Obama On Pakistan’s Surrender To Terror – “We Support It”

Common sense: (h/t Weasel Zippers)

THE US special envoy to South Asia, Richard Holbrooke, questioned yesterday the Pakistani military’s commitment to the war on terror as he expressed concern that the peace deal in the Swat Valley represented a “surrender” to extremists.

Mr Holbrooke, who returned this week from an eight-day visit to the region, said it was unclear whether the military shared Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s commitment to fight terror.

He said the Obama administration was “troubled and confused” by the deal between local officials and pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad to impose Sharia law in the Malakand region, which includes the Swat Valley, in exchange for an end to violence.

Critics say the deal is a capitulation to terrorists.

Obama and company:

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that Washington could accept a political agreement between the Afghan government and Taliban rebels along the lines of a truce in neighboring Pakistan.

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On Monday, Pakistan announced it would agree to the imposition of Islamic law in the restive Swat valley in the northwest part of the country as part of an agreement aimed at restoring peace after an 18-month military campaign. The pact was spearheaded by a hard-line cleric who is negotiating with the Taliban in the valley to give up their arms.

Asked whether Washington would approve an agreement between the Kabul government and Taliban guerrillas along similar lines, Gates replied: “If there is a reconciliation, if insurgents are willing to put down their arms, if the reconciliation is essentially on the terms being offered by the government then I think we would be very open to that.

“We have said all along that ultimately some sort of political reconciliation has to be part of the long-term solution in Afghanistan,” Gates said.

Afghanistan’s government has said it wants to engage Taliban guerrillas who are not “hard-liners” to lay down their arms in return for a political role in the country. But representatives of the Taliban, who have made significant military gains in the last two years and now control vast swathes of countryside, say they will not negotiate while foreign troops remain in Afghanistan.

A similar deal in Swat last year collapsed in a few months and was blamed for giving insurgents time to regroup.

Surprised?

This is the September 10th, 2001 mindset so ingrained into the liberal consiousness. Recall the shrugs given when the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. Let them impose fanatical Islam as long as it will keep the peace.

We are at war with fanatical Islam and they don’t see it. They don’t want to see it. But rest assured those hard-core Islamist’s see it and wait for the day when Islam is imposed on us all.

Curt

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