ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist&reg;.com: Even Utilities Must Pay Their Bills</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style1 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="598" height="1274" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="116" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="116" height="1"></td> <td width="31" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="31" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="267" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="267" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr height="79"> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> <td width="116" height="118" colspan="1" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="31" height="79"></td> <td width="450" height="79" colspan="3" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left" xpos="147"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> <td width="31" height="39"></td> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="267" height="39" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left" xpos="329"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="20"> <td width="1" height="20"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="20"></td> <td width="597" height="20" colspan="5" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#149; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#149; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#149; <a href="teflon.html">THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#149; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">REACTIONS</a> &#149; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="7"> <td width="1" height="7"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="7"></td> <td width="116" height="1135" colspan="1" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="31" height="7"></td> <td width="182" height="7"></td> <td width="267" height="7"></td> <td width="1" height="7"></td> </tr> <tr height="1128"> <td width="1" height="1128"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1128"></td> <td width="480" height="1128" colspan="3" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left" xpos="116" content csheight="1123"> <font size="5" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>Pakistan Goes Taliban</b></font><p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>by John M. Curtis<br> (310) 204-8700</b><br> </font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright April 22, 2009<br> All Rights Reserved.</i></font></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style1">P</span>akistan s current government, headed by Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has sold out to the Taliban, ceding the Swat Valley only 60 miles from the capital of Islamabad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Zardari, and his predecessor Bush ally Gen. Pervez Musharraf, have both walked the razor s edge, paying lip service to the U.S., while, at the same time, placating Islamic extremists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Zardari and Musharraf gave al-Qaida and the Taliban free reign in the rugged ungoverned Waziristan border region shared with Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Zardari and his Foreign Minister Hussain Haggani, asked President Barack Obama April 8 for $30 billion in foreign aid, to protect the country from Islamic extremists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Zardari talks a good game, he s playing both sides against the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No one knows for sure whether U.S. cash already falls into the hands to the Taliban and al-Qaida.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Ceding territory to the Taliban inside Pakistan opens the door for coup d etat, while radical elements gain a foothold inside the Islamic country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Zardari reassures Western leaders that Pakistan s nuclear arsenal is safe, he signed a peace deal with the same terror group that protected Osama bin Laden before Sept. 11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.S. officials expressed concern that the Swat Valley could become home base for the Taliban, currently holed up in the rugged Waziristan region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The activities in the Swat do concern us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>We re keeping an eye on it, and are working daily with the Pakistan military, Maj. Gen. Michael S. Tucker told Pentagon reporters via a video hookup, totally ignoring Zardari s decision to cede the Swat region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Pakistani officials are kidding themselves giving territory to the Taliban, praying militant groups will be placated and back off.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shouldn t be duped by Zardari s tactic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His government like Karai s in Afghanistan hangs by a thread, with the same militants that killed Bhutto working round-the-clock to topple his government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Handing over 10,000 square miles in the Malakand Division, incorporating the tribal lands along the Afghan border, give the Taliban and al-Qaida a safe haven, untouched by government hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Recent U.S.-sponsored predator-drone attacks reflect Zardari s ambivalence about placating the U.S. while making concessions to radical groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Taliban militants have already expanded their territory to the Buner district south of the Swat Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Battles have waged between local inhabitants and heavily armed Taliban and al-Qaida s militias, intimidating residents into accepting the inevitability of Taliban rule.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>In a bad sign for the Zardari government, local inhabitants seek the strict Sharia law practiced by the Taliban, no longer trusting the national government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Taliban thugs have already instructed barbers to stop shaving beards, imposing strict Islamic law on local inhabitants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Taliban militants have set up bases in the village of Sultanwas, hiding out in neighboring hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> If the Taliban continue to expand in different directions and establish fiefdoms as they did in Swat, then probably the deal is not going to work and the government will be forced to scuttle that deal and go back to operations, said Lahore University of Management Sciences professor Rasul Bakhsh Rais.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What the professor doesn t get is that the government has no military to challenge the Taliban in the region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Ceding territory to the Taliban gives the radical group added incentive to work toward toppling the national government.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Poor national control of regions outside Islamabad creates ideal conditions for the Taliban to continue seizing Pakistani territory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What ground they lost in Afghanistan, the Taliban has more than made up for in Pakistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama can no longer consider fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban only in Afghanistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Pakistan s current government caters to Islamic radicals in hopes of buying more time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Handing over more cash to the Zardari government would likely fall into the enemy s hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> This is our country, we will have to look at our own priorities and our own interests, said Buner chief executive Haider Khan Hoti, unwilling to fight with Taliban militants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We should not enter any friendship at the cost of our own destruction, recognizing that acquiescing to the Taliban would result in the region s eventual collapse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Taliban militants are already too entrenched to be evicted by local authorities.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Taliban militants led by the exiled one-eyed leader Mullah Mohammed Omar won t stop until they rule the combined entity of Afghanistan and Pakistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Swat Taliban chief Maulan Fazulah already ordered his militants to patrol Mingora, the Swat valley s main city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Taliban extremists are determined to see Pakistan under strict Sharia law, the same regime imposed in Afghanistan before the U.S. evicted them Nov. 12, 2001.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Local authorities in the Swat region have more faith in the Taliban than the Zardari government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Local elders and clerics are negotiating with them to resolve this issue through talks, said Swat valley spokesman Istiqbal Khan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Islamabad Management Sciences University Prof. Rais sees a natural chemistry between locals and the Taliban.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It is about the identity of Pakistan and the future direction Pakistan can take, a scary thought with Zardari capitulating.</p> <p><u><b>About the Author</b></u></p> <p><b>John M. Curtis</b> is editor of OnlineColumnist.com and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He&#146;s director of a Los Angeles think tank specializing in political consulting and strategic public relations. He&#146;s the author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>. <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="75" height="25"> <tr> <td></td> </tr> </table> </td> <td width="1" height="1128"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2001 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>