And I doubt MsNBC will provide much coverage of them either. But these reports are significant and will have implications for America’s national security interests as well as Bush’s War on TerrorTM.
First story is from Pakistan, where there are reports of fighting in Waziristan between the Pakistani Army, tribal fighters and militants aligned with Al Qaeda:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Foreign militants and local tribesmen in northern Pakistan resumed fighting near the Afghan border Thursday after a brief break to bury the latest of their 135 dead, security officials said.
Pakistan has cited the fighting as a success in its efforts to get ethnic Pashtun tribes to root out al-Qaida fighters hiding in the region. But experts say the bloodshed underscored the government’s inability to police the region and could unleash a cycle of violence between warring factions.
About 100 foreigners, mostly Uzbeks, and their supporters have died in the bloodshed that began Monday in the South Waziristan region, the three senior officials told The Associated Press.
About 25 tribesmen and 10 civilians caught in the crossfire have been killed, they said. The officials — one from the military and two intelligence agents — spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Look for more assassination attempts and military coup plots against President Musharraf if he continues with this policy, one the Bush administration has been demanding of him for some time.
The next story is from Iraq, where Maliki’s government has been meeting secretly with Sunni insurgents in an attempt to end the sectarian violence. The sticking point in these negotiations? The lack of any timetable for American troops to leave.
Saad Yousif al-Muttalibi of the Ministry of National Dialogue and Reconciliation said talks with Sunni insurgent groups were initiated at the request of the insurgents and have been taking place inside and outside Iraq over the past three months.
He refused to identify the groups, but said they did not include al-Qaida in Iraq or Saddam Hussein loyalists. Members of the former president’s outlawed Baath party took part, he added.
Speaking to The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday, al-Muttalibi said the negotiations were deadlocked over the insurgent groups’ insistence that they would lay down their arms only when a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition troops in Iraq is announced.
Sunni insurgents talking to Maliki’s Shi’a dominated government is good news, yes? However, there are good reasons not to get your hopes up. First, not all the insurgent groups are represented at these talks, nor does it appear that anyone representing the Mahdi Army and Muqtada al-Sadr is participating in these discussions. Even if a cease fire agreement deal is struck between Maliki and those Sunni groups who are active participants in the talks, as soon as Al Qaeda in Iraq launches another deadly attack at Shi’ites, that truce is likely to break down in another wave of sectarian violence.
Second, Bush will never allow Maliki to offer a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces as a bargaining chip. The Sunni insurgents are the people against whom the largest proportion of American firepower has been directed, and thus Sunni populations have suffered by far the most casualties at the hands of US forces. Therefore, one can see why they would want a definite schedule for the departure of US troops. However, Maliki’s government is hanging by a thread, and he knows it. Without US troops to back him up, his government would likely fall. Thus, a successful conclusion to these negotiations is likely doomed from the outset.
