Asiana21

CONFUSION OVER TALIBAN MUDDIES THE ISSUES IN PAKISTAN
Are fighters religious zealots, thugs or revolutionaries? The perceptions of the public, leaders and U.S. are at odds, but the overriding sentiment in Pakistan is that 'America created this problem.'

Mark Magnier

Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2009

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan — Islamic militants who burn schools and threaten women in the name of religious purity. A righteous force battling corrupt and venal officials. Or gun-waving gangsters who conceal their crimes under a banner of spiritual renewal.

Weeks of turmoil have made it appear as though a unified Taliban is on the march out of the wild northwest, staking out strategic ground for an assault on Pakistan's heartland.

But who exactly the Taliban is may rest in the eye of the beholder.

Many Pakistanis don't see the Taliban as much of a threat and are not eager for a confrontation. On the other hand, oversimplification may lead policymakers toward a one-size-fits-all solution that is ineffective -- or even counterproductive.

On Saturday, army helicopters and jets hit militant positions as a curfew kept more civilians from fleeing the violence-hit area. The military said up to 55 militants were killed and four soldiers were wounded, figures that could not be independently verified. Militants also reportedly fired rockets at an army base in Mingora, the biggest town in the Swat Valley.

After a half-hearted military operation in Swat in late 2007 and early 2008, the government tried to reach an accommodation, allowing the militants to impose Islamic law in the region. Only when the Taliban continued advancing toward the capital did the army act.

Among the most confusing elements of the conflict is whom, exactly, the army is fighting.

(…) [artículo aquí]