Before GWOT-Pakistan openly supports Taliban and exports radical Islam and nuclear technology all over the world.

After the GWOT-Pakistan becomes an ally, closes radical madrasas, ends it's nuclear exporting business, arrests or kills hundreds of al Qaeda terrorists, and is hunting for the remaining few.

This AP piece in the Billings Gazette gives me hope. One thing not mentioned in the quoted part below, is that the General interviewed said he does not believe Osama bin Laden is in Waziristan as many in the West have speculated:

Between 7,000 and 8,000 Pakistani forces have been deployed in a three-pronged offensive in the eastern reaches of the rugged region this week, the latest in a series of bloody military operations that have left at least 170 Pakistani soldiers and nearly 300 militants, including 100 foreigners, dead since March.

Using artillery and helicopter gunships, the army says it has overrun several rebel bases and killed between 30 and 40 militants _ although it has so far only recovered six bodies.

Among the villages taken is Nano, the home of Abdullah Mehsud, a one-legged former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who has emerged as a rebel leader since he was freed from U.S. custody in March. The 28-year-old rose to prominence after allegedly masterminding the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers last month. He remains at large...

But Khattak claims success. He estimated that the number of foreign guerrillas has dwindled from 500 or 600 in March, to around 100 now. He says the rest have died, fled or been captured, although he could cite only one, a young Tajik, who had been caught alive.

He contended that the entire western portion of the region, controlled by the Wazir tribe, had been pacified. Five renegade leaders signed a peace deal with the government this week. However, a bomb attack in the main town of Wana on Saturday that killed at least three soldiers and one passer-by showed the threat of sporadic attacks remains.

In the eastern portion, home to the Mehsud tribe, about 300 local fighters are still putting up resistance alongside the foreign militants, but Khattak expected the entire region would be under army control within the next two months.

"I hope we should not take long. By the end of this year, we should be able to see a very peaceful South Waziristan," he said.

Posted by: Rusty at 12:38 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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