Also see: Occupation Iraq: Government Death Squads
"Pakistan army suspected in deaths; Rights groups see campaign of fear in Swat Valley" by Jane Perlez, New York Times | September 15, 2009
MINGORA, Pakistan - Two months after the Pakistani army wrested control of the Swat Valley from Taliban militants, a new campaign of fear has taken hold, with scores, perhaps hundreds, of bodies dumped on the streets in what human rights advocates and local residents say is the work of the military.
Related: Pakistan's SWAT Patrol
In some cases, people may simply have been seeking revenge against the ruthless Taliban in a society that tends to accept tit-for-tat reprisals, local politicians said.
But the scale of the retaliation, the similarities in the way that many of the victims have been tortured, and the systematic nature of the deaths and disappearances in areas that the military firmly controls have led local residents, human rights workers, and some Pakistani officials to conclude that the military has had a role in the campaign.
With U.S. prodding and insistence, no doubt!
You sure it isn't Blackwater or CIA?
The Pakistani army, which is supported by the United States and in the absence of effective political leadership is running much of Swat with an iron hand, has strenuously denied any involvement with the killings.
The denial is an admission if you think about the way governments operate.
The army has acknowledged the bodies have turned up, but its spokesmen assert that they are the result of civilians settling scores with collaborators. “There are no extrajudicial killings in our system,’’ said Colonel Akhtar Abbas, the army spokesman in Swat. “If something happens, we have a foolproof accountability system.’’
Then this guy must think we are fools.
But neighbors of the victims and Swat residents say there is something more going on than revenge killing by civilians. A senior politician from the region and a former interior minister, Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, said he was worried about the army’s involvement in the killings. “There have been reports of extrajudicial killings by the military that are of concern,’’ he said. “This will not help bring peace.’’
No, killing people never does.
The operation in Swat, begun under public pressure from the United States, has been hailed by Washington as a showcase effort of the army’s newfound resolve to defeat the militants. The American ambassador, Anne W. Patterson, visited Mingora, the largest town in Swat, last week, becoming the first senior American official to go to Swat since the army took over.
Now, concerns over the army’s methods in the area threaten to further taint Washington’s association with the military, cooperation that has been questioned in Congress and has been politically unpopular in Pakistan.
This after they were telling us the operation had public support in Pakistan. I knew it never did. Having the Army come in, displace you, destroy your home and village, and possibly kill some family members is never popular with the home crowd.
The number of killings suggests that the military is seeking to silence any enthusiasm for the Taliban and to settle accounts for heavy army casualties, said a senior provincial official who declined to be identified for fear of reprimand by the army.
And HOW is that not "terrorism?" REVENGE KILLINGS by the GOVERNMENT?
And WHY would they need to SILENCE ENTHUSIASM for the WICKED, HATED, Taliban, unless.... ?????
A sullen, uncertain atmosphere prevails in Mingora, where people interviewed last week in shops, homes and government institutions nervously complained of the arbitrary and unpredictable army rule.
Translation: they have MORE of a BEEF with the GOVERNMENT than with "Taliban."
Bodies, some with torture marks and some with limbs tied and a bullet in the neck or head, have been found on the roads of Mingora and in rural areas that were militant strongholds.
Sort of like a message -- you know, the ones "terrorists" would send, right?
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"18 Pakistani women dead after a stampede during free flour handout in Karachi" by Associated Press | September 15, 2009
KARACHI, Pakistan - Also yesterday, a missile fired from a suspected unmanned US drone slammed into a car in a Pakistani tribal region close to the Afghan border, killing four people, intelligence officials said. The apparent American missile strike was the latest of more than 50 in the northwest region since last year....
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More mass murder for the Obama meter. Got a long way to go to equal Bush, but he's working on it.
