These troops will be sent to Afghanistan. Barack Obama will shift his emphasis from Iraq to the mountains of Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan. We can already see troubles brewing as the American government places more pressure on Pakistan to target Islamic militants in its border regions with Afghanistan. America has opened a can of worms. What could be the consequences of creating more instability in Pakistan which is already a part of the nuclear club? This may well prove to be an expensive gamble for the new Obama administration.

The story has already unfolded along the border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The province of Bajaur, an area of hills and valleys along the border to the north, has seen intense fighting between Islamic militants and the Pakistani army. More than 200,000 civilians have fled and are now scattered in camps or living with relatives across the province. The Pakistani army has pushed the militants back to positions that will be cut off when the winter snows arrive. The weather and a force of American and Afghan national army across the frontier will mean that these militants are boxed in.

This is only part of the story. Bajaur is merely one tribal region along the frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Khyber Pass to the south of Bajaur is a mountain pass that links Pakistan and Afghanistan. It has played an important historic role as a trade route and strategic military location. The sound of British infantry and cavalry echoing along the steep ravines and valleys has now been replaced by the sounds of trundling NATO convoys delivering supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan. Only recently, such a convoy was hijacked by militants encamped in the tribal regions.

However, the notion that every bearded man living in the tribal regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan wields an AK47 in his right hand and an old beaten copy of the Koran in his left with a loathing for the West and all it represents, may well be a myth. This can be seen through the activity of local tribesman who have formed Lashkars. These are traditional armed tribal militias that deal with specific problems, to force the militants out of their areas. After all, the presence of Islamic militants in these regions invite the National Army of Pakistan and the cavalry in the form of US air strikes. The locals merely want to live a peaceful life, and the presence of Islamic militants may well be the cause for their disturbance.

Still, this is no walk in park. The American government since 2001 has sent almost $7 billion to the Pakistani military. The militants mean business and are armed to the teeth with a potent ideological belief. Dug into a complex network of tunnels and bunkers, the Pakistani military faces a tough and enduring enemy. This war will certainly not be over by Christmas.

While in this conspiracy the late President, Marshall Law Administrator General Zia-Ul-Haq and his policy makers made Taliban in Pakistan’s northern area to support the Afghanistan against Soviet Union. This was also accepted by former interior minister and retired general of Pakistan Army in his interview in 1993. It is clean and clear that Pakistan supported on order of United States to promote Taliban who took over Afghanistan. When American think tank start facing problems from them as too much extremist Muslims than they want to wipe out them from this globe. In addition, Islamic Republic of Pakistan was the first country to accept the rule of Taliban in Afghanistan.

After 9/11, incident and United States and its allies tried to dwell in by massive air strikes. The main reason was that the land has more than one million hilly tunnels where the soldiers can fail in the first year. However, the result of such massive attacks remained zero. Since eight years, ‘The Karzai’ government of Afghanistan is only in the capital city of Kabul. Moreover, the western think tank is trying to get rid of it now but with saving the slogan of “war on terror”, economy, and warriors too. And I am sure that they know the art of doing it as United States presented his victory in Vietnam through media only.

All was going well as Pakistan, the biggest alley of Unites States and the maker of Taliban was getting huge grants. Nevertheless, the former Dictator General Musharraf had done the first mistake of mishandling the incident of Red Mosque in capital city of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Was it the main communication base between the government and militants? This mistake leads to the civil war in which not only the country’s economy is on stake but thousands of precious human lives of soldiers and resident of that area lost their lives. Still the new democratic government is relying on the operation, which is ordered by Unites States think tank to demolish the so-called safe heaven for extremist radical groups. The plan needs some alteration to save the citizens of Pakistan and the motherland too.

The Pakistanis have inherently been sympathetic to the Taliban and have been reluctant to fight them all along. Hardly surprising that, since the Taliban were a creation of the Pakistani intelligence agency (the ISI). Its quite well known that a lot of retired Pakistani and other military personnel were captured during the fight to drive the Taliban out - post 9/11.  They were obviously in cahoots with the Taliban and were providing the Taliban logistical and military advice, along with all of the military hardware necessary in fighting the Northern Alliance.  The Pakistani military had in fact actively encouraged its military officers to train the Taliban and provide them assistance and arms.  The goal of the Pakistani Army was to expand its sphere of influence, to include Afghanistan, but also beyond its borders.  Afghanistan was looked upon as territory that could give the Pakistanis strategic depth vis-a-vis its enemy India.  Indeed, the Pakistanis found an Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban quite convenient in its fight with India over Kashmir.  Terrorist camps funded by the ISI and supported by Al-Qaeda sprang up all over Afghanistan and men trained there started finding their way to Indian-Administered Kashmir.  The Pakistanis would love to have that situation return and its no secret that they'd love to see the NATO/American troops withdraw, so that they can continue their Taliban experiment.

The United States and the West took its eyes off Afghanistan post the Soviet withdrawal.  Once the Soviet Union was forced to head back from Afghanistan, they thought the problem was over.  However, what was forgotten was that the millions and billions of dollars and weapons given to Pakistan remained unaccounted for and no effort was made to trace or keep track of it.  Indeed, the only goal was to drive the Soviets out.  A familiar pattern seems to be emerging now.  We have billions of dollars being provided to Pakistan in the form of "assistance" to fight the War on Terror and to compensate Pakistan.  However, there is no mechanism to ensure that such "assistance" is proportionate or warranted or getting the desired results.  We have helicopter gunships and F16s being provided to Pakistan to fight the Taliban, which probably would end up being used by Pakistan in a war with India (its traditional enemy).  One wonders about the logic behind the sale of F16s to Pakistan.  Are we arming them to fight India - rather than the Taliban.  Its highly unlikely that they would use F16s to bomb their own territory.  One hopes that past mistakes are noted and are not repeated.  Funds provided to Pakistan needs to be conditional on performance of the Pakistanis in cracking down on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda safe havens in Pakistan.

The goals of the Pakistanis are at odds with the goals of the West and the US.  They seek to engineer instability in Afghanistan and would do everything in their power to see that the Afghans don't become self-sufficient and independent.  An independent Afghanistan is not thought to be in the best interest of the Pakistani State.  Although we term them as an "ally," they are in fact not allies.  They don't have any shared sense of goals and objectives with the West.  Indeed, a section of their military and intelligence personnel have become radical islamists and are not trusted by the West.

Whatever America and NATO choose to do, they'd be best served to remember the enormous consequences of taking the eye of the ball - post the Soviet withdrawal.  That costly mistake enabled the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies to create and develop the Taliban and cause havoc, not only in Afghanistan but ultimately in the United States itself.  The stability of Afghanistan is vital, and ensuring peace in Afghanistan should be a far greater priority than in Iraq.  America can't afford ignoring the Pakistanis and their infamous intelligence agency.  The Pakistanis need to know constantly that they are being watched and evaluated.

Eyewitnesses told media persons that Frontier Constabulary forces have taken positions and fired mortar shells on many hideouts of the miscreants that have been terrorizing the residents by killing and kidnapping each other.

A group of militants called Lashkar Islami (Army of Islam) led by a driver-turned-religious leader Mangal Bagh, is active far past one year or so. He had emerged after sectarian clashes between a Muallah and a Peer. The clash had resulted in the death of several hundred people.

Mangal Bagh's militants recently extended their hostile activities to Peshawar, capital of Pakhtunkhwa, the North Western Frontier Province, and fears have grown that the city will fall into their hands.

Residents of the area believed that Mangal Bagh had support of the government but then occurred his clashes with government-backed tribes that too resulted in many casualties and forced resident to leave the mountainous area.

This operation, first major offensive by the new PPP-led government, is launched after Mangal Bagh freely recruited an army of young men and established his control from Bara to Terah, to Peshawar. A similar policy was adopted by the previous government in Swat, Waziristan, Bajaur and Mohmand agencies and even Islamabad, where the forced first let the militants to establish their own writ and then the forces launched operations against them. Then both sides entered in peace deals after hundreds of people had lost their precious lives.

On the same time there are growing fears that Peshawar will soon fall into the hands of the militants so, according to the officials, an operation in Peshawar is likely to begin. It means that the militants have now strong presence in the city. If the militants took the city in their hands, it will be catastrophic for the whole country.

As fear and uncertainty prevails in Peshawar, people are preparing to leave for some safe place. Every morning you will see men in the streets asking each other "What has happened? What will happen? Have the Taliban reached the city?"

The militants, prowling with sophisticated arms in broad day light, have forced all music centers, barber shops and internet cafes to close in the town, have warned the girls' schools and have told the people to follow their orders without any objection.

“They are now on the periphery” admitted Malik Naveed Khan, the inspector general of Peshawar police, in an interview with the New York Times. If nothing is done, it could be “a matter of months” before Peshawar falls (into the hands of the militants), he warned in the interview with the NYT.

To know the background of his warning, I should remind the readers that the Pakhunkhwa government has signed peace deals with the militants and, according to the officials, the militants are bound not to challenge the writ of the government, but their vicious activities are clearly visible in all the areas they were active in before the agreements.

The international community as well as secular think-tanks of Pakistan had opposed these so-called agreements saying the agreements will provide more power and eligibility to the militants and their crimes and will able them to have more ground in the big cities like Peshawar.

This opinion was proved true as the militants not only kept their operations openly continued but also violated the agreements in the form of the suicide attack in Mardan and more recently on Danish embassy in Islamabad.

For a true analysis of the so-called agreements, we should keep in mind that the militant groups of Pakistan are not under one command. They are many groups linked to different foreign affiliates and, in some cases, opponent to each other.

Besides this, leader of a group of the militants, Baitullah Mehsud, in his first press conference, a show of his advantage of the agreements, in Waziristan made clear that his fighters will not cease cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

The world must understand the clear message of the militants in this statement that they have weakened the government and getting stronger and united. And when they will have sufficient power, they will not remain in the mountains of Waziristan and the Mohmand Agency but will seize Peshawar and then will demand for new agreements on their own conditions.

I believe the Danish media made the most effective approach upon the issue of the Taliban fundamentalists destroying the ancient Buddhist stones statues. Although the political and religious cartoons criticizing the intolerant mindset of the Muslim governments and its peoples may have offended some or many people who are of the Islamic faith but the point was clear; the outright intolerance and disrespect of the people of different religious orders would not go un-criticized. Not only did various countries plead the Taliban governments not to destroy the statues but the Buddhists themselves were desperately trying to coherce the Taliban fundamentalists from destroying their religious artifacts.

The Taliban fundamentalists destroyed precious Buddhist artifacts in the early 21st century which should have never been tolerated. This artistic intolerance is ridiculous. The Taliban were pleaded not to destroy these statues by many countries; even Pakistan a largely Muslim country begged them not to do such an act. The Taliban however, ignored these cries and carried on with the destruction of ancient relics of culture and religion which had been widely accepted in the region for centuries that the Muslims occupied the region.

The reaction to the destruction of antique art by the Taliban fundamentalists and the overly strict rules prohibiting total creativity kin art was most expressed by art in popular newspaper in the Western which defied and criticized these aspects of the Islamic ways.

After the political and religious cartoons condemning the behaviors of the Taliban fundamentalists were publish, Muslim riots exploded everywhere, mostly Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Eastern Asia. The Muslims demanded an open apology of Denmark. Also Christian churches were burned down in the Middle East and Africa. Muslim riots also resulted in some deaths inflicted upon Christians (mostly). The artist clearly were unaware of the consequences.

I believe that westerners should stand up for freedom of expression without dictation for forbidden subjects from one group in certain situations; for instance, the political and religious cartoon that criticized the Islamic beliefs did not come out until after the Taliban fundamentalists destroyed the Buddhist statues, as a reaction. Therefore, this situation when the Muslim themselves made physical acts that against freedom of expression, the westerners should stand up freedom although it may offend the religious ideals of Islam because it made it direct point.

Yes I would have created the cartoons before knowing the facts because I feel something needs to be done for these outrageous acts of destroying ancient Buddhist artifacts. Now that I know the consequences, (which include the endangerment of life) I would be very concerned about drawing the cartoon.

These artists should have the rights because they set an average of opinion of the public that deserves to be open to the public. That is part of what makes a country free.

Within the these early years of the 21st century, one thought to be one of much more enlightened rule, the success of the democracy, and a thought of more freedom then ever witnessed was tainted by the hatred and intolerance of the radical Muslims groups such the Taliban Fundamentalists who destroyed ancient Buddhists statues that were carved out upon the mountain regions of Afghanistan. Although these areas were occupied by the Taliban since the 6th century, this issued has newly popped up.

According to the Taliban Fundamentalists, the order of the destruction of the Buddhist of Bamyan in 2001 was to be in the name of Islam; specifically the book of Koran. They felt that the Buddhist statues of the their region could present a problem of influencing their people to challenge their own beliefs. For years the Buddhist statues have been looked upon as amazing spectacles one that awed it viewer, possibly enough to test their Islamic beliefs. Also, according to the Koran, man or animal was not to be portrayed in art, and large statues that portray nothing but a resemblance of man completely defies the sacred book of Koran. Therefore, the destruction went underway. When the peoples of the Western world, such as America and Europe, particularly Denmark, showed their views of anger and disbelief to the destruction of the Buddhist statues by printing political and religious cartoons against the tradition and view of the Muslims. To the Muslims around the world this was unacceptable.

To the westerners however, who repeatedly pleaded the Taliban fundamentalists not to destroy the statues, they needed to express their opinion of the matter. And what better way to shed light upon this political and religious intolerance than a cartoon in the newspaper which many people read. And through these cartoons, they were successful in bringing forth this issue.

A bomb exploded two cars in a city of Baghdad. One Iraqi cried helplessly.

An American soldier helped to direct the crowd at the scene while aids were distributed to the people in Baghdad. He was assisted by one Iraqi soldier to make sure the distribution went smoothly.

One Iraqi girl could not bear crying when she heard her grandmother was killed in a bombing event in a market, situated in the western part of Baghdad. Before the incident, her grandmother called a nearby military base so that she could keep her family from being wrongly
evicted from their home.

One of the American soldiers treated a wounded Iraqi woman during the bombing event in Baghdad. A bomb had also taken away a life of an American soldier who was scheduled to clear the rubbish by the roadside.



American soldiers, who were in their operation to search for a captive soldier, accidentally came across an injured comrade and immediately sent him to a nearby hospital by a helicopter.

An American soldier was killed in the kitchen of an apartment in Baghdad. One American soldier came to fetch his helmet.



An injured militant and a suspected man were detained in the U.S. military's combat outpost. The militant was injured while attempting to attack U.S. soldiers with a rifle and grenades.

The 1st Cavalry Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team of U.S. soldier prayed for his comrades who were killed in Diyala, a province in Iraq.

An American soldier stands in front of the most famous landmark building called "Victory arches" in Iraq. A community in charge of eliminating the trademark of Saddam Hussein in February, 2007 began to dismantle this building. However, this action was protested strongly by officials in Iraq and the United States. Due to the protest, the community had no choice but to stop the act.



A refugee camp in Sulaymaniyah based in Iraq was home to 200 refugees. The mother gave birth to her child here.

A Danish soldier is injured while fighting with Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan.

A worker from Herat, a province in Afghanistan is injured in the air attack by the coalition forces. He was treated in the nearby hospital. The villagers said that the air strikes had caused the wrongful death of 57 innocent lives.



One of the employees from the American security company is supervising the Afghan police during shooting practice at the military training site in Kabul, a capital of Afghanistan.

A doctor from Afghanistan removed one bullet from a two-year-old child's abdomen who called himself Ahmed. The doctor declared that Ahmed might not have survived if not for the removal. The child was then carried tightly by his grandfather.

The U.S. Military Medical Corpse treated a four-year-old Afghan boy who had his leg infected.

In an operation to fight against Taliban militants, an Afghan police officer and an Afghan soldier examined one of the families in Afghanistan for any suspicious weapons. A boy grabbed his grandfather's cloth tightly, fearing this sudden operation.

LET ME STOP YOU RIGHT THERE, SIFU: BOMBING?

Yes, Laui, bombing. You Sifu is not make mistake or hysterical slogan; let him walk you through… on September 11, two planes hit World Trade centre. That is fact; just like everyone else in the developed world, Sifu saw it happen on live TV. Sifu remember exactly where him was at the time and exactly what him was doing, exactly how him first heard in order to rush to TV. Sifu was on holiday, on Isle of Wight just off south coast of England. Him Sifu was just coming back from the beach and wanted to get a taxi to return to him caravan, because it was dark and long way to walk. Sifu cannot get a taxi because all American tourists are take them. Sifu is try to use public phone box for to call taxi from beyond little island town,, but there is big queue of American tourists at every phone box, trying to call home. Sifu is talk to Americans and find out what is going down. Sifu is then rush back to caravan site and put on the TV, watch news all night and all the next day. Sifu is watch everything. Sifu see the planes, Sifu see them hit World Trade Centre; him is actually watching TV right at the moment that second plane hit and buildings go down.

SO YOU'RE NOT DENYING THE PLANES?

No, Sifu is not denying the planes. Millions of people saw them, including him Sifu himself. Like those millions of people, Sifu is also hear all journalists present at the scene saying, “There must have been a bomb,” and similar things, right at the moment that the towers went down. Sifu is see the secondary detonations from within the building, he is look at them again recently on-line.

BUT THEY WERE WRONG ABOUT THAT, WEREN'T THEY?

We have been told since that there were no bombs. Thus far, you Sifu have only relate information known to all Laui everywhere, the things that we have all seen with our eyes. We have all see the planes and we all saw the flashes of the secondary detonations. We all know that tower blocks are built to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes. We all know that a sky-scraper is not build like medieval tower, all of blocks pile one on another, but out of steel skeleton consisting massive girders which stretch from deep in building's foundations to the very top floor. We are all know this; it is obvious, it is a fact, and we are all know it; it is not possible for all floors on a sky scraper to collapse like house of cards unless it is deliberately demolish from within.

YOU'D THINK SO SIFU, BUT THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED

Sifu is not finish, Laui, just wait you turn to disagree. It is also fact, less widely known but easily discover and obvious truth, that aeroplane fuel burns with black smoke. There is the black smoke, pouring out of the planes and the sides of the buildings, but the smoke that suddenly belch from collapsing towers is white; all black smoke is stop, tower is wobble, and just as it start to collapse, there is massive outpouring of dense white smoke. White smoke is not produce by burning fuel; anyone who has burn petrol or work as fireman or who simply finished high-school science could tell you that.

SO WHAT MAKES WHITE SMOKE?

Thermite make white smoke, Laui. Sifu is know this because he is ninja, familiar with vast array of weapons including explosives; Sifu is even check him facts with ninja explosives expert here at secret base in Victorian Sewers Beneath London, situated just in sight of Canary Wharf. If Laui want to check, type "thermite" on Google and watch interesting videos; you will see white smoke belching skywards, with not a wisp of black smoke to be seen. Thermite makes white smoke, and what is thermite use for? Why, thermite is explosive of choice in demolishing buildings. Quick summary therefore; collapse of World Trade Centre simply not possible from planes alone, thermite demolition is only possible explanation, and there, lo and behold most wondrous coincidence, there is the white smoke of a massive amount of thermite, belching merrily from the collapsing sky scraper. Obvious conclusion therefore is…?

UM…THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE WAS BOMBED?

Exactly, Laui, well done. No other explanation is plausible. So who bomb World Trade Centre? Certainly not the men who hijack the planes; them were all killed on impact, before thermite explosion bring towers down. It is not possible for terrorists to infiltrate building and place bombs in advance; security is too tight, Taliban obviously too incompetent to succeed because they were stupid enough to try knocking down the towers with planes. Such an elaborate operation, which involve bringing men from Afghanistan to America, training them to fly planes, keeping and feeding them while they train, and finally orchestrating four plane hi-jacks in a single day, is beyond the scope or ability of the Taliban. The Taliban are a small group of extremists living in Afghanistan who, until deposed in the ongoing war, were quite happy oppressing women and worshipping Allah in them own country. Given also that any country attacking the USA would obviously be bombed back into the Stone Age, it is simply not tenable to suggest that the Taliban possessed the knowledge and resources to orchestrate 9/11, and yet could still be stupid enough to try.

BUT THAT'S CONJECTURE, SIFU; YOUR ONLY REAL EVIDENCE IS THE SMOKE.

Sifu have focus on the smoke because that is the evidence of his own eyes and brain that personally convince him; it prove conclusively that the story we have been given flies in the face of fact and logic; it cannot be correct and therefore must be fabrication.

There is great big pile of circumstantial evidence that supports Sifu's view; for example, the collapse of the Enron building on the same day as the bombing. Enron offices were part of World Trade Centre complex; their collapse is blame on tremors from falling Twin Towers. This alleged tremor did no damage whatsoever to any buildings except the Enron office, which also went down in great clouds of thermite smoke; think about Enron track record on massive fraud and draw you own conclusion. Additionally, one plane was supposedly bound for Camp David, yet no wreckage has been recovered and certainly no bodies. The excuse given is that the plane vaporized on impact; Laui, this never, ever happens; the planes that hit the Twin Towers burned merrily for an hour before being consumed in a thermite explosion and crashing hundreds of feet to earth to be buried beneath the rubble; they were comprehensively destroyed five times over and yet still left some wreckage.

Finally, the plane that hit the Pentagon; just think about this, Laui: The Pentagon is the most heavily defended building on the face of the Earth. It is surrounded for miles about by anti-aircraft defences sufficient to turn the sky black with missiles; there is absolutely no way whatsoever that a hi-jacked plane could come within ten miles without being shot down. A full-scale attack by an entire nation's air force could not reach the Pentagon; it would require the outpouring of the Chinese army, over a million men and several hundred thousand planes, tanks and long-range missiles, to even come within sight of the place. And yet, the plane was apparently permitted to fly unimpeded into the Pentagon's airspace, complete its suicide run, and conveniently vaporize on impact leaving, again, no wreckage. There is also, to Sifu's knowledge, no record or memorial of the US military personnel allegedly killed in the alleged attack; any Laui who know better are free to tell Sifu them facts.

BUT THE GOVERNMENT SIMPLY COULDN'T SHOOT DOWN A CIVILIAN PLANE…

Of course they could. Hijacked plane, less than a hundred passengers, against all those military staff and important officers who work at the Pentagon? Sifu would shoot down the plane and so would you; so would anyone. You would obviously wait until the very last minute, when there was no other option, and you would be very sorry about it, but you would shoot down the plane.

SO… SO… WHO BOMBED THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE?!

Have you not been pay attention, Laui? American government bomb World Trade Centre for to precipitate war with Iran. Yes, Sifu is know that Taliban come from Afghanistan and that Iran yet to be invade; go look at a map Laui, and then come back or you will not believe. Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel surround Iran; Pakistan and Saudi are close off other routes out of Iran; every country bordering Iran is currently (or soon will be) host to American troops. The invasion of Iran has been in the pipeline for a good number of years and is now inevitable as the onset of a tank; America is going to war with Iran.

WHAT DOES SAUDI ARABIA HAVE TO DO WITH 9/11?

Saudi Arabia is tied into 9/11 from the very beginning. For one, Taliban originally Muslim mercenaries in the pay of Saudis; Saudis rent them out to America for 1950's invasion of Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia is the richest country on Earth; when Saudi says jump, the US and the UK ask “how high?” It could be argue that Saudi, which already controls some of the largest oil fields in the world, has its greedy Arab eye on the oil of the entire Gulf. Saudi is also biggest arms dealer anywhere; who else benefits from the wars currently being waged right across the border in Iraq, Afghanistan and (soon) in Iran? With control of Afghanistan, Saudis also command world trade in heroin and hashish. Iran only been left alone so far because they are biggest of the three; long history of enmity between Iraq and Iran would be solve overnight if America and Western allies were to invade both together. Instead, America is kick Iraq ass first, for to weaken Iran. Saudis produce both weapons and oil, which make them powerful; no matter what happens, Saudi Arabia will be spared because powerful Western nations do not dare jeopardize their supplies of oil and ammo. Saudi Arabia has the worst human-rights record on Earth; they still practise mutilation and torture for minor offences, women have no legal status, the people have no vote. This country was allied to Hitler during WWII, even going so far as to have their own Muslim branch of the Nazi Party (Nazis! Nazis!). Laui, how can anyone maintain the righteous benevolence of our leaders when they are so closely allied with the most repressive government on Earth?

WAIT, SIFU, THIS IS GETTING COMPLICATED…

Alright, Laui, Sifu slow down enough for you mind to comprehend. The point is simply this, Laui; no one in US or UK or anywhere else in the world wants to believe that the leaders they voted for are in fact evil, bloodthirsty liars. That every leader of every nation since the dawn of human history has been a murderous megalomaniac is beside the point; we, all of us, want desperately to believe that the people in charge now are different from every generation of leaders who went before. The only solid basis for saying the American government did not bomb the World Trade Centre and murder thousands of their own people is that “ Our government wouldn't do that, not our government, not our president, not the leader of the free world…” Sad to say Laui, all the evidence supports the prosecution; our leaders are that cynical, they really did murder thousands of voters, and they really would do it again if the price was right. You are free to disagree with you Sifu, to bury you head in the sand, but one thing Sifu say is true and irrefutable:

THE WORLD SHALL HEAR FROM ME AGAIN!

Today, it looks like democracy does not mean that the country is going to get want it wants easily, Bhutto's father was also assassinated an so was the first prime minister in the early fifties. It looks like we are powerless to curb the violence unleashed because of her untimely death but then again one has to understand that the leader had reawakened support from her countrymen when she decided to come back from self-exile.

To those who do not want to curb the military power currently running the country they have to respect the fact that the country should be allowed to work out its own affairs even though there may be tumult. She also lived in a region where assassinations seem to be the order of the day, it is sad to say. As it is the former prime minister realized the danger she faced when she returned to her country but decided on going back nonetheless.

She represented hope for a great deal of people who appear to be oppressed by the military and this seems to be the tip of the iceberg on the greater conflict there One may always wonder over the future stability of the country, which is supposed to be an American major ally against the spread of Taliban influence.

Then again I am sure one wondered about the stability in India after the assassination of the Gandhi clan. India is also a nuclear power and there is a deep-seated conflict between major religions in the region that we not always hear in the local news. The country survived the killings and its nuclear weaponry did not fall into the "wrong." hands.

Similarly the assassination of Sadat in 1981 did not turn Egypt into a fundamentalist or autocratic state. So I think that the assassination is a sad event in Pakistani history it should not have happened as other assassinations of great statesmen should not have but people should have confidence in the ability of these nations to right themselves after some disruption that occurs now and then which we condone.

Taliban, as a militant group, emerged in Kandahar in 1994 and captured more than half the provinces including capital Kabul in less than two years.

When the Taliban appeared, they claimed that they wanted to bring peace to the country and that is why people welcomed them to end the conflict and live in peace. But all the expectations turned upside down soon when the Taliban took control and banned every thing human beings need to live with. The most affected was the already weak media.

The US-led coalition with the help of Afghan supporters ousted the Taliban in 2001 and set a new government led by President Hamid Karzai.

After these six years, when we compare the situation in Afghanistan, we cannot help to say that the country is completely changed and has gained a lot.

Here we will talk about media. Media was the most affected in the Taliban rule. And it is the most nourished after the Taliban were toppled. We can say that the improvement of media in these years is higher than we can imagine.

When the group (the Taliban) was ruling the country, all sources of entertainment were banned including music and sports. There was only one Taliban-backed radio and some local propaganda newspapers and magazines which they had changed into religious missionary. Access to internet and computers was below zero percent.

Now the country has at least 6 TV channels and more than 20 radio stations including the state run Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA). Tolo and Aryana TV channels are the most popular. These TV and radio channels air standard programmes which are appreciated internationally. Also there are more than one hundred newspapers and magazines independently publishing around the country.

In the Taliban's Afghanistan, only one state-run news agency called Bakhtar was active which later became "Taliban news agency". Now the country is proud to have internationally known news agencies like Pajhwok Afghan News, and also the state-run Bakhtar news agency is working like a semi-independent news agency.

The country has never seen any union or organization of the journalists. Now there are at least two journalist associations and Afghan journalists have membership with international journalist organizations. Afghanistan Journalists Independent Association (AIJA) is working for the rights of the journalists and media with a great success.

The Taliban had banned photography and reporting events without their permission was declared illegal. Now the journalists as well as 20 percent population have access to the internet and even the Taliban publish their own magazines and newspapers decorated with color photos and excessive propaganda. Also females were not allowed even to go to schools or work during the militants' rule, now there are hundreds of educated female journalists in the field.

Besides this, there are hundreds of websites in English, Pashto and Dari run by Afghan journalists, media outlets and individuals. Thousands of the Afghans around the world visit these websites every day, get information and discuss things on the forums.

Before 2001, Afghanistan was on the top list of the countries where press freedom was zero. But in 2006, the country's freedom of media record was better than its neighboring countries Pakistan, China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, as well as Mexico, Egypt, Bangladesh, Russia, and Vietnam, according to Reporters without borders' annual report.