This despite the global war on terror. According to the report, they've found a home in the tribal areas of Pakistan. I realize on the surface, Pakistan is an 'ally', but if anyone has been paying attention, you know that their Intelligence service has probably been instrumental in protecting Bin Laden. In addition, from what I've read, the government doesn't have much authority in these tribal regions, so why not send in send in an attack force and root them out? I'm not necessarily in favor of air strikes without some type of ground force because I'm sure there are innocents here, but didn't Bush say we would make no distinctions from terrorists and countries who harbor them? These articles are documenting intelligence reports stating that they're hearing the same type of 'chatter' heard before the Sept. 11th attacks, so the feeling is that they're in the final stages of planning another attack. If that's the case, we should DEMAND that Musharraf(sp?) allow a coalition of Pakistani/American troops into this area to root out Taliban/Al Qaeda or we will go at it alone. Of course this won't happen until another attack on American soil. Thoughts? Al Qaeda Planning Attacks
It's a damn shame when a man has to reply to his own post. Guess no one cares about terrorism any more. Maybe this thread will pick up steam after the next attack.
We should've gone into Pakistan a long time ago. The threat of Al Qaeda is alive and well, Iraq war or not.
Patience, Grasshoppa. I have posted at length that Pakistan is among our most severe potential problems. There already is an Islamic Bomb and it is in Pakistan, in fact they have 24-48 nuclear weapons, along with theater-range missiles capable of carrying them. The Pakistan situation is a direct correlary to Iran in 1979. We are supporting an unpopular, unelected leader who presides over a largely uneducated, radical Islamic population. They are ripe for a revolution with an Anti-American regime in charge and the entry of a figure like Khomeini to enter and fire them up. Bin Ladin perhaps or more likely a Pakistani Taliban leader. We cannot support our troops in Afghanistan without overflight permission from Pakistan. If they deny it, we must fight our way through or withdraw from Afghanistan. If they threaten US bases or fleets in the Gulf with nuclear retaliation, then it means nuclear war in the middle east. It will be hard to keep India from taking advantage of its old enemy, Pakistan. It will be hard to keep extremely paranoid Israel out of it if they feel threatened. Despite Bush's pledge that any country who aids Al Qaida will be our enemy, the Al Qaida leaders and the leaders of the Afghan resistance are clearly based in Pakistan under the protection of tribal leaders, with a blind eye from the Pakistani military. It is not clear if Musharriff even controls his military securely. Pakistan is a clusterfugg waiting to happen.
Red's right on this one. The problem with open diplomacy is that some people are incapable of participating in it. The bottom line is that the primitive tribal people are harboring people that have and plan to do us harm. Bush's rhetoric of "you're either with me or against me" is obviously wearing thin. But this is a situation that begs to take just such an approach. There's absolutely no way our country should be subjugated by a group of "tribal leaders" that are living like it's 1659. Yes, that's classic ugly American arrogance, but it's 100% right. The new regime there is going to hate us regardless. So why should we not give them one more reason to hate us? It's ironic that India is making substantial strides to improve their overall quality of life through a largely capitalistic approach, and the Pakis can only sit back and watch. Allah Akbar indeed.
I don't really propose invading the entire country at this point, but we should definitely move on the lawless tribal areas. Why do you think we haven't when this seems to be the new hub of Al Qaeda? By doing so, would it be the final push the Pakistanis need to overthrow Musharriff? I can't figure this one out.
The tribal regions are in a remote, very mountainous region. Mechanized operations are impossible, aerial operations are difficult, and covert operations are near impossible because of tribal closeness. These guys are largely self-sufficient and have few supply lines than could be cut. They know the country like the back of their hand. The tribes are fierce and militant and astonishingly good guerrilla warriors, just ask the Russians or the British, who never managed to subdue them. They are dispersed and well dug in, so even air strikes would only annoy them, not destroy them. And they are religious fanatics who are willing to fight and die. The only pressure that can be put on them would come from the government of Pakistan, but they have been unwilling.
If we invade that region of Pakistan without Musharraf's support, he'll be forced to take action against us or he'll be overthrown or killed. If he allows us to invade his country, he'll be overthrown or killed. The best option for him is to allow covert operations in the tribal area along the Afghan border. We need Musharraf to remain in power b/c the next leader will more than likely be a radical islamic leader. A radical islamic leader with nukes is a bad idea...
If Hannibal was able to cross the Alps with some damned elephants a millenium ago, there's no reason we can't bomb the fool out of that region until somebody cries uncle. If they're so willing to die for a futile cause, the least would could do is facilitate it.
Bombing uninhabited rocks accomplishes nothing and is very expensive. Here is a Google Earth image. Take these coordinates to Google Earth and fly around the Pakistani tribal regions. Zoom in and look around. Find me a target.
