Pakistan vs. Taliban thread

[Merlin]

Unlike the operation at the Swat Valley, the Pakistan Army is relying on air power rather than ground forces. The operation is limited to S Waziristan, leaving alone N Waziristan.

Pakistan plans air assault in Waziristan

Lauded for a 'boots on the ground' Swat Valley offensive, the country's latest strategy will likely disappoint
14 July [Globe&Mail] Pakistan's coming military operation in Waziristan will rely on air power rather than ground forces, a strategy that is unlikely to eliminate the extremists and would disappoint Western allies.

Pakistan is wrapping up an operation against Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, in the country's northwest, and will shortly commence a move against the fountainhead of the Pakistani Taliban movement in Waziristan, a part of the tribal area that lies on the Afghan border, a region that plays host to al-Qaeda commanders and is used as a safe haven by Afghan insurgents.

However, while the much-lauded Swat operation saw some 20,000 ground troops sweep across the area and surrounding districts, the plan for Waziristan is a wholly different type of military operation. It will use artillery, jet fighters and attack helicopters to pound the Islamic guerrillas, with limited use of "boots on the ground" in the treacherous terrain of Waziristan, where the Taliban are deeply entrenched in mountainous landscape that strongly favours guerrilla warfare.

U.S. pilotless drone aircraft, armed with missiles and sophisticated technology to home in on individuals, are likely to also be used to augment the Pakistani air power.

Such an operation is unlikely to destroy the enemy, analysts believe, and it will leave in place some Taliban warlords that international forces in Afghanistan regard as a significant cross-border threat. It will also raise questions about the seriousness of Pakistan's fight against insurgents after the country won international praise for its efforts in Swat.

"The nature of the operation is totally different to what we did in Swat," said a senior Pakistani security official, who could not be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. "It is just blocking the entrance. Nothing goes in, nothing comes out. We'll keep punishing [the enemy] with long arms, air [power], cobra [helicopters].

"The tactics have been reversed. Initially they [the Taliban] used to wear us out, now the army is planning to wear them out."

The operation is limited to the South Waziristan area, leaving alone North Waziristan, even though it is also controlled by Taliban. In South Waziristan, the offensive is aimed solely at the large area controlled by warlord Baitullah Mehsud, head of the main faction of the Pakistani Taliban. Already, ground forces have been sent to surround the area. ....

[Merlin]

Musharraf on solving the Talibans problem in Afghanistan.

Time to talk to Taliban: Musharraf

11 hrs ago [AFP] LONDON — Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf said dialogue had to be established with the Taliban and political progress, rather than military might, would achieve a solution in Afghanistan.

"I think the strategy is right but we need to put in a little more input, more forces required, and maybe we need to concentrate also on the long-term strategy. We are following a short-term military strategy only," the former general told Britain's Sky News television. ....

"Military is never the ultimate solution. The military can buy you time, it can create an environment, but ultimately it is the political instrument which has to be used.

"I personally think that you need to establish a political dialogue and political dialogue with senior elements within the Taliban.

"Unfortunately, the Taliban or the senior elements in the Taliban, I don't think are open at the moment to any discussions or any negotiations with (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai. ....

Musharraf said the Taliban's influence in Pakistan's Afghan border areas had strengthened since he resigned the presidency in August last year.

"There is a degree of instability that has come up because of this resurgence of Talibanisation activity in the settled districts of the frontier, especially Swat, but I am very sure as long as the armed forces of Pakistan stay and they are strong, Pakistan will remain stable," he said.

[sumob]

I never trust a word this gentleman says.
His main objectives are:

Keep himself in the limelight, reminding the people of Pakistan that there is no alternative to him.

It is really funny

Military is never the ultimate solution. The military can buy you time, it can create an environment, but ultimately it is the political instrument which has to be used

.

This coming from a gentleman who overthrew the democratically elected Govt. in a military coup.

[Merlin]

This is bad.

The PA have cleared Bruner and the mountain districts. They have to hold it.

Refugees forced home to the Taliban

20 July [Australian] THOUSANDS of refugees from Pakistan's troubled northwest are being sent back to Taliban-infested regions as the government rushes to close camps before the monsoon season.

Rations and services within refugee camps across the North West Frontier Province are being slowly turned off to force as many as two million refugees back to the homes they fled in May.

But The Australian has learned that mountain areas in district of Buner are again under the control of Taliban militants who, in one instance, have set up checkpoints just 500m from an army barricade. ...

Last week three ANP workers were stopped at a Taliban checkpoint in the area, forced out of their cars and executed.

Buner was the first district cleared during the military operation launched in May to repel the Islamic extremists who had begun expanding their control across the NWFP and towards the capital Islamabad.

But as the army continues to repel Taliban from the Swat Valley, militants are being squeezed across mountain passes and back into Buner. Credible reports suggest they are now in control of a cluster of Buner hamlets. ...

Pakistan military spokesman Athar Abbas yesterday conceded militants had infiltrated some mountain regions in Buner but denied they had seized control of any towns. ....

[Merlin]

This is getting me confused.

Drone strikes again sparks controversy between US, Pakistan

18 July [Xinhua] Missile strikes by U.S. Predator drones inside the Pakistani tribal territory has once again sparked controversy as a U.S. law-maker has accused Pakistan of tacitly approving the attacks while the latter says these strikes are counterproductive.

Accusing Pakistan of double tone, Senator Carl Levin told a Congressional briefing in Washington earlier this week that Pakistan should accept "its tacit approval of drone strikes."

His comments came as Pakistani Interior Minister Rahman Malik claimed days ago that these strikes were counterproductive. "They are killing civilians and turning locals against our government," Malik stressed.

The fresh trade of allegations came on the heels of two drone attacks in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area last week, in which over 70 militants, including foreigners, are said to have been killed.

It is for the first time for well over a year that the U.S. pilotless planes are targeted hideouts of Baitullah Mahsud, chief of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Pakistan's Taliban Movement.

The latest drone strikes coincided with the military operation, which the Pakistani forces have been preparing to launch against Mehsud group for the last two weeks.

The simultaneous strikes by U.S. drones and Pakistani artillery have, of late, aroused the feeling as if they were in a sort of collaboration against the militants, posing threat to both Pakistan and the U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Formerly Pakistani officials had been taking serious exception to the drone attacks, saying they violated its national sovereignty.

Reports about the utility of drone strikes are frequently appearing in Pakistani media ever since the Pakistani forces have announced to launch operation against Mahsud.

However, at the official level, Pakistan government still continues to take exception to drone attacks. ....

For his part, Senator Carl Levin says it is wrong on Islamabad' s part to blame "us" for the missile attacks. ....

[Merlin]

What can Holbrooke say?

Pakistan raises concern over US Afghan offensive

11 hrs ago [AP] ISLAMABAD — Pakistan raised concern Wednesday with visiting U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke over a U.S.-led offensive in neighboring southern Afghanistan that Islamabad fears could send Taliban fighters across the border.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official said Islamabad has "reservations" about the offensive because militants crossing the border could destabilize Pakistan's province of Baluchistan, which for years has been facing a separate low-level insurgency by nationalist groups seeking more autonomy.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Pakistani authorities had conveyed their unease to the "appropriate quarters."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said officials raised the issue with Holbrooke during meetings in Islamabad on Wednesday. .....

Pakistan's army has already beefed up its presence along the border in the area, and the intelligence official said authorities had not yet seen an influx into Baluchistan of militants from Afghanistan's Helmand province, where some 4,000 U.S. Marines launched an operation on July 2 against Taliban insurgents.

If a significant influx does occur, however, Pakistan may be forced to move troops over to the northwest from its border from India. But the official stressed that Islamabad cannot make that shift "beyond a certain point."

The Pakistani establishment still views India as its greatest threat. The two nations have fought three wars over the past six decades. ....

Pakistan shares a 1,600-mile (2,600-kilometer) rugged border with Afghanistan, inhabited on both sides by ethnic Pashtuns with strong family and clan ties who travel freely across the frontier. The section opposite Helmand is about 160 miles (260 kilometers) long and lies in Baluchistan.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who met with Holbrooke on Wednesday, reiterated Islamabad's objections to U.S. drone strikes in northwestern Pakistan, which target suspected top Taliban militants and al-Qaida leaders, saying they are counterproductive. ....

He also called on the U.S. to share intelligence with Pakistan and to provide equipment, ammunition and unmanned vehicle technology. ....

[S2]

From Jane Perlez and Eric Schmitt of the NYT today we face more of the same. Ties Merlin's article about objections raised to our Helmand ops along with the interesting release of the LeT leader and some equally fascinating comments about Haqqani Jr.

Nothing has changed. Nothing-

Pakistan Objects To U.S. Plan For Afghan War-NYT

[Bluesman]

Maybe not much YET. But I'm starting to see some things that maybe aren't quite as gloomy as I've been for a few months.

Oh, and note this well, Democrats: even though Obama would earn some credit by winning 'his' war, possibly enough to see him re-elected, I'm still committed to a victory as soon as it can be delivered.

And that's why I'm superior to you and your god-damned party of back-stabbers and anti-American political creatures that would see us defeated IF it brought you more political power.

PS - I will NEVER forgive you bastards for that. Just so you know where I stand, because I sure as hell know what YOU'RE all about. Vipers.

[tankie]

Well Keith , ya cant beat straight from the hip talk , and thats as straight as it gets .I reckon all 12 rounds hit the target

[n21]

Maybe not much YET. But I'm starting to see some things that maybe aren't quite as gloomy as I've been for a few months.

I dont know if this can be answered on a public forum, are you seeing signs of PA going against the Haqqani network?

It would be very interesting if that be the case.

[Bluesman]

I dont know if this can be answered on a public forum, are you seeing signs of PA going against the Haqqani network?

It would be very interesting if that be the case.

Not directly. But watch one thing: if PA starts getting even more serious about opium smuggling and border control, it will DEFINITELY take a bite out of HQN. And that is going on at a level that, while still modest, is trending upward.

Hopeful. But still a long way to go toward even getting to 'holding the line'. Right now, though, it must be admitted that the trend line remains negative.

[axeman]

Oh, and note this well, Democrats: even though Obama would earn some credit by winning 'his' war, possibly enough to see him re-elected, I'm still committed to a victory as soon as it can be delivered.

And that's why I'm superior to you and your god-damned party of back-stabbers and anti-American political creatures that would see us defeated IF it brought you more political power.

PS - I will NEVER forgive you bastards for that. Just so you know where I stand, because I sure as hell know what YOU'RE all about. Vipers.

You need help.

[cirrrocco]

You need help.

even though I do not agree with Bluesman on a lot of points, I appreciate his work in sending a bunch of terrorist mofos to get their virgins.

a good terrorist is a dead roasted terrorist.

[S2]

This remains about "good" and "bad" taliban and their associates, i.e, Bahadur, Nazir, Haqqani Sr. and Jr., and Hekmatyar.

Omar has been assiduous in maintaining proper decorum with his Quetta hosts. His forces haven't SQUEAKED against the Pakistani establishment in seven years. Nor has Hekmatyar or the Haqqani network.

There's every indication that these men, Nazir, and Bahadur remain protected by the security forces of Pakistan. The reasons are obvious. Strategic depth is still, despite everything that's happened within Pakistan as a result of the insidious influence of these men and A.Q. upon the tribes, very much in play.

[Tronic]

If a significant influx does occur, however, Pakistan may be forced to move troops over to the northwest from its border from India. But the official stressed that Islamabad cannot make that shift "beyond a certain point."

They're still using this line of reasoning? If India didn't do squat after 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, why would we now? Just goes to show that future attacks on India are probably being planned as we speak in order to provoke New Delhi and give a reason for PA to stay away from the West. Such a sly, double speaking country can never be trusted, I hope my government keeps the past in mind before giving away any concessions. Last time they did that, the PA walked across the LOC and sat inside our borders!