EDITORIAL: Pakistanis rise up

By | Thursday, October 2, 2008

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The northwest region of Pakistan is home to many Taliban and al Qaeda militants who have repeatedly launched attacks within Pakistan — and against American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. America has long been demanding that the Pakistani government crack down on these extremists. It appears there is finally emerging a consensus among President Asif Ali Zardari, the military, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and tribesmen to end the Taliban stranglehold on their nation.

Tribesmen have announced they will no longer wait for the military to protect them. With their own weapons and with private armies, known as lashkars, they are attacking the Taliban. "The government forces cannot even save themselves; what good will they be to us? They are just silent spectators," tribal leader Malik Zarene, said at a recent meeting. "We will rise for our own defense." The indigenous uprising is an attempt to avoid attacks by U.S.-led NATO forces which have killed tribe members, including women and children.

Simultaneously, Mr. Zardari, widower of Benazir Bhutto, is vowing to end extremism. In interviews conducted during his recent visit to the United States, Mr. Zardari affirmed his commitment to restore order: "It is my decision that we will go after them, we will free this country," he told New York Times' Roger Cohen. "Yes, this is my first priority because I will have no country otherwise. I will be president of what?"

This renewed vigor in the war on terror is also manifest in the recent shake-up at the top of Pakistan's spy agency. ISI, often referred to as a "state within a state," has been accused by American officials of sympathizing with the Taliban. Pakistani Gen. Ashfaq Kayani has appointed Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Paja to lead ISI, and has also replaced others in key positions. This comes weeks after Richard Boucher, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, publicly called for ISI reform. Mr. Zardari also met with CIA chief Michael Hayden, who complained about the "double game played by Pakistan's spy agency."

The United States has contributed more than $6 billion in aid to nuclear-armed Pakistan since 2001. Yet the nation is struggling with an economic meltdown and roving terrorists. The recent tribal uprising provides hope that a new trajectory will begin; it might have the same result as the "Sunni Awakening" which pacified Anbar province in Iraq. The tribal commitment, in conjunction with more cohesive government and military action, is the kind of concerted effort that is necessary to win the war on terror.

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