October 7, 2009

No Peace in Swat Valley

Anna Husarska, Los Angeles Times

AP Photo

The drawing shows three boys in traditional Pakistani long shirts, shalwar kameezshalwar kameez, crying and holding banners that read "We want peace," "Not the peaces [sic] of human bodies" and, in Arabic script, "Aman" -- Pashto for "peace." On the left of the group, two hooded men (members of the Taliban, one presumes) carry swords; on the right, two figures in uniform carry guns (Pakistani army, one guesses). In the foreground, a hooded figure holds down a person who is pleading, "Please let me go; I have small children."

This was a drawing by a schoolgirl named Sheema for an end-of-Ramadan competition in Mingora, the main town of Pakistan's Swat Valley in the North-West Frontier Province. The scene depicting her hometown this spring -- civilians...

Read Full Article ››

TAGGED: Taliban, Pakistan

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

May 8, 2012
The Case for Afghan Prisoner Releases
Max Boot, Contentions
I sympathize with conservatives such as Bethany Mandel who are outraged by reports that the U.S. military in Afghanistan has been releasing some insurgent commanders from its detention facility–as revealed in a Washington... more ››
May 8, 2012
10 Questions on Terrorist Releases
Marc Thiessen, Enterprise Blog
The Washington Post reports this morning that the Obama administration “has for several years been secretly releasing high-level detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan as part of negotiations with insurgent... more ››
May 11, 2012
Israeli Attack on Iran May Enrage Muslim World
Ahmed Rashid, Haaretz
Iran is far more likely to mobilize on the basis of the much wider support it can muster in the Muslim world, which is already seething with anti-American and anti-Israeli feelings. more ››
May 15, 2012
Obama's Foreign Policy Failures
Gideon Rachman, Financial Times
President Barack Obama ran as the anti-George Bush candidate. So it is ironic that his signature achievement overseas - the killing of Osama bin Laden - is one Bush would have been proud of. more ››
May 16, 2012
NATO's Afghan Supply Route Is Hurting Pakistan
Rafia Zakaria, Dawn
It is time that the issue of the Nato supply route began to be evaluated not simply in terms of how crucial the supplies are for US forces battling the Taliban in Afghanistan, but the danger it creates for ordinary Pakistanis... more ››