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  • Pakistan Army chief rejects Taliban offer for talks with conditions

    News Analysis: Pakistan Army chief rejects Taliban offer for talks with conditions
    English.news.cn 2013-05-01 17:25:14
    by Muhammad Tahir

    ISLAMABAD, May 1 (Xinhua) -- In no uncertain terms, the Chief of Pakistani Army, General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani on Tuesday rejected the Taliban's offer for talks with conditions and instead asked them to end their rebellion if they want to join the national mainstream.

    In February, the Taliban had said that they would join the peace dialogue but only if the government releases their detained five leaders and a guarantee that their three political and religious leaders would not be arrested. The Taliban also refused to lay down their arms during the peace dialogue.

    The government has ignored the conditions demanded by the Taliban but the Pakistani Army has not publicly responded to the Taliban initiative.

    However, General Kayani, speaking to thousands of relatives of those security men who died in the fighting against the Taliban and other armed groups in the garrison city of Rawalpindi late Tuesday has ruled out talks with the insurgents unless they surrender and abandon their rebellion.

    "We sincerely desire that all those who have strayed and have picked up arms against the nation, return to the national fold. However, this is only possible once they unconditionally submit to the state, its Constitution and the rule of law. There is no room for doubts when it comes to dealing with rebellion against the state," the army chief said in a written speech, aired live by all TV channels.

    The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP had earlier stated that they would not talk to the political government and will await response from the Army as all powers are with the armed forces. The Army, however, had clarified that the political government will make a decision on the matter.

    This is the first time that General Kayani came up with an unequivocal statement that if the Taliban want to rejoin the mainstream, they have to end fighting the state and must accept the Constitution.

    Without specifically identifying foreign entities, Kayani has also accused "external enemies" of igniting the flames of the unrest in the country.

    The Army Chief also slammed those certain elements in Pakistan, who claimed that the armed forces are fighting an American war.

    "I would like to ask all those who raise such questions that if a small faction wants to enforce its distorted ideology over the entire nation by taking up arms and for this purpose defies the Constitution of Pakistan and considers all forms of bloodshed justified, then, does the fight against this enemy of the state constitute someone else's war?" Kayani asked rhetorically.

    Kayani reminded the critics that even in democratic states, treason or seditious uprisings against the state have never been tolerated and in such struggles their armed forces have had unflinching support of the masses and questions about the ownership of such wars have never been raised.

    General Kayani said the country cannot afford to confuse soldiers and weaken their resolve with such misgivings, saying that no one should hurt the sentiments of these "saviors of the nation through our words and deeds."

    With the Army chief's statement, the Taliban have now received a categorical response to their dialogue offer and now the ball is in their court and it is up to them whether to give up violence or face the full force of the military establishment.

    Pakistan has lost nearly 50,000 people, including security personnel, since the country joined the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against terrorism that began in 2001. The country also suffered nearly 70 billion U.S. dollars in damage and lost economic opportunities during the period.

    Pakistanis from all walks of life are now fed up with the daily terror attacks waged by the Taliban and other militant groups and they want the government, particularly the military, to put an end to this campaign of terror so that the country can finally move forward.

    News Analysis: Pakistan Army chief rejects Taliban offer for talks with conditions - Xinhua | English.news.cn
    Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
    https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

  • #2
    It is Pakistan’s war

    Amir Zia
    Thursday, May 02, 2013
    The writer is editor The News, Karachi.


    Pakistanis should breathe easy now and feel a bit more confident about their country’s future. Yes, the good news is that the Pakistan Army – the country’s most powerful institution – is not yielding before Al-Qaeda and its local militant allies, who have long been tarnishing the sacred name of Islam by killing unarmed civilians and Pakistani security forces through cowardly acts of terrorism.

    All the ambiguity and confusion created by the handful of Al-Qaeda and Taliban apologists, who brand Pakistan’s twin challenge of extremism and terrorism as an ‘American War’, should be removed after Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s recent assertion that the fight against an enemy that defies the constitution of Pakistan and the democratic process and considers all forms of bloodshed justified should not be considered someone else’s war.

    “We cannot afford to confuse our soldiers and weaken their resolve with such misgivings,” the army chief said. No country, even the best evolved democratic states, would tolerate treason and seditious uprisings against the state, he said – underlining the importance of the unwavering support of the masses to their armed forces in any such struggle.

    General Kayani’s April 30 speech on the occasion of ‘Youm-e-Shuhada’ (Martyrs’ Day) is perhaps one of his most important, timely and profound speeches in which he touched upon two key themes – democracy and Pakistan’s efforts against extremism and terrorism. The message conveyed in this speech should end the atmosphere of uncertainty and any misgivings regarding both the future of democracy in the country and the armed forces’ position on the war on terrorism. It should boost the confidence of both the barracks and the civilians and bring more cohesion and commitment among them in their efforts to defeat extremists and terrorists, who remain bent upon imposing their distorted ideology and narrow and flawed version of Islam in the country, where 99.9 percent of the population is made up of moderate and peace-loving Muslims.

    The first part of General Kayani’s speech expressed the armed forces’ commitment of strengthening the democratic process, which has already been proven by the way the army leadership stuck to its constitutional role despite intense pressure by various quarters that it should act to clean up the stables.

    The general rightly underlined that the success of democracy doesn’t merely rest on elections, but more importantly on the prosperity and welfare of the masses. Our mainstream political parties must pay heed to this simple and sincere advice of the army chief, who should get equal marks for keeping the country’s fragile democratic process afloat despite all its weaknesses, tales of alleged mega-corruption and poor governance. The major political parties must put their house in order on a war-footing because the country can hardly bear even one year of the kind of directionless and shady rule that was witnessed during the 2008-2013 ‘democratic era’ let alone another full five years of such term.

    General Kayani also used the occasion to dispel any doubts that might linger in the minds of many that the elections could be postponed at the last minute against the backdrop of a string of terrorist attacks on leaders, workers and followers of the three main liberal political parties by the Taliban, who apparently want to weaken their electoral prospects. The Taliban threat to the former ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) advertently or inadvertently benefits the electoral prospects of religious and right-wing parties which are carrying out their campaigns without any fear of terrorism.

    General Kayani’s most clear message, however, remains that of taking ownership of the war on terrorists and extremists, who are responsible for more than 50,000 killings of Pakistani civilians and security forces personnel since 2002. He rightly criticised those politicians and religious leaders who waste time in debating the ‘origins of the war on terror’ – incorrectly calling it a US war.

    The army chief’s Youm-e-Shuhada speech should be seen as an expansion of the important theme he raised in his April 20 speech at the passing out parade of young officers in Kakul where he emphasised that Islam should always remain a unifying force.

    Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Jamaat-e-Islamis of this world should take note since they are trying their best to undermine the sacrifices made by Pakistan’s security forces and civilians in the war on terror by calling the struggle for Pakistan’s future as a US war. They are serving the interests of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban when they demand that the army unilaterally withdraw from the lawless and militant-infested northern region of Pakistan and abandon its international and national responsibility of reining in these non-state actors, who blow up schools, attack mosques, assassinate political rivals and carry out bombings and terrorist attacks targeting civilians and security forces alike.

    The barbaric acts and crimes of Al-Qaeda and local terrorists cannot be forgotten nor forgiven no matter what any Imran Khans or Munawar Hasans might say. The state cannot surrender before these forces of darkness wanting to transform Pakistan into a pariah state in the international community and impose their oppressive system using the sacred name of Islam which in fact stands for moderation, human dignity and progress.

    All those advocating a policy of appeasement for these extremist forces and who want to strike deals with them stand on the wrong side of history. They can only help prolong Pakistan’s misery for a while at the hands of militants, but eventually they will be defeated. This is as inevitable as day is followed by night.

    Since 2002, Pakistan’s armed forces – the military in particular – have been at the forefront in the fight against terrorism. From Pakistan’s point of view, the objectives of the war remain simple; foreign militants should not be allowed to operate from Pakistani soil and be sent packing to their countries of origin. If their countries refuse to take them, which happened in most cases when these militants were caught, Pakistan as a matter of policy will hand them over to the US-led Nato forces.

    The second important objective is that non-state actors – be they foreign or local – should not be allowed to use Pakistani territory for global or domestic terrorism. These objectives remain in line with Pakistan’s national interest as well as its responsibility as a member of the international community.

    General Kayani would know better all the challenges and pain Pakistan has endured during this protracted conflict since he has remained on key command positions during all these turbulent times – from the head of the Inter Services Intelligence to the vice chief of the army staff and then as army chief.

    It is indeed heartening the way General Kayani has articulated the mission statement of his forces of fighting both the external and internal enemies of the country in which defeating terrorists remains a matter of prime importance. Indeed, the military leadership has again raised itself to the challenge as our soldiers battle these enemies of Pakistan and Islam on various fronts. It is now the responsibility of our politicians and all the other sections of society to support this effort in all possible ways. They should all take the ownership of this war to defeat the extremist mindset and counter their narrative.

    This is not the time to waver or doubt the legitimacy of this conflict. Our soldiers need all our unconditional support – because they alone have the capacity and ability to win this war for Pakistan.

    Email: [email protected]

    It is Pakistan

    ==============

    While the author picks out the PTI and JI, the PMLN, expected by many to form the next government, needs to take note as well.
    Last edited by Agnostic Muslim; 02 May 13,, 13:42.
    Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
    https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

    Comment


    • #3
      In Swat, Pakistan Army adamant on fighting 'other Taliban'
      By Reuters
      Published: July 10, 2013

      KALAM: In the past few years, Swat valley has been occupied by insurgents, undergone a bruising counter-offensive by the army and then flooded by waters that washed away acres of fruit orchards and steeply terraced fields.

      In October last year, the valley which lies about 250 km north of Islamabad was again in the global spotlight when gunmen shot schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.

      Now, as villagers try to piece together shattered lives, the military is coming under pressure to talk peace with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

      Leaders elected in May want to open a dialogue with the homegrown militants set on overthrowing the nuclear-armed state. They say the local people are fed up with the violence and that any talks will be legitimised by US efforts to promote peace with the Afghan Taliban.

      But the powerful military, which has spent years chasing the TTP into ever-more remote hideouts, is in no mood to negotiate with militants who have killed thousands of soldiers and who they say cannot be trusted. Some villagers back that stand.

      “(The Taliban) doesn’t accept the government’s writ, they are not faithful to the constitution, how can a political party talk to them?” said Abdul Rehman, an elder in the village of Kalam, a former tourist hotspot high in the Swat valley and ringed by snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Khush.

      The village is famous for repelling TTP attacks.

      “We forced them away, first on our own, then with the help of the army,” Rehman told Reuters during a visit organised by a UN organisation funding flood relief work in his village, which is set among pine forests and walnut orchards.

      The debate over whether to open peace talks with the TTP has taken centrestage in the country as US troops withdraw from Afghanistan after a 12-year war against the Afghan Taliban.

      The military leaders are at pains to distinguish between the Afghan Taliban, to which Pakistan maintains ties and which they argue can be seen as fighting against occupation, and its local imitators who they see as domestic terrorists.

      The TTP pledges allegiance to Mullah Mohammad Omar, the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban but Omar is careful not to be seen to attack the Pakistani state. The TTP suddenly sacked its spokesman on Tuesday amid signs of strained ties between the groups.

      Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his prominent rival Imran Khan both offered to talk to the militants while campaigning for May’s federal and provincial elections. While Nawaz won the federal elections, Imran’s party emerged victorious in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province that includes Swat Valley and remains a hotbed of TTP activity.

      The information minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told Reuters that the provincial government had called a meeting of other political parties and stakeholders to prepare for peace talks.

      “Time for politicians”


      “The United States has opened up a Taliban office in Qatar and is holding negotiations with them, and we are being told to continue to fight and die,” Imran said last month during a visit to Peshawar.

      “For the last nine years we have relied on the army to bring peace, but instead the situation got worse,” he said. “It’s now time for politicians to resolve the issue.”

      Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) says the violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a reaction to US drone strikes and pro-Washington policies by the army, and that talks are the only answer.

      But there is no easy solution.

      Most of the militants seek refuge in the neighbouring Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) – districts strung along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and run by central writ – and the provincial government cannot control the process.

      Fata is used as a base by the TTP, members of the Afghan Taliban and groups linked to al Qaeda.

      Nawaz’s federal government can only do so much. The military largely has a free hand regarding internal security, and influences foreign policy, especially relations with neighbours.

      It is the army, its intelligence agencies and the Taliban itself who will decide whether to talk or fight.

      The TTP has shown interest in talks, but has stepped up attacks after a series of drone strikes on its leaders and also because it doubts the ability of the civilian leadership to convince the military to allow negotiations.

      “If we felt that the PTI government or the Nawaz Sharif government were in a position to take a serious step towards peace talks and can oppose the intelligence agencies, then we can seriously think about peace talks,” the group’s then spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in a video released in June.

      So far, the military has shown no inclination to relax an offensive many officers feel they can win.

      “We have to take the fight to them,” said a regional commander flying a helicopter over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

      Just before the elections, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani made it clear he would not talk to the militants unless they lay down arms and accept Pakistan’s laws.

      “There is no room for doubts when it comes to dealing with rebellion against the state,” he said in an April 30 speech.

      Post-war hunger

      Locals in Swat said there was good reason to mistrust the militants.

      A previous peace deal gave the TTP the breathing space it needed to take power in the valley and then extend influence into neighbouring districts just 100 km from Islamabad in 2009.

      That summer, worried by the creeping proximity of Taliban territory to Islamabad, the army launched a full air and ground assault and government forces regained control in a month. But the operation displaced 2 million people, and later, many returned to nothing but dead livestock and flattened orchards.

      Floods that ripped through Swat the next year made things worse, destroying many of the tightly packed terraces where corn and wheat grow along steep mountainsides. Acute malnutrition among children has jumped by more than a third.

      Saifullah Khan Mahsud, an expert on the situation in Fata, says the army believes it has the TTP on the back foot and is biding time for a fatal blow in border areas like North Waziristan, where the militants and other global groups are holed up.

      “At the end of the day it is the military stance that is going to prevail,” he said.

      In Swat, Pakistan Army adamant on fighting ‘other Taliban’ – The Express Tribune
      Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
      https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

      Comment


      • #4
        And yet those terrorism supporting pieces of garbage do their best to put the Taliban in power in Afghanistan and run terrorists into India.
        To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by troung View Post
          And yet those terrorism supporting pieces of garbage do their best to put the Taliban in power in Afghanistan and run terrorists into India.
          No they don't, we have AM's solemn word in another thread that they are mere criminals, all Pakistan needs is more cow bell, more cops and an less Uncle Sam. Funny how in this thread the TTP and Al Queda are linked in waging war on Pakistan, but when its the US in another thread they are not an armed group just rouge criminal elements...

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by zraver View Post
            No they don't, we have AM's solemn word in another thread that they are mere criminals, all Pakistan needs is more cow bell, more cops and an less Uncle Sam. Funny how in this thread the TTP and Al Queda are linked in waging war on Pakistan, but when its the US in another thread they are not an armed group just rouge criminal elements...
            There is no comparison to be made between a domestic problem (the TTP violence in Pakistan and the various measures taken by the Pakistani State to combat the TTP threat domestically) and the arguments elsewhere about the international illegality of unauthorized, unilateral US military strikes inside Pakistan.
            Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
            https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by troung View Post
              And yet those terrorism supporting pieces of garbage do their best to put the Taliban in power in Afghanistan ...
              Are you referring to the dialog process with the Afghan Taliban being pursued by the US and Afghanistan and being supported by the UK and various other NATO nations? Why call these nations 'terrorism supporting pieces of garbage'?
              Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
              https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Agnostic Muslim View Post
                Originally posted by troung
                And yet those terrorism supporting pieces of garbage do their best to put the Taliban in power in Afghanistan ...
                Are you referring to the dialog process with the Afghan Taliban being pursued by the US and Afghanistan and being supported by the UK and various other NATO nations? Why call these nations 'terrorism supporting pieces of garbage'?
                You believe that the dialog pursued by the West is to accommodate the Taliban back to power in Afghanistan? Pipe dreams... Don't get your hopes high.
                Cow is the only animal that not only inhales oxygen, but also exhales it.
                -Rekha Arya, Former Minister of Animal Husbandry

                Comment


                • #9
                  We need to open a fiction section, there so much of classic stuff written in Pakistani media, it would be a real shame to waste all this.

                  Cheers!...on the rocks!!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by lemontree View Post
                    We need to open a fiction section, there so much of classic stuff written in Pakistani media, it would be a real shame to waste all this.
                    What exactly do you find 'fictional' about the three articles/op-eds posted in this thread?
                    Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
                    https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Tronic View Post
                      You believe that the dialog pursued by the West is to accommodate the Taliban back to power in Afghanistan?
                      That is what the alleged leaked Afghan government 'peace road-map' itself states:

                      "The negotiating parties to agree on the modalities for the inclusion of Taliban and other armed opposition leaders in the power structure of the state, to include non-elected positions at different levels with due consideration of legal and governance principles."

                      http://www.foreignpolicy.com/files/1...ap_to_2015.pdf
                      Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
                      https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        do you believe those articles to be legitimate and non-fiction?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by zraver View Post
                          do you believe those articles to be legitimate and non-fiction?
                          Do I agree with a many of the arguments made in the articles? Yes.

                          Do I know with absolute certainty that the writers of these articles (or the writers in the media anywhere in the world for that matter) did not make errors? Of course not.

                          No one except for the writers themselves know that, and one can offer counter-arguments backed by facts to discount the arguments made by the writers if one disagrees with them.
                          Last edited by Agnostic Muslim; 11 Jul 13,, 15:16.
                          Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
                          https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Agnostic Muslim View Post
                            Do I agree with a many of the arguments made in the articles? Yes.

                            Do I know with absolute certainty that the writers of these articles (or the writers in the media anywhere in the world for that matter) did not make errors? Of course not.

                            No one except for the writers themselves knows that, though one can offer counter-arguments backed by facts to discount the arguments made by the writers.
                            From those articles

                            However, General Kayani, speaking to thousands of relatives of those security men who died in the fighting against the Taliban and other armed groups in the garrison city of Rawalpindi late Tuesday has ruled out talks with the insurgents unless they surrender and abandon their rebellion.

                            Pakistanis should breathe easy now and feel a bit more confident about their country’s future. Yes, the good news is that the Pakistan Army – the country’s most powerful institution – is not yielding before Al-Qaeda and its local militant allies

                            All the ambiguity and confusion created by the handful of Al-Qaeda and Taliban apologists, who brand Pakistan’s twin challenge of extremism and terrorism as an ‘American War’, should be removed after Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s recent assertion that the fight against an enemy that defies the constitution of Pakistan and the democratic process and considers all forms of bloodshed justified should not be considered someone else’s war.

                            ZR- From sources you posted and publicly affirmed that you believed to be legit and non-fiction. Its a war, not a police action and a such 1368/CIL/LOAC is the controlling document on US actions and we are right back to that pesky word ALL.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by zraver View Post
                              From those articles
                              However, General Kayani, speaking to thousands of relatives of those security men who died in the fighting against the Taliban and other armed groups in the garrison city of Rawalpindi late Tuesday has ruled out talks with the insurgents unless they surrender and abandon their rebellion.

                              Pakistanis should breathe easy now and feel a bit more confident about their country’s future. Yes, the good news is that the Pakistan Army – the country’s most powerful institution – is not yielding before Al-Qaeda and its local militant allies

                              All the ambiguity and confusion created by the handful of Al-Qaeda and Taliban apologists, who brand Pakistan’s twin challenge of extremism and terrorism as an ‘American War’, should be removed after Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s recent assertion that the fight against an enemy that defies the constitution of Pakistan and the democratic process and considers all forms of bloodshed justified should not be considered someone else’s war.
                              ZR- From sources you posted and publicly affirmed that you believed to be legit and non-fiction. Its a war, not a police action and a such 1368/CIL/LOAC is the controlling document on US actions and we are right back to that pesky word ALL.
                              What Pakistan chooses to call any domestic security issue (war on drugs, war on crime, war against extremism etc.) does not have any relation to UNSC 1368 and arguments over the illegality of unauthorized and unilateral military strikes by one nation (in this case the US) on another (Pakistan). Pakistan's domestic policies on combating crime and violence are subject to oversight by the Pakistani courts, in terms of whether those policies violate the constitution, and have no bearing on the argument about whether 1368 authorizes some sort of blanket, undefined and unending ability to conduct military operations wherever the US sees fit (which UNSC 1368 does not).

                              For the record (since you appear to have missed/ignored my previous comments on how Pakistan can more effectively combat extremist violence within her borders), my position is that the 'war against terrorism/extremism' in Pakistan needs to be led by civilian law enforcement and intelligence agencies and cannot be won without improving the capacity and performance of those institutions in conjunction with improved civilian governance. The Pakistani military agrees with this general idea, but has been unwilling to pull back from Swat and FATA because of the inability of the civilian government to reform the aforementioned institutions.
                              Last edited by Agnostic Muslim; 11 Jul 13,, 14:51.
                              Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission - Jinnah
                              https://twitter.com/AgnosticMuslim

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