Frankentsein's monster turns on its creator
The Taliban are making large gains within Pakistan. This threatens not only Pakistan but much of the world if the Taliban were to capture Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
Pakistan's security organization, the ISI, created the Taliban to counter lawlessness in neighboring Afghanistan in the 1990s. It soon lost control of its creation, however, and the Taliban quickly consumed Afghanistan in an orgy of jihad. Even so the ISI continued to support the Taliban until December of 2001 when the United States attacked Taliban controlled Afghanistan and overthrew them. The ISI was forced to publicly denounce the Taliban but it allegedly working behind the scenes to help it and other terrorist organizations.
Pressure from the United States has limited what groups like the ISI can do to help the Taliban. Theoretically under control of the Pakistani Prime Minister, the ISI remains a quasi-independent organization loyal only to itself.
After being routed from Afghanistan in the wake of 9-11 the Taliban cowered in the mountainous regions of the Pakistan-Afghan border and licked their wounds. Attempts to retake Afghanistan have been unsuccessful and the Taliban have been unable to mount an effective war of attrition like the Muhajadeen waged against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
Recently the Taliban have decided to move against another target: the current government of Pakistan. Like Frankenstein's monster turning on its creator the Taliban have moved to take control of larger and larger areas of Pakistan. This comes at a time when Pakistan has moved army troops from the region to bolster the border with India. Indeed, the removal of army troops from the area may have sparked the recent Taliban moves.
It would not be unreasonable to think that these developments could snowball into a mass movement against the current government resulting in the Taliban seizing control of the entire county; including Pakistan's stock of nuclear weapons.
From there it is just a short step to an Iranian alliance with Taliban controlled Pakistan. That means shared nuclear weapons development and a mating of Pakistan's nuclear knowledge with Iran's (and probably China's) missile development knowledge.
This would put a serious strain on NATO's ability to maintain control in Afghanistan. Without Pakistan as a staging area NATO would have to rely on air power to support and supply its troops in the region. This already difficult task would become nearly impossible with the loss of Pakistan as a staging area (and the ability to use its airspace) as NATO would have to turn to the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan...which are neither reliable allies nor equipped with the necessary facilities.
The loss of Afghanistan would in turn allow Iran and Pakistan to dominate the region and form a southwest-Asian based superpower. One fanatical in its faith and perhaps permanently hostile to the west.
The Taliban, therefore, need to remain at the top of the list of targets in the war on terrorism. Hopefully President-elect Obama understands this and will work with Pakistan to wipe out the Taliban. It would not be a stretch to say that the Taliban (and what's left of al Qaeda hiding in their midst) are the top target for the United States and its allies in this war.
First on the agenda should be working with both India and Pakistan to defuse the current tension and ensure that justice prevails in the wake of the Mumbai massacre and for the United States to guarantee the defense of both nations to prevent open war from breaking out. I hope Hillary is making plane reservations and putting Condi on speed dial.
Pakistan's security organization, the ISI, created the Taliban to counter lawlessness in neighboring Afghanistan in the 1990s. It soon lost control of its creation, however, and the Taliban quickly consumed Afghanistan in an orgy of jihad. Even so the ISI continued to support the Taliban until December of 2001 when the United States attacked Taliban controlled Afghanistan and overthrew them. The ISI was forced to publicly denounce the Taliban but it allegedly working behind the scenes to help it and other terrorist organizations.
Pressure from the United States has limited what groups like the ISI can do to help the Taliban. Theoretically under control of the Pakistani Prime Minister, the ISI remains a quasi-independent organization loyal only to itself.
After being routed from Afghanistan in the wake of 9-11 the Taliban cowered in the mountainous regions of the Pakistan-Afghan border and licked their wounds. Attempts to retake Afghanistan have been unsuccessful and the Taliban have been unable to mount an effective war of attrition like the Muhajadeen waged against the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
Recently the Taliban have decided to move against another target: the current government of Pakistan. Like Frankenstein's monster turning on its creator the Taliban have moved to take control of larger and larger areas of Pakistan. This comes at a time when Pakistan has moved army troops from the region to bolster the border with India. Indeed, the removal of army troops from the area may have sparked the recent Taliban moves.
It would not be unreasonable to think that these developments could snowball into a mass movement against the current government resulting in the Taliban seizing control of the entire county; including Pakistan's stock of nuclear weapons.
From there it is just a short step to an Iranian alliance with Taliban controlled Pakistan. That means shared nuclear weapons development and a mating of Pakistan's nuclear knowledge with Iran's (and probably China's) missile development knowledge.
This would put a serious strain on NATO's ability to maintain control in Afghanistan. Without Pakistan as a staging area NATO would have to rely on air power to support and supply its troops in the region. This already difficult task would become nearly impossible with the loss of Pakistan as a staging area (and the ability to use its airspace) as NATO would have to turn to the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan...which are neither reliable allies nor equipped with the necessary facilities.
The loss of Afghanistan would in turn allow Iran and Pakistan to dominate the region and form a southwest-Asian based superpower. One fanatical in its faith and perhaps permanently hostile to the west.
The Taliban, therefore, need to remain at the top of the list of targets in the war on terrorism. Hopefully President-elect Obama understands this and will work with Pakistan to wipe out the Taliban. It would not be a stretch to say that the Taliban (and what's left of al Qaeda hiding in their midst) are the top target for the United States and its allies in this war.
First on the agenda should be working with both India and Pakistan to defuse the current tension and ensure that justice prevails in the wake of the Mumbai massacre and for the United States to guarantee the defense of both nations to prevent open war from breaking out. I hope Hillary is making plane reservations and putting Condi on speed dial.