Pakistan negotiations with Taliban will lead to nuclear crisis

We have identified the international issue that may haunt the Obama administration in the future. It’s the not-so-far-fetched possibility the Taliban – who have been migrating from Afghanistan into Pakistan – will soon have access to nuclear weapons.

pakistan-talibanThe negotiation for “peace” with Taliban leadership will be a devastating mistake. Within the past three months, the Pakistani government reached an agreement with the Taliban that allows them to uphold strict Islamic sharia law throughout a large portion of northwest Pakistan. But it is important to note the government has been giving up control of Pakistani land along the Afghanistan border for years.

The very crude (approximate) maps that I’ve tried to put together shows the Taliban in control of more than 15 percent of the country.

Now, we’ve got reports of Taliban monitoring and patrolling areas outside of the agreed territory. If you think Iran getting nuclear weapons would be a bad thing, how do you feel about the Taliban having the same – really more advanced – technology? From the AP, with my emphasis added.

ISLAMABAD – Taliban militants have extended their grip in northwestern Pakistan, pushing out from a valley where the government has agreed to impose Islamic law and patrolling villages as close as 60 miles from the capital. Police and officials appear to have fled as armed militants also broadcast radio sermons and spread fear in Buner district, just 60 miles from Islamabad, officials and witnesses said Wednesday.

pakistan-taliban-smIt started in mid-2006, and has been getting worse.

INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS woke up on September 5 [2006] to unsettling news. The government of Pakistan, they learned, had entered into a peace agreement with the Taliban insurgency that essentially cedes authority in North Waziristan, the mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan, to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Just ten days later, the blow was compounded when the government of Pakistan released a large number of jihadists from prison. Together, these events may constitute the most significant development in the global war on terror in the past year–yet the media have taken little notice.

So, just what is the Taliban’s version of sharia law? Just to start…

So far, the Pakistani Taliban’s interpretation of sharia has included banning girls from school, forcing women inside and outlawing forms of entertainment.

Yeah, that’s going to go over really well, but it’s nothing considering the Taliban could get their hands on operable nuclear weapons within a few weeks if the country falls.

We need to be discussing this and not ignoring the obvious problem.

Update: Allah at Hot Air thinks it may be time to start freaking out about Pakistan.

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

1 Comment

  1. Dimsdale on April 23, 2009 at 6:59 am

    Maybe they are afraid of Obambi's threats to "bomb Pokeestan….."



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