RE: Taliban sue for peace?

RE: Taliban sue for peace? (Full Version)

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meatcleaver -> RE: Taliban sue for peace? (9/29/2008 4:01:19 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: rexrgisformidoni Many of the hard-core taliban fighters are in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. The Pakistani army is supposed to be rooting them of of wazristan(spelling), but surprisingly its not working so hot. The region is basically an extension of Taliban held territory, and the Pakistani leadership has no real intent on rooting them out because the moment they do, Pakistan turns into a cauldron of sectarian violence. Phew. Oh, and a US helicopter was shot at by the Pakistani army last week. Nice allies. Pakistan has never in its history had control over the border region, for America to now suddenly demand it asert control as soon as possible is laughable, if it could, it wouldn't have waited 60 years to do it.

MadAxeman -> RE: Taliban sue for peace? (9/29/2008 4:23:53 AM)
One point not aired so far is that the Taliban are not a coherent force. They do not have too many firm policies that can be addressed or debated. There are many shades of Taliban soldier, cleric and silent supporter, many operating as cells rather than any recognizable army let alone government. Pakistan is having a volatile relationship with burgeoning democracy and has more than one border in contention ie India.

meatcleaver -> RE: Taliban sue for peace? (9/29/2008 5:10:03 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MadAxeman One point not aired so far is that the Taliban are not a coherent force. They do not have too many firm policies that can be addressed or debated. There are many shades of Taliban soldier, cleric and silent supporter, many operating as cells rather than any recognizable army let alone government. Pakistan is having a volatile relationship with burgeoning democracy and has more than one border in contention ie India. In any guerilla warfare, the first objective is to separate the host population from the fighters by creating a situation where the host population sees support of the fighters as against their interests. NATO isn't managing to do that. At the moment support for NATO is an option that is as unsavoury as support for the extremists in the Taliban. Many of the Taliban are moderates (in the region's terms) and NATO should be getting them on board so as to isolate the extremists, only negotiations can do that. If negotiations are successful then that part of the Taliban will cease to exist but to expect total surrender without negotiations isn't going to happen, in the same way it never happened in Vietnam.

rexrgisformidoni -> RE: Taliban sue for peace? (9/29/2008 7:21:12 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: meatcleaver quote: ORIGINAL: rexrgisformidoni Many of the hard-core taliban fighters are in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. The Pakistani army is supposed to be rooting them of of wazristan(spelling), but surprisingly its not working so hot. The region is basically an extension of Taliban held territory, and the Pakistani leadership has no real intent on rooting them out because the moment they do, Pakistan turns into a cauldron of sectarian violence. Phew. Oh, and a US helicopter was shot at by the Pakistani army last week. Nice allies. Pakistan has never in its history had control over the border region, for America to now suddenly demand it asert control as soon as possible is laughable, if it could, it wouldn't have waited 60 years to do it. No one every really has had control of that region, the people there are like ghosts when it comes to defence. I remeber reading that the british lost many many men trying to take that area during the colonization of the Indian subcontinent.

meatcleaver -> RE: Taliban sue for peace? (9/29/2008 7:35:17 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: rexrgisformidoni quote: ORIGINAL: meatcleaver Pakistan has never in its history had control over the border region, for America to now suddenly demand it asert control as soon as possible is laughable, if it could, it wouldn't have waited 60 years to do it. No one every really has had control of that region, the people there are like ghosts when it comes to defence. I remeber reading that the british lost many many men trying to take that area during the colonization of the Indian subcontinent. Its a lesson the Soviet Union never learnt and one NATO is refusing to learn. The US should have gone in after 9/11, dismantled the training camps, visted retribution on the government and got out with a warning that any re-establishment of terrorist camps will bring immediate wrath. The longer a force is in a region and the longer it struggles to establish control, the less feared it is. The Taliban know what to expect now and what they have to fear, fearing the unknown is far more sobering than fearing what they know they have withstood for the past several years.

rexrgisformidoni -> RE: Taliban sue for peace? (9/29/2008 7:37:21 AM)
I think a tactical nuke demonstration in a wasteland there might get the point across, but then we'd be in an international pile of shit.

kittinSol -> RE: Taliban sue for peace? (9/29/2008 7:50:59 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: rexrgisformidoni I think a tactical nuke demonstration in a wasteland there might get the point across, but then we'd be in an international pile of shit. The culprits would be in serious pile of shit at home as well.

rexrgisformidoni -> RE: Taliban sue for peace? (9/29/2008 7:53:52 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: kittinSol quote: ORIGINAL: rexrgisformidoni I think a tactical nuke demonstration in a wasteland there might get the point across, but then we'd be in an international pile of shit. The culprits would be in serious pile of shit at home as well. True.

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