Taleban announce key withdrawal

[Netto Azure]

Taleban announce key withdrawal

The Taleban say they are withdrawing from a Pakistani district where their consolidation of power this week has caused deep concern in the US.
A Taleban spokesman said commander Maulana Fazlullah had issued the order for fighters to pull back from Buner, just 100km (62 miles) from Islamabad.
The US has accused officials in Pakistan of abdicating to the Taleban.
The Taleban have agreed a peace deal bringing Sharia law to some districts in return for ending their insurgency.
The peace agreement covers six districts of Malakand division, including the troubled Swat region, in North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The Taleban have almost full control of Swat and this week had strengthened operations in Buner.

I don't really know what to make of this other than International Pressure and also that video of flogging a kid under Sharia Law floating around the web, causing the Taliban's standing to fall. =/

Thoughts?

 

[Nekusagi]

The Taliban probably realized that the parts of Pakistan they DON'T have would happily join the US in fighting them there if we so pursued that.

 

[JB88]

This has become so serious now. They were so close to the capital. The situation is so unstable that any formidable blow will cause panic and doom elsewhere.

 

[Nicoleta01]

Islamabad though is close to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where most of the insurgency is happening. Lawlessness in the Tribal Areas is probably why many think Osama and the Taliban moved there after the Afgan Invasion.
So bargaining in a lawless area with the gov. is probably just a wise move for both parties.

 

[Politoed666]

It's "Taliban."

 

[Halberd Bravo]

Another "peace agreement" huh.

Expecting peace in a warzone is like smoking a cigar inside a powder keg and expecting it not to explode.

 

[C7CACorncas12]

Pakistani Taliban (reportedly) sneaking back into Buner

So much for reports of retreat. I could only guess that the Taliban would look for another way back, and it would seem that they just found one... despite the assurances of General Ashfaq Kayani. With Pakistan's nuclear weapons in the crosshairs, the stakes for this battle should -- and might -- be self-explanatory.:

Does Pakistan's Taliban Surge Raise a Nuclear Threat?
The War On Terror Just Won't Go Away
Vital intelligence on the Taliban may rest with its prime sponsor – Pakistan’s ISI

Taliban sympathizers within Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence can only make those jihadists' encroachment even easier, so if President Obama wishes to deploy America's military to retrieve Pakistan's nukes, then he may need to move quickly. I have to imagine that India's getting very nervous about these developments, so it's possible that they will be planning something should Islamabad fall to the Taliban. It would seem that North Korea wasn't the only powder keg to be spotted this past week.

 

[Halberd Bravo]

See what I mean?

 

[C7CACorncas12]

U.S. to Pakistan: Stop the Taliban now – or we will

Well, well. Good for President Obama and his advisors and military commanders. There may still be a way to hold back the Taliban, or at least buy enough time for the United States to retrieve Pakistan's nukes, denying those jihadists a chance to go nuclear.

 

[Nicoleta01]

Ever since the Pakistani dictator was thrown out a while ago, seems like the country as a whole is having a hard time staying together. Half the problem is this area where the fighting and the Taliban are basing, it's lawless and some parts are unaccessible to the gov.
From that article above, Pakistan probably is hesitant on moving troops from the Indian-Pakistani border, due to the Kashmir conflict and overall distrust of their neighbor.

 

[JB88]

It would seem that North Korea wasn't the only powder keg to be spotted this past week.

It's what's happening in Pakistan that worries me more than what goes on in North Korea.

There may still be a way to hold back the Taliban, or at least buy enough time for the United States to retrieve Pakistan's nukes, denying those jihadists a chance to go nuclear.

Um what? Pakistan would NEVER allow that! Just when their "archenemy" is right across the border. They would never allow them at a clear advantage.

 

[C7CACorncas12]

Leave it to the Taliban to confirm through words what it's been doing through actions.:

Taliban: Peace Deal With Pakistan 'Worthless'

While British Prime Minister Gordon Brown heads for Pakistan, Taliban Swat Valley spokesman Muslim Khan denounced Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari as acting to appease the United States. An assertion in The Times of India that Pakistan's real enemy is the Taliban, not India, should also work.:

The Endgame
The Taliban’s “AfPak” Strategy: A Jihadi Preemptive War

The Taliban's movements throughout this region are tying down Pakistan's military around Islamabad -- giving America fewer options. With those jihadists assembling for a push in Kashmir, I'd say that these incursions have the trappings of a preemptive strike on their part.

 

[Netto Azure]

D:

This is also serious alongside the Swine Flu issue.

So many problems suring the First 100 days of the Obama Administration...

I was watching the McLaughin Group (LOL Watchmen XD) and it's either Pakistani Military Takeover, American/International Intervention, or Taliban Takeover. TT^TT

Hopefully none of the above...

 

[C7CACorncas12]

Qazi Hussain Ahmad: Islamization is and has been Pakistan's answer
Pakistan army 'retakes main town in Buna from Taleban militants'
Fixing Our Pakistan Problem

There goes the neighborhood. Evidently, the Taliban isn't the only organization that wants total submission to Allah from Pakistan's people, even with the continued resistance of Pakistan's military -- under Zardari's authorization. In the meantime, we have Jama'at-e Islami and the Inter-Services Intelligence to eye intently, and I can only remember the duplicity of the latter as Taliban sympathizers sneak sinisterly within its borders. I will admit that Jama'at-e Islami's Sharia programs have become more prominent to me in recent days and weeks, establishing a sort of future power structure for the Islamists who ruled Afghanistan with a Sharia iron fist until Operation Enduring Freedom. Methinks that India is the biggest national player in South Asia to counter the Taliban's preemptive jihad, but Jama'at-e Islami may be much more likely to welcome the Taliban with open arms.

 

[Nekusagi]

Why do I see this story as the beginning of Gulf War 3.0?

 

[C7CACorncas12]

Why do I see this story as the beginning of Gulf War 3.0?

Hmm... If you mean an all-out invasion of India next for the Taliban, then I certainly wouldn't be surprised to learn that was their next course of action. In fact, if General David Petraeus' words are accurate, then we might see something big over the next two weeks.:

Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, has told U.S. officials the next two weeks are critical to determining whether the Pakistani government will survive, FOX News has learned.

"The Pakistanis have run out of excuses" and are "finally getting serious" about combating the threat from Taliban and Al Qaeda extremists operating out of Northwest Pakistan, the general added.

But Petraeus also said wearily that "we've heard it all before" from the Pakistanis and he is looking to see concrete action by the government to destroy the Taliban in the next two weeks before determining the United States' next course of action, which is presently set on propping up the Pakistani government and military with counterinsurgency training and foreign aid.

Petraeus made these assessment in talks with lawmakers and Obama administration officials this week, according to individuals familiar with the discussions.

They said Petraeus and senior administration officials believe the Pakistani army, led by Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, is "superior" to the civilian government, led by President Ali Zardari, and could conceivably survive even if Zardari's government falls to the Taliban.

American officials have watched with anxiety as Taliban fighters advanced earlier this month to within 70 miles of the capital city of Islamabad. In recent days, the Pakistani army has sought to reverse that tide, retaking control over strategic points in the district of Buner even as the Taliban struck back by kidnapping scores of police and paramilitary troops.

The see-saw nature of the battles Wednesday demonstrated to U.S. officials that, as one put it to FOX News, "even with intent and superior technology, the capability may not be there" for the Pakistani army to defeat the extremists.

As for the security of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last Saturday, in an interview with FOX News in Baghdad, that the U.S. believes the arsenal to be "safe" but only "given the current configuration of power in Pakistan."

She described as "the unthinkable" a situation in which the the Zardari government were to be toppled by the Taliban, adding "then they would have the keys to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan, and we can't even contemplate that. We cannot let this go on any further..."

The officials who spoke with Petraeus, however, said he and they believe that even were Zardari's government to fall, it was still conceivable that Kayani's army could maintain control over the nuclear arsenal.

That is because the Pakistani arsenal is set up in such a way -- with the weapons stockpile and activation mechanisms separated -- so as to prevent easy access by invaders. Moreover, the Taliban is not believed at present to possess the sophisticated technical expertise necessary to exercise full "command and control" over a nuclear arsenal, and would probably require weeks if not months to develop it.

The anxiety with which U.S. officials are monitoring events in Pakistan is compounded by a battle here at home over how best to help the Pakistanis. Some members of Congress want to attach benchmarks to any aid provided to Islamabad -- a move opposed by the Obama administration -- while still others wish to transfer authority over key funding streams from the Defense Department to the State Department, also opposed by the administration.

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Chairman Ike Skelton,D-Mo. asserted that the existing funding mechanism, the Coalition Support Initiative, under which the U.S. reimburses Pakistan for military expenditures undertaken in support of the U.S. global war on terror, "is not serving the interests of either our country or Pakistan very well."

Michele Flournoy, U.S. under secretary of defense for policy, rejected that view, saying the initiative has proved "absolutely critical" to the missions in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

At the same hearing, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, whose bureau oversees South and Central Asia, told lawmakers the Obama administration favors the Defense Department retaining control over the new funding mechanism for Pakistan being proposed, a Title X provision entitled the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capabilities Fund (PCCF).

The goal of PCCF is to provide funding for the immediate training and equipping of the Pakistani army to fight a counterinsurgency war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The Pakistani army, U.S. officials say, has historically been modeled to fight a conventional war against India, as opposed to unconventional warfare against non-state actors like terrorist groups.

A final problem, officials told FOX News, was that no one in the U.S. possesses "an understanding of the Taliban's true objective." It remains unclear to policymakers here whether the group truly seeks to overthrow the Zardari government or merely to carve out a territory within Pakistan in which it can establish safe haven, impose Sharia law, and plot attacks on external targets.

Petraeus: Next Two Weeks Critical to Pakistan's Survival

 

[JB88]

If you mean an all-out invasion of India next for the Taliban, then I certainly wouldn't be surprised to learn that was their next course of action.

I do NOT want India ending up as the next Israel.

 

[C7CACorncas12]

I do NOT want India ending up as the next Israel.

If we're thinking in terms of counterterrorism, then perhaps Israel would be more than happy to offer India some pointers about, well, countering jihadists. According to the State Department, India will need such pointers in order to update its counterterrorism model.:

Indian counter-terrorism efforts outdated, says US

Methinks that this preemptive jihad goes beyond the Taliban to include the likes of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. I can recall the Mumbai Massacre late last November -- right around Thanksgiving, no less -- as the first time I paid serious attention to Lashkar-e-Taiba as a group of jihadists. As for the Taliban itself, well, one of their tactics in advancing deeper into Pakistan has caught my eye.:

Taliban Exploit Class Rifts in Pakistan

If class warfare was the Taliban's method for imposing submission to Allah on the Swat Valley, then a new yet oddly familiar dimension to their agenda may have just revealed itself. Perhaps the Taliban have developed a certain jealousy regarding India's economic growth, seeking to take that facet of India out along with the others. I can only wonder how else the Taliban intend to communicate their villainy.