The Pakistani army is paralysed by the growing Taliban threat and some retired officers are covertly aiding the militants, according to a former CIA officer.
Soldiers posted to Waziristan, a tribal area that hosts an estimated 2,000 al-Qaida fighters, are “huddling in their bases, doing nothing”, said Art Keller, a CIA case officer who was posted to Pakistan last year.
“Their approach was to pretend that nothing was wrong because any other approach would reveal that they were unwilling and unable to do anything about Talibanisation,” said Mr Keller, who has visited Waziristan.
Mr Keller said that behind the scenes the fight was riven by divisions among the officers. “There are the moderates who fear Talibanisation, the professional jihadis who want to embrace the Taliban again, and the middle group who aren’t too fond of the Taliban but resent doing anything under pressure from the US out of sheer bloody-minded stubbornness,” he said. “Because of [that], the Pakistani military remains paralysed.”
Does this mean that our heroic chickenhawk administration may be misleading us about the Coalition of the Willing?
Bush? Misleading us? NO! Don’t say its true!
So I guess it’s time for war in Pakistan then. If we evacuated Kosovo and Bosnia, there would probably be enough troops to handle Pakistan and Iran, especially as Pakistan would only need occupation of a few areas, as the country is still an ally.
Pakistan and Iran? Learn a bit more about the Middle East, bubba. You could take all our troops in the Balkans + Afghanistan + Iraq + as much of the Coalition of the Willing as you’d want – and you couldn’t hold Iran.
It would make what’s happening in Iraq look like maneuvers in the desert outside El Paso.
Iraqis have only had a decade or so to hate us. The Iranians got started back in the 1950’s when we overthrew their first democratically-elected government to put the frigging Shah back in power.
We need to cement our relationship with India as soon as possible. The more we keep angling Pakistan with goodies just because of the fear of their nukes falling into the hands of jihadi’s, the more we’re gonna alienate the Indians. The fact is sooner or later Busharaff will fall some other asswipe with an agenda will rule that $h!thole. Any military action has to involve the indians and we’re dragging our feet on cementing that front.
Israel and India are fast becoming closer and closer and the preeminent powers in their regions….i.e powerful non muslim states in sea of the muslims. Any operation against pakistan will require swift and decisive routing of their military and missile infrastructure.
Where can i ruminate that on the Walk For Life relay race I got the 1am to 5am shift? Man how annoying is that.
I guess I did say that I would walk whatever shifts didn’t get taken.
#4 – Any military action has to involve the indians and we’re dragging our feet on cementing that front.
I really don’t think this is time to try and Little Big Horn the Middle East. I doubt it will work.
Just pack it all up and leave. Ignore all the political postering and BS. In the end you’ll get no thanks and a bad rap anyway. May as well save a few more American lives for now. Aren’t you just sick of the morons on that side of the planet anyway?Fk!
Imagine if all that effort and money were spnt on the US infastructure and a national free health program, like in Canada?
Who said anything about holding Iran? Just breaking up their capacity to cause havoc in Iraq and Afghanistan would be good.
As misleading as this administration is on everything, incl;uding the colour of the Sun……this developement means only one thing….that the Tribal areas of Pakistan, bordering Afganistan are still as lawless as they have been since Alexander the Greats last visit.
No central authority in the last 2400 years has EVER had even as much control as Pakistan has on this region now. At least Pakistan HAS troops there, thats more than the British could ever get away with.
Even the neo-cons in Washington aren’t stupid enough to try to put troops in this region.
I wonder if Pakistan could stay ahead of the game, away from unwanted attention by the USA, by granting the Northwest Frontier provinces independence through a referendum. They could even get brownie points by specifying that women are allowed to vote in the referendum, and in the approval of the constitution which would follow.
“If thine arsehole offend thee, pluck it out.”
-#7- Medical care in Canada is not free. It is universal, but it is supported by taxes and through monthly fees which are reasonable. There is no fee for people on *very* low income. In general, it is a good system. Like any system, it does have blemishes and barnacles.
#10 – as bad as Balkanization has been – in the Balkans, I’m afraid the world faces even more of a challege in regions like the NW Frontier Provinces.
The reality is that ethnic and tribal loyalties take precedence over any “national” or provincial structure. It’s like Mel Brooks 2000-year old Man.
“Three cheers for cave 26!”
Ignorant people only observe what is happening in their immediate circle of life. If they are in Pakistan, or Iran, or Iraq then whatever the neighbors do is OK, just leave me alone. As in Mao’s China, being smart and educated makes one the enemy of the people, and the dictator. To please the local dictator, we have to destroy that smart ass neighbor.
In the US they take a broader look at things and line up behind a Bush because the church told them to. The church in the states has become equivelent to the communist party commune leader, and our country degrades mired in divisiveness and superstition as the rest of the world advances. The same way other other dictators around the world have destroyed their societies to stay in control.