Pakistan Paramilitary Force Routed as Taliban Militants Extend Control Towards Islamabad

The Guardian ^ | Friday 24 April 2009 | Declan Walsh

[nickcarraway]

International alarm at the Talibanisation of parts of northern Pakistan near Islamabad was mounting last night after militants ambushed a convoy of soldiers deployed to prevent extremists taking over a district only 60 miles from the capital.

Snipers opened fire on police escorting four platoons of Frontier Corps paramilitary troops into Buner district, a day after militants overran government buildings and looted western aid offices. One policeman was killed and one injured, an army spokesman said.

Locals said the ambush had forced the Frontier Corps to retreat. "Now Buner is ruled by the Taliban," one resident told the Guardian by phone. "They go anywhere they want."

The confrontation comes just a week after the government introduced sharia law in neighbouring Swat, in an effort to appease the Taliban. But the deal has only emboldened a spread into other districts, in the name of spreading Islamic law.

[nickcarraway]

Not good.

[TBP]

The Pakistanis used to be able to hold off these guys. Maybe it’s time for us to intervene.

[GeronL]

They made a deal with the Taliban.... the “moderate” Taliban I guess...

.. and they got fleas

[sinanju]

“Frontier Corps” paramilitary troops?

Maybe they should try sending their best.

[nickcarraway]

They made a deal, but in reality the Taliban controlled that area anyway.

[TigersEye]

This is very serious. Is Pres_ent Obowdown going to do anything?

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Pakistan birthed them.

Now the Taliban are turning on their creators.

[piasa]

Didn’t Obama say in a debate he would invade Pakistan? I notice no one’s calling him on it...

[JoeVet]

Hhhhmmmm .... maybe it might be time to start carpet bombing with nukes. That may be a more sustainable solution.

Since India is down wind - they may complain a bit ... but when they see the end product, I believe, they may applaud the effort.

Oooooppppssss, my bad. It would require Zero to reclaim his testicles from the Clinton/Alexrod Lock Box long enough to give an order that the Soros/Code Pink axis won’t start bitching about until after the deed had been accomplished.

[justa-hairyape]

Population figure from the CIA World Fact Book.

Pakistan Population: 176,242,949 (July 2009 est.)

We don't have enough soldiers. Seriously we should at least consider pulling our troops out of AFPAK before they become trapped between nuclear Islamic Extremists Pakistan and a nuclear Islamic Extremists Iran. We should have never forced a change in Presidency. Democracy is too weak to stand up to this enemy. Our troops would be better positioned within Georgia and Poland to handle what is coming. Let India handle Pakistan. We are broke and on the verge of revolution here anyway. My 2 cents from an armchair general.

[JoeVet]

Ever think that we might grow some stones, stand on our hind legs and act like men.

This may be a bit more than the average Metrosexual is up for ... but then, we can always sing kumbyah for a bit.

[JoeVet]

Oh, by the way ... India, do you think that if we were to start it ... the Indians are likely to sit on their thumbs like an 0bambi appointee?

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html#People

Population ... 1,166,079,217 (July 2009 est.)

[justa-hairyape]

Its not about us anymore, unless you have a trillion in your back pocket that could fund sending 100,000 into Pakistan to build another democracy. Our grandchildren will be the ones that end up paying for this invasion. Besides, we have better allies in Eastern Europe that need defending from the more serious threat that already has hundreds of nukes targeting our cities.

[justa-hairyape]

Oh, by the way ... India, do you think that if we were to start it ... the Indians are likely to sit on their thumbs like an 0bambi appointee?

So you propose attacking Pakistan from the West with US forces and from the east with Indian forces. For starters, you must have missed how well the Indian Forces handled a handful of terrorists in Mumbai recently.

[JoeVet]

I’m not proposing an invasion. I wouldn’t want to have any of our troops cruising across a radioactive battlefield. Turning most of Pakistan into a night lite is what I’m proposing.

We did not hesitate into turning a couple of cities in Japan into glow in the dark watch dials ... why should we hesitate about turning a significant portion of Pakistan into a glow in the dark sign?

You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

I suspect we need another Pope Urban II. My 2 cents.

[justa-hairyape]

That is probably what India will do. At the very least the US should neutralize the nuclear attack capability of Pakistan. That is going to be difficult based on where the nukes are located. Sending thousands of troops through the Khyber Pass and then across Pakistan to get to those nukes from Afghanistan would be most difficult. A small expeditionary mixed force from India could stand a chance to get to the nukes before the terrorists.

[JoeVet]

This is not Rocket Science ... I’ve done Rocket Science - this isn’t this.

We know where the Paki nukes are stored ... why not turn those locations into ground zero? Think there are some other possible places they might be stored? Drop a tactical or two there also. Want to play it safe .. wait twenty-four hours and have the satellites watch where the ants swarm. Drop a couple of more tactical warheads there also.

My point is, we did it once ... let’s do it again.

[Straight Vermonter]

I don’t claim to be an expert on Pakistan but from what I have read the Punjabi-Sindh majority don’t think of the frontier provinces as being REALLY part of Pakistan (Maybe the way Americans might think of US overseas territories).

As they start to creep closer to Punjab I think the attitudes in Pakistan will change dramatically. I would not be at all surprised if they hit the panic button and call on US, Iranian or Chinese help. The latter two could be a nightmare.

[numberonepal]

Maybe it’s time for us to intervene.

I'd say India has the most to lose. Maybe they should do something.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

This is getting to be a total mess....instead of pandering to the Islamic Terrorists...we need to kill them.

If there is any positive to this....it will make the Democrats look even more foolish (and pro-Islamic Terrorist) if the Taliban takes over the Paki capital.

[TigersEye]

Didn’t Obama say in a debate he would invade Pakistan? I notice no one’s calling him on it...

He did. Now that our troops supply lines are being threatened the reasons for doing it are even greater. What 0 what will 0wussy do?

[TBP]

Much the way the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) turned on India, which created them.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

The LTTE didn’t need any Indians to create them when the Tamils in Sri Lanka were constitutionally discriminated against (due to their initially superior social standing through their service to the British who favored them), and exterminated during various pogroms and riots in the 60s, 70s, and most importantly, in the early 80s- the event which directly lead to Prabhakaran forming the LTTE. Indian help was there, due to the sensitive nature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, at that time. However that was short-lived, and India sent troops to Sri Lanka to fight the LTTE, as a result of which, the LTTE killed the then-prime minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, through a gruesome assassination.

The LTTE, although a terrorist organization, were more in the lines of the Irish separatists, in that their cause was legitimate, unlike the Taliban, which is a purely fanatical outfit, mirroring the aspirations of the Islamist, then-president of Pakistan, Gen. Zia ul Haq and his ISI cohorts. His madness and its Islamic bent and ideology, is what drives the Taliban.

You’re not trying to suggest that the LTTE were worse than the Taliban, are you? HINT: The Talibani ambitions didn’t stop at the borders of Afghanistan.

[justa-hairyape]

I am sure that India, USA and Israel all have that option on the table. Obama wont okay that. India might. Israel would. The wild card is the Chinese. Terrorist will first use these nukes on India and China simply due to logistics. The main concern now is how will the majority of the Pakistani Military react to incursions from foreign military. They whine about the US incursions. They will fight any Indian incursion. Unless we do something stealthy, it will have to be an international force made up of a mix of countries under US/Pakistan command. Heck, the Sauds are one of the foreigners paying for this so perhaps our lazy King can do some of his own fighting for a change. But the bottom line is the Pakistanis have to realize that if they loose control of their nukes, they are toast.

[justa-hairyape]

Now that our troops supply lines are being threatened the reasons for doing it are even greater.

Threatened ? The main line is gone. The Khyber Pass is about to come under total Taliban control. Now we have to rely on Russia and Iran. Complete clusterpuck. This is becoming so surreal. When World War II broke out the US ended up losing badly the first time we fought the Germans in North Africa. The Khyber Pass could easily become another Kasserine Pass. Image from Wikipedia.

The 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army marches through the Kasserine Pass and on to Kasserine and Farriana, Tunisia.

[ZX12R]

I don’t think the story has been printed yet, about what the hell is going on over there! Something really weird about what is happening in Pakistan.

[TigersEye]

Yep. The Af/Pak war has been divided into two fronts while TOTUS scrolls through three year old pictures of Iraqi detainees.

[justa-hairyape]

Something really weird about what is happening in Pakistan.

According to a New York Times article, which is about as globalist as they come, (did not read the article just noted the reference in another article), the Pakistan military is now facing the Taliban regulars. These are the battle hardened troops that defeated the Russians. They were forced out of Afghanistan into Pakistan. Don't know how true that is, considering the source. These Taliban regulars will make quick work of the Pakistanis. My guess is the Taliban are drawing US forces into the Khyber Pass and are also trying to get their hands on some nukes.

[TigersEye]

I just heard on FOX News that the Taliban has withdrawn from Buner. I expect that that is a temporary move. They just had a test run to see how the Paki gov would respond IMO.

[justa-hairyape]

Many news articles on the pullout.

[TBP]

The LTTE didn’t need any Indians to create them

The information comes form India Today. The Indina government created them, then wined and dined their leaders at the finest hotel in Delhi.

Furthermore, according to a source that doesn't want to be mentioned here at FR, former Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes raised arms and money for the LTTE.

You’re not trying to suggest that the LTTE were worse than the Taliban, are you?

[TBP]

The LTTE didn’t need any Indians to create them

The information comes form India Today. The Indina government created them, then wined and dined their leaders at the finest hotel in Delhi.

Furthermore, according to a source that doesn't want to be mentioned here at FR, former Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes raised arms and money for the LTTE.

You’re not trying to suggest that the LTTE were worse than the Taliban, are you?

Of course not, but they are on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations. If the enemy is terrorism, then the LTTE is some part of that.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

You didn’t get what I typed earlier. I said, the LTTE didn’t need the Indians for their establishment. The ethnic cleansing attempts by the Sinhalese-run government in Sri Lanka was enough to ensure their formation, especially the bloody 80s riots.

As for terror groups, the LTTE was on the Indian list of terror organizations, probably before it was on the American list, and likely because of the Indians requesting America to put them on that list.

[TBP]

You didn't get my point. The fact, which you keep trying to deny, is that India's own top newsmagazine, India Today, reported that LTTE (a tearrorist organization), was a creation of the Indian government -- one which would later turn on its creators as the Taliban has done. (That is about as far as the parallel goes, BTW.) India is every bit as complicit in the LTTE's tearror as Pakistan is in the Taliban's.

And BTW, the Washington Times reported that India is sponsoring cross-border terrorism in Sindh.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Hahaha, I think you’re a Pakistani shill.

Your posting history seems to reveal that. How you got on here, and managed to stay for so long, I wonder.

You have a persistent history of backing not just Pakistani terror outfits, you even try to drive a moral-equivalency scam with them and the others, as you tried above. You also seem to support the Khalistan movement, which, let me remind you, is a terror outfit as well.

See previous post again. You didn’t comprehend it.