AfPak update

1) Afstan:

The conclusion of an article by a former British commander at Helmand:

The best way to beat the Taliban
Military force alone won't bring peace to Afghanistan. The West must get the local economy into shape, says Ed Butler.
...
My concern is that time – and popular support – for this misunderstood campaign may well run out before there is tangible success. Just as the Stinger missile did for the Soviets, so the suicide bomber may do for Nato. Furthermore, as a senior government official once said: "We may have the clocks, but they have the time."

Of even more significance, however, is the new US administration's overt recognition that this is now a regional problem, not just an Afghan one. At the tactical level, the British government would do better to focus its resources and mindset not just on "Helmandshire" [see "Ending the Fractured Approach" around middle here], where our troops operate, but on all of Afghanistan. Such a change of approach could consider putting all British forces and assets under the full operational command of the Americans [emphasis added]; this would go a long way towards providing the desperately needed unity of command and single plan that are so patently absent in the current Nato operation.

The message to the elders of Garmsir [see end of this post for US Marine operations there last year], and the rest of Afghanistan, must be clear: we are here as long as it takes to make life better than it is now, in terms of security, governance and welfare. The Afghanistan of tomorrow will not look like a Western democracy, with Western values and standards; nor can it again become a haven for Islamist jihadists [emphasis added]. A pragmatic start to the new Obama-led strategy would be to ask the ordinary Afghans what they want, where they want to go and at what speed and cost. The big question is: does President Karzai, or even his people, know?

Brigadier Ed Butler was commander of British forces in Helmand [in 2006]...

A view from Kabul:

Afghan women want West to ease 'rape law' stance
Return to extremist rule bigger fear than effects of proposed legislation

As Afghanistan's Parliament debated ways Monday to protect female politicians from assassination, young women attending Kabul University expressed surprise and bewilderment at the debate raging in Canada and Europe over a proposed law that seems to allow men from the Shiite Hazara minority to sexually enslave their wives and imprison them in their homes.

The nearly unanimous view on the campus -- arguably the most progressive institution in Afghanistan -- was that the West should not involve itself in the country's cultural and religious affairs... [more here, here, and here

Something positive you'll not see in the Canadian media:

Afghanistan clinch win over Irish

ICC World Cup Qualifier, Krugersdorp:
Afghanistan 218-7 (50 overs) beat Ireland 196 (47.3 overs) by 22 runs

Afghanistan pulled off a surprise 22-run win over Ireland at the start of the Super Eight phase of the World Cup Qualifier in South Africa [from May 2008: "Now if the Taliban can only be hit for six..."]...

2) Pakistan:

The enemy within solidifies one position:

Pakistan president signs off on Islamic law deal

Pakistan's pro-U.S. president signed a regulation late Monday [April 13] to put a northwestern district under Islamic law as part of a peace deal with the Taliban, going along after coming under intense pressure from members of his own party and other lawmakers.

Asif Ali Zardari's signature was a boon for Islamic militants who have brutalized the Swat Valley for nearly two years in demanding a new justice system [see here for some real brutalization]. It was sure to further anger human rights activists and feed fears among the U.S. and other Western allies that the valley will turn into a sanctuary for militants close to Afghanistan.

Whatever criticism may come, Zardari can claim some political cover — the National Assembly voted unanimously [emphasis added] Monday [April 13] to adopt a resolution urging his signature, although at least one party boycotted. Earlier, a Taliban spokesman had warned lawmakers against opposing the deal.

Zardari's spokeswoman, Farahnaz Ispahani, confirmed the president signed the regulation Monday night.

His signing implemented a deal agreed to in February by provincial officials to impose Islamic law in the Swat Valley and surrounding areas in exchange for a cease-fire between security forces and the local Taliban...

Upperdate thought:Why no howls of outrage in Canada and the West?

Map from BBC:

And that enemy tries to spread even further from frontier areas:

Allied Militants Threaten Pakistan’s Populous Heart

DERA GHAZI KHAN, Pakistan — Taliban insurgents are teaming up with local militant groups to make inroads in Punjab, the province that is home to more than half of Pakistanis, reinvigorating an alliance that Pakistani and American authorities say poses a serious risk to the stability of the country.

The deadly assault in March in Lahore, Punjab’s capital, against the Sri Lankan cricket team [more on attacks in Lahore here], and the bombing last fall of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the national capital, were only the most spectacular examples of the joint campaign, they said.

Now police officials, local residents and analysts warn that if the government does not take decisive action, these dusty, impoverished fringes of Punjab could be the next areas facing the insurgency. American intelligence and counterterrorism officials also said they viewed the developments with alarm.

“I don’t think a lot of people understand the gravity of the issue,” said a senior police official in Punjab, who declined to be idenfitied because he was discussing threats to the state. “If you want to destabilize Pakistan, you have to destabilize Punjab.”

As American drone attacks disrupt strongholds of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the tribal areas, the insurgents are striking deeper into Pakistan — both in retaliation and in search of new havens.

Telltale signs of creeping militancy abound in a belt of towns and villages near here that a reporter visited last week. Militants have gained strength considerably in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan, which is a gateway both to Taliban-controlled areas and the heart of Punjab, the police and local residents say. Many were terrified.

Some villages, just north of here, are so deeply infiltrated by militants that they are already considered no-go zones by their neighbors.

In at least five towns in southern and western Punjab, including the midsize hub of Multan, barber shops, music stores and Internet cafes offensive to the militants’ strict interpretation of Islam have received threats. Traditional ceremonies that include drumming and dancing have been halted in some areas. Hard-line ideologues have addressed large crowds to push their idea of Islamic revolution. Sectarian attacks, dormant here since the 1990s, have erupted once again.

“It’s going from bad to worse,” said a senior police official in Dera Ghazi Khan. “They are now more active. These are the facts.”

American officials agreed. Bruce Riedel, who led the Obama administration’s recently completed strategy review of Pakistan and Afghanistan, said the Taliban now had “extensive links into the Punjab.”..


The New York Times

Update: From Bill Roggio (via Thomas Ricks):

Denial in Pakistan