Pakistanis protest Swat offensive

[Old Coot]

Source: Al Jazeera

Hundreds of supporters of Pakistan's opposition Jamaat-i-Islami party have demonstrated in what is believed to be the first major protest against the military's offensive against the Taliban in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The demonstration in the capital, Islamabad, on Sunday took place as the army fought bloody street-to-street battles in Mingora, the main city in the Swat valley.

"To this point there has been absolutely total political support for the ongoing operation in Swat valley," Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Islamabad, said.

"But now there is the first sign that there are sectors in society who are opposed to what is going on."

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/05/2009524141212281322.html

[annabanana]

1. Shouldn't be a surprise, really.. given the number of displaced people

and the fact that there had been a great deal of support for the Taliban in the area.

[ohio2007]

2. It play$ well in the we$t

if there wasn't a paycheck in it for the govt, Taliban would have been ceded their land as agreed to by Islamabad. Taliban got a bit greedy a bit sooner then they should have scheduled it imo and now 'the bully' is getting paid to pound the righteous brothers of the Swat.

[msongs]

3. taliban sympathizers. who'da thought there wouldn't be any? nt

[ohio2007]

4. "Taliban left so many mutilated bodies at the crossing _ some hanging from trees "

'Bloody intersection' secured by Pakistani troops
Taliban left so many mutilated bodies at the crossing _ some hanging from trees with threatening notes _ that Pakistanis in the Swat Valley's main town took to calling it «bloody intersection.
On Sunday, the army said that spot and seven other major crossings in Mingora were secured, part of street-by-street urban fighting whose success is considered critical to flushing out the militants from the valley as a whole.


.....

Residents nicknamed it «khooni chowk» or «bloody intersection» because the militants would leave their victims' bodies there _ some decapitated, some killed in other brutal fashions. The dead often were left hanging from trees. Some had notes attached that accused the victims of spying and told local residents not to move the bodies until specified times.


...
http://www.pr-inside.com/bloody-intersection-secured-by-pakistani-r1273923.htm

Civilians who couldn't flee have no choice but to"sympathize" with the righteous overlords....or they to will be hanging from a tree with a "SPY" tag hanging from their dead body also.Can still happen but many Taliban have fled to southern cities and are in a position to wreck havoc if local sympathizers are slow to take care of their righteous needs.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/15-pakistans-religious-minorities-report-violence-nf-01

[Igel]

5. JI opposes the government at the risk of supporting Islamists.

And this is news?

JI is in the opposition; nothing trumps the opportunity to gain power. The secularists did well in Swat; JI would like to do better.

Moreover, JI is defending their tribe, and while most aren't as rabid as Fazlullah and his ilk, there are similarities. They probably think they can negotiate a compromise since, well, they're in the same tribe--the ummah.