American Special forces entered South Wazirstan to target Al-Qaeda early Wednesday morning. This is a new and significant development because prior to this attack, Americans and NATO forces normally used air power to bomb suspected terrorists in Pakistani tribal areas. This attack signals that Americans and NATO forces are increasingly taking matters in their own hands to battle Al Qaeda directly, instead of relying on Pakistani assurances.
Pakistan has been trying to defeat the Taliban for years, but there is absolutely no reason to believe that Al Qaeda or Taliban were either losing the fight, or becoming week. On the contrary, the terrorists have been gaining momentum and they have been stepping up the attacks to control more and more areas in North-West Frontier Province (N.W.F.P.).
Ironically, the current provincial government in N.W.F.P led by Awami National Party (ANP) is fiercely secular and they desperately want the Taliban defeated, but the fight against Taliban is anything but simple. Taliban have been part of N.W.F.P for about 3 decades and they have successfully operated there for years. This problem, which we call Taliban, is not going anywhere any time soon, even if Americans decided to start a full fledged war in N.W.F.P.
Daily Times reported couple of days ago that the tribal elders had decided to take on the Taliban. The local community eventually launched an attack on Taliban, but direct American involvement is going to complicate this fight. If American and NATO forces entered Pakistan frequently, nationalism is going to kick in and the local community, which is ready to fight Taliban today, might turn on the Americans. This is a risk we should not, and we cannot take because once Taliban and the locals blend to fight NATO and Americans, it would become too complicated for everyone. And this is precisely what Al Qaeda and Taliban are trying to accomplish. Drag Americans into a direct conflict inside Pakistani territory so that the country unites behind hardliners.
We should support the locals to fight, and should support the secular forces to deliver a simple message that Taliban are a threat to everyone and it is in Pakistan's interest to defeat religious militancy. For this, Americans and NATO forces should provide support instead of leading the fight.
Bilal Qureshi
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