So the Talibani chieftains decided they weren't satisfied with just the valley, neh?
What a bleeding surprise. Asif Ali Zardari apparently never got the memo about negotiating from a position of strength. Far be it from me to tell the man how to do his job but I can't help feeling like holing up in defensive positions with underfunded, under trained forces while people intent on your execution roam the countryside at will isn't the great recipe for success. I can't argue that he doesn't want to look like an American lap-dog, but Zardari seriously needs to get off his ass and help us with these people before they completely overrun his supporters. He needs to understand where the real threat lies, stop worrying about India and demonstrate to his voters that A: the extremists are the worst enemy they could ask for and that B: he's got the chops to put an end to them and secure the peace.
Easy to say from my perch here in CONUS but my frustration is mounting. We cannot allow the nutters to get their hands on the PNA and I fully expect to see a massive deployment into Pakistan if they try it. How many weak foreign powers can we prop up, though? As usual, the line about prevention and worth comes to mind.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
And one of the more fascinating bits is that the people raising the most stink, within Pakistan, are: Lawyers, artists, musicians, students, and (what a suprise) women...particularly those in the above fields.
ReplyDeleteIt is, in a sense, fascinating (in that horrible, car accident on the freeway fashion) to watch something that somewhat mirrors our own political mess in an exaggerated form. They've got the 'cold-warriors' who simply can't get over the idea that their REAL problem is an invasion from India; the 'social conservatives' who are susceptible to extremism because they fear not the liberty, but the licentiousness that they see in Western influence (sound familiar?) and think that a return to 'sound values' will not result in the nutters in charge, compounded with a semi-tribal society where the bonds of intermarriage and hospitality take precedence over turning in your brother-in-law the murderer. Zardari & Co are so busy trying to placate all of the above, they can't spare 30 seconds to do anything effective, assuming they could muster the resources.