The Taliban in Pakistan
By Said T. Jawad
Wall Street Journal
02.06.2007
Pakistan's recent proposal to fence and lay landmines along its 1,500-mile Afghanistan border is impractical, ineffective and irrelevant to the problem of terrorism and the Taliban. Terrorism will be contained only if we end the institutional support for extremism and strengthen traditional leadership in our region.
On Jan. 11, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. He identified Pakistan as "a major source of Islamic extremism" and said that al Qaeda leaders enjoy a "secure hideout" in Pakistan, while rebuilding their terrorist network and pursuing WMD. These statements reflect a growing consensus among political and military leaders. In his recent trip to the region, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates noted a "significant increase in cross-border attacks." Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley has stated that Jalaluddin Haqqani and other Taliban leaders are in Pakistan, and in Congress Rep. Frank Pallone urged President Bush and Condoleezza Rice to "work with President [Pervez] Musharraf to eliminate extremist training camps in western Pakistan." The Taliban are currently training and preparing for a bloody spring operation against Afghan, U.S. and NATO troops. Neither exchanging barbed comments nor concealing and misrepresenting the threat is the solution. Frank discussions and constructive engagements are necessary to contain the impending surge of Taliban violence.
The Afghan government values the high price the people of Pakistan are paying to restrain extremism. We appreciate that President Musharraf, a crucial ally of the U.S. and NATO in the war against terror, has recognized the threat posed by cross-border terrorist excursions into Afghanistan and is intending to do more. However, the border is not where the problem lies. Terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan are the real threat to regional stability and global security. Such sanctuaries are breeding grounds for extremism and violence.
We share the concern of Canada, European countries, the U.N. and human-rights organizations such as Pakistan's Human Rights Commission that new mines will take the lives of many more innocent civilians in one of the most heavily mined regions in the world. In 2005, 825 new landmine casualties were recorded in Afghanistan. The tribes along the border demand and deserve peace, prosperity and human security. Expanding the benefits of development and trade and providing economic aid for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the North-West Frontier Province will be the best means of achieving these goals. Mining the border will neither stop trained terrorists nor deter suicide bombers. Rather, these measures will divide nations, tribes and communities with a shared culture and common heritage.
In the past, Pakistan has rightfully objected to the fencing of the Kashmir border as ineffective. The most secure fence becomes useless if the border guards at the crossing points are corrupt or accomplices to the extremists. Laying mines along some of the most mountainous terrain in the world is not only impractical but also irrelevant. If the sources of terror remain untouched we will continue to face this threat, even if the border were to become impenetrable.
Afghanistan remains the original front of the war on terror and the chief victim of the Taliban's safe havens in Pakistan. The international community must help Pakistan take additional steps to ensure that the terrorist threat posed by these havens is contained or eliminated. A concerted plan to close down sanctuaries for training, command, control, regrouping and supply will eliminate cross-border incursions. Such a plan should be accompanied by a dismantling of the Taliban's organizational structure in Quetta, Balochistan and Miranshah, North Waziristan. Our allies in the war against terror should work with Pakistan to shut down those madrassas that have become factories of hatred, as well as sources of recruitment and financial and logistical support.
Strengthening the traditional leadership in the tribal areas will yield valuable dividends. The majority of Pashtuns in our region are victims of extremism. Talibanization is a threat to their identity and culture; extremist groups must not be allowed to suppress nationalist leaders who seek "enlightened moderation," traditional values and secular rule. Tribal elders and civic institutions should be provided effective resources to strengthen civil society and empower moderate political parties. Lifting the ban on political parties in the tribal areas will help fend off extremism. The proposed Joint Peace Jirgas in Afghanistan and Pakistan by President Hamid Karzai are intended to empower the border region's traditional leadership through an honorable and time-tested mechanism of conflict resolution.
Afghanistan is in favor of friendship with all its neighbors, through trade and commerce and people-to-people contacts. The people of Afghanistan and Pakistan demand constructive engagement, and the sincere cooperation of our governments. Since reconstruction began five years ago, Afghanistan has followed global trends to open borders and break down the boundaries, physical or otherwise, between peoples. If we must lay land mines and build fences to prevent attacks against Afghan and Coalition forces, it should be around the terrorist sanctuaries and training grounds, not along the border. We must isolate terrorists, not divide tribes and communities.
Mr. Jawad is the ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States.
Page A16
To read this article online, click HERE
