Taliban copy Democrats class envy strategy in Pakistan

NY Times:

The Taliban have advanced deeper into Pakistan by engineering a class revolt that exploits profound fissures between a small group of wealthy landlords and their landless tenants, according to government officials and analysts here.

The strategy cleared a path to power for the Taliban in the Swat Valley, where the government allowed Islamic law to be imposed this week, and it carries broad dangers for the rest of Pakistan, particularly the militants’ main goal, the populous heartland of Punjab Province.

In Swat, accounts from those who have fled now make clear that the Taliban seized control by pushing out about four dozen landlords who held the most power.

The militants did so by organizing peasants into armed gangs that became their shock troops, the residents, government officials and analysts said.

The approach allowed the Taliban to offer economic spoils to people frustrated with lax and corrupt government even while the militants imposed their strict version of Islam through terror and intimidation.

“This was a bloody revolution in Swat,” said a senior Pakistani official who oversees Swat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by the Taliban. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it sweeps the established order of Pakistan.”

The Taliban’s ability to exploit class divisions adds a new dimension to the insurgency and is raising alarm about the risks to Pakistan, which remains largely feudal.

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There is a problem with this strategy and it comes with Taliban rule after the revolution. Living under the Taliban sucks. They are brutal religious bigots who rely on corporal punishment and dismemberment for compliance with their weird religious beliefs. It will only take a short time for this to drive out the sane people who are capable of leaving. It is one reason they are so unpopular in Afghanistan. The government needs to get off the defensive and start attacking the Taliban brutality directly. That is the way to win the hearts and minds and is the beginning of a counterinsurgency strategy that protects the people.

One of the major problems with Pakistan has been its resistance to US training in counterinsurgency operations. There situation is getting desperate enough that they should start listening to the US offer.