Comments on: The Taliban Surge in Pakistan: John Batchelor’s Hot Topic Tonight, with Larry Johnson http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/04/26/the-taliban-surge-in-pakistan-john-batchelors-hot-topic-tonight-with-larry-johnson/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:31:04 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Pakistan: Nukes & The Taliban : NO QUARTER http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/04/26/the-taliban-surge-in-pakistan-john-batchelors-hot-topic-tonight-with-larry-johnson/#comment-1198641 Pakistan: Nukes & The Taliban : NO QUARTER Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:07:03 +0000 http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/?p=22729#comment-1198641 [...] Roggio is a frequent guest on John Batchelor’s program. Check our site on Sundays for promos of the show, and Larry Johnson’s regular [...] [...] Roggio is a frequent guest on John Batchelor’s program. Check our site on Sundays for promos of the show, and Larry Johnson’s regular [...]

]]> By: Docelder http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/04/26/the-taliban-surge-in-pakistan-john-batchelors-hot-topic-tonight-with-larry-johnson/#comment-1196519 Docelder Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:44:59 +0000 http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/?p=22729#comment-1196519 O.K. but has Pakistan ever prepared in recent times for an enemy that was not India? The border dispute style of fighting by shooting mortars back and forth with India in largely uninhabited areas seems to be quite different from the guerrilla style of fighting with the Taliban which is quickly moving to more highly populated areas. Put this in "street" terms, how do you identify a gang member when everybody wears the same gang uniform? Especially when they have to wear the uniform including the full beard? If Pakistan was ready for this, we wouldn't be talking about it. O.K. but has Pakistan ever prepared in recent times for an enemy that was not India? The border dispute style of fighting by shooting mortars back and forth with India in largely uninhabited areas seems to be quite different from the guerrilla style of fighting with the Taliban which is quickly moving to more highly populated areas. Put this in “street” terms, how do you identify a gang member when everybody wears the same gang uniform? Especially when they have to wear the uniform including the full beard? If Pakistan was ready for this, we wouldn’t be talking about it.

]]> By: Pakistan http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/04/26/the-taliban-surge-in-pakistan-john-batchelors-hot-topic-tonight-with-larry-johnson/#comment-1196497 Pakistan Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:53:38 +0000 http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/?p=22729#comment-1196497 The Taliban are not much a threat to Pakistan. The rise of the Pakistani Taliban in the Pushtun areas and in some districts of Punjab is worrisome, the cosmic level of concern being expressed makes no sense to me. Some 55 percent of Pakistanis are Punjabi, and with the exception of some northern hardscrabble areas, I can't see any evidence that the vast majority of them has the slightest interest in Talibanism. Most are religious traditionalists, Sufis, Shiites, Sufi-Shiites, or urban modernists. At the federal level, they mainly voted in February 2008 for the Pakistan People's Party or the Muslim League, neither of them fundamentalist. The issue that excercised them most powerfully recently was the need to reinstate the civilian Supreme Court justices dismissed by a military dictatorship, who preside over a largely secular legal system. It is not clear where the Taliban would get its base of support to rule a country as big and secular as Pakistan. Opinion polling shows that even before the rounds of violence of the past two years, most Pakistanis rejected Muslim radicalism and violence. The stock of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda plummeted after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The Pakistani Taliban amount to a few thousand fighters who lack tanks, armored vehicles, and an air force. The Pakistani military is the world's sixth largest, with 550,000 active duty troops and is well equipped and well-trained. It in the past has acquitted itself well against India, a country ten times Pakistan's size population-wise. It is the backbone of the country, and has excellent command and control, never having suffered an internal mutiny of any significance. The Taliban are not much a threat to Pakistan. The rise of the Pakistani Taliban in the Pushtun areas and in some districts of Punjab is worrisome, the cosmic level of concern being expressed makes no sense to me. Some 55 percent of Pakistanis are Punjabi, and with the exception of some northern hardscrabble areas, I can’t see any evidence that the vast majority of them has the slightest interest in Talibanism. Most are religious traditionalists, Sufis, Shiites, Sufi-Shiites, or urban modernists. At the federal level, they mainly voted in February 2008 for the Pakistan People’s Party or the Muslim League, neither of them fundamentalist. The issue that excercised them most powerfully recently was the need to reinstate the civilian Supreme Court justices dismissed by a military dictatorship, who preside over a largely secular legal system. It is not clear where the Taliban would get its base of support to rule a country as big and secular as Pakistan.

Opinion polling shows that even before the rounds of violence of the past two years, most Pakistanis rejected Muslim radicalism and violence. The stock of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda plummeted after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

The Pakistani Taliban amount to a few thousand fighters who lack tanks, armored vehicles, and an air force.

The Pakistani military is the world’s sixth largest, with 550,000 active duty troops and is well equipped and well-trained. It in the past has acquitted itself well against India, a country ten times Pakistan’s size population-wise. It is the backbone of the country, and has excellent command and control, never having suffered an internal mutiny of any significance.

]]> By: foxyladi14 http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/04/26/the-taliban-surge-in-pakistan-john-batchelors-hot-topic-tonight-with-larry-johnson/#comment-1196210 foxyladi14 Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:54:56 +0000 http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/?p=22729#comment-1196210 wow..Larry.this is going to be a good one.. wow..Larry.this is going to be a good one..

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