In recent days and more than likely in the weeks, months, and possibly years to come Pakistan’s intelligence service will be under the microscope for their role in not only the war in Afghanistan, but also being labeled as a terrorist group itself. The evidence has been there for the past two decades and many top level U.S. governmnet officials likely has seen the Pakistan ISI as a necessary evil in the war on terror.

The Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence agency was created in 1948 and has become the most powerful of Pakistan’s three intelligence agencies. It’s initial purpose was to unite intelligence from various agencies including the Pakistan Military. The primary focus was Pakistan’s long time enemy India.

Things changed dramitically in the eighties when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and disrupted the entire region. The ISI, which by this time has become the most powerful intelligence agency in the governmnet, provided the reached out arm for cooperation between the Afghans and the United States to defeat the communist invaders in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan not only share a border but also a common culture known as Pashtun. The Pashtun lived by a strict code of conduct and they do not view borders as important. In their eyes they are not so much Pakistani or Afghan but rather Pashtun or when describing their way of life, Pashtunwali.

A special Afghan Section was created within the ISI and fell under the command of colonel Mohammed Yousaf who was to oversee the coordination of the war against the Soviets and the communist backed Northern Alliance who was given control of the Afghanistan goverment. A number of officers from the Pakistan ISI’s Covert Action Division received training in the US and many covert action experts of the CIA were attached to the ISI to guide it in its operations against the Soviet troops by using the Afghan Mujahideen. It was a war by proxy that in the end was very successful for all parties involved. In the end however there will be no happy ending to these partnerships.

It was the training and organization provided by the ISI to the Mujahideen and the foreign Islamic fighters that flocked to the region to assist in the defeat of the Soviets that was the original driving force of modern day global terrorism. Training camps were established by the ISI and the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and Pakistan even after the war. Their purpose was to have a ready force against any other foreign invaders into the Muslim world. It was this orgainization of a far reaching international network created in the war to attain recruits and funding that led to Osama bin Laden and a few others to create al Qaeda. In the 1990’s It was the ISI that viewed what had become an unstable Afghanistan in the years following the war that led them to create the Taliban. The Taliban was to provide in Afghanistan a stable and cooperative neighbor to Pakistan. The best way for Pakistan ISI to accomplish this was to put their creation in power and allow them to rule with an iron fist so that any opposition would be crushed ensuring future control. The Taliban swept through the country defeating warring warlords that splintered the country. The relationship with the ISI has continued since the inception of the Taliban in 1994 until today. Now however in a strange chain of event it is now the United States that is battling the Islamic fighters. America and her allies find themselves in a stagnate war that has never truly fought the right type of war. The road to winning in Afghanistan is and always was in defeating Pakistan and it’s ISI.

Recent Developments

Wikileaks website in recent days has released government secret documents that claim that representatives of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met the Taliban in Afghanistan to help them organize attacks on American forces and Indian targets. This is a bad political development for everyone. The United States has given Pakistan billions in aid that has been used to allow the Taliban to wage war in Afghanistan. The U.S. is funding the enemy that it is at war with. How is the government going to explain this is almost impossible to imagine. The U.S. and coalition troops are taking increasing casualties and if the pattern continues many more young gifted military personnel will be lost in this conflict.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai immediately responded to the Wikileaks reports by calling for the US to do more to address the support of Pakistan for the Taliban, who are largely drawn from the Pashtun ethnic group that straddles the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier

This Is Nothing New

The revelation that the Pakistan ISI is supporting the Taliban in the war with the U.S. is nothing new to readers of Terroristplanet.com. We have run numerous articles on the topic over the past few years that have been consistent on this latest leak of top secret documents. We list the related articles below to provide a better understanding of this connection. The facts have been out even before 911. Many former CIA and other intelligence community writers have pointed out this relationship in their books. Yossef Bodansky in his “Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America” goes in depth on this relationship of the ISI and modern terrorist groups originating in the outlaw Pakistan and Afghanistan region. He states that the Pakistan ISI was already playing a crucial role in aiding radical Islam even before 911. Government officials have been aware of this fact as well since U.S. intelligence is provided regularly to them on Pakistan’s ISI relationship with the Taliban. The question from here forward is how smart is it to provide the Pakistan government with aid so that it can continue to aid the ISI in their support of the Taliban in their war against the U.S.. The American public should not allow this aid to continue to flow into the hands of the murderers of our patriotic sons and daughters no matter the political games involved in the Afghanistan War when the only way to stop the Taliban is by defeating Pakistan and the ISI.

Pashtunwali: “The Pashtun Way” (April 2008)

Pashtunwali, The way of the Pashtuns Inside the remote areas of the Hindu Kush mountain range that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan an entire group of people have carved out a way of life that is as unique as their customs. The border serves as an imaginary line designed to separate the Pashtun peoples. In their…

PAKISTAN: THE FRONT LINE OF TERRORISM (August 2008)

PAKISTAN: THE FRONT LINE ON TERRORISM Why Is Pakistan So Important To The War On Terrorism. 9/01/2008 Update: ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s top security official Monday admitted that al Qaida’s leadership moved freely in and out of the country and vowed that “no mercy” would be shown to extremists based in its tribal territory that borders…

Obama’s Quagmire: Pakistan and Afghanistan (March 2009)

Obama’s Quagmire: Pakistan and Afghanistan, A warning of Haste and History. Understanding The Past and the People in the Pakistan and Afghanistan Quagmire and How America got There President Obama did not start this war. George Bush did not start this war either. Radical Islam created this quagmire that President Obama must navigate through and somehow…

The Taliban – Opium Connection (March 2008)

The connection between the resurgence of the Taliban and the continuing escalation of poppy cultivation is much more than mere coincidence. The Taliban has always been deeply connected to, and in all reality has controlled, the amounts of opium available in the world black markets. The explosion in poppy cultivation is occurring in Taliban

Terrorist Group: Lashkar-e-Taiba

Terrorist Group: Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba also known as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Army of the Good, translated as Army of the Righteous, or Army of the Pure. Operates out of the region of Lahore, Pakistan and run numerous training camps in the disputed region of Kashmir. The main goal of Lashkar is not only to gain control over Kashmir, which…

Deadly Attacks In Mumbai, India (November 2008)

Deadly Attacks In Mumbai, India Unthinkable? No. Is the deadly attacks in Mumbai a new form of terrorism? No, but it did show that terrorists are willing to plan large scale attacks that do not need airplanes, large trucks filled with explosives parked in a lower level parking garage or in front of an embassy

Where is Osama bin Laden?

Where is Osama bin Laden? So, Where is Osama bin Laden.  Based on the majority of articles, reports, and investigations it appears that Osama bin Laden is in either Afghanistan or Pakistan near the border tribal areas where there is no Pakistan or Afghanistan forces.  Where U.S. troops cannot infiltrate because of the resistance from

Pakistan: Facts and History

The roots of Pakistan’s reputation as a haven for jihadists run deep. It was, after all, in the city of Peshawar that Al-Qaeda was born after ISI, Pakistan’s military intelligence, started to recruit Arabs to fight in the Afghan jihad Climate: mostly hot, dry desert; temperate in northwest; arctic in north. Terrain: flat Indus plain in…

Terrorist Profiles: Mullah Mohammed Omar

Mullah Mohammed Omar: Taliban of Afghanistan Leader  “I am considering two promises. One is the promise of God, the other is that of Bush. The promise of God is that my land is vast. If you start a journey on God’s path, you can reside anywhere on this earth and will be protected… The promise…

You have probably come across a story or two in the news lately regarding bloody violence involving ethnic Kyrgyz. Most will not know where or what Kyrgyz is let alone what is causing the violence. This article hopes to provide an understanding of the situation that is taking place in this part of  Kyrgyzstan which is located in Central Asia.

Background Information On Kyrgyz

Kyrgyz is a majority Muslim Turkic ethnic group that is found mainly in the country Kyrgyzstan. They are a tribal people with a history dating back to 201 B.C.. The Kyrgyz were situated in Central Siberia in the Upper Yenisey River Valley. Their people came under control of a kagnate of other peoples including the Uigur. In 840 a revolt led by Yenisei Kyrgyzes brought down the Uigur Kaganate. After the end of Uigur control, the Kyrgyes from the Yenisei Valley took a dominating role in the region. The center of the Kyrgyz Kaganate moved to Jeti-su, and brought about a spread south of the Kyrgyz people, to reach Tian Shan mountains and Eastern Turkestan. This brought the Kyrgyz to the borders of China and Tibet.

The Kyrgyz dominance began to fade over the next 200 years and in the begininng of the 13th century their region fell under the control of the expanding Mongol Empire that ruled over the Kyrgyz region until late into the 14th century. Significant numbers of Kyrgyz relocated into China and segments converted to Tibetan Buddhism. Kyrgyzstan was annexed by Russia in 1864 and remained under Soviet control until  it achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Ethnic Kyrgyz represent approximately 53% of the population of Kyrgyzstan. The next larest minority in the country is Russians who represent 18% of the population.

What Is The Kyrgyz Violence About?

In April 2010 protests movements led to the removal of Kurmanbek Bakiyev who was selected the 2nd president of Kyrgyzstan and served from 2005 until April of 2010 when government offices were taken over and Bakiyev fled the country.  Even after his 2005  election the struggle to create a stabile and non-corrupt government has remained a challenge.  Various factions as well as organized crime elements have attempted to create a resistance to attain power in the country.   Bakiyev received most of his support from the southern part of Kyrgyzstan where there the largest part of the Uzbek ethnic minority reside.

Even though he was elected in 2005 it only took until 2006 before Bakiyev was the target of large protestors that felt that he led the government with too much presidential power. He was accused of not following through with campaign promises to limit presidential power, give more authority to parliament and the prime minister, and eradicate corruption and crime. It was during this time that political murders of parliament members, riots in prisons and basic overall corruption began to strain his leadership.

Amazingly among the accusations of corrpuption and voter fraud , Bakiyev was re-elected in 2009. Under his rule in recent months he has strengthened relations with China.  It was in this friendship that Bakiyev hoped he could get enough investment and support in order to solve his country’s energy problems. Kyrgyzstan has suffered from rolling black out over the past few years especially during the winter months.  The instability created by blackouts have long term effects on a country in turmoil.  A feeling of betrayal comes over a population that can no longer count on a government that cannot provide simple electricity and heating needs for it’s people.

Kyrgyzstan in the past has had strong connections to Russia as a result of being part of the former Soviet Union. The country had grown dependent on Russia even after the indepence that they achieved  in 1991.  Kyrgysstan relies on Russia for energy and economic investments.  A riff began between the two old partners during the Bakiyev administration that strained their relations.  This cooling off friendship created a void for Kygrzstan that is much more of a follewer than an independent state.  This need of dependence upon more powerful energy producing and investment giving allies is what more than likely had Bakiyev turning more towards China for assistance.  China provides a great opportunity for Kyryzstan.  It will come with a price as it did with Russia though.   Most of the strains with Russia resulted from decisions that Bakiyev made that Russia felt affected their military stance in the region. In February 2009, while in Moscow, Bakiyev announced the eviction of the US Air Base from Kyrgyzstan.  He provided this statement right after a meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.  In return Russia promised to deliver a $2 billion investment into the country. In a turnabout the U.S. base did not get evicted, because the United States offered more rent.  This turnaround by Bakiyev upset Moscow and Russia  has since said that it will be un able to deliver on their promised aid and investments, explaining it is due as a result of the current economics crises.  This reaction by Russia has created major issues for Kyrgyzstan.  Without Russian investment and aid the country would suffer shortages of supplies and energy.

The current violence in Kyrgyzstan is pitting the ethnic Kyrgyz and the ethnic Uzbek that mostly inhabit the southern part of the country where former President Bakiyevhad much support.  The Uzbeks represent approximately 12% of Kyrgyzstan’s population.  The Uzbeks are a predominantly Sunni Muslim ethnic group.    Since the break up of the Soviet Union the Uzbek population in Kyrgyzstan has vied for autonomy and even separation from the rest of the country.  Uzbekistan to the south of Krygystan is a homeland to a majority Uzbek ethnic group that also has populations in other Central Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Turkmenistan,  Russia and even Mongolia.  The Kyrgyzstan situation boiled even before the current conflict between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks that blew up in April 2010.  In 1990,  The Osh Riots pitted Kyrgyz and Uzbeks against one another over disputed agricultural land which is a limited resource in the Osh region.  There was widespread civil disobedience and fighting.  According to the official figures, 5000 criminal acts were committed during the conflict, 300 people were killed, over a thousand wounded, and hundreds of houses were destroyed.  The fighting was only stopped by the intervention of Russian troops that sealed the border between the two ethnic groups.

The overthrow of the Bakiyev Government was encouraged by Russia.   On April 1, 2010 the Eurasian Daily Monitor reported that for weeks the Kremlin has utilized the Russian mass media to destroy Bakiyev.  Negative Newspapers and TV news programs revealed his connection to corruption.  The Russian media also has tried to connect Bakiyev and his government with involvement in the killing of journalist Gennady Pavluk last December.  The President’s son was accused of involvement in government corruption.

The Russian media dominates the Kyrgyzstan airwaves and the impact of the negative press for the leasership leading up to the overthrow has to have a large impact.  It appeared that Russia felt that it was time for a new puppet in their back yard.  The forming of a new relationship with superpower China appears to have been the final straw that broke this camel’s back.

Ethnic clashes between the Kyrgz and Uzbeks began and the death toll numbering perhaps as high as 1,000 was estimated in the first days of the restart of clashes that began in early June of 2010. Almost all the reports noted that the violence was mostly one-sided, with Kyrgyz massacring Uzbeks and the latter fleeing to cross the border into Uzbekistan.  It was the creation of the new countries with borders that did not take into consideration ethnic groups.  These minority ethnic groups are unwilling to give up their identity and they in all reality do not intend to change their ways.  Within the same borders were mixes of majorities with minorities ethnic groups that created this modern dilemma.  It is odd as the same thing occurred in Africa when it was carved up during colonial times and then the borders were redrawn to carve up the resources of the continent.  It is a failed model of placing potential enemies within the same borders that leads to ethnic cleansing episodes that we have seen in Africa as well as Eastern Europe.  Majorities want to wipe out troublesome minorities or in other cases stronger ethnic groups wipe out the weaker ethnic group.    Since the clashes have dimmed in recent days, the Uzbeks claim they no longer trust the government to protect them and are calling on the UN to administer their areas.  Even on Monday, June 21, 2010 there is still unrest in the region.   Kyrgzstan authorities raided an Uzbek village killing 2 and injuring at least 23 people in what they called a search for criminals and weapons.

The south remains tense following clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that began June 10 in the cities of Osh and Jalalabad, and killed an estimated 2,000 people. Some 400,000 people have fled the violence, with many Uzbek refugees still fearful of returning home and to their lives.

For years now we have written about the endless violence that has erupted in Mexico. Thousands upon thousands have been killed since the drug cartels ratcheted up their wars with one another for control of the drug trade that leads to America. Tourists are staying away as organized crime is creeping into once popular tourist hot spots. In the end Mexico is losing out on the huge revenues that the tourist spots brought into the country not to mention the jobs that they once created. Mexico is in a self destruct mode and the corruption plaqued government can not stop the spiral as they watched their authority throughout cartel ran regions dissapear. Gory news reports of daily shootouts between drug cartel hitmen are fueling concerns among Americans, Canadians and Europeans that Mexico is increasingly unsafe, even though most of the violence is along the U.S. border, far from top tourist areas.

So how bad is it in Mexico? Well cartels and other organized crime groups have began launching offensives against Mexico Military bases. Drug gangs in Mexico have attacked two army bases in a serious escalation in the country’s drug war. Eighteen gang members died in the ensuing gun battles, in which gunmen attacked in force in bulletproof vehicles, using hand grenades and assault rifles. The attempts to blockade soldiers inside their bases were part of seven attacks across two northern border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. Traffickers previously have fought with army patrols, but the attempt to blockade garrisons came after weeks of an intense, bloody power struggle between two rival organizations, the Gulf cartel and its erstwhile paramilitary allies, the Zetas, to control the region bordering South Texas. The Mexican army says two soldiers and two gunmen died in a shootout in a northern Mexico area that has seen a recent spike in drug violence just today.

A Mexican government report has been leaked stating that 23,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since the beginning of a government crackdown on drug gangs in late 2006. According to the report, violence has surged this year, with 3,365 people already killed in the first three months of 2010. That announcement comes as officials face a new front in their war against the drug gangs. Two of Mexico’s most powerful cartels have joined forces to battle government security forces as well as a third cartel seeking its own slice of the cross-border drug trade

ACAPULCO: Five people, including a woman, her young son and a police officer, were killed on today in a daylight shootout in the hotel zone of Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific coast, local police said. The coastal region is a flashpoint in Mexico’s brutal drug gang violence, in which more than 22,700 have died since the end of 2006, but attacks mostly occur at night and on the outskirts of the famous beach resort. Wednesday’s shootout occured mid-afternoon, said police chief Hector Paulino Vargas. A taxi driver and another driver were also killed, and five others were injured, local police officials said. Local media said federal police and gang members had been involved in the shootout.

The area most affected by the latest spate of violence has been the northeastern Gulf coast state of Tamaulipas, where authorities said 19 people have been slain and eight wounded in clashes that either pitted the armed forces against cartel gunmen or rival gangs against one another Since this past Sunday. The battles mainly occurred in cities along the eastern part of the U.S.-Mexico border, where fearful parents began keeping their children home from school beginning Tuesday. Tamaulipas prosecutor Jaime Rodriguez said Wednesday that the gun battles took place between Sunday and Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of 19 people, including a municipal police officer, while six police are reported as missing.

In some respects, the Mexican problem is the result of Colombia’s successful war on the Cali and Medellín drug cartels in the 1990s. Pablo Escobar Gaviria, the notorious leader of the Medellín Cartel, was gunned down by police commandos in 1993. Brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, who formed and ran the Cali Cartel, were captured in 1995, and later extradited to the United States to serve 30-year prison sentences. Although the Cali and Medellín cartels continued to operate, the removal of their leaders weakened them and created an opening for Mexican organized crime groups, such as the Guadalajara Cartel led by Miguel “El Padrino” (“the Godfather”) Ángel Félix Gallardo and his successors, to seize control of the lucrative North American drug trade,

The Sinaloa gang is the country’s largest cartel, based on the volume of drugs it moves. It grew out of the coastal state of Sinaloa, once known for its poppy fields and opium gum produced by Chinese immigrants. Now it is produced by hundreds of thousands of Mexican campesinos. The Sinaloa Cartel operates up Mexico’s Pacific coast and along the U.S. border — from Tijuana in the west, to Ciudad Juárez and Nuevo Laredo in the east. Since a different chief, or capo (the Mexican cartels have adopted the same terminology as their mafia counterparts), controls each territory, the Sinaloa Cartel has also become known as “The Federation.” But at the top of the chain sits Félix Gallardo’s former lieutenant, “El Chapo” Guzmán; Forbes magazine estimates his wealth at $1 billion. The U.S. government is offering a $5 million reward for his capture.

The second group is the Gulf Cartel, founded in the 1970s in the northeastern border state of Tamaulipas, along the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Cartel grew dramatically during the chaos of the early 1990s, expanding its territory and moving from drug trafficking into direct sales, while engaging in a host of other nefarious rackets. The growth inevitably brought them into conflict with “El Chapo” Guzmán and the Sinaloa Cartel. But while the Sinaloa Cartel tried to maintain the veneer of a legitimate business enterprise, the Gulf Cartel burnished a bloody, violent image.

At its core was Los Zetas, originally a small group of deserters from the Mexican Special Forces, hired in 2000 by the Gulf Cartel’s former leader, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, to serve as his bodyguards. But Los Zetas was not content to run merely security. Following the capture of Cárdenas Guillén in 2003 by Mexican authorities (sentenced to 25 years in prison by a U.S. federal court in Feburary 2010), Los Zetas started to branch off from the cartel and began independently building capacity in the drug trade and violent crime in general, engaging in kidnapping, extortion, and killings.

The Mexican Drug Cartels and their splinter drug gangs are becoming even more brazen in their targets. An employee of the US consulate in Ciudad Juarez and her husband were shot dead while driving home with their baby, who escaped injury, in March of 2010. Lesley Enriquez, 35, and Arthur Redelfs, 34, were returning from a child’s birthday party with others when gunmen stopped their cars at an intersection and opened fire. Police discovered the couple dead of bullet wounds, their baby screaming in the backseat. A third adult, the husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate, was also killed and two children in his car were injured.

The violence in Mexico has been escalating for years and is boiling over as a result of local authorities and even federal authorities under the control of Mexico’s government are losing the war against drug cartels that bring in billions of dollars from the U.S. and Canadian drug trade. Despite momentary press releases from the corrupt and failing government claiming that they have won a few battles the big picture is growing dimmer as each day brings news of more deaths as a result of uncontrolled violence in Northern Mexico. Mexico is a narco state that is failing and in the end the United States will have to employ their own forces as the cartels and gangs continue to grow their operations in American cities. The by products of the cartel drug trade is accompanied by kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, illegal immigration and a host of other societal issues all wrapped up in one package. America is becoming more at risk each day despite reports saying that the violence is not spreading across the border. Ask authorities in many U.S. cities and they will tell you that many of the drugs in their city streets are part of this border problem. The Mexican Drug Cartels have turned into a more organized “Mafia” style enterprise that is not limited by an imaginary border.

On the morning of March 29, 2010 two related suicide bombings in Russia killed as many as 38 citizens and injured up to 60 others as they were on their way to work in the early morning rush hour attack. Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow’s subway system as it was jam-packed with rush-hour passengers.

The first attack on one of the world’s busiest metro systems occurred just before 8:00 a.m. (4:00 GMT) at the Lubyanka station under the headquarters of the Federal Security Services (FSB), the KGB’s main successor agency, as people hurried to work. That blast took the lives of 24 people. The second, which happened some 40 minutes later at the nearby Park Kultury station, killed another 12. One more person is reported as having died in the bombings. The total number of injured in both blasts is over 70. The bombings were the first major terrorist attacks in the Russian capital for six years. he head of the Federal Security Services (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, said terrorists from Russia’s North Caucasus may have been involved in the attacks. He added that in both cases the bombs were packed with metal nuts and bolts to increase the destructive nature of the blast.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed those responsible for Monday’s bombings would be “destroyed” as authorities pointed the finger at militants from the Northern Caucasus for the deadliest attack in the Russian capital for half a decade. Russian police are searching for two women who accompanied the suicide bombers, plus a man who may also have been an accomplice, after identifying them and the bombers through surveillance footage, Interfax reported citing a security source.

The last major terrorist incident to hit Moscow occurred in the autumn of 2004, when ten people were killed in a suicide bombing outside a metro station. The explosion was part of a series of terrorist attacks that also saw 90 people die in two plane bombings and the deaths of over 300 people, many of them children, when Chechen terrorists seized a school in the North Ossetian town of Beslan. A bomb in the Moscow metro in February 2004 also killed 40 people. Outside of the volatile North Caucasus, these were the last major terrorist attacks in Russia until last November, when a bomb derailed a Moscow-St. Petersburg express train, killing 27 people.

Who Carried Out The Terrorist Attacks In Russia

Officials said the attacks were carried out by women wearing belts packed with explosives, marking a return of the so-called “Black Widows” who terrorized Moscow a decade ago with a string of attacks. “Body parts of two terrorists — female suicide bombers — were found at the scenes of the blasts,” FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov said in a televised meeting at the Kremlin. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that foreign involvement in the attacks had not been ruled out. “We all know very well that clandestine terrorists are very active on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan,”.

“Caucasus Emirate” a group led by Chechen militant Doku Umarov has repeatedly warned in recent months it was planning to strike the capital in Russia.    Umarov  has relied on al-Qaida’s financial support and has several al-Qaida emissaries in his entourage, said Alexander Ignatenko, the head of the independent Moscow-based Institute for Religion and Politics, who has closely followed the Islamic insurgency in the Caucasus.  “Al-Qaida has established a presence in the North Caucasus, like they did in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia and Europe,” Ignatenko told The Associated Press. The militants’ links with al-Qaida also are recognized by other experts on terrorism.

The bombers may have been so-called Black Widows, Chechen women who have lost family members to the Russian military. There were reports that the suspected bomber in the Park Kultury attack was aged between 18 and 20, her face sufficiently unmarked as to be recognizable. The other woman’s facial features were also said to be visible. Both women had black hair and wore black clothes.

Russian police have killed several Islamic militant leaders in the North Caucasus recently, including one last week in the Kabardino-Balkariya region, which raised fears of retaliatory strikes and escalating bloodshed by the militants.  Militants in the Caucasus have declared the creation of an Islamic state as their top goal. Radical Islamic sects have spread throughout the Caucasus region and parts of Russia as well, with religious schools set up. In Chechnya, Kremlin-backed strongman Ramzan Kadyrov has conducted a campaign to impose Islamic values in an effort to blunt the appeal of hard-line Islamic separatists.  

Contributors to three Web sites affiliated with al-Qaida wrote comments in praise of Monday’s attacks. One site opened a special page to “receive congratulations” for the Chechen rebels who “started the dark tunnel attacks in the apostate countries,” and all wished for God to accept the two women as martyrs.  “Don’t forget Russia’s crimes of genocide in the Caucasus and Chechnya,” said one writer. “The battle has been shifted to the heart of Moscow,” another wrote.

In February, Doku Umarov, the leader of a Chechen separatist group, said in an interview on a rebel-affiliated website that “the zone of military operations will be extended to the territory of Russia”.  Umarov, who claimed responsibility for the bombing of a passenger train travelling between Moscow and St Petersburg in November, warned that “the war is coming to their cities”.  Russian forces fought two wars with Chechen separatists, and last year declared that the conflict was over.However, the violence has spread from Chechnya to the neighbouring regions of Dagestan and Ingushetia.

Earlier today the IAEA released a report stating that the agency is worried that contrary to U.S. Intelligence reports that concluded that Iran had stopped their nuclear weapons program in 2003, that Iran is indeed working on producing a nuclear warhead.

This is a very big concern not only for Israel who has been threatened openly by the Islamic State but the entire region. Iran’s vast majority of the Muslims are Shia and Sunni neighbors may feel it is important for them to acquire nuclear weapons in order to have a balance in the region.

U.S. intelligence reponded that in 2007 when their assessment was released that they had concluded that Iran had ceased their nuclear weapons program but added that it does not mean that since 2007 Iran did not at some point resume it.

If the United Nations Nuclear Agency is correct in their fear of the course that Iran has taken it will send off an alarm that will have the entire region in a state of heightened tensions. Israel may feel it has it’s back against the wall and attempt to set Iran’s nuclear program back by attacking key components of the program. An Israel attack would shake up the entire region and possibly spread as tension between Israel and Iran ally Syria has ratched up in recent months.

Syria has been a regular meddler in Lebanon politics. Hizballah the terrorist militant group fought a short war with Israel in 2006. Syria is a major supporter of Hizballah and according to statements in recent weeks from Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri that their would not be division in Lebanon over a new war between Israel and Hizballa. Lebanon would give support to Hizballah in a war with Israel. In the past Hizballah has been viewed as a separate entity to the Lebanon Government and more aligned with neighbor Syria as a way to have influence in Beirut than as a Lebanon Military Wing.

It this tension that is always on the cusp of overflowing that has kept these three countries in a state of possible conflict. Syria’s tight friendship with Iran creates a multi front war for Israel and in the end devastation in the region. There is a very high liklihood that Hizballah would send rockets into Israel as the group has it’s roots from the support that Iran provides to the terrorist group.

It us very easy to see the possibility of a wider war in the Middle East if and when Israel attacks Iran. The 2006 war that Israel fought would pale in comparison to an all out conflict that would occur between Israel and Iran.

Listing suspect activities known to it, the IAEA said it is interest in information on high-precision detonator and other explosives experiments; studies on setting off explosions high in the atmosphere; “whether the engineering design and computer modeling studies aimed at producing a new design for the payload chamber of a missile were for a nuclear payload,” and other nuclear activities with a possible military link.

Iran’s behavior of not fully disclosing nuclear facilities creates a need for serious questioning of Iran’s true intentions in regard to it’s self proclaimed “peaceful nuclear program”.

The world will have to continie to hold it’s breathe as this crisis rides it’s course.

Tibet is nestled in the largest mountain range on the planet. It has a mystique about it that has captivated Westerners since their first view from the “Rooftop of the World”. Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, is located in the foothills of mount Gephel. The inhabitants of this sacred city share a strong faith in Buddhism and unconditional following for the Dalai Lama. It is in this city that the Tibetan people seek their leadership. Inside the holiest city in Tibetan Buddhism is the governing seat of the Dalai Lama and over a quarter million people. It is a remote population center that is located at one of the highest elevations of any city in the world. The karma of Lhasa is based on over two thousand years of history engulfed in the Tibetan spiritual and cultural history. Lhasa is translated as the “The Holy Land” or “The Land of Buddha”.

Tibet and China: A Historical Perspective

Tibetan History as an independent and sovereign state dates back to the early part of the 7th century. Prior history includes that in 1063 B.C., Five hundred years prior to the arrival of Buddha Sakyamuni into this world, Lord Shenrab Miwo reformed the primitive Shen race and founded the Tibetan Bon religion. After a series of Kings the kingdom known as Bod, the present name of Tibet, came into existence. The lineage of Tibetan monarchy continued for well over a thousand years until King Lang Darma, was assassinated in 842 A.D.. In the prior two centuries to this assassination the Tibetan Empire was at its peak and its armies invaded China and several Central Asian countries. In 763 the Tibetans seized the then Chinese capital at Ch’ang-an (present day Xian). As the Chinese Emperor had fled, the Tibetans appointed a new Emperor. This memorable victory has been preserved for posterity in the Zhol Doring (stone pillar) in Lhasa. It was during his time that Samye, the first monastery in Tibet, was founded by Guru Padmasambhava established the supremacy of Buddhism and converted the indigenous deities into guardians of the Dharma. In 821 China and Tibet ended almost 200 years of fighting with a treaty engraved on three stone pillars, one of which still stands in front of the Jokhang cathedral in Lhasa. The treaty established that both Tibet and China shall keep the country and frontiers of which they are now possessed. The whole region to the East of that being the country of Great China and the whole region to the West being assuredly the country of Great Tibet, from either side there shall be no hostile invasion, and no seizure of territory.

In the 13th century Tibet became part of the Asian Mongol empire. Tibet was able to swoon the Mongols that conquered and ruled China, but allowed Tibet to semi self rule under allegiance and influence to the Mongol Empire. A spiritual relationship with the Mongols developed and even resulted in their aristocracy converting to Buddhism. The Mongols promised to protect Tibet. After the fall of the Mongol Empire , Tibet fell into a state of no central rule. The Manchu Dynasty arrives and in 1720, along with the help of the Tibetan army drove the remnants of the Mongolia army out of the Tibet. The reason Tibet assisted the Manchu was that in prior years much controversy and mistrust began to brew between the ruling Mongols and the Tibetan Buddhist as to whom the new Dalai Lama actually was.

The Tibetans fell under the rule of the Manchu, but as with the Mongols were able for the most part to self rule with allegiance to the Manchu (Ching Dynasty). However this fell through as conflicts arose among Tibetan and the Manchu and a new government was put into place to provide more control for the Ching Dynasty. The Ching Dynasty had other objectives as they sought to expand their growing empire and influence. Over all the Ching Dynasty period brought relative peace to Tibet.

After the Manchu Empire ended, the Chinese government in 1912 officially became the Republic of China. The Chinese troops that were in Tibet over time dwindled away and returned to China proper. Tibet felt that they were once a gain on their own. The foreign Mongols and Manchus armies were gone. Their allegiance was to Tibet only. Tibet felt that their dependent relationship with China ended with the end of Macnhu rule. There was no other army in Tibet other than the Tibetan Army between 1911 and 1950. The important thing to remember is that traditionally, Tibetans only wanted a peaceful land to worship Buddha. Their independence has not been an issue for them since they first accepted Mongol rule centuries before. Western influence, mainly Briton, worked in favor of an independent Tibet in the early part of the twentieth century. The main reason for Briton interests was due to the proximity to British ruled India. In 1913 Mongolia and Tibet signed a treaty proclaiming their independence from China. This is where a problem occurs. There is much dispute about whether the envoys that signed the document were authorized on the Tibetan side to do so on behalf of the Tibetan people.

After WWI China became split into warlord factions and the Tibet issue was lost in the chaos of divisions. There had been no formal delegation from China in Lhasa since 1911. In 1934 however, soon after the 13th Dalai Lama passed on, China restated their pre WWI position that Tibet was part of China but was allowed assert it’s own political affairs as long as they do not conflict with China’s interest.. In 1935 the 14th and current Dalai Lama was born within 4 years he was given the title of the Dalai Lama.

The 14th and Current Dalai Lama was born in 1935 and has been greatly influenced by Western contacts. He has expanded his sympathizers for Chinas occupation of Tibet with each new generation. With the 2008 Olympics quickly approaching many have used the event to protest China’s refusal to recognize Tibet as self ruling.

China and Tibet’s seventeen Point Agreement

In 1950 The Chinese Liberation Army entered into the eastern regions of Tibet and quickly overtook the Tibetan soldiers in the area by surprise. An agreement was accepted by China and Tibet known as the “Seventeen Point Agreement For The Peaceful Liberation of Tibet.” In 1959 prior to fleeing to neighboring India, the Dalai Lama repudiated the treaty based on China’s violation of many points within the agreement.

Text of the ‘Seventeen Point Agreement’ – 23rd May 1951

Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. Signed and sealed in Beijing on 23 May 1951. The preamble to the agreement stressed that Tibet had a “long history within the boundaries of China,” outlined the aggressive imperialist forces in Tibet that needed to be “successfully eliminated” and claimed that both parties (Tibetans and Chinese People’s Government – CPG) had, as a result of talks, agreed to “establish the agreement and ensure that it be carried into effect.”

1. The Tibetan people shall unite and drive out imperialist aggressive forces from Tibet; the Tibetan people shall return to the big family of the Motherland ­ the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
2. The local government of Tibet shall actively assist the PLA to enter Tibet and consolidate the national defenses.
3. In accordance with the policy towards nationalities laid down in the Common Programme of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee, the Tibetan people have the right of exercising national regional autonomy under the unified leadership of the CPG.
4. The central authorities will not alter the existing political system in Tibet. The central authorities also will not alter the established status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama. Officials of various ranks shall hold office as usual.
5. The established status, functions and powers of the Panchen Ngoerhtehni shall be maintained.
6. By the established status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama and of the Panchen Ngoerhtehni are meant the status, functions and powers of the thirteenth Dalai Lama and the ninth Panchen Ngoerhtehni when they had friendly and amicable relations with each other.
7. The policy of freedom of religious belief laid down in the common program of the CPPCC shall be carried out. The religious beliefs, customs and habits of the Tibetan people shall be respected and lama monasteries shall be protected. The central authorities will not effect a change in the income of the monasteries.
8. Tibetan troops shall be reorganized step by step into the PLA and become a part of the defense force of the PRC.
9. The spoken and written language and school education of the Tibetan nationality shall be developed step by step in accordance with the actual conditions in Tibet.
10. Tibetan agriculture, livestock raising, industry and commerce shall be developed step by step and the people’s livelihood shall be improved step by step in accordance with the actual conditions in Tibet.
11. In matters relating to various reforms in Tibet, there will be no compulsion on the part of the central authorities. The local government of Tibet shall carry out reforms of its own accord, and, when the people raise demands for reform, they shall be settled by means of consultation with the leading personnel of Tibet.
12. In so far as former pro-imperialists and pro-Kuomintang [Guomindang] officials resolutely sever relations with imperialism and the Kuomintang [Guomindang] and do not engage in sabotage or resistance, they may continue to hold office irrespective of their past.
13. The PLA entering Tibet shall abide by all the above-mentioned policies and shall also be fair in all buying and selling and shall not arbitrarily take a needle or thread from the people.
14. The CPG shall have centralized handling of all external affairs of the area of Tibet; and there will be peaceful co-existence with neighboring countries and establishment and development of fair commercial and trading relations with them on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect for territory and sovereignty.
15. In order to ensure the implementation of this agreement, the CPG shall set up a Military and Administrative Committee and a Military Area HQ in Tibet and – apart from the personnel sent there by the CPG – shall absorb as many local Tibetan personnel as possible to take part in the work. Local Tibetan personnel taking part in the Military and Administrative Committee may include patriotic elements from the local government of Tibet, various districts and various principal monasteries; the name list shall be set forth after consultation between the representatives designated by the CPG and various quarters concerned and shall be submitted to the CPG for appointment.
16. Funds needed by the military and Administrative Committee, the Military Area HQ and the PLA entering Tibet shall be provided by the CPG. The local government of Tibet should assist the PLA in the purchase and transport of food, fodder and other daily necessities.
17. This agreement shall come into force immediately after signature and seals are affixed to it.

Signed and sealed by the delegates of the CPG with full powers by Chief Delegate Li Weihan (Chairman of the Commission of Nationalities Affairs) and three delegates. Delegates with full powers of the local government of Tibet by Chief Delegate Kaloon Ngabou Ngawang Jigme (Ngabo Shape) and four delegates.

China and Tibet: China Takes over Tibet

The “Seventeen Point Agreement” of 1951 officially incorporated Tibet into China. Lhasa, the Dalai Lama controlled area, was to be a highly autonomous area where where the Dalai Lama was still a symbol of not only religion but also one of local governing. According to the Chinese government, Tibetan rule had left many Tibetans in poor living conditions and had not kept pace with the modernization within the rest of China. They further stated that Tibet’s religious rule had inhibited growth and development and inhibited modernizations efforts brought forth by the Chinese government. In essence, Tibet was not allowing it’s citizens opportunity to benefit from modern forms of living. It kept Tibetans isolated with limited resources and opportunity. The Chinese Government acted against the nobles and monasteries, land was taken away from them and redistributed among the serfs that worked for their masters previously under the former Tibetan rule. Rebellions occurred and thousands of Tibetans lost their lives in the conflict. The fighting had gotten so fierce that in the end the Dalai Lama and other government officials left Tibet for safety in India. The Chinese Government responded to the rebellions by taking away the autonomous rule in all sectors of Tibet including Lhasa. The only government in Lhasa was the Chinese Government from there forward. Guerrilla warfare by Tibetan rebels continued the fight against the Chinese troops in Tibet well into the early seventies.
In the end, there are many sides to the history of Tibet. There are arguments for both sides Human rights activists have stated that under the People’s Republic of China’s rule many Tibetans have suffered as a result of converting Tibet to state socialism. China itself has stated that the modernizing of Tibet is crucial for the inhabitants that live in the region and says that modern Tibet is an improvement to the Tibet of the past. More services and modernization is affecting the lives of Tibetans in a positive way.
The Dalai Lama has been quoted in the past saying that Tibet is willing to be a part of China and allow it to govern as long as it guarantees to protect Tibetan culture, spirituality, and environment. His vision of Tibet is one of religious reawakening , a place of peace and tranquility. A refuge for souls needing to have inner peace. In September 1987 His Holiness proposed the Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet as the first step towards a peaceful solution to the worsening situation in Tibet. He envisaged that Tibet would become a sanctuary; a zone of peace at the heart of Asia, where all sentient beings can exist in harmony and the delicate environment can be preserved. Hopefully in our time Tibet and China can come to an understanding. An understanding that the Dalai Lama and Tibet are rare forms and are an asset to possess within China’s border. We live in a world of exterminating cultures, to possess one as unique as this is a treasure.

Update 4/15/2009 Pirates launched a grenade attack against a second US cargo ship off Somalia on Wednesday “in retaliation” for the deaths of their comrades during the rescue of American cargo captain Richard Phillips. Somali pirates were back to business as usual Tuesday, defiantly seizing four more ships with 60 hostages after U.S. sharpshooters rescued an American freighter captain. “No one can deter us,” one bandit boasted. The freed skipper, Richard Phillips, will return home to the United States on Wednesday, after reuniting with his 19-man crew in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, according to the shipping company Maersk Line Ltd. The U.S. and its allies battled Somalia’s pirates on two fronts Wednesday, with French forces seizing a bandit mother ship and Washington seeking to keep the marauders from their spoils. Another U.S. freighter headed to port with armed sailors aboard after pirates damaged it with gunshots and grenades 
Update 4/12/2009 Capt. Richard Phillips was rescued and freed unharmed after being kidnapped by Somali based pirates. Phillips who had been held captive for five days in a life boat by Somalia pirates as U.S. military ships surrounded the area so that the pirates could not escape with their hostage. Captain Phillips was taken when the pirates attempted to seize his vessel the Maersk Alabama. Capt. Richard Phillips’ crew, who said they were safe after he offered himself to the pirates as a hostage, erupted in cheers aboard their ship docked in Mombasa, Kenya. Some waved an American flag and fired a flare in celebration. Three of the Somalia pirates were killed in the rescued and one is being held as a prisoner.

The rescue was a dramatic blow to the pirates who have preyed on international shipping and hold more than a dozen ships with about 230 foreign sailors. But it is unlikely to do much to stop the region’s growing pirate threat which has transformed one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into one of its most dangerous as a result of the constant hijackings and actions of the Pirates based in Somalia..

Abdullahi Lami, one of the pirates holding the Greek ship anchored in the Somali town of Gaan, said: “Every country will be treated the way it treats us. In the future, America will be the one mourning and crying,” he told The Associated Press. “We will retaliate (for) the killings of our men.” Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old self-proclaimed pirate, told the AP from one of Somalia’s piracy hubs, Eyl, that: “From now on, if we capture foreign ships and their respective countries try to attack us, we will kill them (the hostages).” “Now they became our number one enemy,” Habeb said of U.S. forces.

How The Conflict Started

On Wednesday Somalia based pirates attempted to seize the crew and cargo of the Maersk Alabama, a US based cargo ship carrying aid for Somalia and Kenya among other containers. The attack began early yesterday when the Alabama was hijacked about 300 miles south-east of Eyl off Somalia’s eastern coast. This is the first U.S. ship and crew that the Somalia Pirates have attempted to hijack. The first encounter with Americans did not go so well for the pirates as the 20 man crew who been trained to deal with such a situation ended up foiling the high seas hijackers that have been so successful in the past.

The four hijackers armed with Kalashnikovs were successful in boarding the vessel but the crew was able to overpower one of the pirates and regain control over the ship. The remaining three fled off taking the captain, Richard Phillips an American as a hostage. A spokesman for Maersk, the largest container shipping company in the world, said that Phillips was believed to be unharmed at that time. His family had gathered at his farmhouse in Vermont waiting for news. The Alabama was the sixth ship to be hijacked off Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast in a week. The surge in attacks has coincided with a return to calm seas after the monsoon period, and has seen the main pirate gangs shift their focus away from their usual hunting ground in the Gulf of Aden, off northern Somalia, which is now patrolled by at least 15 warships in separate EU, US and Nato-led forces.

According to second mate Ken Quinn, who spoke by telephone to CNN, the pirates sank their speedboat shortly after boarding the Alabama early on Wednesday. The crew managed to regain control of the ship from the pirates by “brute force”, according to another crew member’s account. Phillips is reported to have convinced the gunmen to board the lifeboat after agreeing to go with them, in order to secure the safety of his fellow sailors. When the pirates first appeared, the Alabama crew, conscious that the nearest US naval vessel was more than 300 miles away, took evasive action for three to five hours to win time, but the four pirates eventually boarded just before dawn.

On April 8, 2009, the USS Bainbridge was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to a hostage situation. The warship reached the Maersk Alabama early on April 9. The pirates are reportedly floating nearby in the ship’s lifeboat, out of fuel, while they continue to hold the ship’s captain hostage.

It appears Phillips took action as soon as pirates began to swarm aboard. According to conversations with the crews family members Phillips radioed his crew and told them to lock themselves away in a room, then faced the pirates himself. “He said the pirates were desperate,” said Zoya Quinn, the wife of the ship’s second mate. “They were going all over the stairs, back and forth, trying to find them, and they couldn’t.” How Phillips was taken, and then how the crew overpowered the pirates, is still unclear. At some point, the crew ended up capturing one of the pirates and making him their own hostage. “The crew was holding a pirate, and they were supposed to trade for Phillips. The Somalis didn’t go through with their end of the deal. They kept Richard,” another sister-in-law, Lea Coggio, told the Los Angeles Times.

History Of Somalia Pirates

Somali pirates have received over US$150 million during the 12 months prior to November 2008 according to a report done by the BBC. The seizures of aid ships in one of the busiest supply channels in the world has been under increasing threat by both organized and rouge groups that have demanded their ransoms from both governments and private companies that own the vessels. Though piracy off the Somalia and Kenya coast has been an issue since Somalia unrest that followed the civil war in the war torn lawless country the activity has increased drastically in the past few years with 2008 being a bounty year for the high seas thieve.

Understanding The Past and the People in the Pakistan and Afghanistan Quagmire and How America got There

President Obama did not start this war. George Bush did not start this war either. Radical Islam created this quagmire that President Obama must navigate through and somehow against the odds of history come out victorious. What are the consequences of hasty and unrealistic decisions that forsake history. We need only look at the fate and aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan as well as the re-emergence of the Taliban after the initial U.S. and Taliban conflict that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks. U.S. forces removed the Taliban from power but they waited patiently and regrouped and are now in control of half the country again despite the presence of U.S. and NATO troops attempting to secure the not so new Afghanistan Government that has been in jeopardy for the past few years.

In the past presidential election President Obama said that he would increase troop strength in Afghanistan because that is where the terrorists are and have been since 2001. President Bush made a big mistake in removing the emphasis in Afghanistan and taking on a war in Iraq. At that point, following the attacks on New York and Washington, America was given a mandate by the world to go into Afghanistan and hunt down the individuals responsible for the terrorist attacks and those that chose to protect them. The world offered it’s support and troops as the world was with us in our anger and outrage. America bombed away and utilized special forces and dispersed the Taliban from power. They disappeared into the the tribal border areas and the remote villages in the countryside. The higher level Taliban and al Qaeda militants were protected and given refuge in the Pashtun lands on both sides of the Afghanistan and Pakistan shared border. As America became more consumed with the Iraq War, Osama bin Laden and his henchmen became just a whisper and their trail has since been lost. The big three Osama bin Laden , Ayman al Zawahiri,  and Mullah Mohammed Omar are still alive and are orchestrating operations against their enemies.  Under Mullah Omar the Taliban began regrouping after months of watching and learning about the new invaders. They grew their Opium crops and raised money. They recruited and rearmed from the sale of drugs and contributions from friendly sympathizers in the region and abroad as well as utilizing al Qaeda’s network. Their were even reports of IEDs being discovered in Afghanistan that were made in Iran according to U.S. officials. This entire scenario is beginning to look eerily familiar.

Important Facts For A Better Understanding Of The Afghanistan Pakistan Quagmire
understanding the people of the region itself

The people that live in the areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan are a group known as Pashtuns. Their are other minority groups in the region but the vast majority consider themselves Pashtun. They share a common Pashto language and the practice of living devoted to Pashtunwali. This is an ancient feudal tribal “code of honor” that belongs to South-Central Asia and dominates the countryside of Afghanistan and western Pakistan. All Pashtuns share an ancient tradition of spiritual and community identity that is woven from a set of moral codes and rules of conduct. They also share a history of over five thousand years of existence. Pashtunwali is based on set of teachings known as core tenants that include the following: self-respect, independence, justice, hospitality, love, forgiveness, revenge and tolerance toward all. It is the balance of these tenants that maintain a social and moral association within this culture. Though Pushtanwali is a personally defined and discovered attribute of the individual it is the unifying factor of the community that has no borders. In essence the people on the shared border of Pakistan and Afghanistan do not view the paths they walk as Afghanistan or Pakistan but rather Pashtun lands. Pashtuns are also historically referred to as ethnic Afghans, as the terms Pashtun and Afghan were synonymous until the advent of modern Afghanistan and the division of the Pashtuns by the Durand Line which is a border drawn by the British in the late 19th century that means nothing to the locals. Pashtuns are predominantly Sunni Muslims, most of them followers of the Hanafite branch of Sunni Islam. There is a small minority of Ithna Asharia Shia Pashtuns largely concentrated in Afghanistan. The Taliban are predominately Pashtun, but not all Pashtun share the same extremist Sunni Islam beliefs. The Taliban was and is supported because many Pashtuns grew tired of corruption and war. The Taliban quelled the violence that has plagued the region as result of war and tribal conflicts. The area has always attracted transients that peddle in the drug trade and arms trading. It can be a dangerous place and the Taliban with their swift and agonizing justice was a better alternative to chaos and tribal warfare of other times. I once read a quote from a Pashtun that lived in the conflicted area along the border that stated that there were only two reasons that outsiders come to their region. One is to trade in drugs and weapons and the other is to wage war. It is easier to understand how the people of the region were wiling to give power to the Taliban. They at least provided some peace and stability to a country that has struggled for a long time as a result of outside influence and war.

Understanding the Soviet Afghanistan War

A major event in the Pashtun region occurred when in the summer of 1979 the Soviet Union brought in additional troops to prop up a pro-communist Marxist regime that had begun losing the support of the tribes throughout the country. America, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and others were very bothered by the Soviet presence in Afghanistan and began funneling resources through Pakistan into Afghanistan without so much of an American fingerprint on anything. The Soviets ambitious plans to land one step closer to the Oil Rich Middle East and to gain better control of their own Muslim residents where the Soviet Union butted against Afghanistan. In essence it was important for Moscow that Afghanistan be stable and under their influence due to their proximity. In the end 9 years later history shows that the Soviet Union walked into a golden opportunity for her enemies and the trap was set. America took full advantage of the opportunity to provide the money and resources to the Mujihadeen that were willing to fight to their death to remove the invaders. Muslims from around the globe answered.

the call to Jihad in Afghanistan. The war cost Moscow almost everything as the Soviet Union was dispersed in the years that followed as the once super power crumbled into pieces due to economic and loss of influence within the union. A decade of bitterness, shame and loss of identity followed for Moscow. It was only the oil bubble that has reignited the fire within the new Russia that has once again emboldened the sleeping nuclear nation.

Understanding the creation of a new breed of radical

Many other events were equally important for the future of the world that we live in as a result of the events in Soviet – Afghan War. The Muslims that answered the call to Jihad came from all corners of the world. Throughout the Middle East and Africa were where Muslims came to fight in the holy war in the largest numbers. They created a comradely and new resolve and the foreign Islamic fighters that shared the experience achieved a life changing ideology enlightenment. They defended and fought for Islam and were victorious against all odds Only Allah could have guided them to victory against the great Soviet Union. The God of Islam had been vindicated Throughout the war networks were set up by the foreign fighters that linked them to resources abroad. Wealthy Arabs contributed cash to finance the war as well as foreign governments. The channels were many and provided different supplies and resources. The foreign fighters were forever welcomed by the Afghans that they fought alongside of. Training camps set up would continue to be ran by the Mujihadeen as a way of preparing the next generation that would have to some day defend Muslim lands again. Many foreign fighters remained and took wives as marriage tightened the connection among militants and native Afghan Pashtuns. It was in this moment that the networks of radical Islam believed that they could be the army of Islam to defend all Muslims and create a world wide Islamic Caliphate ruled by Sharia law. It is a grand plan. Even more difficult and unrealistic in nature than creating a worldwide democracy. The networked developed further as the fighters returned to their homelands and shared with others their experiences. Individual cells popped up throughout Africa, Asia, and even more so the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and other nations where the foreign fighters came from were not as eager to welcome home their heroes. The governments were happy to see many radical extremist join the call in the Jihad far away from the ruling governments. The radicals were antagonistic to ruling royal families and other dictatorial style governments in the Muslim world and questioned the rulers legitimacy to rule over Muslim populations. The end to the war meant the returning of radicals with a louder voice than ever before. In the best self interest of the governments they continue to poor money to the training camps that attracted want to be extremists from around the globe. In 1996 The Taliban took control and a safe haven for Radical Islam was established. The Taliban accepted the foreign fighters and also gained a kindred relationship as the transients were a huge help in ridding the Afghan lands of the invaders. Osama bin Laden returned to Afghanistan after briefly living in Sudan. He was forced from his new homeland as American pressure won out and President Bashir asked him to leave. The land of Afghans was the obvious choice for his new home as by this time he had well established training camps in Pakistan , Afghanistan and Sudan. His network was developed intensively during these years that not only included financial networks, but also a constant flow of born again radicals to wage the next war that was sure to come.

Understanding the Events prior to September 11, 2001

Radical Islam had realized it’s new found power in the Soviet Afghanistan war and as Osama bin Laden became the leader of this collaboration of international networks another event occurred that would enrage the organizations associated with bin Laden, Iraq invaded Kuwait.  Osama bin Laden went to the King of Saudi Arabia and asked for his Muslim Army of Mujihadeen fighters to be allowed to regroup and remove Iraq from Kuwait and the threat to the Kingdom.  In the End King selected a quicker way to put Saddam Hussein back inside his own borders.  The American and Coalition forces.  After this embarrassment Osama and his followers became angry over foreign armies being used in Muslim lands to solve a Muslim problem.  America is the ally of Israel and this only added fuel to the displeasure of the soon to be head of al Qaeda.  After the war American troops remained in the region and this was seen as a severe insult to many Muslims that disliked the influence that America has had in the region as well as their support of Israel.  Osama bin Laden wanted U.S. influence and troops to leave the region and allow Muslims to handle Muslim problems.

1993 World Trade Center Attack  On February 26, 1993  A car bomb exploded in a basement parking garage in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center.  The truck loaded with about 1,500 pounds of urea nitrate (a fertilizer-based explosive) and hydrogen-gas cylinders.  The bomb killed six people and injured more than 1,000. Investigators determined that the cell built the bomb in New Jersey by consulting manuals brought from Pakistan. Two years later, the ringleader of the plot, Ramzi Yousef, tried but failed to use homemade liquid explosives to down 11 airliners crossing the Pacific Ocean.  According to journalist Steve Coll, Yousef mailed letters to various New York newspapers just before the attack, in which he claimed he belonged to ‘Israel’s Army, Fifth Battalion’, an al Qaeda linked organization. These letters made three demands: an end to all US aid to Israel, an end to US diplomatic relations with Israel, and a demand for a pledge by the United States to end interference “with any of the Middle East countries’ interior affairs.” He stated that the attack on the World Trade Center would be merely the first of such attacks if his demands were not met. In his letters Yousef admitted that the World Trade Center bombing was an act of terrorism, but that this was justified because “the terrorism that Israel practices, which America supports, must be faced with a similar one

1996 Osama bin Laden Declares War on America  A fatwa, or declaration of war, by Osama bin Laden first published in Al Quds Al Arabi, a London-based newspaper, in August, 1996. The fatwa is entitled “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places”

1998 United States Embassy Bombings  On Aug. 7, 1998, the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were bombed by terrorists, leaving 258 people dead and more than 5,000 injured. Al Qeada linked militants were responsible.

1998 President Clinton Orders Strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan  U.S. launched cruise missiles on Aug. 20, 1998, striking a terrorism training complex in Afghanistan and destroying a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Khartoum, Sudan, that reportedly produced nerve gas. Both targets were believed to have been financed by wealthy Islamic radical Osama bin Laden, who was allegedly behind the American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania as well as an international terrorism network targeting the United States.

2000 U.S. Cole Bombing  On 12 October 2000 in a Yemen seaport while refueling a small craft approached the port side of the destroyer, and an explosion occurred, putting a 40-by-60-feet gash in the ship’s port side resulting in the deaths of seventeen sailors.  Al Qaeda took responsibility and it is believed that the Sudanese government was  helpful in aiding the terrorist organization.

2001 World Trade Center Attack September 11, 2001  On an early Tuesday Morning as America began arriving to their workplace the world changed forever.  America would be at war ever since.  The attacks in New York, Washington, and a small wooded patch in Pennsylvania where United 93 crashed.  Over 3,000 people lost their lives that morning.  The war on terror has spanned the globe and the back and forth battle between Radical Islam and the West has not rested.  The events of that day was where all this started.  The man and the head of the organization that was responsible for this deadly attack disappears into the mountainside  as America demanded that he be turned over by the Taliban.  They refused and the war began.

In August, 1996  Osama bin Laden issued a religious order or statement known as a fatwa. The fatwa is entitled “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places.  Osama bin Laden was not very well known internationally outside the Muslim world.  He did receive great admiration for his role in the Afghanistan-Soviet War in the 1980’s from many Muslim leaders and the Pashtuns from Afghanistan and Pakistan with whom he fought alongside in the war that played a major role in bringing down a world super power.  The first attack to bring not only Osama bin Laden to the forefront of terrorism but also a relatively unknown organization known as al Qaeda was the U.S. embassy bombings in two different orchestrated attacks that happened almost simultaneously in Africa.  On Aug. 7, 1998, the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were bombed by terrorists, leaving approximately 224 people dead and more than 5,000 injured. Al Qaeda linked militants were responsible.  Prior to the attacks a second Fatwa was distributed and ignored by much of the media as the the first fatwa was.  The second statement was interesting as it had other signatures attached to it from members of other known terrorist entities.  Some of the notable terrorists to sign the document were Egyptians  Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Yasser, A pair of Pakistanis known as Mir Hamzah, and Fazul Rahman.  You can read the entire Fatwa here:   Osama Bin Laden Fatwa of 1998.  Their associations stemmed from their activities during the 1980’s war with the Soviets.  All four additional signers were associated with different groups.  This collaboration was the beginnings of the al Qaeda network even though the network itself was a remnant of the war, but took on a new goal of ending Israel and removing U.S. influence from Muslim lands.  The February 1998 Fatwa called for the killing of Jews and American anywhere possible.  In August the Embassy bombings took place in the same year.

In response to the African Embassy bombings, U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered Operation Infinite Reach, a series of cruise missile strikes on terrorist training camps and other targets in Sudan and Afghanistan on August 20, 1998.  A chemical factory in Sudan,  the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory, which was suspected of being a chemical weapons factory with ties to Iraq and Osama bin Laden was targeted and destroyed.  The other main targets were located in the Taliban controlled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan at four militant training camps around Khost and Jalalabad.  One of the sites bombed in Afghanistan was a suspected high level Islamic militant meeting of associates of the newly formed al Qaeda and associates of Osama bin Laden.

Al Qaeda leadership including Osama bin Laden was angered by the attacks but it was  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed  that planned and orchestrated the most deadliest terrorist attack that the world has seen.  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington using four hijacked commercial airliners. Nearly 3,000 people were killed. In late 1998 or early 1999, bin Laden gave approval for Mohammed to go forward with organizing the plot that was a twist on the earlier foiled Bojinka plot. Orignally targets were to be on both the West and East coasts in the United States but bin Laden apparently thought it was too much to pull off so they settled on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Though Osama bin Laden assisted in selecting operatives, including Atta as the leader, Sheikh Mohammed provided operational support, such as selecting targets and helping arrange travel for the hijackers. In all reality it was Khalid Sheikh’s baby. It was known to al Qaeda as “Holy Tuesday”.

War In Afghanistan

Following the events of September 11, 20001 it became evident that Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders were inside the Taliban controlled country of Afghanistan. The United States urged the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden and other key operatives or risk being attacked under the Bush doctrine that stated that countries that harbor terrorists will not be distinguished as being separate entities. In other words, you either give up the terrorists or you are a terrorist nation yourself. The Taliban refused and the United States and her allies prepared for war.

The Taliban gained controlled of Afghanistan in the mid 1990’s. Their biggest opposition that they faced came from the Northern Alliance. This opposition group had loyalty to the prior government and was supported by Iran in their conflict with the Taliban. The Taliban after gaining control of the country continued to pressure the Northern Alliance, often with the aid of Osama bin Laden and his Arab forces. On September 9, 2001, the Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud was mortally wounded in an assassination attempt carried out by two Arab men posing as journalists. This attack was the work of bin Laden’s organization. The purpose behind this attack more than likely was an attempt to weaken the Northern Alliance as Osama bin Laden and the Taliban felt that the Northern Alliance would use an invasion of Afghanistan by the West to grab power in the country. The assassination would have hopefully weakened the alliance. Two days later New York and Washington D.C. was attacked.

The War in Afghanistan, which began on October 7, 2001 as the U.S. military operation Enduring Freedom, was launched by the United States and allied forces. The stated purpose of the invasion was to capture Osama bin Laden, destroy al-Qaeda, and remove the Taliban regime which had provided support and safe harbor to al-Qaeda.

As American allied forces bombed Taliban and al Qaeda targets, a ground operation was also underway coordinated with the Northern Alliance Afghanistan opposition troops to remove the Taliban from power. American and British special forces worked with the Northern Alliance and pushed the Taliban and al Qaeda linked militants southward and eventually into the tribal areas along the Afghanistan and Pakistan border areas where they had a greater following and sympathy. It is important to understand that in this region of the world the al Qaeda fighters were the same mujahedeen that came to this region’s aid and helped remove the Soviet threat 20 years prior. Osama bin Laden and other foreign fighters were very welcome in the tribal lands for their role in the Afghan-Soviet War.

At some point in 2002 the Taliban had realized that the war was going to be of one for survival. Taliban fighters blended back into society and waited for its leaders to regroup and to learn about the new invaders from the West. Over the next few years the Taliban began to slowly regroup and rearm from the drug and smuggling trade that is rampant throughout the tribal areas. The U.S. shifted gears at this point and made the mistake of thinking that it had accomplished more than it actually had and that the Taliban and al Qaeda was in shambles.  Maybe they were stunned from the first punch, but the terrorist organization and it’s host was far from knocked out.  When dealing with ideologies fostered and practices by the Taliban and al Qaeda it was no time to pull punches and shift the focus on another war when the job in Afghanistan was far from over.  Job number one was not to build a democracy in Afghanistan that in all reality has no chance of survival without completing the main goal of the Afghanistan war which was to eradicate the region of the Islamic extremists that carried out the attacks on 911 and capture  Osama bin Laden ,  Ayman al-Zawahiri  and  Mullah Mohammed Omar  . Mullah Omar the leader of the Afghanistan Taliban was never captured nor was Osama bin Laden or al Zawarhiri. However something odd happened. America began to focus it’s military might on another country. Iraq. This is a move that historians will question as a fatal misstep in the war on terror. This provided the Taliban time to regroup and to learn from the events and strategies of the Iraqi Insurgency. By 2006 the Taliban led Afghanistan Insurgency was strong and growing.  The Taliban and al Qaeda began not only to gain ground in Afghanistan but also destabilize neighboring Pakistan that has long been a hot bed of terrorists and also serves as the birthplace of the Taliban.  The border of Pakistan has been a constant area of trouble as Islamic fighters cross back and forth to conduct attacks on U.S. and other NATO forces. 

Inside the remote areas of the Hindu Kush mountain range that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan an entire group of people have carved out a way of life that is as unique as their customs. The border serves as an imaginary line designed to separate the Pashtun peoples. In their minds they do not see the line that separates the two sovereign nations. The border is as invisible to them as they are to the rest of the world. The Pashtuns are not really under the jurisdiction of either Afghanistan or Pakistan. It’s a lawless area that in all reality is like a sovereign nation onto itself.

Pashtunwali is literally translated as “the way of the Pashtun”. It has no meaning in the West or in most other parts of the globe, but in the villages and clans along the border it means everything. It defines them from birth. It also has meaning to the foreign soldiers that have entered to tame and control this region for generations before they were pushed out of the Pashtuns homelands.  Pushtunwali, a legal and moral code that determines social order and responsibilities. It contains sets of values pertaining to honor (namuz), solidarity (nang), hospitality, mutual support, shame and revenge which determines social order and individual responsibility. The defense of namuz, even unto death, is obligatory for every Pashtun. Elements in this code of behavior are often in opposition to the Shariah law, but it is their code that sets precedent over any other law. The Pashtun are an ethnic group with an estimated 15 million people located in Southeastern Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan.They have a complex organization of over 60 tribes broken down into clans and even into sub-clans.

Each one occupies its own territory. The Pashtun, also known as Pushtuns, Afghans, or Pakhtuns, represent the largest majority of the population inside of Afghanistan( approx. 45%) and are the largest ethnic minority in Pakistan.

A Pashtun boy grasps a AK-47 assault rifle. Boys are raised to be rough and never show weakness or loss of control. Warriors are groomed from birth and expected from each male child as he is tomorrows jihadist. They are today’s Spartans in a society that breaths war.

Pashtun have lived for centuries between Khurasan and the Indian subcontinent, at the crossroads of great civilizations. There is no true written history of the Pashtun in their own land. Pashtun are traditionally pastoral nomads. They are known for their ferocity in battles between clans and outside forces that have attempted to invade their terrirories. They have and always will be willing to fight for their honor and the honor of their tribe. Today, Pashtuns are involved in most levels and occupations as well as government. Generally however, the Pashtun of Afghanistan do not have very high living standards. Many groups of Pashtun along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to live as nomads.

Islam was introduced to the Pashtuns in the eighth century. The majority of the Pashtuns embrace the Sunni branch of Islam while some of the clans have fostered the ideology of the Shia sect of Islam. Pashtuns have always resisted governmental control over their lives and their territories and most have lived their lives isolated from the reach of the Afghanistan government. Disputes and social issues are usually resolved by sub clans or clan chiefs and occasionally a tribal council. Differences among Pashtun clans and families have led to much violence and killing, both in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.

The Pashton, Taliban, and al-Qaeda

During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which lasted from 1978 into late 1988, a series of dramatic inner relationships that would shape the Afghanistan and Pakistan region for years to come was brought together under a common cause. To defeat the Soviet troops at all costs and to remove the current pro-soviet government. It’s a region that has repeatedly repulsed foreigners bent on domination, from the British more than a hundred years ago to the then Soviets in the 1980s. Osama bin Laden was one of the scores of Arabs who went there to fight the Soviet occupation, and stayed. The Pashtuns and other ethnic groups provided the manpower early on battling the Soviet presence. The superpower made neighbors Pakistan and Iran nervous enough to provide training and material support to end the threat.

It was not long after the initial aid began to flow into the conflict that Saudi Arabia, the U.S., China, Egypt, France and other nations began to funnel aid to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. The aid flowed through Pakistan from all corners of the world. The Pashtun who inhabited the rural area fought fearlessly against the world super power. Soon foreign Islamic Mujahideen fighters from around the globe answered the call for jihad against the invaders. Some of the biggest players in terrorism earned their stripes in this war and became heroes to the local Pashtun population. They were forever grateful of these foreign fighters that came in their time of need and became Muslim brothers to the tribes and clans. A debt that they would never forget and pay dearly for in the future. Along the way an interesting thing happened with this collection of tribal warriors and their guests. An appreciation of the honorable moral code that the Pashtun lived by must have effected the foreign fighters in their view of the future of Islam. The set of values pertaining to honor (namuz), solidarity (nang), hospitality, mutual support, shame and revenge soaked into the foreign fighters as a missing piece to make their spiritual and religious experience with the Pashtuns a moment of enlightenment in their lives. In particular the defense of namuz, even unto death, as obligatory for every Pashtun and was carried forward with the foreign fighters wherever they would go afterwards.  Together they were able to defeat a world super power and restore honor to a people and a religion. They acted in solidarity as they fearlessly pressed on. It was through their mutual support and hospitality they gave their guests that gained them their revenge for being invaded by the Soviets on their own soil. It was that they had won that made these ideas so important to the Mujihadeen. After the war many foreign fighters returned to their native countries with the ideologies they had formed as a result of their experience and they spread their new beliefs through small loosely affiliated cells and kept in contact with foreign fighters in other countries. A network created during the war remained in tact for future calls to Jihad. Though many left Afghanistan, a significant number remained to further their studies and experience in the country they had liberated. Training camps were created to train future Mujihadeen for the next Jihad in Arab lands that would surely some day come.

In the late eighties Pakistan assisted Pashtun tribes in attempting to overthrow the Soviet influenced Afghanistan Government. A group of religious Pashtun scholars and Pashtun mujahideen fighters were organized and formed the Taliban. After the war ended various factions fought each other for power and none were able to gain control over the entire country. Afghanistan was reduced to a collection of territories held by competing warlords. Under Pakistan intelligence force training and guidance the Taliban was able to unite their loosely aligned regional groups together and formed a large and dominating militia. The Taliban were able to defeat the warlords and other militant factions and in 1996 captured Kabul. The Afghanistan people were tired of continuous war and for the first time in over two decades a chance for peace and safety could be offered to the population. Pakistan felt they had secured their interests when the Taliban officially controlled the majority of Afghanistan territory.

The Taliban was able to restore order by imposing a very strict interpretation of Sharia law. Mullah Muhammad Omar directed the Taliban and led them backward in history in order to rid the Pashtun and other peoples of Afghanistan of Western demonic influence. Men were forced to wear beards, women were not allowed to attend schools, television, music and internet were banned. Woman could no longer work outside the home or even leave it without a male escort. Soccer stadiums would be filled to witness executions and punishment for violating the new laws. The Taliban let the world know their complete intolerance for other religions when Mullah Omar destroyed the Buddhist stone statues etched into a mountain where it has stood for centuries. The oddest conflict within the Taliban and Islam is the procreation of opium into the world markets. They allowed the smuggling and cultivation of this drug which violates Sharia law. After international pressure they did reduce the amount of cultivation but never wiped it out. In the end the Taliban has been criticized by many Islamists for their lack of understanding and being poorly educated in Islamic Law and History. It appears as mentioned earlier in this article that the Pashtun have always done things their own way and the Taliban sect blended Wahabbi teachings with their own Pashtun tribal customs to produce the desired effect of control.

In 1996 after Sudan requested that Osama Bin Laden and his associates relocate their operations from within Sudan to another country the Taliban allowed him to seek refuge in Afghanistan. He was welcomed as a hero from the Soviet conflict and given protection and allowed to continue his training of mujahideen warriors for the next great conflict of our time. The kindred spirits of Bin Laden and Mullah Omar respected one another and their beliefs that Western influence should be removed from the Muslim world as it degrades their culture, Muslim women, and corrupts their children. They feared that the continuation of the West imposing it way of life on their homelands would destroy the Muslim Culture.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks the U.S. demanded that the Taliban handover Bin Laden. The Taliban were not interested in the U.S. demands to hand him over and as previously stated that they would not betray a “friend” to the Afghanistan people because it would betray the sacrifices during the Afghan-Soviet War. In all reality the Taliban didn’t give Osama Bin Laden up because they are Pashtuns and because of their codes of honor and sanctuary.

Mullah Muhammad Omar refused to cower to the demands of a superpower and go down in Pashtun folklore as the man that betrayed a protector of Islam. He chose to let the Taliban temporarily collapse under U.S. bombing rather than to commit this betrayal. Among the system’s tenets are the jirga (council of elders), a punishment system based on revenge, hospitality, and sanctuary, which says Pashtun should provide protection to someone who has taken refuge with them After all it is the “Pashtunwali Way”. The early announcement of a win against the Taliban was premature as in the months and years ahead will show as it has in history that the Pashtun people do not bend easily. They are warriors and remember every bomb that has fallen on their villages and it gives their call of vengeance an answer for more than likely an entire generation to come.

In the Pashtun culture, if someone kills your family member, you have inherited a duty to take revenge. Also, a wrong that has been done to one person is considered to have been committed against the entire tribe.

U.S. and Coalition Soldiers in Pashtun Country

In the land that devoured the Soviets and other invaders the U.S. led forces are occupying the same Pashtun tribal lands. The biggest problem that faces the coalition troops is to be successful at winning over the locals in the territory they are operating in. The locals are always weary of outsiders and realize that no one comes to their part of the world unless they are there for drug smuggling, arms dealing, or to wage war against them. This ideology does not bode well for a country that will not compromise their way of life from any threat, including one from another superpower that has invaded their territory. The Pashtun tribes are very weary of the U.S. presence and have suffered greatly in the conflict and as the Taliban continues to press the new government’s authority they have emerged more organized and deadlier as we approach May 2008. The invading forces from another world are in unfriendly country along the border. The Taliban has been gaining ground in the country and as this happens it will become more and more difficult to know who the enemy are as the villages that were once safe for the coalition can become a deadly trap.

The word “Patience” comes to mind when I think about where the war in Afghanistan is today. The Taliban has perfectly displayed this virtue in their art of war. Taliban forces were quickly defeated and bombed into submission, they knew they could not answer that with the level of weaponry in their arsenal. The Pashtun warriors returned to their villages and temporarily gave up their war. They returned to their life patiently waiting for word that the leadership of the Taliban is ready to wage jihad once again. As they waited they watched their enemy and learned what they could about the foreign invaders. At times they cunningly negotiated with them and got items that they needed in their villages as they are villagers themselves so it was not difficult to blend in. They bided their time and it appears that word has come from Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders in hiding that it is time. Time to leave their tribe, their wives, children livestock and crops and to pick up their AK-47 and push the foreign soldiers out of their mountains or sacrifice their life for their peoples honor.
After all it is the “Pashtunwali Way”.

9/01/2008 Update: ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s top security official Monday admitted that al Qaida’s leadership moved freely in and out of the country and vowed that “no mercy” would be shown to extremists based in its tribal territory that borders Afghanistan . The heat appears to be building in Pakistan. The ISI has long been associated with supporting terrorist and Islamic militant groups in the region. In the past, Pakistan has been heavily criticized for rejecting evidence that al Qaida was largely based in the country and for denying that the tribal territory was used as a safe haven for Afghan insurgents. Rehman Malik , the interior ministry chief, revealed that al Qaida deputy leader Ayman al Zawahiri and his wife had been in Mohmand, part of the tribal area. Most of time, Malik said Zawahiri was mainly in Afghanistan’s Kunar and Paktia provinces.
“We certainly had traced him (Zawahiri) at one place, but we missed the chance. So he’s moving in Mohmand and, of course, sometimes in Kunar, mostly in Kunar and Paktia,” Malik told reporters in Islamabad.

No place on Earth is there more high level ties to terrorism than in the Pakistan. The Mecca of terrorism for Jihadist since the Soviet led invasion that began in the late seventies. If America is ever going to win the war on terrorism it will have to be done not only in Afghanistan but also in Pakistan. America can not continue to play only one side of the fence in a war in Afghanistan that it should understand better than anyone as being waged from Pakistan. In recent weeks we have seen Pakistan a world nuclear power become a failing government after the forced resignation of President Pervez Musharaff. It was Last year, in 2007, amid growing Islamist violence and massive shortages, Musharraf took the unpopular step of bringing the country briefly under emergency rule and sacked a number of judges for fear they might question the constitutionality of his winning a second term. Those actions triggered massive public protests against his government and lead to the election in March of an opposition coalition, which pledged to restore the judiciary.

Even prior to the resignation, Pakistan has been embattled in a costly war against Islamic fundamentalists and Taliban insurgents that see this as an opportunity to gain control through endless terrorists attacks and assassination attempts that began the latest round of violence when Benazir Bhutto was murdered on December 27, 2007. An earlier attempt on her life had failed two months prior, but the late December attack was full proof with a combination of first shooting her from close range followed instantaneously by a bomb explosion. As of the last days of August in 2008, Pakistan’s government looks to be in shambles and is giving the Taliban fighters the opportunity that they have been waiting for to make there moves. The Pakistani Taliban have “the upper hand” and should be put on the list of banned organizations in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto’s widower has said. Asif Ali Zardari said, in a BBC interview, that the world and Pakistan were losing the war on terror. “It is an insurgency”, he said, “and an ideological war. It is our country and we will defend it. “The world is losing the war. I think at the moment they (the Taliban) definitely have the upper hand. “The issue, which is not just a bad case scenario as far as Pakistan is concerned or as Afghanistan is concerned but it is going to be spreading further. The whole world is going to be affected by it.”

It truly only takes reading a few books to get a grasps on what has occurred in the past and what is occurring now in this volatile region that says all fingers point to Pakistan and it’s inability to control it’s Islamic fundamentalist groups and it’s own Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that is so intertwined with terrorism it is hard to argue that they are not part of the global terror network.

Mr Zardari’s strong remarks came shortly after the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) put his name forward as its presidential nominee. Here is the ridiculous fact that most will not believe, Pakistan’s very own Intelligence agency, the ISI created and supported the Taliban that is now overtaking Pakistan. Regardless if America wins in Iraq, It has failed in dealing with the main culprits of global terrorism by not pressuring Pakistan to allow our troops inside their borders to stop this boiling pot of Islamic fundamentalism. It would be hard at this point for America ever to retrace it’s steps since the Iraq war and to fight the war that should have been fought. Afghanistan is only the battlefield, not where the foreign Mujihadeen fighters are coming from or using as a safe place as long as America can not chase them back to their holes inside Pakistan they will continue indefinitely. Most believe that Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahiri, and Mullah Mohammed Omar are located inside of Pakistan. The war in Iraq, as horrible of a person that Saddam Hussein was and the world should have disposed of him, was the reason that America did not fight the right fight at the right time. This mistake will continue to cost not only America but the rest of the world.

How Did The Pakistan ISI and Terrorist Connection Develop?

The Pakistan intelligence service, ISI, was used heavily during the Soviet-Afghan War that began in in the late seventies and lasted well into the late eighties when the the former Soviet Union cut their huge losses and pulled out prior to the collapse of the once world super power. In the West it is believed that it was the constant cost of the cold war arms race that brought the Soviet Union to collapse. In the world of Islamic fundamentalists it is believed that it was their actions in response to the Soviet invasion of Muslim world that led to their defeat in Afghanistan and demise as a world power. While the charges that the CIA was responsible for the rise of the Afghan Arabs might make good headlines, they don’t make accurate history. The truth is more complicated, tinged with varying shades of gray. The United States wanted to be able to deny that the CIA was funding the Afghan war, so its support was funneled through Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI). ISI in turn made the decisions about which Afghan factions to arm and train, tending to favor the most Islamist and pro-Pakistan. The Afghan Arabs generally fought alongside those factions, which is how the charge arose that they were creatures of the CIA.

Through the strong connection that the ISI formed through the war, the fundamental Islamic sympathizing ISI can take credit for their self defeating creation ” The Taliban ” which is currently clashing with Pakistan troops and government and is winning the war of the minds inside of the country. The ISI mingle among some of the biggest terrorists threats to the world daily, but rarely unless under extreme pressure make an arrest.

The ISI created the Taliban by recruiting religious students and scholars, which is why the brand of justice the Taliban used while in rule was so ancient and barbaric in nature in Afghanistan. They have their own brash interpretation of the Sharia. Sharia is the Muslim book of law and punishment. The ISI created the Taliban in an effort to have control over it’s neighbor Afghanistan’s internal affairs but there was a lack of government in Kabul as the country was being controlled by warring warlords across the country. They armed, trained and provided intelligence for the Taliban to unite their neighbor under one stable government. By 1996, 95% of the country was under Taliban rule and remained so until the U.S. invasion that destroyed the Taliban government. Top leaders slipped back across the border to Pakistan to run their war after reorganizing. The U.S. invasion has put pressure on Pakistan but it appears on the surface has created a riff between the Taliban and the Pakistani government. Caught in the middle is the ISI, where many of it’s agents are aligned with the Taliban. The following are ISI involvement in connection with support of terrorism.

In 2001 the ISI expels Hamid Karzai from his residence in exile in Pakistan for opposing the Taliban

The ISI trained about 83,000 Afghan mujahideen between 1983 and 1997, and dispatched them to Afghanistan

2008, the New York Times quoted anonymous intelligence officials in the United States alleging that the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan was behind the Indian embassy bombing in Kabul, which killed 58 people and wounded 141.

In 2001 According to allegations within the New York Times, ISI “has had an indirect but longstanding relationship with Al Qaeda, turning a blind eye for years to the growing ties between Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, according to American officials…ISI created Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan to train covert operatives for use in a war of terror against India…and also maintained direct links to guerrillas fighting in the disputed territory of Kashmir on Pakistan’s border with India, the officials said.

In July of 2008, there were media reports that CIA officials approached Pakistani officials with hints of ties between Inter-Services Intelligence and Jalaluddin Haqqani.  Haqqani is a Pashtun military leader known for his involvement in fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980’s as well as for being invited by President Hamid Karzai to become Prime Minister of Afghanistan. Operating against the Soviets and the Afghan government from a safe haven in North Waziristan[2], Haqqani is reputed to have once had strong ties with the CIA and the Pakistani ISI.  More recently, he has led pro-Taliban militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has also been credited with introducing suicide bombing to the region
The ISI firmly refuted these claims, however it admitted to the presence of elements within the ISI that were sympathetic to the insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The ISI supported the 1999 release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh who was subsequently convicted of the 2002 beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl as well as the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.

1998: Al-Qaeda and Pakistan government-funded Harakat ul-Ansar (HUA) have been sharing terrorist training camps in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan for years, and HUA has increasingly been moving ideologically closer to al-Qaeda. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is growing increasingly concerned as Fazlur Rahman Khalil, a leader in Pakistan’s Harakat ul-Ansar has signed Osama bin Laden’s most recent fatwa promoting terrorist activities against U.S. interests.

September 2000: A cable cited in The 9/11 Commission Report notes that Pakistan’s aid to the Taliban had reached “unprecedented” levels, including reports that Islamabad had possibly allowed the Taliban to use territory in Pakistan for military operations.

In autumn 2006, a leaked report by a British Defense Ministry think tank charged, “Indirectly Pakistan (through the ISI) has been supporting terrorism and extremism—whether in London on 7/7, or in Afghanistan, or Iraq.”

In June 2008, Afghan officials accused Pakistan’s intelligence service of plotting a failed assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai; shortly thereafter, they implied the ISI’s involvement in a July 2008 attack on the Indian embassy. In an October 2006 interview, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said some retired ISI operatives could be abetting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan

In May 2006, the British chief of staff for southern Afghanistan told the Guardian, “The thinking piece of the Taliban is out of Quetta in Pakistan.

In Conclusion

The new government that had pushed for Musharaff’s resignation is faltering fast. Unable to deal with a huge population of Islamic fundamentalist that are tied to such groups as al Qaeda, the Taliban and various other high level terrorist groups that threaten not only neighbors like India, Afghanistan, and China, but the rest of the world. It is essential that the U.S. government as well as other concerned neighbors in the region convince the new Pakistan government that it is in their best interest to allow foreign troops inside of their borders to weaken the grasp that insurgent Islamic fundamentalist have within a country where they operate freely in lawless tribal regions. They choose when to strike within Pakistan, Afghanistan, and many attacks in the West. It is a mistake for the countries affected by the wrath of Radical Islam to continue to operate so easily and openly while the rest of the world waits for the next terrorist act hoping that it is not on their soil. George W. Bush had it right when he said that the War on Terror would be fought on many fronts, however Pakistan from here on out is the throat that delivers air to the rest of the terrorism body. It is time to choke them out of their hiding place.

It is crucial that not only America, but China, Great Britain, Australia, and any other country that is dealing with threats from extremism cooperate and create a joint coalition of the determined to end the menace that will not only destroy Pakistan and Afghanistan but is capable of continuing it’s silent and deadly crawl to other locations across the globe wherever and whenever it can gain a footing.