Uncle Thor's Magazine Online

The recent surge of activity by the Taliban and the problem of Pakistan's Tribal Atreas have been in the news lately. These may seem to be exotic places embroiled in a strange conflict. Actually, civilized nations have dealt with similar problems in this region. A look at hsitory reveals that the more things change, the more they stay the same. An historical perspective clarifies current events and reveals workable solutions to these problems.

The tribal areas of Northwestern Pakistan have come into the news the past few years They are purportedly the hiding place of Osama bin Laden. More recently, they have been the staging ground for Taliban activities. The Pakistani Army has begin launching raids into the region because of Taliban extremist bombings. Allied forces in Afghanistan have launched missiles into the area.

The Tribal Areas were the Northwest Frontier of British India. They are in a region that is under partial of the Pakistani government. Pakistan limits travel into the region and controls a few key places, but the rest is the autonomous home of various tribes. Pakistan has not made a thorough attempt to install full government control for various reasons, not the least of which is that the region has little value. It is weak in natural resources and has no other economic or social advantage to the country. With most of its military resources aimed at deterring India and in holding its part of the contested Kashmir region, Pakistan had little incentive top pacify its northwestern frontier.

The Tribal Area is a patchwork of ancestral tribal homelands tucked among the forbidding mountains. These tribes are mostly ethnic Pathans, though there are groups ranging from Afridis to descendants of Mongol Asiatics. All are Muslim. Each tribe is also its own army. They are tough opponents when fighting in their own territory. An indigenous arms industry provides the full range of small arms. The Tribal gunsmiths can copy almost any firearm in the world, using 19^th century technology. It is probably the only place in the world where one can acquire a cheap hand-made AK47. Of course, Pakistan prevents outsiders from getting to the gun makers.

When not fighting the government or outsiders, the Tribes are fighting among themselves. Peace is infrequent and brief in the region. Feuds and grudges last for centuries.

The Tribal Areas were a problem for the British. Tribes would raid into British-controlled territory. The response would be a British punitive expedition lasting several weeks. The British would attack the tribe’s home and do as much damage as possible. The tribal towns were actually crude walled settlements with strongpoints and towers. Because of its commitment over a wide area, the British forces on the Northwest Frontier could not launch sustained missions to annihilate opposition. Doing so would also mean wiping out entire tribes. The punitive missions did enough damage to keep the target tribe peaceful for a while.

A large expedition launched in 1895 did much to quell the tribes. It was unusual in its scope and brutality, even for the British. Attacks on tribal strongholds were followed by a “scorched earth” policy aimed at habitations, livestock and food stores. This would be considered a low form of “genocide” in these days. Entire tribes were left starving and impoverished. It kept the tribes quiet for a long time, though the problems never went away entirely.

The Tribes themselves are considered some of the best natural guerilla fighters in the world. They excel at a type of defensive warfare that makes use of the mountainous region and its tight, difficult passes. The tribesmen tend to be excellent marksmen and they have many tricks to take advantage of the terrain. One technique was the “stone chute,” where tribesmen would roll boulders into the passes at a strategic spot, hoping to crush the enemy.

The thing that bothered the tribesmen most was artillery. They were fierce fighters, but faced with overwhelming firepower or the possibility of being outflanked and cut off, they retreated hastily.

One thing every soldier in the British and Indian armies knew: do not get captured alive. The Tribesmen are notorious for slow torture with knives. It was a rule to never leave a wounded comrade behind.

Winston Churchill had served with the Malakand force, and he described the tribesmen thus:

“Every influence, every motive that provokes the spirit of murder among men, impels these mountaineers to deeds of treachery and violence....to the ferocity of the Zulus are added the craft of the Redskins and the marksmanship of the Boer.”

Indeed, the Tribal warriors were no fools. Many from the Afridi tribe would serve for brief periods with the Indian Army, thus gaining money and training in British and Indian methods. When the British led expeditions into Tribal areas, they often found British military manuals translated into Urdu. That knowledge made the Afridis better fighters, indeed.

A notable thing about the tribes was treachery. Even among themselves, they would not take another man’s word unless he offered something to secure it. This is how they dealt with each other, and it was how they dealt with the outside world.

Finally, the tribes were Muslim, but were hardly orthodox. Many liked home brewed liquor, for instance. Nonetheless, the Tribes could whip themselves into a religious fervor that was almost suicidal.

Afghanistan is unremarkable. It is not rich in natural resources. Its main value is that it sits on the crossroads of Central Asia. Pakistan is to the East, the former Russian Republics of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to the North, Iran to the West. The Khyber Pass from Kabul to Pakistan is a famous route though forbidding mountains, linking the Middle East with South Asia. It is one of the oldest trade routes. There is no wonder that Afghanistan has been a key location for great wars of conquest by Alexander the Great, the Persians, the Mongols and nations from Eest and West.

When the borders of British India expanded in the 1830s, the British felt that an alliance with Afghanistan was necessary. Their decision was based on a fear that Russia could use Afghanistan as an invasion route into India. So it was that the British tried to set up an alliance with the Amir of Afghanistan, Dost Mohammed.

Dost Mohammed laid out terms for an alliance. One was to enlist British support for his long series of wars against the Punjabi Sikhs. The British favored their alliance with the Sikhs and were unwilling to do so. The result was a war. British and Indian troops invaded Afghanistan in 1838. They eventually took Kabul, the capital, and forced Dost Mohammed to flee.

The new conquerors enjoyed peace for about two years. Then, the Afghans rose up. Riots in the city and attacks from without caught the British by surprise. Dost Mohammed was back. He allowed the British to leave the city., but the worst was yet to come. Tribesmen from various parts of Afghanistan and the Tribal Areas bordering India attacked the column, killing soldiers and camp followers. Only one person made it back to India.

The British repelled attacks at Jelalabad, and then counterattacked. They forced the Khyber pass, eventually reaching Kabul. After destroying much of the city, the British left Afghanistan.

A second Afghan war in 1878 ran into much greater opposition. Though the British won, they knew they could not hold the country. Tribesmen from all over Afghanistan joined in the fight with religious ferocity. As with the past ,the British learned that the Afghans will accommodate an ally but unite to repel and invader.

The point once again is that the events unfolding in Central Asia are nothing new. We should not have been surprised that the Taliban might make a comeback, or that some of the tribes in Pakistan’s Tribal Area might get involved. We also ought to know how to deal with the Afghans as allies instead of becoming perceived as invaders.

The first issue is that militants, especially the Taliban, have been growing both in size and ability. We ought to have expected this. Our military planners have access to the British and Indian army records of conflicts in that region. There are recurrent patterns in those records that are also happening today. For instance, some of those tribes in Pakistan have relatives in Afghanistan. The tribal folks see themselves as members of their tribes, not as Afghans or Pakistanis. It is only natural for them to support fellow tribesmen. The border means nothing to them.

The British handled militants in two ways. They either led devastating punitive expeditions or they bought them off. As Pakistan will not allow us to do cross-border raids, we are left with hitting them when they enter Afghanistan. A good sign for us is that Pakistan is now launching its own attacks against militant strongholds. Perhaps the Pakistanis will begin to assert more control over the region. It would be up to them to lead the punitive expeditions.

For our part, we have to hit the Taliban whenever they show up. We have to hit them hard and cause numerous casualties. Forget the “hearts and minds” thing. When a tribe is that religiously fanatical, “hearts and minds” will not work. As with other Jihads, we have to hit them so hard that they see they cannot win. Painful losses are the thing that will stop them.

We ought never be surprised when an enemy improves their ability to fight. In this case, there is a precedent in the region. The 19^th Century Afridis took British training and got their hands on British manuals. They went to the lengths of translating them. Today’s militants need only scan the Internet to find the latest military manuals. The US Army actually had an online repository from which current manuals could be downloaded. The Taliban and any other group can easily download our manuals and read our tactics. We should have expected that.

Granted, current manuals ought not be made publicly available. That would make it a little harder for them to adjust to our way of fighting.

We should expect an enemy’s tactics to improve. First, they will eventually get used to fighting us and adjust accordingly. Second, even without the latest manuals, there is plenty of information they can get.

Consider this: the methods of infantry combat have not changed significantly since World War II. Minor tactical and technical changes have been made to adjust for greater firepower and specialized circumstances. Historical sites have downloadable reprints of American and German manuals from that time. A guerrilla group could start out with training from those manuals. All they would have to do is what every army does: adjust their methods for the current conflict. That happens quickly once the real shooting starts.

Keeping current manuals out of reach is a good thing, but even better is to anticipate and prepare for an enemy becoming more skilled.

1) Let Pakistan handle pacification of Tribal Areas. Encourage them to do so. Both politically and militarily, this is better than our getting into a quagmire there.

2) Make every engagement a painful one for the Taliban. Fight a war they do not know. The more they are hurt, the sooner they will stop trying.

3) Do not treat these people as a bunch of backwoods militias. They are ferocious, determined, versatile and intelligent. Expect them to adapt and change tactics. What they lack in technology, they make up in cunning. Do not be surprised if they surprise us now and then. These are capable fighters with a long history.

The larger realm of Afghanistan is a land of competing warlords and a loosely-fitting central government. History shows that the thing that unites the tribes is an invader. The British learned this twice, the Russians once.

Right now, we are an ally. We came in to help the Northern Alliance topple the Taliban. NATO came along soon afterward. Today, we are the good guys. We did ourselves tremendous good by helping install a new Afghan government and letting the Afghans see that it is firmly in charge. A puppet government would not work because the Afghans have seen it before. They toppled one in 1989.

Our main advantage is being seen as an ally rather than an invader. This has to continue. It requires us giving the Afghan government its due respect. What works best is gradually turning things over to the Afghans themselves. We succeed when the Taliban is no longer a threat, and when we can concentrate on eliminating Al Qaeda.

If we stay too long, if we heavy hand the Afghan government or if we become perceived as more of a danger than a help, we run the risk of becoming like the Russians in the 1980s.

Afghanistan and the Tribal Areas of Pakistan are nothing new. By heeding the lessons of the past and paying attention to the atmosphere of today, we can succeed on many levels. The precedents are recorded. We can look at the experiences of British, Indians and Russians going back almost 175 years.

This wraps up our look at Islamic and Middle Eastern phenomena that have caught the attention of the Western world. A few people ask what these things have to do with Heathenism. As Heathens, we live in this world and are directly affected by events. Those of us in America have a stake in events in Afghanistan because of Al Qaeda. Those in Britain also have a stake in it. We have seen attacks on the World Trade Center and London subway. The World Trade Center attacks originated in Afghanistan. The London bombers had connections in Pakistan.

As modern Heathens, it is important to keep a pulse on things that affect us. We need to be “far-seeing”. Though it may seem like a sideshow today, the situations in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan are likely to be with us for a while.

For a more detailed look at the British campaigns in Afghanistan and the Tribal Areas, you might enjoy Victoria’s Enemies and Khaki & Red both by Donald Featherstone. Check the used booksellers for copies. Both books also have information on the British expeditions against Egyptian Nationalists and the Sudanaese Jihadists.

A Note on recent events in Mumbai:

As we prepare to go to press, the dust is settling over the terrorist attack on Mumbai (Bombay), India. 171 people were killed when Islamic terrorists struck with automatic weapons and hand grenades. The terrorists received their training and were members of a group in Pakistan. Though nobody has blamed the Pakistani government directly, many believe that the group is one of many which had at one time had the support of Pakistani Intelligence.

The use of radical groups by intelligence services is nothing new. During the Cold War, both the Soviets and ourselves backed various groups that targeted our enemies. Radical; groups give a degree of deniability to the nations that supported them. They are a convenient tool for espionage agencies.

What with the cooling of tensions between India and Pakistan in recent years, such radical groups have become more a burden than an asset to their respective countries. Pakistan is dealing with extremist groups which now threaten the government and society. A few anti-government groups have hived off the same groups which that government’s spymasters used to support.

The chickens have come home to roost in Pakistan. The Mumbai attacks give the Pakistani government good reason to purge the old radical groups. Rather than an asset for covert war in the Kashmir region, the extremists are now a liability. In taking action to shut them down, Pakistan will ensure its own stability. It would eliminate a source of Islamic radicals who may turn against the government, and it will bolster Pakistan’s standing in the international community.

Religious hatred is no stranger to India and Pakistan. Since the two were partitioned in 1947, religious strife between Hindus and Muslims flares up occasionally. 1947 saw riots where men fought in the streets with swords and shields. In the years since then, there have been attacks on individuals and houses of worship. Despite the image of gurus, yogis and spirituality, Indian religious tolerance is quixotic.

The key to enduring peace between India and Pakistan requires commitment on both sides. Pakistan must dissolve the radical groups in Kashmir and continue its campaign to pacify its Northwest Territories. India must make extensive efforts to ensure religious tolerance of Muslims and see to their safety among a volatile Hindu population. The old animosities must be flushed away by new campaigns aimed at the hearts and minds of the people.

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