The Taliban recently attacked a US base in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.
The attack was coordinated and large: reports indicate about 200 Taliban fighters attacked the US outpost (I remember hearing on the news that US forces were about 40-50 men strong but I cannot find a reference) with both sides suffering heavy causalities. 9 American soldiers were killed and 15 wounded before the enemy was driven back. [1]
Following this deadly strike, US commanders are finally getting vocal about the biggest problem in the Afghan theater: Pakistan.
Below is a statement by Gen. David D. McKiernan, the newly appointed commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan:
“Very troubling to all of us here is an increase in violence that is directly attributable to tribal areas across the border in the North-West Frontier Province and the Baluchistan areas in the south that allow the insurgents to maneuver,” McKiernan said. “It causes a much greater security challenge inside Afghanistan. The problems of security issues in Afghanistan are linked to security issues in Pakistan.”[2]
You better believe it.
Pakistan either cannot or will not take control of the tribal areas that border Afghanistan.
If they can’t they should let us go in and take care of it (they’re our “close ally” right?) but they whine everytime an Air Force drone flies into the area and takes out a target.
If they won’t then we need to go in there regardless of what they say: we were supposed to get Bin Laden, dead or alive, and its been almost 7 years.
And let’s not forget, Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI, provided the Taliban with a lot of aid and helped them rise to power.[3]
Sure, when threatened with immediate and total destruction following 9/11 Pakistan turned and became our “ally” in the war on terror but their religious and cultural sympathies are with Bin Laden, not us.
One thing is for sure: the longer we pretend like Pakistan is our ally in the war on terror the higher the price we’re going to pay for our naivety.
