In another thread I was discussing Imran’s policies regarding Taliban and how miserably flawed they eventually turned out to be. This however may not be a surprise since he had another miserably failed policies like that container drama.
Anyway, see this article. It is not too old. It sums up Imran’s approach pretty well. And gives us another reason why we should think twice before falling for his confidently put hollow arguments.
Just like many common folks, Imran was also fooled by Talbanic argument that they were only fighting American aggressors, and war against Taliban is imposed by America.
Imran Khan: ?We need to talk to the Taliban. War is no solution? | Asia | News | The Independent
Imran Khan: ‘We need to talk to the Taliban. War is no solution’
The former cricket legend and opposition leader has been branded pro-extremist for his opposition to military action, he tells Omar Waraich in Islamabad
- Omar Waraich
- @omarwaraic](https://twitter.com/omarwaraich)h
- Friday 14 February 2014
Mr Khan has long insisted that there is no military solution to the conflict and that further military offensives will only lead to more collateral damage, spark reprisal bombings in Pakistan’s main cities, and add to the already ruinous toll exacted on the country’s economy.
“I was against this war from 2001 onwards,” Mr Khan told The Independent, in an interview last week at his hilltop hacienda just outside Islamabad. “In 2004, in my speech to parliament I warned General Musharraf not to send the Pakistan army into Waziristan, because of the history of these tribal people.”
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Mr Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (Movement for Justice), insists that the only way out of the seven-year long conflict that has cost tens of thousands of Pakistani lives is through a lasting peace agreement.
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“I’m against an operation in North Waziristan,” Mr Khan said, referring to plans for the Pakistan armed forces to strike what is seen as the most dangerous of its seven tribal areas along the Afghan border, home to a hornets’ nest of militants. “I think it’ll exacerbate the situation. My belief is that the best thing now is talks. The talks are mainly about disengaging from the American war.”
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Mr Khan’s many critics concede that his view has been consistent. But many commentators and analysts also see it as “naive” and “too soft” on the Taliban. A common criticism is that Mr Khan angrily denounces US drone strikes and protests against them, but doesn’t have the same reaction when militants kill even more civilians in the bombing campaigns.
In a widely read article that went viral last week, the noted columnist Cyril Almeida argued that Mr Khan had used his fame, good looks, and charisma to give extremism an acceptable face.
“The problem with Khan,” Mr Almeida wrote, “the problem for all of us, is as simple as it’s ugly: he has mainstreamed extremism.”
