Vice President Joseph Biden wants to bomb the ephemeral “Quetta Shura”–a figment of the Neocon establishment. The premise that the Taliban need a sanctuary anywhere is flawed at its foundation and this thesis reeks of Pakistanphobic paranoia about Islamabad. Why would the so called Taliban (and 37 other insurgent groups) need sanctuaries outside Afghanistan if they controlled 80% of Afghanistan. Why would they cross over into hostile Pakistani territory when they own the land in Afghanistan? These questions remain unanswered. Vice President Biden has the upper hand in foreign policy, and he wants the drones to bomb Quetta.

‘The Americans are making the Quetta shura an excuse for an expansion of their drone strikes to Balochistan, nothing else.’ Above: An aerial view of Quetta city at night. — Photo by Ajmal Ahmed Khan

“From our judgment, there are no Taliban in Baluchistan,” said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, Pakistan’s military spokesman. Asked about the names of Quetta Shura leaders provided by Afghan and U.S. officials, he said: “Six to 10 of them have been killed, two are in Afghanistan, and two are insignificant…”

Abbas noted that the recent Pakistani army operation in the northwest Swat Valley had successfully driven Pakistani Taliban forces out of the area, and he said he hoped the Swat campaign had overcome any concerns Washington might have about Pakistan’s willingness to take on the Islamist insurgents. If the United States has information about Taliban leaders in Baluchistan, “tell us who and where they are,” he said. Washington Post. U.S. Says Taliban Has A New Haven in Pakistan. NATO oil tankers caught fire in an attack in Quetta, Pakistan, earlier this month, according to police there. (By Arshad Butt — Associated Press) By Pamela Constable. Washington Post Foreign Service, Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The US has threatened to attack the Baloch city of Quetta already reeling from an influx of refugees, Indian sponsored BLA militants and disgruntled BLA insurgents. If the US decides to begin bombing Quetta, the push and pull theory will once again play its role–the so called militants will once again move deeper into Pakistan, most probably Karachi and Lahore. This will have an adverse affect on the American war–and will exponentially increase the growing Anti-Americanism present in a major Non-NATO-Ally (MNNA) once the “most allied of allies”. Pakistan the most abused friend of the USA has paid a heavy tax in blood and gore for this so called war on terror. 

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the information relating to the presence of Taliban leader Mullah Omar in Quetta is incorrect and baseless, urging that he is in Kandahar.

While talking to a foreign news agency on Monday, the Minister said that Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar are not present in Pakistan adding some anti-state elements are propagating negative rumors for their own personal gain.

Replying to a question, he said that President Zardari’s visit to the US was quite fruitful adding that a host of issues of bilateral interest came under discussion.

To another question, he said that he is in contact with all the Baloch leaders and that the nation will soon hear good news.

He further stated that the US will not be allowed to carry out drone attacks in Balochistan. The News. Info on Mula Omar’s presence in Quetta ‘incorrect’: Rehman. Updated at: 2330 PST, Monday, September 28, 2009

Eight years have past but mission is still incomplete. Blaming others is not the way to win the war against Terrorism. So Quetta Taliban “Shura” is an unsubstantiated claim which is further pushing Democrats towards a downward popularity spiral.

Some of the analysts still think that US joint chief of staff Gen. Mike Mullen is behind the allegations. Some analysts have a different opinion. There is a Pushto maxim translated as “When a Money lender becomes poor, he searches for money ino his old box”. It means he thinks his money might be here or there or under the carpet inside the room–somewhere that he had kept it a long time ago. He thinks that it may still be there. We have got a situation right here that top commander of US-NATO forces in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal needed extra troops in Afghanistan but Democrats are cool to this proposal. General McChrystal is helpless but Afghan Intelligence agencies encouraged him not to lose heart trying to make him beleive that the “Taliban Insurgents are in and around the Quetta”. Daily Pakistan. 

For years we have shed light on the pull and push theory. Can the $80 Billion Think Tank industry not comprehend the simple truths described by Peter Senge in his seminal book “The 5th Discipline“.  They theory goes as follows. When the Police cracks down on drug dealers on 42nd street, the drug dealing does not disappear, it simply moved to 52nd street or gets dispersed over a bigger area out of reach of the police raids. Similarly when the US bombs the insurgents in East Afghanistan, it is but obvious that they will find shelter and hideouts on the Duran Line and beyond. As the US drones bomb FATA, areas in Pakistan are affected destabilizing parts of the NWFP

The blame game and the expansion of the war into Pakistan will expedite the failure of the NATO forces. 

Quetta August 14 2009

A move that has long been debated by the Obama Administration could soon become reality, as officials say the State Department delivered an ultimatum to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari during his visit last week cautioning that if he doesn’t move against the Taliban forces in the city of Quetta the US will.

European flags being burned in Quetta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such attacks would be a major escalation of the unpopular US drone strikes against the nation, so far confined to the area in and around the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Quetta, a city of three quarters of a million people, is the capital of Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan.

The Pakistani government has been reluctant to move against the city, which has reportedly become a hiding point for much of the former Afghan government, citing both the lack of threat posed to the Pakistani government and the lack of intelligence provided by the US about exactly where to act.

In fact, the attack on Quetta may turn out to be even more than lobbing a few missiles, as reportedly officials have discussed sending ground forces into the town to “capture or kill” any Taliban they find.

Already struggling to keep the populace calm amid growing resentment of the US role in the nation, if American missiles or worse, American ground forces start pouring into a major Pakistani city to fight people who the government says aren’t posing a threat to Pakistan, all bets are likely off.

Vice President Joe Biden, among others, have been pressing for an escalation of drone strikes as a way of “stabilizing” Pakistan. It seems, however, that there are few things that would be more destabilizing than attacking Quetta. Will US Drone Strikes Move From Rural Pakistan to Baloch Capital? US Threatening to Attack Major Pakistani City of Quetta by Jason Ditz, September 27, 2009, http://news.antiwar.com/2009/09/27/us-threatening-to-attack-major-pakistani-city-of-quetta/

As Delhi pushes for the arrest of Paksitani citizens, the rural areas of South Punjab become more radicalized. Delhi has no clue about who did Mumbai–but internal politics forces it to continue to accuse Pakistan and point the fingers at those that have made life difficult for the Bharatis in Kashmir.

Another dimension of the war in West Asia is the presence of Israeli inspired Jundullah that is attacking Iran. Mossad and the CIA is busy creating problems for Iran in Khuzistan and Arabistan.

CHAMAN: Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is not in Pakistan and the United States is only saying he is there to justify an expansion of its drone missile strikes, a Taliban commander said on Wednesday.

The Washington Post said this week US officials had expressed concern over the ability of Omar and his lieutenants to launch attacks into Afghanistan from sanctuaries around the Pakistani city of Quetta.

Pakistan has long denied that Omar or any of his commanders are based in Pakistan but it has been unable to dispel the suspicion in Washington and Kabul. Several Taliban members have been detained in Pakistan.

Mounting US concern about Omar and his so-called Quetta shura, or leadership council, comes as the United States weighs options on how to deal with an intensifying Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

Possibilities include sending more combat troops and trainers for the Afghan army and stepping up strikes by pilotless drone aircraft on militants on the Pakistani side of the border.

A Taliban commander, Hayatullah Khan, told Reuters by telephone that the entire Taliban leadership was in Afghanistan.

‘Pakistan is not safe for us. More of our people have been captured in Pakistan than in Afghanistan so everybody is here including Mullah Omar,’ said Khan, who said he was speaking from Afghanistan, although he declined to be specific.

‘The Americans are making the Quetta shura an excuse for an expansion of their drone strikes to Balochistan, nothing else,’ said Khan.

Pakistan, battling al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban militants in NWFP province, to the north of Balochistan, insists that the Taliban leadership is not in present in Queta.

But many analysts say Pakistan is acting only against militants which are a threat to itself, like the Pakistani Taliban, while leaving alone those focused on fighting in Afghanistan or on targeting India.

US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson told the Washington Post the Quetta shura was ‘high on Washington’s list’.

The United States intensified its attacks by pilotless drones on militants in northwestern Pakistani border sanctuaries last year as the Afghan insurgency intensified.

The United States has launched nearly 60 strikes in northwest Pakistan since the beginning of 2008, but none has been in Baluchistan.

The strikes are deeply unpopular in a country where many people are suspicious of US designs in the region.

Pakistan officially objects to the drone attacks, saying they violate its sovereignty and the civilian casualties they inflict inflame public anger.

US officials say the strikes are carried out under an agreement with Islamabad that allows Pakistani leaders to decry the attacks in public.

Pakistan is already facing a low-level insurgency by separatists Balochistan and has decried any suggestion of an expansion of the US drone war to the province.

The US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, said in an assessment leaked to the media last week the Afghan insurgency was clearly supported from Pakistan and senior leaders of insurgent groups were based there. — Reuters