http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/21/asia/web.0121pakistan.phpSome excerpts I found interesting:
"
Western diplomats in both countries and Pakistani opposition figures say that Pakistani intelligence agencies — in particular the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence — have been supporting a Taliban restoration, motivated not only by Islamic fervor but also by a longstanding view that the jihadist movement allows them to assert greater influence on Pakistan's vulnerable western flank."
"The Pakistani military and intelligence services have for decades
used religious parties as a convenient instrument to keep domestic political opponents at bay and for foreign policy adventures..."
"The religious parties recruited for the jihad in Kashmir and Afghanistan from the 1980s, when the Pakistani intelligence agencies ran the resistance by the mujahedeen and channeled money to them
from the United States and Saudi Arabia to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan..."
"In return for help in Kashmir and Afghanistan the intelligence services would rig votes for the religious parties and allow them freedom to operate..."
"The religious parties provide them with recruits, personnel, cover and
deniability..."
...
"After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, President Pervez Musharraf, under strong American pressure, pledged to help root out Islamic extremism, and, as both head of the army and president, he has more direct control of the intelligence services than past civilian prime ministers. But according to several analysts, Pakistani intelligence officials believe
it is more prudent to prepare for the day when Western troops leave Afghanistan."
"Pakistan has long seen jihadi movements like the Taliban as a counter to Indian and Russian influence next door in Afghanistan, the Western diplomat and other analysts said, and as a way to provide Pakistan with "strategic depth," or a friendly buffer on its western border."
...
"In the Koran it is written that it is every Muslim's right to fight jihad," ... "All
we are telling them is what is in the Koran, and then it's up to them to go to jihad."
"Mr. Hai, 50, who is a Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam member, denied that his son had been persuaded to fight by anyone. "From the start it was his spirit to take part in jihad," his father said. "
It's all to do with personal will. If someone agrees, then he goes. Even if someone wishes to, no one can stop him."
"It is an argument that supporters of the jihad use frequently. But for some of the families mourning their sons, there is no doubt that
the madrasas and the religious parties are the first point of contact."
Labels: Globalization
