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Pakistan & A Bomb Too Far

Aaron Mannes has this story at CT Blog.

Less than a week before the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, there had been another bloody assassination attempt in Pakistan - both could represent turning points in Pakistan’s ongoing struggle with Islamist violence.

In northwest Pakistan a suicide bomber detonated his bomb inside a crowded mosque on Eid al-Adha (the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice which marks the end of the annual hajj.) The attack was an attempt to kill former Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao. Forty-eight people were killed and over 100 were wounded, including Sherpao's son and two grandnephews. Sherpao was unharmed.

This was the second attempt on Sherpao’s life in eight months, the previous attempt at a political rally in nearby Charsadda, 28 were killed and Sherpao was slightly wounded.

That Islamists would attack Sherpao is unsurprising. As Interior Minister he was a top security official and a key player in the Lal Masjid Mosque crackdown that has sparked the present high levels of violence. But for an Islamist to enter a mosque on a major holiday and murder innocent worshipers should be beyond the pale - even for radical Islamists.

These tactics did not work for Al Qaeda in Iraq, nor will it work for the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan. These brutal attacks taken together with deradicalization efforts and direct attacks on the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda will have the same results of alienating the Pakistani people as they have at alienating the Iraqi people.

2 Comments:

Blogger MataHarley said...

Hello Lt. Col Caveman. Was directed to your blog a few days ago, and had you bookmarked ever since. Truly enjoy your perspectives, that seem to echo my own often.

I see you too have been touching on the "new Taliban" merger in Pak under Baitullah Mehsud, brother of Abdullah Mehsud. Abdullah, described as something aking to a "rock star" jihadist, was considered responsible for Sherpao's April assassination attempt. As soon as I read of Benazir's death, he was first on my mind.

I also read the deradicalization article at the LA Times. Odd to see a somewhat positive strategy column from that source. And I had to wonder if the new "kinder, gentler" jihad manual for rules of engagement written by Egyptian incarcerated terrorist, Sayd Imam, mid November may gain some distribution among the jihad groups, and play into that strategy in the future.

Sayd Imam was the first founder/commander of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad ... Zawahiri's organization before officially moving to AQ. Instead of respect for what must have been a previous mentor, Zawahiri has since condemned Sayd Imam for the publication. Yet it is a prime example of a terrorist fighting the terrorists using brutal and "un Islamic" methods by killing civilians and other Muslims.

You'll find my own comments on these haps here and here.

However the good news may be that not only will terrorists be fighting terrorists to deradicalize (I hope...), but that the fractures in the leadership of the global Islamic jihad movement appear to be widening everywhere. Zawahiri and Sayd Imam. Baitullah and Maulana Fazlur Rahman in Pak, just to name two. However it remains to be seen if the internal battles truly lessen the quest for the caliphate jihadis' desire. Perhaps just a temporary jockey'ing for power?

I'll keep my eyes out for more internal infighting, which may make the deradicalization movement more effective. And I look forward to more of your own observations.

Sunday, 06 January, 2008  
Blogger MataHarley said...

Hello Lt. Col Caveman. Was directed to your blog a few days ago, and had you bookmarked ever since. Truly enjoy your perspectives, that seem to echo my own often.

I see you too have been touching on the "new Taliban" merger in Pak under Baitullah Mehsud, brother of Abdullah Mehsud. Abdullah, described as something aking to a "rock star" jihadist, was considered responsible for Sherpao's April assassination attempt. As soon as I read of Benazir's death, he was first on my mind.

I also read the deradicalization article at the LA Times. Odd to see a somewhat positive strategy column from that source. And I had to wonder if the new "kinder, gentler" jihad manual for rules of engagement written by Egyptian incarcerated terrorist, Sayd Imam, mid November may gain some distribution among the jihad groups, and play into that strategy in the future.

Sayd Imam was the first founder/commander of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad ... Zawahiri's organization before officially moving to AQ. Instead of respect for what must have been a previous mentor, Zawahiri has since condemned Sayd Imam for the publication. Yet it is a prime example of a terrorist fighting the terrorists using brutal and "un Islamic" methods by killing civilians and other Muslims.

You'll find my own comments on these haps here and here.

However the good news may be that not only will terrorists be fighting terrorists to deradicalize (I hope...), but that the fractures in the leadership of the global Islamic jihad movement appear to be widening everywhere. Zawahiri and Sayd Imam. Baitullah and Maulana Fazlur Rahman in Pak, just to name two.

I'll keep my eyes out for more internal infighting, which may make the deradicalization movement more effective. And I look forward to more of your own observations.

Sunday, 06 January, 2008  

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