Look who's friends

The Taliban has friends in the ISI (not that no one had an idea).

Baitullah Mehsud, the brazen Taliban
chief based in Waziristan, has been able to escape several attempts to kill and
capture him because he has friends in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) agency, according to a Newsweek report. [Link]

And this is how Mehsud gives officials the slip -

An unnamed Pakistani official told
Newsweek that senior US officials had even shared with their counterparts in
Islamabad “some intelligence indicating that renegade ISI elements helped
Mehsud's group train for the December 2007 assassination of Pakistan's former
prime minister Benazir Bhutto”. But despite that and Pakistan's purported
knowledge of his whereabouts, “it's a puzzle why they're ignoring and avoiding
any strike against him,” one tribal elder in the region told the magazine. “On
several occasions over the past couple of years, security forces in Pakistan
have launched operations to kill or capture him, and each time he has vanished
without incident,” the magazine writes citing unnamed officials in Islamabad and
Washington. “Mehsud's contacts, the theory goes, are tipping him off before
Pakistani troops can pounce.” [Link]

Now, with reports of some Talibani terrorists entering India, Mehsud's friend circle seems to be wider than expected.

"Goodwill gesture"

Pakistan is fast capitulating to the Taliban. It has released 20 Talibanis hoping to broker peace in the Swat valley. History will reliably prove that the Taliban and peace can never co-exist. This will only add 20 more "militants" to the Talibani ranks that will spray more rockets on the NATO routes. So much from a "partner" in war on terror!

Pakistani authorities on Friday freed 20 jailed militants as a "goodwill
gesture" to carry forward the peace process in the Taliban-dominated Swat
valley. [Link]

Also, that is Pakistan's "in your face" to India. 26/11 is far from reaching its logical end. Too many "protesters" seem to take their cue from the Taliban as evidenced back home. The various Christist groups in the North East, Lawyers in TN, The various Islamists etc. They have seen that aggression pays rich dividends. And the mainstream media has successfully perverted public discourse to an extent that right questions do not get asked anymore. One only hears a lot of "secular" noise.

The election coverage is another such example. Secular indignation seems directed only towards the "communal forces" while it is OK for patron political parties to blatantly chum up to their vote banks comprising the "victimised minority". The "Secular" intelligentsia seems to have no trouble reconciling their outrage at the "saffron" folk while maintaining collective silence when powerful churches recommend political candidates and Muslim leaders openly call for support using religion.

Neither the "seculars" nor the "minorities" ever care to wonder how is it that they are stuck in the same place while their patron overlords have ruled our land for about 5 decades since our independence. For an "oppressed minority", they seems to burn far too much public property and murder far too many "communals". Hardly a trait of someone "oppressed".

President O, with his "engagement" policy seems to think there is a "moderate Taliban". That it is an oxymoron has not occurred to him. His juvenile views on foreign policy vis-a-vis the Muslim countries will yield to more such victories for the Taliban. It may be too late before he (and our Congress leaders) matures to realize the reality of Pakistan and other Islamic states and what they stand for. Or is "engagement" President O's "goodwill gesture"?

"Engaging" the wrong people

What do general Pakistanis think of the US aggression against terrorists? See below (via The Acorn) -

-- Do you see drone attacks bringing
about fear and terror in the common people? (Yes 45%, No
55%)

-- Do you think the drones are accurate
in their strikes? (Yes 52%, No 48%)

-- Do you think anti-American feelings in
the area increased due to drone attacks recently? (Yes 42%, No
58%)

-- Should Pakistan military carry out
targeted strikes at the militant organisations? (Yes 70%, No
30%)

-- Do the militant organisations get
damaged due to drone attacks? (Yes 60%, No 40%)

[Link] (Emphasis added)

And these opinions are right from within the FATA. Liberation from terrorists and freedom from the Ummah is what they want. Leader of the free world (a.k.a. President O) is "listening" to and "engaging" the wrong people. So are we at home. The resentment against the West and all "infidels" is largely only amongst the warmongering Islamists. Their sole interests are furthering Islam and establishing Sharia. Talking to Islamists is hardly going to give us any "hope" for "change" in their attitude towards us. Swat is an example of what entails when we cede space to them. Contrary to Zaradri's claims, the Taliban is growing stronger.