Pakistan Now Officially At War!

Originally posted by tothetenthpower


I did not infer at all that military personnel should be the ones in charge. The People should be, the military is an extension of the people not the government, atleast that's the way it should be.

So how would this work, exactly? If the military is to be in charge of the military, how would the people direct the military? By vote? A town meeting? On line chat rooms?

Seriously, please explain the logistics of this.

And should there be no government? That sounds a bit like anarchy to me. You know there are places in this world that have gone without governments for periods of time. How has that worked in, oh, say, Somalia for instance?

Originally posted by tothetenthpower I did not infer at all that military personnel should be the ones in charge. The People should be, the military is an extension of the people not the government, atleast that's the way it should be. So how would this work, exactly? If the military is to be in charge of the military, how would the people direct the military? By vote? A town meeting? On line chat rooms? Seriously, please explain the logistics of this. And should there be no government? That sounds a bit like anarchy to me. You know there are places in this world that have gone without governments for periods of time. How has that worked in, oh, say, Somalia for instance?

Well...you could try for the militarizing of civilian government personnel and put them in charge. It has been tried before. Right after WW2 the dutch tried to re-colonize Indonesia. So they created the Netherlands East Indies Civil Administration. This consisted of militarized civil servants with military support. The civilians (having a military rank) could, in cases not involving security, give orders. It worked quite good. The thinking behind this scheme was that people with military training are used to their orders being carried out...and then you send them out to deal with civilians...thats asking for problems.

Unfortunately the dutch also sent loads of troops to put an end to Indonesia. We all know how that ended...

It does concern me how little coverage this is getting where I live, and this thread isn't about opening portals or expelling demons so it doesnt seem to get as much traffic here either.

Families there are in a really bad way.

Conflict-affected people in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province are on the move. In the last four days as many as 200,000 people are believed to have left their homes and rural villages as fighting in the area has intensified.

Hundreds of thousands more may flee the region in the coming days with nothing more than what they can carry.
They are fleeing through horrible terrain and unforgiving territory.

This should be more concerning to us then the Israel/Iran tensions. Pakistan is nuclear. India is nuclear, if this moves from the north, it will impact India.



[edit on 12-5-2009 by zazzafrazz]

Pakistan: 700 Militants Killed in Past Four Days

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik today claimed that 700 militants have been killed in the past four days of military offensives in and around the Swat Valley. Yesterday the military said it had killed 200 in one 24 hour period. The tolls and the success being touted by the government in its attacks could not be independently confirmed because the military has barred journalists from the valley.

news.antiwar.com...

- Numbers we never can trust, but it gives clear picture of nagnitute of this war going on in Pakistan - Not Operation - with these numbers - its all out war.

I wonder, I just wonder....

If Pakistan was basicly told by the US/Nato/? that they must reassert control away from the terrorists and not try to appease them or they would be invaded/taken over and most importantly, their nuclear weapons/scientists and equipment taken so it does not fall into terrorist hands.

U.N. says 1.4 million people displaced in Pakistan valley

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The number of people displaced by fighting in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley has risen to more than 1.4 million, U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said on Monday.

"The situation is volatile and changing rapidly," Holmes told reporters at the United Nations.

www.reuters.com...

- 1,4 million! That gives a creepy picture what is the magnitute of this war over there right now!

This may be a minor unimportant detail, but...

Don't you need a country to be officially be at war?

You can fight terrorist groups like the "towel-ban", but since they are not a country, but just terrorist hiding where they can.

At least Pakistan learned it's lesson very fast that you can not appease terrorists, they will use any peace to advance and attack.

thumbs up on getting rid of terrorists.

Rare interview from whats happening on the ground:

‘I was standing in front of my trench, when I was shot…’

RAWALPINDI: ‘They used to attack early in the morning or after dark. They would always go for an ambush,’ said Lieutenant Zaigham, wounded in battle with the Taliban and lying in a hospital.

‘There were checkpoints, bases and training centres in the mountains. We were clearing and destroying all this.’

‘They positioned snipers in holes made out of the walls of houses. They used civilians as human shields. They used to attack from houses and roofs.’

‘They are well equipped, they have mortars. They have rockets, sniper rifles and every type of sophisticated weapons,’ said Zaigham.

‘I am certain that foreign elements are behind these militants. Can I ask something very simple – who are their sponsors? What their sources of funding? Who runs their logistics?’ he said.

www.dawn.com...


Afghan forces leaking US arms to Taliban
uruknet.com...

[edit on 21-5-2009 by JanusFIN]

Pakistan is currently in war with Taliban terrorist in Swat area. No outside media were allowed to enter the area earlier so the only source of information came thru Pakistan millitary. Thus it cannot be verified.
There are suggestions that this is only an eye wash by Pakistani millitary to gain the US relief package. Here is a part of article from the foreign journalist who were first time allowed to go there:

Foreign Journalists Taken to Pakistan's Swat Valley to Assess Fighting's Toll

Pakistani military officials claim ground and air attacks have killed more than 1,000 militants in the ongoing offensive. The military has also confirmed more than 63 soldiers have died in the fighting.

But while flying over the valley, there was little evidence of the intense fighting. General Ghani insists this is because army raids and strikes are mostly hitting militant hideouts set up in high mountains.

Link to article: www.voanews.com...

It should not be forgotten Taliban and terrorist had earlier strong support from ISI (Pakistani secret service) thus their claims of intense fighting is under skepticism.