A Pakistani man sifts through the rubble of his house destroyed in an airstrike in Sul-tanwas village, in Buner district. Emilio Morenatti/APFrom Newsweek:
When Shamshir and his family of nine left the Shah Mansoor camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) early one morning this week, traveling aboard a government-hired bus along with 10 other families, they thought they'd be in their native village of Gorkand in Buner district by nightfall. But by late afternoon, they sat looking lost and forlorn at a dusty intersection called Daggar Chowk, where they and their modest possessions had been unceremoniously dumped, some 20 kilometers short of their destination.
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My Comment: This is the third offensive in two years, and the same announcements and declarations of victory that were made then are being made now. But the case that strucked me that illustrates the failure of this campaign was the Pakistani Military's announcement a few weeks ago that Taliban commander Mullah Fazlullah was critically injured.
Hmmmm .... for a man who has been critically injured .... why he is back on the radio spreading his hate and calls for jihad.
The sad facts are the following: The campaign has not seriously dented the Taliban. The explosion of refugees will result in an explosion of new recruits for the Taliban. Other areas of Pakistan that have a heavy Taliban presence will (now) not be attacked or in any way inconvenienced. The Pakistan Army has been shown to be unprofessional and untrained when it comes to counter insurgency.
But the worse news is the following. Once the situation is stabilized in Pakistan (in the Taliban favor), expect their focus to now shift to the war in Afghanistan and against NATO/U.S. forces. As bad as the fighting has been this month in the Afghan campaign, imagine what will happen if the entire focus of the Taliban in Pakistan will now be shifted to the war in Afghanistan.
Sighhhh ..... my gut tells me that the Afghan War is a step or two away from entering a new stage of warfare and suffering.