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whats happening in Pakistan?

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  • 17-01-2010 1:07pm
    #1
    silverharp
    Registered Users Posts: 18,205 ✭✭✭✭


    its not a story I've kept up with but I've heard terms like proxy war and possible spread of terrorism? is it an area that is heating up or are things contained?

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



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    #2
    Selah_Nova
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18 ✭Selah_Nova


    I know that most of the bombings are against the Shia population with the aim of social unrest / civil war, like Iraq but given the hatred of hardline talib Sunni's for the 'heretic' Shia in that part of the world, its probably their doing. Dont know if the government has got a handle on the extreme Islamic elements within the ISI agency yet. Its all "the domino effect" these days, if Afghanistan falls Pakistan will be next, which is the same thing that was said about Vietnam.


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    #3
    piby
    Closed Accounts Posts: 539 ✭✭✭piby


    silverharp wrote: »
    its not a story I've kept up with but I've heard terms like proxy war and possible spread of terrorism? is it an area that is heating up or are things contained?

    Well roughly just over 3,000 people were killed by terrorism in Pakistan in 2009 so it's on the boil alright. Pakistan has traditionally always been more worried about its borders with India in the southeast but the last year or two in particular have diverted some of the attention towards the tribal areas. I'll give you a very brief and simplified version of why:

    What happened was that after the US invasion of A'stan in 2001 most of the Taliban fled to the AfPak border because the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan are essentially a society unto themselves, with little direct government involvement. The Afghan Taliban mingled with the Pakistani version, sending fighters back to Afghanistan while the Pakistani elements started to gain territory in the north, notably the Swat valley. Public opinion was fairly indifferent in many ways to begin with but as tha Taliban started getting closer to Islamabad, the capital, and enforcing sharia law this gradually changed. The Pakistani army then went in and kicked the stuffing out of them and drove them back.

    Now? Well with the sheer difficulty the coalition is having in Afghanistan they've been putting pressure on Pakistan to once and for all sort out the tribal areas (the US also offered incentives in the form of $7.5 billion in civilain aid as well as the regular military aid they give Pakistan). So last year the army launched its offensive against the taliban and is working towards clearing them out of that region. The problem is the terrain is seriously mountainous and the Taliban do enjoy a level of local support. The terrorist/suicide attacks on Rawalpindi, Lahore and other cities are the Taliban response to the offensive.

    Where the proxy war comes in is that the US is playing a large and unwarranted role in the region. They launch unmanned drones from bases within Pakistan aimed at taking out high-level Taliban targets. However the general public aren't too keen on this for a variety of reasons (civilian casualties, US encroachment on Pakistan's sovereignety etc.). The government publicily denounces the drone activity to save face with the public but the reality is in secret they allow them.


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    #4
    silverharp
    Registered Users Posts: 18,205 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    thankyou for thw analysis piby, well written! its a dangerous game , it only takes a couple of expats to hear about family being killed to push them over the edge, if you know what I mean

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



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    #5
    private2bcadet
    Closed Accounts Posts: 116 ✭✭private2bcadet


    dont take what i say as fact, im only an RDF man who has an interest in politics and war. i dont know if this is true or just propaganda, but from what ive seen and heard, the pakistani army is completely at war with the taliban and taliban recruiters etc. in north east pakistan. at the same kind of thing as the brits in afghanistan, and it looks like their doing a good job. they have thousands of soldiers involved, their air corps and lots of artillery. looks like their making ****e of the country side but how and ever...


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