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Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
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| Students sort brick from the rubble of their destroyed school |
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is becoming a “mortal threat” to the world, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Pakistan poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world,” Clinton said. “And I want to take this occasion … state unequivocally that not only do the Pakistani government officials, but the Pakistani people and the Pakistani diaspora…need to speak out forcefully against a policy that is ceding more and more territory to the insurgents…”
Taliban militants Tuesday took over the northwestern Pakistan district of Buner, just 60 miles from the capital of Islamabad. Militants were patrolling its streets with no signs of government law enforcement personnel, Pakistan’s English-language newspaper Dawn reported. The move came after the Taliban last week imposed Shariah, or strict Islamic law, in the neighboring Swat Valley as part of a peace agreement with the government.
“(We) cannot underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan by the continuing advances now within hours of Islamabad that are being made by a loosely confederated group of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the Pakistani state,” Clinton said.
What do you think Pakistan should do to counter the Taliban threat?
Sec. Clinton is correct. The Taliban in Pakistan need to be eliminated by any force necessary.
They should declare “War On Terrorism” it’s been working for us. TeeHee 😉
The rotating swirl in the toilet bowl called earth is gaining speed. Line them up: Pakistan, Iran, Korea. How many nutball societies can have Nukes before 1-2-3 get used? One can only hope they get “launched” so we know what country to wipe off the map.
I assume we will live to see a terrorist Nuke explode from a truck or a boat. No “country” will take credit. Some group “might.”
Existential Threat. Yes, that genie left the bottle in 1945. Not so much existential, as slowly ticking time bomb.
But what to do? Yes, what to do. Prepare for the inevitable, I suppose. Along the way, maybe develop more human based intelligence capabilities? Modify the UN to actually combat the forces of ignorance==like not allowing Sudan to head the Human Rights Commission, Iran to Encourage another Jewish Haulocaust? That sort of thing?
One recommendation is for Pakistan to use real army soldiers against the Taliban and not the Frontier Corps.
The question is: “What do you think the West should do if we are nuked?”
I would think we are talking about survival at that point and not some kind of BLOG discussion.
It’s not what Pakistan should do but what we should do.
#3 has it just about right. but I would start now.
WMDs all over again.
By all means they should keep capitulating to the to the Taliban. Surely when they control everything, it’ll be ok…
Upon hearing that Pak set off a bomb test, whatever year that was, a little wave of nausea went through me. Hello kooks with nukes.
If they weren’t so overpopulated there might be a prayer. But we’re all screwed now.
Big bang indeed.
Nuke Afgahnistan and Pakistan into wastelands. Make an example. They don’t have oil, so who cares?
Then see if Iran really wants to continue it’s nuclear program.
no wonder the H1B’s want to stay in the US
Even though i am a muslim but man I hate HATE those Talibans. Wish I had a big magnum gun and shoot them on the spot.
The problem in Pakistan is that people dont consider the talibans as a threat, they consider the West as more threat than the talibans.
Even if any Taliban does a terrorist activity in Pakistan and some innocent people are killed, the common will blame it on the government for siding with the west, thus the consequence.
I just wish these talibans are wiped out once and for all, and the people of Pakistan see who is the REAL enemy.
Pakistan clearly has all the elements to make it a nightmare.
– Nukes
– Religious fanaticism
– Unstable government
– Terrorist haven
– Territory disputes with India
Looks like perfect storm.
Hillary is lying to us. There is no terrorist threat. If we would just listen to Michael Moore we would know this:
“There is no terrorist threat. Yes, there have been horrific acts of terrorism and, yes, there will be acts of terrorism again. But that doesn’t mean that there’s some kind of massive terrorist threat.”
See. No need to worry, no need to continue Obama’s illegal war, no more blood for oil, no more quagmire in Afghanistan.
Thanks Dallas, you just made my day more pleasant. 🙁
Unfortunately the long term solution for Pakistan is a working justice system. Nothing Pakistan has done, or is doing, or plans to do addresses this.
In Sept 2007 National Geographic Magazine featured an excellent article about the state of Pakistan and why it is failing. You can read it here ( http://tinyurl.com/6r3y76 ) and you will understand why the Taliban is taking over. The answer is simple. The masses wants a government that works. Just like what happened in Afghanistan in the 1990’s, the Taliban offers a strict and crude justice and rules where there are none.
In the short term, the Pakistan military is too obsessed with India to notice, or care, what is going on in their own country. They are going to wake up soon and learn that their country has been taken over from Afghanistan border, not the Indian border.
If you have time, there is a really good online forum called Pakistan Defense Forum ( http://tinyurl.com/cd59dv ) attended by the people that defend Pakistan. What is interesting to read is their obsession with Kashmir, India, and the sacred muslim heartland of Pakistan. What you read is that many believe that all the problems that Pakistan is experiencing internally are all caused by Indian backed insurgents and saboteurs.
For example, in 2008 Bush gave Pakistan a large chunk of money to help them with the WOT. Guess what they spent it on? Jet fighters to defend against India. Not bullets and schools and police in the areas that they are loosing to the Taliban.
I am afraid that these nutters who are in charge of Pakistan’s big weapons will attack India in a last ditch effort to save Pakistan from what they believe the real threat is coming from.
Foreign troops in Pakistan can not do anything either. The problems are far too vast and ingrained for any nation to help.
Sadly, the only outcome that I see is that Pakistan becomes a failed state like Afghanistan and Somalia. The large weapons will rust because illiterate Taliban peasants can’t operate or maintain them. All the rest of the world can do is attempt to contain them while they destroy themselves in their quest for the perfect Islamic state.
Why is that USA always sees the other party as enemies? If you dont agree with uncle sam then you are a terrorist, communists, fascist, failed state, dictatorial state and so on.
It seems the Americans are obsessed with looking for trouble and making a big fuss about it so that there are more excuses to spend on military and war drumming politicians.
I dont think the problem of Pakistan is as big as the fox news is making you believe..
#3 – bobbo – How many nutball societies can have Nukes before 1-2-3 get used?
Number one and two was done in 1945.
#18 I truly believe this is where #3 will originate from. Ya think the economy sucks now?
As you know Pakistan’s principle nuke scientist has no problem selling the recipe for disaster. To make matter worse, he is a national hero.
Well, luckily terrorism is just a matter for law enforcement, not the military. We’ll send the NYPD over there to handle…
#18–Hi Jag==I appreciate the reference but wasn’t the USA’s use of ONE bomb nothing but reasonable?
There were other alternatives like an ocean or island demonstration but why be “kind” to those who launched sneak attacks and Kamakazee raids?
Why indeed not eve explode the Second Bomb because indeed NOT ONE allied life was worth the delay????
#21 – bobbo – I appreciate the reference but wasn’t the USA’s use of ONE bomb nothing but reasonable?
Yes, it shortened the war. I won’t argue that point. But the day the terrorists blow a nuke, it will seem reasonable to them. Just keep that in mind.
Why indeed not eve explode the Second Bomb because indeed NOT ONE allied life was worth the delay????
So, in your eyes, one American is worth 80,000 Japanese.
What advantage is there for the Taliban to use nukes pre-emtively (is that a word?)? It would mean their own annihilation and I’m sure they know that. The nukes are a defensive mechanism to ensure the integrity of the state.
I’ve no idea how the world solves the ‘Pakistan Problem’ but I suspect Ron Larson’s conclusion is correct.
The Taliban and Al Qaeda are the original threat and should be neutralized with any methods available.
#22 It wasn’t just one Americans life. Many reports estimated fatalities on both sides to exceed half a million if America had invaded the mainland. Many, many more Japanese would have been killed as well as Americans. Think of all the Japanese lives that would have been saved if they had not started a war with the U.S. in the first place.
Written in 2003:
http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/2003/09/three-conjectures-pew-poll-finds-40-of.html
#24 – GF
Or it could have ended with just the 140,000 dead in Hiroshima and a Japanese surrender.
The US created and are still in full control of the ‘Taliban threat’, this whole thing is bullshit.
I hope that the truck bomb is placed in Washington DC.
# 29 Faxon said, “I hope that the truck bomb is placed in Washington DC.”
This thread is about threats to us, not, beneficial actions. Please, stay on topic. 😉
All they have to do is stop Canadians from crossing the border. It’s the newest defense against terrorism.
This blog is getting too politically incorrect for its own good. If the New York Times and Washington Post don’t cover it, no American should cover it. If Fox covers it, Murdock will silence them.
The economy would tank if this bad news got out. And Obama is in the hot seat.