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Our Opinion: Pakistan terrorist Punjabi ISI squanders Malala moment as U.S. stands idly by
 Part of channel(s): Afghanistan (current event)

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  • Posted October 20, 2012

    Pakistan's government is squandering its "Malala moment:" the chance to harness public outrage over the Taliban's shooting of 14-year-old education activist Malala Yousufzai and take the fight to the terrorists who threaten the nation and its neighbors.



    The fecklessness of the government's current strategy against terrorism is captured in the offer of a $1 million bounty by Interior Minister Rehman Malik for aid in hunting down Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Eshan, who has defended the attack on Malala and warned of more to come.



    If Pakistan really wanted to capture Eshan — and it should — a $1 million reward probably isn't necessary. He routinely sends emails and text messages and makes landline phone calls to dozens of journalists, many of whom are under some form of government surveillance. Dollars to doughnuts Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, long thought to have ties to the Taliban and other terrorist groups, knows where Eshan is.



    Since Pakistan's founding, its military and intelligence establishments have relied on militants as an asymmetric asset in their rivalry with the larger, more powerful India. That reliance remains intact, despite occasional pressure from the United States and its counterterrorism partners.



    General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the leader of Pakistan's military, has condemned the attack on Malala and her fellow students, praising her as "an icon of courage and hope." He could follow up those comforting words with a military operation against the Taliban and other extremist groups such as the Haqqani network in North Waziristan.



    Disappointingly, Pakistan's governing coalition has so far held off on a parliamentary resolution for such an operation. Opposition politicians including Imran Khan, the blow-dried ex-cricketer, have withheld their support and shamefully hedged their condemnations of the Taliban.



    The U.S., meanwhile, is not in a position to push loudly for action, especially given the need for Pakistan's cooperation in the winding down of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Pakistan's ever-inventive conspiracy theorists already claim that the U.S. was behind the shooting in an effort to make Pakistan look bad and force its hand in Waziristan. Behind the scenes, however, the U.S. should make forcefully clear — especially through its military and intelligence channels — that Pakistan's failure to make the most of this moment will have consequences for U.S. assistance. A month before Malala was shot, Hillary Clinton quietly issued a "national security" waiver on conditions for $2 billion in U.S. aid. There's little chance Congress would let her get away with that in the attack's aftermath.



    The U.S. should also continue to tighten the screws on Pakistani terrorist networks and their supporters, as it did with a new set of sanctions on individuals on Wednesday. And it should channel more aid to Pakistan's civilian security forces to help them gain independence from the military and intelligence services, which have a long history of interfering with law enforcement efforts to tackle terrorist groups.



    The Malala case has attracted worldwide concern and sympathy (including, perhaps inevitably, a striptease tribute from Madonna). This may help shine a light on the efforts of Pakistanis to live free of terrorist violence. But real progress requires Pakistan's leaders to renounce the cynical use of terrorist proxies to achieve their strategic goals


    • Added: Oct-20-2012 Occurred On: Oct-20-2012
    By: BekasKhan
    In:     Afghanistan
    Tags: Afghanistan, Occupation, by, US, NATO, Taliban, Pakistan, Terrorist, Punjabi, ISI, Al, Qaeda, Iran, Intel
    Location: Afghanistan (load item map)
    Marked as: approved
    Views: 2621 | Comments: 8 | Votes: 0 | Favorites: 0 | Shared: 22 | Updates: 0 | Times used in channels: 2
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    • They bitch when we do sometthing they bitch if we don't.

      Posted Oct-20-2012 By 
      EazyE (50.58)  

      (1)

    • i say no AID for any Muslim nation let them rot that's what they would do to us

      Posted Oct-20-2012 By 
      Death3159 (169.10)  

      (0)

      • @Death3159
        let the generous saudi's provide for the muslims. Why must the 'evil Xtian" west protect those that hate them the most.

        Posted Oct-20-2012 By 
        Airedale (2614.36)  

        (0)

    • Well when the government secretly supports terrorists, it wouldn't make much sense to go around arresting them.

      Posted Oct-20-2012 By 
      J-Un1t (65.56)  

      (0)

    • The US should start focusing concern and resources inside its boarders.

      Posted Oct-20-2012 By 
      jw6ksucf (59.10)  

      (0)

    • The ISI have been shown to be useless scum and are Al-Qaeda supporters and suppliers allowing them to operate and R&R within their borders.

      So don't trust the ISI, who squander chance after chance to hand over key targets.

      The West needs to detach itself from Pakistan and other supposed helpful nations, keep the fucking billions in aid we give them for ourselves and stifle them. They probably hand over the cash straight to terrorist groups anyway!

      I'm not a fucking hardline drone Muslim h More..

      Posted Oct-20-2012 By 
      Reggie_P75 (121.82)  

      (0)

    • Islam is afraid of their own women. Cowards.

      Posted Oct-22-2012 By 
      Dunbal (157.68)  

      (0)

    • Dumb ass Taliban can't even kill a little girl
      You're nothing but a bunch of little girl
      You run when you have to fight real men
      You cowards!

      Posted Oct-24-2012 By 
      Vazquez Thomas Michael (1.30)  
      Vazquez Thomas Michael
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