Pakistan's Afghan Policy

Zeemax

Outsiders appear to nurse some major misconceptions such as

1. only ``a handful`` of local people offer taliban, al qaeda, etc., any support and the rest are eager to get rid of them in a hurry.

2. local people too consider youngsters joining al qaeda etc as ``canon fodder`` (too much trust in DailyTimes editorials?)

3. for American dollars, local people will betray an Islamic hero before they will betray Americans (or Indians)

While it is always good to hope, excessive reliance on misconceptions can be strategically unwise.

#375 by bjkumar

haha .. BJ you`re the limit.

#376 by HP

Sure HP. I always look forward to your excellent analysis whenever you have time.

#377 by VRV

Btw, all the 3 look the same ...

Yes. Because it was a Hard Rock Band ............

Zeemax:329
Here it is:
How prophetic of Iqbal!




tr:


Satan`s edict to his minions
or a guide to enslave India and Muslims



Ensnare the Brahmins into the noose of politics
Fling into exile the keepers of ancient temples

That one with the will-power to fast & starve
Exorcise him of his spirit & love for Muhammad(pbuh)

Infuse the Arab thought with the farangi philosophies
Get rid of Islam from Arabia and Yemen

The solution to the honour-code of the Afghaans is
to throw out the mullah from its mountains & valleys

Snatch away the glorious traditions of the Meca & Medina
Hound out the deer from his lees and grazing grounds.

---

The Afghanistan Syndrome

When you`re wounded and left on Afghanistan`s plains,

And the women come out to cut up what remains,

Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,

And go to your Gawd like a soldier.

—Rudyard Kipling, ``The Young British Soldier``


The United States had barely begun to threaten the Taliban
regime in Afghanistan when various senior Russian military men began offering
their advice, which generally consisted of: stay the hell out of there.
Memories of the heavy Russian losses in 1979-89 still run deep. Other
analysts remembered the three Afghan Wars that Britain fought in the 19th
and early 20th centuries, and the mythos surrounding the destruction of
the British column retreating from Kabul in 1842. References like that
in the Kipling verse above are a reminder that for 19th Century Britain
and the 20th Century Soviet Union, Afghanistan was a scene of defeat and
military disaster. If the United States in the 1970s and 1980s was paralyzed
by a ``Vietnam Syndrome``, then an ``Afghanistan Syndrome``
clearly exists as well.

The United States appears to be on the verge of a military
engagement in Afghanistan, and military planners are, certainly, aware
of the defeats inflicted on past invaders of the country. But the ``Afghanistan
Syndrome`` can be overstated. The British won most of their set-piece
battles in Afghanistan; they simply could not find a way to hold the country.
The Russians killed perhaps a million and a half Afghans during their
decade there, and devastated the countryside, but they, too, could not
hold the country. No one (except perhaps a few of the Taliban) believes
that the United States wants to occupy and hold Afghanistan. Britain and
the Soviets also failed dismally in their various attempts to impose their
choice of Afghan leader on the Afghan people. While the United States
clearly wants to see the Taliban removed, it has so far wisely kept its
distance from endorsing or pushing a single alternative, rather seeking
to encourage the indigenous Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) process for finding
national consensus.


The exact nature of the campaign the US will conduct was
not clear as this was written, but it seems clear that it will not be
a classic war of massed armies moving to secure territory. This second
Dossier in our series ``What Kind of War?`` looks at the ``Afghanistan
Syndrome`` and the related question of how an outside power does fight
in Afghanistan.

Doctor William Brydon was an unknown assistant surgeon with
the British East India Company in 1842, when he suddenly became one of
the most famous figures of the early Victorian era and the subject of
a much-reproduced painting. In January of 1842 a British and Indian force,
following a two-month siege in Kabul and the killing of the British representative,
began a withdrawal towards the Khyber Pass and Peshawar in British India.
On January 6, 1842, some 16,500 British and Indian Sepoy troops, civilians,
wives and children, and camp followers left Kabul. On January 13, Dr.
Brydon rode, alone, up to the gates of Jalalabad.

Re: # 372

Zee,

Yep, we can rock the nights!

Name calling will do on UP & on FP on case-to-case basis.

U dont owe me pic coz I have ur long-shot pic. That`ll do. Btw, all the 3 look the same. Does ur papa is a grrrreat shooter that he gave birth to triplets :-)))))

Best.

#374 by zeemax
“why aren`t you replying to my numerous posts addressed to you?”

I will but I have to have time to write a detailed post. Weekends are usual busy with the family and I just go thru the web quickly and have a very small window to spend on the net.

#374 Zee

[HP why aren`t you replying to my numerous posts addressed to you? Naraaz ho kia?]

Start singing...

``Roothey roothey PEE-aaa
Manaaoon kaise!``

And if that fails....

``PEE-aaa tooo, aaab toe aaa jaaa``

#373 by HP

HP why aren`t you replying to my numerous posts addressed to you? Naraaz ho kia?

Can this happen in Baghdad in 2007?

No! becasue the helipad is not on the rooftop in Baghdad!

Line may still be there!

Saigon, saigon, saigon...





Baghdad, Baghdad, Baghdad....

(post picture here)

#371 by VRV

Haha .. well VRV ... for friday and saturday nightouts. :-) we`ll really do well. ! Hey did I owe you a pic? Or was it Harish_Hyd? Maybe later ... on UP because it`s certain to be naughty!

And yes .. I won`t call anyone any names again. That`s a promise. Manto too stepped over the line and you rataliated. This gobble up stuff is quite unlike manto who is usually one of the politest on these boards. Provocation .... what else .....

Re: # 361

Zee Bhaijan,

I observed something in u i.e softness. I thgt it might be due to ur fasting coz my mom`s weekly fasting does bring similar mulayam to her.

I never attatck anybody without provocation from the other side. Saying that I and Sadna gobble up defecation is something below belt. Isnt it? If that`s a normal chore in Pakistan or in whichever place Mr. Hamdani lived, then I can ignore that and apologise for the attack BUT nowhere in the world does people eat nightsoil.

Anyway I wish to see u argue ur points, how much ever extreme they are, without losing focus and name calling. However there are exceptions in an open board where people respond to the signals (explicit or implicit) in our writeups.

P.S: I wish I had a friend like u for friday and saturday nightouts. :-)

Re: # 311 by Mantolives

[What is wrong with an Arab or a Turk or a persian or an English name? ]

Nothing wrong, PROVIDED your parents were equally likely to have considered an English name, an Indian name (based on Sanskrit), a Turkish name, or an Arab name for you.

But no, they had to reinforce the ``Arab goo chaater`` image, as someone put so eloquently some time ago on Chowk.


[What I don`t understand about you Hindu fascists is this need for Muslims to conform to your idea of Indianness...]

Unlike you Pedophile-following Islamofascists (that`s the official name for you guys around the world - everybody calls you guys Islamofascists in the US, Europe, far East etc. nowadays), we Hindus are known around the world to be democratic.

Our ``idea`` of Indianness consists of the concept that ``Yasser`` is an Arab name, ``Vladimir`` is a Russian name and ``Gopinath`` is an Indian name. Religion has nothing to do with it.

It says something about you guys` Arab goo chaater tendencies, does it not, that you guys could not keep your Indian names when you converted? What does a name have to do with spirituality? Why did you guys have to change it? (But then, of course, spirituality has nothing to do with Islam),

And WHY do your country`s history books start with the arrival of Bin Qasim?

Any answers?

#367 by kaalchakra

The surprising thing is that this is something that has to be EXPLAINED to people!

So you know. Perhaps you can attempt to explain it to people. My explanations will never suffice as being an interested party.

#366 by mohar11

Amaa Mohar ... have I ever quoted an Indian editorial? Besides, do you know the background of `Daily Times`? I.e. who owns it and who is the Editor? It is Najam Sethi (of Friday Times fame which I admire except for the back page of Jugnu) who made treasonous remarks against Pak while in a conference in India (calling it a failed state and all that) back in 1998 and was picked up for that by NS, which episode Musharraf has cited in his book as a justification for the coup.

Now would you call that an unbiased source?

Zeemax

Just read that # 323. :)

The surprising thing is that this is something that has to be EXPLAINED to people!

Re: # 364
[....Like I said in a previous post, this is where the twain meets. That`s Islam....]

yes, that`s islam alright :)... On pakis being canon fodder for AQ - that`s not my word... the daily times editorial has described it as that...

[#289]

Are you familiar with the character of Napoleon the Pig in Animal Farm?

I read AF long back and I do not remember details. But you can still make your point and then make reference to chapter and verse in AF. I should be able to find a web site with an online version of AF. But I prefer that you make your point in a secular way. By ``secular`` I mean without appealing to my or your knowledge of a specific book. I am lowQ on literature.