Posted by
on Sunday, March 18, 2007 7:05:59 PM
You'd think Pakistan would've learned the from their earlier mistake in cutting deals with the tribal leaders in their country. But apparently memories are short, as Allah observes from Hot Air. Over at The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio notes that this makes Musharraf's THIRD deal with Taliban elements in the tribal regions:
The much anticipated Bajaur Accord – a peace agreement purportedly with the local tribal leaders of the Mamoond tribe and the government - has been signed in Pakistan's lawless tribal agency. The details of the agreement are not yet available, however the Daily Times has described it as “a step towards a North Waziristan-like peace accord. Bajaur Agency.” Pakistan conveniently finished negotiations as international attention is on the crisis over the removal of Pakistan's chief justice.
It appears, like in the North and South Waziristan deals, that the government has openly negotiated with the Taliban and al Qaeda. “We hope that a North Waziristan-like deal is also reached between the government and tribal militants, led by Faqir Mohammad,” sources told Dawnon condition of anonymity. Faqir Muhammad is a senior leader within the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM, or Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law), the “Pakistani Taliban” who has sent over 10,000 foot soldiers to fight alongside the Taliban during the U.S. invasion in 2001.
TNSM is a banned terrorist movement inside Pakistan, and has been implicated in terrorist activity inside the country, including a suicide attack on Pakistani Army training base in Dargai in the Northwest Frontier Province in October of 2006. The attack killed over 45 soldiers. Faqir Mohammad is believed to have sheltered none other than Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second in command. An attack in Damadola in January of 2006 on Faqir's compound was aimed at Zawahiri, but killed upwards of 5 senior al-Qaeda leaders, including Abu Khabab al-Masri, al-Qaeda's chief of its weapons of mass destruction program.
An airstrike on the Chingai madrassa, which doubled as a Taliban training camp, killed up to 84 Taliban, including Liaquat Hussain, the leader of the madrassa, and Faqir's deputy. The attack came just days before the expected signing of the Bajaur Accord in October of 2006. Just days before the raid, Faqir openly praised al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Faqir referred to bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar as “heroes of the Muslim world,” and he vowed joint efforts to fight the “enemies of peace” in the Bajaur Agency. Faqir calls the United States the enemy of peace.
There's more, and you should read it. But pay special attention to the map Allah points out. (The RED areas are controlled by the Taliban; the YELLOW areas are those threatened by the Taliban, and that's a lot of ground they have there.) He's got a point, and it's one that should, in all honesty, end any cooperation between us and Musharraf. Sorry, but this "enemy of my enemy is my friend" BS is garbage. Each time we start to gain ground on the Taliban, and we think we have them, Pakistan steps in and cuts a deal. This is more like "the enemy of my enemy is also stabbing me in the back."
Enough it enough. Either Pakistan is with us on this one, or they can become a target. This is the equivalent to what the Taliban did with al Qaeda in Afghanistan. This time, however, they're a recognized nation -- a government we can declare war on (as opposed to and idea or group, like with the authorization for the use of military force in 2001; however that does allow us to go after other nations that are harboring them). Somebody at the White House had beter be making a phone call asking Musharraf what's up with his lack of a brain. This deal can only go south like the one in Waziristan did.
Publius II