Air strikes in Yemen kill 40 al Qaeda militants in two days

[happyslug]

24. There is NO EVIDENCE OF THE TALIBAN NOT BEING NATIVE AFGHANISTAN

Just like the French did NOT cause the US Revolution by supporting people who wanted to separate the American Colonies from England. Now, the French did send in people to look over the Colonies, and give estimates of Military Strength (and gave arms starting in 1775 but secretly). That French support did NOT make the American Revolution, but did help it along.

The same with the Pakistan Intelligence Service, it helped the Taliban take over Afghanistan.

The Taliban stronghold, on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border is dominated by the Pashtuns, who make up anyway from 38-53% of the population of Afghanistan (exact number is unknown, no census has been taken in decades).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtun_people

2/3rds of all Pashtuns live in Pakistan, with only 1/3 in Afghanistan, thus the 38-52% of Afghans who are Pashtuns, make up only 1/3 of all Pashtans. The Pashtuns are concentrated along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, reaching upto Kabul.

Now, in Pakistan the Pashtuns live along the border between these two countries, countries they do not believe they are part of. Instead the Pashtuns see their fellow Pashtuns as they fellow citizens not the members of other tribes or other citizens of Pakistan or Afghanistan. This common world view is what the Pakistan Intelligence Service took advantage of when it wanted to help stabilize Afghanistan. With the assistance of Pakistan, the Talibans slowly took over all the Pashtuns trible areas in the the Afghan South, then moved onto Kabul. They tactics were simple, infiltration and concentrating on tribal connections. This was successful till they entered that part of Afghanistan with the least Pashtuns. This region become the "Northern Alliance" who kept the Taliban out with the support of Russia.

It is interesting that the Taliban offensive STOPPED when they ran into an area with very few if any Pashtuns, You can blame this on the lack of Pakistan Intelligence, but it seems to be that the Taliban ran out of Pashtuns. Thus the Pushtans were the rock the Taliban were founded on and built on. The Pakistan Intelligence service may have had a hand in the formation of the Taliban, but from all accounts it is based on the Pashtun tribal group, and that makes it a native born organization.

As to the Pashtuns in Pakistan, they loyality to Pakistan is open to debate. The border is called the "Federally Administered Tribal Areas" which continued the British policy dating to the late 1800s which was to leave the area alone. i.e. as long as whoever was in charge of the tribes in that area did not attack British and later Pakistan areas outside the Tribal area, the tribes in the area could do as they pleased.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federally_Administered_Tribal_Areas

In the 1980s, with massive input of supplies going through the Tribal Area to Afghanistan during the Russia occupation of Afghanistan, a change started in the Tribal Area. It was NOT increased control by the Central Government of Pakistan, instead the people in control of the tribal areas shifted from the tribal elders, which had been the norm till 1980, to people having access to supplies and weapons going to Afghanistan. This increase tremendously after 2000 as the Taliban took over both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan Border.

The Council of Foreign Affairs is less upbeat about the Federally Administered Tribal Areas then is Wilipedia:

http://www.cfr.org/pakistan/pakistans-tribal-areas/p11973#p5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federally_Administered_Tribal_Areas

One survey indicated that 90% of the people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and 60% support attacks on the US for the drone strikes:

http://pakistansurvey.org/

Nearly nine out every ten people in FATA oppose the U.S. military pursuing al-Qaeda and the Taliban in their region. Nearly 70 percent of FATA residents instead want the Pakistani military alone to fight Taliban and al- Qaeda militants in the tribal areas.

The intensity of opposition to the American military is high. While only one in ten of FATA residents think suicide attacks are often or sometimes justified against the Pakistani military and police, almost six in ten believe these attacks are justified against the U.S. military. (The United Nations has determined that many of the suicide attackers in Afghanistan hail from the Pakistani tribal regions.)

More than three-quarters of FATA residents oppose American drone strikes. Indeed, only 16 percent think these strikes accurately target militants; 48 percent think they largely kill civilians and another 33 percent feel they kill both civilians and militants. Directed by the Central Intelligence Agency, missiles are launched from unmanned drone aircraft in the FATA region of Pakistan.

http://pakistansurvey.org/

The same survey shows little support for the Taliban or Al Queda, but that is NOT how the people are acting, i.e. they seem to provide food, ammo and other support to the Taliban, but then claim they do not. Typical of people who are unsure of how they should answer that question, in fear of retaliation. Opposition to US Drone Strikes is fairly safe, every one in Pakistan is saying they oppose them, even the soldiers guarding the bases where the drones are flown out of. It is safe to support suicide attacks, for they are RARE in Pakistan, they want to support the Pakistan Military, again a safe answer. Support for suicide attacks on Americans is high, again a safe answer, for such attacks are RARE in Pakistan and unheard of in the Tribal Areas (Where Americans do NOT go to).

Remember these are in areas where the Taliban control is view their tribe, which can also protect them from the Taliban (For often they are one and the same). On the other hand the Pakistan Army is an arm of the Pakistan Government, something they reject for their put their tribe above whatever Nation-State they happen to be in.

2005 paper on the History of the Afghanistan and the "Federally Administered Tribal Areas":

http://ipripak.org/papers/federally.shtml

Map of the Tribal Area:



http://www.understandingfata.org/about-u-fata.php

Once you understand the significance of the Pashtuns, and that they are the single largest "segmentary lineage" tribe in the world (i.e. a tribe, made up of sub tribes, which in turn is made up of clans, which in turn is made up of extended families, which in turn is made up of nuclear families, which is turn is made up of individuals).

More on Pashtun's Tribal rules:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtunwali
http://www.economist.com/node/8345531
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/phmen/My%20Documents/Downloads/ADA502894.pdf
http://afghanland.com/culture/pashtunwali.html
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/ilsp/research/kakar.pdf

More on the nature of their tribe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segmentary_lineage

The significance of being a Pashtun is that the nature of being a Pashtun who lives in the traditional Pashtun areas rules HOW you live and WHO you follow. It is the classic, myself against my brother, my brothers against my cousins, my cousins against my clan, my clam against my sub-tribe, my sub-tribe against my Tribe and my Tribe against the World. That is Pashtun society. When they are NOT fighting each other, they are fighting anyone who tries to move into the area that they control.

Thus when the Communist Government of Afghanistan collapsed in 1992, and the various War Lords took over and then started to fight each other over the remains, the Pashtuns finally said enough was enough and either formed up the Taliban (which the Pakistan Intelligence Service quickly decided also to support) or became the main force behind the Taliban, as it was formed up by the Pakistan intelligence service. The best answer is probably both happened, the the Pakistan Intelligence Service saw an opportunity to become the main ally to whoever was in power in Kabul and thus helped the create the Taliban, AND the Pashtuns decided enough was enough formed the Taliban themselves with the aid of the the Pakistan Intelligence Service.

The problem is HOW the Taliban was created is of minor concern, the key is what is the base of support for the Taliban in Afghanistan (and in Pakistan), and the base for the Taliban in the Pashtun Tribe NOT the Pakistan Intelligence Service. The key to the Taliban is that Tribal support NOT anything else.