Pakistan without Peshawar makes it useless for the US!

The lack of apparent news coverage of the Taliban taking over the outskirts of Peshawar is amazing! Surely geopolitically this is a size 9 earthquake, very able to unleash a tsunami, at least on Afghanistan. The missing link in the logistical nightmare is why the Pakistani establishment can allow this? First it seems public opinion supports the militants at least in as mush as they hate the US war on terror. And the militants even in negotiations, must point to the Lal Masjid massacre ( no doubt NeoCon micromanaged advice ) which did more to undermine Musharaf than any other deed. I can visualize the western educated people hearing the transcriptions of the Mullah of the Lal Masjid, satelited onto their computers, and them invoking its obliteration. The militants can point to the rampant US bombing of fellow Pashtun Muslims (and at times Pakistanis). There are so many doubts about the spin. Maybe the truth is the US wanted Bhutto back and then changed its mind. So who now feels indebted to the US? Musharaf? or PPP or even Nawaz Sharif. To trust America? To follow its advice? Who could do that? Even a specialist Pakistani site: http://www.ahmedquraishi.com/ has no coverage, nor does the Economist as of this writing. The people in the know, just don’t know how to evaluate the ramifications. All reports say that all Afghan US/Nato supplies from Pakistan go through Peshawar. Might have to wait for the Atimes.com tomorrow. TheNewsPak has an editorial on Peshawar under siege. The paper thinks without radical immediate action, the Taleban will be driving through Peshawar very soon, which means taking it over. The editorial reads like you’d have expected Said Barre of Somalia in 1991 = desperate and stunned. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=120548 The Times succinctly encapsulates the rising power of the Taleban, and seems resigned to its strengthening. And details the Talebans grip on Peshawar. With only 5 comments. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4214926.ece

Magic Bus Istanbul to Delhi 1971

When I was 17 I went overland from Istanbul to Delhi, it was a cheap and popular adventure. 1971, No Taliban, no Russians, no Ayatollahs. The ‘magic bus’ from Istanbul didn’t make it to Ankara, even with us pushing it. Catch a train to Tehran, and then on to Meshad where it is a short hop to Herat. Look at tourqoise in Meshad and witness professional US merchants haggling. In Afghanistan everyone wants to do business, the border guard gets a dollar so you don’t have to have vaccinations. All the soldiers uniforms looked over sized. The locals just go around the official border post. Once into Herat or Kabul, I am offered every form of Hash and ways to carry it. On one crowded bus journey I get off to go to the loo, when I get back to this crowded bus, my bag is still there everything is normal. Till the terminal, I discover my bag is filled with newspapers. The whole bus must have witnessed it. Finally through the Khyber pass where they offer guns that look like a Pen, actually there is nothing they didn’t offer, over Pakistan and into India. Now they want to buy my passport or travelers cheques. They would come to me more than anyone else. Somehow nothing has changed.

The NeoCons eye Pakistan, 11 Pakistani soldiers died.

The US fired a missile and killed 11 Pakistani soldiers last week. The US has described this as unfortunate. Presumably decisions were taken at higher command levels. The expectation no doubt is to pressure the Pakistan Govt. to acquiesce. Certainly the decision knowingly ups the ante. Wondering about the people on the ground: Pakistani soldiers, Taliban, ISI, Tribals, sympathisers, etc. Perhaps they will find common cause in revenging the attacks. The US’ policies and advice in Pakistan have only weakened Musharaf. It is strange that by any gauge the US is overstretched yet is chooses to militarily expand into the tribal areas of Pakistan. The war of conquest continues. Many news reports speak of the possibility of the Taliban winning. Given the history of the independence of the tribal areas. The power of the mountains to ward off invaders. And the canniness of the Afghans to have survivable supply routes no matter what. One can only guess the motive? Destabilise Pakistan? It has Islamic Nuclear bombs anyway, which is unacceptable to many in the west. Some have suggested the US would like a front on Iran from Pakistan. Well second guessing a bubble wrapped and illogical elite becomes impossible. Apparently Afghanistan has a lot of resources…. China has excellent relations with Pakistan (and Iran), the Chinese have only to pick up all the pieces after the NeoCon strategies. China ends up a superpower before its time. It is the seventh year of warring, and the NeoCons are still going in the same direction. Over 90% of Pakistanis are oppposed to US policies. And the US wants warfare between the Pakistani Army and some of its Pakistans citizens….

Losing Afghanistan and still making enemies …

We are pushing the Turks, the Pakistanis, the Iranians, the Russians, The Chinese all together:

Turkey, Pakistan and Iran aligned? Fears tend to come true.

The loyalties of Pakistan and Turkey cannot be taken for granted.
Condidering if their loyalties were to shift, this would alter the military and political equation of muslim power.
Turkey, Pakistan and Iran are the three most powerful Muslim countries.
The vast majority of Pakistanis are opposed to what the US is doing in their area of the world. Probably around 90 per cent. After all it has brought violence and death into Pakistan. Seperately to the above there are also US attacks on Pakistani territory. And the Taliban were supported by Pakistan. Perhaps a good analogy of Pakistanis attitude to the US is that of the Palestinians to the US Govt. Pakistan would love to be out of the yoke of the US. It does have strong ties with China. And China is now Americas Banker.
At the very least Pakistan could not be relied upon in any conflict with Iran.
Turkey resembles Pakistan in terms of attitude towards the US. Both countries are experiencing financial threats. Their economies more threatened now than a year ago. In Turkey there are moves to ban the ruling party and outlaw its politicians from power.

With Irans rising star and substantial borders with both countries, and all three of the countries populations beleivers in Islam. If they are headed towards any unity of thought or action. Then Islam might suddenly seem even larger than ever.
All thanks to the ‘war on terror’.

sphere related material

Iraq, A quote from: Dandelionsalad.wordpress.com

…Worse yet, under Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the U.S. has been the great proliferator. It has armed and funded close to 100,000 Sunnis organized into militias reportedly intent on someday destroying the Iranians (i.e. the Maliki government). It has also supported Shiite militias (aka the Iraqi army). In the recent offensive, it took sides in a churning Shiite civil war. As Nir Rosen recently summed matters up in a typically brilliant piece in the Nation magazine, Baghdad today is but a set of fiefdoms run by warlords and militiamen, a pattern the rest of the country reflects as well.

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/tomgram-ira-chernus-the-general-and-the-trap/

Western policy is simply to arm any group possible. And not only in Iraq.
Sewing mayhem, as the loyalties shift, so do the weapon supplies. All the time creating more warlike people.
Fighting ones own weapons. Look at the Taliban. Who’s next? Pakistan? Columbia?

With no ideology to discern, only anti-Islam and oil. And so much wasted energy: All those in and from the West involved in this war effort. What else could they be doing with their lives?
Iraq is also wasting the lives of non Iraqis!