Comments on: Truth or Consequences: Closing the Pakistan Border http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/06/15/truth-or-consequences-closing-the-pakistan-border/ News & Commentary on Warfare, Policy and Counterterrorism Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:20:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Dawg http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/06/15/truth-or-consequences-closing-the-pakistan-border/#comment-25931 Dawg Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:50:39 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1147#comment-25931 Interesting development in Pakistan; Pakistan Taleban 'kill 22 rivals' Authorities in north-west Pakistan say they have found the bodies of 22 tribesmen who were kidnapped by local Taleban militants on Monday.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7472612.stm Interesting... Interesting development in Pakistan;

Pakistan Taleban ‘kill 22 rivals’

Authorities in north-west Pakistan say they have found the bodies of 22 tribesmen who were kidnapped by local Taleban militants on Monday….

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7472612.stm

Interesting…

]]> By: Herschel Smith http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/06/15/truth-or-consequences-closing-the-pakistan-border/#comment-25849 Herschel Smith Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:32:32 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1147#comment-25849 Obama is neither the savior of the U.S. nor of the campaign in Afghanistan. His ego is writing checks that the country can't cash. He cannot withdraw forces from Iraq as fast as he claims, and he will not invade Pakistan, a sovereign country. Rather than fighting just the Taliban and AQ, we would be fighting a uniformed Pakistani army. If you think COIN in Fallujah and Ramadi has been tough, consider it in the streets of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. It would cost us 100,000 dead and 250,000 casualties. It won't happen. Further, as best as I can tell, the Pashtun people are not the heroic saviors in this instance either. They have shown their hand, and it is to appease the Taliban. The answer is neither Obama nor the Pashtun tribes, both of which will prove to be fickled. It is force projection to kill Taliban in Afghanistan, thus putting pressure on the Taliban in Pakistan. It will be a war of attrition, and the rate of attrition needs to increase by an order of magnitude. Obama is neither the savior of the U.S. nor of the campaign in Afghanistan. His ego is writing checks that the country can’t cash. He cannot withdraw forces from Iraq as fast as he claims, and he will not invade Pakistan, a sovereign country.

Rather than fighting just the Taliban and AQ, we would be fighting a uniformed Pakistani army. If you think COIN in Fallujah and Ramadi has been tough, consider it in the streets of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. It would cost us 100,000 dead and 250,000 casualties. It won’t happen.

Further, as best as I can tell, the Pashtun people are not the heroic saviors in this instance either. They have shown their hand, and it is to appease the Taliban.

The answer is neither Obama nor the Pashtun tribes, both of which will prove to be fickled. It is force projection to kill Taliban in Afghanistan, thus putting pressure on the Taliban in Pakistan. It will be a war of attrition, and the rate of attrition needs to increase by an order of magnitude.

]]> By: Warbucks http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/06/15/truth-or-consequences-closing-the-pakistan-border/#comment-25845 Warbucks Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:13:08 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1147#comment-25845 To the extent that the insurgents are playing off the politics and/or trying to enfluence the politics of the US Presidential Campaign in the US, they may be in for a surprise. While Senator McCain's positions on stabilizing the region are well know, Senator Obama is the only candidate that actually stated and I paraphase, that he would consider taking strong military action in the Frontier Area of Pakistan on good intelligence if Pakistan failed to act to do so itself. The noble Pashtun jurga carries a collective wisdom far older than the transistory recent history of the perversion of Islam by radical, violent Jihadists. The Pashtun want to preserve a culture; they will soon be faced with an epic choice that will either lay the seeds of their cultural demise or not. They will discover, I believe, that their long term interests need to be reevaluated vis-à-vis the current opium/radical-jihadists syndrome in which they currently find themselves. And I think they will discover that any new US President will be driven by the fury of campaign rhetoric to prove himself to the country that he means what he says. The jurga would be wise to settle up on this point with the current US President than to confront the unknown. To the extent that the insurgents are playing off the politics and/or trying to enfluence the politics of the US Presidential Campaign in the US, they may be in for a surprise.

While Senator McCain’s positions on stabilizing the region are well know, Senator Obama is the only candidate that actually stated and I paraphase, that he would consider taking strong military action in the Frontier Area of Pakistan on good intelligence if Pakistan failed to act to do so itself.

The noble Pashtun jurga carries a collective wisdom far older than the transistory recent history of the perversion of Islam by radical, violent Jihadists.

The Pashtun want to preserve a culture; they will soon be faced with an epic choice that will either lay the seeds of their cultural demise or not. They will discover, I believe, that their long term interests need to be reevaluated vis-à-vis the current opium/radical-jihadists syndrome in which they currently find themselves.

And I think they will discover that any new US President will be driven by the fury of campaign rhetoric to prove himself to the country that he means what he says. The jurga would be wise to settle up on this point with the current US President than to confront the unknown.

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