September 28, 2007:
The Islamic terrorist war
against Pakistan has been conducted mainly via suicide bomb attacks. The
Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists avoid facing the army and police in direct
combat. While the terrorists can win some of these battles, the risks are too
great, mainly because of helicopters and warplanes the government forces can
call on. Thus, for the first nine months of this year, the Pakistani terrorists
have carried out 51 suicide attacks. Only 43 percent of these were against the
security forces (army, paramilitaries and police), the rest were against
civilians. Security forces lost 185 dead.
Over 200 civilian deaths were mostly politicians,
officials and pro-government tribal elders. Most of the dead have been from
conventional fighting, with government forces chasing down terrorists, and
often getting ambushed in the process. While the security forces are fighting a
war, the Taliban are waging a terror campaign against tribesmen who disagree
with them. Many of the people in the tribal areas do not want to go to war with
the government, especially in support of Islamic radicalism. The Taliban and al
Qaeda have made themselves very unpopular in the tribal areas, because of
attempts to impose lifestyle restrictions (no movies or TV, no pop music.) Most
young tribesmen want their MP3s, and are willing to fight for them.