Pakistan's survival threatened by terror and flooding, says president

[Turborama]

Source: Telegraph (UK)

A suicide bomber rammed a pickup truck laden with explosives into a police station in the north-west of the country killing 19 people. Among them were four children. It brings the total of people who have been killed in a wave of terrorist attacks since Wednesday to 109 amid signs the Pakistan Taliban is trying to capitalise on the disarray caused by the floods

President Zardari acknowledged the dire threat in a statement released to coincide with Defence of Pakistan Day. "On September 6 this year the nation is confronted with an existential threat from fanatics, zealots and extremists on the one hand and from the material devastation caused by the history's worst floods on the other," he said. "While the former is testing our will to survive and live in accordance with our values and ideology, the latter is testing our ability, resourcefulness and resilience to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of a natural disaster."

Ihsanullah Ihsan, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack on Lakki Marwant, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and promised more bombings. "The TTP will leave no stone unturned to speed up attacks and defeat the enemies of Islam. The Pakistan government is committing a great sin by siding with the US against the Taliban, who are the true defenders of Islam", he told The Daily Telegraph by telephone.

=snip=

Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, condemned the bombing. "It goes to show that the terrorists have no creed except bloodshed and chaos, and are desperately carrying out their agenda regardless of the precarious conditions," he said.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/7984531/Pakistans-survival-threatened-by-terror-and-flooding-says-president.html

[sabrina 1]

1. They are determined to take advantage of the disaster.

But really, I think it will only turn the people against them. It might have worked better to continue providing aid.

If the government can get help, and it looks like more countries are providing more aid now, it is likely that they will survive. It really will come down to who can best provide for the needs of the people. Killing people is certainly not the way to win over the people, and the U.S. should remember that also.

[Name removed]

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[sabrina 1]

3. I don't know. We don't know how the average citizen there feels

about the extremists. Most of my friends from that region of the world despise them and hope they will be marginalized. It is the actions of the U.S. that gives them power.

In a documentary a few years ago that was made in Indonesia, many Muslims were interviewed and most were moderate in their beliefs, much like anywhere else.

A family who completely despised the extremists in their society, was interviewed and the mother and teenage children confirmed that they very much disliked those elements and saw them as very detrimental to their society.

However, it was not long after the Abu Ghraib torture photos had been released, and the mother acknowledged that she was very worried about the impact the torture of Iraqis was having on young people. It had, she said, made them very angry and gave the extremists some credibility regarding their hatred for the U.S. She was particularly worried about her young son who, she said, was very upset over the Iraq war and the anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from the west.

So, when we prove them right by invading and torturing Muslims, we shouldn't be surprised if some of the less stable people, and more vulnerable turn to extremists for protection.

[4saken]

4. Religious law.

Their society and culture is informed primarily by their religion.

"In a documentary a few years ago that was made in Indonesia, many Muslims were interviewed and most were moderate in their beliefs, much like anywhere else."

Here's a map showing the various interpretations of Sharia law in different countries.

As you can see it is heavily dependent on the location, there are far fewer Shia in Indonesia.

"So, when we prove them right by invading and torturing Muslims, we shouldn't be surprised if some of the less stable people, and more vulnerable turn to extremists for protection."

Only if they conclude that the actions taken, torture in this case, justifies revenge(joining an extremist group). And their law(their religious scripture) enforces an eye for an eye mentality. Taking action with a plot for revenge ignores the fact that the logical progression that is justifying their actions to them, may be the same as the one used to justify to others the actions they themselves are seeking to avenge. Leaving them in a hypocritical, self destructive cycle, enforced by religious law. When in reality no actions from either party was justified. We shouldn't be surprised that a number of them turn to extremism as a reaction to anything they find to be justifiable with violence via their unquestionable scripture. Which includes many things, from drawing pictures of Mohammad, to adultery or leaving their religion. Their acceptance of the claim that said revenge is justified is on their heads. I don't find the original reaction to 9/11 by torturing for information to be justified either.

"She was particularly worried about her young son who, she said, was very upset over the Iraq war and the anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from the west."

Not all anti-muslim rhetoric is bigoted, but that's what that statement suggest. There are very good arguments to be made against Islam regarding its divisiveness, inability to evolve with society, factual incorrectness, etc, all with a logical basis. And Islam, not to mention all the Abrahamic faiths, have had a record of becoming angry and violent in reaction to criticism of their beliefs. That kind of religiously based bullying and censorship can't be allowed. They can be upset all the want with people criticizing their religion, the problem is when they take a step towards violence through frustration with their inability to defend their position in the arena of words, and that's what we are seeing.