Pakistan: the war is on

[Onkel Neal]

The war against terror, that is. Pakistan is more and more becoming the target of Islamic fascist terror attacks. I am not current on the situation over there, so don't take this like I am annoucning something most of you know more about than me, but it appears that the Pakistanians (I didn't say "Pakis", see?) are really beginning to engage this problem.

Now, if only we had a President who would get off the pot and decide to honor his campaign pledge to send in more troops and scrub Afghaistan clean of the Taliban.... W, come back, we need you.

The attack came hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to shore up U.S. support in nuclear-armed Pakistan, as it battles a rising Taliban insurgency.

[SteamWake]

It is no small coincidence that it corresponds with Ms. Clintons visit.

They are mocking the US goverment have no doubt.

[Dowly]

Pakistan has been fighting the taliban "with force" for some months already.

[Skybird]

The Taleban are inside their military and intel command structure, so as long as you do not see prominent heads of authorities and high officers rolling in masses, they are hardly "seriously engaged in fighting the Taliban".

And maybe cannot even be that, because as I just said: the enemy is within their middle, and in parts wears their own uniform.

They lived too long in the false belief they could control the Frankenstein monster they have created. The monster has grown many heads and now attacks them from all directions, from outside, and form the inside. Like a cancer it is directing part of their own body against them. It's like a Hydra that has bitten into them, and now strangling them slowly. If it would not be about those damn Pakistani nukes, I would say: serves them right. They gave birth to the Taliban, and now their children comes home and eats them up.

I am not one bit interested in Pakistan, as far as I am concerned this damn country can dissapear into a big black hole in space. It was born from violence, in a process of violence, it lived in violence, it has brought upon others nothing but violence, so in a way it is just fair if it falls in violence, then. It's only about their damn nukes, and their key scientists. Carrier systems and warheads are stored in different locations, so much we know. If the location of the warheads could be learned, I would not hesitate and strike their location and destroy them completely, assuming it is impossible to get the warheads out and away from Pakistani control - every single one there is.

[Jimbuna]

I hope they are sincere in their stated intent to oust the Taliban.

I am deeply suspicious though because the internal organs are already riddled with the insurgents cancerous tenticles.

[AngusJS]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Now, if only we had a President who would get off the pot and decide to honor his campaign pledge to send in more troops and scrub Afghaistan clean of the Taliban.... W, come back, we need you.

Uh...W was what got us into this mess in the first place. Why concentrate on winning the war you're fighting when you can just start another?

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by AngusJS

Uh...W was what got us into this mess in the first place. Why concentrate on winning the war you're fighting when you can just start another?

Ah yes, the typical leftwing "dodge the issue and blame Bush" maneuver. Nicely done.

I tend to agree with Neal. W was far more decisive at prosecuting these conflicts than Obama is. But moreso, why are lefties suddenly forgetting that it was an Obama campaign talking point that pledged to refocus on our committment to Afghanistan?

It seems like campaign reality and real reality is starting to catch up with Obama.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by AngusJS

Uh...W was what got us into this mess in the first place. Why concentrate on winning the war you're fighting when you can just start another?

No arguement here, Bush eased up too much in Afghanistan. But I give him props for going with the surge in Iraq when the Democrats and kumbaya crowd were declaring we had lost. Now, if Bush had sent in a surge in Afgh. it would have been better. As it is, His Majesty Obama is getting wobbly.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

when the Democrats and kumbaya crowd were declaring we had lost.

Good old Harry Reid oh wait he is still around.

[Task Force]

they will never be able to stop the stuff down there... untill the entire populace is gone, there is gonna always be rebels...

Good old Harry Reid oh wait he is still around.

How is that for bad timing.
You post that link after massive bombings, complaints about al-qaida resurgence and another announcement that once again due to sectarian fighting the long delayed elections in the North still cannot go ahead.

Were you aiming to be ironic or did you just screw up?

[Letum]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Pakistanians

pfft!
Is that a intentional Bushism?



(Pakistanis)

But I give him props for going with the surge in Iraq when the Democrats and kumbaya crowd were declaring we had lost.

But you have lost in Iraq.

As it is, His Majesty Obama is getting wobbly.

Thats not surprising, any effort needs a local basis to work.
In Iraq it was OK, you had the Iranians friends in power and sufficient local support for them so as to be able to buy off enough of the opposition to get relative stability
In Afghanistan there is none of that. There is not enough domestic support for Karzai or any of his warlord/drug baron friends, they have no regional power backing them. Plus the opposition is too large and too diverse for it to be possible to buy enough of them off to obtain that needed window of relative stability.

I think the core failure of your position is well illustrated by this....

if only we had a President who would get off the pot and decide to honor his campaign pledge to send in more troops and scrub Afghaistan clean of the Taliban..

...
The Taliban are now only a very small part of the increasingly complex problem.
It appears that Obama now realises that, as do more and more of Americas military leaders and its diplomats.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Tribesman

But you have lost in Iraq.

Hehe, aint it funny when ppl still today think that US and it's allies could still win in Afghanistan or in Iraq? Silly people.

Hehe, aint it funny when ppl still today think that US and it's allies could still win in Afghanistan or in Iraq?

Whats funny is that a win in Iraq was never really possible.
Afghanistan was possible though if they had stuck to the important conditions they knew they had to follow before they invaded. A massive troop presence for a very short duration matched with rapid and sustainable improvements delivered for the population, plus of course the near total avoidance of air/artillery strikes on populated areas because of the cultural/political landscape of the country.