| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
17 Jul 2005 07:55:37 AM |
| Object: |
Hey, Bush, your ally is still breeding terrorists |
Jihadi extremism is still propagated at radical madrasas in Pakistan.
These religious schools still preach an insidious doctrine that
foments the sectarian violence that is increasingly a threat to the
stability of Pakistan.
And now, it seems, the hatred these madrasas breed is spilling blood
in Western cities as well.
Musharraf's promises came to nothing.
His military government never implemented any program to register the
madrasas, follow their financing or control their curricula.
From The Washington Post, 7/17/05:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/15/AR2005071501617.html
Pakistan: Still Schooling Extremists
By Samina Ahmed and Andrew Stroehlein
Sunday, July 17, 2005; Page B07
Although investigations into the terrorist attacks in London are still
at an early stage, it is already clear that at least one of the
bombers attended a radical Islamic school, or madrasa, in Pakistan.
For those in the West who believed President Pervez Musharraf's
promises to clean up the militant religious schools, it is time to
think again.
Shehzad Tanweer, who police say killed six people and himself on the
Circle Line train near Aldgate station on July 7, recently spent as
long as four months in a madrasa reportedly run by the avowedly
militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba in Lahore, Pakistan.
The madrasa and the organization operate freely despite an official
ban on their activity since 2002.
Immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, the link between Pakistan's
religious education system and international terrorist organizations
came under intense scrutiny.
Musharraf clearly felt the pressure to be seen as doing something, and
in January 2002 he gave a televised speech promising a series of
measures to combat extremism by, among other things, bringing all
madrasas into the mainstream.
Musharraf pledged increased oversight of the religious schools through
formal registration, control of their funding and standardization of
their curricula.
The world welcomed those promises, but few then checked back to see if
they were ever fulfilled.
A conventional wisdom developed, especially in the United States, that
Musharraf was doing all he could to help fight terrorism -- Musharraf
even became something of a media hero, our brave ally in the war on
terrorism.
The view that all is well with Pakistan has been bolstered most
recently by a World Bank-funded report claiming, against other
available evidence, that the country's madrasa sector is smaller than
previously estimated and suggesting that the religious schools pose no
serious threat.
London on 7/7 shows that analysis was deadly wrong.
Jihadi extremism is still propagated at radical madrasas in Pakistan.
These religious schools still preach an insidious doctrine that
foments the sectarian violence that is increasingly a threat to the
stability of Pakistan.
And now, it seems, the hatred these madrasas breed is spilling blood
in Western cities as well.
Musharraf's promises came to nothing.
His military government never implemented any program to register the
madrasas, follow their financing or control their curricula.
Although there are a few "model madrasas" for Western media
consumption, the extremist ones account for perhaps as many as 15
percent of the religious schools in Pakistan and are free to churn out
their radicalized graduates.
Whether or not it turns out to have been part of the London bombing
story, Lashkar-i-Taiba is an excellent example of how Musharraf's
government has failed to curb extremist religious militants.
Formed by Arab-influenced veterans of the Afghan jihad in 1988, the
group enjoyed the military's patronage in its jihad against India in
Kashmir.
Though formally banned in 2002, Lashkar-i-Taiba simply renamed itself
Jamaat ul-Dawa and continued its activities, including the promotion
of jihad in Kashmir, where it has openly claimed responsibility for
terrorist attacks.
The organization's leader, Hafiz Sayeed, was temporarily detained, but
only under Pakistan's Maintenance of Public Order legislation, not its
much more stringent Anti-Terrorism Act, and he was soon released.
Prominent figures from this and other formally banned groups such as
Sipah-i-Sahaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed appear to enjoy virtual immunity
from the law.
That Musharraf has not acted against religious extremists and their
madrasas is hardly surprising.
He needs the religious parties to bolster his military dictatorship
against the democratic forces seeking to reverse his 1999 coup.
The radicals maintain their avenues for propagating their militant
ideas, because the chief patrons of jihad, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-i-Islami
and the Jamiat-i-Islami political parties, have acquired prominent and
powerful roles in Musharraf's political structure.
Those who would still attempt to defend Musharraf's record on fighting
Islamist militancy in recent years would point out that Pakistan has
captured or killed some 600 al Qaeda members since 2001.
True enough, but with an extensive madrasa system left untouched, the
key question posed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's leaked memo
from October 2003 comes naturally to mind:
"Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists
every day than the madrasas and the radical clerics are recruiting,
training and deploying against us?"
Until Pakistan's madrasas are truly reformed, the answer to Rumsfeld's
question will be "no."
___________________________________________________________
What're ya gonna do about this, Mr. presidunce?
Harry
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
Re: Keep breeding you morons, because you don't deserve anything better than the crappy future they have planned, and they need your babies.
Bush has turned Iraq into a new terrorist breeding ground
With Saddam out, Al Qaeda has found a new breeding ground
Breeding Ground: A home for al Qaeda in Iraq
Helping create a terrorist breeding ground?
Europe becomes a breeding ground for terror
CIA Report - Iraq Becoming New Terror Breeding Ground
Bush's self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq is now a "breeding ground for terrorism"
| Hey, Georgie, ya ready? More Armstrong Williams stuff comin' your way.
Re: Hey, dumbass 'RATS! Keep up your rabid anti-American anti-war rants; it keeps you Lib Dims from winning elections,
Hey Libs, Get Ready for "The Silent Majority" to WHOOP UP on your asses AGAIN !!!
=>HEY ROVE, THE LAW IS THE LAW AND YOUR ***** IS GRASS<=
Re: Hey Dr. Bill Bennett: How's your WAR on drugs going?
Hey, how's your Republican president's war on drugs going? Anybody know?
Hey, Daddy Bush, hows about shedding a few tears for the many deaths your son caused.
|
|
|
