artappraiser is right on the money about the Taliban, and one of the many benefits of our top-down strategy of assassinating Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been rapid advancement of much younger middle echelons into positions of authority.

A vacuum at the top lifts all balloons, and what has risen to the top in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a blood-thirsty hate-America elite which makes even bin Laden look like just another Arab taxi-driver in a Yankees baseball cap.

Harharharhar!!!

"A blood-thirsty hate-America elite!"

Maybe I can get a job writing copy for the Department of Homeland Security.

I just recall those videos with the men hitting women with sticks...for violating some ridiculous protocol.

Really, the videos were a primary use of propaganda to get us into the first war.

I do know that wars per coalitions make strange bedfellows. And the propaganda machine is now turned to lead us to believe that those people are not that bad after all, not really that unified as a group....

Good Post.

To be honest about it, one can find stories of "good Taliban" around, this one from June claims they now number "in the thousands":

http://www.afpax.com/index.php/post/7752/A_Pakistani_Taliban_Challenges_Baitullah_Mehsud

It is probably with this kind of guy that the Pakistani government made its infamous peace treaty (before Swat valley et.al.), but when he says "I appeal to my tribe to stop helping Baitullah," I have a hard time of believing his claim of numbers, certainly it shows a lack of influence not even being able to control "my tribe." Also when he says things like Islam encourages education of women, I have a hard time believing that he is a true follower of Mullah Omar as he says...after all he admits he's never met him.

Pakistan to Target Taliban ‘Epicenter’ By ISMAIL KHAN, Oct. 1, 2009 New York Times

PESHAWAR....the military is poised to open a campaign in coming days against the Taliban’s main stronghold in Pakistan’s tribal areas, South Waziristan, according to senior military and security officials....

The past two operations in South Waziristan ended up with the military bogged down and suing for peace, resulting in a series of accords that ultimately strengthened the hand of the militants....

With the failure of the operation went any pretense of state authority in Waziristan, as the government in effect ceded control to emboldened militants.

Military officials hope that things will be different this time, having now taken on militants’ strongholds, each in their turn, in recent years in other areas: first in Bajaur, then in Mohmand and, most recently, in the Swat Valley. Perhaps most critical was the elimination of Mr. Mehsud, whose death in an American drone strike in August helped fracture the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i-Taliban. “The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan as a monolithic organization remains no more,” a security official said.

Since June, Waziristan has been under an economic blockade, with thousands of army soldiers sitting on the fringes of the area, waiting for orders from the military high command to move in.

Some argue that the military should have mounted an operation immediately after Mr. Mehsud’s death. “As far as we are concerned, the operation should have been launched three months ago,” said a senior government official. “Baitullah is dead and his group seems to be in some form of disarray. And this provides the best opportunity to go after them.”

But a senior military official said that, in addition to needing to wait for the forces and resources to be available, the military wanted to see what would be the repercussions of Mr. Mehsud’s death.

“We thought that Baitullah’s death would unravel the Mehsud militant group and galvanize the tribe to stand up to the people they have suffered from,” the official said. “It didn’t happen.”

Now there is a sense within the military establishment that the situation in South Waziristan cannot be allowed to be perpetuated. The blockade is nearly three months old, and the military, which has been conducting limited airstrikes, is running out of targets.

The Pakistani Army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, described Waziristan as an intelligence black hole. “We have to move in,” he said recently....

Pakistan Resists Effort to Widen Influence of U.S.

Strains in An Alliance

Mounting Opposition to Embassy Expansion and Contractors

By Jane Perlez from Islamabad

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Steps by the United States to vastly expand its aid to Pakistan, as well as the footprint of its embassy and private security contractors here, are aggravating an already volatile anti-American mood as Washington pushes for greater action by the government against the Taliban.

An aid package of $1.5 billion a year for the next five years passed by Congress last week asks Pakistan to cease supporting terrorist groups on its soil and to ensure that the military does not interfere with civilian politics. President Asif Ali Zardari, whose association with the United States has added to his unpopularity, agreed to the stipulations in the aid package.

But many here, especially in the powerful army, object to the conditions as interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs, and they are interpreting the larger American footprint in more sinister ways.

American officials say the embassy and its security presence must expand in order to monitor how the new money is spent...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/world/asia/06islamabad.html

As titled in New York Times Oct. 6 print edition, page A1

...Over those months, I came to a simple realization. After seven years of reporting in the region, I did not fully understand how extreme many of the Taliban had become. Before the kidnapping, I viewed the organization as a form of “Al Qaeda lite,” a religiously motivated movement primarily focused on controlling Afghanistan.

Living side by side with the Haqqanis’ followers, I learned that the goal of the hard-line Taliban was far more ambitious. Contact with foreign militants in the tribal areas appeared to have deeply affected many young Taliban fighters. They wanted to create a fundamentalist Islamic emirate with Al Qaeda that spanned the Muslim world....

from:
Held by the Taliban/
7 Months, 10 Days in Captivity

By David Rohde for the New York Times, October 18, 2009

A Times reporter, David Rohde, and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by the Taliban in 2008 and held for seven months in Pakistan. This is the first installment in a five-part series offering his account.

-------------------

Also, a note to record on this thread that

Pakistan's southern Waziristan offensive has started.

Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on C.I.A. Payroll

Ties Create Divisions Within Administration and Complicate Decision on War

Published October 27, 2009

By DEXTER FILKINS, MARK MAZZETTI and JAMES RISEN

KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials.

The agency pays Mr. Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the C.I.A.’s direction in and around the southern city of Kandahar, Mr. Karzai’s home.

The financial ties and close working relationship between the intelligence agency and Mr. Karzai raise significant questions about America’s war strategy....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/asia/28intel.html

U.S. to Protect Populous Afghan Areas, Officials Say

By THOM SHANKER, PETER BAKER and HELENE COOPER

Published: October 27, 2009

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s advisers are focusing on a strategy for Afghanistan aimed at protecting about 10 top population centers, administration officials said Tuesday, describing an approach that would stop short of an all-out assault on the Taliban while still seeking to nurture long-term stability.

Mr. Obama has yet to make a decision and has other options available to him, but as officials described it, the debate is no longer over whether to send more troops, but how many more will be needed....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/asia/28policy.html

U.S. Quietly Aids Pakistani Drives on Taliban By ERIC SCHMITT

October 29, 2008

WASHINGTON — Even as the Pakistani government plays down the American role in its military operations in Taliban-controlled areas along the border with Afghanistan, the United States has quietly rushed hundreds of millions of dollars in arms, equipment and sophisticated sensors to Pakistani forces in recent months, said senior American and Pakistani officials.

During preparations this spring for the Pakistani military campaigns in Swat and South Waziristan, President Obama personally intervened at the request of Pakistan’s top army general to speed the delivery of 10 Mi-17 troop transport helicopters. Senior Pentagon officials have also hurried spare parts for Cobra helicopter gunships, night vision goggles, body armor and eavesdropping equipment to the fight.

American military surveillance drones are feeding video images and target information to Pakistani ground commanders, and the Pentagon has quietly provided the Pakistani Air Force with high-resolution, infrared sensors for F-16 warplanes, which Pakistan is using to guide bomb attacks on militants’ strongholds in South Waziristan.

In addition, the number of American Special Forces soldiers and support personnel who are training and advising Pakistani Army and paramilitary troops has doubled in the past eight months, to as many as 150, an American adviser said. The Americans do not conduct combat operations.

The increasing American role in shoring up the Pakistani military’s counterinsurgency abilities comes as the Obama administration debates how much of a troop commitment to make in neighboring Afghanistan. It also takes place as Taliban attacks are spreading into Pakistani cities. It is unclear whether Pakistani authorities are using any of the sophisticated surveillance equipment to combat the urban terror.

Underscoring the complexity of the relationship between the allies, Pakistani officials are loath to publicize the aid because of the deep-seated anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. And they privately express frustration about the pace and types of assistance, which totals about $1.5 billion this year.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/world/asia/29weapons.html

In Military Campaign, Pakistan Finds Hint of 9/11
By JANE PERLEZ and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: October 29, 2009

SHERWANGAI, Pakistan — Pakistani forces pushing toward a lair of hard-core Taliban fighters found documents this week linked to a member of the Hamburg cell of Al Qaeda that is believed to have planned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In a small village in the dun-colored hills of South Waziristan, soldiers found a German passport belonging to Said Bahaji, a German citizen and associate of Mohammed Atta, the leader of the 9/11 hijackers.

The passport was issued in Hamburg in August 2, 2001 and was accompanied by a Pakistani visa dated August 3, 2001. The documents indicated that Mr. Bahaji landed in Karachi from Istanbul on Sept. 4, 2001.

The apparent presence of Mr. Bahaji in the tribal areas of Pakistan is a clear indication that members of the Qaeda network — including participants in the 9/11 plot — have taken refuge here, as American officials, like Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday, have charged.

There was no indication that Mr. Bahaji had left Pakistan, authorities said.

Although Mr. Bahaji was not a central plotter in the Sept. 11 attacks, he lived for eight months in Hamburg with Mr. Atta and Ramzi bin al Shibh, according to the 9/11 Commission Report.

He was described in the report as “an insecure follower with no personality and with limited knowledge of Islam.”

It added: “Atta and Binalshibh used Bahaji’s computer for Internet research, as evidenced by documents and diskettes seized by German authorities after 9/11.”

A United States counterterrorism official said the documents “appear to be this guy,” and that American officials believe “he’s in Pakistan and is a senior Qaeda propagandist.” The official spoke anonymously to discuss classified assessments of Al Qaeda....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/world/asia/30pstan.html

Hillary wants action beyond Waziristan
By Baqir Sajjad Syed
Dawn, Saturday, 31 Oct, 2009

SLAMABAD, Oct 30: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday jacked up pressure on Pakistan to take on Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups beyond South Waziristan for a lasting solution to terrorism.

“With initial campaign in Swat and now in South Waziristan finished, I think the Pakistani military would have to go on to root out other terrorist groups or else they could come back to threaten Pakistan,” Ms Clinton said at a town hall-style meeting of Pakistani professional women on the last day of her three-day charm offensive.

[....]

However, Ms Clinton, who for most part of her trip consciously stayed away from saying anything that could undermine the purpose of the trip, did not relent after the statement and in numerous media interviews tried to impress on the Pakistani leadership that Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups were as big a threat to Pakistan as were the local Taliban.

“Our best information is that Al Qaeda leadership is somewhere in Pakistan. It is in the interest of Pakistan as well as our own interest that we capture or kill Al Qaeda leadership because that will give a very serious blow to terrorists everywhere. Let us work in that direction.

“I understand priority for Pakistan will be focussing on those that are attacking you. That has to be your priority. But Al Qaeda is in league with those attacking Pakistan.”

Highlighting the nexus between Al Qaeda, Pakistani Taliban and other terror groups, she said: “The extremist and terrorist groups are part of syndicate of terror and Al Qaeda is head of that syndicate.”

Ms Clinton placed a lot of emphasis on this issue during her three-hour meeting with Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI Director General Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha on Thursday night.

There are apprehensions in Washington that the Pakistan military is going after only those who threaten its own security while ignoring those who launch attacks in Afghanistan. Denials about the alleged existence of entities like Quetta Shura in Pakistani territory have also displeased UD officials.

[....]

Blackwater controversy

Ms Clinton compounded the confusion over the presence of the US private security firm Blackwater/Xe Services in Pakistan by saying that some of their personnel might be having diplomatic immunity, but most of them didn’t.

“I understand the sensitivity of the issue, but I want to be clear why we have any contractors, well because we get dozens and dozens of threats every month directed towards our diplomats and public officials who are here for diplomatic activity. Our diplomats don’t carry arms, but on the other hand if they have to get out they need security.”

She said the US was working with Pakistan to chalk out a mechanism for providing security to diplomats and officials assigned to Pakistan.

The issue of private security contractors echoed at her meeting with lawmakers in parliament, where former information minister Sherry Rehman warned her that if the issue was not resolved, it could compromise the very democracy the US was seeking to support.

Ms Clinton clarified that the security company was not above the law of land and asked Ambassador Patterson to look into the issue and address concerns.

[....]

in full @ this link

ANALYSIS: A complex setting for a difficult war
by Abbas Rashid
Daily Times (Pakistan,) October 31

[....]

Meanwhile, Pakistan is carefully watching the developments with regard to US policy across the border. US President Barack Obama has reportedly asked senior officials for a province-wise analysis to determine which regions are being effectively run by local leaders. Whatever the problems with this approach, it gives President Obama some grounds for scaling down any force enhancement in Afghanistan favoured by the military, keeping in view the tide of domestic public opinion in the US which is turning against the war.

At the same time, the US does not seem to be considering a cut-and-run option at this point and is unlikely to turn down General Stanley McChrystal’s request in its entirety. But the case for less rather than more boots on the ground has received a boost recently from an unlikely source: Matthew Hoh....

Eventually, then, the US strategy could become one of rewarding the better-run regions with more development aid and holding out that promise to other provinces willing to eschew violence. In any case Afghanistan is unlikely to acquire a strong central government of any kind in the foreseeable future.

The US exit strategy, however, will also have to ensure that Afghanistan does not descend once again into civil war and for that some kind of a regional arrangement will have to be worked out. A particularly important aspect of such an arrangement would be an understanding between Pakistan and India with regard to Afghanistan....
in full @ this link

More major bombings within Pakistan proper today:

Explosions Rip Two Cities in Pakistan

By SALMAN MASOOD
Published: November 2, 2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Suicide bombers attacked two major Pakistani cities on Monday — one of the them the garrison city of Rawalpindi — as the army claimed control of one more Taliban stronghold in the northwestern tribal region of South Waziristan, officials said.

The Rawalpindi suicide bomber struck a few hundred yards from the headquarters of the Pakistani Army and outside a branch office of the National Bank of Pakistan, where soldiers and civilians had gathered to collect their monthly salaries and pension payments. At least 35 people were killed and at least 45 injured, security and rescue officials said....

In the evening, an explosives-laden vehicle blew up at a police checkpoint near the entrance to the Lahore....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/world/asia/03pstan.html

Pakistan's forces can't seem to prevent the suicide bombings hitting right at their heart, even as they are on high alert for them:

Blast hits Peshawar security HQ

BBC News November 12

A bomb has hit Pakistan's intelligence agency in the north-western city of Peshawar, killing at least seven people and injuring 35, officials said.

The blast destroyed much of the three-story building belonging to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and many cars on the street outside.

The area has been frequently targeted by militants in recent weeks.

Separately, at least 10 people were hurt in a bombing at a police station in the town of Bannu, police said.

Attacks in Pakistan have increased as the army continues its offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan region.

More than 100 people were killed in a blast at a market in Peshawar more than two weeks ago.

Deadly day

The Peshawar blast occurred at around 0630 (0130 GMT), Pakistani media said.

Reuters news agency said the attack was carried out by a suicide car-bomber....

The city has been on high alert for weeks. Schools were closed after the attack....