Why would Pakistan hide Bin Laden?

[Med911]

Re: Why would Pakistan hide Bin Laden?

@firenze

Let be honest people after the rallies of support for Osama Bin Laden in Quetta/Peshawar/Karachi and other parts of Pakistan, do you guys still believe these talibanic/al-qaeda *******s don’t enjoy support among pretty hefty count of population?

Our very fabric of society is infected with this talibanic-disease, our military is incapable and like a small cat in front of Large bear. But still out security establishment didn’t let go the polices of supporting these walking zombies.

OBL and Taliban are not synonymous. People support OBL, because he is this larger then life Robin Hood figure to them. However deluded this outlook is, many people in the Muslim world have this image of him.

The Taliban in polling have been shown to have less of a favorable reputation.
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/07/01/poll-pakistanis-against-taliban-disagree-over-sharia-views/

OBL is popular because he isnt seen as an enemy of Pakistan or the Muslim world as the Taliban are. He is seen as a person fighting the US, which already is unpopular.

Pakistans Army certainly has the capacity to take the Taliban on and defeat them, as they have shown in Swat, and to an extent South Waziristan. The reason they havent wiped them out is because they always leave tem a safe haven to scurry of to.

Pakistan is looking at its long term strategy. Agree or disagree, te concern in Pak is that once the US leaves, they will be surrounded by enemies on both sides. They are trying to assure their own interests by preventing a hostile govt in Afghanistan that can facilitate India’s antagonistic policies against Pak.

I dont necessarily agree with their strategy, nor do I support the Taliban or Islamic extremists, but I understand the motivation behind Paks double game here. Its a very precarious position to be in.