09-17-2001, 02:29 PM
was listening to ultra-liberal KPFA radio on the way to work today. they did a good interview with an academic expert on Afghanistan. The Academic is Dean of some foreign affairs type department the the University of Nebraska. Believe it or not, the interview was informative in nature and not political.
Some facts: Since the US got out of Afghan politics the Taliban has received strong support from Pakistan in the form of Intelligence, military training and personnel. Pakistani Intelligence almost for sure knows exactly where bin Laden is. It should be easy to replace the Taliban government as many or even most afghans dislike him. The reasons for the weak Taliban government are 1) Afghanistan is essentially a tribal society and 2) Afghans have always disliked foreigners on their soil and the Taliban rulers are surrounded by radical Muslims from Pakistan and other Arab states. They really don't care for bin Laden as he is a foreigner and is now a pain in the ass. Basically it should not be that difficult to get bin Laden. It would be very easy to bomb Afghanistan back to the stone age because after 20 years of war the country already lives in the stone age.
A more sticky issue is that there are many radical Muslim Pakistanis in the Pakistani Military currently in Afghanistan to help the Taliban. Obviously they will be/are returning to Pakistan. This could be a problem because the Pakistani government is very unstable and Pakistan also has access to nuclear weapons. Draw your own conclusions but I think its very obvious that we are going to have to be much more involved with security in that neck of woods for years to come whether or not we are successful in nabbing bin Laden. We are already stirring the pot with India because in return for Pakistani support in getting bin Laden, we agreed to side with Pakistan in its dispute with India over the Kashmir. That's all for now.
Some facts: Since the US got out of Afghan politics the Taliban has received strong support from Pakistan in the form of Intelligence, military training and personnel. Pakistani Intelligence almost for sure knows exactly where bin Laden is. It should be easy to replace the Taliban government as many or even most afghans dislike him. The reasons for the weak Taliban government are 1) Afghanistan is essentially a tribal society and 2) Afghans have always disliked foreigners on their soil and the Taliban rulers are surrounded by radical Muslims from Pakistan and other Arab states. They really don't care for bin Laden as he is a foreigner and is now a pain in the ass. Basically it should not be that difficult to get bin Laden. It would be very easy to bomb Afghanistan back to the stone age because after 20 years of war the country already lives in the stone age.
A more sticky issue is that there are many radical Muslim Pakistanis in the Pakistani Military currently in Afghanistan to help the Taliban. Obviously they will be/are returning to Pakistan. This could be a problem because the Pakistani government is very unstable and Pakistan also has access to nuclear weapons. Draw your own conclusions but I think its very obvious that we are going to have to be much more involved with security in that neck of woods for years to come whether or not we are successful in nabbing bin Laden. We are already stirring the pot with India because in return for Pakistani support in getting bin Laden, we agreed to side with Pakistan in its dispute with India over the Kashmir. That's all for now.