Yesterday's UK Telegraph posted a story saying that the Taliban has announced a surrender in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. According to the article:
"Its announcement, made on one of its pirate radio stations, came as its charismatic leader Maulana Fazlullah was reported to be surrounded by Pakistani troops, and there were claims that he had in fact already been arrested.
"Their collapse in Swat, if confirmed, will deal a serious blow to the Taliban's Pakistan leadership which has been in disarray since its leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in an American drone attack in north Waziristan, close to the Afghan border, last month."
On the surface there is some really good news here. Two of their leaders have been removed from leadership positions in the past month or so. That is good news. But we need to consider the Muslim concept of "Hudna." According to The Israel Project's Middle East Glossary:
"Hudna- Arabic word often translated as "cease-fire.- Historically used as a tactic aimed at allowing the party declaring the hudna to regroup while tricking an enemy into lowering its guard. When the hudna expires, the party that declared it is stronger and the enemy weaker. The term comes from the story of the Muslim conquest of Mecca. Instead of a rapid victory, Muhammad made a ten-year treaty with the Kuraysh tribe. In 628 AD, after only two years of the ten-year treaty, Muhammad and his forces concluded that the Kuraysh were too weak to resist. The Muslims broke the treaty and took over all of Mecca without opposition."
I would like to think that this is a geniune surrender, but as Ronald Reagan used to say, "Trust, but verify." I think that approach is totally necessary here.
Leave a comment