Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Violence in Pakistan Heats up

At the trilateral meeting with Pakistan President Zardari and Afghan President Karzai tomorrow, Obama is expected to put the pressure on Zardari to squash the Taliban forces once and for all.  Is this even possible?  Pakistan, with the help of US drone attacks, has been fighting militants in the border regions of Pakistan since 2007.  So far the Taliban has successfully imposed Sharia law in the Swat region.  They, according to Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan, have plans to continue their mission until the strict Islamist law is implemented in all of Pakistan.  

Meanwhile, half a million people are expected to flee the area, finding shelter in state run refugee camps until the violence subsides.  What exactly does Obama want from Pakistan in order to release the billions in aid?  There is a lot of fear around Pakistan's nuclear arsenal - would the Taliban be able to have access to these weapons - would they actually use them?  But what does America expect Pakistan to do?  They are not going to suddenly become capable of defeating a growing army.  This could result in the United States being forced to increase their activity in Pakistan, something no one wants, except, maybe the Taliban, they probably wouldn't mind the extra justification.  

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