Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanistan
 

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Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanistan if strikes don't stop
SAEED SHAH

Special to The Globe and Mail

September 15, 2008

ISLAMABAD -- The new U.S. strategy of unilateral attack against suspected militants inside Pakistani territory is threatening to send moderate Pakistani tribesmen to go fight alongside extremists against coalition forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The move piles more pressure on the fragile new democratic government in Islamabad, which is struggling to defend Pakistan's role in the war on terror against a hostile public that sees U.S. aggression as being as much of a danger as the Islamic militants.

Over the weekend, tribal chiefs in North Waziristan, the part of Pakistan's tribal borderland that was struck by the most recent civilian-killing U.S. missile attack, vowed to take the fight to Afghanistan if the United States does not halt attacks into Pakistan. These community leaders, representing the majority of people in North Waziristan, had not previously supported the extremists, but they are fiercely independent, armed and willing to fight anyone who trespasses on their land. Their anger could easily spread to other six other "agencies" that make up the tribal belt, several of which have also been subject to U.S. attacks.

There has been an intensified bombardment of the tribal territory with U.S. missile strikes against suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda training camps and hideouts, compounded by the first U.S. ground raid into the area earlier this month, apparently in exasperation at Pakistan's inaction.

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Reacting to the missile attack Friday in North Waziristan, tribal chiefs from the area, representing around half a million people, called an emergency jirga - or tribal meeting - on Saturday.

"If America doesn't stop attacks in tribal areas, we will prepare a lashkar [tribal army] to attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan," tribal chief Malik Nasrullah announced. "We will also seek support from the tribal elders in Afghanistan to fight jointly against America."

During the past month, there have been seven U.S. missile strikes in the tribal area, about the same number as the whole of last year, representing a huge escalation in American intervention in Pakistan. The ground assault, which took place in South Waziristan, provoked a sharp rebuke from the Pakistan army, which is otherwise an ally in the "war on terror." Washington believes that Taliban and al-Qaeda militants fighting the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan use Pakistan's tribal area as a safe haven.

"If the Americans are coming to sort it out with force, they would create more enemies," said Ayaz Wazir, a retired Pakistani diplomat who is a tribal chief from South Waziristan. "The Americans might have supersonic jets and we might have to fight with stones in our hands, but we will stand up."

Analysts believe that U.S. intervention could set the tribal area on fire and reverse a series of recent setbacks for the militants. Some of the Pakistani tribes have risen up against the Taliban, in border areas of Dir and Bajaur, forming lashkars to fight them. The Pakistani military has finally taken on the extremists, in battles in Bajaur and Swat, a valley in the north west, while the democratic government has, for the first time, been trying to make the case to the public that the struggle against the militants is Pakistan's war, not America's.

Pakistan's new President, Asif Ali Zardari, has arrived in Britain, on a private visit but he is expected to meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown tomorrow, to discuss the situation along the Pakistan-Afghan border. Mr. Brown is likely to press for greater Pakistani action against militants in the tribal area and may go along with U.S. calls for integrating the tribal territory into the conflict in Afghanistan as one theatre of war - an idea that will be resisted by Pakistan.

Mr. Zardari and Pakistan's Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, said in a joint statement during the weekend that: "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country should be respected at all cost."

An editorial published yesterday in The News, a Pakistani daily, said: "The Islamabad government is aware the U.S. strikes are badly undermining its authority, weakening the standing of the Pakistani army and, as such, aiding the militants in their task of whipping up greater internal support."

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

Well that's exactly what America and Pakistan want...

How many times do they need to be bombed before they will pick up their arms and cross the border?

I can already hear the unmanned drones firing up their engines...

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Please elaborate.

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

They want the taliban crossing the border so they aren't having to attack inside of Pakistan...

Separating them from the women and children, so they can be attacked from the air with Bombs and then no one can claim they were just peaceful citizens attacked by the evil Americans...

a quarter million Martyrs in an afternoon...

with the tribal army out of the area, Pakistan troops can move in and go after the real terrorists that are hiding in the villages...

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

I have to admit I don't see it that way. The Taliban control a significant part of Ahfganistan right now, so to fight them there is no logical need to cross the Pakistani border. It seems to me that the incursions across the Pakistani border are meant to affect Pakistan, not Ahfganistan. the only thing I am not sure of yet is why. One possibility, looking back to the "sudden" end of the friendship between Musharaf and Bush, is that the Pakistanis have made it clear that they are no longer the "monkeys" of the U.S. in that region. Perhaps a coming alliance, both political and economic, with Russia, centered around the oil and gas pipelines in the region.

What I do not "buy" is the official U.S. talking points that we need to cross the Pakistani border in order to "root out" Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists. I don't pretend to know for sure, but my intellectual "gut" tells me that is a falsitude. This situation bears watching carefully, because the Russian and Chinese hands are involved here. If I am right this will develope relatively shortly into a situation where the Russian and Chinese nations will have a "say so".

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

well I guess you would need to understand the gorilla tactics that they are using right now, slipping across the border, attacking the American and UN troops, dropping their weapons and quietly walking back across the border to their safety zone.

This has been going on for years, our soldiers want to fight the enemy, and they just keep slipping through their fingers and running back to safety like kids playing tag. We need to let the soldiers do their job and utterly crush the enemy,

The underground bases they are using are in the Pakistan region, and these tribes are covering their location, they might not like the terrorist, but they hate Westerners even more.

I understand why we are crossing over, this battle will never end unless we do.

Now, if you want my opinion, America doesn't need the oil from that region, the Heroin growers can handle their own defense of the poppy fields. They need customers, and Pakistan and Iran are some of their biggest customers.

Pull out the troops, completely and let it fall into complete Chaos.

Pakistan has 80,000 people with Leprosy right now, a disease that most of the world thinks has been gone for centuries. Now the Heroin and Opium addiction has risen over the last 10 years by over 50 %. It isn't our problem, the cancer is going to continue affecting Iran, decaying their society from the inside out.

Syria, has been trying to bring peace to the middle east, a war with Iran will make their population rise up and Turkey will join them, the outcome of the direction we are heading is destruction. Regardless we will need to walk away, whether we get into a war or not. The middle east is hopeless, all we can do is to try and prop up the friendly countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey, Kurdistan and Jordon and let the rest sink into the toilet and wait for them to come back to us for help. We can no longer afford to be the World's peacemakers, its done.

This mess is in China and Russia's back yard, they have the strength to handle the region, they don't need us.

We need to concentrate our country on Energy Independence, there is no reason why we can't cut our imports back to buying from only friendly nations within 1-2 years. If we could ramp the country up for World War II in 6 months, we have the ability to make the change to the auto industry just as quickly.

Within 10 years we could cut our oil use back to just what we can produce ourselves, in fact we could go back to exporting oil...

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

We all know that a walk away will never happen so the answer that solves the tension in the region, is to bring Pakistan forces into the battle in Afghanistan.

Make them part of the UN peace keeping forces. As the fighters run back to the border to stay alive, have the Pakistan army working alongside the UN forces trace them back to the location so Pakistan can go in to mop them up.

Once they are working with us, instead of against us, they will understand the necessity of being able to enter the region and will have the authority to do it along with support from our troops.

Win win for both sides...

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

Rocky,

You make many valid points, the best of which is questioning why we should be there. I still think your analysis, with respect, is too black and white, when the situation there is 99.99% gray. These are the most fiercely independent peoples on the planet. The only foreign power to successfully control that region for any lenth of time was Alexander the Great, and that eroded swiftly with his death. The British, the Russians, and now the U.S. have all taken their turns failing there. The Ahfgans don't want us there. The Pakistanis don't want us there. The tribal peoples in the middle don't want us there.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you stated that we leave them to themselves (forgive the paraphrase), because that WILL happen at some point in time. The question is how long we continue to provocate in an area where nations hold stocks of nuclear weapons, and will certainly use them before they see an American air force base in the middle of their country (my supposition).

In my opinion, and mine only at this point, is that the U.S. /Pakistani alliance did not deteriote because Musharaff left the scene, but that Musharaff left the scene because the U.S. /Pakistani allaince deteriorated.

Again, when you look at this in the context of the events in Georgia and Russia's response, the circling of the wagons by the Latin and South American countries, it seems clear to me that the world outside of North America and Western Europe is sending a clear message to the U.S. - the plan of hegemony has failed.

I think events will occur shortly that will clarify this further.

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

My Brother in Law was a commander of freedom fighters in Kurdistan, once I was out at a bar and he sent a friend that used to be his body guard along with for a little fun that evening.

It was crowded, and I was walking through the crowd when suddenly I bumped into someone, my beer spilled down his shirt, I'm 6;4 and looked up at this guy that made me look like a midget, like the whole front line of a football team, without a word, I watched as his hand drew back to re arrange my nose, and all I saw was a flash as a Beer mug slammed into his face. I saw his eyes roll up in his head as he dropped over like a large sequoia tree that had just been chopped down.

I stood there with my mouth hanging as I felt a tug to get moving, his friends hadn't even realized what happened yet.

I have seen first hand their fierceness...

I also know much about the middle east that most Americans have no clue about.

That is also why I am recommending they bring Pakistan in with the NATO forces immediately...

unless the object is not to end this mess...

Re: Leaders in tribal borderland threaten to send fighters to battle U.S. in Afghanis
 

Wow,

That is a great story. And don't get me wrong, I do not disagree with you because I know something you don't. For that matter, I don't think I disagree with you so much as view the situation from a different angle. I admit freely that it's my "gut" telling me that there is an intentional rift on the part of Pakistan. The near term will hopefully clarify that. To use your language, I do NOT think the object on the part of the Bush/Cheny cabal is to end this mess. It is going to be interesting to watch this develope.