Talibanisation of Pakistan : From 9/11 to 26/11 is, in a way, the third in a trilogy of books by one of Pakistan`s most prolific journalists, Amir Mir, the earlier two being Gateway to Terrorism (2003) and The Seeds of Terrorism (2005), both translated from Urdu by New Millennium. While the earlier two are invaluable reference books for analysts, the third one throws the lid off all the lies and contradictions dished out on a daily basis by Pakistan`s military and military-controlled government, which is losing its governable ground at a disturbing pace to the very Frankensteins spawned by the Pakistan Army over the past decades... As this review is being, written in October 2009, Pakistan`s heavily-guarded Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi was attacked and besieged with military personnel held hostage, just after a second attack in 14 months on the Indian embassy in Kabul, by a suicide attacker driving a vehicle packed with explosives, failed. Of the 28 chapters in the book, almost the entire first half relates to 26/11, including those dedicated to Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Maulana Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, and the operations of Pakistani jihadi groups in India. The remaining ones are about Benazir Bhutto`s murder, Baitullah Mesud, the Lal Masjid operation, Pakistan`s sectarian war and the major jihadi groups, ending with those on ISI-Al Qaeda-Taliban as the axis of evil, Pervez Musharraf and the Swat operation. The chapters on 26/11 are extremely interesting and informative, including references to the 70-page dossier handed over by India to Pakistan, as well as mention of the Pakistan Navy commando unit which had trained the 10 young Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorists and other aspects. This book is a definite ``must read`` for a wide range of professionals dealing with defence and security, particularly those in India, Afghanistan, the United States, Britain, other countries affected by terror and, of course, Pakistan. Amir Mir deserves more than just an award and should be provided with extremely good security measures. - Anil Bhat, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi.
Posted By:Newspaper - The Asian Age (28 October, 2009)
