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Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, the creator of version 1,
is a worried man and has dispatched 70,000 troops with
a carte blanche to quell this group. Troops use
helicopter gun ships, call in combat aircraft to bomb
disadvantageous positions, artillery fire to loosen up
rebels holed up in the mountains, and shoot-on-sight
tactics to eliminate suspected members of this group.
However, motivating more to join
the Taliban ranks. The willingly accept their rule by
paying taxes, following their dictates, providing
shelter, and feeding them while spurning Government
efforts at developing an intelligence network.
The Taliban have attacked the police, destroyed radio
stations, eliminated tribal elders, and all
pro-Government politicians. They have dissolved the jirga
(council of elders) and set up Islamic courts instead.
Strong edicts have been passed to ban music, books, or
movies and barbers ordered not to cut or shave beards.
They extract heavy justice when they feel they have
been crossed. Recently, seven alleged bandits were
caught and hung in the public creating terror among
those who have not aligned with them.
Diplomats in Islamabad say that Musharraf is not winning this
one and the "so-called war on terror is going
badly." The rise if Taliban, increased Baloach
rebellion in Baloachistan, al Qaeda and remnant Afghan
Taliban militants in the West and North linking up
with Chechen rebels, sectarian violence in Sindh, and
opposition among the Pakistani-populated Kashmiri
rebel groups to his Kashmir plans have increased the
load on the Pakistan army.
This explains Musharraf's increased overtures and "out
of the box" ideas to demilitarize Kashmir. With
fewer troops to deal with on the East, Musharraf will
have more resources to deploy on the West. Musharraf
must now be increasingly conscious how un-strategic
his "strategic depth" idea really was.
Just like Kargil, he has shown remarkable brilliance in
tactical moves but also adequately demonstrated a
severe lack of strategic thinking capabilities. |
