Twirp: Terrorist Wahabi Islamic Rep Pakistan 5

[Guest]

[URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/opinion/04jones.html?_r=1&ref=opinion"]Take the War to Pakistan[/URL]

By SETH G. JONES

Published: December 3, 2009

The first is to conduct raids to capture Taliban leaders in Baluchistan. Most Taliban are in or near Baluchi cities like Quetta. These should be police and intelligence operations, much like American-Pakistani efforts to capture Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other Qaeda operatives after 9/11. The second is to hit Taliban leaders with drone strikes, as the United States and Pakistan have done so effectively in the tribal areas.



The cost of failing to act in Baluchistan will be enormous. As one Russian diplomat who served in the Soviet Army in Afghanistan recently told me: “You are running out of time. You must balance counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan by targeting the leadership nodes in Pakistan. Don’t make the same mistake we did.”