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Dealing with terrorism |
THE car bomb attack in Charsadda, killing 34 innocent people and injuring nearly 100 others, is a reminder that despite being on the defensive, the terrorists still possess a deadly potential. What is more, they have scant respect for human life. This was the third attack in three consecutive days in the NWFP. The province has become the principal target of the terrorists on account of its proximity to the tribal areas.
Fearful of confronting the military openly in South Waziristan, the terrorists have chosen to attack unarmed and unwary citizens, which is a dastardly act. It is all the more so on account of the women and children that continue to die or become seriously injured in the attacks, as has happened in the present case.
In Charsadda, the car bomb had ripped through a crowded intersection explaining the large number of casualties. Speaking in the National Assembly Prime Minister Gilani has said that the terrorists who had been ousted from their strongholds were conducting desperate attacks and warned that the heinous trend could continue for some time.
While many would agree with Gilani, there remains a need for greater alert on the part of the intelligence agencies and the local administration. What is more, the federal government has to extend support to the NWFP government, which cannot cope with the onslaught on its own.
As was the case with October, the present month also is likely to see increased activity on the part of the Taliban, which is indicative of the panic caused by the loss of their stronghold in South Waziristan. They seem to be diverting much of their human and physical assets to attacks inside the cities in a bid to weaken the will of the government and the people who are fully supporting the operation in Waziristan.
The attacks are thus a part of the psychological warfare the TTP is conducting. What is needed is that the resolve to wipe out the menace of terrorism, for all times to come, must not wilt. There are enough signs of frustration in the terrorist camp as indicated by the statement of the TTP spokesman, Azam Tariq.
With the army capturing all the major towns including the operational headquarters of the TTP and its leadership on the run, it is hollow to claim, as he has done, that the army is 'capturing roads', while the terrorists are 'still operating in the forests and mountains.'
While it took the army nearly three months to occupy all the major towns in Swat, the same objective has been achieved in South Waziristan in about three weeks. Comparing South Waziristan with the Indian-held Kashmir is totally inappropriate.
In Kashmir, the entire population is fighting against the Indian occupation, while in South Waziristan the Pakistan army has gone to root out the anti-state elements, including hundreds of terrorists of foreign origin, who have challenged the writ of the state and killed scores of tribal elders.
The operation might still not have taken place if their leadership had not initiated deadly attacks all over the country, killing hundreds of innocent people and targeting security personnel and establishments. Earlier, the TTP used to issue denials, to hoodwink the people, whenever an attack on civilians was conducted.
That this was no more than a ruse should now be abundantly clear from what its spokesman has admitted. According to him, "The attacks in the cities are a part of our permanent strategy. These attacks will continue." Pakistan is not just bearing the brunt of the terrorist attacks in the major cities. The militants have also torched schools in Khyber Agency, kidnapped and killed non-combatants in Kurram and Mohmand Agencies and used a number of agencies to plan attacks inside Peshawar and elsewhere.
Attempts, so far foiled, have also been made to destabilise Punjab. Early this week, police recovered 60,000 kgs of explosives, which were being smuggled by trucks into Dera Ghazi Khan District from the adjoining tribal belt. Secretary Hillary Clinton has said that Pakistan realises the need to go beyond South Waziristan. The statement is, in fact, indicative of Obama administration's desire for action in the rest of FATA agencies also. Pakistan has, however, to decide what to do independently of Washington's wishes.
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Russian economy |
RUSSIAN President Dmitry Medvedev still looks as if he is busy putting political water between himself and his Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. However, judging by his state of the nation address, the water is neither yet clear nor blue.
He repeated his past concerns at Russia’s corrupt and ineffective economy, not least the state-run industrial behemoths that re-emerged under President Putin, its still Soviet-style social structures and its weak democracy. He also proposed the country move away from excessive reliance on natural resources and turn itself into a high-technology innovation economy, majoring on IT, communications, medicine, space and nuclear power.
All of which was fine and dandy but his 100-minute speech was notably light on detail. Not least he did nor spell out for foreign investors how he intends to reverse the hostile attitude to outside capital, which has so damaged the country’s reputation, particularly in the key oil and gas sector. Nor did he really address the shrinking economy and growing unemployment. If Medvedev really is seeking to break free from his one-time sponsor and mentor Putin, he should be leveraging Russia’s economic troubles — GDP is slated to fall by 7.5 percent this year — by coming up with clear actions, not long-term strategies. His options are, however, certainly limited.
The levers of economic power still rest with Premier Putin and the bloated state industries. As matters stand, if Medvedev seeks to intervene in the economy he is likely to carry the can for a tough belt-tightening, even though constitutionally, it is Putin as premier who has the executive power. Perhaps this is how it is supposed to be and the president and premier are still working together, as Putin intended. Still only into the second year of his six-year term, maybe Medvedev is setting himself up to be the lightning rod for future public discontent. The blame for economic troubles ahead will, therefore, be diverted from Putin and in 2014 the prime minister will have a clear run at the presidency again.
It is certain that most Russians still value him as the strong man who took their country from the economic and political humiliations of the Yeltsin era. Putin’s eight years as president also coincided with a long interlude of prosperity. The period ahead looks very different.
And there was something particularly odd about Medvedev’s address on Thursday. With all its lofty aims, its focus on the potential rather than the reality of Russia’s economy, it was a speech that could have been made by one of the bright young US-trained Russian economists and bankers who crowded home when Yeltsin came to power in 1991. They convinced the new president to promise economic “shock therapy” and shock it was indeed, though hardly therapy. Savings were destroyed, Russia defaulted on its international debt and the president’s cronies plundered the economy during privatization. With his smart suit and youthful haircut, Medvedev looked very like one of those free market “experts”, whose advice unleashed chaos 15 years ago. Could the resemblance have perhaps been intentional?
—Arab News
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