AfPak (Afghanistan Pakistan): Mutiny on
the Bounty
26 April 2012
By Eric Walberg
The Taliban began their spring campaign as a
British lord put a price on Bush's scalp, notes Eric
Walberg
Kabul was cast into chaos Sunday as the Taliban began
their spring offensive with attacks on US, British,
German and Russian embassies, NATO headquarters, Camp
Eggers, a hotel, President Karzai's palace compound
and parliament. "These are coordinated attacks that
went just as we planned," Taliban spokesman Qari Talha
told The Daily Beast. "This is only the start
of what's in store this year and next for the
Americans and Karzai."
Targets across the country included Vice-President
Mohammad Karim Khalili, airfields and police stations
in three eastern provinces. About 20 insurgents were
killed in the attacks, which injured at least 15
police officers and nine civilians.
US ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker dismissed
the Taliban's claim of responsibility: "Frankly, I
don't think the Taliban is good enough," leaving
unsaid who is. Crocker commended the NATO-trained
Afghan forces, whose capability was "proven today by
their professional and highly effective response in
restoring order".
A warning came from New Delhi's Institute of Peace and
Conflict Studies Director Dipankar Banerjee: "We're
only going to see an increase in these attacks. It
helps [the militants] ensure political dominance in
the new order as they slowly take over." Talha said
that Sunday's strikes were just a preview of the
fighting season to come. "We want to engage smaller
numbers of well-trained fighters to make attacks on
significant government, American and NATO targets." He
said the mastermind of the operation was Hajji Lala,
the insurgency's shadow governor of Kabul and its
eastern-front military chief.
One big difference, according to Talha and other
Taliban sources, was that this time the Haqqani
network did not play a significant role in the
operation. Rivalry has developed between the Taliban
and its eastern partner in insurgency, although
Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin have in the
past declared their loyalty to Taliban supreme leader
Mullah Mohammad Omar. Talha says he's hopeful that the
Taliban and the Haqqanis will work together in the
future. "With this coordination we can double of
number and size of attacks across Afghanistan."
Sunday's attacks confirmed the ease with which the
Taliban are able to infiltrate fighters, suicide
bombers, explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and
automatic weapons into the capital and the main towns
of the three surrounding provinces. The Kabul
government's 300,000-strong security forces actually
make this easier, Talha explained. "The bigger the
Afghan police, army, and intelligence services grow,
the less effective they become. Kabul's intelligence
and police are weaker than ever, allowing us to carry
out these stunning episodes."
A senior Kabul-government official in eastern Paktia
province confirms this: "I fear our intelligence and
security forces are becoming less coordinated while
the Taliban's coordination is getting better." The
problem is that the intelligence service, the police,
and the army, controlled by Tajiks, are riven by
ethnic rivalries and mistrust between them, Pashtuns
and Uzbeks. "They do not coordinate with each other.
This provides a golden opportunity for the Taliban to
infiltrate and penetrate wherever and when they wish."
American, Afghan and NATO officials undoubtedly will
call the Taliban assault a failed offensive. But that
is small comfort to most Afghans.
British parliamentarian Lord Nazir Ahmed added a note
of whimsy to AfPak's ongoing tragedy, when he
announced a reward for the capture of US President
Barack Obama and his predecessor George W Bush at a
reception in Lord Nazir's honour held by the business
community of Haripur, Pakistan on Friday. Nazir said
that placing a bounty on Lashkar-e-Taiba Chief Hafiz
Saeed was an insult to all Muslims, and by doing so
President Obama has challenged the dignity of the
Muslim Ummah. Lashkar-e-Taiba is held responsible for
the 2008 Mumbai bombings and is on the US terrorist
list.
"If the US can announce a reward of $10 million for
the captor of Hafiz Saeed, I can announce a bounty of
10 million pounds on President Obama and his
predecessor George Bush," Lord Nazir said. A terrorist
tit-for-tat.
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