StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

Recently, in “another place,” a “debate” ensued about whether the Taliban had been decapitated in Afghanistan, and therefore troops did not have to be redeployed from there to Iraq. Have they been weakened (especially with the killing of Mullah Dullah?) Maybe. Is the Taliban defunct there? I don’t think so.

My argument begins with the question of the Taliban’s movement between Afghanistan and Pakistan…only if you differentiate Afghanistan from Pakistan (little difference except for those who wish to “see” it) is the Taliban on its way to being defunct.

The Drug-Terrorist Link Means Wars can Last Indefinitely

“Growing links between the drugs trade and the insurgency in the South will provide longevity to the Taliban,” the UK document says. “In the south, the drugs trade is fuelling the insurgency.”

It adds: “This is compounded by government corruption. Karzai chooses to avoid rocking the boat with powerful narco figures and has not blocked their appointment as governors or other senior officials.”

In turn, Mr Karzai’s failure to tackle corruption and the drug lords “only increases popular disillusion,” further boosting the insurgency, the paper says.

Pakistan and the Growing Threat of a Sharia Mini-State

Recently, there have been negotiations and agreements between the Pakistan Taliban (or tribal leaders including Taliban representatives) and Pakistan governments in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), both of which are in the northwestern area of Pakistan. Pakistan has seen 4,500 killed in terrorist attacks over the past year and a half, and the Pakistan NWFP and FATA governments view agreements with the Pakistan Taliban as the solution to end the violence and find peace in their areas.

Taliban Defends Peace Accord with Pakistani Government

“We consider the peace accord in Pakistan as an internal affair, which pertains to that country alone—yet the occupation forces in Afghanistan and the forces hostile to Islam around the world oppose this peace accord and argue it will lead to an escalation in jihadi activities in Afghanistan. This claim is groundless and it is far from the truth… The occupying forces and their supporters are facing total defeat in Afghanistan, and therefore, they are trying to use these kind of statements and claims in order to distract the gaze of the Afghans and the rest of the world in another direction—so that the Afghan resistance will appear to be weak.”

Thus, from the CTB alone, there are more sources and contrary conclusions. Its that “pesky Durand Line” again.

First, let us not minimize the fact that the prison break in Kandahar City Afghanistan freed nearly 1000 Taliban fighters. But there is more going on here!

Despite the fact that Afghanistan is a very conservative country, the sex trade is rampant. And it gets “gooey” from there.

Afghanistan is one of the world’s most conservative countries, yet its sex trade appears to be thriving. Sex is sold most obviously at brothels full of women from China who serve both Afghans and foreigners. Far more controversial are Afghan prostitutes, who stay underground in a society that pretends they don’t exist.

Customs meant to keep women “pure” have not stopped prostitution. Girls are expected to remain virgins until their wedding nights, so some prostitutes have only anal sex.

Want more salacious “input?”

Some prostitutes are forced into the sex trade by their families. The Ora report said 39 percent of the sex workers interviewed found clients through their relatives — including 17 percent through their mothers and 15 percent through their husbands.

We’re also facing the possibility that a German-born Muslim convert Eric B. who authorities have been trailing for months may be planning a suicide attack in Afghanistan. You can “rose colored” glasses this thing (in Afghanistan and elsewhere), or you can consider that the Taliban ain’t dead (just yet at least) and that the War on Terror is constantly morphing.