Antiwar.com declares Zarb-e-Azb Failure

[BarakzaiAbdali]

The website that hosts the likes of Ron Paul, Michael Scheuer, Mortaza Hussein, Glenn Greenwald and others has released commentary on Pakistan's efforts:

http://news.antiwar.com/2014/07/11/p...s-simply-left/

Pakistan Declares ‘Victory’ in Waziristan, But Fighters Simply Left

Troops Find Miramshah a Virtual Ghost Town

by Jason Ditz, July 11, 2014

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Pakistani troops marched through the streets of the major North Waziristan city of Miramshah, declaring a “victory” over the Taliban in the major three-week military offensive against the tribal agency.

Victory in this case meant marching into a conspicuously empty city. Once 100,000-strong, Miramshah was a virtual ghost town by the time the Pakistani military arrived, no tribal fighters, no Taliban, no civilians.

Indeed, that was the case across most of the agency, as Pakistan’s military conceded that while they took the agency over, the massive Taliban fighting force simply vanished before they got there, and no noteworthy leaders were captured or killed.

It’s a familiar problem for the Pakistani military, which had invaded several other tribal agencies over the years hunting for Taliban leadership, and always got the same results: a high body count of dubious “suspects” in the early going, a massive civilian refugee crisis, and the actual targets simply fade away, returning once the operation ends

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Basically, all of these tally of people killed and what not are Wazirs and Mehsuds who decided to defend their land against an aggressor. When killed by the state, the state labeled them "militants" and "terrorists", coopting words that neither belong to them but are often applied to the state itself.

[Toramana]

Basically, all of these tally of people killed and what not are Wazirs and Mehsuds who decided to defend their land against an aggressor. When killed by the state, the state labeled them "militants" and "terrorists", coopting words that neither belong to them but are often applied to the state itself.

Feeling happy for your buddies, Taleban & Co., haan?

[کیش]

Pakistan can't fight wars. Look at the stats,

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Feeling happy for your buddies, Taleban & Co., haan?

Surely not as happy as your minority agenda driven colleagues Miss Anderson, Taqi the half-wit. and Khadim Hossein. Watching you guys operate is like watching the Scarecrow, the Tin-Man, and the Cowardly lion walking along the yellow brick road to find the man behind the curtain.

I mean after all, they have made an industry out of false data generation and "non-thinking" tanks that randomly disappear when investigated.... haan.

[Admin Khan]

Not surprised, most of the militants would *obviously* flee, especially when an announcement has been made about the operation. Only simpletons, or those who lack the ability to critically think, would think this was a success. Most of the people dead are innocent Pashtuns who stood up against the Punjabi aggression. In a sense, their pride and ego, or fear of losing their land, forced them not to leave, and as a consequence, since as per the Pakistani Army, Pashto speakers could be terrorists, they were murked under the pretext of militants.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

Not surprised, most of the militants would *obviously* flee, especially when an announcement has been made about the operation. Only simpletons, or those who lack the ability to critically think, would think this was a success. Most of the people dead are innocent Pashtuns who stood up against the Punjabi aggression. In a sense, their pride and ego, or fear of losing their land, forced them not to leave, and as a consequence, since as per the Pakistani Army, Pashto speakers could be terrorists, they were murked under the pretext of militants.

Very sad state of affairs indeed. I think its hard for us to grasp just how profound a connection our people have to their land.

We must remember that even in settled areas from Kandahar to Peshawar and Jalalabad to Quetta, land is sacred. One cannot even consider selling it to an outsider without permission from so many clan and cousin members first.

Livestock means life, they provide milk, meat, manure, and are dependent on the human so that a codependency in set up.

Then, out of no where your own supposed country tells you that you must leave your land and leave your animal dependents at the drop of a hat so that they can come by and pulverize some buildings and conduct a "cleansing operation?"

The similarity for Americans would be if the Army invaded and disarmed them against the second amendment, and proceeded to invade their homes without a warrant or what not.

The common sense choice seems to be to flee, but we all know what Patrick Henry said about liberty versus living life.

This is all after your airspace has been compromised so that your daily life is plagued by the possibility of death from above.

So now land and air are taken from you... what else is left? Dignity?

The ironic thing is that on the one hand Pakistanis end up with the final excuse of "our interests." What they fail to understand is that that word interest, when used by nation states, applies to the collective interest of all the people. So when the US says the gulf of guinea is crucial to their national interest... they mean their whole country benefits from the oil hegemony in some way, shape, or form.

Here, Pakistan has spent life, man power, and what not to destroy segments of its own nation. It now claims it will develop these areas, but we all know how limited such development has been beyond the confines of Panjab (e.g. Balochistan and even parts of KP).

In an economic and non collective sense, this endeavor was a foolish one for Pakistan.

A few bucks now to conduct this sort of human rights catastrophe does nothing for the long term.

[Al-Afghani]

Some very heartfelt comments here. But nobody asks the question, why did the Paki army invade the tribal areas? Providing shelter to terrorists has consequences, and the Paki Pashtuns are realizing that now.

Miramshah was also a Haqqani stronghold. They won't be plotting attacks against innocent Afghans anymore.

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

What?We don't give a damn about what some xyz declare it as failure and the most Good part is that People of Waziristan are in favour of the operation

The success of Zarb e azb is evident from the extreme level halt in Terrorist activities in Pakistan.

Anyway the most latest new surprise is,A new province is being suspected with Bannu as capital comprising all the current FATA land,which again will be a good welcome in post operational development in FATA

[Admin Khan]

Some very heartfelt comments here. But nobody asks the question, why did the Paki army invade the tribal areas? Providing shelter to terrorists has consequences, and the Paki Pashtuns are realizing that now.

Miramshah was also a Haqqani stronghold. They won't be plotting attacks against innocent Afghans anymore.

@BarakzaiAbdali


For these kind of operations to be even remotely close to successful, you have to strike randomly. You don't give weeks of notice; there are plenty of articles, that mention that the nearby barbers where overwhelmed with haircuts, so the alleged militants can blend in like a local regional person. From shaving their beard, to hair, folks need to deploy common sense and think about this more rationally.

I can provide a dozen sources for the aforementioned claims, but here's a Paki source:

http://www.dawn.com/news/1117448

These fighters are guerrilla fighters, they don't do 1 vs 1's, they will hide, and after several months, strike harder. This is an ideological war. Delusional people will think "OMG!!! it's quiet right now, so we defeated them, yayaya!"; but just wait a few more months and watch their panties in a bunch when they realize most of the fighters against the Paki Army and state simply entered hibernation when they carried out this failed operation, and most of the dead where local Pashtuns; after all, they all look alike.

Best,

[Pakwatan]

@BarakzaiAbdali


For these kind of operations to be even remotely close to successful, you have to strike randomly. You don't give weeks of notice; there are plenty of articles, that mention that the nearby barbers where overwhelmed with haircuts, so the alleged militants can blend in like a local regional person. From shaving their beard, to hair, folks need to deploy common sense and think about this more rationally.

I can provide a dozen sources for the aforementioned claims, but here's a Paki source:

http://www.dawn.com/news/1117448

These fighters are guerrilla fighters, they don't do 1 vs 1's, they will hide, and after several months, strike harder. This is an ideological war. Delusional people will think "OMG!!! it's quiet right now, so we defeated them, yayaya!"; but just wait a few more months and watch their panties in a bunch when they realize most of the fighters against the Paki Army and state simply entered hibernation when they carried out this failed operation, and most of the dead where local Pashtuns; after all, they all look alike.

Best,

What do you think about Karachi airport attack, Admin Khan?

Was it justified?

Were the people killed at the airport, Punjabi oppressors?

[Admin Khan]

What do you think about Karachi airport attack, Admin Khan?

Was it justified?

Were the people killed at the airport, Punjabi oppressors?

Civilian infrastructure should never be attacked. For all we know, it could've been your parents, or my relatives, at the airport at the time -- obviously a civilian. It reminded me of the time a Pakistani was trying to blow up the local train station in NYC, or when the other Pakistani Faisal Shahzad was trying to blow up a bomb in Times Square, NY. Horrendous acts of terrorism if you ask me. In other words, I condemn such people at the highest terms imaginable. I am against the civilians deaths of my Pakistani and Afghan brothers, of *all* ethnic groups. A Muslim should never discriminate against one another on the basis of ethnic group.

Best,

[Pakwatan]

Civilian infrastructure should never be attacked. For all we know, it could've been your parents, or my relatives, at the airport at the time -- obviously a civilian. It reminded me of the time a Pakistani was trying to blow up the local train station in NYC, or when the other Pakistani Faisal Shahzad was trying to blow up a bomb in Times Square, NY. Horrendous acts of terrorism if you ask me. In other words, I condemn such people at the highest terms imaginable. I am against the civilians deaths of my Pakistani and Afghan brothers, of *all* ethnic groups. A Muslim should never discriminate against one another on the basis of ethnic group.

Best,

So were the Uzbek perpetrators that committed this attack not being hosted in North Waziristan?

[Shah-i-Kot]

Pakwatan,

Never mind that the NATO supply lines wont be needed after full US withdrawal, but do you agree with Pakistan army giving and making money out of NATO supply line to Afghanistan?

[Da Bannu Mazdigar]

Pakwatan,

Never mind that the NATO supply lines wont be needed after full US withdrawal, but do you agree with Pakistan army giving and making money out of NATO supply line to Afghanistan?

It is highly recommanded to change your username to "Nato supply line"