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May 23, 2008

Another Pakistan Deal with the Taliban Jihadists

Jeffrey Imm

Once again, the Pakistan government signs another deal with the Taliban, while counting on an impotent American government and an uninformed American public to continue to provide them billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars as our "ally."

This is becoming an near-annual event in Taliban appeasement by the Pakistan government: the September 2006 North Waziristan Accord, the August 2007 calls by President Musharraf to "mainstream" the Taliban, and now a peace agreement with the Taliban in Swat. The next steps will be a further surrender to Taliban-guided Sharia throughout seven districts of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in the months to come.

A. Pakistan Peace Agreement with the Taliban in Swat

The May 21st peace agreement is between the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government and the Taliban in the NWFP area of Swat.

Per Reuters' report:

"Pakistan's government promised to 'gradually' pull out troops from the northwestern valley of Swat after signing a peace agreement with Taliban militants on Wednesday. Authorities in North West Frontier Province also agreed to enforce sharia, Islamic law, in Swat in return for assurances that militants led by charismatic cleric Fazlullah will cease attacks, allow girls to go to school and stop carrying weapons in public."

Per AP's report:

"the government will release an unspecified number of prisoners and make limited concessions on the demands of the cleric, [Swat Taliban leader] Maulana Fazlullah, for the imposition of Islamic law in the region."

Per AKI/DAWN report:

"The government has accepted the Taliban militants' demand for enforcement of the Nizam-i-Adl Regulation (Islamic judicial system regulation) in the Malakand region, including Swat, within a month. The Taliban has presented seven demands to the provincial government: enforcement of Sharia of Islamic law in Swat, the withdrawal of troops from the area, release of prisoners captured during the insurgency and the payment of compensation to affected families."

And per the Pakistan Daily Times:

"an Islamic university will be set up" at Imam Dheri, headquarters of Mullah Fazlullah

In October 2007, BBC reported on the goals of the Taliban of implementing Sharia in Swat and throughout Pakistan: "Pro-Taleban militants in Pakistan's troubled northern district of Swat have told the BBC they will continue fighting until Islamic law is enforced." This week, the Taliban have won a victory to implement Sharia in Swat, as well as other parts of the Pakistan's NWFP. This is how Pakistan will bring "peace" to the Pakistan NWFP.

The predictable response to this "peace agreement?" Per AP: "in a sign that the accord could be tough to enforce, suspected militants shot dead a policeman at a checkpoint in the valley on Tuesday, the army said."

As the NWFP peace treaty discussions were finalizing on May 20th, the Taliban had a message for Pakistanis about America, as reported by the Pakistan Daily Times: "Members of the Taliban delegation holding talks with the NWFP government on Tuesday distributed pamphlets asking the government, military and people of Pakistan to join hands with the Taliban against the United States."

"The pamphlets were distributed at the Shahi Mehmankhana, where the provincial government and the Taliban discussed peace in Swat valley for over seven hours. The two-page pamphlet asks for a joint struggle for the implementation of Shariah law in the country. It says President Pervez Musharraf will be put on trial in a Shariah court by the Taliban shura for launching operations in Waziristan, and against Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad."

Meantime, the response of the U.S. State Department is predictably craven. Per AFP's report on State Department spokesman Sean McCormack's comments to reporters: " 'We'll see. We'll reserve judgment on these things,' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Wednesday when asked about the deal for Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley. Success in fighting militancy involves not just security, but also political and economic measures, he added. 'What you have to do is get the right mix of elements,' McCormack said. told reporters."

What "right mix of elements" results in surrender to the enemy - ignorance of their identity, denial of their goals, and submission to their demands? While the State Department "reserves judgment" on the latest surrender, the Pakistan Taliban continues to grow and gain power in nuclear Pakistan.

B. "Losing Swat" Shocking?

As the American media yawns over this non-story to the American public, back in November 2007, a former CIA station chief warned that this was coming. Per the Pakistan Daily Times, Milt Bearden, a former CIA station chief in Pakistan, stated "I don't think anyone in Washington really gets it. Losing Swat is shocking. The Pakistanis, and by extension the United States, have almost no control of events" in the northern, ethnically Pashtun regions.

For many months, the Pakistan Taliban has continued to grow in power and influence. In the November 2007 Pakistan Daily Times, it reported "Samad, the militant organizer, says he traveled in recent weeks to North Waziristan and recruited scores of militants to reinforce Fazlullah's followers in Swat." Samad told the Pakistan Daily Times "It's not just in Swat or in Waziristan or in Bajaur. We are getting stronger everywhere in the area."

In effect, the "peace agreement" with the Taliban in Swat is a surrender treaty. As early as November 2007, DPA reported that the Pakistan government was "consider[ing] Taliban rule in [the] volatile valley" of Swat. The Taliban captured 120 soldiers and released them after getting commitments of their submission to the Taliban: "They have gone to their home towns and they have promised not to work with the security forces in the future."

C. First Step in Broader Implementation of Sharia Law in NWFP Pakistan

As reported by MEMRI on May 16th, this Swat peace agreement with the Taliban is part of a larger effort in implementation of Sharia law throughout Pakistan. Per the MEMRI report: "On May 11th, 2008, the secular government in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) finalized a deal with the Taliban groups for the implementation of shari'a in the province's seven districts. The Pashtun nationalist government in the NWFP, which came to power last month, had vowed to talk to the Taliban in order to establish peace in the region. The talks were held between the government, Pakistani Taliban and the outlawed Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e- Shariat-e-Muhammadi (Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Shari'a)."

"The Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi [TNSM], led by Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the Islamist leader recently released from prison under a deal with the government, is the dominant Taliban group in the NWFP. It is also a constituent of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is led by Baitullah Mehsud. Under the deal between the NWFP government and the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, which is controlled by Sufi Muhammad's son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, a shari'a system of administration and justice will be implemented in seven districts. This will effectively create the world's first mini-shari'a state within Pakistan, with the provincial government practically ceding control to the Taliban in roughly 45% of the province."

Swat is the first of those seven NWFP districts; the others are Malakand, Shangla, Kohistan, Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Chitral.

On May 16th, the Pakistan Daily Times reported that the "NWFP government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Swat agreed on Tuesday to the implementation of Shari Nizam-e-Adl Regulations 1999 in Malakand division within one month."

The primary objectives of this Sharia deal with the Taliban are:
-- Taliban Ulema to Guide Police Stations, Shari'a Courts
-- Courts Will Deliver Islam-Compliant Punishments
-- Government to Terminate Legal Proceedings Against Hundreds Of Militants

As the MEMRI report concludes:

"While the seven districts in which shari'a is to be implemented represent roughly 45% of the NWFP, if the Pakistani government also succeeds in its efforts to reach a similar deal with [Taliban commander] Baitullah Mehsud in the FATAs, the shari'a administration's contiguous geographical area will expand by approximately 120 percent."

The Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) organization's goal is reported as the implementation of Sharia throughout Pakistan and the "struggle for the supremacy of Islam." While the TNSM seeks to remain active "like the mainstream political parties of the country, it is not interested in joining the government. Per TNSM, "Our struggle is purely for the implementation of Shariah in the country."

D. Who is the Taliban's "charismatic cleric Fazlullah" in Swat?

Reuters refers to Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, as the "charismatic cleric." AP refers to him as a "fundamentalist cleric." You might think that they were writing about Joel Osteen or Billy Graham. But that is not quite the case.

In fact, press reports that Taliban leader "Fazlullah [....] draws tens of thousands to his rallies, has launched a broad campaign against Western influence. He uses his outlawed FM radio station to preach jihad against America and Musharraf and teach his strict interpretation of Islam." (But then again, the U.S. government isn't supposed to recognize the term "jihad", anymore - just ask the National Counterterrorism Center or the DHS.)

The Times of India describes "Militants guard domain of rebel cleric's vast seminary" in Swat as follows: "Inside is a mosque and a maze of dozens of rooms, many still under construction, and a shop selling audio cassettes of speeches by Fazlullah, who has earned the nickname 'Mullah Radio' for his pirate FM broadcasts urging followers to wage a jihad, or holy war, against America and its allies."

As NBC News has reported: "Fazlullah has had an eager audience. America was bombing them, he screamed from astride his white horse and on the airwaves of portable FM radio transponders. America was killing innocent women and children. The locals listened. The entire valley, he said, would now be governed by Islamic laws known as Shariah. And what's more, taking his cue from Osama bin Laden, he wanted to restore the caliphate, the Muslim dynasties that ruled the known world for centuries after the death of the Prophet Mohammed in 632 AD."

(But then again, the U.S. government isn't supposed to use the term "caliphate", anymore - just ask the National Counterterrorism Center that leads the U.S. government in so-called "strategic operational planning.")

Bloomberg has reported that Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah has: "4,500 armed volunteers, [and has] set up a parallel government in 59 villages in the region by establishing Islamic courts". As Voice of America has reported: "a large percentage of the population comprising middle, lower middle and lower class... displayed their urge to have Sharia in place." "Women gave their jewelry willingly in an appeal for donations to construct an elaborate madrasah in Fazlullah's village", per Jamestown Foundation report. Dawn has reported: "more than 10,000 people listen to his Friday sermons which he delivers at the Umer Farooq Mosque."

NBC reports: "A large majority of the Pashtuns are unhappy with what they consider U.S. influence on their tribal lands and are unhappy with the governments of both President Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan for their support of U.S. policies in the region."

E. Fazlullah - Jihadist and Trainer of Pakistan Child Suicide Bombers

Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah is more than an anti-American, pro-Jihad proponent of Sharia law. He has been an active Jihadist fighting American troops and has coordinated the training of child Jihadists.

Per a Jamestown Foundation report by Afzal Khan: "After the United States invaded Taliban-ruled Afghanistan in November 2001, Fazlullah accompanied his father-in-law [TNSM leader Maulana Sufi Muhammad] and several thousand TNSM members to fight against the Americans and their Northern Alliance allies." Per a report by the Long War Journal: "The TNSM sent over 10,000 fighters into Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces during Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001." Maulana Fazlullah and TNSM leader Maulana Sufi Muhammad were arrested on returning to Pakistan, but Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah was released after 18 months and returned to Swat to form a center of Taliban control in the Pakistan NWFP.

Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah has been reportedly involved in the training of Pakistan child suicide bombers.

Children are frequently recruited or kidnapped in Swat to join Jihadist groups. In March 24, 2008, the Pakistan Daily Times reported of 9 "Swat teenagers [believed] to have been kidnapped by suspected militants 'to be trained as suicide bombers.'" The Pakistan Taliban in Swat are ruthless towards children, and on May 8, 2008, when Pakistan police investigated the second burning of a girl's school in the Swat area, it was reported that "police defused a 10kg improvised bomb near the Kanju Police ground and found a suicide jacket."

In a recent report on a madrassa with 30 children in Swat being trained to become suicide bombers, one child directly linked Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah with such training: "I learnt 18 siparahs (volumes) of the Quran at the madrassa. Then, during the military operation, Mullah Fazlullah and his spokesman Sirajul Haq compelled me to wear a suicide jacket and target the district courts of Swat." At the Swat madrassa, it was reported that "police had also recovered eight 'piles' of improvised explosives and suicide jackets from the same place." The Pakistan Daily Times reported "that about 25 to 30 madrassa students (from seven to 15 years of age) of [Swat's] Kabal tehsil were used as child militants by rebel cleric Fazlullah."

This is the type of monster with whom our "ally" Pakistan has agreed to a "peace deal." Or as Reuters refers to him as "charismatic cleric Fazlullah."

F. Pakistan is "Shocked" by Taliban Child Suicide Bombers

Yet as Pakistan's NWFP government is signing a "peace agreement" with such Swat Taliban Jihadists training child suicide bombers, the Pakistan government pretends to be shocked about the growth of Taliban child suicide bombers in other parts of Pakistan.

In Pakistan's South Waziristan region, Pakistan's military took CBS News and other parts of the media on a tour of a recently captured Jihadist sanctuary in the village of Spinkai-Roghzai in the Waziristan tribal region. During the tour, CBS reports on viewing an oft-cited video of a 12 year-old child Jihadist beheading a man. Per CBS, the Pakistan military provided this tour to demonstrate "one piece of evidence of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban training young boys to become accomplished killers, even before they become teenagers."

This video has been referenced in AP reports as early as April 2007, and AP has referenced this as a "gory Taliban video," not an al Qaeda video. But the Pakistan government seeks to perpetuate the myth that the problem in Pakistan is only foreign Jihadists, not Pakistan's native Taliban. In a May 20th Reuters report on Spinkai Raghzai, "[t]he hospital was used for assembling bombs and suicide jackets... [t]he government school in Spinkai Raghzai was used to train young boys to blow themselves up."

But what is not pointed out is that these actions are being led by the same Talibanthat the NWFP government negotiated a peace agreement, and that the NWFP government will allow to implement Sharia.

From an American perspective, this is also the same Taliban ideology that is an enemy of the United States of America, and whose supporters embraced Osama Bin Laden to attack our nation on 9/11 - a fact that American government officials seem to frequently forget.

G. Do You Want USA to Give Pakistan Some More Money, Ambassador Patterson?

Not all Americans can understand the growth of Sharia in Pakistan and the influence of the Pakistan Taliban and other pro-Jihad groups from an American perspective... especially some public servants that are responsible to be good stewards of American tax dollars to foreign nations.

On May 9, 2008, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson chirped that the "United States has been providing almost a billion dollars annually to reimburse Pakistan for its fight against militancy since 2001." Per the Pakistan Daily Times, Ambassador Patterson told "members of the Management Association of Pakistan (MAP)... [that]... Pakistan was now the third largest recipient of the U.S. assistance in the world."

Ambassador Patterson has met with pro-Jihadists in Pakistan in her efforts to promote "democracy." On November 20, 2007, Ambassador Patterson met with Taliban promoter Maulana Fazlur Rehman, as part of promoting "free and fair elections." In January 2008, Maulana Fazlur Rehman (aka Maulana Fazl) stated that he would continue to lead "efforts for the implementation of a true Islamic system" in Pakistan and cited his "achievements" in the NWFP, and promotion of Sharia. Maulana Fazlur Rehman is the head of the Jamiat-ulema-Islam party and deputy chief of the Muttahida-Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of six radical parties. Per Global Security, Maulana Fazlur Rehman is well-known "defender of the interests of the Taliban in the grand Deobandi alliance mostly spearheaded by the jihadi militia."

Ambassador Patterson was chosen for this extremely delicate and important position as U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, due to her experience in Colombia and the State Department's drug enforcement activities. And the experience qualifying her to be U.S. Ambassador of a nuclear nation like Pakistan rife with Jihadists threatening our homeland security is?

On May 1, 2008, a week before Ambassador Patterson's promotion of the U.S. funding of Pakistan with billions of taxpayer dollars, Dawn reported that Pakistan's "Chief Minister of NWFP Ameer Haider Khan Hoti [was to] unveil a $4 billion peace plan." Pakistan is looking for foreign nations to fund this "peace plan," which we can now see would include surrendering NWFP districts to the Taliban and implementing Sharia. Dawn reported that a "member of the task force said a donors' conference would be convened to finance the peace plan" and that interested donors included the "Americas."

On December 24, 2007, the New York Times reported on concerns within the U.S. government that Pakistani funding "have failed substantially to increase the ability of Pakistani forces to mount comprehensive counterinsurgency operations." This latest Pakistan NWFP government peace plan with our enemy, the Taliban, is yet another example of the ineffectiveness of American support to Pakistan.

As U.S. Ambassador Patterson brags about U.S. funding of Pakistani, and is approached for more "donations" for the NWFP "peace plan" to expand Sharia and empower our enemy, the Taliban, Americans should listen to an anonymous European diplomat who told the press: "I wonder if the Americans have not been taken for a ride."

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