Afghanistan, Pakistan, and you
If there's an underappreciated front in the GWOT, it's Afghanistan. It's a state that is still in shambles; it isn't getting the necessary resources, and it still trains terrorists like the ones who piloted planes on Sept. 11, 2001.
Afghanistan's status as a Cold War hot zone for about 10 years provided a fertile ground for the Islamic fundamentalism that now threatens the West (and most recently, threatens damage worse than Vietnam).
The United States and its allies were effective in making the Taliban and al Qaeda disperse, but stable institutions capable of preventing their return are not in place. And many militants return regularly, from nearby Pakistan.
These are hardened fighters who know the terrain, and the United States probably doesn't want to get into the kind of war that the Soviet Union couldn't win. The militants travel with relative ease, and seem to stay hidden. After all, "they live in caves," as President Bush so eloquently put it.
But the current situation -- both the allied (now NATO) effort to rebuild Afghanistan, and Pakistan's apparent lack of ability to crackdown on terrorist training within its borders -- needs more attention.
In both Afghanistan and Pakistan, militants apparently thrive, according to the latest report from the NY times:
At a militant training camp in Quetta, he said, he had witnessed, as recently as a month ago, Taliban fighters training young Afghans with remote control bombs.
This article details accounts of the freedom with which Islamic fundamentalist warriors travel and train.
And because Westerners can and do visit Pakistan, our pal and ally, it is easy for them to get training with explosives. Then a Central Asian problem becomes a Western European and North American problem; a global problem.
While testing out bombs can't be done discreetly in urban England, it apparently is the national sport in Pakistan.
Of course, Musharraf is in a difficult position because he doesn't want to be assassinated or overthrown, but something needs to change there.
Afghanistan's status as a Cold War hot zone for about 10 years provided a fertile ground for the Islamic fundamentalism that now threatens the West (and most recently, threatens damage worse than Vietnam).
The United States and its allies were effective in making the Taliban and al Qaeda disperse, but stable institutions capable of preventing their return are not in place. And many militants return regularly, from nearby Pakistan.
These are hardened fighters who know the terrain, and the United States probably doesn't want to get into the kind of war that the Soviet Union couldn't win. The militants travel with relative ease, and seem to stay hidden. After all, "they live in caves," as President Bush so eloquently put it.
But the current situation -- both the allied (now NATO) effort to rebuild Afghanistan, and Pakistan's apparent lack of ability to crackdown on terrorist training within its borders -- needs more attention.
In both Afghanistan and Pakistan, militants apparently thrive, according to the latest report from the NY times:
At a militant training camp in Quetta, he said, he had witnessed, as recently as a month ago, Taliban fighters training young Afghans with remote control bombs.
This article details accounts of the freedom with which Islamic fundamentalist warriors travel and train.
And because Westerners can and do visit Pakistan, our pal and ally, it is easy for them to get training with explosives. Then a Central Asian problem becomes a Western European and North American problem; a global problem.
While testing out bombs can't be done discreetly in urban England, it apparently is the national sport in Pakistan.
Of course, Musharraf is in a difficult position because he doesn't want to be assassinated or overthrown, but something needs to change there.
posted by bp at
12:30 PM
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