Good News...Talleybahn In Pokestan Extending It's Control Over More Of The Country

We're going to need some more "smart" and "tough" diplomacy STAT!

Pakistan's Taliban seized control of another district in the country's northwest just 70 miles from the capital after consolidating their hold on the Swat Valley, according to local government officials and residents.

The latest Taliban advance into the Buner district has spurred fears that a controversial peace accord, which allows the militants to enforce sharia law in Swat, has emboldened them to expand their influence.

Wait, giving into the demands of fundamentalist terrorists emboldens them? I thought it was caterpillars but never mind.

Militants have been moving into Buner since the Swat peace deal was signed with the government in February. But starting Tuesday night they seized control of the entire district, which has a population of more than one million people, local government officials and residents said. Heavily armed militants, streaming in from neighboring Swat, occupied government offices and set up their own checkposts. Terrified residents fled their homes.

Hillary's solution is for Pakistanis around the world to writer their representatives (seriously) and demand the government man-up or something.

The government may order the army into action but while that's likely necessary, it's also going to be ugly.

I have no idea what it looks like when armed, Islamic thugs take over a nuclear armed country after a bloody civil war but I'm pretty sure it's not good. I'm positive I don't want to see it but I fear we may sooner than later.

And yes, I know this isn't a joking matter but it's late and this is pretty horrible stuff.

There really don't seem to be a lot of good options or outcomes here. This isn't Obama's fault and it's not Bush's either. Despite what people like to think, Presidents aren't Gods, there are limits to their powers and ability to influence events in far off parts of the world. We made our bet with Musharraf after 9/11, which was basically to keep a lid on things as long as possible. We rode that horse as far as we could and now it seems our options and ability to drive events there are pretty limited.

Here's another report, which believe it or not has even more horrifying information.

Senior U.S. defense and intelligence officials, however, say the situation in Pakistan is deteriorating rapidly and acknowledge that they have no strategy to stem the slide. The officials said the U.S. intelligence community is producing an urgent assessment, known as a Special National Intelligence Estimate, of the political, security and economic conditions in Pakistan .

McClatchy reported last week that a growing number of U.S. intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials have concluded that there's little hope of preventing Pakistan from disintegrating into fiefdoms controlled by Islamist warlords and terrorists, posing a greater threat to the U.S. than Afghanistan's terrorist haven did before Sept. 11, 2001 .

A senior defense official said the militants' aim is to turn Pakistan into "a Taliban -style" state. He and other officials requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak on the record.

"The situation in Pakistan has gone from bad to worse, and no one has any idea about how to reverse it. I don't think 'panic' is too strong a word to describe the mood here," a senior U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday.

So, good night and sleep well.

posted by DrewM. at 10:51 PM

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