No Taliban brass
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The News International, Pakistan, Saturday, June 20, 2009
Daily updates from military spokesmen tell us of casualties on both sides and the location of some operations in the preceding twenty-four hours. They are never accompanied by contemporary footage, a map or any supporting documentation – NIC of some of the dead Taliban for instance. We are now 54 days into the Swat battle, with Dir and Buner still active combat zones and Waziristan moving into the foreground as the site of a major engagement. We are told that at least 1,400 militants have been killed alongside 120 of our own soldiers. There is never mention of civilian casualties – the 'collateral damage' – despite ample anecdotal evidence from IDPs that civilians have died as a result of the actions of our army. No independent verification of the figures delivered daily has been made, and the media – apart from some carefully choreographed reports from Mingora – are excluded from the battle. The numbers of Taliban dead seem improbably high given that they fight in less-than-platoon sized units and are highly mobile. 'Hideouts' are reportedly 'cleared out' everyday – but have we ever seen a picture of one of these 'hideouts' immediately after it was 'cleared'? Does nobody in the military have access to a camera?
More
Daily updates from military spokesmen tell us of casualties on both sides and the location of some operations in the preceding twenty-four hours. They are never accompanied by contemporary footage, a map or any supporting documentation – NIC of some of the dead Taliban for instance. We are now 54 days into the Swat battle, with Dir and Buner still active combat zones and Waziristan moving into the foreground as the site of a major engagement. We are told that at least 1,400 militants have been killed alongside 120 of our own soldiers. There is never mention of civilian casualties – the 'collateral damage' – despite ample anecdotal evidence from IDPs that civilians have died as a result of the actions of our army. No independent verification of the figures delivered daily has been made, and the media – apart from some carefully choreographed reports from Mingora – are excluded from the battle. The numbers of Taliban dead seem improbably high given that they fight in less-than-platoon sized units and are highly mobile. 'Hideouts' are reportedly 'cleared out' everyday – but have we ever seen a picture of one of these 'hideouts' immediately after it was 'cleared'? Does nobody in the military have access to a camera?
More
Labels: Malakand Operation, Taliban Leadership, War on Terror, Waziristan
posted @ 9:36 AM,
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