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NATO, Pakistan blamed for growing Taliban presence in Afghanistan Tuesday February 27, 2007 (0402 PST) WASHINGTON: Leading defense analyst Dr. Jim Carafano says he faults the Pakistani government and NATO forces for the resurgence of al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He says the Pakistani regime made a "massive strategic blunder" last year when it signed a peace treaty with al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists who had retreated to a part of Pakistan called Waziristan. According to NATO officials, Taliban forces are gearing up for a "spring offensive" in Afghanistan that will involve an increased amount of homicide and roadside bomb attacks. Carafano, a defense and homeland security expert with the Heritage Foundation, believes the Taliban resurgence is partly due to the Pakistani government`s decision to grant the terrorists sanctuary in Waziristan. He says the Pakistanis knows they have a real problem. "It`s not just a problem in the sense that people can go back into Pakistan and then come back into Afghanistan and attack that," the military defense analyst explains. These Taliban forces "are also [able to] rebuild their infrastructure and reinstitute their global network," he says, "and so it`s a serious problem that has to be dealt with." Carafano says both Pakistani and the U.S. government officials realize that as long as the terrorists are able to come and move freely between Pakistan and Afghanistan "and nobody can touch them, they`re going to be a real problem." Meanwhile, he contends, some NATO countries have refused to send their troops to confront Taliban and al Qaeda members where they have been granted sanctuary. "There are countries like Germany," the Heritage Foundation official notes, "which refuse to send people where the bad guys are. That doesn`t help a whole lot." Part of the problem, he asserts, is that "as long as people, in a sense, can throw gasoline on the fire from Pakistan, the problem is never going to be solved. "There are two ways you can deal with this," Carafano insists. "One is, you`ve got to build the Afghan military up to the point where they can stand up to these guys," he says, "and the other thing is you`ve got to take down that infrastructure in Pakistan. The Pakistanis can do it ; they can do it with our help." Carafano says the United States needs to continue putting pressure on the Pakistanis to clamp down on terrorists crossing their border into Afghanistan. +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Great things are happening at Yahoo! Groups. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/lOt0.A/hOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
