The 71 Taliban courts operating in the Kabal, Matta, Khwazakhela and Charbagh districts of Swat amount to a parallel legal system. Their judgments on finance, land disputes, smuggling and narcotics are arbitrary and handed out by self-proclaimed Taliban judges with scant legal or religious knowledge.
Taliban informers spy on people alleged to be breaking Islamic law, who then receive a three-day warning to shut their business. Most obey instantly, but anyone defying the order is arrested by armed Taliban and dragged to court for a summary trial the next day.
They are completely out in the open about their control of the region.
But wait, US commander, General Patraeus says:
Pakistan does have large, well-developed security institutions and its leaders are determined to employ their own forces in dealing with the significant extremist challenges that threaten their country.
How can he say that with a straight face? When you hear this sort of thing, you think the terrorists are hiding in caves and running a covert guerrilla operation. No, they are wide open and actually control the legal system up front in some provinces. This while the US sends an annual $2 billion of military aid to their "ally" Pakistan in the hopes that they keep it under control and help the effort. What a joke. How do they expect to win the war with this bullshit going on? It's a disgrace. A disaster in the making.
You can't win in Afghanistan unless you can get Pakistan under control. We're sitting here watching this happen. They don't seem to care that it's unwinnable, as long as they are showing that they are making some kind of effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment