Taliban extend hold, advance near Pakistan capital

Thursday 23rd April, 03:13 AM JST

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Stanley50 at 02:11 PM JST - 23rd April

Except if we have to leave just one, let`s leave the one where we get 4 wives. How can you be against that?
dennis0bauer at 03:24 PM JST - 23rd April

will pakistan become like afghanistan?
Muchakucha at 03:34 PM JST - 23rd April

End religion to save the world

Yeah, those Buddhists really threaten the world with their rabid messages of peace, love, tolerance and inner reflection!

Here we are in the 21C, and there's only one major religion which overtly preaches violence as one of its core values.
solarbuster at 03:39 PM JST - 23rd April

Will Pakistan become like Afganistan? I doubt it, India will nuke them if it even looks like Taliban is getting control.
Helter_Skelter at 03:45 PM JST - 23rd April

No. Pakistan has had them for a while without any major incident.

Smith, what are talking about? Pakistan's first nuclear test was only ten years ago, and already there's a potential crisis with Muslim extremists taking over. And this could happen in any Islamic nation, where sectarian conflicts are commonplace. This just proves what I've been saying all along, that Islamic countries must NEVER be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. I understand that socialism requires you to support Islam and other non-JudeoChristian religions, but certainly even you can see how clear this is.
SuperLib at 03:56 PM JST - 23rd April

smithinjapan: The Taliban were not overcome because bush and co. decided to quit the job less than half way and go on a whimsical adventure in Iraq

Sorry, I must have missed the US invasion of Pakistan. When did it happen?
SuperLib at 04:00 PM JST - 23rd April

It's just hard to believe that these people can actually gain ground when the average Pakistani citizen in those areas does not support them. In the end, I would imagine it's going to be pretty tough for them to get their hands on nukes. Even a whiff of the Taliban getting access to nukes would cause the US and Iran to suddenly become #1 allies overnight, not to mention India and Pakistan. And Europe, Russia, China, and just about every other nation on earth.
teleprompter at 04:03 PM JST - 23rd April

The Taliban were not overcome because bush and co. decided to quit the job less than half way and go on a whimsical adventure in Iraq

Taliban came to prominence in the 90's.

When Bush was governor of Texas.
Deguchisan at 04:07 PM JST - 23rd April

It is OK for you JudeoChristian apologists to always point fingers but the main point is Nukes. If the pope had them some hundreds of years ago he would have used it, but they had to use sword and fire. Now the barbarians are the Talibanian-Muslims, and they could have nukes. We must destroy them, and we must hold George W. Bush accountable for all this mess.
smithinjapan at 04:10 PM JST - 23rd April

SuperLib: "Sorry, I must have missed the US invasion of Pakistan. When did it happen?"

FYI there was no invasion of Pakistan. I'm quite surprised you didn't know that. There was, however, an invasion and 'regime change' in Afghanistan, from which many Taliban fled and searched for safe haven in other countries, and were allowed to when not pursued due to the shift of focus on Iraq. Since then they have gained more support for their cause, due in large part to the debacle of Iraq, again, and have regrouped and were allowed recently to reign in areas of 'allied' Pakistan.
smithinjapan at 04:12 PM JST - 23rd April

teleprompter: "Taliban came to prominence in the 90's. When Bush was governor of Texas."

Thanks, professor. Now do tell me under which US president Afghanistan was invaded and the Taliban 'overthrown'. And... ummm... who again made Pakistan an ally in the war on terror?

You'll notice in my post, which you quoted, I did say 'overcome'. Were they also overcome when bush was Texas governor?
SuperLib at 04:17 PM JST - 23rd April

I think you're underestimating the existence of the Taliban in Pakistan before and after the invasion. Naturally some members will flee, but unless you want to someone seal off the entire border, something that's not possible with or without Bush's attention, there will be some crossing. And at the time strikes in Pakistan were not permitted.
teleprompter at 06:02 PM JST - 23rd April

" ...There was, however, an invasion and 'regime change' in Afghanistan, from which many Taliban fled and searched for safe haven in other countries, and were allowed to when not pursued due to the shift of focus on Iraq.Since then they have gained more support for their cause, due in large part to the debacle of Iraq, again, and have regrouped and were allowed recently to reign in areas of 'allied' Pakistan..."

Wow. That reads like something a 'neo-con' would come here with.

Lemme check - Militant Islamofascism is transnational.

There are evidently huge numbers of 'holy warriors', drawn from around the world to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The topography of the region in question and the logistics of carrying on a war against the gov'ts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US and its NATO allies means AQ and the Taliban must have financial support from far, far beyond Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Heh. Don't let Helter or willib in on this. :)
HonestDictator at 11:42 PM JST - 23rd April

Pakistan doesn't need financial aid to get no-where, they need military support, educational support, etc. It is the Pakistani governments fault for handing over Swat to the Taliban in the first place. "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile" is an understatement in this situation.

This has 3 possible outcomes in my book. 1)They get outside help and re-stablize the region. 2)Taliban wins and may end up starting WWIII. 3)India or some other nervous country invades Pakistan (after the Taliban change its name) and gets ridiculed by the rest of the islamic world for invading and occupation of a country that doesn't belong to them.
SuperLib at 02:10 AM JST - 24th April

In the end I'm betting that the invasion caused more people in Pakistan to enter Afghanistan than the other way around.

For me, that outcome that I see is a military operation involving NATO and Pakistan in the region.