Tribal areas of Pakistan are under fire. The government needs to change its policy in these areas as people living in these areas are as patriotic as in other parts of the country. The government has made a mistake in deploying the armed forces in the areas that have until recently been ruled through the tribal customs and traditions. The military intervention in these areas sabotaged the tribal system. Pakistan government deployed troops on the US demand and picked up arms only after their kith and kin were killed in operations by the Pakistan security forces and the US drone strikes. The Pakistan Army has also suffered huge losses in the tribal areas. The Pakistani government needs to realize the fact that there is no military solution to the problem. So if it really wants peace and stability in the tribal areas, it needs not only to revive the tribal system and settle the thorny issues through Jirga system but also to initiate development projects in the area with the aim of educating masses and creating economic opportunities for them to improve the standard of their living. This is only way to expect a durable peace and stability in the tribal areas.
I think Obama and the Pakistani elite need to tell the truth about the real (strategic) reasons for the US war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Both the American and the Pakistani public have a right to know about Pentagon/CIA support for the secession of energy and mineral rich Balochistan from Pakistan to become a US client state - just like energy and mineral rich Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and the other former Soviet republics. They need to know about CIA support for the Baloch separatist movement and their efforts to disrupt operations at the Chinese-built Gwadar Port (and the energy transit route for Iranian oil and natural gas destined for China. Including the fact that the CIA is training young Baloch separatists in bomb-making and other terrorist activities.
ReplyDeleteI blog about this at http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com/2010/12/30/the-us-as-a-semi-failed-state/
I have also posted a recent map of Free Balochistan (from their website).