Pakistan in Turmoil

Hillary Clinton recently accused the Pakistani government of capitulating to the Taliban by allowing them to control parts of the country. She then went on to describe that Pakistan's weakness posed a "mortal threat" to world security. She claimed that extremists were being allowed to control large parts of the contested Swat valley in Northwest Pakistan. A recent deal in Pakistan has implemented Sharia law in the Taliban controlled Swat region, only 100 km from the capital Islamabad. Clinton continued to call on the Pakistani people to speak out "forcefully" against their government's recent concessions.

Shortly after Clinton's address, talks between the Taliban and the Pakistani government were put on hold, a Taliban negotiator said, due to Pakistani military operations against the Taliban. Pakistani troops engaged in a firefight with Taliban militants in Lower Dir, in the Taliban-controlled North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The NWFP recently signed a deal implementing Sharia law in return for an end to the Taliban insurgency. Official numbers claim that 25 militants were killed on Sunday, while another 20 were killed on Monday. The Pakistani government rebutted the Taliban threats to suspend talks by saying they will increase the the power of the government's judicial system, and enforce any decision it makes. The current situation here is very tense.

Meanwhile, the US is breathing down Pakistan's neck in trying to "motivate" them to fight back against the Taliban. Obama puts the unruly and Taliban controlled tribal belt at the Afghan-Pakistani border at the cornerstone of his new strategy. Some incentives include addition civilian aid, and performance based, military aid. The performance based aid is supposed to address the corruption within the the Pakistani government and to counteract those working with the Taliban. If the military does not perform well, they will not receive empty funding. Only a military that helps the US on the ground will receive US aid in fighting its enemies. Hopefully this will help purge the ISI and other government entities of Taliban sympathizers somewhat, and help get the Pakistani military more involved in fighting against the Taliban. It is also the first time that such accusations have been made publicly against the ISI's corruption, something that has been common knowledge for some time but was the "elephant in the room" if you will.