Word: tribalized
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...deadly tactics have not. The Wazir humbled the Mughals in the 16th century and the British in the 19th and 20th centuries. Last month, it was the Pakistani army's turn. In an April 17 ceremony, Pakistani Lieut. General Safdar Hussain signed a truce with the leaders of the tribal forces, ending a brief, bloody and largely ineffective campaign to root out extremist militants and terrorists hiding among sympathizers in Waziristan's villages. Hussain showed up for the cease-fire ceremony unarmed, as agreed. But if the Pakistani officer expected his adversaries to reciprocate by laying down their weapons...
...army was surprised, so too were the country's American allies. Under pressure to score a victory in the war on terror as unambiguous as the capture of Saddam Hussein, the Bush Administration prodded Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to send 11,000 troops into the country's semiautonomous tribal area in March on a search-and-destroy mission. The quarry: top Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters believed to be hiding out in tribal lands since being routed from Afghanistan three years ago by U.S.-led coalition forces. Some optimists even thought Osama bin Laden might be plotting his next attacks...
...based Western diplomat, "the Pakistanis would come along the road with 200 trucks lined up, and within minutes, every al-Qaeda and Taliban knew they were here." Other tribes joined the Wazir in raids against government troops, raising fears that a prolonged campaign could escalate into a full-blown tribal uprising all along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. There was never a sign of bin Laden, nor was there a sighting of his No. 2, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, rumored, wrongly as it turned out, to be in Waziristan...
...Pakistani military may not have anticipated the disciplined response that came from rebels led by Mohammed. A 27-year-old Wazir tribesman with wolfish looks and black curls tumbling out of his turban, Mohammed was al-Qaeda's point man in the tribal area prior to the recent truce. After the Taliban's fall in December 2001, he helped fleeing al-Qaeda fighters and their families find sanctuary inside Pakistan, according to several of his fellow tribesmen. Mohammed observes an ancient, pre-Islamic code that exalts honor, revenge and giving sanctuary?even if it's your worst enemy...
...Pakistani army spokesman said operations were halted because it had succeeded in "smashing" terrorist bases. But no senior al-Qaeda or Taliban member was caught. A Pakistani official who brokered the truce says the deal included a guarantee from tribal leaders that "non-Pakistanis"--Arabs, Chechens and Uzbeks--would no longer cross from Waziristan to ambush U.S. troops in Afghanistan. But local officials in Waziristan say that promise is not enforceable. What's more, the truce raises doubts about the resolve of the Pakistanis to root out al-Qaeda fugitives from the tribal areas. Said a U.S. military spokesman...