IATF Information Document
Page 2
Background of Pakistan Based Islamic Terrorism
When it comes to Islamic terrorism, it is now universally accepted that Pakistan isits global epicenter. Pakistan has become home to some of the most dangerous terror groups in history, including Al Qaeda, the Taliban, the Lashkar e Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM), among others operating in such diverse places as South East Asia toChechnya. Pakistan’s territory has also provided sanctuary to a list of terror chiefs andcriminals ranging from Osama bin Laden himself to Mullah Omar to Dawood Ibrahim, afugitive underworld “king” from Mumbai, who has been implicated in many terror attacks in India. It is believed that some of the same leaders continue to have a safehaven in Pakistan.Pakistan’s longstanding links to terrorism arise from a deliberate strategy by itsmilitary to fund, train and provide logistical help to terror groups of its own creation(whose shelf-life may only last for one or two attacks). The Pakistani military has usedthese terror groups as “strategic” assets in its struggle against is neighbors in both Indiaand Afghanistan. Ironically, Pakistan was able to exploit the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to vastly increase its terrorist infrastructure. Throughout the 1980s, thePakistan military siphoned off US aid in the struggle against the Soviets in Afghanistan,diverting it to the most radical
jihadi
groups, including supporting groups and individualsextremely hostile to the United States.Since 1989, it is common knowledge that Pakistani military has used much of thatsame infrastructure to execute a proxy war against India. However, the extreme form of Islamic radicalism that it indoctrinated into its terrorist “assets” has spread throughout itsmilitary and intelligence ranks, and now, with the establishment of thousands of Islamicschools or
madrassahs
, into the general population as a whole. These
madrassahs
havehad a major role in the alarming spread of an extreme xenophobic Islamist ideologyamong large sections of Pakistani youth. Furthermore, even the curriculum ingovernment schools imparts a perspective that is prejudicial to non-Muslims. As a result,there now exists a well organized and well financed “machine” for executing terroristattacks in the name of Islam with a particular hatred for Jews, Hindus and Crusaders(Christians). Their broader ideological goal is to “reestablish” a Caliphate in India, wipeout Israel, and force America and Britain out of the region. The fact that the terroristsspecifically targeted the US, the British and the Israeli citizens in Mumbai convincinglyestablishes the point that this terrorist infrastructure is part of a much broader “
jihad
”against US, India, Britain and Israel.Last year, Pakistan ended rule by its military, which has directly governed thecountry for more than half of its existence, and indirectly for most of the other half.Unfortunately, the newly democratically elected government is no more in control of Pakistan then any of the previously elected democratic governments, especially when itcomes to security and foreign policy issues. The military and its powerful
Inter Services Intelligence Agency
(the “ISI”) still control Pakistan.
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