The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is...

[Buckrub]

....about to fall into Taliban rule. Now, if Afghanistan is so worthy of our continued military presence (and Iraq is not), does that mean that Pakistan, with it's nuclear arsenal, is not??

So how would the current president be viewed if, instead of removing troops from Iraq, he just asked them to scoot over to the east a few miles and occupy Pakistan?

And just how would we pay for such an invasion and occupation, since we've spent all our money shoring up a few big banks and a couple of car companies?

And if he doesn't do that, and the Taliban acquires a nuclear arsenal, how will he be viewed?

Talk about a mess............
__________________________________________

Taliban Advance: Is Pakistan Nearing Collapse?

By ARYN BAKER/ISLAMABAD Aryn Baker/islamabad – 49 mins ago

The move by Taliban-backed militants into the Buna district of northwestern Pakistan, closer than ever to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, have prompted concerns both within the country and abroad that the nuclear-armed nation of 165 million is on the verge of inexorable collapse.

On Wednesday a local Taliban militia crossed from the Swat Valley - where a February cease-fire allowed the implementation of strict Islamic, or Shari'a, law - into the neighboring Buner district, which is just a few hours drive from Islamabad (65 miles, separated by a mountain range, as the crow flies). (Read "At Pakistan's Red Mosque, a Return of Islamic Militancy".)

Residents streaming from Buner, home to nearly a million people, told local newspapers that armed militants are patrolling the streets. Pakistani television stations aired footage of Taliban soldiers looting government offices and capturing vehicles belonging to aid organizations and development projects. The police, say residents, are nowhere to be seen. The shrine of a local Muslim saint, venerated across the country, was closed. The Taliban, which adheres to a stricter version of Islam than is practiced in most of Pakistan, hold that worship at such shrines goes against the teachings of Islam.

Meanwhile courts throughout the Malakand division, of which Swat and Buner are a part, have closed in deference to the new agreement calling for the implementation Shari'a, law. "If the Taliban continue to move at this pace they will soon be knocking at the doors of Islamabad," Maulana Fazlur Rehman, head of one of the country's Islamic political parties, warned in Parliament Wednesday. Rehman said the Margalla Hills, a small mountain range north of the capital that separates it from Buner, appears to be "the only hurdle in their march toward the federal capital," The only solution, he said, was for the entire nation to accept Shari'a law in order to deprive the Taliban of their principal cause.

_______________________________________________
That last sentence is called "appeasement" by definition.

[ozark]

Is this strictly an American problem? Is the American President responsible for calling the shots here? Are there other countries that feel this is a threat to their peace and way of life?
Turkey has been angry at Pakistan for a long time, are they hoping that the Taliban succeeds?
I agree it is a mess and one that has been building for some time. I don't know the solution but I would think the action to take should be decided by several countries and not just America. I doubt America has the power to manage every brushfire that breaks out in the world. Who is threatened and what steps are they taking to stop this invasion? Probably yelling; "Help us US".

[tar12]

I do not know the answer either Ozark,but I do not think we should shoulder the responsibility of being the World Police everytime someone hollers wolf....

[Buckrub]

I hate being the World Police.

I wish mightily that NATO, or some other group, would shoulder the responsibility for rogue nations.

I just know that every one of those nations will all sit quietly by while (possibly) the Taliban takes over in Pakistan, and I know that they hate us more than anything on Earth, and then they'll have nuclear weapons.

And I don't know what to suggest that we do about it.

I doubt sitting by and trying to make other nations take the lead will work. If it will, it's worth a shot. I doubt it, though. Plus, I doubt that other nations will be the targets of those nuclear weapons.

But I could be wrong.

[chuck41]

NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Last time I checked Pakistan was a bit out of that area of responsibility. The UN should step in here, but they are totally worthless except for being a sounding board for all the world's tyrants. The best thing we could do with the UN is submit our resignation and send an eviction notice to their NY offices.

All of Europe as well as much of the rest of the civilized nations have an interest in this, but I don't expect any of them to be willing to step up to the plate any time soon. I'm afraid I have to offer a "second" to Buckrub's pessimism on this one. No one wants to step forward, but all of them want to wait until the US is finally forced to do something so they can sit back and bitch about how "arrogant" we are and our dumb president will probably agree with them.

Perhaps we should figure out how to offer a "pay to play" plan whereby we don't do anything anywhere that benefits any of these freeloaders without their contributions to the effort. Israel is about the only country in that area of the world we can depend on and we are afraid to accept their assistance because that is not politically correct. After all that might offend Ochmadenijad (or however you spell it) who thinks the holocaust never happened. Also might offend Saudis, or other potential oil suppliers.

Unfortunately we are held hostage to the region because of oil. What we need to be doing is developing every possible source of power from within our own nation, drilling anywhere and everywhere its feasible, wind turbines where effective, nuclear in lots of places, along with coal, gas, and geothermal sources. This needs to be turned into a technological rather than a political debate. Anyone have the idea that our current president is going to let any of that happen?