The New Nation - Internet Edition

Md. Masum Billah

Pakistan has launched offensives since mid-October in the South Waziristan area where the Taliban- including fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya and the Arab world- have grown in power in recent years. Osama bin Laden and many of his top al Qaeda aides are also thought to be in hiding along the border. The two militant organizations have formed linkages with Pakistan's homegrown Islamic militant groups blamed for bombings in other parts of the country including the prosperous Punjab province in the heartland.

The situation is Pakistan is at war with itself. It is worrying because the Taliban over the past several weeks have freely chosen to attack highly secure targets in Islamabad and other major cities causing widespread damage. Very tense and complicates situation ahs engulfed the whole Pakistan as they are killing themselves.

The Pak army has been used to disarm the Taliban. Many innocent lives have been lost in these and previous attacks. Talibans are attacking the girls schools and women are barred from coming out of the residents where they have taken the hold.

Women come under their attack even if they are veiled. They also blew up girls schools in Kargar Garhi village in the Khyber tribal region; the latest in the Taliban's campaign against modern education that has destroyed hundreds of schools across Pakistan. This is why the world terms them as radicals. Islam has seriously encouraged education both for men and women.

The Prophet (sm) asked the people to gather knowledge even though it is in China meaning far from one's own country. Today's world shows its proof. People travel far and wide to gather knowledge irrespective of men and women. Talibans want to introduce another kind of Islam where women will be confined to houses. This theory and orthodox idea have been imbued with them by the vested quarters.

Madrasa education has spread the whole Pakistan. It might give a modern Pakistan and produce honest and peace loving people.

Now people believe madrasas have become the breeding ground for Islamic terrorism. The onslaught of the Taliban have vitiated the whole ideology of Islam and they prove themselves 'pucca ' ( pure) as their dress code says.

Washington even as the Pakistani government plays down the American role in its military operations in Taliban controlled areas along the border with Afghanistan, the United States has quietly rushed hundreds of millions of dollars in arms, equipment and sophisticated sensors to Pakistani forces in recent months said senior American and Pakistani officials. They claim"We are allies. We have shared objectives. We want these elements who have created havoc in Pakistan and who are potentially dangerous for regional peace and stability to be eliminated.

We are moving with greater coordination. The more we coordinate the more effective our operations will be on both sides of the border. During preparations this spring for the Pakistani campaigns in Swat and South Waziristan, president Obama personally intervened at the quest of Pakistan 's top army general to speed the delivery of 10 MI-17 troop transport helicopters.

Senior Pentagon officials have also hurried spare parts of Cobra helicopter gunships, night vision goggles, body armour and eavesdropping equipment to the fight.

American military surveillance drones are feeding video images and target information to Pakistani ground commanders and the Pentagon has quietly provided Pakistani Air Force with high resolution, infrared sensors for F-16 warplanes, which Pakistan is suing to guide bomb attacks on militants stronghold in South Waziristan.

In addition the number of American Special Forces soldiers and support personnel who are providing training and giving advice to Pakistan Army and paramilitary troops has doubled in the past eight months to as many as 150.

The army claims that operation has so far been very successful. "The resistance that we were expecting initially did not come with the same swiftness we were expecting."Tribal affairs expert Rahimullah Yusulfzai has described Waziristan as a ' Black Hole'. The Pakistan army has little or no intelligent on this momentous terrain of goat tracks, caves and thick forests. If we look back we learn they armed and funded the Mujahedeen to evict the Soviet Union with US assistance.

When different factions of Mujahedeen failed to govern and push the country to civil war, ISI decided to oust the Mujahedeen Pakistan then created the Taliban and let it loose from across the Durand Line to evict the Mujahideen from Kabul in 1996.

The Taliban installed them in Kabul, enforced oppressive laws on the people .

The Pakistani people and political analysts say that it is unfortunate that the Pakistan army cooperates with US military- the elected civilian government has no control over these policies of Pakistan.

It seems that the whole show of Pakistan's internal war has been played and managed by the army where the elected civilian government has very little or anything to say. The Kerry-Lugar Bill for providing $7.5 billion to Pakistan over the next five years has further deteriorated the relations between president and army chief.

Now the question arises what interest does US prompt to involve so closely in Paksitan's internal war . Their involvement means billions of dollars spending in Pakistan. The combined forces led by US in Afghanistan still faces difficulties to reign fully the Taliban. They believe the Pak Taliban have developed a close relations with them which keeps them distanced to win the war. If Pak Talibans and their sanctuaries could be destroyed, their win in Afghanistan would be smoother.

In recent years US has extended cooperation in nuclear and business sectors with India as well. Now with Pakistan. Both Pakistan and India share significant part of border with China. China is an international player with America. So, encircling China by America means rising the blood pressure of China. Israel is America's closest ally and for very strategic reasons she does not want to develop nuclear power in the Middle East and South East having enmity or ideological differences with America's Israel policy.

It might bring doom for Israel. As Pakistan is having nuclear power, it might be taken by the Taliban. Its possession by the Taliban means using it against Israel which US never wants. It cannot be denied that US has been attracted by the reserved gas and oil of Afghanistan. But the overall objective is to exhibit a potential threat to those countries which will harbor Islamic militants will face the same fate like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The political analysts believe that it is not possible for the Taliban to take over Pakistan unless aided by a powerful state. How they became so strong was by the patronization of Pakistan state power and the United States.

Now they have become boomerang for both of them and they have started cleansing the Taliban.

To use sacred religion with other purposes poses to be very dangerous which both Pakistan and US failed to understand. Whatever theory or argument they place it is simply dangerous, dangerous not only for them, for the real guided Muslims and for the religion itself.

The Muslims and practicing Muslims all over the world are being maltreated and mistreated and badly behaved across the globe mainly because of the talibanization of Islam. Islam and ' talibanism' definitely do not go and share the same ideas and spirit.

The Muslim religious leaders, thinkers and scholars must come up with the real explanation of ' Islam' otherwise many more countries may face the fate Pakistan and Afghanistan are facing today.