Who is Afraid of the Taliban?
Washington,
Oct 13, 2009 -
It has been a frightening few days of headlines coming out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Making matters worse, if press leaks are true, discussions in President Obama's war room are pie-in-the sky.
Friday's Washington Post - "EmergingGoal for Afghanistan: Weaken, Not Vanquish, Taliban" - reports inpart, "[Obama] and his advisers have emphasized during the policy review that the administration views al-Qaeda and the Taliban as philosophically distinct organizations. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that 'there is clearly a difference between' the Taliban and 'an entity that, through a global, transnational jihadist network, would seek to strike the U.S. homeland.'" The Obama Administration seems to be calculating that since the Taliban doesn't threaten us, don't threaten them, and focus instead on Al Qaeda.
Flying in the face of that logic, the Taliban led a 45-minute gun battle and day long stand-off with the Pakistan army this weekend as it invaded the country's Pentagon equivalent. Sure, the Taliban is fractured, with some splinters focused on Kabul and others on Islamabad, but all are based within Pakistan and are coordinating actions, many believe. The Taliban - a Pashtun movement - doesn't recognize the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, helping forge unity and expand ambition.
The White House's wishful (and politically convenient) distinction between the Taliban and al-Qaeda should worry us. The Taliban is aggressively targeting Pakistan's government. Nuclear weapons are part of the prize. The idea that we could be secure with the Talibanization of Afghanistan, with full attention turned toward Pakistan, is a dangerous illusion that needs to be shot down real quick.
