The West needs to address the Pakistan problem
Fraser Nelson 10:53am
When I was in Afghanistan two months ago, I was told – with some pride – that no one had been killed by gunfire so far this year. It seems, alas, that the gun battles were delayed rather than cancelled. Today, the MoD has announced that a REME soldier, attached to the Paras, was killed – by a landmine, after coming under fire, taking the death toll to 111. Two other Paras were seriously wounded.
My cover story for tomorrow’s magazine is about how the military believe the bombs, and many of the men they are fighting, are coming from the lawless Pakistan border territories. The Taliban operates with impunity in the town of Quetta in the Baluchistan area – and it was pretty much gifted the town by the Pakistani Army in 2002. Their prime concern is using the Taliban as a bulwark against the secular Baluchistan rebels. Pakistan (itself a misleading word – the army, government and intelligence corps each have their separate lives and agendas) is playing a double game with us. It helps us find British jihadis being trained there, and MI5 is grateful. But then it allows the Taliban to operate in Quetta, leading to the types of deaths we learn about this morning. As Brig Mark Carleton-Smith told me when I was out there, “When pushed out of Helmand, the opportunities are there for the Taliban to recruit, equip and retrain on the other side of the border.” And for as long as the Taliban has Pakistan’s tribal areas as a base then there is only so much progress we can make in Afghanistan.
Also, for as long as al-Qaeda and other terror groups operate freely in FATA, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, then we will make limited progress in the war on terror. This was pretty much Barack Obama’s message when he was there at the weekend. Soon US Central Command will be led by General Petraeus – author of the successful Iraq surge. So you can expect the Pakistan problem to be addressed now, where as the Bush administration too often looked the other way. The Afghanistan problem now contains the Pakistan problem, which contains the al-Qaeda jihadi problem. The British Foreign Office and US military now see these as interlocking Venn diagrams, and will aspire to solve these issues as a whole. Yes, this is far more ambitious than just fixing Afghanistan, itself a breathtakingly daunting task. But it is a task the West will nonetheless embark upon, regardless whoever wins the US election.
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Tom
July 23rd, 2008 1:41pm Report this commentThis has been known ever since the late 90s. Pakistan failed miserably when they tried to tame the NWF - lost hundreds of soldiers. What do you suggest the US/UK do, we can't invade Pakistan, anything beyond the most sporadic of airstrikes would be tantamount to a declaration of war (at least through the eyes of Pakistani Islamists). We would then be fighting three wars aginst muslim countries further fuelling the flames of the West/Islam debate. Giving aid to the region would be tantamount to throwing money down a deep dark well. The onloy solution as far as I see it is to work much harder at sealing the border betwen the two countries but that means thousands more troops...
BrianSJ
July 23rd, 2008 1:56pm Report this commentImportant topic expanded on by Pepe Escobar at
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JG24Ak01.html
Recusant
July 23rd, 2008 3:17pm Report this commentI was takling the other day to an advisor to the DfID in Afghanistan attached to the Director of Special Forces (you may call him a spook, I couldn't possibly comment). He told me that over 30% of the Taliban prisoners they hold had some form of connection to the Pakistani armed forces or intelligence services, but that this was not something that would be allowed to be broadcast. Frightening
Alf Tupper
July 23rd, 2008 6:10pm Report this comment"The Afghanistan problem now contains the Pakistan problem, which contains the al-Qaeda jihadi problem."
None of these are the real problem. the real fecund problem is much closer to home.
Nadim Cadri
July 26th, 2008 8:32am Report this commentI am not sure where you all ignorants hail from. You have absolutely no clue whats going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And consequently no idea how to handle the situation. You need to stay away from others lands and keep interference to the minimum. I think it is high time that the Pakistani government stands up firmly against the western countries and tells them to shut up. Because of their actions or misactions the Taliban menace has spread into Pakistan. Pakistan has first fought the proxy war for the west in the 70s and 80s and now they are playing it again.
Pakistanis firmly believe US government has been extremely selfish (British are just loyal American puppies with no say of their own, they are not even a player here) and no matter what they do they will want more and will never be satisfied. Let me be very plain and clear, we are fed up with you. We have to deal with your menace as well as the Taliban menace ourselves.
Ahmar Mustikhan
July 27th, 2008 6:02pm Report this commentBulls-eye.
The peaceful Balkanization of Pakistan is the key.
People in Afghanistan's neighbor Baluchistan want the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to replace the pro-jihad Pakistan Army there. Jihad is the driving philosophy behind Pakistan's huge army.
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