Pakistan Vs. The Taliban

For Pakistan, it was way cool to allow the various flavors of the Taliban to hide out in the lawless regions along the Afghan border. It gave Pakistan some sway in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, kept their American ‘allies’ off balance and helped maintain their street cred as a Muslim state.

And on the one hand, allowing American drones to attack Taliban and other terrorist compounds kept bringing in the American monetary aid…decrying the intrusions into Pakistani air space kept the local populace under control. (Never mind the whole Osama bin Laden thing)

Why they never realized that once the threat of the Great Satan was reduced or withdrawn, that the Taliban and cohorts would turn on Islamabad is totally beyond me. But now that the Taliban have attacked the airport in Karachi, the Pakistan military has found the resources and stamina to attack their strongholds. First with a series of air strikes and now with ground forces…they claim to have killed hundreds of militants and terrorists. But funny how the death tolls never talk about women and children…despite public outcries about such deaths when American drones were at fault there has been no wailing or gnashing of teeth. I guess it’s all just a matter of perspective.

In fact official reports indicate that no civilians have died:

In its news release on Monday, the military press office said that 376 militants and 17 soldiers had been killed in fighting so far. The Pakistani Taliban, whose forces have reportedly fled towns like Miram Shah for the thickly forested mountains of North Waziristan or safer neighboring districts, have not offered a toll.

The Pakistani military’s implicit claim that no civilians have died seems unlikely, particularly given its track record of such casualties in previous campaigns in the tribal belt. Refugees from Waziristan told of a more indiscriminate assault

But Pakistan is supposedly in this to win:

Monday’s assault on Miram Shah included the mobilization of tanks, artillery and gunship helicopters in support of infantry forces, a senior security official said in Peshawar, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “This is the beginning of the search, eliminate, clear and control phase,” he said. “There is no turning back.”

Just like every other country involved with terrorists at any level…there is no telling when the situation will turn violently in a new direction. The US really needs to stand down now.

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1 thought on “Pakistan Vs. The Taliban

  1. What no one ever says, is that from 9/11–and even before with Iraq and Iran– this has been a Sunni war so that the Arabs can control the Middle East and maintain their grip on the USA and the world through oil and weapon production. The fact that Israel trusts the Saudis more than Iran indicates to me that the Saudis have a lot of money invested in Israeli interests, probably in the USA.

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