By Isaac Kfir*

This paper explores several key elements undermining the viability of the Pakistani state: Islamism, tribalism, ethno-nationalism, and quasi-secularism. The demands of each of these movements are difficult to reconcile with the needs of the others. At the same time, these movements exert pressure on a very weak government and state system. Hence, the author argues that unless the current regime undertakes substantial structural reforms, Pakistan may come apart at the seams, with dire consequences for regional and international stability.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

The Beeb is at it again: Radical Islam is not the cause of terrorist acts; it is the meddling West and its allies whom drive the desperate Islamists to inflict horrendous, terrorist crimes against humanity. G#d forbid that Benazir Bhutto publicly marshal her democratic supporters in Pakistan and “antagonize” the terrorists:

… Questions and accusations …

The BBC’s Damian Grammaticas in Karachi says Ms Bhutto is clearly attempting to portray herself as a brave fighter for democracy.

But he adds that there are bound to be questions about why, if she had been warned of a suicide bomb attack, she authorised such a slow public procession from the airport attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters. …

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Benazir Bhutto is a courageous woman. Today she drew crowds of political supporters in greater numbers than can either Pakistani President Musharraf or the nation’s Islamists. Precisely because of Bhutto’s political potential, someone tried to kill her before she had even finished one day at home:

More than 100 people have been killed, including 20 police officers, after two bombs hit crowds greeting returning Pakistani ex-PM Benazir Bhutto.

Ms Bhutto was being driven in a convoy through crowded streets from Karachi airport to a rally to mark her homecoming after eight years in exile. …

Several Islamist groups including pro-Taleban militants have made threats against Ms Bhutto. …

Witnesses said body parts were strewn across Ms Bhutto’s truck. The death toll is expected to rise. …

Such ugliness. Who is responsible? No one knows yet. The Islamists certainly want to kill Bhutto. The mere thought of a woman ruling Pakistan is anathema to their “religious” belief system. One may be tempted to think that President Musharraf should have planned better for Bhutto’s arrival but, “Police vehicles took the main force of the blasts.” That being said, I doubt Musharraf is celebrating her return. He doesn’t exactly relish the idea of Bhutto challenging his everlasting presidency.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

116. Hasten to do good; restrain your mind from evil. He who is slow in doing good, his mind delights in evil.

117. Should a person commit evil, let him not do it again and again. Let him not find pleasure therein, for painful is the accumulation of evil.

118. Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good. …

- The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom

Such is typical of Buddha’s teachings. Do no harm. Do not hate. Be at peace. But Buddha’s message of peace stirs evil violence in Muslim extremists. Think about this carefully when considering the actions of the Islamists: they lash out violently against… peace:

Suspected pro-Taleban militants have tried to blow up an ancient carving of Buddha in north-west Pakistan. …

The area has seen a rise in attacks on “un-Islamic” targets in recent months.

This is the first such attack in Pakistan and is reminiscent of the Taleban’s 2001 destruction of the giant Buddhas at Bamiyan in Afghanistan. …

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by Daniel Pipes*

Imagine that an Islamist central command exists — and that you are its chief strategist, with a mandate to spread full application of Shariah, or Islamic law, through all means available, with the ultimate goal of a worldwide caliphate. What advice would you offer your comrades in the aftermath of the eight-day Red Mosque rebellion in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan?

Probably, you would review the past six decades of Islamist efforts and conclude that you have three main options: overthrowing the government, working through the system, or a combination of the two.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Maulana Abdul Aziz doesn’t do homicide bombings, he just orders them. And when faced with arrest, he disguises himself as a woman to evade authorities. Some hero:

Security forces besieging a radical mosque in the Pakistani capital captured its top cleric Wednesday as he tried to sneak out of the complex in a woman’s burqa, and more than 1,000 of his followers surrendered. …

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by Daniel Pipes*

“Moderate Unicorns,” huffed a reader, responding to my recent plea that Western states bolster moderate Muslims. Dismissing their existence as a myth, he notes that non-Muslims “are still waiting for moderates to stand and deliver, identifying and removing extremist thugs from their mosques and their communities.”

It’s a valid skepticism and a reasonable demand. Recent events in Pakistan and Turkey, however, prove that moderate Muslims are no myth.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Remember Nick Berg? His murderers chanted “Allah Akbar!” (God is Great!) while they sawed the poor man’s head off. I’ve seen the tape. I saw and heard Berg gurgling and screaming. We knew about beheading in the name of Islam. Then we had decapitation in the name of ice cream. Isn’t beheading enough? No. Now the Islamo-fascists are using children to decapitate “infidels.” This is a culture? From the BBC:

The Taleban in Afghanistan have used a boy of around 12 to behead a man they accused of spying for the US.

Parts of a video of the beheading were broadcast on the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV network.

The Taleban said the dead man, Ghulam Nabi, had given the US information which led to an air strike in which a senior Taleban commander died.

The video footage shows Mr Nabi being blindfolded with a chequered scarf and making what is said to be a confession.

The boy, wearing a camouflage jacket and wielding a large knife, denounces him as a spy and then cuts off his head. …

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By Douglas Farah*

It is difficult in the best of times to get good information from the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, but my sources who visit the region regularly said the situation is even worse than the dire situation already written about in numerous publications.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Is Musharraf finally ready to clean up Pakistan’s Wild West, i.e. the western tribal provinces where Osama bin Laden and his buddies are probably hiding, and Taliban and al-Qaeda are certainly operating with the blessings of local chiefdoms? From Pakistan’s Daily Times:

The government has ordered the deployment of thousands of paramilitary personnel across the tribal areas ahead of a major offensive in the volatile South and North Waziristan agencies to hunt for “high value” terrorist targets, Daily Times has learnt.

Sources in the Interior Ministry said that the government had ordered the deployment of 2,000 personnel each of the Frontier Corps and Levies in Waziristan to comb the region ahead of the “grand operation”.

“Security forces are expected to begin a grand operation in the troubled Waziristan tribal region to hunt down al Qaeda and Taliban militants, including Baitullah Mehsud, who is holed up in the area,” the sources said, citing a decision made at a high-level meeting held late on Saturday night.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

So once again we’re discussing whether Pakistani President Musharraf is engaged in an “awkward balancing act” between the terrorist forces of Islamism within his own country and his “alliance” with the West. Let’s look at whether the positives of having Musharraf as an ally outweigh the negatives.

Muhammad Hanif, a now former Taliban spokesman, was captured by Afghan security agents and confessed that Mullah Omar is hiding in the Pakistani city of Quetta. Remember that Omar headed Taliban rule in Afghanistan until the U.S. invasion of 2002. Some imply that Hanif’s confession may have been forced, but consider that another Taliban “spokesman,” Latifullah Hakimi, was captured in Quetta in October 2005. Yes, Quetta.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Testifying yesterday before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. security chief John Negroponte said that “the leaders of al-Qaeda have found a secure hideout in Pakistan from where they are rebuilding their strength,” according to the Beeb. It added that, “until now the US has not been so specific about where it believes al-Qaeda’s leaders are hiding.” Good for Negroponte and the Bush administration. Contrary to the opinions set forth in “James Baker’s Terrible Iraq Report,” the U.S. administration should be tough on state sponsors of terrorism, and those states dragging their feet in the war against Islamo-fascism, not wasting time on the pleasantries of diplomatic dialog or engagement.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Bringing stability to Afghanistan is certainly not a lost cause, if Pakistan helps put a stop to Islamists (Tabiban and al-Qaeda) operating in the Wild West — that is, the tribal areas of western Pakistan. NATO announced today it had killed 150 Taliban terrorists along the border with Pakistan’s Wild West. Most notably, “Nato said Pakistan had helped Nato monitor the fighters, who were then hit with artillery and air strikes…” “…Nato officials said they had the close co-operation of the Pakistani authorities in monitoring the insurgents before they entered Afghanistan.”

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

I hope Pakistani President Musharraf keeps on fighting his country’s Islamists. I’ve sometimes wondered if he’s had the stomach for it, but he proved today he does. From the BBC:

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has blocked a fresh attempt to enact a Taleban-style law to enforce Islamic morality in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

A woman is raped every two hours and gang-raped every eight hours in Pakistan…

Rape and adultery in Pakistan are dealt with under the Hudood Ordinance, a controversial set of Islamic laws introduced from 1979 by Gen Zia-ul-Haq.

They include sections prescribing lashing and stoning as punishments for adultery.

- BBC, 11/15/2006

Now isn’t that special? Pakistan has a chance to reform such laws, as today “Pakistan’s national assembly has voted to amend the country’s strict Sharia laws on rape and adultery.” Will President Musharraf and the assembly’s upper house approve the vote? I would certainly think so, as Pervez just recently bombed Islamo-fascists at a madrassa out of existence, but “Religious parties boycotted the vote saying the bill encouraged ‘free sex’.” Here’s more on the Stone Age:

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