Thursday, October 30, 2008
Terrorism a regional problem: Zardari (click here)
“So I think this is an opportunity for the world to correct itself,” the president said, adding when “the developed world is correcting itself, I think it’s an opportunity for countries like Pakistan and China to co-operate and take advantage” of the transition.President Zardari said democracy was imperative to get rid of terrorism. “We want to be safe and, with the help of the population, we intend to make sure that we defeat the terrorists,” Zardari said....
A Pakistani tribesman stands amongst the debris of a collapsed house hit by the missiles in the North Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan on October 10, 2008. A US missile strike targeting a high-level meeting of Al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders in a Pakistani tribal area missed most of them by just minutes. Two missiles hit the house of Pakistani Taliban leader Hafiz Sahar Gul in the North Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan on October 9, killing nine people including six Arab militants. (THIR KHAN/AFP/Getty Images )
Musharraf didn't know Pakistan has such poor ability to resist bankrupcy? Foreign debt is one of the 'key areas' why foreign currency needs stability.
Pakistan to receive $9bn from IMF in fight against bankruptcy (click here)
Pakistan is to receive a $9bn (£5.5bn) bail-out loan from the International Monetary Fund as the country has three weeks to stave off bankruptcy.
...Pakistan is facing economic turmoil after the rupee plunged to an all-time low in October, the balance of payments deficit widened to a record, and inflation jumped to a 30-year high....
We know that terrorist networks are easy to breed in oppressed areas of the world. To allow these sovereign nations to fall into socially demoralizing scenarios is to act against our own best interests. Pakistani poverty is of great interest to those in the global community that wants to end terrorist networks such as al Qaeda.
Pakistan has a very poor policy of allowing personal debt to extend into family debt with children inheriting the debt of a parent(s). It is policies such as these that serve to undermine social status and achievement. When people, especially young people, know nothing but poverty and impoverishment, they are easy prey for terrorist networks.
The USA State Department should have already had these problems solved by demanding a social restructuring of such hideous laws while the demand for equal educational opportunities for girls and women. If the people of a nation are valueless then how can their currency be worth anything substantial. The work force of any country should be able to enhance the value of currency and not detract from it. How are the people of Pakistan supposed to have a clear choice to back their government and remove terrorist elements from their homelands if there options for the future are bleak?
Below is an accounting of a release of Taliban militants by the Pakistani government in exchange for security personnel and civilians. This reality can't be understated. If an entity within a country, such as the Taliban is capable of capturing hostages and successfully hold them as leverage over a sovereign government then how secure is nuclear Pakistan?
The Bush Administration did not secure a sovereign government in Pakistan when they abandoned the fight for the USA National Security in Afghanistan. When the Republicans moved forces from Afghanistan to Iraq and opened Pandora's Box, there was a huge shift in the ability of the Taliban to reorganize into a powerful entity within Pakistan and able to move across the border with Afghanistan. These circumstances are getting worse. The new President is attempting to 'shore up' the fiscal underpinnings of a secure Pakistan while allowing the Taliban to make known their influence within that country. It is going to take a considerable effort to dismantle the Taliban and return Pakistan to the President's leadership. The tribal areas are difficult terrain, but, they have to be contained and dealt with. Quite possibly, containment is the current venue of choice while seeking secure Afghan borders and a return of Afghan security and authority.
Pak free 21 Taliban militants in exchange for hostages (click here)
Islamabad, Nov 1 (PTI) Pakistani authorities have freed 21 Taliban fighters in exchange for an equal number of security personnel and civilians kidnapped by the militants following months of secret negotiations brokered by tribal elders.The militants freed by authorities yesterday included some lieutenants of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud. They were being held in jails in Peshawar, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan, a security official said.
Sources told The News daily that the Taliban fighters were handed over to a 'jirga' or tribal council that took them to Makeen area in the restive South Waziristan tribal region, where Mehsud and other key Taliban commanders welcomed them. Most of the released militants belonged to the Mehsud tribe.
In exchange, the militants freed 19 paramilitary personnel and two non-combatants they had kidnapped several months ago in South Waziristan and Mohmand tribal regions.
An official told 'Dawn' newspaper that 16 troopers and two civilians who supplied rations to security forces were set free at Nawazkot in South Waziristan. They were captured by supporters of Mehsud on January 15. Three other paramilitary personnel, kidnapped in January and August, were freed in Mohmand Agency.
There was no official word on the development. The Taliban and Pakistani authorities have also swapped prisoners in the past. PTI
