We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/08/news_from_our_m.html Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:21:51 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Which is not Bill, he's our Man in a different 'Stan... this would be Joe, the Landlocked Sailor. There has been some news about al-Qaeda re-energizing on the border. Some of that is true. The Pushtun people live on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and both sides don’t recognize the border, but consider themselves a part of Pushtunistan. So there is a lot of traffic across the area, and the part of Pakistan near the border (Waziristan) is pretty much run by the local tribes and not President Musharraf. That adds up to a perfect safe haven for the... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/08/news_from_our_m.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/08/news_from_our_m.html Fri, 24 Aug 2007 07:27:39 -0600 So there is a lot of traffic across the area, and the part of Pakistan near the border (Waziristan) is pretty much run by the local tribes and not President Musharraf. True, up to a point. The central government has been spanking the North Waziris for two months because the deal with the tribes was contingent upon them keeping al-Q and the Taliban quiescent, which they refused to do. It’s easy for them to get across the border into Pakistan, and it’s pretty much impossible for us or the Pakistanis to get them there. Ground troops find it next to impossible to maneuver in that area -- but it's perfect for Cobras (Apaches have "issues" in austere environments). The Paks also have Special Service Group (think SAS or Ranger) squads working the high passes delivering Candygrams. I think that after the revolt of the Red Mosque, the Pakistanis may have changed their minds about the “live and let live” agreement they have there. What Joe Said. One of the reasons the Red Mosque erupted was to divert Army attention (and pressure) from ops in the northwest -- the masjidi never realized how easily they'd be squashed or how little popular sympathy they actually had. The Paks were more angered that the shrine had been turned into an armory than by the subsequent assault on it. ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/08/news_from_our_m.html#comment-63531 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/08/news_from_our_m.html#comment-63531 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:30:48 -0600