Posted on 03/06/2006 11:06:06 AM PST by jmc1969
The Taliban and al-Qaeda provided an embarrassing scene for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as President George Bush visited the country last week. Eager to demonstrate Pakistan’s commitment to fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the border with Afghanistan, the Pakistani military launched an offensive against a terrorist camp in Danda Saidgai, North Waziristan. The Islamists responded by murdering a U.S. diplomat in a suicide strike outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, as well as launching a counteroffensive against the seat of government in Miranshah, North Waziristan.
The attack on the camp in Danda Saidgai and the fighting in Miranshah reveal much about the tenuous situation the Pakistani government faces in the lawless border regions, particularly in North and South Waziristan. Their is plenty of evidence the Pakistani government exerts very little influence outside of the government center in Miranshah and Wana, which have essentially become military garrisons inside hostile territory controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban is
The terrorist camp in Danda Saidgai wasn’t just a transient camp hastily assembled, but a “sprawling hideout “ and “military complex” which housed hundreds of foreign fighters and served as a training center. There were “eight residential quarters” which served as barracks for the terrorists. This camp has been in existence for some time, and it is believed there are several more like it spread throughout the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Northwest Frontier Provinces.
The Taliban responded two days later by launching a devastating counteroffensive (from a military, political and propaganda perspective) against the garrison city of Miranshah and outlying town of Mir Ali. On Saturday, a confidential source in Wana informed me "Miram Shah got hammered today." While the Pakistani military eventually regained control of the city, and claim to have killed up to 100 Taliban fighters, the performance of the Pakistani units in Miranshah is troubling. The Taliban occupied government buildings, including a telephone exchange, and looted a local bank. The fighting is still raging around the city.
According to one press account, the Taliban “compelled the [Pakistani] military to transfer its helicopters and other vital equipment to Bannu from Miranshah.” A confidential source informed me the situation was much worse, and the Taliban actually seized military equipment after Pakistani troops abandoned their posts - equipment which includes American made heavy weaponry including armor-piercing rounds, mortars and other equipment.
Despite the Pakistani military’s boasting about retaking the city and inflicting high casualty rates on Taliban forces, the military essentially lost control of Miranshah. The Taliban is openly is flaunting power in Waziristan, and boldly amassed hundreds of fighters to strike at one of the few government strongholds in the region.
The resurgence of the Taliban is often credited to their resilience in Afghanistan, however the truth is the Taliban is not very popular within Afghanistan proper. The Taliban’s power is derived from Pakistan, as it always has since its inception in the early 1990s. The fighting in Afghanistan is largely being fueled in Pakistan’s lawless border region, and Pakistan has proven unable to establish government control five years after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
over the weekend it was reported that Yale U officials said about recruiting the Taliban ..."we lost one already to Harvard and we'll not let that happen again...."
I would like to know what was the name of the terrorist recruited by Harvard...
Ping
Why would you feel sorry for him?
It sounded naive and I am sure the muslim audience thought so.
This isn't a war against OBL...it is a war against a very large part of "by the book" believers in islam. While we are doing a great job in Iraq, islam is making inroads all over the world, IMHO.
You'll change your tune when we have his head on a pike. Not the sound of a sad president, but a confident one.
Maybe. That would certainly be great, but in the overall scheme of things I would rather have the President focus on the whole enemy. This isn't like WWII where the killing of Hitler would stop the war. OBL's death won't mean a thing in islam march toward the global caliphate. Muslims will just put OBL's pic on the wall for inspiration.
Going into OBL's backyard and declaring he's dead meat doesn't sound sad to me. Releasing hacked up, crappy video and audio tapes carried by courier from remote hiding places strikes me as much sadder.
If he his speech had said "we are going to wipe radical islam off the face of this planet." I would have jumped up and cheered. That's what must be done. OBL is just a symbol...his death may cheer us but to the muslims he is already a hero. His death will establish his martyrdom.
I agree Bin Laden's just a symbol. I view al Zawahiri as a bigger threat. But Bin Laden's death will be a powerful blow symbolically. And nobody knows better than Dubya what needs to be done to dismantle Islamofascist terrorism.
I agree. that's why we are in Afghanistan and Iraq and Africa and putting the thumbscrews on the Saudis, Jordanians, Egyptians etc. Besides Iran, there is NO country willing to praise Osama. Saddam did and that worked well. Even HAMAS in the PA territories, said they reject Zawahiri's support. LOL. The islamists are getting wiped.
I wonder if we could ask Pakistan (using the UN as a proxy) something like, "You've got 30 days to fully 'administer' this geographical area, otherwise somebody has to, and we nominate the USA". Problem solved: Go in and clean house.
When I saw the title, I wondered if it was an article about Yale?
We don't know exactly where he stays. We know approximately. Ordnance won't winkle him out. A guy with an M4 will. OBL's body guards will resist. The local tribal lashkars might light up our guys and get whacked for it.
Probably bring Mushy down.
Zawahiri would symbolically be a KSM level get. In that the US public really doesn't know him, but the media does and will play it up for a couple days. Bin Laden would be a huge symbolic capture, but not as large tactically as someone like Zawhiri. I really believe Binnie Boy has gone so deep he isn't going to the kind of terror summets and meetings we see Zawhiri going to in order to plan operations.
Zarqawi would IMHO be the capture that best combines tactical and symbolic value. In that he is the only terrorists that has name recognition with the average American other then Bin Laden. And, of course Zarqawi still has control of the best funded branch of al-Qaeda and has far more access to recruits then al-Qaeda in Pakistan. There was one suicide blast in Pakistan during Bush's trip to that part of the world. If the president went to Iraq z-man would have 20 Saudi Wahhibi scum ready to incinerate themselves.
What's the use to tell them to do something they can't do?
We're in agreement.
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