"I think one of the biggest mistakes we've made strategically after 9/11 was to fail to finish the job here, focus our attention here. We got distracted by Iraq," he said." http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/20/obama.afghanistan/

 

While his dedication to the Afgan war is commendable, regardless of his - and the left in generals - disdain and disregard for the victorious war in Iraq, the broader picture is being missed.

 

Militant Islamics have not been "cornered in the caves" aling the Afgan-Pakistani border region. Quite the contrary, they has made drastic insurgent gains into the heart of Pakistan. From the Swat region to the Buner region, a previously peaceful district on the Indus River just 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Islamabad. I don't think the importance of this action can be minimized. We have seen how the Taliban acts when they have control of an area; imposition of Sharia law, with all it's attendant atrocities and support for militant Islamists dedicated to the destruction of Isreal and the West. We hem and haw about North Korea launching a missile, and Iran "pursuing" nuclear weapons, but consider, Pakistan is a nation that already has nuclear weapons... The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that Pakistan has built 24-48 HEU-based nuclear warheads, and Carnegie reports that they have produced 585-800 kg of HEU, enough for 30-55 weapons. Pakistan's nuclear warheads are based on an implosion design that uses a solid core of highly enriched uranium and requires an estimated 15-20 kg of material per warhead. According to Carnegie, Pakistan has also produced a small but unknown quantity of weapons grade plutonium, which is sufficient for an estimated 3-5 nuclear weapons.

 

Can we, for even a second, contemplate what this means? The militant Taliban has infiltrated and tested the defenses of a region 60 miles from the national capital. How will we oust a nuclear-armed Taliban from Islamabad should they managed to overthrow the current regime? In September 2006, Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf signed a controversial peace agreement with seven militant groups, who call themselves the "Pakistan Taliban." Pakistan's army agreed to withdraw from the area and allow the Taliban to govern themselves, as long as they promise no incursions into Afghanistan or against Pakistani troops. Critics say the deal handed terrorists a secure base of operations; supporters counter that a military solution against the Taliban is futile and will only spawn more militants, contending that containment is the only practical policy.

The Taliban rescinded the cease-fire in July 2007 after clashes between government troops and radical Islamist clerics and students at Islamabad's Red Mosque. Big surprise? Next will be the overthrow of the current regime ruling Pakistan and control of the nuclear arsenal. Does the President have the stones for an all-out nuclear war in the sub-continental region? Will he be able to pull the trigger, most likely dooming millions of Pakistani and Indian (Pakistan will most assuradly attack their long-time enemy over the Kasmiri region in any major war) civians to death? How about if Tel-Aviv or Haifa goes up in a mushroom cloud? Yes Truman was a Democrat who did have the stones to launch a nuclear attack, but that was a different Democratic party. Will Obama? The fact that we DON'T know if he will should send shudders down the spine of any American who loves the national treasures of Washington D.C., New York, or Los Angeles. These great cities would most assuredly be prime targets of a nuclear-armed militant Islamic state. The Taliban was complicit in the 9/11 attacks, of that there is no argument, even from the extreme fringe of the lunatic left. Can we imagine that the "Pakistani Taliban" would hesitate to arm Al-Queda with a couple of their nuclear weapons? Can we fathom what a nuclear attack on American soil would do?

 

Make no mistake, the Taliban is determined to enlarge their spere of influence and control. They will at some time in the future attempt to wrest control of Pakistan from the current regime, and gain control of a major nuclear weapons arsenal.

 

What will the United States do then?