THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 115, May 3, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
PAKISTAN IMPLODES
By Alan Caruba
THE FOURTH WORLD WAR: THE ISLAMIST MOVEMENT CONTINUES ITS GLOBAL JIHAD AGAINST THE WEST & THE
REST OF THE NON-MUSLIM WORLD. THE ISLAMISTS THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST & SOUTH ASIA THREATEN TO
TAKE OVER PAKISTAN & AFGHANISTAN. THE WAR IS BEING WAGED BY FANATICAL ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS WHO
BELIEVE THAT ALLAH DEMANDS AN ISLAMIC JIHAD AGAINST THE NON-MUSLIM WORLD, & THEY ARE PREPARED TO
SPEND AS MUCH TIME & EFFORT AS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE VICTORY. THE TALIBAN & AL-QA'IDA SENSE
SERIOUS WEAKNESS IN THE LEADERSHIP OF U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, & ARE DETERMINED TO EXPLOIT
THAT WEAKNESS.
FULL STORY:
The wars going on in the Middle East will soon be the entire world’s next war, as the fanatic Islamists throughout the
region threaten to take over Pakistan and Afghanistan, while continuing to wage war in Iraq. If they’re successful,
India will be dragged into the full scale battle against the Taliban and al-Qa'ida. Where it spreads from there is
anyone’s guess.
It is a battle between the Seventh Century of Islam and the Twenty-first Century of the rest of the world. It is a battle
waged by men who believe that Allah demands an Islamist jihad against the non-Muslim world, and they are prepared
to spend as much time as necessary to achieve victory.
It is a battle in which the United States of America has been an unwilling participant for a very long time. The jihadists
drew blood in Beirut, Lebanon, during the Reagan years in the 1980s and again when they blew up two U.S. Embassies
in Africa during the Clinton years. Tellingly, it included an abortive effort to destroy the Twin Towers in 1993.
After September 11, 2001, Americans applauded the vigorous response of the Bush administration in Afghanistan, but,
in point of fact, al-Qa'ida’s Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri easily moved across the border into Pakistan and
intelligence services believe they have been there ever since.
This enemy senses serious weakness in the new U.S. President, Barack Hussein Obama. President Obama has chosen
Afghanistan, the worst place to fight a war, as his new “front,” while, at the same time, announcing he is withdrawing
U.S. troops from Iraq. The increase of bombings in Iraq is no accident. It is an al-Qa'ida calling card. The worst of the
news is the potential collapse of Pakistan as Taliban factions acquire more and more territory in what has always been
a very poor excuse for a nation-state.
As Pakistan’s leading English-language newspaper, Dawn, recently said in an editorial, “…the Taliban are no
longer a threat, but a grotesque reality.” Dawn noted:
“The writ of the government weakens by the hour,
while the terrorists are steadily emboldened. Yet,
the state and its institutions — including the
military — have so far shown an appalling lack of
commitment or wherewithal to force back the
swarm.”
This is a newspaper in a Muslim nation, written by Muslims, who call the Taliban “grotesque.” And they should know!
The editorial warned: “The time in which to turn back the tide is fast running out.”
One of the most brilliant analysts of Middle Eastern affairs is Dr. Walid Phares, the Director of the Future Terrorism
Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, based in Washington, D.C. Dr. Phares states:
“As the U.S.A. and its allies are devising a new
strategy for the next steps in Afghanistan, the
jihadists have already begun their next move
— but this time it’s inside Pakistan.”
“If Washington and its allies fail to see the big
picture in the fight against the Taliban and
Al-Qa'ida,” which unfortunately may be the
case now, the rapidly deteriorating situation
will soon exceed the northwestern provinces
of Pakistan to spill over to both Afghanistan
and India.”
Simply put, you cannot negotiate with the Taliban or al-Qa'ida. Their promises mean nothing because they operate
under taqiyya, an Arab/Muslim term that terrorism expert, Douglas Farah, tells us is “embraced by radical Islamists."
Taqiyya "blesses the concept of disguising one’s beliefs, intentions, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions, or
strategies from the enemy and the infidel.”
“In practical terms,” says Farah, taqiyya “is manifested as dissimulation, lying, deceiving, vexing, and confounding
with the intention of deflecting attention, foiling, or pre-emptive blocking.”
In an excellent Policy Analysis published by the Cato Institute on April 13, 2009, Malou Innocent shared her
observations after having recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Pakistan.
Just how bad is the situation there? All of the seven tribal agencies administered by the Pakistan government are
either under the de facto control of or threatened by the Taliban movement. A recent truce between the government
and the Taliban is of no real substance and should not be treated as such. As Ms. Innocent notes, “the military
agreed not to launch operations without consulting tribal elders … [but] the army is more inclined to fight India, not
a civil war within its borders.”
That is extremely bad news, but Pakistan has been a nation of extremes since it came into being after breaking away
from the newly independent India in 1947 to become an Islamic state. The army — currently some 600,000 soldiers —
has been the only stable element and has provided a number of Presidents or rulers via coups.
Elements within the government, such as its intelligence service, have leaned favorably toward the Taliban and
al-Qa'ida. Even so, “U.S. officials acknowledge ... that the Pakistani government has captured more terrorists and
committed more troops than almost any other nation in the ‘war on terror.’”
In its urban, modern cities and areas, there appears to be a genuine desire for real democracy, but the Taliban
threatens to drag Pakistan back to the Seventh Century in its quest for a new caliphate. While Pakistan has remained
focused on war with India since its founding, the real threat has always been the growth of fundamentalist Islam and
it now poses the potential overthrow of the Pakistani government.
Should that government fail, you will watch India go to full battle-ready status. Afghanistan’s government will likely
fail, despite the presence of U.S./NATO forces. Moreover, the momentum of the Islamists to continue the jihad into
all the nations of the region would pose a grave threat to the West, a problem that could be solved only by combat.
And the question everyone is wondering, if not asking, is whether Barack Obama will make the tough decisions
necessary to keep Pakistan from falling to the Taliban. In other words is Obama willing, as was George W. Bush, to
drive out a tyrannical regime?
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Asia -- Central & South Asia -- India & Its Neighbors
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba is a veteran business, science and political writer, a Public Relations Counselor, and Founder of the National
Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly commentary,
"Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center, which is located at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Caruba has a daily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com.
Caruba’s most recent book, Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy, has been published by Merril Press. Books
previously authored by Caruba include A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam, The United Nations Versus the United States: The
UN's Plan to Control Planet Earth, and America: A Nation Without Borders -- A Pocket Guide to Immigration Issues.
© Alan Caruba 2009
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity