We have argued consistently that Talibanization of Pakistan is taking place at a fast, unrelenting pace and this poses a grave danger to the World. The crux of this thesis was that the history was repeating itself and the Pashtuns had begun their invasion of Panjab, the heart of Pakistan just as they did a 1000 years ago. The detailed analysis can be read in our August 9, 2008 article titled “Afghanistan-Pakistan – Will the Sins of England be visited Upon America?” at www.cinemarasik.com/2008/08/07/afghanistanpakistan–will-the-sins-of-england-be-visited-on-america.aspx
Over the past 7 years, American Foreign Policy has been based on the mistaken assumption that America was fighting the bad guys in Afghanistan and that Pakistan was America’s crucial ally in this fight. In our opinion, history will judge this as the greatest foreign policy mistake of the Bush Administration.
As it prepares to ride into the sunset, there are signs that the Bush Administration is finally waking up to reality. We refer to an interview by Stephen Hadley, US National Security Adviser, to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, January 6, 2009.
“You can’t really solve Afghanistan without solving Pakistan,” Mr. Hadley said in an interview in his White House office Tuesday. “That’s why I think Pakistan is at the center” of the challenge for the incoming administration.
Sensible officials in Pakistan realized this a long ago. Pakistan’s Senior Minister of Information, Sherry Rehman, warned Pakistan’s National Assembly in October 2008 that “Taliban and Al Qaeda are trying to take over Pakistan” – see our article “Pakistan’s Minister Concurs with CinemaRasik?” – www.cinemarasik.com/2008/10/17/pakistans-minister-concurs-with-cinemarasik.aspx
In the same article, we pointed out that, according to the Times of India, the southern metropolis of Karachi had been infiltrated with 40,000 Taliban. Is it any surprise that Karachi was the origin of the recent attacks on Mumbai?
If you doubt the our thesis, look at the above map created by the Times of India. In a chilling article, the Times of India has articulated CinemaRasik’s central thesis that the Taliban is winning its battle to control Pakistan. It quotes the News International, one of Pakistan’s biggest newspapers as saying “They (people in Talibanistan) will obey the orders of the Taliban because the Taliban are more powerful than the government that is supposed to protect and sustain them”. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/The_advance_of_Taliban/articleshow/3943942.cms).
President-Elect Obama argued through out his campaign that Afghanistan was the “real” war and that the American Forces should “invade” Pakistan if necessary. The question is whether this was a campaign slogan or a true expression of his views. The answer might well prove to the defining legacy of the Obama Administration.
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