The shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai by the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has horrified a nation, and what good is a horrified nation if it can’t be exploited for a war?
That’s the message from former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Maleeha Lodhi, who is calling for a massive military operation against North and South Waziristan, saying that this is a great chance to do so before “the window of public consent” closes.
There is a lot of anger at the TTP right now, but there isn’t a consensus about starting a war, with many insisting that a negotiated settlement is the only way to end the violence across Pakistan, as years of military offensives have not succeeded, and there is no reason to think an escalation will either.
Starting a war right now might be convenient from a rhetorical standpoint, but with winter just weeks away the region is going to be impassable soon and the fighting could be hugely difficult. Coupled with the election coming up early next year, and ugly war with huge casualties is the last thing the shaky Zardari government is likely to want.
Has even a single relative of this woman died in this war since started by her USA,
wILL ANY OF HER RELATIVE ever faught a war or died in it or by a drone attack or on the strrets of my beloved Pakistan.
I tell her to Raise a sarmy of her relatives with her husband as their commander and start the massive operation that she another american poodle suggests.
Maleeha have you ever been in war or seen one from lose I bet u havent so stop banging this war drum of yours.
Maleeha you better be Pakistans ambassador & not that of USA,ISAF & NATO.
Smells more and more like a false-flag incident every day. If someone says now "why let a good crisis go to waste" you can bet it was being thought of before the event happened.
The person who claims responsibility for the shooting is in Afghanistan so what will be the point of attacking North and South Waziristan? Just remember much of the problem for Pakistan started when the Pakistani army attacked South Waziristan, scrapped Swat peace initiative, and bombed the red mosque.
Shamed about the little girl, but you gotta wonder about the NGO associated father egging her on. This whole issue stinks to high heavens (just a week ago, with Imran Khan march to South Waziristan, there was a momentum against drones, which has now dissipated – talk about timing).
Unlike many other areas in the Frontier Province, Swat has not had a tradition of subversion or rebellion. It is a very settled area, very dependent on tourism and the hotel trade.
For years, the local malcontents of the Shariat Movement (long story) made much noise, but never amounted to much. Their chief at the time, Sufi Mohammad, urged young hothead to cross the border during the American invasion. They were massacred from the air, while Sufi Mohammad quickly sought government protection from the families of the slained. Later, his son-in-law, Fazullah took over, and rebranded the party as a Taliban faction (everybody was doing it). By most accounts, he never attended any kind of seminary, but nowadays, who dares ask.
All the same, it was real surprise that they took over Swat. Few believe he would have succeeded without government connivance.
That may sound strange, but bear in mind, our then President, Musharraf, was the kind who would blithely boast of collecting bounties from the US in the English version of his best-seller, but omit it from the Urdu version (there is no way that would sound good in Urdu).
He also would say that women get themselves raped to get political asylum. But most importantly, as President, he would repeatedly malign his own country to the world media and the US to emphasize his indispensability. The only way one would rationalize the seeming neglect of his government of the situation in a settled area like Swat until Islamabad was apparently threatened is that it was wilful, in order to generate another controlled crisis to highlight Musharraf's loyalty to the US. No unlike the Lal-Masjid situation.
In fact, the impetus for army action in Swat was provided by a video of the 'Taliban' caning a girl, which later was proven to be an NGO forgery.
So while I have no sympathy for the attackers of this little girl, I can't help being highly sceptical of the entire situation. It may well be a 'false-flag' PR move, like Gaddafi's viagra and the Kuwait incubators.