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US paper hails Pakistan armys successes in Swat and Buner
* Wall Street Journal urges US Congress to pass military, economic aid package
* Says govt should press advantage while Taliban are retreating
NEW YORK: A major American newspaper on Tuesday hailed the Pakistan Armys successes in clearing Taliban from Swat and Buner and called on the US Congress to do its part and pass the military and economic package for the country.
Now is the time for Congress to show its support by passing (President Barack) Obama's request for military and economic aid for our allies in Islamabad, The Wall Street Journal wrote in an editorial. In symbolic and strategic terms, the fall of Mingora on Saturday marks a potential turning point for Pakistan, and perhaps for the fight against Al Qaeda. Three weeks after launching its counter-offensive against the Taliban, Pakistan's military took back the largest city in the Swat Valley and is now pushing further against insurgents in the unruly tribal regions of that nuclear-armed country, noted the editorial, A Victory in Pakistan.
Referring to the peace accord with the Taliban, the Journal said, The Taliban got greedy, soon expanding from Swat into the neighbouring Buner district 60 miles from the capital Islamabad, and imposing its brutal form of shariah law. The global alarm bells that followed, particularly in Washington, embarrassed the military and government ... But stories of Taliban beheadings and cell phone images of a public flogging of a teenage girl in Swat brought the insurgency distressingly close to home. So did a spate of suicide bombings in Islamabad and the cultural centre of Lahore by followers of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
The editorial noted that the success in clearing Buner and Swat showed the military could sustain this sort of campaign. Too often in the past, Pakistan attacks on the Taliban were brief and half-hearted, and the military soon returned its focus to the eastern border with India. This time, the military didn't rely on aerial bombing and instead put commandos on the ground.
Press the advantage: Noting the cost of the ongoing operation was high, with casualties on both sides and an estimated three million refugees having fled the frontier regions, the editorial said: The even better news is that Pakistanis say the army won't stop at Swat. Next should come a push into lawless Waziristan and the other tribal regions that have become terrorist sanctuaries for Al Qaeda and other groups. This will be harder than Swat, because Pakistan's government has never been able to establish its writ over those northwestern frontier regions. But now, with the Taliban retreating, is the time to press the advantage. app
* Wall Street Journal urges US Congress to pass military, economic aid package
* Says govt should press advantage while Taliban are retreating
NEW YORK: A major American newspaper on Tuesday hailed the Pakistan Armys successes in clearing Taliban from Swat and Buner and called on the US Congress to do its part and pass the military and economic package for the country.
Now is the time for Congress to show its support by passing (President Barack) Obama's request for military and economic aid for our allies in Islamabad, The Wall Street Journal wrote in an editorial. In symbolic and strategic terms, the fall of Mingora on Saturday marks a potential turning point for Pakistan, and perhaps for the fight against Al Qaeda. Three weeks after launching its counter-offensive against the Taliban, Pakistan's military took back the largest city in the Swat Valley and is now pushing further against insurgents in the unruly tribal regions of that nuclear-armed country, noted the editorial, A Victory in Pakistan.
Referring to the peace accord with the Taliban, the Journal said, The Taliban got greedy, soon expanding from Swat into the neighbouring Buner district 60 miles from the capital Islamabad, and imposing its brutal form of shariah law. The global alarm bells that followed, particularly in Washington, embarrassed the military and government ... But stories of Taliban beheadings and cell phone images of a public flogging of a teenage girl in Swat brought the insurgency distressingly close to home. So did a spate of suicide bombings in Islamabad and the cultural centre of Lahore by followers of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
The editorial noted that the success in clearing Buner and Swat showed the military could sustain this sort of campaign. Too often in the past, Pakistan attacks on the Taliban were brief and half-hearted, and the military soon returned its focus to the eastern border with India. This time, the military didn't rely on aerial bombing and instead put commandos on the ground.
Press the advantage: Noting the cost of the ongoing operation was high, with casualties on both sides and an estimated three million refugees having fled the frontier regions, the editorial said: The even better news is that Pakistanis say the army won't stop at Swat. Next should come a push into lawless Waziristan and the other tribal regions that have become terrorist sanctuaries for Al Qaeda and other groups. This will be harder than Swat, because Pakistan's government has never been able to establish its writ over those northwestern frontier regions. But now, with the Taliban retreating, is the time to press the advantage. app
