September 27, 2006

Pakistan's Submission is America's Loss

Despite the best efforts of the U.S., a crucially situated, strategic area has now completely fallen to the forces of radical Islam and al-Qaeda. Waziristan, where Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are likely hiding out, is a rugged tribal region located in Northwest Pakistan, along the Afghan border.

Earlier this month, Pakistani President Musharraf signed an accord with the Taliban that gave the group control over the Pakistani territories of north and south Waziristan. This agreement, which also involved Pakistan's release of some 2,500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters from prison, is described by Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick as "the Taliban's and al-Qaida's greatest victory since September 11, 2001."

It's not hard to see why. For starters, Waziristan is an area the size of New Jersey, with at least 800,000 people living there. Here's more, from an excellent piece in the Weeky Standard by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Bill Roggio:

"The agreement is, to put it mildly, a boon to the terrorists and a humiliation for the Pakistani government. Even the circumstances under which it was signed point to Pakistan's impotence in the face of a determined adversary. Taliban fighters searched government negotiators and military officers for weapons before allowing them to enter the meeting, which took place in a soccer stadium in the North Waziristan capital of Miranshah. According to three separate intelligence sources, heavily armed Taliban were posted as guards around the ceremony, and al Qaeda's black flag hung over the scoreboard.

Immediately after the Pakistani delegation left, al Qaeda's flag was run up the flagpole of abandoned military checkpoints, and the Taliban began looting leftover small arms. The Taliban also held a "parade" in the streets of Miranshah. Clearly, they view their "truce" with Pakistan as a victory. It is trumpeted as such on jihadist websites."
This agreement obviously brings up several questions about the nature and stability oif the Musharraf govt. But more imnportantly, it means that Waziristan is now effectively a launching ground for terrorist attacks to be hatched and carried out."

This agreement obviously raises serious questions about the nature and stability of the Musharraf gov't. But more imnportantly, it means that Waziristan is now effectively a launching pad for terrorist attacks and a sanctuary for America' enemies. More on that, from the Washington Times' Tony Blankley:

Nor can one blame Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, whose intelligence service is still partial to the Taliban (which it helped create), who has suffered two credible assassination attempts, and whose country has a violent and growing radical population.

I don't have any basis for this, but I can't help wondering whether Gen. Musharraf is planning to retire. His announcement at a joint press conference with President Bush of a book deal with Simon & Schuster and its serialization in Time magazine was beyond weird.

Not only is it rare for a sitting national leader (particularly in mid-crisis) to publish his memoirs, but what he says in them is in conflict with his fiercely held public position regarding the war on terror. Last year, I was personally and forcefully instructed by a senior Pakistani official that Pakistan is not helping us with our war on terror, they are voluntarily fighting their own war on terror.

And yet, Gen. Musharraf reports in his book that he was threatened with U.S. bombing if he didn't become our ally — and he agreed to it only after calculating the consequences of crossing us.

Whatever is going on in Pakistan (and we must hope that the men who replace Gen. Musharraf sooner or later will not be more sympathetic to the Taliban and al Qaeda, and will be at least as careful in controlling their nuclear weapons), our effort to stand up Afghanistan and suppress the Taliban and al Qaeda in the region has suddenly taken on an even more formidable dimension.

There are no ready solutions to the dilemma. With Pakistan now hors de combat, our already undermanned forces in Afghanistan will soon have to engage the tribal regions of northwest Pakistan — fighting some of the world's most resourceful and cruel fighters in the most unforgiving lands on earth.

Blankley ends with this sobering assessment:

The president and his advisers are entitled to spend some time privately absorbing the implications of this reversal in Pakistan. But certainly no later than the State of the Union address, Mr. Bush must explain how this changes things and what he is going to do about it.

Agreed. It's put up or shut up time in regards to Waziristan, a region which has been a thorn in both America's and Pakistan's side since the war against radical Islam began in earnest five years ago.