Post by Frenchie on Aug 21, 2009 15:21:55 GMT 1
Politicians are always careful about what they say and how they say it, we all know that. Over the past year or so these politicians have posited many reasons for our presence in Afghanistan but until yesterday I had never heard the one reason which sticks in my mind more than any other, that is to protect the Pakistani regime and the Pakistani way of life.
Yesterday David Cameron uttered the words that I have been happy to spout out in my own 'diplomatic style' to anyone foolish enough to get me going on the subject.
Forget creating a stable and secure life for all Afghan peoples, forget denying Al-Qaeda a base of operations from which to plot and train for terrorist attacks. There is a much more sinister and frightening reason for our presence in Afghanistan.
It goes like this:
Most would agree that the Pakistani government, under Military rule, created the Taliban from the many fundamentalist students and jehadists who populated the northern regions of the country, then sent them across the border after the chaos which ensued soon after the Russians pulled out of Afghanistan. It is ironic now then that these same Taliban have turned on their creators in Frankenstein fashion. Pakistan would be the jewel in the crown for the Taliban, and they have proved that they have no regard for agreements made with the Pakistani government in the past.
If Pakistan should ever fall to the Taliban, or any related fundamentalist faction, that faction would have control of a large arsenal of Nuclear weapons with an international strike capability.
There are many other considerations in this argument of course, one huge consideration is the Pakistani Army. Where would the generals stand in all this? Are the leaders the same generals who swore allegiance to President General Pervez Musharraf? How deep does the insurgent infiltration of the Pakistani Army now reach?
I suppose these questions can not be answered definitively until they are faced by the challenge.
Would the forces now engaged in operations in Afghanistan take the chance and wait to find out?
If Afghanistan falls again to the Taliban, how long would it be until Pakistan falls too? What concessions would Pakistan be forced to cede to a re-invigorated Taliban leadership in a conquered Afghanistan?, and how long would the Taliban be satisfied with the initial concessions? We only need to look at Swat to answer that question.
How long would it be before the Jehadists obliterate Israel with the new nukes they suddenly have in their arsenal? That would be the first step in the second 'War to end all Wars', only this time it probably would.
Yesterday David Cameron uttered the words that I have been happy to spout out in my own 'diplomatic style' to anyone foolish enough to get me going on the subject.
Forget creating a stable and secure life for all Afghan peoples, forget denying Al-Qaeda a base of operations from which to plot and train for terrorist attacks. There is a much more sinister and frightening reason for our presence in Afghanistan.
It goes like this:
Most would agree that the Pakistani government, under Military rule, created the Taliban from the many fundamentalist students and jehadists who populated the northern regions of the country, then sent them across the border after the chaos which ensued soon after the Russians pulled out of Afghanistan. It is ironic now then that these same Taliban have turned on their creators in Frankenstein fashion. Pakistan would be the jewel in the crown for the Taliban, and they have proved that they have no regard for agreements made with the Pakistani government in the past.
If Pakistan should ever fall to the Taliban, or any related fundamentalist faction, that faction would have control of a large arsenal of Nuclear weapons with an international strike capability.
There are many other considerations in this argument of course, one huge consideration is the Pakistani Army. Where would the generals stand in all this? Are the leaders the same generals who swore allegiance to President General Pervez Musharraf? How deep does the insurgent infiltration of the Pakistani Army now reach?
I suppose these questions can not be answered definitively until they are faced by the challenge.
Would the forces now engaged in operations in Afghanistan take the chance and wait to find out?
If Afghanistan falls again to the Taliban, how long would it be until Pakistan falls too? What concessions would Pakistan be forced to cede to a re-invigorated Taliban leadership in a conquered Afghanistan?, and how long would the Taliban be satisfied with the initial concessions? We only need to look at Swat to answer that question.
How long would it be before the Jehadists obliterate Israel with the new nukes they suddenly have in their arsenal? That would be the first step in the second 'War to end all Wars', only this time it probably would.