Taliban arrest spotlights Afghan insurgents in Karachi
The arrest of a top Taliban commander in Pakistan highlights the militant nexus in Karachi, where crime bankrolls violence and the teeming metropolis offers the perfect hiding place.
Karachi, home to 16 million people, has two sea ports which are a gateway to the world and transit hub for NATO supplies heading to the war effort in neighbouring Afghanistan.
For decades Karachi has been connected with the criminal underworld and since the September 11, 2001 attacks, with extreme Islamist networks too…
While officials refuse to confirm details of how, when and where Taliban number two Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested, American media reported that US and Pakistani spies captured him in Karachi.
“The arrest of a top Afghan Taliban commander proves the premise that some Afghan Taliban are present in Pakistan,” said security analyst Hasan Askari.
“Karachi has become the most attractive hideout for militants because it is a massive city and there are all kinds of ethnic and linguistic groups, where Pakistani and Afghan Taliban can disappear,” he added.
Around 2.5 million Pashtuns from the northwest are estimated to live in Karachi, a migration that began in the 1950s but accelerates with each successive offensive against Pakistani Islamists in the region…
This also serves to illustrate the steady turnaround in Pakistan’s commitment to a fight for democracy and modernity in their own land – since the departure of Musharraf and his Bush League lackeys.
And the West truly believes it has found a solution for this notorious and hostile terrain. As soon as we leave it will all flood in again, in fact, they most probably won’t wait that long…We shall see
zorki
February 19, 2010 at 6:14 am
The only circumstance giving The Taliban legitimacy anymore is the presence of NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Certainly The Taliban seem to be the only organized resistance to external aggression. Where else can an Afghan go, if he or she wants to be patriotic and oust foreign troops from what is, after all, their country?
I suspect, once sufficient blood has been shed (ours and theirs) to satisfy NATO honor, NATO will walk away and the Afghans themselves will deal with the wild-eyed bomb throwers, who are also killing thousands of Afghans and creating thousands of blood feuds.
As usual, we’re having the exact opposite effect we’re supposedly seeking.
The good news is: lots of wealthy people are getting much wealthier and there’s still lots of heroin available to further dull our duller minds.
Cinaedh
February 19, 2010 at 7:52 am
Afghanistan will revert to war lords if NATO pulls out in the near future. Democracy and the social infrastructure is still too weak to withstand them.
I have no problem with fixing the lives of people that have been under the thumb of self serving tribal war lords and religious extremists. It isn’t pretty, but cancer seldom is.
Mr. Fusion
February 20, 2010 at 7:15 am
I agree with you about helping people who ask for help and who want help.
On the other hand, they may not wish their lives to be “fixed” by us. They’ve chosen to live the way they live for many thousands of years and they’ve pretty dramatically rejected “fixing” by the Brits, by the Soviets and now by us.
Using military force to foist “help” or “fixing” upon people, who just want you to fuck off, never works.
Still, we seem to be stuck in an infinite loop when it comes to “fixing” other countries. Usually that means installing a series of corrupt regimes, who’ll do what we tell them to do, if we pay them a lot of money.
Afghanistan will likely revert to war lords no matter when NATO pulls out. It’s just a matter of how much blood we want spilled between now and then.
If they do go back to warlords – or even The Taliban – it’s really none of our business.
The Vietnamese seem to be doing alright these days, now that we’re not killing them to save them from Communism.
Cinaedh
February 20, 2010 at 7:43 am
Just a historical note. There was a period from the 1930′s forward when Kabul was the Paris of Khyber – when the central government [and king] ruled peacefully and thoroughly.
moss
February 20, 2010 at 7:53 am
Now that democracies appear to be going into decline, it is possible that countries like Iraq, and Afghanistan could join the UN. then they will be the peace keeping forces for these trouble spots around the world. Oh dear, how would we in the west like that, having foreigners walking all over us. The comparisons are not that wide and who knows. History has an unusual way of changing shape in the present dimension of time
zorki
February 20, 2010 at 8:32 am
Very true. A friend of mine spent some time hitch hiking around the world about 1971. While he had some interesting stories about Pakistan and India, he spent a lot of time in Kabul. It was the most westernized city east of Istanbul and a model of tolerance.
Mr. Fusion
February 20, 2010 at 2:26 pm