Re: Should US attack militants in Pakistan?
But the fact is that Pakistanis are asking for it.
That is a completely baseless statement. No country is "asking to be invaded." Your statement puts you on par with all those fundamentalists/terrorists that say the same thing about the US when they commit acts of terror.
The tribal areas are full of Pakistani Muslim people. Do you guys actually believe that everyone in FATA is some evil suicide bombing bearded terrorist out to destroy Pakistan? Because it sure seems like most people talk like they know what is going on the ground, when they have not seen these areas. Mind you, these are areas where even the Pakistan Army thinks twice about entering.
Many of the residents of FATA are uneducated, poor, simple, people who are devoutly Muslim. Now lets make the distinction clear between the Taliban and Al-Qaida. The Taliban are largely Pakhtuns who want to reclaim the control of Afghanistan, they may be radicalized by Al-Qaida, but their world view is NOT global, it is limited Afghanistan, perhaps the Pakhtun areas of Pakistan.
Al-Qaida is a terrorist organization active globally looking to cause problems in Pakistan and the larger Muslim world by creating a religious confrontation with the West. After we realize that distinction, policy can be conducted on a more even footing.
The correct way forward is isolating the foreign presence in FATA. The Arabs, the Uzbeks, the Chechnyans etc. must be removed from the area with the cooperation of the people of FATA. Setting up agreements like President Musharraf did in the past is the way to go. All this talk about bombing or trying to go in there to extricate the terrorists will result in more casualities for the military. All you hotshots calling for daisy cutters or carpet bombing the area, should remember that there are innocent Muslim civilians who will be killed by any such act. If that is ok with you, then there is no difference between you and those suicide bombing terrorists.