According to this news report (h/t The Astute Blogger) President Musharraf is about to go full throttle against the militant Islamists on his eastern border:
Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday gave a go-ahead
for a massive military action in the restive tribal areas to crush
pro-Taliban and Al Qaeda militants once for all.Chairing a high-level meeting at his Rawalpindi camp office —
partially to show that he is still calling the shots and partly to take
the high-ups into confidence regarding the military action against the
militants — Gen. Musharraf said that he is determined to eliminate
extremism and terrorism.Tuesday’s meeting was attended by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz,
information minister Mohammed Ali Durrani, interior minister Aftab
Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Vice-Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Pervez
Kiani.“President Musharraf asked the interior minister to get ready for a
final showdown with the terrorists while the military also gets set to
crush them,” an official who attended the meeting told this newspaper.President Musharraf directed the interior minister that all
resources and assistance to be provided to the law enforcement agencies
so that they can operate unhindered and reach the masterminds behind
the militants, extremists and terrorists, an official statement said.It said that there is a need to gear up the law enforcement agencies
so that they are in a better position to cope with militancy and
extremists and to counter the threat of terrorism.Interior minister Aftab Sherpao gave an overview of the prevailing
situation in the country and the measures taken by law enforcing
agencies to address the security situation, the statement added.“General Musharraf was told (by Gen. Kiani) that the military is all
set for the operation. He told the meeting about the deployment of
military troops in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and along
the Pak-Afghan border for maintaining security,” the official said.“Now the terrorists will not be allowed to kill any more people.
That’s the reason why we have enforced emergency. They will either be
killed or have to surrender,” President Musharraf was quoted as saying
by the official.
Which may very well explain his declaration of martial law and the seizure of judicial members sympathetic to the very same militant Islamists. According to this news report a large amount of troops have been moved from the border with India to Waziristan:
Reports
quoting intelligence agencies said here yesterday that the aggressively
positioned eastern frontier areas adjoining India have become extremely
thin. Pakistani troops that otherwise are positioned to counter Indian
forces, have been moved out to Waziristan and the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas on the western borders, reports said.
Which further bolsters the news that Musharraf is about to finally attack that eastern border, where Osama bin-Laden is mostly hiding mind you, and either kill the jackasses or push them into Afghan country….where we just so happen to be.
Ray Robinson on the martial law declaration:
He has aligned the forces to begin the fighting in earnest but has to
“shape the battlefield” by securing those institutions that are
supposed to be for democracy but instead are infested with jihad
sympathizers, i.e. the courts and media.
And apparently Musharraf thinks this will take two to three weeks. We shall see.
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When I first heard the news I was worried — but if this allows Musharraf to finally deal that death blow to the Islamists, then it just may work out for Pakistan. Imagine if he kills OBL in an air strike? Oh joy! Or, better, if OBL is driven right into our hands? Oh ‘cream my jeans’ joy!!
There are quite a few sympathizers there for sure — goodness, look at our court system and politicians; the near defeat of Mukasey is one example of how we have people within our own country who would gladly aid and abet the enemy if it helps them politically.
We’ve been urging Musharraf to take stronger action against the extremists for YEARS.
Now he finally steps up and does it and it seems that nearly all our leaders in Washington are complaining.
Godspeed Musharraf! Give ’em hell!
Looks good so far. Maybe they’ll finally smoke out Osama. All the rhetoric about ‘crushing once and for all’, ‘eliminating extremism’, ‘final showdown’ seems a little overoptimistic when you consider that OBL is more popular in Pakistan than Musharraf himself. He’s setting expectations a little high for someone who’s going to need to continue this fight for many years to come.