This may be a first; an ideological group, animated by fundamentalist religious beliefs, organized loosely into a series of cells, and small group military units, is challenging a national government's legitimacy through acts of terror designed to discredit the military and bring down the government.
That's the apparent goal of the Taliban led attacks in Pakistan that have morphed into a war against Pakistani security forces.
This article appearing in the Deccan Herald (originating from the Indian wire service agency IANS) an English language newspaper in India, details how the Taliban - a creation of Pakistan's intelligence department the ISI, has now turned on its parent and is seeking to destabilize the government by wreaking havoc all over the country:
The security and law enforcement agencies were being targeted "left, right and centre" by terrorists following the military offensive against them in Swat and South Waziristan.More than a dozen people - military personnel and civilians - were killed Friday when a suicide bomber targeted the regional headquarters of the ISI in Peshawar.
"It is by now crystal clear that the militants are out for blood, which is why it is doubly unfathomable that no proper security arrangements were made for the ISI (office) in Peshawar."
The earlier Oct 10 attack on the Pakistani Army General HQ in Rawalpindi was the "most significant terrorist attack in the history of Pakistan" and shows that the militants have now declared "open war against the state of Pakistan and its military and intelligence agencies".
The editorial pointed out that without good real time intelligence, no military operation can be successful, especially when the enemy is engaged in guerrilla and asymmetrical warfare.
"In the past, both the military and the intelligence agencies have tried to pacify the militants by playing the 'good Taliban, bad Taliban' card. It has not worked. The penny has finally dropped and the military has realised that there is no such thing as a 'good' militant."
It said that those saying that this is the US war should now take a good look at all the terror attacks in Pakistan. "If it ever was the US' war exclusively, by now there can be little doubt that this is our war now.
Pakistan is simply not prepared for this. There have been reports for months that soldiers in some units fighting the Taliban in the Swat Valley were defecting over to the other side. The government has been extremely careful to send only those units they feel are the most reliable into the fighting, but the army is not sure how many of their recruits have Taliban sympathies.
That Daily Times article concludes with the thought that no one in Pakistan is safe anymore. If that is the case, the future is indeed uncertain for a nation that possesses 70 nuclear weapons.
Hat Tip: N.S. Rajaram
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