BOOK
REVIEW LeT: Terror
incorporated The
Caliphate's Soldiers: The Lashkar-e-Tayyeba's Long
War by Wilson John
Reviewed
by Surinder Kumar Sharma
The designation
of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) as a terrorist group by
the United Nations after the Mumbai carnage of
November, 2008 and Pakistan's promises to control
the organization have not affected LeT at all. On
the contrary, the group's activities have
intensified.
In The Caliphate Soldiers:
The Lashker-e-Tayyeba's Long War Wilson John,
senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation,
examines the birth and growth of this
organization, while noting
that neither could've
happened without the support of Pakistan's Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI).
John relates
how LeT poses a dire threat to India's security
and is an obstruction to the normalization of
India-Pakistan relations. He also highlights how
the murder of Syed Saleem Shahzad, Pakistan bureau
chief for Asian Times Online, in May 2011 was a
telling reminder of what happens to anyone who
crosses the line in Pakistan.
There are no
visible signs of any disruption in the "strategic
partnership" between LeT, the Pakistan army and
the ISI, according to the author. Nor are there
any visible signs of the Pakistani state
"disengaging with", or "dismantling the terrorist
group".
John notes that the as the world's
most powerful and resourceful multi-national
terrorist groups, the threat of LeT strikes by
group or its proxies in India and elsewhere will
remain high in the coming years. "At least some of
these attacks would be spectacular in visibility
and impact, and will carry the potential of
triggering a military conflict in the region," he
writes.
With over 50,000 armed cadres
trained in guerrilla warfare, intelligence
gathering, explosives and sabotage, LeT has unique
leverage vis-a-vis the Pakistan military
hierarchy. For Islamabad, it has become a reliable
military reserve force that can be used by the
Pakistani army like it did during the Kargil war
waged by Pakistan's former president, General
Pervez Musharraf, in 1999.
LeT runs a
number of training centers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwah
province, Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and
Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The objective is to
have an office and a center in every district of
Pakistan. LeT spends about US$330 on each trainee
for its Daura-e-Aam (basic) course and about
$1,700 per trainee in the advanced three-month
course, with running costs in excess of $5 million
a year.
The army and the ISI make
contributions at training camps, with Pakistan's
Herald Magazine reporting in June 2006 that ISI
payoffs have reached as much as $50,000-60,000
every month. The other key source of LeT money is
Islamic charities across the world, particularly
those based in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) . Inside Pakistan, LeT acts
primarily as a Dawa group promoting a radical
interpretation of Islam, much on the lines of its
Wahhabi patrons in the Gulf.
These links
brings LeT an enormous amount of petro-dollars
through donations to madrassas and mosques in
Punjab. In 2008, the US estimated these funds at
over $100 million a year. Some Pakistani business
houses in Punjab also support the group by giving
money and food.
John's study brings to
light a lesser known facet of Lashkar-e-Toiba:
That the group's terrorist activities flourish
under the guise of various charity organizations
and trusts. These are not driven by any domestic
agenda but a broader goal of establishing a
Caliphate through jihad.
What makes LeT a
greater threat then other outfits is its ability
to eliminate other sectarian/extremist/militant
groups that may threaten the Pakistan army, while
running protest campaigns for the army that shape
public opinion against India and the US.
The ability to infiltrate and implant
agents far from its natural harbor in Pakistan and
its capacity and willingness to train terrorists
from different groups and nationalities strongly
raises the possibility of LeT executing a
terrorist attack on US soil or in any other
Western capital. In other words, LeT today has the
operational capability, reach and resources to
carry out an attack of the magnitude of the
September 11, 2001 anywhere in the world.
Since 9/11, LeT has been acting as an
agent of al-Qaeda and the Taliban to train new
cadres, procure weapons, generate funds and grant
protection. Many of the training camps in the
tribal areas of Pakistan are either run directly
by the LeT. The LeT trainers, many of them
ex-army, are some of the world's best experts in
making improvised explosive devises (IED's) from
easily available material and using them to cause
maximum damage.
At one point, the group
publicly acknowledged that ran 2,500 offices
across Pakistan as recruitment and fund-raising
centers. Reports collected by John also reveal
that since September 2011, LeT has been recruiting
new terrorists and raising funds for jihad openly
in the streets of Lahore and other large cities of
Punjab.
LeT chief Hafiz Saeed makes
regular tours of different parts of Pakistan,
raising the banner of jihad and calling for a
"million man army" to launch a fresh wave of
terrorist attack on India and other infidel
countries, including the US.
To manage and
coordinate its activities in Pakistan and abroad,
LeT has set up various departments such
Rabita-Wa-Tanzeem (Department of Cooperation and
Organization) - camouflaged as religious and
charitable centers for the terrorist group. These
include: the Dawaat-e-Islah (Department of
Preaching and Reformation), the Department of
Education, the Department of Public Services, the
Department of Political Affairs, the Department of
Labor and Farmers, the Department of Martyrs, and
Department of Indoctrination and External Affairs.
Clear evidence of the group's recruitment
capability is seen in its ability to attract men
and women in neighboring countries like India,
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal using
religious and terrorist networks.
The fact
that LeT runs a well-funded external recruitment
wing at its headquarters in Muridke, near the city
of Lahore, leaves no doubt about the group's
global reach and ambition. Its offices are run by
Sajid Mir, a former Pakistan soldier.
LeT
is likely the world's most powerful and
resourceful multinational terror consultancy firm,
keeping a rolodex of multinational terrorists,
trainers and a massive support network.
The author documents LeT's expansion
extensively in the book. David Headley, a
Pakistani-American who pleaded guilty in the US
for his role in the Mumbai attacks, was working
closely with the LeT commanders and facilitators
in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, US
and Muscat. Then, attacks were being planned on
three different countries simultaneously - India,
Bangladesh and Denmark - in a clear indication of
the LeT's growing capability to organize
transnational attacks independent of al-Qaeda
networks.
This book also details how the
LeT has become a hub for training terrorists in
using the latest weapons, explosives and
communications devices. The emergence of the
Salafi group in the Maldives has considerably
helped the LeT expand its recruitment drive in the
country. The author warns that what makes the
LeT's growing influence on the Maldives more
worrisome is the possibility that the group will
use the island nation for attacks against India,
or block strategic sea communication lines in the
Indian Ocean.
The LeT has also been using
Nepal as a transit point for terrorists travelling
to and from Bangladesh and Pakistan while routing
money and weapons for attacks in India. Instead of
operating its own units in Nepal, as has done in
the past, the ISI has been keen on establishing
networks with Maoist and Muslim organizations for
anti-India operations.
A closer study of
Hafiz Saeed's speeches and writings and other
published works complied by the author lay out a
roadmap of global jihad with surprising clarity:
once Kashmir is liberated, the group plans to work
towards disintegrating India in whatever manner
possible.
Interestingly, the book also
reveals that the LeT is not averse to using
nuclear weapons to achieve its goals. LeT has not
only trained cadres in chemical and radiological
weapons (dirty bombs), it also has links with
nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is a
frequent visitor to the LeT's annual congregation
in Muridke.
Any individual interested in
South Asian security cannot afford to ignore this
book. Ashley J Tellis, senior associate with
Carnegie, Endowment for International Peace,
Washington, says in his foreword that there is no
other book that fully covers LeT's history through
to its virulent ideology and organization,
resource mobilization and operations.
The Caliphate's Soldiers: The
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba's Long War by Wilson John,
Amaryllis Publication, New Delhi, 2011. ISBN-10:
9381506019. Price US$30, 295 pages.
Surinder Kumar Sharma is
associated with the Institute for Defense Studies
and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi, as a Consultant.
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There are no
visible signs of any disruption in the "strategic
partnership" between LeT, the Pakistan army and
the ISI, according to the author. Nor are there
any visible signs of the Pakistani state
"disengaging with", or "dismantling the terrorist
group". 
