SocraticGadfly: Killing Pakistani Taliban leader may help neither it nor US

August 07, 2009

Killing Pakistani Taliban leader may help neither it nor US

Will the U.S. killing of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud reduce Taliban power in Pakistan? Reduce violence? Help the U.S.?

The answer MIGHT be “no” on all three counts, and certainly is not a guaranteed “yes.”

The resulting power vacuum could worsen things. So could Pakistan’s ISI, if it still wants to play ball with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

On the other hand, it’s started to destabilize the Pakistani Taliban.

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