One of my biggest questions regarding Obama’s incoming presidency is whether he will continue the pressure and attacks on the remnant Taliban and al Qaeda forces hold up in Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions, specifically the FATA agencies of North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Bajaur (see map above, click for larger image).

In recent months the US has ramped up precision strikes on Taliban and “foreign militants” (e.g., al Qaeda) cells in the FATA region of Pakistan as the Pakistan Army fights insurgents in Bajaur and Khyber. In the last two days there have been two more strikes against those planning to attack us here and abroad:

A suspected US missile strike Friday killed at least three foreign militants in the northwest Pakistan stronghold of a local Taliban commander, a senior security official said.

The strike was the second in as many days in the South Waziristan tribal area on the border with Afghanistan, where hundreds of extremists fled after the US-led invasion in late 2001 that toppled the Taliban regime in Kabul.

…

“Two missiles were fired on Taliban offices near Ladha village in South Waziristan, killing three foreign militants and wounding two others,” the security official told AFP.

The official said he had no details on the nationalities of the foreigners.

Ladha, located about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Afghan border, is the stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, who leads the country’s umbrella Taliban organisation, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

One news organization monitoring the activity tallies the number of US attacks on the region now up to 30 for the year, many coming in the last 3 months:

U.S. forces in Afghanistan carried out about 30 missile strikes in Pakistan in 2008, according to a Reuters tally, more than half since the beginning of September.

The attacks have killed more than 220 people, including foreign militants, according to a tally of reports from Pakistani intelligence agents, district government officials and residents.

This is all good news (except to the peace-at-all-costs types) because our enemies cannot really plan and prepare an attack when they are constantly running for their lives and being picked off in groups of 3-6. And I am certain we are not wasting our fire (and our international reputation) on low level nobodies. We are taking out leaders.

And there are some indications that the combined actions of the US and Pakistan are creating some results. I ran across this awkwardly worded bit of reporting from the area:

He said, the military offensive forced closure of the highway from Peshawar to the Afghan border after a series of attacks on truck depots in and around Peshawar that saw hundreds of NATO vehicles torched. “The road will be open in a day or two for all types of traffic, including NATO vehicles,” the administrator of the Khyber tribal told. “We have achieved 80 percent of our objective,” he added, saying a total of 159 people had been arrested or turned themselves in since Tuesday, including 116 Afghans who were illegal migrants or involved with suspected extremists. More than 30 suspected militant hideouts had been destroyed, he said. 

“The detained Afghans will be interrogated and those proven innocent will be deported, while those found guilty will be punished,” he said.

This indicates Pakistan is rounding up the foreign agents hiding out in the area who are causing most of the challenges and threats. Much of FATA and nearly all of the NWFP regions have risen up in opposition to the Islamo Fascists in the region. There has been an Awakening in many areas, just like the one that turned the tide in Iraq in 2007 (see here, here and here for examples). It is no surprise, after years of war, that many are tiring of the trouble these outsiders are causing and are turning them in – one way or the other.

President-Elect Obama has made it clear he wants to send more troops into Afghanistan, to try and tip the balance like we did in Iraq. But one thing we did in Iraq, in addition to sending more firepower, was use that firepower to go after our enemies and free the locals from violent oppression. One of the mistakes the UN and NATO have made over the years (and the US to be honest) is showing force but not using it. Especially with the UN and some EU countries, their forces are all show – barred from making attacks that can win the battles and the war.

That is how America suffered losses in Vietnam and Somalia – by being too stingy and restrained. It is when we apply our power in an overwhelming manner – like we did in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan – that we achieve victory. Time will tell, but I fear we have another spineless liberal democrat as we had with Clinton and Carter. This is one time I would be happy to be proved wrong so I could throw my support behind the President-Elect and his efforts to annihilate our enemies hiding out in the mountains of Pakistan.

Tags: Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, Baitullah Mehsud, North Waziristan, Obama, Pakistan, South Waziristan, Taliban