Head-hunting
Friday, May 29, 2009
Editorial, The News International, Pakistan
Friday, May 29, 2009
It used to be an inter-tribal activity on some of the Polynesian islands, was refined during the time of the American Wild West with wanted posters featuring notorious bandits pictured over large dollar rewards; and has its modern apogee in the 'most wanted' list recently published by the US government. Head-hunting, it would seem, has never gone out of fashion. We now have our very own list of 'most wanted' – 21 men whose names and photos were published by the NWFP government in the English and Urdu press this week. All of them are leaders or senior figures in the TTP, the outfit run by Maulana Fazlullah – who now has a 5m rupee price on his head (and has successfully evaded capture for the third time.) There is a tag of 3m each for four local commanders and the rest of this motley crew of ne'er-do-wells are then valued in descending order of worth for anybody who wants to run the risk of turning them in. Should there be anybody wanting to run the gauntlet of the Pashtun honour codes there is the comforting assurance that their identity will be kept secret – or kept secret for as long as it takes to tell assorted profiteers where they live in order that they may be relieved both of their reward and their head.
Whilst all this theatricality makes for excellent TV and newspaper coverage, there is a considerable air of unreality about the entire exercise. It is not that long ago that the US government put a price of $5m on the head of Baitullah Mehsud. Five million dollars is a lot of money, enough, one might have thought, to loosen a few tongues. Has it? No, nor should it be expected to. Simply, the cultural imperatives that overlay Pashtun culture make it well-nigh impossible that Mehsud or any other of those included in the 'wanted 21' list will be captured as a result of treachery by anybody within their own culture. The world's most wanted man – Osama bin Laden – has had a multi-million dollar price on his head for many years, and is widely believed to be a 'guest' of Pashtun hosts. Nobody, seemingly, has been tempted to turn him in either, despite the fact that his whereabouts must be known to more than a handful of people. It is always possible that 'rogue elements' might be tempted to spill the beans – though whether they would live long enough to enjoy the fruits of their duplicity is a moot point. The money set aside for 'bounty' would be better spent on developing 'humint' – human intelligence – networks and investing in state-of-the-art electronic surveillance equipment. An unwary call on a mobile phone, intercepted and acted upon promptly, is far more likely to produce results than a loudly-trumpeted set of rewards that nobody is going to rush to claim.
Source
Friday, May 29, 2009
It used to be an inter-tribal activity on some of the Polynesian islands, was refined during the time of the American Wild West with wanted posters featuring notorious bandits pictured over large dollar rewards; and has its modern apogee in the 'most wanted' list recently published by the US government. Head-hunting, it would seem, has never gone out of fashion. We now have our very own list of 'most wanted' – 21 men whose names and photos were published by the NWFP government in the English and Urdu press this week. All of them are leaders or senior figures in the TTP, the outfit run by Maulana Fazlullah – who now has a 5m rupee price on his head (and has successfully evaded capture for the third time.) There is a tag of 3m each for four local commanders and the rest of this motley crew of ne'er-do-wells are then valued in descending order of worth for anybody who wants to run the risk of turning them in. Should there be anybody wanting to run the gauntlet of the Pashtun honour codes there is the comforting assurance that their identity will be kept secret – or kept secret for as long as it takes to tell assorted profiteers where they live in order that they may be relieved both of their reward and their head.
Whilst all this theatricality makes for excellent TV and newspaper coverage, there is a considerable air of unreality about the entire exercise. It is not that long ago that the US government put a price of $5m on the head of Baitullah Mehsud. Five million dollars is a lot of money, enough, one might have thought, to loosen a few tongues. Has it? No, nor should it be expected to. Simply, the cultural imperatives that overlay Pashtun culture make it well-nigh impossible that Mehsud or any other of those included in the 'wanted 21' list will be captured as a result of treachery by anybody within their own culture. The world's most wanted man – Osama bin Laden – has had a multi-million dollar price on his head for many years, and is widely believed to be a 'guest' of Pashtun hosts. Nobody, seemingly, has been tempted to turn him in either, despite the fact that his whereabouts must be known to more than a handful of people. It is always possible that 'rogue elements' might be tempted to spill the beans – though whether they would live long enough to enjoy the fruits of their duplicity is a moot point. The money set aside for 'bounty' would be better spent on developing 'humint' – human intelligence – networks and investing in state-of-the-art electronic surveillance equipment. An unwary call on a mobile phone, intercepted and acted upon promptly, is far more likely to produce results than a loudly-trumpeted set of rewards that nobody is going to rush to claim.
Source
Labels: Al Qaeda, Head Money, Militancy, Osama Bin Laden, Pashtun Culture, Taliban, Terrorism
posted @ 6:28 PM,
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