Usama1,
You are probably right about foreign interference in Pakistan, mainly British and American. It was clear during the Kargil attack that Musharraf had been told to attack by someone he referred to as "friends" in the phone call from China intercepted by India. Not surprisingly, even though General Musharraf lost in Kargil, he became the leader of Pakistan for a decade.

The problem for Pakistan is the "Western trained" Generals like Musharraf who knowingly play the "Great Game" for the West. They have no plan to build a decent society and economy in Pakistan or help the ordinary poor Pakistani improve their lives. They have sold their own nation to their colonial masters to have a stronger military. Pakistan is still a colony; its economy, politics and military are dependent on America and London. Bhutto, Sharif, and Musharraf were told what to do by outsiders, and they followed dutifully.

Neverthess, Pakistanis bear the responsibility and the consequences for own actions. The hatred of India and Hindus is so strong that they have destroyed themselves. Unfortunately, hatred of kafirs is often the problem with Muslims throughout the world, whether its Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran etc. A society, culture, or religion based on hatred will never thrive.

Muslims have to find a way to reform the culture of intolerance which is a real part of Islam and the Koran. Eboo Patel just saying that violence against nonmuslims is not a part of Islam won't work.

We must ask first, how did the Taliban gain such control?
Could it be that the outer territories were abandoned to lawlessness?
Will the end of Taliban control mean, that the government will step in and provide security and leadership?
Does it take threats of soverignty for a government to act?

Allow me to Shar,e a story a small abandoned area of the US. A National Park.
I often run the outer perimeter trails of this park and have gotten to know it well. It is a very beautiful place.
I ran across a very old lady (80-90)in a corner of the park. She seemed very out of place but she was very peaceful and was playing with Bee's. We exchanged greetings and I moved on.
As I thought about the "terrain" and debris in that area and the fact that it's not patrolled, with the exception of community, I was concerned and so I went back to that area.
I found her in a field. She had cupped a flower around her hand and on that flower was a Bee. I asked her if she was ok and she said yes. Though I was concerned, I felt the spirit was watching over her and so, I moved on.
This in no way compares to the conditions of Pakistan, Afghanistan or other areas.
In this area it's crime and drugs. The drugs don't make their way up to this point.
It's an example of surrendered ground and
failed government. Retaking such ground often costs a great deal.

And that my friends, is the last stone I shall throw.

James David Whitall II

Clearthinking, India knows that Pakistan has been a servant of America since the 1950s and the Eisenhower Doctrine. Thats why India didn't attack after the Mumbai attacks, because it knew that foreign powers used the terrorists as a provocation trying to draw India further into the Afghanistan conflict with major military commitment.
Decades of American inteference in Pakistan and advancing its American regional interests to supercede the Pakistani people's interests has come home to roost on the shoulders of both the Pakistani elite who control the country and America.
Having 180 million people and only 50% literacy with no public education and health care but 100 nuclear weapons reflects a common theme through the Muslim world: foreign interests taking precedent through manipulation of the military. Quite frankly, there were many Muslim scholars who were opposed to the Great Parition which split India into 3 countries. They are still vary much alike.

BTW, authoritarianism and tyrannical dictatorships have been a methodology of Western ideologies and Mustaphe Kemal exemplifies this.

Indians are justifiably frustrated with a neighbor like Pakistan. They have behaved with admirable restraint and magnanimity considering:
Pakistan has initiated all 4 wars against India (and lost all 4).
Pakistan unconditionally surrendered in 1971 and begged for mercy. When shown mercy in the Simla Agreement, they went back on their word.
Supported gleefully brutal terrorists in Punjab, Kashmir, Mumbai, etc...
When Vajpayee extended the hand of friendship with a bus trip, he was backstabbed with the Kargil attack.
Musharraf and the Pak Army did not have the courage to admit the attack or retrieve their dead soldiers from Kargil for a respectful burial.
The Pakistan government (ISI) was involved on an attack on the Indian Parliament, Afghan Embassy, and Mumbai.

asifkh, this is not propaganda, its the sad truth about Pakistan.

Well what's wrong with the 'Dick Cheney Plan'? I see it as the most sensible solution, don't you?

First we arm the third-world to the teeth with weapons from our US factories (creating jobs and prosperity) as we did with Bin Laden, the Taliban, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Japan, Taiwan, and most of the rest of the world, then we get them all fighting and killing each other. Then, when the winner finally rallies and starts to rebuild their devastated country, we attack it while they're still weak and take all their oil and we win!!

Let's go America!

.

As I have blogged earlier, no matter what you read and hear, Pakistanis will prefer to protect JUD and JET rather than have a relationship with India. And America , in their hypocrisy, gives aid to Pakistan which filters down to these organizations - so who is fighting terrorism ? Pakistan is a basket case, and you think India wants any part of Pakistan ? Pakistan itself is a divided nation and their consuming hatred for each other and of India will be the final story of their disintegration. The real problem is the nuclear bombs that the Army / ISI has, which in the wrong hands will result in mass destruction.

The main problem with Pakistan and Pakistanis is ignorance and hatred of India and Hindus, Christians and Jews. They are under the wrong impression that India wants to join Pakistan. There is nothing farther than the truth. Who would want to join people full of hatred, at least majority of them. Sixty years of feeding lies to the people have made them what they are today. It is in India's interest to see Pakistan independent and properous. Pakistan in their own interest should start teaching Pakistanis that the main threat to Pakistan is from within Pakistan and not India.

Washinton Post cannot be expected to generate healthy debate about Pakistan where Hindus of all stripes congregate to put in words their visceral hate for Pakistan and its people. Pakistan is here to stay and it will stand firm against Hindu hegemony, no matter what the cost and Hindus, get this into your heads: India was partitioned and we in Pakistan have moved on. The thought of re-uniting with India is unthinkable and frankly revolting. Our heart-felt sympathies for Indian Muslims who bear the brunt of Hindu rage and resent Pakistan for putting them in a impossible situation. We have moved on, deal with it and yes we really don't want to deal with except for Kashmir. As far as issue of Taliban, it is obvious from your cliche-ridden comments that don't have a gut-level understanding of the people and their circumstances. That is one reason you sound so fearful and petulant.

IMHO discussions about Taliban do not belong in the Onfaith section. Taliban are criminals, who use Islam as a cover to carry out their vile acts. I believe it is *essential* for the media to reject Taliban's characterization of their own actions as in the service of Islam or muslims. Please do not legitimize them in any way as that only riles up the extreme elements on all sides.

The Prophet is most certainly disgusted by ignorance, the Taliban, and Hamas.

When the majority of Muslim people speak out against fundamentalism, and act against fundamentalism, and chase the fundamentalist clerics from the mosque muslims around the world will prosper.

Fundamentalists are 100% of the problem. Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu matters not.

ALL extremists are bad.

Thanks for your insightful column.

Taliban use other Muslims as cannon fodder. If Muslims live in a country, they use this as an excuse to try to take that country over by force.

A good question--how to distinguish and weed out these extremists? A long-term project is to collect DNA samples from known Taliban terrorists, try to find a "terrorist pattern." Then eliminate those genes from the gene pool. Might be nice to look for a "tolerance pattern" and encourage those types to have more children. 2,000 years of encouraging their religious leaders, their best and brightest, to have children has clearly made a difference in the offspring of Jews vs, for example, Catholics.

Sounds as if to kill Western christians would be more natural for a Muslim. What news: The Taliban dont kill much Western christs.

We had a discussion about Ataturk today in some list who was described as a "good dictator". So it seems there are "good" and "bad dictators". In this sense the Taliban are maybe something like the Prussians of Afghanistan, they have their own will and they are effectiv. That their enemies dont like them does not change this. Their only "crime" was to be the gouvernement of Afghanistan in the time of 9/11. Since then they are "insurgents", so what? It does not make them worse. If Pakistan could offer them any alternative, fine, but Pakistan is a mess and not very effectiv in the outer regions anyway. The Taliban did bring more law and order to those regions for most than the Pakistan gouvernement ever did, lets face it!

I agree with Eboo to an extent, but its important to realize that Pakistan created the Taliban to kill Russians and Indians. Its poetic justice. In addition, the biggest threat to Muslim countries and their neighbors is Islamic fundamentalism. It seeks to send the world into the past. Muslims must wake up, stop being defensive and learn to respect each other and others.

Several hatefilled comments here are reminiscent of American ignorance and myopic vision of the world and human nature: its why McCarthyism, racial lynching, and hatred of Islam continues today.
That being said, the rise of the Taliban are indeed a universal, grassroots, human reaction to the severity of injustice and corruption in Pakistani/Afghani society. Folks failed to recall that just 15 years ago, Afghanistan was a warlord wasteland, where women were raped by marauding thugs, kids with AK47s robbed any passing truck, roads and infrastructure were destroyed. The Taliban brought law and order back to Afghanistan, just at a harsher degree than Americans and most people liked. But then again, most people didn't care to go to Afghanistan and revive human society there. The Taliban did.

Now, Pakistan's corrupt elite who contribute to impoverishing the masses of 160 million people, where literacy lingers at 50%, public education and health are nonexistant. Its a capitalist nation run by an elite mafia leaving the masses to fend for themselves.
So what do concerned by disempowered people do? They turn to the most valued thing in their life, the one thing that promises justice, peace, order, stability, and equitable fair trade: Islam. The problem is they don't have access to the education of Islam which can truly lead them to this, so they take up the Taliban.
Patel reveals himself in this article.
Extremists may be defeated militarily, but the corruption, inequity, injustice, disorder chaos of Pakistan will remain.
Will Demorracy bring this? No. Neither will capitalism.

Here is the problem which no Muslim is ready to address.
They claim that Islam is a peaceful religion, but when Taliban commit horrendous crimes--killing women, children (using kids as living bombs), and innocent civilians and practice the most virulent form of religion, they don't show much of an outrage.
If Taliban are Muslims, then Islam is not a peaceful religion by any means. If Pakistani government and moderate Muslims showed seriousness about this issue then they would have declared TALIBAN as non-Muslim (or wild animals) who should be exterminated as we kill wild poisonous snakes. They will never do this because ISLAM has an ugly side and TALIBAN are practitioners of this ugly side. Pakistan also uses these animals to do their dirty work in India. This problem will never go away. The world has to learn to live with Muslims of all shades, including some who can't honestly be categorized as human beings.

It's easy to peg the Taliban as "Islamofascist" or "totalitarian." What I think most Westerners don't want to acknowledge is that they are often perceived locally as an instrument of justice and a defender of the powerless and exploited. Pakistan, Afghanistan (and Iraq, for that matter) are extremely corrupt. Bribes are necessary to win contracts, to obtain justice through the courts, or even to get routine services through the government. The Pakistani government may re-take the Swat Valley, but there's a sizeable element of the population who appreciate that the totalitarians were looking out for their interests, even if it forced them to sacrifice other interests to their brutal form of governance.

The Taliban will atrophy if new recruits are hard to find and the population isn't open to their arguments. Make the Taliban irrelevant by removing the fuel that drives people to them. The fuel is inequity, corruption and injustice. You can fight the Taliban to the last man, but they will only return under the same or different name until the governments clean up their act.

If ever there were a group that deserved to be exterminated, the Taliban is it. They appear to be everything that is reprehensible about humans rolled into one.
They seem bent on destroying everything that makes life worth living. If they disappeared from the face of the earth, they would not be missed.

It could be true that what we see in others is what we don't like about ourselves. In my mind, the elders or oletimers must be laughing to themselves watching the ego driven life as opposed to the purpose driven life. A wise Arab I met online advised me that man's ego is those things not from God.

Am flashing back here to what I would call political marketing of war through statements such as "Saddam Hussein is an Evil Dictator possessing weapons of mass destruction", "War on Terrorism" and "The Axis of Evil". Seems to me that war was declared on Evil without accepting the evil within ourselves.

Am told Bin Laden did not like Western boots on Arab soil back to the first Gulf War. And that a home for Palestian people was part of his motivation. I would guess he did not like the Bush Family too much either. That's why I called this the war of Capitalistic Extremists versus the Religious Extremists along time ago.

From some sort of twisted ego arrogance with prior contempt I could see whereby some reached a conclusion that torture was a "go". Reading an argument from around 1300ad I found that "Arabs" were labeled "Infedels" by the "Crusaders" And that some argued the current conflicts are drawn from the Ottoman Empire and a quest to return Mesopatania to its former Glory.

I was once attracted to bright lights and big cities. Dad advised me that the Cost of Living was a factor even though a career was offered with an attractive salary and benefits. I did not take dad's advice and learned some things the hard way. Today, I suppose I am a complicated man living in a rural area. I hope country life rubs off on me good. In the meanwhile I suppose I will sit back with the oletimer's watching Folly's Rage.

If the Taliban are enemies of Islam or enemies of Pakisan - then it is up to the Muslims and Pakistanis to deal with the Taliban. Not our business and not our job. I am neither Muslim nor Pakistani - so am not in a position to make any definitive judgment regarding Mr. Patel's assertions about the Taliban. But I do agree with his contention that it is a battle between the totalitarians and everyone else. In our neighborhood, it is the former Bush/Cheney regime - and now the Obama regime who are the totalitarians - and need to be resisted by all freedom-loving citizens. We should not fall for the "grain and generators" line and funnel American taxpayers' money to the next corrupt Pakistani government in succession. Our task is to fight our own rapacious and corrupt government's depredations of our civil liberties and treasure.

Pakistan is suffering from self-inflicted wounds. It was democratic government of Pakistan that facilitated relocation of Osama bin Laden from Sudan to Afghanistan in 1990s. Sandy Berger, Clinton’s national security advisor had told 9/11 Commission in March 2004 : ‘Pakistani Army was the midwife’ of Taliban’. Ex-CIA official Bruce Riedel said in an interview on 1/29/2009 that ''In Pakistan, the jihadist Frankenstein monster that was created by the Pakistani army and the Pakistani intelligence service, is now increasingly turning on its creators. It's trying to take over the laboratory.''

Declassified U.S. Department of State, Cable "Pakistan Support for Taliban" from Islamabad dated Sept. 26, 2000 states that "while Pakistani support for the Taliban has been long-standing, the magnitude of recent support is unprecedented." In response Washington orders the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad to immediately confront Pakistani officials on the issue and to advise Islamabad that the U.S. has "seen reports that Pakistan is providing the Taliban with materiel, fuel, funding, technical assistance and military advisors. [The Department] also understand[s] that large numbers of Pakistani nationals have recently moved into Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban, apparently with the tacit acquiescence of the Pakistani government." Additional reports indicate that direct Pakistani involvement in Taliban military operations has increased.

Declassified DIA Washington D.C., "IIR (intelligence Information Report) Pakistan Involvement in Afghanistan," dated November 7, 1996 states how "Pakistan's ISI is heavily involved in Afghanistan," and also details different roles various ISI officers play in Afghanistan. Stating that Pakistan uses sizable numbers of its Pashtun-based Frontier Corps in Taliban-run operations in Afghanistan, the document clarifies that, "these Frontier Corps elements are utilized in command and control; training; and when necessary combat“.

Mr. Patel hit the nail on the head. The Taliban is after everyone who does not subscribe to its peculiar version of religion. Now, we must all find ways citizens of any county anywhere can staunch their perversion of perverse use of violence against everyone.

I found a wonderful site: InThreeEasySteps.com which talks about a new book that can highlight their heresy and end this type of unholy violence.

Please check out the site. It's not mine, but it has helped me understand Mr. Patels point of view very well.

The world would be much more peaceful if there were no religions.

Islam is a legalistic religion with a thousand rules proscribing or demanding actions by its believers on a variety of everyday matters from marital relations to business practices. Thus believers have principles.

Alas, those principles come into conflict with consciousness as it has evolved in the West and cannot compete with a more modern worldview. The answer for some is to cling to their principles ever more tightly and disparage the achievements in the arts, sciences and commerce that other parts of the world have made.

The Taliban and other Islamic fundamentalists have their principles and they put them before their own happiness and the happiness of others. When religion ignores the condition of its adherents here on earth in favor of a mythic afterlife, it becomes evil through its actions.

It must pain some moderate believers in Islam to admit the principles of their religion are wrong as well.

As its defenders always point out, Islam is not monolithic; but, until the very most virulent strain of fundametal Islam is stopped from using terror and murder as insturments, those of us who do not enjoy the faith must take pragmatic steps to protect ourselves, our families and our ways of life.

Such steps must include continued vigilance and pro-active measures to expose these religious zealots for what they are and to eradicate their influence whenever possible. Like it or not, we and most of the civilized world which is not Muslim are engaged in a struggle to preserve and protect our values and religios beliefs.

Should we be inclusive and forgiving? Yes, but not to the point of committing suicide.

Another convenient attempt to whitewash, deny, delude, or distract from the failure which is Islam.

The lack of rational thought, intelligence, and introspection in Islam is astonishing. Muslims calmly accept the enormous violence committed in Islam's name while complaining about the democratic and diverse places like Europe, the US, and India where millions of Muslims and thousands of Mosques reside with the full opportunities of the societies provided to them -- add to this, they turn a blind eye to the bigotry and racism of Islam which has caused forced conversions, the Arab Slave Trade, most Muslim nations being 99% Muslim and the like -- true shameless hypocrisy.

The facts clearly are too painful for some:

Pakistan - Iran - Saudi Arabia - Libya - Syria - Sudan - Somalia to name a few; Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood, Laskhar, Hezbolla, Hamas, and hundreds of other terrorist groups; no democracy, no free press, no decent education, no rights for women or minorities; no industrial or technological achievement to speak of.

Add to this a history of forced conversion, murder, and rape -- don't believe it? Its in Muslim court papers from all locations and times. We know Mulslims' ancestors didn't convert to Islam voluntarily -- if one doesn't believe that, then please feel free to delude yourself about anything.

How about taxing non-Muslims? Very peaceful; Arab slave trade, now that was nice.

57 Muslim-majority nations, and barely any can maintain a secular democracy -- the respectable one, Turkey, is so because it aggressively suppresses any Islamic activity or movement, a clear acknowledgment by a Muslim nation of the inherent dysfunction and violence of Islam. Ditto for other nations like Algeria.

It is convenient, and probably required if one is going to get up every morning and function to deny the violence and mass murder committed throughout the world in Islam's name from Bali to Mumbai to Madrid to London to Chechnya and even China and hundreds of other places.

Hatred for Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists; Sunni Muslims killing Shia, Shia killing Sunni; Islamic uprisings in Pakistan, India, Russia, western China, against the US, Europe etc; Pakistanis murdering their own citizens in their adopted lands like the UK.

Unfortunately regardless of what percentage of all Muslims are violent (1%, 10%, 20% etc), the point is that 99.999% of all violent terrorists are Muslim, quote the Koran as their inspiration and show it off in all of their matryr videos -- to not address these inherent failures is simply reactionary and denial, and will ultimately consume Islamic societies, as we are seeing in Pakistan, themselves.

Pakistan has facing a big problem in Northern area.I think Taliban is not wrong but to do every things with force fully is wrong.Islam has't permission to do this that's why the PAK Army are seriously fighting them but i want to add one thing that some forces are tring to support Taliban for feeble pakistan but INSHALLLAH We will't do like this.

"...especially those whose chief weapon is fear. Well, surprise too. Fear and surprise...ruthless efficiency...so the chief weapon of these people is surprise, fear, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Qur'an...four weapons...these types of people are surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency...fanatical devotion...Qur'an."

Substitute the word plunder for "Quran" and we've got the Americans pegged.

It really is not surprising to read all of the "the Taleban are simply implementing true Islam" and "the problem is the Quran" comments by insular, provincial Americans. Deliberate underdevelopment leaves the poor in rural, ultra-conservative areas, susceptible to the abuse and manipulation of religious doctrine. The Taleban move into the vacuum of lawlessness created by war, lucrative arms and opium trading, and underdevelopment.

Also purposefully misleading is the contention that the Pakistani army has good intentions and can effect positive change for the people living in the tribal areas by waging full scale war there. Plundering mineral resources from the border area to service the Eastern metropole, without returning a portion of the take has left glaring inequalities, lawlessness, and underdevelopment in the tribal regions the Eastern Pakistani army now seeks to subjugate.

The whole world knows,the problem of Pakistan is?" America, Army and Allah."

"This is a shameful and wild place where no one objects to abuses and insults against Islam and muslims"

Sweetie, it's called free speech. This concept is shocking to many people, but especially those whose chief weapon is fear. Well, surprise too. Fear and surprise. And ruthless efficiency.

So the chief weapon of these people is surprise, fear, and and ruthless efficiency. And an almost fanatical devotion to the Qur'an.

The four weapons of these types of people are surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency and an almost fanatical devotion to the literal word of the Qur'an.

Ya ya I Know that liar promises..the same as Iraqi promises..we will enter Iraq inorder to protect the Iraqi people from the dectatore Saddam Hussien..and when they entered they didn't get out of it until now..because of Petroleum "the true reason of entering".
don't think that we " Arabs " don't know what in your head...You R the right terrorists on not only arabs & muslims but on the whole world.

Almost no one understands why extremist movements come and those who understand do not say. The Taliban came because the Pakistan government wanted to have influence in Afghanistan after the Soviets were defeated by the Mujahidin including Bin Ladin with the help of the US. This extremist movement misuses the religion for the purpose of gaining power. Misusing the religion is everywhere and not restricted to some Muslims. Those who criticise Islam because of the Taliban are either the Taliban of their religion or misinformed or brain washed.

The Taliban, The Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamofascists that murder innocent people all over the Middle East and Africa and elsewhere including here on 9/11 and in France and Britain etc. ad nauseum are enemies of all infidels and want us all to die at their hand. Where is the outrage in the Muslim community against the actions of these barbarians? Where are the million Muslim marches to Washington to show support for our country over these crazies? Read BECAUSE THEY HATE by Bridget Gabriel a Lebanese Christian woman and learn the truth about the hatred for all infidels not just America and Israel. They want to control the world and they will if they are not stopped.

A few facts:
The "Taliban" was created and supported by the Pakistani government with the support of Muslims.

When the Taliban brutally ruled Afghanistan, the only countries that officially recognized the Taliban were the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.

Sunni Muslims never complained about the Taliban anywhere in the world until forced to by President Obama less than a month ago.

Muslims were perfectly comfortable with the brutality of the Taliban and violence as a means to an end. The OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries) 57 member organization never sanctioned the Taliban.

Even Fareed Zakaria ( a "moderate muslim") supported the Swat deal on this blog in march:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/fareed_zakaria/2009/03/all_quiet_in_pakistans_swat_va.html
His first sentence:"Pakistan's Swat Valley is quiet once again." WRONG!!!

Sorry Eboo, Fareed Zakaria, and other apologists for Islam and Terrorism. Islam and violence go together - always have, always will. Why? Because the Holy Koran and violence go together - just read it. The only solution is hard to swallow for Eboo (Ebrahim) Patel and other confused Muslims. Just put the Koran down and walk away silently. Don't waste everyone's time pretending that the Taliban don't understand Islam - they understand it better than you.

Taliban declaring watr on Pakistan- nothing could be farther from the truth Mr.Patel. I guess you are expert in sub-continent. Everybody here knows what is going on in Pakistan- Just fooling USA to grab more Billions. We are fighting a very dangerous battle with Taliban, we need more and more and more money. Please hurry. This is the real agenda of Pakistan and ditto for Taliban. Taliban is pet child of Pakistani army (fathered by Ronald Regan, of course). Nobody will kill their own child, how much dangerous it has become, at least not Pakistani army. They need their cash cow. Ask any Pakistani on the street which is more hateful to him- Taliban or India. 100% of the time it will be india.

Everybody knows that Pakistan is developing more and more Nukes even at this critical juntcure and pointing it towards India. It was even discussed in US senate. But as usual US has shown no leadership to act tough on pakistan.

Unless USA is tough on Pakistan to eredicate its neuclear weapons, nothing will happen in this region which we can call positive. Pumping more help to pakistan will worsen the situation.

As for Islam, the religion needs more introspection. The religion is out of times with the world right now. Ity should respect other religions the same way as Hindus do. It has to stop this culture of violence and be-heading.

Islam cannot complain that thew world does not respect it. It should respect what other religions are and what they are doing to their cultures.It should grow out of its ghetto mentality. I have a lot of friends in mUslim community and un-fortunately, even the well educated are stuck in this kind of morass.

//The Taliban, which kills far more Pakistani Muslims than western Christians, is the real enemy of Islam.//

- Your opnion counts, Eboo. Thank you.

Not that it's any fun for the people they kicked out of their homes, but it seems to me that the Taliban in certain areas of Pakistan ending up having to go to open battle is good news for everyone else. Hard to have a reign of terror and social control like that. At least it's all out in the open, so to speak. and it could really take a lot out of their agenda of scaring people into letting them abuse Sufis and all just cause the Pakistani government was looking pretty weak.

Unless they're really being more Machiavellian than I tend to give them credit for, I don't think their spin will really play on this. Long-term, it looks like a positive development.

zebra4:

You wrote:
It is interesting to note how the Islamophobes swarm to any website article carrying the title Muslim or Islam. Same people.

Please note this is,not at all, a site for any sincere and decent discussion.
This is a shameful and wild place where no one objects to abuses and insults against Islam and muslims.
As you noted, some comment writers are permanent addicts, who write here with nafarious designs against Islam.Seem tobe paid workers.

I suggest do not indulge in discussion with such people specially when they do not believe Quran to be word of Allah.
It is useless to discuss detail explainations of Quranic verses.

Salam.

The Taliban are making up the rules as they go for their own convenience, using their quran to justify their behavior. The quran does justify their behavior, they also have the example of their prophet to use as a measure. The truth is the Taliban are following the letter of the law as far as islam is concerned. Until the majority of muslims define islam differently, "the religion of peace" will always be a tongue in cheek expression, Christian and Jewish people cannot be blamed for this. As far as helping Pakistan, we have been, these are the results. If policy is dictated by results, then the Pakistan policy should be examined, the Pakistan experiment has been a failure. American guns and munitions in the Talibans hands speaks volumes. Now may not be the time to take any support away, but it is not a time to increase financial support for failed policy.

It is interesting to note how the Islamophobes swarm to any website article carrying the title Muslim or Islam. Same people.

Their AGENDA: disinformation campaign. No rebuttals matter. They believe if you repeat a lie many times over people will start believing them.

They don't know they lost credibility long time ago.

I could not find any of the Taliban's actions that have no justification in the Quran (Scriptures) and/or the Hadith (Alleged sayings of the Muslim prophet) and /or the Sira (The history of the same prophet). I believe that Taliban is as much a victim of the Muslim ideology as are the rest of us.

It is fraud and deception to say that the Taliban have declared war on Islam. The Taliban are merely implementing Islam to the letter. The Pakistani clerics who recently issued a statement in support of the Pakistan government against the Taliban said that they condemn the Taliban's tactics, such as beheading and suicide bombing. However, they share the Taliban's goals of instituting Sharia law in all of Pakistan. This goal is also shared by the majority of the Pakistani population. In case anyone does not kow what Sharia law is all about, here it is in a nutshell:
1) Cruel and unusual punishments for adultery, theft, robbery; and death for blasphemy and apostasy. 2)War and subjugation of Jews Christians and other non-Moslems.3) Persecution and even execution of Moslem heretics and apostates. 4)Permanent jihad (holy war) against non-Moslems; 5) Legal subjugation of women.
Any reader interested in learning more about Islam, send email to understandingislam@cox.net.

If the Taliban(means Students) are the enemies of muslim peoples;
-How many muslims protest Taliban ?
-How many submission followers(muslims) fight and struggle versus Taliban ?

Pakistanis are facing the problem that Talibans dress and look like other Pakistanis. If these criminals mix with the general population, how can Pakistan Army eliminate them? That is if Pakistan survives.

Long term solution: Education and employment.