Good News: Taliban About to Take Over Pakistan and Its Nukes
Pakistan teetered on the brink of collapse today as Taliban fighters threatened to overrun the volatile country.
As violence broke out in the disputed north-west corner, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the state, which has nuclear capability, now posed a ‘mortal threat’ to the world.
‘I think the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists,’ she added.
Thank God we have someone in the White House who is tough, and whose first priority is protecting the American people.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go scream into a pillow.
UPDATE: Allahpundit has much more. All of it is even more worrisome.
Don’t worry. Obama will know just what to do: blame it on Bush.
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:27 amWell, if it makes thou feelest any better, today is national Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Methinks that, t’were thou more kindly disposed to our president, and tried to persuadest us, thy loyal readers, of his greatness, we couldst all feel better about this.
The unamused Dana (3e4784) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:37 amWell, it would be convenient for Duh-1, wouldn’t it?
AD (93d2f0) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:39 amHe wouldn’t have to worry about antagonizing a friendly government in Islamabad when he sends American Forces into Pak-land to engage Tali forces, as per his campaign promises.
Of course, if the situation presented itself, I wouldn’t hold my breathe awaiting his actions.
We are being led by Morons!
Odds bodkins! It seemeth as though my comment hath hit the moderation queue!
The unamused Dana (3e4784) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:39 amPawkeestawn will negotiate with Barcky. I am sure his unilateral cowboy bombing runs will help.
JD (64340a) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:39 amSteven beat me to the comment: Obama will just say, “Hey, I’ve only been on the job for 100 days; you can’t blame me for the deterioration of Pakistan.” Never mind his loose rhetoric about attacking terrorists within Pakistan without coordinating with the Pakistani government. Never mind his escalation of Predator drone attacks. Never mind his party’s continual undermining of Pervez Musharraf, who wasn’t anyone’s idea of a enlightened supporter of democracy but was at least willing to combat the Islamic extremists in his country. Nope, it will still somehow all be Bush’s fault.
JVW (bff0a4) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:44 amWait for confirmation from a credible source before screaming. British journalists are notoriously unconcerned with facts, far more so than American journos.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (d4f481) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:44 amIran may have acquiescent and/or frightened neighbors, as does NoKo. But Pakistan hasn’t that leverage. Millions upon millions of angry Hindus match up pretty well with angry Islamists [whether inside India or Pakistan], despite the Gandhi-ass rep. The Pak Rat Mumbai attacks, the Kashmir squabbles, all lead to a sense of a very large Israeli style response when push comes to shove. The Pakistani military doesn’t seem all that eager to take out the Taliban, even after getting ambushed left and right. I get the feeling the Indians would relish the opportunity.
allan (af6f33) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:47 amFox News showed a map with Taliban-held territory right up against Islamabad.
John Hitchcock (fb941d) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:48 amStratfor has been warning about a Taliban takeover of Pakistan for a week. I posted an excerpt somewhere the other day. This is an existential threat to India, a country that Obama has snubbed, like he is snubbing Israel. Both have the potential for nuclear war and Obama is clueless.
MIke K (8df289) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:51 amObama will say that it’s good news, because we won’t have to worry about Iran any more.
Official Internet Data Office (207271) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:52 amNot to bring up Nostradamus but …
HeavenSent (637168) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:53 amWAIT! Appeasement doesn’t work?
HeavenSent (637168) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:54 amThe strategic implications of a failed Pakistan are HUGE and this Admin. has yet demonstrate that it possesses either the will or the ability to effectively confront the challenge. The opportunity to “finesse” the situation in Paki has clearly passed and bold action will soon be required. What to do, Mr. President? Have you discussed this situation with Joe the V.P.?
Does India tolerate a hostile theocracy on it’s border?
belloscm (cf0c5e) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:55 amWhether or not this report is credible, the fact is that by surrendering the Swat Valley to the Taliban only emboldened them to attempt a complete takeover of the country. Either the US or India will make a move to take them out shortly, or else the Pakistani military will – there is no other choice.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:57 amOkay, I’ll scream. AAAAAAARGH!
What Mike K. pointed out was confirmation enough for me. And I’ve just seen multiple news organizations, reporting independently, saying much the same thing. Pakistan looks to be in extremis.
AAAAARGH!!
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (d4f481) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:58 amThe MSM is demonstrating collective amnesia on this issue once again, by failing to note that we were thisclose to a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan in the 80’s.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/23/2009 @ 11:58 amI am not the only one who believes this … but only a tusnami body count will convince our Islamo Friends with the clenched fists of the silliness in their ways. Worked in German, Worked in Japan.
Obama and one million police won’t do much to deter them. Only death on scales which leaves innocent enablers and guilty murders in the same “common cause” bucket.
Just a matter of time b/f another 9/11.
Deeply deeply depressing thought but … one man’s dark opinion.
HeavenSent (637168) — 4/23/2009 @ 12:00 pm“…India, a country that Obama has snubbed…”
The concepts of merit and free markets have been embraced in much of India. There will be none of that in Obama’s World, where people of color can only cling to their sense of victimization.
The Strategic MC (cf0c5e) — 4/23/2009 @ 12:02 pmDMAC,
I think that “we were this close to a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan” during the Kargil episode in ’99 and in the aftermath of the JEM / LET assault on the Indian Parliament in late 2001.
The Strategic MC (cf0c5e) — 4/23/2009 @ 12:09 pmBradley,
This is everywhere; see the NYT web site’s main page, e.g.
I’d rather be slightly too alarmist about it than not alarmist enough.
Patterico (cc3b34) — 4/23/2009 @ 12:13 pmAh, hadn’t seen your #15, Bradley. Yes, this looks like trouble.
Patterico (cc3b34) — 4/23/2009 @ 12:15 pmPatterico,
I am just sayin’ it’s best not to use British media, including the BBC, to point out a news item.
Even among American journos, the Brit hacks are notorious for making stuff up and embellishing. Their environmental coverage is credulous beyond belief.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 4/23/2009 @ 12:34 pmFollowing the Mumbai attacks, I really cannot see extremists taking over Pakistan without a violent reaction by the Indian military. Neither can the Pakistani military, I bet.
So, thankfully, Obama’s only problem will be in not getting in the way, whether the response is another Pakistani coup or a preemptive response by India.
Kevin Murphy (805c5b) — 4/23/2009 @ 1:31 pmAnd what happens when India tries to take over Pakistan’s nukes?
Anything about that seem worrisome, in terms of the response of the Pakistani population?
Patterico (cc3b34) — 4/23/2009 @ 1:53 pmPatterico, let me see … why was it exactly that Pakistan felt the need for a nuclear program? Hmmm, that’s a puzzler, eh?
Kevin, basically another war between India and Pakistan will mean nuclear weapons exchanged.
SPQR (72771e) — 4/23/2009 @ 2:01 pmAnd what if the nukes get in the hands of the Islamist extremists? This will be ugly all the way around.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 4/23/2009 @ 2:03 pmAnyone assuming that there’s no potential for much wider nuclear exchange is only fooling themselves – it may start out as a limited war between India and Pakistan, but could also escalate exponentially shortly thereafter. I fear that someone may eventually threaten Israel directly in a conflict like this, which would force them to either nuke first or face annihilation.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/23/2009 @ 2:27 pm“…it may start out as a limited war between India and Pakistan…”
Yeah, what will the PRC have to say about their client getting the worst of an exchange with India?
Though they last engaged in open hostilities back
The Strategic MC (cf0c5e) — 4/23/2009 @ 2:40 pmin ’62, China and India are not on very friendly terms.
…which is just one of the reasons why their navy conducted joint exercises with one of our carrier groups less than three years ago. Despite the increased trade between the two countries, recent Chinese aggressiveness on the seas clearly has them worried.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/23/2009 @ 2:50 pmThis may be the test of Obama that Joe Biden predicted. I doubt he has a clue. I don’t know that Pakistan’s military has a tradition of secularism like Turkey’s. The ISI has been the biggest supporter of the Taliban all along and, in fact, organized it to bring Afghanistan into Pakistan’s orbit in the late 80s. I recommend Kilcullen’s book to figure out what is going on in Afgahnistan.
It’s kind of interesting to read Steven Pressfield’s latest book on Alexander the Great, which is about Afghanistan in Alexander’s time. I think he took a lot of current information and extrapolated it back, not very difficult since Afgahnistan is only slightly different with the main addition being AK 47s.
The basic fact is that Afgahnistan and Pakistan are one country, the Pashtunistan, plus some other tribal areas. One cannot be separated from the other. The border, like that of Iraq, was drawn by the British 150 years ago. It is arbitrary and indefensible.
Mike K (8df289) — 4/23/2009 @ 3:03 pmMike K – I just watched the Oliver Stone movie, Alexander. Good stuff.
JD (870a39) — 4/23/2009 @ 3:36 pmJD – you’re kidding, right?
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/23/2009 @ 3:37 pmI rather enjoyed it, Dmac.
JD (870a39) — 4/23/2009 @ 3:43 pmPat, Obama has been way tougher with Pakistan then Bush ever was so what the fuck are you talking about? If you want to scream into your pillow about anything do it due to the billions of dollars that this country gave to Musheruff under the criminal regime of of the Bush White house. Cheney still doesn’t have the decency to shut the fuck up and go away because no one wants to see his face anymore or his incompetent shit. I have 100 times more faith that Obama can protect this country than the Republicans and you, and the rest of the assholes here are utterly delusional.
Peter (e70d1c) — 4/23/2009 @ 4:32 pmNo worries, Hillary says they are moderate Taliban.
the wolf (3cd7f8) — 4/23/2009 @ 4:35 pmJD, that’s disturbing.
SPQR (72771e) — 4/23/2009 @ 4:37 pmi advise you all to start drinking heavily….
redc1c4 (0ebeef) — 4/23/2009 @ 4:47 pmred, I tried that for some time a while back. Doesn’t actually solve problems all that well.
Kevin Murphy (805c5b) — 4/23/2009 @ 4:53 pmI rather enjoyed it, Dmac.
I never saw Alexander in the theater, but when it came out on video, I tried to keep an open mind and rented it.
The battle scene at Gaugamela–magnificent. Honestly one of the best battle scenes I’ve watched. the rest of the movie was absolute pain to watch.
I’m sorry, but it’s impossible to properly tell the story of Alexander the Great in one three-hour film. No effort outside of a Lord of the Rings-style epic can really capture just how significant he was to the development of Western Civilization. Stone was game, but he failed because he was more concerned about emphasizing Alexander’s personal fetishes than in revealing what would possess men, from what was considered the hillbilly region of ancient Greece, to follow him beyond the ends of the known earth, and what his legacy as a cultural synthesist provided for future generations.
Another Chris (a3bb8f) — 4/23/2009 @ 6:00 pmI rather enjoyed it, Dmac.
Huh – must’ve been the lesbian scenes.
Pat, Obama has been way tougher with Pakistan then Bush ever was so
Have any proof of this, or are you just venting that ginormous spleen of yours?
Cheney still doesn’t have the decency to shut the fuck up and go away because no one wants to see his face anymore or his incompetent shit
You mean like Carter and Clinton have sh-t the f-ck up?
When someone has no evidence to support their insane rants, one can only feel sad for them in the end. Pathetic.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/23/2009 @ 6:01 pmAnother Chris – you could make another long film based on his father, Philip of Macedonia.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/23/2009 @ 6:02 pmI see Peter is off his meds again.
EW1(SG) (e27928) — 4/23/2009 @ 6:12 pmEW1(SG), evidently his pharmacy isn’t getting regular shipments.
SPQR (26be8b) — 4/23/2009 @ 6:47 pmSince Joe Biden is smarter than all of you and he’ll tell you that himself, I think Obama should send him over there with Hillary. He’s been there before. As long as his plane or helicopter doesn’t get forced down by insurgents (or weather) he can devise one of his legendary foreign policy plans, like when we drove Syria out of Lebanon with the French. On the flight over there he can use his ginormous brain to cook one up. Maybe he can recycle tha popular partition plan he couldn’t in Iraq.
Moderate muslims in one corner, head choppers, baby rapers and wife beaters in another and new Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees in the third.
Go for it greasy Joe!
daleyrocks (5d22c0) — 4/23/2009 @ 6:49 pmPeter, I strongly recommend you watch this video and imagine yourself the subject.
Pat, Obama has been way tougher with Pakistan then Bush ever was so what the fuck are you talking about?
Peter, you are delusional. Why not go back to Daily Kos where you can find others with your problem?
Mike K (2cf494) — 4/23/2009 @ 7:03 pmChris – Well said. Stone spent way to much effort on teh ghey, and the story is far too compelling to tell in even a 3 hour movie. The battle scenes were riveting. Angelina was captivating as always. As Dmac notes, the whole story with Philip is compeeling in its own right. I did feel dirty at being entertained by a Stone movie.
Peter – get help.
JD (f8b50e) — 4/23/2009 @ 7:08 pm“…you, and the rest of the assholes here are utterly delusional.”
And yet, Peter, here you are.
Dana (d08a3a) — 4/23/2009 @ 7:10 pm[…] is rightly concerned, and Allahpundit says it may be time to start freaking out about Pakistan. At the very least we […]
Keep an eye on Pakistan - Taliban 60 miles from capital « Wellsy’s World (45e6e8) — 4/23/2009 @ 7:44 pmI cannot watch a Stone movie and find it impossible to believe that he has anything worthwhile to sat about a favorite historical figure.
Mary Renault is the best source beginning with Fire From Heaven, which is about the childhood of Alexander. Next is The Persian Boy, which is about his career in Persia. The final book in the series is Funeral Games, which is about the events after Alexander’s death. The Pressfield book is about a part of the story and there are others I haven’t read yet. His best is Gates of Fire, his book about Thermopylae.
Mike K (2cf494) — 4/23/2009 @ 7:44 pm“I have 100 times more faith that Obama can protect this country than the Republicans…”
The mind boggles.
Dave Surls (a3aa65) — 4/23/2009 @ 8:29 pm“Pat, Obama has been way tougher with Pakistan then Bush ever was…”
Oh?
“A senior Democratic senator expressed concerns Wednesday about the Obama administration’s plan to triple nonmilitary aid to Pakistan, saying he wasn’t sure that would push Islamabad to take more aggressive action against extremists…”
“The plan would offer $1.5 billion in economic assistance to Pakistan annually for the next five years, up from the current $500 million a year.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-us-afghanistan2-2009apr02,0,3079255.story
Doesn’t sound too tough to me.
Dave Surls (a3aa65) — 4/23/2009 @ 8:36 pmDmac and JD–You’re right, Philip would make an epic subject for a movie himself. Without his military reforms, Alexander isn’t nearly as successful as he eventually became.
Another Chris (a3bb8f) — 4/23/2009 @ 10:44 pmI cannot watch a Stone movie and find it impossible to believe that he has anything worthwhile to sat about a favorite historical figure.
Like I said, I tried to be open-minded, but I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. That said, I did like “World Trade Center”, even if it was tough to watch from an emotional standpoint.
Another Chris (a3bb8f) — 4/23/2009 @ 10:48 pmHey, even I admired his prowess as a filmmaker when I watched JFK – even though the plotline was utterly ludicrous and entirely predictable, given the source. It’s a shame he’s rarely been able to channel that talent into more worthwhile projects – On Any Given Sunday was truly horrible, not to mention that rancid flick with Woody Harrelson and that other nutty actress (Juliet Lewis?).
Without his military reforms, Alexander isn’t nearly as successful as he eventually became
Not to mention he inherited Philip’s incredibly lethal army after having him assassinated – those Macedonians were a ruthless lot, no? And it still amazes me that so many folks still consider them to be Greeks – they never really were, at least in the sense that they didn’t believe in democracy and often ruled over their territories like Feudal Lords. They weren’t interested in spreading democracy to their conquered territories, nor to the rest of Greece – nobody that bloodthirsty ever could.
Dmac (1ddf7e) — 4/24/2009 @ 7:01 am“I have 100 times more faith that Obama can protect this country than the Republicans…”
The mind boggles.
Comment by Dave Surls — 4/23/2009 @ 8:29 pm
Of course the delusional mind boggles, for in that ass backwards worldview, the Iraq war was justified, as were the lies, spin, media intimidation and manipulation the the Bush/Cheney atrocity White House used to start it. The United Sates of America is a country that can waterboard someone 183 times in a month can be morally justified by legal memos, even when it is known that torture doesn’t produce quality intelligence. But even beyond that it is WRONG. Period.
See, the thing to “scream into your pillow about,” Pat is what any sane person in this country has been screaming into their pillows for fucking years: And it’s that this country squandered a trillion dollars, 4277 dead and 31215 wounded soldiers, and a grotesque number of Iraqi civilian deaths on a manipulation and a LIE.
When what the country should’ve been doing all along was devoting those resources on capturing and killing and DISMANTLING the perpetrators and masterminds of 9/11 in Afghanistan and militants who’ve hid them in NW regions of Pakistan, where AQ and the Taliban were allowed to hide and re-recruit, and now, NOW after that disgusting immoral tactical insanity, when they’re steamrolling through Pakistan hanging corpses off lampposts and imposing Sharia law and threatening to topple the government of that country –even though thanks to blinkered Bush and Dumbass Cheney, they received billions of U.S. appeasement dollars of US money through super con-man Mushareff to APPEASE them — And is anyone here going to dare to dispute that billions were given to the corrupt Mushareff regime, and that he dutifully passed much of it on to the ISI, who support the Taliban? Didn’t think so.
So, you see, this is a problem a five year old child could see was on the horizon. Instead of tackling the disease where the cancer cells are being produced, Bush decided to perform an unnecessary appendectomy(Iraq) and let Mushareff play him like a 2 dollar ukulele.
Obama, has repeatedly expressed that he will chase AQ and the Taliban anywhere they are and that includes deep into Pakistan, if they won’t or can’t handle the situation, and yes, you people shoud thank your lucky stars that there’s a great president at the helm now, who doesn’t play stupid games with corrupt presidents and will call them out and FIRE them if necessary. This is a scary fucked up situation, no doubt, but it is the fruits of the ever-flowering rot of the Bush/Cheney house of horrors and now the chickens are coming home to roost.
So yeah, scream into your damned pillows, but what you should be screaming about is your own stupidity in allowing yourselves to put your faith in a deeply stupid and irresponsible man like George Bush and his truly repellent incompetent VP, whose only real skill is knowing how to perfom deplorable deeds w/o getting arrested or impeached (too late for that), but I still hold some hope that he sees some jail time.
(Go ahead Pat, let this one through moderation, as quickly as you let the other out. I won’t hold my breath though.)
Peter (e70d1c) — 4/24/2009 @ 10:21 amI thought Obama was just going to talk nice to everyone and it was all going to be ok. No?
Stan Switek (9716a0) — 4/24/2009 @ 10:22 amHo hum. Still waiting Pat…
Peter (e70d1c) — 4/24/2009 @ 11:40 amReading above dillusionist comments is pretty ammusing. Like a few thousand hooligans slinging their guns at the payout of Indian RAW would really take over a 150 million country.
As for Indians taking on the fight, well they had it three times before, what good they are? They were running b/w Washington and London to get few hundred Pakis off their hills of Kargil couple years ago.
AAfromUSA (d4121d) — 4/27/2009 @ 11:55 pm