzai; Heroine, Victim, Patsy, Spy
A narrative to explain failure - not in Pakistan
Omarali,
Given the pakistani official and establishment reaction to the US drone strike on Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud last week, how can anyone claim there is an anti-terrorist narrative?
Here is part of one commentary:
Quote:
Mehsud, we should remember, was a brutal and effective guerrilla dedicated to imposing strict Islamic law in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the destruction of Western influence across the region. He was responsible for the deaths of thousands in his own country, including the lorry bomb that destroyed the Marriott hotel in Islamabad in 2008.
Yet the politicians in Pakistan have reacted with shrill indignation, treating the demise of the 34-year-old as a national humiliation and the removal of a potential peacemaker in a pivotal position to change the course of the conflict.
Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...an-peacemaker.
What the strike reveals - again - is that Pakistan fails to protect itself.
Pakistan, operations and negotiations
The Army become heart surgeons; no minds though
A rather curious Pakistani press report on the Pakistani Army, the language verges on the skeptical, if not cynical:http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-New...-network-an-FO
This analogy is sharply made:
Quote:
..the beauty of the Pakistan Army. They were the first to really screw-up on the extremism front, but they’re now leading the charge to fix it. It’s the classic case of the heart surgeon who smokes himself. But this heart surgeon claims he’s done smoking, and we should quit, too.