MY VLOG: Return of Titans to Afghanistan| Will the US be targeted by terrorists with their own equipment?
US want to repossess Bagram Airbase. How will this work for the terrorist outfits operating from Afghanistan? Will the US military equipment left behind be used against them? Its a loaded situation. Can the US role expand in future?
#afghanistan #bagram #usa #militarypower #alqaida #ttp #other #china #miitarystrategy
WaPo’s Report About Terrorists’ Use Of US-Sourced Afghan Arms Against Pakistan Is Misleading
WaPo’s Report About Terrorists’ Use Of US-Sourced Afghan Arms Against Pakistan Is Misleading
The Pakistani Establishment shares some blame for the latest terrorist upsurge together with America and the Taliban to differing degrees, yet WaPo avoided drawing attention to this for reasons that can only be speculated.
The Washington Post (WaPo) published a detailed report last week about how “U.S. weapons from Afghan war give Pakistani militants a deadly advantage”, which claimed that some of the US-designated terrorists behind last month’s hijacking of the Jaffar Express used such arms during this infamous attack. They allegedly obtained them from the Taliban and the Pakistani borderland bazaars where they’ve supposedly been sold for the last 3,5 years. There’s no reason to doubt any of the three aforesaid claims.
What’s misleading though is the subtext throughout the piece that these American arms and the Taliban alone are responsible for the upsurge in terrorism across Pakistan. Weapons don’t cause terrorism, people do, either because bad actors exploit their poverty, they’re ideologically radicalized, and/or bent on revenge due to personal disputes, their family having been harmed or killed, or real or perceived injustices. None of this justifies terrorism, to be absolutely clear, but it contextualizes the root causes.
They’re not even remotely touched upon by WaPo, however, with it simply being taken for granted that terrorist attacks are occurring for whatever reason. Their report also only makes casual mention of how Pakistan was once accused of sheltering Taliban leaders, which is deliberately deceitful because it was also actually accused of arming the Taliban and facilitating the then-insurgent group’s logistics. The Taliban couldn’t have returned to power without Pakistan’s help over the two decades prior.
These facts don’t imply that Pakistan expected the Taliban to then arm anti-Pakistani terrorists for ideological and strategic reasons even though some earlier warned about that possibility, nor that Pakistan deserves what happened, but reminding readers about them more fairly divides the blame. On that topic, WaPo also didn’t question how so many arms were able to be smuggled into Pakistan despite Islamabad knowing what the Taliban captured, nor why they were sold openly in bazaars for so long.
These observations lead to the uncomfortable conclusion that the Pakistani Establishment, which refers to the country’s powerful armed forces and intelligence services that wield much more control over policy than the civilian government, is either incompetent and/or corrupt. They’ve practically sealed the border shut with India so much so that rarely does anything get through to Pakistan without their knowledge, however, so incompetence probably isn’t the issue.
Corruption is therefore the most logistical conclusion and it’s proven to have very serious national security consequences in the sense of facilitating, but importantly not being directly responsible for, the recent upsurge in terrorism since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. Elaborating on this, some officials might have been bribed to let these arms illegally enter Pakistan while others could have wanted to profit from these sales, but the Establishment could have put a quick stop to this if it really wanted to.
This didn’t happen even after signs of an impending terrorist upsurge were seen from mid-2022 onward, which coincides with them redirecting their institutions’ focus towards suppressing the political opposition instead of remaining committed to ensuring their country’s national security interests. The Pakistani Establishment therefore shares some blame for this together with America and the Taliban to differing degrees, yet WaPo avoided drawing attention to that for reasons that can only be speculated.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Voice of East.
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#AfghanTaliban #Afghanistan #Pakistan #PakistanArmy #TehrikITalibanPakistan #Terrorism #Terrorists #TTP #USA
MY VLOG: US javelin missiles in hands of Fitna-ul-Khawarij| When will it be used against Pakistan?
Fitna-ul-Khawarij acquire javelin missiles: deadly and technologically most advanced. Can Pakistan counter? When will it be used against Pakistan?
#ttp #missilestrike #army #pakistan #terrorism #terrorism #afghanistan
MY VLOG: US javelin missiles in hands of Fitna-ul-Khawarij| When will it be used against Pakistan?
Fitna-ul-Khawarij acquire javelin missiles: deadly and technologically most advanced. Can Pakistan counter? When will it be used against Pakistan?
#ttp #missilestrike #army #pakistan #terrorism #terrorism #afghanistan
Addressing Strategic Risks in US-Pakistan Critical Mineral Cooperation
Addressing Strategic Risks in US-Pakistan Critical Mineral Cooperation
Pakistan might be handing the US a poisoned chalice.
The US sent one of its top diplomats for South Asia to attend the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum in Islamabad last week, during which time he conveyed the Trump Administration’s interest in critical mineral cooperation with Pakistan and met with senior political and military officials to discuss this. These resources are integral to the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” and that’s why the US is negotiating such partnerships across the world with countries as varied as Ukraine, the Congo, and now Pakistan.
Each of these three entail strategic risks, but it’s only the last one that will be discussed in this analysis. To begin with, the bulk of Pakistan’s mineral resources are located in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, which are respectively suffering terrorist insurgencies waged by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). The former is fighting to impose a radical Islamic dictatorship, the latter wants independence, and both are designated by the US as terrorists.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Voice of East.
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